VIDEO: Florida Lawmaker Caught Looking at Porn on Senate Floor

By GottaLaff

If I had to sit through endless senate sessions, I'd sneak peeks at The Daily Show, but to each his own:



B.Us.Ted:

On Thursday morning, Sunshine State News captured exclusive video of Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, looking at pornographic material on his state-issued computer on the Senate floor.

Ironically, as Bennett is viewing the material, you can hear a senator's voice in the background debating a controversial abortion bill.

"I'm against this bill," said the voice, "because it disrespects too many women in the state of Florida." Bennett defended his actions, telling Sunshine State News it was an email sent to him by a woman "who happens to be a former court administrator."

"I was just sitting there, bored as they were debating the abortion bill," Bennett said.

"I opened it up and said holy [expletive]! What's on my screen? and clicked away from it right away."

Sure he did.... after several seconds... after he realized someone might see. And he only reads Playboy for the articles.

Oh, but I kid the Senator.

His spokesperson said that Bennett thought he was viewing an email about an item being debated on the Senate floor. That would have been some debate.

There were other images he'd downloaded that were caught on camera, too, including at least two videos. He was also caught on camera watching a video of a dog. Apparently, nobody knows whether or not he also thought that was an email about a bill being debated on the floor... regarding spaying/neutering laws maybe?

When asked if he ever looks at pornography while on the Senate floor, Bennett responded, "You'd have to be insane to do that. It all goes through a server. I don't think anybody would be doing that."

Nah, nobody ever does that.

Goldman Sachs Messages Show It Thrived as Economy Fell

By GottaLaff

Via an e-mail, a New York Times news alert... while we pull TPC back up from the dead:

In late 2007 as the mortgage crisis gained momentum and many
banks were suffering losses, Goldman Sachs executives traded e-mail messages saying that they were making "some serious money" betting against the housing markets.

The e-mails, released Saturday morning by the Senate
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, appear to contradict some of Goldman's previous statements that left the impression that the firm lost money on mortgage-related investments.

Just keep siding with these guys, Rushpublics, please. That should work out quite well for you.

VIDEO: Bank Lobbyists Huddle For Another Secret Meeting With GOP Senators

By GottaLaff

This will play well politically. At about the same time President Obama was giving his Reform Wall Street speech today, GOP Senators were having a little rendezvous with, yep, bank lobbyists.

The Party of Constantly Blowing It:

But around the same time back in Washington, D.C., bank lobbyists hosted a fundraiser for Senate Republicans, including Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who has become the Republican liaison for Wall Street fundraising.

Pretty embarrassing, eh guys? So embarrassing that you wouldn't even show your faces.

For the full story, visit Think Progress.

VIDEO- John McCain on maverick denial: "I prefer great American"

By GottaLaff

From the Department of Boxing Yourself Into Corner:

On Fox News Sunday today, host Chris Wallace played a series of clips of McCain referring to himself as a “maverick” and asked how he could say that he never considered himself one.

New McCain Squirmage Rule: If you can't wiggle out of in-your-face evidence that contradicts lies you've told-- about yourself-- morph your message into one that sounds less dishonest.

Viewer Rule: Nice try, J Sid. McCainFail. "You lie!"

Roger Ailes, Fox Execs Still Furious At Hannity

By GottaLaff

It's with a heavy heart that I must report on the disappointment ClusterFox has expressed in one of their biggest stars, Sean Hannity. He and his ego have gotten themselves into a pickle, and there could be major repercussions. I'm saddened. I'm speechless. I'm...

... kidding! I am so loving this!

Sean and his ego forgot to tell the Big ClusterBoss that they were using their little Tea Bagger Sean Show to sell tickets for and to benefit... the Tea Baggers. Oops.

Now Roger Ailes, the Mother Foxer himself, is not amused. Check that. He's pissed. It's not nice to blindside your boss:

This afternoon, conservative commentator Debbie Schlussel wrote a lengthy blog post about the behind-the-scenes trouble Hannity and staff had gotten themselves into over the incident (via Johnny Dollar). [...]

