Back To The State Department

Let's play word association. I'll start: "Secretary of State" and "horse".

Aha! Admit it: you thought John Kerry, didn't you. I'm sorry, but that is incorrect.

I'm talking about Hillary Clinton and beating the dead horse of the lack of a permanent Inspector General at the State Department during her entire tenure there.

So time for another reminder, this time courtesy of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Yesterday the committee convened a hearing titled "Watchdogs Needed: Top Government Investigator Positions Left Unfilled for Years".

It was six weeks ago that I started off a post here with these words:

This is probably not as well-known or oft talked about as it should be: during the period in which Hillary Clinton served as Secretary of State, at no time was a permanent, Senate-confirmed Inspector General in place.

Away we go again.

In her testimony at today's Senate hearing (.pdf), Danielle Brian from the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) recounted the situation with the State Department IG position during Obama's presidency. The position was vacant when he entered office after the former IG stepped down in the last year of Bush's presidency amid controversy.

Obama, however, was in no rush to fill that vacancy, despite concerns surrounding the acting IG. From Ms. Brian's testimony:

In 2010, POGO raised concerns about the relationship between [acting IG Howard] Geisel, a former ambassador and long-time member of the diplomatic corps, and State’s Under Secretary for Management, Patrick Kennedy. ... Despite Geisel’s assurances that his office’s work was not affected by his ties to an agency official, numerous whistleblowers from the State Department had come to POGO “due to a perception within the Department that employees with knowledge of wrongdoing cannot go to the OIG because they believe it to be captured by management.”

You know what they say - and by "they" I mean the Obama administration and by "say" I mean in hushed tones away from public consumption - Stifling Dissent is the Highest Form of Patriotism.

Continuing with Ms. Brian's testimony:

The Department lacked a permanent watchdog for Hillary Clinton’s entire four-year tenure as Secretary of State, the longest vacancy since the position was created in 1957.

Yes, Obama thrives on his presidency being called unprecedented.

The public is also left wondering whether an insider would have felt more comfortable blowing the whistle on the Department’s email problems if the IG’s office was headed by a permanent leader whose independence was beyond reproach.

We'll cut Obama at least a little slack here. Even had he appointed a permanent IG, it is safe to assume that person would have been more a political hack than an unrepoachable and independent leader. So let's just insert a cynical Hillarian "what difference would it have made" exclamation and MoveOn.

Once his Administration began, it took President Obama more than 1,700 days to nominate a permanent State IG—and only after Members of Congress, including this Committee, pressured the White House to act. The vacancy at the IG’s office lasted a total of 2,071 days— more than five years—before the President’s nominee, Steve A. Linick, finally took office in September 2013.

Soooooo, can we can reasonably assume that now Secretary of State John Kerry's email address ends in .gov?  It's the small things that keep us going.

Ms. Bryan also referenced this Wall Street Journal piece from March, which noted that State was the only cabinet level department that had "neither a confirmed nor nominated head watchdog" during that time.

The lack of a confirmed inspector general raises questions about oversight of the department under Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton. The department has been criticized for its failure to gather and archive the email records of Mrs. Clinton and other officials and for responses to public-record requests that lawmakers and advocacy groups say were insufficient, including its response to requests for information from a congressional panel investigating the 2012 terror attack in Benghazi, Libya.

Honestly, looked at another way, I think it answers as many questions as it raises, confirming Obama's unwillingness and weakness in providing independent oversight of the State Department on Hillary's watch.

Hillary got away with ethically troubling - and most likely outright illegal - behavior while Secretary of State when Obama was her boss (thanks, Obama).  

Now just imagine what Hillary could get away with if she were elected President and effectively had no boss.

Well. You can rest assured that Hillary has spent her entire adult lifetime imagining that very thing. 

 

Link to Last Page on Thread.

Comments

[DrJ]

Good evening all!

[Peter]

Second! assuming not naughty bin.

[Captain Hate]

Go Cavs.

[narciso]

Well actually the previous in was hounded out by the nutrients because of blackwater, supposedly.

