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Information Warfare

By Larry Johnson on February 20, 2008 at 9:22 PM in Barack Obama, Current Affairs

DCMedia Girl told me the other day that this year the media is doing the worst job ever of providing honest, genuine investigative reporting. Damn is she right. Two examples.

First, tonight’s breaking news about John McCain and his alleged political sexual relationship with lobbyist Vicky Iseman. I learned of this story in December 2007. I know one of the sources for the story. And I know that both the New York Times and USA Today were sitting on the story. Do you think Republicans would have wanted to know this information in December before the primaries started? I think so. But the New York Times decided, hell, let’s wait till McCain has it sewn up.

Second, Obama’s ties to a one time communist (Frank Marshall Davis see also) and self-confessed terrorist (William Ayers) (at least this is how the Republicans will be certain to play this info). This information has started to trickle out, finally, but no thanks to the news media. In fact, I was contacted Monday afternoon by the Washington Post’s Michael Dobbs. He wrote:

Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:06:37
To:LCJohnson@BERG-assoc.com
Subject: message from wapo reporter

I was interested in your Huffington Post blog item on Obama and Bill Ayers. The fact that Ayers gave a $200 donation to Obama plus fact that they were both members of the Woods Fund Board are matters of public record. But I have not seen any source for your statements that Ayers organized private fundraiser for Obama and that they arranged for donation to company with PLO ties. Could you provide sources for those statements, or give me a call?

Many thanks

Michael Dobbs

I returned the call and gave him the names and phone numbers of five people who could confirm the story. People with firsthand knowledge. Well, guess what? The lazy bastard declined to call any of the sources and wrote the following pablum:

But the Obama-Ayers link is a tenuous one. As Newsday pointed out Clinton has her own, also tenuous, Weatherman connection. Her husband commuted the sentences of a couple of convicted Weathermen Underground members, Susan Rosenberg and Linda Sue Evans, shortly before leaving office in January 2001. Which is worse: pardoning a convicted terrorist or accepting a campaign contribution from a former Weatherman who was never convicted?

Whatever his past, Ayers is now a respected member of the Chicago intelligentsia, and still a member of the Woods Fund Board. The president of the Woods Fund, Deborah Harrington said he had been selected for the board because of his solid academic credentials and “passion for social justice.”

Completely misleading bullshit. Obama was sitting on the board with Ayers just six years ago. Dobbs equates that with a contact Hillary never had (she gets blamed for something her husband did). Same thing, right? Obama and Ayers give money to the Arab American Action Network and Hillary does what? Dobbs is a hack. A lazy hack at that. I guarantee I will never return the bastard’s phone call again.

Let’s have the same standard for everyone–for McCain, Obama, and Clinton. Let’s get the truth out on the table now, while voters can still have a say in who their respective candidates will be. For the Democrats, it appears too late. They are drunk with the Obama cotton candy and do not realize that the sugar high will pass. We are close to the Obama zenith. The nadir to follow.

silver

Larry, I always enjoy your articles, but it’s not too late for Hillary!!!! There’s a lot that can still happen between now and March 4th!!!

AF

The only way for Hillary to win would be an Obama implosion. That’s possible before the convention, but not likely before March 4. She should just hit cruise control and enjoy herself for the rest of the campaign, so she can provide herself as the safe alternative, should anything happen.
chris

Well, we’ll see what my state does March 4th. I’m voting for HRC.

Cee

Larry,

Jump into the foxhole with me while there is still time.

I don’t care if McCain had an affair. He never claimed to be a saint.

Also, Obama isn’t a communist because he knew Ayers.

http://NoQuarterUSA.net Larry Johnson

Check the link. It has nothing to do with ayers. I’ll clarify.

Cee

Larry,

You got me to read an entire AIM article. Congrats.

What I said still stands only now it applies to Davis rather than Ayers.

Lastly, I’m far more worried about the old Troskyites who are attaching themselves to all of the politicans like leaches.

http://NoQuarterUSA.net Larry Johnson

But you do understand my point that this is the kind of stuff that, if left untouched until august, will be used with enthusiastic viciousness against Obama and the Democrats?

Did Davis still consider himself a communist in the sixties? I don’t know. Be sure the 527 that makes the ad won’t worry about the answer to that question.

CognitiveDissonance

Bingo! Which is exactly why all this stuff should have been aired out by now and the truth sifted out. But of course, the real agenda of the MSM is to bury Hillary, let Obama win the dem nomination, then bury him after the convention.
Cee

Larry,

I understand that you support Hillary and are helping the GOP at the same time by digging into this old news.

I’ve said that I believe Americans won’t be swayed by these attacks. Nobody wants to live in the past. Not with Obama. Not with McCain either.
Did the neocon stinkers who support him now decide to get the NYT to break that story so that Limbaugh will feel sorry for poor John?
I think so.

Now, back to talking about the next war in KOSOVO!!

silver

No one really knows WHAT Obama is because there’s been absolutely no scrutiny. This blog is the only resource that’s provided ANY in-depth coverage of Obama’s past. Oh, I forgot Oprah. How silly of me. You might expect the MSM to be ashamed of themselves, since the last time they were lax with research we were led into a devastating war. But it’s just a ratings game with them. None of the newscasters or journalists really care about America or have any integrity, because if they did, they’d do their job!! What an ass that Michael Dobbs is. But as of late, I’ve seen so many, they’re all starting to look alike.

AF

Actually, Access Hollywood interviewed Hillary one day before New Hampshire, and many said that helped her win the state.

And two days ago Entertainment Tonight covered the Obama-Patrick plagiarism story. Interesting times.

S. Markom

I know one of the sources for the story.

That would make twice as many as the New York Slime has.

There was actually a time when the New York Times was the standard of great journalism. Now they are no better than the National Enquirer. They have the worst record of journalism of any major daily in the country and their own scandals to back it up.

The timing is interesting because it won’t stop McCain’s nomination now and it will be irrelevant for the general election.

http://NoQuarterUSA.net Larry Johnson

You are right about the timing. Note, they NY Times has at least four sources identified by name in the story.

S. Markom

What also makes no sense is that they had the story, sat on it, and still endorsed him for the New York Primary.

chris

Editorial boards that endorse are not necessarily the same folks who vet this story.

TeakWoodKite

“one of the sources for the story.”
Who’s timing and who’s motive…mmm

He has criticized the cozy ties between lawmakers and lobbyists, but is relying on corporate lobbyists to donate their time running his presidential race and recently hired a lobbyist to run his Senate office.

At least we know right of the top, who is going to man the front office at 1600.

http://www.dcmediagirl.com dcmediagirl

Actually, the National Enquirer sources their material pretty extensively and before publishing has a team of lawyers scrutinize every word, which is more than you can say about so-called “mainstream” publications that don’t even fact check anymore.

TeakWoodKite

They need to get Tucker Carlson on Tape delay.

Luch was a sandwich and coffee, with BowTie Man saying “I was with McCain back then…I never saw her, unless she was in the back with a g-string”
referring to the other women Lobbiest.

