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Requiem for a Jerk
When South
Carolina Treasurer Thomas Ravenel was busted
for possession of cocaine with intention* to distribute I felt a
little sorry for the guy. He's rich, he's bored—why shouldn't he be
able to blow a few briefcases of cash re-enacting Jack Nicholson's
double-prostitute sequence from The Departed?
Meg Kinnard had a little less sympathy and started diving into Ravenel's public e-mails, sent from his government office. Surprise: He was scum. Ravenel whiled away the hours lining up a yacht deal and (probably illegally) plumping for the Rudy Giuliani campaign.
Ravenel and his spokesman also bantered via computer during work hours about an op-ed by Ravenel encouraging South Carolinians to support Giuliani, the former New York mayor.
"The two most central issues the next President will face will be how to protect us against terror and how to keep our economy growing," wrote Ravenel, who has stepped down as Giuliani's state chairman. "It will be a daunting task, but there is no question in my mind that Rudy Giuliani is the right man for the job."
South Carolina government ethics rules prohibit any state worker from using time on the job, or state equipment, to work on political campaigns.
Ravenel spent even more time plotting a Senate run against Lindsay Graham, the heretic Republican who's unforgiveably 1)come out against torture and 2)called some of the people who oppose immigration reform "bigots." Google around: Tons of people were begging Ravenel to run. It hardly mattered that he was a dilettante* wasting taxpayer money on his own ambition.
*I'm not so much a bad speller as I am someone who writes a post in a hurry, says "I'll fix it later," but only rarely does. My blunders are countless and must be pointed out.
|7.6.07 @ 8:55AM|#
Anybody who thinks Giuliani actually gives a shit about economic
growth should read this paper
on how Giuliani helped make the 1990 recession worse.
Short summary. Giuliani prosecuted Michale Milken for a non-crime.
He did this as a favor to non-competitive Wall Street firms who
were unable to compete on a free market with Milken's firm and as a
way to make himself politically popular a la Nifong. In turn this
prosecution and the sudden criminalization of many formerly legal
transactions meant that the financial industry was afraid to move
quickly to accommodate trends or changes in the marketplace. This
rigidity resulted in a reduced capacity to handle the changes in
capital structure required to recover from the recession. The end
result: a longer recession and Bill Clinton in the White House.
|7.6.07 @ 9:09AM|#
It hardly mattered that he was a diletene wasting taxpayer
money on his own ambition.
Nine out of ten dentists recommend diletene for patients who chew
gum.
|7.6.07 @ 9:10AM|#
Incidentally, why his fan-boys think that he is "good" on the
"War on Terra" also baffles me.
A critical contributor of the U.S. government's defeat in Iraq was
its inability to control security. Rather than flood the country
with U.S. soldiers, the U.S. government sought to have Iraqis
handle the security.
For this to work, especially when the U.S. government was disarming
local militias, the U.S. government had to quickly train an
effective Iraqi police force that was loyal to the U.S. installed
government. The man who was assigned to form this police force
screwed it up, and delayed the formation sufficiently that the
police force has never had the initiative against the
insurgents.
Guess who that man was? Bernie Kerik, who was recommended to George
Bush as just the man for the job by Rudolph Giuliani! While in
Iraq, Bernie infuriated the Iraqis through his arrogant treatment
of them. Instead of helping get things organized, he went
showboating around on tactical raids with South African mercenaries
in Baghdad.
In other words, he blew off a very important job in pursuit of an
adrenaline rush! This is the corrupt incompetent that both Giuliani
and Bush also thought would make a dandy Homeland Security
Czar!
So all you Islamo-fascist hatin' Giuliani fan-boys. Giuliani's
personnel recommendations helped make Al Queda stronger!
If I was Osama bin Laden, the thought of a stupid bellicose
president like Giuliani would make me rub my hands with glee.
|7.6.07 @ 9:14AM|#
When South Carolina Treasurer Thomas Ravenel was busted for
possession of cocaine with attention to distribute
I felt a little sorry for the guy.
