In case you’re wondering about the dearth of posts, today, I’m spending the weekend in Denver for BlogCon 2011.
Last night many of the bloggers met for drinks at The Falling Rock Tap House. I had the pleasure of sharing a table with Peter Ingemi, aka DaTechGuy.
DaTech Guy tips his fedora
Sitting across from me, were Lori Byrd, and Stephen Kruiser:
And sitting beside me was Jeff Dunetz, Yid With Lid.
Today, we got news that #OccupyDenver plans to protest us at BlogCon.
What could be better news for a room full of bloggers than the prospect of dynamite blog content courtesy of #OccupyDenver? And how convenient that we don’t have to seek out their squatters camp – they’re coming to us.
UP TWINKLES!
Photo taken by Jim Hoft
They’re planning to stop by at 5:00 pm, today. Stay tuned.
On April 22, 2011, Acting NLRB General Counsel Lafe Solomon sent an email to Wilma Liebman, outgoing Chairwoman of the NLRB, “The article gave me a new idea. You go to geneva [Switzerland] and I get a job with airbus [French company]. We screwed up the us economy and now we can tackle europe.” Solomon’s comment was in response to an article published in French on the European Planet Labor website noting the devastating potential economic impact on South Carolina if the plant were to be scuttled: “Two billion dollars were invested in Charleston, 1,000 employees were recruited, and the site was supposed to open in July… until the NLRB meddled in.”
On April 22, 2011, NLRB attorney Debra Willen received an email, in which Republican Sen. James DeMint of South Carolina is ridiculed as “Sen. Dement.”
On May 12, 2011, NLRB Deputy Assistant General Counsel Joseph Baniszewski emailed a political cartoon to Deputy Assistant General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo mocking the state of South Carolina with regard to Boeing Corporation’s decision to locate its manufacturing facility in that state.
On April 28, 2011, Miriam Szapiro sent an email to NLRB attorney Debra Willen commenting on an article in The Economist expressing some support for the Boeing lawsuit: “Exactly; it just shows you how incredibly reactionary the US is, that the conservative Economist thinks we’re Neanderthal.”
On April 20, 2011, Mara-Louise Anzalone, counsel for Acting NLRB General Counsel Lafe Solomon, took exception to U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) statement, “As Senator, I will do everything in my power, including introducing legislation cutting off funding for this wide goose chase, to stop the NLRB’s frivolous complaint [against Boeing].” In an email to NLRB regional attorney Anne Pomerantz, Anzalone writes, “Awesome. Sounds like they’re just going to furlough you and me.”
Not only do these emails reveal the low moral character of the radicals running the NLRB – they show them to be complete idiots who don’t realize that their emails can eventually be made public. Talk about Neanderthals.
Maybe I’m naive, but one of the reasons I’ve wavered back and forth on whether Herman Cain is guilty or not of these sexual harassment allegations, is because it’s so hard for me to imagine that someone would just make something like this up. Especially an alleged “tea party Republican”. How evil and money grubbing must you be to fabricate a story that smears an innocent man’s name like this? It’s mind boggling to me.
A private investigator tested Cain’s and Bialek’s assertions with the latest law enforcement technology – a tool that shows when someone is lying with a 95% success rate. Nearly 70 law enforcement agencies nationwide use the voice software. After testing Cain’s voice from his news conference the other day, the investigator is convinced that Cain believes what he says. He say’s “there is no doubt Cain is innocent”.
Private investigator TJ Ward said presidential hopeful Herman Cain was not lying at a news conference on Tuesday in Phoenix.
Cain denied making any sexual actions towards Sharon Bialek and vowed to take a polygraph test if necessary to prove his innocence.
Cain has not taken a polygraph but Ward said he does have software that does something better.
Ward said the $15,000 software can detect lies in people’s voices.
CBS Atlanta’s Mike Paluska played Cain’s speech for Ward into the software and watched as it analyzed Cain’s every word.
If he is hiding something this thing would have spiked way down here,” said Ward. “He is being truthful, totally truthful. He is a man with integrity and he talked directly about not knowing any incident he is accused of.”
Bialek’s story gets a very different reaction.
During the section of Bialek’s news conference where she says, “He suddenly reached over put his hand on my leg under my skirt and reached for my genitals he also grabbed my head brought it towards his crotch.”
During the analysis of that section the software said “high risk statement.” Ward said that means she is not telling the truth about what happened.
“I don’t think she is fabricating her meetings,” said Ward. But, she is fabricating what transpired.”
Of course she’s fabricating. We knew everything we needed to know when she retained Gloria Allred. My God, why did I ever doubt it?
I’ve heard some Republicans say in recent days that Herman Cain needs to do a press conference with his wife standing at his side, facing the allegations together. How dare they. What if she’s a shy woman who, while convinced of his innocence, is mortified by these allegations? What if the limelight doesn’t appeal to her – especially a limelight trained on her face while these lurid allegations are recounted for her reaction? No sir. That’s a private decision I would not second guess.
What I’m now convinced we have been witnessing is a well orchestrated smear campaign against Herman Cain. That was my first impression and first impressions are usually right.
The other day, I said, “If these allegations against Cain are false, a monumental injustice has been done not only to an innocent man, but to the entire country denied the opportunity to vote for him. If they are true, well - I don’t want to see a serial lecher and liar become the Republican standard bearer.”
Well, we don’t have a serial liar or lecher on our hands with Cain – we’re seeing a monumental smear campaign against an innocent man. The only question is whether the smears are coming from the Republican establishment or the left-wing smear machine, and I’m betting on the latter.
