Mr President allows top US diplomat to enter office $6M in debt

January 31, 2009

I think this says it all about our new president. Madame Secretary still has a $6M debt - having taking a 13 M personal loss. barry had $30M left at the end and the week before the election was spending money to run ads in Arizona as well as other places he knew he would never win - all the while not paying off Clinton's debt and not asking his donors to do so. That is the true nature of the man. Forget his words - it's clear how little words really matter to him as they are never born out in action.

Imagine for a minute if it were the other way around. Would barry have been allowed to get out of the race with any debt? What would be the outrage? Instead the media laughs and ridicules Clinton's mother for having to make last minute pleas to pay down her daughter's debt.

How many stump appearances do Clinton do to get barry elected? And what about before he was officially coronated?

No other candidate has ever done that. And her thanks? Pay off your own damn debt wench.

Use your Clinton name, go stump while I go to Hawaii on vacation and on my world adoration tour, get your voters to vote for me - but damn if I'm gonna be an honorable man and pay my due to thank you.

How much actual time has barry spent in photo shoots? Filming documentaries? Making press appearances? Take 1/10th of the time and put it toward fundraiser dinners and her debt would have been paid off - including her personal debt. Gone.

And not a single person has shamed him or brought the issue up. He spends $7M to move the convention outdoors. He spends well over $2M for Grant Park. He spends untold millions on his world tour, the documentary commercial and his whistle stop trip. The Inauguration was well over $150M. He raised 3/4 BILLION dollars and yet his opponent is left to pay down her own $25 M debt.

His pick for Secretary of State he has allowed to enter her new job having lose $13 M of her own money and still owing $6M.

He has allowed the top diplomat of the United States enter a job he appointed her to - knowing full well that she would not be able more funds and her husband's fundraising efforts would be severely curtailed - and the national media says not a word.

At the height of his popularity in December he could have given two maybe three appearances and cleared her debt. He didn't. As his nominee and #1 member of this team of rivals crap, she was only able to raise $1.6M.

What does that say about him?

And who advised Mrs Obama about how to handle the press and her children? Who will be there to ask when she has more questions?

Clinton is there when anyone - the Obamas - need her but is treated like crap otherwise.

Words don't matter?

Nope. Not his. And he has no actual actions to judge.

What is it going to take folks for you to see who this man really is?

And you wonder why so many people do not respect him?

Reality of foreign policy

January 30, 2009

I ran across an interesting article by SIR CHRISTOPHER MEYER (Ambassador to Washington, 1997-2003) about nationalism and ethnic tribalism in today's world. Ethnic tribalism is a good term - especially in regards to the tribes of savages in the Arab world. How it must be faced head on and not with kumbaya barryism.

That is the brilliance of Madame Secretary Clinton - she has no such illusions, is well-educated in the history of warring factions, particularly as regards India/Pakistan/Afghanistan and Israel, and she is reality-based, result-oriented and experience-driven. In other words - her foreign policy experience is more than the "having tea with ambassadors" that the mindless chanters fell for. Add to that her awareness that women will be the ones to bring peace and prosperity to their oppressed lands not the human detonators and hate-filled evildoers.

And contrary to her homeland - in which she was First Lady of Arkansas for 10 years, First Lady of the United States for 8 years, Senator from New York for 8 years, presidential candidate and now Secretary of State - she is well-beloved and respected around the world - as is her husband. It's insane to read that sentence and realize that barry supporters actually said out loud that barry had more political experience. And she is presently more well known and more respected than barry around the world and only time will tell if that changes.

If the American press continues to treat her so inhumanely while she is trying to repair our standing in the world by implementing "barry's" policy, it will show once and for all they are out to destroy her as a woman - a useless cause. Is there a tougher woman, let alone politician, out there? It will prove they have no regard for barry's "judgment". And it will prove their castration anxiety is more important than their futures, their children's futures, our nation's future since it rests on her success.

Does anyone still believe barry has any idea or enough knowledge or experience to actually dictate foreign policy? He picked Biden just to get elected and look what has already happened. It seems he 's just another crazy old uncle who says things barry doesn't agree with. How fortunate it was that wardrobegate was more fascinating than his prediction of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

President barry can't even get a stimulus package passed when he has an unheard of approval rating. Perhaps had he spent a little more time in the senate instead of campaigning, or refrained from trashing a true American hero by throwing around "POW Card" and accusations of racism, or actually reached across the aisle instead of proposing it, or had enough respect not to personally attack our former president - a Republican - he might have generated a little more good will. An experienced proven politician would have known that.

Madame Secretary entered the race fully-footed in reality, having visited at least 50 more countries and 2 continents more than barry. But the cult of personality chose an untested politician, a man with no past, a man who did not have the economy in his top three issues as of April 1st 2008,a man who has never made a stand on anything - to be president and commander in chief during an unprecedented time of crisis.

What has he done other than give mini-speeches and answer softly lobs?

He just admitted the reality of the presidency having descended on him. It dawned on him when he went to get his daily press adulation and realized they actually have some idea of how to do their job.And who was it who knew the realities of the presidency going in having lived side by side with it for eight years? Historians are going to wonder what was in the nation's water supply.

