Colombia fires Penn, finds his spin ‘unacceptable’

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Clinton campaign strategist Mark Penn's lobbying work on behalf the Colombian government continues to be a headache for the controversial pollster. His meeting, relating to the pending Colombian trade deal that Hillary Clinton opposes, not only undermined the senator's message, it contradicted his claims about clients with whom he's directly engaged.

In some ways, his Colombian clients made things easier for Penn today: they fired him. (thanks to libra for the heads-up)

Colombia had hired Burson-Marsteller to help it win passage of a bilateral trade agreement with the United States. Mr. Penn, in his capacity as chief executive of Burson-Marsteller, met with Colombia's ambassador to the United States on Monday to discuss prospects for the treaty. Mrs. Clinton has publicly and firmly opposed the deal because of Colombia's history of suppressing trade unions. Many Congressional Democrats and most unions also oppose the treaty, which President Bush supports.

Several union leaders on Friday called on Mrs. Clinton to dismiss Mr. Penn for double-dealing.

Mr. Penn on Friday apologized for meeting with the Colombians, calling it an "error in judgment." The Colombian government said his reaction showed a "lack of respect."

Earlier today, the Colombian government issued a statement announcing its decision to "terminate the contract" with Penn's firm, and calling his remarks yesterday indicative of "a lack of respect to Colombians," which they find "unacceptable."

Ezra noted yesterday, "In 2000, George W. Bush dealt with these problems by insisting Karl Rove step down from his other companies in order to work on the campaign. Clinton has done nothing of the kind, leading to all sorts of huge conflicts of interest. It's time for Clinton to make Penn step down. Either from her campaign, or from his other jobs."

Given the circumstances, I'm not quite sure how he manages to keep wearing any of his various professional hats.

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Where's the outrage from camp Hillary?