Morning Joe. Mika is running the show with bosom buddies Mike Barnicle and Willie Geist. Politico’s Mike Allen is on giving the morning whatever. They get around to mentioning the White House Poetry Slam tonite.
GEIST: What makes a poetry slam rather than a poetry reading?
MIKA: Mike Allen might know.
ALLEN: You know, it’s a fine distinction from a poetry jam…but I think if the president’s there, whatever it is, it’s cool.
MIKA: Wow. Why don’t you just say you love him?
Explanation of Pastor Warren’s no-show on “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos as provided by a Warren aide’s email via Politico’s Mike Allen. FOX had asked that the church be spiffed up before the broadcast and evidently they got to it kind of late.
NewsPoliticsNews
Warren aide email to POLITICO:
I received a call from a Saddleback colleague (Pastor Rick’s chief-of-staff) [Saturday] morning that Dr. Warren awoke ill. He had already preached the first four services, beginning Thursday night. (Two of the Friday services were taped for broadcast six times over the weekend on the Fox News Channel.) I was informed that he would have to clear his schedule of interviews and preaching appearances yesterday in order to regain his strength to get back in the pulpit on Easter Sunday.
My understanding was that Dr. Warren’s condition was related to fatigue and exhaustion — which affected his voice — exacerbated by inhalation of fumes from the newly refurbished (but still drying) pulpit used in the televised services the previous night. After initially informing George Stephanopoulos of his inability to pre-tape on Saturday, I put him directly in touch with his chief-of-staff after doctor consultation to pursue the remote possibility of an early [Sunday] AM pre-tape. That turned out to not be a possibility as he had to cancel half of his sermons today, though he was able to preach several of the six services at which he was scheduled to preach.
There has been a lot of blog chatter trying to connect the dots with the interviews this weekend and comments Dr. Warren made on CNN Larry King Live, but his cancellations were related to health and fatigue…. I was looking forward to the opportunity for him to clarify his position with Messrs. Stephanopoulos and Huckabee (the latter with whom he was to interview live at 2:45 PM EDT on Saturday) to reframe the picture for television viewers the way we had been trying to do on a per-inquiry basis with print outlets by sending out the statement below.
A copy of the statement referenced was left in the comment section of our Larry King - Rick Warren interview post. See link below.
***
Larry King: Pastor Rick Warren
WARREN: I urge you to support Proposition 8
WARREN: Same-sex marriage like incest and pedophilia?
WARREN: “I’m naturally inclined to have sex with every beautiful woman I see”
WARREN: cancels “This Week” appearance
WARREN statements in a nutshell
Pastor Warren’s spokesman re: Larry King appearance
WARREN explanation: “This Week” no-show
***
CBS Poll: Same-sex marriage
Iowa legalizes same-sex marriage
GOP reacts to Iowa’s same-sex marriage ruling
Iowa to become “gay marriage Mecca”?
Vermont legalizes same-sex marriage
Larry King: Joel and Victoria Osteen
March 15, 2009
I looked in the drafts to find other people like CNN’s Mark Preston, who wrote articles blasting the conspiracist racists, right-wingers, disgruntled Hillaryites and tinfoil hat-wearing nutjob birthers. It is amusing to see them go into great detail about the nuttos and never once ponder: Why doesn’t he just show it?
Ben Smith of Politico is just one more. I’ll quote his own words so you can see for yourself:
SMITH: Out of the gaze of the mainstream and even the conservative media is a flourishing culture of advocates, theorists and lawyers, all devoted to proving that Barack Obama isn’t eligible to be president of the United States.
First of all, the premise is not that he isn’t eligible. It is that he hasn’t proven he is eligible.
And it is based on the common sense curiosity it seems only the unhinged fringe possess: Why?
Why does he continue to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars resisting efforts to compel he prove he is eligible to hold the Office of President as stipulated by the Constitution?
The question as to why the media hasn’t forced him to do so is one that defies logic and will be the one never forgiven by time…just like Iraq.
The criteria is straightforward. Section 1 of Article Two of the United States Constitution:
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
barry is clearly older than 35 and has been a resident for more than 14 years - but he has not clearly proven he is a natural born citizen.
That is what he is being asked to do.
Period.
And it is nothing a self-proclaimed Constitutional “law professor”, Agent of Change and Man of Transparency should be compelled to do.
He has not been transparent at the most fundamental level and he continues to tout that his administration is the most transparent ever!
What does that say about his (lack of) character? His integrity? And what does it say about the media that they continue to let him claim it?
Secondly, no one is “Out of the gaze of the mainstream and even the conservative media” or limited to “weird little internet sites”.
The media is and has been choosing to look the other way - just like they did with Jeremiah Wright, Bill Ayers, ACORN, Tony Rezko and Rod Blagojevich. Oh yes. Blagojevich was there from the start - as far back as when barry and his Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel were enthusiastically campaigning for him. Tony Rezko is the direct link between blago and barry and is the reason why barry’s own governor was never interviewed, why he never stumped for barry, why he was banned from barry’s $2 million Chicago taxpayer party in Grant Park and why Mayor Daley handled the Convention farce. And all of it took place before Blagojevich was arrested for allegedly selling barry’s senate seat. Before the media woke up to the corruption that is Chicago politics from whence came pure as the driven snow barry.
How can the media take themselves seriously?
For the record, the truth is closer to Burris buying the seat directly from barry.
How much coverage did Politico give to Tony Rezko’s trial? How accountable did they hold barry to his lies about Rezko fundraising? How much have we heard about the subpoenas of barry, Valerie Jarrett and Rahm Emanuel?
Who is asking Ben LaBolt how many millions of dirty money he has had to dispense with?
And the “birthers” are not a flourishing culture of whatever. They are American citizens who can reason, who value The Constitution, and who are not under the spell of the obamessiah.
