I can’t say that I am surprised by the level of aggravation and acrimony in the comments of my “Letting the Chips Fall” post. I certainly promised more than I delivered. You should have seen the first six drafts. They were much better.
For the few cheery souls remaining, I appreciate that you got the point — it’s exactly what Will Folks has been doing, but doing in a ridiculous third person narrative. The emails and phone calls from people in the media wanting to know when exactly I was going to do the big reveal on this were more than a little illuminating.
To the rest of you, I apologize for clearly rubbing you the wrong way on this one.
Unreal. “The One” is now doing photo-ops at the expense of those in the oil spill area.
"Hey are these pom-pom's for me?"
Maybe the alternate photo caption should read something like “I can see the end of my presidency from here.” Well, we all figured this would be a carefully choreographed photo op for the current occupant of the White House, but little did we know having their boot firmly on the neck of BP meant the folks at BP were obliged to send in some stooges for the visuals. I guess the goons from SEIU were off harassing some bank workers or getting an early start on the holiday weekend and weren’t available. Or maybe Organizing for America didn’t factor stuff like this into their budget. I saw a report earlier from Grand Isle and the place was a virtual ghost town. Seems they have to pay the folks to show up.
…and no, JWF is not kidding about BP paying people to make that shoreline look good. Here is the story.
What this President will not do to make himself look good in the sight of his own people. It is truly unbelievable. This man is more interested in his image; than he is in actually taking a leadership position and actually fixing the problem. If this little controversy does not kill this man’s Presidency, the Sestak controversy will.
The clock is ticking…. November 2010 cannot happen fast enough and November 2012 cannot come fast enough. The question is; will America survive that long? It is to wonder.
Another legend from the golden era of Television has died: (H/T AmSpec Blog)
Art Linkletter - Rest in Peace
Art Linkletter, who encouraged both kids and grown-ups to say the “darndest things” during his decades as a genial but gently mischievous television personality, has died at age 97.
The host of “People Are Funny” and “House Party” of the 1950s and ’60s died Wednesday at his home in the Bel-Air section of Los Angeles.
“He lived a long, full, pure life, and the Lord had need for him,” said his son-in-law, Art Hershey, the husband of Sharon Linkletter.
Linkletter had been ill “in the last few weeks time, but bear in mind he was 97 years old. He wasn’t eating well, and the aging process took him,” Hershey said.
Linkletter hadn’t been diagnosed with any life-threatening disease, he said.
Linkletter was known on TV for his funny interviews with children and ordinary folks. He also collected their comments in a number of best-selling books.
“Because of Art Linkletter, adults found themselves enjoying children,” said Bill Cosby, whose style interviewing kids on his own show in the late ’90s was often compared to Linkletter’s.
“An amazing fellow, a terrific broadcast talent, a brilliant businessman. An all-around good guy,” CNN’s Larry King added about his longtime friend and frequent guest.
Asked what made Linkletter so appealing to audiences, King said, “He had an unusual voice, a twang to his voice that was immediately recognizable. And he looked like your favorite uncle.”
I could write so much; but, much of it has already been written. He was one of the great ones from an era when people and yes, Democrats still loved this Country.
Judicial Watch filed its original FOIA request on May 29, 2009. The Justice Department acknowledged receiving the request on June 18, 2009, but then referred the request to the Office of Information Policy (OIP) and the Civil Rights Division. On January 15, 2010, the OIP notified Judicial Watch that it would be responding to the request on behalf of the Offices of the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, Associate Attorney General, Public Affairs, Legislative Affairs, Legal Policy, and Intergovernmental and Public Liaison.
On January 15, the OIP also indicated that the Office of the Associate Attorney General found 135 pages of records responsive to Judicial Watch’s request, but that all records would be withheld in full. On January 26, the OIP advised Judicial Watch that the Office of Public Affairs and Office of Legal Policy completed their searches and found no responsive documents. On February 10, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division indicated that after an extensive search it had located “numerous responsive records” but determined that “access to the majority of the records” should be denied. On March 26, the OIP indicated that the Office of Legislative Affairs and the Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison completed searches and found no documents.
