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Full immersion 27 August 2009

Posted by marisacat in 2010 Mid Terms, 2012 Re Election, Democrats, Inconvenient Voice of the Voter, Lie Down Fall Down Dems.
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Hindus immerse an idol of the elephant-headed god Lord Ganesha in a river on the outskirts of Amritsar, India [AFP/GETTY]

Frankly I am mostly curled in a fetal ball, begging that non-existent gawd to not take GHW Bush anytime soon. Much as I’d love to be rid of him (and her)…. it would be just too awful to drag us from Hyannisport to Kennebunkport. We can’t take it!

All in all tho, it is hilarious to watch pols choke back tears (Biden, Kerry, Dodd, etc.)

Let it end!

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1. catnip - 27 August 2009

Files prove Pentagon is profiling reporters

WASHINGTON — Contrary to the insistence of Pentagon officials this week that they are not rating the work of reporters covering U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Stars and Stripes has obtained documents that prove that reporters’ coverage is being graded as “positive,” “neutral” or “negative.”

Moreover, the documents — recent confidential profiles of the work of individual reporters prepared by a Pentagon contractor — indicate that the ratings are intended to help Pentagon image-makers manipulate the types of stories that reporters produce while they are embedded with U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

One reporter on the staff of one of America’s pre-eminent newspapers is rated in a Pentagon report as “neutral to positive” in his coverage of the U.S. military. Any negative stories he writes “could possibly be neutralized” by feeding him mitigating quotes from military officials.

Another reporter, from a TV station, provides coverage from a “subjective angle,” according to his Pentagon profile. Steering him toward covering “the positive work of a successful operation” could “result in favorable coverage.”

The new revelations of the Pentagon’s attempts to shape war coverage come as senior Defense Department officials are acknowledging increasing concern over recent opinion polls showing declining popular American support for the Afghan war.

“The purpose of this memo is to provide an assessment of [a reporter from a major U.S. newspaper] … in order to gauge the expected sentiment of his work while on an embed mission in Afghanistan,” reads the preamble to one of the reporter profiles prepared for the Pentagon by The Rendon Group, a controversial Washington-based public relations firm.

Quite the firm – that Rendon Group.

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marisacat - 27 August 2009

be interesting to watch the trajectory of all of this, as the death toll mounts… Lately a few die every few days. gonna start mounting up… tho like Iraq, not considered worth troubling over in Washington.

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catnip - 27 August 2009

44 dead Americans this past month. Not sure how long Obama will be able to keep that news in the background. This health care “reform” business is certainly doing that for him now.

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2. AlanSmithee - 27 August 2009

I’d say we’re in for at least another days worth of slobbering over Teddy’s corpse. MoBetta Bowers and the Diggly Wiggly crowd are already starting to refer to Senator DateRape as “EMK.”

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marisacat - 27 August 2009

ugh… It will go thru the weekend, at the least.

And my, is it ever drooly… snively and just plain WET.

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3. AlanSmithee - 27 August 2009

Meanwhile, in Obama’s Good War…

US Copter Opens Fire on Afghan Medical Clinic

Hope for a Small Change (in Calibre!)

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catnip - 27 August 2009

boneheads

The US denied that anyone had died in the attack but claimed to have injured their target, though since he was already injured in the first place it’s probably hard to be sure about that.

How did they clear that site for bombing? Isn’t that Geneva Conventions violation?

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Madman in the Marketplace - 27 August 2009

what if the Taliban walked into a Red Cross tent, or a civilian hospital in major city?

I seriously don’t understand why the world doesn’t declare us a hazard to puppies and small children and quarantine us.

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marisacat - 27 August 2009

I think the rest of thw world is busy making deals… and as long as we don’t bomb them.. they don’t esp care. I did read an interesting line today… that if you have oil and or pipelines cross your land, AND you allow yourself to get cosy with Iran or China… we will be bombing you some day. Sooner or later.

Seems a very appropriate assessment to me.

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Madman in the Marketplace - 27 August 2009

and thus the creation of AFRICOM

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4. marisacat - 27 August 2009

Greenwald (with embedded links):

[I]t’s certainly true that the faces of the Republican Party (Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Bill Kristol, James Dobson) are significantly more warped and repellent than the standard Democrat, but the central fact in American political life is that the same narrow factions continue to control our political process regardless of which party is in control (note this recently leaked memo from GE executives emphasizing that “the intersection between GE’s interests and government action is clearer than ever” and thus urging that all GE resources continue to be devoted to ensuring the enactment of favorable legislation, such as the Democratic Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill, something accomplished by flooding both parties equally with corporate largesse).

