Rep. Al Wynn has already accepted a job with Dickstein Shapiro, a very high-powered, DC lobbying firm. These are just a handful of their many clients:

• AT&T
  
• Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc.
  
• Credit Suisse First Boston LLC
  
• Duke Energy
  
• Electric Power Supply Association
  
• General Motors Corporation
  
• Kraft Foods, Inc.
  
• Lorillard Tobacco Company
  
• Tyson Foods, Inc.
  
• Wachovia Bank, N.A.

If the House votes on telecom immunity, energy or global warming policy, a final version of the farm bill, or a bailout of our nation's utterly irresponsible financial services sector, between now and June when Wynn has said he'll step down, on whose behalf will he be voting?

Join CREW in asking him to step down now, because, at the very least, he hasn't even started his job and he's already out of compliance with the House ethics rules.

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[cross-posted from Free State Politics]

I wish I knew the answer to the question posed by the title. Some of the possible scenarios trouble me, because of the influence clergy traditionally have on (especially) older congregants in their flock (both within and outside African-American communities), and because of some of the, shall we say, less-than-holy relationships some of these pastors have traditionally had with local political machines. Combined with their still-critical role in many communities, especially when abandoned by the leaders theoretically elected to take up their causes - see for example here (PG-specific example) or here (a good explanation from NYC that applies well elswhere in the US, from the late and much-missed Steve Gilliard) - the potential influence of clergy in African-American communities such as PG's should not be dismissed lightly.

What brought this query to mind is an endorsement letter I received from Senator C. Anthony Muse (MD-Sen-26), in support of Congressman Wynn (letter mailing paid for by the Wynn campaign, fyi/fwiw). I've transcribed the letter, and it is provided after the jump. What you should know about good ol' Senator Muse is that he is also Reverend Dr. C. Anthony Muse, pastor of Ark of Safety Christian Church in Upper Marlboro. It probably doesn't hurt that his wife, church Elder Pat Lawson Muse, is the 4pm news co-anchor at DC's NBC affiliate WRC-TV (Channel 4), where she's been an on-air anchor for quite a few years now.

More after the jump...

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Cross-posted from Free State Politics; also posted over at Open Left. Edited from the original.


I haven't received any campaign literature from my Congressman for awhile (first one received Feb-2007 and second one received Jul-2007), so was slightly taken aback to find something from him in my mailbox (rec'd Thursday 17Jan.). And while doing the scanning, image uploading, and editing for this post on that mailer, I received yet another mailer the next day, pretty much on the same theme (I hope to post that one later, in the interest of completeness if nothing else). We'll see what Saturday's mail brings, to see if Mr. Wynn went for the threepeat.

As for Thursday's mailer - it was a single 8.5" x 11" semigloss sheet, card stock (I believe that's the term), printed on front and back. Thumbnail links to scanned images are provided after the jump, but below are descriptions of the basic contents.

FRONT: Heading the page, in large fonts, a statement that "32,360 Support Congressman Wynn's effort to IMPEACH CHENEY", followed by one of the many readily available unflatttering head shots of CrashCart, and some more subdued text in the background concerning Halliburton-related malfeasance. "IRAQ" in large red font is also printed on the front, as a single lonely noun, with no context provided (not that any is needed, though).

BACK: At the top is the statement "Our Quickest Path Out of IRAQ is With Albert Wynn", followed by a photo of a hand touching names on the Vietnam War Memorial, and an invitation to "Support HR 333, Congressman Wynn's Effort to Impeach Vice President Cheney." After that come a number of statements (bullet items in two columns, basically), mostly related to the need to get out of Iraq, hold the Administration to account, and direct money from warfighting to domestic needs.

As promised, images after the jump, along with some commentary...

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[Cross-posted from Free State Politics, and also posted over at Open Left]

Well, this has to be a first. In my 20+ years in MD-04, with Mr. Wynn as my Congressman since 1992, I don't recall ever hearing anything so defensive from him as I did the evening of Weds. 09Jan2008, when I arrived at my PG County residence to find his latest robocall on my answering machine. Here is a transcript of that message, with some additional notes and links after the jump:

Hello, this is Congressman Albert Wynn. My opponents have invested in a massive media campaign of distortions and outright lies. Their ads claim I received vacations paid for by lobbyists. The truth is I was invited by trade associations such as the Railroad Association and minority business organizations to give keynote speeches and participate in panels during overnight and two-day business trips. Next they say I voted myself five pay raises. The truth is, that I and every member from our region voted for a cost-of-living allowance, or COLA, for federal employees. By law, members of Congress automatically receive one-half percent less than federal employees. I'm Albert Wynn, and I just wanted you to know the truth. Thank you.

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[Cross-posted from Free State Politics]


Added 04-Jan-2008: As noted at Free State Politics (original source here), it looks like the endorsement from MSTA/NEA is the real deal. Apparently Mr. Wynn simply jumped the gun in mentioning this in his 31Dec robocall.

It's a disappointment, but not really a surprise given Mr. Wynn's past support for policies advocated by the NEA. Particularly for distressed schools - which PG County has in some quantity - NCLB has been a real burden to teachers, on top of all the other crap they deal with. Having an advocate in Congress who is in the majority party and has some seniority was clearly irresistable. [FWIW, announcement is on Wynn's campaign site, but my quick searches of the MSTA and NEA Websites didn't find anything. Presumably these folks will release their own statements soon.]
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In anticipation of the Feb.12 Maryland primary, featuring a strong challenge from Donna Edwards, a robocall recorded by Congressman Albert Wynn was left on my answering machine on the afternoon of Mon. 31Dec2007. A transcription of this New Years Eve robocall is provided below the fold.

This call was very similar to the robocall I received two weeks ago from Mr. Wynn's campaign (on 19Dec). One difference in this one is that Mr. Wynn claims endorsement by the Maryland State Teachers Association, the Maryland state affiliate of the National Education Association. Because he has made false claims about endorsements in the past, I went to the Websites of these organizations to attempt verification of Mr. Wynn's claims.

I found no statement of endorsement at either organization's site for Mr. Wynn, but it is possible that they simply haven't been posted yet, perhaps due to limited holiday staffing at these organizations' offices; my research capabilities could also be deficient. If any readers have information on MSTA and/or NEA endorsements for Albert Wynn, please let me know in comments (TIA). The only remotely relevant item I could find via a Google search is Matt Stoller's early November post at Daily Kos on Progressive Maryland's endorsement of Donna Edwards, where one of the listed Board of Directors for PM (Betty Weller) is associated with MSTA (Vice President through mid-2009, according to this MSTA site). It should be noted that Mr. Wynn has done some things in Congress that MSTA/NEA support, so an actual formal endorsement by one or both of these organizations is not inconceivable. However, I was just poking around in His Corporateness' campaign website, where I would have thought such a well funded, resource-rich operation would have posted such important endorsements immediately - even during the holiday - but I also came up empty here. Hmm...

The transcript, and some final comments, are below the fold.

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