“I would say in some ways these have been among the worst weeks of my life,” Gowdy told Politico
in an interview published Sunday. “Attacks on your character, attacks
on your motives, are 1,000-times worse than anything you can do to
anybody physically — at least it is for me.”
That quote reveals just how vulnerable of a figure Gowdy has become,
and at a most inopportune moment for him. Instead of telegraphing what
Clinton can expect from him and the rest of the panel when she arrives
Thursday on Capitol Hill, the chairman has been publicly chiding the GOP caucus to "shut up" about the Benghazi investigation lest they further undermine the high-stakes hearing.
Things weren't always this difficult for Gowdy. It was apparent that the Benghazi attacks were the preferred distraction meme of the Republican Congress and conservative pundits alike long before House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-CA) now-infamous "gaffe," but the hard-nosed former federal prosecutor considered himself above the partisan fray.
“Twenty months after the Benghazi attacks, there remain unresolved
questions about why the security was inadequate, our response during the
siege itself, and our government's interaction with the public after
the attack,” Gowdy said in a statement when the panel was formed in May
2014. “All of those lines of inquiry are legitimate and should be
apolitical. Facts are neither red nor blue.”
The select committee's work was rather slow up until March of this
year, when its activity kicked into overdrive after its reported
discovery that Clinton exclusively used a private email account during
her tenure at the agency. When McCarthy touted the panel's negative
effect on Hillary Clinton's poll numbers last month during an interview
with Fox News' Sean Hannity as an example of what kind of leader he'd be
as House speaker, the attention the panel paid to Clinton's emails
suddenly seemed a lot more nefarious.
McCarthy's comment gave Democrats and Clinton's camp
a golden opportunity to cast the select committee as a partisan cudgel
designed to damage the former secretary of state's presidential
campaign. It cost McCarthy his shot at succeeding Boehner and
momentarily allowed Gowdy's profile to rise even as the congressional
GOP floundered without a speaker-apparent. Some of the same
arch-conservatives who cheered Boehner's resignation began to float Gowdy's name for majority leader.
The Benghazi chairman, via a spokesperson, shot down speculation that
he was seeking a leadership position and vowed to remain focused on his
probe into the 2012 terror attacks.
There were other disturbances in the Benghazi force as well. A former
Republican staffer for the select committee, Air Force reserve Major
Bradley Podliska, accused the panel earlier this month of carrying out a "partisan investigation" into Clinton.
Podliska also claimed that he was fired in part for resisting pressure
from his superiors to target the former secretary of state after the
reports about her use of a private email server emerged.
Gowdy dismissed the allegations he said came from an ex-staffer he never even met. He later described Podliska as a disgruntled ex-employee in the interview with Politico. But a third suggestion that the panel "was designed" to go after Clinton, this time from Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY), finally prompted Gowdy to go nuclear.
“I have told Republican colleagues and friends ‘shut up talking about
things that you don’t know anything about,'” the chairman said Sunday
on CBS' Face The Nation. “Unless you’re on the committee, you have no
idea what we have done, why we have done it and what new facts we have
found.”
It's possible that Gowdy's struggle to keep House GOPers on the same
page about the Benghazi panel in terms of messaging could be a symptom
of the chamber's leadership vacuum. But the chairman's own recent, unforced errors can't be attributed to the leadership chaos in the Republican caucus.
Gowdy appeared to accidentally release the name of a CIA source
after falsely accusing Clinton of mishandling classified information by
forwarding an email containing the source's name to an aide. The
chairman released the full text of the email Sunday leaving the source's
name unredacted in the subject line, despite writing to the panel's
ranking Democrat that "we remain concerned with the naming of sources
and methods and will continue to protect that information." The State
Department later copped to failing to redact the name for privacy—not
sensitivity—reasons before releasing the email to the Benghazi
panel.stronger kicker.
The chairman on Friday also returned donations
indirectly linked to a political action committee that aired a nasty,
anti-Hillary Clinton ad related to the Benghazi attacks after an inquiry
from The Washington Post.
Republicans remained largely silent this week even as Democrats
dragged Gowdy's name through the mud. In a Monday appearance on MSNBC,
select committee member Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) accused the chairman
of trying to "smear" Clinton by suggesting she was personally
responsible for security failures at the Benghazi compound. Rep. Elijah
Cummings (D-MD), the ranking Democrat on the panel, responded to the
report about Gowdy's refunded donations with a statement that said the
chairman's ties to the Stop Hillary PAC treasurer "directly contradict
the promise we made to the families of the four brave Americans.”
Gowdy enjoyed widespread support
when Boehner appointed him as chairman of the select committee. But it
appears that the Benghazi committee has become so radioactive and the
search for a new speaker so wearying that Gowdy's fellow Republicans
won't stick their necks out for him when he needs their backing the
most.
Saturday, October 31, 2015
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
BUSTED AGAIN: Here are 6 ‘presidential’ quotes Rand Paul totally made up
RAW STORY
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) may be lashing out at his critics, but he continues to display a penchant for falsely attributing statements to former US presidents.
As the Washington Post reported, Paul described Buzzfeed reporter Andrew Kaczynski as a “partisan hack” after Kaczynski and colleague Megan Apper debunked several statements used in Paul’s latest book.
“The only criticisms have come from some guy who’s a partisan. We discount partisans,” Paul told the Post. “However, there’s a ridiculous cottage industry out there of people who think they’re smarter than everyone else, and because certain quotes are disputed — well, yeah! If you want to say something’s not a Thomas Jefferson quote, you can get a whole book on whether it’s a quote or not.”
What the Tea Party senator cannot dispute, however, is that he has a history of making mistaken historical references. Here are some examples:
Paul attributed this statement, among many others, to Thomas Jefferson — the (mistaken) source for many statements in the senator’s first two books. In this case, he was using Jefferson’s alleged words to defend the Second Amendment.
However, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation stated that that phrase never showed up in any of Jefferson’s writings. Worse yet for Paul, the foundation debunked the remark in 2009, two years before he used it in his first book.
The senator’s frustration toward Kaczynski (and Apper, though she was not named) surfaced after the pair published an open letter quickly shooting down Paul’s reference to a “National Prayer for Peace” allegedly stated by Jefferson, as cited in Paul’s new book, Our Presidents & Their Prayers: Proclamation of Faith by America’s Leaders.
The prayer itself exists, and states in part:
“It is in fact from the 1928 United States Book of Common Prayer,” the group explained. “Explanations of the 1928 revision of the Book of Common Prayer make no mention of an earlier source for the prayer, which is identified simply as ‘For Our Country.'”
Paul used this remark — also allegedly by Jefferson — as a way to explain his opposition to the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. But here, again, the foundation proves Paul wrong:
As a possible change of pace, Paul attributed this statement to Abraham Lincoln in the new book. When asked to comment on the veracity of the statement, Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer told Buzzfeed, “Oh, not this again” and advised the senator to look for another prayer from the 16th president.
“Lincoln never uttered anything like this,” Holzer said. “It’s totally apocryphal. ‘Do unto others’ was more in Lincoln’s line. Not this.”
Paul uses this quote and attributes it to George Washington to begin a chapter in the new book. But scholars who studied the first president have noted on multiple occasion that the statement was first used in an 1891 book, The Daily Sacrifice, commonly regarded as a forged “prayer book.”
“There is no evidence that Washington had a prayer book, or that he penned this one — the handwriting in the original is clearly not his,” said Edward G. Lengel, director of the Papers of George Washington project at the University of Virginia.
Paul attributed this remark to fourth President James Madison in his e-book Government Bullies. But there does not appear to be any actual evidence Madison actually wrote it. According to the Federalist Papers, what Madison actually wrote was, “Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged against provisions against danger, real or pretended from abroad.”
While Paul has taken the brunt of the criticism from Buzzfeed, he might take some solace in knowing that, as MSNBC reported, he is not alone in this kind of historical mishap.
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) may be lashing out at his critics, but he continues to display a penchant for falsely attributing statements to former US presidents.
As the Washington Post reported, Paul described Buzzfeed reporter Andrew Kaczynski as a “partisan hack” after Kaczynski and colleague Megan Apper debunked several statements used in Paul’s latest book.
