The Associated Press is reporting the jury has reached a verdict in one count in the Jack Abramoff related trial of former Abramoff lobbying associate Kevin Ring. Ring “served” as Chief of Staff for former Rep. John Doolittle and as a Senate Judiciary subcommittee aide to Sen. John Ashcroft. Both Doolittle and Ashcroft are GOPers, as in GreedOverPrinciples types.
Here, in a short segment, Bill Moyers explains in general terms what the Abramoff Scandal is all about; and why – IMNSHO – GOP today stands for GreedOverPrinciples. Let’s look!!!
That was the scene at the entrance to last Saturday’s MnGOP Convention. Dusty Trice, noted and intrepid blogger and my “go to” in-the-field reporter for my radio show, has video – it’s beyond the fold.
A little background (as I’ve written about here and here and here):
Lieutenant Colonel Joe Repya was so disgusted by the (s)election of FEC Tony and MudSlingerMike (a/k/a, “The MSM”), that he published an op/ed in the PiPress on the reasons he was leaving the Republican Party, now led by FEC Tony and MudSlinger Mike (a/k/a, “The MSM”). While that Op/Ed is no longer available on the PiPress website, comments on that Op/Ed are. Nathan Hansen, GOP Deputy Chair of CD-4, did comment – here’s what he had to say:
I am Deputy Chair of the Fourth Congressional District and one of the newer anti-war Republican activists. It’s difficult for words to describe how happy I am that you are leaving our Party. The roots of your “neconservative” philosophy lie in Straussian Trotzkyite Communism. “Corporate money” influencing our Party? Nothing compared to the damage your military industrial complex (that Eisenhower warned us about) has wreaked on our Party and our Country.
I hope you will find a happy home among your fellow communists. Your days of endless illegal wars and military industrial complex domination of our party are over.
Obama is ramping up his War in Afghanistan and continues to illegally bomb Pakistan. Perhaps you can join him to satiate your bloodlust. (emphasis added) (PiPress)
That’s comment number 15 from the link, above.
Well, there’s a lot – a LOT – of veterans of the Viet Nam War that remember being greeted none-to-nicely, upon arriving “home.” Some of ’em remember bein’ spit on – yes, literally SPIT ON – upon arriving home from rice paddys. And Nathan Hansen’s comments reminded them exactly of that – reminded them of bein’ SPIT ON.
As written before, how did ol’ FEC Tony handle Nathan Hansen figuratively spitting on Lieutenant Colonel Joe Repya in particular, and all – ALL – veterans in general?
And that “reward” was a prestigeous committee chair assignment at last Saturday’s GOP Convention.
Now, to be fair, it should be noted that prior to the GOP Convention, Nathan Hansen did a non-apology apology.
Yeah, “right.”
That “Me-a Not-a Culpa” was B as in “Bull” and S as in “(stuff)” then and it still is now. Nathan Hansen may have apologized to veterans at the GOP Convention, but as of this writing, he still hasn’t apologized to Lieutenant Colonel Joe Repya, and he still has his B as in “Bull” and S as in “(stuff)” law suits going against veterans Joe Salmon and Richard Glasgow.
Which, of course, leads to the following conclusion: somehow, I don’t think Nathan Hansen’s ties to FEC Tony and MudSlingerMike (a/k/a “The MSM”) are going to be forgotten anytime soon.
Oh – and Dusty Trice’s video, of the Veterans protesting the MN GOP? Let’s look!!!
Say, Michael? You never served, nor did Nathan. Well, neither did ol’ FEC Tony, neither. Here’s something y’all should know: veterans got long memories.
Dusty Trice got the scoop! Here’s what Dusty has to say about his video, as posted on YouTube:
EXCLUSIVE: Ron Paul explains why the MN GOP suddenly needs his help: “They Want My Money.”
The MN GOP blocked Ron Paul from speaking at their 2008 convention in Rochester, MN. But on Sept. 25, 2009 the MN GOP sponsored an appearance by Dr. Paul at Northrup Auditorium in what was billed as a joint town hall with Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.
