Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Headline you won't read in the NY Times

Obama and two aides interviewed by Fitzgerald in Blago Bribery

You'll never read that.
But you should have.
As the Wall Street Journal points out:

Federal prosecutors investigating alleged corruption by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich interviewed President-elect Barack Obama and two of his top advisers last week in connection with the case, according to a memo released Tuesday by the Obama transition team.


Let's review:
Obama, and 2 of his advisors, were interviewed by Fitz. Why? Well, certainly, it was because there was no improper contact between any of the advisers and Blago on the many taped conversations they didn't have.

I'm sure that Fitz was just asking them to confirm that they really didn't talk to Blago at all about a deal. I imagine the conversation going something like this:

FITZ: We have you on tape telling Blago absolutely nothing. Is that true?
OBAMA ADVISOR: Yep. I handed him a list of senate candidates that I felt were acceptable.
FITZ: But you asked for nothing in return. We have tapes of that not happening. Correct?
OBAMA ADVISOR: Stop badgering me! Yes, we did nothing!
FITZ: Look... I can't help you unless you continue to deny offering him anything. I'm not going to waste my time interviewing you - knowing that I have nothing on you - unless you tell me that all of my tapes are substantially correct.
OBAMA ADVISOR: Look, cop; I don't know what you're holding back. I just know what I said. Yeah... those conversations were proper, and I never asked for quid pro quo! Is that what you want me to say???
FITZ: I want you to say it only, and only, if my tapes are correct!
OBAMA ADVISOR: Arrrrgh! You got me! I didn't offer him anything! Oh man... I knew that I was in trouble when I came in here! That's why I've been offering interviews for the past week, because there was no improper contact!

The weird thing is that I know that somewhere out there, there are Obama fans who think that's how it went.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Number 6.1

Another link with the Clintons...
...Bettie Currie is working behind the scenes for Obama.

The last time we saw Bettie Currie, she was hiding gifts underneath her bed that had been exchanged between Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.
I'm sure her work with Obama does not reflect anything negative on him, whatsoever.

Obama / Clinton WH counter
6.1

President Elect Sidesteps

Obama didn't want this reporter to "waste his question"...



It reminded me of this guy.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Obama's administration picks: Little Known Facts

I'm amazed at how the media has portrayed Obama's picks as 'centrist'.
Thanks to Time magazine, and a few other sources, I hope to dispel that myth.

U.N. Ambassador: Susan E. Rice

You might know that Susan has Jamaican parents.
You probably know that she worked as Assistant Secretary for African Affairs under Clinton, starting in 1997. -Or that she worked for the Brookings Institution on issues of "global poverty and inequality."
But did you know who her hubby is?
Age 44, Rice is married to Canadian journalist Ian Cameron, executive producer of ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos. They met in college when she was a freshman and he was a senior and are the parents of two children.
Hmmm.
Think that Clinton's former spokesperson, Stephanopoulos, is going to be harsh on her?

People who worked for Clinton - who now work for Obama - Counter:
1

Energy Czar Carol Browner.


If you've read a lot, you know that the Energy Czar Browner used to work as a Legislative Director for then-Senator Al Gore, a lifelong environmentalist.

You might know that she was the director of the EPA under Clinton, and was the longest serving administrator in that position. Or that she protected us against that horrible water borne killer Cryptosporidium. (If you've ever taken a food safety class, as I have, you know how bizarre it is that the EPA felt a need to take action over something like this.)

What you probably don't know is that up until recently, she worked for the Albright Group; a management consulting firm with some pretty hefty political ties, including former Clintonite Madeline.

But did you know that she used to work for Citizen Action, an environmental action group?

I understand completely that many people want someone in the department of energy who will be responsible. But putting an environmentalist in charge of energy, is like putting a vegetarian in charge of issuing hunting licenses. Their core beliefs run counter to their job description.

Anyway, back to our Clinton/Obama WH Counter:
2

I forgot to add...

Secretary of State, Hillary

Clinton/Obama WH Counter:
3

Attorney General, Eric Holder

Eric is the third member of the Obama administration to have ties to the Caribbean, with parents from Barbados. (I'm always amused when an Irish guy feels a need to hire a bunch of Irish guys to work for him. Similarly, Obama's picks amuse me.)

What you might know?
That he worked at Covington & Burling LLP, or that he was originally hired by Reagan in 1988 to be an associate judge.
He was then hired by Clinton in 1993 to be a US Attorney.

