WMDs in Iraq Finally Found?

Funny, this obscure little AP story seems to be floating around out there with no fanfare:

Britain will help the Iraqi government dispose of what's left of deposed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's chemical weapons, still stored in two bunkers in north of Baghdad, the British embassy in Baghdad announced Monday.

The British Defense Ministry will start training Iraqi technical and medical workers this year, an embassy statement said. The teams will work to safely destroy remnants of munitions and chemical warfare agents left over from Saddam's regime. He was overthrown in 2003 following an American-led invasion.

Saddam stored the chemical weapons near population centers so that he could access them quickly, despite the danger to his civilian population.

Unless a mistake it certainly seems to indicate that Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton were right about their vote to take out Saddam.

UBL and the Weather

Richard Miniter has a new book coming out and as customary his publishers are releasing juicy snippets to increase visibility and interest, one being an assertion that the gutsy call might not have been so gutsy--unless by gutsy they meant standing up to Valerie Jarrett.

That's not really of interest to me.  UBL is dead.  They got him.  It's not surprising to learn a political consultant was advising as to the best time for the takedown.

Digressing a moment, such a revelation does ignite some interesting speculation.  First, it suggests that time was not as critical as we've been led to believe.  In other words, they weren't really in fear of the mission unraveling.   This could mean a few things, such as 1) nothing, 2) Pakistan knew we knew they were hiding UBL but never thought we'd move on him for various reasons, 3) Pakistan didn't know we knew but we weren't worried about them finding out, 4) Pakistan was helping us the entire time in some kind of quid pro quo, or 5) bin Laden has been dead for years and the entire thing was a Hollywood production.  Of course the latter would involve SEALS as part of the cover-up, which seems implausible.

No, actually the thing that stood out to me was Miniter's claim about the weather.  Recall that initial reports about the raid said it was supposed to take place on Saturday April 30--May 1 Pakistani time--but that Obama had to scrub it due to weather conditions.  Did anyone in the press bother to verify that?  Wouldn't they do it if Bush claimed it?  Miniter says he went to the Air Force and obtained the records:

Obama administration officials also said after the raid that the president had delayed giving the order to kill the arch-terrorist the day before the operation was carried out, in what turned out to be his fourth moment of indecision. At the time, the White House blamed the delay on unfavorable weather conditions near bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

But when Miniter obtained that day’s weather reports from the U.S. Air Force Combat Meteorological Center, he said, they showed ideal conditions for the SEALs to carry out their orders.

That's a devastating charge because it presumes they lied so Obama could attend the Correspondent's Dinner that night and roast Donald Trump without having those headlines torn away by the capturing of UBL, certainly something a political advisor might advise.

But was the weather really 'good'? This site claims it wasn't; that a front was blowing through Islamabad that night with high winds and thunderstorms.  Since there's a difference between a front coming through--which suggests a regional impact--and a local thunderstorm with gusty winds, this can't be taken to represent all of northern Pakistan.  However, this Pakistani weather site claims that indeed a 'western disturbance' was moving through the region that afternoon and caused regional gusty winds and thunderstorms. 

So Miniter needs to explain this contention in his book. Did Air Force meteorologists make the call based on that western disturbance or did Obama?  That's what really matters.  Just saying the weather was 'good' means nothing if the Air Force made the call to stand down based on weather.  Well, it would mean they got it wrong, but that's not Obama's fault, other than the fact he claimed his election would lower the sea levels and such.

The question is whether anyone in the mainstream press bothered to follow up on the weather cancellation story.  Most of them, after all, were present for the dinner and took great pleasure in the Trump slapdown. 

When Health Care is a Right...

...what happens when there are not enough doctors? 

But the provisions within the law are expected to increase the number of primary care doctors by perhaps 3,000 in the coming decade. Communities around the country need about 45,000.

One might envision several things: 1) patients will have to wait longer to get seen; 2) doctors might not be able to provide the same kind of service as before; 3) the government will be forced to assign doctors to 'underserved' regions, perhaps as a condition of a medical school student loan (overseen by the government)--or by more draconian means. But yeah, Obamacare is just a tax.

Side Tracks

A little change this week.  This was an LOL for me.