My sane half’s jaw dropped with mine in unison and My sane half’s has a high threshold.

Has anyone else been saying out loud and
somewhat knee jerked “OHHH, no he did not say that”, I can’t recall this level of sexist remarks and for want of paying attention. This crap is getting a pass.

Montag

Oh Larry, Larry! ACCURACY IN MEDIA? Redbaiting? Why not go to the John Birch Society while you’re at it? Also, there’s a really great cartoon in the Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv of Obama painting the White House black that you might want to link to, just to make sure that you get the message accross that Obama is bbbbaaaaaaaadddddddddd. That’s the level that you’re sinking to. You keep saying that Obama’s lack of experience is a legitimate concern, which it is, but if that’s true why are you stooping to throwing such GARBAGE at him hoping that some of it will stick? You’re just undercutting your own argument–like the Jewish woman complaining to the Manager of a hotel in the Catskills: “The food here was poison, pure POISON! . . . And such small portions!”

http://NoQuarterUSA.net Larry Johnson

Montag. You once again miss the point. First, it is true that Obama had the relationship with Davis. I won’t be doing the red baiting. The Republicans will be happy to do it and what is Obama going to say?

I didn’t know Davis?
I didn’t know Davis was a communist?
What is a communist?

Second, whether you like it or not, whether it is fair or not, shit like this is going to be piled on Obama until election day if he is the nominee. And it is not easy to run away from.

While AIM is a rightwing site, take their info with a grain of salt, but it is a fact nonetheless.

TeakWoodKite

rightwing sites,left wing sites…all may contain information or facts. It is an eye opener when the facts refuse to fit the “shoe” and the Cinerellas’ sisters are made ill in try to wear it.

On the Marx influence, the Marxist sub-culture at Harvard has been present from at least 1970…

These stories have a lag time and sitting on them warps the “real time” aspect of the “news”. You think the NYT released it because it may have depreciated in value? It’s like a symphony orchestra warming up and soon the baton will be raised.

Requiem of Obama.

NQ

chris

THIS IS CHOICE!
“You keep saying that Obama’s lack of experience is a legitimate concern, which it is”

WHICH IT IS!
You gotta love someone who comes to smear Larry Johnson and yet…completely agrees. Wow, how can we get you to do this more often?

Even better is how you went out and found a smear, then propogated it, encourage Larry J to muddy the waters with something he didn’t do..and then agree with him.
I love NQ. Some of you snits are hillarious.

LadyGreen

Larry,

What about this theory regarding the McCain story: It’s being floated now [or pushed] by the Obama side for several reasons. One, to take attention away from Michelle’s stupid remarks and any flubs Barak may make tomorrow in the TX debate.

But second, after reading a story on MyDD about McCain and Hillary and their teams being pretty friendly and that they respect one another, the story goes on to say that McCain could actually help Hillary out in TX by taking a lot of the Independent voters [and probably a lot of moderate Republicans] away from Obama. Thus, the Obama team needs to tarnish him before TX to deter Indies from voting Republican.

The other possibility is that the RW nuts want to get Romney back in the game, but that doesn’t make a lot of sense to me because the NY Times wouldn’t go along with that. I think the timing here is everything.

Cee

What about this theory regarding the McCain story: It’s being floated now [or pushed] by the Obama side

Lady,

LOLOLOLOL!

fiscalliberal

Larry – thanks for the reference article to find a picture of the gal.

I understand McCain was a party guy before Vietnam. Dated Cindy while married to his first wife with kids.

At 60 – when he did it, more power to him to keep two woemne happy. Speaks to his resiliance as a leader
Sally

The Daily Howler has a story up today about a hit job Sam Roberts did in the Times going after Bill Clinton for supposedly plagiarizing:
http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh022008.shtml

The (false) story is here:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/pastor-gratified-by-bill-clintons-use-of-his-line/
republican attack machine

Thanks Larry. You’re doing a bangup job on our behalf.

As to the McCain story, surely you will devote your time and your crack staff to covering this story much like the non-stop coverage to every rumor, bit of innuedo or BS that you discuss about Mr. Obama.

The real reason that I am posting:

I should note that I formerly loved your blog and am pretty damn disappointed that it is non-stop Obama hate. Yes, I am an Obama fan, but the real reason that I am disappointed is, that since last week, I’ve been waiting/hoping that you’d talk about this just a tad more: Imad Mughniyeh.

Just one post about Mugniyeh and dozens about Obama?

But why talk about that when there are Obama ties to terrorists, communists, strange syrians, Rezko, plagirism, rezko blah blah blah?

What happened to you?

http://NoQuarterUSA.net Larry Johnson

Who put a gun to your head and forced you to click on this blog? If you don’t like it don’t read it.

I don’t write to make you happy. I write to vent my spleen. If you like it fine. If you don’t, you’re welcome to post your disagreement. But save your breath bitching about what I write. OK?

Rob Gard

Larry — That was just so rightous! I’ve been waiting for you to say that to one of the fly-by detractors and occasional tourists for a while, as I’ve said it to myself everytime I read one of these “I used to like your blog, but now it sucks” type posts. Hey tourista, if you don’t like it, don’t read it. We still have a bit of freedom left in this country, and surely you can fid a blog to your liking. Or if you have the money and the stones, put up your own blog. Those fly-by comentators are like a rude guest in your house who walks in the door, crinkles up their nose and tells you that they don’t like your furniture or dinnerware. That takes some friggin nerve, and your response was fantastic.

Simon

But why talk about that when there are Obama ties to terrorists, communists, strange syrians, Rezko, plagirism, rezko blah blah blah?

Because Obama’s ties hurt our country, damaging our national security?

Because we’re speaking of an individual who wants to be President, and the Washington Post reporter isn’t doing his job?

Who would have thought the Washington Post would become more useless than Chris Matthews, no wonder newspapers have become obsolete.
chris

I can’t automatically call you out for moral equivalency, but would you feel this way, if LJ was doing this only to a Republican? If we see scoops on Repubicans its ok, but scoop on Clinton or Obama, and AUTOMATICALLY its a Republican Talking Point, its a smear campain, etc….

This is what has really eliminated Obama as my candidate. He is fluff and stuff, he promises changes he can’t deliver, he regurgitates lines from his buddy as his own, and when called on it, his followers attack the messenger.

Funny how you like it when it aligns with your biases and views, and when it challenges them…rebel, say, “Obama Hating” to diminish your counterviews. This only shows you as an intolerate person of views that don’t lend support to your own.
Mary

I was wondering the same thing. Why Obama? You can favor Hillary but don’t tear down Obama to make her look better…stick to the facts.

chris

what if the facts show Obama is a fake? Stick to the subject.

Why Obama?
Because when you run for president on lofty goals and smears…YOU get some fire back for that shit.

I’m gonna change it all.
Washington is corrupt and I’ll change it.
I’m gonna change the country.
I’m gonna change the dynamic.

