Tweet
Joe Lieberman’s appropriation of the Rovian politics of projection in this race has been acute. He’s accused Ned Lamont being a flip-flopper on Iraq, when in fact it was Joe who voted for a permanent presence there and has now changed his mind. He’s accused Ned of negative campaigning, but in fact it has been his own campaign that has been spreading bold, outright lies about Lamont they have been forced by the press to recant.
This week Lieberman seemed to think it was a Really Big Deal that Ned Lamont owned some Halliburton stock, that this was some sign of abject moral depravity as he defaulted to his usual finger-wagging scold mode (seen in YouTube above) as local journalist Mark Davis tossed him a softball:
LIEBERMAN: From the limited disclosure he had under the ‘Senate ethics’ that he has stock in ‘Halliburton,’ and he has stock in, more stock in some of the big oil companies. That’s something for everybody to judge.
MARK DAVIS: That would be a crime?
LIEBERMAN: Oh no, this is just public right to know. None of this is about illegality. I think when you get into public office you’ve got an obligation to disclose all your financial holdings.
Now it turns out that Lieberman was playing Mark Davis for a fool, and he himself holds Halliburton stock. It is the third largest holding, in fact, in his "Victory Fund" mutual fund (PDF of Lieberman’s 2005 Personal Finance Disclosure Statement, p. 7, line 7).
If Lieberman really believed in the "public’s right to know" as anything other than a campaign talking point, perhaps he would have mentioned his own Halliburton stock at the same time? After all, Joe Lieberman is a sitting US Senator whose pro-war votes have been so helpful to Halliburton’s stock over the years. (Davis himself simply took Joe’s word for it and wrote a follow-up piece without further investigation into Joe’s own finances, helpfully repeating Lieberman’s scripted anti-Lamont tirade without troubling himself to look any deeper. That was quite a miss.)
The fact that Lieberman’s campaign is so desperate it has to engage in this kind of tactic (and take the risk of Joe’s own holdings being uncovered) to keep the focus off his record is a sign that they are indeed in melt-down.
158 Comments
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
fitz
ned
Ned!
ahh…
Kludge unit egregiously slow.
If Ned makes it thru the primary, and Joe’s vanity prevails, the way I’d put it is that “Joe won’t be able to run AWAY from himself.”
Too much out there to finesse, imho. From his kissy-face w/W to his Senate floor moral outrage against Clinton and lots in between.
The image is not coming through, Jane. And while Lowerman is in a bit of meltdown, I fear things are going to get uglier before the primary. Having said that, I know Lamont is in good hands.
Are you serious?
He really went after Ned for owning Halliburton stock when he had holdings in it himself?
I can’t make this compute. Nobody is that bad a campaigner, are they?
Un*uckingbelieveable, Whinerman owns Haliburton stock.
Jane, there are two p’s in “flopper”.
Politics seems to be the best example of the old saw that what you say about someone else usually says more about you.
Zero. Ahh.
Christopher Shays and 2 other Republicans back away from their support of the war, per Wapo.
Apparently there’s an election this year! People in swing districts are beginning to pay attention.
They are hearing that things aren’t going so well in Iraq. From whom? Not the corporate media. They are hearing from their constituents–us.
Linky at GOP Lawmakers Edge Away From Optimism on Iraq
Roots!
Jane:
Excellent. Had an ongoing back-and-forth elsewhere on net, where Ned’s Halliburton came up (this guy is of the ‘bbbut Clinton! and loves the Rubber Stamps we have in the Capitol now. Hates the idea of a challenge…)
Is the GRINX info directly Joe’s? Can I post that link and say this is Joe’s portfolio? I only ask, ‘cuz I tend to have accuracy probs…as is well known around the lake…
Thanks.
As Jane pointed out yesterday, it’s about the politics of distraction. Throw some mud and run. Joe’s problem is he can’t even throw mud without getting it all over himself. What a putz! And now back to Lieberman’s lamentable record, his hypocrisy, his neoconservatism, and his obsequious sucking up to Bush.
HOLY HALLIBURTON, BATMAN!
Lieberman owns Halliburton stock, too?!?! What a hypocritical sanctimonious gasbag lying sack of excrement.
Great work, Jane.
Now, why can’t journalists do a little more journalisiming and a lot less stenography?
FWIW
Nice graph of Halliburton stock price over the last 5 years
Joe loves to scold. It’s his favorite activity…No! It’s his purpose in life!!
Who wants to do a full-page ad in Monday’s paper?
Lieberman’s speech on Clinton on the top half, Lieberman’s condemnation of Bush’s critics on the bottom. It would be one hell of an advertisement.
I don’t get it … Joe, war friendly senator has Haliburton stock … what is surprise?
Blank Kludge 10 — The PDF comes from Open Secrets
http://www.opensecrets.org/pfd…..=N00000616
I hope Mark Davis is sufficiently pissed at being punked that he takes the first opportunity to ask Lieberman, “So, given your comments that the people should make a judgment about Ned Lamont’s stock holdings, what judgment do you think they should make about yours – and about your willingness to impute something unethical about a private citizen owning the same stock you – as a sitting US Senator – do?”
No one this inept should be allowed anywhere near elected office.
Halliburton stock price displayed in graph linked at 12:20 is for one day, you have to click on the “5 year tab” at the far right.
oh … the video … i get it
Say, in the sector breakdowns from that Yahoo story, where’s Defense? Is it hiding in “Hardware”?
What Lieberman should be saying about Bush.
Major meltdown mode. Wow.