Syria, Then and Now

Flashback to 2003 and the reaction of Syrians to SecDef Rumsfeld's warning about arms and fighters being allowed to cross the border into Iraq:

Rumsfeld's remarks even seemed to drive longtime opponents of the Syrian government to reverse their opposition to Damascus' official policies. Syria's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood called on the government to "offer all support to aid the Iraqi resistance before Syria becomes America's next target." And in an interview with the Al Jazeera television network, Ali Sadreddin Bayanouni, the leader of the group, said, "The real reason for this war is control over the region. "This aggression will not stop at Iraq. The Arab nation, in its entirety, will be a target of this aggression."

Fast-forward to now (and past the US invasion or bombing that never happened) and this reaction to our non-meddling in Aleppo:

What is the United States saying? Are they not listening? Do they want us all to die? These are just a few reactions to what in the eyes of the Syrian rebels looked like a weak and confused American position on the ongoing war.

Add that to the fact that Syria has one of the most advanced chem-bio weapons programs of any third world nation--and Iraq does not, anymore--and the irony is even richer. Also consider that Obama's own security czar James Clapper felt that some of those chembio stocks possibly originated in Iraq and the irony is off the charts.

Will They Ban...

...churches, too? 

Proco “Joe” Moreno announced this week that he will block Chick-fil-A’s effort to build its second Chicago store … following company President Dan Cathy’s remarks last week that he was “guilty as charged” for supporting the biblical definition of marriage as between a man and woman….

The alderman has the ideological support of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “Chick-fil-A values are not Chicago values,” the mayor said in a statement when asked about Moreno’s decision. “They disrespect our fellow neighbors and residents. This would be a bad investment, since it would be empty.”

So if Chick-Fil-A's "values"--which boil down to it's founder's support of traditional marriage--are not 'Chicago values' then how are Christian, Muslim and Jewish churches supporting Chicago values by supporting the same exact thing?   Will the Alderman and Mayor now push to block new churches in Chicago?  Don't they value diversity?  

WE'RE TALKIN' VALUES!  7/26/12

Chicago values.  Like Louis Farrakhan..   Does the Nation of Islam support gay marriage? 

Somebody Should be Fired, RIght?

When the Plame leaks became an item in the press George W. Bush vowed to fire anyone in his administration who was caught leaking classified information.  Libby was basically fired while Armitage was not rehired.

Fast forward to now; Senator Feinstein has released a cat from the bag.  Since we know there will be no Independent Prosecutor coming from the withHolder Department will anyone at least be fired?  Will anyone in high places even call for anyone to be fired?

They need to, even if for show.  Otherwise how will they withstand the pressure of being number one on the "we prosecute leakers" list--including Bradley Manning--while pretending such laws don't apply to them?

MORE  7/24/12

Some reactions from the comment section of Maguire's blog.  Obama, speaking about leakers:

The notion that my White House would purposely release classified national security information is offensive. It’s wrong and people, I think, need to have a better sense of how I approach this office and how the people around me approach this office.

And a flashback to Obama's take on the Libby commutation:

Barack Obama's campaign released a statement saying the decision "cements the legacy of an Administration characterized by a politics of cynicism and division, one that has consistently placed itself and its ideology above the law."

With a complicit and helpful media there is an easy way to handle this--fire someone. Do it quick, they will help everyone forget. Don't do it and all those leak prosecutions, and Manning, will become a symbol of unbridled presidential power crushing dissent.  In theory, at least.

CATS WALKING BACKWARDS  7/24/12

Fox and AP characterize a statement late today as Feinstein walking back her assertion from yesterday that the administration needs to come to grips with the fact they leaked.  In reality her statement sounds more like a bash at Romney for seizing on her remarks since she didn't clear the administration, only clarified that she doesn't know any names.  Her comments yesterday were clear however--the leaks could hardly be coming from anywhere else.  That's why she said it. 

In classic mode both the NY Times and WaPo decided to pass on the original AP Feinstein story from last night, spending most of the day happily ignoring all the blog reports until finally going to press with stories about Romney's speech late this afternoon.  Neither mentioned Feinstein.  At all.  One wonders if they are right now trying to figure out how to get her walkback on the record without mentioning her while mentioning Romney, who mentioned her.  Or, perhaps both deliberately waited for DiFi to do her walkback so they could run then stories about Romney's speech complete with official administration retorts (Obama-approved?), all without the bi-partisan flavor.  Remember, both have been recipients of juicy leaks.

