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Wednesday, October 26, 2005

MT-Sen: John Morrison Condones Corruption

Posted by Bob Brigham

A couple of weeks ago, the blogs were in an uproar about Montana Senator Max Baucus (D-MT?) feeding from the GOP Culture of Corruption by taking dirty money from the Leo Giacometto. Giacometto has a reputation as being the most crooked hack around and he's one of the key guys in the death of Republican Rep. Paul Sliter. Kos said:

Corruption is corruption, no matter where it takes place, no matter which party engages in it. [...]

Keep that shit on their side of the aisle. It's hard to talk "culture of corruption" when our own side starts fraternizing with their sleaziest characters.

Considering the widespread condemnation of such a crooked act, you would think that Montana politicians wouldn't make the same mistake. But not DLC poster boy John Morrison. Instead of standing up for ethics, Morrison's response was to applaud the effort:

State Auditor John Morrison, who is running against state Senate President Jon Tester in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, said he thought it was “great that Max is doing a NASCAR event.’’

“Every successful Democrat in Montana gets the support of some Republicans,’’ he said.

Should Morrison prevail in the primary, he will go head-to-head against Giacometto’s former boss Burns.

WTF? This isn't support from a Republican, this is taking dirty money from the most crooked Republican operative to ever set foot in the state of Montana.

Either Morrison has no fucking clue about Montana politics, or he decided to use the newspapers to put a giant FOR SALE sign up next to his name.

Morrison might be a pathetic candidate, but he's no idiot. John Morrison sent a clear signal to every single special interest that he is their guy. If he'll take money from the worst, he'll take it from them all. Meanwhile, Montanans will take it in another place.

John Morrison is a disgrace to the Democratic Party -- either that or he's a complete idiot.

Posted at 10:24 PM in Montana | Technorati

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Comments

Off topic:

How 'bout creating a post regarding this article written by UM student regarding Steele's run for U.S. Senate.

http://www.diamondbackonline.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/10/26/435f63f90bda8

Posted by: nickshepDEM at October 26, 2005 10:48 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

bad link

Posted by: Bob Brigham at October 26, 2005 11:25 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Bob, I clicked on the link above and it worked fine for me. I'm going the text to you in an email.

Posted by: Lavoisier1794 at October 27, 2005 04:44 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Bob, are you kidding? Only in your world of spin can those comments be construed to be a support for corruption. This is precisely the type of thing David Sirota talked about in his post entitled "when bloggers go to far"; a post that centers around the anticts of Bob. Bob, this is the type of reporting I expect to see on Fox News.

See Bob, you are liberal, very liberal. I also tend to be on the liberal side of the Democratic Party. But unlike you I am practical. Ideology from the far left does not represent the majority of people in this country. This is especially true in a state like Montana, where Bush's approval ratings are still at 49%.

I well of aware the liberal blog worlds contempt for Baucus; due to his tendency of jumping the aisle and joining the repubs on numerous issue. The fact remains he is still very popular in Montana. His approval ratings are constantly in the 60% range. That makes him and Schweitzer the most popular and most powerful democrats in the state. Baucus will also play an important role for whoever challenges Burns in the general election.

Now Bob lets take a look at the article from the Helena IR that you reference. This article approaches the story as an example of a Democrat and a Republican working together. The article doesn't mention Leo Giacometto's corrupt past. In fact you can assume that the vast majority of the Helena IR readers have no clue the Giacometto is corrupt. So when Morrison is asked to comment, he does not attack Baucus (one of the most power and popular democrats in Montana) for seeking help from a corrupt republican fund raiser. Which would make Morrison come off as a hard line democrat not willing to work with republicans. Not to mention destroying his chances of getting any future support from Baucus.

Instead he took a strategic approach. He made a broad generic statements that allowed him to say something, without really saying anything. A common political tactic. Bob, maybe this isn't an approach you like to see in the candidates you support, but on the other hand the candidates you support seldom win.

As State Auditor Morrison has a long track record of fighting corporate crime and corruption. To say he supports corruption is completely asinine. I probably shouldn't have even wasted my time responding to such a ridiculous statement.

Posted by: Andy_Duphrane at October 27, 2005 11:10 AM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Actually it is Max that is becoming a disgrace to the party, but unfortunatley he is the money behind the Montana Dem Party. When any Dem running for any office disagrees with Max, it is very likely that said candidate will come under tons of pressure.

By the way Bob, where was Tester condoning these actions? I am not on the side of either candidate right now, but it seems as if you would have a better case if Morrison was supporting the Giacometto fundraiser, and Tester speaking against it.

Posted by: sheenarice at October 27, 2005 12:12 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

the point is, Morrison had a chance to distance himself from corruption and instead he embraced the corruption

Posted by: Bob Brigham at October 27, 2005 12:36 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Reality check here people. This is one of the lamest arguments (intentionally not using the word “debate”) I’ve ever seen on this site.

Best I can tell from the quote, Morrison is saying that you need Republicans to vote for you to win in Montana. All of a sudden Bob turns this into “I want to take dirty money, please buy me.”

First of all, this is a Rove-worthy attempt to take a quote out of context. Anyone can play this game. Watch:

Bob Brigham thinks it’s great that Pearl Jam hosted a concert for Jon Tester. Pearl Jam likes Noam Chomsky. Chomsky calls the United States “a leading terrorist state.” I can’t believe Bob Brigham thinks Americans are terrorists.

