Norm Coleman's Scandal du Jour
Team Coleman's Press Conference was meant to address ol' Smokescreen's flip-flop from being a strong advocate for privatizing Social Security to his new (and improved!) position of being a strong advocate of appointing a "blue-ribbon commission" to "study" the idea.
I was at the press conference, and I almost - ALMOST - felt sorry for Cullen Sheehan, Coleman’s spokesman. Where was ol' Smokescreen, himself? Dunno - although it's highly likely the last place Coleman wanted to be was in front of the press, at a presser.
Sheehan tried to claim that even though Coleman called for privatization of Social Security a few years ago, Coleman’s current call for a “blue ribbon panel to study the issue” wasn’t a change of position.
I tell you, I’m not a trained Journalist, so I had a real hard time not laughing out loud at the verbal gymnastics poor Sheehan went through, trying to claim ol’ Smokescreen’s change of position, wasn’t a change of position.
But, the best part of the presser came when the topic switched to ol’ Smokescreen’s scandal du jour, “SuitCase.”
Fortunately, the DFL was there, with a camera. And you can watch! Let's look! Editor's note: This great video has been moved to the next page. Just click on the "read more".
Oh, and that question, voiced at the :54 second mark - “Cullen, whose name is on Senator Coleman’s utility bill in D.C.?” was posed by yours truly, the ol’ TwoPutter...
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Here's The Transcript Of The Video
REPORTER: On a different subject is there a reason that the Senator won’t say whether or not someone else bought some suits for him?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: Rachel, the Senator has reported every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: That wasn’t my question, Cullen.
CULLEN SHEEHAN: The Senator has reported every gift he has ever received. We are not going to respond to unnamed sources on a blog.
REPORTER: So Senator Coleman’s friend has not bought these suits for him? Is that correct?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: The Senator has reported every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: Why would say that? Why wouldn’t you give us an answer, “yes” or “no” on that?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: He’s recorded every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: We haven’t asked whether he has recorded every gift he has ever received and I will take his word that he has recorded every gift he has received. Has he ever received a gift of suits?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: He’s reported every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: If the answer is “no,” then why don’t you say “no”?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: He has reported every gift he has ever received, Rachel.
TwoPuttTommy: Cullen, who’s name is on Senator Coleman’s utility bill in DC?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: Is there any other questions from the Capitol press corps?
REPORTER: What about his, uh, Laurie, Mrs. Coleman’s job at Hays Company? Do you know what she did there?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: Again, they have disclosed everything they need to disclose on the Senate ethics forms.
REPORTER: So the Senator will only go according to the Senate ethics laws, rather, rules rather than answer questions?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: He has done everything that he is required to do, Rachel.
REPORTER: But that is not my question, Cullen.
CULLEN SHEEHAN: But that is my response.
REPORTER: Senator Coleman has talked a lot about campaign finance and transparency. He’ll repeat that: “transparency, transparency, that’s what you need to have.” If there are questions about whether he was a recipient of some very expensive suits and whether those were gifted to him in an appropriate way, why not just clear it all up? Because it is very unclear to us.
CULLEN SHEEHAN: He does that every year as a United States Senator on his Senate disclosure forms.
REPORTER: And will we find information about clothing on those forms?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: If it exceeds a gift limit, yes.
REPORTER: So is it possible that he received these suits and it was below gift limit?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: Uh, the Senator has reported every gift he has ever received.
REPORTER: It’s a little puzzling Cullen, why you won’t say whether or not he received these gifts and I understand that you don’t have respond to everything on blogs but you are getting questions from reporters and I don’t see why you aren’t answering that. Can you explain that a little to me?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: Yeah Rachel, we are not going to respond to unnamed sources on blogs. That is what we are going to do every day from now until election is over. The Senator has disclosed everything that he is required to disclose and recorded everything that he is required to report.
REPORTER: But Cullen if the Senator did nothing wrong here and that is what you are saying then just tell us that and the issue will go away.
CULLEN SHEEHAN: The Senator has reported every gift he’s ever received.
REPORTER: Did the Senator do anything wrong here?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: The Senator has done nothing wrong and reported every gift he’s ever received.
REPORTER: And you don’t know what Mrs. Coleman did for Hays Companies?
CULLEN SHEEHAN: And again whatever has been required to be disclosed about her income and what she does has been disclosed
Thanks!
That was great!! Was "Rachel" Rachel Stassen-Berger (sorry if I misspelled her name)? Based on her Saint Paul Pioneer Press columns, I always thought she was friendly to Norm. If it was R S-B, good for her for asking the hard questions!
About Rachel
I've attended a bunch of pressers, and I can honestly say:
Rachel ain't friendly to nobody.
She asks the tough question of anyone that stands before her. If more journalists were like Rachel, the world would be a better place.
And for the record: the vast majority of Journalists working the capital beat can hardly be called "pushovers" - they are, for the most part, hardworking journalists that are overworked, underpaid, and short on the resources modern democracy requires Journalists to have.
Blame corporate media; NOT the Journalists that toil for it.
I appreciate...
...your first hand assessment. It's refreshing to find out the Minnesota media is tough-minded enough to get to the facts beyond partisan politics.
Well, actually, Mark -
...the Journalists are tough enough to do the work; it's their employers that won't give them the tools to do the heavy lifting.
For instance, earlier I was blogging about republiCon Ron and the amending of previously amended GOP Party Financial Reports to the FEC.
Link here, for a refresher: A "Hypocrite Of The Week" Nominee: republiCon Ron
So, I'm following up on this story, of republiCon Ron either being completely incompetent, or the most corrupt chair of a state political party in the country, with a local Journalist.
And I ask him, "So, when are you guys 'n gals gonna follow up with an analysis of the GOP FEC Reports?"
The answer was a laugh, followed by: "Ummm, we're in the middle of contract negotiations, and we're trying to save jobs. The simple fact of the matter is, we don't do "investigative journalism" anymore; we report when you bloggers do."
I'm not convinced, but I do pay attention when folk talk that the GOP's real goal is to destroy the media.
And it looks like these days, they could be doin' it, one job at a time....
...and a simple fact is, bloggers such as yours truly aren't getting paid, and I don't have the time or resources to do the heavy lifting, either.