Even more hilarious, the vaunted ABC News also passed on the DiFi story today until reporting on Romney's speech later this afteroon, alluding to DiFi's comments by linking a HuffPo story (actually the original AP story).  Obviously they would have linked their own story had they had one.   

Should We Be Alarmed?

....at this New York Times story....

The quotations come back redacted, stripped of colorful metaphors, colloquial language and anything even mildly provocative.

They are sent by e-mail from the Obama headquarters in Chicago to reporters who have interviewed campaign officials under one major condition: the press office has veto power over what statements can be quoted and attributed by name.  Most reporters, desperate to pick the brains of the president’s top strategists, grudgingly agree.

After the interviews, they review their notes, check their tape recorders and send in the juiciest sound bites for review. The verdict from the campaign — an operation that prides itself on staying consistently on script — is often no, Barack Obama does not approve this message.

Or maybe it's just a big yawn (other than the story/admission by the Paper of Record).  Sure seems more like a big deal and maybe worthy of greater coverage.  Then again, the media would have to cover itself.

MORE  7/22/12

This article about Obama's visit to Colorado to console the survivors and families might not have been Obama-approved from Chicago, but there's no doubt Obama would approve:

But in moments of sorrow, presidents can risk looking detached and out of touch. Bush's handling of Hurricane Katrina is an often-cited example.

Touching.

Side Tracks

With the classic keyboard of Leon Russell. 

Aurora and Other Things

Another terrible shooting.  This NY Times article on the terrorist (yes, he is) indicates he was taking precautions:

Mr. Holmes had apparently planned the attack for some time. In addition to the gas mask, he wore body armor and a helmet and was dressed completely in black. His gear included a throat protector, a groin protector, a bulletproof vest and leggings, and tactical gloves.

Seems the reality of conceal carry might have been a consideration unless the body armor was just part of a Batman fantasy.  But it sounds like he didn't want to get cut down before finishing his insane performance.  Could someone with a small handgun have taken him out?  It sounds improbable.  That's not an argument against conceal carry, btw.  

Reports say he was also studying neuroscience. To most of us that's equivalent to rocket science. Hard to believe someone that smart gets to a graduate level as a nutcase, but I'll leave the psychology to the psychologists.  A lot of these shootings seem to be committed by antisocial nerds so a science career path sounds more likely than say a public relations major.  No doubt his knowledge would have been attractive to a variety of Islamic terrorists, but we've been told he acted alone.

And based on early reports I tend to believe the lone wolf theory right now.  That said, it's amazing how our intelligence and law enforcement pros can so quickly conclude that status without even checking his computer.  Are the eyes in the sky that good or are they just throwing out the 'be calm, all is well' line to stop any panic?

 ----

 Meanwhile chaos reigns in Syria. This was interesting:

Paula DeSutter, who served as assistant secretary of state for verification, compliance, and implementation between 2002 and 2009 and is now retired, said biological weapons could be a bigger a concern. A 2011 State Department report on the compliance of countries with arms control and nonproliferation agreements said it "remained unclear" whether Syria would use biological weapons as a military option or whether Syria had violated the Biological Weapons Convention.

DeSutter also said she would want the U.S. and international community to secure any remaining nuclear-related equipment from the al-Kibar reactor destroyed in 2007 by Israeli jets. Also unclear is what, if anything, Iraq transferred to Syria before the 2003 U.S. invasion. “That is the wild card,” said DeSutter.

Whether or not sensitive weapons technology was moved to Syria is a hotly disputed question in the intelligence community. James Clapper, now the Director of National Intelligence and formerly the director of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, said in 2003 that he believed materials had been moved out of Iraq in the months before the war and cited satellite imagery.

Emphasis added because the idea of this question being seriously argued--much less hotly disputed--anywhere in the Obama government these days sounds fairly unbelievable.   Wonder what would happen if it was determined that Iraqi WMDs were hidden in Syria?  How would that be spun?  Would Obama say we were better off with Iraq and Syria still having dictators with WMDs or would they say that we are less safe because now AQ can get a hold of them, putting Saddam and Assad in safekeeper roles?  Hmm.   

