Note to Punditiots: Gulf oil disaster is NOT "Obama's Katrina"

By GottaLaff

In an earlier post, I mentioned how some in the media (Gee, guess who?) are pushing the meme that the Gulf oil catastrophe is "Obama's Katrina". Wrong. It's a memorable catch phrase, but it's inaccurate, to say the least. But that won't stop them from perpetuating the lies. It never has, it never will.

While BP was the first responder, the Coast Guard reacted right away to the situation and deployed 70 vessels and 1 million feet of boom for possible service, Napolitano said.

Salazar noted that the Obama administration has ordered inspections of "blowout preventers" on other Gulf rigs. The government's job was to "keep the boot on the neck" of BP to ensure it meets its obligations in stopping the spill, dealing with the oil slick and paying for all costs and damages.

President Obama is on his way:

President Obama headed to Louisiana on Sunday to see for himself the growing oil slick from a damaged offshore well that threatens the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Compare that to this memory jogger, "A Tale of Two Photos":

As for the meme, maybe this will help, Via Greg Sargent:

Michael Shear counts the ways that the Gulf oil spill isn’t Katrina:

The gulf oil spill is no Katrina, in which 1,836 people died amid the near total devastation of one of America’s great cities…

Unlike Katrina, there has been no obvious failures of government, no images to compare to the Superdome or the flooded streets of St. Bernard Parish. And unlike Katrina, there is an easy target for blame in the current oil spill: the oil giant BP, which by law is the “responsible party” and must pay for all of the costs of the cleanup.

However, if you are a Rushpublic, it's all Obama's fault. So is that paper cut I just got, according to them.... And that flat tire that caused gridlock on the 101 freeway, along with global warming, terrorism, locusts, Vanilla Ice's career, and Trump's hair.

National Enquirer retracts claim of Obama sex scandal

By GottaLaff

I knew this was coming. But first, before that all-important retraction, make sure the word got out there, right?

The National Enquirer, which published a report this morning that “investigators are attempting to obtain a tape” that proved an illicit rendezvous between President Barack Obama and former US Senate campaign staffer Vera Baker, has updated their story this afternoon to retract the claim that there is video evidence of the affair with the alleged testimony of an anonymous chauffeur.

Looks like the National Enquirer Obama sex scandal is unraveling rather quickly.

How perfectly timed to go with the bogus "Catastrophic oil slick is Obama's Katrina" meme. That librul press, always siding with the dictator!

H/t: RWRenfrew, JamieHarbor

VIDEO: Rachel Maddow "Steins" Dan Stein... again

By GottaLaff

I posted the video of Dan Stein's little visit with Rachel Maddow here. It's gotten quite a response, including over at the Southern Poverty Law Center's site (Thank you SPLC, for acknowledging my new word "Steined").

For all those naysayers, for all those who blasted Rachel, and especially to Danny Boy himself, I dedicate this post. You've been Steined:

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Video- Rove accuses Obama of threatening critics, saying "my way or the highway" and "if you're not with me, you're against me"

Doonesbury: No One Likes You, Sarah Palin edition

By GottaLaff

I'm loving this story arc:

(click on image to enlarge)

Secret forced sterilizations in Uzbekistan

By GottaLaff

There are some things that are so difficult to read, so hard to process, that writing about them is painful. This is one of those things:

TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, April 25 (UPI) -- Many women in Uzbekistan are sterilized without their consent under a government order meant to reduce the number of poor people, human rights activists say.

A human rights campaigner who requested anonymity because of fear of detention said about 5,000 women have been sterilized without consent since February, The Sunday Times of London reported.

Doctors visit the homes of women and lie to get them to hospitals, where they then perform sterilization.

One young woman, 26, was told she had a fatal cyst. She had no symptoms. She was frightened into admitting herself to a local hospital, agreed to surgery, and then woke up to find she had been sterilized.

"I could not stop crying. They tricked me and treated me like an animal."