In other words, they don’t have what’s left of their journalistic integrity riding on barry’s lies.
And as much as the media is choosing to ignore them (save ridicule) - they are ever under the watchful eye of Google, Facebook, Technorati and subject to cyberattacks by the army of barrybotletss. Hell, maybe even under direct surveillance by FISA advocate barry himself.
SMITH: Viewed as irrelevant by the White House, and as embarrassing by much of the Republican Party, the subculture still thrives from the conservative website WorldNetDaily, which claims that some 300,000 people have signed a petition demanding more information on Obama’s birth, to Cullman, Alabama, where Sen. Richard Shelby took a question on the subject at a town hall meeting last week.
Viewed by the White House as irrelevant. Ha-ha. How else would they view it?
But why is the spineless media viewing it as irrelevant?
Why don’t they have the least bit of curiosity - outside the fact that if barry were to be proven ineligible every one of their careers would be exposed as irrelevant?
SMITH: Their confinement to the fringe hasn’t cooled the passion of believers…
Fringe? I resent that, as do my fellow citizens here.
It’s perfectly clear which “fringe” needs confinement, owing to their delusional devotion to a man they don’t know, whose words they blindly trust and whose halo they resist denting.
How can they remain so gullible? Where is their journalistic curiosity? Do they still believe his teleprompter words after all of his “refinements“?
Chuckie T was quick to wake up to barry’s obamanating his answers (something he has been doing since day one as a politician), when it involved Chuckie looking like a “virginal” idiot.
Do they still believe barry’s claim of “transparency” after they discovered his bills weren’t being exposed to the 5 days of “Sunlight before Singing”?
Do they still believe his claim of “superior judgment” after his selection of 5 tax cheats - one a purported “financial wizard”, who cheated on his taxes and then tried to blame it on TurboTax, who cheated on his taxes even after he was audited, who cheated on his taxes until he was forced to pay them to get his appointment to head the IRS and who just happened to be head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank while Bernie Madoff was making off right in his neighborhood?
Leave the market alone! they scream. With good reason.
And how can they possibly still believe barry when he switched his position on Iraq–the very reason why he got the nomination?
Like always, he picked the middle choice and found a reason to justify it and the proobamedia were more than happy to accept it. Or as Hilary Rosen said, “processed it“.
What type of gullible is that - even for card carrying cult members?
Now here is where Mr Smith jumps into the deep end of gullibility - or in honor of the truly exasperated fringed birthers - ignorance.
SMITH: A quick reality check, before we dive in: The challenges to Obama’s eligibility have no grounding in evidence. Courts across the country have summarily rejected the movement’s theory — that Obama can’t be a citizen because his father wasn’t —as a misreading of U.S. law; and Hawaii officials, along with contemporary birth announcements, affirm that Obama was in fact born in Honolulu in 1961.
Reality check? Evidence? Summarily rejected?
Summarily rejected cases don’t make it to the Supreme Court to be distributed and conferenced - even if they are not heard.
What lower court judge is going to risk the angry bots and the proobamedia? They’ve seen what has been done to barry naysayers. Reelection beats fending off barama matthews.
And how many judges are as clueless as Judge Surrick, who said barry “underwent excessive vetting during what was one of the most hotly contested presidential primary [sic] in living memory.” Or Judge Robertson who based his decision in part on Twitter.
And the cases have been thrown out but because a regular citizen doesn’t have “standing” to compel barry to produce proof - not because barry was proven to be eligible. It never got to actual evidence.
SURRICK: Ordinary citizens can’t sue to ensure that a presidential candidate actually meets the constitutional requirements of the office. [Congress could determine] that citizens, voters, or party members should police the Constitution’s eligibility requirements for the Presidency. Until that time, voters do not have standing to bring the sort of challenge that Plaintiff attempts to bring.
And in the latest ruling, Keyes v Bowen Judge Michael Kenny said the Secretary of State and Electors had no duty to make barry produce it.
Birth announcements?
barry’s grandmother could get a Certification of Live Birth (COLB) - which is not a birth CERTIFICATE - with just her word that barry was born and without any corroboratable evidence of where (including state and country), when, how or by whom - as long as she could prove that barry’s mother had resided in Hawaii for the year previous to his birth.
Nobody even knows what hospital barry was born in - even in Hawaii.
And no birth announcement in a newspaper from 1961 is going to prove anything. It’s like heresay. The fact that it is cited as proof proves Mr Smith’s own lunacy.
If he had a kid come up to him and say ‘You’re my daddy, you need to pay child support’ and the kid handed him a newspaper birth notice with “Ben Smith” written as the father, would he open his wallet and pay up?
So why should a soldier have to pull the trigger without proof positive that barry is in fact Constitutionally eligible to order them to do so?
What kind of Commander in Chief would allow brave Americans, who volunteered to defend his wife and children, to wonder about the legitimacy of their actions?
What kind of man orders young Americans into battle - some to a certain death - without respecting them enough to answer their one and only question?
Just ponder that.
That is really and truly all they are asking for.
Tell me why their lives are not worth a $6 piece of paper?
And then tell me why the media, who insisted barry allow caskets be photographed, not want to do everything in their power to keep that soldier from hesitating, which might very well mean another casket to photograph?
SMITH:…a recent survey showed, 34 percent of the public believes in UFOs….
Including barry endorser Jimmy Carter.
SMITH: But the thriving birth-obsessed fringe also poses political risks and opportunities for the Obama White House, coming as it does after a campaign that devoted a substantial effort to rebutting another, now fading, myth — that Obama is a Muslim who would insist on being sworn in on the Koran.
Political risks and opportunities for a White House (and media) who finds it irrelevant?
