# Let's pretend Norman Hsu is a Republican **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 7, 2007, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382 "2007-09-07T16:54:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Brainiac4](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brainiac4/32/3534_2.png) [@Brainiac4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac4)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/61 "2007-09-08T01:27:03Z")
I think Wonkette summed up the Hsu story best: > [@](#): > > Big-time Hillary donor Norman Hsu is, apparently, a felon. California wants him for fraud — he pleaded guilty 15 years ago, and then managed the most effective and yet laziest escape ever from the long arms of the law, by simply not showing up to jail or something. Despite his three-year jail sentence for grand theft, California authorities were totally unable to find the man whose pictures appeared on websites attending numerous fundraisers — that he hosted. Naturally, the Republicans are jumping all over this. By… calling Hsu a Chinese spy. Because he’s Asian. Their evidence: other Asian people have also donated to Hillary. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/62 "2007-09-08T01:28:16Z")
Right, fact checking. Well, it would be convenient to dismiss this as hyperventilating by the right wing press, but the [Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/03/AR2007090301082.html) cracked open the Hsu-Paw barrel of fish and smelled the same rotting mackerel: > [@](#): > > Mr. Hsu has been a bountiful bundler for Democratic candidates; this election, he is one of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s “Hillraisers,” a fundraiser who has pledged to bring in $100,000 or more. Mr. Hsu, it turns out, is a fugitive from justice (or, that is, he was until he was taken into custody last week and then released on bail), having failed to show up in 1992 for a sentencing hearing on grand theft charges stemming from an improbable-sounding Ponzi scheme involving nonexistent latex gloves. > > A report by Brody Mullins in the Wall Street Journal last week also raised questions about the legitimacy of donations steered to the Clinton campaign by Mr. Hsu. The Journal reported that six members of a family linked to Mr. Hsu, the Paw family of Daly City, Calif., donated $45,000 to Ms. Clinton since 2005 – and $200,000 to Democrats overall during that period. The Paws’ apparent financial circumstances – their house was recently refinanced for $270,000 and the family patriarch, William Paw, is a mail carrier – calls into doubt their ability to make such generous contributions on their own. It is illegal to reimburse others for making political donations. > > …These episodes underscore the importance of disclosing bundlers, and they reveal the inadequacy of the current state of affairs, in which no such reporting is required and what reporting does occur is sporadic, insufficient and inaccessible. Incidentally, a query [here](http://www.fec.gov/finance/disclosure/advindsea.shtml) will reveal just how much the Paws have donated over the years. Now, again, the Paws are people living in modest means in Daly City. Their donations to various Democrats are at a level that millionaire activists would make. The money has to come from somewhere, and these folks don’t seem to have it. And they know a guy who does and made big donations to the same folks they did, and who has a reputation as a bundler. All this is why various Democrats are scrambling to rid themselves of Paw money as well as Hsu cash. Now, what can they see that you can’t? ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/63 "2007-09-08T01:29:38Z")
Anyone hear the story about that weird Republican who was convicted of grand theft 16 years ago, and then was recently discovered raising campaign funds for the Democrats? That’s pretty bizarre, isn’t it? Supposedly the Democrats are returning those funds or donating them to charity. Can’t say as I blame them. Still, it’s kind of refreshing to see a Republican involved in an old-fashioned, purely financial scandal that doesn’t involve details like invading other countries, spying on citizens, torture, or illegal gay sex, isn’t it? This one insane Republican reportedly bilked his investors out of 1 million dollars. On the other hand, the Iraq debacle has cost America well over 400 billion dollars so far, or roughly 200 million dollars a day. Eventually it’ll be cheaper for America to pay every Republican a million dollars to stay out of politics. Hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/64 "2007-09-08T01:32:04Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] Eventually it’ll be cheaper for America to pay every Republican a million dollars to stay out of politics. [/QUOTE] I don’t like you folks all that much. A routing and account number can easily be provided. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/65 "2007-09-08T01:41:49Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] I don’t like you folks all that much. A routing and account number can easily be provided. 😉 [/QUOTE] Excellent! Keep in mind, though: once the details of the arrangement are finalized, you’ll be spied on constantly to confirm that you aren’t politically active. Anyone violating those terms will be seized, deported to a secret prison, and confined indefinitely without trial or access to gay sex with minors. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/66 "2007-09-08T01:59:25Z")
