the sestak/bauer white house memo mess

There are many unanswered questions, regarding the Sestak debacle, that the White House memo did not answer.

The first question being "June and July 2009":

"Efforts were made in June and July of 2009 to determine whether Congressman Sestak would be interested in service on a Presidential or other Senior Executive Branch Advisory Board..."

But, according to the memo (and now, Sestak) the contact between Clinton and Sestak was one phone call, that lasted less than one minute. The memo does not refute the original claim by Sestak that he was offered a Federal high level job by someone in the White House. It merely admits there was a quid pro quo - but claim it was an unpaid position offered via Clinton. No where does it provide information on what the other "efforts" were that took place over a two month period.

Secondly, the "non-paying advisory" position:

"...which would avoid a divisive Senate primary, allow him to retain his seat in the House, and provide him with an opportunity for additional service to the public in a high-level advisory capacity for which he was highly qualified."

OK, so the White House want us to believe that they offered Sestak a non-paying advisory position that would allow him to serve the public, as well as retain his seat in the House. However, his position in the House actually makes him ineligible:

In a little-noticed passage Friday, the New York Times reported that Rep. Joe Sestak was not eligible for a place on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, the job he was reportedly offered by former President Bill Clinton. And indeed a look at the Board’s website reveals this restriction:

The Board consists of not more than 16 members appointed by the President from among individuals who are not employed by the Federal Government. Members are distinguished citizens selected from the national security, political, academic, and private sectors.

As a sitting member of Congress, Sestak was not eligible for the job. And since the White House intended for Sestak to remain in his House seat, he would not have been eligible for the board after this November’s elections, provided he was re-elected to the House.

Thirdly, the memo fails to explain why the White House enlisted the help of President Clinton.

The story that the White House would enlist such a high-ranking emissary — a former president is just about the highest-ranking you can get — to deliver such a meager offer strikes House Republican investigators as highly implausible. “The messenger is huge,” says one investigator, “and the message is puny.” If the White House took the trouble to involve an extremely busy former president, then the issue must have been a pretty high priority.

Next, the Secretary of Navy position.

There was a lot of speculation that the position Sestak was offered was the Secretary of Navy position. The memo claims this was not the case, because Obama made his intentions known on March 26, 2009 to nominate Ray Mabus as the Secretary of Navy.

"On March 27, 2009, Mabus was nominated by President Obama as Secretary of the Department of the Navy. He was informally sworn in on May 19, 2009, however it was not until an official ceremony at Washington Navy Yard on June 18, 2009 that Mabus was officially sworn in by the Secretary of Defense Robert Gates."

Ok, on it's face, it would seem strange that Obama, in the process of nominating Mabus to the Sec of Navy position would offer the position to Sestak. (Although, besides this video, it was never confirmed that this is the job Sestak was offered.) So, if Sestak does believe he was offered the Secretary of Navy position, how do you explain Ray Mabus?

Well...looking at the history of Secretary's of the Navy, there are only about 6 former Secretary's of Navy who have ever served three or more years. Most have served for one to two years, and some as little as a week or two. Including Mabus, there have already been three Secretaries under Obama. Is it really that hard to believe that Obama promised to appoint Sestak to the position in a year? Perhaps after sitting for another two years in the House?

Another unanswered question is why did Obama and Clinton have a private lunch together the day before the memo came out.

Also, why did the White House contact Sestak's brother that same day?

Lastly, the memo also fails to explain this story from the Denver Post:

Not long after news leaked last month that Andrew Romanoff was determined to make a Democratic primary run against Sen. Michael Bennet, Romanoff received an unexpected communication from one of the most powerful men in Washington.

Jim Messina, President Barack Obama's deputy chief of staff and a storied fixer in the White House political shop, suggested a place for Romanoff might be found in the administration and offered specific suggestions, according to several sources who described the communication to The Denver Post.

Romanoff turned down the overture, which included mention of a job at USAID, the foreign aid agency, sources said. Then, the day after Romanoff formally announced his Senate bid, Obama endorsed Bennet.

This is the third time Obama and Rahm Emanuel have been tied to a qui pro quo scandal - Blagojevich, Romanoff and Sestak. Does anyone see a pattern here?

This is the original interview when Sestak was asked about the job offer:

KANE: “Were you ever offered a federal job to get out of this race?”
SESTAK: “Yes.”
KANE: “Was it secretary of the Navy?”
SESTAK: “No comment”
Later Kane asks again, “Was there a job offered to you by the White House?” to which Sestak nods and replies “yes, someone offered it.”
Kane asks “It was big right?” Sestak replies, “Let me ‘no comment’ on it.”
“Was it high-ranking?” Kane asked. Sestak said yes.

Here he seems to confirm it was Secretary of Navy:



Bill Clinton refused to answer questions about this yesterday:



Sestak repeated his claims, over and over again:



And now Sestak says this?



Things just don't add up.

It is not believable that Sestak was offered a non-paying advisory roll, since Sestak would be ineligible to hold an advisory position while maintaining his roll in the House, which the memo claims was the intent.

It is not believable that the memo states that "during June AND July 2009 efforts were made" and Sestak now claims it was one phone call that lasted less than one minute. So, what else was happening during June AND July?

The memo doesn't refute the possibility that Sestak spoke with others in the White House, as Sestak has claimed, just that Clinton did offer a quid pro quo, albeit with an unpaid position (that Sestak couldn't even accept).

And it is really not believable that Bill Clinton held a conversation that lasted less than one minute.

It is not believable that the White House would enlist the help of President Clinton to offer such a meager position.

It is not believable that Sestak, who claimed for months that he was offered a high ranking federal job to drop out of the race, is now saying it was a barely made offer about a non-paying advisory roll.

And it is not believable that the appointment of Ray Mabus excludes the possibility that Sestak was promised an appointment to Secretary of the Navy, based on the length of service of previous Secretaries.

