The Drug Enforcement Agency continued its stretch of crackdowns on the underground steriod industry according to this article in the NY Times. Long Island proved to be a successful stop in the DEA's tour across the country in an attempt to shut down the underground steriod ring that has been supplying users for some time. Agents reported finding over $6.5 million worth of steriods in Long Island alone.
So what does this have to do with political communication? Well it's funny how these crackdowns are taking place after all the steriod allegations that are occuring in the athletic field. Where did these allegations come from? Bingo: The media.
The Feds have recently taken steriod testing among professional athletes into their own hands and have called many alleged steriod users to the stand to testify. Various reporters of the media are responsible for these allegations and this is a great example of how the media can induce federal action. Apparently it took these allegations from reporters to warrant any kind of governmental action, but seriously was there any kind of doubt that this stuff was going on for a while. Apparently we're supposed to be shocked that this type of thing has been going on among professional athletes.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Hillary and her poor fundraising habits
An article in Thursday's edition of the New York Times revealed yet another suspicious fundraising blunder tied to the Hillary Clinton campaign. Norman Hsu, a prominent democratic fund-raiser is currently being charged on counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and violating the Federal Election Campaign Act.
As it turns out this dude has been a fugitive from the law for 15 years now. He is accused of using a Ponzi scheme business tactic urging investors to contribute to certain political candidates and organizations. Clinton's fundraising numbers are pretty impressive but it seems the Clinton name can't stay out of scandals when it comes to their fundraising habits. At some point you have to begin to check out these people before taking money from them.
Meanwhile, John Edwards and Barack Obama are probably loving all of the unwanted attention Hillary is getting every week from these scandals. It's only a matter of time before these types of scandals are pieced together into mud-slinging ad pieces just in time for the primary elections.
As it turns out this dude has been a fugitive from the law for 15 years now. He is accused of using a Ponzi scheme business tactic urging investors to contribute to certain political candidates and organizations. Clinton's fundraising numbers are pretty impressive but it seems the Clinton name can't stay out of scandals when it comes to their fundraising habits. At some point you have to begin to check out these people before taking money from them.
Meanwhile, John Edwards and Barack Obama are probably loving all of the unwanted attention Hillary is getting every week from these scandals. It's only a matter of time before these types of scandals are pieced together into mud-slinging ad pieces just in time for the primary elections.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
At a recent show, musician and firearms supporter, Ted Nugent went off on a tirade using some choice words directed at certain prominent members of Congress including presidential hopefuls Sen. Barack O'Bama and Sen. Hiliary Clinton. As an example, Nugent addressed Sen. Obama by saying "I got something for you , you piece of shit" while carelessly swinging assault rifles in the air. You can watch the clip in its entirety but be forewarned there is profanity and it might cause you to get a tattoo of the flag or something equivalent . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXRxdZIGce4
While this sort of thing wouldn't normally make the news considering the audience probably consisted of only a handful of individuals (most of whom probably agreed with what Nugent had to say), the use of YouTube allows for any and everyone to see these types of things and furthermore is making these individuals accountable for their actions. While I am a firm believer in supporting free speech, Nugent's remarks can very well be construed as threats to these representatives considering the context of his statements and therefore could raise eyebrows from CIA officials.
More importantly, in my opinion, is how this tirade will affect Nugent's political career should he decide to pursue one - Nugent has often hinted around the idea of running for Governor in his home state of Michigan. I can only imagine the attack pieces that his Democratic opponents along with anti-gun groups would piece together if need be. As was the case with George Allen and his reference to a campaign volunteer as "macaca", individuals with any sort of political aspirations must consider the publics ability to post clips that can reach mass audiences in a matter of hours via broadcast hosts like YouTube. The ability of to reach mass audiences like this is what, in my opinion, will eventually garner YouTube the slogan "Killing political careers since 2005".
While this sort of thing wouldn't normally make the news considering the audience probably consisted of only a handful of individuals (most of whom probably agreed with what Nugent had to say), the use of YouTube allows for any and everyone to see these types of things and furthermore is making these individuals accountable for their actions. While I am a firm believer in supporting free speech, Nugent's remarks can very well be construed as threats to these representatives considering the context of his statements and therefore could raise eyebrows from CIA officials.
More importantly, in my opinion, is how this tirade will affect Nugent's political career should he decide to pursue one - Nugent has often hinted around the idea of running for Governor in his home state of Michigan. I can only imagine the attack pieces that his Democratic opponents along with anti-gun groups would piece together if need be. As was the case with George Allen and his reference to a campaign volunteer as "macaca", individuals with any sort of political aspirations must consider the publics ability to post clips that can reach mass audiences in a matter of hours via broadcast hosts like YouTube. The ability of to reach mass audiences like this is what, in my opinion, will eventually garner YouTube the slogan "Killing political careers since 2005".
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