BT Good Morning

Hi Blue Texan!

forgive me for the OT:
CSPAN is showing live US Commission on International Religious Freedom Hearing, specifically on the Iran

And Matt Laur from Today said they knew this in their newsroom for months… AND I do not consider him liberal but a wingnut tool

Hiya.

I bet the Mittster is fingering his bottomless checkbook again.. is “unsuspend” a word?

Apparently the web site for Iseman’s lobbying firm is now off the internets.

And, dammit, I so wanted to see…

http://www.alcadefay.com/partners/cowgirl

That’s hilarious.

You think Romney is frustrated that this didn’t break oh, say, a month ago?

Hmmmm. Wonder why they didn’t choose to do a program on religious freedom in Iraq.

Morning BT!

So the New York Times has managed to do what none of the other “grownups” have been able to do, get the cons to rally around their most hated candidate.

Maybe Vicki Iseman will be hiding out..er..will be spending the weekend at an undisclosed location with Dick Cheney…

he’ll have to jump back in, more in sorrow than in anger, of course

Ah, BT, don’t you get it? They are happiest when they get to play the victim. Victim of the nasty liberal media makes them moist!

This puts them right where they want to be, and they are going to rally round. McCain will see an influx of cheetos-stained support checks. If they can get Mom to write them, that is.

Seriously, I can’t swim in that swamp, have the accusations that Shrillery or Obama Hussein are behinnd this started yet?

I remember when Kerry botched that joke about Bush in Iraq and the wingnuts reaction was the same — now we’ll rally and win the election!!!

Didn’t turn out so well.

I hang around in WaPo forums a little, and it’s very clear that while most of us consider the editorials to be total Right Wing propaganda, sometimes direct from Bush/Rove and almost identical to the WSJ, the Right Wing considers it to be another Leftist rag. The Right Wing has been pretty successful at labelling ALL media as communists. That’s how they maintain their “base”. By ignoring the truth.

Was this done by Huckabee, by pissed-off Republicans, or by Democrats?

I think it’s unlikely Democrats would bring something like this so early. By the elections in Nov. this story will be old history (probably too old to even discuss at pre-election debates).

I think maybe some Rs are trying to inoculate him by dropping story now so it blows over before campaign is in full swing.

Only problem is, I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts that the Times has a followup story.

Ah yes, the innuendo is terrible. Not like the all the anti-Obama whipsering on the far right.

I tell ya, the GOP is in full victim mode. I was just lashed out at by an old acquaintance about how ‘you people think people like me are assholes’.

He also talked about how his friend ‘who speaks English’ is having a tough time getting government assistance.

This bitter rump of the American electorate is heading into the bunker.

-G

Talk about wingnut reactions. McLobbyMoney on clinton’s impeachment:

Are perjury and obstruction of justice expressly listed as high crimes and misdemeanors? No. Why? Because they are self-evidently so. Just as the President is self-evidently the nation’s chief law enforcement officer, despite his attorneys’ quibbling to the contrary. It is self-evident to us all, I hope, that we cannot overlook, dismiss or diminish the obstruction of justice by the very person we charge with taking care that the laws are faithfully executed. It is self-evident to me. And accordingly, regretfully, I must vote to convict the President, and urge my colleagues to do the same.

You’d think he’d be a bit more worried about current obstruction.

Apparently the web site for Iseman’s lobbying firm is now off the internets.

And, dammit, I so wanted to see…

there’s always google cache of Iseman’s page

You can be sure that there is some sort of backstory to this..

It’ll be interesting today who Rush Limbaugh pretends to hate more, the NY Times or McCain?

I’m guessing he finds a way to say he knew all about this and it was why he was warning people.

Because Rush is never wrong…or sober.

Just days after Daddy Bush endorsed his great buddy McBush to carry the Repug standard for the next Bush term….. and few turned out, the campaign money dried up (mcbush is in more debt than cash on hand) and called up their good buddy KKKarl and said…. ok how do we move the silly cattle to support our guy…. and blame it on the scary LIBERALS?

John Weaver contacts MSNBC…source wasn’t me. Whatever he told the NYT was on the record and he passed along to McCain and his campaign team.

uh-oh…are we looking at a Rather/CBS moment brewing?

NYT and WaPo damned well better have their sourcing right.

Forget the sex, and, shudder, I really mean that, it’s the influence peddling, stupid.

Influence pandering?

Whoo boy.

Taking down the Wapo and the NYT’s in the heat of the campaign.

That would be a master stroke.

That leaves the Washington Times and the Murdoch Street Journal as the papers of record.

-G

Huffington has it on the front page

Article was fair, says U PA law professor Anita Allen on MSNBC. An article about moral hubris, the public trust, propriety and the appearance of impropriety.

Kathleen Reardon’s article on HuffPo about the punditocracy sure should be the bible today. Likely? Not.

What kind of “gate” is it?

NYT’s had this story for months, and Bennett was in the mix (thanks, ew) – you think they print it without having the sourcing right?

Plus, if you think about Rather, his stuff was right – he wasn’t taken down for being wrong, hence the lawsuit.