Did Sarah Palin commit perjury during her testimony in the David Kernell trial?

By GottaLaff

Sarah Palin outside court house in Knoxville

I get emails from time to time from our pals over at Palingates, inviting me to read about their latest discoveries. They do a great job of digging up evidence that calls into question the many versions of events that Barbie McLipSchmutz passes along to the accommodating media.

They also uncover emails galore, long lost press accounts, statements, videos, you name it.

Their most recent investigation involves the email hacking trial of David Kernell at which Barbie gave testimony:

Did Sarah Palin commit perjury while giving her testimony in Knoxville? We have to put this as a question, because we don't know the exact wording of all she said and have to rely on news reports for our information.

However, there are strong indications that Palin purposely lied during her testimony.

Palingates then goes on to reveal the contents of several emails as well as conflicting quotes regarding Todd, Trig, and Bristol, and much more.

Summary:

If we look at Sarah's statements from an objective point of view, provided that the reporting in the news was correct, I strongly believe that many prosecutors would choose "GUILTY". However, this is Sarah Palin we are talking about, the woman who gets away with virtually anything. For how long still? Only God knows!

However, we won't forget Sarah's immortal words:

"I do think there should be consequences for bad behavior."

Please read all about it here.

Former Half-Governor Sarah Palin's current half-truths

By GottaLaff

Once again, Halfy McNotVP is mangling the truth to make Elected by a Wide Margin President Obama look like a weak, America-hating doody head (that's a political term I picked up on the street).

It's also rather contradictory to suggest Obama is reluctant to accept superpower status when one remembers how Halfy's crowd revels in accusations that he is an evil dictator who wants to control us, our pets, and the entire world:

Her ghost writers said the following in a Facebook post:

Asked this week about his faltering efforts to advance the Middle East peace process, President Obama did something remarkable. In front of some 47 foreign leaders and hundreds of reporters from all over the world, President Obama said that “whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower.”

Whether we like it or not? Most Americans do like it.

Here’s what the President actually said:

But what we can make sure of is, is that we are constantly present, constantly engaged, and setting out very clearly to both sides our belief that not only is it in the interests of each party to resolve these conflicts but it’s also in the interest of the United States. It is a vital national security interest of the United States to reduce these conflicts because whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower, and when conflicts break out, one way or another we get pulled into them. And that ends up costing us significantly in terms of both blood and treasure.

The corporate media has already picked up her side of the story, which means the punditiots will be pushing this misleading meme instead of, you know, the truth.

Which is exactly how Halfy takes control of the message and stirs up her wacky groupies.

VIDEOS: Fox News caught in a lie... again

By GottaLaff

When will the ClusterFoxers realize there are ways to reproduce and archive their lies?

After Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) told a town hall audience that they shouldn't believe everything they hear on Fox News, Bill O'Reilly had Coburn on his show to reprimand him for wrongly using Fox as a "whipping boy." [...]

Props to TPM's former video editor Ben Craw for putting together this reel over at Huffington Post:

Oops.

Of course, Keith Olbermann had a thing or two to add:

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VIDEO: Jon Stewart nukes Fox

By GottaLaff

Jon Stewart, thank you for never disappointing. Ever:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Big Bang Treaty
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

E. Vis. Ceration.

Let's start a countdown to the next GOP "Daisy ad"... attacking Stewart.

George W. Bush 'knew Guantánamo prisoners were innocent'

By GottaLaff

Tell me if you've heard this one before. Oh wait, you have, because it's exactly what I've been writing about for months regarding Lt. Col. Barry Wingard's client Fayiz al-Kandari.

The difference is, now Colin Powell's former aide Larry Wilkerson is saying it, right out loud:

George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld covered up that hundreds of innocent men were sent to the Guantánamo Bay prison camp because they feared that releasing them would harm the push for war in Iraq and the broader War on Terror, according to a new document obtained by The Times.

