Pardon Me?

Mark Hyman dusts off a five-year-old scandal in a recent commentary, apparently in an attempt to embarrass presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton. Specifically, he brings up the charges that her brother was paid to help get presidential pardons from Bill Clinton in 2001.

(Among the many other distortions in the piece: Hyman says, “Clinton dished out 140 pardons in exchange for payments to family members and associates.” Clinton pardoned 140 people in total. Even if one were to accept Hyman’s allegations that some of Clinton’s pardons were motivated by personal connections and donations, it doesn’t come close to suggesting all of his pardons were so motivated. Just another bit of dishonest and logically flawed argumentation.)

A couple of things are interesting about this. First, one can only wonder what words will be used to describe the pardons that will be gushing out of the Oval Office in January of 2009. If Hillary’s brother getting paid to lobby for pardons is “scandalous,” what adjectives will be needed then?

Second, if the misdeeds of a sibling are enough to tarnish the reputation of a politician, then let’s take a gander at the resume of one Neil Bush:


Silverado—Bailout of the savings and loan on whose board of directors Neil Bush served cost taxpayers:$1 billion.

Ignite! Learning—Neil Bush uses family connections and overseas funding to start an educational software company that is making millions directly from the “No Child Left Behind” policy put in place by . . . hmmmmm . . . who’s the president again?

Boris Berezovsky—a shady Russian “businessman” with whom Neil Bush has had a business relationshp with for many years.

Kopin Corporation—Neil Bush makes suspicious sales of stock in a company he’s been consulting for in 1999.

Sexual escapades—Neil Bush has sexual relations with seveal women in Thailand and Hong Kong, contributing to the end of his marriage.

Of course, these could only tarnish George W. Bush if the president didn’t already have destroyed his credibility as a man of character. Add up all of Neil’s sleaziness, and it doesn’t add up to even the value of a single life of a serviceman or woman lost in Iraq.

And that’s The Counterpoint.

Hyman Index: 5.00