What we’re now discovering is that the facts are much less troubling than what was ginned up in our collective imaginations that were fueled only by Politico’s maddeningly vague allegations and innuendo. So now you have to wonder if the 144 story (and counting) feeding frenzy Politico ’s journOlisted up over the last ten days wasn’t all smoke and mirrors designed to cover up the fact that their original story was nowhere near worthy of the Normandy-like roll out they organized and commanded.
The there just isn’t there.
MORE:
Cain has started his own equivalent of Obama’s “Fight The Smears” campaign website: CainTruth: Getting The Truth Out About Herman Cain.
In Obama’s case, the website was launched to control the damage truthful stories were having on his candidacy. With the MSM’s help, it was an effective tool at beating back the truth.
CainTruth, on the other hand, really is about fighting unfair smears like these perverted sexual allegations. With an MSM all too willing to do Obama’s bidding this campaign season, it’s a much needed development:
An official campaign effort, Cain Truth is a blog-style website built directly by the Cain campaign itself. The featured headline is, “Who is Sharon Bialek?”, while another article displays Mr. Cain’s statement on the allegations advanced by “activist celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred.”
Clearly, the Cain campaign is attempting to sustain the momentum that it has picked up in recent weeks while directly confronting the allegations that have been directed toward Mr. Cain.
Hat tip: Charles B.
Linked by AoSHQ Headlines, thanks Geoff! How about some comments, morons.
I didn’t see the debate, I went to the opera (Cosi Fan Tutte) , with my hubby, instead. So I’m just getting caught up. I did catch Michelle Malkin discussing the debate audience with Sean Hannity when I got home. They were both ecstatic that the crowd let it’s displeasure be known when the moderators started playing gotcha with the candidates.
It really was stunning. When one of the the moderators tried to put Herman Cain on the spot over the sexual harassment allegations that have been dogging him, the audience booed loudly. Then, another moderator tried to bring Mitt Romney into it, to more booing. Both Cain and Romney handled the questions well and the audience had their backs. When the moderator decided to go back to a subject people actually wanted to hear debated (the economy), the audience cheered:
That should be a lesson for the MSM in future debates.
This had to be just so, so humiliating for Perry. He said he’s got three whole agencies he’d like to eliminate, but can only think of two. Dude…
Yikes, As someone who often experiences that same tendency — to have something on the “tip of my tongue” but then draw a blank, I can sympathize. I really can.
But good lord, he’s running for Pres. He has to do better.
Cain got an opportunity to advocate his 999 tax plan:
Here, Newt Gingrich blasted the media for not having a clue about history:
Listed twice in the loser column is RicK Perry because apparently he was that bad. And, oh, the Republican debate crowd for booing the moderators for asking questions designed to make Republicans look bad.
We are generally pro-audience participation in debates. But, the debate crowd tonight saved Cain from providing any real answer on the serious allegations against him and saved Gingrich from answering a totally legitimate follow-up question from Bartiromo asking him to explain his claim that the media was responsible for the current problems with the economy. With so many debates — and the candidates saying the same things SO often — there are only a few moments in each gathering where the potential exists for real news to be made. And the debate audience drowned out at least two of them tonight.
Ha. Get used to it.
Fox Newsgives its top scores to Cain Gingrich and Romney.
It could’ve been worse only in one of three ways: he could’ve said something that was a lie, or unprincipled, or unintentionally vile (the last one destroyed George Allen in Virginia). But the margin for error for Perry has closed at this point. If Newt blanks on something (and yes, he has, I’ve seen it personally), no one cares, because everyone knows Newt is brilliant. The meme with Perry is that he’s an idiot hick, and the media loves to see its memes fulfilled (again, see Allen, who they’d long ago decided was a racist). This is a moment of brain freeze that will be played by the media to the max as “this guy is a total idiot.” But they were doing that already. Perry’s got 3 more debates in the next 12 days, and the expectations are now so far in the basement for his performances that it’s hard to conceive of how he could do worse. But you would’ve said that yesterday, too.
As for this gaffe, Perry is responding by putting a lantern on it—he’s on CNN at the moment, and his campaign has already sent out an email “So, what agency would you most like to forget?” http://vlt.tc/3j Be self-deprecating, get on television to laugh along with us about it as soon as possible, do Kimmel, Letterman, Stewart (he was actually good on Stewart last year). http://vlt.tc/2o Perry’s argument has always been his record, not his eloquence. And he should be prepared to make that argument in all 57 states.
This was also a missed opportunity. Erickson writes: “Believe it or not, Rick Perry had the best damn debate performance of his entire Presidential career last night. He gave fantastic answers. And then … wow. What a disaster… He’s going to need every penny of that $15 million after that.” This was also Mitt Romney’s weakest debate by far, flubbing an individual mandate answer and looking tired, even bedraggled. Romneybot battery problems? And Herman Cain’s performance made 9-9-9 look less like a plan and more like a crutch—he returns to it in every question as a cure-all. We’ll see how he does on foreign policy next. But the fact is that Romney’s campaign is getting every lucky break. http://vlt.tc/4t
As talented as Perry has been at politics and policy in Texas for nearly two decades, it’s clear he just cannot think quickly on his feet in these settings. And in a cycle with this many debates, that failing may be lethal. The media certainly thinks it is, though of course they always make the case that rhetoric matters more than record. If so, this is the moment where, irony of ironies, the Not Mitt label is officially ceded to Gingrich, rhetoric king, who once again had the best debate of any of the candidates, and who may laugh last. (Hey, Team Newt: prepare for Jen Rubin’s inevitable assault. Watch out for the smaller alien mouth which comes out of her pharyngeal jaw, easy to forget about that one.)