What you don't know about Holder?
That he was the guy who approved of Marc Rich's pardon. Marc Rich was a 'fugitive billionaire' who had fled the country. His wife had lobbied hard for his pardon. The day before George Bush took office, Holder reviewed the pardon and wrote that he was "neutral to favorable" about the pardon. Clinton signed it, and the rest is history.

Clinton / Obama WH Counter:
4



Homeland Security Secretary: Janet Napolitano



Time magazine's profile of Napolitano is remarkable in one way; they say that she has a "nuanced approach" that has pleased both sides on the issue of immigration. But a link to their previous article on Napolitano reveals this quote:
Last November angry voters passed Proposition 200, which in part provides that undocumented aliens receive no state welfare benefits that they are not entitled to. Napolitano opposed it, as well as several bills that targeted illegal immigrants.

Read the complete article, because I can't quote it here without violating copyright. It also points out 'immigration reforms' that Janet created on her own, but it seems clear from the article that she's not taking a centrist position.

Back to what you probably do know:
She was appointed as a US attorney general by Bill Clinton.

What you don't know:
In 1991, represented Anita Hill in Hill's sexual harrassment lawsuit against then-Supreme Court nominee (and now Justice) Clarence Thomas

You can say many things about Janet, but you can't say that she's a centrist.

Obama / Clinton WH Counter:
5

Whew! My fingers are getting tired from writing all of those numbers.

Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel


Yeah, that's Blagojevich to the right of him. So let's start there.
Did you know that Rahm and Obama were both chief strategists for Blago's run for governor in 2002?
From the New Yorker:
Rahm Emanuel, a congressman from Chicago and a friend of Obama’s, told me that he, Obama, David Wilhelm, who was Blagojevich’s campaign co-chair, and another Blagojevich aide were the top strategists of Blagojevich’s victory. He and Obama “participated in a small group that met weekly when Rod was running for governor,” Emanuel said. “We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two.” A spokesman for Blagojevich confirmed Emanuel’s account, although David Wilhelm, who now works for Obama, said that Emanuel had overstated Obama’s role. “There was an advisory council that was inclusive of Rahm and Barack but not limited to them,” Wilhelm said, and he disputed the notion that Obama was “an architect or one of the principal strategists.”

Rahm was also a chief advisor to Bill Clinton. Before that, he worked as a fundraiser for Mayor Daley of Chicago. Which means he worked for 3 crooks that we know of.
But hey... I'm positive that Obama is completely different from Rahm's previous clients.


Oh, and Emanuel Was Director Of Freddie Mac During Scandal, according to the ABC news story of the same name.
Emanuel was named to the Freddie Mac board by President Bill Clinton in 2000 and resigned his position when he ran for Congress in May, 2001.
During the years 2000, 2001 and 2002, according to the SEC, Freddie Mac substantially misrepresented its income to "present investors with the image of a company that would continue to generate predictable and growing earnings."
Neat.
But he's clean as snow. Chicago snow.

Clinton / Obama WH Count:
6

This is where I have to take a break. But I'll be back for round two of 'what you probably don't know' about Obama's cabinet.

TSG 'change' mug shots, Obama, and Change

I was talking to a friend of mine, who is black, about the Obama shirts that so many people are wearing. We were both annoyed by how many people were jumping on the bandwagon.

Although he voted for Obama, he had reservations about the people who were going over the edge in their support without knowing who they were voting for.


His biggest complaint had to do with guys in his neighborhood who were selling drugs while wearing Obama t-shirts. As he rightly pointed out, they clearly missed the message.

The Smoking Gun has a montage of mug shots from 2008 on their web page. Most recently, they selected their favorite ones with the icon of change on them:
I think that there are a lot of people out there who are just wearing the t-shirts to "look cool," and have no real intention of changing the way politics are done.

This week, Obama said that he can't release his internal report declaring that his staffers had no 'improper contact' with Blago.
I'm curious if, despite his insistence, a member of his staff will join the mug shot list, above.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Ohio official resigns in Joe the Plumber case

I need to catch up on some news here.
Most importantly?
The slime who investigated Joe The Plumber with government resources, Helen Jones-Kelley, resigned from her state position in Ohio. Helen used to work as the department of Job and Family Services director.
From the AP story on Yahoo:
Gov. Ted Strickland suspended Jones-Kelley for a month without pay after the Ohio Inspector General's office found in November that she improperly used state computers to find personal information on Samuel Wurzelbacher. The investigation also found that she conducted improper political fundraising activity for now President-elect Barack Obama.

