Can We Handle The Truth?

These headlines are only superficially in conflict - first, USA Today:

Poll: Most want inquiry into anti-terror tactics

And Gallup, describing on the same poll:

No Mandate for Criminal Probes of Bush Administration

The difference (obvi!) is that a significant portion of respondents favor a "truth commission" type probe operating without criminal penalties.  From USA Today:

Close to two-thirds of those surveyed said there should be investigations into allegations that the Bush team used torture to interrogate terrorism suspects and its program of wiretapping U.S. citizens without getting warrants. Almost four in 10 favor criminal investigations and about a quarter want investigations without criminal charges. One-third said they want nothing to be done.

I would be in the "about a quarter" favoring a non-criminal investigation.  First, a criminal probe will do a miserable job of getting at "the truth" - too many people were given legal cover by the Office of Legal Counsel guidance, too many people will plead the Fifth, and too much relevant information will be classified for trials to proceed.

Even a "truth commission" will have a problem dealing with classified information, although the 9/11 Commission was able to clear that hurdle.  From a bitter partisan perspective, a likely outcome of a truth commission is that Democrats will leak the Bush-bashing bits and the mitigating information will be kept classified.  That will not help to inform public debate, but it may help Dems raise money and win a few Congressional races, so I suppose it is all good for them.

Nick Kristof actually had a sensible suggestion recently:

The first step is to appoint a high-level commission — perhaps a McCain-Scowcroft Commission? — to investigate torture, secret detention and wiretapping during the Bush years, as well as to look ahead and offer recommendations for balancing national security and individual rights in the future.

This wouldn’t be a bipartisan commission, with Democrats and Republicans offsetting each other in seething distrust. Rather, it would be nonpartisan, dominated by military and security experts.

It could be co-chaired by Brent Scowcroft and John McCain, with its conclusions written by Philip Zelikow, a former aide to Condoleezza Rice who wrote the best-selling report of the 9/11 commission.

If the three most prominent members were all Republicans, no one on the right could denounce it as a witch hunt — and its criticisms would have far more credibility. The commission could be rounded out by former generals, top intelligence officials and outside experts without a strong partisan cast: people like Richard Haass, Anthony Zinni, Joseph Nye, James Dobbins and William Cohen.

I would like to think we can handle the truth.

[END OF THREAD]

Comments

[bad]

From Gibbs:

Gregg is to blame.

[Jane]

But of course....

[bad]

Viral video for sure.

But isn't it racist to show what they've said?

[MayBee]

Yeah, bad.
The tax cheat Daschle gets a tearful goodbye from Obama.
Gregg is being accused by the Obama team of throwing himself at the Obama administration.

The Obama people are nasty nasty nasty.

[bad]

The White House says Gregg threw himself at the White House. They weren't allowed to say no.

Gregg raped the White House.

[bad]

Maybee are you watching MSNBC, also?

[kim]

Oh, this is cute. Over on the Tapper thread there are three 'Impeach Obama' statements. Say it again. Say it again. Louder. Louder.
=====================================

[bad]

I hate to be a conspiracy buff, but what is going on while everyone is focused on Gregg?

What is being shoved in PORKUS BILL?

[Ranger]

The White House says Gregg threw himself at the White House. They weren't allowed to say no.

Gregg raped the White House.

Posted by: bad | February 12, 2009 at 05:13 PM

Yeah, Obama has no control over who is in his cabinet. If a Republican asks for a job, they have to give it to them.

Idgits...

[Jane]

Oh dear bad, and you are probably right!

[glasater]

Some idiot Secretary for Zero--didn't recognize the face--was just expounding on Fast Money that J Gregg had asked Zero for Secretary of Commerce.
Guess that's how Zero is going to spin it for now.

[bad]

Chrissy Matthews doesn't want to talk about the census. He says it is boring.

[kim]

Oh great, Tom's 'end of thread' doesn't work.
=========================================

[MayBee]

Yes, I am watching MSNBC bad.

[bad]

J Gregg had asked Zero for Secretary of Commerce.

Coool! I'm going to ask he drop the PORKUS BILL.

