DEMOCRATS’ MORAL LOW GROUND

Also published on Newsmax.

Liberals hoped that selectively purging their ranks of their rankest elements would give them the moral high ground to drive President Trump from office by declaring him a sexual predator. 

What happened instead was liberals in the media, government, and Hollywood being accused of sexual assault every twenty hours since Harvey Weinstein’s demise.

Americans know who has run our country since the 1930s.  Republicans have simultaneously controlled the Senate, House, and White House only 7 years since the 1932 elections.  Generations of Democrats in power led to generations of abuse.

Hollywood has always been liberal.  In fact, it was infested with Soviet agents.  What was dismissed as John Birch paranoia was proven when the Venona Papers were released from the KGB archives.

The media was liberal, but patriotic, until the 1960s, when it took a hard left turn after the passing of leading owners and publishers.

Left wing dominance of the three sectors that run America allowed for a cesspool of moral turpitude to flourish.  Each protected each other as a code of silence was instituted.  When the perversions or crimes of one of its members was exposed the iron triangle closed ranks stating that such behavior was deplorable, but should not overshadow the person’s advocacy of issues they held dear. 

Most of the time, sexual assault, violence, and exploitation were covered-up and the American public remained ignorant to what was really happening.

In the first twenty-four hours after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the logs of the Presidential Yacht, Sequoia, were removed and destroyed.  As a Navy vessel, the log documented everyone who boarded the ship.  The government log entries for Marilyn Monroe, Natalie Wood, and countless other Kennedy mistresses vanished.  The alteration of the yacht’s master state room, a special slotted door for crew to pass official documents to Kennedy without having to enter during his trysts, was not known until questions were asked during the restoration of the vessel.

There were always “casting couches” in all three sectors.  For decades, Capitol Hill has been notorious for aging Senators and Congressmen picking off attractive staffers, interns, and pages.  Ted Kennedy and Chris Dodd were known for making "waitress sandwiches" in the back rooms of Capitol Hill restaurants. 

In the early 1990s, the House of Representatives sank into a quagmire of sexual and financial corruption.  Conservative media exposure of the Post Office, Bank, Gift Shop, and Restaurant scandals ultimately toppled House Democrats and sent several Members to jail.  The reform team that cleaned-up the decades old mess uncovered countless abuses of power.  It became clear, given the mountains of court orders being signed by the Chief Administrative Officer, that at least a third of House Members were abusing their power to amass fortunes, fuel addictions, or pursue sexual conquests.

This is why the Republican House passed HR 1.  The bill forced the Legislative Branch to comply with all federal laws and regulations it passed.  A new Compliance Office was created to enforce the law while maintaining the Constitutional separation of powers. 

While the Chief Administrative Officer and his team established the office and procedures, other House Members quietly created a secret mechanism for settling claims of harassment, discrimination, and hostile work environments.  This mechanism was tucked up under “Member Services” within the Office of the Clerk.  It was this office that has used tax dollars to settle claims and keep Member predation under wraps.

Recently, a newly elected Democrat Senator was privately admonished by his colleagues for taking more time to find his mistress the best Capitol Hill townhouse than he did on selecting the best committee assignment.  This is a person who boasts about his family values.  This should all end

.

There are steps that need to be taken to drain the sexual swamp in which the self-styled leaders of America wallow.  First and foremost, the practice of using tax dollars to settle claims must end.  There should be no “sovereign immunity” for loutish behavior.  Voters should know what their representative is really doing.

Secondly, those who defended President Clinton during his impeachment, in Congress, in Hollywood, and the media, should never be given a credible forum to attack President Trump relating to sexual issues.  They are hypocrites and forfeited their moral high ground decades ago.

Thirdly, any candidate, of either party, should know that their personal failings will be fair game.  Projecting a loving family in campaign ads, while being an adulterer, should be considered “resume padding”.  They should be held accountable even more than someone who fakes being a veteran or a college graduate.

Holding the powerful accountable must become a major priority in rebuilding America’s civic integrity.

[Scot Faulkner advises corporations and governments on how to save billions of dollars by achieving dramatic and sustainable cost reductions while improving operational and service excellence. He served as the Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives.  He also served on the White House Staff, and as an Executive Branch Appointee.]

CREEPY CONGRESS

#CREEPYCONGRESS  #NAKEDEMPERORS  #DEEPSWAMP

Published in Newsmax.

“Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

The darker side of Washington unfolds around us - Members getting drunk to the point of falling off bar stools and then being dragged to the House Floor to vote; married Members hitting on and picking-up young female staffers and interns; lobbyists bringing attractive female “associates” with them to draw Members to their tables. It was stomach turning. We, sadly, could only shake our heads in amazement and shame. We pledged to rid the House of this culture of moral abandon if we ever got control of the Chamber.

What an insane place it was.  Could the Republicans actually change such a dysfunctional and abusive environment?  A close friend and colleague walked in on his boss having sex with a young female staffer in the middle of his desk. The married Congressman immediately fired this senior legislative aide and warned him that he would make sure he never worked again in Washington if he ever told people the real reason he was let go.

House staffers would relate countless stories of staffers they knew who had to do personal errands and favors for House Members or face immediate dismissal. Tantrums by Members, sometimes resulting in physical harm, sometimes in mass firings of their staffs, were commonplace. Our running joke was that the U.S. House of Representatives was America’s largest adult daycare facility.

We encountered ever stranger evidence of the most corrupt, dysfunctional, and surreal operating environment in any of our professional careers. The fact that this abuse and mayhem was being fueled by public funds appalled all of us.

Every hour that went by unearthed amazing stories of abuse and chaos. Were they fact or fiction?  Some overlapped material already known, but others broke new ground for audacity…this was flagrant abuse of congressional power. “It’s almost too much to bear. What kinds of people are running this place? This is madness!”

The worst stories related to how sexual favors were demanded by both supervisors and Members. They told of how stress and hopelessness led to fist fights and, in one case, a knife fight. They told us of how their supervisors and the Capitol police looked the other way.  Everyone seemed scared of what powerful Members and their handpicked managers would do to them… this sickened us. Was this really happening in America?

These horrific descriptions are excerpts from the book “Naked Emperors” that was published in 2008 [https://www.amazon.com/Naked-Emperors-Failure-Republican-Revolution/dp/0742558819/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1511223742&sr=8-1&keywords=faulkner+%22naked+emperors%22].  It revealed rampant abuse dating back to the 1970s, documented with over 300 footnotes and countless interviews. 

In 2008, the public was not ready to confront just how bad Congress had become.

Thankfully, victims are now more willing to come forward and the media is more willing to believe them.  Decades of damage occurred because few wanted to risk reprisals from the powerful they unmasked. It is tragic to think of all the lives that are forever damaged by not stopping this sooner.  Too many politicians and journalists callously looked the other way. 

Finally, Congress seems to be coming to grips with its institutionalized abuse. House Speaker Paul Ryan has mandated sexual harassment training for both Members and staff.  He is the first Congressional leader saying he is willing to stop the systematic and systemic cover-up of their toxic work environment. 

We can only hope that Ryan and the Republicans are sincere and that the era of Congressional perversion and abuse may finally be over. 

[Scot Faulkner advises corporations and governments on how to save billions of dollars by achieving dramatic and sustainable cost reductions while improving operational and service excellence. He served as the Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives.  He also served on the White House Staff, and as an Executive Branch Appointee.]