Hoo-boy. Team Perry thinks it’s a good idea to book Burning Man on all the morning shows tomorrow. Hope he gets a good night’s sleep.
The inevitable joke: “Perry’s booked on 3 morning shows, but can only remember 2 of them.”
***
Update: The masochism. It hurts. Rick Perry tells Laura Ingraham this morning that he’ll be appearing on the David Letterman show and possible the Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
I won’t lie. I’m starting to despair. I’m starting to believe Republicans are going to be stuck with anyone but Mitt as their 2012 nominee. The one Republican who appears to have no standards will be our standard bearer.
My favorite candidates opted out of running a long time ago. After seriously considering a run for the White House, reliable conservative, Mike Pence decided to run for Governor of Indiana, instead. And Paul Ryan is staying put in his leadership position on the House Budget Committee. Ryan had captured my attention in a big wayduring the ObamaCare debates, and shortly after the bill was passed. He was the man conservatives looked to for answers and assurances that the damage could be undone – and the wonkish and appealing conservative delivered. Paul Ryan for President!, I said in March of 2010. As the Republican field was taking shape in the Spring of 2010,I was optimistic in the face of gloomy predictions. No, We Are Not Sunk In 2012, I said.
Sure, Gingrich has baggage that would hurt him with women, Cain has no experience in government, people aren’t interested in a social conservative like Rick Santorum at a time of fiscal crisis…. Perry leaves me cold, and Johnson ….eh . Love Palin, but the left will crucify her. Someone better like Ryan or Pence will come through, I thought…
Eventually I even flirted with the idea of a Chris Christie run, only because the man is such a bulldog. I may not agree with him on all of the issues, but you have to respect a guy who is not only willing to fight entrenched liberal interests, but has the ability to persuasively explain every blow he makes to the status quo..
Conservatives have flirted with Donald Trump, Michelle Bachmann, Rick Perry and Herman Cain…anyone but Romney.
All the flavors of the month are souring, now, leaving only one still unspoilt – - the one who has been avoiding the media’s lethal gaze as fervently as conservatives avoid him. How is it that Romney is even a frontrunner? Just because he has the most money?
You’d think that given the economy, jobs, and the present angst about the direction of the country that the GOP would have an easy path to victory. You would be wrong.
You forget the electoral college. The vote is coming down to a handful of states and Barack Obama still maintains the advantage of incumbency and not terribly terrible polling in those swing states.
Mitt Romney, on the other hand, is a man devoid of any principles other than getting himself elected. As much as the American public does not like Barack Obama, they loath a man so fueled with ambition that he will say or do anything to get himself elected. Mitt Romney is that man.
I’ve been reading the 200 pages of single spaced opposition research from the John McCain campaign on Mitt Romney. There is no issue I can find on which Mitt Romney has not taken both sides. He is neither liberal nor conservative. He is simply unprincipled. The man has no core beliefs other than in himself. You want him to be tough? He’ll be tough. You want him to be sensitive? He’ll be sensitive. You want him to be for killing the unborn? He’ll go all in on abortion rights until he wants to run for an office where it is not in his advantage.
Along the way, he’ll drop lots of coin to grease the skids for himself. Mitt Romney is the silly putty of politicians — press on him real hard and he’ll take on whatever image you press into him until the next group starts pressing.
Republican billionaires have a fantastic track record of getting Republican opinion leaders to support them and an even better track record at losing elections. Mitt Romney will be no different.
To beat Barack Obama, a candidate must paint a bold contrast with the Democrats on their policies. When Mitt Romney tries, Barack Obama will be able to show that just the other day Mitt Romney held exactly the opposite position as the one he holds today.
Voters may not like Barack Obama, but by the time Obama is done with Romney they will not trust Mitt Romney. And voters would rather the guy they don’t like than they guy they don’t trust.
Erickson made one small miscalculation there….I – and I’m guessing most conservatives – don’t like or trust Obama. I’m not sure the country can survive another year of him, let alone another four years of him. I think we could survive a Romney. I may not trust him, but I don’t dislike him. And I don’t question his love for this country like I do Obama’s. There are millions like me who will hold their noses and vote for Romney without hesitation. No, Obama cannot win with the sorry numbers he has, now.
I understand his bitterness, but if Romney ends up being the nominee, Erickson will need to join the conservatives he’s now preemptively deriding for rallying around our disappointing nominee. Conservatism won’t die just because it had to make a bitter choice. It will live on to fight another day.
Holder wasn’t willing to hold anyone at Justice accountable at the Judicial hearing on Capitol Hill, today, even though it has been proven that they provided false – *excuse me!* inaccurate information to House investigators. “The people supplying the information were acting in good faith”, he maintains. Sounds to me like the Inspector General report is a foregone conclusion.
Senator Cornyn asked him, almost as an after thought, by the way, do you know the factual differences between Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious?
After fumbling around a bit, Holder finally admitted that he knew the difference between the two operations, and claimed he was not trying to equate the two. This, after watching several Dem Senators try to equate the two, and not opening his mouth to correct them. What weasels they are:
Wide Receiver sought to track and interdict guns being smuggled south using a combination of RFID-tracking devices embedded in the shipments and overheard surveillance aircraft. Wide Receiver failed because of the limitations of the technology used, compounded by the ineptness of its installation and the unexpected resourcefulness of the cartel’s gun smugglers.
As a result of the mistakes made in Wide Receiver, guns were lost: approximately 450 made it into Mexico. As a result, the botched operation launched in 2006 — and in this instance, actually botched — was shut down in 2007.
