The Alcee Hastings Watch

Mickey Kaus speculates on the upcoming Big Media coverage of the election:

ll-Hands-On-Deck MSM Drive for Victory! ABC's The Note has a thorough and knowing outline of "How the (liberal) Old Media plans to cover the last two weeks of the election" to try to ensure the GOPs do not regain any initiative. ...All ABC's Halperin & Co. left out, as far as I can see, is Point #13: Bury the news about the Secure Fence Act (if Bush doesn't bury it first!), Point #14: Do not mention the name "Alcee Hastings," and #15: 'Keep Foley Alive!' (though that may no longer be possible, even on NPR). ... 2:58 P.M.

The NY Times is somewhat on board with that, but there is a subtle problem - Jane Harman, the ranking Dem on the House Intelligence Committee who is marked for replacement by Nancy Pelosi, has been in the news herself for being too friendly with AIPAC.  Awkward!  The Times has plenty of readers who take an interest in Israel so it is tough to duck this. 

On the other hand, Alcee Hastings is the candidate of choice of the Congressional Black Caucus, and from time to time it has been clear that there is a bit of tension between blacks and Jews within the Democratic Party; with that in mind, the Times does not want to report on trouble in paradise two weeks before the ascension of Speaker Pelosi.

The result is some of the more passive "reporting" we are likely to see - here is the Times presenting All The News That Fits Their Storyline:

For a Top Democrat, Further Climb Seems Out

By MARK MAZZETTI

Representative Jane Harman has gained national prominence as the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, but even her supporters now concede that she is unlikely to become chairman if her party wins control of the House.

Standing in her way is another California lawmaker, Representative Nancy Pelosi, the Democrats’ speaker-in-waiting, who would have the power to pick the leader of each committee. The relationship between the two has soured in recent years over political rivalries and policy disputes, and Congressional officials on both sides of the divide say Ms. Pelosi would most likely look elsewhere to fill the Intelligence Committee’s top job.

“To say it is unlikely she will get the job is accurate,” said one Democratic Congressional official with knowledge of the party’s post-election plans.

...Ms. Harman, a moderate from Southern California, has been one of the party’s most outspoken voices on national security matters since the Sept. 11 attacks. But she has also drawn sharp criticism from more liberal Democrats, including Ms. Pelosi, who have privately said that she has not sufficiently used her position to attack the Bush administration for its prewar intelligence failures on Iraq and for its use of secret programs like the domestic eavesdropping carried out without warrants by the National Security Agency.

Fine, Ms. Harman is not enough of a Bush-basher, and what Dem could object?  That said, neither Ms. Pelosi nor the Times may want to advertise that moderate Dems are getting Lieberated from their posts.

Here comes the all-holds-barred Hastings coverage:

Two candidates whom Ms. Pelosi is said to be considering for Intelligence Committee chairman are Representatives Alcee L. Hastings of Florida and Silvestre Reyes of Texas, both of whom currently serve on the panel.

The selection of Mr. Hastings, who is black, would help Ms. Pelosi shore up support from the powerful Congressional Black Caucus. But he has a checkered past, having been impeached and removed from a federal judgeship in 1989 on a bribery charge. Some Democrats fear that installing him in so sensitive a position would only invite Republican charges of weak Democratic leadership on national security matters.

The Times was apparently unable or unwilling to get any comment from Nancy Pelosi's office on this - even a simple "Ms. Pelosi was not available for comment" would have provided an extra chuckle.

And why is the support of the Congressional Black Caucus so important to Ms. Pelosi just now?  The Wash Times reported that she may lack the votes to become Speaker - would the Times care to address that?  Please.

Finally, there is the 'Friend of AIPAC' angle:

Ms. Harman’s efforts to claim the post have even attracted the attention of investigators. Federal officials said Monday that she was the focus of a year-old F.B.I. inquiry related to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or Aipac, a powerful pro-Israel lobbying group. The officials, confirming a Time magazine report, said the bureau had been looking into whether she had made improper promises to the group in exchange for its efforts to lobby Ms. Pelosi on her behalf.

But the officials also said that the accusations had not been proved and that although the inquiry remained open, it was no longer being actively pursued.

“Congresswoman Harman does not know what this is all about,” said her lawyer, Theodore B. Olson. “She has no information from the government that she is under an investigation of any sort, and the idea that she should be investigated for being a supporter of Aipac is frightening.”

TIME had more details and drama, but the underlying case appeared to be ridiculous.  However - is Alcee Hastings also a friend of Israel?  Inquiring minds want to know (but not at the Times).  I have read that he is, but surely the Times' readers would like to see that pinned down.

Comments

[clarice]

Very good. And it's playing out just as I said.http://americanthinker.com/articles.php?article_id=5966

I forgot one thing in the article--the absurd AIPAC charge surely came from the Soros camp which is trying to push an anti-Israel alternative group heading by Morton Halperin among others.

So, here's how that smear works:File an absurd charge with the FBI, then leak that Harman is under investigation by the FBI. (Well, it worked for The Nation (which probably was in on the scam) and Time and even Michelle Malkin.

PHEH--Pelosi has counted heads and needs the votes of the CBC and the loony left, and--yes--the NYT is tiptoeing around this in a see through tutu.

[clarice]

***headed, not heading********

[Jane]

Hmmmm Harmon has the same (republican) lawyer as her aide who may have leaked to the NY Times.

[clarice]

I thought J. Turley was representing Hanauer and Harman's lawyer was Ted Olsen.

[BumperStickerist]

I suppose the Repubicans retaining control of the House renders this all moot ...