“The only criticisms have come from some guy who’s a partisan. We discount partisans,” Paul told the Post. “However, there’s a ridiculous cottage industry out there of people who think they’re smarter than everyone else, and because certain quotes are disputed — well, yeah! If you want to say something’s not a Thomas Jefferson quote, you can get a whole book on whether it’s a quote or not.”
What the Tea Party senator cannot dispute, however, is that he has a history of making mistaken historical references. Here are some examples:
1. “The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.”
Paul attributed this statement, among many others, to Thomas Jefferson — the (mistaken) source for many statements in the senator’s first two books. In this case, he was using Jefferson’s alleged words to defend the Second Amendment.
However, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation stated that that phrase never showed up in any of Jefferson’s writings. Worse yet for Paul, the foundation debunked the remark in 2009, two years before he used it in his first book.
2. Jefferson’s “National Prayer for Peace”
The senator’s frustration toward Kaczynski (and Apper, though she was not named) surfaced after the pair published an open letter quickly shooting down Paul’s reference to a “National Prayer for Peace” allegedly stated by Jefferson, as cited in Paul’s new book, Our Presidents & Their Prayers: Proclamation of Faith by America’s Leaders.
The prayer itself exists, and states in part:
Save us from violence, discord, and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitude brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues.But Apper and Kaczynski note that a simple web search shows a link to the foundation stating outright that Jefferson neither wrote nor delivered the prayer.
Endow with Thy spirit of wisdom those to whom in Thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to Thy law, we may show forth Thy praise among the nations of the earth.
“It is in fact from the 1928 United States Book of Common Prayer,” the group explained. “Explanations of the 1928 revision of the Book of Common Prayer make no mention of an earlier source for the prayer, which is identified simply as ‘For Our Country.'”
3. “Government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.”
Paul used this remark — also allegedly by Jefferson — as a way to explain his opposition to the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. But here, again, the foundation proves Paul wrong:
Neither this quotation nor any of its variant forms has been found in the writings of Thomas Jefferson. Its first known appearance in print was in 1953, although it is most likely older. It appeared frequently in newspapers in the 1950s (usually unattributed), and was even used in political cartoons. It was copyrighted in 1957 by the General Features Corporation, as part of a syndicated newspaper feature called “Today’s Chuckle.” It later became a popular saying among Republican politicians.
4. “I know there is a God, and that He hates the injustice of slavery. I see the storm coming, and I know that His hand is in it. If He has a place and a work for me, and I think He has, I believe I am ready. I am nothing, but truth is everything. I know I am right, because I know that liberty is right, for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God.”
As a possible change of pace, Paul attributed this statement to Abraham Lincoln in the new book. When asked to comment on the veracity of the statement, Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer told Buzzfeed, “Oh, not this again” and advised the senator to look for another prayer from the 16th president.
“Lincoln never uttered anything like this,” Holzer said. “It’s totally apocryphal. ‘Do unto others’ was more in Lincoln’s line. Not this.”
5. “Let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy Son, Jesus Christ.”
Paul uses this quote and attributes it to George Washington to begin a chapter in the new book. But scholars who studied the first president have noted on multiple occasion that the statement was first used in an 1891 book, The Daily Sacrifice, commonly regarded as a forged “prayer book.”
“There is no evidence that Washington had a prayer book, or that he penned this one — the handwriting in the original is clearly not his,” said Edward G. Lengel, director of the Papers of George Washington project at the University of Virginia.
6. “If tyranny and oppression come to this land it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.”
Paul attributed this remark to fourth President James Madison in his e-book Government Bullies. But there does not appear to be any actual evidence Madison actually wrote it. According to the Federalist Papers, what Madison actually wrote was, “Perhaps it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged against provisions against danger, real or pretended from abroad.”
While Paul has taken the brunt of the criticism from Buzzfeed, he might take some solace in knowing that, as MSNBC reported, he is not alone in this kind of historical mishap.
Friday, October 23, 2015
Sex With Robots Conference Cancelled Over Fear People Would Have Sex With Robots
BBC
The annual event, which was supposed to go ahead on 16 November, was called "ridiculous" by police chief Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.
There was "nothing scientific about having sex with machines," he said.
An apology has since been posted on the event organiser's website, loveandsexwithrobots.org.
It said the cancellation was because of "circumstances beyond our control
"The conference will definitely not be held anywhere in Malaysia.
"We deeply apologise to any person or any authority which has felt offence in any way," a statement said.
The annual event, which was supposed to go ahead on 16 November, was called "ridiculous" by police chief Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar.
There was "nothing scientific about having sex with machines," he said.
An apology has since been posted on the event organiser's website, loveandsexwithrobots.org.
It said the cancellation was because of "circumstances beyond our control
"The conference will definitely not be held anywhere in Malaysia.
"We deeply apologise to any person or any authority which has felt offence in any way," a statement said.
Thursday, October 22, 2015
San Diego company slaps ‘Pharma Bro’ down by offering same cancer drug for $1 a pill
RAW STORY
A San Diego-based company announced on Thursday that it would compete with Martin Shkreli’s Turing Pharmaceuticals by offering the same drug used to help AIDS and cancer patients for $1 a pill, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Imprimis Pharmaceuticals, a compounding-drug firm, said it would begin selling its own version of the generic drug pyrimethamine, which Turing was marketing under the name Daraprim. Shkreli was roundly criticized last month after his company raised the price for the drug from $13.50 a pill to $750 a pill after acquiring the patent.
The version Imprimis will be selling includes pyrimethamine and another generic drug, leucovorin, which is typically used to help cancer patients going through chemotherapy. The two drugs are the active ingredients in Daraprim.
Mark Baum, Imprimis’ CEO, said his company plans to offer similar compounded drugs soon.
“We are looking at all of these cases where the sole-source generic companies are jacking the price way up,” he told the Associated Press. “There’ll be many more of these.”
According to Baum, his company’s mix of the two drugs has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. However, both the ingredients themselves and the company’s compounding work have been approved. The drug can only be sold after being prescribed by a doctor to a specific individual. The company is selling a bottle of 100 pills for $99 through its website.
A San Diego-based company announced on Thursday that it would compete with Martin Shkreli’s Turing Pharmaceuticals by offering the same drug used to help AIDS and cancer patients for $1 a pill, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
Imprimis Pharmaceuticals, a compounding-drug firm, said it would begin selling its own version of the generic drug pyrimethamine, which Turing was marketing under the name Daraprim. Shkreli was roundly criticized last month after his company raised the price for the drug from $13.50 a pill to $750 a pill after acquiring the patent.
The version Imprimis will be selling includes pyrimethamine and another generic drug, leucovorin, which is typically used to help cancer patients going through chemotherapy. The two drugs are the active ingredients in Daraprim.
Mark Baum, Imprimis’ CEO, said his company plans to offer similar compounded drugs soon.
“We are looking at all of these cases where the sole-source generic companies are jacking the price way up,” he told the Associated Press. “There’ll be many more of these.”
According to Baum, his company’s mix of the two drugs has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. However, both the ingredients themselves and the company’s compounding work have been approved. The drug can only be sold after being prescribed by a doctor to a specific individual. The company is selling a bottle of 100 pills for $99 through its website.
Rob Zombie-House of a 1000 Corpses Song
Lyrics-
Intro, No,Noo,Police have identified four
victims and plan on more
than just,Earlier reports of canibalism,
the house was a sence of golish,
had sex with some of his
victmis before he killed them...
- Following by music-
Yeah, She had a corpse under her bed,
She had her fun but now he is dead,
Her mama said come feed desire,
Her brother said hey throw him on the fire,
Yeah, This is the house come on in,
this is the house built on sin,
this is the house nobody lives,
this is the house get what you give,
yeah yeah.
Music
I cut the flesh and make you bleed,
fresh skin is what I need,
I let it dry out in the wood,
all your crying did no good,
Yeah, This is the house come on in,
this is the house built on sin,
this is the house nobody lives,
this is the house get what you give,
yeah yeah.
music and middle intro No,No-hahahaha-No,no-hahaha,
noo,no-
Now your lying on the floor,
yeah, you can't take anymore,
the devils laughing in your face,
give me another taste,
Yeah, This is the house come on in,
this is the house built on sin,
this is the house nobody lives,
this is the house get what you give,
yeah yeah.
intro ending.