Compare the mistakes of Wide Receiver to the operations launched under Eric Holder’s Department of Justice, which had the advantages of learning from the postmortem failures of Wide Receiver two years before.
Fast and Furious used neither tracking devices nor aircraft, ran interference for smugglers with local law enforcement on multiple occasions, and federal agents were not allowed to interdict weapons.
Wide Receiver shut down within a year after 450 weapons went missing in a botched law enforcement operation. Fast and Furious purposefully ran at least 2,020 weapons to the Sinaloa cartel without any intention of arresting the straw purchasers and smugglers. Other operations in other states — CBS News’ Attkisson cites allegations of “at least 10 cities in five states” — allow the possibility that (if the other operations were as prolific as Fast and Furious) Holder’s Department of Justice may have intentionally sent more than 12,000 guns into criminal hands in the U.S and Mexico, enough to arm three U.S. Army brigades.
Law enforcement operations sometimes go horribly wrong, and every indication is that Operation Wide Receiver executed by the ATF during the Bush administration while Alberto Gonzales was the attorney general was a “keystone cops” operation of the first magnitude. It was a horrible failure.
But Fast and Furious was no accident.
Nor was it within spitting distance of being a law enforcement operation. Fast and Furious and the alleged gunwalking operations based in Houston, Dallas, Charlotte, Indiana, Tampa, and elsewhere were specifically designed to assure that straw purchasers and cartel weapons smugglers would be under the de facto protection of the Obama adminstration, with no attempts at interdiction and with interference on behalf of the criminals being traced to the ATF, FBI, and DOJ.
Seton Motley reported on the upcoming vote at Big Government:
From most appearances, the Senate will this week vote on Senate Joint Resolution (S.J.Res) 6 – the Congressional Review Act Resolution of Disapproval of the Obama Administration Federal Communications Commission (FCC)’s illegal Internet Net Neutrality power grab.
Only 51 votes are required for passage – which means only 4 Democrats are needed. There are 23 Democrat Senate seats up for reelection next year. A few of these folks aren’t running. The rest are – many in center or center-right states. Additionally, there are a few other Senators that should also be subject to Constitutional reason, and thusly contacted.
Watch Motley and AFP’s Phil Kerpen discuss the Senate Net Neutrality vote:
See Big Government for a list of Senators to contact and tell “vote Yes on S.J.Res 6.”
Herman Cain categorically denied all the sexual harassment charges made against him, including the latest allegations of sexual misconduct and is having a press conference this afternoon in Phoenixto specifically address Bialek’s charges. (UPDATE:Live stream, here.)
One person – either Cain or Bialek is clearly lying, so now it unfortunately becomes necessary to look into the character of the person making the charges because she has the potential of derailing the campaign of the frontrunner in the Republican Presidential primary. If these allegations against Cain are false, a monumental injustice has been done not only to an innocent man, but to the entire country denied the opportunity to vote for him. If they are true, well - I don’t want to see a serial lecher and liar become the Republican standard bearer.
Who is Sharon Bialek? How credible is this woman? How credible is her story? What little we know of her is not terribly flattering.
According to this Daily Mail report, she’s a “gold digger” who’s filed for bankruptcy twice, has not held a job for more than two years, always lived above her station, and will do anything to never have to work again. She has accused an ex-boyfriend of harassment, and her own father only heard her shocking story about Cain for the first time, yesterday. Her live-in fiance heard about it for the first time, last Friday.
Does it seem a little odd to you that she wouldn’t have told her fiance about such a noteworthy thing? The frontrunner in the Republican party had once made a pass at her? Not worthy of comment? Seems weird.
Meanwhile, a friend of Ms Bialek, from Chicago, told the New York Post: ‘She has a very infectious personality. It’s easy to see how she won [Cain] over. But the reality of her situation is — she’s a complete gold digger. It’s all about the money.’
Adding that she was from a middle-income family but lives in a posh house while running from bill collectors, the source said: ‘Most of her jobs ended in termination. It’s always the employer’s fault, not hers.
‘This is a lady who lives off the system. She is hellbent on finding a way of never having to work and living the lifestyle she wants to live, a very affluent lifestyle.’
That’s some “friend”.
Details of a number of legal and financial difficulties belonging to Ms Bialek also emerged today, with the Chicago Tribune listing a long history with tax evasion and late or missed credit card payments.
The paper reported that Ms Bialek has filed for personal bankruptcy twice, first in 1991 and then again in 2001.
In 2001, she claimed $5,700 in assets and more than $36,000 in liabilities. Among the creditors seeking payment was a management firm demanding back rent of $4,500, four credit card companies and a lawyer asking for his legal fees.
She is also said to have accused a former boyfriend of harassing her for money he had loaned her after she borrowed $4,500 from him.
The IRS filed a tax lien against her in 2009 for nearly $5,200. In August, the Illinois Department of Revenue claimed Ms Bialek owed the state more than $4,300, including penalties and interest, relating to income taxes from 2004, according to county records.
Court records also show creditors took legal action against her during the past decade, including at least one lawsuit filed in Cook County.
***
Gloria Allred described her client as a ‘registered Republican’, but the 50-year-old does not have an active voter card in Illinois, election officials said. The state does not allow voters to register by party, but records show she pulled a GOP ballot in the 2008 primary.
There’s also this:
A Fox News reporter confronted Ms Bialek during an interview today about living in the same building as Obama top aid David Axelrod.
She was asked: ‘One of the things is that you lived at a 505 North Lake Shore Drive apartment, right? This is the same building, it happens to be the same building David Axelrod lives in. Do you know David Axelrod? Ever have any interaction with him at all?’
***
The 50-year-old replied: ‘I saw him in the gym. I mean — everybody nods to each other. It is friendly building but I never had any interaction with him.’