Judicial Watch appealed the determinations of the Office of the Associate Attorney General and the Civil Rights Division. To date, Judicial Watch has received neither a response regarding searches conducted by the Offices of the Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, nor responses to its two administrative appeals prompting its lawsuit. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, an independent, bipartisan unit of the federal government charged with investigating and reporting on civil rights issues, has also initiated a probe of the Justice Department’s decision to dismiss its lawsuit.
The Justice Department originally filed its lawsuit against the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense and several of its members following an incident that took place outside of a Philadelphia polling station on November 4, 2008. A video of the incident showing a member of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense brandishing police-style baton weapon was widely distributed on the Internet. According to multiple witnesses, members of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense attempted to block access to polling stations, harassed voters and hurled racial epithets. Nonetheless, the Justice Department ultimately allegedly overruled the recommendations of its own staff and dismissed the majority of its claims.
“The Obama administration owes the American people an explanation. How can the Justice Department dismiss a clear-cut case of voter intimidation involving the use of a weapon? Are voting rights important at the Justice Department? If there is nothing to hide, then Eric Holder should release this information as the law requires. And this is just one more example of how Obama’s promises of transparency are a big lie,” said Judicial Watch Tom Fitton.
A knowledgeable lawyer e-mails me: “Notice DOJ revealed nothing about the number of panther documents in the AG and deputy AG office. Even for the associate attorney general they revealed there were 135 but they weren’t going to turn them over. Failing to even name a number is extremely suspicious because those units can be searched quicker and easier for compliant documents. It leads one to conclude any number would be an embarrassment, and a high number would be a catastrophe. So, don’t reveal a number. Typical of this non-transparent operation.”
And now we’re going to see the administration’s true colors played out in open court. As a Judicial Watch spokesman said: “If there is nothing to hide, then Eric Holder should release this information as the law requires. And this is just one more example of how Obama’s promises of transparency are a big lie.”
But the Obama team may have a different problem: if either or both houses of Congress flip to Republican control, new chairmen will populate key committees and subpoenas will begin to fly. Congress is in an even better position to get access to the documents, as attorney-client privilege doesn’t work against a co-equal branch of government. In sum, Holder is running out of room to hide, finally.
Let’s see Mr. Eric “Nation of Cowards” Holder wiggle his way out of this one! Of course, you know what is going to happen; Eric Holder will call Obama and let him know the heat is on. Then Obama will call up MSNBC and the rest of the libtalkers and they’ll descend on JW and start calling them racist. They will say that this is an attack started by the Conservative Jews or something to that effect. You wait and see.
I think someone should have told Kilpatrick this! HEH!
Run On
Well you may run on for a long time
Run on for a long time,
Run on for a long time
Let me tell you God almightys gonna cut you down
Go tell that long tongued liar, oh well well
Go tell that midnight rider, oh well well
Tell the gambler, rambler, back-biter
Tell them God almightys gonna cut them down
Stop God almighty let me tell you the news
My head’s been wet with the midnight dews
Coming down on my bended knees
Talking to the man from Galilee
My God spoke and he spoke so sweet
I thought I heard the shuffle of angel’s feet
He put one hand upon my head
Great God almighty let me tell you what he said
Go tell that long tongued liar, oh well well
Go tell that midnight rider, oh well well
Tell the gambler, rambler, back-biter
Tell them God almighty gonna cut them down
Run on for a long time,
Run on for a long time,
Let me tell you God almightys gonna cut you down
You may throw your rock and hide your hand
Working in the dark against your fellow man
As sure as God made the day and the night
What you do in the dark will be brought to the light
You may run and hide, slip and slide
Trying to take the mote from your neighbour’s eyes
As sure as God made the rich and poor
You gonna reap just what you sow
You may Run on for a long time,
Run on for a long time
Let me tell you God almightys gonna cut you down
Go tell that long tongued liar, oh well well
Go tell that midnight rider, oh well well
Tell the gambler, rambler, back-biter
Tell them God almighty gonna cut them down
Some people go to church just to sit in the fire
Trying to make a date with the neighbour’s wife
Brother let me tell you as sure as you’re born
You better leave that woman alone
Because one of these days mark my word
You think that brother is going to work
And you’ll sneak up and knock on that door
That’s all brother you’ll knock no more
Run on for a long time,
Run on for a long time
Let me tell you God almightys gonna cut you down
Go tell that long tongued liar, oh well well
Go tell that midnight rider, oh well well
Tell the gambler, rambler, back-biter
Tell them God almightys gonna cut them down
Judge to Kilpatrick: "To Jail with your dumb ass!"