Jethro Tull - My God (1971 album Aqualung)
Lyrics:
People, what have you done?
Locked him in his golden cage, golden cage
Made him bend to your religion
Him resurrected from the grave, from the grave
He is the God of nothing
If that's all that you can see
You are the God of everything
He's inside you and me
So lean upon him gently
And don't call on him to save you
From your social graces
And the sins you used to waive, you used to waive
From the bloody church of England
In chains of history
Requests your earthly presence
At the vicarage for tea
And the graven image you know who
With his plastic crucifix, he's got him fixed
Confuses me as to who and where and why?
As to how he gets his kicks, he gets his kicks
Confessing to the endless sin
The endless whining sounds
You'll be praying till next Thursday
To all the gods that you can count
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
These Florida Tea Partiers plan to set up a secret vigilante court to arrest — and possibly execute — Obama
RAW STORY
A Florida county is considering changes to its charter review board after two elected members have focused on punishing political enemies through extralegal tactics instead of government business.
The Sarasota County charter review board typically proposes minor changes to the county charter when they meet three times a year, but critics say two of its members — Pat Wayman and Steven R. Fields — have been using their positions to usurp authority from other elected officials, reported the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
The pair have voted to establish a “people’s common law grand jury,” which sovereign citizens and other anti-government extremists have proposed to investigate and prosecute government officials for treason — which, as they frequently point out, carries a potential death penalty.
“Take a look at the French Revolution and what took place there,” said Mike Bolam, who has attended charter review board meetings to support the common law grand juries.
The board voted 4-4 in May to study a proposal by Rodger Dowdell, a Tea Party activist who denies being a sovereign citizen but, nonetheless, spouts sovereign citizen rhetoric.
“Grand jury powers come from God,” Dowdell said, advocating a return to the post-Revolution legal system where there were no police departments and judges rode horseback to hear cases brought by groups of 25 citizens.
Most importantly, he told the Herald-Tribune, those rulings would be kept out of reach of presidential and even U.S. Supreme Court authority.
“A people’s common law grand jury can, without any probable cause, go into any nook or cranny of government — local, state or federal — research anything that’s going on and root out corruption,” Dowdell said. “We want to government to recognize the contract we call the constitution, and start obeying the law. It’s very simple.”
His proposal failed due to the tie vote.
Tea Party activists have been trying to set up common law grand juries, which don’t actually carry any legal authority, for years in hopes of convicting — and hanging — President Barack Obama for treason.
Dowdell, state coordinator of the right-wing National Liberty Alliance, claims a common law grand jury was already operating in Manatee County, Florida, but he offered no proof.
“I can’t talk about it,” he said. “Everything is secret. In order to keep innocents who may be investigated from being damaged, whatever a grand jury does is secret.”
Wayman, the charter board member, posted a petition Oct. 12 on her Facebook page calling for Obama’s arrest on murder and treason charges, and she has also posted videos questioning whether mass shootings were staged in Sandy Hook and Oregon.
She also promotes the pro-gun extremist III Percent group and warns against a United Nations takeover of the United States through its non-binding Agenda 21 agreement.
Fields, the other charter board member, expresses conservative political views that are a bit more mainstream — with posts expressing his love for guns, law enforcement, the military, Glenn Beck, Andrew Breitbart and Ronald Reagan — but he also voted for Dowdell’s measure.
“If someone brings an idea that we can do, that’s something we should take a look at,” Fields said. “I’ve seen the federal government grabbing more rights away from people. They bribe states into federal control. The Charter Review Board should not be acting like the County Commission and protecting the status quo. And I don’t think (the people’s common law grand jury) has anything to do with sovereign citizens.”
The other members of the board are also unaware of the links between common law grand juries and the sovereign citizen movement — which federal authorities consider a domestic terrorist threat.
“That’s the antithesis of what I’m all about,” said Donna Barcomb, the Republican chairwoman of the charter review board, told the Herald-Tribune. “I don’t think board knew anything about that concept. It was a group of individuals who presented a concept to the board. That’s what the Charter Review Board does — not leaning one way or another. Frequently, the board will look at something and determine if it’s appropriate or in the best interests of the county. For the most part, and I include myself in this, we’re completely ignorant about the concepts.”
She said the charter board could recommend a ballot initiative that would put Sarasota County in line with all other Florida counties, which appoint charter board members instead of electing them.
However, just about 200 miles north, sovereign citizens are threatening to arrest or physically harm elected officials in Dixie County, Florida — where a Tea Party activist was arrested after trying to turn a legitimate jury into a common law grand jury.
“I’m getting harassing emails and threatening faxes saying they’re going to arrest me,” said Dana Johnson, the clerk of courts, told the Herald-Tribune. “This one says they want info on bonds and oaths. There are further demands. I’m concerned about my safety. The local sheriff has alerted (the Florida Department of Law Enforcement) and the FBI. Anytime they come up on our public agenda we have security with us at all times.”
Terry Trussell, who helped organize the failed Operation American Spring rally to drive Obama from office, has been charged with 14 counts of impersonating court officials.
“Once Trussell got selected to serve on a legitimate grand jury, it became the perfect storm,” Johnson said. “From that point, he’s taken it on his own authority to create a sovereign citizen board of common law grand jurors. I am constantly scared.”
The Dixie County sheriff, who said he’s known Trussell all his life and is acquainted with Dowdell, said the anti-government activists had asked him to help with their indictments.
“I said any order has to be signed by a judge — whether it’s a warrant or whatever — it’s got to be a legal court document,” said Sheriff Dewey Hatcher. “They ‘indicted’ everyone from the governor and (Attorney General) Pam Bondi on down to the president of our school board, and they said the school board attorney should be fired.”
The sheriff said he has not arrested anyone in connection with those indictments.
A Florida county is considering changes to its charter review board after two elected members have focused on punishing political enemies through extralegal tactics instead of government business.
The Sarasota County charter review board typically proposes minor changes to the county charter when they meet three times a year, but critics say two of its members — Pat Wayman and Steven R. Fields — have been using their positions to usurp authority from other elected officials, reported the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
The pair have voted to establish a “people’s common law grand jury,” which sovereign citizens and other anti-government extremists have proposed to investigate and prosecute government officials for treason — which, as they frequently point out, carries a potential death penalty.
“Take a look at the French Revolution and what took place there,” said Mike Bolam, who has attended charter review board meetings to support the common law grand juries.
The board voted 4-4 in May to study a proposal by Rodger Dowdell, a Tea Party activist who denies being a sovereign citizen but, nonetheless, spouts sovereign citizen rhetoric.
“Grand jury powers come from God,” Dowdell said, advocating a return to the post-Revolution legal system where there were no police departments and judges rode horseback to hear cases brought by groups of 25 citizens.
Most importantly, he told the Herald-Tribune, those rulings would be kept out of reach of presidential and even U.S. Supreme Court authority.
“A people’s common law grand jury can, without any probable cause, go into any nook or cranny of government — local, state or federal — research anything that’s going on and root out corruption,” Dowdell said. “We want to government to recognize the contract we call the constitution, and start obeying the law. It’s very simple.”
His proposal failed due to the tie vote.
Tea Party activists have been trying to set up common law grand juries, which don’t actually carry any legal authority, for years in hopes of convicting — and hanging — President Barack Obama for treason.
Dowdell, state coordinator of the right-wing National Liberty Alliance, claims a common law grand jury was already operating in Manatee County, Florida, but he offered no proof.
“I can’t talk about it,” he said. “Everything is secret. In order to keep innocents who may be investigated from being damaged, whatever a grand jury does is secret.”
Wayman, the charter board member, posted a petition Oct. 12 on her Facebook page calling for Obama’s arrest on murder and treason charges, and she has also posted videos questioning whether mass shootings were staged in Sandy Hook and Oregon.
She also promotes the pro-gun extremist III Percent group and warns against a United Nations takeover of the United States through its non-binding Agenda 21 agreement.