You have to read between the lines on the LA Times Hannity story and know the background. The order to cancel Hannity’s Tea Party broadcast came from FOX News Chairman Roger Ailes, not Senior Vice President Bill Shine–a shameless Hannity toady.

[...]

Schlussel closes with, “Yes, the once-hot FOX News property, Sean Hannity, is not only self-destructing, he’s proving to be a liability and a headache not worth the male diva prima donna act,” and continues to speculate about Hannity losing his timeslot. That’s overstating matters a bit.

The article goes on to say that Sean and his ego weren't just in this for his Tee Vee show. Nope,
it was also to self-serve giant helpings of "Looka-me, I got a radio show, a book, and I'm on Twitter!"

This incident shows what can happen when major FNC personalities put their personal interests and side projects ahead of Fox News. As FNC grows into the unmatched powerhouse it has become, so too have their big stars become that much bigger.

Maybe I should refer to him as Sean and his crushed ego.

On Countdown just now, Media Matters Guy Eric Burns thinks they'll all kiss and make up. $ounds about right.

More at Mediaite.

Blackwater busted

By GottaLaff

I'll provide details when I find them. For now:


Today is officially Bust the Bad Guys Day.

My Blackwater for Dummeez primer here.

UPDATE:

Federal prosecutors indicted Gary Jackson, who was president of Blackwater until last year, on Friday in a case that stemmed from a raid on Blackwater's North Carolina headquarters in 2008, which turned up 22 automatic weapons, including 17 Russian-made AK-47s.

Along with Jackson, the other Blackwater officials charged include the company's former lawyer, Andrew Howell, former vice president Bill Matthews and two employees tasked with overseeing Blackwater's armory and documentation having to so with its status as an arms dealer.

And yet the State Department still employs them. It's about time they Xe the light.

Here's an older post from 2008 about a few AK-47s that showed up in their armory.

Better late than never: Goldman Sachs busted

By GottaLaff

I'm trying to keep up with all the news today, but here's the scoop:

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was charged with fraud Friday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in the structuring and marketing of a debt product tied to subprime mortgages.

About time.

I wonder who's next.

VIDEO- Rachel Maddow Show: ACORN pimp, UNedited

By GottaLaff

This was simply beauteous. Rachel turned the "ACORN pimp" story on its head. If you missed it, now's your chance:

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Sarah Palin can't write, can't speak, and now, can't add: $100K = $0

By GottaLaff

(click on image to enlarge)

Leave it to The Mudflats to come up with more point-and-laughitude at Mathless McTaxFree and her complete lack of simple elementary school academic skills:

You’ll recall that the Palins have for years been claiming a $12,000 property value for the parcel of land itself, but a $0 building value for the cabin that sits on the land. But after first reporting on that finding here, the Matanuska Susitna Borough assessors did a fly-over of the cabin and have now reported its actual value at just shy of $100,000. [...] Pretty fancy for a lowly recreational cabin and outbuildings that the owners reported as worthless just the year before. And the year before that. And the year before that. [...]

As an example of how seriously the ex-almost-one-term governor holds the paying of one’s property taxes, and how much she scorns those who shirk their civic duty, we are reminded of an incident that happened several years ago.

In 2004, it came to light that Republican Rep. Vic Kohring owed the borough $2,277 in unpaid property taxes on property he owns off Knik-Goose Bay Road, according to borough records. “That bothered former Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin enough that she declined a campaign request to do a pro-Kohring TV commercial. As a former mayor, Palin said, it made her uncomfortable to back someone with unpaid taxes when the city relies on property taxes.” [Anchorage Daily News (Alaska), 10/28/04]

If only Mathless had learned a little something about arithmetic by picking up a book-- oh, never mind. Okay, a Highlights for Children magazine that-- not so much. A pamphlet? Read her own hand notes?

