Getting a late start today, so, let’s hit the ground running with a
front-page newsbite… a Dana Milbank piece!
* * * * * *
By Monday afternoon the crises had forced Obama to revise
his schedule. The White House announced that the president, after...
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
* FOLKS... PLEASE BE SEATED AS YOU CONTINUE TO READ!
...returning from the beach...
(*STILL SHAKING MY HEAD*)
...would make an unscheduled statement about Iraq.
(*CLAP...CLAP...CLAP*)
He freshened up at his 8,100-square-foot vacation home,
then stepped outside, in a blue blazer and open collar; his aides wisely chose
a wooded backdrop rather than one with the infinity pool and the sweeping water
views. Obama finished his four-minute statement and then hopped in his
motorcade for the ride to a Democratic fundraiser.
Such visuals probably won't help Obama with the 60% of
Americans who disapprove of his handling of foreign policy.
Even his former secretary of state is registering her
disapproval.
* SHE'S A BIGGER DOUCHE THAN HE IS! (BUT NICE TRY, DANA!)
Clinton, in the interview, took a harder line...
* WORDS, FOLKS; JUST WORDS. NOTICE HOW SHE FAITHFULLY
"SERVED" OUR INCOMPETENT PRESIDENT UNTIL AFTER HE WAS SAFELY
RE-ELECTED. UP UNTIL THEN OBAMA WAS THE MOST BRILLIANT MAN IN THE WORLD
ACCORDING TO CLINTON. NOW... NOW IT'S SAFE TO STAB HER OLD BOSS IN THE BACK AS
SHE MAKES HER OWN PLAY FOR "ULTIMATE" POWER.
(*SPITTING ON THE GROUND*)
* FOLKS... THE ONE THING THAT REALLY PISSES ME OFF ABOUT
SARAH PALIN IS HER REFUSAL TO CALL A SPADE A SPADE WHEN REFERRING TO JOHN S.
MCCAIN. THE SENATOR FROM ARIZONA SHOWED HER NO LOYALTY, BUT SHE CONTINUES TO BE
THE BIGGER PERSON. SO... IN A SENSE I ADMIRE PALIN'S DECISION... WHILE
GRITTING MY TEETH.
* HILLARY CLINTON? NO LOYALTY. NONE. A PROVEN
INCOMPETENT... AND A DISLOYAL ONE AT THAT!
...than the administration has on Iran, the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Syria, saying she argued unsuccessfully for
earlier arming and training of the Syrian opposition.
* UH-HUH.
* FOLKS... EVEN IF TRUE... (WHICH WE'LL NEVER KNOW FOR
SURE)... THIS AGAIN GOES TO MY ARGUMENT REGARDING HER INCOMPETENCE. A LARGE
PART OF HER JOB DESCRIPTION REVOLVED AROUND BEING ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY MAKE HER
CASES! (AND SHE COULDN'T EVEN GET OBAMA TO LISTEN...?!?!)
* HERE... READ AS SHE BABBLES ON:
"I know that the failure to help build up a credible
fighting force ... left a big vacuum, which the jihadists have now
filled," she said.
* FOLKS... IF SHE FELT SO STRONGLY ABOUT IT... SHE HAD A
DUTY TO RESIGN AND BRING HER CONCERNS TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE PRIOR TO THE 2012
ELECTION. BUT SHE DIDN'T DO THIS - DID SHE? FOLKS... THIS WOMAN IS A PIECE OF
GARBAGE. PERIOD.
She applied a bit of Clintonian triangulation to the
foreign policies of Obama and George W. Bush, suggesting that there's a
just-right medium between the too-hot Bush policy and the too-cold Obama
approach. "I think part of the challenge is that our government too often
has a tendency to swing between these extremes," she said.
(*ROLLING MY EYES*)
The no-confidence vote from Clinton (who, as luck would
have it, also will be on Martha's Vineyard this week) comes as Obama is
smarting from criticism by hawks that the current mess in Iraq might not have
occurred if he had kept U.S. troops there. "That entire analysis is bogus
and is wrong," the president said Saturday. "But it gets frequently
peddled around here by folks who oftentimes are trying to defend previous
policies that they themselves made."
