I'm starting to like Hermain Cain a little

[IndyPragmatist]

Cain Says He Would Be Ok With Appointing Gay Cabinet Members

TP: Mr. Cain, you recently came under fire for your comments about the kind of people you would appoint to your cabinet. Would you be opposed to appointing an openly gay but qualified person to be in your cabinet?

CAIN: Nope, not at all. I wouldn’t have a problem with that at all. I just want people who are qualified, I want them to believe in the Constitution of the United States of America. So yep, I don’t have a problem with appointing an openly gay person. Because they’re not going to try to put sharia law in our laws.


http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/06/06/238067/cain-says-he-would-be-ok-with-appointing-gay-cabinet-members-because-they-wouldnt-impose-sharia-law/




I would love to see Cain rise the Republican leadership. I don't think he will get the nomination (although I would like to see him), but I would like to see him get involved in the Republican party. We need more people like this. The Republicans aren't going anywhere, so I would prefer them to be led by someone who isn't a bigot, or panders to the religious right.

[KamaAina]

1. Someone who isn't a bigot?

Bzzzzzzzzzzzt! Try again:

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/03/26/153625/herman-cain-muslims/

As the Republican presidential nomination process begins, one GOP candidate is making a name for himself as the Islamophobia candidate: Herman Cain.

Earlier this week, Cain gave an interview to Christianity Today in which he declared that, “based upon the little knowledge that I have of the Muslim religion, you know, they have an objective to convert all infidels or kill them.”

ThinkProgress caught up with the former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza today at the Conservative Principles Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, to discuss his comments further. We asked him, in light of his statements on Islam, would he be comfortable appointing any Muslims in his administration. Rather than skirting the question or hedging his answer, as most presidential aspirants are wont to do, Cain was definitive: “No, I will not”:

:eyes:

[DeadEyeDyck]

14. Herman Cain is a great man

I know him personally. I have been to his home and him to ours. This is a special person whom has been part of my life for the last decade. As a bi-racial, German-born American(Army brat), I have a strong affinity for Mr. Cain. Listen closely, with an open mind to what he says.

[pnwmom]

16. Herman Cain is an Enron-style crook.

http://atlantapost.com/2011/05/25/a-real-reason-to-be-mad-at-herman-cain/

“Cain clearly believes that his pro-business message is what GOP voters want to hear. So much so, in fact, that on Saturday he officially unveiled his candidacy for the 2012 GOP nomination. But scrubbed from Cain’s official story is his long tenure as a director at a Midwest energy corporation named Aquila that, like the infamous Enron Corporation, recklessly drove into the wild west of energy trading and speculation – and ultimately screwed its employees out of tens of millions of dollars,” Mother Jones reports.

According to a massive class action lawsuit against Aquila’s board of directors – including Cain – he allegedly steered employees into heavily investing their retirement savings in company stock, while at the same time shifting their business model from straightforward energy generation to risky energy trading – the kind of corporate greed that infamously brought down Enron, Mother Jones reports. In the suit, it claims that Cain and other top officials violated a 37-year-old federal law that requires employers to responsibly manage the retirement programs for their employees. Their pensions and life savings were lost.

Thus far, Cain has been running as the pro-business candidate who successfully turned around the failing Godfather’s Pizza franchise after working in the corporate offices of the Pillsbury Company. His lack of political experience is always countered by touting his decades’ worth of success in business. Positions at Godfather’s, Pillsbury and his post as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City are listed as part of his official campaign biography. His part in the major downfall of Aquila – where he was on the board of directors for much of the 1990s and early 2000s – is nowhere to be found.

Yes, it is expected for a candidate to try and hide his skeletons, but he should also expect to eventually be exposed. Herman Cain, you are exposed.

http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/05/herman-cain-aquila-lawsuit-2012

According to five lawsuits filed in federal court in 2004, Aquila's board of directors—which Cain joined in 1992—allegedly steered employees into heavily investing their retirement savings in company stock. At the same time, the company shifted its business model from straightforward energy generation to risky energy trading, an unregulated market made infamous by now-defunct Enron. The suits, later folded into a single, massive class action (PDF), alleged that Cain and top company officials violated a 37-year-old federal law requiring that employers manage employees retirement programs responsibly. (Cain's presidential exploratory committee did not respond to a request for comment.)

Founded in 1917 as Green Light and Power, Aquila traditionally made its money operating electric and gas plants and selling the energy they produced. In the years after Cain joined the board, Aquila's earnings climbed, from $254 million in 1995 to $351 million in 1998. Then, in early 1999, the company's leadership decided running power plants wasn't lucrative enough; energy trading and speculation had grown popular, and as the class suit lays out, Aquila wanted a piece of the action.