Fields, the other charter board member, expresses conservative political views that are a bit more mainstream — with posts expressing his love for guns, law enforcement, the military, Glenn Beck, Andrew Breitbart and Ronald Reagan — but he also voted for Dowdell’s measure.
“If someone brings an idea that we can do, that’s something we should take a look at,” Fields said. “I’ve seen the federal government grabbing more rights away from people. They bribe states into federal control. The Charter Review Board should not be acting like the County Commission and protecting the status quo. And I don’t think (the people’s common law grand jury) has anything to do with sovereign citizens.”
The other members of the board are also unaware of the links between common law grand juries and the sovereign citizen movement — which federal authorities consider a domestic terrorist threat.
“That’s the antithesis of what I’m all about,” said Donna Barcomb, the Republican chairwoman of the charter review board, told the Herald-Tribune. “I don’t think board knew anything about that concept. It was a group of individuals who presented a concept to the board. That’s what the Charter Review Board does — not leaning one way or another. Frequently, the board will look at something and determine if it’s appropriate or in the best interests of the county. For the most part, and I include myself in this, we’re completely ignorant about the concepts.”
She said the charter board could recommend a ballot initiative that would put Sarasota County in line with all other Florida counties, which appoint charter board members instead of electing them.
However, just about 200 miles north, sovereign citizens are threatening to arrest or physically harm elected officials in Dixie County, Florida — where a Tea Party activist was arrested after trying to turn a legitimate jury into a common law grand jury.
“I’m getting harassing emails and threatening faxes saying they’re going to arrest me,” said Dana Johnson, the clerk of courts, told the Herald-Tribune. “This one says they want info on bonds and oaths. There are further demands. I’m concerned about my safety. The local sheriff has alerted (the Florida Department of Law Enforcement) and the FBI. Anytime they come up on our public agenda we have security with us at all times.”
Terry Trussell, who helped organize the failed Operation American Spring rally to drive Obama from office, has been charged with 14 counts of impersonating court officials.
“Once Trussell got selected to serve on a legitimate grand jury, it became the perfect storm,” Johnson said. “From that point, he’s taken it on his own authority to create a sovereign citizen board of common law grand jurors. I am constantly scared.”
The Dixie County sheriff, who said he’s known Trussell all his life and is acquainted with Dowdell, said the anti-government activists had asked him to help with their indictments.
“I said any order has to be signed by a judge — whether it’s a warrant or whatever — it’s got to be a legal court document,” said Sheriff Dewey Hatcher. “They ‘indicted’ everyone from the governor and (Attorney General) Pam Bondi on down to the president of our school board, and they said the school board attorney should be fired.”
The sheriff said he has not arrested anyone in connection with those indictments.
Netanyahu under fire for Palestinian grand mufti Hitler claim
Peter Beaumont in JerusalemWednesday 21 October 2015 04.20 EDT
The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu,
has attracted a storm of criticism for an incendiary speech in which he
accused the second world war Palestinian grand mufti of Jerusalem of
“inspiring the Holocaust”.
The comments – made by Netanyahu in a speech to the World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem in the context of the current violence between Israelis and Palestinians – were condemned as incorrect by historians and by Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog for trivialising the Holocaust.
On the Palestinian side senior official Saeb Erekat described the remarks as absolving Hitler.
In his speech Netanyahu purported to describe a meeting between Haj Amin al-Husseini and Hitler in November 1941.
“Hitler didn’t want to exterminate the Jews at the time, he wanted to expel the Jews. And Haj Amin al-Husseini went to Hitler and said: ‘If you expel them, they’ll all come here [to Palestine].’” According to Netanyahu, Hitler then asked: “What should I do with them?” and the mufti replied: “Burn them.”
Among those questioning Netanyahu’s interpretation of history was Prof Dan Michman, head of the Institute of Holocaust research at Bar-Ilan University and head of the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem. He said while Hitler did indeed meet the mufti this only happened after the Final Solution began.
Yad Vashem’s chief historian, Prof Dina Porat, said Netanyahu’s claims were incorrect telling the Israeli news website Ynet: “You cannot say that it was the mufti who gave Hitler the idea to kill or burn Jews. It’s not true. Their meeting occurred after a series of events that point to this.”
Netanyahu made the claim – which he made before in 2012 – to illustrate what he said was the Palestinian history of using holy sites in Jerusalem as pretexts for committing acts of violence against Jews.
However, almost as soon as the transcript was released by his office, he was accused on social media and then by a raft of Israeli political figures of factual errors in his assertions.
The claim that Husseini – who met and supported Hitler – was the one to initiate the idea of the extermination of Europe’s Jews has been suggested byhistorians at the fringes of Holocaust research but was rejected by most historians.
Netanyahu’s incendiary comments come amid a rising death toll and accusations of incitement on both sides with Israelis pointing to comments made by Palestinian officials and inflammatory material on social media, while Palestinians have equally accused Netanyahu’s government of fanning the flames and pointing to anti-Palestinian material also on social media.
Over the past month, 10 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks, most of them stabbings. In that time, 46 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, including 25 identified by Israel as attackers, and the rest in clashes with Israeli troops. An Eritrean migrant died after being shot by a security guard and beaten by a mob that mistakenly believed he was a Palestinian assailant during a deadly Arab attack at a bus station.
“This is a dangerous historical distortion and I demand Netanyahu correct it immediately as it minimises the Holocaust, Nazism and … Hitler’s part in our people’s terrible disaster,” Herzog wrote on his Facebook page.
Herzog added that Netanyahu’s statement played into the hands of Holocaust deniers.
“A historian’s son must be accurate about history,” Herzog wrote. “Netanyahu has forgotten that he’s not only the prime minister of Israel but the prime minister of the Jewish people’s government. The grand mufti, added Herzog, “gave the order to kill my grandfather, Rabbi Herzog, and actively supported Hitler”.
Herzog’s fellow Zionist Union MP Itzik Shmuli called on Netanyahu to apologise to Holocaust victims.
“This is a great shame, a prime minister of the Jewish state at the service of Holocaust-deniers – this is a first,” he said. “This isn’t the first time Netanyahu distorts historical facts, but a lie of this magnitude is the first.”
Denouncing Netanyahu’s comments Erekat – the chief Palestinian peace negotiator also weighed into the row. “It is a sad day in history when the leader of the Israeli government hates his neighbour so much so that he is willing to absolve the most notorious war criminal in history, Adolf Hitler, of the murder of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust.”
Seeking to defend Netanyahu, defence minister Moshe Ya’alon told Army Radio that the idea for the Final Solution was Hitler’s, and that the mufti had joined him – accusing the Palestinian Authority of employing “incitement” that was “the legacy of the Nazis”.
“I don’t know what exactly the prime minister said. History is actually very, very clear,” said Ya’alon. “Hitler initiated it, Hajj Amin al-Husseini joined him, and unfortunately the jihadist movements promote antisemitism to this day, including incitement in the Palestinian Authority that is based on the legacy of the Nazis.”
Netanyahu’s comments follow remarks made by energy minister Yuval Steinitz in a recent conference in Washington, who accused the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, of “Nazi-like incitement”.
Steinitz – one of Netanyahu’s most loyal allies who often echoes the Israeli prime minister’s positions – accused Abbas of being “the number one inciter in the world against Israel and the Jewish people” and compared his attacks against the Jewish State to Nazi propaganda.
The comments – made by Netanyahu in a speech to the World Zionist Congress in Jerusalem in the context of the current violence between Israelis and Palestinians – were condemned as incorrect by historians and by Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog for trivialising the Holocaust.
On the Palestinian side senior official Saeb Erekat described the remarks as absolving Hitler.
In his speech Netanyahu purported to describe a meeting between Haj Amin al-Husseini and Hitler in November 1941.
“Hitler didn’t want to exterminate the Jews at the time, he wanted to expel the Jews. And Haj Amin al-Husseini went to Hitler and said: ‘If you expel them, they’ll all come here [to Palestine].’” According to Netanyahu, Hitler then asked: “What should I do with them?” and the mufti replied: “Burn them.”
Among those questioning Netanyahu’s interpretation of history was Prof Dan Michman, head of the Institute of Holocaust research at Bar-Ilan University and head of the International Institute for Holocaust Research at Yad Vashem. He said while Hitler did indeed meet the mufti this only happened after the Final Solution began.