Timeline: The Sestak Bribe and the White House Coverup
H/T Gateway Pundit and the other blogs I linked above.

gulf clean up crews: another sham photo-op

Mediaite reports:

Earlier today President Obama was in the Louisiana Gulf town of Grand Isle, where he made a statement in front to the press while surrounded by area Governors. Obama said “This is our highest priority and it deserves a response that is equal to the task.” Alas, reports have surfaced that today’s actual clean-up response in Grand Isle was but a mere PR stunt by BP. They were a “sham crew” bussed in by BP for the event.

“After coming back to studio, David Gergen correctly points out that the White House had just claimed that they were in charge of this.”

BP, the oil company taking flak for its inconsistent response to the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, bused in 400 extra cleanup workers to Grand Isle during President Obama’s visit today, Jefferson Parish Council Chairman John Young said.

“It appears to have been a PR stunt by BP, not to say we don’t appreciate the extra participation,” Young said. “We certainly need them, but we don’t need them for just one day that happens to coincide with a visit from the president.” Obama made his second visit today to Louisiana’s oil-stricken coast, stopping in Grand Isle and Port Fourchon.

Young said he saw the workers dressed in red shirts, blue jeans and black shrimp boots mulling across the beaches and in the mess hall during the president’s appearance. They were uniformed in a way “which you don’t normally see workers dressed like that,” Young said.

After Obama’s departure, Young said, the work crews all but vanished. “This is a total shame that a mockery has been made of this visit by the executives of BP,” Councilman Chris Roberts said.

Obama doesn’t do anything without props. If these fake clean up crews were brought to the beach, they were brought in for Obama and his photo op.

Let's not forget Obama's comments from his press conference Thursday:

“This entire White House and this federal government has been singularly focused on how do we stop the leak and how do we prevent and mitigate the damage to our coastlines,” Obama said

But he insisted that Washington is the one giving the orders and has the authority to direct BP to change course.

“From the moment this disaster began, the federal government has been in charge of the response effort,” Obama said. “BP is operating at our direction.”

This is just like when the White House was caught handing out the white doctor’s coats at Obama's WH photo-op. Or the staged photo-op when the Obama administration handed out cameras to the service men and women. Or the fake veggies used for Michelle's photo-op.

It's all about the photo-op...except, this one is tragic.

You can read more about this at memeorandum and Jammie Wearing Fool.

"catastrophic failure of leadership"

"This catastrophic failure of leadership has led us to a moment where it's not just Democrats who are listening to what we have to say, but independents and Republicans who have never been more disillusioned with what the state of our leadership in Washington has done to this country." ~Obama

"A rookie Senator with no accomplishments of his own doesn't have much credibility when it comes to leadership."

The White House Additional Issues - Katrina

President Obama will keep the broken promises to rebuild New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. He and Vice President Biden will take steps to ensure that the federal government will never again allow such catastrophic failures in emergency planning and response to occur. Within weeks of his inauguration, he made a renewed commitment to partner with the people of the Gulf Coast to rebuild now, stronger than ever.

President Obama swiftly responded to Hurricane Katrina. Citing the Bush Administration’s ‘unconscionable ineptitude’ in responding to Hurricane Katrina, then-Senator Obama introduced legislation requiring disaster planners to take into account the specific needs of low-income hurricane victims.

President Obama's New Orleans Town Hall Remarks:

It has now been just over four years since that terrible storm struck your shores. And in the days after it did, this nation and all the world bore witness to the fact that the damage from Katrina was not just caused by a disaster of nature, but by a failure of government - a government that wasn't adequately prepared and didn't adequately respond.

I saw the consequences of this failure during my visits here as a Senator and then as a candidate. So when I took office as President, one of the first things I did was tell my Cabinet and senior staff that our Gulf Coast rebuilding efforts and our disaster response efforts were going to be top priorities for this White House. I wanted to get it right and I wanted us to be ready.

A report released today by the Institute for Southern Studies [pdf] finds that, so far, many Gulf Coast advocates give the administration low marks for their Gulf recovery -- and they don't think Washington has lived up to its promises to make rebuilding a priority.

* Gulf Coast leaders give the Obama administration's recovery efforts a grade of "D+." The only area where Obama ranked higher than a "D" was in the administration's willingness to "publicly acknowledge the challenges facing recovering Gulf Coast communities," which earned a "C-."

* The Obama administration scored lowest on tackling some of the biggest recovery priorities, scoring only a "D" for efforts to help displaced families return home, revitalizing infrastructure, increasing coastal hurricane protection and creating living-wage jobs and business opportunities.

* Surprisingly, Gulf Coast leaders didn't report much improvement over the previous administration: The Obama's grade of "D+" was only slightly higher than the "D-" grade for President Bush.

Obama to New Orleans: Recover Without Us

In the welter of State of the Union news, this tidbit got to me: the administration is letting the Office of Gulf Coast Recovery quietly die.

The decision to let the office lapse is, like so many of the signals from President Obama, designed to say to New Orleans, in effect, "too bad you had your disaster before I got here. You're on your own."

Now They Tell Us: Post-Katrina, Nagin To Blame (Bush long gone, Obama too Holy)

As Mayor Ray Nagin leaves office, hundreds of damaged city buildings including police stations and fire houses sit unrepaired more than four years after Hurricane Katrina, stark reminders of how the recovery has floundered.

Only seven percent of 283 city-owned structures slated to be rebuilt have been completed or are under construction, according to an analysis by The Associated Press. Those figures back up an impression many residents have had for more than a year - the Nagin administration has failed to renew much of New Orleans.

Matthews asked: “Obama scares me. When is he actually going to do something?”

Hardly a Take-Charge Performance

A defensive, un-authoritative, and equivocal Barack Obama did nothing today to show he's in charge of our biggest oil spill in history. He couldn't even answer whether or not he had fired someone.

Today's press conference -- his first since July -- was a time for the President to demonstrate he is on top of the crisis. Despite repeated assertions of control, Obama's awkward demeanor suggested just the opposite. He came across as a beleaguered bureaucrat on damage control.

Tom Bevan on Obama’s Failed, Oily Publicity Stunt:

“If Obama had given today’s press conference four weeks ago, he might be in far less hot water than he’s currently in. But stepping up to the teleprompter 38 days after the initial spill, with all the intervening time and press coverage of the event, and asserting that he’s been on top of it like white on rice since Day One comes across very much like historical revisionism from the department of C.Y.A.