Its bad enough that our civil servants use their government time to raise money for their chosen candidates. (Which seems like an infinite circle to me, of someone getting hired to raise money, so that more government robots can get hired.)
What's worse is to see that they used that government time (and government private resources) to snoop into the background of political opponents. That kind of slimy dealing makes me want to bring back tar-and-feathering of criminal officials.

Monday, December 15, 2008

The silver bullet that connects Obama to Blago?

Can someone help me out on this?
I believe, if I'm right, that this connects the Obama camp directly to Blago.

But you tell me if I'm wrong.

This is from the criminal complaint.
Its right after the part of the complaint where Blago says "f' em" about the Obama camp, if they don't want to deal. That note is note 104.
This is note 105, right after that:

Later on November 11, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH talked with Advisor A.
Advisor A indicated that he will stay “on top” of getting the Senate Candidate 5 information leaked to the particular Sun Times columnist. ROD BLAGOJEVICH again raised the idea of the 501(c)(4) organization and asked whether “they” (believed be the President-elect and his associates) can get Warren Buffett and others to put $10, $12, or $15 million into the organization. Advisor A responded that “they” should be able to find a way to fund the organization.

I won't quote the whole thing. But go read it.
Now further down, note 107, on page 68:

On November 12, 2008, ROD BLAGOJEVICH talked with Advisor B. ROD
BLAGOJEVICH discussed with Advisor B his idea for a 501(c)(4) organization. Advisor B stated that he likes the idea, but liked the Change to Win option better because, according to Advisor B, from the President-elect’s perspective, there would be fewer “fingerprints” on the President-elect’s involvement with Change to Win because Change to Win already has an existing stream of revenue and, therefore, “you won’t have stories in four years that they bought you off.” ROD BLAGOJEVICH said that he likes the 501(c)(4) idea because he knows it will be there in two years when he is no longer Governor, whereas Change to Win might not be.


Now you tell me:

How the heck is it that this hasn't made the papers yet? What'd I miss?

Thursday, December 11, 2008

The Obama/ Blagovich connection

A lot of us knew that Blagojevich was slime. That was pretty easy to see.
But others took to Blagojevich fairly quickly. Guess who was associated with him?
The same guy who had a fundraiser by Ayers, and a racist preacher:

In the Democratic gubernatorial primary that year, then-state sen. Obama endorsed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris. But after Blagojevich won, Obama came around enthusiastically.

That, according to ABC news. Its worth noting that Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel had connections too. But, if the article is to be believed:


At the same time, meanwhile, Axelrod had such serious concerns about whether Blagojevich was ready for governing he refused to work for his one-time client.
According to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., Mr. Obama's incoming White House chief of staff, Emanuel, then-state senator Obama, a third Blagojevich aide, and Blagojevich's campaign co-chair, David Wilhelm, were the top strategists of Blagojevich's 2002 gubernatorial victory.


Just so that you understand:
Obama & Rahm were both aides to Blagojevich. But if we are to believe Obama fans, Obama didn't know about this at all.
He was completely in the dark of how corrupt Blagojevich was.

Monday, December 08, 2008

It wasn't quite the change they pictured

Normally, I'd like to rest easy knowing that the left isn't happy.
But when the left is David Corn, of Mother Jones, I don't know what would make him happy. Che? Chavez?
From his editorial in the WP:
It's no surprise that many progressives are -- depending on whom you ask -- disappointed, irritated or fit to be tied. Sure, Obama's appointments do represent change -- that is, change from the widely unpopular Bush-Cheney status quo. But do these appointments amount to the kind of change that progressives, who were an essential part of Obama's political base during the campaign, can really believe in?

David,
You'll be relieved to know that us conservatives still think his appointments are really really left.
If you don't believe me, check out his speechwriter, in the photo below.

No, I'm not kidding. That really is his speechwriter groping a cardboard cutout of Hillary.

And yeah... that's kind of the change that I pictured Barack would bring.

Politico has some questions for Obama

Most of their questions I think are legitimate. But the first one really has me puzzled:
“Are you going to get off the sidelines before you're sworn in and, if not, what do you say to those in your own party who are waiting for you to show some leadership?”

Since when did that matter?
Every incoming administration that is different from the last is going to have a strong following of people who hope that things will 'change' to their vision.
However, unlike Obama, the president-elect normally doesn't do weekly addresses.
Obama does.
Which begs the asking: What does he think he's doing?
Didn't he have an idea of what he was going to do, as president, when he ran?
Wasn't he supposed to tell us then?
If he did, then what is the point of all of these press conferences? Unless, of course, its to change what he promised when he ran for president?