The accusations were made by Lawrence Wilkerson, a top aide to Colin Powell, the former Republican Secretary of State, in a signed declaration to support a lawsuit filed by a Guantánamo detainee. It is the first time that such allegations have been made by a senior member of the Bush Administration.

Of course, the Obama administration would rather not look back, only forward. I have a feeling that may change one day soon, the way evidence has been mounting against BushCo. If they ignore this information, then we have a real problem.

Wilkerson's recounting of what happened is nearly identical to Fayiz's story:

[T]he majority of detainees — children as young as 12 and men as old as 93, he said — never saw a US soldier when they were captured. He said that many were turned over by Afghans and Pakistanis for up to $5,000. Little or no evidence was produced as to why they had been taken.

Bingo.

Cheney, Rumsfeld, and even Bush himself were in on it, per Wilkerson. Re: Cheney...

“He had absolutely no concern that the vast majority of Guantánamo detainees were innocent ... If hundreds of innocent individuals had to suffer in order to detain a handful of hardcore terrorists, so be it.”

He alleged that for Mr Cheney and Mr Rumsfeld “innocent people languishing in Guantánamo for years was justified by the broader War on Terror and the small number of terrorists who were responsible for the September 11 attacks”.

Just. Go. Read.

****

All my previous posts on this subject matter can be found here; That link includes one specific to only Fayiz al-Kandari's story here. Here are audio and video interviews with Lt. Col. Wingard, one by David Shuster, one by Ana Marie Cox, and more. My guest commentary at BuzzFlash is here.

Lt. Col. Barry Wingard is a military attorney who represents Fayiz Al-Kandari in the Military Commission process and in no way represents the opinions of his home state. When not on active duty, Colonel Wingard is a public defender in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

If you are inclined to help rectify these injustices: Twitterers, use the hashtag #FreeFayiz. We have organized a team to get these stories out. If you are interested in helping Fayiz out, e-mail me at The Political Carnival, address in sidebar to the right; or tweet me at @GottaLaff.

If you'd like to see other ways you can take action, go here and scroll down to the end of the article.

Then read Jane Mayer's book The Dark Side. You'll have a much greater understanding of why I post endlessly about this, and why I'm all over the CIA deception issues, too.

More of Fayiz's story here, at Answers.com.

H/t: Tosfm

CBS: No Criminal Charges Likely in AIG Collapse

By GottaLaff

The the criminal case against the so-called "the Man who Crashed the World" has apparently "hit a brick wall." They can't prove that he lied about AIG's financial problems.

I've heard many a lawyer say that proving a lie is not easy. This proves that proving is not always prove-able.

Well, you know what I mean.

Why must brick walls so often get between us and the (alleged) thugs?

CBS NEWS has learned that former AIG executive Joseph Cassano - the prime focus of the investigation into its collapse - will meet with Department of Justice attorneys next week in what will likely be an end to the two year criminal investigation into the company.

Now back to the Tiger Woods coverage already in progress.

ACORN: Our national organization is alive and well

By GottaLaff

Earlier I posted a segment from The Rachel Maddow Show in which she blasts the GOP for out and out lying about James O'Keefe's Big Pimpy ACORN Moment. She also slammed the media for perpetuating those and other lies, and went on to report the real news, correcting the misinformation about the organization (and other topics).

Good for her. She deserves a damn medal for that and all the other work she does to expose all the "bull pucky", as she put it.

Here is some more truth for you. It's a rarity, so enjoy it while you can:

After months of budget problems and criticism from the right, the community organizing group Acorn plans to release a letter next week clarifying its path forward and stating that its local chapters may be closed, but the national organization is alive and well.

“You will continue to hear from Acorn — in the mail, on the Web, and in the media,” says the letter, a draft of which was provided to The New York Times. “And we need your continued support to counter the vicious antifamily, antiminority, anti-immigrant attacks of the Republican right.”

Ding!

That's really what this is all about, isn't it? The Rushpublics feel threatened by the possibility of a white minority, and by a diverse electorate that tends to vote Democratic.