The Long Arm of Iran

The title of this post comes directly from a description used by Benjamin Netanyahu to characterize a suspected Iranian influence in the Bulgarian terrorist attack.  Part of a worldwide pattern, he claims.  The New York Times seems to confirm:

A senior American official confirmed Israel’s assertions on Thursday that the suicide bomber who killed five Israelis in an attack here on Wednesday was a member of a Hezbollah cell operating in Bulgaria. The official said the current American intelligence assessment is that the bomber was “acting under broad guidance” to hit Israeli targets when the opportunity presented itself. That guidance was given to Hezbollah, a Lebanese militant group, by its primary sponsor, Iran, he said.

The video/picture of the purported idiot (they claim he might have been an unwitting suicider) makes him look apropos for California or other American cities.  He's being described as Caucasian.  Bottom line, he doesn't look like an Arab or south Asian. Was that intentional?

The "fake" Michigan ID is also intriguing. The Times' source downplays it--for obvious reasons--but the question must be asked as to whether it was a calling card.  Such a thing has been done before.  If indeed the bomber was hapless and made a mistake then it would be reasonable to assume the ID had no deeper meaning.  But if it was meant to be found there are plenty of messages it could be sending.

Michigan has a high population of Muslim immigrants.  The underwear bomber was heading for Detroit.   What about Louisiana? Why would someone go to the trouble of creating a fake Michigan ID and put a Louisiana address on it?  Michigan would never allow such a document.  So what's the message? 

The address is clear on this site: 103 France St. Baton Rogue, LA.  That's a Casino.  Think sin. Din of iniquity.  And France.  The address, coupled with the name of the driver--"Jacque Felipe Martin"--suggests even more of a connection to France.  Yeah, possibly a tie to Cajun country; local authorities there are investigating, but the name sounds made up. 

The driver's date of birth, 5/12/87, does not appear to correlate with any significant events in history but the attack itself occurred on July 18, which was the anniversary of an attack on a Jewish Center in Buenos-Aires in 1994 generally blamed on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard via Shia-Hizballah terror chieftain Imad Mughniyah.  As to the driver's picture, it appears to be a character off "That 70s Show", ie, perhaps the way some still see American youth.

Making a lot of assumptions of course (this is a blog) but if it was a message then it was likely intended to speak to France (who is currently highly involved in the UNIFIL force in South Lebanon) and the United States (ie, Hizballah has operatives in America who look American) as to the "long arm" of our Persian foes in Tehran.  The State Department already has international travel warnings in effect.  With Syria crumbling and France and the United States pushing for sanctions what's a cornered animal to do?

On Sheriff Joe's Presser

It's really quite amazing.  As someone who thinks Obama was born in Hawaii Sheriff Joe's presser about Obama's long form birth cert was bizarre for a number of reasons.  Yes, like almost all other right leaning sites there is some hesitation to even mention it due to the immediate labeling as a cwazy birther,  but since this site is no stranger to cwazy conspiracies, what's to lose?!

The overarching takeaway from the event was the notion of the presser itself--a county sheriff speaking to the media about the eligibility of the president of the United States.  That itself is cwazy.  The White House sorta played it that way in its limited pushback.

The next glaring takeaway was the press, who according to reports, well, reports from World Net Daily, were attacking Arpaio and his "cold case posse" investigator Zullo instead of asking questions about their purported evidence.  Imagine the same thing occurring if some county sheriff said he had evidence that Bush was lying about--anything. They would be salivating over the data.

Third, the idea that someone can obtain a birth certificate from Hawaii without being born in Hawaii is something that should be investigated, Obama or not.  If nothing else the press could have jumped on that one to see if it was true.    

As to Arpaio, he sounds a just a tad uptight and of course has his own problems, but those problems could have been inflamed by his black and white stance on illegals to which the White House objects.  In other words, he was an easy target.  As to the purported evidence, I'd like to see the interview with the 95 year old records clerk they mentioned in support of explaining the numbers in pencil on the cert, which seem important.

But even if there were blank entries on the original submission, flagged by the number 9, they might not be dismissive of Obama being born in Honolulu.  Those are the kind of questions the press should be pursuing.  Of course that would require them to ask the basic question that IF they were not originally filled out, who filled them out later and why?  Answering such a question might surely lead to "the Obama campaign", which is a place none of them want to go.

