On face the nation, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY), said the following, “You know, Rembrandt was a great artist. His brother Murray, on the other hand, Murray Rembrandt wouldn’t paint a house”
Category: Politics
The Coup Was No Coup, and the Purge Didn’t Purge
So, it now appears that the 24 interior ministry officers arrested for either plotting a coup, or plotting to revive the Baath party have been released.
I believe that Robert Farley’s analysis is spot on.
There never was a coup or a Baath party plot, there was just a power grab by Nouri al Maliki, and when too many people called him out on this, he folded.
Not sure what this means, though it will make the next round of elections in Iraq interesting.
Tinfoil Hat Time
Mike Connel was Karl Rove’s IT guy, and had been described as the GOP’s, “high IQ Forrest Gump” by lawyers investigating allegations of GOP vote manipulation for his presence at almost every instance of voting irregularities, and now he has been killed in a plane crash. He was the only one on the plane at the time of the crash. (see also here)
He was also a source for the Managing Editor for investigative news at Raw Story.
Before his death, his lawyers alleged that he and his family were threatened by Karl Rove.
How utterly convenient.
OK, Something Happened in Iraq
There have been mass arrests throughout Iraqi government centered in the interior ministry. It was initially alleged that it was a coup attempt, but now it is alleged that they were all trying to reconstitute the now banned Baath party.
If those charges sound bogus, even more suspect is that the arrests were made by a unit that answers directly to the Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki
It appears that the US general who was the chief liaison with the Interior Ministry has been completely out of the loop, and he has no idea as to whether it will effect the attempts to bring the, “Sons of Iraq”, Sunnis recruited to fight Jihadists in various regions of Iraq into the law enforcement system.
I tend to agree with Robert Farley, who says that this is a power grab by Maliki, and considering his vociferous opposition bringing in the “Sons of Iraq”, my guess is that they will be shooting at Americans again.
People Who Do Not Leave the World a Better Place
Movement conservative Paul Weyrich.
He was 66.
Why the Hit Jobs on Darcy Burner
One of the questions in the last election cycle was, “Why was the Seattle Times so aggressively hostile to Darcy Burner?” In her close loss to Dave Reichert.
They went so far as to misstate her degree in order to claim that she had lied about her education.
Well, now we know why they hated her, and sent their reporters out with orders to lie.
It appears that Ms. Burner ran the Committee for a Two Newspaper town, which prevented the Seattle Times from using its joint operating agreement with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to shut the publication down, and eventually forced the Times to make $24 millions in payments to keep the JOA going.
Losing the possibility of a monopoly in Seattle advertizing was probably even more expensive to the Times than was the payment, and so when she won the Democratic Primary for congress, it was payback time.
I know, it’s an almost 2 month old analysis that I’m linking to, but I just noticed it…My bad.
More People Who Write (and Think) Better Than I am Able Too
In this case, it’s Jonathan Schwarz of A Tiny Revolution:
There’s a rule of thumb for American politics that will never steer you wrong: if the Washington press corps worships a political figure and squeaks for decades on end about how he’s a Brave Man of Honor and Wisdom, that political figure is one of the most dangerous lying scumbags on earth.
I would only add that sometimes *cough* John McCain *cough* he’s also batsh%$ insane.
Someone Smacked Merkel With a Clue Stick
Because she just gave a speech saying that she was moving away from Hoovernomics, and that the German government would take direct stimulus action, as opposed to the tax cut she has been keeping in her pocket for election time.
Auto Update
So, Bank of America suggests that GM might need $30 billion to survive, which is still about 1/10 of what AIG has gotten.
In any case, Bush and Paulson and their Evil Minions™ are considering a Car Czar who would have the power to force bankruptcy on the automakers, and an auto analyst is predicting that the Bush Administration will use this for crass political gain, and demand concessions, which Obama would likely overturn, because not all the stake holders are involved in those concessions.
Particularly in the case of GM, one issue is concessions from the local dealers, and that scares every member of Congress, because auto dealers have always been extremely aggressive political donors and political forces in the districts.