10:46 a.m. | An audible gasp erupted in the courtroom as Judge David Groner sentenced former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to 18 months to five years in state prison for probation violation.
Deputies rushed up to a row where Kilpatrick friends and relatives are sitting. They escorted one unidentified woman out.
“Your testimony in this court amounted to perjury,” the judge told Kilpatrick. “Most compelling is that you lied to this court, continue to lie, after you pleaded guilty to lying….
“The initial 120 days incarceration did nothing to rehabilitate you.”
After the gasp from the audience, Kilpatrick was ordered to sign papers. Some reporters saw his hands shaking. Groner asked Kilpatrick’s lawyer, Schwartz, to assist the former mayor.
As the courtroom began to buzz, Groner raised his voice and ordered Kilpatrick to be swift.
“Sergeant could you secure the defendant please and put him in the back?” Groner said. A deputy then handcuffed Kilpatrick behind his back and led him to a side room. The former mayor kept looking over his shoulder, mouthing words toward his sister.
His attorneys vowed an immediate appeal of Groner’s sentence.
Comment from Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Athina Siringas: “We always felt a department of corrections sentence was appropriate. We are pleased.”
The judge’s order also raises questions about whether Kilpatrick will continue to have a job with a Compuware subsidiary in Texas. Compuware chief Peter Karmanos had given Kilpatrick a six-figure sales job with Covisint in an office just outside Dallas after the ex-mayor’s release from jail in February of last year. But Karmanos said at the time that Kilpatrick’s continued employment was contingent upon Kilpatrick staying out of further trouble.
Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was fired from his job today after being sentenced to prison for probation violation.
“Kwame Kilpatrick will be off the Compuware Corporation payroll at the end of the month,” said a company statement. “We don’t have any choices. It’s an unfortunate situation, and we feel bad for his family, but our hands are tied.”
Compuware CEO Peter Karmanos Jr. hired Kilpatrick for his Detroit-based company the day after the former mayor was freed from jail in February 2009. The job paid a base salary of $120,000 with potential for bonuses.
Rep. Shanelle Jackson, D-Detroit, today criticized former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick’s sentence as too harsh for a nonviolent parole violation.
She said it would be better to have Kilpatrick repay the city and require him to do community service than sit in a costly prison cell.
“This sentence shows there is no mercy in society and no grace in the judicial system,” Jackson said. “We are looking at ways to reduce the prison population because of a lack of revenue, yet we’re giving this to someone who could ideally have more to contribute to society if we looked at restorative justice.”
She goes on:
Womack said the sentence perpetuates a common public perception that politicians are crooked.
Um, Mrs. Jackson? That because Kilpatrick WAS a damned crook and he is getting just what is coming to him. It is about damned time, that this idiotic thug was put right where he belongs. The video is priceless and is one that should be shown to anybody thinking of running for Mayor of Detroit or any other city. You decide to lie, cheat or steal and you get caught; your ass is going to jail. Here is hoping that he will get the FULL 5 years in jail, as that is just what this goldbricking jack ass needs.
Since I founded FITSNews three-and-a-half years ago, I’ve made more than my fair share of powerful enemies in this state.
One reason for that? I call it like I see it – whether you like it or not, agree with it or not, or even believe it or not. Clearly, there’s no shortage of opinions about me, my website or the impact it’s having on South Carolina’s political process, but I like to think that the stories I break, the debates I drive and the opinions I help shape all speak to the potency of the brand I’ve created.
