Put a fork in Hillary, again

[Tiger in Spain 0]

Woman Once Honored By Clinton Turns Out To Be Drug Dealer

Geraldine Blue Bird Sentenced To 34 Years

PINE RIDGE, S.D. -- In July 1999, President Bill Clinton honored Geraldine Blue Bird for taking in anyone who needed a meal or a place to stay, despite her own poverty.

Twenty-eight adults and children lived in her four-room, dilapidated house and in a trailer out back when Clinton's presidential visit made her a symbol of conditions on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, one of the nation's poorest areas.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier in Rapid City sentenced Blue Bird, 51, to what might be a life prison sentence -- 34 years -- for being a leader in another dire reality of this place where unemployment hovers near 80 percent: drug dealing.

A jury convicted Blue Bird last fall of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in relation to drug trafficking and conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

In short, she was found to host a conspiracy that trafficked an estimated $2 million worth of cocaine from Denver to Nebraska and South Dakota over three years, according to prosecutors.

Twenty-eight people, including family members, have been indicted in the investigation. Most have pleaded guilty and several testified against the leaders, including Blue Bird.

In court Wednesday, Blue Bird minimized her role.

"I'm being held responsible for a lot of things I wasn't involved with," she said. "There are things that I've been accused of and convicted of that I really didn't do."

The evidence suggests otherwise, said U.S. Attorney Marty Jackley.

"She's pretty much the ringleader. It was based out of her home," he told The Associated Press.

Blue Bird's sentencing was delayed several times because she has been in the hospital.

Her 26-year-old son, Colin Spotted Elk, was sentenced in February to 29 years for his part.

At his sentencing, a 15-year-old boy who shot and killed another teenager at Blue Bird's home testified that he and other juveniles held money and distributed drugs for Blue Bird and Spotted Elk.

The boy testified that teenagers packaged drugs with their parents, users traded firearms and sexual favors for cocaine, and toddlers had access to handguns.

He said he helped break up marijuana that Spotted Elk sold and that he cut papers out of magazines that Blue Bird used to repackage cocaine for sale on the street.

Jackley said Blue Bird's 410-month sentence was the culmination of the work of federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement officers and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mara Kohn, who prosecuted Blue Bird.

After Clinton's visit, donations came in from around the country -- and Blue Bird got a new doublewide trailer as a result of all the attention.

The light blue house in the Igloo housing area of Pine Ridge, seized by federal agents, now sits unoccupied and boarded up, next to the smaller place Blue Bird lived in when the president came.

"Clinton gave that (trailer) to her. She didn't use drug money," her granddaughter, Antonia Blue Bird, 26, said last week.

She said she remembers having popcorn, oatmeal and Kool-Aid for meals, and that her grandmother still invited people in if they had no other place to go.

"She gave everybody food. She had a really big heart. She was a really nice person," she said, describing the conditions as dire poverty.

"Maybe that's what triggered it -- not having enough money."

Antonia Blue Bird said she lived in the older house as a child but moved back after her grandmother was arrested.

"I left and she started dealing drugs and became rich," she said.

Jackley, the prosecutor, said poverty is no excuse.

"A financial situation doesn't justify involving oneself and teenagers in a drug conspiracy," he said.

Link

[TexasTiger 13,556]

I hope you can come up with something stronger that jeopardizes Hillary's campaign, but I doubt this is it. I look forward to your legitimate "put a fork in Hillary" thread and hope its sooner rather than later. By contrast, I'd love for Rudy, Mitt or McCain to get the nomination!

Woman Once Honored By Clinton Turns Out To Be Drug Dealer

Geraldine Blue Bird Sentenced To 34 Years

PINE RIDGE, S.D. -- In July 1999, President Bill Clinton honored Geraldine Blue Bird for taking in anyone who needed a meal or a place to stay, despite her own poverty.

Twenty-eight adults and children lived in her four-room, dilapidated house and in a trailer out back when Clinton's presidential visit made her a symbol of conditions on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, one of the nation's poorest areas.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier in Rapid City sentenced Blue Bird, 51, to what might be a life prison sentence -- 34 years -- for being a leader in another dire reality of this place where unemployment hovers near 80 percent: drug dealing.