Busted – thanks for the polling info belowthread. So down by 15 – a month later up by 4 /- so even with margins etc. up by a solid 12 or so in one month. A month where NARAL and PP and Boxer and Biden and print pundits and TV pundits and campaign $$$ all go his way – but the CT voter numbers go a different way.
The amount, of course, is small, but even if Joe is only a ‘little bit Halliburton-pregnant’ (ownership through a small mutual fund holding) his house nevertheless looks (to mix a metaphor) to be constructed of glass.
What I want to know is this:
WHO TOLD this guy that Ned Lamont owns “millions” of shares in Halliburton stock???
This footage was in Mark Davis’s report on WTNH – an older African-American guy, described as a longtime Democratic activist, says:
“He owns a lot, umpteen million shares of Halliburton, which we are sort of, think is, look at with a jaundice eye, so to speak,” says Abe Giles.
WHO planted this misinformation with Giles? That’s the real story if Mark Davis wants to go after it.
Implosion. Hahahahaha.
Request to anon, could you please make it anon4 or anon5 or something, just so when you comment again we know it’s you? Thanks.
Jane:
Thanks. I’ll use it to post…
IF this bloody CPU still has life. Inexplicably shut iteslf down. NEVER did that before. Rebooted into OS 9, using that for this post. Will restart to get back to OS X. Anybody got a Pismo they ain’t using anymore? I may need an upgrade Real Soon Now.
later.
RGJoe’s over-the-top breathlessly incompetent as a campaigner. Watching the clip, it’s quite clear there’s something shifty in RGJoe’s response about Halliburton — sliding from HAL to big oil, for instance — but then to read Jane’s post and find that RGJoe owns HAL!
And the CT press, unused to disbelieving Joe, doesn’t think to analyze whether RGJoe owns HAL too? Those guys better get a clue — they’re being played.
Oh, my, more of this please, bigger helpings for three more weeks, PLEASE!
Teddy
Next up, we need to figure out how much big oil in that there portfolio.
Who started the War between the USA and the terrorists? What was the incident which polarized the crazed islamists to want all our women to wear burqas and everyone to pray 5 times a day to Mecca?
Seem like we pissed off moslems by going into THEIR corner of the globe and stirring up trouble? Setting up nations where none existed… giving the jews their own country… making deals with the so called house of saud to pump black gold, assassinating mosedegh… creating the coutry of Jordan out of thin air… and turning Al Quada into a CIA group to do a proxy war with the soviets in Afghanistan… then blaming HIM for the CIA (probably) back 9.11… And of course we pump billions into Israel which is expanding accross the borders it was given in ‘48… and keeping the palestinians in virtual slums and prisons.
Now the rich arabs are hardly interested in the palestinians either. But Lieberman needs to see that WE started the war with Islam. We went over their and messed with them. It is all blowback and it will not go away until we leave and these people work out their own solutions.
ew: “we” being other than me, presumably, since that paperwork’s all a puzzlement to me….
emptywheel in the house!
To be a devil’s advocate for a moment, technically Lieberman doesn’t own any Halliburton stock, he owns shares of Victory Fund. IIRC, he can’t vote any shares of Halliburton or go to a Halliburton shareholder meeting. I’m just trying to be technically correct insofar as Lieberman made a huge gaffe by making an issue out of Lamont profiting from Halliburton because he does so as well. I think the focus should be on the profiting from rather than ownership.
Why isn’t Joe’s daughter in the army fighting the GWOT?
Mary 24 — good point, fun to watch them all line up and prove how useless and irrelevant they are.
Boy Mark Davis looks like a putz.
Jane–
Loved your interview with Ned!
It isn’t just making a profit – it’s being in a position to vote on issues that affect those profits. Ned has no ability to do that – but Joe does, which makes his interest in Halliburton far more questionable than Ned’s.
Two things, folks, to bear in mind about Bill Clinton’s planned visit next Monday (07/24) to stump for Holy Joe:
1) BOTH BILL AND HILLARY HAVE ALREADY PROMISED TO BACK WHOEVER WINS THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY IN CONNECTICUT. Period. (Sorry to shout, but some folks seem to have forgot about this.)
2) Whenever any opportunity arises to do so publicly — on a radio call-in show, through a letter to the editor, at a meet/greet with the cameras running, etc. — make a point of saying something along these lines:
a) “Gee, it’s so good of President Clinton to be so forgiving of the guy who enabled the out-of-control Republican Congress to put the country through the three-year hell of a bogus impeachment crisis.”
OR:
b) (the direct approach) “How can you be so nice to the guy who put you and us through three years of hell on toast?!?”
If we make sure the Connecticut airwaves and newspapers are filled with reminders of how Lieberman screwed the Clintons, then suddenly Holy Joe won’t be so happy that Bill’s putting in an appearance.
To start things off, how ’bout writing a letter to the folks at the Hartford Courant complete with reminders of How Holy Joe Backstabbed The Clintons? Either click here, or use letters@courant.com. If everybody who complained about the Clinton visit did this today and tomorrow — just in time to fill the Letters sections of the Sunday and Monday editions of the Courant — then that’ll go a LONG way towards using the Clinton visit as a judo move on Holy Joe.
And we’d have fun doing it, too!
Well, yeah, but the Lamont holding is through a mutual fund as well, isn’t it? So “ownership” is THE issue, not voting at a stockholders meeting. Besides, no single stockholder (except the Darth Lord) owns enough stock to affect the direction of the company,
Profitting from HAL’s Iraq activities is the ONLY issue, and the one raised by Joe’s folks (over and over and over).
