Maybe this 2005 WaPo article can shed some light on why McCain likes Fiorina:

The Road to Riches Is Called K Street

Take the example of Hewlett-Packard Co. The California computer maker nearly doubled its budget for contract lobbyists to $734,000 last year and added the elite lobbying firm of Quinn Gillespie & Associates LLC. Its goal was to pass Republican-backed legislation that would allow the company to bring back to the United States at a dramatically lowered tax rate as much as $14.5 billion in profit from foreign subsidiaries.

The extra lobbying paid off. The legislation was approved and Hewlett-Packard will save millions of dollars in taxes. "We're trying to take advantage of the fact that Republicans control the House, the Senate and the White House," said John D. Hassell, director of government affairs at Hewlett-Packard. "There is an opportunity here for the business community to make its case and be successful."

See also USAToday: Does tax code send U.S. jobs offshore?

All Corporations, all the time.

Nicole - dont assume these people are either ignorant pythonesque. This means something. There is a reason for this - they have reasons - and its important to understand what it is. (It may go to the question of what McCain might to as president or it may involve a move to effect the general for example) What can she really do for or bring to the campaign? Your opinion set aside - what do right wingers or the business predator class think of her, or for that matter how is she connected.

As a comment - she got an important job with HP ... no small feat. At this point you would be just as much at a loss to explain that as this. The two are related I suspect - but how?

It would be dangerous to trivialize them.

Yesterday we heard her being interviewed and I told my husband, I'll bet that is McCain's choice for vice president. Who the hell would want her association with their campaign unless they thought she would bring something they needed and needed really badly. With her the ticket would be complete a liar and with her, a crook.

P.D. @ 5:

Incompetance seems to be a Republican asset. Instead of going for a smaller government, they just want to destroy and desmantle it.

... so that they can force people to use the private contractors which, surprise surprise are controlled/owned by the same people who fucked up the public equivalent. Also the private sector equivalents are usually more expensive, offer shittier quality of service, and are not accountable to voters.

GOPers have been creating the disease (fucking up public services) and charging us for the overpriced medicine (their own private offerings) for as long as I can remember.

LA, I couldn't have said it better.

It's not the least bit surprising that Fiorina holds a prominent seat in the RNC. She is almost universally despised by the engineers and technologists that built HP. While margins on desktop computer systems were slipping, she went after that market with gusto, while ignoring higher margin growth businesses units like data storage.

She was also know for an aloof management style that ignored the advice of internal engineers and industry experts.

The only reason McCain (or anyone else) is interested in her input is to make it appear as though women will have an important role in his cabinet (I guess the whole "trollop" thing might have made him look bad).

If McCain insists on pandering to women by consulting GOP-friendly female executives, he should be talking to Meg Whitman, not a miserable failure like Carly Fiorina.

L.A. Confidential @ 11:

These people are not in power because they are clever, intelligent or particularly capable; they are in power because they are willing to go to ridiculous and criminal lengths to get what they want and because they are backed by enormous money and influence to make up for their shortcomings.

Add a touch of Narcissistic personality disorder

DSM Criteria

A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:[1]

1. has a grandiose sense of self-importance
2. is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
3. believes that he or she is "special" and unique
4. requires excessive admiration
5. has a sense of entitlement
6. is interpersonally exploitative
7. lacks empathy
8. is often envious of others or believes others are envious of him or her
9. shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes

Blend, mix, serve. . . . . . .

These people are in power; because, the world is controlled by a great globalist conspiracy. Our elections are nothing but a dog and pony show.

Fat fingered that one

I Like Pie @ 16:

These people are in power; because, the world is controlled by a great globalist conspiracy. Our elections are nothing but a dog and pony show.

Well if your an "old soul" you surely realize it and understand there is not much one can do to accelerate the process of humanity as a whole and it has to be done individually.

Jesus, can't these guys find anyone who isn't entrenched in politics and actually can do the job? Remember the mine collapse when it was revealed that a former Exec. was put in charge of safety ? And who can forget, "Doing a heck of a job Brownie!" At least when Clinton was in office, he hired people who were capable. The Repugs, well they hire people like themselves. Souless suck-ups with no brains.

Sneer @ 15:

Carly Fiorina is no power player. She was fired from Hewlett Packard. She's another big mouth, know-it-all republican.

Why .. that would make her perfect to jump on the Mc Same Crooked Crap Express.

