FBI Watched Cranston for Years, Paper Says

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

From Associated Press


FRESNO — The late Sen. Alan Cranston, whose liberal views made him a target of conservatives for much of his public career, was monitored for many years by the FBI, the Fresno Bee reported Monday.

Cranston's hefty FBI file, which the newspaper obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, chronicled investigations and allegations dating from World War II to the early 1990s. Even the most unfounded allegation, a 1974 bribery charge, found a permanent home in the file, the paper said

<snip>
"There were numerous allegations that, while with the Office of War Information, Cranston hired people who were pro-communist," a July 1966 FBI summary stated. "In 1942 and 1943, he was disapproved for service with the Office of Strategic Services because of his alleged communist leanings and associations."

<snip>

In 1979, an angry military veteran threatened to "break the jaws" of several lawmakers, including Cranston. Another warned Cranston in 1982 that "you may see the day when some patriotic American will blow your head off."

Now I see why so many conservatives are against evolution...they really haven't evolved much ..have they?

LA TIMES

More here:
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/7343613p-8266013c.html

[goobergunch]

1. Thank you FBI...

not exactly a fair and balanced angency, are they?

:grr:

[LiberalFighter]

10. Fair and Balanced Interrogation?

Like FAUX's Fair and Balanced News...

which by the way one of my coworkers says that he heard FAUX use Fair news and balanced news instead of Fair and balanced news.

[goobergunch]

11. GACK!

Typical...I misspell "agency" and don't notice until my hour is up.

[NNN0LHI]

2. I just hope this story leads people to understand that between shit ...

...like this and anthrax attacks, especially for those inclined to throw around the "pink tutu" crap at the drop of a hat, that this is what any liberal Democratic official is up against?

Don

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

3. Yes let us not forget this either

And you thought Al Gore had a dicey relationship with the FBI. Well, the bureau had quite a low opinion of the former vice president's father, the late Senator Albert A. Gore. FBI documents obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request show that Gore Sr. was officially blacklisted for nearly 17 years, from 1954 until the Tennessee Democrat left the Senate in 1970.
Gore Sr. was placed on the bureau's shit list (known formally as the "Not to Contact" list) after he branded the FBI a "snooping police agency" that used "guilt by association" tactics to smear innocent people. He made these charges--and others--during a contentious private meeting with a top FBI official, who then dutifully reported back to J. Edgar Hoover that Gore Sr., "without showing any decency or courtesy," ripped the bureau for "the lack of intelligence shown in writing FBI reports" and claimed that Hoover's agency "had fallen considerably in the minds of the American people and that he felt the principal reason was the rumor-mongering and the slander and the gossip that we traded in."

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/goredad1.html

[NNN0LHI]

6. Yea. And it seems like the more liberal they get the heavier they get too

Once someone becomes real liberal in politics there ain't an airplane in the world that can hold one of them up in the air.

Don

[Bozola]

4. A slight clarification

Now I see why so many conservatives are against evolution...they really haven't evolved much ..have they?

Evolution doesn't imply a "goal"; it's just adaptation.

Essentially, when there's great heaping piles of excrement being dumped, the shit-suckers thrive.

[gratuitous]

5. "I haven't done anything wrong; what's the big deal?"

You hear that a lot from the rank suckers who believe that nothing bad will flow from the USA PATRIOT Act, or its proposed Little Brother in Fascism, PATRIOT II. Heck, I'm a law-abiding citizen, don't even jaywalk and hardly ever speed -- why should I worry, I've got nothing to hide.

When as popular a figure as Sen. Cranston can be smeared like this, anonymously and deep in shadows of the governmental recesses, what do you suppose might happen to you or me or any other Joe Schmoe? What committee appointments might Cranston have missed because unfavorable information in his file was passed on to someone who had that decision-making authority? And what defense do you and I have? Are other powerful Senators your friends? On a first name basis with you? Who's going to defend you if the secret arrest provisions are invoked against you?

Remember, it's not your friends in government who are likely to be reviewing your actions, putting a friendly or even a neutral gloss on things. It'll be your worst enemies, trying to build a case against you. Or someone you support. Or someone you care about. Or maybe even someone you hate with a purple passion. But I think we all agree that the rights enumerated in the Constitution should be respected and guaranteed wherever possible. When we can shitcan those rights just on one person's say-so, we're all at risk.