When you set yourself up with all these promises and ideals….how could you expect anything but criticism?

Wouldn’t you trust a politician more who said:
“Look folks Washington is a cesspool of self interst overall. And its sad because even if you elect me, we’ll only really have marginal improvement because we have so many issues that it isn’t really feasible to change them all. We may have to simply tackle the most pressing ones, and see what we can do. But I’ll at least stand here and tell you the truth. Our political system is in shatters because of so many lies and cons over the centuries that we just really don’t have a grasp on how bad it is. Congress cannot even hold the Executive Branch in check because so many of its members are also genuinely corrupt. So the best we can hope for right now is to start dealing with the corruption, have a calmer more level headed President who will move us through these tough times until we re-establish both world credibility and some semblance of order in our nation. We really need to dig into what has corrupted our system and that will take time.”

Or something to that sobering assessment.

“You can favor Hillary but don’t tear down Obama to make her look better”
This simply projection on your part, or filtered interpretation. I think in some ways she’s got warts on her record and some character flaws in my opinion. I didn’t make her look better, the attacks on her that caused me to actually examine her record made her look better than before this process. THANK YOU.

I sat down and listed her accomplishment, (working on the sources to match), and got 4 page Document file by the end (without the sources added). I did the same thing for Obama…3/4 of 1 page.

I didn’t make Obama look bad at all…I examined his little record and some things look good, but not everything. Only one of his Community Organizer goals really ever happened, which was to get more focus on dropouts, but the rest of the initiatives failed. He’s a dreamer, and he’s not the only one.

How bout give me some FACTS about Obama, outside your characteristic of him being Hopeful, Idealistic, and such, and give me some accomplishments. Give me the Facts you so want us to stick to. I’m waiting.

Jesus Reyes

There is a real break down in the power elite structure. Murdoch vs. GE, Realist/Internationalists vs. NeoCon/Idealists. Two mob families fighting it out. That’s never good for business. This is going to be great.
republican attack machine

I will Larry…and please vent away. I’m not asking to refrain from criticizing Mr. Obama. But, considering your background, you were the first website that I went to (well, after Naharnet, Daily Star, Haaretz, YNet, Jpost) and I saw all-Obama all the time.

Forget my earlier criticism. I guess what I want is this:

Any more theories on who did it? What it means? How Hezbollah will respond?

I re-read your post on Mr. Mughniyeh’s demise and you should keep cheering. You’re not a “callous troglodyte or an antiquedated cold warrior.” I’m generally not a fan of targeted assassinations, but every rule needs exceptions.

http://NoQuarterUSA.net Larry Johnson

I am fairly confident that Israel pulled it off. I commend them. I have spoken with folks from units of ours who could have done it. We would not have used a car bomb in an urban area. Too messy and unreliable.

yttik

I can’t explain the media. I haven’t been able to explain them for some time now. They’ve become nothing but a propaganda machine.

Last night I saw on my TV a ticker on the bottem of the screen that said “Al Qaeda wins Wisconson”. It was gone in the blink of an eye. Today on the internet I see that someone has posted some close captioning, “accidentally” ran, that says “we’ve just been told that Al Qaeda did indeed call Barack to congratulate him on winning.” A couple of days ago Chris Matthews ran bin Laden’s picture while talking about Obama.

I don’t believe in these kinds of media “accidents”. Is this like some sort of subliminal programming, just not too subliminal? Is it a way of warming us up, so we will accept the smears to come? Are we being primed?

I’m a conspiritress, so take this with a grain of salt. It’s simply opinion. But this whole Obama campaign just feels so staged.

Simon

I’m a conspiritress, so take this with a grain of salt. It’s simply opinion. But this whole Obama campaign just feels so staged

Don’t watch it.

If they’re idiots, don’t waste your time.

mark

Larry
It is rather remarkable; not that long ago we had live blogging from a Patrick Fitzgerald trial from the Kossacks, and now a Patrick Fitzgerald trial about to happen in a few weeks which does indeed involve the frontrunning candidate, and it’s a complete media blackout. From reporters chasing Fitzgerald everywhere in the rain, to……nothing. It is bizarre. With that trial coming it’s no wonder they want Hillary to concede. I want to win in November, I can’t think for a minute this isn’t all going to come before then.

http://noquarterusa.net/ SusanUnPC

GREAT observation. And I’m worried that the MSM that does cover the trial will miss the connections to Obama. We need bloggers in that trial to make sure it’s covered right.

Daryl

So which is he, a secret muslim terror-mole, or a secret communist?

It’s difficult to keep up with all the spin…..

republican attack machine

Why not both? We can keep both balls in the air at the same time. Besides, they’re not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Maybe Obama was a secret member of the PFLP. If he had a son, I’m sure he would have named him George Habash Obama.

Sadly, my jokes are failing. Habash was Greek Orthodx.

Simon

So which is he, a secret muslim terror-mole, or a secret communist?

A half wit moron too stupid to understand how he’s being manipulated?

Get it?

No?

Mike Howell

Not Presidential.

silver

I have to admit, the entire media blackout seems rather eerie—like a bizarre mystery novel. Who is in cahoots with whom?? You would think there would be a lot of young reporters that would love to make a name for themselves, and crack open any dirt they can find about any candidate—including Obama. It feels like we’re in the Twilight Zone. And the timing about McCain’s affair really IS odd. Do the powers that be want him to be nominated just so he can lose?? If I were a powerful entity, and I wanted to control the world, the candidate that looks the easiest to manipulate is Obama.

Simon

You would think there would be a lot of young reporters that would love to make a name for themselves

They’re on the Internet, blogging, now.

Not everyone can see through the fog, who shows the best judgement, whose willing to go along for a dollar, for status, or who is too stupid to get it?

You have to figure it out for yourself.

In this day and age, ultimately, the only way to survive is by doing right, obeying the law, the country can’t survive when everyone feels entitled to what they want, a criminal racket of sorts, esp when it involves our politicans, and our “cultural elite.”

I would love to have a piece of cheesecake everyday, I can’t, or I’d get sick, it’s not healthy.

So I don’t, even though I REALLY want that cheesecake.

Same thing when offered a 10,000 dollar bribe, via a Rezko kickback, ultimately, is it healthy to say yes?

Only if you think no one can ever touch you?

That’s just not true.
Lorelynn

If they crack dirt about Obama, it might hurt their career. It’s the same way the press looked the other way through out the Reagan administration, and the way no one ever talks about the record breaking level of corruption of the Reagan administration.

I’ll give you an example – towards the end of Reagan’s FIRST term, Lesley Stahl was invited to interview Reagan in the Oval Office. What she found was a non-lucid, incoherent, demented Reagan. He didn’t recognize her. He didn’t know where he was. he didn’t know what he was doing.

You would think this would be a story, right? Nope, she never mentioned it until she published her book. The second debate with Mondale, Reagan was also genuinely incoherent – to use Tony Coelho’s infamous words, “he did everything but drool.” This is the president of the most powerful country in the world at a pivotal time in history. it became the thing which cannot be talked about. it was barely brought up again. It should have been the number one topic of debate right and left. Nope.

