http://jonathanturley.org/2009/11/10/lost-army-of-king-cambyses-ii-found/#more-17093
Well, that was just fine with Governor Rick Perry. Oliver has been killed. Isn't it nice to have the importance of biblical morality affirmed for us once again?
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Top executives at Blackwater Worldwide authorized secret payments of about $1 million to Iraqi officials that were intended to silence their criticism and buy their support after a September 2007 episode in which Blackwater security guards fatally shot 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad, according to former company officials.
Blackwater approved the cash payments in December 2007, the officials said, as protests over the deadly shootings in Nisour Square stoked long-simmering anger inside Iraq about reckless practices by the security company's employees. American and Iraqi investigators had already concluded that the shootings were unjustified, top Iraqi officials were calling for Blackwater's ouster from the country, and company officials feared that Blackwater might be refused an operating license it would need to retain its contracts with the State Department and private clients, worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
If true, it's illegal. There are laws about bribing foreign officials. Someone at Blackwater (or Xe Services, as it's known now) should probably be going to jail. But it's doubtful they will.
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Missing the Point
And so now, the big sticking point going forward has become -- pretty much out of the blue -- abortion rights and coverage. The always insightful Greg Sargebt explains the situation: http://griperblade.blogspot.com/2009/11/missing-point.html
John Cole: The closing of this WaPo piece on the NY-23 affair really sums it all up:
Scozzafava, who was stripped of her Republican leadership position in the New York State Assembly on Monday, says she has no regrets and even leaves open the possibility of running for the seat again as a Republican. She sees herself as a champion of local expertise over ideological purity."How can Sarah Palin come out and endorse someone who can't answer some basic questions," Scozzafava asked. "Do these people even know who they are endorsing?"
Those conservative forces now descend on Florida, where former House speaker Marco Rubio, who on Monday received the endorsement of the Club for Growth, might shove aside centrist Gov. Charlie Crist, who was once on John McCain's short list for running mate. And Scozzafava has a warning.
"There is a lot of us who consider ourselves Republicans, of the Party of Lincoln," she said, her face now flush. "If they don't want us with them, we're going to work against them."
The funny thing about all of this is that no matter how bad all their ideas are, no matter how disastrous their governance has been, no matter how many horrible things they have done to the economy and this country, what really is killing the Republican party is that deep down, they are just complete assholes. You see it in the way they treat women, you see it in the way they treat minorities, you see it in the way they treat homosexuals, you see it in the way they treat anyone who is not a white Christian, and you see it in the way they treat anyone who disagrees with them slightly about anything. They just have no respect for anyone, and it shows. People don't like to be treated like crap, and grown-ups don't want to be associated with people who yell "You lie" or scream "socialism" or "Hitler" or accuse you of being a terrorist whenever they don't get their way.
If you read the Corner or the Weekly Standard, or listen to any talk radio or any of the mouth breathers on Fox, or read any right-wing blogs, you will instantly know what I am talking about. You can't help but notice that they are just loudmouthed jerks, stubborn bully boys, and insensitive and insecure cads. James Wolcott once wrote that Eric Cantor looked like the "pricky proprietor of the Jerk Store," and that could be applied to the majority of the prominent Republicans out there. I guess that should be suspected from a movement in which the only thoughts are "F**k you, I got mine."
Seriously, how much time would it have taken for Hoffman to call Scozzafava after she withdrew from the race? But he didn't, because he was a petty wingnut outsider thrust onto the scene by teabaggers and national loudmouths, and the people who were nice to her got the endorsement and the win. There is a lesson here.
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We're simply doomed as a nation:
Alexios Marakis, a Greek Orthodox priest visiting the U.S., got lost in Tampa and tried to stop and ask directions from Marine reservist Jasen D. Bruce. But instead of offering help, "Bruce struck the priest on the head with a tire iron." The reservist believed Marakis, who spoke limited English, was an Arab terrorist. Bruce chased the priest for three blocks, "and even called 911 to say that an Arabic man tried to rob him."
Did you all see David Horowitz calling for General Casey's head the other day for not attacking Muslim soldiers after the Ft. Hood shootings?
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Obama speaks; wingnuts attack
After listening to the speech President Obama gave at Ft. Hood, I was impressed by his dignity and grace. The speech was a good one, not great, but his demeanor was all you could expect from a Commander-in-Chief addressing the troops and the Nation after such a tragedy.