What is it with the GOP and failed business people being touted as something other than what they are. There is something going on here that is both smarmy and juvenile at the same time.
Farina is a repub with money whose dad was a Federal Judge who indeed managed to parlay her way into the top job at HP in the 90s, and then promptly screwed it up and did indeed hire P.I.s to spy on her own board.....Little Mz Paranoia... And the thing is, if she hadn't screwed up as top dog, she would never have found herself in a confrontational relationship with that board, thus leading to her paranoia and associated behavior.

This election cycle is starting to feel like a cross between a student counsel popularity contest and some kind of Texas holdem style poker game.... 'I'll see your black dude and frumpy white chic and raise you a phony self proclaimed war hero who may be getting on in years and a skinny white blonde business lady who doesn't really quite cut it as a business lady...but we hope she comes across as more photo-genic'.... Of course we will paper over and otherwise ignore her failings... Same as we do with our old white guy....Same as we did with Chimpy..

Whatever is really going on here, it smells like bullshit.... Carly Forina as VP? I really don't know if that is cleverly diabolical or extremely ridiculous... Either way fuckem, hasn't swayed me in any way... I still wouldn't vote for a republican on a bet or even if someone offered to buy my vote with life changing money...
JD

P.D. @ 5:

Incompetance seems to be a Republican asset. Instead of going for a smaller government, they just want to destroy and desmantle it.

It'll be a lot easier to get that 'soylent green' factory going once all those nasty inconvenient regulatory systems are gone.

Bob @ 29:

Samson- @ 21:

FilthyHarry @ 3:

Wait, is this the HP chief that was fired for hiring private investigators to spy on members of her own board because she was trying to find out who was leaking info to the press? If so, she sounds like a rethuglican to me.

indeed, she is the one.

good call

and, please, mcDubya choose a running mate that has a record of illegal spying!! that will wash down nicely with a tall glass of oh-fuck-she-is-an-albatross

Uh, no, she isn't the one. As much as I despise Fiorina, I have to point out that the person who was fired for the private investigator kerfuffle was Patricia Dunn, former HP board chairman.

I liked Dunn; she was the board member who was probably most responsible for getting Fiorina canned. And in the private investigation matter, I think she was made a scapegoat (see last year's excellent New Yorker article for the details, and make up your own mind). But that doesn't change the facts: Fiorina was fired for her incompetence, not the "spying" business.

oh snap, you are completely correct

my apologies

Wow, she seemed a bit honest in that clip. That could be a problem in the GOP. They will have to reprogram her. Give her the Karl Rove Liar 101 course.

Bob@29;

Ya know what... I believe you are correct Bob on that Dunn fired for spying b.s. and Forina kicked out the door for just being a garden variety screwup as a CEO that was tanking the company under her watch.. That whole can o worms was about ten years ago or so, but I now recall somewhat the Dunn bit after reading your post... Those details are probably not as important to recall as is the fact that whatever her history, she's a repub, and a failure as a businessperson.. and in short, given her track record, not fit to run anything, let alone be vice president of this country.... which as other have pointed out...in the bazarro upside down world of the GOP evidently makes her perfect as a prospect......weird huh.......JD

Actually, I like HP

Sauce on my fish & chips and steak & kidney pies.

http://www.brownsauce.org/gallery/albums/Print_Advertising/Picture_Post_...

That JACKASS, Carly Fiorina, almost singlehandedly destroyed one of the premier technology companies in America.

Just think what she can do for to America.

Buster @ 39:

Carly is proof positive that affirmative actions blows. If a man were as incompetent as her, he'd be entertaining job offers from MacDonalds and Wendy's.

Bush works at McDonalds?

P.D. @ 5:

Incompetance seems to be a Republican asset. Instead of going for a smaller government, they just want to destroy and desmantle it.

Don't you mean mismanage it, then contract out it's functions at 10X the cost?

Buster @ 39:

Carly is proof positive that affirmative actions blows. If a man were as incompetent as her, he'd be entertaining job offers from MacDonalds and Wendy's.

Like Paul Bremer, George Bush, Ken Lay...

How many years has it been since Carl became "Carly"?

These CEO's also set up their contracts so that firing them requires a juicy payoff package. Regardless if they run a company into the ground they walk away with millions.

L.A. Confidential @ 48:

These CEO's also set up their contracts so that firing them requires a juicy payoff package. Regardless if they run a company into the ground they walk away with millions.