.

[clarice]

Maybe if its close, Harman will change parties--after all she's up in years and there seems no way her own party will change.

[clarice]

BTW, Hoekstra never charged her with anything, and the original story said Hanauer got the NIE at the request of another member--Tierney, IIRC.

[maryrose]

Yes,
Pelosi in an audacious, presumptive mood is throwing her weight around. Catfight between her and Harmon. Too bad it will all be moot on Nov.8th.

[Jane]

I thought J. Turley was representing Hanauer and Harman's lawyer was Ted Olsen.

Oh maybe - but why did we hear from Olson last week. Did it have to do with Harmon?

And what if anything are the remedies is Hastings is named to the Intelligence committee? There must be something.

[Jane]

It doesn't speak very highly of the black caucus if they are pushing Hastings. What planet are they on?

[clarice]

Olson was responding for her to the risible AIPAC investigation claim. (Guess Emma Peel on the rairoad tracks worked so well for The Nation last time they decided to charge yet another Jewish political figure with jeopardizing national security--a subject certainly near and dear to Corn's Commie heart.)

Hastings would be made Chairman of the Intel Committee if the story is correct. I suppose the FBI could deny him a security clearance and on that basis the Administration could refuse to give him anything classified.

[maryrose]

That should be the topic of a political ad.
Alcee Hastings is denied security clearance by FBI and Democrats want him to be Intelligence committee chairman. An oxymoron in progress or just a moron?

[clarice]

Jane--take a good look at the CBC--There are few members there worth their pay--Waters,Hastings,McKinney,Conyers,Rangel,etc.And because they have safe districts they have seniority.

[SamuelK]

There is much discussion about possible Democrat committee chairs, but what about Republicans if they retain the House? Any changes there, or in the leadership? A few anticipated changes might help get out the disgruntled vote.

[Jane]

I think the dems peaked too early. I certainly don't predict a democrat landslide.

[topsecretk9]

This is FLIPPING HILARIOUS....StopSexualPredatorSladGordon.blogspot.

(once there, start from the bottom)

Priceless.

[Enlightened]

Well OT but....Drudge says

Looks like the Plame Wilsons are "done" with DC? Is that like "our phony civil suit is about to get dismissed" done with DC????

And also OT - Cindy Sheehan was doing some internet porn stuff right after Casey died? Some weirdness from that new book out that is really shedding some light on her "absolute moral authority"....she's needs a waahbulance, she's going to sue and sue and sue.....Waah. Drudge again.

[Enlightened]

BTW- Back in the Plame days, when Clarice wrote the letter about Fitz mishandling the case, I sent that form letter to Ms. Dianne Feinstein (unfortunately my California Senator)

Here's her response:

Dear Ms---:

Thank you for writing to me about the alleged White House leak of the identity of a covert CIA officer. I welcome the opportunity to respond.
It is deeply disturbing to learn that President Bush may have authorized the selective disclosure of intelligence information to the media to critics and help justify comments made before the war in Iraq.
According to court filings and media reports, I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, has testified that the Vice President directed him to leak contents of a National Intelligence Estimate to the media. Mr. Libby claims that the President was involved in this decision.
If the reports are accurate, it appears that the material was being leaked in an attempt to justify the claims that had been made by the White House before the war, and cast doubt on people questioning the basis for the invasion.
Intelligence material should be used to inform decisions, not to manipulate the American press. Americans have a right to believe that their media is not being manipulated by the government, or selectively and secretly fed classified information. At present we only know what has been revealed in court papers, but it is important that the Senate look carefully at this issue. Please know that I will continue to perform and demand Congressional oversight of this ongoing investigation.
Again, thank you for writing. I hope that you will continue to write to me on issues of importance to you.

DF/USS

[SlimGuy]

Dan Riehl says the dems may have peaked early

Read his post on premature inauguration

http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2006/10/premature_inaug.html

[topsecretk9]

This :“Congresswoman Harman does not know what this is all about,” said her lawyer, Theodore B. Olson. “She has no information from the government that she is under an investigation of any sort, and the idea that she should be investigated for being a supporter of Aipac is frightening.”...plus Byron York's newbie about Conyer's, that familiar phrase "constitution in crisis" and impeachment on the table...does have the exact same flavor of the usual suspects, doesn't it?

[Thomas Morrissey]

I'd reserve judgement until we see how the new DNC outreach program works out,

It's the Homos, Stupid

An Open Letter to the Conservative-American Community

"Despite what you may have heard on Fox News, we Democrats know what issues are on the minds of heartland conservatives like you. We know that your number one concern of is the safety of your children -- whether they are plucking their banjos on the back porch, speaking tongues to snakes at Jesus Camp, or torching crosses at your local Nascar racing contest. We also know that the number one threat to your children's safety is the scourge of international homo-ism. That's why we at the DNC have created "The Contract With American Hillbillies," a new multipoint investigation program to identify and root out conservative stealth homoism before it threatens you or your precious little inbreeds."

Iowahawk

It's a sea of Blue.

[Don]

You're worried about Hastings chairing the committee?

The current R. leadership didn't even know they had the latest NIE, much less read it, because their scanner was broken and you're worried about Hastings?

Get over to Tradesports and make some money!