But imagine it.  "African" as a race was not used when the state of Hawaii filed the certificate.  So how did it get there?  Did someone make a special exception for the first Kenyan to come to the University of Hawaii?  It's possible.  Maybe the 95 year old clerk would know.  The press should be curious enough to ask since it doesn't necessarily say anything towards ineligibility.

According to the investigators nobody from the Hawaii records office would swear that the document released on the internet was the exact same one they had in their vault, which is a little surprising since they sold the document to the Obama campaign.  That seems a ridiculous gap to leave--either the document is the same or it isn't.  If it isn't the explanation might be as innocent as a Chicago politician altering a document to be made public (the original short form) to change a blank entry, or the more standard "Negro" to "African" in support of their boss, who was basing his entire narrative on Dreams from his African father.

But perhaps the greater import is the politics.  With the right sitting on this story, deathly afraid of touching it for fear of triggering the lefty truther jackals, the only way it gets any traction is via Trump.  And the Donald is back at it, demanding Obama release his school records and other stuff in response to the Obama campaign against Bain.  Romney seems to trust Trump and even recently said they would begin "vetting the president", ala Breitbart.  Hopefully Mitt knows what he's doing but it has the aroma of a trap.

Friedman on Taxing the Rich

It's interesting to look back and see the same debate raging in the 60s and 70s that is still raging now.

Aviation Update

On this, the 16th anniversary of the TWA 800 crash in 1996, we still know very little about the definitive cause of that tragedy.  Jack Cashill has thoughts.

Meanwhile, the probable causes of several other somewhat mysterious crashes remain themselves mysterious, as in scant details released by the Paris offices of the BEA.   One crash investigation that has received considerable attention is the one for Air France 447, almost certainly pilot error (multiple pilots) as well as a system error (flying into bad weather).  But the others, including two involving crashes into the ocean, have yet to trigger any perceptible media curiosity.  

Despite those dark moments flying remains a very safe form of transportation.  The US safety record is to be admired through the world, despite a few needles in the food.  The bigger worry here locally is whether the USPS will re-up their contract with Fed Ex to haul first class and priority mail when it comes up for renewal next year.  Losing that contract would be a huge blow to both Fed Ex and Memphis, especially with Delta having already cut flights in half since taking over Northwest several years ago.  One has to believe there will be some nuclear-level politics involved in that process during the upcoming months.     

Strawmen Don't Pay Taxes

So what did the great orator mean when he said this..



The right is largely reacting to the "you didn't build it" angle, as in Obama is saying people who got successful only did so via the government.  That's not literally what I think he meant.  What I think he meant was that it takes a village to raise a child.  Or a small business.   Or IBM.  The greater good, in other words.  Lefties love talking about the greater good.

Problem is Obama has created (and is trying to slay) yet another strawman.  The reason he's making the argument is to push for raising taxes on the 'rich'.  It's not the first time--think Joe the Plumber. The gist is to suggest that conservatives don't want to pay any taxes at all in an effort to shame them into accepting tax hikes.

Thing is, nobody aside from an abject moron thinks taxes should be zero.  Nobody aside from an abject moron doesn't understand that infrastructure and the government is beneficial to the success of individual Americans, or that we all need to contribute to the greater good.  That's not the question, that's the strawman.

The question is how much should anyone pay for the greater good, ie, how much should the government be able to penalize successful people for the benefit of others.  Had he said it that way it would have been much clearer, but at the same time it would have sounded much more sinister and almost un-American.   Which is why he chose the strawman.

TWO STRAWMEN IN ONE  7/16/12

Besides being a ridiculously poorly-stated analogy there were actually two strawmen in this clip.  At the beginning he says that America raised taxes on the rich in the 90s under Clinton, claiming it created 24 million new jobs and many new millionaires.  Sorry Barack, but that internet thingy you claim the government created disagrees with you.  And some of us were actually there.  Clinton raised taxes on EVERYONE.  Across the board.   The reason Obama keeps lying and obfuscating is because he wants people to believe the Bush cuts only cut taxes for the rich, which is the part he wants to reverse.   Again, if Obama came out and told the truth it would be much more clear, but it would sound much more sinister and socialist.  So he uses the strawman.

The Tale of Two Terrorists

One, bin Laden's "cook and driver"--Ibrahim al-Qosi.  After spending 8 years at GITMO he underwent a military tribunal in 2010 and received only 2 additional years confinement, now he's out.  Hey, he's just a cook, right?  In today's news yes, but there was a time the government considered him a courier, accountant and jack-of-all-trades side man for the world's most-wanted terrorist.  Is he reformed now?  Who knows. 
 