Then again, what could she have possibly read that would have taught her about hypocrisy?

Oh, I know. The Bible.

VIDEO: Meg Whitman's Fake Town Hall

By GottaLaff

Oooooh, billionaire Meg was bust. ed:

Meg Whitman stages fake town hall in Orange County on March 10, 2010.

She's in Orange County, for godsake. That's about as friendly an audience as she could have. Not unlike being surrounded by eager puppies after you've bathed in Essence of Snausage.

H/t: LTPF2010 (Level the Playing Field)

VIDEO- Rachel Maddow Show: Bart Stupak has C Street issues

By GottaLaff

Stupak is trying to hijack health care reform. And he also has a, well, "C Street past" and a problem with transparency. About that rent, Bart....

Nobody does it better:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Quite the exposé.

VIDEO- Rachel Maddow eviscerates Orrin Hatch: It is a L-I-E.

By GottaLaff

Republicans shouldn't even try to lie any more. Ever. Rachel will call you out loudly and clearly:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Hyp. O. Crites.

Eviscerated.

VIDEO: GOP state lawmaker accused of plagiarizing Washington Times’ editorial

By GottaLaff

Could this be any more obvious?

Tsk tsk tsk. This can't end well.

But hey, they're just words, right? Wrong:

Rep. Matt Wingard [a state representative in Oregon], who has a degree in broadcast journalism, admitted on Monday that he lifted his speech from an editorial entitled "Osama and Obama on global warming," which sought to link Osama bin Laden's recent declaration on global warming to the US president's policies. [...]

Wingard reportedly also lifted several paragraphs from columnist Margaret Wente in Canada's Globe and Mail. [...]

[Kari] Chisholm [who published a story showing Wingard's speech to be almost exactly the same as the Washington Times editorial] added that copyright infringement is "hypocritical for a guy that goes on and on about property rights." In a follow-up story, Chisholm noted that "[t]his incident is especially damning for Wingard because he's a trained journalist."

Here's an idea: If you're going to call something a hoax, you might try avoiding your own first.

ACORN Pimp aka PhoneGater accuses others of " journalistic malpractice"

By GottaLaff

Here's everything you need to know about James O'Keefe and his journalistic standards.

Here's what Pimpy McBreakIn is saying now:

On reflection, I could have used a different approach to this investigation, particularly given the sensitivities that people understandably have about security in a federal building. [...]

It has been amazing to witness the journalistic malpractice committed by many of the organizations covering this story.

He says a whole lot more, too. Please follow the link to read all of it.

Tommy Christopher says:

When O’Keefe says “The government has now confirmed what has always been clear: No one tried to wiretap or bug Senator Landrieu’s office. Nor did we try to cut or shut down her phone lines,” he doesn’t provide any evidence of this confirmation. The original affidavit states that they tried to gain access to the telephone closet, and that it was probable that their intention was to maliciously interfere with the telephone system.

O’Keefe’s revision notwithstanding, reporting the contents of an FBI document can hardly be considered “journalistic malpractice.” Journalists have a duty to report facts from credible sources, not to tailor them to James O’Keefe’s legal defense.

This is the same Tommy Christopher who appeared in my pilot webisode of Blunt.

Any way you look at it, PhoneGate McHatCam is in hot water. And he's no "kid" as he is referred to in so many reports. He's 25, and his father is a federal attorney.

He knew better. He broke the law. He did this under the guise of being a journalist. I'd call that "journalistic malpractice".

VIDEO- Breitbart in tussle with David Shuster: O'Keefe was slandered.

By GottaLaff

David faced off in a huge way with Andrew Breitbart. If only they hadn't overtalked each other, this very heated exchange would have been a little easier to understand:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Update on ACORN Pimp O'Keefe

By GottaLaff

MSNBC's David Shuster is reporting the latest on ACORN Pimp James O'Keefe and his band of merry felons (earlier post here, original post here):

There was no phone tapping equipment ON the felonious lads.