Well, I guess it might take a little attention if you want to
distribute the stuff. Otherwise, it may just get stolen or lost
:/
|7.6.07 @ 9:17AM|#
A yacht deal? Could he be any more stereotypically wasp-aristocratic? Maybe he could line up a monocle and tophat deal.
Mith|7.6.07 @ 9:38AM|#
"It hardly mattered that he was a dilettante* wasting taxpayer
money on his own ambition."
Wait, there are other kinds of high ranking politicians?
Seriously?
|7.6.07 @ 9:40AM|#
Wow, Dave Weigel, you're usually on the ball but this is pretty
thin gruel.
The guy occasionally attended to non-work related matters from his
work computers. I suspect this makes him like, oh, 95% of other
Americans.
I didn't like his pick of Giuliani either. But a Ron Paul
endorsement is not coming from anyone who wants a career in higher
office.
...Which brings me to another error in your mini-essay. Ravenel had
categorically ruled out running for Senate. More likely, he would
throw his hat in the ring for governor after uber-libertarian Mark
Sanford, the current governor, departs in 2010. (Their terms
coincide.)
Look, as someone who lived in South Carolina when Jim DeMint and
Thomas Ravenel were fighting it out to see who could beat the snot
out of habitual liar David Beasley in the run-off, I can tell you
it was a fight between two guys who were very adamant that
over-taxing, overspending, overly regulatory government was the
enemy of a growing economy. These guys were hardcore
Club-for-Growth-types--and it was clear that fiscal policy, not
social distractions, were at the heart of their agenda. Not
libertarians, but conservatarians in a Tom Coburn mold.
Interestingly, Ravenel's indictment and career implosion have
fostered a minor debate on the Drug War in South Carolina. (See
here,
here,
and here.) South
Carolina won't be ending the War on Drugs any time soon.
Eric Dondero|7.6.07 @ 10:02AM|#
Typical Reason Republican bashing.
If they've got an 'R' by their name, they must be bashed according
to the Reason credo.
Bash Giuliani, Bash Bush, and now Bash this obscure SC politician.
Get those pot shots in on any Republican you can, 'eh?
|7.6.07 @ 10:07AM|#
Bash Giuliani, Bash Bush, and now Bash this obscure SC
politician. Get those pot shots in on any Republican you can,
'eh?
Not to mention all the love Reason writers show for
Hillary and Obama. :-]
hey|7.6.07 @ 10:12AM|#
"If they've got an 'R' by their name, they must be bashed
according to the Reason credo."
Last I checked, Dr. Paul has an 'R' too.
dhex|7.6.07 @ 10:16AM|#
"Get those pot shots in on any Republican you can, 'eh?"
actually eric, dude was caught with cocaine. RTFA.
|7.6.07 @ 10:22AM|#
jeebus christos, mother-flipper! This guy was an effin'
libertarian by the standards of elected politicians. Also, by
libertarian standards, he did nothin' frickin' wrong. (what he
wants to put up his nose is his bidness, remember?!?)
We should be rallying around Ravenel, not denouncing him.
|7.6.07 @ 10:38AM|#
If Ravenel wants to amuse himself by snorting cocaine, and he
has the pocket money to pay for it, let him at it. If he wants to
snort cocaine while publicly supporting a "law and order" douchebag
like Giuliani, I hope he rots in prison for "intent to
distribute."
I also hope Gore Junior gets the fucking book thrown at him; not
because I bear him any personal ill will (I never even knew there
was such a thing as a Gorechild til yesterday), but because I want
to see Al and all his politico buddies squirm as they are
confronted with the realities of the drug war.
Scooby|7.6.07 @ 10:53AM|#
I thought the "drug dealing crooked politician" was only a stock
character in cheesy b-movies and "Clinton smuggled blow into Mena,
Arkansas" conspiracy theories. I didn't know they actually
existed.
13, it's not the drugs, it's the hypocrisy. He's made sure that it
is the state's business what people put up their noses, so it's
only right that he's hoisted on his own petard.
|7.6.07 @ 10:55AM|#
So that I get it right in my head;
"DOOOOOOONDEROOOOOOOOO"
Is that like "DAAAAAAAAA-RYL"
or is it like "KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!"