Look at Bush. The ultimate example.

P.D. @ 5:

Incompetance seems to be a Republican asset. Instead of going for a smaller government, they just want to destroy and desmantle it.

I think the GOP just wanted to rip off the American Tax payer. The GOP only wants the reins of government to line their own and their friend's pocket.

Susie @ 40:

Buster @ 39:

Carly is proof positive that affirmative actions blows. If a man were as incompetent as her, he'd be entertaining job offers from MacDonalds and Wendy's.

Bush works at McDonalds?

That explains the booger in my burger.

The Dude @ 13:

anon @ 6:

Nicole - dont assume these people are either ignorant pythonesque. This means something. There is a reason for this - they have reasons - and its important to understand what it is. (It may go to the question of what McCain might to as president or it may involve a move to effect the general for example) What can she really do for or bring to the campaign? Your opinion set aside - what do right wingers or the business predator class think of her, or for that matter how is she connected.

As a comment - she got an important job with HP ... no small feat. At this point you would be just as much at a loss to explain that as this. The two are related I suspect - but how?

It would be dangerous to trivialize them.

As the CEO of HP she almost ran the company to the ground, she did the same with Lucent. Both companies had a tradition of loyalty to their workers, high quality products, and fairly profitable business.

HP was known for the "HP way" which meant that the company expected loyalty to be a two way street between the company and its workers. It had a tradition of job security, and lay offs were rare. When balances were not favorable it was not common for the company to do a top to bottom salary freeze/reduction rather than laying off people. She instead converted the "HP way" into a slogan to put on posters and nothing else. Even during the worse quarter of loses she refused to take a pay cut and had put orders for multiple jet planes, while thousands of workers were either fired or outsourced.

It seems as if she is able to get a successful business, run it to the ground, and both Lucent and HP rebounded as soon as news of her departure became official. She managed to pretty much destroy 2 of the nation leading research institutions: Bell Labs back East, and HP labs in the West Coast. That is no small achievement, to basically fuck up 2 of the places with highest density of IQ per square foot.

She like Bush, is a queen Midas in reverse. Yet this CEO class who makes everyone accountable for their performance except themselves.

Fuck'em...

I understand - thanks for the info.

I am a techie and have been involved in an IPO. My experience in that case is that the CEO was a criminal that sold 'promises' that he never delivered. He never had a problem attracting board members. It was a shell swindle.

My question was - how did she get the job? Trust me I'm not rolling my eyes - I really want to know. She got the job for a reason - not sound business reasons, probably reasons similar to my experiences. Who on the board made money - if any? What connections did she have directly or indirectly to the board? What business that was lost was gained elsewhere in the market and what - if any - connections exist between those business and the board? ..... apply the same questions with a political spin - another list of questions.

People on this blog generally - mistakenly - assume that these people are just dummies. REALLY bad idea. From my perspective and from the perspective of this blog - these people produce results that defy reason. The truth is however that they are accomplishing precisely what they mean to accomplish - they are a great success. The question is why? People need to understand that and dont - I dont. But as the neo-cons told us at the very start - they were going to make history and leave understanding of what they did to the future. They are doing that. They are miles ahead of us all.

I repeat what I have said before (and been accused of being a flat earther for) ... this is about OIL ... and the US has proven know reserves of 1.5 trillion (with a T) barrel equivalents of oil in oil shale. (Extraction and processing techniques are well understood) That is a guaranteed $245 trillion in wholesale business at $150 per barrel. It is literally impossible that facts like this (taken from government publications) are not being acted upon. Impossible.

The Dude @ 13:

As the CEO of HP she almost ran the company to the ground, she did the same with Lucent. Both companies had a tradition of loyalty to their workers, high quality products, and fairly profitable business.

HP was known for the "HP way" which meant that the company expected loyalty to be a two way street between the company and its workers. It had a tradition of job security, and lay offs were rare. When balances were not favorable it was not common for the company to do a top to bottom salary freeze/reduction rather than laying off people. She instead converted the "HP way" into a slogan to put on posters and nothing else. Even during the worse quarter of loses she refused to take a pay cut and had put orders for multiple jet planes, while thousands of workers were either fired or outsourced.