When the news media decided in the late seventies/early eighties that fair coverage meant giving both sides and equal chance and that TRUTH has no intrinsic value – meaning, that a lying motherfucker is treated exactly as is someone who is respected for their genuine authority – journalism went totally to hell. It all became about the game.

Y’know, when Iran/Contra began breaking, Ben Bradlee refused to cover it because he “didn’t want another Watergate” on his hands. That pretty much tells you everything.

But if Clinton gets a blow job from an FBI-vetted intern – watch out! That’s grounds for non-stop coverage and impeachment.

AF

But Walter Pincus from the Washington Post said readers in the 1980s wrote angry letters in droves when the paper would fact-check Reagan statements. So they had to stop the fact-check column, and instead run it as so-and-so said this about Reagan.

It was the readers that demanded the softer Reagan coverage. It sucks the paper caved to the demands of those letter-writers, but that side is usually louder than the side that wants facts.

We can at least rest assured that no readers will complain about fact-checking Obama (yeah, right.)
BernieO

There was a documentary about Reagan on PBS a few years ago. There were interviews with many who were involved with his administration and several of them admitted that he had gotten so bad after the Iran-Contra mess that they actually considered having him removed from office. When Howard Baker was brought in as chief of staff, he supposedly snapped out of it, at least for a time.
The public has a right and a need to know these things. Too often the media picks and chooses what to tell us based on their personal preferences. Or fears. The part about the WP getting so many complaints about their coverage of Reagan speaks volumes. The right wing has been waging coordinated attacks like that for years and the media is really intimidated by them.
We should all email the NY Times ombudsman to complain about their waiting until McCain is the nominee to inform people about questionable things in his past. They will do the same with Obama. So much for the media’s role in ensuring that people are informed BEFORE they vote.

TeakWoodKite

So much for the media’s role in ensuring that people are informed BEFORE they vote.

And how many stories has the media sat on for GW? PRIOIR TO AN ELECTION? Wiretapping? and that one for a year.

Some of which would have made an impact in 00 and 04.

republican attack machine

You read it here first. The Republican Attack Machine is eating its own.

Now, I gather this will not appear on No Quarter again, because there has to be more to say about Obama.

And, by the time that you all are down with Senator Obama, Senator McCain will have absolutely nothing to worry about.

TeakWoodKite

The Republican Attack Machine is eating its own.

OK, I’ll bite, it’s an RNC inside job?

Simon

OK, I’ll bite, it’s an RNC inside job?

Ever see those stackable Santas, one bigger than the next?

Maybe it’s like that…

DisenfranchisedVoter

I could care less who McCain slept with a long time ago. McCain and the woman are denying an affair. I doubt this will really hurt him. I have a feeling Obama has much bigger problems and scandals in store for him. His fall will be much greater. From messiah to slimy Chicago politician in less than a year. Wanna bet?

http://NoQuarterUSA.net Larry Johnson

I don’t think sex is the issue. In fact, if McCain is banging a 40 year old it helps the 72 year old dude appear to be more studly. The issue is one of granting earmarks to special friends.

Mr.Murder

He puts a new spin on the term STAGflation.
kenoshaMarge

Bet the talking heads on MSNBC spend so much time with the “sex” part of the story that they don’t worry much about the part that’s important i.e. the damning lobbyists buying another Senator part.

McCain may however have locked up the old goat with young woman fantasy vote. And lost the old bat who hates the old goat with young woman fantasy vote.

chris

Read the NYTimes article, not the meme of sex.
Note the corporate flights with Paxson, 4 of them, while they have business before the Senate. He is being accused of not changing a bit since the Keeting 5 days.
If he is a walking fucking hypocrite by spending time sucking up to Corporate Interests.

rjj

Nobody will begrudge McCain his nasties. He is no longer young and sexy enough to arouse jollytime envy or push anybody’s homoerotic buttons.
republican attack machine

Where are all of the No Quarter posters/commenters? Might you be busy trying to link Mr. Obama to Ms.Iseman?

I mean, surely there are some fifth-hand connections worthy of BREAKING!!!!!! post.

Simon

I mean, surely there are some fifth-hand connections worthy of BREAKING!!!!!! post.

Wrong blog, you want orange.

And yes, this is how it’s played now, the bribe passes as a winning poker hand, or a “finder’s fee,”
channeled through a spider’s web,or a labyrinth of a money trail, in the hope the feds won’t be able to trace it. Patrick Fitzerald even acknowledges this new reality, and prosecutes his cases accordingly.

Remember Conrad Black?

Holinger?

Chicago?

Maybe someone should check Obama’s connections, there.

Funny, you never thought it odd Fitzgerald was investigating Obama, Rezko, Conrad Black and Scooter Libby, too?

Pretty stupid men, thinking laundered money can’t be traced.

vee

I think the Obama campaign just high fived each other for a hit on McCain by the NYT.

republican attack machine

Vee,

Please tell me you are being sarcastic. This story has been circulating since early December. The Times started reporting on the story in the weeks leading up to December. Surely Sen. Obama and his minions had nothing better to do than circulate rumors about McCain three months all the while knowing that they would beat Sen. Clinton and every other Republican would collpase.

What next?
OBAMA IS CAUSING GLOBAL WARMING!
OBAMA RESPONSIBLE FOR TSUNAMI!

Seriously….get a grip.

Simon

What next?
OBAMA IS CAUSING GLOBAL WARMING!
OBAMA RESPONSIBLE FOR TSUNAMI!

Seriously….get a grip.

Edith,

Getting dumber and dumber…

republican attack machine

Here is a legitimate question:

Regardless of tonight’s silly story, will the Obama haters of the crowd vote for Mr. Obama if he is the eventual nominee?

I will go first. If Hillary wins, I will vote for her.

Much like Larry, I am a convert from the Republican party. Unlike Larry, and others here, I came over from the dark side much earlier (in 1991), precisely because of Bill, causing me to not have made the completely ridiculous assumption that W. would have made a good President….ahem.

Anyway, I owe my democratic party ties to the clintons. I am by no means a Hillary hater. I will vote of her if she is the nominee, even though I favor Obama.

Can the other Democrats and independents here say that?

Simon

Regardless of tonight’s silly story, will the Obama haters of the crowd vote for Mr. Obama if he is the eventual nominee?

No, he’ll be more criminal, and more of a disaster, than Bush.

If he’s criminal now, will he be a Cheney in the White House, doing Daley Rezko Chicago corruption with federal monies, this time?
http://cujo359.blogspot.com Cujo359

I vote for the best person running for the job. If the Democratic nominee is Barack Obama, odds of that person being the Democratic nominee are much lower.
Mike Howell

Republican Attack Machine –

Yes – I will gladly vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton and I am delighted to hear that you will too.
chris

No endorsement for Obama from me unless he earns my vote. He doesn’t get it by default..thats bullshit. If he hasn’t shown himself as substantive by November I’ll vote for a whole other party besides Dems and Repugs. This is what is flawed with the Obama supporters who think legitimate criticism and not being swayed by sweet words = Obama Hater.