[kim]

bad, Chrissy's point is exactly why this census grab is so insidious. Hoi polloi thinks it's a simple matter of counting people. How could that get messed up? Oh, please, don't bore me with the details.
===========================================

[bad]

Gregg is being incredibly gracious about Obama.

He'll get none of that in return.

[Jane]

Here we go: He's been his own person for 30 years and sticks to what he believes in, it would be very difficult to not be 110% with the team.

O has reached out, and I respect that. He'll be good at the job, but I realized it wasn't a good fit and I wouldn't be comfortable so I'm withdrawing.

I do believe that I can be more effective in the senate for this president.

[PeterUK]

"The White House says Gregg threw himself at the White House. "

He threw himself from under the bus?

[Jane]

So he didn't mention communism, marxism, socialism or card check so O should be happy.

[bad]

Good Grief!! Who will O put in Commerce now to do his census bidding while pretending to listen to concerns?

[Ignatz Ratzkywatzky]

Coool! I'm going to ask he drop the PORKUS BILL.

Skip the middleman, just ask him if you can be POTUS. How can he turn you down? Aren't you one of the ones we've been waiting for, bad? Maybe for the first time in my life I can be proud of my country.

[bad]

Gregg says he won't run again.

[bad]

Thanks Ignatz. I'm your man.

[MayBee]

Idiot Dem talking heads are saying Gregg gave into his party.
But what could his party have threatened him with once he went to the Administration?

[clarice]

Capt Ed is dead on, and , Jane, though I can't explain why either, I think also that delay will kill this---Maybe finding out that after spending something like $30 million to save a wild mouse in SF they are going to get just a $13 a paycheck break is going to really help my sharpened pikes in DC business.

Sunshine is no friend of the stimulus bill.

[hit and run]

I'm sure Judd quit after reading the comments here.

Now I have no idea....but....seriously...for a man who has in the past wanted to abolish Commerce -- and then accept the nomination to be secretary there, Gregg never made much sense.

And it would not surprise me -- if he got wind of JMH's piece that instapundit linked..and that piece, somehow, in some way big or small, made a difference.

Again, who knows.

But let's just say he had some seeds of doubt about heading a department he believed should be abolished ... and then was reminded (or made aware for the first time) that Commerce could be such a major tool in Obama's plans to advance the liberal/socialist agenda ... and he bugged out.

Plausible, I'd say.

[Ranger]

Hmmm... Maybe this is what the Gregg thing was meant to distract from:

http://hotair.com/archives/2009/02/12/the-priorities-of-democrats-exposed/>The priorities of Democrats, exposed

Seems the Dem leadership in congress sent the final Porkulus bill to K Street Lobbyests before bothering to distribute it to the members of congress. No wonder they had to pospone the vote for a day, they had to get approval of the bill from the lobbyests first.

[Jane]

Idiot Dem talking heads are saying Gregg gave into his party.

I don't see how that works on any level.

[Appalled]

This probably has everything to do with the census, which I don't think had happened until Gregg had agreed to take the Commerce job. (I mean, without the census, what does the Dept of commerce actually do?)

There also could be a political assessment that Obama the President is not as inspiring as Obama the candidate.

[hit and run]

So...it's good to see you here Clarice.

When DoT said he'd be out of the lineup for a few days AND then you weren't here, people started talking.

Well, the VIMH started talking.

It's quite a rumor mill inside my head.

[matt]

naw, lurker..gave that up many years ago.....

You see, politics is a funny thing.There are tipping points at which people realize that, hey, maybe this is a bad idea. Opponents take heart and supporters lose faith.

I really think there are huge swaths of the people in the middle saying to themselves "what the hell did we do electing this clown?". Richardson, Geithner, Daschle, Killifer,etc. had them worried, and now the Gregg withdrawal and the reasons for it....hey it's about his principles this time...this stuff gets people nervous.

Throw in a democratic majority that is playing extreme hadrball and acting like a bunch of kindergartners, and corruption issues such as Blagojevich, Rangel, and now Murtha.....well, at some point people will have had it. I think some of the questioning press is one sign.