Anyway. Here's an excerpt from MEYER's article in the UK Times (highlight added):

Globalisation and interdependence were supposed to have swept aside these ancient feuds and rivalries. Theories of the postmodern state now abound. Tony Blair preached how national interest would be trumped by the spread of "global values". This is self-evident rubbish. For here is the paradox of the modern world. Money, people, culture, business and electronic information cross porous frontiers in ever-increasing volume. But as national boundaries dissolve in cyberspace, so everywhere the sense of nationhood and national interest strengthens.

...It is useless to say that nationalism and ethnic tribalism have no place in the international relations of the 21st century. If anything the spread of Western-style democracy has amplified their appeal and resonance. The supreme fallacy in foreign policy is to take the world as we would wish it to be and not as it actually is.

"Politically neutral"

January 25, 2009

cindyinatl:

Thank you for your thoughts. You have a very good point that people have been asking, so I am answering out here. Our blog is based on documenting the lack of vetting of barry by the media and the direct effect it had on the primaries and general election. That's how it started. Now since it seems it's just me and the bias has been proven many times over - I tend to write more opinion than strictly facts. Lately I've been doing whatever.

We began by compiling evidence of the actual events and ways the press was not vetting barry. The most obvious, indisputable, irrefutable proof of media corruption was the March 3, 2008 press conference, where they let barry walk away - c'mon guys, I already answered like eight questions. It was the night before he could have clinched the Democratic nomination and they did not ask him about NAFTA, Rezko whose trial began that day and whose indictment barry was named in, Dorothy Tillman's arrest and other matters. They let him walk away. They got him lying on camera about NAFTA and they did nothing

There is no way they would have let Sen Clinton walk away.

Pro-Obama media bias loud and clear.

Some of my fellow citizens stopped that day as it was proven outright. Some hung in and continued to document it in their posts. Some quit after the primary. Some still post partial drafts or links to examples but there's no way I can keep up by myself. There are 2186 drafts - some relating back to barry's Chicago days. Now they've all stopped, it seems, because the pro-obama media bias has been proven statistically and the media themselves has admitted to it.

There does not need to be any studies. Evidence abounds in just their daily interactions. One example: during the heat of the Wright controversy, Sen Clinton got more bad press than barry - documented by an impartial group. It's in here somewhere or maybe on the other site. The proobamedia deemed him Teflon.

Most of us aren't political in nature. I had never watched or been involved in politics until Jan last year. Many of us live in Chicago and have known of barry since he started in just a general sense. The first time I saw him I thought there's someone I might actually vote for. None of us voted for any of the candidates. I have never voted. Thus, we are politically neutral as in we came in with no bias toward anyone. We had no axe to grind and no need to denigrate barry to promote our candidate.

I think what you are getting at is an overall politically neutral site, as in we discuss the aspects of politics in general and give both sides of the issues? Besides not being the purpose of this blog, most of us - me most assuredly - have such a limited knowledge of politics we could never begin to accomplish that. I'm still learning about the Constitution. And I had no idea the primary voting process was so fundamentally flawed and crazy.

Thus, what Bush has done, what Keating 5 entailed, and whatever else has no specific relevance to the pro-Obama media bias. The press has already admitted they were partially to blame for Iraq because they did not ask tougher questions. And what will they say about their coverage and non-questioning of barry? And what will bring about that questioning?

barry reached the highest office in the land - the world - having never had to make a stand on anything. He had never once made a stand where his vote was the deciding one or made a decision where the consequences rested solely on him. Not once. And now he holds the whole world in his hands.

How many serious issues has he changed his mind on to suit the political winds?

For example, barry likes to speak of the evils of lobbyists, right?

His own chief advisor David Axelrod is a lobbyist. The technicality of Illinois laws is what keeps him from being named "lobbyist". His lobbying office is the same one he worked out of for barry. He handled a case for Commonwealth Edison (Ayers father was the longtime Chairman and CEO) while he was on the campaign trail for barry as barry stood there and spoke about how lobbyists will never work for him. And even if he were to admit to being a lobbyist - he's not a "Washington lobbyist". Problem is - his clients are.

Right to your face he said and is still saying these things.

We follow and document the birth certificate/constitutional eligibility to be POTUS not because we want barry deposed so our candidate can win or become president - we have none - but because it is clear straightforward evidence of the pro-obama media bias.

Is there a single political candidate in this country - besides barry - who could have become president without showing their original long form birth certificate? Clinton, McCain, Bush or Palin?

Not a chance.

That is the crux. Why hasn't the media forced him to? Even now? Why has there been a media blackout? Have you even heard of the cases before the Supreme Court? It wasn't just one or two "wild conspiracy theories". The crazy things that have hung up the process of getting them heard? Filing clerks intentionally misfiling the paper work to miss the deadline or mess up the appeal? Paper work filed by the same lawyer the week before sent for Anthrax quarantine? The guy responsible for Anthrax had already killed himself and quarantine does not take 10 days but the deadline would pass. Papers signed for by the Chief Justice's clerk getting "lost" for weeks?

