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Another NY paper writes about the AAR kerfuffle

P

PW

Better late than never, I guess (excerpt):

Mr. Franken took up the issue on the air on Monday afternoon, telling his listeners that Mr. Cohen was "a crook" who had borrowed money from Gloria Wise.

"I don't know why he did it," Mr. Franken said, according to a transcript of the broadcast made by the Department of Investigation. "I don't know where the money went. I don't know if it was used for operations. I think he was borrowing from Peter to pay Paul."

Mr. Franken also said that the network's new owners "don't legally have to pay it back" - referring to the loans - "because we're a different company or something."

"But morally we do," he said.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/nyregion/12network.html

It's kind of interesting that although we are assured by some here that Piquant LLC is not being investigated, the DOI is taping and transcribing AAR. Maybe they are just Franken fans.
 
> Better late than never, I guess (excerpt):
>
> Mr. Franken took up the issue on the air on Monday
> afternoon, telling his listeners that Mr. Cohen was "a
> crook" who had borrowed money from Gloria Wise.
>
> "I don't know why he did it," Mr. Franken said, according to
> a transcript of the broadcast made by the Department of
> Investigation. "I don't know where the money went. I don't
> know if it was used for operations. I think he was borrowing
> from Peter to pay Paul."
>
> Mr. Franken also said that the network's new owners "don't
> legally have to pay it back" - referring to the loans -
> "because we're a different company or something."
>
> "But morally we do," he said.
>
> Link:
> http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/12/nyregion/12network.html
>
> It's kind of interesting that although we are assured by
> some here that Piquant LLC is not being investigated, the
> DOI is taping and transcribing AAR. Maybe they are just
> Franken fans.
>

I've tried to keep out of this whole thing, because I think the media and commentators are being very "loose" and reckless with their language and description of what happened.

I will agree that the NY Times should not have taken so long to print their FIRST story on it--they normally jump on any investigation where Eliot Spitzer is even remotely involved. I'm not saying the Grey Lady should have run updates every day like the Post, but when the story first got legs, the Times should have written a short thing on it, maybe on A21, in the Local section.

I feel for Franken (never thought I'd say those words!)--he's being slimed as part of this thing. Evan Cohen lied to AAR investors, employees, and to the Gloria Wise group. He's the one with the problem. Franken wasn't being paid at all in the first days; therefore, it logically follows that the Gloria Wise money never went to him, and even if some did, he didn't know where it came from.

So, long and short of it--nice that the Times finally reported; but this is NOT an Air America story (except tangentially), it's an Evan Cohen story.

(By the way, the "Republican operative" line is getting old. He was, yes. But much like AAR is not responsible for the mess here, neither is the whole Republican party reposible for the fraud, or for Cohen's (BLEEP)-ness.)

That said, let's finally end this whole messy affair until some definition comes of the whole thing--i.e., let's post again when Cohen is indicted, or sued.
 
Re: Another NY paper writes about the Cohen kerfuffle

> It's kind of interesting that although we are assured by
> some here that Piquant LLC is not being investigated, the
> DOI is taping and transcribing AAR. Maybe they are just
> Franken fans.

Of course, the articles that you have linked to here have said the same thing -- that Piquant is not being "investigated." But Franken also worked for Progress Media -- and the city investigators, who work for a Republican administration, are obviously interested in what he knows about the actions of former Republican operative Evan Cohen.
 
YAWN

I just wonder what your bone with AAR is....what ever it is....you got it bad...
oh well nothing new
 
Re: Another NY paper writes about the Cohen kerfuffle

> So, long and short of it--nice that the Times finally
> reported; but this is NOT an Air America story (except
> tangentially), it's an Evan Cohen story.
>
> (By the way, the "Republican operative" line is getting old.
> He was, yes. But much like AAR is not responsible for the
> mess here, neither is the whole Republican party reposible
> for the fraud, or for Cohen's (BLEEP)-ness.)

I've been using the line because one of the right-wing's talking points has been that, while liberals talk about helping the poor and down-trodden, they supposedly stole from a boys and girls club to prop up their liberal network. But it was actually a former Republican operative, not "liberals," who allegedly stole the money involved. That's not an indictment of "the whole Republican party" -- it's an indictment of one slimy Republican con man.

There are some who suggest that Cohen talked his way into controlling the original Air America in order to destroy it -- and whether that was a deliberate strategy or not, he almost succeeded.
 
