Tag: Government

Funding the very terrorists we're supposed to be fighting against

That’s right folks.

Via WorldNetDaily:

Just days after it was announced the U.S. would transfer $150 million directly to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ government, members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, the declared military wing of Abbas’ Fatah party, were told they would receive cash grants, WND has learned.

According to Palestinian militant sources familiar with the issue, earlier this month, 20 members of the Brigades leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah complained to PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad they did not have enough money to pay their bills, including, for many of them, rent for their apartments.

Last week, according to the informed sources, Fayyad told the complaining Brigades leaders he would provide them with a one-time grant of $3,000 each, or $60,000 to the Ramallah-based Brigades leadership.

The sources said after Brigades leaders in other West Bank cities, including Hebron and Nablus, heard of the grants, they also demanded pay increases.

"Some of the other fighters accused Fayyad of favoring the Brigades leaders in Ramallah since that’s where Fayyad lives," said a militant source. "So he gave grants also to other cells."

Unreal. Can the lies and deceptions, from this feckless administration, be any clearer?

I guess Ron Paul was correct. Rolling Eyes

It wasn't just Obama's Passport…..

So, it wasn’t a conspiracy after all… 

The Story: Obama urges inquiry into passport snooping (via CNN.com)

Sen. Barack Obama called for an investigation Friday into how the security of the passport files of the three remaining presidential candidates was breached.

The State Department admitted Friday that the passport files of Obama, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. John McCain had been accessed without authorization.

"One of the things that the American people count on in their interactions with any level of government is that if they have to disclose personal information, that it stay personal and stay private," Obama said in Portland, Oregon.

"And when you have not just one but a series of attempts to tap into people’s personal records, that’s a problem not just for me but for how our government is functioning," he said.

Obama said he expected "a full and thorough investigation" by the administration in conjunction with congressional oversight committees.

Now if I were one of them overly paranoid Liberals, I would say this was released to stop the coverage of it, as a attempt to roust out Obama from the race or something silly like that. Truth is, is was most likely just some bonehead who thought that they’d be really cool and access the info.

However, it does speak the absolute incompetence of the State Department. This should have been released to the Candidates and the Media the very minute it happened. 

Many questions linger and will most likely be brought out eventually, Most likely when the offending parties are safely out of office.

Others: The Swamp, Think Progress, Ben Smith’s Blogs, the talking dog, Hot Air, MSNBC, Daily Kos, The Carpetbagger Report, Pajamas Media, Ars Technica, Attytood, Sister Toldjah, MyDD, Salon, Bang the Drum, The Gavel and Shakesville (via Memeornadum)

Obama Passport-Gate

This new Obama story that will bury the Rev. Wright Scandal.

 The Story: 2 fired over Obama passport breach (msnbc.com)

Quote:

Two contract employees of the State Department were fired and a third person was disciplined for inappropriately looking at Democratic Sen. Barack Obama’s passport file.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the department itself detected the instances of "imprudent curiosity," which occurred separately on Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14. He would not release the names of those who were fired and disciplined.

"We believe this was out of imprudent curiosity, so we are taking steps to reassure ourselves that that is, in fact, the case," McCormack said.

This was Keith Olbermann’s Lead story tonight and I believe he dedicated the rest of his show to it. As did Dan Abrams.

I have been reading around and listening to the coverage. People are comparing this to the 1992 breeching of President Clinton’s passport records, of which, I must confess, I knew nothing of.

There has also been, already, comparisons to Watergate. Which I think is a bit of a stretch, if you ask me. Although, I believe before it is over, someone will be charged over this or at least will be publicly shamed.

This will be an interesting story to follow.

Others: Crooks and Liars, The Huffington Post, The Moderate Voice, Attytood, Boston Globe, Bang the Drum, Oliver Willis, Corrente, Sister Toldjah, Blue Girl, Red State, The Agonist, Political Machine, Cliff Schecter, Washington Times, Associated Press, Think Progress, Redstate, Fox News, Hot Air, Macsmind, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Brilliant at Breakfast and Obsidian Wings

Hillary's Hypocrisy

Wow….. Just wow….