And that's just what we're familiar with. Most folks haven't heard anything about it just like they didn't hear about Rezko or Blagojevich, who we had been mentioning since the beginning. Now who doesn't know who blagojevich is and what he's about?

These are real issues - not some crazy wingnuts or tinfoil heat wearers or Neo-cons crazies or the old tired refrain of racists. I don't even know what a "neocon" is. But I know what media bias, embargoing, propaganda and censorship is because it is still happening and that is wrong and unconstitutional.

No matter your candidate that should worry you especially after their terrible job on Iraq. Where would we have been if they had done their job?

And what would have happened if the press had favored Gore and Kerry like they have barry?

This world would have been a very different place.

Quote of the day: "Isn't that what I do?"

January 23, 2009

Morning Joe

Mika "Mommy" Brzezinski cannot decide whether she's the boys' Mommy, equal, co-host, coffee getter, breakfast maker or pretty host with a famous dad. This morning it's breakfast maker.

MIKA: Well, I've got two gentlemen here, I've got to serve them breakfast. Willie Geist and Mark Halperin.

Isn't that what I do?

JOE: Uhmm. You're gonna have to answer that question for yourself.

It doesn't appear that she has.

Later they're about Gov Paterson and Caroline Kennedy and the crazy rumors.

JOE: Mark Halperin, what's a euphemisms for saying one thing in a public statement like that, and then trashing her behind the scenes saying, 'hey, dig through all of her personal garbage'.

MIKA (off camera): Like you should talk!

Then they started in on Gitmo. Joe ranted on about how they can't be released and that Mika can go down there and figure out which ones are innocent and send them to her neighborhood.

MIKA: Either I will go down and do that or you'll go down there and shoot them all.

He continues and she shakes her head rolls her eyes and crosses her arms.

Then comes the politifact.com dude with the "obameter" (a high tech pinocchio's nose) and they discussed barry's stump promises. It's good somebody has the time to follow them all. I'll bet he keeps less than 20%. But he's changed so many times already. The stuff he said in the primaires he changed as soon as he started the general and then the transition...Anyway they have sound effects to go with the categories. "Stalled" came up which sounds like you would imagine and Mika says "Sounds like my car." And the dude said "Yeah, I think that's the idea."

They make fun of her and she says nothing. At least on air. And yet she was happy to pontificate about how Madame Secretary and Gov Palin were not treated in a sexist fashion. She hasn't settled on Caroline Kennedy. Whatever is happening with her is wrong. Doesn't her uncle have any pull left?

Caroline Kennedy withdraws name

January 22, 2009

Caroline Kennedy has withdrawn herself for consideration to replace Senator Clinton. She likely wasn't going to get it and her uncle having a seizure yesterday had to figure into it.

KENNEDY: I informed Governor Paterson today that for personal reasons I am withdrawing my name from consideration for the United States Senate.

It was all very sad how it went down. The idea was grand but the actuality impossible.

What needed to be in the Inaugural Address

January 21, 2008

This is what was missing in the Inaugural Address and here are some of the words I would have liked to have heard. Words that should have been written. Words to reach the women in the world who hold the power of peace in their hands and wombs. We heard about race - we heard nothing about women.

What would Mrs Parks have wanted to hear?

Women were no more included in the Constitution than black men. There is not a single black man alive who was born without the right to vote - but there are black women. Black men have been voting since 1870. More black men - former slaves - held office immediately after they got the right to vote than do so now. But it took anther fifty years for women's suffrage.

Do you know how many people do not know that?

Excerpt from Senator Clinton Madame Secretary Clinton's speech spoken as First Lady on September 5, 1995 in Beijing, China, during the United Nations 4th World Conference on Women. They are just as imperative as they were then. Though it seems not to Mr President. Fortunately for the women of the world, Madame Secretary will be carrying on her mission of true equality - women's equality.

Women's Rights are Human Rights

...These abuses have continued because, for too long, the history of women has been a history of silence. Even today, there are those who are trying to silence our words. But the voices of this conference and of the women at Huairou must be heard loudly and clearly:

It is a violation of human rights when babies are denied food, or drowned, or suffocated, or their spines broken, simply because they are born girls.

It is a violation of human rights when women and girls are sold into the slavery of prostitution for human greed -- and the kinds of reasons that are used to justify this practice should no longer be tolerated.

It is a violation of human rights when women are doused with gasoline, set on fire, and burned to death because their marriage dowries are deemed too small.

It is a violation of human rights when individual women are raped in their own communities and when thousands of women are subjected to rape as a tactic or prize of war.

It is a violation of human rights when a leading cause of death worldwide among women ages 14 to 44 is the violence they are subjected to in their own homes by their own relatives.

It is a violation of human rights when young girls are brutalized by the painful and degrading practice of genital mutilation.

It is a violation of human rights when women are denied the right to plan their own families, and that includes being forced to have abortions or being sterilized against their will.

If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights once and for all. Let us not forget that among those rights are the right to speak freely -- and the right to be heard.