Sadly, not everyone agrees with my assessment.
First up the WSJ. Their headline sort of tells you all you need to know about what they thought of him today:
Obama Delivers Largely Unemotional Speech at Fort Hood
On to Pajamas Media, who doesn't believe Obama hates terrorists enough:
America, the West, and Israel are all fighting back in a war that radical, jihadic Islamists, (not Muslims) have declared against us. [...>Nevertheless, today, a half hour ago at Ft Hood, President Obama did not pronounce the following words: "Jihad." "Terrorism." "Islamist terrorism" or "Islamic terrorism."
Yeah, not enough about the War ion Terror in the speech, was there? Not enough about "Bring 'em on" and "Dead or Alive!" In other words he wasn't the Warmonger-in-Chief like W used to be.
It goes downhill from there: http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2009/11/10/185322/41
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I know that I will hardly be able to focus on work today because of the trials and tribulations being visited upon Robert Benmosche, the current head of AIG:
After just three months as head of battered insurer American International Group, Robert Benmosche has threatened to leave his post as he struggles to deal with heavy government oversight and restrictions on what the bailed-out company wants to pay employees, according to a published report.
Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reported online late Tuesday that Benmosche told AIG's board he was "done" with the job, although he reportedly is reconsidering his stance in the face of the board's dismay.
According to the people, the former MetLife CEO is frustrated with the constraints of leading a company majority-owned by the government, the paper said. The Journal said Benmosche has complained to AIG's board about the outcome of the Treasury Department's pay review which slashed pay for a number of AIG executives by 91 percent from 2008. WSJ:
This is the guy who spent the first two weeks on the job at his Adriatic vacation home overseeing his vineyard. His compensation package is worth $10 million, But oh, he is so put upon because during a recession, when one in six American workers cannot find a job, people are upset because of the idea that it is necessary to shower multiple millions of dollars on people to move ones and zeroes around on a computer screen.
Keep reading: http://brilliantatbreakfast.blogspot.com/2009/11/awwwwpoor-widdeh-babeee.html
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Earlier this week, the Toronto Star decided to lay off a large number of (union, a-hem) editors. Well, one of 'em decided to edit the announcement from the Corner office that made that hair-brained decision. And the rest, as they say, is a thing of beauty:
http://www.mockpaperscissors.com/?p=25772
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In 2008, Tim Shorrock reported for Salon that while "working inside America's 'shadow' spy industry, George Tenet, Richard Armitage, Cofer Black and others are cashing in big on Iraq and the war on terror." Now, the Financial Times reports today that even more Bush administration officials are eyeing profits in Iraq:
Senior Bush administration figures including Zalmay Khalilzad, former US ambassador to Baghdad, and Jay Garner, the retired general who led reconstruction efforts immediately after the war, are leading a new business push into Iraq.
The two one-time senior officials are among a raft of former US soldiers and diplomats either leveraging their war experience helping foreign companies to enter the Iraqi market or starting businesses there themselves.
Recently, former American diplomat Peter Galbraith, who was a key adviser to Iraqi Kurdish politicians, admitted that "he has had business dealings involving oil companies in Iraqi Kurdistan since 2004." "The business interest, including my investment into Kurdistan, was consistent with my political views,'' he told the Boston Globe. "These were all things that I was promoting, and in fact, have brought considerable benefit to the people of Kurdistan, the Kurdistan oil industry, and also to shareholders.''
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Repuke values & morality
The New York comPost editor fired after speaking out against a cartoon depicting the author of the president's stimulus package as a dead chimpanzee has sued the paper. And as part of her complaint, Sandra Guzman levels some remarkable, embarrassing, and potentially damaging allegations.And then it gets WORSE.
Guzman has filed a complaint against News Corporation, the New York Post and the paper's editor in chief Col Allan in the Southern District Court of New York, alleging harassment as well as "unlawful employment practices and retaliation."
As part of the 38-page complaint, Guzman paints the Post newsroom as a male-dominated frat house and Allan in particular as sexist, offensive and domineering. Guzman alleges that she and others were routinely subjugated to misogynistic behavior. She says that hiring practices at the paper -- as well as her firing -- were driven by racial prejudices rather than merit.
And she recounts the paper's D.C. bureau chief stating that the publication's goal was to "destroy [President] Barack Obama."
This could get good!