Hmmmm.
RCP video of that interview with Fox’s Martha MacCallum, here.
Here’s Cain’s appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, last night:
The Accuser is an attractive woman and we may assume that she has been the object of many “unwanted advances” over the years, all but one of which she considered unworthy of a Manhattan press conference.
A New York Times headline characterizes the accusation against Cain as “lewd behavior,” but such behavior goes on all the time — yea, verily, even in New York! — without meriting a headline in the Times.
Gloria Allred described her client as a ‘registered Republican’, but the 50-year-old does not have an active voter card in Illinois, election officials said. The state does not allow voters to register by party, but records show she pulled a GOP ballot in the 2008 primary.
Ace of Spades HQ still thinking where there’s smoke, there’s fire, links to Bill Bennet in his Great Big Cain Roundup:
Four women are not an insignificant number. One or two anonymous charges, perhaps. Three anonymous charges (where, as I understand the story, Cain knows of at least two of the women) plus one woman who went very public and opened herself up to all manner of investigation are a lot. It is no longer insignificant. Neither is it insignificant that the Cain campaign discounted the charges in the initial stories, saying they were based on anonymous sources, only to make a mockery by blaming other campaigns with less substantiation than the original stories.If Herman Cain wants to be taken seriously as a public advocate for anything, never mind running for the chief executive and commander in chief of the most powerful and important and blessed country in the world, he needs to give a full press conference dedicated exclusively to this issue and these allegations.
I have watched long enough and held my tongue long enough to give him the benefit of the doubt, but can no longer say this is a witch hunt, “a lynching” to use his word, or any other euphemism. There are allegations out there that matter and they have stacked up. For we who led the charge against Bill Clinton on a number of related issues to continue to blame the media or other campaigns or say it simply doesn’t matter makes us the hypocrites as well.
I received a press statement from Ms. O’Grady’s office last week after a blog post of mine on the water cooler regarding a source close to the Cain camp believed Mayor Rahm Emanuel had something to do with the exchange of information regarding sexual harassment charges against Mr. Cain. Mayor Emanuel has denied any involvement.
Below is Ms. O’Grady’s statement:
The Illinois Restaurant Association is an entity independently managed and operated apart from the National Restaurant Association. Sheila O’Grady was appointed President of the Illinois Restaurant Association in 2007. She does not have a prior connection to Mr. Cain (whose time at the National Restaurant Association pre-dated her appointment by more than a decade), nor does she have any knowledge of the current allegations stemming from his tenure at the organization. Any reports suggesting otherwise are baseless.
O’Grady served as Mayor Daley’s chief of staff for a number of years until 2007. Daley, no stranger to controversy himself, was recently slapped with a lawsuit last spring by John Brooks, Chicago’s former fire Commissioner. Brooks claimed that Daley threatened to smear him over what Brooks said were false sexual harassment allegations if Brooks did not retire on his own.
I made no mention of O’Grady in any previous blog post. One Chicago radio host, however, did mention her name following my post on Emanuel. Other than that, why is O’Grady speaking up now?
Attorney General, Eric Holder is testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in a standard oversight hearing, this morning. We can expect tough questions from Republican senators who have been critical about the ATF’s handling of Operation Fast and Furious.
Matthew Boyle of The Daily Caller reports that Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, the committee’s ranking minority member, is set to lead the charge against Holder, whose prepared testimony The Daily Caller obtained Monday.
That prepared statement makes no mention of Holder’s May 3 House Judiciary Committee testimony, when he told Congress under oath that he had only known about Operation Fast and Furious for a few weeks.
Many members of Congress believe that May 3 answer Holder gave is either a lie or the product of incompetence. At least 36 have called for Holder’s immediate resignation.
Doubts about Holder’s truthfulness have arisen in part because Grassley previously told TheDC he personally handed Holder a letter about Fast and Furious months earlier. Senior aides also sent Holder numerous briefing memos on the subject, including the name and specific details of the failed operation, as early as July 2010. Holder now claims he didn’t read the memos.
Senator Diane Feinstein discussed the need for new gun regulations with Holder, (who, amazingly enough is using this hearing as a forum to push gun control), then complimented the FBI on the excellent job they’ve done on stopping terrorist plots, and thanked Holder for the great job he’s doing.
Senator Lindsey Graham didn’t discuss Fast and Furious, at all. He focused on questions pertaining to the handling of captured combatants in the war on terror, and GITMO.
Senator Chuck Schumer is running interference for the administration by focusing on the fact that Operation Wide Receiver (implemented much differently than F&F) was started under the Bush administration, to make the point that the gun-walking program was a Bush era idea. “It’s important to look at both sides”. (Schumer doesn’t seem to know the difference between Lanny Davis and Lanny Breuer.) Holder doesn’t know the answer to any of his questions.
Cornyn asks Holder, “Have you apologized to Brian Terry’s family? Have you talked to them?” Holder answers no.
Michelle Malkin is live blogging and live tweeting the hearing. I missed Grassley’s grilling:
Grassley grills Holder on Lanny Breuer’s admission of failures. Holder on false Breuer letter: “I regret that.” But Holder refuses to admit that DOJ knew the letter was false.
Holder whines about conversation becoming public, though Grassley said he asked him if it would be okay. Holder then says the leaks are “under investigation” — though those investigating are the ones suspected of leaking.
Foxes guarding the henhouse.
Katie Pavlich points out clear distinction between Bush-era Operation Wide Receiver and Obama-era Fast and Furious:
Under Wide Receiver, the Mexican government knew about it & 300 guns were traced. Under #fastandfurious, Mexico was left in dark, and 2,000 guns were lost.