I think that \*\*Evil One \*\* makes a valid point. After all, we lefties have started numerous threads about the misdeads of top Romney fundraiser Robert Lichfield. I just can’t seem to find any of them however. That is odd. > **[Romney's Top Fundraiser, Linked To Abuse And Fraud, Asked To Step Down](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/romneys-top-fundraiser-li_n_63284)** > > Romney's Top Fundraiser, Linked To Abuse And Fraud, Asked To Step Down ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/67 "2007-09-08T02:37:06Z")
_“Lichfield?”_ Okay, on a purely juvenile level that is hilarious. I am almost ashamed of myself for being so easily amused by the man’s name. Yes, parents, you can safely trust your wayward children to the care of the Lichfield Program. Antisocial behavior vanishes within days as the victim’s life force is siphoned off. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/68 "2007-09-08T02:53:53Z")
Actually, the fact that the right-leaning posters around here _haven’t_ bombarded Great Debates with a zillion threads on the ‘outrage’ of all this speaks rather well of them, doesn’t it? **Evil One** is right about one thing - if this had been a Republican funding issue, the outrage would be flying fast and furious on the board. Maybe we’re just more reasonable. **Evil One:** Why should Democrats have to post threads calling to attention their own problems? That’s YOUR job if you want to do it. If you think it’s an outrage, post a thread about it, and explain why. The fact that there hasn’t been a bunch of posts on the subject already simply means that either the issue is small and no one cares, or there aren’t any Republicans around who care enough to make it an issue. So what? Frankly, I’m not seeing the reason for outrage here. Not yet, anyway. All we know is that a donator to Democrats turns out to be crooked. Unless you can tie a candidate directly to Hsu and point to evidence that they were complicit, I don’t think you have much. So far, the worst charge you can level against the Democrats who took his money is that they didn’t do a lot of heavy scrutiny of the guy. Do you honestly think Republicans would do better? Sometimes it turns out that someone who gave you money is a scumbag. All you can do is give the money back or give it to charity or the cops. And that seems to be what the Democrats are doing, so what’s the problem? Mind you, if it turns out that he was funneling money from Chinese government interests and convincing politicians to take positions that help his ‘clients’, you’ve got a little more red meat. But I don’t think there’s evidence of anything like that. So far, it’s a non-issue. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/69 "2007-09-08T03:15:37Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] Actually, the fact that the right-leaning posters around here _haven’t_ bombarded Great Debates with a zillion threads on the ‘outrage’ of all this speaks rather well of them, doesn’t it? **Evil One** is right about one thing - if this had been a Republican funding issue, the outrage would be flying fast and furious on the board. [/quote] You really think there’d be a zillion outraged threads in Great Debates about a Republican fundraiser who was convicted of fraud back in 1991? This seems doubtful. > [@](#): > > Maybe we’re just more reasonable. Because the more reasonable threads are started in the BBQ Pit? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/70 "2007-09-08T03:21:20Z")
Norman Hsu. Tom DeLay (R-Undead) and the K Street Project. Contrast and compare. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/71 "2007-09-08T03:32:25Z")
> [@](#): > > He has? Last I heard (yesterday) is that on the lam again-- he failed to show up for his court hearing. Hsu was convicted back in 1991. But he’s never been sentenced. Apparently his master plan was simply to not show up at his sentencing hearing. I’m surprised he’s been on the “lam” for so long - he’s been openly living under his own name the whole time. I presume that when recent questions arose about his campaign contributions, his outstanding warrant came to light. Hsu is claiming he was unaware of the warrant, which seems unlikely to me. He must have known he had been convicted of a felony and why would he think he wasn’t going to be sentenced for it? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/72 "2007-09-08T03:43:58Z")