In any case, as more reports emerge that Bush and Paulson are close to a deal, I am again compelled to make the repeat the wisest thing that I’ve read this century:
But it does inspire in me the desire for a competition; can anyone, particularly the rather more Bush-friendly recent arrivals to the board, give me one single example of something with the following three characteristics:
- It is a policy initiative of the current Bush administration
- It was significant enough in scale that I’d have heard of it (at a pinch, that I should have heard of it)
- It wasn’t in some important way completely f#$@ed up during the execution.
Seriously. I’ve yet to see anything wiser yet, and I’m using the loose definition of the 21st century which includes the year 2000.
Jesse Jackson, Jr. May Have Already Been Talking to Fitsgerald
If this is true, I think I know why he sounded so pissed at that press conference.
He still won’t be Senator, but if he dropped a dime on Blagojevich months ago, he’s pretty much in the clear on this:
ABC7 has learned that since late last summer, the congressman has worked with federal prosecutors, informing on an alleged Blagojevich administration scheme two and half years earlier.
……
And sources tell ABC7 that Jackson has been in regular contact with the feds and has told the government that in 2003 Blagojevich denied the congressman’s wife Sandi an appointment as Illinois lottery director because Jackson would not donate $25,000 to the governor’s campaign fund.
I’m not sure who the sources are, because generally Fitzgerald runs a pretty tight ship, but if this story is accurate the distinguished gentleman from Illinois has been very ill served by all of this.
Free Muntader al-Zaidi
He’s the journalist who threw his shoes at Bush, and it appears that he has been charged with insulting the Iraqi state as a result.
There are already demonstration protesting his detention.
Leahy Pushes Back Holder Hearings
But only by 6 days. Psyche.
I don’t think that this is buckling, as the author characterizes it.
6 days is a F%$# you to his colleagues on the other side of the aisle.
It Seems that I am Not Alone
Remember when I wrote that the arrests of Madoff and Dryer made me feel good, because at least they were going to jail for what they did?
Well, Frank Rich, who probably isn’t following Madoff and Dryer, just espressed what are largely the same feelings
But the entertainment is escapist only up to a point. What went down in the Land of Lincoln is just the reductio ad absurdum of an American era where both entitlement and corruption have been the calling cards of power. Blagojevich’s alleged crimes pale next to the larger scandals of Washington and Wall Street. Yet those who promoted and condoned the twin national catastrophes of reckless war in Iraq and reckless gambling in our markets have largely escaped the accountability that now seems to await the Chicago punk nabbed by the United States attorney, Patrick Fitzgerald.
We all want the Wall Street bankers, and Bush and His Evil Minions™, to go to jail.
In a best case scenario, they would end up like Richard Whitney, who spend his next 33 years working with his hands as a farmer, and not Michael Milken, who came out of stir still so wealthy that his children, and probably his grandchildren will never have to work an honest day in their lives.
To Good Not To Use on Friday
Did the Dems Punk Bush and the Republicans?
Because, after the failure of the filibuster fight over the bridge loans to the auto makers, Bush and His Evil Minions™ are saying that they will take steps to ensure that the Big 3 (Big 2½) continue to function until the next Congress.
In fact, they are pretty much flat out saying that they will use TARP money for the loans.
When you look at the sequence of events:
- Dems suggest that the TARP be used, and Bush says no, so they fold like overcooked broccoli.
- They want Senate approval for the “Car Czar”, and Bush says no, so they fold like overcooked broccoli.
- They want improved fuel economy standards, and Bush says no, so they fold like overcooked broccoli.
- They want automakers to drop lawsuits against California-Type emission standards, and Bush says no, so they fold like overcooked broccoli.
- The Republicans kill the bill that gave Bush everything that he asked for.
- Bush is forced to use the TARP money to keep the automakers going.
It could be that the Dems screwed up in reverse, and that this is all an accident, but it looks to me like that Bush and Paulson (and for that matter, Bernanke) were punk’d.
Additionally, now that this has gone down in defeat, it appears that constituencies for the Big 3 (Big 2½) are coming out of the woodwork.
It turns out that auto dealers, for example, are absolutely incensed at this, and these folks give lots of political money:
“I have never been as disappointed as I am today,” said Versailles [Kentucky] Ford dealer Jack Kain, who was chairman of the National Association of Automobile Dealers Association in 2005.
Chuck Colson
So, George W. Bush just gave the Presidential Citizens Medal to Charles W. “Chuck” Colson.