Hey, it's the Times! The New York Times

PW, for days now you have been bitching, whining, moan, complaining and kvetching about how the Times has not had an article about this story. Now they've done something with it. And you try to bury any reference to the Times in the URL.

Also, you so-called "excerpt" is misleading. The article is a complete summary of the entire story to date (of which Franken's comment is only a small part near the end of the article).

OK, you've got your point of view. Fine. It's one thing selectively to use information to support it. It's another to distort in order to grind your axe.

Are you going to tell us what it is with you and Air America? Or should we just conclude from your posts that you are an ideologue with no tolerance for viewpoints other than his own?

From Merriam-Webster: kerfuffle n. Disturbance. Fuss.
 
Re: Another NY paper writes about the Cohen kerfuffle

> > So, long and short of it--nice that the Times finally
> > reported; but this is NOT an Air America story (except
> > tangentially), it's an Evan Cohen story.
> >
> > (By the way, the "Republican operative" line is getting
> old.
> > He was, yes. But much like AAR is not responsible for
> the
> > mess here, neither is the whole Republican party reposible
>
> > for the fraud, or for Cohen's (BLEEP)-ness.)
>
> I've been using the line because one of the right-wing's
> talking points has been that, while liberals talk about
> helping the poor and down-trodden, they supposedly stole
> from a boys and girls club to prop up their liberal network.
> But it was actually a former Republican operative, not
> "liberals," who allegedly stole the money involved. That's
> not an indictment of "the whole Republican party" -- it's an
> indictment of one slimy Republican con man.

Fair points, though I think Cohen's well-described just being a "slimy con man" and his past Republican tactics shouldn't enter into it now. But I see your point.

I also think it's pretty telling that National Review, the prime journal of conservative thought and opinion, from what I've seen, has no more than 5 comments or posts on the Gloria Wise-Cohen thing since the start, including one by NY Post columnist John Podhoretz that supported Franken, and explained that this whole matter is about Cohen's misdeeds--not Franken or AAR. So, it's not a *vast* right-wing thing; maybe just a hard-on among right-wing, lesser bloggers.

> There are some who suggest that Cohen talked his way into
> controlling the original Air America in order to destroy it
> -- and whether that was a deliberate strategy or not, he
> almost succeeded.
>

It's possible, though it's probably more the fact that Cohen is a morally corrupt jackass and a fraud, regardless of his political leanings. Mind you, it doesn't speak well of my party's screening process that he could "operate" for the GOP.

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Johnny Morgan on 08/12/05 03:49 PM.</FONT></P>
 
Re: Another NY paper writes about the Cohen kerfuffle

I'm not necessarily referring to your comments, but it's dismaying to note the politicization of what are in fact alleged crimes.

Is this, as someone opined on this board, a petty scandal? Yes. I would argue that the public smearing of Dave Universal is is even more petty yet more heavily covered by New York media.

And if it is inspired by Republicans, why has Democrat Eliot Spitzer decided to sign on to an investigation? Sure he'll take his publicity any way he can get it but he risks alienating potential donors.<P ID="signature">______________
<a href="http://saltydog.5gigs.com">
The Salty Dog</a>
</P>
 
> It's kind of interesting that although we are assured by
> some here that Piquant LLC is not being investigated, the
> DOI is taping and transcribing AAR. Maybe they are just
> Franken fans.

No, it's not interesting at all. Making the assumption that a transcript means there is an investigation into Piquant is another taffy pull.

"Between love and madness lies Obsession." - Calvin Klein
 
Re: Another NY paper writes about the Cohen kerfuffle

> And if it is inspired by Republicans, why has Democrat Eliot
> Spitzer decided to sign on to an investigation? Sure he'll
> take his publicity any way he can get it but he risks
> alienating potential donors.
>
What potential donors? Evan Cohen? The other con men who ran the Gloria Wise organiztion and paid themselves big bucks? This is an investigation of the misuse of charity funds, some of which went to Cohen and some of which went to others. Why would potenital donors to Spitzer be put off by that?

You seem to be buying into the right-wing talking point that this scandal somehow reflects badly on "liberals." Actually it reflects badly on con men, led by one who is NOT a "liberal," but rather the former chief of staff for a Republican governor.
 