When you mock like that…do you really think you are going to convert anyone? This technique is remarkably off-putting. Shame on you for smearing Obama every time you call people who have legitimate concerns as “Obama Haters”. I’m sure in his infinate loving light, he’s above your crap. But you are representing his flock so well.

Delia

Oh noes . . . . Obama knew someone who used to be a Communist. Call the John Birch Society. They’ll know what to do.

Uh oh . . . I just remembered. I still listen to them there Woody Guthrie albums and he was Communist, too. I better go investigate myself.

I’ll get back to you when I get it all figured out. Damn. I thought we’d grown up a little bit. Guess I wuz wrong.

Simon

I’ll get back to you when I get it all figured out. Damn. I thought we’d grown up a little bit. Guess I wuz wrong.

wuz?

How 1969 of you, how cute !!!!!!!

See, you are creative!!!!!!

Frostback

Why would HuffPo delete (within minutes) a post containing this info:

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/politics/view.bg?articleid=1072778

Is this not legit?

TeakWoodKite

The question should be why was it deleted? Seems ligit, there are several diffeent references from different sites.

Mike Howell

My guess is that they don’t want it out there that Deval – Obama’s buddy – has a gay aide.

Mike Howell

Not very liberal of them is it?
Frostback

I doubt it’s the gay part….

Mike Howell

I don’t know anything about Deval Patrick except that he is Obama’s buddy and sounds gay, which I couldn’t care less about, but I wonder about Obama. Maybe his people don’t want it out.

What’s the story on Obama’s pal Deval Patrick and his recently charged aide?

Frostback

I looked him up when the copycatting “scandal” arose. That led me to the story of his aide (see links). Seems like Mr. Patrick is not exactly a “new kind of politician”, like his good friend O is purporting to be.

Mike Howell

Frostback –

But they share the same speeches – how can that be?! Don’t they mean what they say?!

I guess nobody would vote for “Pay to Play” and “Bribes Taken Here”.

Frostback

Patrick and Obama…2 peas in a pod it seems.

And, I don’t normally subscribe to “guilty by association”, but O’s relationship with Rezko is no 6 degrees of separation.

And, that house deal?…I’d lay money that if the name Obama was substituted with Clinton, McCain or any other pol of the day, the cries of foul would be deafening.

chris

Guilt by Association is simply a logical fallacy. But, tying significance between people isn’t automatically a “gba” flaw. You can demonstrate the judgement of people by who they associate with on a more regular or professional basis.

I don’t know what company you keep, but if I know someone in my group of friends, acquaintences, or clients, who is screwing someone over, or committing fraud, I make it very clear that they are to stay away from me, or I make it my business to avoid them.

TeakWoodKite

McGee is married to John Finley IV.

I wonder what that the arrest will cost him.

Carl Stanley McGee, the assistant secretary for policy and planning for Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick’s administration has been charged with the sexual assault of a male teenager in Florida.

(half way down the page)

TeakWoodKite

http://www.bostoncriminallawyerblog.com/
oops

Frostback

I thought that was the question I asked.

I’ve been a poster “in good standing” there since its inception. I NEVER have my posts deleted…ever. Tonight, there was a post noting the Repub sex and fraud scandals…and I replied to that post with another one, and this one on Patrick’s aide. Then ::poof:: it was gone.

Why, indeed.

TeakWoodKite

Sorry Frostback, I thought you were asking if the story was legit. It did not register that it would be deleted if it was valid…
My apologies.

Frostback

No need to apologize…and yes, I was asking if it was legit as well.
Frostback

It never occurred to me that it would be deleted if true. There’s something really eff’d up going on over there…

GR3

Comments at HuffPost need approval before they see daylight. I was given the cold shoulder for a few months on everything, and gave up. I rarely read the posts any more although some of the opinion can be entertaining.
It is a mysterious process: no explanations and no excuses.

Frostback

Nah, only the comments on blogger’s posts are screened…not on the news stories (except for the rare “sensitive” issue).

GR3

Which is why I started to make comments only on the news stories – they were ‘allowed’.
(another reason I like this website: no prior censorship)

Mike Howell

To Believe in Obama you must:

1. Think it’s acceptable that Obama claims he didn’t know that he received over $100.000.00 from the Crown family

(who abandoned their Maytag employees and deserted to Mexico)

when he was professing to be working on behalf of the employees.

2. Think it’s acceptable for Obama to ask a Syrian national – Rezko – who was being investigated for govt. kickback schemes to help him get his dream home even though Rezko’s own buildings were boarded up and in foreclosure.

3. Consider it acceptable to have Obama permit taxpayer loans to Rezko even after he failed to care for his tenants and properties including allowing people to suffer without heat in the deadly cold of Chicago’s winter.

4. Think it’s permissable for Obama to stop by Rezko’s business meetings with investors and not consider that a favor for Rezko.

5.. Think it’s acceptable for a U.S. Senator to allow people to write his autobiographies with doctored timelines and fantasy characters.

6. Think it’s acceptable that Obama purchased thousands of dollars of ads to declare that he is not a muslim even though he has stated a preference for the Nation of Islam.

7. Think that it’s O.K. for Michelle Obama to solicit “corporate experience” in the form of Board of Director’s spots the minute he becomes a Senator.

8. Desire pay to play politics in the White House.

9. Endorse a man who went against every reform candidate seeking to stop the corrupt Daley machine.

10. Not care about supporting a true Democrat.

republican attack machine

Wow. That’s alot.

I found these two particularly amusing:

“7. Think that it’s O.K. for Michelle Obama to solicit “corporate experience” in the form of Board of Director’s spots the minute he becomes a Senator.”

Change some names and change Senator to Governor and then this will sound really familiar.

“6. Think it’s acceptable that Obama purchased thousands of dollars of ads to declare that he is not a muslim even though he has stated a preference for the Nation of Islam.”

WTF are you talking about? Maybe he needs to keep spending more money to convince people that he is in fact a Christian, because people like you keep repeating this garbage.

My response to the remaining nine is as follows:

I remember the 90′s quite well. I remember this little thing called Whitewater. I remember an investigation about a land-deal that morphed in to complete and total insanity where every type of bullshit allegation that could be made was made. And it was all a complete and total waste of time designed to bring down the Clintons.

Hillary and Bill survived that and God bless them. There used to a be a day when Democrats excoriated Republicans for that type of behavior instead of emulating it.

I hated that type of behavior back then, exactly as I hate it now.

Of course, these are facts. So, who am I to argue.

