Friday, October 19, 2012

Barker's Newsbites: Friday, October 19, 2012


Mornin', folks!

Now as you know, I'm not all that interested in the "horse race" aspects of politics. I'm a policy guy. Heck... this is why I make such a lousy "partisan." When it comes to policies I'm frequently nearly as furious with the Republicans as I am with the Democrats!

But today I woke up to the following news snippet and I just have to highlight it as yet another example buttressing my contention that the media (or rather elements within the media) will go to nearly any lengths attempting to provide aid and comfort to Obama and the Democrats.


From Mediaite:

In an interview with Virginia’s Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell on CNN Thursday morning, CNN's "Starting Point" anchor, Soledad O’Brien, quizzed the governor on the status of the presidential race in his state.

She asked if he was concerned that Republican nominee Mitt Romney will be unable to best President Barack Obama in his home state given that he has only three weeks to overcome Obama’s "staggering 15 point lead."

The only problem with that assessment is that the president has never held that wide of a lead over Romney in Virginia.

Furthermore, the last three polls of the state show Romney overtaking Obama.

“How worried are you that your state is going to go for President Obama when the polls show a significant lead pre-debate, after the first pretty awful debate,” O’Brien asked.

“I’m not sure what you’re looking at there, Soledad,” McDonnell said in reply.

O’Brien’s claim was backed up by the CNN chyron which read “pre-debate poll: Obama up 15+” - but specified that the lead was among women (based on a New York Times/CBS/Quinnipiac University poll taken from October 4 – 9).

Why CNN would opt to focus on women from an unnamed poll is unclear... unless they chose not to highlight the top-line numbers in the state which are not encouraging for the president’s supporters.

As Politico's Dylan Byers notes, the state of Virginia has been trending towards Romney for several weeks. Furthermore, Obama never held a 15 point lead against Romney in the Old Dominion State.

Current polling in Virginia puts Obama and Romney almost dead even, with a slight edge for Obama. But for the record... Obama has never led Romney by 15 points in Virginia, according to any 2012 poll. ... The Quinnipiac poll O’Brien cited has Obama up by five, a recent NBC News/WSJ/Marist Poll has Romney up by one.

Furthermore, a report in the National Journal on Wednesday revealed that the Obama campaign is shifting resources away from states like Florida, North Carolina and Virginia in order to reinforce the president’s “firewall” in states like Ohio, Iowa, Nevada and New Hampshire.

UPDATE: a spokesperson for O’Brien writes:

“In my interview with Governor Bob McDonnell this morning, I was citing the pre-debate Quinnipiac poll on women voters (October 4-9, 2012 — 56 for President Obama, 40 for Romney), and while the information on the screen said ‘women,’ I didn’t say the word. I was in error to not say the word ‘women,’ while it appeared on the screen.”

Uh-huh...

5 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/10/exclusive-inspector-generals-report-contradicts-secret-service-on-prostitution-scandal/

An investigation into the U.S. Secret Service prostitution scandal by the Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General contradicts Secret Service director Mark Sullivan’s adamant assertion before Congress that “this just is not part of our culture,” ABC News has learned.

* YOU REALLY SHOULD READ THE FULL STORY, FOLKS. THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION HAS APPARENTLY "BROKEN" THE SECRET SERVICE.

* NO... TO CLARIFY... I'M NOT SAYING THAT "INCIDENTS" DIDN'T TAKE PLACE DURING THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION... CLINTON ADMINISTRATION... AND ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE FOUNDING OF THE SECRET SERVICE. NO DOUBT THEY DID. NO... WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT IS THE NEW "INSTITUTIONAL" PROCLIVITY TO "CIRCLE THE WAGONS" AND JUST TRY AND RUN THE CLOCK OUT WHILE KEEPING SCUMBAGS IN PLACE IN POSITIONS RANGING FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE SECRET SERVICE TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES.

Details from the report, labeled “law enforcement sensitive,” were shared with ABC News by sources who had reviewed it.

* NO DOUBT! THIS ADMINISTRATION IS ALL ABOUT COVER-UPS!

Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the ranking Republican on a key Senate oversight subcommittee, was thoroughly briefed on the report by the subcommittee staff, which spent two days reviewing it. Johnson noted that it is government policy for Secret Service agents to report certain contacts with foreign nationals.

“In the three and a half years prior to the Cartagena incidents, there were only 105 of those foreign national contacts reported,” Johnson said. “Once Cartagena occurred and the policy was redistributed, you know that agents were reminded of that, 423 additional contacts were all of a sudden reported. And again, this gives me concern that rotationally this type of behavior is more widespread.”

* AGAIN, FOLKS... LOOK AT THE TIMELINE... WHILE NO PRESIDENT NOR ADMINISTRATION CAN BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR EACH AND EVERY ACTION OF EACH AND EVERY INDIVIDUAL ON THE FEDERAL PAYROLL, WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT HERE IS APPARENTLY A "FALLING OFF THE CLIFF" SITUATION WITH REGARD TO THE PROFESSIONALISM OF THE UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA.

The DHS inspector general has faced challenges in his investigation, with 10 senior and current Secret Service officials refusing to grant him or his investigators an interview.