Yad Vashem’s chief historian, Prof Dina Porat, said Netanyahu’s claims were incorrect telling the Israeli news website Ynet: “You cannot say that it was the mufti who gave Hitler the idea to kill or burn Jews. It’s not true. Their meeting occurred after a series of events that point to this.”
Netanyahu made the claim – which he made before in 2012 – to illustrate what he said was the Palestinian history of using holy sites in Jerusalem as pretexts for committing acts of violence against Jews.
However, almost as soon as the transcript was released by his office, he was accused on social media and then by a raft of Israeli political figures of factual errors in his assertions.
The claim that Husseini – who met and supported Hitler – was the one to initiate the idea of the extermination of Europe’s Jews has been suggested byhistorians at the fringes of Holocaust research but was rejected by most historians.
Netanyahu’s incendiary comments come amid a rising death toll and accusations of incitement on both sides with Israelis pointing to comments made by Palestinian officials and inflammatory material on social media, while Palestinians have equally accused Netanyahu’s government of fanning the flames and pointing to anti-Palestinian material also on social media.
Over the past month, 10 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks, most of them stabbings. In that time, 46 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire, including 25 identified by Israel as attackers, and the rest in clashes with Israeli troops. An Eritrean migrant died after being shot by a security guard and beaten by a mob that mistakenly believed he was a Palestinian assailant during a deadly Arab attack at a bus station.
“This is a dangerous historical distortion and I demand Netanyahu correct it immediately as it minimises the Holocaust, Nazism and … Hitler’s part in our people’s terrible disaster,” Herzog wrote on his Facebook page.
Herzog added that Netanyahu’s statement played into the hands of Holocaust deniers.
“A historian’s son must be accurate about history,” Herzog wrote. “Netanyahu has forgotten that he’s not only the prime minister of Israel but the prime minister of the Jewish people’s government. The grand mufti, added Herzog, “gave the order to kill my grandfather, Rabbi Herzog, and actively supported Hitler”.
Herzog’s fellow Zionist Union MP Itzik Shmuli called on Netanyahu to apologise to Holocaust victims.
“This is a great shame, a prime minister of the Jewish state at the service of Holocaust-deniers – this is a first,” he said. “This isn’t the first time Netanyahu distorts historical facts, but a lie of this magnitude is the first.”
Denouncing Netanyahu’s comments Erekat – the chief Palestinian peace negotiator also weighed into the row. “It is a sad day in history when the leader of the Israeli government hates his neighbour so much so that he is willing to absolve the most notorious war criminal in history, Adolf Hitler, of the murder of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust.”
Seeking to defend Netanyahu, defence minister Moshe Ya’alon told Army Radio that the idea for the Final Solution was Hitler’s, and that the mufti had joined him – accusing the Palestinian Authority of employing “incitement” that was “the legacy of the Nazis”.
“I don’t know what exactly the prime minister said. History is actually very, very clear,” said Ya’alon. “Hitler initiated it, Hajj Amin al-Husseini joined him, and unfortunately the jihadist movements promote antisemitism to this day, including incitement in the Palestinian Authority that is based on the legacy of the Nazis.”
Netanyahu’s comments follow remarks made by energy minister Yuval Steinitz in a recent conference in Washington, who accused the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, of “Nazi-like incitement”.
Steinitz – one of Netanyahu’s most loyal allies who often echoes the Israeli prime minister’s positions – accused Abbas of being “the number one inciter in the world against Israel and the Jewish people” and compared his attacks against the Jewish State to Nazi propaganda.
Netanyahu: Hitler Didn't Want to Exterminate the Jews
Haaretz
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked public uproar when on Wednesday he claimed that the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, was the one who planted the idea of the extermination of European Jewry in Adolf Hitler's mind. The Nazi ruler, Netanyahu said, had no intention of killing the Jews, but only to expel them.
Prime minister tells World Zionist Congress that Hitler only wanted to expel the Jews, but Haj Amin al-Husseini convinced him to exterminate them, a claim that was rejected by most accepted Holocaust scholars.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked public uproar when on Wednesday he claimed that the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, was the one who planted the idea of the extermination of European Jewry in Adolf Hitler's mind. The Nazi ruler, Netanyahu said, had no intention of killing the Jews, but only to expel them.
Monday, October 19, 2015
Benghazi Chair Goofs And Reveals Same CIA Info He Accused Clinton Of Bungling
TPM
Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) appeared to leak the name of a CIA source by
accident while responding to a scathing letter from Rep. Elijah Cummings
(R-MD). Cummings wrote Gowdy early Sunday
demanding that he apologize to Hillary Clinton for falsely claiming she
mishandled classified information by forwarding an email containing the
CIA source's name to an aide. His letter noted the CIA notified the
select committee on Saturday that the email contained no information it
deemed classified.
Yahoo News first noticed that the CIA source's name, Mousa Kousa, appeared in a subject line but was redacted elsewhere in the full text of a March 2011 email between Clinton and her confidante Sidney Blumenthal that the chairman released on Sunday. By Monday morning, the document had been replaced with another in which Kousa's name did not appear at all, according to Politico.
A spokesman for the State Department said Monday in a press briefing that "human error" caused Kousa's name to appear in the first version of the email that the committee released, according to Politico. The spokesman, Mark Toner, said the State Department wanted to protect the source's privacy even though the CIA had no objections to releasing his name.
Ironically, Gowdy responded to Cummings' letter by playing up the gravity of Clinton's having forwarded the email containing the CIA source's name to one of her aides.
"The fact that the CIA says it didn’t do it does not mean the material was not sensitive or classified," Gowdy wrote before his own goof was revealed. "And in fact, additional information remains in the document that ordinarily would be considered highly sensitive. This appears to mean either Mr. Blumenthal conveyed false and unreliable information to Secretary Clinton about Libya and misrepresented it, or the review process is faulty or has been politicized."
Yahoo News first noticed that the CIA source's name, Mousa Kousa, appeared in a subject line but was redacted elsewhere in the full text of a March 2011 email between Clinton and her confidante Sidney Blumenthal that the chairman released on Sunday. By Monday morning, the document had been replaced with another in which Kousa's name did not appear at all, according to Politico.
A spokesman for the State Department said Monday in a press briefing that "human error" caused Kousa's name to appear in the first version of the email that the committee released, according to Politico. The spokesman, Mark Toner, said the State Department wanted to protect the source's privacy even though the CIA had no objections to releasing his name.
Ironically, Gowdy responded to Cummings' letter by playing up the gravity of Clinton's having forwarded the email containing the CIA source's name to one of her aides.
"The fact that the CIA says it didn’t do it does not mean the material was not sensitive or classified," Gowdy wrote before his own goof was revealed. "And in fact, additional information remains in the document that ordinarily would be considered highly sensitive. This appears to mean either Mr. Blumenthal conveyed false and unreliable information to Secretary Clinton about Libya and misrepresented it, or the review process is faulty or has been politicized."
Saturday, October 17, 2015
Former mistress of GOPer David Vitter claims he got her pregnant and asked her to abort
RAW STORY
A sex worker who claims she had a long-standing relationship with married, family values Republican senator and candidate for Louisiana governor David Vitter dropped a bombshell accusation one week before voters go to the polls.
Wendy Ellis claims she had an affair with Vitter, he impregnated her and then asked her to abort the baby. Ellis says she did not, instead putting the child up for legal adoption, according to WDSU.
In a video interview by Jason Berry, who posted it to his American Zombie blog, Ellis said she maintained a relationship with Vitter for three years after meeting him when he was a state representative in the 1990s.
She said the two of them stopped seeing each other when she was six months pregnant, and she knows he was the father because she wasn’t sleeping with anyone else at the time.
“But you can sit there, walk across the grassy knoll holding your wife and your children s’ hand screaming family values,” Ellis said. “But you want me to go abort my baby.”
Ellis told Berry she wants to set the record straight because she has Lupus and is dying.....................
A sex worker who claims she had a long-standing relationship with married, family values Republican senator and candidate for Louisiana governor David Vitter dropped a bombshell accusation one week before voters go to the polls.