[Bushfire]

7. Did anybody file a FOI request yet on Paul Wellstone?

n/t

[dArKeR]

27. His has surely been cleansed considering they assassinated him.

[David Zephyr]

8. Thanks for This Story.

Cranston, California's then senior Democratic Senator, was tarred and feathers during the Savings and Loan scandal.

What has always amazed me is how Republican Congressman David Drier (also from California), who was one of the Congress' main architects of the Deregulation of the S&L industry, received millions of dollars for cheerleading that disastrous legislation, seemed to never get called out for his criminal behavior.

Neil Bush screwed investors at his Silvarado Savings and Loan due to the Drier's loose laws and never went to prison for it.

Of course, this is no different than Criminal Newt Gingrich's scandalizing the former Speaker of the House, Jim Wright, for a book deal in order to remove Wright from office so that Gingrich could begin his rise in the House to eventually have that position.

Gingrich later had his favorite Political Action Committee, GOPAC, purchase large amounts his very own "book" in a sweetheart deal.

[kclown]

21. Neil Bush: Did I dream this?

Please confirm: was Neil pardoned by Poppy or not?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

22. No he wasn't pardoned by Poppy, he was fined $50,000 by

Poppy's appointee and was said to have an ethical disability after losing 27 billion dollars...tantamount to a slap on the wrist and a pardon.

[David Zephyr]

25. Hi Kclown!

Welcome to the DU. I see that NSMA has your question answered.

:hi:

Neil Bush, like father like son.

[Kbowe]

9. That' s America for you!!!

Love it or leave it!

[SharonAnn]

12. No, I'm staying and I'm working on changing it.

There are more choices than "Love it or leave it".

[Judi Lynn]

13. Not surprised.

He was a fine man.

This is getting to be a familiar pattern, by now. Harrassment and continuous bullying for Democrats who stand up for their beliefs, and great fawning and phoney admiration for Democrats who suck up to Republicans.

Alan Cranston quoted Lao Tsu in "The Role of Civil Society:"

(snip) That sort of leader was described 2,000 years ago by Lao Tsu in the following words: "A leader is best when people barely know that he exists; less good when they obey and acclaim him; worse when they fear and despise him. Fail to honor people and they fail to honor you; but a good leader, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say we did this ourselves." (snip/...)

http://www.wagingpeace.org/articles/01.01/Cranston_TheRoleofCivilSociety.html

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

14. thanks and kicking this back up

[saigon68]

28. The creeps who kept an eye on him are SCUMBAGS

LIKE ALGAE IN THE FOOD CHAIN.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

15. one more kick! This is what liberals must deal with

[aquart]

16. How dare they.

God forbid anyone has a "liberal" thought. Better be crabbed, cruel, and greedy than liberal.

Vile.

[General Discontent]

17. Kickety Kick!

Great article.

I'll be damned if history doesn't keep repeating it self. What a strange coincidence compared to today. I'm beginning to think that it is almost a conspiricy..... (/sarcasm)




D Wolfman

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

20. It really does ring true and is probably happening again

as we speak

[Judi Lynn]

18. Took a run to google to find out if Rush abused Cranston

Found out he called Alan Cranston, a man who ran a lot, and kept in shape, "Alan "the Cadaver" Cranston."

Guess anyone under 700 pounds looks anemic to him.

World's premier @$$#0#&, that Rush.

Bust of Alan Cranston:

[0007]

19. btt

eom

[bobthedrummer]

23. When we have The Headquarters of the FBI and CIA named after

J. Edgar Hoover and George H.W. Bush respectively, we are in lockdown for democracy.

Then there are all the new marvelous intelligence tools for winning the war on terra.
Truth serums and torture
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2002/060402a.html

SOA
http://www.mediafilter.org/caq/caq61/CAQ61manual.html

Non-lethal arsenal
http://www.adacomp.net/~mcherney/nonlethal.html

http://www.datafilter.com/mc/nonlethalWeapons.html

Thought Inference
http://www.datafilter.com/mc/thoughtInference.html

[Cheswick2.0]

24. It would be great to open all these files and let the public

read them. I don't think people beleive this stuff happens. Hell I even have trouble believing it.

[dArKeR]

26. Cranston helped me export sports good to Taiwan.

I left him a Sierra Club card at Hyatt Hotel desk in Taipei. The reseptionist took it, said he's out of the room now but I'll put it in his room box. The card was a 3 sentencer discribing my problem.