“We are concerned that the inspector general was interfered [with] in terms of his investigation, that was constrained and hampered,” Johnson told ABC News.

(*PURSED LIPS*)

The inspector general also said the Justice Department denied its request to pursue the legal authority to conduct interviews with the prostitutes, hotel staff, or night club employees in Colombia and to access hotel records.

* OH! BUT GET THIS, FOLKS! (READ ON!)

Justice Department officials asserted they provided the inspector general with the documents that they were seeking.

* WHO... DO... YOU... BELIEVE...?!

(*SHRUG*)

Ten days after the scandal broke, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters, “There have been no specific, credible allegations of misconduct by anyone on the White House advance team or the White House staff.”

(*SNORT*)

A senior White House official said this evening that the White House continues to have confidence in Sullivan.

* FOLKS... THIS IS WHAT WE'RE DEALING WITH. WHATEVER ROMNEY'S FLAWS... WE'VE GOTTA GET THE PRESENT OCCUPANT OF THE WHITE HOUSE AND HIS CRONIES OUT OF OFFICE.

William R. Barker said...

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/ahead-election-obama-stops-releasing-stimulus-reports_654968.html

The $831 million economic “stimulus” that President Obama spearheaded and signed into law requires his administration to release quarterly reports on its effects.

* REQUIRES... LAW... REQUIRES... LAW...

But “the most transparent administration in the history of our country” is now four reports behind schedule and has so far not released any reports whatsoever in 2012.

* OOPS...

Its most recent quarterly report is for the quarter than ended on June 30, 2011.

* HEY... ISN'T IT 2012...? OCTOBER 2012...???

Section 1513 of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the “stimulus”) explicitly states, “In consultation with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget and the Secretary of the Treasury, the Chairperson of the Council of Economic Advisers shall submit quarterly reports to the Committees on Appropriations of the Senate and House of Representatives that detail the impact of programs funded through covered funds on employment, estimated economic growth, and other key economic indicators.”

(The head of the Council of Economic Advisors, currently Alan Krueger, is appointed by the president, confirmed by the Senate, and works within the Executive Office of the President. He is the president’s chief economic adviser.)

* Hmm... WAS KRUEGER INSTRUCTED TO VIOLATE THE LAW... OR DID HE SIMPLY DECIDE TO DO SO ON HIS OWN AND... er... "GET AWAY WITH IT" FOR 16 MONTHS?

* MIGHT THE LOGIC OF "NO (BAD) NEWS IS GOOD NEWS" HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS FAILURE TO ABIDE BY THE LAW AND "SHARE" THESE SUPPOSEDLY NON-PARTISAN NUMBERS WITH SENATE AND HOUSE COMMITTEES WITH REPUBLICANS ON THEM...?!?!

[T]he Obama administration is required by law to submit quarterly reports on the “stimulus” through the third quarter of 2013.

(*PURSED LIPS*)

* REQUIRED... LAW... REQUIRED... LAW...

Why would the administration not want to release these reports?

(*SNORTING AT THE QUESTION*)

Presumably because they have shown what a colossal waste of taxpayer money Obama’s “stimulus” has been.

The American people would presumably like to know what the tally is up to by now. Has the “stimulus” now cost taxpayers $350,000 per job? $400,000? $500,000?

But, regardless of its legal obligation to do so, the Obama administration isn’t coming clean. Look for it to do so on November 7 — after (win or lose) Obama has acquired “more flexibility.”

* AGAIN, FOLKS... A PATTERN...

William R. Barker said...

* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20121019/DA20G2701.html

The CIA station chief in Libya reported to Washington within 24 hours of last month's deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate that there was evidence it was carried out by militants, not a spontaneous mob upset about an American-made video ridiculing Islam's Prophet Muhammad, U.S. officials have told The Associated Press.

(*SHRUG*)

* FOLKS... AGAIN... TO REMIND YOU OF THE TIMELINE... THE UK INDEPENDENT HAD THE STORY... DRUDGE LINKED TO THE STORY... EVERYONE WHO WAS PAYING ATTENTION KNEW WHAT THE DEAL WAS!

* WHO... TOLD... SUSAN... RICE... TO... LIE...?!?! FOLKS... WE STILL DON'T HAVE THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION! THINK ABOUT IT!

It is unclear who, if anyone, saw the cable outside the CIA at that point and how high up in the agency the information went.

* IT DOESN'T MATTER! I KNEW WHAT THE DEAL WAS WITHIN 24 HOURS! FOR CHRIST'S SAKE... STOP IT WITH THE NONSENSE!

The Obama administration maintained publicly for a week that the attack on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans was a result of the mobs that staged less-deadly protests across the Muslim world around the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on the U.S.

* FOR MORE THAN A WEEK! COM'ON... STOP PROVIDING COVER FOR THESE CLOWNS! THE RECORD IS CLEAR!

And in their debate on Tuesday, President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney argued over when Obama first said it was a terror attack. In his Rose Garden address the morning after the killings, Obama said, "No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation, alter that character or eclipse the light of the values that we stand for." But Republicans say he was speaking generally and didn't specifically call the Benghazi attack a terror attack until weeks later...