All of this hasn’t happened despite the best efforts of the Obama White House to battle against it. To the contrary, Obama himself has been a major beneficiary of this process — helping Democrats to be the leading recipient of corporate money — and key Obama allies like Rahm Emanuel and Chuck Schumer have built their power bases through servitude to corporate interests. The very idea that Obama is valiantly struggling to cleanse the party of its corporate and centrist dominance, yet is just haplessly and helplessly unable to do so, is ludicrous beyond words. . . .

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5. marisacat - 27 August 2009

The truly strange 18 year old kidnap case out here… lordy.

http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=65918&catid=2

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6. BooHooHooMan - 27 August 2009

Fire Rove’s Prosecutors
by Don Siegelman

118 comments

With link to New Astroturf Campaign Site inside!
A call to Arms!

Poor Don. Poster Boy for Politicization of the DOJ.

It’s clear the Rubin-ite / Clinton DNC is using Seigelmann like
Slim Pickins character at the end of “Dr. Strangelove” . ..
Posterboy for Justice Don Siegelmann just Riding the Bomb all the way down to nuke the DOJ to cinders…

Again– They are Flat out trying to kill career DOJ Prosecutors
.. the Major Corruption cases along with it.

And they are likely to succeed .
The Maddoff “Lone Bun-Man” theory? Out the window with the Arrest of the #2 Frank DiPascali .
But Mark Mukasey was retained for his defense.
Mukasey was also retained after Hassan Nemazzee’s arrest this week. Nemazze was Hillary National Finance Chair & ex- Schumer Bagman at DSCC ( ex Finance Chair there too) . Rubin’s CitiBank loaned him 74 million on Fluff Documents. He got caught and paid the money back immediately following his arrest. This all makes Watergate look positively low rent. There are Hundreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks in these Political Cases alone..

You can go right down the line of Justice Department cases to be thwarted…

- the Richardson/ David Rubin cases tied to Rendell and Ed’s tenure as DNC Chair under Clinton.

- The latest NJ Corruption Cases tied to Menendez Rangel and Schumer..

- The Hank Morris case Tied to Schumer
(Morris was busted this spring..Schumer’s ex Campaign Chair who ripped off the NY State Employees Pensions. )

- and this week’s bust of DNC uber bundler Hassan Nemazee
ex DSCC Finance Chair under Schumer….
( Well played Chuck an Iranian American Pahlavi-ite !)

The Harvard-educated financier was a finance chairman for Sen. John Kerry and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns, and reportedly raised $500,000 for President Obama after his nomination last year.

He also chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for Sen. Charles Schumer, who yesterday said he would donate $4,800 he got from Nemazee to a city foreclosure-prevention program.

And remember the Norman Hsu case? 850 GRAND to Hillary – Whoops! Sorry, I’ll put that back.. LOL.

I still can’t get over the Norman Hsu case…
and Rendell’s chagrin during Hsu’s flight from The MAN. LOL..
This is from Wiki but it’s cited
All the pigs are in there.

Democratic party reaction

After initial reports of suspicious contributions, prominent Democrats defended Hsu’s reputation.[6][20][49] Supporters began to distance themselves after his long-time fugitive status was revealed.[50] After Hsu fled the California justice system again in 2007, his contributions were renounced by an increasing number of elected officials.[49][51][52]

The general pattern of reaction has been typified by Bob Kerrey, president of the New School and former Senator from Nebraska, who originally stated that Hsu had been “a terrific member” of the New School board.[20] After Hsu resigned as a board member,[27] Kerrey said the university did not do background checks of prospective trustees[53] and that he hoped that Hsu “didn’t break the law.”[13] After Hsu became a two-time fugitive, Kerrey remarked, “I thought that I knew him, but obviously I didn’t.”[6]

One of Hsu’s most tenacious supporters was Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell, who called Hsu “one of the best 10 people I’ve met.”[49] Later, Rendell said, “Though Norman is my friend and remains so, his failure to appear casts a new light on his assertions regarding the original [fraud] case. As a result I will follow other elected officials and donate the money he contributed to me to charity.”[49]

In comparison, 2008 Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton began to disengage from Hsu at an earlier phase of the scandal when Hsu’s long time fugitive status was first revealed.[6][50] After indications of additional misconduct by Hsu,[14] the Clinton campaign then decided to refund a total of $850,000 in bundled contributions[54][55][56][57] Clinton was the first major candidate to give up bundled contributions from associates of Norman Hsu.[58] However, it is also true that her campaign ignored earlier private warnings about Hsu[39] and that Clinton was the largest recipient of bundled donations from Hsu.[59]