[narciso]

There's another piece from January in France 24, re the real link to the koachis, mssr. Benghalem

[Miss Marple]

Jeff, I can tell you why there was no IG for State:

Plausible deniability. (Ironically, that's a term first used in the Nixon Administration, and we see how well THAT worked out.)

Without an IG, there wasn't anyone for whistle-blowers to go to within the department, making comlaints more dangerous.

Without an IG, there was no one to tell Hillary she couldn't set up that server and email.

AND, with no IG to rat her out, Hillary's actions were conveniently kept out of official reports to Obama (not that he would read them anyway, but if no IG, no reports, so voila!) I am positive he knew about that server, but it was far easier for Huma Abedin to communicate to the Muslim Brotherhood over that server and forward ifo she received from within State.

Plausible deniability. There will be no traces of contacts with Obama on any of those emails. Not a one.

[narciso]

They either eliminate or outright neuter any significant oversight,'it's what they do'

[Miss Marple]

Nytol!

[narciso]

And it takes a rumanian hacker or judicial watch or an independent party like Schweizer to get any answers

[DrJ]

MrsJ had an experience today that has just tickled her. She has a colleague who lives in San Diego, and his cell phone number reflects that.

She talked with him earlier today, and he was in Mongolia. It turns out that his wife is from Mongolia, and they own a house there. When asked about the distance, the reply was that wifi is everywhere.

The connection was not that good.

[Miss Marple]

Oh, boy!

Shatner has had it with Buzzfeed. Look at this reply to a Buzzfeed reporter:

William Shatner ‏@WilliamShatner 12m12 minutes ago

.@JimDalrympleII I am tired of your employer and their allowing of sensationalistic, yellow journalism. I have blocked most of your company.

[Miss Marple]

Now, really, Nytol!

[Walter]

HnR, just a quick note to say that I appreciate the insight you are bringing to the [guest] [additional] host role. We all appreciated the graphical humour you demonstrated as an above-the-line writer at vimh, but what you bring to the main page is, for lack of a better term, positively Maguire-esque.

Thanks.

[narciso]

EffendI ra him ' s family is stumped even though it was his call that prompted the police to act.

[GUS]

Cleveland is takingw AWFUL shots.

[Captain Hate]

I'm not a big fan of Shatner but he gets Buzzfeed exactly right.

Cavs were gassed in OT and with Irving out with a knee injury against a good team, it was lights out.

[Some Guy]

CH,

I'm a Warrior's fan, and I can honestly say they stole one tonight. Got outplayed 85% of the game by the Cavs.

[Captain Hate]

Some Guy,

I think the Warriors depth is what won it for them. Kerr did an excellent job of using his bench and it eventually wore the Cavs down. LeBron pretty much scored his last 15 points by willing them to go in because he looked gassed from midway in the third quarter. JR Smith was useless after the first half and could've been the difference with just an ok second half.

I like both Kerr and Blatt and love that two rookie head coaches are facing each other in the Finals. I don't know Kyrie's status going forward but that was an important game for the Cavs to snag and I'm not very confident about their chances now.

Congratulations to you. I've recently been in contact with another Warrior fan who confirmed how instrumental Jerry West was in building the team to where it is now.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

Richard Lindzen et al on NOAA's new crap science sandwich.
Ross McKitrick also has a little more detailed look at the top of the WUWT page.

[boatbuilder]

Splendid post, Jeff. After Hillary is elected the NYT and the WaPo will look back and wonder thoughtfully why the media didn't address these issues more forcefully.

They will of course blame it on the Republicans for not stepping up to their obligations as the opposition party.

[Some Guy]

CH,

I think there is a limit to how many blind/crazy 3 point shots JR Smith can make in one game... ; )

Kerr was trying to get Blatt as an assistant while the Cavs were interviewing him. Kerr has been extremely complimentary about Blatt all week long in the local press.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

--After Hillary is elected...--

Do I have to come back there?
Don't make me come back there...you won't like it if I have to come back there...

[GUS]

How fucking dumb would you have to be, to NOT SEE RODHAM, for the steaming, lying pile of shit that she is??
Seriously.

[daddy]

Jeff, I can tell you why there was no IG for State:

Plausible deniability.

