[Photo from the Washington Times]It is no secret that the man named by Governor Charlie Crist to replace the quitter, Senator Mel Martinez, in the U.S. Congress, is a political hack, and an old buddy of Charlie with few pertinent qualifications to be a senator.
This hack's name is George LeMieux. He's a lawyer, working for a Tallahassee firm, Gunster Yoakley.
Now, obviously, just being a lawyer doesn't automatically disqualify him from being a U.S. Senator, although some might argue with that. But, there's not a whole lot more in terms of qualifications: He was Crist's former campaign manager and chief of staff. Oh, he was once the chairman of the Broward Country Republican Party. And also served as a Florida Deputy Attorney General, and his law firm has scored big bucks from the State of Florida over the past several years. That's it.
Except for this tidbit. Seems there was a new high rise hotel/condominium to be built in Miami. Seems the builders wanted cheap labor. That means they didn't want to use Americans and/or union members.
So, they went to Gunster Yoakley. Why they did that is an interesting question, for which I have no answer, other than to suggest that Gunster Yoakley knew how to get things done. And so they did. They arranged to bring in Mexican laborers to build this new high rise hotel/condo.
The Miami Herald puts it this way: Gunster Yoakley arranged to "secure visas for the foreign workers who claimed they had skills lacked by their American counterparts at a time of rising unemployment."
I can just see it now: A bunch of Mexican laborers sitting in a room. A lawyer from Gunster Yoakley stands in front. He asks them: "How many of you have skills lacked by your American counterparts at this time of rising unemployment?"
And they all raise their hands. "Okay," says the lawyer. "We'll get you your visas. You understand, of course, that you won't get paid as much as your American counterparts."
They all grin widely and nod their heads. "Si, Si, comprende, de nada!"
Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-FL) saw fit to meet with union workers to talk about this. It turns out most of them were unemployed. "If you have folks coming in from a foreign country when there are people here who have to pay their bills and have to pay their taxes and are overlooked, that's something that we need to work on," said Meek.
You think?
LeMieux, naturally, claimed to know nothing about the details. "I'm sure the legal work was done correctly."
Spoken, as you might note, like a true Repugnican. Nothing about whether it was proper, ethical, moral, a good thing for the country, but just worried about the legalities.
Just what we don't need, however temporary, in the United States Senate.
You blew it, Charlie!
1 comment:
There must be something in the Republican Parity that allows the office holders to quit, rather that keep their commitment to serve. Is it that the money or perks are not what was expected? Was the job too burdensome? Were they suddenly unable to do the job for some reason? What about their promises to serve. At least Christ will run and if he loses, will serve out his term. Palin quit. The adulterer will not quit but might eventually get impeached. Once upon a time a President was impeached for far less..actually while talking to a Congressman, on his own time, at nite, after hours, while in his private office, allowing a constituent to fulfill one of her high school dreams and ambitions. He was a alert to the duties of his job if needed.
The Governor was no where to be found and was not doing any official business, she was not even an American citizen,
Strange values we manage to come up with, depending upon who is doing what to whom.
Martinez will return to private life, become a millionaire and buy other officials to finish the job he applied for and received. Will he return all perks, refuse all bonuses, retirement, etc? Will we continue to reward him for letting his constituents down? Does anyone care?
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