Women must enjoy the rights to participate fully in the social and political lives of their countries, if we want freedom and democracy to thrive and endure. It is indefensible that many women in nongovernmental organizations who wished to participate in this conference have not been able to attend -- or have been prohibited from fully taking part.

Let me be clear. Freedom means the right of people to assemble, organize, and debate openly. It means respecting the views of those who may disagree with the views of their governments. It means not taking citizens away from their loved ones and jailing them, mistreating them, or denying them their freedom or dignity because of the peaceful expression of their ideas and opinions.

Amen.

What was missing in the Inaugural Address?

January 20, 2009

These are the lines I found interesting from the new leader of the free world's Inaugural Address:

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America: They will be met.

Yes. The American People are expecting them to be met and sooner rather than later. Problem being they are not sure what version of promises they are going to get.

At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forebearers, and true to our founding documents.

Have We? We the People have no idea if our new president has been true to The Constitution.

We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

Do those words sound like the same words of the infamous 2002 speech?

The best line of all:

...we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

What was missing?

The exhortation to the oppressed women of the world, including America, and especially China and the Muslim World. No mention that women's rights are human rights. No mention of the need to stop violence against women. No mention of the absolute imperative for women and girls to be given respect and equality in their savage lands.

He needs a woman - a mature woman - to guide his words since his drunken hair-pulling, tit-grabbing pig has no clue and barry himself has shown over and over - by denying his own mother - that he has no clue or interest in getting one. One of his female speechwriters quit after she saw that he was doing nothing to stop the attacks on Gov Palin. Anyone hear about her? I'll have to find that post in the drafts.

This all he found important to say:

And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

...To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West: Know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

The Muslim World needed to hear outright that that mutual interest and respect includes women. They needed to hear outrage. They needed to hear that the unclenching of the fist includes their own women - sisters, mothers, aunts, nieces and cousins - who they treat as reproductive chattel in the name of "culture". Who they maim or murder in the name of "honor". Who they mutilate in the name of "custom".

They needed to hear that it includes their young daughters - as young as 8 - who they sell to settle a debt - only to be raped by men 2-8 times their age in the name of "religion".

It was an egregious error.

Unforgivable, really.

But not at all surprising.

When is he going to realize that peace hinges on women - not the enslaving husbands and fathers, and human detonator sons and brothers?

He promised to carry on the fight for Senator Clinton?

There has been absolutely no evidence of it. He did not even bother to reach out to her voters (just the donors) - so sure he was that he would get their votes - much the same as he was willing to dis the LGBT community in the name of pandering to Rick Warren's community. How much is his female staff getting paid in comparison to the men?

There were two mentions of his father and absolutely no mention of his white mother "embracing what was right" when his father slunk back to that village to the pregnant "tribal" wife and young child he had abandoned - the woman he continued to have children with after he married another white women.

If barry's white mother hadn't "embraced what was right" after his black father did not, Rev Lowery would not have been up there rhyming words of outdated divisiveness when he was charged with the duty of bringing folks - all folks - black, brown, yellow, white and the redman - together through the benediction.

What would have been the power of Barack Hussein Obama's words about oppressed women to the Arab and African world? To China? To the world in general?

We will never know.

And the resultant power of their absence?

**

What should have been included.

Madame Secretary 1, Vittner 0

January 16, 2009

Thank you, vyttalimma. I never did get around to the exchange between DC Madam piglet Vitter and Sen Clinton and Mr Chairman. I had transcribed it by hand with body language but Taylor Marsh has the video.

Vitter, like all of them, had reservations about Mr Bill's foundation. They really just want to find out what's in there for them to keep ragging on. Madame Secretary Clinton has been held back by her husband and now when she is clearly more informed than all of them together - they focus on her husband. What did they ask her that she didn't know? Nothing. So the old fall back - Mr Bill.

Vitter wanted more disclosure and asked about conflict of interest. He said Mr Bill hadn't agreed to disclose future foreign contributions to his Global Initiative and she gave an explanation of what barry and Mr Bill agreed on. Something that has been made public and answers were provided ahead of time that he must not have read. Maybe his wife gave him an ultimatum. She looked awfully scary in that picture and appeared taller than him. Surprise. This man has a lot of issues above and beyond simple coarseness.

courtesy of taylor marsh

Madame Secretary Clinton is speaking with her head down, glancing at her papers. When vitter rudely interrupts, she stops and looks up.

CLINTON: But I want to speak for a minute, if I can, about the work that's done, because I think it's important--

Vitter, a fellow senator, a southerner, a prostitute frequenter, a father of three daughters, a husband of a former prosecutor and a Catholic Church Lector, rudely cuts her off. But he has no problem addressing Chairman Kerry with respect.

VITTER: Mr. Chairman [Face flushed, voice quivering, hands palm out like, enough wench!]

[points both hands at himself - he wanted camera time] no objection listening to this.>[lie] But I don't want it to come out of my time, 'cuz I'd like to pursue these questions.