Miss Marple,

I think David Brooks ("President Obama has run an amazingly scandal-free administration, not only he himself, but the people around him.") might say there was no need for an IG for State, because everyone was so naturally honest and above board.

Or is that another one of those Fox Butterfield thingies?

[daddy]

OT,

Tonight's Perry Mason episode, The Case of the Golden Girls, (Dec 1965) was a knockoff of a sort of Hugh Hefner mens club with pretty girls in bunny type outfits and the requisite murder and standard blubbering confession.

Checking out the bio's on some of the actresses, it turns out that 2 wound up later being Playboy Bunnies, and one was Mate of the Year for 1968. This tidbit from her bio I found great:

A photo of her that was in Playboy magazine was pasted into astronaut Pete Conrad's Apollo 12 lunar-surface checklist by the Apollo backup crew. Conrad wore the checklist on his spacesuit cuff and first found the photo during his walk on the Moon. The caption read "Seen any interesting hills and valleys?"

Ha! They'd probably have to go thru sensitivity training for pulling something like that today.

Here she is enjoying later Big Screen success,

but unfortunately her bio says that at this minute she is in the California State Pen for 9 years for attempted murder, so even tho' she beat the rap in the Perry Mason episode, in real life she wasn't so lucky:(

[daddy]

I'm thinking this ruling might breed some LawSuits:

With same-sex marriage legal, some Alaska couples must wed to keep health benefits

Starting July 1, same-sex couples who utilize the state of Alaska’s employee union health care plan will no longer have access to those benefits unless they are married.

The change in status comes after U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Burgess ruled in October that Alaska’s law banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional, allowing marriages to proceed in the state.

...the board’s decision to allow enrollment to only married same-sex couples comes in an effort to “treat all couples the same now.”

I believe the new logic is as follows:

1) Regular male/females had to get married to have the benefits.

2) Since gays couldn't legally marry they were allowed to have "Domestic Partnerships, which allowed the benefits.

3) Now that gays can marry they should have no special "Domestic Partnerships" rights that male/female couples do not have.

4) So either get married, or lose the benefits---equality under the Law.

[Extraneus]

Oh brother.

NYT: Let Transgender Troops Serve Openly

http://donotlink.com/www.nytimes.com/2015/06/04/opinion/let-transgender-troops-serve-openly.html

[Jeff Dobbs]

Oh brother.

Or sister. I don't even know any more.

[Marlene]

Morning! Jane,I would love to come down for daddy's party,but I'm going to NH tomorrow. daddy arrives in Manchester Sunday night and I'll be back in Maine. Hope your condo sells quickly! We put our condo near Bangor on the market last Friday,the realtor has a showing tonight.

[anonamom]

Ex, the major upside of Caitlyn Jennner on Vanity Fair and the article above is that hopefully it will bring even more exposure to psychiatrist and professor emeritus Paul McHugh's op-ed in last June's WSJ in which he explains why Johns Hopkins, an institution that pioneered "gender reassignment" surgery, stopped doing it.
They have a terrifyingly high suicide rate POST surgery.

He's spent a lifetime caring for these people.

They do not simply have a sexual orientation that is not standard;
they have a body dysmorphic mental disorder, similar to anorexia.
Their perception does not match reality, and apparently trying to make their reality match their perception is not the cure.
I have no idea when supporting and accepting becomes enabling
something with a high death rate. Probably no one does.

Elizabeth Foley posted it at Instapundit the other day.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/paul-mchugh-transgender-surgery-isnt-the-solution-1402615120

[pagar]

from narciso at 10:50
"They either eliminate or outright neuter any significant oversight,'it's what they do'"

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/irs-snubs-call-for-clinton-charity-probe/article/2565634

""The information you submitted will be considered in this program," it said. The letter was from Margaret Von Lienen, director of exempt organizations examinations, but she didn't sign it."

A unsigned letter?

