TL gave us a run down of the BHO scandals in the second half of the show last night. Explained simply and consecutively they are grotesque and alarming. Listen by clicking here . At least 3 of the 4 major Obama scandals seem on par with major corruption scandals in our past (See Harding Admin. and Watergate), the other is simply indefensible and repellant. Taken together the scandals ought to add up to major resignations, some prosecutions, and 3 to 5 pretty straightforward articles of impeachment…Yet the mainstream media has largely skipped covering the Obama scandals.
My question is:
I really enjoyed hearing Tamers run down of all of the Obama scandals, he is very knowledgeable. Still, none of these scandals strike me as anything other than crooked business as usual. These are the same dirty back room dealings that our POLS have accomodated for decades. Game rigging in the contract bidding process, back door gun trafficking to international outlaws, so-called-stings involving drug and gun trafficking, arming criminals in other countries who call themselves freedome fighters, giving preferential loans and contracts to donors, under the table support of dictators who buy our military hardware or supply our oil, blatant nepotism and cronyism etc. None of this is new, nor is it the creation of Chicago Politics. This is business as usual in Washington D.C.. The tinkering of POLS and former POLS and POTUS’es in steering contracts and the ownership of businesses that receive those contracts is a longstanding issue (see the military contracting business ventures of GHWB after leaving office). No one who has watched these transactions seriously believes that the right hand is going to rat-out the left hand because should they, then the left hand will rat-out the right hand. All of this is election year theatre. Heads will roll, but it won’t be the heads that should roll. I’ve followed and watched these government corruption “hearings” via CSPAN for as long as CSPAN has existed. Rarely does anything or anyone of stature pay for these crimes. In the end the most damage that will be done to Obama will be guilt by association because the bulk of the blame will be thrust upon low level bureaucrats who did something they knew was wrong, but never knew why they were doing it, or exactly who ordered them to do it, or are ill prepared to prove who it was that ordered them to do it. And F&F OR as it is more commonly known (gun walking) began before BHO became POTUS, so when push comes to shove the blame deflection point will begin pre-Obama. Holder’s tent may be folded in the process, but it won’t touch BHO.
And remember, the reason the Dems didn’t attempt to impeach Bush for lying to the country and going to war under false pretenses,is the same reason GHWB & Reagan weren’t prosecuted for Iran/Contra, is the same reason Nixon resigned and was pardoned by Ford instead of facing impeachment and is the same reason that no big revelation against BHO will come out of any of these election year FOR-SHOW-ONLY committee investigations, everyone has dirty hands.
Agreed, Mouse.
Wow – a) I recognize why we are so cynical, but let’s not give in to it.
b) Let’s not forget that people in the Clinton administration did absolutely get punished routinely for the same or lesser offenses. The “new game in town” only came into place with Bush II and then Obama where vastly more damaging offenses actually related to public responsibilities decided to be overlooked by the cognoscenti.
There actually was a time when people were asked for their resignations or otherwise punished over these types of things. Hazel O’Leary – for using gov’t resources like her own personal travel agent; Espy for similar; Webb Hubbell – forced to resign for legal issues unrelated to his gov’t position, well in advance of his having been found guilty; numerous people forced to resign over the ginned-up travel office “scandal” in the very first days of the Clinton WH; Roger Altman – deputy sec at Treasury forced to resign over record keeping scandal in RTC; at least 4 WH counsel’s forced to resign including Nussbaum in the early days over travel office and Vince Foster’s suicide; countless people – including interns who certainly couldn’t afford it – forced to hire personal attorneys at great expense just because they knew Monica Lewinsky in the day. I could, literally, provide a list that is too long for this post of people either ruined professionally or financially in the Clinton years over virtually nothing relative to what is happening today.
Please, let’s not act like this is business as usual. It’s not. This is entitled people who are now circling the wagons and refusing to unearth corruption and law-breaking because there is much more at stake for them – their livelihoods and wealth – than titillating inconsequential issues that they thought persecuting the Clintons was such fun over.
In listening to the show, and agreeing that Tamerlane has uncovered a lot of information surrounding these events, my cynicism tells me that nothing will come of it based on my own theory: too many other dirty fingers will be “outed” as well. Chances are both Repubs and Dems have a “financial interest” involved and some of them will be discovered to be sitting members of congress.
What he did was just expose more of the corruption that is blatantly being carried out in DC and is much too “toxic” for those involved to carry out proper investigations.
As Bernie Sanders has repeatedly pointed out: you have to elbow your way down the hallways of congress, trying to get through the number of lobbyists crowding the place. Everybody is for sale, that’s the issue.
Latinos in CA are keeping democrats in power. That’s all. They would be looking at permanent minority status w/o CA.
Jen, as you may know, ProPublica exposed Dem fronts posing as individuals that derailed the voters of California’s efforts (“No fewer than 35 Democratic politicians — including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi — and their allies spent a total of $7 million to campaign against the proposition.”) at a fairly balanced (Dems, GOP & indie citizens appointed to a panel) attempt at a commission empowered to oversee redistricting. The ballot measure passed with 61% of the vote despite fierce opposition by Pelosi’s Dems.
http://www.propublica.org/article/how-democrats-fooled-californias-redistricting-commission/single
One big challenge: Federal Civil Rights Acts protect “minority” representation in gerrymandered districts–such as those where I live. This appears at odds with the wishes of even a blue state’s voters for balanced districts and local elections with actual contenders. I live in districts about 90% Dem, and frankly I’m at a loss to guess where rivals would come from, in these Latino-dominated enclaves, drawn for Latinos by Dems. JWS and I have politely disagreed on this, but I aver given the gridlock Dems have over such urban voters in a “majority-minority” reliably blue state, that the inland or exurban
enclaves may never woo enough non-Dem voters to make California competitive again.