[Sara (Squiggler)]

While I was getting dressed this morning with the TV on, I got my remote stuck down inside my chair and it changed the channel to CNN when I sat on it. While I was "frantically" trying to recover the darn thing, a story came on that is just so typical of them. It was a recap of all Republican scandals, of course, starting with Foley, then Cunningham, etc. Is there any wonder that people out there have a skewed idea of what is going on? What really frosts me is that there is never a mention that, for instance, Cunningham's seat is still in Republican hands after an election. Just pounding, pounding the point that Republicans are bad. From that, I had to listen to how bad it is in Iraq. The fact that General Pace had just said that there are 4 highly troubled sections, but that the rest of the country is moving forward, rebuilding, and establishing relatively stable local government and that the people are beginning to prosper, seems to be of no account at all.

I am 60+ years old and have never felt so worried. The idea of Nancy Pelosi and Jack Murtha in charge of the House has me terrified about America. The only other time I remember this type of agitation, is back when Jimmah Carter was elected. Even then it wasn't so intense since I was young and politically ignorant, but I remember my Mother's reaction when she called on election night and said, "oh honey, I'm so sorry, it is going to be bad the next four years." I remember at the time thinking how weird that was. We soon learned. Being in the military during the Carter years was horrible and now I'm feeling that same terror for those serving today. There is something very wrong when someone like me is more afraid of their own American wannabe leaders than the terrorists abroad.

I don't worry about '08. I'm convinced the Repubs. will be very smart and nominate Mitt Romney, who I predict will win in a landslide. But the damage that Pelosi and Co. can do in two years is astronomical, especially to the military.

[topsecretk9]

--It doesn't speak very highly of the black caucus if they are pushing Hastings. What planet are they on?

Posted by: Jane | October 24, 2006 at 12:07 PM---

Jane...Pelosi had to make some big promises to get the CBC to force and support William Jefferson stepping aside as ranking of the Appropriations committee.

Rock. Hardspot.

[topsecretk9]

Am I misremembering, but didn't Kristof get sued by the GA Security Guard Kristof pegged as they Olympic bomber too?

[Gary Maxwell]

Sara

We had idiotic liberals in charge of both houses of Congress at not that distant of times in the past and survived. Frank Church? Paul Wellstone? Hubert Humphrey, I could go on and on. Without a veto proof majority in both houses, as long as Bush is President we are fine. Impeaching him and Dick Cheney simutaneously would lead to the Dems being able to causus in the cloakroom. It would be a firestorm that would destroy their party and at least some of their so called leaders know it. The Senate confirms judges so it has more value in my mind ( not that I want to lose either). But a 4 seat majority either way is a nightmare for the party in charge. Try herding three cats and then think about 218 to 220 of them. It cant be done. I think watching the Blue Dogs abandon the Dems on most issues would be great fun. In fact you could even see defections from the Dems or even Republicans joining a the Blue Dogs to elect someone other that Nutroots Nancy as Speaker. The speaker is elected by a majority as opposed to the Majority leader which comes out of each caucus. Tell me the truth, wouldn't that be fun to watch!

[clarice]

Enlightened. looks like she knows nothing about the case but the Corn talking points.

[Enlightened]

Clarice - I expected nothing else from her. But I sure did love her final paragraph about the leaking of classified docs. Her retro-cranial inversion is resplendent.

[clarice]

Write her back. Show her she's wrong about the first instance but tell her you appreciate she's consistent and therefore must share your disdain for the leaks from the House Intel Committee, if not the wretched consequences of Chairman Hastings.
LOL

[Jane]

Dan Riehl says the dems may have peaked early

Harrumph! He is clearly stealing from me!

Pelosi had to make some big promises to get the CBC to force and support William Jefferson stepping aside as ranking of the Appropriations committee.

So what is wrong with the CBC? Corruption doesn't apply if you are black? Is that really the message they want to send?

[Thomas Morrissey]

Enlightened,

Did you write one to Barbera Boxer?

If so, what color crayons did she use in her reply?

[clarice]

Can you point to a thug the CBC opposed--remember how they screamed when we removed the Haitian crook and when we withdrew all support from Liberia's Taylor?

[Enlightened]

Hah - Barbara Boxer! Alas she is not in my district. I most likely woul dhave received something like this:

Mmvvvmm gulp Fitzmas ugm magm but vegj in my Flame entil blegh.

I am lucky (wink wink) to have Ms. Ellen Tauscher, and the lovely Ms. Feinstein.

Now, as for Ms. Tauscher, she actually read the Weekly Standard article, she found the material "helpful" and she thanked me for compiling the material. (h/t Clarice of course). So she (or her ghostwriter) did not march to the Wilson/Corn drumbeat ala Feinstein......

[clarice]

WOW!

[SlimGuy]

If so, what color crayons did she use in her reply?

Posted by: Thomas Morrissey | October 24, 2006 at 02:51 PM

And just pray she didn't send you the Centerfold edition

[Larry]

Don't forget, Rangel is slated to chair ways and means and has promised to get rid of Bush's tax cuts.

Don't all intelligence committee members have to have security clearances? Hownell could they oversee without them? Anyways, I think Hastings would be perfect to move to and chair judiciary if he can't get clearance. He has experience with impeachment.

Regarding DiFi's letter, you just can't make this stuff up!

[Larry]

Heck, I guess a FORMER federal judge would be dually qualified.

[Tulsan]

So Pelosi had made deals within her caucus! It makes one wonder if Hastert, Blunt and Boehner have made any deals to keep their positions. Same in the Senate. Why would this be newsworthy?

[anonymous]

Hah - Barbara Boxer! Alas she is not in my district.

Posted by: Enlightened | October 24, 2006 at 03:00 PM

Senators represent all citizens of a state, regardless of Congressional district.

Is it just me? or has anyone else noticed that the both the pace and quantity of comments has fallen over the last day or two?

