Another Example Of republiCon Hypocrisy

There’s so many examples of republiCon hypocrisy, that it’s becoming hard to keep track of them all. As Congress readies to go back to W.D.C. without John Kline nor Erik Paulsen holding a Town Hall, it’s important to remember that this summer, in the Great State Of Minnesota, one of the most amazing acts of hypocrisy ever – EVER – was performed, and Michael Brodkorb performed that feat in a mere 9 seconds! Let’s look!!!

Now, when Congress convenes after the August recess, be ready and waiting for more republiCon hypocrisy! Here’s Rachel Maddow, explaining the hypocrisy of republiCon Judd Gregg, R=Hypocrite, with Gregg’s amazing hypocrisy concerning the fillibuster – let’s look!

As Rachel explained: “It’s O K When A Republican Does It” – although I personally prefer:

“Hypocrisy, Thy Party Is GOP”

(originally published at MnProgressiveProject.com)

"Keep Your Government Hands Off My Medicare!"

That’s a real quote, from a “participant” (cough, cough) at a Town Hall held the other day by Rep. Robert Inglis, R-SC.

Unreal. The disinformation put out by rightwing astroturf groups are even hitting the GOPers that do hold Town Halls – which, of course, don’t include GOPers Bachmann, Kline, or Paulsen.

Not only did GOPer Rep. Robert Inglis, R-SC, have the guts to face his constituents, he also had the common sense to tell them the truth:

“I had to politely explain that, ‘Actually, sir, your health care is being provided by the government,’ ” Inglis recalled. “But he wasn’t having any of it.” (WashingtonPost.com).

And why wasn’t the “keep your government hands off my Medicare” guy having any of it? Disinformation, pure and simple. Recently, the astroturf group “Conservatives For Patients Rights (yeah, “right”) had their ad fisked by FactCheck.org. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that their analysis of rightwing claims are, well, to quote the analysis:

CPR Administers Bad Facts, Again

* It’s not true that any of the health care overhaul measures that have been approved by committees in Congress would add “a trillion to the federal deficit,” as the ad says. The Senate bill would add roughly $597 billion over 10 years, and the House bill that was approved by the Ways and Means Committee in mid-July would add a much smaller $239 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. (FactCheck.org)

Now, I’m looking at a very fancy brochure recently mailed out – at taxpayer expense – by Rep. Erik Paulsen, R=republiCon. And what does Rep. Erik Paulsen claim, in his published and mailed at taxpayer expense brochure? It’s “right” there, on page 2: “Their plan would cost over $1 trillion”

Way to go, Erik! Mailing out debunked disinformation, published and mailed at taxpayer expense.

Paul Krugman opined a little over a week ago on the subject: Why Americans hate single-payer insurance. Paul Krugman’s explanation? “Because they don’t know they have it.” And Paul Krugman uses the “particiapant” at the Town Hall, referenced above, as an example. Here’s what else Paul Krugman said:

One of the truly amazing and depressing things about the health reform debate is the persistence of fear-mongering over “socialized medicine” even though we already have a system in which the government pays substantially more medical bills (47% of the total) than the private insurance industry (35%).

In a way, this is the flip side of the persistent belief that the free market can cure healthcare, even though there are no places where it actually has; people also believe that government-provided insurance can’t work, even though there are many places where it does — and one of those places is the United States of America. (NYTimes.com)

And rather than correct the disinformation, Rep. Erik Paulsen, R=republiCon fuels the fire.

Gotta love today’s “conservatives”, doncha?

Well, in a word, “no.” And you certainly can’t trust them to tell the truth, either.

(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)

Hypcocrisy, Thy Party Is GOP…

…and MudSlingerMike is the mouthpiece.

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.

And Dusty Trice isn’t the only one that caught the blatant demonstration of GOPer hypocrisy; the St. Cloud Times Editorial Board weighed in, too! Let’s look!

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.

(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)

Dude – Where's My Town Hall?

