{"id":4663,"date":"2011-02-06T00:49:09","date_gmt":"2011-02-06T05:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/?p=4663"},"modified":"2011-02-06T00:50:40","modified_gmt":"2011-02-06T05:50:40","slug":"memory-lane-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/1boringoldman.com\/index.php\/2011\/02\/06\/memory-lane-4\/","title":{"rendered":"memory lane…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
I ran across this piece about Scott Bloch today, a familiar name from the Bush era. It’s not such an important story – just wrangling about his sentence. But it reminds me how crazy things were during the Bush years. He was a Republican operative in charge of the whistle-blower protection office whose job it was to keep the office from functioning. He got in trouble for actually doing his real job in an attempt to cover up for the fact that he hadn’t done his real job. It was really that crazy only a few years ago. Maybe things are confusing now, but the confusion doesn’t hold a candle to the corruption and confusion during Bush’s reign. I’ve revived my post about Bloch from those days below: <\/div>\n
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Bush whistle-blower protector faces jail<\/a>
Washington Post<\/strong>
By Spencer S. Hsu
February 3, 2011<\/div>\n

A federal judge has ruled that the former head of a federal whistle-blower protection office could face at least one month in prison for withholding information from congressional investigators, a decision that could derail a plea deal with prosecutors. Scott J. Bloch pleaded guilty in April to criminal contempt of Congress for withholding that he ordered private technicians to "scrub" computer files at the Office of Special Counsel in December 2006. His sentencing was set for last July, but it was postponed after watchdog groups criticized an arrangement in which Bloch admitted guilt to a single misdemeanor charge that carries a sentence of up to six months in prison, and prosecutors did not oppose his request for probation. <\/p>\n

Groups that advocate ethics in government said that probation would understate the effect of Bloch’s abuses during George W. Bush’s administration. Bloch gained notoriety for ordering the office to erase all references to workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, saying his office lacked the authority to protect gay and lesbian employees. He was removed from the office after a meeting with White House officials in October 2008…<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
This is my post about him from several years ago called send help…<\/font><\/strong><\/a><\/div>\n

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Remember Scott Bloch? This time last year [04\/24\/2007] I read this with high hopes:<\/div>\n