[QUOTE=Great Dave] Maybe the reason the board is “lefty” is because being a 'pubbie sucks, considering what the national leadership has been up to for the past, I dunno, 35 years? [/QUOTE] That pretty much sums my attitude. Someone like **Evil One** calls the Democrats scum ? Fine. They ARE scum. I’ve called them scum myself. It’s simply that the Republicans make scum look good by comparison. The reason that there’s so much more news about scandalous Republican behavior, is that there’s a great deal more scandalous Republican behavior to do news on. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/73 "2007-09-08T03:52:52Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] if this had been a Republican funding issue, the outrage would be flying fast and furious on the board [/QUOTE] Scroll up two posts, chuckles. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/74 "2007-09-08T04:04:33Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] Scroll up two posts, chuckles. [/QUOTE] Okay, so fund-raising problems are the one trivial issue that Democrats won’t go apeshit over. Good on ya. You have to admit that the Hsu issue is just a little more ‘colorful’ than the typical funding snafu. The guy jumps bail, forfeits a 2 million dollar bond, and runs for it - only to fall violently ill and have to go to the hospital where he’s collected by the cops. Sucks to be Hsu. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/75 "2007-09-08T04:23:27Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] Norman Hsu. Tom DeLay (R-Undead) and the K Street Project. Contrast and compare. [/QUOTE] No, no, no. It’s Rick Santorum (R-Undead), not DeLay. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/76 "2007-09-08T04:28:28Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] …Sucks to be Hsu. [/QUOTE] \*Sooo \* going to Hell… ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/77 "2007-09-08T04:47:47Z")
[QUOTE=Sam Stone] You have to admit that the Hsu issue is just a little more ‘colorful’ than the typical funding snafu. [/QUOTE] –whereas Romney’s fundraiser scandal, by contrast, features only such colorless, typical elements as the alleged “physical, sexual and emotional abuse” of 133 children. > [@](#): > > One plaintiff, Chase Wood, claims he was fondled, forced to eat his own vomit, and locked in a dog cage at the Cross Creek Center for Boys, a school that Lichfield founded in the late 1970s. Yeah, that’s much less newsworthy. How can anyone seriously believe that a Republican would sanction a system that imprisons people in tiny cages? Who ever heard of a Republican linked to the sexual abuse of minors? Plus, lest we forget: _the guy’s name is Lichfield!_ Let’s hope someone thinks to check the crawlspace and probe any loose earth on the grounds. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/78 "2007-09-08T04:56:58Z")
Seriously, is there any chance that this guy is connected to the old chinese Clinton scandal? I don’ t remember it all that well. Google time! [http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/1999/09/13/trulock/index.html](http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/1999/09/13/trulock/index.html) [http://www.eagleforum.org/psr/1998/june98/psrjune98.html](http://www.eagleforum.org/psr/1998/june98/psrjune98.html) Mmm. I dunno. Could be. Could also not be. Hm. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/79 "2007-09-08T04:57:24Z")
[QUOTE=elucidator] \*Sooo \* going to Hell… [/QUOTE] Who wants to go to heaven? It’ll be full of evangelicals and the full quota of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I’d rather have needles stuck in my eyes. My guess? Satan knows how to party. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2007, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382/80 "2007-09-08T04:58:35Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] –whereas Romney’s fundraiser scandal, by contrast, features only such colorless, typical elements as the alleged “physical, sexual and emotional abuse” of 133 children.Yeah, that’s much less newsworthy. How can anyone seriously believe that a Republican would sanction a system that imprisons people in tiny cages? Who ever heard of a Republican linked to the sexual abuse of minors? Plus, lest we forget: _the guy’s name is Lichfield!_ Let’s hope someone thinks to check the crawlspace and probe any loose earth on the grounds. [/QUOTE] Can’t we just agree that both of them are terribly entertaining? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-pretend-norman-hsu-is-a-republican/418382.md?page=5)