Is Susan Ralston singing?
A reader asks:
Is Susan Ralston singing?
Inquiring minds want to know. My reader suggests the most likely answer is “Yes.” After all, she:
1. Is in a heap of trouble.
2. Isn’t rich enough to finance a defense against complicated charges.
3. Knows plenty about people much more important than she is, including Rove.
Update … and Grover Norquist.
Author: Mark Kleiman
Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out.
Books:
Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken)
When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist
Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993)
Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989)
UCLA Homepage
Curriculum Vitae
Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com
View all posts by Mark Kleiman
I keep getting my hopes up, and I keep having them dashed…so put me down as cautiously pessimistic on this one.
What's more, Abramoff is singing. If everybody were going down with the ship, she might too (I could imagine a situation where that would happen if everybody knew a cushy lobbying job was coming and their defense were being paid for). But given that he already turned, and that her loyalties are to him (and he's probably the one who got her in trouble in the first place), she'll probably go too.
4. Is expendable and she knows it.
The Link doesn't seem to go anywhere.
She may not be personally rich enough to finance a defense, but don't forget that the Repugs will shell out any amount of $$$ necessary to buy her silence or pay for her defense.
Mark: what is so 'complicated' about failing to follow whatever law it is that bars her from cozying up to the likes of Abramoff? And having worked as a lobbyist, why do you presume she doesn't have money? In any event, seeing as you once again are salivating at the thought of Rove being indicted, do you want a chance of getting even? It's the least I can do for you.