JANE!
YES, that was “quite a miss” by mark davis. can’t this guy walk and chew gum at the same time. maybe he aspires to become a member of the white house press corps, ‘er i mean white house press corpse.
Picking up on Mary’s comment above, it also highlights that this group is just as clueless as Joe is.
“This group” being Biden, Boxer, NARAL, PP, etc.
Teddy SF 40
Hypocricy is an issue, too, isn’t it?
DefJef,
Mossadegh was overthrown in August 1953. He died under house arrest March 5, 1967.
Jane, you tell ‘em, girl! Really, here’s the link ;)
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/link.asp?L=194494
Davis seems to be taking great delight in covering this election and it doesn’t seem he falls down on one side or the other. So I’m sure this would just be another story that would put a twinkle in his eye. “Well, lookie here, Lieberman owns Halliburton stock, too.”
…dog, too 44: Yes, you’re right, I meant to say that the issue raised by RGJoe is Ned’s ownership (which is, I think, also through a mutual fund).
I suppose that RGJoe was trying to highlight some perceived hypocrisy on Ned’s part in opposing the war while profiting from HAL’s success at it. Nonetheless, the larger hypocrisy (isn’t there someone on RGJoe’s campaign who could have seen this coming???) is certainly RGJoe’s, having profited while voting and agitating in support of HAL’s profitable misadventure overseas.
More, please, Jane, of this!
Well typically investors hire someone, or a firm, to do their investing for them. Yes, there a few die-hards out there that manually manage thier own portfolios, but it’s much more common for people to outsource the management. Whether or not either Ned or Joe own a particular stock is not particularly relevant.
What someone should ask Joe though, is that if Halliburton is so bad that he feels the need to demonize Ned about it, why on earth has he (Joe) been supporting the Bush/Cheney/Halliburton platform so consistently?
The 1953 coup
I’m sure Ned’s adept crew is at work on the response language, but here’s my suggested rejoinder for Ned:
“Both Senator Lieberman and I, it turns out, have invested in Haliburton stocks in one way or another. The difference is that Senator Lieberman supported the occupation of Iraq at a time that Haliburton was being awarded non-compete contracts for work in that country and I opposed our intervention in Iraq. As the Senator suggests, the voters should have that information and make their own minds up about where there mey have been a conflict of interest. “
Teddy at 40,
My understanding was that Lamont owned the Halliburton stock directly but that his money manager selected it for him. My main point was to make sure we use the right terminology so that we don’t have to go through a round of Lieberman trying to draw a meaningless distinction which the press would latch onto. To my mind, at any rate, the issue that Lieberman was making out of Halliburton was that Lamont profits from it, which of course he does as well. As to voting, I was just trying to highlight one of the qualitative differences between owning directly and owning a mutual fund.
Mark Davis should have sensed that the other shoe was about to drop. Not the sharpest tool in the shed?
If rove is bush’s brain does that make him lieberman’s little head? Considering all the stroking karl gets from joe one would assume so.
Jane, here’s a process question –
It was said that CT is a very expensive media market, because all of the TV feeds either come out of NYC or Boston.
But it seems there is a very lively local CT media that is covering this race with the sort of vigor we should expect from the national media.
Here’s the question: what is your perception on the media breakdown in state — how much is local, and how much is from NYC and Boston? Also, can the candidates get around the broadcast advertising rates with local cable system media buys?
OT:
Three, count ‘em, three Monarch Butterflies on the Turk’s Cap outside my window. :)
Joe is trying to alienate Ned from Ned’s supporters by bringing up the Halliburton issue. Joe’s voters arent bothered by Joe owning the stuff. It seems Ned owns only about $50,000 of Halliburton stock, hardly a major component of his portfolio but it’s hardly “millions of dollars worth”" which is what is being spread around Joegent provocateurs.
It’s page 8, not 7, in the link.
Also, because it’s always best to be aware of what they might come back with: if you multiply the max amount on the disclosure form by the fractional Halliburton holdings of Victory, HoJo’s holdings look as if they are rather less than $50k. From what I’ve seen, though, that’s one act of multiplication more than most journalists like to do.
But despite the smallness of the sum involved, I’m enjoying the schadenfredue none the less for it…
1. ned- dump the hal stock.
2. use froggermarch 50:
“Both Senator Lieberman and I, it turns out, have invested in Haliburton stocks in one way or another. The difference is that Senator Lieberman supported the occupation of Iraq at a time that Haliburton was being awarded non-compete contracts for work in that country and I opposed our intervention in Iraq. As the Senator suggests, the voters should have that information and make their own minds up about where there mey have been a conflict of interest. ”
3.then use video of joe in a tv spot to hang himself.
Maura’s question shows how effective the kind of sleazy politics Lieberman’s using are: It’s “out there”. Has Mark Davis asked Lieberman about his wife’s income as a lobbyist? has any journamalist?
PS: I see the WaPo has a story about whether or not blogs are ‘journalism’….anybody remember an article about whether cable teevee screeching fest are journalism? is Joe Klein a journalist? is David Broder?
Teddy SF – Very good explanation; but only omniscience is claimed, I don’t claim omnipotence (although others may believe in my omnipotence).
Dr. Bong – There’s no definition there, although a heading is, IM not so HO, significant progress.
AHLDToo – Yeah. Although this time I will not comment on the issue…..but I still don’t get the surprise thing (or the confusion for that matter), but whatever.
And now lunch and back to studying.
HAL is the third largest holding in Joe’s “Victory Fund” mutual fund? The link provided shows HAL as this fund’s largest holding.