The press, to the extent they do their jobs, should be able to easily go back through the chronology of the last five weeks and find plenty of gaping holes in Obama’s claim of instant, constant, and urgent engagement on behalf of the White House and his administration. Obama said he’d leave the Katrina comparisons to the media which, given the skepticism expressed by some of the questions by reporters, is something he might live to regret.

Two other problems with the press conference, one factual and one stylistic. The first: it came across as contradictory for Obama – again, for a man who claims to be waking up and going to bed thinking about nothing else – to be so uninformed about the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of Elizabeth Birnbaum, the director of MMS.”

OBAMA: “My job right now is just to make sure that everybody in the Gulf understands, this is what I wake to in the morning and this is what I go to bed at night thinking about.”

Bret Baeir’s Political Grapevine noticed that Obama’s said nearly the same words before….

Earlier this year the White House press secretary said President Obama: “Wakes up in the morning and he goes to bed at night thinking about how to make people’s lives better — how to create that environment for creating jobs…”

About national security, marking 9/11 last year, the president said: “My greatest responsibility is the security of the American people. It’s the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning. It’s the last thing I think about when I go to sleep at night.”

The president used a similar line about protecting Americans multiple times last year.

Obama Sheltered BP's Deepwater Horizon Rig from Regulatory Requirement

Last year the Obama administration granted oil giant BP a special exemption from a legal requirement that it produce a detailed environmental impact study on the possible effects of its Deepwater Horizon drilling operation in the Gulf of Mexico, an article Wednesday in the Washington Post reveals.

Federal documents show that the Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) gave BP a "categorical exclusion" on April 6, 2009 to commence drilling with Deepwater Horizon even though it had not produced the impact study required by a law known as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The report would have included probable ecological consequences in the event of a spill.

The exemption came less than one month after BP had requested it in a March 10 "exploration plan" submitted to the MMS. The plan said that because a spill was "unlikely," no additional "mitigation measures other than those required by regulation and BP policy will be employed to avoid, diminish or eliminate potential impacts on environmental resources." BP also assured the MMS that any spill would not seriously hurt marine wildlife and that "due to the distance to shore (48 miles) and the response capabilities that would be implemented, no significant adverse impacts are expected."

Deepwater Horizon Inspections: MMS Skipped Monthly Inspections On Doomed Rig

Among the dubious oversight practices, the MMS has reportedly allowed hundreds of drilling plans to move forward without required permits since Obama took office. On Friday, the New York Times revealed that one of those projects lacking a permit was the Deepwater Horizon rig

The strong inspection record led MMS last year to herald the Deepwater Horizon as an industry model for safety.

The Deepwater Horizon's record was so exemplary, according to MMS officials, that the rig was never on inspectors' informal "watch list" for problem rigs.

Scientists Accuse Obama Over Oil Spill - Expert claims NOAA is guilty of a 'catastrophic failure'

Tensions between the Obama administration and the scientific community over the gulf oil spill are escalating, with prominent oceanographers accusing the government of failing to conduct an adequate scientific analysis of the damage and of allowing BP to obscure the spill’s true scope.

The scientists assert that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and other agencies have been slow to investigate the magnitude of the spill and the damage it is causing in the deep ocean.

They are especially concerned about getting a better handle on problems that may be occurring from large plumes of oil droplets that appear to be spreading beneath the ocean surface.

Obama Defends Oil Spill Response

At a press conference on Thursday, the US president told reporters that his administration was "in charge" of the response to the spill, which has now dumped at least 26 million litres of crude into the sea.

"Those who think that we were either slow on our response or lacked urgency don't know the facts," Obama said at his first press conference in nearly a year.

Obama ignored charges that the spill was "his Katrina," a reference to former president George Bush's poor handling of Hurricane Katrina, the deadly 2005 storm that decimated the city of New Orleans.

But the US president acknowledged that the government simply was not prepared to handle a disaster of this magnitude.

"There was a lack of anticipation about what the worst case scenarios would be, and that was a problem," he said.

Katrina Timeline. FactCheck on Katrina Timeline. Oil Spill Timeline.

Congress Raps BP, Obama Administration for Gulf Oil Spill Response

Members of Congress today continued to lash out at BP and the Obama administration, not only for the delay in stopping the flow of oil from the doomed Deepwater Horizon rig but for not being better prepared.

Several House members criticized the Obama administration for not approving a plan by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal to strengthen barriers islands in order to block the flow of oil to vulnerable marshes and wetlands.

"Here's someone who wants and apparently has some resources at least to go ahead and do this, and yet he is being held back because what seems to be a typical bureaucratic response," said Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz.

But some House members said that the administration seemed too docile in letting BP call the shots - on what steps to take to stop the spill and even what kind and how much dispersant to use.

"What troubled Americans so much about this recent -- the ongoing tragedy is that the Department of the Interior, with all of its agencies, including MMS, not only seemed -- not only seemed not to know the answers to the questions, but they didn't even know what questions to ask," said Rep. Russ Holt, D-N.J.

Louisiana’s Gov. Bobby Jindal Fed Up, Won’t Continue to Wait for Team Obama’s Help with Oil Disaster — Won’t Wait for Permission, Will Start Building Sand Booms to Save Coast

Gov. Bobby Jindal Rips the Obama Administration




After a weekend of golf and basketball, President Obama will travel to the West Coast to help raise money for democrats. And he is heading to Chicago today for his second vacation since the spill happened.

Palin: “Passing the buck doesn’t plug the d#*! hole”

Nearly 40 days in, our President finally addressed the American people’s growing concerns about the Gulf Coast oil spill. Listening to today’s press conference, you’d think the administration has been working with single-minded focus on the Gulf gusher since the start of the disaster. In reality, their focus has been anything but singular to help solve this monumental problem.

If the President really was fully focused on this issue from day one, why did it take nine whole days before the administration asked the Department of Defense for help in deploying equipment needed for the extreme depth spill site?