Their remedy? Lie, turn voters against an effective group, a grassroots organization, that gives people who might not otherwise have one, a voice... or at least the means to muster one up.

The letter, which will be sent to the 120,000 or so members on Acorn’s e-mail list and to tens of thousands of dues-paying members, says that in many of the states where Acorn’s local chapters closed, 16 new, independent but allied organizations have been formed to continue grass-roots organizing.

Know what else? California Representative Darryl Issa is bellowing and kvetching about how this new team is not severing ties with Old ACORN. Wrong.

They're not using ACORN money, and the lawyers and accountants they are using have not been involved with ACORN previously. Plus, their boards of directors are nearly all non-Acorn members.

And that's the truth:

VIDEO- Maddow calls b.s. on GOP: Attacks on ACORN, "Climate-Gate" were "bull pucky"

By GottaLaff

Once again, Rachel Maddow nails it:

"Let's have the great debate about the role of government... only you can't threaten to shoot people. And you have to stop making stuff up."

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

Those are awfully important revelations, aren't they? The ones Rachel covered in the video? They're stories one might expect MSNBC to go out of their way to report hourly, right?

Apparently not.

All morning, MSNBC concentrated on those other "big" stories, the ones about iPad and Tiger Woods.

Meanwhile, ACORN is no more, and voters believe that Climate-Gate was real. They continue to believe lies that the corporate media drive, repeat, perpetuate incessantly, lies that affect our elections and the well-being of the entire planet.

That is not news. That is propaganda. And it is not only unacceptable, it is toxic.

VIDEO- Lawrence O'Donnell: "The Republicans... really like scaring you."

By GottaLaff

Lawrence O'Donnell takes Jim DeMint down... and out... with facts:

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"The penalty for not paying the tax penalty... is nothing... There isn't a real individual mandate in this bill, because there isn't a real penalty for violating an individual mandate.

The Republicans.... reeeaallly like scaring you."

Wham.

H/t: Susie May

Abu Zubaydah had nothing to do with 9/11 attacks

By GottaLaff

(Illustration: Jared Rodriguez / t r u t h o u t)

Jason Leopold is a good friend who works his tush off when he sniffs out a good story. He's thorough and does his homework. For that reason, it's necessary to read his entire post, not just the excerpts I provide here.

There is a lot to this story, and it's an important one. Jason has graciously given his permission to cross-post his work:

The Justice Department has quietly recanted nearly every major claim the Bush administration had made about "high-value" detainee Abu Zubaydah, a Guantanamo prisoner who at one time was said to have planned the 9/11 attacks and was the No. 2 and 3 person in al-Qaeda.

Additionally, Justice has backed away from some of the claims intelligence officials working in the Clinton administration had also leveled against Zubaydah, specifically, that he was directly involved in the planning of the 1998 embassy bombings in East Africa. [...]

His torture was videotaped and the tapes later destroyed. [...]

In recent months, former Bush speechwriter Marc Thiessen has been on a public relations campaign promoting his book, "Courting Disaster," in which he defended the torture of Zubaydah, claiming that he reviewed classified intelligence that revealed Zubaydah's torture produced actionable intelligence that thwarted imminent plots against the United States.

But court documents unclassified last week debunk Thiessen's assertions. Moreover, the government acknowledges in its partially redacted filing that it does not rely on anything Zubaydah told his torturers after his March 2002 capture in Pakistan in arguing that he should continue to be detained.

The document also refutes every statement George W. Bush made publicly about Zubaydah, who the former president claimed was one of al-Qaeda's "top operatives plotting and planning death and destruction on the United States."

For the first time, the government now officially admits that Zubaydah did not have "any direct role in or advance knowledge of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001," and was neither a "member" of al-Qaeda nor "formally" identified with the terrorist organization.

Please go read the whole thing here while I find a wall to bang my head on... repeatedly.