* FOLKS... BACK TO THE "NO CONFIDENCE VOTE FROM
CLINTON"... HAS MR. MILBANK FORGOTTEN THAT SENATOR CLINTON SUPPORTED
"BUSH'S" WAR AGAINST IRAQ? HAVE WE FORGOTTEN THAT SENATOR CLINTON
"SIGNED" THAT "BLANK CHECK?" HAVE WE FORGOTTEN THAT SHE TOO
WARNED OF SADDAM'S WMD's? HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THE 1998 IRAQI LIBERATION ACT
SIGNED INTO LAW BY PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON MAKING THE OVERTHROW OF SADDAM
HUSSEIN THE OFFICIAL POLICY OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT - BILL'S AND GEORGE'S U.S.
GOVERNMENT.
It's understandable that Obama would want to get away
from it all, but for a president struggling to build support for his foreign
policy, vacationing during a crisis is no day at the beach.
* ISN'T IT FUNNY HOW MILBANK CAN BASH OBAMA BUT NOT
CLINTON? ("FUNNY" IN THE SENSE OF, "WOW... WHAT A
SCUMBAG...")
White House press secretary Josh Earnest reminded
reporters Friday that Obama was traveling to the Vineyard "with an array
of communications" and advisers. But when it came time for the president
to speak, there was a 20-minute delay because the TV feed didn't work, and then
the audio and video quality were poor.
* FOLKS... IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT OBAMA IS PERHAPS
THE MOST IMMATURE PRESIDENT WE'VE EVER HAD... A MAN WHO VIEWS USES - AND ABUSES
- THE PERKS OF HIS OFFICE LIKE NO ONE BEFORE HIM... BUT WERE HILLARY CLINTON
STILL PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SECRETARY OF STATE, I WONDER... WOULD MILBANK HAVE
WRITTEN AN ARTICLE THIS CRITICAL OF OBAMA?
Obama gave an update on progress toward "the limited
military objectives" against the Islamic State in Iraq, and he praised the
naming of a new prime minister. But he didn't mention that the current one,
Nouri al-Maliki, is refusing to surrender power, setting up a showdown.
6 comments:
* THREE-PARTER... (Part 1 of 3)
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/385185/hide-d-showcase-r-l-brent-bozell-iii
It is such common sense as to be undeniable that basic journalism requires a party label to be affixed to a story about an elected public official - the president excepted. It is the DNA of the “who” in a news report. “Senator Robert Byrd, the Democratic senator from West Virginia, died today.” Take out “Democratic” and try that sentence. It doesn’t work. “Mike Lee, GOP senator from Utah and God’s gift to mankind, coasted to reelection last night.” Ditto.
It follows that the rule applies to stories about political scandal, precisely because it’s just that — politics.
But what happens when that cardinal rule is applied to one party but ignored for the other? Favoritism?
Bias? No, it’s far worse than just that. It is a commitment to abide by the rules of journalism with one party and then a deliberate attempt to protect the other, even if it means violating the most basic rules of news reporting.
Now wait a minute, Bozell. What about another possibility? Why can’t it be an honest mistake? Cannot we believe that even if such an egregious violation is committed it might not just be an accident, a reckless, sloppy oversight? If it happened once, fine. Stunning but fine. Twice? I don’t believe in coincidences. The record, however, shows it is much worse than that.
* FOLKS... NORMALLY I WOULDN'T EVEN "RUN" THIS STORY. WHY? IT'S LONG... IT'S BASICALLY "POLITICS"... AND IT'S A DOG BITES MAN RATHER THAN MAN BITES DOG STORY. HERE'S THE THING, THOUGH... A PRETTY STRONG CASE IS MADE HERE. THEREFORE... READ ON!
* TO BE CONTINUED...
* CONTINUING... (Part 2 of 3)
On Friday, September 29, 2006, Representative Mark Foley of Florida resigned after ABC News exposed him for having sent explicit e-mails to male House pages. That evening and on the next day’s morning news shows, ABC, CBS, and NBC all tied Foley to the GOP. “This is more than just one man’s downfall,” Today co-host Matt Lauer solemnly declared on NBC. “It could be a major blow to the Republican party.”