And so what if he were Muslim and swore himself in on the Koran? His campaign did not devote any effort to it anyway. They accused the Clinton camp and the proobamedia handled the rest. And then David Singleton decided to make a name for himself by claiming someone at a McCain/Palin rally yelled “kill him”, which never happened, and the media was off again. barry himself lied about it by announcing it to the entire nation during the last debate and it was his own Secret service who proved the allegation was bogus. And most of the media still believes it happened.
SMITH: The risk, of course, is the growth of a segment of the population, however small, that views the president as illegitimate.
However small. Ha-ha. Elected officials are getting so much grief from their constituents they are saying things out loud. Newly elected Rep Posey has gone one further and introduced the barry birth certificate bill that would require future presidential candidates to prove they are eligible.
Again - barry is viewed as having not proved he is legitimate. The ball is in his court - as it always has been. He could put an end to all of this by producing that one document. He is causing the risk and he is providing the opportunities. Period. He has no one to blame but himself.
“Some individuals and groups who are opposed to Obama’s presidency want an ‘acceptable’ reason to cite to convince other individuals and groups who might be on the fence to join in their way of thinking,” said Patricia Turner, who studies rumors at the University of California, Davis. “The notion that his presidency is actually in violation of the Constitution has a fundamentally patriotic appeal.”
Oh Dear God. Studies rumors? How much time did he spend getting these quotes? Why doesn’t he just get his coworker Jonathan Martin to ask about it during the daily press briefing? You’ll get all the confirmation you need once Gibbs’ head starts sweating. And you can’t label something a rumor unless it has been proven to be one and that will never happen unless barry produces proof.
SMITH:…that the Birthers may discredit Obama’s more mainstream enemies.
Who in the mainstream is not a friend of barry? If one existed, barry would have been vetted. Remember, it’s not just his birth certificate - it’s his school records and his medical records and everything else the press hasn’t demanded. Instead we get articles like Mr Smith’s taking about things he doesn’t know and getting quotes from rumor experts.
Fringe??
SMITH: The conservative talk show host Michael Medved recently referred to the movement’s leaders as “crazy, nutburger, demagogue, money-hungry, exploitative, irresponsible, filthy conservative imposters” who are “the worst enemy of the conservative movement.” It makes us look weird. It makes us look crazy. It makes us look demented. It makes us look sick, troubled, and not suitable for civilized company,” he mourned.
Mourned? Just look at the words this Medved used. One might wonder if it takes one to know one. Worst enemies of the conservative movement? Where does that put abortion doctors, serial killers and pedophiles? Ten bucks he voted for barry. And why is he taking credit for all the fringian birthers? Phil Berg is a card carrying democrat. Alan Keyes created his own party.
SMITH: One of the lead anti-Obama lawyers…
It’s always anti-Obama. Anyone who does not worship at the feet of the obamessiah, anyone who listens to his words and actually checks out the inconsistencies aka lies is anti-barry. Just like folks who voted for McCain were voting against barry. Whatever their rhetoric, they are pro-Constitution, which is the crux of the matter.
SMITH: The White House is, presently, ignoring the birth certificate questions, having released an official copy of the Hawaii certificate during the presidential campaign. The press aide once tasked with quashing viral rumors, Ben LaBolt, no longer follows the fringe. But lawyers for the Democratic National Committee and for Obama have been steadily batting down a stream of lawsuits, winning motions to dismiss the suits in courts from Pennsylvania to Hawaii, from the state level to the United States Supreme Court.
Again, they did not release a BIRTH CERTIFICATE. They did not release an OFFICIAL COPY OF A BIRTH CERTIFICATE - Hawaiian or otherwise. They did not release anything - let alone an official copy of something. They gave a copy of a COLB - purportedly barry’s own - to his allies kos, factcheck and then politifact. They did not, have not, and will not release it to anyone else to examine it. Why?
Would Mr Smith rely on a birth notice in a newspaper or a copy of a non birth certificate or even an actual birth certificate to establish paternity? Would the word of his alleged son’s two friends be enough? Or would he go straight to DNA?
SMITH: Kreep has been battling Obama’s California lawyer, Fredric Woocher, to release the president’s records from Occidental College on the theory that they might provide information about his citizenship. Woocher has threatened to seek sanctions against Kreep for pursuing the case.
“This suit, like all of the others that have been filed challenging Obama’s qualifications for the Presidency, is frivolous,” he said in an email to POLITICO, adding that he is, in fact, working pro bono. “There is absolutely no truth to the stories about the untold millions supposedly being paid to us,” he said.
And Michael Strumwasser? And Amy ? And their process servers? Paralegals and secretaries? Who is paying for their travel? Their lodging? Their meals? They’re not billing barry for any of the hours they conference? What about copying and cost of court filings? This has been going on since August 2008. barry has been paying since then.
And what about barry’s main lawyer Robert Bauer? How much has he made off barry? The post Mr Smith copied from Kenneth Vogel said Bauer made $1.5M since 2005. He’s made way more than that this election alone. And then there’s the pay to play aspect. barry appointed Bauer lawyer for the Democratic party and Bauer’s wife was a barry advisor during the campaign. So Mr Smith can fantasize all he likes - barry is shelling out money and his lawyers are getting paid - including pro bono Wooten.
SMITH: The state’s governor, Linda Lingle, has attested to the authenticity of the birth certificate…
When did this happen?
SMITH: The suits share a vague, underlying notion that Obama must be some sort of foreigner, probably Kenyan, Indonesian or British, though none have any evidence or a coherent narrative to support the claim.
Again, the notion is and always will be - he has not proven he is a natural born citizen. Period. The conclusion that one might come to, since he will not produce his birth certificate, is that he is either foreign born or gave up his citizenship. There wasn’t a spontaneous uprising - barry’s a foreigner! The questions came about because he refused to provide any records, including his birth certificate.