He sits back like, aha, I won. Not even close. He was always going to vote nay and just wanted to stand out. He did. As a classless, rude pig. He lost himself an awful lot of votes with his gyne envy microphallus insecurity. I wonder if his prostitute ever pissed or shat on him. My guess is he liked to be spanked...for good reason. I would like to know what Mr Chairman said afterward. Vitter, besides disrespecting a woman and a colleague - disrespected the Chairman and the proceedings in front of foreign dignitaries.

MR CHAIRMAN (off camera): Well, I guess, I mean, it's fair to say...

Clinton raises her eyebrows, like you've got to be kidding me - this eunuch? She re-centers herself in the chair--showing him he didn't begin to put her in her place--draws in her upper lip--figuratively biting it--rests her forearms on the table--bring it on, this is my domain--and waits for Kerry to handle the useless gnat not worthy of swatting.

KERRY (wide shot of him and piglet) ...that if you ask a question you deserve an answer, and the answer, traditionally, comes out of the time of the senator.

Piglet sits back in his chair and rocks like a kindergartner who has to urinate - or already has - in his diaper.

VITTER: Well, I'm still waiting for an [laughs dismissively] answer. I'd love an answer. [rocking and smirking] But if there's an answer to my question--

KERRY calmly, in control: Well, I think you need to give the senator an opportunity to give you answer the question. And if you need additional time--

Vitter cuts off Kerry, looks away, stops rocking, puts his elbows on the table and gestures with his hands. His face still flushed, he starts in without pardoning himself, addressing her by name or thanking Kerry.

VITTER, dismissively, 35 second question: Let me repeat the question: which is, would you support

[blinks after a wimpy 10 words]

and help produce a new MOU that requires the same sort of disclosure

[Looks down. He couldn't hold her gaze. He looked down. Couldn't sustain for a single sentence. Her look back is what I would have liked to have seen]

for contributions for the Clinton Global Initiative. Under this,

[he points and looks away]

there is no disclosure moving forward for contributions of the Clinton Global Initiative. So, it 's a yes or no. Would you support expanding that disclosure. Admittedly - this is voluntary and it's not required by law - but it seems to be a big exception to the rule of MOU in terms of disclosure.

Clinton then told him the answers were provided and that she would be happy to provide whatever he needed. She answered evenly and calmly and maintained eye contact. Her response lasted the same time as his question. I would love to know if she gave him a second thought once he had his little notice me I'm a senator too tantrum. Most notably he never got his yes or no. He got a polite didn't you read your handout?

Vitted, cowed, still flushed and waving his hands: Well, ok, if you could consider that suggestion. And then he basically asks the same thing, Clinton corrects him and then Me Chairman steps in and says asked and answered. Vitter says he won't vote till it's amended. She says it isn't going to be amended but we'll clarify it. Then he says, I hate to beat a dead horse...

And Madame Secretary responds with a zinger, sealing his nay vote. How else could he save face?

Not only that, there will be ongoing reviews by anything that is brought to the attention of the career professionals.

David Vittner nays Sen Clinton's appointment

January 15, 2009

Sen Clinton passes 16-1 by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The only dissenter was David Vitter (R-LA), who was the only one to try to challenger her. Chairman Kerry asserted himself and that was that. I didn't know who Vitter was (I only started following politics in Jan 08) but he looked angry about something that was not related to Sen Clinton so I went agoogling. Turns out he's a pig with castration anxiety. Explained everything except the diaper fetish.

He got his microwillie involved with the DC Madam and was the first member of Congress to be outed by her phone book. He is actually trying to use his reelection funds for defense against the allegations. Can you say wardrobe? Clothes vs defending himself because he frequented a prostitute? His lawyer says that his defense costs are a direct result of him holding office as senator. Problem being he was involved before he became a senator. And he dropped out of the 2002 gubernatorial race because of his alleged relationship with a prostitute named Wendy (like his wife).

Salon's MARY JACOBY:

He presents himself as a morally righteous, clean-cut family man, and his wife and three young children have become virtual campaign props. The Harvard-educated Rhodes scholar is also extremely intelligent, observers say, and runs perhaps the most effective political ads in the state. But there are hints of a dark side: allegations of an affair with a prostitute and a lawsuit claiming he lost his temper and physically charged at a woman at a town hall meeting.

Mercedes Hernandez, who was involved in Republican politics, testified that she frequently attended local meetings to engage officials on the issues, usually tape-recording the events. At a town hall meeting, Hernandez asked the state representative about a rumor she'd heard that he was supporting a gay-rights bill in the Legislature. Vitter became "enraged by her question, left the podium where he was standing, advanced toward her in a rapid, threatening manner, pushing aside chairs ... and grabbed a portable tape recorder" that Hernandez was holding, according to her legal complaint.

And then there's his ethical campaign standards bringing David Duke and the KKK:

Vitter was against any form of affirmative action. For most of the race, the better-known Treen led in the polls -- until the last week, when Vitter violated his pledge not to play dirty, John Treen said. The Vitter campaign sent fliers to black voters stating that the racist David Duke was supporting his opponent. In fact, Treen had been an enemy of Duke and had tried to stop his rise in Louisiana GOP politics. "Dave Treen and I have absolutely no use for David Duke whatsoever," John Treen said. "He [Duke] tried to shake my hand once, and I said, 'I'm not going to shake your hand, you son of a bitch.' It's hypocritical to shake someone's hand if you consider them an enemy." But in what John Treen believes was a secret pact between Duke and Vitter, the former Ku Klux Klansman came out publicly for his nemesis, Treen.