On March 10, 2008, news broke that New York governor Eliot Spitzer had been linked to a prostitution ring. It took NBC News four nights to acknowledge Spitzer’s party affiliation.
* HUH? WHAT...?
It took NBC News four nights to acknowledge Spitzer’s party affiliation. In its first two days of coverage, Matt Lauer’s Today show ran 18 segments on the scandal and never once identified him as a Democrat.
But what happens when a Republican elected official is linked to a prostitute?
In July 2007, Senator David Vitter of Louisiana was revealed as a client in the phone records of the so-called D.C. Madam. Every broadcast network ran stories on the scandal and every story underscored that Vitter was a Republican.
The previous month, Senator Larry Craig of Idaho had been arrested at the airport in Minneapolis for the infamous toe-tapping men’s-room solicitation. When the news became public in August, the networks jumped on the story. Every morning and evening news show pointed out he was a Republican. On NBC’s Today, Lauer drilled further, tying him ideologically to conservatives. “Can the right wing withstand yet another scandal involving one of its own?”
On June 16, 2009, Senator John Ensign of Nevada admitted to an extramarital affair. In the following day’s reports, all three broadcast networks covered the scandal and all three reported that he was a member of the GOP. One week later they were back in action, this time giving major attention to the story that South Carolina governor Mark Sanford also had admitted to cheating on his wife. Again the perfunctory declaration that he was a Republican.
Four years later, after weeks of tumultuous scandal involving allegations of multiple cases of sexual harassment involving numerous women, on August 22, 2013, San Diego’s Democratic mayor (and former congressman), Bob Filner, finally resigned. All three networks covered the story in both their morning and evening broadcasts, but only CBS mentioned his party affiliation.
* WHAT'S THAT...?
All three networks covered the story in both their morning and evening broadcasts, but only CBS mentioned his party affiliation.
Still not convinced? Okay, so we’ll continue.
On March 24, 2008, another kind of scandal struck. All three broadcast networks covered the news that Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick had been indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice. Somehow in the who-what-where reportage there wasn’t room for any of them to insert the word “Democrat.” On August 7, Hizzoner was sent to jail for violating the terms of his bond. More national coverage. Still no party affiliation from either ABC or NBC.
(*SMIRK*)
* TO BE CONTINUED...
* CONCLUDING... (Part 3 of 3)
Republicans don’t fare as easily with the news of their felony charges. Four months after Mayor Kilpatrick was indicted, so too was Alaska senator Ted Stevens, allegedly for failing to report gifts. All three broadcast networks covered the story. Amazingly, they used identical language to describe him as “the longest-serving Republican in the U.S. Senate.” Three months later (October 27, 2008), during the waning days of the election campaign, Stevens was convicted. Every network covered the story, and every network labeled him a Republican.
* AS THEY SHOULD HAVE! BUT FOR CHRIST'S SAKE... LET'S HAVE SOME FAIRNESS... SOME BALANCE... SOME HONESTY!
Compare that to Rod Blagojevich, the bizarre, loud-mouthed and foul-mouthed former governor of Illinois. He relished the klieg lights and seemingly was everywhere (until he landed at a more permanent address: prison). “Blago” was removed as governor on January 29, 2009, after being arrested and charged with corruption. ABC, CBS, and NBC gave major consideration to the story yet somehow managed not to inform their viewers that he was a Democrat. Blagojevich was convicted in June of 2011, and it happened again: major coverage by ABC, CBS, and NBC, with absolutely no Democratic label in sight.
So too former U.S. representative William Jefferson of Louisiana. On August 5, 2009, he was found guilty on charges of bribery, racketeering, and wire fraud. ABC and NBC covered the story on their evening newscasts, but only ABC labeled him a Democrat. CBS Evening News ignored the story altogether. The following morning all three filed stories. ABC and CBS ignored his party affiliation.