Obama is stage managing his appearances dishonestly every time he's on a scene now as well, and once that becomes more apparent, both the media and the people may lose their patience.

The cracks in the facade are becoming more apparent, and with some of the Republicans crying "socialism", it's going to have its effect.

[Rick Ballard]

"Oh, please, don't bore me with the details."

How true, Kim. Otherwise people might note that the ACORN "neighborhood stabilization" money is needed because the black thieves running the prog plantations, like, say, Bobby Rush in Illinois CD-1, (the Black Panther who kicked Obama's butt in 2000) has 16,252 fewer serfs in his district today than he had in 2000. Illinois is going to lose a seat in 2010 (unless ACORN thugs get hired as census takers) so Bobby may lose the opportunity to steal from the poor while getting rich off the bribes of fellows like Uncle Tony.

Boring, boring, boring.

[JM Hanes]

JMH: Powerbroker. I like it!

[MayBee]

Maybe Greg was afraid he'd be given a ride on Ron Brown Airlines.

[hit and run]

Appalled:
(I mean, without the census, what does the Dept of commerce actually do?)

http://www.quasiblog.com/2009/02/commerce-dead-end-or-center-of-the-universe.html>go read JMH's piece.

And in her focus on domstic policy, that piece doesn't even really get into trade, which commerce oversees ... for (big honkin') example, in the last few days Commerce has http://www.forbes.com/2009/02/11/syria-assad-sanctions-opinions-columnists_0212_claudia_rosett.html>waved the restrictions on trade with Syria.

But other than that, nothing, really.

[MayBee]

JMH: Powerbroker. I like it!

New Cool!

[Jane]

There also could be a political assessment that Obama the President is not as inspiring as Obama the candidate.

I'm pretty sure Obama the President is Obama the candidate. He's too busy campaigning to get any work done. We will see if it works I guess.

[bad]

Maybe Greg was afraid he'd be given a ride on Ron Brown Airlines.

BINGO

[hit and run]

JMH, who are you planning to target next?

[hit and run]

NotHot: Obamessiah is infallible
NewCool: JMH world's biggest power broker

[bad]

I love you JMH!!! Please remember that when you use your power.

[Ranger]

The more I think about it the more the "Gregg threw himself at us" line makes Obama look really weak. The scarry thing is, it may be true. Obama has delegated all the real work to others. Cabinet decisions are in Rahm's hands. All these "policy tzars" are really deputy presidents, doing the hard work of looking at issues and options and working the various parts of the executive branch to impliment policy. Obama just wants to be president, without having to actually doing the job.

[kim]

Watch Hillary resign at the first confrontation. She and Bill should be able to see their way clear to the White House in four years. I can see it.
===========================================

[Bill in AZ]

Watch Hillary resign at the first confrontation.

Is it too soon to ask for Obama's resignation?

[Jane]

I completely agree with you Ranger. I'm pretty sure Rahm Emmanuel is running the country at this point. Obama decided Air Force 1 is so cool, he's just gonna hang out there.

[bad]

Obama just wants to be president, without having to actually doing the job.

Ranger!!! He is campaigning for PORKUS, which takes him away from his family.... which seems to be what he likes...

Never mind

[MayBee]

Idiot Dem talking heads are saying Gregg gave into his party.

I don't see how that works on any level.

I don't either, but it is already on the blogs and on MSNBC.

[bad]

Does he get to smoke on AF1?

[peter]

Gregg is being incredibly gracious about Obama.

He'll get none of that in return.

When will Repubs ever learn that lesson?

[hit and run]

Jane:
Obama decided Air Force 1 is so cool, he's just gonna hang out there.

He sure as hell is going to avoid Marine One. It's dangerous!

[Jane]

If you want to contact Senator Gregg and say "thanks" the phone numbers are at the LUN. I called his Concord office and it rang about 20 times before I got the machine.

[bad]

Major Garret said Obama shouldn't have been surprised, a senior admin official said Gregg had let them know a couple of days ago.

[Ranger]

On the radio, they just played Obama saying at the Cat plant that passing the stimulus will mean rehiring, but the Cat CEO was there and reporters asked him how many would be rehired. He admitted that the Porkulus wouldn't lead to any rehiring right away, and there probably will be more layoffs before there are any re-hirings.

