Wolfowitz hissed, booed by World Bank staffers

[dancingme]

From the Washington Post

"World Bank President Paul D. Wolfowitz publicly apologized yesterday for the "mistake" of personally orchestrating a high-paying job and guaranteed promotions for a bank employee with whom he is romantically involved, as new details of his role in the arrangement emerged and staff members angrily demanded his resignation.

Wolfowitz attempted to address about 200 staffers gathered in the bank's central atrium but left after some began hissing, booing, and chanting "Resign. . . . Resign." He had approached the gathering after holding a news conference in which he said, "I made a mistake for which I am sorry."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/12/AR2007041201188.html?hpid=artslot

[global1]

1. Everything These Guys Touch Turns To Crap......nt

[ChairmanAgnostic]

7. the anti-midas touch.

how true

[Javaman]

32. read my tag line LOL nt

[NormanYorkstein]

56. Do we even need a World Bank anymore?

China doesn't give a shit about our "World Bank" and even Latin America have their own "Bank of the South" now.

I'm afraid the game is up, sorry. :shrug:

[habitual]

2. this new piece of info on the hissing and booing is worth

a rec from me!! i love it!!!

[dancingme]

6. he will be gone before Gonzo

toast! :toast:

[madokie]

26. closely followed by the two evil one, bush*/cheney*

all but gone by the fourth of july '07, methinks

[crispini]

3. Okay, snicker.

Kind of deserves it really.

[Ninja Jordan]

4. This guy fashions his hair with his own spit, has bunions, and wears socks with holes.

[Jack Sprat]

46. Wolfie got a girlfriend.

He must be paying her a good fortune. ;) I wonder if he will try to kiss her. I bet he is practicing with a mirror.

[raccoon]

5. This post just made my day! K&R. nt

[Robbien]

8. These guys really believe all they have to do is say I am sorry

They don't believe they have to stop doing dirty deeds. They just believe they can get up and say I am sorry and they can continue on their merry way.

Bet getting boo-ed surprised him a bit.

[progressoid]

21. Sadly, that strategy has worked for them until recently.

[hvn_nbr_2]

30. At least he said "I'm sorry that I...", not "I'm sorry that you.."

Usually these guys "apologize" by blaming the people who are wronged or offended. But "made a mistake" should have been "engaged in graft, corruption, cronyism, and nepotism." (Is it nepotism if they're not actually related? I don't have time to look it up now.)

[Why Syzygy]

9. Who the freak CARES

when these creeps are 'sorry'. We KNOW they are sorry. That's why they need to be removed from public 'service' funded by the Public. The service sucks!

Contrition is not a bad thing. But when one has a track record of getting away with as much as one can, much more is required.

[myrna minx]

10. "mis-speaking" "misremembering" "mistake"

These neo-cons sure know how to "mis-step". This was a pleasure to read.

[Hubert Flottz]

11. A lot of people on death row are "sorry" too Paul.

[bdamomma]

12. throw his a$$ out too.

[tanyev]

13. Well, that's working even better than Bolton whipping the UN into shape.

Next half-a$$ed idea?

[TahitiNut]

14. The only 'mistake' he regrets is getting caught.

What is it with some people? Wolfowitz and Imus ... why are THEIR jobs so sacrosanct? For the 'lower 90%' we're constantly reminded that employment is "at will" and NO REASON WHATSOEVER is required to fire us. We've been repeatedly reminded that the U.S. Attorneys serve "at the pleasure of the pResident" and they can be terminated "at will" and at any time.

So why do these people have 'entitlements' instead of jobs? Sure, Imus probably has a contract. (Maybe EVERYONE should have a contract.) Well, here's a newsflash: Termination of employment is not the same as capital punishment ... but it's one helluva lot closer for the working poor than the outrageouosly over-compensated folks like Wolfowitz and Imus.

(Sheesh!!)

[Mad_Dem_X]

27. So true - they're only sorry

when they get caught.

[Cirque du So-What]

15. If WolfSpitWitz is true to neocon form

he'll resist all efforts to remove him from office. He's a dead-ender who will hang on until the bitter end.

Frankly, I was surprised that Revoltin' John Bolton left the UN ambassador post without putting up more of a fight. In the scheme of things, perhaps it wasn't viewed as a very important position.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

16. Wolfspitwitz~ Great name!

Just how does one hiss anyway? How angry does one have to be to get to the hissing stage? LOL. Too funny.

[Supersedeas]

37. Accountability beyond a PR apology is not part of the Bushist ethos

[Yavin4]

17. How Does Someone This Incompetent Get This Far In Life?

It's amazing.

[geomon666]

22. Kissing a whole lot of ass.

That and writing a check every now and then to the right people.

[ginnyinWI]

18. the natives are restless...

It seems everywhere I look people are fed up and not gonna take it anymore! Hearings are being held right and left on everything that's been covered up for years. A good trend!

[lonestarnot]

19. Resign you old looking dude!

No one could make you look younger, not even a plastic surgeon. heh heh heh

[lonestarnot]

20. Wolfowitz the old fart. Old looking toooooo!

[malaise]

24. He's a goner

The World Bank board will run that hypocrite who talks about corruption when he is the most corrupt of the corrupt.
Will probably be today's news dump.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6550995.stm

[The Backlash Cometh]

23. Aha! Finally, evidence of public scorn.

[tetedur]

25. You can't lecture others on corruption and cronyism

when you are insuring your girlfriend gets a $61,000 raise. HA! Heard that comment on NPR this morning. Oh the Hypocrisy!

