Talk:Edwin Meese

Alterman citations
I'm concerned about the Alterman citations. I can't find the quote about DOJ corruption, attributed to Weld, anywhere. Slate Magazine (http://slate.msn.com/id/1827/), no one's idea of a conservative pub, claims that weld's resignation was entirely unconnected to Meese's ethical problems, and accuses him of grandstanding for allowing that impression to persist. Anyone else able to track anything down to confirm or rebut Alterman's specific allegations? Innocent76 09:38, 16 October 2005 (UTC)

Additions deleted
It is high-handed, obnoxious, and utterly inconsistent with Wiki principles to just delete my minor additions about taking men's magazines off the shelves during the Meese Commission hysteria, within a few hours of posting and without even expressing concern. I am supposed to "edit boldly" and this is what you are directed to do instead of erasing people's text that you'd rather not see:  Mare Nostrum

Meese is now an adjunct fellow at the Discovery Institute which I think should be included in the article but I'm not sure where. Certainly not under the Heritage Foundation category. Should that category be renamed to something like "Fellowships" where any/all of his fellowships could be documented? Mr Christopher 19:08, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

I'm concerned about the sentence "Meese became Attorney General in February 1985, holding this office until August, 1988." Although it isn't wrong, it's not right either according to what I know. He reigned, but the sentence sounds like Reagan did a reshuffle. Could "Meese became Attorney General in February 1985, and resigned the postion in August, 1988." be more appropriate?--Kbbbb 15:34, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

I made the changes I proposed above. Mr Christopher 22:47, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

Iraq Study Group?
Just read on a blog (DailyKos, if it matters) that Meese is now a member of the Iraq Study Group (the group of old political hands who are trying to find a politically acceptable exit strategy for Iraq). Worthy of a mention here? If anyone has more exact information and from a more neutral source, maybe they could update the record? Rousse 09:17, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Bears in Love

 * On Platypus Comix, there is a comic strip drawn by Ed Meese named "Bears in Love". Can we get that on the article? WizardDuck 03:41, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Meese Commission criticism
I've now twice reverted an edit on the Meese commission saying it was criticised "due to their viewing of over 2000 hard core pornographic films". Please don't restore this assertion.

The Meese commission was criticized for its unscientific conclusions and its forgone pro-censorship bias, not because they watched 2000 porno films. The article for Attorney General's Commission on Pornography and my own recollection confirm this. If someone wants to say otherwise, please provide really credible citations. / edgarde 04:59, 15 January 2007 (UTC)

I am taking out "Ironically, the "New York Times" reported on September 3, 1986, that in 1977 Meese himself had a subscription to "Playboy" magazine. Meese retorted that he used the men's magazine solely for reference material." A quick search of the NYT archives reveals that no such report was made, and the citation given does not actually mention the NYT article in question. Kstinch 20:32, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Corruption allegations
This appears to, somewhat, coincide with the above comment... Exactly what were the accusations leveled here? Na uf ana :  talk  03:32, 13 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, for one John Krysiak wasn't a federally protected defendant in that federal civil case they had in San Diego in 1994. The one that Alan Bersin was the DA for, before Judge Huff.  A court clerk tried to slip his name in with the one fed who was granted federal protection.


 * Now, if Meese finished his stint in DC in the '80s, why'd his name appear on all the court papers instead of Janet Reno's? His name and Neece's, but no Reno.  Did that have anything to do with Joe Fleming's name being put on court papers instead of the defendant's?  They did a lot of name switching,which may not sound like much, but there was a lot of business closures because of it.


 * I guess that's pretty corrupt, but it's white collar and you'd miss it if you weren't paying attention.--76.248.228.108 (talk) 02:05, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Drug producing companies
This sentence: "One of Meese's innovations was to seek the cooperation of drug-producing companies in seizing the assets of drug traffickers," makes no sense. Why would Meese need the cooperation of drug-producing companies to seize drug trafficker's assets? They aren't related. Sure, seizing trafficker's property was an innovation, but I don't think drug producer cooperation had anything to do with it. So how did this innovation really come about? Rklawton (talk) 02:57, 4 June 2010 (UTC)


 * I agree, it makes no sense.Rlbarton (talk) 13:51, 4 June 2010 (UTC)


 * I checked the edit history, and the section hasn't been changed since first added. I've ordered the book, so I'll be able to clarify the statement in a few weeks.  Rklawton (talk) 14:12, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

OK, I just found the source (it's on page 309 not 310 - same ISBN). The editor improperly merged two different paragraphs from the book. In the 2nd paragraph Meese talks about cooperative endeavors with other countries and describes two. In the third paragraph he discusses "one of our most effective weapons...". There's no indication that these two activities were part of the same "measure." That is, there's no indication that "local law enforcement agencies" included foreign agencies. Thus, it's not appropriate to infer that foreign police forces received some of the proceeds from the sale of confiscated goods. In the book's context, "local" means non-federal U.S. If there's another source that indicates this wasn't the case, then let's quote and cite it. I've corrected the offending paragraph so that it is consistent with the one source we do have. Rklawton (talk) 01:45, 15 June 2010 (UTC)