So, Obama is setting himself up for an "Obama lied, Jobs died" very nicely.

[JM Hanes]

bad: Y'all will always be my shadow government! hit, you're an updater extraordinaire. Do you suppose I should be looking into the Valkyries from Maine?

More on the status of stimulus via Ranger, via HotAir, U.S. News reports:

We're receiving E-mails from Capitol Hill staffers expressing frustration that they can't get a copy of the stimulus bill agreed to last night at a price of $789 billion. What's more, staffers are complaining about who does have a copy: K Street lobbyists. E-mails one key Democratic staffer: "K Street has the bill, or chunks of it, already, and the congressional offices don't. So, the Hill is getting calls from the press (because it's leaking out) asking us to confirm or talk about what we know—but we can't do that because we haven't seen the bill. Anyway, peeps up here are sort of a combo of confused and like, 'Is this really happening?'" Reporters pressing for details, meanwhile, are getting different numbers from different offices, especially when seeking the details of specific programs.

It's interesting that this leak comes from a Democratic staffer. I'm wondering if U.S. News should really be on my daily reading list, because they may actually have more connections to the Dem side of the aisle than my usual stops.

Wonder where Michelle Malkin got her copy, although she added an update: "I’m told by another Hill staffer that there’s yet another version of the bill due out in the next hour or so."

[Ranger]

Major Garret said Obama shouldn't have been surprised, a senior admin official said Gregg had let them know a couple of days ago.

Posted by: bad | February 12, 2009 at 06:05 PM

Sounds like the White House Cheif of Staff failed to communicate with the people who needed to know. How many strikes does Rahm get?

[bad]

Macsmind reports that Henrietta Hughes (the homeless lady in Florida that Obama kissed) owns a home.

[hit and run]

Ranger:
How many strikes does Rahm get?

You know, he probably has some goods on Obama and gets as many strikes as he wants.

Well, I'll let mel take it from there.

[bad]

$550 million for a federal fleet of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles
$300 million for even more plug-in or “efficient” vehicles
$300 million for “smart appliances”
$13.9 billion for the Clean Energy Finance Authority (a lending mechanism for green energy projects)
$8 billion for “high-speed rail grants” to states, which apparently includes Reid’s Vegas project
$21.44 billion for “environmental” issues, none of which appears to have job creation in mind, including: Lead Paint Abatement ($100 million)
EPA State revolving funds ($6 billion)
USDA water loans and grants ($1.38 billion)
DOE environmental management ($6 billion)
$15 billion to “increase and protect affordable housing“
$7.2 billion for expanding broadband coverage
$15 billion for new Pell Grant funding
$44 billion for education block grants
$4.6 billion for “early childhood” programs
$1.1 billion for “comparative effectiveness research”

Captain Ed has this posted at HotAir.

[hit and run]

OK, who can resist...

BRING BACK RICHARDSON!!!

[Enlightened]

Gawwwwddddddd!! ^#$()*R%Y#HFH%$%&(*#&(*

I'm trying to stay upbeat, positive, be nice, take a chill pill, stop hooking into the blogs, cuz seriously I really cannot stand Bambi et al....

And then I get roped right back in - Gregg just shat on the O-Team and did it ever so graciously.....and just to be really mean about it - I secretly hope Mrs. Bambi has smoke blowing out her ears right about -

Now.

[Ranger]

Here is the ABC story on the Cat CEO:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/02/doh-caterpillar.html>D'oh! Caterpillar CEO Contradicts President on Whether Stimulus Will Allow Him to Re-Hire Laid Off Workers

[hit and run]

Enlightened:
And then I get roped right back in

Tell me about it. I wasn't going to get online all week.

Until I did.

Of course, now I've got poker tonight and won't be able to stay around for all the fun.

I've emailed Axelrod to ask him if Obama might refrain from any more implosions until tomorrow, so I don't miss anything.

I haven't heard back yet, so who knows.

[Enlightened]

And of course the lefties are at full throttle bending this into the pretzel du jour.

