Will a SBVT be confirmed by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - Fox nomination is for today.

[Mass]

Some people here may have followed the saga of the nomination of Fox, a big SBVT donor, to be Ambassador to Belgium.

The nomination hearing happened a few weeks ago. For those who have missed this part, Bob Geiger has a post remininding the story.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-geiger/kerry-shipmates-dodd-com_b_44399.html

Does A Major Swift-Boat Donor Become An Ambassador This Week?

When the Senate Foreign Relations Committee meets on Wednesday to vote on whether or not to favorably send some routine nominations to the full Senate, there's no hiding that, among the eight people being considered for critical appointments to U.S. agencies, there is one certifiable scumbag who the White House is hoping will slip through the cracks.
...
Sam Fox, of St. Louis, was nominated by George W. Bush in January to be the new U.S. Ambassador to Belgium. It's not unusual in either party for a guy who pumps a lot of money into political campaigns to be rewarded with such a post -- and Fox is certainly a big-time Sugar Daddy for the GOP -- but this guy took that standard up a few notches by donating $50,000 to the Swift Boat Liars, who used fabrications and smears to help derail John Kerry's (D-MA) 2004 presidential campaign.


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And so Fox returns to the committee on Wednesday for a vote that will either kill his nomination or send him to the full Senate for a confirmation vote.

If Fox gets a majority affirmative vote in the committee -- which contains 11 Democrats and 10 Republicans -- he will by definition get the simple majority required to be approved by the full Senate. At which point, I'm sure the people of Belgium will look at us wondering if we sent someone like Fox because one of the GOP's many convicted or suspected felons was not available.

The media has been following the story, though it is a little bit nauseating to read the framing of the MSM, making it sound more like sour grapes than about to what point you can recompense your big donors with juicy appointments when they are both incompetent and morally deficient (watch the moment where Fox explains to Kerry's face he thinks he was a hero in VietNam, but gave to the liar the paltry sum of $50,000 because, when somebody asks him to give, he generally gives.

Here is the video of the hearing:

Kerry_targets_ambassadorial_bid_of_swift_boat_benefactor



Group attacked his war record
Senator John F. Kerry and others say Sam Fox's support for a group that was condemned for spreading misinformation should keep Fox from becoming ambassador to Belgium. Senator John F. Kerry and others say Sam Fox's support for a group that was condemned for spreading misinformation should keep Fox from becoming ambassador to Belgium.

By Rick Klein, Globe Staff | March 28, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Senator John F. Kerry is seeking to stop a major donor to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth -- the conservative group that attacked his war record in the 2004 presidential race -- from becoming ambassador to Belgium, and the senator has enlisted the help of the "band of brothers" who came to his defense.


With the Senate Foreign Relations Committee set today to consider whether to confirm Sam Fox, the nominee, 11 of Kerry's former comrades from Vietnam sent a letter yesterday to committee leaders urging them to defeat Fox's nomination.

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Fox, who gives generously to GOP causes, told the Senate foreign relations committee last month that he was not familiar with the Swift Boat Veterans' anti-Kerry attacks at the time he gave them the money. He said he made the donation to push back against ads financed by independent groups with close ties to Democrats.

But Kerry and other Democrats have questioned that explanation. They said Fox's support for a group that was condemned for spreading misinformation should cost him the ambassadorship.

"This was an outrageous allegation that was made against Senator Kerry," said Senator Christopher J. Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat who serves on the foreign relations committee and is running for president in 2008. "I want people to understand who get involved in this kind of activity: Don't expect to do that and get confirmed for a high post because you've been a big partisan."
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And Bob Geiger has a followup post this morning.

Kerry Shipmates, Dodd Come Out Strong Against Fox Nomination


It shouldn't take this much work to stand up for the truth but, just like they did in 2004, men who actually served with Senator John Kerry in Vietnam are coming forward to affirm their knowledge of the highly-decorated combat Veteran and to again go up against the smear merchants who attacked Kerry during his presidential run.