[SlimGuy]

Just upgraded to the new Firefox 2.0

If for no other reason to get the built in spell checker!

LOL

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Enlightened, I'm in the same boat with Feinstein and Boxer as my Senators. Mary Bono, Sonny's widow, is my Congresswoman and I think her seat over in Palm Springs is secure. I'm here in Riverside County and this county is pretty red as is San Diego and Orange Counties. And Arnold looks like a sure thing. I just don't know how we down here in So. Calif. can overcome the Pelosi/Boxer/Feinstein machine though when they have San Francisco/Marin county and Los Angeles/Santa Barbara counties.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Slim, I upgrade this morning but then went out so haven't had a chance to look at the changes. I already had a spell checker with my other version, so I'm not sure how that differs.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

The funny thing about Hastings impeachment is that when I watched the proceedings years ago on CSPAN live, I came away thinking the guy got railroaded and that the FBI were a bunch of Keystone Cops. I recall that my awakening about the FBI was sort of traumatic since it was the first time I began to wonder if law enforcement might not be the heroes I'd been raised to believe they were. A fact that has only become more cemented in my mind as the years have gone by.

[SlimGuy]

Sara

Since the comment box here is an internet form, it actually dynamically checks what I am typing as a comment.

That is a new feature and worth the cost of the upgrade.

[L. Baca]

... it was the first time I began to wonder if law enforcement might not be the heroes I'd been raised to believe they were. A fact that has only become more cemented in my mind as the years have gone by.

Posted by: Sara (Squiggler) | October 24, 2006 at 03:30 PM

It certainly is common on the Left to denigrate law enforcement; but I think it is important that we offer all our heroic First Responders our unquestioning support.

[Rick Ballard]

"So what is wrong with the CBC? Corruption doesn't apply if you are black? Is that really the message they want to send?"

Rhetorical questions, right? The Progressive Congressional Caucus (Demosaur Socialists to the end) hand picks most black candidates in the Democratically segregated black districts. You really can't run a decent plantation without choosing your overseers carefully. There have been occasional lapses (Alcee Hastings and William Jefferson aren't Socialists, for example. They developed the habit of corruption without Socialist help). Not all of the Black Caucus are corrupt, it's just very hard to come up with the names of any who aren't. Most of them are ensconced in fiefdoms from which they will be separated only by death. Power (even power carefully limited by the plantation owners) corrupts, etc.

[SlimGuy]

Rick
If you look at the map of FL-3 and the voter registration breakdown, it is clearly a safe house seat for a black member. Or at a minimum for a democrat. It is so far skewed from the other districts that I am surprised that it managed to survive court review.

[TexasIsHeaven]

Sara

I never could stomach J. Edgar - and even the Kennedy's walked softly around him if you recall.

I have often wondered what happened to the hundreds of files he compiled on his political enemies - oh yeah - now I remember.

Hillary found them in the White House....

S. J. Reynolds

[Enlightened]

Ok looks like I need to fess up - I did not send a letter about Fitzmas to Barbara Boxer, the other Senator of California, because she is "not in my district".

Since everyone on the forum got that, and one mental midget missed it - Barbara Boxer is a Democrat that I would not vote for in 20 lifetimes, much less send a letter to regarding a subject that she merely babbles incoherently about.

Unfortunately the majority of morons in California that elected her wear asshats for a reason -

[Sara (Squiggler)]

L.Baca, you are talking to the wrong person on that and I'm nowhere near the left. You must live someplace where the cops are still considered the good guys. Out here in California, they are brutal sadists and more dangerous to the average citizen than the criminals. A lot of the problems stem from steroid use and 'roid rage, but since you can be at risk from a routine traffic stop, everyone avoids cops as best they can. I would never call one for help. The last elderly woman in our county who called about a prowler was raped by the first responder and she was 75. My own Mother ended up on a respirator and nearly died from fright after two 'roid rage sherrifs broke into her home early one morning on a home invasion where they were at the wrong address. I had my back broken and was beaten badly, before they got it thru their head we were just 3 single women in a home alone. What they did to us left me with a permanent back problem where the vertebrae has refracture twice since then in the same place and my PTSD is so bad, I can barely leave the house alone for fear. My Mother until the day she died four years after the event, would not go to sleep with her baseball bat under the covers and the next time she saw a man in uniform, she had a panic attack that landed her back in the hospital.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

**withOUT** her baseball bat

[MayBee]

Sara- Yes, I saw the CNN report to which you refer. I felt comforted, however, when they brought out David Gergen and Andrew Sullivan to discuss the Republican voters' mood.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Slim, I see now that instead of having to click CHECK on the toolbar, I can just right click.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Maybee, is your tongue firmly planted in your cheek?

[Rick Ballard]

"It is so far skewed from the other districts that I am surprised that it managed to survive court review."

You're testing my memory but I believe that quite a few of the black fiefdoms are actually court drawn. The '80 redistricting led to a number of lawsuits based upon this:

Second, in 1982, Congress amended Section 2 of the law [1965 VRA] to stipulate that members of a protected class must have an equal opportunity “to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice” [emphasis added]. Thus, the law was no longer meant to apply strictly to discriminatory practices; it was also to serve as a vehicle for voting mechanisms that could increase minority representation (New York Times, February 14, 1994). The intention was to ensure that “protected” racial and ethnic minorities had a greater voice in governing the country. Subsequently, the Supreme Court issued a ruling (Thornburg v. Gingles) that was widely interpreted to mean that states must create majority-minority districts wherever possible to comply with Section 2 as amended. The Justice Department adjusted its preclearance criteria accordingly. The drawing of new majority-minority electoral districts (from city council districts to congressional districts) became central to the strategy for advancing minority representation.