How's this change workin' for ya Bambi?

I'm feeling a little hopeychangy-tingle...I'm almost ready to adopt-a-wolf for Assley Judd and name it - Judd.

[Rick Ballard]

Obama is a shovel ready project.

I wonder if Senator Gregg only considered Commerce because of the chance to keep an eye on ACORN thugs in the census? It may not give Matthews a tingle but every pol in DC has a rather high level of interest in the census. They don't find it boring at all. Especially with the Census Bureau manufacturing phantom Mexicans by the millions for 10 years. The census does not distinguish between "legal" and "illegal" when enumerating. That's one reason the Dems have tried to get statistical sleight of hand substituted for actual count.

[MayBee]

Oh! How I love Ambinder:

Gregg: How It Might Play

by Marc Ambinder | Feb 12 2009, 5:19PM

To watch: is the media going to go with the "Gregg does not believe Obama was sincere in his outreach" angle (which would seem weird to find out about AFTER you have accepted the job?

Or is this an angle through which the Republicans are going to look like the ones slapping Obama everytime he reaches out?

How might it play, wonders independent reporter Ambinder. It is obviously ridiculous to think Gregg might have found out more about the job after he'd started working with the Obama team. It can only look, to an unbiased person, like Republicans are always beating up on Obama!

But of course, he is just wondering aloud.

[kate]

I'm guessing that if there is another terrorist attack, the victims-in the moment before their horrific death-will not be saying:

"I'm so glad that we had a truth commission and that the US was true to its ideals"

or

"I'm so glad I was able to see the US popular and loved by European countries again.

No, the individual will realize and curse the bastards who failed to keep this country safe...for a second time.

No truth commissions.

[hit and run]

Rick:
That's one reason the Dems have tried to get statistical sleight of hand substituted for actual count.

Oh, let me go back to something earlier this week....hold on...lemme go find it.

Ok, I'm back. Jen Rubin at Contentions http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/rubin/54301>posted this from a former census director challenging Obama's census plans...

If it is the pols [overseeing the census rather than the pros], you may well get an order to adjust the Census count with samples and modeling. That will take a presidential order to over-ride the scientific consensus of statisticians at the Bureau and elsewhere.

You would think that an Administration that is thumping its chest about respecting science and scientists on such matters as climate change ... would show a little respect for the scientists in the statistical field (a branch of the science of mathematics) and their careful work on this topic.

Well, duh, it makes sense...and the correlation to climate change really is the perfect (and obvious, now that I've read this!) parallel.

The administration is showing the exact same respect for the census as they do climate change.

Moving the census to the Rahm Portfolio was just the enHansenment of the people counting business.

Hockey stick chart time.

[PeterUK]

"He sure as hell is going to avoid Marine One. It's dangerous!"

That is the fault of the Bush administration,the doors were lowered to make George Bush look taller.

[hit and run]

MayBee:
It is obviously ridiculous to think Gregg might have found out more about the job after he'd started working with the Obama team.

Well, sure. That's because...

Obama: Most Transparentest Administration Evah!

You see -- and you may want to sit down for this revelation -- but I absolutely agree with that statement.

No, really. I do.

That is, Obama is running the most transparently lying, phony, cynical, partisan, buffoonish and incompetent administration...EVAH!!!!!

But somehow I don't think that's how Ambinder would interpret the statement.

[hit and run]

From twitter:

petehoekstra Unbelievable!Stimulus bill has not yet been released.Yet House D leadership says we'll vote tomorrow afternoon.You won't know what's in it!
2 minutes ago from TwitterBerry

[hit and run]

And from the good Dr.

TomCoburn Sounds like it might be a while before we get text of the "stimulus." It's our job to read legislation, I hope to see text soon.
15 minutes ago from web

[PeterUK]

"That is, Obama is running the most transparently lying, phony, cynical, partisan, buffoonish and incompetent administration...EVAH!!!!!"

I'll raise you Gordon Brown's government and see you.

[hit and run]

PUK:
I'll raise you Gordon Brown's government and see you.

Well, ok, how about "in the history of 3 week old administrations!!!"?