I got a call 3 days later from his Taiwan FA escort saying 'Mr. Cranston would do everything in his power to help you when he gets back to Washington.' This was Cranston's why of putting the Taiwan government on notice becaues the FA escort reports back to the Taiwan President who how high level trips went. Cranston was the Senate Whip at the time. (Is that #2 in the Senate?)

Soon after that things began to roll and the Taiwan laws were changed. Off and on I tried to thank him directly but couldn't. I'm still going to visit a direct relative of his and explain the long story how Cranston stopped to help 1 little boy with no connections, no money, no clout, no looks, but only had a dream of America.

After I got the call I just broke down and started crying like a baby for 20 minutes. My Taiwanese girlfriend kept asking why I was sad after everything we'd been working for was now coming together? I said, 'I'm not sad I'm happy'.

It's an unbelievable long story that I think should go into Cranston's history, if it's kept somewhere?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

29. I would get that to them

That is a wonderful testimonial.

[dArKeR]

30. It goes longer than I have time to write. Sorry about the spelling...

(I'm on duty, that' why I can use the internet while at work, as long as I'm here and on watch I can do anything but when a customer needs help I've drop everything. When I return I'm side tracked... I just type as quick as possible and no time to check.)

The story has been told on Taiwan TV, radio, newspapers and magazines. I am between Bruce Wilis and Antonio Ba..... whatever his name is. I come before Wilis in the Esquire.

Anyway, the story has never been told in America. It involved 3 Presidents, 1 VP, and a Secretary of Commerce, 1 Ambassador, GATT, dozens of lower level career officers, State Department, (with hands on). I wrote more than 600 letters to our Governmet. Some of these where using typewriters. I started using PC about in the middle.

It started with Repuke Papa Bush who did absolutely nothing; bastard. I'd take a lie detector test to confirm this too. Repukes don't help anyone but themselves.

My first big letter from Clinton's transition team. Then I got a letter from Gore. Then I got a call from Secretary Brown's office. Then Taiwan President Lee was breathing down my neck for stirring up trouble. (My girlfriend and I joked about being hit. Which you really didn't know back in those days.)

Though, it was all molded into shape I'm sure by Cranston. Until that time I was just someone who was making a lot of noise. And Taiwan wanted to join the WTO so I got a little lucky that career officers really could use this data which Cranston was supplying

The name Peter Cashmen just came to mind. I have to look up what he did!

got to go. I'll scan some of the documents if anyone is interested. Most are at my fathers but I'm 100% I've got some with me. I get the one's from Clinton, Gore and Brown safer at my Dad's.

[dArKeR]

31. Scanned letter from USTR Peter Collins to Senator Boxer, Clinton to me.

http://darkerxdarker.tripod.com/ustrtoboxer.html

or through the index file so you don't get lost
http://darkerxdarker.tripod.com/

I'll pop a few more out there if I have time.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

32. Very cool!

:thumbsup:

[hunter]

33. Hmmm, I wonder if my mom is in that file...

This is mostly a kick, but...

...no mom, NO! I do NOT want to know what you call yourself here at DU. And I do not want to know what sort of steamy political relationship you had with Alan Cranston.

He was a good man, Alan Cranston... once or twice, maybe three times, he pulled my mom's ass out of the fire.

You youngsters here at DU probably don't have a real clear idea of what the world was like in the fifties and sixties. Here's a nice Sam Yorty quote from the Fresno Bee link that describes it:

"You will recall our conversations relative to infiltration of Democratic clubs here in California," then-Rep. Sam Yorty, later the mayor of Los Angeles and a rival of Cranston's, advised FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover in June 1955. "Cranston will try to prevent infiltration. But has Cranston been cleared?"

That sounds quaint, even amusing now, but way back then this was serious. I was just a little kid, and I remember my mom going into these fiery rages, and she would sit down at her typewriter and bang out ten thousand words, and then she would tear them up. (She types fast!)

Oh hell, you don't even want to know...

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

34. Yes yes I do I do!!!!

Tell me more!!11 Sounds like you have the kind of stories I'd like to crack open a bottle of wine and hear all day....I hope your word processor is cranking them out!

I had a prof in college whose family was in a Japanese internment camp. Her family's FBI file became available through FOIA and she brought the info to class for us to review. Items were added to the file LONG after they had been released. Her father lost all his property.

[zekeson]

35. I'm with nothingshocksmeanymore Huner and Darker

I want to hear these stories. Sound like wonderful testimonies to a great man.