BLP issue
I've removed a section focusing on Cornerstone investment fund that was recently added to the article, as it seems to be an obvious WP:BLP issue. The section focused on presenting a criticism of Cornerstone, was not supported by the source used and the source does not mention Meese at all. I work for The Heritage Foundation so I would usually make an edit request here, but this edit seems to be a non-controversial edit allowed under the COI guidelines. Thanks, Kalkaska sand (talk) 15:04, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

Federalist Society
For the Federalist Society, the person mentioned first (for starting the organization) is Ed Meese. It should be added here. FYI, Charles Edwin Shipp (talk) 02:45, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

✅ — Charles Edwin Shipp (talk) 13:56, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

Berkeley riots
The first governor to turn to Meese for advice on riot control was Democrat Edmund (Pat) Brown, who first telephoned Meese seeking advice on how to best handle the situation. "I told him," Meese said, "that the people in that building should be arrested and taken out of there. I told him that if they were allowed to stay, there would be another mob scene, even bigger, the next day."

What is this nonsense? Pat Brown was defeated for re-election by Ronald Reagan in 1966, 2 1/2 years before these events. Why would Brown have anything to do with them? And why would Brown consult Ed Meese on anything? Rontrigger (talk) 07:03, 16 January 2013 (UTC)

Not NPOV ... lacking other viewpoints
Much of this article could have been written by Meese himself. e.g., "Despite his later well-known fondness for Reagan, Meese was initially reluctant to accept the appointment because he thought of himself as non-partisan." -- since when does Wikipedia mind-read? There is never any basis for assertions about peoples' mental states ... aside from the patent absurdity of this particular assertion. And how about what Meese is up to lately? e.g., http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/06/us/a-federal-budget-crisis-months-in-the-planning.html -- 70.109.46.5 (talk) 14:37, 14 October 2013 (UTC)
 * I agree with the comment about the quote, which is more PR than encyclopedic. And parts of the article are likewise suspect. Some work needs to be done here, in my view. Jus  da  fax   18:53, 28 September 2014 (UTC)

"Psychopathic liar"
The late Christopher Hitchens was on CNN's Crossfire with Meese.

The clip includes Hitchen's calling Meese a "Liar, a Cheat, and a Thief." The clip fades out with Hitchen's repeating "psychopathic liar" while Meese sputters back red faced.

It seemed to be about the Iran–Contra affair but would be curious to know in detail what it was about and whether Hitchens was correct. Meese was deeply involved with Reagan, so would be nice if his Wikipedia page included any info with details on any involvement with the Iran-Contra affair and supporting Contra terrorists, the October Surprise, McCarthyism, the HUD grant-rigging scandal, supporting apartheid, smuggling crack cocaine, the Office of Public Diplomacy, mental health policies , etc. Joel.sbateman (talk) 00:54, 20 January 2015 (UTC)

It isn't worthy of this page. There will always be pathological Progressive 'Liberals' calling the other side bad names. What does it prove? Who was the liar here? -- Charles Edwin Shipp (talk) 00:43, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Get off your high horse. "Pathological Progressive "Liberals"? LOL. Here he is folks, a Trumpkin! If you're actually a Wikipedia editor, Wikipedia has problems. No wonder this article is so kind to the Meese. LOL. No wonder.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 47.138.92.237 (talk) 05:32, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

"Who was the liar, cheat, and thief?" is the question I am Apolitically (I'm no Liberal either) interested in. "It isn't worthy of this page" seems like a quick, unnecessary, and political dismissal for such a potentially interesting and complex topic. Edwin Meese's own page reads: "He's a tremendously influential and highly valued adviser to the President who advises on issues all across the board. He's one of the men who has known [the President] so long and so well he's become almost an alter ego of Ronald Reagan." and the Wedtech scandal page reads: "The independent counsel McKay never prosecuted or sought indictment of Meese, but in his official report, which is still confidential, he was highly critical of Meese's ethics and urged further investigation of Meese's role in that scandal and others (such as Meese's efforts to help Bechtel Corporation build an oil pipeline for Sadam Hussain's Iraq)." .

Perhaps my original question can't be discussed in Wikipedia because the answers are not verifiable at this time and BLP? Guess we have to get those confidential reports released and get some investigations underway (maybe I'm the only one who cares at this point right?)! Perhaps then this topic can be discussed here again? Joel.sbateman (talk) 01:27, 11 February 2015 (UTC)

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Should Meese remain a dab page or redirect here?
See Talk: Meese. --В²C ☎ 21:34, 13 February 2017 (UTC)

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