Lorelynn

You need to read up on Whitewater. Madison Guaranty, the S&L at the middle of the scandal, failed and was investigated by the Resolution Trust – the prosecutorial entity established to investigate and prosecute corrupt S&Ls – and was given a clean bill of health BEFORE Bill was the nominee? Got that? That’s a huge difference right there – real honest-to-god federal prosecutors with real honest-to-god subpoenas looked into Madison Guaranty and found nothing. After Bill was elected, Robert Fiske looked into it again and found nothing. Republicans weren’t satisfied, so Ken Starr was appointed and looked into it. Years later, he hadn’t finished looking into it and it fell to the final prosecutor (whose name escapes me) to once again confess that the other prosecutorial investigations run by other Republicans, were accurate. There was nothing there.

Second of all, Bill did not profit in any way from Whitewater. Unfortunately, Obama and his wife profited personally by purchasing a home they otherwise could not afford. Obama was helped in this purchase by a man whom he knew to be under federal investigation on corruption charges.

Obama is running on the Democratic ticket to be the nominee for our presidential candidate. We have no idea what Rezko wanted in return for helping Obama buy his dream house. We don’t know whose idea it was that he supply the $625k and that the deal close on the same day. We don’t know why Rezko paid full price and Obama got a deal. We don’t know any of those things. With Clinton and Whitewater, we knew the answers already because a prosecutor had looked into and provided the answers.

So, Whitewater – completed prosecutorial investigation and a clean bill of health.

Rezko – no prosecutorial investigation and unanswered questions.

Whitewater – no personal benefit to the Clintons.

Rezko – the purchase of a large and expensive home that the Obama family still lives in.

The questions about Rezko will be answered sooner or later. The question is whether Obama answers them after he is the nominee and it sabotages his ability to win or to govern, or whether he answers them before. So far, it appears he is going for the former. And that’s one more difference between Obama and Bill.

Mr.Murder

Ouch.

That’s pairing some items of greater concern aside ones people may think to be assertions.

6. 8. 9.
Could probably do without stating alongside the other items.

Mr.Murder

6. 8. 10.

9 probably holds weight, though most of the people he faced appear to be on their way out for varied reasons, not actual reform candidates.

republican attack machine

I think #1 is bad. $100,000 isn’t a good number for HRC as well. I’m totally having bad 90′s flashbacks right now.

You forgot experience in elected office as a reason to favor HRC. Oh….right. Obama has more.

yttik

More experience as an elected official? Is that really a recomendation? I thought we didn’t like politicians? Well, they don’t impress me anyway.

But see, we can’t even go there with Obama. If you bring up his experience as an elected official,that leads to having to discuss the federal investigation and indictments going on that Fitzgerald has called “pay to play” on steroids. People are on trial for trying to buy themselves a politician.
Mike Howell

Republican Attack Machine –

You have to use English or grammar – preferably both.
chris

RAM, care to place a wager here in front of everyone about Experience? not simply about being elected but significant accomplishments too? I’ll bet you $100 and a year banishment from NQ, that I can slam your Obama list at least 3 to 1 for every accomplishment. Care to dare?

How about no wager, just list Obama’s accomplishments here..not simply getting elected. Tom Delay got elected, so fucking what. Zell Miller got elected, so fucking what. You’ve got to mention more than “elected office” as Experience. Many do-nothings get “elected”.

You have revealed much about why you aren’t getting this conversation.

Mike Howell

Mr. Murder –

Obama was the top guy in the Daley machine. I don’t know what you mean by “faced”. Please explain.

republican attack machine

You really should get rid of #7 too.

Not that it matters, but here is one of the candidates board memberships during the 1980′s and early 90′s:

TCBY (1985–1992]
Wal-Mart Stores (1986–1992)
Lafarge (1990–1992).

I had never heard of Lafarge until looking this up. It is a french industrial company.

Stumped as to who this mystery person is? Well, here is a hint. Her husband was the Governor of Arkansas at the time.

Again, don’t give me a reason not to support Obama that equally applies to HRC.

Mike Howell

Republican Attack Machine –

Accordng to your own sources Hillary Rodham Clinton did not immediately solicit BOD spots – just look at the dates!

Hillary Rodham Clinton according to Sam Walton on tape was demanding health insurance and management positions for women at Wal-Mart.

Michelle Obama sat on her ass and rubber stamped everything at Treehouse (leaving only because the campaign told her it was a terrible company and she had to leave) and she still get paid by Chicago Hosp. for turning away the poor.

Mike Howell

Republican Attack Machine –

Sorry – I left out an s. Michelle Obama still gets paid by Chicago Hosptal for turning away the poor.

Lorelynn

So, Clinton was governor for 7 years before Clinton joined any boards and then she quit we he ran for president. How does that compare to Michelle? Didn’t she join boards the minute she could and not quit until she got busted?
chris

How about listing ALL the boards HRC was on, not just the 3 that suit your parse?
(You guys are really embarrasing for analysis)

1. Served on Board of Editors for Yale Review of Law and Social Action
2. Board of directors of the Legal Services Corporation (1978-1981)
3. Served on board of Arkansas Children’s Hospital Legal Services (1988-1992)
4. Served as Chair of Children’s Defense Fund (1986-1992)
5. Served on Board of Directors for TCBY (1985-1992)
6. Served on Board of Directors for Walmart Stores (1986-1992)
7. Served on Board of Directors for Lafarge (1990-1992)

If we want, lets do this for Barry Obama too…since he has served so much. Shall I list the various committee’s she’s been assigned to? (even before she became a Senator?)

“but here is one of the candidates board memberships during ”
Actually you listed 3, the parsed 3.

Did Barry Obama serve on committees “equal” to:
1. Chair for Rural Health Advisory Committee
2. Arkansas Educational Standards Committee from 1982-1992
3. American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession (1987-1991)
or as Senator
4. Served on Committed on Budget (2001-2002)
5. Served on Committee on Armed Services (since 2003)
6. Served on Committee on Environment and Public Works (since 2001)
7. Served on Special Committee on Aging

or what about something “equal” to:
Served as Commissioner of the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (since 2001)

Come on, give me some scoop on Obama…what has he done besides focus on Moving On UP! He was a community organizer…wow…great… I know a ton of those and they are fantastic really. But that doesn’t make them presidential material.
Oh, he got tired of not getting enough done, so he went to Harvard…ok…and then what?
Oh, he had to run for State Senate, and right after he did, he made his big rush for US Senate…but, damn, he failed there, had to run again…then he got US Senate.
He promised to complete his term, but then…oops, nah, gotta run for President now.

PAAALEEEEEEESSSSEEEEE

Don’t dare compare treating Obama as fairly as HRC when you aren’t treating this “fairly” in any way shape or form. He is no equal to her record.
LIST HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS, Not His Prose.
List them, source them, back up your bullshit.
Rob Gard

RAM- Can you point to some embarassing voting record of Hillary while on the Board at WalMart ? I’ve joined organizations in the past in an effort to change or steer them from the inside, as that may be more effective than shouting from the outside. Her memberships on Boards of Directors says nothing adverse without an examination of her voting record (and I feel the same way about Michelle Obama’s directorships). As an example, did she vote in favor or acquiesce to back-dating of stock options ? Choosing Chinese suppliers over competitive U.S. suppliers ? It is my understanding that Hillary used her position on the WalMart Board to advance the cause of “GREEN” initiatives, equal opportunities for women, and better health care benefits and options, and that she did have a positive influence on Sam Walton in a few of these areas. I can find no objective reason to criticize Hillary’s service on the WalMart boards, but if the issues are raised with respect to either Hillary of Michelle Obama, then their respective voting records should be examined and brought to light as well.
Cee

I still
suspect neocon stinkers who want the 100 year crusade candidate to win.