What’s behind the MN GOP’s sudden change of heart? According to Ron Paul, “They want my money. They want to get a little bit of influence from our supporters, too.”
I think this says a lot about Ron Paul, who’s been a consistent voice for what he believes in, so much so that he was willing to forget the past troubles with the MN GOP.
I also thinks this speaks volumes about the MN GOP. Their leadership realizes that they have alienated roughly 15% of their party. Now they realize that Michele Bachmann is actually in trouble and the only way to save her is to turn to the person they publicly shunned and beg for his money and help.
The MN GOP is exploiting Ron Paul because they are terrified without his support they will lose and lose big.
On a side note, I’d like to thank Congressman Paul for taking moment to speak with me. (DustyTrice)
Let’s watch!!!
I’ll have my own thoughts about Dusty’s breaking story later, for now, link here for Mary Lahammer’s May 30th, 2008 report from the 2008 MnGOP State Convention – the footage of the floor scuffle between a Ron Paul supporter and a McCain suporter is “must see TV” – great job by Mary Lahammer and the Twin Cities Public Television team!!!
The Blog of Legal Times is reporting AG Eric Holder has just appointed career federal prosecutor John Durham to review CIA Detainee actions regarding torture.
The Department of Justice internal watchdog, the Office of Professional Responsibility, submitted to Holder a report today that recommended the department re-examination earlier decisions, made under the Bush administration, to decline to prosecute apparent violations of anti-torture laws.
In reaching his decision to appoint a prosecutor, Holder also reviewed a 2004 report compiled by the CIA inspector general’s office. “As a result of my analysis of all of this material, I have concluded that the information known to me warrants opening a preliminary review into whether federal laws were violated in connection with the interrogation of specific detainees at overseas locations,” Holder said in a statement today. (Law.com)
So, what do the Obstructionists in Party Of No have to say? Let’s look!
Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, expressed his strong disagreement with the appointment.
“I respectfully regret this decision by Attorney General Holder and fear our country will come to regret it too, because an open-ended criminal investigation of past CIA activity, which has already been condemned and prohibited, will have a chilling effect on the men and women agents of our intelligence community whose uninhibited bravery and skill we depend on every day to protect our homeland from the next terrorist attack,” Lieberman said in the statement.
…
The ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.), and the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), were among nine GOP senators who sent a letter last week to Holder urging him to back off from the idea of appointing the special prosecutor. (TheHill.com)
There you have it, ladies and gentlemen: The Part Of No, demonstrating once again that when they break laws, laws don’t matter.
Which, of course, is but one reason why GOP now stands for GreedOverPrinciples.
Apparently, CNN is refusing to run a 30 second ad ripping the GreedOverPrinciples party and the insurance industry. Let’s look!
Well, our good friends over at CrooksAndLiars.com went to the video archives, and pulled a YouTube from 2006 that puts the ad that CNN won’t run into proper perspective – let’s look!
Well, all-“righty”!
That line, “My salary’s in the millions and my dividends obscene”, at the beginning?
Remember an insurance guy by the name of Bill McGuire? From a 2006 Kare11 news report:
How big is the stock option compensation at UnitedHealth? CEO William McGuire has accumulated options presently worth more than $1.5 billion. (Kare11)
Ladies and Gentlemen, there are billions of reasons the GOP is fighting health care reform, and none of those billions are for you.
By now, everyone knows the story about the MN GOP ripping DFLer Colin Peterson for Peterson’s decision not to hold “Town Hall” meetings. Dusty Trice made a great catch of State GOP Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb engaging in the hypocrisy the GreedOverPrinciples party is so well-known for. Let’s watch!
Dusty followed up that YouTube with another YouTube of Michele Bachmann ducking questions. The contrast between what GOPer Brodkorb mouthed off about and Bachmann’s actions is quite clear – link here for Dusty’s entire post.