List of Obama broken Obama promises

Provided, of course, that he's being honest about breaking his promises.

  • He said he was going to tax the wealthy.
  • He said he was going to put windfall profits taxes on big oil.

Already, he's reversed those two promises.

Former promises he's broken?
  • When he was running for the Democratic primary, he said that warrantless wiretaps should not continue. Then he won the primary, and figured out a compromise on wiretaps.

Promises I'm willing to bet he breaks?
  • Obama will not pull out of Iraq starting the first day he gets into office.
  • He will not open the gates on Guantanamo bay.

More broken promises to come. I promise that.

Obama promises to make economy worse

Sorry, I'm pretending like I'm a Bush hater, and Obama is Bush.
But this is what Obama said, from AP:
"The economy is going to get worse before it gets better," he said twice in the early moments of the interview, taped Saturday in Chicago.


I thought that it was the president's fault that the economy was bad?
I thought that once he became president, he could fix things?
Oh man. I'm so... disillusioned? Surprised?

Chang (ing light bulbs)

I forgot to add this to the mind-boggling logic of our president elect. From Politico:
ENERGY: “[W]e will launch a massive effort to make public buildings more energy-efficient. Our government now pays the highest energy bill in the world. We need to change that. We need to upgrade our federal buildings by replacing old heating systems and installing efficient light bulbs. That won’t just save you, the American taxpayer, billions of dollars each year. It will put people back to work.”

We're going to put people back to work changing out light bulbs?
Uh... if that isn't a 'make work' job, what is?

HUMAN: What do you do?
OBAMA DRONE: I work for the government making the world less energy dependent.
HUMAN: Oh, you change out light bulbs?
OBAMA DRONE: That's not all I do!
HUMAN: What else?
OBAMA DRONE: I fill out paperwork, and report on the improved efficiency of the building.
HUMAN: That accounts for 15 minutes of your day. What do you do with the rest of it?
OBAMA DRONE: The point is that I'm working, and I feel better about myself. What do you do for a living?
HUMAN: I have a real job. I work at McDonalds. I feed people in a very short amount of time. Because of me, they have more time to be productive, and create more wealth in our society... you useless fucktard.

Obama sets plans for Mega Spending

Hold onto your wallet. From Bloomburg:

Obama, in his weekly radio speech today, said his plan to create or preserve 2.5 million jobs will also include making public buildings more energy efficient, repairing schools and modernizing health care with electronic medical records.

“We won’t just throw money at the problem,” he said. “We’ll measure progress by the reforms we make and the results we achieve -- by the jobs we create, by the energy we save, by whether America is more competitive in the world.”



Of course, the best way to create wealth is to have the government do it.

Right?

(I'm joking.)

PS- Everything that Obama said about our deficit being too big? You can kiss that rhetoric goodbye.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Weekly address from the office of the president elect???

You gotta hand it to the fans of Obama: there is nothing he can do that will shake their love.

In a new standard of presumptiveness, Obama has been having regular press conferences from the 'Office Of the President Elect'... which is a bullshit office.
But now he's taking it one step further.
Obama is releasing weekly addresses from the office of the president elect.
Say what?

Keep in mind, previous president elects haven't even held regular press conferences. So why would Obama do this?
Unless he:
1) Incredibly insecure about the job
2) Already thinks he's in power
or
3) Wants to pretend like he's in charge

Any of those three things are creepy. I want you to watch the video above, and realize its not his job yet.
Man, I understand that he was elected. I greatly respect democracy, even when I don't agree with the outcome of an election.
But only because I respect an orderly transition of power.

Obama is trying to skip past that transition thing. You know, where he waits to be inaugurated?

Obama's followers have always creeped me out.
I wish that Obama wouldn't do the same.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Obama hires the woman who called Hillary a monster?

If anyone was wondering about Obama's ethics and morals, I think this one will kind of give you a clue as to what he's going to do once president.

Last Spring, an Obama advisor by the name of Samantha Power was forced to resign after she called Hillary Clinton a "monster".
That should be the end of the story. But its not.
You see, Obama rehired her for the transition process.
Guess what part of his government she's helping with?

According to the Washington Post:
Power is listed on Obama's transition Web site as part of the team reviewing national security agencies. Her duties, according to the site, will be to "ensure that senior appointees have the information necessary to complete the confirmation process, lead their departments, and begin implementing signature policy initiatives immediately after they are sworn in."


Good for WaPo for doing this report.
Of course, if it were Bush doing such a thing, it would be healines for a week. But hey... we all know that Obama gets a buddy pass.