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) asking about letters sent to the Justice Dept. relating to Justice Kagan and Obamacare that have been ignored. Holder claims to know nothing about the letters.
Moving on to some softball questions on Fast and Furious. What can be done to ensure inappropriate tactics aren’t used again? How about we focus on the inappropriate, criminal tactics that still need to be answered for?
Holder appears confident and upbeat, like someone who realizes he’s beaten the rap.
Asked about Fast and Furious wiretaps, Holder said Lanny Breuer would not have approved these wiretap requests – it would be one of his deputies. Only roving wiretaps would have to be approved by Breuer. There were no roving wiretaps associated with Fast and Furious.
***
Finally! Cornyn asked Holder if he knew the difference between Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious, causing Holder to stutter a rambling answer. Cornyn actually asked him, “Are you winging it?”
Holder claimed he wasn’t equating Wide Receiver with Fast and Furious after watching Senate Dems make the equation for the entire hearing.
He also asked Holder if he could name one person who has been held accountable for the disastrous operation. Holder indicated that he was waiting for the (sham) IG report.
UPDATE:
Video of Holder answering whether he had apologized to Brian Terry’s family:
According to a Monday report in the French website “Arret sur Images,” after facing reporters for a G20 press conference on Thursday, the two presidents retired to a private room, to further discuss the matters of the day.…
The conversation then drifted to Netanyahu, at which time Sarkozy declared: “I cannot stand him. He is a liar.” According to the report, Obama replied: “You’re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!”
What a vile embarrassment our stooge in the White House is. We expect this from the French — they partied with the Nazis after they marched into France. But this? It’s official: Obama is a scumbag.
He is lethal to liberty and to our allies in freedom. Could America sink any lower under this president? Don’t answer that.
Allahpundit reminds of us of some past clashes Obama’s had with Bibi:
Remember when he allegedly humiliated Netanyahu at the White House at a meeting in 2010, and then when Netanyahu humiliated O right back with that lecture in the Oval Office back in May about Israel’s borders? There’s no love lost here, although electoral concerns (if nothing else) will keep Obama a very willing partner with Israel for the next year. Philip Klein asks a good question, though:
All the reporters at G20 ignored it except for obscure French website? Hot mic and no one recorded?
Now you may be asking yourself, “Self, why would this just be coming out now if it happened on Thursday?” An excellent question, with an answer that is at the same time incredible and completely expected. The press swore to keep it super-secret.
The surprising lack of coverage may be explained by a report alleging that reporters present at the event were requested to sign an agreement to keep mum on the subject of the embarrassing comments.
A member of the media confirmed Monday that “there were discussions between journalists and they agreed not to publish the comments due to the sensitivity of the issue.”
So basically the G20 became a high school dance where the two popular guys were overheard talking mad smack about the Jewish kid.
So there you go. As Howe concludes, “the world is in great hands”.
This Cain accuser is not anonymous, has specific details, and is allegedly a Republican, (who hired Gloria Allred?):
Eeeesh. Not good. Sharon Bialek’s story, compounded by the other anonymous sexual harassment stories can not be downplayed. This looks exceedingly bad for Cain.
Michelle Malkin made mention of some pertinent biographical info re the accuser:
Allred confirms that Bialek did not notify NRA about the incident. Bialek smiled. Won’t comment when asked about the “emotional trauma” of the incident.
So Bialek is single with a teenage child, with no discernible means of income, and employing a top Democrat hit woman celebrity attorney and her employment law partner.
Corroboration?Depends on whether you trust Joel Bennett:
In an interview after Ms. Bialek’s news conference, Joel P. Bennett, a lawyer for one of Mr. Cain’s anonymous accusers, said that Ms. Bialek’s claims were “very similar” in nature to the incident that occurred between his client and Mr. Cain…
“It corroborates the claim,” Mr. Bennett said of Ms. Bialek’s allegation. Asked whether that meant that Mr. Cain had physically touched his client inappropriately, Mr. Bennett said “I can’t get more specific” but added that “I can say it is corroborating.”
Mr. Bennett also said that a woman named Sharon from Chicago left a message on his answering machine over the weekend saying that she, too, had been the subject of harassment at the hands of Mr. Cain. Mr. Bennett said he called her back to suggest that he could arrange for her to come forward confidentially, but that she said that she would think about it.
Update (Allahpundit): Cain’s odds on InTrade this morning were 6.4 percent. As of 3:15 this afternoon, they’re 2.4 percent. That’s a 64.5 percent drop.
I’m not an attorney, but based on the press conference she held today, the lastest woman accusing Herman Cain of misdeeds does not appear to have been sexually harassed.
She says basically that he made a move on her 14 years ago after she worked for an association affiliated with the National Restaurant Association. She didn’t notify the Restaurant Association and she didn’t file any complaints.
A travesty that will unfortunately detract from what might be other legitimate claims. It’s worth investigating who put her up to this.
Consider: I held various executive positions in corporate America for several decades. I had thousands of employees working for me. I can’t even begin to recall how many conversations I had with people during that time, how many directives I gave, how much friendly banter might have taken place.
I also had to make tough decisions during these years. I turned around a poorly performing region for Burger King, then turned around a struggling Godfather’s Pizza organization. At some point during a career like this, someone will not like things you do, or how you do it. Someone will complain.
That is just the nature of things if you’ve ever done much in your life.
So once the editors of Politico started looking for people who would make claims against me, their chances of finding a few takers were probably about 100 percent. These people will not give their names. The so-called “witnesses” who purportedly corroborated their stories also will not give their names. That’s about what you would expect when people are engaging in a “hatchet job,” as it’s been described by Joseph Fassler, who was chairman of the National Restaurant Association board when I was there.