EPU may never forgive me for speculating about HIS gender (it’s “out there”)
OT with apologies
Not asking to go into this & disrupt discussion, but could someone else please save the link for FDL blog-time appropriate for any or all(!) of the topics below:
Iraq/ Soldiers/ On the ground experience/ Birds
http://www.birderblog.com/post.php?id=1358
Blundered into it &, amidst all the talk of shallow, detached, fauxJoe, it just broke my heart somehow. If Ned doesn’t swamp Joeper, I’ll just . . just . .
Go Ned GO!
“(although others may believe in my omnipotence)”
Raising hand carefully.
Seen too many threads end after an epu comment.
Prof says:
July 20th, 2006 at 12:28 pm
Are Ned Lamont’s and Joe Lieberman’s investments in whatever Halliburton stock they own in a mutual fund? If so, how would they be able to direct the mutual fund to invest in a particular security?
Or are their repsective holdings held in street name in discretionary accounts managed by their stockbrokers?
I know that these questions have been asked before, and I will rephrase what Maura asked above: who divulged information about Ned Lamont’s and Joe Liberman’s investments? How was that information obtained? To whom was that information originally disseminated?
Jane:
Caught this at TPM
http://www.rollcall.com/issues…..ml?type=pf
“Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.), one of the last “liberal hawks” in the Democratic Party and a leader in efforts to find bipartisan solutions to America’s problems, is being targeted for defeat by an emergent new left that’s using savage, Internet-based attacks to push moderation out of politics.”
EPU: The definition is under EPU’d, not EPU, so:
http://www.urbandictionary.com…..PU’d
“…to push moderation out of politics.”
The NERVE.
punaise, way off topic and as you probably already know, Bonds will be available Saturday night. This gj ended without indicting him, but investigation will continue.
I’m a big Henry Aaron fan, so Barry can get all the walks, singles, doubles and triples he wants as far as I am concerned.
Adie 64
nice birder site. thank you.
Don’t let DICK CHENEY know about it.
in Joe’s Victory Fund ownings, Halliburton is 4.04% of assets but it’s the most profitable stock owned. And a U.S. Senator who is famously pro-war is definitely profiting from Halliburton — only two other of the top 10 stocks are profitable (Oracle and Bank of America)(Bank of America? bankruptcy law conflict-of-interest?)
Indeed DefJef.
What is the deal with them wanting all our women to wear . . .
;-)
That was done for all of you epu doubters.
YOu know, if Pat Buchanan can call neocon warmongering for what it is and decry it as too extremist for conservative Republicans — how in the WORLD did it get to be “centrist” for Democrats? Are they averaging the means to claim the center?
Crap, EPU, HTML ditched the escape coding for the apostrophe…
Try…
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=EPU%27d
Mary 74
It’s only Centrist on Faux News.
Just got online and, well, wow! Go Ned! Go Jane!
Here’s a pretty good story from KRT Wire today:
Lieberman’s support for war, Bush may cost him his job.
Some good local Connecticut reaction to Joe’s coziness with the Republicans.
I’m far more bothered by the campaign contributions than I am by the stock ownership, even though both have the potential to line Joe’s pockets depending on how he votes, etc.
I think Ned could take the “as it turns out…” approach, but segue into the list of campaign contributors, which pretty much obliterates any notion that Joe is for the “people” of CT, as much as he is for himself and the corporate interests to whom he is beholden to some undefined degree. Let the people judge that, too.
Fred at 62 I see HAL behind both GE and Amgen.
Addendum to my prior post in this thread: is all the information about Ned Lamont’s and Joe Lieberman’s investments in financial disclosure forms filed by both candidates? If so, that will answer the questions I asked earlier.
squirrel hiller 71
it was quite the accident, but glad to oblige.
I trust you didn’t miss the Iraq connection.
I’ll tell the birdies to face away from him,
or better yet . . .
have a nice big meal, & then do a fly-over.
If latter, figure he’ll get a nice spluush on his fauncy glasses, followed by his own pellets’ back-splat.
Picture THAT on Youtube!
to push moderation out of politics
Were they talking about the United States?
A wee suggestion, if using html:
(1) Use it in the middle not the end.
(2) Preview to see if you closed.
Thanky.
excellent suggestion egregious!
Whohoo! With Joe Lieberman talking off the cuff, every day is like Christmas! Thanks, Joe!
(…and see y’all tonight at the FDL thing; I hope the beer’s good and cold!)
Dr. Bong – I saw the EPU’d one. Would you mind adding, “who claims omniscience.” It’s important to my method blogging.
Punaise – I actually was going to ask AHLDToo if you put her up to it (and that is assuming that AHLDToo is a woman – I’m operating on the inference that the “her” is a clue), as part of your nefarious plots against me.
leaving aside the too-obvious irony of Mort Kondracke (Mrs Fred Barnes) of al-Foxeera, late of the McLaughlin Group snivelling about ‘driving the moderation out of politics’…..Digby had a flashback the other day of Lieberman defending Rumsfeld after and about Abu Grahib. McCain and Hagel (and I think a couple other GOP Sens) condemned Rumsfeld and stopped just short of calling for his resignation. THis is just one, perhaps the most immoral, of Lieberman extreme GOP partisanship. These people do not live in the real world.
Bravo! EPU is part of blogging history. (he already knew that as he is omniscient)
Lieberman owns between $1000 and $15,000 of the Victory Diversified fund, and Haliburton makes up 4.04% of Victory’s assets.