A jury convicted Blue Bird last fall of conspiracy to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in relation to drug trafficking and conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

In short, she was found to host a conspiracy that trafficked an estimated $2 million worth of cocaine from Denver to Nebraska and South Dakota over three years, according to prosecutors.

Twenty-eight people, including family members, have been indicted in the investigation. Most have pleaded guilty and several testified against the leaders, including Blue Bird.

In court Wednesday, Blue Bird minimized her role.

"I'm being held responsible for a lot of things I wasn't involved with," she said. "There are things that I've been accused of and convicted of that I really didn't do."

The evidence suggests otherwise, said U.S. Attorney Marty Jackley.

"She's pretty much the ringleader. It was based out of her home," he told The Associated Press.

Blue Bird's sentencing was delayed several times because she has been in the hospital.

Her 26-year-old son, Colin Spotted Elk, was sentenced in February to 29 years for his part.

At his sentencing, a 15-year-old boy who shot and killed another teenager at Blue Bird's home testified that he and other juveniles held money and distributed drugs for Blue Bird and Spotted Elk.

The boy testified that teenagers packaged drugs with their parents, users traded firearms and sexual favors for cocaine, and toddlers had access to handguns.

He said he helped break up marijuana that Spotted Elk sold and that he cut papers out of magazines that Blue Bird used to repackage cocaine for sale on the street.

Jackley said Blue Bird's 410-month sentence was the culmination of the work of federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement officers and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mara Kohn, who prosecuted Blue Bird.

After Clinton's visit, donations came in from around the country -- and Blue Bird got a new doublewide trailer as a result of all the attention.

The light blue house in the Igloo housing area of Pine Ridge, seized by federal agents, now sits unoccupied and boarded up, next to the smaller place Blue Bird lived in when the president came.

"Clinton gave that (trailer) to her. She didn't use drug money," her granddaughter, Antonia Blue Bird, 26, said last week.

She said she remembers having popcorn, oatmeal and Kool-Aid for meals, and that her grandmother still invited people in if they had no other place to go.

"She gave everybody food. She had a really big heart. She was a really nice person," she said, describing the conditions as dire poverty.

"Maybe that's what triggered it -- not having enough money."

Antonia Blue Bird said she lived in the older house as a child but moved back after her grandmother was arrested.

"I left and she started dealing drugs and became rich," she said.

Jackley, the prosecutor, said poverty is no excuse.

"A financial situation doesn't justify involving oneself and teenagers in a drug conspiracy," he said.

Link

[Tiger in Spain 0]

My point was to show how idiotic these "put a fork in ____ " threads are, especially when they about something as meaningless as whether a candidate roomed with a gay couple or went hunting 2 times a month rather than 5 times a month.

[TexasTiger 13,556]

My point was to show how idiotic these "put a fork in ____ " threads are, especially when they about something as meaningless as whether a candidate roomed with a gay couple or went hunting 2 times a month rather than 5 times a month.

You obviously didn't read my thread on Romney-- I didn't post about Rudy and the gay couple. Romney calls himself a lifelong hunter one day, the next his campaign says he's been hunting twice-- once at 15 and once last year with donors-- the next day he says he hunts rodents. Putting out mousetraps, I guess. I think Romney's through for several reasons, but I hope I'm wrong. I hope you're right about Hillary, but I don't think she's jumped the shark yet.

[Tiger in Spain 0]

If the latest Zogby poll is any indication, a pretty sizable percentage of Americans see her for the evil person she is. Hopefully, this percentage will steadily grow between now and the election next year.

[AURaptor 1,137]

I'm sure all have forgotten how Bill pardoned some Puerto Rican terrorists ( FALN ) , so Hillary could benefit from the Puerto Rican vote when she ran for the NY Senate seat.

