What Buck McKeon, Oliver North and Paula Jones have in common
The Legal Affairs Council (LAC), of Fairfax, Virginia, is the special
interest legal group acting behind the scenes of a dinner party planned for
former LAPD officer Lawrence Powell. Powell, who is serving time for his
role in the Rodney King beating, is about to be released from prison. The
money raised at the dinner will be used to pay his attorneys bills. Buck
McKeon, Mike Antonovich, Paula Boland, and Don Rogers are sponsors of the
dinner.
Despite its innocuous name however, the LAC is one of America's most radical
right-wing organizations whose members employ the tools of racism, smear
campaigns and character assassination to further its agenda.
The LAC first became public when it hosted two other fund raising dinners
for the benefit of Oliver North.
Most of us have burned into our memories the image of North as he stood at
attention in his U. S. Marine Corps uniform, raised his right hand and swore
an oath to tell the truth in his testimony before Congress.
The only problem was, North then proceeded to lie through the gap in his
teeth about his involvement in the Iran-Contra scandal.
The LAC embraced North not to protect his civil rights, but for his
financial gain - after he disgraced his uniform and displayed his
unqualified contempt for the U. S. Congress.
North escaped conviction capitalizing on legal technicalities, and has since
amassed a huge fortune. He even ran for election to the U. S. Senate in
Virginia - due in large part to the help of the LAC.
As a U. S. Congressman, Buck McKeon should be appalled by the aid and
comfort the LAC gave to Oliver North, but to my dismay, he has chosen
instead to be their ally in the Powell dinner.
But the LAC's support for North is not even the worst of their attributes,
for their flyer advertising the Powell dinner stoops so low as to make race
an argument for supporting Powell.
The opening text declares: "O. J. Simpson is a free man, while Larry Powell
has been in prison for 2 years." Since there is absolutely no connection
between the Simpson and Powell trials, the only purpose such a statement can
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have is to point out the racial differences between Powell and Simpson, and
to suggest that Powell should not have been convicted because he is white!
In other documents, the LAC proudly claims to have orchestrated Paula Jones'
lawsuit against President Clinton. The LAC staged Jones' first press
conference and gave her $4,000 towards the cost of filing the suit against
the President. The LAC also represents the Arkansas Troopers who have been
making allegations against the President. Whether or not Jones' suit has
merit, a group such as the LAC would know the President is immune from such
civil actions while in office, and that the charges cannot be disproved for
several years.
The LAC represents the worst in terms of behind-the-scenes political
manipulation. They employ extremism, racism, and character assassination as
tactics. Buck McKeon, Mike Antonovich, Paula Boland, and Don Rogers are
responsible for bringing this group of right-wing whackos to our town.
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