It would appear that Lieberman’s has between $40 and $600 of Haliburton stock — so we’re not talking Dick Cheney’s $9 mil in Haliburton stock options.
GEEZ!, I’m going back to work. Can’t type today.
Teddy dear – got EPU’d last thread but your valentine from me to thee with my Boxer comments survived if ya wanna catch it later.
adie 82
yes i saw the iraq section!
i have my own mental cheney scenarios. some of them include bird droppings.
EPU 87
Yep, I’m a she, but my name’s not Dorothy.
Nobody put me up to it. I have no idea why I thought you were a gurrrll.
Sagra
The point is more what Lieberman tried to do with Lamont’s holdings, including implying that there was some connection between Democratic Candidate and Private Citizen Lamont’s stock portfolio and the Republican Bribery Scandal starring Jack Abramoff and Tom DeLay. Someone in CT ought to remind Senator Lieberman that the Abramoff scandal is about campaign contributions and influence in votes, not stock ownership.
“how in the WORLD did it get to be “centrist” for Democrats?”
IMO one key to understanding the process surfaced with the TM’s coverage of Feingold’s censure resolution. He stated explicitly, “ofcourse we expect the Pres to wiretap terrorists.”
TM wouldn’t print that.
The only press Feingold got was that he was against the War on
ErrorTerror.I think that after 9/11, the Dems lost all traction with the TM on National Defense and they caved. All those years of wingnut welfare and Bugman Abramoff
fundedlaundered 501(c)3’s caught up with them. It’s not all the TM’s fault, but I think they bear a lot of the responsibility.Ethnic Cleansing Already?
Israel Tells Residents to Evacuate From Southern Lebanon
At U.N., Annan Calls for Immediate End of Hostilities
By Edward Cody, John Ward Anderson and Debbi Wilgoren
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, July 20, 2006; 4:06 PM
BEIRUT, July 20 — Israel on Thursday told Lebanese residents to leave the southern sector of the country below the Litani River within 24 hours. The warning came a day after punishing airstrikes killed more than 50 people across Lebanon in the deadliest day since hostilities erupted July 12.
The other thing the TM forgot was that Reagan was so against “nation-building.”
Story about Nedheads in the Hartford Courant has a GREAT set of 29 Ned photos.
Look on the right hand side, halfway down the page. He is so photogenic!
Has Halliburton contributed to Lieberman over the years? I mean, every other crooked company and lobbying firm seems to have greased his palm.
“EPU’d” is in the Urban Dictionary?
That is too cool! I remember Jane’s historic proclamation of the new term and making a lame plea for “froggermarched” for the same condition.
History (the past several months) has shown our gracious hosts the wiser, as Evil Parallel Universe is also an apt term for the place of the stranded blog so described. Besides, it is a far, far better connection I go to for my name to be associated with forced removal of corrupt politicians and advisors from the White House and assorted nearby granite structures.
Congratulations to EPU and to FDL!
Oh, Ms. Holliday, that’s sweet of you, but “Great American Fellatio Crisis of the Late Twentieth Century” was the source of one of my first out-loud FDL laughs. I wasn’t the author of this terrific summary name for the late nineties — and I don’t remember who was!
Thanks for the shout, though, I think GAFC is a keeper!
Jim at 88, wow. Wonder if anyone can cough up film or printed words showing Lieb defended Rumsfeld about Abu Ghraib.
Defending the inexcusable.
Here’s the question: what is your perception on the media breakdown in state — how much is local, and how much is from NYC and Boston? Also, can the candidates get around the broadcast advertising rates with local cable system media buys?
ck, I can answer a little of this. CT has several local TV stations. WTNH in New Haven which is an ABC affliate and WFSB in Hartford which is a CBS affliate and WVIT which is a NBC affliate. I also think one of the Fox channels is local. There is also a local PBS.
We have two or three of everything here. Aside from the local WTNH ABC station, there’s an ABC New York station. The same goes for CBS, NBC, Fox (not to be confused with Fox News), and PBS.
I’ve seen a lot of TV ads for Lamont on WTNH, Comedy Central (around the Daily Show, and Steve Colbert Report time), and a couple others stations, but can’t remember which. I’ve also heard radio ads on WPLR FM.
I know nothing about rates, but would assume they’re buying directly from those local stations as the ads tend to run during the news which is entirely local.
the reason “modern conservatism” was cobbled together in the late 40s and early 50s is that conservatism before then was totally wrapped up in Fascism and Nazism — WW2 smashed “conservatism” as an ideology. It had to be reborn but “cleansed” of its heritage after 1945…
egregious: if you go to Digby’s place and scroll down, s/he has quite a post from Saturday 7/15. Here’s a highlight:
Mr. Secretary, the behavior by Americans at the prison in Iraq is, as we all acknowledge, immoral, intolerable and un-American. It deserves the apology that you have given today and that have been given by others in high positions in our government and our military.
I cannot help but say, however, that those who were responsible for killing 3,000 Americans on September 11th, 2001, never apologized. Those who have killed hundreds of Americans in uniform in Iraq working to liberate Iraq and protect our security have never apologized.
and calls for Rumsfeld’s resignation are “premature”; that’s from FoxNews so I’m sure there’s video
Fun facts about Spazeboy–he had no video experience before an April 5 Lamont event, didn’t even own a video camera. (Hartford Courant)
Yet his work may help turn the state around!
Roots!
http://www.urbandictionary.com…..PU’d
I think we will now indeed have to have “I Got EPU’d at FDL” t-shirts of CTBob’s design.