SMITH: Others imagine that Obama was smuggled into the country as an infant, a claim contradicted by state records and contemporaneous birth announcements in two Honolulu papers.
Smuggled? What are these “state records”? Passport records? Or is he back to the COLB? And of course they would be contemporaneous announcements - whether real or fraudulent.
More quotes - this time an expert on urban legends. No kidding.
SMITH: David Emery, an expert on urban legends who writes for About.com, said the citizenship rumor has been fueled by an unusually “deep well of revulsion toward Barack Obama himself, and rage.”
Now this just ticks me off. How does Emery possibly know this? Sounds like the expert just voiced his own urban legend.
SMITH: “Thanks to the relentless agitation of the conspiracy theorists and the sheer quantity of hypothetical scenarios and legal arguments floating around, they’ve clearly succeeded in planting unreasonable doubts in reasonable people’s minds,” he said.
Where in this article or anywhere else has anyone, just once, proven that it is unreasonable to have doubts about barry’s refusal to produce his birth certificate? About his refusal to release any of his other records? Especially since he claims to be transparent?
At minimum, he is a liar.
What is beyond unreasonable is how folks automatically assume he has nothing to hide and that people are out to get him.
What do they know about him outside of his own words? How much verifiable proof of what he has said have they found?
What about the alleged “ambush attack” and violent racial awakening 9 y/o barry had while looking at pictures of a black man, who had tried to “peel off his skin” so he could pass as white? Compelling story - great for his narrative - good visuals for a movie - only the pictures never existed…in LIFE as he originally wrote or in Ebony which he said next or anywhere else. And you know his people looked. The best they could come up with was an ad for skin lightening cream in TIME, with no associated pictures of a man with peeled off skin.
That single lie is all one needs. He lied about the most fundamental moment in his life. And not just once. He mentioned it twice in his book and then at least twice more trying to defend it. The exact moment of his enlightenment as to who he is was a fairy tale.
Why take him at face value? Why believe anything he has to say? How does one know if there is a coat in the closet unless one looks? And if neither party has looked, how can one assume it is unreasonable to assume that there may not be one?
The fundamental question is why the media takes barry at his word.
Second to that is why they never wonder why he doesn’t keep it.
And third is why don’t they press him on it?
SMITH: But, ignored by the left and the mainstream media and dismissed by the courts, the citizenshp movement find its bitterest disappointments coming from the right.
Are the left and mainstream media two separate entities? And the bitterest disappointment is barry himself. The man asking Americans to pitch in and begin a new era of responsibility won’t own up to his most fundamental Constitutional duty as president: proving he is eligible.
SMITH: Tom Fitton [president of Judicial Watch] said he hadn’t “seen any credible evidence Barack Obama is not a U.S. citizen eligible for the presidency. If people understood better what the law is, I don’t think they’d be as concerned as they are,” he said.
Mr Fitton has not seen any credible evidence that barry is eligible and that is all people are asking for. They understand what the Constitution says and they are asking the president to prove he is eligible - not defend his ineligibility.
SMITH: Others have been less polite. Conservative bloggers regularly mock the “Birthers,” as they’re dismissively known
And how many times has he used “birthers”?
SMITH: The conspiracy theorists are “embarrassing and destructive” the conservative activist David Horowitz wrote recently.
All folks want is for barry to prove he is eligible. Nothing they should have to keep asking a supposed man of transparency to do.
The conspiracy theories come about because he hasn’t and refuses to do so. He is the one feeding whatever conspiracy theories there might be and he is he only one who can dispel them and he refuses to.
Why?
If you could turn on the lights and make the cockroaches disappear - forever - would you keep the lights off and continue to walk around barefoot?
March 20, 2009
Mr Ben Smith and Politico -
I challenge you to secure a copy of the Kos/factcheck COLB and allow a disinterested third party to investigate it’s authenticity. Someone not remotely affiliated with barry or any of his minions.
If a reputable third party looks at it and deems definitively that it is not a forgery, each day, for as long as we exist, this site will devote a post extolling the awesomeness that is Politico and it’s writers - even Roger Simon.
Game?
I’ve got $50 riding on it.
You do it, I’ll donate it to barry.
***
March 17, 2009
Why is it that folks enjoy jumping on the “birther” train when they don’t know from whence it came or where it’s going?
Why do they assume it involves only one track and one direction?
And why do they think birthers inhabit just “weird little internet sites”?
Maybe because the big internet sites - like Politico - are too busy cranking out pro-barry propaganda?
I wonder if our site here would be considered birtherite or is it birtherithian? Birther friendly, yes - except to octo mother birther, which is the proper use of the word.
Here are some of Ben Smith’s words (Politico), who seems to know what “birther” means, but not birth certificate or certification of live birth (COLB). He gets COLB and birth certificate mixed up in reference to Rep Bill Posey’s (R-FL) barry soetoro birth certificate bill, which is how it will be referred to by historians. The proper form of the root word is certificate - not certification or certified. [emphasis added]
SMITH: Obama has actually produced a copy of his Hawaii birth certificate, and it has been certified by the state of Hawaii.
No. And no. No birth certificate has ever been produced and nothing has been certified. He produced a green image that appears to be a Certification of Live Birth that Dr Fukino did not vouch for. They are separate entities.
SMITH (3-13): It echoes the concerns of the fringe movement that believes, without evidence, that Obama is somehow foreign and ineligible to be president.
Right - except it’s the wrong corollary. barry has never shown definitive proof that he is eligible and continues to refuse to do so. The COLB cannot be considered definitive proof until the document has been vetted. What Dr Fukino said in Hawaii in no way translated to the green image on factcheck’s website.
SMITH: They’re unlikely to be satisfied by this legislation, though: By requiring that candidates submit “a copy of the candidate’s “birth certificate” it doesn’t actually satisfy the fringe, which claims that the official copy, which is the only document the state of Hawaii will release is not sufficient.