Why was the expert group assembled by Energy Commissioner Steven Chu only set up three weeks after the start of this disaster?

Why was Governor Jindal forced more than a month after the start of the disaster to go on national television to beg for materials needed to tackle the oil spill and for federal approval to build offshore sand barriers that are imperative to protect his state’s coastline?

Why was no mention of the spill made by our President for days on end while Americans waited to hear if he grasped the import of his leadership on this energy issue?

Why have several countries and competent organizations who offered help or expertise in dealing with the spill not even received a response back from the Unified Area Command to this day?

"A rookie Senator with no accomplishments of his own doesn't have much credibility when it comes to leadership."

the thrill is gone.

“idiotic cerebral meritocracy”





That's why they call them *crushes*, Chris.

time's stengel stumped on sestak scandal

One of my prouder moments:

See that? I got a hat tip. From one of my most favorite web sites.  :O)

I had left a comment, on a thread about Mika admitting to be a Democrat, about seeing Richard Stengel on Morning Joe today, and his shockingly apparent lack of knowledge or interest of the Sestak scandal. And they did a post about it. They probably knew about it already, but they gave me a much appreciated H/T. They rock!



You can read the entire Newsbusters post here.

lawyers looked into it, but it never happened?

At least Gibbsy's finally admitting that lawyers "looked into" whether anything illegal transpired. I guess we can take that as an admission that it did indeed happen.



(Notice how hostile Ed Shultz is towards Sestak...)

I want to know why the White House and Obama administration would risk a felony to keep Sestak out of a race to protect Arlen Specter.



H/T Pundit & Pundette and mediaite for vids

I saw this great post at HotAir from Legal Insurrection, but would love to add the Sestak debacle to this. It's about all of the faux outrage and hoopla over Rand Paul and his non-existent comments about repealing the Civil Rights Act, while the media is all but ignoring or excusing the lies told by Blumenthal.

Can we get back to Richard Blumenthal.

Remember him? The DEMOCRATIC candidate for Senate whose multiple lies about serving in Vietnam over the course of multiple years dominated an entire 24 hour news cycle.

The guy whose dissembling of his own words was Clintonesque in the extreme, as in “it depends upon what the meaning of ‘in’ is.”

The guy around whom DEMOCRATS are rallying so strongly you’d think he had abused an intern.

The guy for whom it was not enough to be an academic and political superstar, he had to be a war hero as well.

The guy who was rescued when Rand Paul discussed, quite honestly, the dilemma of balancing individual freedom of association and speech with the need for racial equality and non-discrimination.

Can we please get back to talking about politicians who look you straight in the eye and lie?

liar, liar

president calderon slams arizona Immigration law

Democrats give Mexican president standing ovation for dumping on Arizona



Unprecedented: Calderon Slams US From House Floor. Receives Standing Ovation

Mexican president: Of course we ask immigrants to show their papers

Mexican President Felipe Calderon has been ripping into Arizona’s immigration law as he tours Washington — while appearing to disregard the way his own country cracks down on immigrants along Mexico’s southern border.

Mexico repeatedly has been cited by human rights groups for abusing or turning a blind eye to the abuse of migrants from Central America. Until recently, Mexican law made illegal immigration a criminal offense — anyone arrested for the violation could be fined, imprisoned for up to two years and deported. Mexican lawmakers changed that in 2008 to make illegal immigration a civil violation like it is in the United States, but their law still reads an awful lot like Arizona’s.

The Mexican law also states that law enforcement officials are “required to demand that foreigners prove their legal presence in the country before attending to any issues.”

Calderon said Wednesday that his country would retain its “firm rejection” of a policy where “people that work and provide things to this nation will be treated as criminals.”

The comments came just weeks after Amnesty International issued a report claiming illegal immigrants in Mexico — typically from Central America — face abuse, rape and kidnappings, and that Mexican police do little to stop it. When illegal immigration was a criminal offense in Mexico, officials were known to seek bribes from suspects to keep them out of jail.

Rep. Tom McClintock rocks the house



Now that sounds Presidential.

Is it just me, or does it feel like there is a rat in the White House?

who's hiring these census workers?

St. Louis Man Bitten In Stomach By Census Worker's Pitbull

A St. Louis man was bitten in the stomach by a census worker’s pitbull yesterday. Dan Vacca was answering questions when the pitbull jumped up and bit him.

 

Dan Vacca says a census worker approached him outside his South St. Louis condo on Tuesday. He thought it was odd that the worker had his dog with him.

While he was answering questions Vacca says a dog jumped up and bit him in the stomach.

Animal control officer says it will monitor the dog for rabies. The case will be reviewed to see if the dog can remain with it’s owner.

NJ Mom Recognizes Census Worker as Sex Offender

A man with a U.S. census badge knocked on Amy Schmalbach’s door on May 4. Thinking that answering the door to a government worker was a safe bet, she did. And then she wondered why he looked so familiar.

As soon as the man left her Pennsauken home, Schmalbach realized where she had seen him before: on the state’s sex-offender registry.

"I figured this is a government worker, I'm safe," Schmalbach, 33, told the Inquirer. She had given him names and birthdates of her family to the man who called himself “Jamie.”

The man’s real name is Frank J. Kuni, but goes by many aliases, including Jamie Shepard. It was under the name “Jamie Shepard” that he applied for a door-to-door job with the census bureau.

Local group wants investigation into complaint of agressive Census worker

The president of a Charlottesville-based civil liberties group is pushing for a federal investigation into a report of aggressive behavior by a U.S. Census Bureau worker during a visit to an Albemarle County home.

In a letter John W. Whitehead mailed Tuesday to U.S. Rep Tom Perriello, D-Ivy, he writes that the worker may have violated Fourth Amendment rights by entering a family’s home without permission. The worker also asked questions about ethnicities beyond what is required for the census, Whitehead said in the letter.

“For a government agent to enter a private citizen’s home without invitation and against the wishes of the resident not only indicates a trespass but raises grave constitutional concerns,” wrote Whitehead, who is with The Rutherford Institute.

