Things I Learn On the Way to Other Things
I wrote a piece a couple days ago about Scooter Libby’s friends getting together to raise dough for his defense fund. The newspaper piece I was commenting on, in its last paragraph, listed ‘former ambassador’ Mel Sembler as being the chairman of the fund. It made me wonder about Mel, who he was and what his interest in Scooter was, and a day or so later I Googled Mel Sembler to see what he was all about.
For the most part, he’s all about some very scary stuff and so is his wife.
The development business he runs isn’t so scary, although his projects seem to leave a bad taste in a lot of people’s mouths, particularly investors and communities who guarantee the bonds. And his ambassadorships are more run-of-the-mill payoffs from the Republican Party than anything out of the ordinary. Sembler’s a wealthy guy and he knows how to get money for Republican politicians, lots of money, money enough that he was put in charge of fundraising for the NRC.
It’s par for the course for both parties to re…