“There’s more to Cindy McCain than meets the serial-killer blue eye”

http://www.236.com/images/phot…..iginal.jpg

I think I wouldn’t want this man’s finger on the button.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/107581/output/print

Oh, lordy,don’t go there :)

Yupper!

I’m thinking but nothing clever yet.

pandergate

TNR does two blog entries examining former McCain staffer John Weaver’s pivotal role in the story:

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs…..venge.aspx
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs…..eaver.aspx

Geezergate

pandergate

I like it!

St. John isn’t a pimp or a panderer in this case- he’s a “john”.

It wasn’t just the NYT, but the WP, the Politico, NBC (Matt Lauer on Today just said they’d known about the story for months), and TNR at the VERY least.

In fact, the WaPo did an article on the lobbyist angle of the scandal two months ago:

Sen. John McCain said yesterday that he has “never done any favors for anybody — lobbyist or special interest group,” as his presidential campaign issued a statement denouncing allegations of legislative favoritism as “gutter politics.”

The Arizona Republican has hired a prominent Washington criminal attorney, Robert Bennett, to deal with the matter. “What is being done to John McCain is an outrage,” Bennett said in an interview.

Bennett said he sent prepared answers yesterday to written questions submitted by New York Times reporters who have spent weeks investigating questions about whether the senator did favors for a Washington lobbyist or her clients. She has also retained a lawyer, according to a knowledgeable source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing legal matters.

McCain called Times Executive Editor Bill Keller this month to deny the allegations and to complain that he was not being treated fairly by the Times reporters, who had not yet interviewed him, the source said.

The Times inquiry burst into public view when the Drudge Report Web site posted an item about the newspaper’s probe. Keller did not respond to a request to comment.

Hang in there, Johnny Mac!!!

If you survived 5 years in the Hanoi Hilton, repeated cheating on your injured wife, papering over the Keating 5 scandal with a straight shooter(tm) maverick image, you can survive this New York Times smear campaign.

Of course, now that the NY Post and NY Daily News and Washington Post and every podunk weekly coast to coast has picked up the story, you’ll probably need to resign from the Senate in order to prove your straight shooting maverick(tm) cred — but that’s okay, because it will be clear sailing into the November election right after you resign.

heh . . .

so we could call him “john” McCain.

This from the link in 32

McCain may have a bit of a vindictive streak. “John has an enemies list longer than Nixon’s,” says a former Pentagon official who did not want to get on it. “And, unlike Nixon, McCain really does try to get you.”

ViagraGate

Hi everyone:

I’m back online…I’m sure I missed a lot. Can omeone please bring me up to speed in 2 or 3 sentences?

Thanks much….

I’ll give Ann in AZ credit for this one posted yesterday (?) on TBogg. A quote from Keating, um, back in the day when you know, you had to Expect something for your money:

“In 1989, Keating himself left no doubt that the campaign funds he lavished on the five senators were designed to produce results, when he declared to reporters: ”One question, among the many others raised in recent weeks, had to do with whether my financial support in any way influenced several political figures to take up my cause. I want to say in the most forceful way I can: I certainly hope so.”

may i say…………………..OY

Imagine if Hillary had been involved with something like this. Just a hint of it. It wouldn’t matter if there was no facts to back it up.

Being in bed with a woman is one thing. Being in bed with lobbyists is another. The corruption of the political process is what the real story should be about. Of course Republicans and their lizard brained minions thrive on corruption. It’s their stock in trade. For the rest of the country a story on corruption should have legs.

Could it be that St. John’s Little John was more of a maverick and straightshooter than he was?

“And, unlike Nixon, McCain really does try to get you.”

So Nixon never really tried to get his enemies? Really? His having the FBI and the IRS examine “his enemies’” files for any possible ammunition was in no way an effort to bring the full force of government against his enemies? Really?

a shame the BEER money wasnt enuf, for this venal sack of shiiite

Read the whole article. It’s the least flattering thing I’ve ever seen in the MSM about McCain. Heres the link again.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/107581/output/print

Give the Swiftboaters a little time, George.

it would be negligent not to speculate imo

The shit never ceases.

The local LA Fox morning anchor this morning was still misquoting Michelle Obama from yesterday. No doubt it is company policy.

I think the implication is that, while Nixon went after some of his enemies, McCain goes after ALL of his enemies.

The picture on the NYT site right now looks like Cindy’s eyes are going to put a hex on John. COLD

Ya gotta love Town Hall’s crack that the lede invalidates any facts. When the fuck have conservatives ever paid attention to facts?

i did,thanks… 2 words come to mind BLIND AMBITION,but he also has BLONDE ambition lol

Wingnuts choose to ignore the fact that it’s two of McBush’s gooper staff who delivered this story to the Times- who are they working for? That’s the question of the day. It’s GOOPERS who want to tank him.

he is a tiny man 5′7….ill bet he is pencil dick too…so he has scores to settle

St. ’straight talk’ has been given a gift — now he’s got the wingnut 20% in his corner and only has the religious wingnut 15% to go. Maybe he’ll repent and find Jesus after this little episode.