[MayBee]

$50 says the Obama girls get their puppy tomorrow.

[MayBee]

ha!

[Rick Ballard]

H & R,

I've been looking at a few of the prog Congressional fiefs. None of the 8 I've looked at so far register any population increases. As far as states - MI is going to lose one seat, as is IL and PA. OH will lose two. Given that it's blacks fleeing for their lives and safety (this is the reverse Underground Railway), the Black Caucus should get a little smaller.

There is a definite imbalance in the prog baby killing program and the Bastardy Project as well. Bastards continue to gain. That must be driving the prog eugenicists wild.

[Publius]

Why dosen't Tom Coburn just take a walk over to K Street if he wants to read the legislation?

[hit and run]

OK, new theory.

Former Obama Campaign Manager, David Plouffe this week http://www.google.com/url?q=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/09/plouffes-foreign-trip-not-on-obamas-behalf/&ei=G7uUSbxRpLCZB_fgkJwK&sa=X&oi=news_result&resnum=1&ct=result&cd=1&usg=AFQjCNEHv32WVe7TUvUg0HJ7StYkyH73Ag>caught flack for giving a speech in Azerbaijan.

And now, Sam Stein of "HuffPo Gets Face Time With O at His First Press Conference" Fame, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/12/press-milbank-protest-dav_n_166398.html>has a post about Plouffe catching flack for trying to give a speech at the National Press Club *off the record* which has some media folks upset.

Ahhhhh, now I see.

Forget Rahm and Axelrod.

It's Plouffe who's been the brains behind everything, and having not joined the administration after heading the campaign, Plouffe's absence has resulted in the Obama Stupor.

[Pofarmer]

Just had an on air chat with a local radio host. There are two local shows, his 2 hour drive time show and a local 3 hour morning show. The last two days both hosts have been trying to get somebody to call in who supports the stimulus bill, so far, nobody. The guy's name is Gary Nolan. He used to work and lobby in D.C. I made the comment that after listening to the some comments he played by Harry Reid, The Maxine waters clip, and one of the Reps from Mass yesterday, that I was really questioning the IQ of these folks. He said that from his experience he more than agreed.

[kim]

Ah, I feel much better. This Gregg thing and this Owens thing and this Syria Boeing boing thing have rejuvenated me.
============================================

[Pagar]

(unless ACORN thugs get hired as census takers)

Wonder what the odds are that a non ACORN connected person could get hired as a census taker under this regime?

[matt]

" A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government"

Thomas Jefferson

(stole it from a comment on Tapper's site)

[Jim Rhoads a/k/a vjnjagvet]

The Obama transition and first month in office remind me of the old Carol Burnett soap opera spoof, As The Stomach Turns.

Even that old Democrat warhorse Mort Kondracke is underwhelmed and really has trouble articulating anything positive on FoxNews.

I am more encouraged today than yesterday. I hope Gregg rallies some of his Republican colleagues to call BS on the spending spree disguised as "stimulus".

[Ranger]

Wonder what the odds are that a non ACORN connected person could get hired as a census taker under this regime?

Posted by: Pagar | February 12, 2009 at 07:23 PM

If the R's to take back congress in 2010, one of their first acts should be authorizing funds for an independent audit of the census. That could be fun on many levels.

[bgates]

Is Marc Ambinder the den mother for the juicebox mafia?

[PeterUK]

"Well, ok, how about "in the history of 3 week old administrations!!!"?"

I admit your boy has potential,but at the moment he is no match for a seasoned dickhead.
Our boy,has a solid track record going back to when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer,selling the gold reserves at the bottom of the market after announcing he would do so.Takes real talent!

[narciso]

I step out for a bit to return the
"Gatehouse" *****, by the way, and get some groceries and all heck breaks loose, Gregg up an quits, I guess the spine was at the cleaners, Owens contradicts the president on the stimulus, what's the Syria boeing, boeing, thing thing. Plouffe (seriously what kind of a name is that) got giving a speech; to Armitage's Baku Chamber of Commerce buddies? and shortly afterward the head of the Azeri air force, in charge of the airbase with a like BMD post is
assasinated. Seems like a precursor for strikes at Rutul and Belakani; remembering
that Caucasus thread, with quotes from
"Crimson Tide" Oops I say. All they need now is for Interpol to serve a warrant on Mr. Wolf, formerly UBS Americas; that would make things very awkward indeed.