The occasion this time is the nomination of Sam Fox of St. Louis to be the new American Ambassador to Belgium. While it's sadly not unusual to have an unqualified person, who happens to be a big political donor, rewarded with a diplomatic post, Fox truly ups the ante in that arena by virtue of a whopping $50,000 donation he made to the so-called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004.

"We write to urge the members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to oppose the nomination of Mr. Sam Fox for United States Ambassador to Belgium," reads a letter addressed to Joe Biden (D-DE) and Richard Lugar (R-IN), the Chairman and ranking Republican, respectively, on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

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And leave it to the men who actually served with Kerry in Vietnam to once again point people in the right direction and, in this case, tell 21 Senators on the Foreign Relations Committee the correct way to vote tomorrow.

"In our judgment, those who finance smears and lies of combat veterans don’t deserve to represent America on the world stage. We think too highly of the country we defended in combat to trust America in the hands of someone who would so casually bankroll lies about our combat records," say Kerry's shipmates. "We can’t change history. But the Senate Foreign Relations Committee can make an important, and we hope bipartisan, statement about the truth – and make it clear that in the Senate at least, individuals are held accountable for their political contributions."

So, here is the question: How many other democrats and republicans are going to stand up, like Chris Dodd did, and stronly proclaim their opposition to Fox, because like he said:

"I strongly oppose the nomination of Sam Fox to be U.S. Ambassador to Belgium. U.S. Ambassadors need to be both responsible and credible, and Mr. Fox’s support for an organization known to have spread falsehoods illustrates neither," said Dodd, a candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, in a statement. “Moreover, the fact that Mr. Fox refused to apologize for his behavior during his nomination hearing reinforces my belief that he would not be an acceptable representative for the position of U.S. Ambassador.”

We will probably know that today.

[karynnj]

1. Call your Senator if he is on the SFRC

Late this morning the SFRC will meet to disscuss this. Blocking this guy is not just about Senator Kerry, but what this country considers acceptable.

Senator Coleman at the hearing seemed to say that the SBVT was normal politics, Obama spoke of it as a fraud perpetrated on the country. The question is Is anything sacred? Is the way John Kerry is repaid by his country for risking his life and health that his reputation earned over decades of service was taken through the mud - because his opponents feared that the truth, that he was a genuine war hero, could hurt their candidate who had a questionable national guard record?

The GOP had the power of controlling Congress and the Presidency, the color coded alerts to terrorize the country, and most of the media. To beat Senator Kerry, they still needed corrupt state secretaries of state and this smear campaign to win. Does the Senate have to add insult to injury? At some point, at least the Democrats need to stand up for their 2004 nominee on this. I know that I will absolutely not support any Senator who votes for this guy, unless he admits this was wrong.

[TayTay]

2. They should vote against Fox. Do it for the next Dem nominee

And to let the Repubs know that this type of dirty politics should not be rewarded with plum assignments to Ambassadorial posts. Democrats should unite behind the idea that there are limits to what is acceptable and what is not in public discourse and that the 'politics of personal destruction' is not something to be encouraged.

This nominee is not qualified to be the Ambassador to Belgium. This was demonstrated at his nomination hearing. He knew next to nothing about one of the biggest disputes between this country and Belgium in the 'SWIFT payments' matter and couldn't answer one question fully about the issues of privacy and civil liberties that the case represented. Fox deferred every question of substance on Belgium to his handlers at the White House or the State Dept and demonstrated very clearly that he has little knowledge of that country, what it's concerns are, how it is organized and what the relationship between the Belgian government and the US government is.

This is a political appointee of the Bush Administration. Fox is being rewarded for being a good fundraiser with this post.

[whometense]

3. Just sent Dodd my first donation,

saying it was for backing Kerry up on this.

[Mass]

4. Fox withdrew his candicacy - I guess this is victory by default.