Wendy Ellis claims she had an affair with Vitter, he impregnated her and then asked her to abort the baby. Ellis says she did not, instead putting the child up for legal adoption, according to WDSU.
In a video interview by Jason Berry, who posted it to his American Zombie blog, Ellis said she maintained a relationship with Vitter for three years after meeting him when he was a state representative in the 1990s.
She said the two of them stopped seeing each other when she was six months pregnant, and she knows he was the father because she wasn’t sleeping with anyone else at the time.
“But you can sit there, walk across the grassy knoll holding your wife and your children s’ hand screaming family values,” Ellis said. “But you want me to go abort my baby.”
Ellis told Berry she wants to set the record straight because she has Lupus and is dying.....................
Thursday, October 15, 2015
BUSTED: Feds arrest Fox News ‘terrorism expert’ for pretending to be a former CIA agent
RAW STORY
A recurring Fox News guest who claimed to be a long-time CIA agent was indicted and arrested Thursday for not, in fact, being a CIA agent.
Wayne Simmons claimed to have 23 years experience with the secretive federal agency as an “outside paramilitary special operations officer,” CNN reports. He was indicted for using that claim to gain security clearances and a post as a defense contractor advising military personnel overseas.
On his website, Simmons claims he joined the U.S. Navy in 1973, where he was recruited by the CIA,” and “spearheaded Deep Cover Intel Ops against some of the world’s most dangerous Drug Cartels and arms smugglers from Central and South America and the Middle East.”
Simmons also claims he has been a “terrorism analyst” for Fox News since 2002. In 2004, he claims former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld recruited him to join the Pentagon Outreach Program for Military and Intelligence Analysts.
A Fox News spokeswoman told CNN that Simmons was an unpaid guest and never a host for the station, and declined further comment.
CNN pointed out that Simmons had a pattern of making “extreme and factually dubious” claims about terrorism, including a claim in January that there were “at least 19 paramilitary Muslim training facilities in the United States.”
He also denied waterboarding was torture and said that President Obama was a “novice who lacked a spine,” according to CNN.
Officials told the station that there had been suspicions about Simmons’ resume which were stirred when questions were raised with various government agencies about his statements.
As part of the indictment, Simmons is also accused of defrauding a victim out of $125,000 in a real estate-related scam.
If convicted, Simmons could face decades in prison for all counts, including 20 years for wire fraud, 10 years for major fraud against the U.S, and 5 years for false statements.
A recurring Fox News guest who claimed to be a long-time CIA agent was indicted and arrested Thursday for not, in fact, being a CIA agent.
Wayne Simmons claimed to have 23 years experience with the secretive federal agency as an “outside paramilitary special operations officer,” CNN reports. He was indicted for using that claim to gain security clearances and a post as a defense contractor advising military personnel overseas.
On his website, Simmons claims he joined the U.S. Navy in 1973, where he was recruited by the CIA,” and “spearheaded Deep Cover Intel Ops against some of the world’s most dangerous Drug Cartels and arms smugglers from Central and South America and the Middle East.”
Simmons also claims he has been a “terrorism analyst” for Fox News since 2002. In 2004, he claims former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld recruited him to join the Pentagon Outreach Program for Military and Intelligence Analysts.
A Fox News spokeswoman told CNN that Simmons was an unpaid guest and never a host for the station, and declined further comment.
CNN pointed out that Simmons had a pattern of making “extreme and factually dubious” claims about terrorism, including a claim in January that there were “at least 19 paramilitary Muslim training facilities in the United States.”
He also denied waterboarding was torture and said that President Obama was a “novice who lacked a spine,” according to CNN.
Officials told the station that there had been suspicions about Simmons’ resume which were stirred when questions were raised with various government agencies about his statements.
As part of the indictment, Simmons is also accused of defrauding a victim out of $125,000 in a real estate-related scam.
If convicted, Simmons could face decades in prison for all counts, including 20 years for wire fraud, 10 years for major fraud against the U.S, and 5 years for false statements.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Donald Trump says Russia isn't to blame for MH17, despite evidence
Washington (CNN) Donald
Trump doesn't believe there is enough evidence to blame pro-Russian
separatists for last year's downing of a commercial airliner over
Ukraine -- despite the fact that the U.S. intelligence community
believes "with confidence" that pro-Russian separatists shot it down.
Trump was asked on MSNBC Wednesday about a new report
from Dutch investigators that Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down
by a Russian-made rocket and warhead -- and asked what he would do as
president to hold Russia accountable.
"They
say it wasn't them," he replied. "It may have been their weapon, but
they didn't use it, they didn't fire it, they even said the other side
fired it to blame them. I mean to be honest with you, you'll probably
never know for sure."
Trump
later said the culprit was "probably" Russia and pro-Russian fighters,
but he said the U.S. needs to focus on its own problems right now and
not "get involved" in overseas conflicts, even one as "horrible" as
this.
"I think it is horrible," Trump said of
the incident. "But they're saying it wasn't them. The other side says it
is them. And we're going to go through that arguing for probably for 50
years and nobody is ever going to know. Probably was Russia."
Trump said regardless, it's time to turn the page.
"It's
a long ways away. We have to get back to making America great again,"
he said. "It's terrible, but we really probably won't know for sure. And
you'll probably never find out. There are only a few people that know.
And you know one of them could be (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,
frankly, and we know one thing: He's not going to be talking about it."
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The
Republican presidential front-runner's remarks seem to bolster the
Russian line of response to the report, which was released on Tuesday,
and previous accusations that the government could have been involved in
the missile launch.
Early in the investigation, a senior defense official told CNN
that the U.S. intelligence community believed pro-Russian separatists
were behind the explosion and could not have operated the Russian
missile system without Russian training.
Russian participants in the Dutch investigation have denied there is conclusive evidence about the origin of the missile.
CNN Rips Benghazi Committee Chair Trey Gowdy For Lying About Their Coverage
By: Jason Easley
The first reaction of House Republicans after a GOP whistleblower confirmed that their Benghazi investigation was a sham was to attack the whistleblower and the network that interviewed him. CNN has pushed back and called out Committee Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) for lying.
Gowdy threw a fit after a former investigator, Maj. Bradley Podliska went to the media and exposed the investigation as a plot to bring down Hillary Clinton.
Rep. Gowdy said in a statement, “Had CNN contacted the Committee regarding its interview with this staffer before it rushed to air his sensationalistic and fabulist claims, it could have fully questioned him about his unsubstantiated claims. But that is the difference between journalism as practiced by CNN, and the fact-centric investigation being conducted by this Committee.”
A CNN spokesperson made it clear that Gowdy was not being honest, “We categorically deny Benghazi Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy’s statement about CNN. We reached out to the committee for a response prior to publishing or broadcasting, which the committee provided. That response was included in our reporting. In addition, Chairman Gowdy was invited to discuss this on CNN and declined. Chairman Gowdy is wrong.”
Gowdy is also facing allegations that he broke several federal laws by disclosing confidential information about Maj. Podliska.
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s admission to Sean Hannity about the real purpose of the Benghazi Select Committee was the beginning of the end for House Republicans. McCarthy’s admission was confirmed by a former employee of the committee. Republicans tried to attack the whistleblower and the media, but both are pushing back.
CNN isn’t letting Gowdy bully them away from the real story, which is the corrupt and illegal practices and intentions of the Republican majority on the Select Committee.
It is all coming undone, and Hillary Clinton has an opportunity to put a stake through this great Republican lie when she testifies before the Select Committee on October 22.
The first reaction of House Republicans after a GOP whistleblower confirmed that their Benghazi investigation was a sham was to attack the whistleblower and the network that interviewed him. CNN has pushed back and called out Committee Chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) for lying.
Gowdy threw a fit after a former investigator, Maj. Bradley Podliska went to the media and exposed the investigation as a plot to bring down Hillary Clinton.
Rep. Gowdy said in a statement, “Had CNN contacted the Committee regarding its interview with this staffer before it rushed to air his sensationalistic and fabulist claims, it could have fully questioned him about his unsubstantiated claims. But that is the difference between journalism as practiced by CNN, and the fact-centric investigation being conducted by this Committee.”