[clarice]

Hit, I am out of town, too, and will be for a few days. But I'm watching.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Okay put the drinks down. This AP blurb on the Gregg withdrawal is amazing. I nearly fell out of my chair. Consider the source.

From the AP: That was fast. Gregg isn’t dumb. There had to have been talks before he took it. Something “changed.” Remember the Zinni thing - offered Iraq, then passed up? Either all is not well in Obama-land, or it’s going to be ping-pong and take your best shot guess for four years. That’s a very dangerous and potentially destructive thing in a national leader - let alone right now.

[Ranger]

I have to say, some of the Obambots' comments at the ABC site are just too funny. The party line is there was no contradiction... more layoffs is rehiring, black is white, and we have always been at war with whomever... if Obama says it, it must be true.

[boris]

I am out of town for a few days also.

There's no conspiracy, it's all just a coincidence but the secret password is ********.

[Jane]

Someone reported that Gregg was particularly offended by Obama's partisan cracks in the White House.

We can only imagine.

[Topsecretk9]

Major Garret said Obama shouldn't have been surprised, a senior admin official said Gregg had let them know a couple of days ago.

Posted by: bad | February 12, 2009 at 06:05 PM

Sounds like the White House Cheif of Staff failed to communicate with the people who needed to know. How many strikes does Rahm get?
Posted by: Ranger | February 12, 2009 at 06:11 PM

Sounds like Gregg didn't go along like a poodle with the Friday spun dump (sounds like Gregg wizened up on how the WH dumps on everyone else) and so they were spinning poor, poor us, how rude of Gregg.

[Jane]

How many strikes does Rahm get?

What would O do without a puppeteer?

[Topsecretk9]

OK, that was a little incomprehensible - but what I meant is -- it sounds like they (WH) were strategizing on the roll out of the Gregg announcement because they are Messiah message control freaks -- i bet they didn't even communicate w/him after his aide told them -- and Gregg thought alright, no word, then I'll make an announcement

The "we're surprised - we didn't know" was all because they didn't control the message and all they could do to try and mke Gregg look bad is make look like he gave no notice

is what I think

[DebinNC]

"Obama is asking for time on the networks next Monday night so that the "people" can see him sign the stimulus bill and talk to the "people" about it..."

Hmm. A primetime presser this week, a primetime signing/speech next week, and a primetime State of the Union speech the next week? I think Peggy Noonan was right about Team Obama's blindness re overexposing him. Let's hope they preempt the very popular American Idol or House while they're at it. Voters will love that.

[bad]

How many strikes does Rahm get?

I thought that was the role of Mistress Pelosi?

[Jane]

This is interesting from the Corner:

Without Kennedy and with Gregg, the Stimulus Is at 60 Votes

I'll be taping a Red Meat in a few moments with Mark, but we just realized that while passage of the stimulus is still all but certain, Gregg's return to the Senate—and his likely "no" vote—makes the vote on final passage a bit more interesting.

It passed last time with 61 votes. But this time, Kennedy will not be there.

Reid is also concerned because the three GOP moderates who support the bill—Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania—suggested they did not want provide the decisive 60th vote for passage. That would likely happen without Kennedy voting.

So far, there’s no indication Reid has won any more GOP votes for the measure. But an aide to one of the GOP moderates, who asked not to be identified, doubted any of the moderates would drop off.

“I can not imagine any of them would back away after all the painstaking negotiations,” the aide said.

Guess what, Sens. Snowe, Specter, and Collins? You are providing the decisive votes.

[Ranger]

The "we're surprised - we didn't know" was all because they didn't control the message and all they could do to try and mke Gregg look bad is make look like he gave no notice

is what I think

Posted by: Topsecretk9 | February 12, 2009 at 08:05 PM

Yes, I think you are probably right Which means that Team Barry got caught in two out-right lies today.