Is this absurd? Of course. But context is king and I expected more from SSP than a move below even the lowest flunky in the Bush White House.

Secondly, let’s assess the substance of what Morrison actually said. It’s “great that Max is doing a NASCAR event … Every successful Democrat in Montana gets the support of some Republicans.’’ That’s a radical concept. Every single Democrat in Montana could vote for Tester or Morrison, and if all the Republicans vote for Conrad Burns, John and Jon are staying home in January 2007.

Schweitzer, who we all know and love, recognized this (and won, by the way). He ran with a GOPer as his LG, was endorsed by the NRA, and all his ads had a gun or a horse or something manly and Republican. I’m willing to bet he’d agree that “as a successful Democrat,” you need to “get the support of some Republicans.”

Personally, I'm all for continuing the legacy of GOVERNOR Brian Schweitzer.

Let’s at least have an honest debate. I’m exhausted from this Hackett-Brown nonsense, and extremely discouraged to see Bob in the middle of both. Character assassination and intentionally misquoting Democrats to prove a point are beneath progressives.

Andy Duphrane makes an intelligent and well-reasoned case above. But frankly, I worry that he’s wasting his time – this may no longer be a site that supports rational and well-reasoned arguments.

Posted by: ryno at October 27, 2005 12:57 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

They asked Morrison about Leo Giacometto, he offered his support. If they asked him about doing a fundraiser with Jack Abramoff and gave the same answer he did about Giacometto, he would have had the same post on SSP.

This isn't about getting support from Montana Republicans, this is about taking money from dirty lobbyists.

The thought of Morrison being the Schweitzer legacy is a joke. Morrison is the Mudd legacy, the DeChampes legacy -- except Morrison is using earned media to advertise that he'll take money from even the worst sources.

In terms of Montana, taking money from Leo Giacometto is worse than taking money from Jack Abramoff.

Morrison may talk about Republicans, but he is advertising to lobbyists because the only political play Morrison knows is vastly outspending his opponents. He's a one trick pony and willing to cut a deal with the devil.

Posted by: Bob Brigham at October 27, 2005 01:08 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Bob, you wrote "John Morrison is a disgrace to the Democratic Party -- either that or he's a complete idiot." I don't understand the either/or thing. Isn't Morrison both?

Posted by: DownWithTyranny at October 27, 2005 01:11 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Here's the entire excerpt from the story:

"Jim Farrell, executive director of the Montana Democratic Party, said it only makes sense that a longtime Republican like Giacometto would support Baucus.

“Baucus enjoys support from the Montana Democratic Party and from Montanans in all walks of life,’’ Farrell said.

State Auditor John Morrison, who is running against state Senate President Jon Tester in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, said he thought it was “great that Max is doing a NASCAR event.’’

“Every successful Democrat in Montana gets the support of some Republicans,’’ he said.

Should Morrison prevail in the primary, he will go head-to-head against Giacometto’s former boss Burns.

Tester could not be reached for comment."

I'm missing the part where the reporter asks: "When asked about Baucus holding a fundraiser with Giacommetto, Morrison said '____.'

Point is, you're reading it how you WANT to read it, not how it's written. A Morrison supporter could just as easily take "Jon Tester could not be reached for comment" and write a post saying "Tester prefers to look the other way". That would be equally inane, inaccurate, and frankly lazy.

Posted by: ryno at October 27, 2005 01:13 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Groan - what a ridiculous and dreary smear site this has become. Definitely unsubscribing to my little "bloglet" updates.

Bye bye.

Posted by: swag at October 27, 2005 01:16 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

The reporter asks for a quote from Morrison about a Democrat raising money from Leo Giacometto and Morrison uses the word 'great' in response to the reporter.

The only play Morrison knows requires vastly outspending his opponents and it appears Morrison will stop at nothing to further is own career, even going so far as to support somebody like Giacometto.

I wonder how long it will be until we see Jack Abramoff's name on an invitation for an event with John Morrison -- sketchy lobbyists can spot a For Sale sign from across the country.

Posted by: Bob Brigham at October 27, 2005 01:23 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

Bob, I'm sorry it's come to this. I worry Swag leaving will be the first of many. This used to be a site where intelligent people could come to have intelligent discussions.

But if you continue to misrepresnt things based on the way you, and only you, read the paper and view the world, this will quickly become a very quiet place.

You haven't once addressed my central point, which is that the Morrison quote has been taken WILDLY out of context. I've provided the full excerpt from the paper - does ANYone else read it the way Bob does?

Posted by: ryno at October 27, 2005 01:27 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment

I have to agree with the previous post. Morrison said "successful Democrats should get the support of Republicans" he DID not say (as Bob is implying) that Morrison believes dirty money is good, and he wants some of it for himself.

In the story where the quote was found, Jim Farrell- ED of the MT Dems, defended the whole fundraiser thing more than Morrison, who simply wanted to say something without pissing Max off. Because if you are a candidate running for a federal seat in Montana, it is vital that you remain on Max's good side, cuz lets face it the man has bank and power.

I understand that you don't support Morrison Bob, and you never will- but c'mon, isn't it possible to at least be rational.

Posted by: sheenarice at October 27, 2005 01:41 PM | Permalink | Edit Comment | Delete Comment