Likewise the former senator and governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine. On November 4, 2011, he was forced to resign as head of MF Global amid accusations of unauthorized use of hundreds of millions of dollars from his investors. Imagine the coverage were he Republican. But he was a Democrat. CBS and NBC covered the story but neither mentioned his party. ABC skipped the story completely.
Former New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin — “the face of Hurricane Katrina,” as ABC’s Diane Sawyer reminded viewers — was indicted on charges of corruption on January 18, 2013. News on all networks, no Democratic label on any. Nagin was convicted a year later, and the pattern continued: coverage by all three networks and again no party affiliation.
Last year on February 15, former U.S. representative Jesse Jackson Jr. was charged with embezzling three quarters of a million dollars from his campaign funds. Neither CBS Evening News nor NBC Nightly News bothered to identify Jackson as a Democrat. ABC World News didn’t bother to file a story at all. The next morning they all covered it. And they all omitted his identity as a Democrat.
Last November 19, it was discovered that Representative Trey Radel of Florida had been arrested the month before for possession of cocaine. “Breaking new details on the Republican congressman caught buying cocaine,” ABC’s George Stephanopoulos declared on Good Morning America. “The tea-party talk-radio host now facing prison time . . . ” There’s a trifecta: Republican, conservative, and talk-show host to boot. The other networks followed suit with the perfunctory party affiliation.
With control of the Senate hanging in the balance this fall, any story about any incumbent’s troubles is news — if he’s a Republican. This is no different from 2010 and 2012, when the press couldn’t get enough of Mourdock (Indiana), Akin (Missouri), and O’Donnell (Delaware). The stories were endless.
On August 7, after a lengthy scandal involving, first, plagiarism and then the bizarre excuse of post-traumatic stress disorder as the cause, Senator John Walsh of Montana resigned in disgrace, possibly adding an all-important victory to the GOP this fall. Network coverage? Nada.
I could continue but I won’t. We conclude only as we can conclude: This is deliberate.
* THREE-PARTER... (Part 1 of 3)
http://dailysignal.com/2014/08/12/obama-administration-released-600-illegal-immigrants-criminal-convictions/
A new report today from the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security [reports] more than 600 convicted criminals, including felons, were among thousands of illegal immigrants freed under the Obama administration in advance of 2013 budget cuts mandated under sequestration.
* SEQUESTRATION HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING... THIS WAS ALL OBAMA...
According to the IG’s report, at least two-dozen aliens were released by I.C.E. even though they were in a “mandatory detention category.” (After an internal review, ICE later redetained them.)
During the three weeks leading up to sequestration, from February 9 to March 1, ICE released 2,226 immigrant detainees. 617 of them, 28%, had criminal convictions.
The report provides a scathing portrayal of budget mismanagement and flawed processes at the highest levels inside the nation’s immigration enforcement agency.
* FOLKS... REMEMBER YESTERDAY'S ARTICLE ABOUT THE PATENT DEPARTMENT...?
* FOLKS... THIS $HIT IS ENDEMIC! (AND AGAIN... WE'RE NOT TALKING JUST YOUR NORMAL GOVERNMENT WASTE AND INCOMPETENCE... WE'RE TALKING PLAYING POLITICS WITH INNOCENT PEOPLE'S LIVES WHEN DEMOCRATS DELIBERATELY DUMP ALIEN CRIMINALS INTO OUR COMMUNITIES!)
The atmosphere leading up to sequestration in early 2013 was politically charged. President Obama claimed the automatic budget cuts would hurt the economy, health care and emergency responders, and that federal prosecutors would have to “let criminals go.”
* WHICH WAS BULL$HIT!
Republicans accused the administration of trying to create the appearance of a crisis by making high-profile cuts they claimed were unnecessary, such as halting White House public tours and mass-releasing illegal immigrants.
* AND THEY WERE RIGHT! (AND, FOLKS, YOU KNOW HOW I HATE THE ESTABLISHMENT REPUBLICANS! BUT FAIR IS FAIR!)
* TO BE CONTINUED...
* CONTINUING... (Part 2 of 2)
The field offices that released the most criminal convicts include Phoenix, Houston, Atlanta and Chicago.
