“Shoplifters of the World, unite and take over“…After resigning under strange circumstances last month, former Dubya administration domestic advisor Claude Allen is arrested and charged with felony theft — i.e., shoplifting, with approximately 25 counts involving $5000 worth of merchandise.(His particular con — Refund Fraud.) When I first heard the story, I felt kinda bad for Allen — I mean, couldn’t he get on board with Safavian, Federici, and the other Dubya administration crooks and at least make some Casino Jack-levels of swag?
Then I read a little more about him: A former aide to notorious race-baiter and national embarrassment Jesse Helms (No, not yet), Allen accused Helms rival Jim Hunt in 1984 of connections to “‘queers,’ ‘radical feminists,’ socialists, and unions.” (In Senate testimony in 2003, he claimed — under oath — that by “queers” he meant “odd” people.) Moreover, fiercely pro-life and anti-contraceptive, Allen has been one of the administraton’s foremost advocates of promoting abstinence programs as the sole way to combat the spread of AIDS and other STDS. (“In February [of 2003] a hundred CDC researchers on sexually transmitted diseases were summoned to Washington by HHS deputy secretary Claude Allen for a daylong affair consisting entirely of speakers extolling abstinence until marriage. There were no panels or workshops, just endless testimonials, including one by a young woman calling herself ‘a born-again virgin.’“) Well, while we’re preaching, Mr. Allen, can I get a witness for the Eighth Commandment? Update: Dubya reacts.
Thanks for the background on this guy’s chequered career. What an all-round tosser! How does this “values crowd” think up such low-life rorting schemes anyway? I wouldn’t be able to devise an enterprise like that if I wanted to. Then again, I’m one of those secular heathens, so my mind doesn’t work like theirs.
often spelled swag as in pirate’s booty; not a German, Yiddish, or Polish term as far as I know
In current usage, schwag means roughly the same thing — see also the urban dictionary. Nevertheless, I’ve changed the spelling to avoid confusion.
swag at present is a music biz/entertainment biz term for free goods; schwag is low grade “boo”
corruption? in the bush administration?? i’m shocked, shocked! whattabunchafucks!!