I’m buying you a beer, Bob.
the very, very Catholic Buckley kids got in trouble during WW2 overturning tombstones in a Jewish cemetery … a youthful fascist indiscretion, to be sure!
Lieberman in defense of Rum via Atrios.
>>>>>
LIEBERMAN: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Secretary, the behavior by Americans at the prison in Iraq is, as we all acknowledge, immoral, intolerable and un-American. It deserves the apology that you have given today and that have been given by others in high positions in our government and our military.
I cannot help but say, however, that those who were responsible for killing 3,000 Americans on September 11th, 2001, never apologized. Those who have killed hundreds of Americans in uniform in Iraq working to liberate Iraq and protect our security have never apologized.
LIEBERMAN: And those who murdered and burned and humiliated four Americans in Fallujah a while ago never received an apology from anybody.
Lieberman is making one of two points. Either he’s just saying “USA! Not quite as bad as the worst people on the planet!” Or, he’s saying “I just want to point out that some brown people unconnected to this event did some bad things!”
oy.
http://64.233.161.104/search?q…..chive.html lieberman abu ghraib&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=8
“…and early 1050’s.” I guess William certainly rebuffed them in 1066 !
Fallujah, and white phosphorus, are why I am here. We incinerated civilians.
Stock in Haliburton?…Why be ashamed? It’s up like 800% in the last 4 years. Get some of those stolen tax dollars back….brilliant!
Jane:
Looks like wordpress munched your apostrophe as well.
I’m in for a shirt!
EPU’s buyin’
:-)
as long as we’re piling on, via Digby again:
Lieberman told Fox News that the calls for Rumsfeld’s ouster are a distraction from the larger picture.
“We’re in the middle of a war — you wouldn’t want to have the secretary of defense change unless there’s really good reason for it and I don’t see any good reason at this time,” Lieberman said.
Abu Grahib is not “any good reason”. What lovely moderation in politics!!
A quick scan of the PDF document shows that there is no line for “Halliburton stock”. There are some mutual funds, at least one of which includes Halliburton stock in its portfolio. My reaction is “big deal”. This is even less significant, probably by an order of magnitude, than Lamont’s stake in Halliburton. Other than proving that either side can make a mountain out of a molehill, I don’t see much value in this information.
That Mark Davis missed this doesn’t seem terribly significant. Hopefully, he’ll address it in the future if someone points it out politely, and that will be the end of this nonsense.
The MyDD Daily Ned roundup — including another (fabulous or fabulist?) TNR poll that shows Ned with a 4 point lead.
http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/7/20/14720/6583
Cujo — the point of the Lieberman smear is to scare off us radical hippie pacifist anarchists who simply abominate Halliburton and capitalism. If we learn our Respected and Beloved Leader, the Sainted Ned, has tainted himself with such filthy lucre, we will return to our communes and leave politics to the grownups like Whiny Joe and Dick Cheney …
it’s meant to be a wedge issue between Ned and his supporters …
OT –
So why the WaPo “Woe Is Poor Scooter” Op Ed today?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01782.html
Just your basic counterpunch to the Wilson’s getting limelight last week? I know Sanford has tag-teamed with the eloquent ToriT before, as a
dueldual expert on the intel ident act and the first amendment. I even think he makes some decent points here and other places on First Amendment issues and normal leak investigations in general.But Baker Hostetler as a firm is all over the place on leaks these days. Which wouldn’t be that odd if, for example, you have different partners representing different clients with different interests. Maybe a little bit odder when there is no client for either partner, though. Or when the same paper goes to the same law firm for different sourcing on pro-leak/anti-leak views, but each reliably pro-Administration.
While Sanford is saying that leak investigations are bad – very bad:
By supplying corroboration of what has long been suspected — that Fitzgerald knew almost immediately and on his own who Novak’s three sources were — Novak has further confirmed another truth about leak investigations: They are a huge, dangerous waste of time.
… it seems like just a short while ago David Rivkin, also B & H partner, was saying it was the leaks that are bad, very bad, and they can’t be allowed to go on.
Also in WaPo.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..67_pf.html
But David B. Rivkin Jr., a partner at Baker & Hostetler in Washington and a senior lawyer in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, said the leaking is “out of control,” especially given the unique threat posed by terrorist groups.
“We’re at the end of this paradigm where we had this sort of gentlemen’s agreement where you had leaks and journalists were allowed to protect the leakers,” Rivkin said. “Everyone is playing Russian roulette now.”
I feel especially bad for Rivkin, having his law partner publically say he’s wrong about leak investigations, especially when he is in mourning for American Sovereignty.
Bc Rivkin and Lee Case wrote for NR http://www.nationalreview.com/…..040657.asp a very sober and moving piece back during the Gonzales nominations – about how American Sovereignty was at stake if Geneva conventions were to be applied to detainees.
The pretext for opposing this superbly qualified appointee [Gonzales] will be his role, as White House counsel, in developing the administration’s legal position on the classification and treatment of individuals captured in the War on Terror. The stakes in this battle are high: At issue may be nothing less than the future of American sovereignty.
I don’t know which Baker Hostetler partner sounds more in need of a Xanax and shot of Jack, Rivkin over the end of sovereign rule or Sanford over what seems to him to be an equally compelling fear. The fact the Wilsons’ suit may not be going away quickly, even though he is positive they have no claim:
The Plame-Wilson lawsuit … nonetheless threatens to drag out for several more years the dismembering of confidential relationships between journalists and their sources.
Dismembering sounds bad, but you do get guest appearances by Judy Miller, showing up to explain who gets the breast and who gets the thigh. Did that make it sound better?