It’s easy to make accusations when, by virtue of your anonymity, you don’t have to be held accountable for the claims you’re making. It’s easy to publish them when, like Politico, you don’t follow basic rules of journalism by naming your sources or giving any details whatsoever about what supposedly happened.
Eh…Seems like we’re kinda changing the subject, here…what about the accuser who went on the record?
Last update for today, but news is trickling out about Bialek and none of it is good. I’ll be doing a new post, tomorrow morning, but in the meantime chew on this:
Kurtis says that Sharon Bialek is well known in Chicago, “has a history,” and that there is a lot more to the story. Kurtis implies that Sharon Bialek has a “track record” and may be “prone to exaggeration,” then says
let’s put Herman and Sharon in the car at the same time and the roles may have even been reversed given the track record here.”
“She was fired from her job, and her boyfriend suggested she contact Cain in hopes he could help her find employment.”.
In this particular incident she was fired for falsely accusing her boss of sexual harassment, a charge denied by co-workers, as well as being pretty much a pain in the ass to work with.
“I remember her as a time-waster, and rabble-rouser. If she didn’t get her way she cried about sexual harassment”. A former co-worker, a female no less, emailed me. “She was trouble with a capital “T”. The fact that she waited 13 years and never said a word not even during Cain’s earlier forays into politics. She only now magically appears because Cain is leading in some polls and proving a threat to Barack Obama?
RS McCain was in the thick of the action, last weekend in DC, when the #OccupyDC “hippie horde” mobbed attendees of the Americans For ProsperityDefending the American Dream Summit. His first-hand account of what transpired and his additional thoughts can be read at the American Spectator: The Mob That Came To Dinner.
“WE! ARE! THE NINETY-NINE PERCENT!”
“WE! ARE! THE NINETY-NINE PERCENT!”
The rhythmic chant, kept in time by the accompaniment of a drummer, eventually deteriorated into chaotic shouting as the mob crowded around the entrance to the Washington Convention Center. A young woman held aloft her homemade 11-by-17-inch sign: “OCCUPY” with three red stars, a crude simulation of the District of Columbia flag. Flashes from dozens of digital cameras intermittently illuminated the frenzied scene by the glass doors, which were guarded by Metropolitan Police officers attempting to prevent the Occupy DC protesters from shoving their way inside.
“Peaceful! Peaceful!” some of the mob members shouted, as the self-declared “99 percent” were clearly on the verge of a full-scale riot Friday night outside the venue where the Americans for Prosperity (AFP) Foundation was holding its annual Defending the American Dream Summit. Before the evening was over, elderly women attending the “Tribute to Ronald Reagan” dinner would be shoved to the ground and three Occupiers would be struck by a car, but those incidents transpired later, after the protesters attempted to storm the doors of the Convention Center.
Occupy DC protesters attempted to bust into the Washington DC Convention Center on Friday night, where an Americans for Prosperity dinner was taking place. Protesters aimed their ire at AFP donors Charles and David Koch throughout the night. Interestingly, David walked through the crowd of protesters with friends and associates of his and went completely unnoticed by the Occupy DC crowd. I captured video of a throng of protesters trying to muscle past security at the DC Convention Center to no avail.
Twenty two year oldLaurel Buckleyalso wrote of her struggle to leave the convention center after a long, tiring day of “meeting endless individuals to plead for names, email addresses, and donations to the 501(c)(3) that I work for.”
I’m directed to yet another exit. Picking up my load I follow several terrified elderly women being helped by their senior husbands up stairs, through a corridor, and down another flight of stairs only to face another door full of twenty-somethings blocking the exit.
At this point I was getting a little irritated. An irritation that grew when I was pushed back inside and had fists shaken in my face by men much bigger and physically stronger than me. I know D.C. is not known for its chivalry, but never before in my life have I faced little boys, posing as men, using physical force to intimidate women. Perhaps it was the long workday, perhaps it was the wine from dinner, maybe it was my feet tired from walking all over the D.C. convention center in heels, but this was the point at which I lost it. I screamed in frustration for these little punks to quite protesting and get a job. I yelled for them to just let me go home after doing an honest day’s work. I received the mature response of curses, being flipped off, and the ever so classy, chest exposure. (What does that even mean?)
Finally, I was directed to an open exit. Out the building and on my way home. Past a group of young male protesters, still hurling their insults.
All I could think was what a waste. What did this pathetic protest accomplish? Occupy D.C., was it your mission to terrify elderly women? Was it your goal to make a 22-year-old, unarmed woman fear leaving work and getting home on her own — in her own neighborhood? Was it to entrap hundreds of convention goers inside the convention center so that next time you could burn the place down with them inside?
If I could I would have told them: I hope I’m not the only one-percenter. I will go to bed tonight praying that there are no more that 1% of you in the world. Because if I have to believe that there are more like you, more selfish punks with a complete, criminal disregard for other people, I dread what the future holds in store for our generation — and our country.
“I was about to call ‘show’ and realized that we had a lot of protesters during the middle of program,” Engdahl said in a Saturday afternoon interview. “We realized it had gotten to the point where, even though the convention center had been calling and working with [Metropolitan Police Department], we needed to call them and make sure we had a game plan for people to get out of the building safely and back to their rooms or to their home.”
Engdahl said she called 911 in the middle of the show and told them the protesters appeared organized with a plan of attack as they had all the convention center exits blocked.