* FOLKS... IT'S BEYOND BELIEF THAT EVEN TODAY - OCTOBER 19, 2012 - THIS REPORT IS TRYING TO MUDDY THE WATERS WITH THIS "TONE" OF "HE SAID, HE SAID."

* FOLKS... I PROVIDED THE TRANSCRIPT OF OBAMA'S FULL REMARKS DAYS AGO! ROMNEY WAS ACCURATE AND OBAMA WAS BEING MISLEADING. AND NOW THIS REPORTER/EDITOR IS TRYING TO OBSCURE THAT REALITY. IT'S DISGRACEFUL!

* TO BE CONTINUED...

William R. Barker said...

* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)

The White House now says the attack probably was carried out by an al Qaida-linked group, with no public demonstration beforehand. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton blamed the "fog of war" for the early conflicting accounts.

(*ROLLING MY EYES*)

* HOW COME THE UK INDEPENDENT - A NEWSPAPER - WASN'T FOOLED BY "THE FOG OF WAR?" WHY WERE LIBYAN OFFICIALS NOT FOOLED BY THIS SUPPOSED "FOG OF WAR?" WHY WASN'T I FOOLED...?!?! COM'ON, FOLKS... CLEARLY INCOMPETENCE IS ON DISPLAY... BUT SO IS BLATANT DISHONESTY. AND STILL... TODAY... THE MEDIA ATTEMPTS TO PROVIDE OBAMA AND CLINTON WITH AS MUCH COVER AS THEY HOPE THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH.

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)

* FOLKS... 10 PARAGRAPHS DOWN FROM THE TOP... (READ ON!)

The two U.S. officials said the CIA station chief in Libya compiled intelligence reports from eyewitnesses within 24 hours of the assault on the consulate...

* "...WITHIN 24 HOURS OF THE ASSAULT..."

...that indicated militants launched the violence, using the pretext of demonstrations against U.S. facilities in Egypt against the film to cover their intent. The report from the station chief was written late Wednesday, Sept. 12, and reached intelligence agencies in Washington the next day, intelligence officials said.

Yet, on Saturday of that week, briefing points sent by the CIA to Congress said "demonstrations in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo and evolved into a direct assault." The briefing points, obtained by the AP, added: "There are indications that extremists participated in the violent demonstrations" but did not mention eyewitness accounts that blamed militants alone.

* BUT... DID... NOT... MENTION... EYEWITNESS... ACCOUNTS... THAT... BLAMED... MILITANTS... ALONE...

* BOBETTE - WHAT'S IT GONNA FUCKIN' TAKE?!

William R. Barker said...

http://www.woodtv.com/dpp/news/target_8/Volt-no-jolt-LG-Chem-employees-idle

Workers at LG Chem, a $300 million lithium-ion battery plant heavily funded by taxpayers, tell Target 8 that they have so little work to do that they spend hours playing cards and board games, reading magazines or watching movies.

They say it's been going on for months.

"There would be up to 40 of us that would just sit in there during the day," said former LG Chem employee Nicole Merryman, who said she quit in May.

"We were given assignments to go outside and clean; if we weren't cleaning outside, we were cleaning inside. If there was nothing for us to do, we would study in the cafeteria, or we would sit and play cards, sit and read magazines," said Merryman. "It's really sad that all these people are sitting there and doing nothing, and it's basically on taxpayer money."

* AND THE "OBAMA RECOVERY" PROCEEDS APACE!

The Target 8 investigation has led the Washington, D.C.-based Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board - an oversight agency for the federal stimulus program - to take action. "We are sending this to the Inspector General, Department of Energy, for his review," said Ed Pound, spokesman for the board.

(The Inspector General's Office would decide whether to open an investigation. Pound refused further comment.)

(*SARCASTIC CLAP-CLAP-CLAP*)

The plant all started with such great hope, and a presidential groundbreaking in July 2010.

"This is a symbol of where Michigan is going, this is a symbol of where Holland is going, and this is a symbol of where America's going," Pres. Barack Obama told a crowd at the groundbreaking.

* WELL... AT LEAST ON THIS ONE HE TOLD THE TRUTH!

(*SNORT*)

The U.S. Department of Energy provided a $151 million grant, part of Obama's Recovery Act.

* OBAMA'S RECOVERY ACT; OUR TAX DOLLARS.

The Korea-based company....

* HUH?! WHAT...?! WHERE...?!?! HOW...?!?!

...recently said it has 200 employees, and the company's most recent federal filing shows 100 of them are funded through the Recovery Act grant.

(*MORE SARCASTIC APPLAUSE*)

* OH... AND TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY...

The state [of Michigan] approved a $25.2 million job-creation state tax credit over 15 years...

* FIFTEEN YEARS...!!! HEY, BOBBETTE - OLGA WILL BE PREPARING FOR COLLEGE IN 15 YEARS!

...and a battery cell state tax credit worth $100 million over 4 years.

* HEY... WHAT'S $25 MILLION A YEAR FOR FOUR YEARS IN CORPORATE WELFARE, RIGHT...

(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)