Now what kind of nonsense is this?
First off:
DOH Director DR CHIYOME FUKINO: State law prohibits the release of a certified birth certificate to persons who do not have a tangible interest in the vital record.
As in birthers. barry can get a copy whenever he wants and he can direct one to a tangible interestee. Besides which, barry has already admitted to having a copy of his long form birth certificate in his possession at one point.
Secondly, a birth certificate would very much satisfy the birthers. It is what they have been asking for. It would have cleared up the issue up August before it became an issue. $6 would have gotten rid of the fringian birthers once and for all - if in fact the COLB was legit.
But what has the self-proclaimed Mr Transparency done?
Fought it all the way to the Supreme Court - spending hundreds of thousands of dollars as he goes - Frederic D Woocher pro bono BS aside.
But forget the long form birth certificate and just look at the COLB. No one has ever been able to explain why he hasn’t released his COLB for vetting.
The only explanation to sane reasoning folks is that it has been altered = forgery. And the only reason for the forgery is because he is not a natural born citizen.
Why else hasn’t he proven it?
So if barry thinks the COLB is enough and Mr Smith thinks it’s enough - why doesn’t barry email Mr Smith a copy of his COLB?
And why hasn’t Smith and Politico made life easier for barry and independently vetted it themselves or through a third party?
Why wouldn’t they want to be known as the site who put the issue to rest and officially send the birthers out to pasture? They brag about everything else. Jeanne Cummings got a major atta girl for crawling through credit card receipts and exposing! wardrobegate so Joe Biden’s prediction of the nonhandling of the Hamas-Israel crisis could be covered up. And Biden was right - barry needs help - with the domestic AIG bonus crisis he created.
They have done everything else possible to promote barry and his bogus agenda while tearing down his opposition - why wouldn’t they take care of the one and only issue that could dethrone their leader?
The answer: because they are cowards. Because somewhere inside they know there is a possibility that the COLB is a forgery.
What 5 y/o wouldn’t get suspicious when you tell them you have a $50 in your hand and when they ask to look at it and touch you say no?
*I just realized I discussed his previous article from March 1st in detail and don’t think I ever posted it. Will have to go locate it.
March 1, 2009
Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius, 60, accepted the appointment to Secretary of Health and Human Services. She steps into the vacancy left by Tom tax evader Daschle. I still feel bad for that guy sorta. All the appearances he made. All the nasty things he said about Hillary Clinton. All for naught.
Somehow I get the feeling Sebelius was fit in because she was probably already vetted somewhat, he owed her and she is a woman. Evidently her experience as Kansas state insurance commissioner qualified her for the job.
Well the only major woman left to get a payback is Sen Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. Maybe she got some plum committee I'm not aware of.
Politico is making a big deal over the fact she didn't get "health care czar". It was a newly invented position anyway.
And what is the deal with Howard Dean? He was out sniffing the other day. He made barry's win possible by moving South Carolina and Nevada primaries up and his brother did a hit job on the McCain campaign. Why isn't he getting anything? He's a medical doctor. How bad is whatever he is hiding?
This is the picture Politico chose to put with their article. A high-ranking female cabinet position appointee gets a side profile.
Source: Politico
January 5, 2009
It seems there's only room for one corrupt governor in barry's no drama obama rolodex at a time. Blagojevich is doing so well there is no need for other distractions. Richardson lost everything but weight in this election. The funniest Judas moment was when Mika exclaimed: Did ya sleep in that suit!? He looked like a schoolboy with his shirttail untucked being ragged at by Mommy Superior. A must see but I can't find the video anywhere.
Anyway he lost his campaign, he lost his friendship with Clinton supporters, he lost respect for his non-notification of his non-endorsee, he lost his bid for Secretary of State to the non-endorsee and now he lost his appointment...and the governorship?
Why the sudden withdrawal? Could he be indicted before Blagojevich who is still not indicted on any charges? What else would provide the motivation? A little blackmail? Or just another thrown under the bus that was not the Bill Richardson I knew? Are the feds planning a morning wakeup call at his residence? Maybe he could hide out in Hawaii.
Beverly Hills based CDR Financial Products donated some serious cash ($200K) to Richardson's PACs and in a strange coincidence of the cosmos received a lucrative ($1.5M) state contract. So what's new? barry couldn't even pass his own whatever page questionnaire or be any type of federal agent because of his drug use and gee whiz Mrs Cleaver he's going to be POTUS. Only in America is his story possible is right.
CDR: The firm adamantly doesn't practice pay-for-play under any circumstance on any playing field. It is pay for performance, pay for expertise, pay for track record, and pay for merit.
Then there's the crude little pig who likes to giggle while he fondles a life-size cardboard cutout of his boss' opponent and soon to be top Cabinet member. And how was he rewarded for his stellar seriously vetted character? Imagine a Clintonite squeezing the tit of mrs barry and keeping his job.
Back to Richardson. I feel bad that he has been eating so much from the stress. He should have just swallowed his pride and disappointment and stayed in New Mexico. Of course the proobamedia will allow him to withdraw without scrutiny and barry's team of rivals and transition will carry on as smoothly propagandized as ever. Haven't heard "smooth transition" much since that bleeping Eddie bleeping Munster bleeping bleeped that bleeper bleeper barry.
I don't presume to know all that has gone down in this election but this the first time I've heard about Richardson. I know Rezko, the Daley Machine and Patrick Fitzgerald stretched all the way to Las Vegas but I didn't realize it took a detour to New Mexico.
More proof of the proobamedia bias from none other than Politico's MIKE ALLEN:
Everyone knew about this investigation. The President-elect took a chance. The question is why. Did (Obama's) vetters ask enough questions? Did (Richardson) give the right answers?