“I did mention [on the 911 call] how coordinated I thought the protesters’ effort was, as well as how ill-prepared both MPD and the Convention Center were in communicating together on how best to solve the problem,” she explained.
“I said that I didn’t want it to rise to where we had a confrontation or other problems – and they hung up on me,” Engdahl said, adding that she and other AFP staffers and volunteers had made at least four 911 calls from inside the convention center asking for help.
Remember how we laughed when the left and the MSM (but I repeat myself) kept saying the Tea Party was a “mob”.
Regardless of the incessant MSM scaremongering, the tea party never erupted into violence. Not once. The very idea was mock-worthy and mock we did.
Now, tea partiers, after years of being accused by liberals in the media of being on the verge of mob violence, are treated to the spectacle of the same MSM down-playing the truly grotesque, and scary mob behavior of the #Occupy crowd.
How much MSM play did the #OccupyDC mob violence get over the weekend? I’m guessing what little coverage it got was cushioned with assurances that the #occupy movement is “mostly peaceful”.
In his post about the need for rape shelters at #OWS protests, even Allahpundit is floored by the galling media double standard:
This can’t be repeated enough: With a few exceptions, foremost among them the New York Post, the coverage of OWS protests compared to the coverage of tea-party protests is the worst media double standard in recent history.
I’ve been tracking it all atLeft-Wing Institute For Civil Discourse, and trust me, this is not a peaceful, mainstream movement. There’s so much insanity happening on so many fronts, I’ve been struggling to keep up. I’ve added a new feature – Moonbat Headlines which can be seen at the top of the right sidebar. (I’ve also expanded header.)
As RS McCain summed up in his post at The American Spectator, the Occupy movement’s claim to represent the economic grievances of the American majority is belied by their thuggish behavior.
Their convergence at the AFP event only accentuated the contrast between the protest mob’s barbarism and the civilized behavior of their targets. The Tea Party represents the law-abiding, tax-paying, middle-class mainstream while Occupy DC represents an unpopular radical fringe. Despite their chants, the Occupiers are not the 99 percent, and perhaps not even 9 percent.
Yet a recent online poll of 1,005 American adults reveals that 35 percent still have a positive impression of the Occupy movement, while just 29 percent hold a favorable view of the tea party. A result that sick and twisted does not happen without a lot of help from the MSM.
Herman Cain strongly hinted at the conclusion of Lincoln/Douglas style debate, last night (video here) that he was considering Newt Gingrich to be his running mate.
His final question to Newt Gingrich was: “If you were Vice President of the United States, what would you want the President to assign you to do first? It wasn’t the first time Cain had hinted that Gingrich would have a place in his administration.
In a radio interview a few weeks ago with Steve Gill, Cain mentioned Paul Ryan, as well as Jim DeMint as possible VP picks. He also made a point of saying there would be a place at some point for Newt Gingrich to assist him - because he brings “so much knowledge and insight to this whole process and to the problems we face in this country.”
AtHuman events, John Hayward, who live tweetedthe debate at Sulia, (as did I) noted, “Cain would really profit from the continuing support of Gingrich… or vice versa. They really are quite a team.”
CBN’s David Brodythinks a Cain/Gingrich ticket is a fascinating idea:
Both of these men have triggered something inside the hearts of voters. They both strike a chord when they go after the liberal media but it’s much more than that. Voters seem attracted to Newt for various reasons including his bluntness and a capacity to offer big ideas to solve big problems. Every event I go to people seem to gravitate to him because he is coming across as a serious candidate for a serious time in America. As for Herman Cain, people simply like him and his no-nonsense approach. The more they hear him the more they are starting to realize that while he doesn’t have the policy wonkish knowledge of Gingrich they do seem to believe he has good judgment and the ability to surround himself with the smartest people around.
Gingrich was in his element at the debate, last night, as he and Cain traded ideas for reforming Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. Gingrich had a masterful command of the facts, policy specifics, and of course his knowledge of political history. Cain, on the other hand, showed command of the big picture, but fumbled a little on details, deferring to Gingrich on complex aspects of federal programs.
With Gingrich on the ticket, the reservations many Republicans have concerning Cain’s grasp on the issues, hopefully would be assuaged.
Swiped from The Other McCain, a good video for a Sunday perusal.
The YouTube title is; The Democratic Progressive Party Sees “Blacks” as “Useful Idiots”
Of course, none of this is news to conservative blacks. They know the truth and are in a constant state of frustration at the “useful idiocy” by which they’re surrounded.
Last month in Kansas City, the KC Metro Republican Women’s Club held a panel of black conservative women who offered their ideas on how to break through the disinformation, and dependency mindset to convince blacks that their true home is the Republican party.
Left to right: Granketha Major, Shannon Stone Sim, Beverly Randles
Beverly Randles is an accomplished attorney and owner of Randles Consulting. She’s also the wife of gubernatorial candidate for Governor of Missouri, Bill Randles. Shannon Stone Simscurrently serves as the Public Information Officer for the Kansas Securities Commissioner’s Office. She is a Missouri resident and active in both Missouri and Kansas politics. Granketha Major is a radio personality on the Conservative Minority Program on the Darla Jaye Show
They recommended, among other things, that Republicans start being active in neighborhood community organizations that are traditionally run by Democrats. Identify the things we have in common – many blacks are pro-life, for instance. Many are for school choice. Also, education is key – how many blacks really know the history of the Republican Party – the party of Lincoln, and MLK – the party that freed the slaves? Do they know the racist history of the Democrat party, the true political home of the KKK? Very few do, it would seem.
If I remember right, the three devout women reckoned that much of the solution came down to prayer.
DaTech Guy tips his fedora
Photo taken by Jim Hoft