Census Worker Faces Drug Charges

A census worker has been arrested on several drug charges. Gwinnett County Police Corporal Edwin Ritter tells WSB it all began when the man was stopped at a police checkpoint for traffic safety at Leach Road and Tanglewood Road near Snellville. When 27-year-old Brian Stewart couldn't provide a license, saying he lost it at a family reunion, they then searched him.
"While he was patting him down, he noticed a round, cylndrical, hard object in his left, front pocket. He asked the driver what it was and the driver openly told him that it was Xanax pills for his girlfriend," said Ritter.

The bottle containing 151 pills did not have a prescription label attached. Stewart was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance.

When they searched the Dodge Intrepid, they found a small baggie of marijuana next to the console. Inside the console was a scale. While he was in route to the jail, he informed the officer that he had more marijuana inside of his pants," said Ritter.

They soon realized that Stewart also worked for the government.

Census Worker Accused of Raping Disabled Woman

A census worker in Indiana has been arrested and accused of beating and raping a 21-year-old disabled woman.

Daniel Miller had visited the woman's house May 4 as part of his job with the U.S. Census Bureau, authorities said. Police say he returned to the house before dawn May 8 while he was intoxicated, broke in and assaulted the woman, who lives with her mother.

The attacker left his blue jeans, T-shirt, underwear, boots and wallet with his driver's license in the woman's bedroom, authorities said. Police said they found Miller five hours later at his apartment, naked and with a blood-alcohol level of 0.03, reports WHAS-11, a Louisville, Ky., television station.

Police: Man killed after fake census worker invades home

A man posed as a Census worker before a home invasion that turned deadly in Houston, Texas. Katherine Haynes said a man posed as a census worker Saturday afternoon before two men armed with guns barged their way in her home demanding money.

“The man was dressed in a suit and tie,“ resident Katherine Haynes said. “When my son cracked the door, he grabbed him by the neck and put a gun to his head.“

Haynes said she, her son and her son’s girlfriend were beaten and tied up after two other men barged into the home in the 400 block of Truman Street and demanded money on Saturday.

I don't think they really thought out this whole *home visit* census thing very well....

blumen befuddled dems dare to defend dud

It is unbelievable to me that Democrats are rallying behind Richard Blumenthal and defending him. He LIED about serving in Vietnam. He allowed the media for years, to report that he served in Vietnam. He is on video claiming to have served in Vietnam. And Democrats are defending him. How SMARMY can someone be to lie about serving in Vietnam?



“He just kept adding to the story, the more he told it,” Mr. Shays said.

Howard *yeeeeeee haw* Dean defended him on Morning Joe. Donna Brazile defended him on Good Morning America. Chris Dodd defended him. Hmmm, come to think of it, looking at the list of those defending Blumenthal I'm not so surprised, after all. I consider them to be pretty smarmy themselves. I would take a long hard look at anyone who would defend this guy. How smarmy are they do defend him?

But seriously! How can anyone defend a guy who LIED about serving in Vietnam.

To make matters worse, he gave a press conference yesterday to defend himself, from a VFW hall. A Veteran of Foreign Wars hall. He is NOT a Veteran of Foreign Wars.

“He's not a veteran of foreign wars,” said Simmons, who is a VFW member. “He should not be a member of the VFW, and I find it offensive that he's still wrapping himself in the veteran flag of those of us who served in Vietnam."

And one of the Veterans he brought along as a prop is also a liar about his service.

Richard Blumenthal also lied about being Captain of the Harvard swimming team. Harvard said he wasn't even on the team.

So...is anyone buying his claim that he just *misspoke*?

Memeorandum has more here.

has anyone in washington read the arizona law??

California wants to boycott Arizona over the illegal immigration law, which they have called racist and even compared it to Nazi Germany. You would think they should actually read the Arizona illegal immigration law, AND their own laws before they start flapping their gums and pointing fingers. The same provisions exist in California's own penal code.

Section 834b in the California Penal Code

(a) Every law enforcement agency in California shall fully cooperate with the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service regarding any person who is arrested if he or she is suspected of being present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws. (b) With respect to any such person who is arrested, and suspected of being present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws, every law enforcement agency shall do the following: (1) Attempt to verify the legal status of such person as a citizen of the United States, an alien lawfully admitted as a permanent resident, an alien lawfully admitted for a temporary period of time or as an alien who is present in the United States in violation of immigration laws. The verification process may include, but shall not be limited to, questioning the person regarding his or her date and place of birth, and entry into the United States, and demanding documentation to indicate his or her legal status. (2) Notify the person of his or her apparent status as an alien who is present in the United States in violation of federal immigration laws and inform him or her that, apart from any criminal justice proceedings, he or she must either obtain legal status or leave the United States. (3) Notify the Attorney General of California and the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service of the apparent illegal status and provide any additional information that may be requested by any other public entity. (c) Any legislative, administrative, or other action by a city, county, or other legally authorized local governmental entity with jurisdictional boundaries, or by a law enforcement agency, to prevent or limit the cooperation required by subdivision (a) is expressly prohibited.

The Obama administration has slammed the bill, called it misguided, and possibly unconstitutional and said it could lead to racial profiling. The Left is hysterical over the law, calling it racist and compared it to fascism and Hitler. The Obama administration even apologized to China over the law! Huh? They apologized to China over a law the haven't even READ! Neither Obama, Holder, Napolitano, or the State Department spokesman have read it, but that hasn't stopped them criticizing it, and apologizing for it.

However, the Obama administration's official position is the same as Arizona's.

The Washington Post reports that the Obama administration has yet to withdraw a Bush-era memo that acknowledges the authority of states to do exactly what the Arizona law mandates:

In the legal battle over Arizona’s new immigration law, an ironic subtext has emerged: whether a Bush-era legal opinion complicates a potential Obama administration lawsuit against Arizona.

The document, written in 2002 by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, concluded that state police officers have “inherent power” to arrest undocumented immigrants for violating federal law. …

The author of the Arizona law — which has drawn strong opposition from top Obama administration officials — has cited the authority granted in the 2002 memo as a basis for the legislation. The Obama administration has not withdrawn the memo, and some backers of the Arizona law said Monday that because it remains in place, a Justice Department lawsuit against Arizona would be awkward at best.