The Story: Clinton Praises Petraeus (via The Caucus)

The quote: 

As critical as she is about the Bush administration’s conduct of the Iraq war, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton gave a relatively rare shout-out to the military’s top man in Baghdad, General David Petraeus, calling him “an extraordinary leader and a wonderful advocate for our military.”

The commanding general, who has been a target of antiwar opponents and liberal groups like Moveon.org, has been a strong supporter of the escalation of American troops in Iraq, a strategy that Mrs. Clinton and Senator Barack Obama have opposed.

But Mrs. Clinton, as a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has had opportunities to talk and meet with General Petraeus about military matters over the years, and some aides say that she respects his expertise.

At a town hall meeting just now, Mrs. Clinton laid out her plan to withdraw troops from Iraq, noting she would rely on “the best military advice we can get” to devise a “very thoughtful” approach to start removing troops within 60 days of taking office.

As she concluded her remarks, she noted that American forces in Iraq were led by “an extraordinary leader and a wonderful advocate of our military.”

Isn’t this the same woman who said to petraeus, that one would have to possess a "willing suspension of disbelief", to believe his testimony?

Of course, we are talking about Democrats here.

Others: Weekly Standard Blog, Spin Cycle and Hot Air

It is official Dick Cheney is an Asshole

This comes via Think Progress:

Transcript:

CHENEY: On the security front, I think there’s a general consensus that we’ve made major progress, that the surge has worked. That’s been a major success.

RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.

CHENEY: So?

RADDATZ So? You don’t care what the American people think?

CHENEY: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.

Man, not only is he an asshole, he’s a delusional asshole as well.

Of course, when you’re the second lackey to a President who’s approval rating is 19% and has a bunker mentality of it’s us against the world, what do you expect?

Others: CNN, Reuters, Washington Times, Firedoglake, World-O-Crap, Hullabaloo and Dependable Renegade

Breaking News: Gov. David Paterson and wife Admit to extramarital affairs

Freaking Jesus Already, can’t the married people in New York keep it in their pants? WOW! Surprise

The Story: Newly Elected Governor David Paterson Admits to affair (via New York Daily News)

Quote:

The thunderous applause was still ringing in his ears when the state’s new governor, David Paterson, told the Daily News that he and his wife had extramarital affairs.

In a stunning revelation, both Paterson, 53, and his wife, Michelle, 46, acknowledged in a joint interview they each had intimate relationships with others during a rocky period in their marriage several years ago.

In the course of several interviews in the past few days, Paterson said he maintained a relationship for two or three years with "a woman other than my wife," beginning in 1999.

Man, this is crazy, first a Governor resigns over buying hookers, and now the newly minted admits that he had an affair??!?!? What is it with New Yorkers and out of control sex? Holy Cow!

Are these people taking cues from the Mayor of Detroit or what?

It just keeps getting interesting by the minute.

Other Bloggers covering this: Talking Points Memo, TownHall Blog, protein wisdom, Little Green Footballs, Gawker, Gothamist, Wonkette, michellemalkin.com, Ben Smith’s Blogs, Scared Monkeys, New York Magazine, TPM Election Central, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Gateway Pundit

I'll be the first to admit, like John McCain, I don't know jack about economics or for that matter, Wealth!

Yeah, that’s right. I’m about helpful as a blind man in a library, when it comes to this sort of stuff.

The Story:  JPMorgan Acts to Buy Ailing Bear Stearns at Huge Discount (Via New York Times)

Bear Stearns, pushed to the brink of bankruptcy by what amounted to a run on the bank, agreed late Sunday to sell itself to JPMorgan Chase for a mere $2 a share, narrowly averting a collapse that threatened to cascade through the financial system.

The price represents a startling 93 percent discount to Bear Stearns’ closing stock price on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Bankers and policy makers raced to complete the deal before financial markets in Asia opened on Monday, as fears grew that the financial panic could spread if Bear Stearns failed to find a buyer.

The deal, done at the behest of the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, punctuates the stunning downfall of one of Wall Street’s biggest and most storied firms. Bear Stearns weathered the vagaries of the markets for 85 years, surviving the Depression and a dozen recessions only to meet its end in the rapidly unfolding credit crisis now afflicting the American economy.