It was a dangerous move—as a company spokesman later put it, "the risk was huge." In the end, it proved disastrous. Aquila's decision to join Enron, Reliant Energy, and the other heavy-hitters in the energy trading markets would ultimately wipe out 94 percent of Aquila's stock value between 1999 and 2004. The company also faced criticism for using some of the same trading tricks that Enron did as a way to puff up its stock price, the lawsuit says. That included using "roundtrip" trades, a scheme in which Aquila would sell a trading partner some energy and then that partner would sell the same amount back to Aquila, a deal that canceled itself out. In the end, nothing actually changed hands. But it boosted Aquila's trading volume and revenue, sending a positive signal to the markets. The company also engaged in megawatt laundering, or "ricochet" trading, the lawsuit alleges. In such transactions, Aquila and other companies would buy energy from California at a lower capped price, move that energy out of the state, then re-sell it back to California at a higher price for a tidy profit.

But this financial trickery couldn't save a listing ship. In 2002, Aquila teetered on the brink of collapse. And for Aquila's employees, the result of the company's foray into energy trading was devastating: The company's employee retirement fund, overseen by the board of directors, lost more than $200 million in 2002. The reason: At the same time Aquila's executives and directors were investing more and more in highly risky energy speculation, they were selling their employees on the conservative nature of Aquila and pushing them to invest their retirement savings in company stock.

[ProSense]

17. A "great man" who hates Muslims?

A "great man" who wants to deny people religious freedom?

What a crock!

Maybe you can pass it onto your "special person" to stop saying racist, bigoted, intolerant crap in public.

[DeadEyeDyck]

24. Herman is actually my godfather. Yeah, I get the jokes.

My father works for him but I can no longer talk about his role due to Mr. Cain's political aspirations.

Look, so many of you are single issue voters. I, as a black man, get that. But ALL of us are made up of a cacophony of beliefs. What if you have to choose between a candidate that is anti-abortion and pro-gay marriage. His argument is that unborn children and gay males all deserve the same rights. If you are gay, you might sacrifice reproductive rights but if you are gay, it could go the other way. I just received my doctoral hood in International Comms (doctor still sounds funny) so maybe I am accustomed to looking at arguments from a broader perspective.

Look for the biggest good in the candidate. Take all into account. After reading the comments here, I was ready to log off DU and ask Skinner to remove my account. I am not a big DU’er. I have never lied that I joined it as a result of a poly-sci assignment(and I became a Freeper too), but along the way, I found some great friends and a fiancé! I have contributed but never under my account for reasons that I do not care to explain.

This is a special world for me but I will not be able to stay here if Mr. Cain is attacked recklessly, without merit. White people need to learn that bigotry is simply the act of acting without clearly thinking.

Good night and probably good-by.

[Hugabear]

26. Please show us where Herman Cain has been attacked "without merit"

Where are the merit-less attacks on Herman Cain? He is a bigot. He's said repeatedly that he would not appoint a Muslim to federal office, that most Muslims want to institute sharia law. He's an unabashed conservative; he often co-hosts Neil Boortz right-wing radio talk show, where he spews the same right-wing bullshit that so many of his other right-wing propagandists do.

But if you want to sit here and defend a right-wing ultra-conservative bigot, be my guest.

[ProSense]

27. " His argument is that unborn children and gay males all deserve the same rights. "

"If you are gay, you might sacrifice reproductive rights but if you are gay, it could go the other way."

What a strange thing to say.

[Stevenmarc]

33. Well we certainly wouldn't want you to bite the hand that feeds you

Or your family

[pot]

34. Are you saying opposition to Cain is racism?

Are you saying opposition to Cain is racism? And to call out white people?

[butterfly77]

25. Please..

Herman Cain has delusions of grandeur..

[Enrique]

2. but he is a bigot

he was asked this because he previously declared he would never appoint a Muslim.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. He is a bigot.

He's virulently anti-Muslim. And he's just as nasty-fundie as the rest of them, says Jesus was the "perfect conservative." You can like him if you want; I don't. At all.

[Mojeoux]

5. B

arf.

:kick:

[pnwmom]

4. He has a huge business scandal in his past.

That will get more publicity if his campaign starts to take off.

[Ruby the Liberal]

8. Do tell? From his pizza days?

Never heard of the guy before a few weeks ago and haven't bothered to check him out as the clusterfuck on the RW side of the nation is still trying to find its course.

If you find time (or care to bother), can you open a thread to fill us not-paying-attention types in on your thoughts on him?

[pnwmom]

15. Good idea. Here's a link:

http://atlantapost.com/2011/05/25/a-real-reason-to-be-mad-at-herman-cain/

[Ruby the Liberal]

19. Hrm. Interesting!

Bolding mine...

“Cain clearly believes that his pro-business message is what GOP voters want to hear. So much so, in fact, that on Saturday he officially unveiled his candidacy for the 2012 GOP nomination. But scrubbed from Cain’s official story is his long tenure as a director at a Midwest energy corporation named Aquila that, like the infamous Enron Corporation, recklessly drove into the wild west of energy trading and speculation – and ultimately screwed its employees out of tens of millions of dollars,” Mother Jones reports.