“The Justice Department’s official position as of now is that local law enforcement has the inherent authority to enforce federal immigration law,” said Robert Driscoll, a former Justice Department Civil Rights Division official in the George W. Bush administration who represents an Arizona sheriff known for aggressive immigration enforcement. “How can you blame someone for exercising authority that the department says they have?”

Barack Obama has been in office for sixteen months. Eric Holder has been AG for almost as long, being one of the first Cabinet members confirmed by the Senate after Obama assumed office. During the transition, both men promised to “hit the ground running,” which should have meant a review of policy positions across the board. Immigration reform was a key agenda item for Obama and the Democrats — and yet no one at the DoJ or the White House apparently thought to withdraw this memo. That speaks volumes about competence.

So, California and the Obama administration have criticized the law, even though none of them have read the law. And these most vocal opponents have the same law in their very own state/departments.

Incredible.

Read what Sarah had to say about it, here.

"At first blush this revelation seemed unbelievable, but maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. This now seems “the Washington way” of doing things. If the party in power tells us they have to pass bills in order to find out what’s actually in them, they can also criticize bills (and divide the country with ensuing rhetoric) without actually reading them."

UPDATE: It's on!
AZ utility board member responds to LA boycott over SB1070

The Los Angeles City Council voted to boycott the state of Arizona over its new immigration-enforcement law, and now the Arizona Corporation Commission has responded. Gary Pierce, one of the commissioners chosen in state-wide elections to the utility regulation panel, notes that Los Angeles gets about 25% of its power from Arizona producers. If the City of Angels really wants a boycott, Pierce offers his services to help, as he explains in a letter to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and copied to Hot Air: Click here.

H/T Hotair for all the scoop. Oodles more on memeorandum here.

And just because - he's baaaaack:
"When Obama threw me under the bus, he threw me under the bus literally!” So, is Reverend Wright accusing Obama of trying to kill him?

"since the days that I served in vietnam"

“We have learned something important since the days that I served in Vietnam,” Mr. Blumenthal said to the group gathered in Norwalk in March 2008. “And you exemplify it. Whatever we think about the war, whatever we call it — Afghanistan or Iraq — we owe our military men and women unconditional support.”

There was one problem: Mr. Blumenthal, a Democrat now running for the United States Senate, never served in Vietnam. He obtained at least five military deferments from 1965 to 1970 and took repeated steps that enabled him to avoid going to war, according to records.

The deferments allowed Mr. Blumenthal to complete his studies at Harvard; pursue a graduate fellowship in England; serve as a special assistant to The Washington Post’s publisher, Katharine Graham; and ultimately take a job in the Nixon White House.

In 1970, with his last deferment in jeopardy, he landed a coveted spot in the Marine Reserve, which virtually guaranteed that he would not be sent to Vietnam. He joined a unit in Washington that conducted drills and other exercises and focused on local projects, like fixing a campground and organizing a Toys for Tots drive.

This is not the only example. Read though the Times story and you will find that Blumenthal had habit of leaving audiences with the impression that he was actually over in ‘Nam. ~Another Black Conservative

Richard Blumenthal, the Attorney General for Connecticut, is currently running to fill Chris Dodd’s senate seat. Something tells me he's not going to win....

Read more about this here. Oodles more here.

holder: arizona acted stupidly

"I think it's safe to say, without having all the facts, Arizona acted stupidly."



When will the Obama administration learn to not respond to something when they don't have the facts!?

I love this comment from Newsbusters:

Yep. The most powerful law enforcement official in our nation hasn't bothered reading an important, sixteen-page bill that he and the Administration have been making negative comments about since it was passed weeks ago.  Instead, he's relied on "newspaper accounts" and "looking at television" to establish his opinion. You really can't make this stuff up!

Read more here, including a video from Meet the Press, where Holder questioned the constitutionality of the bill (that he hadn't read).

Speaking of stupid, Keith Olbermann called Sarah Palin "idiot woman" with a graphic that said "your" instead of "you're".

OLBERMANN: Idiot-woman speaks. In front of a big flag, sponsored by a sump-pump company, quote: "somebody told me, you know your [sic] going into enemy territory. I said, it's Chicago, it's not MSNBC." Yah, like you had the courage to come to MSNBC.

OLBERMANN: She continued, "I'm glad to be here on the president's home turf. Somebody told me 'you know, you're going into enemy territory. I said it's Chicago, it's not MSNBC.' That woman is an idiot. And the event at which that idiot spoke was sponsored by an Illinois firm that specializes in battery-operated back-up sump pumps. Not just a sump-pump political event: it was a back-up sump-pump political event. Moreover, to put it plainly, and this is a matter of record, that woman does not have the courage, personal or political, to appear on MSNBC. Not without and army with her, and I mean that literally. the half-governor of Alaska now celebrating two years without holding an actual news conference or having the guts to appear on a network like this one. But the toast of America's back-up sump pump political circuit. Today's Worst Person in the World. Read more. 

Why is Olbermann ripping Sarah Palin for not holding a press conference? What does she need to hold one for? And why would she appear on msnbc? First of all, who watches it? Why would she boost their pitiful ratings? And why in God's name would she appear on a station that repeatedly calls her an idiot? And why does he think she doesn't have the courage to face him? He is a mental midget! Although...he is extremely offensive. I guess she could be lacking courage to come face to face with such an angry, offensive, volatile, moron....

Perhaps Olbermann would be better off questioning why Obama hasn't held a press conference since July 2009.

national enquirer and scandals

The National Enquirer reports that Matt Lauer and his wife have separated because he cheated on her while in Vancouver for the Olympics.

The story is picked up, as credible, and carried by Miami Herald, Vancouver Sun, Chicago Sun-Times, San Francisco Chronicle, New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger, Huffington Post, LA Times and about 120 other sources.

How many news organizations picked up the National Enquirer story that Obama had an affair with Vera Baker?

Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

It's funny that Lauer's scandal is being reported as fact, but the Obama story isn't being reported, at all.

Hmm. Even after the Edwards story...

Speaking of John Edwards and scandals.

John Edwards to testify on affair and campaign cash - Lawyers to question former Democratic senator about claims he used federal funds to keep mistress secret

The former US senator and presidential contender, John Edwards, knows a thing or two about disgrace.

He has endured the exposure of his affair while his wife was battling breast cancer. Then came the revelation that he had fathered a child with his mistress, Rielle Hunter, but persuaded a close aide to claim paternity to hide it from his family and the press.

That aide, Andrew Young, went on to write a bestselling book, The Politician, that laid bare Edwards's multiple duplicities as well as offering a detailed description of a sex tape the former North Carolina senator made with Hunter.

Now Edwards is facing further embarrassment, and possibly criminal charges, over whether he spent government money to hide Hunter away from the public eye.

H/T Riehl World View for the Edwards story.

this is utterly terrifying

On May 10, author and conservative activist David Horowitz gave a speech at UC San Diego; afterward, a Muslim student addressed him during the Q&A about a pamphlet he had sponsored exposing the Muslim Student Association’s radical Islamic ties.



While answering the question, Horowitz asked the student if she supported Hamas or Hezbollah but couldn’t get a direct answer. After a lengthy back-and-forth he finally pinned her down: “The head of Hezbollah has said that he hopes that we [Jews] will gather in Israel so he doesn’t have to hunt us down globally. For it or against it?”

The girl simply said, “For it.”

Chilling.

darrell steinberg is a dumb-ass

And apparently not fit to serve in the state Senate.



The guy doesn't understand the Arizona Immigration law, at all. He seems to be completely lacking comprehension skills.

Gee, ya think he's part of the problem in California? I would think, considering the absolute crap hole California is in right now, he should be focusing on fixing his state, and not worried about how Arizona is trying to deal with their own problems.

I say boycott California! We'll see how quickly he gets re-elected.



As for the media, try as they might, it seems the majority of the people just aren't buying what they're selling anymore.

“a whopping 64 percent support the law,” Todd marveled, “and we read them the law verbatim exactly as it's been written” and still, he repeated, “64 percent approve of it.”

Read more here.

student chastised for drawing american flag; student who drew a picture of obama?

Praised, of course. What's up with this? First t-shirts, now this?



“My husband point-blank asked her what she found offensive about the picture – the American flag or the words, ‘God Bless America,’” she said. “The teacher didn’t say a word.”

See Eyeblast for more scoopage.

And as a follow up to my post yesterday, from paris with love, about how Liberals don't seem to mind racial stereotypes or profiling when it fits there agenda, I saw this.

The Michigan school district investigating whether an elementary school field trip that excluded white students was illegal has disbanded the black-students-only academic support group that participated in the outing two weeks ago.

Thirty members of the Dicken Elementary School’s AA Lunch Bunch, a support group designed to bridge the gap in test scores between white and black students, were taken on a field trip two weeks ago to meet Alec Gallimore, an African-American rocket scientist who is an aerospace engineering professor and propulsion lab director at the University of Michigan.

The school principal, Mike Madison, who is black, helped organize the trip, saying he hoped to encourage the students to pursue a career in the sciences. Hoping to quell rising tensions over the black-students-only outing, Madison sent a lengthy letter home to parents in which he explained the reasoning behind the trip.

“The intent of our field trip was not to segregate or exclude students, as has been reported, but rather to address the societal issues, roadblocks and challenges that our African-American children will face as they pursue a successful academic education here in our community,” Madison wrote.

and this:

"Which brings us back to racial profiling. Obama is just one of many leading liberals who favor affirmative action for certain groups. Their argument goes like this: Certain historically disadvantaged minorities such as blacks and Hispanics — but not Asians or Jews — need extra help in college admissions and in hiring. These preferred minority applicants can be sized up as deserving simply by looking at their skin color and maybe their last names.

Liberals insist that, in such cases, race is just one factor among many, though studies suggest race is often the key factor, since so many of these decisions are made at the margins.

In other words, when you have two equally qualified candidates, race trumps everything. In fact, it’s often the case that when you have two candidates and, say, the Asian kid is much more qualified, race still decides the issue."

And yet another example of why people think journalism is dead. From Newsbusters:

A former Vietnam veteran wanted the American people to know just how easy it was for illegal aliens to enter our southern border, so he set up cameras along the route and posted the video on his website. Many people came to his website, borderinvasionpics.com (BIP), including the local CBS affiliate in Phoenix, KPHO. The affiliate was obviously so impressed with what they saw, they downloaded and used some of the video in a sympathetic piece on illegal aliens.



However, instead of Journalism 1.01 and giving proper attribution to the person who's time and expense went into the creation of the 'shocking' video, KPHO edited the footage into their piece, zoomed in and cropped out the BIP logo and copyright, and inserted their CBS logo giving the viewing public the false impression the footage was a result of many months of hard work. The owner of BIP was not impressed, especially as they are attempting to educate the American people as to the porous nature of the border, KPHO's tone was much more sympathetic to illegal aliens.

Read more here.

from paris with love

We saw the film From Paris with Love last night, and I couldn't help but wonder, why do liberals, which includes 90% of Hollywood, throw a tizzy about racial profiling (like the Arizona Immigration Law) but yet, Hollywood makes their living pushing stereotypes.

This movie includes Pakistani terrorists, an Asian drug and prostitution gang, and a gang of drug selling, thieving, gun toting, black kids.

How many movies and tv shows have been made that include Mexican or African American gangs and drug runners/dealers or Muslim terrorists? It seems liberals always want to attack Conservatives for stereotyping or racial profiling, but where does the average person learn negative stereotypes?

Prior to 9/11, the only terrorists most Americans *knew* were the ones on the big screen, in films like True Lies and Rules of Engagement. Terrorists in film or tv are almost always portrayed as Arabs/Muslims. And for many people, the only Hispanics and African American drug dealers or gang members they *know* are those on tv or film (or on the news).