Today was the day I was going to write about how GOPer Erik Paulsen had abandoned the tradition of the accessible Jim Ramstad and is acting like the reclusive John Kline, concerning town hall meetings. However, when I logged on, I noticed on the blogwire that Gavin Sullivan beat me to it. Here’s the start to Gavin’s post, last Saturday:

Congressman Erik Paulsen’s several predecessors established a decades-old tradition of holding quarterly ‘Town Hall Forums’–in which constituents could address questions to their solon face-to-face. Upon assuming the seat, Paulsen unilaterally erased this democratic inheritance.

And Paulsen ducking out should not be a surprise to anyone. Paulsen started his campaign for congress claiming he was something he clearly is not – a moderate in the mold of Frenzel and Ramstad. Paulsen started his congressional career under a false facade; his record in congress clearly points out Paulsen is hardly a “moderate” – why would Paulsen take the chance to expose the charade in a public venue?

And what’s really not surprising is just the other day, the state GOP, led by FEC Tony and MudSlingerMike, ripped DFLer Peterson for not holding Town Halls.

Everybody got that? The state GOP’s position is:

Rip Peterson, but ignore Paulsen doin’ the same thing. Well, Kline and Bachmann, too.

Which, of course, proves once again:

“Hypocrisy, Thy Party Is GOP”

(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)

Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive, Last Night

Some call it disinformation, some call it lying, but what ever it’s called, it certainly isn’t the truth. Keep in mind republiCon John Kline had to be pressured into holding his one and only “Town Hall” – and I use that term loosely, Erik Paulsen has shown no inclination to do any “Town Halls” despite his predecessor’s record of doing multiple – and legitimate – Town Hall meetings twice a year. As far as the ol’ MotorMouth herself, as far as I can tell Bachmann has never held a “Town Hall.” She did “host” a “Forum” earlier this year, but: she let a paid shill lawyer do the talking.

Fast forward to last night: wanting to see how long it took Sean insHanitty to say something stupid, I tuned to Faux News at the top of the hour and was not disappointed. Especially since he had Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive on, “right” away! Let’s look!

Everybody catch that? Let’s review:

(3:15) Hannity: “What do you make, I’m watching Barney Frank and it doesn’t really really surprise me, he’s got a very safe district, but you know, the arrogance, the condescention, you know, the battling with the voters – something’s changed and I can’t quite pinpoint what it is. I’ve never seen voters attacked this way, have you?”

Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive: “Well, the great thing is that Members of Congress are at home this August – they’re having an opportunity to be actually able to hear from normal Americans about how they feel about this health care proposal rather than the lobbyists that have been swirling through the halls of Congress. This is a wonderful thing – we’re actually seeing Democracy in action and it’ll be very difficult for members of congress to go back to Washington DC in September and clearly vote against their constituent’s interests. None of them can say now that they didn’t realize where the heartbeat of the American public is and we’ll soon see if the liberals in Congress are listening to regular Americans.”

So, here we have Bachmann MotorMouth Overdrive talking about how “wonderful” Town Halls are, and she’s never had one. And lest we not forget, Kline had to be pressured into holding his one and only “Town Hall” and Paulsen shows no inclination to ever holding one.

Let’s watch what Minnesota GOP Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb said, concerning Town Halls:

Which brings us back to what I said, up at the top:

Some call it disinformation, some call it lying, but what ever it’s called, it certainly isn’t the truth.

(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)

Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul And Dirty Tricks, Part 2: A New Low

Last Friday, we reviewed an investigation into the dirty politics of John Kline, R=GreedOverPrinciples. The story focused on “transparency” – more specifically, lack thereof – and “accessibility” – and again, lack thereof – and John Kline.

And as disgusting as John Kline and his paid staff’s actions were, Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul actually acts worse. Yes indeed, Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul set a new low in the dirty tricks department last week.

For the very first time (that I’m aware of), an elected Republican official – Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul – actually did the dirty deed himself. And not only did Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul stage the ambush attack himself, he did it inside the office of his target.

As pathetic and disgusting as it was for someone on the John Kline gravy train to stand outside a Coleen Rowley campaign event and yell racial slurs – Mike Osskopp – or crash a Steve Sarvi campaign event and badger the candidate – Diana Bratlie – at least John Kline could maintain some kind of plausible (cough, cough) deniability: “Hey, it was just some staffers.”

Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul went lower than that: he did the deed himself, and he did it in Congressman Tim Walz’ offices.