Sound familiar?

He vowed to outlaw abortion in almost all cases, even when pregnancy results from rape or incest.

Crooks and Liars' JOHN AMATO:

VITTER on "sanctity of marriage" in 2004:

This is a real outrage. The Hollywood left is redefining the most basic institution in human history, and our two U.S. Senators won't do anything about it. We need a U.S. Senator who will stand up for Louisiana values, not Massachusetts's values. I am the only Senate Candidate to coauthor the Federal Marriage Amendment; the only one fighting for its passage. I am the only candidate proposing changes to the senate rules to stop liberal obstructionists from preventing an up or down vote on issues like this, judges, energy, and on and on." stated David Vitter.

In 2006, Vitter told reporters that "the existence or non-existence of a stable, loving, two-parent household" is the most significant predictor of success in life, and conceded that infidelity contributes to the breakdown of traditional families.

Vittner's number in DC Madam's phonebook (SHAILAGH MURRAY)

Vitter and his wife, Wendy, a former prosecutor, have four children. On his Senate Web site, Vitter says he is committed to "advancing mainstream conservative principles" and notes that he and his wife are lectors at their hometown church.

His come to Jesus moment. Why is it they have "respect for their families" only after they're caught?

This was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible. Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling. Out of respect for my family, I will keep my discussion of the matter there -- with God and them. But I certainly offer my deep and sincere apologies to all I have disappointed and let down in any way.

Salon's JOAN WALSH:

Predictably, he refused to take questions; less predictably, he pushed his wife, Wendy Vitter, out to speak. Wendy Vitter, you'll recall, made fun of Hillary Clinton's plight during impeachment, telling the New Orleans Times-Picayune that if she had a cheating spouse, she'd be "a lot more like Lorena Bobbitt than Hillary. If [he] does something like that, I'm walking away with one thing, and it's not alimony, trust me."But today we got the calm, forgiving, Christian wife -- "I'm proud to be Wendy Vitter," she declared -- who insisted she was mainly speaking as a mother and who is "sad for our children" because the media has been hounding the family since Vitter's admission a week ago, even following them to church.

Lorena Bobbitt? Mrs Spitzer is more like it. One wonders what he thought of barry's pick of Warren.

As Glenn Greenwald points out, Vitter was a leading sponsor of the ban on same-sex marriage, insisting, "I don't believe there's any issue that's more important than this one," and he compared gay marriage to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

And there's this:

Impeachment-backing state Rep. David Vitter, by the way, wrote this in the Times-Picayune: "Some meaningful action must be taken against the president [Clinton]. If none is, his leadership will only further drain any sense of values left to our political culture."

I honestly cannot believe these men can say such things when they've been busy doing it for years themselves. Remember Mark Foley who was the crusader against internet predators at the same time he was sending teenage pages graphically sexual IMs? And, of course, like Foley, Vitter was not found guilty of anything.

Washington Post's MARY ANN AKERS:

The Senate ethics committee in May exonerated Vitter because his contacts with the late D.C. Madam's escort service occurred when he was a House member, before he ran for the Senate. And since the House ethics panel cannot retroactively investigate Vitter's conduct, the Louisiana Republican looks to be off the hook completely.

Wendy Vitter doing her Mrs Spitzer impersonation at a news conference in Metairie, La. on July 16, 2007. (AP File Photo/Alex Brandon)

Spitzers: pickwaynesbrain

John Kerry on Sen Clinton & Tim Geithner

January 15, 2009

Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee John Kerry's interview with Matt Lauer. He discusses Sen Clinton and Tim Geithner. He said it didn't bother him that he wasn't sitting in Sen Clinton's chair. He didn't act that way yesterday. He was professional and came to her defense. He also winked at her before they went to lunch. I have to congratulate Sen Kerry on a job well done. There's no doubt Sen Clinton will be confirmed. She's giving her farewell speech and they're having a party to congratulate her. Eric Holder is another matter.

VIDEO

Sen Clinton's stance on Hamas

January 14, 2009

Well Senator Clinton did her usual. She was massively prepared - even without notes and she displayed an encyclopedic knowledge of the world. They couldn't break her. She has to be the smartest politician on the planet. Her comment on Israel.

CLINTON: On Israel you cannot negotiate with Hamas until it renounces violence, recognizes Israel, and agrees to abide by past agreements. That for me is an absolute. That is the United States government's position and the President elects position.

I'm putting together barama matthews comments. They are diametrically opposed to everything he spouted during the primaries. Don't they ever listen to themselves and what do they actually believe? I wish I knew how to splice videos. I would go back and clip his comments together before and after.

"Mr President"

January 14, 2009

Quite a surprising procedure. I didn't know what entailed a confirmation hearing. I can see why Sen Clinton wanted to see a friendly face across from her. But it was a huge statement having Chelsea sitting behind her in camera range. Probably only women noticed.