My first reaction, when I saw this was, "Why should I even remotely give a rip?" However, it does show the full fall out of the sub-prime loan debacle that the Nation is dealing with, which isn’t helping the economy.

Yeah, from what I have read around the Blogs and from what I have seen on the T.V. we are headed into another Recession. Which is not a good thing. I guess it just means that the rest of the United States is catching up with Michigan.

Now, the nasty A-hole part of me, who kind of has a inbred hatred of people, who have more money that I do, thinks, "Ha Ha Guys! How’s it feel to lose everything and be broke, like I’ve been for the past couple of years??" But that’s a bit nasty and I try to avoid such thoughts.

I’m just hoping that this doesn’t trigger a mass sell off and a stock market crash, that would suck, because a full scale depression, is the LAST thing we need, right now.

Now, I’m not a capitalist freak, (You wouldn’t know it, by all the ads on my blog… *grin*) However, a certain amount of it, is acceptable, and a certain amount of it is needed to make the country work. So, I would hate to see the World’s Economy go to pot.

Anyway, that’s my take on it, from a Lower Middle class type of guy’s view.

The Experts are here: Crooked Timber, Matthew Yglesias, Buck Naked Politics, Taylor Marsh, JustOneMinute, Obsidian Wings, Marginal Revolution, Hoffmania! and AMERICAblog and more via Memeorandum

You see, this is what happens when you don't play the Neo-Con Game with Bush.

You get tied up and blindfolded like an animal.

Read the story over at the New York Times:

The Baiji refinery, with its distillation towers rising against the Hamrin Mountains, may be the most important industrial site in the Sunni Arab-dominated regions of Iraq. On a good day, 500 tanker trucks will leave the refinery filled with fuel with a street value of $10 million.

The sea of oil under Iraq is supposed to rebuild the nation, then make it prosper. But at least one-third, and possibly much more, of the fuel from Iraq’s largest refinery here is diverted to the black market, according to American military officials. Tankers are hijacked, drivers are bribed, papers are forged and meters are manipulated — and some of the earnings go to insurgents who are still killing more than 100 Iraqis a week.

“It’s the money pit of the insurgency,” said Capt. Joe Da Silva, who commands several platoons stationed at the refinery.

Five years after the war in Iraq began, the insurgency remains a lethal force. The steady flow of cash is one reason, even as the American troop buildup and the recruitment of former insurgents to American-backed militias have helped push the number of attacks down to 2005 levels.

In fact, money, far more than jihadist ideology, is a crucial motivation for a majority of Sunni insurgents, according to American officers in some Sunni provinces and other military officials in Iraq who have reviewed detainee surveys and other intelligence on the insurgency.

Yeah, them Neo-Conservative, Rockefeller-type, Republicans wouldn’t want those pesky jihadists tapping into their oil profits.

You see, we went into that country, based on totally false intelligence, and now the people that don’t think we belong there. The jihadists, who want to defend their land, is now getting their money supply cut off. Do I defend the one’s who blow up our troops? Hell No. But I am realist, that says, if we’d attacked the RIGHT DAMN COUNTRY IN THE FIRST FUCKING PLACE, we wouldn’t be in this situation.

In case anyone forgot, there was a report this week, that said, despite what the feckless, idiot, bastards on the far right want to believe, that there were NO OPERATIONAL ties between Saddam and Al-Qaeda.

Like I’ve said before, we need change, badly. November 2008 cannot came fast enough for me.

NAU coming together

The globalists will stop at nothing to sacrifice our sovereignty.

State Department advances ‘North American Union’ (via WorldNetDaily.com)

A largely unreported meeting held at the State Department discussed integration of the U.S., Mexico and Canada in concert with a move toward a transatlantic union, linking a North American community with the European Union.

The meeting was held Monday under the auspices of the Advisory Committee on International Economic Policy, or ACIEP. WND obtained press credentials and attended as an observer. The meeting was held under "Chatham House" rules that prohibit reporters from attributing specific comments to individual participants.

Thank you GWB, for pissing away our constitution, and for ushering in the era of Globalism.

Rolling EyesOur middle class is in danger because of this crap. Not to mention it lays the groundwork for a one world government.

Idiots.