It seems as if she is able to get a successful business, run it to the ground, and both Lucent and HP rebounded as soon as news of her departure became official. She managed to pretty much destroy 2 of the nation leading research institutions: Bell Labs back East, and HP labs in the West Coast. That is no small achievement, to basically fuck up 2 of the places with highest density of IQ per square foot.

She like Bush, is a queen Midas in reverse. Yet this CEO class who makes everyone accountable for their performance except themselves.

Fuck'em...

"On March 7, 2008 Fiorina was named "Chair of Victory, 2008," an RNC coordinated group to raise money and conduct get out the vote activities, by the Republican National Committee."

Good. Maybe she'll finish off the Bullshit Express and with it the RNC Chair of Victory...

miss_kitty @ 58:

The Dude @ 13:

As the CEO of HP she almost ran the company to the ground, she did the same with Lucent. Both companies had a tradition of loyalty to their workers, high quality products, and fairly profitable business.

HP was known for the "HP way" which meant that the company expected loyalty to be a two way street between the company and its workers. It had a tradition of job security, and lay offs were rare. When balances were not favorable it was not common for the company to do a top to bottom salary freeze/reduction rather than laying off people. She instead converted the "HP way" into a slogan to put on posters and nothing else. Even during the worse quarter of loses she refused to take a pay cut and had put orders for multiple jet planes, while thousands of workers were either fired or outsourced.

It seems as if she is able to get a successful business, run it to the ground, and both Lucent and HP rebounded as soon as news of her departure became official. She managed to pretty much destroy 2 of the nation leading research institutions: Bell Labs back East, and HP labs in the West Coast. That is no small achievement, to basically fuck up 2 of the places with highest density of IQ per square foot.

She like Bush, is a queen Midas in reverse. Yet this CEO class who makes everyone accountable for their performance except themselves.

Fuck'em...

"On March 7, 2008 Fiorina was named "Chair of Victory, 2008," an RNC coordinated group to raise money and conduct get out the vote activities, by the Republican National Committee."

Good. Maybe she'll finish off the Bullshit Express and with it the RNC Chair of Victory...

It also may be that rather than representing business in a political arena, she was a mandated appointment by business. When the government conducts illegal wet ops - which it apparently does - it is risky. We know that business now performs wet ops - she is known to have done that at HP. This would distance these ops from the political element while allowing them to be coordinated from within the campaign. (Just speculation)

My company is an HP customer. Let me tell you, our experience has been that every time HP bought up one of our vendors, the VERY FIRST thing that happened was our support went straight down the shitter.

The second thing that happened? PRODUCT QUALITY went straight down the shitter.

We are still trying to convince upper management that this deal where we buy almost exclusively from HP is doing nothing but putting HP exactly where they want us. They give us shit product, shit support, shit timelines, and charge just as much as any other industry player. Now, I know Carly has been gone a couple of years now but certainly the echoes of her incredibly shitty style are still reverberating throughout the company.

It figures, though. America is going to be some years recovering from the plague of trough-feeding CEO's.

anon @ 56:

The Dude @ 13:

anon @ 6:

I repeat what I have said before (and been accused of being a flat earther for) … this is about OIL … and the US has proven know reserves of 1.5 trillion (with a T) barrel equivalents of oil in oil shale. (Extraction and processing techniques are well understood) That is a guaranteed $245 trillion in wholesale business at $150 per barrel. It is literally impossible that facts like this (taken from government publications) are not being acted upon. Impossible.

Oil shale is a non-starter.

1. The amount of energy required to get oil out of oil shale is very very poor. If you have to ship the product more than (IIRC) 500 miles from where it is mined, it turns into a net energy loser.

2. It is extremely pollutive. Ther eis no "nice way" to mine the stuff - you're talking about open pits that are stunningly huge and massively destructive to not only the landscape but the water.

3. It is very water intensive and it's located somewhere there isn't a lot of water. The energy needed to transfer the water has to be deducted from the energy value of the oil produced.

4. The water needed for it will compete with the need for water producing food, as the Oglala (and related) aquifer is about done.

As a consequence, I don't see the "oil shale" amounting to very much, nor do the "powers that be", as they have access to the same data sets I have.

Tar Sands are similar, but actually have better Energy Return on Energy Invested. Not much more, but enough to be more attractive.

In the long run, NEITHER of them will be used for fuel - they will be used as materials - plastics, medicines, etc.

Joe @ 46:

How many years has it been since Carl became "Carly"?