Did the proobamedia do their job? Nope. He just admitted to it. They knew about it and yet they still don't know about it. Barry did it out of political expedience like everything else. It was the quid pro quo for Richardson cutting short his vacation to sell his soul to save barry. Can't make him Secretary of State but he can give him his own press conference and a Cabinet position that can quickly be filled. The question is what does Richardson have on barry? Either way it's one more clear-cut example of barry's poor judgment, political expedience and proobama media bias.
What is it going to take? SCOTUS?
RICHARDSON: For nearly three decades, I have been honored to serve my state and our nation in Congress, at the U.N., as Secretary of Energy and as governor. So when the President-elect asked me to serve as Secretary of Commerce, I felt a duty to answer the call. I felt that duty particularly because America is facing such extraordinary economic challenges. The Department of Commerce must play an important role in solving them by helping to grow the new jobs and businesses America so badly needs.
It is also because of that sense of urgency about the work of the Commerce Department that I have asked the President-elect not to move forward with my nomination at this time. I do so with great sorrow. But a pending investigation of a company that has done business with New Mexico state government promises to extend for several weeks or, perhaps, even months.
Let me say unequivocally that I and my Administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact.
Why does that matter if he's stepping down? Sounds like a last chance to say something before the one phone call. What is I'm-going-to-clean-up Washington going to pretend then? Do you see why he always qualified it with Washington?
Why isn't the proobamedia questioning why barry didn't do more in Illinois with his superior judgment and pledge to clean up corruption?
RICHARDSON. But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process. Given the gravity of the economic situation the nation is facing, I could not in good conscience ask the President-elect and his Administration to delay for one day the important work that needs to be done.
So, for now, I will remain in the job I love, Governor of New Mexico, and will continue to work every day, with Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish, to make a positive difference in the lives of New Mexicans. I believe she will be a terrific governor in the future. I appreciate the confidence President-elect Obama has shown in me, and value our friendship and working partnership. I told him that I am eager to serve in the future in any way he deems useful. And like all Americans, I pray for his success and the success of our beloved country.
And then the Robert Gibbs everything was done right, the governor assured us, and I assure you barry didn't throw him under the bus because he can't throw blagojevich under one and sure the hell won't mess with Burris.
BARRY: It is with deep regret that I accept Governor Bill Richardson's decision to withdraw his name for nomination as the next Secretary of Commerce. Governor Richardson is an outstanding public servant and would have brought to the job of Commerce Secretary and our economic team great insights accumulated through an extraordinary career in federal and state office. It is a measure of his willingness to put the nation first that he has removed himself as a candidate for the Cabinet in order to avoid any delay in filling this important economic post at this critical time. Although we must move quickly to fill the void left by Governor Richardson's decision, I look forward to his future service to our country and in my administration.
December 26, 2008
TIME's Mark Halperin's words at the Nov 21st Politico forum on the 2008 election.
HALPERIN: It's the most disgusting failure of people in our business since the Iraq war. Both in the nomination fight against Sen Clinton and in the general election - for all sorts of reasons, I think it was extreme bias, extreme pro-Obama coverage. The daily output was the most disparate of any campaign I've covered, by far.
And the response? He's whining. They are still debating whether proobama media bias exists and they are still denying it. I would laugh but it's gone beyond reprehensible to pure idiocy. Are journalists always this self serving? Do they really not see it or are they defending their previous columns?
What is it going to take?
I ran across a collection of folks' quotes at Politico's "The Arena". The website alone should be a tipoff. Evidently a question is asked and folks comment.
FRED BARBASH, the moderator asked:
Did press bias in favor of Obama constitute, as one prominent journalist says, a major media failure? Do you think it made much difference in the election's outcome?
I don't know who these folks are and I'm not going to waste time finding out. Here are a glimpse at their words. Follow the link to read the rest.
PETER FENN, Democratic media consultant:
Bias. Baloney. Bad reporting, sure, so what else is new? Bad calls on what stories should run or not run? Absolutely. Anyone can call the press out for that. But after two years of Barack Obama being under a microscope where the power was turned up month after month I can not imagine anyone believing he was given a "pass."
He cannot imagine because the heat was turned up? By whom? The proobamedia? He can't imagine but he can't prove it. The brain washing is complete. I have some interesting old articles before the obamerism took over that I have to post. It shows that some of them were actual reporters/journalists once.
WILL DURST, Official Arena Comedian:
You know why the media is biased? Because they're educated. That's not bias. It's known as rational thought.
RICK BEYER, author/filmaker
...dirt simply wouldn’t stick to Obama....supposedly shady dealing with Tony Rezko...But they didn't resonate with the public. People looked at Obama and saw an intelligent, thoughtful, sincere candidate who was poised to make history. So they decided to discount those negative stories.
He goes on and in typical fashion compares barry with a president: Ronald Reagan. barry has done absolutely nothing but be named in a supposedly shady house dealing with Rezko, be named in the indictment and have to give back dirty money from a supposedly shady dealing with Rezko (Rezko raised him $250K) and be questioned by the Feds just a week ago about a case involving more supposedly shady dealings Rezko had with Blagojevich. How is he in any way compared to someone the American People and media had seen on film and in person?
So how does a $750Million campaign of presidential recreations compare to that? The Germans had to be the ones to stop him. And barry's supposedly shady dealings can't resonate with or be discounted by the people if the people never hear about them.
MARTIN FROST Attorney/former Dem Rep
The two novelties in this race we're Obama and Palin. Obama stood up well under media focus and Palin did not. It's really not too much more complicated than that. He could have wilted under the media spotlight but he didn't
This is the most ignorant one of all. Can't wilt if the only light you're under is a photographer's. How can he possibly compare an attack on a woman's children? KOS allowing that horrible ArcXIX to say such things uncensored. jonjon Alter referring to her baby as a DISABLED INFANT? Al Franken's incest sketch? He is an older pink-faced man if you couldn't guess by his words.