If Karl Rove were brought out of retirement to help elect John McCain president, even he in all his evil genius could not have a schemed up a better way to breathe new life into his fellow Republican’s campaign than the New York Times’ inept effort to tie the Arizona senator to a comely young lobbyist.

Simply put, as it’s playing out right now, the story was — probably unintentionally, although who knows — timed perfectly to help out McCain. Its insinuations of an improper relationship between the powerful senator and Vicki Iseman came too late to hurt McCain with the “values voters” in the GOP primaries, but at exactly the right time to rally right-wing talk radio against the Times, and thus for a candidate they can now support in November while holding their collective nose.

http://www.attytood.com/2008/02/the_new_york_times_grooves_one_1.html
Cee

Lafarge?

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton served on the board of a French chemical company that was implicated in shipping war materials to Saddam Hussein’s government.

Clinton served on the board of the American subsidiary of Lafarge Corporation before the first Gulf war. Attorney Marianne Gasior, whose veracity has been verified by a long-serving Department of Defense investigator, brought attention to Clinton’s conflict of interest and her culpability in violating the U.S. and UN embargoes against Iraq and the U.S. Trading With the Enemy Act. Gasior was the corporate counsel for Kennametal, a Latrobe, Pennsylvania-based firm that was connected to Lafarge.

Clinton was reportedly part of a covert CIA arms export network designed to ship embargoed war materials to Iraq. A Solon, Ohio warehouse owned by the British firm Matrix Churchill, Ltd. allegedly collected from manufacturing plants, including Teledyne, Kennametal, Mannesman-Demag, materials that were warehoused at Allied’s Marblehead plant on Lake Erie, a one-time steel armor manufacturing plant for the US Army. Lafarge owned the property on which the Marblehead plant was located. The materials bound for Iraq were shipped up the St. Lawrence River to the UK for further transfer to Iraq.

Gasior maintained that as late as 1996, the Marblehead facility continued to be a part of the secret CIA arms and war material export network. Late House Banking Committee Chairman Henry Gonzalez began to see the Clinton connection to the scandal in his investigation of the smuggling network’s major banking contrivance, the Atlanta branch of the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro (BNL) of Rome, Italy. In 1992, Gonzalez’s investigation of BNL was blocked by the George H. W. Bush administration and the Bill Clinton campaign in Little Rock because it threatened to expose both Bush operatives and Hillary Clinton’s role in the covert arms network. One of the chief people used to block the Gonzalez investigation was House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Lee Hamilton.

Mike Howell

Mr. Murder –

If Barack Hussein Obama says and does it – he should be held accountable for it. He’s a U.S. Senator running for President, not just some articulate guy who can read somebody else’s speech off of a teleprompter.

Grow up!

farmgirl

2. Think it’s acceptable for Obama to ask a Syrian national – Rezko – who was being investigated for govt. kickback schemes to help him get his dream home even though Rezko’s own buildings were boarded up and in foreclosure.

Look, perhaps I’m missing where any sourcing is for the various allegations against Senator Obama, but the Washington Post just investigated this particular one — the money came from his book, and the sellers came forward to say the Obamas had simply made the highest offer for the property, and the sale was in no way influenced by the separate purchase made by Rezko.

I don’t claim to *know* that this is The Truth, but excuse me for saying that the claims being made against Obama on this website are very hard to assess, as I am not finding any link to factual support. If those putting these ideas forward are interested in convincing others, it would be helpful to have some easy reference to publicly documented facts. The information I have access to seems to disprove some of these allegations, which leads me not to give credence to the rest of them.

Frostback

Excuse me, but what in the world would the sellers know about any arrangement that may have been made between Rezko and Obama? And, unless there’s a sworn affidavit in the mix, their story is…well, just their story.

What I’d like explained is why Rezko would buy an empty parcel of land, then sell 1/6th of it to Obama for – according to Obama – ABOVE the appraisal value (which is suspicious on its own)…and then, months later sell off the now less-than-appealing remainder. Seems like an awful lot of paperwork for…nothing, doesn’t it? Did Rezko actually profit on this? Who did he sell the remainder to? Perhaps my analytical comprehension on this is askew…if so, please feel free to explain. (I’m not being sarcastic.)

yttik

I support Hillary.

As to voting for Obama if he’s the nominee? I truly don’t know. I have some serious concerns about Obama, like his wanting to move the battlefield into nuclear armed Pakistan. That’s scary, especially in light of the fact that he publically announced it and then called out Musharraf. “If he won’t act, we will.” I mean, the fact that he didn’t even consider the consequences of shooting his mouth off worries me. It shows poor judgment.

I’m also disturbed by the fact that people living in low income housing in Obama’s district called him the “obamanation”. They went without heat while he partied it up with their landlord. I read this type of story all the time, Obama has not been a friend to poor and working class people. He’s been a politician that exploits them.

A lot can happen between now and November. I’m not refusing to vote for Obama, but I’m not promising to endorse him with my vote either.

http://cujo359.blogspot.com Cujo359

That second paragraph is the part the really bothers me, too. (Not that the Pakistan thing isn’t a little scary). He’s never been what he’s pretending to be, near as I can tell. The Obama folks seem completely unaware of what the Rezko thing really implies.
Simon

They went without heat while he partied it up with their landlord

And Rezko is connected to Stuart Levine, whose trial testimony (against Rezko) must now be qualifed by mention of his extensive drug use.

I wonder if it was a pretty common thing, for the Daley corruption ring, of which Obama was part?

Patrick Henry

I Have felt like we were in the Twilight Zone since the 60′s..and the Clash of the Titans began..

Psy Ops…Mind Games..Mind Control..

Remember those Signs Then..”We are the Gereration Our Parents Warned us About”.. and Take a Trip its for
Free..Yessir…take a Trip on that Yellow Stained Road.. and Someday we will Pull the Curtain Back and see who The WIZARD is..The Truth is Out there..Somewhwere over the RAINBOW..

There really is No Wizard in Oz…Just a Phony pulling the Levers..and Controlling People..

It alway has been a POWER TRIP..since the Garden of Eden..and mankind Learned about Good and Evil..and Giving and Taking..History has shown that Historically…Men have been the Takers..and Women the Givers..and more reasonable..

Knowing that..and knowing Hillary..I Give her My support..Not Just because she is a Woman..but because She is Both a Woman..AND The most Qualified to be the President of the United States..and as Far
as I’m concerned..Its About Time and it’s HER TIME..