The other, a US-born Islamic religious lecturer with a PhD in computational biology who worked as a software engineer at several companies in the Washington DC area-- Ali al-Timimi.   In 2005 Mr. Timimi was convicted of sedition among other crimes related to inciting jihad against America and received a life sentence plus 70 years.  He was no doubt a cheerleader for the destruction of the west but unless there's something we don't know about he wasn't involved in directing any specific attacks.

So why is the guy who served loyally with UBL released while a guy who thinks he's doing the work of Allah by pointing out sins of the Great Satan via the Koran stashed away for life?   Sure, one was a field sargent while the other had potential widespread influence, but it still seems a strange disparity.  The judge in Timmi's trial even let him remain free on bond pending sentencing and expressed reluctance in proscribing the mandatory life sentence.   

One motivation is of course rank post 9/11 fear.   Charismatic Islamic scholars can have far-reaching influence as illustrated by another US-born religious person, Anwar Awlaki.   Embarrassment might be another driver--recall Awlaki was once considered a moderate Muslim and even invited to the Pentagon to give seminars before ascending to number one on the presidential kill list.  Tamimi reportedly had worked under contract to the military (with a security clearance) and had job connections around the Beltway.  

Still, the disparity of sentencing makes one wonder whether the fear of Tamimi penetrated to a deeper level.  Then again, lots of things in this War on Terror don't make sense, like the 180 degree change between how Iraq was described by the mainstream press in the 90s compared to today.  Whatever the case, it's good to know the war is finally over. Whew!   No need to even mention it during the upcoming election season.           





 

Lone Adult Enters the Fray

Yes, the guy who our current president blames for driving America into a ditch has just displayed more maturity and wisdom than either of the two candidates...

The former president, who was confronted with a recession early in his first term and then presided over a long period of sustained though not particularly robust growth before 2008, does not use the book to defend his record, but instead tries to move forward.

“While the causes of the 2008 crisis will be debated by scholars for decades to come, we can all agree that excessive risk-taking by financial institutions, irresponsible decisions by lenders and borrowers, and market-distorting government policies all played a role,” Mr. Bush wrote in the foreword. “The question now is which policies we should adopt to fix the problems, speed the recovery, and lay the foundation for another long, steady expansion.”

James K. Glassman, executive director of the George W. Bush Institute, which assembled the book, said the former president did not want to rehash the past. “This is not a backward-looking book,” Mr. Glassman said. “We hope that the book will be a centerpiece of conversation and debate about economic policy in the campaign and beyond.”

The book tries to reorient the economic debate away from how many jobs are created each month to a focus on stimulating growth that will generate worthwhile jobs. Government programs can create jobs that do not mean much to the country, the book argues, and it would be better to figure out how to expand the private sector.

At the same time, while warning of the consequences of spiraling federal debt, the book cautions against deficit reduction as an immediate goal, saying tax increases and spending cuts in the short term could strangle growth. “Reducing the debt is critical,” Mr. Glassman wrote in the book’s introduction, “but growth comes first.”

What a novel concept, dropping the blame game and looking ahead.

Side Tracks

Bait

Several stories have popped out lately and all appear to have a possible link:  baiting the GOP into predictable reactions for exploitation.

Take the Romney speech at the NAACP.  It was probably designed to get Mitt into a situation where he could be booed by minorities--basically for being a white conservative--whereupon conservatives would react to the booing and their reaction could then be used against them (racists).

The 18 year old Texas Latina from San Antonio called to testify by the DOJ in Washington about the Texas voter ID law was likely designed to not only tug at Hispanic heartstrings but also perhaps to lure conservatives into bashing a young Hispanic woman, which could be used to anger other Hispanics and draw more votes for Obama. We still don't know how the woman managed to get past TSA without a picture ID so she could give her Fluke-like testimony.

The Spanish-language soap opera commercials advertising food stamps is the same thing--designed to provoke a reaction.  

Of course the Bain felony 'you lie!' story was probably designed to both pull Romney into defense mode for being a capitalist again (something the Obamabots will be doing repeatedly the next four months because they have no other play) while countering Mitt's own 'you lie' commercial regarding previous allegations about him being...a capitalist.