On August 11, 1999, Clinton commuted the sentences of 16 members of FALN, a violent Puerto Rican nationalist group that set off 120 bombs in the United States mostly in New York City and Chicago, convicted for conspiracies to commit robbery, bomb-making, and sedition, as well as for firearms and explosives violations. None of the 16 were convicted of bombings or any crime which injured another person, though they were sentenced with terms ranging from 35 to 105 years in prison for the conviction of conspiracy and sedition. Congress, however, recognizes that the FALN is responsible for "6 deaths and the permanent maiming of dozens of others, including law enforcement officials." All of the 16 had served 19 years or longer in prison, which was a longer sentence than such crimes typically received, according to the White House.[citation needed] Clinton offered clemency, on condition that the prisoners renounce violence, at the appeal of 10 Nobel Peace Prize laureates, President Jimmy Carter, the cardinal of New York, and the archbishop of Puerto Rico. The commutation was opposed by U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons and criticized by many including former victims of FALN terrorist activities, the Fraternal Order of Police, members of Congress, and Hillary Clinton in her campaign for Senator. Congress condemned the action, with a vote of 95-2 in the Senate and 311-41 in the House. The U.S. House Committee on Government Reform held an investigation on the matter, but the Justice Department prevented FBI officials from testifying. President Clinton cited executive privilege for his refusal to turn over some documents to Congress related to his decision to offer clemency to members of the FALN terrorist group.

[Tiger in Spain 0]

Well that was New York City, where 4 out of every 2 voters vote democrat!

[TexasTiger 13,556]

I'm sure all have forgotten how Bill pardoned some Puerto Rican terrorists ( FALN ) , so Hillary could benefit from the Puerto Rican vote when she ran for the NY Senate seat.

Yeah, I'm sure Hillary was sweating the PR vote. But wait! She opposed it!:

First lady opposes presidential clemency for Puerto Rican Nationalists

From CNN White House Correspondent Chris Black

September 5, 1999

Web posted at: 11:34 a.m. EDT (1534 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Sept. 5) -- First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton opposes her husband's offer of clemency to a group of Puerto Rican nationalists saying they took too long to renounce violence.

Howard Wolfson, a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton's U.S. Senate exploratory committee, said Mrs. Clinton felt that the prisoners had waited too long to accept the condition for the commutation of their prison sentences -- the renunciation of any future violent activity.

President Clinton, responding to an appeal for clemency from a number of religious organizations, Puerto Rican politicians and former President Jimmy Carter, offered to commute the sentences of 11 prisoners. He also would reduce the remaining sentences of three others and cancel fines levied against two more. The commutation offer, made August 11, set conditions that included the renunciation of violence.

Each of the prisoners has served more than 19 years, longer than the amount of time usually served for the crimes they were convicted of committing, said White House officials.

None of the prisoners was found guilty of murder, bombing or hurting a person.

Their crimes include armed robbery and illegal weapons possession. Most of the inmates did not have lawyers and refused to defend themselves in court because they did not recognize the authority of the US government.

In a statement Sunday, Mrs. Clinton said three weeks was long enough and the failure to respond to the president's offer in that amount of time "spoke volumes."

Wolfson said Mrs. Clinton now would oppose the clemency offer even if the prisoners renounce violence.

White House officials have said the delay in responding was a logistical problem because the prisoners are scattered in different prisons and belong to different Puerto Rican nationalist groups.

The White House had advised lawyers for the prisoners that they only had a week more, until next Friday at 5 p.m., to respond formally to the clemency offer.

Law enforcement officials and Mrs. Clinton's likely Republican opponent New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani criticized the offer.

Mrs. Clinton also said that she had nothing to do with the original clemency offer. White House officials say the clemency petitions have been in the works for six years. Former White House Counsel Charles Ruff promised the three members of Congress who were leading the appeal for clemency that he would make a recommendation to the president before he left his job this summer.

This is Mrs. Clinton's most recent public break with a policy espoused by her husband. Earlier, she criticized an administration Medicare plan as unhealthy to New York's teaching hospitals.

"She thinks this administration has been great for America and great for New York," said Wolfson. "She supports this administration 99 percent of the time, but there are going to be some instances where there are some disagreements, and that is perfectly appropriate. No two people agree 100 percent of the time."

Wolfson said Mrs. Clinton told her husband she was going to oppose his clemency offer on Saturday while they were at Camp David.