It was Radha Sekar, ICE’s chief financial Officer, who decided on the “sharp and immediate reduction in detention bed space,” according to the IG. The report did not describe other officials or processes involved in approving and implementing Sekar’s decision.
* RADHA SEKAR... REMEMBER THAT NAME...
The IG said that in the months prior to sequestration, ICE officials responsible for enforcement and removing aliens repeatedly asked Sekar for information on available funding but did not receive it. ICE was strapped by a stark increase in illegal immigrant apprehensions and had not developed contingency plans to address its budget shortfall.
* WE'RE TALKING 2013. OBAMA HAD BEEN PRESIDENT FOR THE PRECEDING FOUR-PLUS YEARS!
About a week before sequestration, Sekhar notified the White House Office of Management and Budget of ICE’s funding problem and requested $22 million. But ICE inexplicably moved forward with the mass releases without waiting to hear whether the White House would provide the requested funds that would make the releases unnecessary.
* "INEXPLICABLY," HUH...? (FOLKS... RECALL THE IRS' ACTIONS DURING THIS "AGE OF OBAMA." FOLKS... THERE'S NOTHING "INEXPLICABLE" ABOUT ANY OF THIS. IT'S A PATTERN.)
“We were not able to determine why ICE executive leadership did not wait for OMB to make a decision on releasing additional funding,” stated the IG report.
* DID I.C.E. "EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP" - DID RADHA SEKAR - HAVE LEGAL AUTHORITY TO DO WHAT THEY DID?
Further, ICE’s instructions to release illegal immigrants over a weekend meant tax dollars were spent to pay overtime for field officers and, in 23 out of 24 field offices, it meant ICE attorneys did not have the opportunity to review cases before release.
* YES... ALL BAD... BUT, AGAIN... WERE THE RELEASES THEMSELVES ILLEGAL? DID I.C.E. OFFICIALS ACTUALLY BREAK THE LAW?
* TO BE CONTINUED...
* CONCLUDING... (Part 3 of 3)
After the Associated Press reported in March 2013, that the Obama administration had released more than 2,000 immigrants over a three-week period, Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano said the story was 'not really accurate.'
Nine days later, ICE director John Morton testified to Congress that his agency had, indeed, “released 2,228 aliens” (later revised to 2,226).
When the media and Congress began asking questions about the controversial releases in February and March of 2013, the IG says ICE executive leadership rushed answers and, in doing so, gave “inaccurate” information to Congress and the public.
* THEY LIED.
“We were trying to live within the budget that Congress had provided us,” Morton said, denying any political motivations. “This was not a White House call. I take full responsibility.”
* AND BY "TAKING FULL RESPONSIBILITY" HE MEANS HE'LL GLADLY RETAIN HIS POSITION, HIS PAY, HIS PERKS, HIS BENEFITS...
(*SIGH*)
That much appears to be true. Today’s IG report states, “We obtained no evidence ICE sought or received guidance about the timing or nature of the detainee budgetary releases from [Napolitano] or the Executive Office of the President.”
* ISN'T THAT KINDA THE WHO POINT OF "PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY?"
(*SNORT*)
* REMEMBER, FOLKS... THEY GOT CAPONE ON INCOME TAX EVASION - NOT FOR BEING THE MOST NOTORIOUS GANGSTER OF ALL TIME!
Moreover, according to the report, ICE attorneys reviewed the releases and concluded the agency made reasonable decisions given the short time frame.
* I.C.E. ATTORNEYS... (NOT INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATORS...)
Despite the debacle, the IG has determined: 1) ICE still has no effective strategy to manage its detention budget; 2) ICE’s ability to track expenditures and available funding has not improved; 3) ICE has not improved communication or transparency with key stakeholders.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
Homeland Security officials told the IG they still have difficulty obtaining sufficient information from Sekar to conduct adequate oversight, even though ICE falls under Homeland Security’s supervision.
* SEKAR AGAIN...
“ICE must develop a transparent budget process, delegate detention management functions to field offices, and engage Congress to fund detention bed space fully with multiple year or no year appropriations,” concluded the IG.
* AND IF THEY DON'T...? (*DEAFENING SILENCE*) THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT.
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