See anything wrong with this graphic? The O'Reilly Factor ran it in not one, but two segments and posted it three times. I can understand if FOX and The Factor made an error the first time, but to post it repeatedly should be a firing offense, The most watched show on FOX News has now labeled the former Republican Congressman Mark Foley, who is in the middle of a sexual predator scandal that has Hastert's career on the ropes ---a Democrat. Was it an error or done by choice? I report--you decide.
I watched with amazement Mike Viqueira's GOP talking point messenger job right after Hastert's press conference this morning. Never have I seen a correspondent recite verbatim what Rove would like you to hear. I mean Mark Foley is the focus of I hope an intense investigation--resigned in shame and approached teenage boys for sex, but to Mike-"everything is partisan here." Huh? What is he talking about? In Mike's world all that matters is making sure the GOP throws Democrats under the bus anyway they can, so it's the "Democrats setting up Republicans" meme for the '06 election. That's correct. I mean his sources are GOP staffers so I think they're just as impartial as the sick and twisted Eggman... He did say it was just the subtext in DC. The Republican subtext to get out from under another massive scandal "Washington loves a conspiracy"
Those GOP staffers are whispering about the election to Viqueira , but not about Hastert, Reynolds. or Boehners's obligations to protect these congressional pages from sickos. But, it gets worse than that.
(Update below) Here comes Matt "The Eggman" Drudge to (Mr. Predatorgate) Mark Foley's defense. He uses that age old "attack the messenger" conservative technique-only in a creepier way. He says the congressional pages are just as responsible because of Youtube and pop culture and how dare they egg him on like that. They are just 16 and 17 year old beasts after all and not innocent little babies who are engaged in a conspiracy against poor, old Foley. What kind of beast does that make the 52 year old Foley?
Download | play -MP3 They are 16 and 17 year old beasts... (31 seconds)
Download | play -MP3-It was two ways ladies and gentleman ( oh Matt, that's why we have Predator laws. To protect them from the Foley's. I just thought you should know) (40 seconds)
Download | play -MP3--He'd feel better if they were 8 or something....
Download | play -MP3- They will regulate the Internet now...That's really all this is.
I swear I am not making this up. Listen to it. Drudge is so f*&^king sick it's really, really disturbing, but to know he's doing it on behalf of the official Bush-Hastert-Boehner-Reynolds GOP coverup is the truly demented part. No limits to how low they will go. Absolutely no limits...read on
Pam:The video covers the feeble damage control re: the "family values" party and the lame attempt to handle "the situation" of the sexual predator in their midst.
h/t to John for posting the video with more info on Foley too...
Greenwald on Hinderaker's ridiculous defense of Foley. The Bush Cultists are falling all over themselves..
There are numerous intellectually honest conservatives who are viciously criticizing Denny Hastert and even demanding his resignation for his role in covering-up Mark Foley's predatory conduct and then lying about it once the story broke. And there are also some generally rational though deeply misguided defenses of Hastert being mounted elsewhere by some Bush followers. And then -- in a category of its own -- there is this defense of Hastert, promoted by Instapundit, and authored by John Hinderaker...read on
As much as anything else, that is what this scandal is about -- GOP House Leaders prancing around as the Protectors of our nation's children from Internet Predators while, at the same time, apparently knowing that there was such a predator in their midst. And they not only failed to do anything about it, but they actively worked to conceal the behavior (by, as noted below, ensuring that all Democrats -- including even the Democrat on the House Page Board -- were blocked from learning about these accusations). As Hastert put it at the top of his Press Release (emphasis in original): “At home we put children first, and Republicans are doing just that in the House.”...read on
There was a definite method to BushCo's madness: Namely, hire subcontractors to evade the laws that prevent the DoD and the CIA from taking part in torture and assassination. From The Nation:
At a covert forward operating base run by the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, members of an elite division of Blackwater are at the center of a secret program in which they plan targeted assassinations of suspected Taliban and Al Qaeda operatives, "snatch and grabs" of high-value targets and other sensitive action inside and outside Pakistan, an investigation by The Nation has found. The Blackwater operatives also assist in gathering intelligence and help run a secret US military drone bombing campaign that runs parallel to the well-documented CIA predator strikes, according to a well-placed source within the US military intelligence apparatus.