But the prisoners have indeed renounced violence, though their attorney, said Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Illinois. He noted that 10 Nobel Peace Prize winners have joined the effort, as have Jimmy Carter, the cardinal of New York, and the archbishop of Puerto Rico.

"Why would all these leaders...be for people who want to continue violence," he said on NBC's Meet the Press.

Gutierrez said that, had the prisoners defended themselves, they would likely have received concurrent instead of consecutive sentences, and would have been released by now.

[AURaptor 1,137]

She publicly opposed it, of course. We're talking about political animals, Hill and Bill. She couldn't be seen openly to support such an action, but she benefited from it all the same. It's a win/ win for the dynamic duo, who by their very nature are soft on crime and ever playing the political game of 'get the vote'.

And don't ya just love how pardon-gate was swept under the rug by the Clinton white house.

he U.S. House Committee on Government Reform held an investigation on the matter, but the Justice Department prevented FBI officials from testifying. President Clinton cited executive privilege for his refusal to turn over some documents to Congress related to his decision to offer clemency to members of the FALN terrorist group.

[TexasTiger 13,556]

She publicly opposed it, of course. We're talking about political animals, Hill and Bill. She couldn't be seen openly to support such an action, but she benefited from it all the same. It's a win/ win for the dynamic duo, who by their very nature are soft on crime and ever playing the political game of 'get the vote'.

And don't ya just love how pardon-gate was swept under the rug by the Clinton white house.

he U.S. House Committee on Government Reform held an investigation on the matter, but the Justice Department prevented FBI officials from testifying. President Clinton cited executive privilege for his refusal to turn over some documents to Congress related to his decision to offer clemency to members of the FALN terrorist group.

First of all, he didn't pardon them.

Your conspiracy theory assumes that all the PR voters were in on it, since they didn't hold Hillary's public statement opposing it against her.

It also assumes that all PRs agreed with the action.

[AURaptor 1,137]

He did pardon them, that's the whole point. Not much one can say if you're going to dispute that which is such a non issue.

[TexasTiger 13,556]

He did pardon them, that's the whole point. Not much one can say if you're going to dispute that which is such a non issue.

Your wrong, as usual. You don't even understand your own posts.

[AURaptor 1,137]

I'm right, and you know it. This is pointless.

[TexasTiger 13,556]

I'm right, and you know it. This is pointless.

It's pointless for you to post things that conflict with what you claim they say--- but you keep right on doing it!!!

C'mon dude, think! Look it up!

[AURaptor 1,137]

What are you huffing ? You said that Clinton didn't pardon them, when in fact he did exactly that. Or don't you read ?

On August 11, 1999, Clinton commuted the sentences of 16 members of FALN, a violent Puerto Rican nationalist group that set off 120 bombs in the United States mostly in New York City and Chicago

If you're going to be so anal as to fuss over the distinction between a 'pardon' and a 'commutation', then I've wasted more time then I even thought. Take your silly issues w/ the rest of the journalistic world, because they've said 'pardon' in place of 'commuted' routinely.

[TexasTiger 13,556]

What are you huffing ? You said that Clinton didn't pardon them, when in fact he did exactly that. Or don't you read ?

On August 11, 1999, Clinton commuted the sentences of 16 members of FALN, a violent Puerto Rican nationalist group that set off 120 bombs in the United States mostly in New York City and Chicago

If you're going to be so anal as to fuss over the distinction between a 'pardon' and a 'commutation', then I've wasted more time then I even thought. Take your silly issues w/ the rest of the journalistic world, because they've said 'pardon' in place of 'commuted' routinely.

The two are very different. Pardons are forgiveness-- the felony conviction is vacated. Commuting a sentence merely means time served. These guys are now convicted felons who served 19 year sentences.

You said that Clinton didn't pardon them, when in fact he did exactly that.

"Exactly that". You claim "exactness" and then are far from it. Now you blame "journalism" even though the source you cited got it right. You didn't understand the difference. Accept repsonsibility for your own lack of understanding instead of striking out at me for calling you on it.

[AURaptor 1,137]

My my, you're going a LONG way around the bend to try to find something to argue over.

[TexasTiger 13,556]

My my, you're going a LONG way around the bend to try to find something to argue over.

I can't stay ahead of you on that front.