Let’s look at the YouTube Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul shot, and then analyze exactly how UNtransparent Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul was.

Now, before we talk about how Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul’s attack was completely UNtransparent, it’s important to note that GOPers tried to SwiftBoat Tim Walz’ military record in his 2006 race against Gil Gutknecht AND in 2008 against Brian Davis. “tried” – as in failed, because the smear didn’t work.

Blue Man wrote about this just two days ago:

The attacks on Congressman Walz have started again. This time, a tool named Thul is attacking the Congressman on his military record, saying that Walz did not serve “in support of” Operation Enduring Freedom.

Yep, we went through this stuff back in 2006 too…and the response is the same. (Blue man in a Red District)

And Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul’s allegation regarding the picture is just as bogus, as I (tried) to explain to Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul last week; the sign does NOT read “Enduring Freedom Veterans” followed by “for Kerry” – the sign reas “Enduring Freedom” followed by “Veterans for Kerry.”

This discussion came up due to my investigation into Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul’s use of a @us.army.mil email account for political purposes; a subject to be addressed in the coming days…stay tuned! For a quick background on the origins of this issue, link here.

At any rate, Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul is as wrong about the picture as he is about Tim Walz’ record. That said, let’s look at Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul’s ambush attack at the Mankato offices of Congressman Tim Walz:

OK, let’s reveiw how and when Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul identifies himself during his ambush attack:

Start: I’m Dave Thul, …

0:32, I’m Dave Thul …

0:47, I’m Dave Thul, …

5:23. “I’m also a blogger…”

OK, remember at the beginning of that investigation of John Kline? You know, “transparency”? Was Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul transparent?

No (cheney)in’ way was Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul anywhere close to “transparent.”

Not once does Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul identify himself to Walz’s staff as an elected GOP official (Co-Chair of the Steele County Republican Party) even though there are four chances for him to do so in that 5 1/2 minute film.

Four chances, and not once – NOT ONCE – does Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul disclose his partisan party position.

That, Ladies and Gentlemen, is dirty politics – laying a political ambush and lying by omission – and even John Kline hasn’t stooped that low.

There’s more to this story, and it has to do with what Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul said at the 3:15 mark: “…we’re both National Guardsman ourselves…”

Stay tuned!

(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)

Did John Kline Ever Apologize?

Well, it seems that John Kline is outraged – OUTRAGED! – that a candidate is taking footage of Marines in uniform, and using said Marines in an ad. And he’s outraged. Here’s what Blogger Michael Broadkorb is reporting Congressman Kline said, over on M.D.E.:

I am outraged that Ashwin Madia would exploit uniformed Marines to advance his political ambitions. … He should immediately pull down the ad and issue an apology to the drill team and the brave men and women of the U.S. Marine Corps.” (M.D.E.)

Well, one would think, by Congressman Kline’s outrage, that he, himself, would never have used the military, or military veterans, to further HIS “political ambitions”, wouldn’t one? Or, if he HAD used the military, or military veterans, to further HIS “political ambitions”, Congressman Kline would have apologized, right?

Yeah, “right.”

Let’s take a look at a John Kline incident, from just two years ago.

On August 12th, 2006, John Kline attended an event with the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), in St. Paul. Randy Pleva, National President of the PVA, sent Congressman Kline a letter on August 28th, thanking Kline for showing up.

Now, it’s important to remember, that the PVA is a 501(c)3 not for profit.

So, what did Congressman Kline do, with that letter, from a not for profit Veterans Organization?

If you guessed Congressman Kline shamelessly used that letter to further Kline’s political career, you would be correct.

Here’s the entire verbage from the SECOND letter the PVA sent to Congressman Kline, dated 31 October 2006:

Dear Congressman Kline,

I write to you regarding a recent campaign flyer distributed by the Kline for Congress campaign (copy attached) that implies my endorsement, as President of Paralyzed Veterans of America, of your reelection. As a 501(c)3 not for profit organization we are precluded by law from endorsing or opposing any candidate for office. Not only was this language taken out of context and used without our knowledge, the fact is that this may put or organization’s good standing in jeopardy.