The source, who has worked on covert US military programs for years, including in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has direct knowledge of Blackwater's involvement. He spoke to The Nation on condition of anonymity because the program is classified. The source said that the program is so "compartmentalized" that senior figures within the Obama administration and the US military chain of command may not be aware of its existence.
Sure sounds like Cheney's still got his moles deep inside, doesn't it?
The White House did not return calls or email messages seeking comment for this story. Capt. John Kirby, the spokesperson for Adm. Michael Mullen, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told The Nation, "We do not discuss current operations one way or the other, regardless of their nature." A defense official, on background, specifically denied that Blackwater performs work on drone strikes or intelligence for JSOC in Pakistan. "We don't have any contracts to do that work for us. We don't contract that kind of work out, period," the official said. "There has not been, and is not now, contracts between JSOC and that organization for these types of services." The previously unreported program, the military intelligence source said, is distinct from the CIA assassination program that the agency's director, Leon Panetta, announced he had canceled in June 2009.
"This is a parallel operation to the CIA," said the source. "They are two separate beasts." The program puts Blackwater at the epicenter of a US military operation within the borders of a nation against which the United States has not declared war--knowledge that could further strain the already tense relations between the United States and Pakistan. In 2006, the United States and Pakistan struck a deal that authorized JSOC to enter Pakistan to hunt Osama bin Laden with the understanding that Pakistan would deny it had given permission. Officially, the United States is not supposed to have any active military operations in the country.
Blackwater, which recently changed its name to Xe Services and US Training Center, denies the company is operating in Pakistan. "Xe Services has only one employee in Pakistan performing construction oversight for the U.S. Government," Blackwater spokesperson Mark Corallo said in a statement to The Nation, adding that the company has "no other operations of any kind in Pakistan."
A former senior executive at Blackwater confirmed the military intelligence source's claim that the company is working in Pakistan for the CIA and JSOC, the premier counterterrorism and covert operations force within the military. He said that Blackwater is also working for the Pakistani government on a subcontract with an Islamabad-based security firm that puts US Blackwater operatives on the ground with Pakistani forces in counter-terrorism operations, including house raids and border interdictions, in the North-West Frontier Province and elsewhere in Pakistan. This arrangement, the former executive said, allows the Pakistani government to utilize former US Special Operations forces who now work for Blackwater while denying an official US military presence in the country. He also confirmed that Blackwater has a facility in Karachi and has personnel deployed elsewhere in Pakistan. The former executive spoke on condition of anonymity.
His account and that of the military intelligence source were borne out by a US military source who has knowledge of Special Forces actions in Pakistan and Afghanistan. When asked about Blackwater's covert work for JSOC in Pakistan, this source, who also asked for anonymity, told The Nation, "From my information that I have, that is absolutely correct," adding, "There's no question that's occurring."
See anything wrong with this graphic? The O'Reilly Factor ran it in not one, but two segments and posted it three times. I can understand if FOX and The Factor made an error the first time, but to post it repeatedly should be a firing offense, The most watched show on FOX News has now labeled the former Republican Congressman Mark Foley, who is in the middle of a sexual predator scandal that has Hastert's career on the ropes ---a Democrat. Was it an error or done by choice? I report--you decide.
I watched with amazement Mike Viqueira's GOP talking point messenger job right after Hastert's press conference this morning. Never have I seen a correspondent recite verbatim what Rove would like you to hear. I mean Mark Foley is the focus of I hope an intense investigation--resigned in shame and approached teenage boys for sex, but to Mike-"everything is partisan here." Huh? What is he talking about? In Mike's world all that matters is making sure the GOP throws Democrats under the bus anyway they can, so it's the "Democrats setting up Republicans" meme for the '06 election. That's correct. I mean his sources are GOP staffers so I think they're just as impartial as the sick and twisted 
(Update below) Here comes Matt "
