What a relief the last few days to see the Democratic Party behaving like a virtual non-Republican organ. And just in time for the 4th of July! Who would have guessed?

What I'm referring to is the belated (about a decade or so) outrage of Democrats at George W. Bush's cherry picking of shareholders' cash back in '89. In case you hadn't heard (an understandable condition given the laziness and/or complicity of the mainstream press, the Democrats and the SEC) our nation's CEO, when he was still just a no-account son-of-a-Bush back in '85, was bailed out of a failing oil venture by his father's friends at Harken Energy. Despite his miserable performance as an oil exec, he was appointed to the board of Harken, and sat on their audit committee. That's how it works when your pop is VP.

Then, about 4 years later, two months before Harken's stock was about to tank because of undisclosed losses and sham accounting, Bush the Lesser dumped his holdings for about $850,000. Nice "work", if you can get it. Harken stock lost about 75% of its value within 8 months of Bush' windfall. And 8 months is how tardy his report of the deed to the SEC was. Charges? Zip. Justice? Nada. Sorry little people, Dubya had a baseball team to buy into and then a couple of government plums to pick...plus, his Dad's the President now. Better luck next time.

This story would make hamburger out of anybody who wanted to run for dogcatcher, let alone Governor of a Really Big State or de facto Ruler of the Earth, right? Especially since it has more substance than several Whitewaters, right? Well, it would...unless your opponents were New Democrats and unless the major media outlets were owned by people who would profit from your election. In that case, it would be just another moot point, a red herring, a political low road that decent candidates and reporters don't stoop to travel. So if you are a high-roller looking to scam the globe unimpeded, then it is best to be a Republican. If, on the other hand, you are a careerist enabler, then the "New" Democrats (not to be confused with "Old" Republicans...unless you actually listen to them) is your party, my friend.

Absurd? Think back to the vice-presidential debate in 2000 when Dick Cheney made the ludicrous assertion that his firm, Halliburton, was never the recipient of government largess. New Dem Joe Leiberman could have easily skewered him on any number of government-aided Halliburton deals, but he only chuckled like a rube who had been caught bluffing in a friendly poker game. Or how about Gore's refusal to highlight Bush's disappearance during his last year of "service" in the National Guard? Isn't Dereliction of Duty an appropriate topic in a Presidential campaign?

So it's with curiosity that we witness Terry McAuliffe, head New Democrat and DNC chair, highlighting the Harken scandal these many years later (after a tailor-made situation presented itself) to call the Thief in Chief to account. This is, after all, what real opposition parties do; they oppose. But no matter how encouraging it is to see the DNC chair doing his job, there's one big problem here: hypocrisy.

Yes, well all know that for George W. to stand up like a televangelist and piously rail against corporate corruption is the height of hypocrisy. But for Terry McAuliffe to piously rail against Bush for the same reason is hypocrisy's depth. The Chairman, you see, is no stranger to shady deals and dump trucks full of cash. After all, he's arguably the most successful raiser and distributor of soft-money, the gangrene of American politics. Moreover, his office helped convince the FEC to gut the new McCain/Feingold soft-money ban last month. (There have been mincing denials of this, but we don’t see the DNC joining in the suit against the FEC to restore the law, do we?) And then, there's Global Crossings.

Global Crossings is the fiber optic outfit that went from nothing, to multi-mega, to bankrupt in the span of four or five years. Gary Winnick, GC's CEO is (or was) a good friend and heavy contributor to the Clinton/McAuliffe political cartel, just as Enron's Ken Lay is (or was) to George W. Bush. The company was awarded a huge defense contract just as it was about to go bankrupt, but the contract was later called back because of allegations of irregular bidding processes. Terry McAuliffe channeled massive sums from Global Crossings to the Democratic coffers, and during the process made himself about $18 million --180 times his investment -- from Global Crossing's stock in about three years. He sold when the stock was worth around $60. It fell to less than a buck. Congress is "investigating" both Enron and Global Crossings. Heading up the Senate investigations is that fearsome debater and McAuliffe pal, Joe Leiberman. Meanwhile, Enron and GC employees and shareholders are suing for the loss of their pensions and life savings. Oh, and two more things: Global Crossings' accountant was Arthur Andersen, and sham transactions were involved. The little people were again left holding the bag.

And speaking of Enron, whatever happened to that monster scandal? Remember earlier this year, McAuliffe pumping it (like the Harken Energy scandal), saying, “The people out there who are hurt the most are the small people, and once again the wealthy special interests got to take their money off the table and that’s what we need to investigate.” (mid-January interview on CNN) About a week later, the Global Crossings story broke, and Enron fell off of the DNC radar screen...despite the indisputable smoking gun of the California energy manipulation scheme: a traceable $30 billion theft, abetted in public by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney!

So step down, Terry. No one can take you seriously when you preach against "the wealthy special interests." We have met the enemy and they are...just like you.

Bruce F. Cole is a carpenter, songwriter, and political activist living in Camden, Maine. He welcomes email at bccpcole@earthlink.net

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