In the latest twist on the eighteen-month-long endeavor to discover what exactly happened in regards to Operation Fast and Furious, the House Oversight Committee voted to cite Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress. It passed the committee 23-17 - on party lines - and is now headed to the floor of the House for a vote that is expected to take place some time next week (where is is expected to pass - again on a party line vote). For those not familiar with OF&F, go here and here for background.
Showing posts with label White House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label White House. Show all posts
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Monday, June 21, 2010
MSNBC GETS COORDINATED
How bad has the opinon of the White House's response to the oil spill become? Bad enough that their media schills are blatantly admitting coordination with the administration on talking points in a desperate move to deflect blame and repair public opinion:
The only thing surprising about this is the willingness of a journalist to admit the collusion between herself and the White House. If Mika has such an issue with Rudy Giuliani "spewing out a whole bunch of nothing", she should have had the show book a democrat to refute the allegations, not taken it upon herself to coordinate a response with the White House. Mika must have missed journalism 101 in college. Not to mention if we have learned anything from the past 63 days, it's that coordinating with the White House won't get you very far. Just ask Governor Jindal.
Ever the eternal optimist, I always try to find the silver lining, and this is no exception. What is the silver lining on this? Finally a kernel of truth from the neo-pravda media. It's a freakin' miracle!
The only thing surprising about this is the willingness of a journalist to admit the collusion between herself and the White House. If Mika has such an issue with Rudy Giuliani "spewing out a whole bunch of nothing", she should have had the show book a democrat to refute the allegations, not taken it upon herself to coordinate a response with the White House. Mika must have missed journalism 101 in college. Not to mention if we have learned anything from the past 63 days, it's that coordinating with the White House won't get you very far. Just ask Governor Jindal.
Ever the eternal optimist, I always try to find the silver lining, and this is no exception. What is the silver lining on this? Finally a kernel of truth from the neo-pravda media. It's a freakin' miracle!
Monday, February 8, 2010
A 'HEALTHY' DOSE OF DENIAL
In an interview with Katie Couric, President Obama defended his hopey-changey message. "Democrats wrote to me," Katie began with an apologetic smile, "saying you campaigned on a slogan of change you can believe in, but their lives and the ways of Washington, they wrote, haven't changed at all."
President Obama then launches into a denial-filled explaination of how transparent his administration is. He mentions the fact that his visitor logs for the White House are available to the public - something unheard of with other administrations (and you know who he means!). Of course he neglects to mention that those same logs were kept locked up (even after two federal rulings that the informtion was public), until November of '09 and even then, the list wasn't quite complete, it just went back to Sept. '09. The new era of transparency leaves much to be desired, in my opinion.
But it gets better. "We are eliminating lobbyists from boards and commissions," Obama insists. And what is happening to those lobbyists who are suddenly jobless in DC? Why, they miraculously get waivers to work in the White House
He finishes up with "There's more transparency on something like the Recovery Act and how taxpayer dollars are being spent than there/s ever been on a project of this size and scale." (has there ever been a project of this size and scale?) Sure, as long as you don't mind phantom zip codes and congressional districts that don't exist. And why, exactly, does the website say that about 650,000 jobs have been 'saved or created', but the administration keeps citing 1.5 - 2.4 million? Easy - they have now changed the rules so that if a company receives stimulus funds, any job within that company now counts as 'saved or created'. Quite a racket, no?
Obama, Pelosi et al have a little problem. They truly believe perception is reality, and that if they simply say something often enough, with enough conviction, it will be so. For the rest of us living in the real world (which luckily has internet access and youtube - something the administration, as tech-savvy has it has been touted as being, seems to have forgotten about), we can hear the spin and find out what's really going on. Apparently, for about 60% of Americans, their BS detectors are set to ultra sensitive, and claptrap like he was peddling to Couric just doesn't sell anymore.
Now Obama is calling for a health care summit, this time including Republicans and C-SPAN cameras. I guess bipartisanship and transparency are only necessary if you can't manage to pass it strictly on party lines and behind closed doors. Can you say 'political act of desperation'? I know that he is 'pivoting' to jobs, but why can't he just drop the whole health care thing completely for a while? Get the economy running again and then take up health care over the summer or fall (or, more realistically, next year). Unfortunately, the administration has managed to sell to their progressive base that economic recovery just won't happen until the health care system has been reformed.
One thing this administration has gotten really, really good at is painting themselves into corners.
What really strikes me, though, is the petulant tone of the democrats - particularly Obama. Well, except for Pelosi, who apparently has decided that tone-deaf defiance is the way to go. Hey Queen Nan - when you said you would "Go through the gate. If the gate's closed, we'll go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we'll pole vault in. If that doesn't work we'll parachute in but we're going to get health care reform passed for the American people", who do you think is making all of those obstructions? That would be the American people, Nan. You know, your bosses?
The woman is the poster child for power drunk career political hacks.
She is the snarling, snapping, rabid pitbull to Obama's shivering chihuahua, barking furiously to cover his uncertainty and incompetence as he hides behind her. If the republicans can manage to take back the House, she will be neutralized, and that is more than half the battle. The spin for this administration has become so lame and transparently, patently false that it is hard to believe anyone is falling for it anymore. Well, except for their hard-core base, which only comprises about 20% of the voting pool, thankfully. The rest of us respond to the desperate spin with a hearty chuckle these days, as we mark off one more day on the calendar.
The administration will be learning a hard lesson that perception is not reality, come November. Until then, let them spin away.