Even Obama's personal Twitter account linked the Atlantic Wire story today, followed by numerous mainstream stories, some using question marks as if they were bloggers. If only they'd had as much curiosity about Obama's lies regarding Ayers and Dreams but the notion of the president's campaign lying about the big guy once palling around with a communist domestic terrorist is of course just cwazy whackadoodle conspiracy fodder.

All together they could have also been strategically timed to undermine what looks to be an early VP announcement with Drudge now headlining Condi as a possible pick.  If true the Bot rocket launchers will be reloaded promptly for 'Iraq war WMD lies' stories about Condi, probably even from the likes of the NAACP.  Nobody will be calling anyone a racist over that stuff.

Meanwhile we have about five carrier groups swarming around the Strait of Hormuz with troop buildups in Kuwait while Syria goes nuts and Egypt morphs into Taliban 2.0 and nobody has noticed. Maybe Condi will make them notice.

Blunt Romney and other Spin

Several stories to play with today, all with spin.

One, Blunt Romney visiting the NAACP.  Seriously, "Blunt Romney"?  Is that some kind of secret street language nickname for Mittens leaked by his staff to give him street cred or just business as usual for the Paper of Record?  If you chose latter come collect your prize.  Their counterparts mainly hit with he was booed.  No doubt the booed headline saturated most mainstream coverage as in, how dare Romney campaign against the current president.  That's a personal insult. What next, claiming Obama drove the economic bus into a ditch?  Or spitting on Emanuel Cleaver? 

The other spin came from a potentially embarrassing story that broke connecting Occupy Wall Street with murder.   Early reports said DNA taken from a chain used at an OWS New York event matched that found on the personal effects of a 2004 murder victim.  Early reports also said that all forensic personnel in the NYPD crime lab had been cleared of contaminating the evidence.  Suddenly the main headline has now transformed into "Possible Lab Contamination...", all thanks to a 'source' in the lab, not the PD.   Fit to print with massive font headlines apparently based on one source!

These same folks have held onto the Tea Party spitting story (alluded to above) forever despite Breitbart's cash award for anyone who could actually provide evidence (nobody did) and his later attempt to show up the NAACP as dishonest and bigoted in their approach to the event and the Tea Party in general via the Shirley Sherrod debacle.  No surprise, the very same folks also pushed a dishonest and erroneous narrative against noted white Hispanic George Zimmerman by creatively splicing a 911 tape to make him appear racist.  No source needed.

Finally, the absentee Jesse Jackson, Jr. story.  Early reports said he was being treated for substance abuse, perhaps for alcohol.  Now it has changed to "a mood disorder".   Give the mainstreamers some credit here, the spin is coming from the congressman's staff.  However, reporters by nature are trained to be skeptics and not swallow press releases verbatim, at least theoretically.  Or maybe that was just in Bogie movies.  Wait, no, they still do that with Sarah Palin.  And every other Republican.  So let's see if this new explanation satisfies these notorious hungry dogs just like that dog training exercise story back in the 90s gave them reason to shut down another potentially embarrassing investigation.  


    

Side Tracks

As a long-time National League fan the All Star Game last night was thoroughly enjoyable, but this commercial made me laugh out loud...

(click to view, no imbed)

And way to go out in style for Tony LaRussa and Chipper Jones, even if he did get a small assist from Ian Kinsler.  By the way, Jones is 40.  Isn't it against the law or something for guys named Chipper to turn 40?     

We Apologize

So the United States has apologized to Pakistan due to the November raid along the border in which several Pakistani troops were killed.   OK, we expect such turds to be dropped on the press during the afternoon of July 3rd.  

When does the Pakistani government apologize for harboring bin Laden?  And KSM?  And Binalshibh?  And Yousef?  Or for letting bin Laden escape into the tribal areas?  Or letting the Taliban stage in the tribal areas, and come back across the border?  Or for A.Q. Khan?  Or for creating the Taliban to begin with?  That's some great ally.     

Again?

UK's Mail Online is sure this is the vapor trail of a cosmic object impacting the ocean..

How about a missile taking off from a sub offshore, heading further away?   Or how about just a contrail from a jet airliner illuminated by the evening sunset.  The curvature of the earth isn't really that mysterious.  Is it?