Then what about Peterson’s neighbor, the GOP’s own 6th District Rep. Michele Bachmann?
Except for one tightly controlled forum at which she barely spoke, we don’t recall any town meetings she’s held in this area since elected. (St. Cloud Times)
Ladies and Gentlemen, MudSlingerMike is simply demonstrating – once again – why reasonable people have no reason to believe anything that the GOP says (or, “trust”, as GOP National Chair Michael Steele said).
As Dusty said, Brodkorb’s actions are “unbelievable.” Nice catch, Dusty.
It seems the Strib disabled “reader comments” under Katie Kersten’s bizarre screed today. Perhaps Strib misManagement knew – just KNEW – that Katie’s ideologically-driven “blame the blacks” ravings would ignite a flame war that even the Strib couldn’t stomach.
Kersten and her ilk hate everything that has to do with government; Kersten specifically has railed about “the nanny state.” In Kersten’s world and among those denizens, the only good government program is a cancelled/eliminated program. Keep that in mind, while you read how Kersten ends her diatribe:
It’s tragic that a small group of black Americans commit such a high percentage of our nation’s violent crime. But until this changes, we’ll continue to have a steady stream of Henry Louis Gates-like incidents. (Strib.com)
Amazing, isn’t it? Oppose every program that could possibly eliminate the problem and cause change (after all, government “is” the problem), but bemoan the lack of change.
Karl Rove would be proud of the fine job Kersten did today in demonstrating the basic principle underlying every single play in today’s GreedOverPrinciples playbook:
“More hate – less tolerance.”
So I’m not going to take the time to fisk the intolerant tripe Kersten serves up today; no one should – Kersten’s insenstive divisiveness speaks for itself.
Instead, I’m recommending everyone should forward that pathetic piece of rightwing rubbish to everyone they know.
Kersten and her clan advocate holding people “responsible” – by forwarding Kersten’s bile, you can hold both her AND her party responsible for the destructive divisiveness they preach.
The title of the post, back on February 15th of this year, was: RNC’s Michael Steele: “You have absolutely no reason – none – to trust our words or our actions at this point.”
And that was BEFORE the crazy “birther” stuff, and a whole bunch of other bogus stuff slung by the GOPers nationally. Well, and locally too, by FEC Tony and MudSlingerMike. So, since some things never change, here that post is again – Michael Steele telling the world there is no reason – NONE – to trust what the GOP has to say.
Yep – that’s the RNC’s Michael Steele talking; talking to Glenn Beck. Beck was saying conservatives can’t trust today’s GreedOverPrinciples party; I submit NO ONE can trust today’s GreedOverPrinciples party. Let’s watch, and then – below the fold – I’ll elaborate:
On CNN a while ago, some clown GOP Congressman was claiming that a Congressional Budget Office report concluded (in one variation of the various GOPer soundbites) that very little spending from the stimulus bill would occur in the first two fiscal years.
The only problem with that claim, that this and other various GOPers were making? There was no CBO report. HuffPo’s Ryan Grim fisked that one; I double checked, too.
The GOPer’s leadership simply made it up; the GOPer’s rank (and I mean “rank”) and file dutifully regurgitated it.
The Colorado Independent did a story about Trancredo’s clone replacement, GOPer Mike Coffman, who dutifully spewed that party line.
Locally, I’d be surprised if Kline, Paulsen, or Bachmann didn’t follow suit, but it’s a Sunday and I got stuff to do and I’m not going to take the time to check. So, I’ll go on to the next incident of Republicans You Simply Cannot Trust – and it’s on the same subject, The Stimulus Bill.
And this incident has to do with John Boehner, the Liar-In-Chief for the US House republiCons. I first saw this, over at Mercury Rising, so a hat tip is in order for Phoenix Woman. Here’s what she wrote:
Stupid And Evil, That’s Our Boehner!
Posted by Phoenix Woman on February 15, 2009
If anybody’s thinking of running against John Boehner next year, here’s some lovely oppo for ya!