Thanks ahead of time.
|7.6.07 @ 10:57AM|#
Let's see, Ravenel has been indicted on "Cocaine Distribution", he wants a smaller boat to traverse the creeks around Edisto Island, and he is cozy with the (DNR) Department of Natural Resources.
The Wine Commonsewer®|7.6.07 @ 11:03AM|#
David this is an incredible stretch. Every politician of every stripe screws off on company time. Ditto everything else connected to government service or government contractor. From Cal-trans workers sleeping in hammocks in the bushes next to the freeway to the QA guy at the big defense contractor buying his next Beemer at carsdirect.com on the company's dime to THE OC supes spending tens of thousands of TAXPAYER dollars for wide screen plasma tv's, which I find a lot more appalling than somebody buying a yacht with his own money.
The Wine Commonsewer®|7.6.07 @ 11:06AM|#
South Carolina government ethics rules prohibit any state
worker from using time on the job, or state equipment, to work on
political campaigns.
That's pretty much true everywhere. Somebody alert the NEA and the
public school establishment.
Timothy|7.6.07 @ 11:09AM|#
DONDEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Drug warrior hoisted by his own petard? That's not news in your
world? Oh, right, he's a Republican and therefore only, like, ten
or fifteen principles away from being a libertarian, so we should
all support him regardless of ethics violations and being a
hypocritical jerkwad! Oh, that's right, if I'm not wetting my bed
over a bunch of illiterate cave people 5000 miles from here I
obviously want Sharia law in the US, so I guess I should know
better.
DONDEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
|7.6.07 @ 11:20AM|#
DONDEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
are all those trailing ooo's the same oo sound as in "kangaroo" ?
or is it a long O sound?
Scooby|7.6.07 @ 11:26AM|#
If Ravenel wants to amuse himself by snorting cocaine, and he has the pocket money to pay for it, let him at it. If he wants to snort cocaine while publicly supporting a "law and order" douchebag like Giuliani, I hope he rots in prison for "intent to distribute."
I understand the use of scare quotes around the "intent to
distribute," but he was busted with half a kilo. Having a couple of
8-balls can plausibly be a personal use quantity. The amount he had
was several months of 24/7, balls-to-the-wall partying.
Not that I think there's anything wrong with that, just clarifying
that this wasn't a one of those all-to-common questionable
escalations of a charge to "intent to distribute" for a personal
use amount.
Timothy|7.6.07 @ 11:30AM|#
ChicagoTom: Either way, really. I kind of like the "kangaroo" option myself, but the long OH would work too.
Foster|7.6.07 @ 11:31AM|#
are all those trailing ooo's the same oo sound as in
"kangaroo" ? or is it a long O sound?
Donderoooooooo. Australian for kool-aid.
|7.6.07 @ 11:48AM|#
ChicagoTom: Either way, really. I kind of like the
"kangaroo" option myself, but the long OH would work
too.
I kind of like the kangroo sound as well.
DONDEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
|7.6.07 @ 11:48AM|#
I'm sorry, but this guy sounds like a jerk, which I agree with
Weigel about.
And I'm sorry, but if pointing out that the guy is using my money
to promote things I hate is ad hominem, then you can count on the
personal attacks to continue. The guy is a jerkface jerk and nuts
to you that are offended.
|7.6.07 @ 11:49AM|#
Look, I have it on very good authority that Ravenel is
basically a libertarian in his heart-of-hearts. But if you want to
be elected, you have to pick a side. Even Ron Paul is a
Republican.
--someone who actually knows a thing or two about SC Politics.
|7.6.07 @ 11:55AM|#
So I guess the question is whether Weigel is stupid enough to not realize that every single public official uses public time and resources for campaigning or disingenuous enough to pretend he doesn't.
|7.6.07 @ 11:56AM|#
"Typical Reason Republican bashing.
"If they've got an 'R' by their name, they must be bashed according
to the Reason credo."
This reminds me of something I saw recently. Something about
deflecting substsantive criticism of an individual's actions or
political philosophy by ascribing that criticism to a generalized
hatred of a larger group affiliation.
Scooby|7.6.07 @ 12:06PM|#
Look, I have it on very good authority that Ravenel is basically a libertarian in his heart-of-hearts.