In 2006, former President Clinton referred to Hsu as “our friend Norman”.[26] After the scandal went public, Bill Clinton remarked in colloquial language, “You could have knocked me over with a straw”.[60] Democrats are continuing to try to reconcile positive personal impressions of Hsu with his criminal behavior. Mark Gorenberg, who sat on President-elect Barack Obama campaign’s national finance committee, remarked, “Despite it all, I still love the guy, despite everything you read, every experience I ever had with him was nothing but delightful, and I just scratch my head.”[61]

I said during the primary and GE that perhaps the main prize in ‘the fight” was over which camp could get hold of the DOJ first…
They’re engaged in a massive Criminal Cover Up and scuttling cases.
I’m sure the blogs will provide adequate defense. {Snerk}
Fuckin canon fodder.

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marisacat - 27 August 2009

It’s clear the Rubin-ite / Clinton DNC is using Seigelmann like

Didn’t Ob and his obsters pretty much seize the DNC? It seemed that way to me.. once he won, I mean… (take it, i say, keep it!)

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BooHooHooMan - 27 August 2009

I’m convinced that Ob from “Day One” was vehicle insurance, ride, and driver all rolled into one, set up to chauffeuer the Clinton entourage back in — every one of them, including their on again off again alliance with the Daley Brothers…

Edwards was a shit , so very easily taken down as things turned out..Not that his personage mattered or his message was genuine, but post-Howard the message was a sufficient threat had to be anticipated, they had to sense the anti Establishment pulse however siminished it was among Dem Primary voters….that hokey but nonetheless resonating message of Two Americas Insiders vs Out haddd to be gassed out with the bait of Happy Hopey Dream Fulfilled shit. Hillary was never going to inspire that on her “herness” alone…consumate insider, War Enabler, $$$ candidate…

That whole farce of Rahm sitting out the endorsement game…It was gamed out…

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marisacat - 27 August 2009

Too funny!

The Democratic party, not only local but national, never “resolved” their closeness to Jim Jones of Guyana fame, either.

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7. marisacat - 27 August 2009

Nobody is surprised… US signals “flexibility” on settlements

US hints at flexibility on Israeli settlement halt

Thu Aug 27, 2009 4:46pm EDT

* U.S. hopes to announce resumption of peace talks soon

* Chances of peace deal seem slim

By Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations could possibly resume without a complete freeze in Israeli building of Jewish settlements, a senior U.S. official suggested on Thursday.

The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said it was more important that the scope of a settlement freeze was acceptable to the Israelis and the Palestinians than to the United States.

The Obama administration hopes next month to announce a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, which have been stalled since December, but the pieces have not yet fallen into place, diplomats and U.S. officials said.

U.S. special envoy George Mitchell is trying get Israel to freeze its construction of Jewish settlements, a Palestinian condition for resuming talks. He has also asked Arab states to offer some gestures toward normalization of ties with Israel.

Even if Israel and the Palestinians agree to resume talks, analysts believe chances of a peace agreement any time soon are slim because of divisions among the Palestinians and a fragile, right-wing coalition in Israel. snip

Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the status quo! Or whatever the blither is…

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8. marisacat - 27 August 2009

Rove is up in the WSJ

[T]wo weeks ago, White House Senior Adviser David Axelrod said in a now legendary “viral” email that, “It’s a myth that health insurance reform would be financed by cutting Medicare benefits.” This was sent out the day before Mr. Obama told a Montana town hall that he’d pay for health-care reform by “eliminating . . . about $177 billion over 10 years” for “what’s called Medicare Advantage.” And it was two days before Mr. Obama told a Colorado town hall he’d cover “two-thirds” of the “roughly $900 billion” of his plan’s cost by “eliminating waste,” again citing Medicare Advantage.

Who’s right? As a former senior adviser, I can tell you who: the president. What’s more, according to a White House fact sheet titled “Paying for Health Care Reform,” Mr. Axelrod was misleading his readers. It notes the administration would cut $622 billion from Medicare and Medicaid, with a big chunk coming from Medicare Advantage, to pay for overhauling health care. Mr. Obama heralded these cuts as “common sense” in his June 13 radio address. snip

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9. BooHooHooMan - 27 August 2009

Dig how it’s laid on the staff and Obama political appointees merely concur.

