The distinction between Chris Dodd and his Senate colleague from Connecticut could not be more stark. It was beginning to appear that Dodd was vulnerable to a Republican challenge, at a time his power in Washington was at its apex. And it’s being reported by the Washington Post the Fix blog that Dodd is going to pass on a reelection bid, which opens the nomination to state attorney general Richard Blumenthal, one of the most popular politicians in the state, and long interested in a Senate opportunity. So instead of waiting to take Lieberman out in 2012 (sigh!), he’ll, we hope, step into the breach here, and the Democrats will hold a seat that was beginning to look imperiled.
Sooner he gets out the better.
Sad day. His public reputation, neither personally nor professionally, never matched who I saw he was when I was working for him. He was thoughtful, smart, willing to consider all sides and didn’t see politics as a zero sum partisan game. In his best moments, I believe he exemplified what it means to be a good public servant. He sponsored and worked tirelessly for 7 years to get the Family and Medical Leave Act passed because of a personal encounter he had with a disabled child and her family. As a result, many tens of thousands of Americans have benefited from that legislation. Yes, he had faults, but I am confident the Senate will be poorer for not having him in it.
Unfortunately for the rest of us, the housing industry is much poorer also for Senator Countrywide. He bears more responsibility than anyone else in the Senate for letting Fannie, Freddie, and his friends at Countrywide run amuck. He fought every single attempted reform of the agencies or efforts to bring them in under control. The sooner he is gone, the better.
…He bears more responsibility than anyone else in the Senate for letting Fannie, Freddie, and his friends at Countrywide run amuck. He fought every single attempted reform of the agencies or efforts to bring them in under control….
Maybe that’s why Chris Dodd made Judicial Watch‘s 2009 Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians In Wshington, DC.
http://www.judicialwatch.org/news/2009/dec/judicial-watch-announces-list-washington-s-ten-most-wanted-corrupt-politicians-2009
Phika’s comment about Dodd’s character could fit so many good people who go to Washington with the heartfelt notion that they really want to make a difference, only to end up being a political hack for one party or the other. Yes there are people from both parties who were born hacks and always will be, but it is sad to watch otherwise principled people crumble under the beltway pressure. I don’t personally know Dodd so I can’t speak to whether he was principled or not, I’m merely reflecting on Phika’s comment.
The fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Thomas Dodd, Chris’ father, was a prosecutor at Robert Jackson’s Nuremberg Kangaroo court. Or as Chief Justice Harlan Stone called it, “A high grade lynching.”
Dodd fabricated evidence at the trial, including claims that doctors at the concentration camps made lampshades from human skin and produced “shrunken heads” from inmates in their spare time.
“We must make clear to the Germans that the wrong for which their fallen leaders are on trial is not that they lost the war, but that they started it.” Robert Jackson.
If you’re a denier of Germany’s war on European Jewry, I invite you to take it somewhere else.
TR Gentry, I don’t know who you are, but what you’ve said about Thomas Dodd is way, way too close to my taste to Holocaust denial.
As you backhandedly note, Thomas Dodd was one of the important prosecutors at the Nuremberg trials, and, as such assisted Justice Robert Jackson in that prosecution. I can’t tell for sure, but only can presume that your comment (“Nuremburg Kangaroo court”) denies the import of what Dodd and Jackson proved in those trials. And I am unwilling to make my blog a debate about that. So, without further adue, I’m banning you from further comments.
You prior comments about Byron Beckwith, who murdered Medgar Evaers, set my teeth on edge. Here, you’ve crossed the line.
Thanks, Ben, for writing while I was posting.