Thursday’s Mini-Report

December 13, 2007

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* After yesterday’s uproar following Bill Shaheen’s discussion of Barack Obama’s teenaged drug use, Shaheen resigned today as co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s campaign in New Hampshire. “I would like to reiterate that I deeply regret my comments yesterday and say again that they were in no way authorized by Senator Clinton or the Clinton campaign,” he said in a statement, adding, “I made a mistake and in light of what happened, I have made the personal decision that I will step down as the Co-Chair of the Hillary for President campaign.”

* On a related note, in an unusual move, Hillary Clinton met up with Obama at a DC airport today and personally apologized for Shaheen’s comment.

* I’ll have a full report on this afternoon’s Democratic debate in the morning, but in the interim, there seems to be one Obama-Clinton exchange that already has the political world buzzing.

* I don’t know or care about baseball, but a report by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D), hired by commissioner Bud Selig to examine the sport’s steroid problem, was released today, ending a 20-month investigation. If media interest is any indication, it’s a pretty big deal.

* It’s painful to imagine, but former Halliburton employee Jamie Leigh Jones’ horrific experience may not have been an isolated incident: “Congress is asking questions about another ex-employee of government contracting firm KBR who claims she was raped in Iraq. Letters to the Pentagon and the Justice Department today from Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. underscore congressional concern about a second alleged assault, this time of a woman from Florida who reportedly worked for a KBR subsidiary in Ramadi, Iraq in 2005.”

* Why did the CIA videotape its torturous interrogations?

* Remember those strange guys in Miami the Bush administration accused of wanting to blow up the Sears Tower? “One of seven Miami men accused of plotting to join forces with al-Qaida to blow up Chicago’s Sears Tower was acquitted Thursday, and a mistrial was declared for the six others after the federal jury deadlocked. The mistrial means prosecutors will have to decide whether to retry the six men.”

* It’s hard to know when Bush administration prosecutors go after a Democrat whether politics is involved, but in either case, Al Sharpton’s office is facing a subpoena from the FBI.

* That Savage clown really isn’t well:”On his radio show, Michael Savage referred to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the Nobel Peace Prize, as ‘socialist perverts.’ He continued: ‘Why do I call them socialist perverts? Answer: because they are. By and large, 90 percent of the people on the Nobel Committee are into child pornography and molestation, according to the latest scientific studies.'”

* As expected, Bush delivered an early Christmas president to low-income kids with no health insurance in the form of coal in their stockings: “President Bush vetoed another children’s health bill on Wednesday, effectively killing Democrats’ hopes of expanding a popular government program aimed at providing insurance to youngsters in lower- and middle-income families. It was the seventh veto of Mr. Bush’s presidency and the second veto of a children’s health bill. Mr. Bush rejected a similar bill in October, despite support from Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill.”

* USAT: “A record number of soldiers — 109 — have killed themselves this year, according to Army statistics showing confirmed or suspected suicides. The deaths occur as soldiers serve longer combat deployments and the Army spends $100 million on support programs…. The Army provided suicide statistics to Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. Her staff shared them with USA TODAY. Those numbers show 77 confirmed suicides Army-wide this year through Nov. 27 and 32 other deaths pending final determination as suicides.”

* Note to suspected criminals everywhere: when you hide, you look guilty: “The director of a national charity for veterans has gone into hiding after defying a congressional subpoena. Roger Chapin, head of the California-based charity, Help Hospitalized Veterans, refused to appear today before a congressional hearing chaired by Congressman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., who is investigating how the charity’s money was spent. Waxman said Chapin had evaded attempts by U.S. marshals to find him for the past week to serve a warrant to compel Chapin to answer questions before Congress about his charity, which raised more than $98 million last year.”

* What do “The Golden Compass” and the attacks on Pearl Harbor have to do with each other? Nothing, but far-right nuts make very strange analogies, anyway.

* And finally, I know the National Republican Senatorial Committee has fallen on hard times, and I realize the campaign committee’s future looks bleak. But there’s just no excuse for putting out the most breathtakingly stupid 12 Days of Christmas parody in the history of the world. C’mon, NRSC, show a little pride.

Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.

It’s painful to imagine, but former Halliburton employee Jamie Leigh Jones’ horrific experience may not have been an isolated incident

Wow, Halliburton not only rapes the national treasuries of two countries but it also rapes its women employees. Now that’s a versatile rapist. Most rapists just limit themselves to their fetishes.

By and large, 90 percent of the people on the Nobel Committee are into child pornography and molestation, according to the latest scientific studies.