Re: Another NY paper writes about the Cohen kerfuffle

> What potential donors? Evan Cohen?
I wasn't talking about anyone specific. The potential donors I referred to are any well-heeled Democrats who might otherwise be inclined to help Eliott Sptizer's political aspirations. I don't think they'd appreciate him helping Republicans hype a case that has no merit. Where did I
get that idea? From reading some of the posts aimed at PW.
I presume that he Spitzer has no reason to investigate other than he suspects a crime may have been committed.

> This is an investigation of the misuse of charity funds
That was the point I was trying to make and apparently not doing a very good job. It IS a story about a misuse of funds. So why is there so much political back-and-forth on this story? PW puts up what I take to be a politically-motivated headline about it but, instead of ignoring him, others get defensive about it which is what I don't understand. It doesn't appear to reflect on Air America until people become sensitive about it and argue back. So if you have a Republican
arguing on one side, and Democrats on the other, it's no longer just about a crime. It should be though.

> You seem to be buying into the right-wing talking point that this scandal somehow reflects badly on "liberals."
If that’s what you got out of it, my writing is worse than I thought. As completely ill-informed as I may be, my observations are based exclusively on things I read here.<P ID="signature">______________
<a href="http://saltydog.5gigs.com">
The Salty Dog</a>
</P>
 
Re: Another NY paper writes about the Cohen kerfuffle

> > What potential donors? Evan Cohen?
> I wasn't talking about anyone specific. The potential donors
> I referred to are any well-heeled Democrats who might
> otherwise be inclined to help Eliott Sptizer's political
> aspirations. I don't think they'd appreciate him helping
> Republicans hype a case that has no merit.

But who says the case "has no merit?" It sounds as if the case against Evan Cohen and others who were in control at Gloria Wise has plenty of merit. But what DOES have "no merit" is the suggestion by PW, Brian Maloney, The New York Post, NewsMax, the Washington Times, Michelle Malkin, and others on the far-right that this is a case against Air America, Al Franken, or liberals in general. All the liberals I know would cheer Spitzer on if he sent some people to jail for ripping off a charity. In fact, that would probably inspire them to DONATE money to him, not withhold donations.

> > This is an investigation of the misuse of charity funds
> That was the point I was trying to make and apparently not
> doing a very good job. It IS a story about a misuse of
> funds. So why is there so much political back-and-forth on
> this story? PW puts up what I take to be a
> politically-motivated headline about it but, instead of
> ignoring him, others get defensive about it which is what I
> don't understand. It doesn't appear to reflect on Air
> America until people become sensitive about it and argue
> back.

No, if PW puts up misleading, politically-slanted garbage from the right, those of us who set the record straight are doing just that, setting the record straight. His POSTS made it seem as if the investigation reflected badly on Air America, not our reactions to them.

> As completely ill-informed as I may be, my
> observations are based exclusively on things I read here.

And if all you know about this matter was what you read from PW's postings, you'd be completely ill-informed.
 
Re: Another NY paper writes about the Cohen kerfuffle

> And if all you know about this matter was what you read from
> PW's postings, you'd be completely ill-informed.

I've read both sides but I'll leave it to you guys to hash it out. <P ID="signature">______________
<a href="http://saltydog.5gigs.com">
The Salty Dog</a>
</P>
 
Re: Another NY paper writes about the Cohen kerfuffle

> This is an investigation of the misuse of charity funds
> That was the point I was trying to make and apparently not
> doing a very good job. It IS a story about a misuse of
> funds. So why is there so much political back-and-forth on
> this story? PW puts up what I take to be a
> politically-motivated headline about it but, instead of
> ignoring him, others get defensive about it which is what I
> don't understand.

I haven't seen anyone who defends Air America Radio attacking the investigation or even the concept of an investigation. In fact, most of us agree Evan Cohen is a sleazebag who needs to get a top dollar lawyer.

What we do respond to are the biased and selective reports about the investigation which have clumsily attempted to implicate AAR itself in the scandal. PW has an agenda. His earlier stuff came from the same sources that we're saying Al Franken is stealing food and money from the poor. There is a focused effort by right wing blogs and Newsmax-type sites to draw a line between the DOI and AAR/Piquant as it exists today. The only problem they have is that it's totally false. That has never stopped them before, and this site now suffers from the daily post blizzard from PW's one man band to try and keep the fire burning. Unfortunately for him, like a cigarette in the rain, one drop puts out the flame.
 
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