Month: April 2014

Huge police operation in Istanbul ahead of May Day protests; 39,000 police on city streets, 19,000 in Taksim area, reports say – @JoeWSJ

Breaking news – breakingnews.com
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Huge police operation in Istanbul ahead of May Day protests; 39,000 police on city streets, 19,000 in Taksim area, reports say – @JoeWSJ

Back To Benghazi, Again

Personal Liberty

To paraphrase President Barack Obama, let me be abundantly clear: it’s a virtual certainty that Obama will walk away from Benghazi – and the other scandals which have defined his regime of unprecedented corruption – unscathed.

No matter how many memos surface proving Obama Administration flacks lied about those tragically preventable events, no matter how many facts come to light about Obama’s own policy of arming al-Qaida-linked Syrian terrorists using a weapons pipeline which ran through Libya, no matter how many times both Obama and his flunkies are caught changing the narrative about the unconscionable breakdown in the executive chain of command and communication which led directly to the deaths of Ambassador Chris Stevens, Glen Doherty, Sean Smith and Tyrone Woods; the 44th President will finish his term, hire a ghost writer for his latest “memoirs,” and head for the links without so much as a glance over his shoulder at the smoldering ruins and dead bodies which litter his tenure. Anything short of actual video footage of Obama ordering one of his minions to push a ludicrous talking point like “spontaneous demonstration” or “crappy YouTube video” will fall short of the smoking gun needed to actually force Obama to answer for his crimes.

So don’t expect justice; not even due to the emergence of a new series of internal White House memos obtained by the watchdog group Judicial Watch which prove that high-level Obama officials coached Ambassador Susan Rice to push the YouTube narrative even after they knew it was as false as one of the President’s many promises about Obamacare.

Among hundreds of pages of material, an email written by Obama advisor Ben Rhodes turned up detailing the “YouTube” strategy. In it, Rhodes suggests Ambassador Susan Rice push the idea that the Benghazi massacre was “rooted in Internet video, and not a broader failure or policy.” Addressed to senior Obama aides including Dan Pfeiffer and Jay Carney, Rhodes’ email was sent on Sept. 14, two days after intel officials informed Rice that the attacks were “complex;” and likely not a result of a crappy Internet video no one in Benghazi had yet seen.

It’s right there in black and white. Obama’s people lied; and he either knew it, which makes him a criminal; or didn’t, which makes him a dupe. And yet, Obama is already free and clear of the blast zone. Benghazi can – and likely will – damage the already-troubled Presidential candidacy of Benghazi-era Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; but what difference does that make? The Republican-controlled House, who can raise quite a hue and cry over Obama’s Benghazi crimes, is too busy cowering under its desks and/or selling out our children over so-called “immigration reform.”

That Obama and more than a few of his accomplices lied to the world about what transpired in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2011 is a matter of record. They lost the ability to credibly claim ignorance following their multiple narrative changes in the wake of the murders. In fact, the lesson we learned by observing the Obama Administration’s muddied and often self-conflicting response to Benghazi is more about their own arrogant mendacity than it is about “the fog of war” and/or YouTube videos with the production values of the average “screamin’ car dealer” television spot.

Nonetheless, Obama and his coterie of thugs simply don’t care. They don’t care about the Benghazi victims any more than they care about the victims of Operation Fast and Furious or Kermit Gosnell… or you.

-Ben Crystal

 

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from http://bit.ly/PSJ7Gf

National Weather Service spotters, sheriff’s office report flooding on Ohio State Route 151 between Scio and Bowerston, Ohio – @breakingweather

Breaking news – breakingnews.com
http://bit.ly/1iFO6Rl
National Weather Service spotters, sheriff’s office report flooding on Ohio State Route 151 between Scio and Bowerston, Ohio – @breakingweather

Fickle And Stupid?

Personal Liberty

I began publishing my monthly newsletter The Bob Livingston Letter™ in 1969. The following is an excerpt from the May 1998 issue in which I chronicle the Republican Party’s fickle and hypocritical attitudes with regard to preserving Americans’ liberty. The more things change, it seems, the more they stay the same.

The Republican Party has well earned the appellation “the Stupid Party,” based on its abandonment of moral and genuine conservative principles as well as its inability to lead in Congress. Not that the Democrats are any better, mind you, because their claims to morality and principle are even more ludicrous!

The abysmal Republican failures in Congress, most notably their inability to see justice done in their hearings on Waco and Ruby Ridge and the IRS, are almost as numerous as Bill Clinton’s offenses and escapades. Consider also the recent Republican attraction to FBI Director Louis Freeh, who, says one journalist:

 …might be well advised to wear a flak jacket for protection from all the hearty pats on the back he’s been getting from Republicans.