Well, double-fuck him, then- he's making libertarians look bad. He
wasn't openly and notoriously doing blow as civil disobedience to
demonstrate the basic injustice of the drug war. He was sneaking
around peddling it, taking advantage of the drug war (that he had a
part in maintaining) to make money to buy a fucking yacht (which he
was shopping for on the taxpayer's time).
It's shits like him and DONDERROOOOO that make the rest of the
world think that all libertarians care about is hookers and blow.
While those things are important (who in his right mind does enjoy
sex & drugs, in moderation), liberty is about more than
that.
Timothy|7.6.07 @ 12:11PM|#
I'm sure that if Stalin were running on a Republican ticket he'd be a "libertarian in his heart of hearts" to Dondero as well.
Timothy|7.6.07 @ 12:12PM|#
Excuse me, I misspelled that, I meant: DONDEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
|7.6.07 @ 1:16PM|#
Does anyone here realize that Ravenel was never a legislator, only a state treasurer?
TLB|7.6.07 @ 1:23PM|#
Today's helpful point of reference: compare what LindseyGraham
actually said and who he said it to to what Weigel claims
above. It went far beyond simply calling some "bigots".
Then, wonder where LindseyGraham is getting his money from, and
wonder how much a hack Weigel is.
|7.6.07 @ 1:26PM|#
"It's shits like him and DONDERROOOOO that make the rest of
the world think that all libertarians care about is hookers and
blow. While those things are important (who in his right mind does
enjoy sex & drugs, in moderation), liberty is about more than
that."
I love my sex and drugs, in moderation, like the next guy. You are
right scooby, liberty is the most important thing on my agenda and
anyone who supports ghouliani
The Wine Commonsewer®|7.6.07 @ 1:46PM|#
Screwing around on the boss's dime isn't just relegated to the
culture of government either. Five bucks says that if you check the
logs at H&R you'll find that the traffic falls off abruptly
after 5:00 EDT.
Even us value-for-value libertarian types are surfing at work. It
ain't shopping for yachts but it ain't productive work neither.
Scooby|7.6.07 @ 2:08PM|#
I'm on a salary, and I get paid for work done, not time
served.
With that in mind, maybe we should encourage our bureaucrats to
waste their work time shopping for yachts. It would solve half of
the big gov't problem- we'd still be stuck with the bill, but I'd
rather light my wallet on fire than get all of the gov't I pay
for.
The Wine Commonsewer®|7.6.07 @ 4:51PM|#
Amen Scoob, amen.
As a self-employed wretch, I also only get paid for work pushed out
the door. When I fool around over here with you guys it takes bread
from the children's mouths. The shame.
|7.6.07 @ 6:05PM|#
TWC,
I have to say, I have really enjoyed some of the times you have
been taking the food out of your children's mouths.
Your kids going hungry for my entertainment and education. So it is
for a good cause, tell them to quit crying about it.
Gene Berkman|7.6.07 @ 6:24PM|#
It is certainly common for people to use their office computers
for personal communication - I'm at work right now (my own
business, however - Renaissance Books).
The real ethics issue is involvement in partisan politics while at
a government office.
In 1972 the Orange County Tax Assesso, Andrew Hinshaw used office
space and equipment in his campaign to defeat Congressman John
Schmitz in the GOP primary. Four years later, Congressman Andrew
Hinshaw was running for re-election from prison for violating the
prohibition on using government assets in his campaign.
The Wine Commonsewer®|7.7.07 @ 1:00PM|#
Thanks Kwais, I'll pass that along. :-)
also appreciate the kind words.
The Wine Commonsewer®|7.7.07 @ 2:16PM|#
Now that I think about what Gene said for a while, I realize
that every politician is running for office on the taxpayer's
dime.
In essence, the rule for calculating slime/crime seems to be that
it's okay to spend your own work time to run for office but not to
spend your own work time helping someone else run for office.
Case in point, Dave Weigel's post yesterday about Ron Paul raising
more money than McCain.
He's my guy, but mid-morning on a Friday is work hours according to
my calendar. He was at a press conference.
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