[MayBee]

You all have seen the list from ABC's The Note, haven't you? It's genious.

Of the cable news channel's websites, I have to say MSNBC is trying the hardest. My favorite so far has been the cheering faces of Obama and a few other Dems yesterday. Celebrating the inevitable win, no doubt. Today their picture is less thrilling, but the headline explains the how depressing the Reps loss is going to be.

[maryrose]

Saw an interesting bit of coverage on Hardball regarding Ford's Memphis meltdown. Corker described what happened. Then Nora O'Donnell laughing with Ford also laughing tried to defuse this really bad publicity he got for acting kind of weird at a Corker press conference.
Now on Hardball Santorum says Casey is hiding and not saying anything in public. Casey says he is not going to be his father and will lighten up on his pro-life stance if he is elected. He has reportedly told Schumer and Feinstein that he is with them on judges.

[Jane]

I can barely leave the house alone for fear.

Sara,

You need to move. You shouldn't live like that.

In the throes of my midlife crisis I moved to a small town where you can go into the local paint store and ask:

"Has Joe been by today?"

"No"

"When he comes in will you tell him I want the linen white not the antique white?"

"Sure".

And Joe gets the message - correctly.

It's such a nice way to live.

[SlimGuy]

Slim, I see now that instead of having to click CHECK on the toolbar, I can just right click.

Posted by: Sara (Squiggler) | October 24, 2006 at 04:07 PM

You may need to uninstall that plug in. Try typing a misspelled word in a comment and it will underline it in red and you right click on the word to correct etc.

[Sue]

Shoot. Just type. No one but the spelling gestapo cares if words are misspelled.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

I see that now. And it will be great. I normally use Xinha to write comments since that gives me full word processing capabilities for a comment. It works okay as long as you go in a delete the body and head tags and sometimes I have to take out double paragraph coding but makes doing links so much easier on sites like this that don't provide html coding tags for comments.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Jane, I remember when we were transferred to South Carolina and moved into a house in a small community called Summerville. I was shocked after having lived in Calif. for 22 years and not even knowing my next door neighbors when two different neighbors brought meals and homemade deserts to us the day the moving truck arrived. They thought we could use a good meal since we didn't have our kitchen unpacked yet. Unheard of out here.

[topsecretk9]

--So what is wrong with the CBC? Corruption doesn't apply if you are black? Is that really the message they want to send?

Posted by: Jane | October 24, 2006 at 02:44 PM--

I think it's they are marginalized...and they were circling wagons around Jefferson -- who was a liability to one of their many campaign slogans this year "culture of corruption"

Gotta make good on those promises if you want to remain leader.

[topsecretk9]

correcting myself...Jefferson ways ranking minority leader on "Ways and Means Committee"

[MayBee]

Maybee, is your tongue firmly planted in your cheek?

Sara, tongue in cheek, are you kidding?
It was a fabulous political report. Wolf showed a clip for Sully and Gergen to analyze and discuss, about how the internet is changing the election. You know what was shown? The Allen Macaca You Tube video. Because someone out there might not have seen it.

[Larry]

Posted by: Sue | October 24, 2006 at 04:34 PM
Shpellink Geshtapo? Veddy intereshtink!

[coolpapa]

TS9, please, STOP linking to AoS! Every time I go there, I end upon the floor in breathless convulsions from reading the comments. My wife called 911 once because she thought I was dying or something. Trouble is, I can't tell her what it's about 'cause she wouldn't "get it"!

[maryrose]

Jefferson should have resigned after they found 90,000 in his freezer. His own party in LA has disavowed him. HE JUST DOESN'T KNOW WHEN TO LEAVE. i GUESS STORING EXTRA COLD CASH IN YOUR FREEZER CONSTITUTES A GOOD DEM BANKING STATEGY.

[clarice]

Surely Jefferson has enough on enough of them to insure they don't treat him too roughly.

[Jane]

I think it's they are marginalized

Well then it is a self-inflicted wound.

[Jane]

Sara,

Give moving a thought.

[maryrose]

sara:
Move to Ohio -small town living and right now we have the beautiful fall foliage. Winters bring snow and cold but the air is fresh and clean. It's a great place to kick back and relax with low crime and friendly folks.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Jane/Maryrose -- My trip last December back to PA was meant to be a househunting trip and a return to my roots in small town western PA. The fall on the ice and subsequent vertebrae refracture overtook that enterprise and here it is 10 months later and I'm further behind in my plans than I was 2 years ago. An hour standing in line at the bank did me in so much, I find it hard to move at all right now and the thought of trying to make a major move defeats me. It isn't that my head and heart don't want to get out of here and absolutely know that I must do that, but my body is betraying me and, unfortunately, I have noone available to help.

[Rick Ballard]

A CURIOSITY

Real Clear Politics has a Noxious Fifty list of seats in danger. There are eleven seats that show the Reps behind by more than the margin of error. Eight of the eleven were polled on Oct. 10 by a company named RT Strategies/CD (the CD stand for Constituent Dynamics). The polling firm purports to be non-partisan (snort). Oct. 8-10 was the height of the Foley unpleasantness - absolute maximum negative effect. RT Strategies actually conducted fifteen polls on that date.

There have been fourteen polls conducted in the Noxious Fifty since Oct. 15. None of those polls show the Rep behind by more than the MOE (with IN-09 at -04 being the worst). In fact, only three of the polls show the Rep down at all with one tie and ten showing the Rep up.