****

All my previous posts on this subject matter can be found here; That link includes one specific to only Fayiz al-Kandari's story here. Here are audio and video interviews with Lt. Col. Wingard, one by David Shuster, one by Ana Marie Cox, and more. My guest commentary at BuzzFlash is here.

Lt. Col. Barry Wingard is a military attorney who represents Fayiz Al-Kandari in the Military Commission process and in no way represents the opinions of his home state. When not on active duty, Colonel Wingard is a public defender in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

If you are inclined to help rectify these injustices: Twitterers, use the hashtag #FreeFayiz. We have organized a team to get these stories out. If you are interested in helping Fayiz out, e-mail me at The Political Carnival, address in sidebar to the right; or tweet me at @GottaLaff.

If you'd like to see other ways you can take action, go here and scroll down to the end of the article.

Then read Jane Mayer's book The Dark Side. You'll have a much greater understanding of why I post endlessly about this, and why I'm all over the CIA deception issues, too.

More of Fayiz's story here, at Answers.com.

VIDEO: Sean Hannity Calls His Audience "Tim McVeigh Wannabes"

By GottaLaff



I'm sure the families of the victims of the Murrah Building bombing appreciate Hannity's little "joke". Yes, that's what it's been called by callers to talk radio. On the Stephanie Miller Show this morning, I actually heard that with my own ears.

It's "satire", see.

According to Sean Hannity, the GOP also won the health care debate because they forced the Democrats to resort to "backroom deals" and other evil practices.

Wow, who knew the Democrats were such scoundrels!? I bet they all smoked cigars and wore sleeve guards and clear green plastic visors, too! Did you realize the Dems were doing all that?

Me neither.

But the Tea Tantrumers, those wacky, zany "Timothy McVeigh wannabes", they're the real heroes.

Imagine for just one minute what the media would say had a Democrat said what Hannity did in that clip. But he skates, and America stays misinformed.

H/t: Walt

Fox v. LL Cool J. Guess who won...

By GottaLaff

Yesterday I posted about ClusterFox's using LL Cool J to promote Barbie McLipSchmutz's new Fox show, including LL Cool J's protest tweet, here.

It said, , "Fox lifted an old interview I gave in 2008 to someone else & are misrepresenting to the public in order to promote Sarah Palin's Show. WOW."

Wow, indeed.

Two Twitter pals, StopBeck and QuitPalin were instrumental in alerting LL to what was going on, and for that we thank them. It's a genuine accomplishment when the Twitterverse can bring the truth out into the open by exposing deception.

Especially when the outcome is this positive. Via MSNBC:

However, Fox News has now removed the LL Cool J segment from the Thursday (April 1) special and issued a derisive statement to Media Bistro's TVNewser blog.

"Real American Stories features uplifting tales about overcoming adversity and we believe Mr. Smith's interview fit that criteria," a spokesperson tells TVNewser. "However, as it appears that Mr. Smith does not want to be associated with a program that could serve as an inspiration to others, we are cutting his interview from the special and wish him the best with his fledgling acting career."

Once again, ClusterFox lives down to their image.

To track LL's "fledgling" career, go to the MSNBC piece.

VIDEO- Rachel Maddow: "Senator Brown, you're lying!"

By GottaLaff

What does it take? Rachel is magnificent as always, but SenatorFold Scotty "Pink Leather Shorts" Brown refuses to listen. It's hard to make it clearer than this: SCOTT BROWN IS A LIAR.

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"Senator Brown, you're lying!"... and making money off those whoppers about Rachel Maddow, who has asked you to stop every which way she can.

As Rachel noted, he's been in office for about 7 weeks, and has already lied repeatedly.

Way to start off, Sparky. Nobody could ask for a more credible representative than you.

Tuh-WEET! LL Cool J: Fox "lifted old interview" to promo Palin's show

By GottaLaff

Wow is right!

LL Cool J sets us straight, and yes, he has a verified account on Twitter. Bust. Ed:


ClusterFox of the first order.

My original post about Fox's apparent lie is here.

Note: I corrected the title.

H/t: Imzadi44