Here’s an update on the bust of the Bush abstinence education mastermind.
The lawyer for Bush’s former top domestic policy advisor, Claude Allen, told a Maryland court that this case was simply “misunderstandings.”
“Misunderstandings?”
Tuesday’s Washington Post notes: “Police said they have been able to document 25 instances in which Allen tried to obtain refunds for items he was seen picking up from shelves at Target and Hecht’s stores in Montgomery by using receipts for identical items he had bought earlier.”
Allen was collecting a salary of more than $160,000 during the period of the following sprees, as reported in the Washington Post:
· On the morning of Dec. 24, Allen was filmed selecting a $237 Kodak printer that he paid for with his Visa card. Hours later he obtained a refund at a Target store in Germantown for an identical printer.
· On Dec. 30, Allen bought a $60 jacket, a $25 pair of pants, two shades worth $15 each and two unspecified items worth $2.50 each. Hours later, he received a $125.94 refund for identical items.
· On Jan. 1, he purchased an $88 RCA stereo at a Target store in Gaithersburg. About an hour later, he was videotaped selecting an identical stereo at a Rockville Target store, and he obtained a refund using a receipt that corresponded to the one from Gaithersburg.”
Of course, the key to this case is the hidden identity of those $2.50 items that Allen hustled.
I fear the paltry sums involved may cost Allen his reputation as a visionary.
Sure, it’s a misunderstanding! If one’s been a feddiecrat and gotten used to stuff being his for the taking, it’s no wonder poor ol’ Allen got confused about the status of merchandise on store shelves. You mean that stuff isn’t there for the taking, too?
If Allen had merely used his federal charge card, instead of his personal credit card, maybe this never would have been an issue…
The Washington Post reported that members of Allen’s church are rallying around him. Perhaps they are praying for a dumb jury.
Unbelievable news from Josh Marshall- he has an “evil twin.”
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007891.php
Josh Marshall’s site has been on the cutting edge on this one. I just hope no one is engaging in ethnic stereotyping on this case.
With this evil twin defense – I am absolutely, positively going to have to lay in some extra chips & dip & brew. I doubt that this will be as much fun as MonicaGate, but I expect there will be some more howlers on this one.
While Marshall does give a free pass to Democrats (for the most part), he is pretty entertaining.
I agree with the lampooning of the federal thieves, but in this case I would comment that I think Allen is mentally ill. I mean, who seriously thinks up this type of behavior and then acts on it?
Everybody considered him sane enough when he was working closely with Bush to help the feds seize more power over Americans. If Bush is willing to nullify the policies that Claude Allen helped advance, I might be willing to applaud dropping the grand theft shoplifting charges.
On the question of the definition of mental illness, I highly recommend the work of Thomas Szasz- http://www.szasz.com/