BTW - The total Rep spending today was a little over $9M and the maximum results of the previous Dem big buy should have shown up in polling by today.

Today was another "keep the powder dry" day for the Dems. I guess they have a November 10th target date for maximized effect.

[clarice]

Well with all those consultants in Washington pulling all those strings, it's easy to see how they'd miscalculate on the calendar.

[capitano]

Larry Kudlow interviewed the Speaker-in-waiting today and was the perfect gentleman. He let her spin away on whether she would rescind Bush's tax cuts, etc. But he pressed her pretty hard on whether the "blue dog democrat" caucus might overtake the "black caucus" in voting strength if the Dems win the House.

No doubt trying to sew the seeds of discord although I doubt that Alcee, Charlie R., John C. or their troops were watching CNBC this afternoon. I guess she could always stiff them after the election -- where else are they going to go.

[Ripclawe]

Regarding Alcee Hastings and Israel. He is down with Israel doing a quick google on the subject.

http://www.adl.org/Anti_semitism/rome_conference_hastings_speech.asp> ADL Speech

But if he does get that position and the GOP can't go to town on him because of his past. GOP has no hope.

[Jane]

I find it hard to move at all right now and the thought of trying to make a major move defeats me.

Sara,

Put your house on the market. The rest will take care of itself.

(My last post on the subject. I apolgize for hijacking the topic)

[Jane]

Rick,

I think the tide has turned. The liberal pipe dream has ended as of today. We are suddenly on an even playing field. And I expect that liberal lead to ebb from this day to election day.

[topsecretk9]

--TS9, please, STOP linking to AoS!--

Never! Seriously though, pulling Slade Gordon out of his you know what? That is priceless.

[clarice]

OT:I'm watching Helen Mirren playing Queen Elizabeth I. When I was in high school I read every single book I could find on the Queen--I regarded her then and now as a brilliant leader and Mirren is great in the part.

[Neo]

Somewhere between Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World and George Orwell's 1984 lies Google NetPAC.

Now try to imagine every search for information you make going through "Big Borther" .. er .. a major business awash with cash with a political action committee.

[narciso]

It wasn't the Georgia security guard, it was the Maryland bio-warfare expert, that
he fingered as being behind the anthrax
attack, based on the rantings of Barbara
Rosenburg, the slightly less non sensical
Laura Rozen's musings, and some paper by
Meryl Nass, on Rhodesia, where Hatfill had
been stationed. I here Kristof has been
ordered to provide his source by a judge;
He was also one of the first to swallow
Joe Wilson's mea culpas, same as with
Al Arian. Kristof's latest contribution
a beaut; drop Iraq or heath care gets it;
(paraphrasing of course)

[SlimGuy]

OT BREAKING ANALYSIS

Flopping Aces has a story on the work of the StopOctoberSurprises email trap linking back to the HRC
http://www.floppingaces.net/2006/10/24/who-is-behind-stopsexpredators/

He links the analysis over at RedState of Brian Smoot Alexander's ex chief of staff who quit when Alexander switched parties

http://www.redstate.com/stories/elections/2006/who_is_brian_smoot

The floppingaces story that he was tipped that the political director of HRC is none other than Samantha Smoot.

http://www.hrc.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Press_Room/Samantha_Smoot.htm

Same last name, wonder if there is a connection.

[SlimGuy]

The operator of the SOS blog tells a commentor that the two Smoots are not related, but that he has been told that they know each other.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Samantha was the head of the Texas Freedom Network before her HRC gig.

[SlimGuy]

Brian Smoot is working on the campaign in FL-22

Also the SOS blog got over 250 hits today from the HRC.

Must have someone's attention.

[SlimGuy]

Also from her bio

Smoot has worked with candidates for political office at all levels of government in 26 states in the United States. She served on the political staffs of EMILY's List, an organization that helps elect Democratic women to the U.S. Congress and Senate, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

In 1995, Smoot worked on Capitol Hill as administrative assistant to Rep. Ken Bentsen, D-Texas. Prior to that, she worked on the campaigns of Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

An excerpt from an article in the Austin Chronicle:

Austin Chronicle: Why are you stepping down as director of Texas Freedom Network?

Samantha Smoot: Well, the simple answer is that after six years I've decided it's time to move on and do something else, and hand the reins over to somebody who has got some fresh vision and energy. I think that's best for the organization right now.

AC: You've told me you hadn't anticipated being here for as long as you have been.

SS: No – I'm an itinerant campaign worker at heart. This is more than twice as long as I've been at any job. My résumé is studded with three-month- and six-month-long gigs.

AC: Let's sketch that out a little bit, leading up to when you took over the leadership of the Texas Freedom Network.

SS: Well, I worked on various causes when I was a university student, at Harvard/Radcliffe, and I got involved in various political causes, mostly having to do with women's issues. Afterward I worked at an AIDS organization, a women's organization, a battered women's hotline – all of this back East – and then through a fortunate series of events, got a job in Austin working for TARAL [Texas Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League] in 1989. I think this was two days after the latest Supreme Court decision [on abortion] – in the late Eighties and early Nineties, during a time when there was a series of Supreme Court decisions restricting the right to choose. The pro-choice movement was mushrooming at the time and was also becoming much more political. TARAL at the time was kind of a hybrid between an issue advocacy organization and an electoral organization. We had phone banks running in six cities in Texas; we identified a quarter of a million pro-choice Republican and independent women voters for Ann Richards and other candidates on the ticket in 1990.