I Hate to think what the world would be like without Women..The Most Sensible Humans of All ..Men have had Centurys to make the World a better Place..Few Have done that..Their Male ego usually gets in the way..and they create Excuses to Loot and Pillage..
and the Women Bury the dead and keep the family together..usually alone..

God Bless them all…
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Frostback

What’s strange as well is that another poster squeezed in a reference to a “republican in Maryland (I think they wrote)” that was arrested on pornography charges, and put in brackets “check McGee”. That post remains.

I’m well aware of why they’re messing around with info being disseminated that is negative to their candidate (and there’s no doubt that O is their guy), but isn’t this a bit much ?

TeakWoodKite

That the one about the judge? A bush appointee.

lowdowndog

Does anyone think the Larry Sinclair sex and drugs with Obama story posted at Whitehouse.com has any truth to it? Headline: “Larry Sinclair $100,000 Polygraph challenge has been scheduled for next Tuesday February 26th in New York City” If the story gets legs Obama will probably blame Hillary. This is getting ugly.
http://www.whitehouse.com/NewsComments.aspx?start=&NewsID=110

Frostback

no
TeakWoodKite

No not there, don’t send me there…Did GW find it to?
Ramasan

Hmmm…my gaydar has been humming for the last week. Maybe O can bring the nation to loving acceptance on this issue?

Nancy

larry,

thanks so much for posting about this. i think the insane power trip the media/press is on right now is (surprise, surprise) the most underreported story of this primary election season.

you’ve probably already seen these before, but they confirm the validity of your personal experience:

http://www.cmpa.com/releases.html
http://mediamatters.org/items/200801200003
http://mediamatters.org/items/200801260001?f=i_related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqYlhTzKVc8
http://mediamatters.org/columns/200802050001?f=h_column
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=55807
http://www.seeingtheforest.com/archives/2008/02/driving_a_wedge.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QLsAel4gmM
http://ourfuture.org/blog-entry/permanent-will

among the press, i’d say wapo’s been the worst by far this election season (sorta like the written version of msnbc). tied for a close second place seem to be usa today and wsj, imho.

and then to find even progressive blogs like huffpo, dkos, tpm, americablog and many others become exactly what they once derided… well, let’s just say you’re one of the brave and awesome voices that keeps me sane, and i am very grateful to you (and susan) for it. thank you!
http://spiiderweb.blogspot.com SPIIDERWEB™

I can’t and won’t try to defend McCain or her, but…

My post.

Influence? That’s a different kettle of fish. Anyone who deals with lobbyists will be influenced to some extent. Its how the damn game is played.
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Nancy

p.s. this reminds me of some words of wisdom from james carville in his 1994 book, all’s fair:

“No one understands the power of the media in this country. I went into this campaign believing they were powerful. I didn’t know. The power they have is staggering. And they really do guard it.

“They like to think of themselves as learned and insightful and thoughtful and considered. They claim the mantle of truth. Hell, truth is they make snap judgments and after that all of their time, all of their creativity is spent on nothing but validating their original judgment. Something happens and three minutes after the event they all talk to each other and decide ‘This is the story,’ and the story must remain thus in perpetuity. They claim the moral high ground; their job is to report facts and tell people the truth. But information is secondary to them, self-justification is primary. Once the collective media mind is made up, it will not change.

“Until you understand that, you can never understand the media. Their original take is the one that’s going to last.” (pp. 185-86)

i gather that their original take in this election is the fall of hillary (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2008/02/memo_to_media_f.php), but i wonder what the media demigods have in store for us in the general election?
mimi

Once more, the real story is not plagiarism. It’s the similiarity between Obama and Patrick as new style inspirational candidates who promise change and once elected it’s the same old politics as usual. Query Deval Patrick at wikepdia.com. There’s a whole section on the CONTROVERSIES of his first year. That’s the real story and why Arianna deleted the post with the link.
wethornet

jumping in at comment 111.

caps on purpose. (sorry.)

PHOTO OF VICKY ISEMAN, MCCAIN’S MOLL? & GEORGE W. BUSH, ONE ON ONE.

http://www.attytood.com/2008/02/mccains_lobbyist_friend_a_view.html
wethornet

re: mccain’s staff intervening. does this qualify as — a la bill clinton and his chief of staff betsy wright — as a “bimbo eruption?”
bob h

For what it’s worth, the very Texas-knowledgeable Wayne Slater predicted on the BBC yesterday that HRC would win the popular vote in Texas.
S. Markom

Apparently this story is rapidly becoming about another breach of journalistic integrity on the part of the NY Times.

Bob Bennett was on the air this morning stating that McCain had provided all the answers to questions the Times asked including four pieces of evidence that clearly showed that McCain took positions counter to what Iseman wanted. The Times intentionally left all of them out.

Richard Stengel of Time just said this was shoddy journalism in so many words.

Mica Brezinski is appalled over this article and wonders what kind of an editor would allow such an article without a shred of evidence and built on innuendo to be published?

My question is when will the news media like the NY Times stop getting involved in political campaigns and just report on them?
http://joyhollywood.blogspot.com Connie L

This mess with McCain and the future mess with Obama is just the beginning. I remember when W was selected by the Supreme Court thinking after 8 years of reading and listening to Russert and the rest of the media about the Clinton scandals like Whitewater that maybe it was OK to have Bush be president because there would be a little less divisiveness in the country,boy was I wrong.
Nancy

jesus, the internet moves too rapidly for me to keep up. apparently, wapo has just modified its political page somewhat–presumably to level the pro-obama/anti-clinton bias–sometime within the last few hours. the sneakiness of their santics astounds me.

as if wapo changing its coverage to almost fair for one day can make up for months and months of their spitefully bashing and stomping on hillary and gleefully ramming saint obama down our throats? short of a hillary victory this season, i can’t see us NOT being bitterly pissed off at the media after this election.
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http://www.despair.com/doubt.html Smilin’ Jim

In any account of the disproportionate coverage I have read, it is admitted that Obama is getting a free ride because of the mythic quality of the story. The admission is immediately followed by a statement that Clinton brought it on herself.

Hillary’s glass will always be half full.

It’s the relicensing, stupid.

http://www.despair.com/doubt.html Smilin’ Jim

Hillary’s glass is always half empty.

Fifteen yards and loss of down for botched metaphor.

PamFlorida

The upcoming Rezko trial includes testimony from individuals designated by letters instead of names. One of those designees is Obama. Isn’t it curious that the trial, originally scheduled to begin Feb. 25, has now been pushed back to Mar. 3, the day before the Texas & Ohio primaries? Just one more effort to prevent voters from getting more info on Obama. Wonder who arranged for the ‘Change’? Looks like politics as usual.
Andy

Larry,

Why do you think the NYT sat on Sen. McCain story until now?

It seems a bit suspicious(?)
that it coincided
with Sen. McCain attacks of Sen. Obama and that this happened now before March 4th (as opposed to after the Dems. nomination is settled).

What’s your take? Thanks.
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