The language contained in the flyer comes from a letter (attached I sent you August 28, 2006 thanking you for your attendance at a fund raising event conducted by PVA’s Outdoor Recreation Heritage Fund. I find the selective editing for use in the flyer disingenuous at best.

I would appreciate that you and the campaign cease using this implied endorsement.
Thank you.

Sincerely,

Randy L. Pleva, Sr.
National President

cc: Federal Election Commission, Office of General Counsel

Here’s the first letter, that John Kline disingenously took out of context:

Here’s the second letter, that the PVA essentially said “cease and desist”:

Now, fastforward to yesterday, and remember Kline demanding someone else issue an apology. Ask yourself this: do you think John Kline ever apologized to the PVA, for shamelessly and disengenuously using Paralyzed American Veterans to shamelessly advance Kline’s career?

If you think Kline did NOT apologize, you would be correct; I know – because I called Randy Pleva, National President, and asked.

John Kline – as usual – is acting like the shameless and disengenuous hypocrite that has caused “GOP” to now stand for GreedOverPrinciples.

“Hypocrisy, thy party is GOP”

(cross posted at MnBlue, originally posted at MnProgressiveProject.com )

From The UpTake: Kline Paid Consultant Disrupts Opponents' Campaigns

a h/t to Michael McIntee at The UpTake for this one, a “must see” as to more reasons why John “Semper Never” Kline is one of the worst congressman to ever walk the steps of this great Nation’s Capital:

(originally published at MnBlue.com)

John Kline Franked Me! – Part 4, Updated

Republicans run on the campaign platform “government doesn’t work.” Then they get elected, and prove it. And my ordeal of dealing with the Dep’t of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) under the misAdministration of Boy Blunder, covering John “Semper Never” Kline’s abuse of taxpayer dough in this “John Kline Franked Me!” saga, only further demonstrates the incompetence of government under Republican “leadership.” So, what’s the update, you might be wondering? It’s the e-mail just sent, to the VA’s Media “Spokesman”, Jim Benson, that is cut ‘n pasted here in the hopes that a little sunlight will help further the sordid story of Kline’s abuse of the Franking Privilege:

Mr. Benson – it is August 4th, and I do not have the hard copy of Congressman Kline’s RONA Request. You stated, below, that I would have it in “a few days.” As usual, this has not happened. Mr. Benson, there is a pattern here, and it’s not flattering to your office, or the VA. As a citizen/journalist and representative of a news media, I am disappointed in the difficulty of working with the VA; as a veteran and taxpayer, I am outraged.

According to the VA’s website, as a representative of the news media, the only fees I and/or the news media I write for are responsible for are copying, with the first 100 pages provided at no charge.

I will send a FOIA Request, for this question – “how many OTHER Names and Addresses, for zip codes not requested, were provided to Rep. Kline?”, since apparently your office doesn’t answer questions posed by citizen/journalists without one.

Tell me – will I need a FOIA to find out exactly how long you have been a “spokesman” in the Media Relations Department? Will I need a FOIA to find out how long Phil Budahn has been a “spokesman” in the Media Relations Department? The reason I ask these two questions is the current reporting that at the Justice Department, under Monica Goodling and Kyle Sampson’s direction, ideology was more important than competence in hiring decisions – and I’m seriously beginning to wonder if it isn’t the same case, at the VA’s Media Relations Department.

The issue I am investigating and reporting on is serious; a Member of Congress appearing to have abused RONA for partisan political gain.

Why the VA doesn’t take this seriously, and the delaying tactics the VA has used (I first contacted the VA about this on or about June 10th – almost 2 months ago) will be reported and published on-line at http://www.MnBlue.com – along with the story of how many veterans (and at what cost to the taxpayers) in Congressman Kline’s district received what appears to be campaign propaganda; and how many veterans (and at what cost to the taxpayers) outside of Congressman Cline’s district received what appears to be campaign propaganda.

Tommy Johnson

Citizen/Journalist

(originally published at MnBlue.com)

That Was Then. This Is Now.

I personally don’t care who takes Bachmann out; I just want her out. I honestly cannot find one good thing to say about her. Just last week, following in the traditions of John Kline and Mark Kennedy, she blew off the Disabled American Veterans. No surprise there!