Charles Colson, notwithstanding his “finding God” in the stir, is a nasty piece of work, and arguably the single person most responsible for bringing down Richard Nixon.
When Nixon vented about shooting someone, Colson would buy a gun, and it was largely covering up for Colsons excesses that got the scandals flowing.
Of all the rat-f&^%ers in the Nixon administration (their term) he was the worst, and now as head of the Prison Fellowship, he has repeatedly engaged in efforts to use the prison system to force conversion of inmates.
I don’t mean outreach, I mean the creation of special programs with special privileges to coerce prisoners into being “born again.”
I hope that Gary Sinise, who also got the award, felt embarrassed to share a stage with Colson, but since he’s a wingnut too, I would think any feeling of discomfort or shame unlikely.
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Fitzmas
Patrick Fitzgerald just arrested Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich arrested on on corruption charges.
Among the charges is that he tried to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat.
And, yes, he has a (D) after his name….What’s more he’s one of those DLC type moderates, just like “Dollar” Bill Jefferson in Louisiana.
You know, I’m glad that I come from a clean government state like Maryland.
**cchhgggg**
I think that I just hocked up a hairball, but relative to Illinois, it’s true. 3 of their last 5 governors have done jail tiem.
So, It Appears that We Have the First Catfight of the New Administration
Timothy Geithner, U.S. Treasury Secretary nominee, is seeking to dump dump Sheila Bair as Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) Chairman.
Normally, I would think that this is a good thing, as she was appointed by George W. Bush, but she has been remarkably honest and competent, working on behalf of homeowners rather than investors, and by publically debunking the myth that the meltdown is was caused by the Community Reinvestment Act caused the meltdown, said myth being Republican speak for, “It’s all the fault of the n*gg*rs.”
So, while Geithner has been mute on the people brought in by Henry Paulson to (mis)manage the bailout, he wants her gone ASAP, which raises the obvious question, “Why this target in such a target rich environment?”
After all Hank Paulson and His Evil Minions™ all seem to be white dudes who are either bald or have shaved heads, and so are easily identified.
Well, the answer seems to be small and petty:
Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, has argued Bair isn’t a team player and is too focused on protecting her agency rather than the financial system as a whole, according to two congressional officials and a person familiar with his thinking. Bair has battled with Geithner and fellow regulators over aid to Citigroup Inc. and other emergency actions, making her enemies in the Bush administration.
“The idea of having an independent actor on the stage with you who might not be singing the same tune can make you nervous,” said Wayne Abernathy, a former Treasury official who is now executive vice president with the American Bankers Association in Washington. “They recognize that she’s a very independent person.”
It isn’t clear that Obama would ask Bair to step down. Such a move would be fraught with political risk for the new administration, especially on Capitol Hill, where Bair’s campaign to rework mortgages for struggling homeowners has won respect from top lawmakers, including Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd and Barney Frank, his counterpart in the House.
Not a team player, when the team is the hole in the head gang, is a recommendation, not a condemnation.
It seems that Greithner, who has spent his entire career being second fiddle to someone, is offended by the fact that she has different opinions, and she is, well, more correct on these issues than any of the other players, including Mr. Greithner.
Basically, it sounds like we have someone who expects sycophancy from people who are nominally under his authority, in this case FDIC Chair to Secretary of the Treasury, because that has been what he does.
But maybe I’m over analyzing the psychology of the situation, and Barney Frank’s assesment, that it’s No Girls Allowed’ on the bailout team is accurate.
I’m not sure if Bair should be fired, but it is clear that she is the best of the lot on the job today, and based on the complaints that I have heard, which have generally come from Wall Street finance types, she may even be competent and conscientious.
Getting Rid of Wrong Guys
The Georgian Government, following its disasterous assault on South Ossetia and war with Russia, has dismissed its defense and foreign ministers.
You know, I think that the problem is a few levels higher…..You know that guy with the degrees from Columbia and George Washington University.
California Probing Mormons for Illegal “in Kind” Campaign Contributions
It appears that they neglected to report extensive “in-kind” donations on the Prop 8 campaign:
….. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints failed to report money invested to organize phone banks, send out direct mailers, provide transportation to California, mobilize a speakers bureau, send out satellite simulcasts and develop Web sites as well as numerous commercials and video broadcasts.
It’s not the contributions, it’s the failure to report that is in question here.