Tamerlane has analyzed the Decline-to-State cohorts, growing and about 20% of registered voters, but these as he said tend to follow the party majority in their area.
However, I doubt the GOP has enough voters to turn California back to a truly red state. The patterns that are keeping immigrants loyal to the Dems (ever see the registration tables’ disparity at a swearing-in citizenship ceremony?, the rise of the Latino (and Asian) vote, the decline in white voters as they die off or leave for other states, makes the “majority-minority” demographic one the Dems may never relinquish.
I agree that versions of this fraud and graft have been going on for a long time, but now we are broke and most of these programs do not work even a little. Favoritism and overpaying in defense contracts is a very old scam but the goods were eventually delivered. The DOE loan programs are producing bankruptcies with a great deal of money simply vanishing into crony pockets. The same with the Wall St bailouts. Money goes down rat holes in Illinois with nothing to show for it and they seem to accept it. The rest of the country not so much. I think the press will try to continue to ignore it but a tipping point seems to have been reached and momentum is building. And I could be completely wrong which would not surprise me either, but I am familiar with fraud investigations and they are slow.
I managed to listen to the rebroadcast this afternoon [had it running in the background while I puttered around]. Really good show. Tamer offered excellent details on the Scandals No One is Willing to Mention. I suspect Holder will be forced out at the very least. They have him on perjury. For the rest? I have no doubt that the Repugs will use this to their advantage, as would the Democrats if the tables were turned. Both parties are hideously corrupt.
The Fast and Furious scheme [as I understand] was an idea cooked up by the Bush Administration. But stupid is as stupid does. The Border agent’s death as a result of this mess is very, very damaging. I had not heard all the details of the satellite deal but I agree with John and Tamer–this sounds like a Chicago-style payola deal. I do remember hearing about the military guy saying he’d been told to testify favorably. That in itself was dumb if the military crew were concerned at the start. But I guess they figure everyone has a price. Sadly, these pols have been proven right more often than not.
Anyway, lots of good info. Thanks!
John…..I thought you’d enjoy watching this confrontation between “man on dog” Santorum and a group of NH College students at a NH Townhall today. Poor Frothy Mix, today he’s equating gay marriage to Polygamy. Ho-hum, another day, another dumbass commentary from Frothy.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/05/9985080-santorum-booed-in-contentious-exchange-over-gay-marriage
That was even have to suffer the thought of this psychopath as a presidential candidate is very telling about our hijacked and very ill political system.
Amen, Uppity, A self absorbed and ill informed populace is being led by pols who are elected by those same people.. The voters elect people who most reflect them, and here we are, A political system is only as sick as society in general allows it to be.
Massive reform is needed. Who wants to go first?
What is going on is nothing new. It is just that the corruption that has surfaced is no longer hidden since the SC made it a law that big money has more rights at the table than the average citizen.
The big money paves the way by “selecting” the nominee (i.e., Obama and Bush) then throws the process back into the hands of the voter who works under the impression that their vote has meaning.
Just look at the landscape today: the GOP is “stuck” with Mittens as their nominee, something that causes acid reflux but the push is on to clear his way. The Dems are equally “stuck” with Obama but each in his own way serves a purpose for those who fund their campaigns.
Mittens can’t seem to raise his profile above 25% and Obama has watched his poll numbers take a dive as he has wasted whatever credibility he had by refusing to protect his own constituency. Yet one of these two will emerge as the “winner” come November and the nation will stagger on unprotected from the claws of the money class who have bought another seat at the table.
It is as simple as this and until campaign finance reform is seriously enacted, this is how it will always be.
The “leaders” of this nation are faceless, nameless, and unaccountable as they move their “chess pieces” across the national landscape every 4 years offering up on the business friendliest candidate to “assume” the role and title.
This is no longer a difference of ideology any longer but a festival of greed from whatever entitiy shows enough cash as the highest bidder.
Wow, Pat Johnson, GREAT comment. One of your best ever, especially
That is why I get so frustrated with the R vs D horse-race crap that so many get mired in. It doesn’t make much difference who wins- WE lose.
Yet we sit here arguing amongst ourselves at who is the “better choice” as if that in itself is going to make the difference.
I find no reason to rush out and cast my vote for Obama but someone needs to tell me what Mitt, Rick, Ron Paul, or Newt has to offer that separates them from a government that has essentially given up its role on governing itself.
How many more years of gridlock and radical proposals are we willing to face as our daily existence is being threatened by special interests who buy the favor of either party acting as their “whores”? How many more “exposures” of sitting congress critters accepting payoffs from special interests will it take before someone finally proposes an end to this stuff? How much of this “religious” crap must we listen to when the separation of church and state is being challenged by pseudo theocrats who parked their own integrity at the door when it comes to serving the public?
The whole thing is rigged in favor of the very few at the expense of the majority of ordinary people just trying to make it through and do so in the face of those who just don’t give a damn.
Excellent comment Pat. However, I didn’t think we were “arguing amongst ourselves at who is the ‘better choice.’” I thought we were lamenting, each in our own way, that there is no freaking choice.
Once Bush v. Gore was passed by a corrupt Supreme Court, any checks and balances we thought were left, dissolved. That decision was so clearly against any sort of standard Supreme Court practice, so clearly partisan and so clearly bought and paid for. I had hopes that the Dems were not quite as bad, but as others have said, when Pelosi refused to impeach Bush or end the wars, I knew they were corrupt too.
All three branches of our government are currently functioning by, for, and of the 1%. That is the biggest scandal of all.
http://trueliberalnexus.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/the-four-scandals-of-barack-obama-part-1-fast-and-furious/
The evidence is so extensive & damning, I’ve had to divide the report into four parts, one for each scandal.