According to a massive class action lawsuit against Aquila’s board of directors – including Cain – he allegedly steered employees into heavily investing their retirement savings in company stock, while at the same time shifting their business model from straightforward energy generation to risky energy trading – the kind of corporate greed that infamously brought down Enron, Mother Jones reports. In the suit, it claims that Cain and other top officials violated a 37-year-old federal law that requires employers to responsibly manage the retirement programs for their employees. Their pensions and life savings were lost.

Thus far, Cain has been running as the pro-business candidate who successfully turned around the failing Godfather’s Pizza franchise after working in the corporate offices of the Pillsbury Company. His lack of political experience is always countered by touting his decades’ worth of success in business. Positions at Godfather’s, Pillsbury and his post as chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City are listed as part of his official campaign biography. His part in the major downfall of Aquila – where he was on the board of directors for much of the 1990s and early 2000s – is nowhere to be found.

So, this suit was ERISA-based? Either way, wonder if it still in play.

Thanks for the link! Bookmarked.

[hfojvt]

30. he sounds like kind of a minor player from that snip

he was a member, of what, a twelve person board? That doesn't give him anywhere near total control over the board.

"against Aquila’s board of directors – including Cain – he allegedly steered ..."

Is that line accurate? Should it be "he" or "they"?

Also, I wonder what "steering" means. Did the board have control? Did they encourage employees? Did they provide incentives, like discounted stock prices? Was it a pension fund, or 401Ks?

[Warren DeMontague]

6. Wow. A Republican says something halfway reasonable, quick, give them a trophy.

I'm sorry. Certainly he could be worse, but rising to the level of commonsense, basic human decency "I would appoint one of those gay people, even!" doesn't get you a fucking prize. The fact that the Republican Party is so far gone that anyone making half-sane sounding noises is immediately held up as some kind of reasonableness messiah is merely more evidence that the base of that party is WAY the fuck out to lunch. Witness the shitfit the GOP has any time anyone pro-choice gets close to the nomination.

I don't care which asshole they nominate, it's still going to be an asshole.

[Ruby the Liberal]

7. Warning, Will Roger, Warning

Log Cabin Republicans may agree with us on equal rights, but you do NOT want them infiltrating the right wing of this country. With their single issue stance, they bring neo-con economic and foreign policies, and at what cost?

This would be like Democrats supporting Libertarians. We may agree with them on several issues, but the sum of parts is larger than the whole.

[anneboleyn]

9. Well, he just said he supports "traditional marriage" on CNN, two seconds ago. No gay marriage.

He is being interviewed by Wolf right now, and he's reciting the usual repub talking points. He supports the second amendment (when asked about gun control), "traditional marriage" (when asked about gay marriage), says that Obamacare is a terrible idea, etc. The usual garbage.

[Ruby the Liberal]

13. They can serve in his cabinet, as long as they are single, celibate, and keep it to themselves.

The business version of DADT. Hire the best person for the job, as long as they shut up and toe the party line.

[dorkulon]

10. Watch this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daISg1Hc0ps

[cameozalaznick]

29. Wow, that's just creepy. Nt

[ProSense]

11. Wait

this Herman Cain:

Herman Cain: I’d Rather Defend DOMA Than Protect Religious Liberty

The guy is a nightmare when it comes to civil rights.

His recent comment, which isn't any less depraved, is probably designed to ease the outrage over his previous statement about Muslims.

[DCBob]

12. Ask him about how he feels about the gay lifestyle and gay marriage..

I suspect he will hmmm and haw.. and give some vague response that cannot be interpreted... that is if he wants to win GOP nomination.

[TygrBright]

18. The Hermanator! My man! A Cain/Sanctorectum ticket is my DREAM! n/t

[Army of Dawgness]

20. I've met him and like him very much.

He's not so much pro-business as he is pro-consumer but I'm afraid no distinction will be made.

I wish he would drop a lot of his religious overtones during his speeches but I doubt that will happen given who he's courting right now.

[Raschel]

23. Yeah, he's not much pro-business. Just a loveable humanitarian.

And why are you afraid no distinction will be made? Are you voting Republican?

[Raschel]

21. I don't like the Pizza Man. He's always angry and talking really fast because he's saying nothing of

substance.

[Hugabear]

28. I have a feeling that Pizza Man will be responsible for a few Tombstones over the next few months

Kinda fitting, if you think of it.

[Raschel]

22. Maybe he just hates everybody since he's willing to throw old people and the infirm over the cliff.

"We have to go from an entitlement society, to an empowerment society.......... And Representative Ryan's proposed budget is a great start in that direction. "

[classysassy]

31. Come on folks

we all know the brutha dosen't stand a chance of getting elected.

[FLAprogressive]

32. sharia law?!?!?! lolololol Pizza Boy is a nut