I’m almost giddy with the tough talk about ‘enemies’ describing the majority of American voters. That ought to go over well in November.

It’s sad that McCain turned his back on his military service to become a Bush toady.

Enemies everywhere!

hmmm

sounds a little paranoid, maybe they should get that brain looked at

So Nixon never really tried to get his enemies? Really? His having the FBI and the IRS examine “his enemies’” files for any possible ammunition was in no way an effort to bring the full force of government against his enemies? Really?

So now you bring in facts. What the heck have facts got to do with anything in this. Let’s just stick to rumour and speculation…it is much more profitable for MSM, facts are so cut and dried, no sex there if you see what I mean.

I still have the stirring lyrics of John Hartford in my head…

“Hey baby wanna boogie, boogie woogie woogie with me”

Bill Keller: The story speaks for itself. No one has challenged what we have reported. The facts have been nailed down. Long time in the works. Checked by lawyers. We stand by the story.

Updated statement from Keller coming on MSNBC after the commercials.

ViaGrate

Ah, the Clinton rules. The cable news show devoted endless blathering on Michele Obama’s comment and then CNN has George S on asking is there any there to the story.

Barbara Slavin is up on CSPAN, talking sense on Iran. Wonder why they let her do that?

that part about the warrior caste…could be a Samurai,reminds me of this

http://thumbnail.search.aolcdn…..A84B47.jpg

Conservatives have always seen enemies everywhere. First it was Commies under every bed. Then it was the liberal media. Then it was illegal aliens. Then it was terrorists everywhere. It’s back to the liberal press now. Without enemies the conservative movement would implode.

I was listening to Glenn Beck this morning. Good times.
After three weeks or more of attacks on John McCain (he’s not a conservative, conservatives shouldn’t vote for him, I’ll commit suicide if he’s the nominee), Beck is spinning furiously to say the NYT is making it all up, that McCain’s sheisty dealings were legal at the time (”no controlling legal authority), and that conservatives are unfairly held to a higher standard than liberals so OF COURSE McCain’s being attacked for having an affair.

Hilarious.

I was involved in the real estate development industry at the time, so I was paying attention to all of this. That quote was particularly galling, and the real punch line, Keating was a trained attorney. He surely should have known better than to say such a thing, but a man with a bigger ego you could not find. I remembered the quote so I looked for it. The citation can be found in the post ”Is This A Great Country Or What?” in my #23.

Proposed new nickname: “Don Juan McCain.”

“I’m the typical conservative who has not been happy with the McCain ascendancy, but the NYTimes has accomplished what Tojo did with Pearl Harbor. They have awoken (sic) a sleeping giant. We have been reminded who the real enemy is and it is not Senator McCain. I’m ordering my bumper sticker today.”

Be great when the “giant” gets it if he sticks it firmly over his pie hole.

What, hey, a new use for “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” fallacy?

Forget the sex?! It’s all about the sex. To Digby’s point, the NY Times (mass media in general) is less concerned about corruption and rides the sex sells angle straight through to financial climax – endorsements be damned.

In any case, I personally thank the Sweet Baby Jesus for this little mitzvah for McCain since he merits all the tar and feathering his transparent hypocricy inflicts upon his candidacy.

You pretty much described the entire Repube Party.

It’s all in the timing

This whole story started late last year as a right-wing hit job. It was brought to the media by former McCain staffers, Republicans all, presumably to deny McCain the nomination. But it didn’t get published by the MSM in November or December, when it might have cost him the nomination, but only now that the Rs are stuck with him as their nominee.

Now, reasonable people would see in this timing the usual timidity of the MSM, combined with its fractured nature. The outlet that had the original scoop (the NYT? WaPo?, TNR?) hesitated to run with it because they knew that there would be serious pushback and wanted to get the sourcing and the scope of the claims made very carefully drawn to avoid legal trouble. But the story gradually spread behind the scenes until so many outlets were working on it, that when one of them seemed poised to go ahead, they all went ahead to avoid being totally pre-empted. The right-wing got hoist by their own petard.

But to some people, Conservatism can never fail, so it can’t be their culture at fault, therefore the timing is a liberal conspiracy. I would almost prefer to believe the nutter theory, since it gives our side the credit of being able to pull off such a scheme. Would that it were so. But, like Will Rogers, I don’t belong to any organized political party, I’m a Democrat.

Ah, BT, don’t you get it? They are happiest when they get to play the victim. Victim of the nasty liberal media makes them moist!

This puts them right where they want to be, and they are going to rally round. McCain will see an influx of cheetos-stained support checks. If they can get Mom to write them, that is.

You got it. We all knew they were going to turn around and support McCain, but we thought it would be brought about by McCain making some nonapology and the wingnuts would trumpet that they had brought him to heel. Now it’s going to be more along the lines of “We still have serious reservations but we have to remember who the real enemy is here blah blah …”

Do we need another mixed up president trying to outdo his father? Shrub and now McOedipus?

Here in the District of Columbia, and also while tooling around in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs, I haven’t seen a single McCain bumper sticker or yard sign. Not one. Plenty of the other ones–including Ron Paul. But not McCain.

The bumpers have spoken!