Why is Freeh suddenly the Republicans’ best friend? The answer is that Freeh has been assigned the role of playing “good cop” to his boss, Attorney General Janet “Johnny Waco” Reno’s “bad cop.” In the set-up for gullible Republicans, Freeh’s too highly publicized opinion is that an independent counsel should be appointed to investigate Bill and Al’s not-so-excellent fundraising adventures. It will not happen, of course, since Reno refuses.

In their whining against Reno, the Republicans appear to be trying to provoke Freeh into embarrassing his boss, by publicly rebuking her or resigning from the FBI or both. For their part, the Republicans could take strong action in Congress, including the introduction of impeachment proceedings against Reno, but they won’t. They don’t have either the backbone or the know-how. Besides, such proceedings would put a lie to the Washington game of cooperative politics as usual.

The Republicans have chosen the weasely route instead. Freeh is suddenly their best friend, championed by the stupid party as a bulwark against injustice. Not that long ago, the Republicans were demanding Freeh’s resignation, when he permitted some 1,000 FBI files, containing in-depth background interviews and research on private individuals, to be turned over to political operatives in the Clinton White House. Because no legal nor administrative corrective action was taken, the implication is that the FBI may gather and use such information against anyone.

Not that long ago, Freeh’s FBI attacked a quiet Weaver family living in the mountains of Ruby Ridge, Idaho, slaying mother and son, wounding father and a friend, and resulting in the death of a U.S. Marshal. Not that long ago, Freeh’s FBI was instrumental in the fiery murder of some 80 men, women and children at Waco. Not that long ago, Freeh appointed his personal friend and the man in charge of Ruby Ridge and Waco, Larry Potts, to deputy director at the FBI. It was Potts who gave his men “shoot to kill on sight” orders.

Not that long ago, Freeh permitted FBI attorney Howard Shapiro to brief the Clintons concerning ongoing investigations inside the FBI. Freeh also permitted Shapiro to use FBI agents to harass and intimidate a disabled agent who had provided harmful testimony concerning the Clintons.

Not that long ago, a lead technician blew the whistle on the FBI crime lab, citing ways and examples the lab manufactured fraudulent “evidence” to obtain criminal convictions. Freeh was specifically named as one who ordered it to be done when he served as U.S. Attorney. Not that long ago, Freeh permitted his FBI agents to hound Billy Dale and other employees of the White House travel office, until they either quit or were fired and replaced by Clintonistas. Dale was prosecuted based on FBI “evidence” and acquitted by a jury after just one hour of deliberations.

Not that long ago, Freeh’s FBI arrested U.S. Government informant Carol Howe, apparently because she swore out an affidavit implicating FBI involvement in a sting operation to bomb the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. In an attempt to shut her up, Howe was then unsuccessfully prosecuted by Reno’s Justice Department for a “destructive device” the government had previously instructed her to obtain!

Not that long ago, Freeh recommended that the United Nations create international “hate crimes” laws designed to gag U.S. citizens who rely on our own First Amendment to send controversial historical and political literature abroad. Afterward, Freeh’s FBI collaborated with Germany and Sweden to make sure that two Americans were arrested and jailed while travelling in Europe for allegedly sending their literature into Germany. The Department of Justice and the State Department both refused to intervene on behalf of our fellow citizens. After a year or so in jail, one of the Americans was permitted to post bond and he promptly fled and returned to Florida. The other American has remained in jail for almost two years.

In case some folks still think that Freeh believes in free speech, recall that not that long ago he recommended in congressional testimony that the U.S. Government be allowed to tap all computers and telephones in the U.S. without obtaining warrants. He also testified in support of hardwiring all communications technology with a special “clipper chip” that would not allow users to encrypt or encode messages, including private communications and corporate trade secrets.

The Republicans’ strange embrace of Freeh is not merely ironic, nor does it demonstrate ostensible Republican fickleness. The Republicans are not just stupid and fickle, they are hypocrites. They are not more effective, much less trustworthy, than the Democrats in preserving your liberty. The story of Louis Freeh is a view in microcosm of the cesspool of modern politics and government.

 

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Hey, Don’t Blame Conservatives For Donald Sterling

Personal Liberty

The left must really regret that Donald Sterling, the beleaguered owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, isn’t a conservative Republican. Wouldn’t they just love to slap the “racist” card on us, as they’ve tried to do with Clive Bundy?

But so far as we can tell, the bigoted billionaire has never given a penny to anyone on the right. On the contrary, he’s been a faithful supporter of all sorts of politically correct endeavors, including (please note the irony here), the NAACP. In fact, his previous contributions to that organization were enough to persuade them to bestow a “lifetime achievement” award on him five years ago.

Once apparently was not enough. The NAACP was all set to give him yet another lifetime achievement award next month, when news of his racist comments, in a telephone call to his girlfriend, made headlines across the country.

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling sits court side with his wife, Rochelle Sterling

Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling (left) sits courtside with his wife Rochelle Sterling. Credit: UPI

In the recording, a man identified as Sterling told V. Stiviano (apparently, she has no first name, just an initial) that he didn’t care if she dated a black man, made him dinner, or even slept with him. But he didn’t want her to take a picture with one, or bring one to a Clippers game.