DAN SCHNUR, Jesse M. Unruh Institute
Toward Halperin's point, there was no shortage of media preference toward Obama over the course of this election cycle. But Torey's argument is equally valid: that real-world events that favor one candidate need to be reported as well.
He plugs USC and then totally bypasses the issue of the MSM's censorship of the events that did NOT favor barry and the blowing out of proportion things that were unfavorable to his opponents. There is no such thing as Teflon until it is sprayed on. During the worst press about Rev Wright, Sen Clinton got more negative coverage. Cold hard facts. That is what is at issue. The fact that barry was never vetted or given the scrutiny of other candidates. Yes, he did deserve more attention because he was new. Fine. But there has to be coverage and uncovering of the negative - which has never happened - even now when barry is being interviewed by the feds.
Therein is the proobama media bias.
PROFESSOR ROSABETH MOSS KANTOR, Harvard Business School
It's ridiculous to say Obama got a free ride, what with all those ambitious journalists and Republican attack machines out seeking dirt. The absence of a major scandal is not evidence of media bias; it's a sign that maybe this is a pretty clean candidate. Nearly every angle was tried to find flaws: damning by association (Rev. Wright and William Ayres [sic]), pouncing on a position change (Arctic drilling), criticizing for lack of specifics, reporting on other reporters reporting on Republican accusations that he was a secret terrorist, socialist, or unpatriotic.
One position change? Damning by association a spiritual mentor barry had known for 20 years and taken his children to hear? But what of this man of Superior Judgment? Now he's just guilty by association because his top adivsors need to be investigated? Why didn't Rahm Emanuel want the job at first?
Ok. That's enough documentation of self-denial.
December 4, 2008
From Politico's MIKE ALLEN:
Political analyst Micheal Barone was speaking in Chicago to the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges.
BARONE: The liberal media attacked Sarah Palin because she did not abort her Down syndrome baby. They wanted her to kill that child. ... I'm talking about my media colleagues with whom I've worked for 35 years.
Barone said in an e-mail that he "was attempting to be humorous and ... went over the line."
HUMOR?
Here are details of what the former president agreed to:
At the request of President-elect Obama, and to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest between the work of President Clinton and the service of Hillary Clinton should she be nominated and confirmed as Secretary of State, President Clinton is taking the following steps above and beyond the requirements of current laws and regulations.
— The Clinton Foundation will publish the names of everyone who has contributed since its founding in 1997 (this year).
— Should Senator Clinton be nominated and confirmed as Secretary of State, during her time of service, the Foundation will also publish the names of everyone who contributes going forward on an annual basis.
— The Foundation will separately incorporate CGI from the Foundation; President Clinton will continue to host CGI gatherings, such as the one in NYC and its meetings for college and university students, as Founding Chairman of CGI.
— Although President Clinton will continue to invite participants to CGI events (which involves normal registration fees), he will not solicit 'sponsorship' contributions for CGI.
— CGI will also not host annual events outside the US and CGI will not solicit or accept foreign government contributions.
— Given the extensive and life-saving work of the Clinton Foundation's HIV/AIDS Initiative which can and should continue, the Foundation will continue to fulfill its commitments funded by foreign governments (including, among others, Sweden Norway, France, Great Britain). In the event an existing contributing country chooses to substantially increase its commitment, or a new country, or government-owned entity, decides to contribute, the Foundation will share such proposed contributions with the State Department ethics officials. State may also share the issue to the WH Counsel's office for review. To whatever extent there are conflict of interest concerns raised about such potential contributions related to Senator Clinton's service as Secretary, they will be conveyed to Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation for appropriate action.
— Same procedure to be followed for any foreign country contributors to CCI, CGSCI and CHDI.
— Regarding President Clinton's private work, during her tenure, President Clinton will share proposed hosts of speeches with the State Department ethics officials for their review, and as appropriate for review by the White House Counsel. Again, should there be conflict of interest concerns related to the Senator's anticipated service as Secretary, they will share those concerns with Senator and President Clinton for appropriate action.
— During her tenure as Secretary of State, should she be nominated and confirmed, President Clinton will share any proposed consultant relationships with State Department ethics officials, and the same procedures outlined above will apply here as well.
None of these protocols is required by any law, and all of them go above and beyond the requirements of the law to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.
The procedures are, of course, in addition, to the already extensive laws and regulations government the activities of spouses of federal officials (such as those outlined in 5 USC 208 and related regulations)
Obama supporters point to her specific qualifications, her global celebrity, command of the issues and personal acquaintance with international players (assets Obama downplayed in his long campaign against her) as central to the decision to offer her the position.ABNER MIKVA:
"She brings so much to the table. On the other hand, there are the obvious downsides, the conflicts that that her husband has."ROBERT WEXLER:
"It says that he has the personal confidence to engage someone of the notoriety and substance of Sen. Clinton. Implementing change is an exciting exercise."RUSS CARNAHAN:
"This would really give her a very unique platform to really be a part of this historic time we're living in right now, even greater than her role as a powerful senator. She is a capable and strong candidate for that post. Probably few people would have the kind of built-in knowledge and relationships with world leaders she would have."AARON DAVID MILLER:
"This notion of team of rivals is an absurd concept."
Miller said Clinton has some of the key attributes of a good secretary of state — stature and toughness — but that she's untested as a negotiator, and her status as an erstwhile Obama rival might undermine an envoy's traditional trump card.OBAMA SUPPORTER:
"People need to know that you speak with the authority of your president, and she … lacks a close relationship with" Obama..."the best of a weak field of potential Secretaries of State.