[Marlene]

Porch told the story of dating a Pearl Jam guitarist on the previous thread. We have a story about a close encounter with rock fame. I'll bore everyone with the story now,looks like everyone is still sleeping. :)
Last night a friend of hubby's texted to say he was at the Billy Idol concert at the Maine State Pier in Portland. The friend said,I'm going to tell Billy I know Mrs.B (my mother-in-law). When my in-laws were snowbirds in the 1990s,they really enjoyed their retirement. They made many new friends,in fact one year when they returned,they told us about a wonderful British couple that had moved into their complex. My mother-in-law struck up a friendship with the woman and they attended daily Mass together. My m-i-l said, their son is some kind of musician/rock star. His name is Billy Idol. We said really? *insert eyeroll* At some point Billy visited his parents and my m-i-l met him. She told him her kids didn't believe she went to Mass with Bily Idol's mother. In a few weeks,we all received a large envelope in the mail. A picture of Nana,posing with Billy Idol! My husband kept that picture in his office for years and it was quite a conversation starter. Ha.

[Jeff Dobbs]

heh, i had to do a post on pagar's subject @6:57

[Cecil Turner]

Jeff,
This looked like a TM post all the way down to the byline. (Yes, that's a compliment.)

[Captain Hate on the iPad]

Anonamom gets it right of course. The really really sciency people in the MFM (quick, explain the scientific method), in their rush to call him a her, ignore that genetically speaking he is and always will be a male.

Sorry to bust their narrative but eff them.

[Jeff Dobbs]

thx Cecil.

[Cecil Turner]

Anonamom gets it right of course.

Well, I think I can work some daddy in here . . .

Is "Caveman" acceptable as a gender assignment (and do you actually have to have a cro-magnon brow surgery, or just feel that way)? Caveperson?

Because I think I can find at least a little DNA that'd support my case. Plus, I've got a lot of GEICO lines that are just begging to be used (e.g., "Okay, first of all, I'm not 100% in love with your tone right now.")

[maryrosee]

Cecil is right
I can no longer tell the difference between Jeff and Tom M

[narciso]

that piece I referenced earlier is in here:

http://pamelageller.com/2014/10/islamic-state-executioner-used-to-be-french-pot-smoking-clubber.html/

[Porchlight]

That's great, Marlene! Billy Idol just isn't the kind of guy you'd expect to have a mom going to daily Mass in Florida. :)

[Porchlight]

I loved those GEICO caveman ads. One of Mr. Porch's bandmates is quite hirsute and looked Neanderthal when his hair and beard were long. One day one of the caveman ads came on and my oldest daughter, then about two or three, was watching intently. "Jimmy guys," she said. She was right.

[narciso]

because they endorse the behavior,

http://therightscoop.com/sarah-palin-sickened-the-media-ignored-pedophile-lena-dunham-but-crucify-the-duggars/

mind you Josh might have had a better time, if he had testified to this, and gone forward from there,

[Porchlight]

"Maguire-esque" is quite the compliment. I agree, too - great post, Jeff.

[Jeff Dobbs]

thx

heh, the link to Brian's testimony above is to a pdf. The link itself got messed because it is formatted for download - and I used the "url" of the downloaded file. So it was to my C: drive. If I hadn't already outed myself by name, that woulda done it, tho not many people probably would have noticed.

[narciso]

maybe the eight years spent in Medina, doesn't give you any further insight

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/06/family-boston-terrorist-usaamah-rahim-showed-no-signs-of-being-radicalized-video/

[NKonChrome]

DR McHugh's essay in WSJ is sobering. I have pity for those small number of sexually ambiguous people, and disgust for ignorant morons like the NYT editors who use them as props.

[Ben]

"“Class of 2015, you should not leave Stone Ridge High School thinking that you face challenges that are at all, in any important sense, unprecedented,” Scalia said, adding that “Humanity has been around for at least some 5,000 years or so, and I doubt that the basic challenges as confronted are any worse now, or alas even much different, from what they ever were.”"

Supreme court justice Scalia, the highest and most edumacated bureaucrat I've had the displeasure of enduring until he dies, makes the case for Catholic and other fundamentally failed sects.

Huzzah!. No more smart-phone nonsense. I have the INNERTOOBS.....

[Duck]

State's IG is a bad joke and officers realize any discussion with them regarduing illegal matters will end their careers. Harry Giesel the head of the IG is well known for his antics while CG in Durban where many matters of interest to the IG were quietly deep sixed. Little wonder he now heads this outfit.