Props to Sen Kerry. This was the funniest part - poignant even.

Sen Clinton addressed Mr Chairman, John Kerry as "Mr President".

He smiled. No hesitation: I'll take that.

She laughed: It was a Freudian slip.

He smiled: We're both subject to those.

Clinton: On this subject, especially

Immediate clearing of the air in public, in the Senate, in front of everyone watching and on you tube forever. And it was completely natural and spontaneous.

Think about it: Kerry could have been starting his second term with her (or Biden) as VP or SoS. She could just have likely been President and he (or Biden) the VP or SoS. Instead she's SoS and he took over the committee the now VP used to chair and the President used to be on.

They say politics is a business and that they can get over lost campaigns and move on. Hard to believe but their interaction gave testament to something. They said it would be hard for her to walk back into the senate after the campaign. How hard was it walking in there after they impeached her husband?

They may not all say it out loud but they are proud of her and her preparedness and thanked her for taking the job. Sen Whitehouse (D-RI) said she's "fiercely smart" and "astonishingly funny" and that they would miss her as a colleague and as a person.

Where were they when she was being attacked?

Why are they still surprised about the power of Sen Clinton?

January 13, 2009

Hardball

They're commentating along with Sen Clinton's testifying.

MARK WHITAKER: She is putting not only Congress but the rest of Washington on notice that she's going fight for the State Department turf, and also that she is-when you listen to these questions-that she's going to do more homework and know more about all these issues than anybody else. This is really an very impressive performance in terms of showing that she is really going to be strong in reasserting the prerogatives of the State Department.

MICHELLE BERNARD: Prior to recent history we didn't make women's rights a part of our foreign policy. It will be very interesting to see what she will do with her new power and her managerial skills in Islamic countries where women's rights are a major issue. And she's going to make it a part of our national security efforts at the State Department.

barama talks about how the Prime Minister of Israel made fun of Condolezza Rice by talking to Bush to make Rice abstain on the agreement she helped craft.

MATTHEWS: Don't you have a hunch Hillary is not going to allow that to happen?

WHITTAKER: Another source of power is the power of her personality. And in talking to people in the transition, close to obama about why he wanted Hillary--obviously there are political reasons--but there's also just her appeal around the world. And when -- he's not going to be able to travel that much in his first year. He's going to have to focus on the economy. But when Hillary Clinton arrives representing the United States, that is going to send a very powerful signal, because people around the world know who she is, knows she's powerful, and know that she will be able to pick up the phone and talk to obama whenever she wants.

BERNARD: She is a very commanding presence - very intelligent - and I think she gives off an aura that says 'I'm in charge - don't mess with me.'

They watch more live testimony by Sen Clinton.

MATTHEWS: Mark Whitaker, how's she doing?

WHITAKER: I think she is doing very well. She clearly knows her stuff. I mean, I keep thinking about how the job of Secretary of State is to sit there and go head to head with world leaders. And we're seeing a little preview of that today. Here she is with all these powerful senators, looking them in the eye, and you really can see that she is going to be very effective as our top diplomat.

BERNARD: When Madeline Albright became the Secretary of State, the big news was the nation's first woman as Secretary of State. We're not looking at Senator Clinton today as a woman. We're not talking about her jewelry or how she is dressed or anything like that. Where talking about the power that emanates with this woman.

I think she is doing an excellent job. I think she is going to make a very effective Secretary of State. I think we're going to see a very, very different Department of State - very strong, very powerful. I'm forward to seeing the tension between the department of State and the Department of Defense, if there is any, on how we're going to handle issues such as Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

MATTHEWS: Well, she walked in the door with 18 million votes.

...the same amount barry got. And it sounds like she's got a lot more going for her on the foreign front than having tea with Ambassadors.

Sen Clinton confirmation hearing tomorrow

January 12, 2009

Sen Clinton's confirmation hearing is tomorrow - expected to be only one day. Mr Bill's finances have passed major scrutiny though some "clarification" is needed. Kerry expects a "fair and expeditious" hearing. Has Sen Clinton ever been treated "fairly"?

Who do you have more faith in: Sen Clinton or Kerry?

All I got was the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And to think I was the one who brought barry on the scene. Well, I'm gonna take it out on Hillary just to get back at barry and my ex-bud Joe Biden. I could've at least been Secretary of Commerce. Now me and Dodd are stuck in the Senate and Edwards is in hiding...

Senator Clinton's stance on Hamas

January 14, 2009

Well Senator Clinton did her usual. She was massively prepared - even without notes - and she displayed an encyclopedic knowledge of the world. They couldn't break her. She has to be the smartest politician on the planet. Her comment on Israel.

CLINTON: On Israel you cannot negotiate with Hamas until it renounces violence, recognizes Israel, and agrees to abide by past agreements. That for me is an absolute. That is the United States government's position and the President elects position.

I'm putting together barama matthews comments. They are diametrically opposed to everything he spouted during the primaries. Don't they ever listen to themselves and what do they actually believe? I wish I knew how to splice videos. I would go back and clip his comments together before and after.