“It’s a risk with a big upside."
"Bold transformational change doesn't necessarily mean winning on a party line vote. That's why you see him meeting with John McCain. That's why you see him reaching out to Republicans. That's why you see him showing that he is going to govern from the center because big bold transformational change doesn't have-"Hardball calls him on it and he starts laughing in relief. Face it folks. You voted for somebody you don't know and when he continues to do what he always does--rhetoric followed by "policy refinement" so he doesn't have to act--you're shocked.
"These are people who believe in this stuff more than Barack himself does. These guys didn't put together a campaign in order to turn the government over to the Clintons."How much faith do barry's minions have in his ability to lead the world if they think he can't control "The Clintons"?
An overlooked theme in Obama's primary victory was his belief that the Clinton legacy was not, as the Clintons imagined, a pure political positive. The Obama campaign had no compunctions about poking holes in that legacy and even sent out mailings stressing the downside of the last "8 years of the Clintons".It's nice (shocking, really) to see someone finally acknowledge that barry's campaign was far from clean and state out loud why Mr Bill was not pleased. (Besides the fact that barry refused to call him.) It's unconscionable for a rookie to come in and attack the previous democratic president. Worse - the pro-obama media never mentioned it as it was going on. barry was attacking and implicating Sen Clinton in her husband's administration at the same time he was saying she did nothing and can't claim experience because of it. Where was the media reporting on this? Smith just proved he knew what was going on and said nothing. More proof of pro-obama media bias from their own obamerized mouths. Can't even keep track of it all.
"There's always a risk of a Cabinet member freelancing and that risk is enhanced by the fact that Hillary has her own public and her own celebrity and that she comes attached to Bill. The other question is the old rule - never hire somebody you can't fire. What happens if her views and his views don't mesh? The silver lining, for those of us who are skeptical, is that it drastically limits the number of other Clinton administration alums that he can appoint, and that's a blessing.How does that limit anything? Already 1/2 of his appointments are ex-Clinton people. Why do these folks still believe barry is going to do anything he promised? What were they watching as he gradually crept toward the center during the primaries and sprinted towards it in the general election?
"Sen. Clinton is one of the brightest people in Congress and she would be an excellent choice."More truth from Smith:
"During the primary, top aides like David Plouffe and Robert Gibbs developed a particular distaste for all things Clinton, one that filtered down through the campaign."Obama source:
"During the campaign there was a lot of agreement and correspondence about how the grassroots felt about the Clintons and how the Obama leadership felt. There's a bit of a divergence now. They're confused that the guy they elected . . . because we need to go in a different direction on the world stage" might choose a secretary of state with whom he had some of his sharpest foreign policy disagreements during the primary campaign.Confusion is only the beginning. And what does it say when his own people are being surprised by him.
Obama insider: "I can't stand her - but I think she's a great choice."
Someone involved in the process: "It's not like he hedged his bets in conversation with her - he offered her the job. "
Politico's JOHN BRESNAHAN: As Pelosi enters her third year as speaker, by any measure, she has become the most powerful woman in U.S. political history and is now preparing to wield her gavel in a way that few, if any, recent speakers could match....Pelosi is being mentioned by observers in the same breath as the legendary Sam Rayburn and Tip O'Neill, although she has yet to assemble a legislative record to match theirs.Most powerful woman in US political history? Lowest approval rating for Congress ever? Single digits in July - lower than the worst president in history. Whatever power she has she's not putting it to good use.
PELOSI: I respect the office that I hold. And when you win the election, you win the majority, and what is the power of the speaker? To set the agenda, the power of recognition, and I am not giving the gavel away to anyone.
BIEGUN: "I approved the call and was in abject horror of what I had done. But she said, 'Look, it's not about whose fault this is, don't beat yourself up, let's just move on.'"Who knows what the real story is - it no longer matters. She was destroyed just like barry's other female opponent while the Man of Integrity and Grand Uniter stood by and let it happen. Who believes that if barry said enough his minions in the media wouldn't have stopped? Say what you will about barry's politics - the fact that he doesn't mention or thank his mother and the fact that he allowed his female opponents to be trashed so he can win reveals a man with no character. Period.
[On Sarah bashing] "It's depressing. We worked our asses off. It was a tough campaign. Then we have this? I think she was fantastic. She just brought a special energy to our ticket. Look, I was there at those rallies. I'm appalled by it because Sarah Palin was one of nicest people I have ever had the chance to work with. I've worked in Washington for 20 years, on the Hill, in the White House and in the private sector, and she ranks at the highest levels of decency, kindness and graciousness of anybody I've ever worked with.
Another former campaign aide: "You know what she did for us. She certainly solidified a hell of a lot of [previously unenthused Republicans]."
NICOLLE WALLACE (McCain Sr Advisor) said Friday on NBC that the governor was "perhaps the most un-diva politician I've seen. [Palin] "drew huge crowds and excited and animated the Republican faithful."
TRACEY SCHMITT (Palin spokeswoman): "Gov. Palin was a breath of fresh air, particularly for those of us who've been living in the Washington bubble. Because she is a working mom, she brought a real sense of perspective to the campaign trail, which was important. She was tireless on the stump and would have shaken every hand on the rope line if there were time. It was evident that this work ethic and enthusiasm was fueled by her sincere commitment to helping Sen. McCain get elected.
TAYLOR GRIFFIN (McCain economic advisor): One of the great developments of this campaign is the addition of Sarah Palin as a powerful and energetic new voice in American public life. She's smart, insightful, and has an uncanny ability to ask the right questions.”
JOSH GREEN (helped out in Alaska) “I thought she was an exceptional political person, but more than that an exceptional person. She’s in line with conservative principles and is an everyday Republican — what we’re going to have to find more if we’re going to get back to being a majority party.”