The following year I took a leave of absence and went to Louisiana to help there in a NARAL affiliate, essentially doing the same thing. That was the year of David Duke's run for the governorship, and I ended up, after the primary campaign in Louisiana, running a state representative's campaign there – and kind of got the campaign bug. After that I worked on various campaigns in Connecticut and Michigan and Louisiana and here, and I worked for Dean Rindy for a while, and then I worked for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, helping their candidates in seven states, including Texas. And then I worked for Emily's List ... based in San Francisco.

Oh, 1994 was the year of the Republican tsunami in Congress, but one of the miracle stories for Democrats that year was [U.S. Rep.] Ken Bentsen's victory in Houston in 1994 – when he defeated a Republican who had outspent him five to one – and then I worked for Ken for a while, helping him get his Washington office set up.

Fast-forward again to 1996, I was working in San Francisco for Emily's List for about a year and a half, and I looked up one day and realized I'd been homesick every day I was in northern California, I was over 30, I knew where I wanted to live, why was I wasting my time? So I came home.

AC: So you are a Texan?

SS: Oh, yeah. Well, I'm a navy brat, but I'm a fifth-generation Texan, went to high school and junior high in Dallas, I've got a lot of family in southern Oklahoma – so this is home. So we loaded up a moving van, and two of my girlfriends and I drove home, and took a little detour to stop in Luckenbach and had a couple of beers to fortify us for the home stretch. And when I got back here, I got in touch with Cecile [Richards]. I was already a member of this organization, and I had already worked with Cecile before on a couple of projects related to women voters. So when she decided to leave, and move with her family to Washington, I interviewed for and was lucky enough to get this job [in 1998].

AC: What was your sense of the organization when you began, and how has it changed?

SS: Well, from the beginning of my tenure this has been an incredibly solid organization. I can't think of anyone other than Cecile who could have gotten an organization like this off the ground, literally from nothing to 7 or 8,000 members, which is where we were when I started. I really think it took someone with that kind of energy and charisma and vision and contacts, to build the foundation of this organization. We were a four-person staff when I started, a deputy director (a sort of jack-of-all-trades), me, a fundraiser, and an office manager.

One of my goals was to sort of beef up our political and program work a little bit. And so we began doing research on issues, on political campaigns, on money behind religious right organizations, and later on things like tracking on how charter schools were performing, tracking how the privately funded voucher campaign in San Antonio was performing. So we started utilizing more interns and producing more original research, with the belief that information is one of our most powerful tools, and that information gives the organization credibility, and most importantly that right-wing political movements are more effective under the cover of darkness – anything that could expose what they were doing would be of great use in putting out the alarm to the public.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Sorry, forgot to include the link:

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/print?oid=oid%3A233325

[SlimGuy]

The SOS operator makes a referral in one of his posts as follows

MM: Its time to contact me now. The email will work just fine.

If you look over at HRC you come up with
Mike Mings

http://www.hrc.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Press_Room/Mike_Mings.htm

Mike Mings
Deputy Director of Electoral Activities, PAC Manager

Mike Mings is the manager of the Human Rights Campaign's political action committee, the largest PAC dedicated to equality for lesbian and gay Americans and one of the largest PACs in the country. Mings oversees the range of activities related to HRC PAC's endorsements and campaign giving, including analyzing whether political candidates meet the organization's endorsement criteria.

Previously, Mings directed the PAC program at the American Society of Association Executives. He was also an intern for openly gay Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., and a campaign volunteer for openly gay Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.

[Sara (Squiggler)]

Definitely a Femi-nazi.

[Sue]

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls/>Real Clear Politics is now showing Dems + 4 in the Senate. It has been Dems + 5 & 6 for the past 2 weeks.

[Sue]

The 2 changes are MO-Talent(R) and TN-Corker(R).

[SlimGuy]

The guy who did the separate prior trap of setting up two blogs to bait the SSP operator has reveled the full ip address of the person he trapped it is 69.14.20.122

Like your other Michigan-based IP, this one was based out of Royal Oak, with an ISP of WideOpenWest.

[Enlightenment]

Since a couple people mentioned 9/11...