Boehner recently uttered this slam against passenger rail spending in the stimulus package:
“Tell me how spending $8 billion in this bill to have a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and Las Vegas is going to help the construction worker in my district.”
And, yes, Boehner actually said that – that there was $8 billion in the Stimulus Bill for a line between LA and Vegas, even though there isn’t. Boehner said it on the floor of the House; Boehner has it on his web page: “Tell me how spending $8 billion in this bill to have a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and Las Vegas is going to help the construction worker in my district.”
I’m not going to talk about how Boehner is objecting that there’s no pork for his district, if there were a line between LA and Vegas; about how that would be an obvious example of hypocrisy typical in today’s GreedOverPrinciples party: objecting to pork ONLY WHEN THEY DON’T GET ANY – no, not me! I’m simply focusing on how reasonable people reasonably cannot trust republiCons like John Boehner to tell the truth – which is what new RNC Chair Michael Steele acknowledged, and you saw, in that YouTube above the fold. So, who’s next, you might ask?
Well, Minnesota’s own “Let’s Investigate Those Un-American Types In Congress” Michelle Bachmann!
Oh, wait – I just pointed out, just yesterday, how Michelle Bachmann made stuff up about how there’s $5 BILLION for ACORN in the stimulus bill. Well, and how Bachmann made the claim the good ol’ USofA is “running out of rich people”, despite the obvious results of the GreedOverPrinciples’ war on the middle class during these last 3 decades. And actually, there’s more outrageous stuff that Little Miss Hiding In The Weeds said; but again, it’s a Sunday….
So, let’s go back to that Boehner bit, for a second, and look at how a few GOPer Congressman are touting (yes, “touting” – according to McClatchey) the just passed Stimulus Bill:
GOP lawmakers tout projects in the stimulus bill they opposed
By David Lightman
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Rep. John Mica was gushing after the House of Representatives voted Friday to pass the big stimulus plan.
“I applaud President Obama’s recognition that high-speed rail should be part of America’s future,” the Florida Republican beamed in a press release.
Yet Mica had just joined every other GOP House member in voting against the $787.2 billion economic recovery plan.
Republicans echoed their party line over and over during the debate: “This bill is loaded with wasteful deficit spending on the majority’s favorite government programs,” as Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., put it.
But Mica wasn’t alone in touting what he saw as the bill’s virtues. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, also had nice things to say in a press release.
Young boasted that he “won a victory for the Alaska Native contracting program and other Alaska small business owners last night in H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.”
One provision would have made it harder for minority businesses to win contracts, and Young explained that he “worked with members on the other side of the aisle to make the case for these programs, and was able to get the provision pulled from the bill.”
Yet later in the day Young — who recently told McClatchy that he would’ve included earmarks, or local projects, in the bill if it had been permitted — issued another statement blasting the overall measure.
“This bill was not a stimulus bill. It was a vehicle for pet projects, and that’s wrong,” he protested.
That was more in line with the Republican message.
Young wouldn’t return a request for comment on the apparent contradiction of his press releases.
(more, here:Miami Herald)
Ladies and Gentlemen, these examples of republiCons making stuff up and dutifully repeating the made-up stuff are the obvious ones; they stick out without really looking.
But what is amazing, is the new RNC Chair, Michael Steele, saying about his party what reasonable people already knew:
“You have absolutely no reason – none – to trust our words or our actions at this point.”
It’s about time the GOP quit making stuff up, and I – for one – am glad the RNC Chair finally acknowledged that.
“Here’s the answer: In 2009, they ran the first negative ad for the 2010 Minnesota elections.”
“Who are FEC Tony and MudSlingerMike?”
“You are correct!”
Smart money was betting that with the election of Tony Sutton and Michael Brodkorb, the GOP was going down and dirtier. So far, those bets look like winners. Over 15 months out, and Sutton and Broadkorb seem bound and determined to make the 2010 elections the nastiest ever.
Two Putt Tommy 