August 27, 2009, 3:21 pm
Prosecutors Drop Criminal Inquiry of Gov. Richardson and Aides
By Kate Phillips

Federal prosecutors have decided not to pursue a criminal case against Gov. Bill Richardson or other New Mexico officials in a “pay-to-play” inquiry involving high-profile political donors that lasted nearly a year, according to government officials told of the decision.

Mr. Richardson had withdrawn from consideration for Commerce Secretary in the fledgling Obama Cabinet early this year as news of the investigation into whether lucrative contracts had been given to a political donor became more widely known. The governor, a former Democratic presidential candidate and energy secretary during the Clinton administration, had asserted all along that he and his staff acted properly.

The federal inquiry, however, focused attention on the state’s extremely loose campaign finance laws and contributions to the governor’s campaigns.

We’re told that Justice Department officials concurred with the prosecutors’ decision. The Associated Press in New Mexico first reported the news early today.

LOL!! They Don’t even mention the Donor’s name or other “high profile Democrats” involved!

Crickets about David Rubin and Ed Rendell..

Why even have a DOJ if half the busts resemble ones staged at the Speakeasy and Bookie joints back in the day…And the other desent ones are purposely BOTCHED then DROPPED!

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10. catnip - 27 August 2009

Oh yay.

In my next diary I will discuss “Providing Cover for the Blue Dogs”, and how and why Obama is doing it.

What a fool.

Health care industry contributes heavily to Blue Dogs

WASHINGTON — As the Obama administration and Democrats wrangled over the timing, shape and cost of health care overhaul efforts during the first half of the year, more than half the $1.1 million in campaign contributions the Democratic Party’s Blue Dog Coalition received came from the pharmaceutical, health care and health insurance industries, according to watchdog organizations.

The amount outstrips contributions to other congressional political action committees during the same period, according to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit watchdog organization. The Blue Dogs, a group of fiscally conservative lawmakers, successfully delayed the vote on health care overhaul proposals until the fall.

“The business community realizes that (the Blue Dogs) are the linchpin and will become much more so as time goes on,” former Mississippi congressman turned lobbyist Mike Parker told the organization’s researchers.

On average, Blue Dog Democrats net $62,650 more from the health sector than other Democrats, while hospitals and nursing homes also favor them, giving, respectively, $5,680 and $5,550 more, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit organization that tracks the influence of money in politics.

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catnip - 27 August 2009

Barack Obama, I bow to your greatness. Your “August Feint” followed by “The Take-Away” was executed with impeccable timing, and your greatness should be recognized by all. I humbly bow before your genius.

Holy fuck, Batman.

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11. BooHooHooMan - 27 August 2009

“August Feint” followed by “The Take-Away”

followed by “The Make Shit Up”

He has Magical Powers, you know. He really does.

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catnip - 27 August 2009

Obama-hater!
:P

I used to live in la la land.

Then I quit using drugs.

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12. catnip - 27 August 2009

Oh yikes! Dan Quayle is on my teevee!

(Or is it “Quail”?)

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13. catnip - 27 August 2009
14. catnip - 27 August 2009
15. catnip - 27 August 2009

Was Ted Kennedy a victim of Obama’s death panels?

Coming soon to a wingnut mind near you…

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16. catnip - 27 August 2009
17. catnip - 27 August 2009
18. catnip - 27 August 2009

Few tickets sold for Clinton CNE speech

Bubba’s a bust…

Ticket sales for Bill Clinton’s speech Saturday at the CNE have been much slower than expected, forcing organizers to reconfigure the stadium layout and offer fairgoers $5 tickets at the door.

About 7,000 advance tickets are sold for the 4 p.m. event, a far cry from the 25,000 people expected when it was announced two weeks ago.

“I’m the eternal optimist. I thought we were just going to sell like crazy at the very beginning and it looks like we’re going to sell more towards the end of this sales cycle,” said David Bednar, general manager of the Canadian National Exhibition. “I can almost guarantee that we will not sell out.”

Well…maybe if he promised to do tricks or something…would spinning on his head be out of the question? Even I’d pay $5 to see that.

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marisacat - 27 August 2009

Maybe he could invite Monica to join him.

Here is some comfort for him, I read that about 10 years ago when JPII did some big outdoor Religio-Putsch, in Toronto iirc, they sold ONE THIRD of the expected number of tix.

So much hoopla in the press, all the time. And they can’t sell the fucking tix.

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19. marisacat - 28 August 2009

nu thred….

LINK

…………….. :roll: ……………..

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