I didn’t know that the Nobel Committee was stacked with Halliburton management and Republicans. That makes Mr. Gore’s Nobel Peace Prize a real Christmas Miracle!

  • A couple of additional open thread notes:

    CB says It’s hard to know when Bush administration prosecutors go after a Democrat whether politics is involved. . .
    Indeed it is, and in one Iowa case that has long been the question since US Atty and unsuccessful former Republican candidate for statewide office Matt Whittaker (who admits he had no idea what the job entailed until after he was named) brought corruption charges against State Sen. Matt McCoy, a powerful Democrat who also happens to be the only openly gay Iowa Senator (Whittaker caught heat for initially agreeing to speak at a Christian Conservative conference).

    Today a jury made very quick work of acquitting McCoy, further suggesting politics as the only explanation for bringing such serious charges on such weak facts.

    And in Ron Paul news, I’m not sure this was the kind of submission Huckabee was referring to, but in keeping with his supporters’ novel ideas, an independent group is now using a pin-up calendar as a Ron Paul fundraiser. So, JKap, how many are on your walls? 🙂

  • Zeitgeist@2 —
    Thanks for the update on this case… I’ve kind of lost track of where it was in the courts, but glad to hear my State Sen. McCoy was acquitted. We like him for the most part … glad the good guys sometimes win out!

  • there seems to be one Obama-Clinton exchange that already has the political world buzzing.

    God, the first thing I heard was a raucous cackle after Obama was asked the question, and was very annoyed that someone, I thought in the audience, was being incredibly rude. Then it turns out it was Hillary Clinton. I could not get past my annoyance at that laugh, though I thought Obama handled the question and her cackle with good humor, not making a big deal out of it.

    The difference in style between the two seems to be that she carries a sledgehammer while he carries a feather for verbal exchanges, and of the two, he comes off as far more affable and easy-going.

  • anney at 4, both Obama and Edwards are gentlemen. Their self control in light of the things Hillary Clinton pulls just because she is a woman is admirable.

  • Anyone who still thinks Al Gore is considering a run for the presidency should be convinced that he’s not by this:

    “”My own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali,” said Gore, who flew to Bali from Oslo, Norway, where he received the Nobel Peace Prize for helping alert the world to the danger of climate change. […]”

    Wolf Blitzer claimed that this has caused a firestorm of criticism against Al Gore, and on his Round Table discussion Jack Cafferty went ballistic, attacking Gore with a vegeance for it, although it was clear from the context he’s a core Gore hater to begin with. Gloria Borgia was slightly negative on Gore, while Jeffrey Toobin, the third member of the panel, praised Al for being forthright. But the point is, it was a very inflammatory remark. No presidential candidate would express it this way – they’ d blame Bush specifically, not the nation, and probably not even that in front of an international audience. The right is going to go apoplectic about this.

    And he’s not looking svelte, either. No way is Al running. Figuratively or literally. Arrrghhh! Couldn’t help it.

  • I don’t know or care about baseball, but a report by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell (D), hired by commissioner Bud Selig to examine the sport’s steroid problem, was released today, ending a 20-month investigation. If media interest is any indication, it’s a pretty big deal.

    The thing about it is it names names of a lot of players who allegedly used steroids. A god thing to know / look at if you have any associates who follow baseball, and if you followed baseball enough when you were growing up to recognize who a lot of baseball players are. I followed baseball very little when I was a kid, but there were still a few people I knew on the so-called “initial” (I guess they are not releasing the whole list at once) list.

  • Wow, that 12 Days of Christmas really, really, really sucked large eggs and then vomited them all out. What made it worse is knowing that they must have rehearsed that at least a few times, yet somehow remained oblvious to how embarrassing the whole thing was. It was obvious that several of them were losing steam towards the end, but I guess authoritarians really aren’t very good at knowing when to jump ship.

    What’s odd is that the one chick who could really sing really shouldn’t have. Not only did she make the others look bad, but she made herself look worse. By the end (and yes, I made it to the end), I was really wishing she was as half-hearted as the others. Brain bleach, anyone?

  • but there were still a few people I knew on the so-called “initial” (I guess they are not releasing the whole list at once) list.

    There was a “draft” list leaked to the press this morning, but I think at this point everyone agrees that it was fake since it got 70% of the names wrong. The actual Mitchell Report was released at 1pm (400+ pages in addition to something like a thousand pages of exhibits) and included the full list of players Mitchell had info on. In fact though, they only got info on a few drug rings so it probably included under 10% of the players who used steroids over the years.

  • Regarding “The Golden Compass”/Pearl Harbor analogy…(speaking in the manner of Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons) Worst Analogy Ever.

