Friday, 24 May 2013
Power & the propagandists
So let me get this straight. On Tuesday, these so-called progressive, so-called journalists were spotted going into the West Wing, presumably for some sort of "off the record" session with their White House handlers: Jonathan Capehart, Josh Marshall and [Journ-
-list founder] Ezra Klein.
And yesterday?
President Obama held a private meeting with top national security journalists on Thursday afternoon following his national security policy address at the National Defense University in Washington, POLITICO has learned.
Present at the meeting were Thomas Friedman, The New York Times columnist; Gerald Seib,The Wall Street Journal's Washington bureau chief; Fred Hiatt, the editorial page editor of The Washington Post; David Igantius, The Washington Post columnist; Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic correspondent and Bloomberg View columnist; and Joe Klein, the Time magazine columnist.
The meeting, which was scheduled to last for one hour but lasted for two, was held in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.
James Rosen was apparently not invited; nor were any of those who "stand with" him. I suppose a split in the press is better than no press at all.
Oh, and there's this: "Obama Admin Reportedly Fought To Keep James Rosen Search Warrant SECRET."
Here's a Conundrum for you....
Jeffrey Anderson: A Toxic Combination
“When it comes to . . . health care decisions, no American should be required to answer to the IRS — an agency that just forfeited its claim to a reputation of impartiality.”
BUT But but... The Supreme Court upheld the legality of ObamaCare only on the basis - as per the government's argument - that it constitutes a TAX. So if the IRS should not be enforcing it, then WHO?
" If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun." -- Obama 08
With all the talk and the hearings and the news reports,
it is important to keep the essentials of this story in mind.
.... In December 2010 the FBI came to ask about a person who'd attended a King Street Patriots function. In January 2011 the FBI had more questions. The same month the IRS audited her business tax returns. In May 2011 the FBI called again for a general inquiry about King Street Patriots. In June 2011 Engelbrecht's personal tax returns were audited and the FBI called again. In October 2011 a round of questions on True the Vote. In November 2011 another call from the FBI. The next month, more questions from the FBI. In February 2012 a third round of IRS questions on True the Vote. In February 2012 a first round of questions on King Street Patriots. The same month the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms did an unscheduled audit of her business. (It had a license to make firearms but didn't make them.) In July 2012 the Occupational Safety and Health Administration did an unscheduled audit. In November 2012 more IRS questions on True the Vote. In March 2013, more questions. In April 2013 a second ATF audit.
All this because she requested tax-exempt status for a local conservative group and for one that registers voters and tries to get dead people off the rolls....
The Lament of an Israeli Leftist (Silly Jews, don't they know "peace" is for "palestinians"?)
" Those of us who are committed to
a bottom-up peace process must rise up and say:
Stop, you are shooting the wrong targets!"
Todah to my friend Doris Wise Montrose at CJHS for calling our attention to this commentary found at FresnoZionism.org. Clicking through to the link, we find this explanatory 'editorial note' at the Israel Academia Monitor:
IAM has recently commented on the bewildered reaction of left-wing Israeli faculty and students who find themselves shunned by their peers on Western campuses.
The Haaretz article below is the latest case in point. The author, an Israeli postgraduate student in Goldsmiths University of London, laments that, in spite of her credentials as left-wing peace supporter, she is shunned because of being an Israeli. In other words, her interlocutors do not care that she is a "good Israeli" ....
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/left-wing-israeli-academics-shunned-at-home-and-abroad.premium-1.524560 (Haaretz requires a subscription, but the article is available in full at IAM.)
.... Many Israeli left wingers who hope to find outside Israel the support they lack at home are greatly disappointed. Here in London, I have had several unpleasant encounters with people, including academics, who were unwilling to talk to me simply because I am Israeli.
The dual rejection by the academic communities inside and outside Israel can be extremely frustrating, especially for those of us who see our academic work as part of a profound educational obligation and the academic environment as an opportunity for dialogue and exchange.