At the heart of this brand is telling it like it is – which this website has always done, and which it will continue to do no matter what “Damocles sword” is being held over my head on a personal level by the less savory elements of this state’s failed status quo. Preserving my ability to shoot straight – free from threats and intimidation – is essential to my professional livelihood, while being able to look myself in the mirror each day is essential to who I am as a person.
The two are inseparable, actually, and to compromise one is to eventually wind up sacrificing both.
Beyond these considerations, this website is fighting for several fundamental ideals – academic opportunity for all of our state’s children, the promotion of individual liberty, and the creation of a more prosperous economic climate, to name just a few. These ideals obviously matter a great deal to me – which is why I fight so hard for them – and why I cannot (and will not) permit anyone to compromise my ability to continue fighting for them.
In recent weeks, however, a group of political operatives has attempted to do just that. In fact, on a very personal level I have become the primary target of a group that will apparently stop at nothing to destroy the one S.C. gubernatorial candidate who, in my opinion, would most consistently advance the ideals I believe in. For those of you unfamiliar with the editorial bent of this website, the candidate I am referring to is S.C. Rep. Nikki Haley.
This network of operatives has made it abundantly clear that in the process of “taking down” Rep. Haley, they will also stop at nothing to humiliate me, destroy my family and take a sizable chunk out of the credibility this website has managed to amass for itself. Such is the blood sport of S.C. politics, I suppose – particularly in the wake of the scandal that consumed my former boss, Gov. Mark Sanford.
Specifically, within the last forty-eight hours several pieces of information which purportedly document a prior physical relationship between myself and Rep. Haley have begun to be leaked slowly, piece by piece, to members of the mainstream media. I am told that at least one story based upon this information will be published this week. Watching all of this unfold, I have become convinced that the gradual release of this information is deliberately designed to advance this story in the press while simultaneously forcing either evasive answers or denials on my part or on Nikki’s part.
I refuse to play that game. I refuse to have someone hold the political equivalent of a switch-blade in front of my face and just sit there and watch as they cut me to pieces.
The truth in this case is what it is. Several years ago, prior to my marriage, I had an inappropriate physical relationship with Nikki.
That’s it.
I will not be discussing the details of that relationship, nor will I be granting any additional interviews about it to members of the media beyond what I have already been compelled to confirm.
It is what it is, and aside from the Haley family – Michael, Nikki, Rena and Nalin – I feel no need to apologize or explain myself to anyone. People are human. We make mistakes. And as I have learned from experience, the key to life isn’t the mistakes we make, it’s how we choose to handle them.
I do owe my wife, Katrina, an apology for failing to disclose certain things that took place prior to our marriage. I know that’s not the technical definition of infidelity, but it is a form of unfaithfulness that has broken the trust between us – a trust which must now be rebuilt. I also owe her an apology for the storm that my family has been facing for the past few weeks, and the storm we will no doubt continue to face in the weeks to come.
In preemptively addressing this matter, I am well aware that conspiracy theories will abound regarding my motives. In fact, I have already been assigned so many roles in so many different conspiracies that I have lost count of which villain I’m supposed to be playing. I also know that no matter what I do, I will be end up being smeared in some form or fashion by someone.
That’s fine.
I can sleep at night knowing I handled this the best way I knew how (the way my wife and I decided together that it needed to be handled), which was to simply tell the truth.
After that, wherever the chips fall, they fall. That’s the way it’s always been on this website, and that’s the way it will continue to be moving forward.
The Va-Va-Voom in question?
Oh Yeah, I'd hit it!
I mean, she could have screwed me all day long and no one would care! Well, maybe except her husband. I’m not married, so, the damage would be minimal. But NOOOO.. she has to go oink some married blogger and a farking moronic one at that!
It’s quite obvious these women need to be more aware of me. Hey, Married hot women! I am available for sex slavery you know! 😀 😉 😛 😆 😮 😯