The so-called "listening device" in the van was actually a walkie talkie.... or cell phone.

Their motive? They were trying to shame Mary Landrieu, but too late... She did that on her own during the health care "debate".

They still face felony charges.

UPDATE: It is not a wiretap case, it is a federal trespass case, per Shuster just now. Additional charges could be brought, and plea deals are possible.

The people upstairs were communicating with the guy in the truck, via walkie talkie or cell phone.

O'Keefe had an exclusive deal with Andrew Breitbart for writing. Breitbart claims he had no idea O'Keefe was up to this, hadn't spoken to him in weeks.

But the question is, did O'Keefe have any financial incentive? They won't just take the word of the 4 guys.

On Keith Olbermann's Countdown, John Dean:

He says it's no prank, pretty serious, more of O'Keefe's entrapment journalism. They went beyond what is legal.

Karl Rove was one of the "early tutors" of this kind of thing, says Dean. Plus, he says, O'Keefe has been enouraged by his elders in the party. "Stupidity.... You'd think we'd evolved in our political intelligence..."

This was a classic criminal conspiracy... but we don't know who all the co-conspirators are. This may be more than 4 people.

This kind of thing has been embraced by the Republican right, although they're distancing themselves now.

VIDEO- Rep. Steve King: The real story is shielding ACORN, not NOLAGate

By GottaLaff

So this is what a conservative journalist looks like:

James O'Keefe's mug shot courtesy of Media Matters

Dave Weigel has more, but watch Rep. King do the "O'Keefe's innocent until proven guilty" dance.

"I don't need a lot more evidence to think there's something wrong with ACORN, I saw it with my own eyes. I didn't see James O'Keefe"

.... regardless of the fact that there's been no trial.

Rushpublic hypocrisy in action.

"ACORN Pimp" busted

By GottaLaff

I've posted about James O'Keefe's little antics before, and about his background.

Finally, I get to post about his bustification:

The FBI, alleging a plot to wiretap Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu's office in downtown New Orleans, arrested four people Monday, including James O'Keefe, a conservative filmmaker whose undercover videos at ACORN field offices severely damaged the advocacy group's credibility.

FBI Special Agent Steven Rayes alleges that O'Keefe aided and abetted two others, Joseph Basel and Robert Flanagan, who dressed up as employees of a telephone company and attempted to interfere with the office's telephone system.

A fourth person, Stan Dai, was accused of aiding and abetting Basel and Flanagan. All four were charged with entering fedral property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony.

A witness from Landrieu's staff said O'Keefe was present in the office and claimed to be "waiting for someone to arrive."

Gee, hypocritical much? This from the genius who was doing everything in his sleazy little power to bust ACORN.

Bugging a Senator's office, that's using your noodle.

Couldn't happen to a more deserving pimp.

More here and here.

VIDEO- Ed Schultz nails Rep. Joe Barton's flawed talking points re: Supermax prison

By GottaLaff

Ed stymied Not Joe Lieberman, and he went all deer in the headlights. Talking points much, Other Joe?

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Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, explains why many GOP members of Congress oppose the Obama administration’s decision to bring Guantanamo Bay detainees to a detention facility in Illinois.

Note: It's wise to stock up on facts before appearing on national television.

And why again does Texas have a different view of terrorists than the rest of the United States? They haven't even seceded yet.

VIDEO: Fox's Chris Wallace catches Rudy Giuliani's blunder, but not his own

By GottaLaff

Of all people, Chris Wallace zaps Mr. Noun-Verb-9/11's flip-flopitude. How bracing!

Sidebar: I caught an interesting slip of the tongue by Wallace at about :39, too. Listen carefully:



Apparently, according to Rudy, "we are exactly who we say we are, a nation of war"... Well, according to Rudy and the Bush crime family.