  • […] there seems to be one Obama-Clinton exchange that already has the political world buzzing. — CB

    Her Royal Cuteness really should have paid attention to that old maxim: “if it ain’ broke, don’t fix it”. Left to himself, Obama may very well have either flubbed the question or else come off as “negative”. Because, how do you, politely, say “the reason they’re with my campaign, not yours, is because they want change, same as I do. And, having gained experience in your husband’s administration, will know how to apply it towards achieving that change”? You cannot say that, and it was obvious he was groping for some acceptable response.

    But, no. Miz too-Clever-by-half couldn’t leave it alone. She figured she had him on a platter and she had to interrupt with her “I want to hear that”, thinking it would double the impact. Well, she
    went for double or nothing and got nothing, except a self-inflicted shot in the foot.

    Zeitgeist, @2. That pin-up link isn’t working. Can you correct that? I want to see Paul as a pin-up dolly 🙂

  • sorry, libra – not sure how that got the extra CB stuff in there.

    the page is http://www.hotties4RonPaul.com

    as as the name implies, it is not pin up photos of Dr. Paul (thankfully), rather it is a bevy of randy Rand-ians and lascivious Libertarians.

  • Remember this from back in March?

    Bowen’s credibility couldn’t be higher; no one in any part of the government has been as effective in exposing fraud, waste, and mismanagement in Iraqi reconstruction, and then punishing those directly responsible. His office “opened 27 new criminal probes in the last quarter [of 2006], bringing the total number of active cases to 78. Twenty-three are awaiting prosecutorial action by the Justice Department, most of them centering on charges of bribery and kickbacks.” Indeed, Bowen is the only guy in the administration who actively targeted Halliburton contracts.

    So I guess we should have seen this coming.

    The investigation of Stuart Bowen involves possible electronic tampering, including alleged efforts by the inspector general to go through e-mails of employees in his office, said two officials close to the inquiry. It is being handled by the FBI’s Washington field office, according to law enforcement officials, who like the first officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

    According to one of the officials close to the investigation, the FBI is looking into several issues of possible fraud and abuse and has interviewed a number of former and current employees — some two or three times. A grand jury has been impaneled, and has issued subpoenas for documents.

    The official said that in addition to the allegations involving Bowen accessing employee e-mails, the FBI is also looking into whether Bowen and his deputy, Ginger Cruz, may have inappropriately used taxpayer funds to pay their legal expenses associated with an administrative investigation that began in 2006.

  • Robin Wright at the WaPo has more on the Bowen. It’s starting to look like the is a typical Bushie and not the hero he had been made out to be. All of his success in Iraq may have been little more than hype design to hide his malfeasance. For example there’s this.

    SIGIR claimed in an October 2006 report that its “financial impact” — the cost savings resulting from its work, the funds it recovered and other benefits — was as much as $1.87 billion. The report led to an extension of SIGIR’s mandate last December. “SIGIR’s oversight during this process has been essential to ensuring that the taxpayers’ dollars are being used effectively and efficiently,” Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) said at the time.

    But after other government agencies challenged that figure, arguing that proper accounting standards were not used in calculating the estimate and that SIGIR did not distinguish between U.S. funds and Iraqi funds, SIGIR revised the number in a report this summer. The new estimate was less than $95 million, only 5 percent of its previous claim.

  • Pretty big deal?

    What do you suppose the poll numbers would look like if people were asked about their knowledge of details of the Mitchell report versus the NIE on Iran? Betcha a big percentage of folks could name ten or more players on the steroids list and think the NIE says Iran is stocked to the teeth with nukes aimed at us.

  • Pingback: Chuck Adkins » Memo to Bill Shaheen and the Hillary camp: WTF?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!???!?!?!?

  • Announced today, fmr Senator Mitchell will now spearhead an investigation into the use of steroids in the NFL. The burning question, should it be made compulsory?

  • Michael Savage really does give new meaning to the expression “publicity-seeking, no-talent ass clown”.

  • If media interest is any indication, [the baseball steroids report is] a pretty big deal.

    Mitchell says everyone involved in baseball over the last 20 years shares the responsibility. That would include a certain former part-owner of the Texas Rangers.

    “Why do I call them socialist perverts? Answer: because they are. By and large, 90 percent of the people on the Nobel Committee are into child pornography and molestation, according to the latest scientific studies.”

    Only one of the five members of the Nobel Peace Prize committee is a socialist; three of them belong to conservative political parties. I’d also wager that none of the five, three of whom are women, are sex offenders.

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