Israeli academia is known for its left-wing and pro-peace views. Considering their role in shaping critical political discourse in Israel and abroad, pro-Palestinian activists might be expected to see us as potential allies rather than as members of a sector that needs to be punished for the policy of our homeland – a policy we often protest ourselves.
More and more people in the U.K. seem to support the academic boycott of Israel as a means of obligating the state to change its policy toward the Palestinians. In a survey conducted by The Guardian, for instance, 62 percent of respondents said Hawking's decision was justified.
But the change an academic boycott of Israel is likely to promote is not necessarily the one its supporters hope for. Even if a boycott pressures Israel to change its policy vis-a-vis the Palestinians, it will only increase antagonistic feelings among Israelis and destroy one of the few remaining channels for dialogue and exchange between the two nations. Then, even if Israel's official policy were to change, it might be too late to change the hearts of the Israeli people and lay the foundation for mutual understanding with the Palestinians.
It is at times like this, when every conceivable scenario seems hopeless, that academics are most needed. Those of us who are committed to a bottom-up peace process must rise up and say: Stop, you are shooting the wrong targets! If we are silent, we will contribute to changing the political map of the Middle East but not in the way supporters of a boycott imagine.
Silly Jews, don't they know "peace" is for "palestinians"? The answer to this lady's lament is obvious, but perhaps too simple for an academic who reveres complexity:
Join the team you're on, dumbass.
Thursday, 23 May 2013
Obama Quote of the Decade
"Let me say it as simply as I can:
Transparency and the rule of law
will be the touchstones of this presidency."
-- President Obama, Jan 21, 2009
Excuse me? Huffington Who, What?
h/t yeshiva son
Keith Koffler writes at White House Dossier:
As you may be aware, Rosen has had his phones and emails culled by DOJ as part of a investigation into a State Department source who allegedly leaked him classified information. Rosen himself may be targeted, since he was named as a potential “co-conspirator.”
Rosen is clearly very worried that these people – as in, the ones at the “Justice” Department – are wrecking his career. I mean, would you talk to James Rosen on background at this point?
I pity James. I’ve known him for many years – he covered the White House for a long time. He’s smart, totally unpretentious for a TV guy, and a real reporter who digs for stuff.
It’s ironic that he would be caught up in this, because he has a personal interest in the Nixon Watergate saga. He published a book in 2008, “The Strong Man: John Mitchell and the Secrets of Watergate.”
I wish him well and hope sincerely that he is able to continue the great reporting he’s always done.
ditto.
Speech! Speech!
10:15 am || Receives the Presidential Daily Briefing
11:00 am || Meets with senior advisors
12:30 pm || Lunch with Biden
2:00 pm || Delivers speech on the Administration’s counterterrorism policy; National Defense University, Washington
Wednesday, 22 May 2013
Batten down your hatches, the world has gone mad..
See if you can follow this.
ABC News reports that a "Florida Man" was on the verge of signing his confession to a 9/11 triple-murder of young Jews in 2011, ostensibly in connection with the Chechen terrorist brothers who bombed the Boston marathon, when he - i.e., this "Florida Man" - was shot dead by an FBI agent.
The man shot dead by an FBI agent in Orlando, Florida early today was "about to sign a statement" admitting to a role, along with Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev, in an unsolved triple murder in Massachusetts in 2011, two people with direct knowledge of the case told ABC News.
Ibragim Todashev "just went crazy," and pulled a knife during his interview with the FBI, said state and federal law enforcement officials briefed on the latest strange twist in the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombing.
One official said an FBI agent was stabbed several times, although his injuries were described by the FBI as "non-life threatening."
I miss George Bush. Hell, I miss Mitt Romney! I can't bear watching this country go from bad to worse, day after day after day...
The plots thicken
In the last four days, disapproval of The Won
has risen from 49 pct to 53 pct.
41 pct disapprove strongly.