The line following that shooting: "Just because she's Pakistani doesn’t mean that she’s a terrorist!" Except, well, she is. They both are.

It's ok for Hollywood to portray Muslims as terrorists, or Mexicans as gang members, (or Italian's as mafia hitmen like Sopranos, or drug addicted, abusive African Americans in Precious) in tv or film, but when dealing with real life, stereotypes and profiling are a big fat no-no.

In 2009, Hollywood movies portrayed blacks as violent criminals; sexually depraved and promiscuous females; dimwitted drug dealers; fat, illiterate young people; uncaring, insensitive mothers; and observers of voodoo and black magic. Indeed, 2009 was a banner year for negative black stereotypes.

Sure, you can say movies and TV are fictional characters, but they do perpetuate negative stereotypes. If you want to argue that the stories/characters are based in reality - that those types of characters exist in real life, then why is it bad to acknowledge that reality when it comes to fighting crime?



The media went out of their way to avoid mentioning the Muslim background of the Ft. Hood shooter, or profiling the the Time Square car bomber before he was caught. And the media and liberals are up in arms about the prospect that Mexicans might be (even though it is against the new law) profiled in Arizona under the new illegal immigration law. But, when profiling might actually help the police in protecting Americans, and upholding the law, Liberals are against it.

But, make a box office hit, and earn a huge salary - no problem. Stereotype away!

another great video from broliath

I wonder when msnbc is going to put Olby on a twitter time out, like Shuster.

H/T Broliath

perfect example of how the federal government has mucked up immigration

GIs ‘afraid to deploy’ over spouses’ illegal status

Immigration lawyers and Department of Homeland Security officials say that many thousands of people in the military have spouses or close relatives who are illegal immigrants. Many of those service members have fought to gain legal status for their family members — only to hit a legal dead end created in 1996, when Congress last made major revisions to the immigration laws.

Mrs. Tenebro is snagged on a statute, notorious among immigration lawyers, that makes it virtually impossible for her to become a legal resident without first leaving the United States and staying away for 10 years.

Because of the Catch-22, the severe penalty applies to Mrs. Tenebro even though she is the wife of an American citizen who is also an active duty serviceman. Lieutenant Tenebro, who was never in the United States illegally, was naturalized in 2003.

Homeland Security officials said that in the absence of Congressional action, they had been working quietly to fix immigration problems for American soldiers on a case-by-case basis, using limited authorities that already exist in law.

Homeland Security, just like Arizona, are doing what they can to fix problems that Congress won't.

“i never thought i’d be on national TV for wearing an american flag shirt”

From HotAir:

What seems to elude people in this incident is that everyone has the right to express themselves on every day of the year in the US, and that “some people may be offended” is no just cause for censorship:

The fact that these boys had to appear on a national news show to defend wearing American-flag themed clothing serves as an indictment to the political correctness that prompted this incident in the first place. The school district apparently agrees, as they pointedly declined to defend the decision made by the school’s administration yesterday. However, that didn’t stop a protest at Live Oak High yesterday:

About 85 mostly Hispanic students staged a noon protest march through Morgan Hill on Thursday, one day after five students at Live Oak High School were sent home after showing up in clothing with American flags on Cinco de Mayo.

The protesters supported the school’s decision, while the parents of the students sent home blasted it and the school district’s superintendent called the entire incident “extremely unfortunate.” …

Thursday’s student protesters said “they wanted to be treated with respect” in the wake of Wednesday’s incident, said City Manager Ed Tewes, who met with a handful of students from the group after a rally they held at the flagpole outside City Hall.

Tewes said the group also discussed a possible community-wide celebration of diversity and asked for ideas about how to bring the community together.

I have no problem with political demonstrations either, but it obviously hasn’t occurred to these students that they’re protesting for the elimination of the right of free expression, a rather ironic and highly contradictory position. As far as the “celebration of diversity” idea goes, what Live Oak High had on Wednesday was a celebration of diversity. Its administration preferred the conformity of political correctness. They’re afraid of real diversity and trying to hide it when it appears.

Word.

students punished for wearing american flags on cinco de mayo

From Zombie at Pajamas Media:

Five students at a California high school were forced to leave school and then face disciplinary action yesterday for the crime of wearing clothing printed with American flag designs.

Click here for video.

If you’re wondering how being patriotic could possibly merit punishment, it’s because the kids displayed the American flags on May 5. And as everyone knows, American flags are absolutely verboten on May 5.

Right? Doesn’t anybody remember that rule? Anybody? Bueller?

According to local TV stations KTVU and NBC Bay Area, this bewildering and deeply unsettling incident happened at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, a suburban town south of San Jose. As KTVU reported,

Five students at a South Bay high school stirred up some controversy Wednesday for wearing t-shirts depicting red, white and blue American flags on Cinco de Mayo.

School officials at Live Oak High in Morgan Hill told the students they had to go home if they wouldn’t turn the shirts inside out.

One of the students said it appeared school administrators were worried the patriotic shirts could trigger fights.

Some students at Live Oak High in Morgan Hill said others were planning to come to school Thursday wearing red, white and blue.

Four of the five students who wore American flags or patriotic colors on campus walked into a meeting with the superintendent of the Morgan Hill unified school district Wednesday night.

They were facing unexcused absences because they chose to go home early rather than take off what they were wearing.

“We knew it was Cinco de Mayo. But we just came to show our flag,” said student Dominic Maciel. “We didn’t mean anything by it. We didn’t want to start anything. Nothing like that.”

Student Anthony Caravalho was also sent home for not turning his shirt inside out.

“They said we had to wear our t-shirts inside out and then we could go back to class and we said no,” said Caravalho. “It would be disrespectful to the flag by hiding it.”

Daniel Galli, another student who was reprimanded for wearing a US flag, described what he was told by school administration.

“He said ‘If you wear it on any other day, it’s fine; but just because it’s today you can’t wear it,’” Galli said.

And the punishment wasn’t an off-the-cuff blunder by some inexperienced teacher; according to NBC. Click here to read more.

It's not even an official holiday in America, and barely even celebrated in Mexico!

Memeorandum has more.