I thought the pic was a still from the new Dustin Hoffman movie, Tootsie II, the Return!

I worked at HP under Fiorina, or Failurina as we used to call her. She was all style, no substance, a parasite using the company's vast resources to boost her own brand. One of the first "major" decisions she took was to have the company buy her a brand new private jet cause she did not like the ones we already had. It was justified by the fact that the new jet was able to land on very short runways. Since she was using the jet for business and vacation, and since most business places have major airports with long runways, one can only assume she wanted to jet to be able to land in places like Bora Bora or St Barth. Or maybe she was hand-carrying the cash to the Cayman island...

To reply to Aquarius2: failed CEO always make it because they belong to an exclusive club in which the members place each other's welfare beforef anything else. When she was CEO, she used her vast powers to put some of her cronies in high level positions inside HP and in other companies (she joined other companies' boards and used her board position to advance the interests of her "friends"). All that so that when her lucks runs out (when incompetence catches us), she can rely on the helping hand of the equally incompetent people she has now put in positions of power. It's like a virus. When you catch one of these guys, they reproduce and infect the whole system, so that even if you neutralize the original intruder, it takes time or a complete "revolution" to clean up.

I'm very encouraged that there are people around who know Fiorina for what she is. She's a corporate raider. She ruined Hewlett Packard; ruined the entire corporate culture which made HP unique and one of the flagships of Silicon Valley. She put thousands of people out of work and walked away with a big payout after she ruined peoples' lives. Carly Fiorina is part of what's wrong with America, so it's fitting that she would enthusiastically support grouchy McSame.

Dude - Shell estimates that their thermal insitu process could be competative with oil in the $20 to $30 per barrel range - electrical energy costs being responsible for between $15 and $18 per barrel. (Rand 2005) There is no Colorado water basin water issue really. The water issue is local - wells, reservoirs etc. Of course that is the case, this is federal wilderness area for the most part (70%). Rough back of the envelope estimates have been $60 per barrel since the 80's. Well, companies have brought down costs and oil is currently $120 per barrel. The $120 is artificial, but only in the sense that the market is artificial. As long as the US and military operations effect oil producing countries the price will remain high.

McCain is turning to Carly Fiorina for advice? Must be because the party that surveils together, stays together:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/04/AR200610...

When you're trying to distance yourself from Bush, who better to go to than the business executive of a company that was prosecuted for illegal wiretapping under her watch?

.

Annoyed Canuck @ 61:

VP Fiorina? No way. She's too much like Hillary for most Red Staters - pushy, ambitious, uppity woman. Not 'traditional' enough. It would be different if she had succeeded at HP, but she flopped.

She's probably shooting for Treasury Secretary, or Commerce, or a nice cushy ambassadorship.

Are you referring to my previous post? I wasn't think of her as a vp although she would fit the repug's bill. I was talking about mccain being a pasty for the real unelected vp which will be the real repug president.

tHeIKnowAHusseinGaMeOfLiFe @ 73:

slippy hussein toad @ 62:

My company is an HP customer. Let me tell you, our experience has been that every time HP bought up one of our vendors, the VERY FIRST thing that happened was our support went straight down the shitter.

The second thing that happened? PRODUCT QUALITY went straight down the shitter.

We are still trying to convince upper management that this deal where we buy almost exclusively from HP is doing nothing but putting HP exactly where they want us. They give us shit product, shit support, shit timelines, and charge just as much as any other industry player. Now, I know Carly has been gone a couple of years now but certainly the echoes of her incredibly shitty style are still reverberating throughout the company.

It figures, though. America is going to be some years recovering from the plague of trough-feeding CEO's.

I bought a HP scanner and it blew out after 7 uses. I called them for a refund and they told me they would give me 20% discount on my purchase. Oh yeah?

I will never buy another HP product if I can help it.

I've bought from HP for pretty much their entire existence. Their printers and scanners have ALWAYS been top notch. The freakin' things don't break. I've owned at least 8 of them over that time (including two all in ones, and one flatbed scanner). Even the $99 all in one that my gf bought, although the case seems "cheesy and cheap", bottom line...the guts are HP and unless you're tossing the thing around like your in a monkey page or dropping it off your desk frequently...the thing simply isn't gonna break. Yeah, do you get lemons sometimes? Of course, but I've owned alot of these and recommeded them to others, and no one has ever been disappointed.