One thing that struck me as odd in the days after 9/11 was Bush saying "We will not tolerate conspiracy theories [regarding 9/11]". Sure enough there have been some wacky conspiracy theories surrounding the events of that day. The most far-fetched and patently ridiculous one that I've ever heard goes like this: Nineteen hijackers who claimed to be devout Muslims but yet were so un-Muslim as to be getting drunk all the time, doing cocaine and frequenting strip clubs decided to hijack four airliners and fly them into buildings in the northeastern U.S., the area of the country that is the most thick with fighter bases. After leaving a Koran on a barstool at a strip bar after getting shitfaced drunk on the night before, then writing a suicide note/inspirational letter that sounded like it was written by someone with next to no knowledge of Islam, they went to bed and got up the next morning hung over and carried out their devious plan. Nevermind the fact that of the four "pilots" among them there was not a one that could handle a Cessna or a Piper Cub let alone fly a jumbo jet, and the one assigned the most difficult task of all, Hani Hanjour, was so laughably incompetent that he was the worst fake "pilot" of the bunch. Nevermind the fact that they received very rudimentary flight training at Pensacola Naval Air Station, making them more likely to have been C.I.A. assets than Islamic fundamentalist terrorists. So on to the airports. These "hijackers" somehow managed to board all four airliners with their tickets, yet not even ONE got his name on any of the flight manifests. So they hijack all four airliners and at this time passengers on United 93 start making a bunch of cell phone calls from 35,000 feet in the air to tell people what was going on. Nevermind the fact that cell phones wouldn't work very well above 4,000 feet, and wouldn't work at ALL above 8,000 feet. But the conspiracy theorists won't let that fact get in the way of a good fantasy. That is one of the little things you "aren't supposed to think about". Nevermind that one of the callers called his mom and said his first and last name, more like he was reading from a list than calling his own mom. Anyway, when these airliners each deviated from their flight plan and didn't respond to ground control, NORAD would any other time have followed standard operating procedure (and did NOT have to be told by F.A.A. that there were hijackings because they were watching the same events unfold on their own radar) which means fighter jets would be scrambled from the nearest base where they were available on standby within a few minutes, just like every other time when airliners stray off course. But of course on 9/11 this didn't happen, not even close. Somehow these "hijackers" must have used magical powers to cause NORAD to stand down, as ridiculous as this sounds because total inaction from the most high-tech and professional Air Force in the world would be necessary to carry out their tasks. So on the most important day in its history the Air Force was totally worthless. Then they had to make one of the airliners look like a smaller plane, because unknown to them the Naudet brothers had a videocamera to capture the only known footage of the North Tower crash, and this footage shows something that is not at all like a jumbo jet, but didn't have to bother with the South Tower jet disguising itself because that was the one we were "supposed to see". Anyway, as for the Pentagon they had to have Hani Hanjour fly his airliner like it was a fighter plane, making a high G-force corkscrew turn that no real airliner can do, in making its descent to strike the Pentagon. But these "hijackers" wanted to make sure Rumsfeld survived so they went out of their way to hit the farthest point in the building from where Rumsfeld and the top brass are located. And this worked out rather well for the military personnel in the Pentagon, since the side that was hit was the part that was under renovation at the time with few military personnel present compared to construction workers. Still more fortuitous for the Pentagon, the side that was hit had just before 9/11 been structurally reinforced to prevent a large fire there from spreading elsewhere in the building. Awful nice of them to pick that part to hit, huh? Then the airliner vaporized itself into nothing but tiny unidentifiable pieces no bigger than a fist, unlike the crash of a real airliner when you will be able to see at least some identifiable parts, like crumpled wings, broken tail section etc. Why, Hani Hanjour the terrible pilot flew that airliner so good that even though he hit the Pentagon on the ground floor the engines didn't even drag the ground!! Imagine that!! Though the airliner vaporized itself on impact it only made a tiny 16 foot hole in the building. Amazing. Meanwhile, though the planes hitting the Twin Towers caused fires small enough for the firefighters to be heard on their radios saying "We just need 2 hoses and we can knock this fire down" attesting to the small size of it, somehow they must have used magical powers from beyond the grave to make this morph into a raging inferno capable of making the steel on all forty-seven main support columns (not to mention the over 100 smaller support columns) soften and buckle, then all fail at once. Hmmm. Then still more magic was used to make the building totally defy physics as well as common sense in having the uppermost floors pass through the remainder of the building as quickly, meaning as effortlessly, as falling through air, a feat that without magic could only be done with explosives. Then exactly 30 minutes later the North Tower collapses in precisely the same freefall physics-defying manner. Incredible. Not to mention the fact that both collapsed at a uniform rate too, not slowing down, which also defies physics because as the uppermost floors crash into and through each successive floor beneath them they would shed more and more energy each time, thus slowing itself down. Common sense tells you this is not possible without either the hijackers' magical powers or explosives. To emphasize their telekinetic prowess, later in the day they made a third building, WTC # 7, collapse also at freefall rate though no plane or any major debris hit it. Amazing guys these magical hijackers. But we know it had to be "Muslim hijackers" the conspiracy theorist will tell you because (now don't laugh) one of their passports was "found" a couple days later near Ground Zero, miraculously "surviving" the fire that we were told incinerated planes, passengers and black boxes, and also "survived" the collapse of the building it was in. When common sense tells you if that were true then they should start making buildings and airliners out of heavy paper and plastic so as to be "indestructable" like that magic passport. The hijackers even used their magical powers to bring at least seven of their number back to life, to appear at american embassies outraged at being blamed for 9/11!! BBC reported on that and it is still online. Nevertheless, they also used magical powers to make the american government look like it was covering something up in the aftermath of this, what with the hasty removal of the steel debris and having it driven to ports in trucks with GPS locators on them, to be shipped overseas to China and India to be melted down. When common sense again tells you that this is paradoxical in that if the steel was so unimportant that they didn't bother saving some for analysis but so important as to require GPS locators on the trucks with one driver losing his job because he stopped to get lunch. Hmmmm. Yes, this whole story smacks of the utmost idiocy and fantastical far-fetched lying, but it is amazingly enough what some people believe. Even now, five years later, the provably false fairy tale of the "nineteen hijackers" is heard repeated again and again, and is accepted without question by so many Americans. Which is itself a testament to the innate psychological cowardice of the American sheeple, i mean people, and their abject willingness to believe something, ANYTHING, no matter how ridiculous in order to avoid facing a scary uncomfortable truth. Time to wake up America.

[topsecretk9]

narciso

I know...and I thought he was also sued by the GA security guard too...that would make 3 major r-tards and so I was wondering why he's considered to be next to godlike at the paper...he's reckless and wrong....

Also, don't understand use "Joe Wilson's mea culpas"

[Bill in AZ]

unenlightened... let us know when you discover paragraphs...

[clarice]

Paragraphs are just the first step to logical linear thinking and therefore are to be abjured.

[Bill in AZ]

dang it, clarice, I had to go look that up... they must teach that in law school, not engineering school.