[kwassa]

28. LOL! this is the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it?

Wolfowitz, a man apparently without judgment of any kind. An international dunce.

[Boo Boo]

29. Kicked for the Comb Licker! /nt

[lonestarnot]

39. accccccccccccccccck!

[Peace Patriot]

31. At least he didn't say "Mistakes were made."

I wonder if staff booing and hissing might be more connected to Wolfowitz's failed policies than to this bit of corruption (in the sea of Bushite/NeoCon corruption). I know in South America country after country is rejecting the World Bank/IMF's ruinous policies and have banded together, with the Bank of the South (started by Venezuela) to bail each other out of World Bank debt, with fierce determination never to get into World Bank debt again, and to foster regional self-determination and cooperation. I know this has taken a big bite out of World Bank operations in South America. It may be happening with other third world countries as well (I don't know the details elsewhere). The World Bank is a tool of Global Corporate Predators for looting and destroying the social programs in third world countries, and opening them to resource and labor exploitation. Perhaps staff wanted to take things in a better direction, and Wolfowitz was installed to prevent that? Or--it may be his role in the unjust, illegal, heinous war on Iraq? A boss who is liked--whom staff approve of generally--wouldn't be booed and hissed over a thing like this, even if they disapproved, even if it was bad, even if it was criminal. Booing and hissing indicates something more is at work here than one bad or corrupt decision. Since it has to do with staff/hiring policy, it could just be that: it was unfair. But I'm thinking it's bigger picture issues.

[Robbien]

36. That is so true.

The Boos are a signal this is the last screwup in a long line of screwups at the World Bank.

A good boss doesn't get booed.

[dancingme]

38. unless it's Bruuuuuuuuce

at a Springsteen concert :-)

[A Simple Game]

40. You are indeed a very generous person.

"A good boss doesn't get booed."?

Even a bad boss doesn't get booed to his face! How bad does the person that can fire you have to be before you get the nerve to boo them to their face?

[Cobalt-60]

57. That phrase should end with a thump or a bang

Mistakes were made = I'm caught and I'm trying to weasel.

[Straight Shooter]

33. Another sterling American, winning hearts and minds around the world.

:sarcasm:

[donco6]

34. Too bad.

Someone's "romantically involved" with HIM? :scared:

[dancingme]

35. I don't think he is divorced yet

was married for years and has 2 children.

[Bucky]

50. Separated in 2001, but still legally married. Apparently thinks withdrawing from marriage means....

...that he'll have to fight them over here.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

42. He's a triple bagger.

That's a double bagger (one sack for your head, one sack for his) and another bigger bag for his body so ya don't have ta look at it!!!

:rofl:

[oasis]

41. The Wolfowitz legacy: Disgrace followed by disgrace.

:puke:

[Horse with no Name]

43. Looks like another petard hoisting is in order. n/t

[Usrename]

44. To become a pariah at the World Bank..

how bad do you have to stink? They just keep outdoing their own evil.

[tabasco]

45. They don't appreciate having one of the Bush mafia foisted on their bank.

There will be no justice until every lying, stinking, corrupt neocon criminal is behind bars. They have infested this Nation and murdered and maimed thousands in their endless greed.

[Rex]

47. Another, 'I get away with it' apology.

Anyone keeping score? I lost count years ago.

[Bucky]

48. My guess is that this isn't as much about his girl friend as about this management skills

Which is not to say the two issues aren't related, of course...

[Marr]

49. This is what happens when you overestimate your own intelligence, and underestimate

everyone elses'.

These guys seem to think they're the masters of the world, and the rest of the populace is nothing but stupid cattle. In fact, they're repeatedly exposed as rather dull-minded men who've been favored by wealth and connections and confused that with intelligence.

[orleans]

51. what an A-HOLE!

"Cave asked that the board release all documents related to the issue, the same step that Wolfowitz requested last night. Among the documents, Cave said, is a 2005 memo from Wolfowitz to the vice president for human resources detailing the terms of Riza's outside assignment, including promotion upon her return to the bank from an upper-middle position to a level equal to bank vice president, "depending on the length of her external service." The agreement said the promotion would be subject to a performance review by a "panel whose membership would be mutually agreed" by human resources officials and Riza.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/12/AR2007041201188_2.html?hpid=artslot

[seasat]

52. Here's a link to the employee comments on Wolfsie

(LINK)


There are hundreds of comments on Wolfsie from World Bank employees compiled by the Government Accountability project. I'd post some of them but it's a scanned image in a PDF and I don't have a very good OCR program. Scroll down to the April 11th post for the comments. They are pissed at him.

Is it just me or does Wolfowitz resemble a demented version of the Keebler Elf?

[Hardrada]

53. I have hissed people, politicians usually, and it is almost an

instinctive thing. Not sometimes really controllable. It is as though you can't stand the person on a very very deep level.

[zonkers]

54. pic of Shaha Riza....

[xxqqqzme]

55. I saw & heard this on BBC World News last night

It was heartwarming to see. I remarked that nothing like that is likely to show up on whorporate media anytime soon.

[anitar1]

58. If he is thrown out of office,perhaps they can find

a cozy little office next to Rummie's in the Pentagon. Spitsowitz must have a brilliant mind they could use. Sarcasm

[bananarepublican]

59. I thought you'd said "pissed and ho'd"! Well that's at the core of 'the' promotion! n/t