An End to Sovereignty and Judicially Dismembered Sources. One paper, one law firm, no client, two-way spinning, two sad partners in need of a puppy to hug.
I’m starting to understand how the beltway boys end up being what, in a small town, would be called “different.”
*ilson 199
Like “Kathleen” announcing she was off to look for a Green candidate because she didn’t like Ned’s owning Halliburton?
Hmmm . . . .
This just in:
Judge Refuses to Dismiss Spying Lawsuit
By DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press Writer
1:29 PM PDT, July 20, 2006
“SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge Thursday refused to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the Bush administration’s domestic spying program, rejecting government claims that allowing the case to go forward could expose state secrets and jeopardize the war on terror.”
U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker said the warrantless eavesdropping has been so widely reported that there appears to be no danger of spilling secrets.”
Maybe it’s a win for the good guys.
His vote to confirm Gonzales ticked me to no end and this part of his statement still vexes me with its hyperbole and stupidity.
>>>>>>>>>>>
You can agree with Judge Gonzales’s position in this matter or not. I happen to agree with the ultimate decision made. And the decision was, in my opinion, a reasonable one, and ultimately a progressive one. The decision was that under the terms of the Geneva Convention, al Qaeda simply is not a state party to the Convention, is a terrorist group and as such its members were not entitled to prisoner of war status. And there’s a sentence in Judge Gonzales’s opinion that has been quoted with great derision, laughter, as if it was over the edge. He wrote, “The new paradigm war on terrorism renders “quaint” some of the provisions requiring that a captured enemy be afforded such things as commissary privileges, script advances of monthly pay, athletic uniforms and scientific instruments.”
I think Judge Gonzales was being restrained and diplomatic in using the word “quaint” to offer these benefits — access to a canteen to purchase food, soap and tobacco, a monthly advance of pay, the ability to have and consult personal financial accounts, the ability to receive scientific equipment, musical instruments or sports outfits. Giving these benefits to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who planned the attacks against us on September 11, wouldn’t be quaint. It would be offensive. It would be ridiculous. It would be ultimately unjust.
http://lieberman.senate.gov/ne…..?id=231560
When the Big Dog visits on July 24, I hope he remembers to stop by the Joementum campaign gift shop and pick up a memento of the occasion that captures Lieberman in full electrifying party mode.
A shorter video for Jane’s post, that gets right to the goods:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZUsA4BTaH0
…et ton petit chien aussi — that’s exactly why I felt it was important to call out Kathleen immediately — she certainly had ‘concern troll’ vibes …
The real problem with Joe’s hipocrisy vis-a-vis Halliburton stock is that he votes in the Senate. He votes to give billions of tax dollars to dishonest, even treasonous corporations like Bechtel and halliburton so that their bigwigs can get fat and rich, and can throw millions in cash around in Iraq to buy assassinations and bombings and who knows what else. Voting at stockholder meetings is unimportant compared to voting in the Senate, and Joe clearly has conflicts of interest. this is the problem with the lifetime pro politician; they succumb to the disease of entitlement. Joe must go; he misrepresents the people of Connecticut.
Nice catch, Mary.
*ilson 125
Oooh . . . I missed that.
Waytogo!
*ilson46201 @ 2:04 pm (#118) – Then citing Lieberman’s ownership of Halliburton won’t help, will it? He’s one with the military-industrial complex, after all. I was surprised that he owned so little.
I think Hadassah’s ties to the pharmaceutical companies is a more interesting angle there, as are Lieberman’s more direct ties to defense contractors, including all the money he’s taken from them for campaign contributions.
I certainly don’t understand how the public perceives these things, but the reality is that the thing to be worried about with conflict of interest is whether your own well-being is in any way tied up with someone whose fortunes you’re deciding as a government servant (this rule applied to me while I was working for a defense contractor, BTW). Lamont could flush the $50k down the toilet and it wouldn’t make a difference in his life, other than maybe having to hire a plumber. Lieberman’s ties are all perfectly legal, but they show a pattern of support for defense and pharmaceutical interests, which at times were contrary to the interests of his constituents.
PJ Evans 2:09
WOOT WOOT WOOT WOOT!
*ilson 125 again
I guess we can expect more of that kind of activity now that HoJo has hired campaign help from DC.
I’ve got a long OT comment in moderation (with multiple links) about the WaPo leak piece, but the Judge Walker news has to be some of the big news of the day/week/month…
Boy is that Kiss Float great. Every time I see it I’m more impressed. Hopefully CT voters feel the same way!
It symbolizes in a humorous way the central truth of this race which is: Lieberman is a defender and enabler of the worst, most criminal president in history. It all comes down to that.
GO LAMONT
Cuho 130
Something I think Lieberman’s glass house problem with Halliburton shows is a sloppy campaign staff.
Who let him go out there and make a big deal out of Ned’s stocks when he had the same problem, albeit smaller?
Mary — hit F5 and you will discover it was unmoderated hours ago!
OFF TOPIC (On Lamont):
News coverage of Ned Lamont’s presser on healthcare today. I was there with my video camera and will have a report up sometime soon (tomorrow maybe?)
OT:
Haaretz.com is reporting that Lebanon has announced that Lebanon’s military will be joining in the fighting in the event of an Israeli ground invasion. (no link, it’s one of the ticker things scrolling on the top of the page.
Thurston Howell IV is the bravest, kindest, gentlest, most wonderful human being I have ever known in my life !
for those of you who need a moment of laughter.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..25475.html
this Bushblairlove video is hilarious.
