Rossputin.com Rational Thinking About Our World

This is the sixth in a series of articles responding to three front-page articles in the Denver Post by reporter Michael Riley which attack former Congressman and current Senate candidate Bob Schaffer for a fact-finding trip Schaffer took to the Northern Marianas Islands (“CNMI”) in 1999. It is the second of two notes responding to the Post's second article, dated April 11, 2008.

In case Abramoff isn’t a bad enough name, let’s throw in Tom Delay

Riley then moves on to try to taint Schaffer with the unpopular Tom DeLay, mentioning that DeLay had helped Ben Fitial become Speaker and mentioning an aide of DeLay’s who “was later mentioned in plea agreements…involving Abramoff.” What any of this has to do with Schaffer’s friendship with and endorsement of Benigno Fitial is beyond my grasp. What is clear is the obvious goal of the Denver Post and their reporter to imply corruption by Bob Schaffer without a shred of evidence and without any cause to believe that Schaffer did anything other than exactly what he said he did, for the reasons he said he did.

I asked Governor Fitial about Tom DeLay, to which he responded “I never spoke with Tom DeLay about this (election for the Speakership) or anything other than to help the CNMI.” Fitial reemphasized the point, saying “The only thing I spoke to Tom DeLay about was to help stave off federalization.”

“Congressional letterhead”?

One of the most objectionable and telling pieces of Riley’s “reporting” was his repetition of a left-wing blog’s claim that Schaffer’s endorsement letter was on official “congressional letterhead.” This claim is particularly odious, not only because is it patently false, but because it would also represent a violation of a rule which Congress and Schaffer take very seriously. Schaffer’s endorsement letter can be seen HERE whereas an example of official letterhead (from a current member of Congress) can be seen HERE. Official letterhead for a House members says “Congress of the United States” at the top, and usually “House of Representatives” just below that, like this:

Schaffer’s endorsement letter was not on official congressional letterhead, and the Post reporter’s repetition of that claim implies what the rest of his series of articles demonstrates, namely that he re-wrote and re-printed Democratic talking points which were apparently fed to him by various sources opposed to Bob Schaffer’s Senate candidacy.

Other Republican endorsements of Benigno Fitial

Fitial was indeed endorsed by at least two other Republicans…again, not part of any conspiracy but because they shared each other’s political agendas and their desire to prevent the unions and Democrats from destroying the CNMI economy by destroying its garment industry. Fitial had met a large number of Republicans on a visit to Washington, DC, in 2000, after the “Murkowski Bill” had passed the Senate and Fitial was lobbying the majority party to keep the bill from passing in the House. In a meeting with the Republican Conference, Fitial pleaded with the House Republicans: “Please do not kill the poor people of the CNMI by allowing federalization legislation to pass.”

Again, this was all about the issues, not about Abramoff, DeLay, or anything other than a dedicated public servant doing all he could to counteract what Fitial calls “the venom” of the Democrats leading the charge against the CNMI.

Benigno Fitial and Bob Schaffer endorsed and supported each other because they share views of the proper role of government in society and of the importance of a free-market economy. They are men committed to the “service” aspect of public service. Fitial, in describing his endorsement of Bob Schaffer, called him “the most honest man I have ever met in government” and noted that “nobody who knows Schaffer could conceive of his being involved in anything improper.”

The Post’s outrageous attempt to smear both Schaffer and Fitial with the names of Abramoff and DeLay, and with irrelevant but juicy-sounding innuendo, are beneath contempt and below any standard of professional journalism.

This series will continue with a rebuttal of Mike Riley’s third hit-piece against Bob Schaffer, including laying out the massive corruption of anti-CNMI forces inside the Clinton Administration and at a major law firm which turned its guns on the CNMI’s garment industry.