Sen Clinton confirmation hearing tomorrow

January 12, 2009

Sen Clinton's confirmation hearing is tomorrow - expected to be only one day. Mr Bill's finances have passed major scrutiny though some "clarification" is needed. Kerry expects a "fair and expeditious" hearing. Has Sen Clinton ever been treated "fairly"?

Who do you have more faith in: Sen Clinton or Kerry?

All I got was the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And to think I was the one who brought barry on the scene. Well, I'm gonna take it out on Hillary just to get back at barry and my ex-bud Joe Biden. I could've at least been Secretary of Commerce. Now me and Dodd are stuck in the Senate and Edwards is in hiding...

Voting procedures need to be revamped

January 8, 2009

The Senate made the final official electoral count - as expected 365-173. Dick Cheney read as his last VP duty:

Pursuant to the Constitution and laws of the United States, the Senate and House of Representatives are meeting in joint session to verify the certificates and count the votes of the electors of the several states.

barry and biden can now be officially inaugurated on 1-20-09.

I wouldn't count on SCOTUS to do anything to change that - no matter how inclined and no matter the evidence. At this point it is too late - which was the point in the delaying.

From a non-political person, who has never voted and had not been involved in politics of any sort until Jan 08 - the voting process needs to be changed. Each person's vote is not counted the same. The superdelegates decided this election after the DNC Rules Committee decided to hijack the votes in Michigan and give delegates to barry whose name was not on the ballot and therefore not one vote could have been proved to have been cast for him.

Are any Michiganders suing? If so, what would be their recourse?

It was an illegal primary. A vital and (deciding as far as popular vote) deliberation went on behind closed doors. Absolute corruption. You cannot have a process be clean if one element of it is dirty. The primary results will forever be illegal.

Imagine the outrage if Sen Clinton and barry's positions would have been reversed. It would never happen. No way. Period. That alone reflects its illegality and inherent bias. The Double Standard.

Then there are all the other irregularities with ACORN, bused in voters and the choosing of South Carlina and Nevada as the two primaries moved up. And had they been Michigan and New York? It was an intentional intervention that directly affected the outcome. As was the proven to exist proobama media bias.

Should be:

1 - No caucuses. Completely undemocratic and are subject to coercion and intimidation. They are inherently biased toward some demographics - in this case, Sen Clinton's: seniors, shift workers and single moms, which most definitely the outcome as she won only 1/14. And the one she won - Nevada - had many complaints of barry voter intimidation and is presently being litigated. Again - what is the recourse? So what's stopping someone from doing it as long as nothing happens before the general election?

2 - Every state should have a vote in the primaries. The primary vote is more important and the individual's vote means more because they can vote for whomever they want - not just the final choice. Primaries should take place over the period of two weeks or so - no longer.

3 - Superdelegates should be completely abolished. They decided this election. Period. They could have voted for Sen Clinton just as easily as they both got the same amount of votes - actually more people actually pulled the lever for Sen Clinton - that should not be forgotten much the same that Al Gore's vote count. barry won by virtue of caucus states (13/14) only 4 of which were blue. That is not the will of the democrats. A caucus in Idaho should not count the same as a 100K lead in votes in a blue state like Ohio or Pennsylvania. barry did not get the required number of delegates to win. Period.

4 - ID standards should be the same in every state as should the voting machines and procedures.

5 - Both parties should abide by the exact same procedures and rules for nomination.

5 - Independents should be allowed for whomever they want in every state.

6 - Absolute cap on campaign finances. barry broke his promise and was not held accountable. Say what you want - barry bought the election. He outspent McCain massively at the end and McCain could not fight back. (Neither could Sen Clinton.)

Well, that's my two cents.

Dr Sanjay Gupta for Surgeon General?

January 7, 2009

Dr Sanjay Gupta is an excellent choice for Surgeon General. He was in the war zone and performed neurosurgeries on US soldiers and also Iraqi civilians, including on a toddler. He saved a Marine's life who was shot in the head and believe it or not is up walking and talking.

He is still a practicing neurosurgeon and has been on CNN as a regular contributor addressing a broad spectrum of topic to educate the public. He also is known to several generations including the original MTV generation and the present day 15 second attention span twits.

Perfect since the Surgeon General's main role is education and prevention but not necessarily a policy setter - although he was an advisor to First Lady Hillary Clinton. He is a TV celebrity, telegenic - People's most beautiful people, which seems a requirement nowadays, and of course checks off another one of barry's boxes. Years from now Dr Gupta will still be recognized by folks.

Really a simple straightforward pick.

What are the chances he can get barry to stop smoking? Addiction to Nicorette is still an addiction to nicotine and has medical consequences.

video of the day: Mika Brzezinski channels Mrs Spitzer

Watch. Decide for yourself.

courtesy of ShutTheFreudUp

Mika Brzezinski channels Mrs Spitzer.

Quote of the day: "You have such a stunningly superficial knowledge of"

Quote of the day: "You have a stunningly superficial knowledge of..."