Every year, the non-partisan Disabled American Veterans has their annual Mid-Winter Convention in Foggy Bottom. Every year, Minnesota sends its Legislative Committee to talk to Minnesota’s Congressional Delegation, about legislation to help disabled American veterans lead productive lives.

Two years ago, John Kline told these Disabled American Veterans he wouldn’t co-sponsor legislation written by democrats. Period. End of story. When this news was reported, Kline’s reaction was predictable. Last year, he didn’t meet with them. Nor this year.

Thanks, John. NOT.

Two years ago, Mark Kennedy wouldn’t even let the veterans into his office.

Mark Kennedy got his just rewards.

Michelle Bachmann needs to get hers, too. So, really – I don’t care who takes out Bachmann. The reality is, though – whoever does, has to be on their “A” game. And from what I’ve seen so far, that ain’t El Tinklenberg.

Why, the reasonable, concerned citizen might ask? Credibility. And the Tink campaign lost it, for me. Take the issue of “endorsements” – Team Tink has put out in print, and in speech, endorsements they simply do not have.

Yes, “endorsements”. As in “plural”. Two that I know of; one a congressman, the other a well-known former candidate. I called another congressman’s office, two days ago, and asked a real simple question, Here’s the cut ‘n paste:

My name is (the ol’ TwoPutter’s given name); I’m a member of the DFL Veteran’s Caucus and live in (city). I also blog on the website http://www.MnBlue.com .

I am wondering who, if anyone, Representative Peterson has endorsed in CD-06?

Has Representative Peterson endorsed either Bob Olson, or El Tinklenberg?

Thank you for your response!

(the ol’ TwoPutter’s given name)
952-xxx-xxxx

I followed it up with a phone call, and was told I’d get a reply, when they got an answer. No answer, last Monday. So I e-mailed and called again, yesterday morning, and again, yesterday afternoon. Still no answer. So I followed up again, this morning. As of this minute, still no answer.

Now, the reasonable citizen might assume that anyone a Congressman has endorsed, the Congressman would be quick to confirm the endorsement. So, is it unreasonable to assume that Tinklenberg did NOT receive the endorsement?

Yesterday, I had a telephone conversation with Tinklenberg’s Campaign Manager, who claimed Representative Peterson in fact “endorsed” Tinklenberg; further, she promised me she’d e-mail me written confirmation of said “endorsement.” No e-mail in the ol’ in-box, yesterday. This morning, I followed up with a voice mail, asking for the promised verification of Representative Peterson’s “endorsement. I followed up with another voice mail. So far, no e-mail in the ol’ in-box.

What is the reasonable citizen to assume?

And quite frankly, I’m not even gonna get into the parsing of words and hair-splitting Tink’s campaign manager engaged in, with regards to Congressman Walz’ NON-endorsement of Tink.

Quite frankly, I felt like she was insulting my intelligence – not that I have a lot. I don’t understand why she didn’t simply state: “Hey – we made a mistake; we’re sorry, we’ll fix it.” And then actually did fix it. Why this campaign put Sergeant Major Walz in the position they did, is inexcusable, IF they didn’t apologize. They haven’t; it isn’t. And I don’t like gettin’ the run-around from a campaign manager from my party. Or, for that matter, the run-around Wodele gave me, yesterday. I expect straight talk. I haven’t gotten it.

In my first post on the race in CD-6, I affirmed I had no dog in the hunt. That was then.

This is now.

I’m not a rocket scientist, and I understand Tink isn’t either, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out taconite does NOT belong in roadways. Period. End of story.

And I’m not a lawyer, but I’ve seen enough to recognize a lobbyist when I see one. Not that there’s anything wrong with lobbyists; there isn’t. As long as they’re upfront. And I have a strong indication who isn’t being up-front.

And I happen to think my wife and daughters are smart enough to know what they should, or should not, do with their bodies. Apparently Tink does not. Or, does. Or, doesn’t. What day is it today?

And I happen to believe in “liberty and justice for ALL.” Not “some”. Not “liberty and justice, if you’re ‘straight’.”

And I happen to believe I should get honest answers, and discussions, from campaign staff.

Therefore I happen to believe Bob Olson is the candidate to take out Michelle Bachmann. With Bob, you KNOW where HE stands.