A CNN spokesperson made it clear that Gowdy was not being honest, “We categorically deny Benghazi Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy’s statement about CNN. We reached out to the committee for a response prior to publishing or broadcasting, which the committee provided. That response was included in our reporting. In addition, Chairman Gowdy was invited to discuss this on CNN and declined. Chairman Gowdy is wrong.”
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s admission to Sean Hannity about the real purpose of the Benghazi Select Committee was the beginning of the end for House Republicans. McCarthy’s admission was confirmed by a former employee of the committee. Republicans tried to attack the whistleblower and the media, but both are pushing back.
CNN isn’t letting Gowdy bully them away from the real story, which is the corrupt and illegal practices and intentions of the Republican majority on the Select Committee.
It is all coming undone, and Hillary Clinton has an opportunity to put a stake through this great Republican lie when she testifies before the Select Committee on October 22.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Monday, October 12, 2015
Benghazi Committee Whistleblower Accuses Gowdy Of Violating Federal Law
TPM
Romer-Friedman also told MSNBC he was sending a cease-and-desist
letter to Gowdy to demand the House Benghazi Committee Chairman "stop
making statements or releasing information that may violate the
confidentiality rules for disputes with former congressional staff."
Per MSNBC:
The latest shot in the legal battle between Podliska — who says he will file a federal lawsuit for wrongful termination — and the Republicans on the committee came after Gowdy publicly rebuked Podliska's allegations that the committee had put targeting Clinton ahead of a more comprehensive review of the Benghazi attacks.
“Because I do not know him, and cannot recall ever speaking to him, I can say for certain he was never instructed by me to focus on Clinton, nor would he be a credible person to speak on my behalf,” Gowdy told Fox News.
Read the full letter here.
Per MSNBC:
The letter, first obtained by MSNBC, charges that Gowdy has been “describing private settlement discussions between the parties that must be treated as confidential under the Congressional Accountability Act, and surely Chairman Gowdy, as a lawyer, knows that he is not permitted to publicly disclose private settlement discussions.” “Aside from the deliberate falsity of those characterizations,” the letter continues, “both you and your clients know that the public disclosures made by Chairman Gowdy and the Benghazi Committee clearly violate both the Congressional Accountability Act and the Mediation and Confidentiality Agreement that you both signed.” The letter, from Podliska’s three attorneys, is addressed to the House Employment Counsel’s office. A cease-and-desist letter does not bind the recipient in any legal way, but provides a formal attempt to put a party on notice of allegedly improper or illegal acts.“Both Rep. Gowdy and the committee have clearly violated terms of the confidentiality agreement and the Congressional Accountability Act,” Romer-Friedman told MSNBC.
The latest shot in the legal battle between Podliska — who says he will file a federal lawsuit for wrongful termination — and the Republicans on the committee came after Gowdy publicly rebuked Podliska's allegations that the committee had put targeting Clinton ahead of a more comprehensive review of the Benghazi attacks.
“Because I do not know him, and cannot recall ever speaking to him, I can say for certain he was never instructed by me to focus on Clinton, nor would he be a credible person to speak on my behalf,” Gowdy told Fox News.
Read the full letter here.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Meteorologist: Accepting climate change ‘doesn’t make you liberal, it makes you scientifically literate’
RAW STORY
Paul Douglas, a veteran meteorologist with over 3 decades of experience, revealed to the Minneapolis Star Tribune that he never imagined that the planet would be facing a climate catastrophe when he began his a career.
Douglas, who spent 11 years at both KARE and WCCO, told the Tribune’s C.J. that he began to notice in the 1990s that “something had changed.”
“I just started connecting the dots, and that led me to climate change. I didn’t wake up and have an epiphany. It had nothing to do with Al Gore. I was tracking Minnesota’s increasingly bizarre weather when I said, ‘Something’s up,'” he recalled.
But Douglas said that sharing the science on television was not always easy.
“Look, it’s no secret; local television news is a popularity contest,” he explained. “Viewers vote with their remote controls every day, and so if you’re a meteorologist and trying to do the right thing, connect the dots… You know you’re going to piss off 20-30 percent of the audience.”
“Talking about climate change probably was not good for my television career. But I happen to believe that some things are more important than ratings. Life isn’t a popularity contest,” he noted, adding that conservative meteorologists were more likely to be skeptical of climate change.
“Conservatives, because they fear that tackling climate change will automatically lead to bigger government, it’s easier to push back and deny the science,” Douglas admitted. “So yeah, there are meteorologists in this country who are very conservative, who believe there isn’t enough data or the data are inconclusive. I don’t know how much more data you need.”
To help get the word out to conservative audiences, Douglas has partnered with a Republican minister to author a book on why evangelicals should care about climate change.
“As I tell people, acknowledging the science, the data, acknowledging that climate change is real doesn’t make you liberal, it makes you literate,” Douglas pointed out. “It means you’re scientifically literate. You respond to data and facts and not conspiracy theories and fairy tales.”.................................
Paul Douglas, a veteran meteorologist with over 3 decades of experience, revealed to the Minneapolis Star Tribune that he never imagined that the planet would be facing a climate catastrophe when he began his a career.
Douglas, who spent 11 years at both KARE and WCCO, told the Tribune’s C.J. that he began to notice in the 1990s that “something had changed.”
“I just started connecting the dots, and that led me to climate change. I didn’t wake up and have an epiphany. It had nothing to do with Al Gore. I was tracking Minnesota’s increasingly bizarre weather when I said, ‘Something’s up,'” he recalled.
But Douglas said that sharing the science on television was not always easy.
“Look, it’s no secret; local television news is a popularity contest,” he explained. “Viewers vote with their remote controls every day, and so if you’re a meteorologist and trying to do the right thing, connect the dots… You know you’re going to piss off 20-30 percent of the audience.”
“Talking about climate change probably was not good for my television career. But I happen to believe that some things are more important than ratings. Life isn’t a popularity contest,” he noted, adding that conservative meteorologists were more likely to be skeptical of climate change.
“Conservatives, because they fear that tackling climate change will automatically lead to bigger government, it’s easier to push back and deny the science,” Douglas admitted. “So yeah, there are meteorologists in this country who are very conservative, who believe there isn’t enough data or the data are inconclusive. I don’t know how much more data you need.”
To help get the word out to conservative audiences, Douglas has partnered with a Republican minister to author a book on why evangelicals should care about climate change.
“As I tell people, acknowledging the science, the data, acknowledging that climate change is real doesn’t make you liberal, it makes you literate,” Douglas pointed out. “It means you’re scientifically literate. You respond to data and facts and not conspiracy theories and fairy tales.”.................................
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Military investigator for GOP-led Benghazi Committee says he was fired for not concentrating on Hillary
RAW STORY
A former investigator for the House Select Committee on Benghazi and self-described conservative Republican has accused GOP members of the committee of leading an attack on Hillary Clinton, rather than an impartial fact-finding investigation, CNN reports.
Major Bradley Podliska, an Air Force Reserve intelligence officer, told CNN that after March revelations Clinton, who is a Democratic presidential candidate, used a private email server in her capacity as Secretary of State, the committee trained its sites on her.
“I knew that we needed to get to the truth to the victims’ families. And the victims’ families, they deserve the truth — whether or not Hillary Clinton was involved, whether or not other individuals were involved,” he told CNN. “The victims’ families are not going to get the truth and that’s the most unfortunate thing about this.”
The CNN interview will air Sunday on “State of the Union.”
The committee was created in May last year with the approval of 225 Republicans and 7 Democrats with the purpose of investigating the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. embassy in Libya that resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Podliska was fired after 10 months as an investigator for the committee. He claims it was because he resisted pressure to exclusively probe Clinton and the State Department’s role in the attack. He also alleges he was fired in part for taking time away to fulfill his duties with the Air Force, which would be an illegal cause for termination, CNN reports.
The committee has “vigorously” denied Podliska’s allegations and responded with the following statement sent to CNN.
“We are confident that the facts and evidence give no support to the wild imagination fueling these and any future allegations, and the Committee will vigorously defend itself against such allegations. The Committee will not be blackmailed into a monetary settlement for a false allegation made by a properly terminated former employee.”
Last month, writing in the New York Times editorial section, California Rep. Adam Schiff (D) called for the committee to be disbanded, coming to similar conclusions as Podliska.