Talk about a strange set of priorities! Here’s an 80-year-old rich guy, telling his very young girlfriend that he doesn’t care if she sleeps with a black man, just don’t have your picture taken with him or accompany him to a basketball game.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar picked up on this in an op-ed he wrote for the Time magazine blog. After commenting on the “Extreme Finger Wagging” and “Morally Superior Head Shaking” that Sterling’s comments have provoked, the basketball legend wrote:

And now the poor guy’s girlfriend (undoubtedly ex-girlfriend now) is on tape cajoling him into revealing his racism. Man, what a winding road she led him down to get all of that out. She was like a sexy nanny playing ‘pin the fried chicken on the Sambo.’ She blindfolded him and spun him around until he was just blathering all sorts of incoherent racist sound bites that had the news media peeing themselves with glee.

At this point in time, we don’t know why Stiviano recorded the telephone conversation or how a copy of it reached the media. She says she didn’t do it. However it happened, the audio recording first appeared on the gossip site TMZ. The contents were explosive enough that they ignited a firestorm of controversy.

The first reaction came from the team’s players, who turned their warm-up shirts inside out before Sunday night’s game, so the team’s insignia couldn’t be seen.

Next, the Clippers’ advertisers and sponsors began distancing themselves from the team. State Farm Insurance announced it was “taking a pause” in its relationship. Used-car dealer CarMax said it was ending its nine-year sponsorship. Adidas, Kia Motors, Virgin America, Red Bull and Aquahydrate also said they were suspending their deals with the team.

Clippers’ coach Doc Rivers, when asked if he wanted to meet with Sterling to discuss the situation, said he would pass. Rivers did say, “I sympathize with my players. They didn’t sign up for this.”

Amazingly enough, his players didn’t let the media circus affect their playing when they met the Golden State Warriors in their playoff series on Tuesday night. They managed to win game five of the series, 113 to 103.

Of course, many of the usual publicity seekers promptly jumped in front of the TV cameras. The Rev. Al Sharpton, who is always ready for a racist rant, demanded that Adam Silver, the commissioner of the National Basketball Association, meet with him and some other civil rights leaders, to discuss the issue. But first, Sharpton said, he had to fly to Washington, to sit down with the Congressional Black Caucus. We can imagine the racist rhetoric that will be coming out of both meetings.

Even Michael Jordan, who almost never speaks out on racial matters, was upset by Sterling’s comments. The Hall of Fame basketball player, who is now an owner of the Charlotte Bobcats basketball team, issued a statement saying:

As an owner, I’m obviously disgusted that a fellow team owner could hold such sickening and offensive views… As a former player, I’m completely outraged. There is no room in the NBA – or anywhere else – for the kind of racism and hatred that Mr. Sterling allegedly expressed.

The biggest question, once the scandal broke, was what would the NBA do about it? The hot potato was tossed in the lap of Adam Silver, who had been named commissioner of the NBA just three months ago. This past Tuesday afternoon, the NBA commissioner revealed the verdict: Sterling would be banned for life from the NBA. In addition, he would be given the largest fine the league could impose, $2.5 million. Plus, Silver promised he would do “everything in my power” to get the NBA Board of Governors to force a sale of the team.

Under the lifetime ban that Silver imposed, Sterling may not attend any games or practices, enter any Clippers’ facility, attend any league meetings or activities, or take any part in business or personnel decisions concerning the team.

Moments after Silver announced the penalties, the Clippers issued a statement supporting his actions. “We wholeheartedly support and embrace the decision by the NBA and Commissioner Adam Silver today,” the team said. “Now the healing process begins.”

If he is forced to sell the team, Sterling certainly won’t be hurting financially. He paid $12 million when he purchased the Clippers back in 1981. According to Forbes magazine, the team is currently worth around $575 million. That represents around one-quarter of Sterling’s estimated $1.9 billion fortune. The guy may be hurting for friends, but he sure won’t be hurting for dough.

Does the NBA have the legal right to force Sterling to sell his team? According to Commissioner Silver, it does — if three-quarters of the 30 team owners say so. Sterling has been quoted as saying he won’t sell, so it looks like the matter will be heading to the courts.

In the meantime, Sterling is even having trouble giving some of his money away. After Silver’s press conference, UCLA announced that it was rejecting a $3 million gift from the Donald T. Sterling Charitable Foundation. The university said it was doing so because “Mr. Sterling’s divisive and hurtful comments demonstrate that he does not share UCLA’s core values as a public university that fosters diversity, inclusion and respect.”

Yes, indeed, the Morally Superior Head Shaking continues. But at least this time the media can’t blame us nasty reactionaries for the mess. Donald Sterling may be a racist bigot. But he’s not one of ours.

Until next time, keep some powder dry.

-Chip Wood

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