President Obama then launches into a denial-filled explaination of how transparent his administration is. He mentions the fact that his visitor logs for the White House are available to the public - something unheard of with other administrations (and you know who he means!). Of course he neglects to mention that those same logs were kept locked up (even after two federal rulings that the informtion was public), until November of '09 and even then, the list wasn't quite complete, it just went back to Sept. '09. The new era of transparency leaves much to be desired, in my opinion.
But it gets better. "We are eliminating lobbyists from boards and commissions," Obama insists. And what is happening to those lobbyists who are suddenly jobless in DC? Why, they miraculously get waivers to work in the White House
He finishes up with "There's more transparency on something like the Recovery Act and how taxpayer dollars are being spent than there/s ever been on a project of this size and scale." (has there ever been a project of this size and scale?) Sure, as long as you don't mind phantom zip codes and congressional districts that don't exist. And why, exactly, does the website say that about 650,000 jobs have been 'saved or created', but the administration keeps citing 1.5 - 2.4 million? Easy - they have now changed the rules so that if a company receives stimulus funds, any job within that company now counts as 'saved or created'. Quite a racket, no?
Obama, Pelosi et al have a little problem. They truly believe perception is reality, and that if they simply say something often enough, with enough conviction, it will be so. For the rest of us living in the real world (which luckily has internet access and youtube - something the administration, as tech-savvy has it has been touted as being, seems to have forgotten about), we can hear the spin and find out what's really going on. Apparently, for about 60% of Americans, their BS detectors are set to ultra sensitive, and claptrap like he was peddling to Couric just doesn't sell anymore.
Now Obama is calling for a health care summit, this time including Republicans and C-SPAN cameras. I guess bipartisanship and transparency are only necessary if you can't manage to pass it strictly on party lines and behind closed doors. Can you say 'political act of desperation'? I know that he is 'pivoting' to jobs, but why can't he just drop the whole health care thing completely for a while? Get the economy running again and then take up health care over the summer or fall (or, more realistically, next year). Unfortunately, the administration has managed to sell to their progressive base that economic recovery just won't happen until the health care system has been reformed.
One thing this administration has gotten really, really good at is painting themselves into corners.
What really strikes me, though, is the petulant tone of the democrats - particularly Obama. Well, except for Pelosi, who apparently has decided that tone-deaf defiance is the way to go. Hey Queen Nan - when you said you would "Go through the gate. If the gate's closed, we'll go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we'll pole vault in. If that doesn't work we'll parachute in but we're going to get health care reform passed for the American people", who do you think is making all of those obstructions? That would be the American people, Nan. You know, your bosses?
The woman is the poster child for power drunk career political hacks.
She is the snarling, snapping, rabid pitbull to Obama's shivering chihuahua, barking furiously to cover his uncertainty and incompetence as he hides behind her. If the republicans can manage to take back the House, she will be neutralized, and that is more than half the battle. The spin for this administration has become so lame and transparently, patently false that it is hard to believe anyone is falling for it anymore. Well, except for their hard-core base, which only comprises about 20% of the voting pool, thankfully. The rest of us respond to the desperate spin with a hearty chuckle these days, as we mark off one more day on the calendar.
The administration will be learning a hard lesson that perception is not reality, come November. Until then, let them spin away.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
WHITE HOUSE FOR RENT
According to the Washington Times, the Obama administration has managed to make the White House into the worlds fanciest VFW hall. For a mere $30,400 private donation or $300,000 bundle, you, too, can have VIP access to the White House and senior White House officials.
The perks include:
The perks include:
- A birthday visit to the Oval Office
- A round of golf with Dear Leader
- Lavish receptions at the White House
- A game of bowling with the family at the White House alley
- A private screening of your favorite movie in the basement theater
The DNC has also availed themselves of the White House prestige by hosting fundraisers on the premises, much as peons like you and I might rent out a VFW hall. Well, except that when we host a party, we don't require our guests to pay thousands of dollars to attend, as a general rule.
George W. Bush held fundraisers at Camp David and his Crawford ranch, but drew the line at the White House. This is probably because of all the flack Bill Clinton got for selling nights in the Lincoln bedroom. It will be interesting to see if the Neo Pravda media pick this story up. Fox didn't break it, so there is a chance, at least.
Considering Clinton got a lot of grief for his sale of access to the White House, there is certainly precedence for going after Obama on this, but the odds are good he will get a pass on this, too.
For me the piece de resistance was the quote from the deputy White House communications director, Dan Pfieffer:
""This administration has across the board set the toughest ethics standards in history. As a result, we have reduced special-interest influence over the policymaking process to promote merits-based decision-making," he added."
I haven't laughed so hard in years!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
A MOMENT OF SOLIDARITY
Kudos to ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN on standing up to the White House today.
Never thought I'd see it happen.
One can only imagine they saw the strong-arm tactics, looked at how quickly the administration turned against former allies when they voiced a differing opinion and saw the writing on the wall.
There, but for the Grace of God, go I....
I'm sure tomorrow it will be Fox-bashing as usual, but lets all savor this moment of clarity and solidarity, shall we? It's great to know that even they have limits to how much power they think the White House can grab.
Never thought I'd see it happen.
One can only imagine they saw the strong-arm tactics, looked at how quickly the administration turned against former allies when they voiced a differing opinion and saw the writing on the wall.
There, but for the Grace of God, go I....
I'm sure tomorrow it will be Fox-bashing as usual, but lets all savor this moment of clarity and solidarity, shall we? It's great to know that even they have limits to how much power they think the White House can grab.
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