You need to “escape” (represent it using HTML escape code: %27) the apostrophe in order to get the link to work, but since we’re posting in HTML, you need to escape the %27 using backslashes in order to get the link to work you need it to be:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=EPU%27d
And in order to type that in the comments box, you need to type:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=EPU\%\27d
And in order to type that in the comments box, you need to type:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=EPU\\%\\27d
And… well, you get the idea
. . . and your little dog, too @ 2:21 pm (#134) – True, they should have checked first, but maybe they did. If *ilson46201’s right, the association hurts Lamont more than Lieberman.
I’m very sensitive to conflict of interest issues, and this is a non-issue for me. I suspect that most folks who would support Lamont will realize what’s up if they know the whole story. Lieberman’s $400 stake in Halliburton, or whatever it is, is largely irrelevant in that calculation. The only thing it illustrates that I forgot to mention before is that Halliburton is a big corporation, and it’s probably hard to divest oneself of all ownership in it. Heck, I have a couple of mutual funds. For all I know, I may have a $10 chunk of HAL myself.
Oh, BTW, I tend to just check for my forum handle by the first four letters. If you misspell that, I might miss it.
*lson – oops *g*
I just hope that those D.C. consultants that Joe hired can be called out when they try to “Dean” Ned.
Yes, I am remembering Iowa and Joe and others were not nice to my guy. Guess I should forgive and forget, huh?
squirrel hiller 140 Thanks!
*G*
new thread — Lebanon …
GrandmaJ @ 2:32 pm (#143) – Forgive, maybe, but never forget. Since you remember, though, what was the story? I remember Dean seemed to get torpedoed out there in corn country, but I’ve heard so many versions of what happened that I’m really confused.
Cujo — it was the total attack mode of the combined dem candidates going after whatever he said. I am still trying to forgive when Pelosi went after Dean for his “evanhanded” comment with relation to the ME. I never, ever knew that word indicated anti-semite.
And his belief in going after the vote of the guy in the pickup with the shotgun in his backwindow – he was accused of being racist somehow. I just did not get the attack.
I can’t remember now what Sharpton went after him for but it was somehow related to race issues. And the debates were awful to watch. Attack after attack. As a new candidate Dean could only sputter and did not always handle it well, but they were obviously joined in their put down of Dean. And they accomplished their task.
I wish I were living in Connecticut so I could vote for Lamont against Lieberman. I live in TN, and don’t the choice I have for Senator either.
It’s the Joepocrisy!
Jane Hamsher >”…The fact that Lieberman’s campaign is so desperate it has to engage in this kind of tactic (and take the risk of Joe’s own holdings being uncovered) to keep the focus off his record is a sign that they are indeed in melt-down.”
Don`t just beat him in the election, crush him !
He deserves no better treatment
“Eventually, the truth will emerge. And when it does, this house of cards, built of deceit, will fall.” – Robert C. Byrd
Why are people uploading CT-N files to YouTube when you can get everything right from the source?
http://www.ctn.state.ct.us/ondemand.asp?dir=CMP06
Two years ago, friends got me thinking, Joe Lieberman is not really with me, can we do better?
Now, seeing him in the throes of a campaign, Joe’s got me thinking, “What an asshole!”
Jane -
Jack Hitt on the Majority Report just quoted this post (not FDL specifically). He said (paraphrase) “One of the blogs today is talking about Lieberman running against himself”. Pretty cool.
So, Joe has Haliburton stock and is PRO war and Ned has Haliburton Stock and is ANTI war? In what bizarro universe is this revelation supposed to reflect badly on Lamont? It just calls FURTHER into question just what these other ‘allegiances’ Lieberman has that are other than to the Democratic party.
Voting for your financial self-interest while soldiers and civilians pay the price isn’t really a good selling point you old hack!
Ol’ Josh is certainly assisting the bad-mouthing of Ned. Thank you for not having that site on your blogroll. I guess I have to just read it sporadically now to find out what the centrist enemy is up to. Some people just can’t stand a progressive movement.
Just thought I’d post this story here. Couldn’t find a proper thread for it *big cough*
Ralph Reed Embraces ‘Blatant Adultering Cousin-Fuc_er’
here’s the last paragraph:
Giuliani said he opposes a ban on gay marriage, and that the issue “should play itself out in more states.” Well, now it’s playing out in Georgia, thanks to Rudy-n-Ralph’s traveling road show and red state revival. Reed’s homepage decries a judge who overturns Georgia’s gay marriage ban, and features a photo of Reed and pro-gay-civil-unions Giuliani embracing, shaking hands, and baring their teeth for the camera.
Break out the popcorn! Let the hypocrisy fest begin.
http://www.talk2action.org/sto…..15054/3433
Anyone catch Bill Bennett on WolfieB. tonight?
Acting all huffy because some Dems had the gall to refer to esteemed Prez. yesterday as our “Moral Ayotulluh”.
Hey! I thot that was little Billy’s job back awhile ago! Well. I guess he oughtta know, if anyone, eh?
Ned could whoop ass if he declared he would sell all his big oil and halliburton stock (as well as drug company etc). He won’t, he’s part of the club, you think he will offer a windfall profit tax on himself for the immoral tax breaks his tax bracket is benefitting from under Bush? No way he’s scum too with an impressive spin machine that only money cab buy…just like Joe.
Good thing for Joe he was being interviewed by a “journalist.”
Apparently Lamont does *not* have Halliburton stocks and got rid of the small amount he had a while ago. The stock was part of some deal, or something that a stockbroker picked out for him. Again it’s the Lieberman style of politics of mass distraction.