Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Perhaps you are unfamiliar with Kamala Harris, who to my knowledge has worked for Alameda County, the City and County of San Francisco, the State of California, and as a U.S. Senator, but not in private practice. She hasn't left by any door, revolving or otherwise.

This is what I wrote:

"Do you think being a prosecutor and being corporate are two different things? That's a revolving door like any other. Usually, however, it only turns once, when the prosecutor cashes out in the private sector, or when he or she runs for higher office and seeks corporate money to do so."

You're asserting that working for corporate interests as a Senator is not "corporate." OK. Technically, it's not. She remained and if elected President will remain a public official. But I'm comfortable characterizing someone who is soliciting corporate cash (she, Buttigieg, and Biden are top corporate fundraisers, despite her saying she would not accept corporate money), which involves telling corporate donators how your policies will be friendly toward them, as corporate.

DC is full of revolving doors, but usually for political positions. Almost all prosecutors are career people.

In the past two years alone our TV stations have been inundated with stories about Barr and Mueller, two prosecutors who've been back and forth several times.

At state level, where Harris worked, the revolving door spins even more frequently. It's highly common for a local DA to jump into private practice, then get called to run some agency for a few years, then jump back into private practice again. It's an accepted form of resume building.

They tend to move between government service and private practice once, when they leave the former for the latter. That's a turnstile, not a revolving door. I was one of the few exceptions to that rule.

I think you're less unique than you think.

You are totally welcome to dislike her, and I'm sure you have many excellent reasons. But "corporate" is not the word you're looking for.

Yuck. I thought she was a bullshitter, an operator of sorts. I didn't think she was a nihilist/law 'n order psycho.

My adjectives stand adjusted. "Corporate" leanings are the least of her flaws. I think I'll focus on "authoritarian" and nihilistic in the future.

God, she seriously fucking sucks. That reads like something about a right wing Republican.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

This is what I wrote:

"Do you think being a prosecutor and being corporate are two different things? That's a revolving door like any other. Usually, however, it only turns once, when the prosecutor cashes out in the private sector, or when he or she runs for higher office and seeks corporate money to do so."

You're asserting that working for corporate interests as a Senator is not "corporate." OK. Technically, it's not. She remained and if elected President will remain a public official. But I'm comfortable characterizing someone who is soliciting corporate cash (she, Buttigieg, and Biden are top corporate fundraisers, despite her saying she would not accept corporate money), which involves telling corporate donators how your policies will be friendly toward them, as corporate.

No, I'm asserting that it's odd to describe her as "corporate" since AFAIK she has never spend a day working for a corporation. Sure, as a Senator she has taken money from people who work for corporations, but that doesn't really distinguish her from, say, any other Senator. She is my Senator, so you don't have to tell me what she's like. I'm not defending her -- I just think your choice of words is not right.

In the past two years alone our TV stations have been inundated with stories about Barr and Mueller, two prosecutors who've been back and forth several times.

Yes, and they are both political appointees and in DC. If you care to peruse what I wrote again, you will find that I was not unaware of people like Barr and Mueller. I, too, own a TV. It is not common for federal prosecutors *without* political appointments to do that, both because DOJ tends to hire from law schools and because once people start making money and building a practice, they don't chuck both to go back into the government.

At state level, where Harris worked, the revolving door spins even more frequently. It's highly common for a local DA to jump into private practice, then get called to run some agency for a few years, then jump back into private practice again. It's an accepted form of resume building.

I don't doubt that it's common for a local DA, which is usually an elected office, to go back into politics. I think it's much less common for line prosecutors to go to private practice and then return to government employment. Not saying it never happens. It's just much less common.

At any rate, even if you have found in your personal journey that there are "corporate" lawyers who were formerly prosecutors, that's *not* what Kamala Harris did, so it's odd to call her "corporate." Most prom queens were in kindergarten once, but that does not mean you would describe anyone who was in kindergarten as a prom queen.

I think you're less unique than you think.

As Walter Sobchak says to Arthur Digby Sellers, and a good day to you, sir.

Yuck. I thought she was a bullshitter, an operator of sorts. I didn't think she was a nihilist/law 'n order psycho.

My adjectives stand adjusted. "Corporate" leanings are the least of her flaws. I think I'll focus on "authoritarian" and nihilistic in the future.

God, she seriously fucking sucks. That reads like something about a right wing Republican.

I'm happy we could spend this little time together and that I could help you get in touch with your true feelings.