“[T]he Select Committee became little more than a partisan tool to influence the presidential race, a dangerous precedent that will haunt Congress for decades,” he wrote. “This is all the more painful when you consider how grievously the committee has let down those families, along with the rest of the American people.”
Schiff pointed out that such committees are rare and usually attached to matters of unusual importance, like Pearl Harbor, Hurricane Katrina and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Usually, the committee conclude their work in less than a year and their findings are accepted as bipartisan.
The Benghazi committee, on the other hand, was established even though eight already-existing congressional committees and the Accountability Review Board, an independent body, had already investigated the matter.
Schiff said he participated in the Benghazi investigation by the House Intelligence Committee, which debunked the “conspiracy theories” that accuse Clinton and the State Department of malfeasance.
The Benghazi committee, which is chaired by South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy (R) has spent $4.6 million to date, CNN reports.
“I’m scared. I’m nervous. I know that this is, you know, I’m going up against powerful people in Washington. But at the end of the day I need to live with myself,” Podliska told CNN. “I told my wife, I will view myself as a coward if I don’t do the right thing here.”
A former investigator for the House Select Committee on Benghazi and self-described conservative Republican has accused GOP members of the committee of leading an attack on Hillary Clinton, rather than an impartial fact-finding investigation, CNN reports.
Major Bradley Podliska, an Air Force Reserve intelligence officer, told CNN that after March revelations Clinton, who is a Democratic presidential candidate, used a private email server in her capacity as Secretary of State, the committee trained its sites on her.
“I knew that we needed to get to the truth to the victims’ families. And the victims’ families, they deserve the truth — whether or not Hillary Clinton was involved, whether or not other individuals were involved,” he told CNN. “The victims’ families are not going to get the truth and that’s the most unfortunate thing about this.”
The CNN interview will air Sunday on “State of the Union.”
The committee was created in May last year with the approval of 225 Republicans and 7 Democrats with the purpose of investigating the September 11, 2012 attack on the U.S. embassy in Libya that resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Podliska was fired after 10 months as an investigator for the committee. He claims it was because he resisted pressure to exclusively probe Clinton and the State Department’s role in the attack. He also alleges he was fired in part for taking time away to fulfill his duties with the Air Force, which would be an illegal cause for termination, CNN reports.
The committee has “vigorously” denied Podliska’s allegations and responded with the following statement sent to CNN.
“We are confident that the facts and evidence give no support to the wild imagination fueling these and any future allegations, and the Committee will vigorously defend itself against such allegations. The Committee will not be blackmailed into a monetary settlement for a false allegation made by a properly terminated former employee.”
Last month, writing in the New York Times editorial section, California Rep. Adam Schiff (D) called for the committee to be disbanded, coming to similar conclusions as Podliska.
“[T]he Select Committee became little more than a partisan tool to influence the presidential race, a dangerous precedent that will haunt Congress for decades,” he wrote. “This is all the more painful when you consider how grievously the committee has let down those families, along with the rest of the American people.”
Schiff pointed out that such committees are rare and usually attached to matters of unusual importance, like Pearl Harbor, Hurricane Katrina and the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Usually, the committee conclude their work in less than a year and their findings are accepted as bipartisan.
The Benghazi committee, on the other hand, was established even though eight already-existing congressional committees and the Accountability Review Board, an independent body, had already investigated the matter.
Schiff said he participated in the Benghazi investigation by the House Intelligence Committee, which debunked the “conspiracy theories” that accuse Clinton and the State Department of malfeasance.
The Benghazi committee, which is chaired by South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy (R) has spent $4.6 million to date, CNN reports.
“I’m scared. I’m nervous. I know that this is, you know, I’m going up against powerful people in Washington. But at the end of the day I need to live with myself,” Podliska told CNN. “I told my wife, I will view myself as a coward if I don’t do the right thing here.”
Benghazi Committee Ex-Staffer Alleges He Was Fired For Refusing To Target Clinton
TPM
Bradley Podliska, an Air Force reserve major who served as an
investigator for 10 months, told the news outlets that he plans to file a
federal lawsuit next month against the select committee for wrongful
termination.
He alleged to CNN that he lost his job in part because he resisted the "partisan investigation" the committee pursued following revelations that Clinton exclusively used a private email account during her tenure as secretary of state. Podliska also said that his taking a leave from the committee to fulfill his active duty obligations factored into his termination, which would be unlawful.
The reports differed as to exactly when Podliska was terminated. The New York Times reported he was terminated after returning from active duty in late March; CNN reported that he was fired in late June.
In a statement to the Times, the select committee denied Podliska's allegations and countered that the staffer was fired in part because "he himself manifested improper partiality and animus in his investigative work," including toward Clinton.
"The committee vigorously denies all of his allegations," the statement read. "Moreover, once legally permitted to do (sic), the committee stands ready to prove his termination was legal, justified and warranted — on multiple levels.”
The statement provided to the Times also said that Podliska received "repeated counseling for performance and lack of judgment.”
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) caused a stir last week when he credited the select committee with dragging down Clinton's poll numbers. His Republican colleagues denounced those comments and McCarthy went on to drop out of the running for House speaker on Thursday.
Democrats had seized on McCarthy's "gaffe" as evidence that the select committee was created by Republicans to disrupt Clinton's presidential bid and quickly cited Podliska's allegations as further proof of that theory.
"Even before Kevin McCarthy’s comments laid bare the true intent of the
committee, it’s been clear that Secretary Clinton has been the true target of this investigation, and the Republican whistleblower who has come forward only provides further evidence of what has been long evident," Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who serves on the select committee and has called for it to be disbanded, said in a statement.
Podliska, who described himself as a conservative Republican, told CNN that he decided to come forward because he didn't feel the committee was carrying out its stated purpose to uncover the truth about the deaths of the four Americans who died in the September 11, 2012 attacks in Benghazi.
"What happened was wrong," he told CNN.
"I'm scared. I'm nervous. I know that this is, you know, I'm going up against powerful people in Washington," he added. "But at the end of the day I need to live with myself. I told my wife, I will view myself as a coward if I don't do the right thing here."
This post has been updated.
He alleged to CNN that he lost his job in part because he resisted the "partisan investigation" the committee pursued following revelations that Clinton exclusively used a private email account during her tenure as secretary of state. Podliska also said that his taking a leave from the committee to fulfill his active duty obligations factored into his termination, which would be unlawful.
The reports differed as to exactly when Podliska was terminated. The New York Times reported he was terminated after returning from active duty in late March; CNN reported that he was fired in late June.
In a statement to the Times, the select committee denied Podliska's allegations and countered that the staffer was fired in part because "he himself manifested improper partiality and animus in his investigative work," including toward Clinton.
"The committee vigorously denies all of his allegations," the statement read. "Moreover, once legally permitted to do (sic), the committee stands ready to prove his termination was legal, justified and warranted — on multiple levels.”
The statement provided to the Times also said that Podliska received "repeated counseling for performance and lack of judgment.”
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) caused a stir last week when he credited the select committee with dragging down Clinton's poll numbers. His Republican colleagues denounced those comments and McCarthy went on to drop out of the running for House speaker on Thursday.
Democrats had seized on McCarthy's "gaffe" as evidence that the select committee was created by Republicans to disrupt Clinton's presidential bid and quickly cited Podliska's allegations as further proof of that theory.
"Even before Kevin McCarthy’s comments laid bare the true intent of the
committee, it’s been clear that Secretary Clinton has been the true target of this investigation, and the Republican whistleblower who has come forward only provides further evidence of what has been long evident," Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who serves on the select committee and has called for it to be disbanded, said in a statement.
Podliska, who described himself as a conservative Republican, told CNN that he decided to come forward because he didn't feel the committee was carrying out its stated purpose to uncover the truth about the deaths of the four Americans who died in the September 11, 2012 attacks in Benghazi.
"What happened was wrong," he told CNN.
"I'm scared. I'm nervous. I know that this is, you know, I'm going up against powerful people in Washington," he added. "But at the end of the day I need to live with myself. I told my wife, I will view myself as a coward if I don't do the right thing here."
This post has been updated.
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