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Friday, October 22, 2010
NY Times Very Excited Over Latest Wikileaks Document Dump
Of course they are. Anything that makes the United States look bad has them soiling their drawers. In fact if you look at their front page and the array of story links and photos, it quite clear they're working closely with these thugs at Wikileaks. How else would they have everything ready to release if it wasn't coordinated?Curiously enough, one article points out how closely the Iranians were
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"Airplane" Producer Apologizes For Past Support of Barbara Boxer, Creates World's Funniest Campaig
Famed filmmaker David Zucker (of Airplane Fame) wrote an apology to Big Hollywood readers for backing Barbara Boxer in past elections for the US Senate. It turns out that the producer of comedy classics gave money to Boxer during her first campaign for Senate. My first reaction was surely he can't be serious
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/NWlS/~3/gCw6tOo5iYA/airplane-producer-apolgizes-support-of.html
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Looking over our shoulder to drive libs nuts: Did Obama spend millions to keep Birth Cert secret?
| Items are organized chronologically, then in order of discovery . . . | |||||||
| Robert Bauer — Obama's Mouthpiece | |||||||
| Robert Bauer, the chief of the political law group at Perkins Coie, the Seattle law firm hired by the White House to defend Obama in court cases challenging his "natural born" citizenship status in the United States and thus, his eligibility under the U.S. Constitution to be president. Bauer has done his best to prevent the American public from seeing a wide range of Obama's records that could prove, or disprove, his eligibility to occupy the Oval Office under the Constitution's requirement that the president be a "natural born" citizen. Documents concerning Obama that the White House has refused to release to the public include his long-form birth certificate and his passport records, as well as other records that may possibly be relevant, such as records regarding Obama's possible adoption by his Indonesian stepfather or college application and tuition financial aid records which would reveal whether Obama was ever registered as a foreign student. Federal Election Commission records show $1,352,378.95 in payments were made by Obama for America to Perkins Coie while the law firm was representing Obama in various court cases which have sought to obtain Obama's long-form birth certificate to determine if he is a "natural born" citizen under Article Two, Section 1 of the Constitution. Bauer, a Democratic Party partisan, has a long history of defending Democratic Party presidential hopefuls. A biography for Bauer posted on the Perkins Coie website indicates he was general counsel to the Democratic National Committee during the presidential campaign of Sen. John Kerry and that he served as counsel to Sen. Tom Daschle, the Democratic leader in the impeachment trial proceedings of President Bill Clinton. During the 2008 presidential campaign, Bauer functioned as an "attack lawyer," threatening with FEC complaints groups wanting to run anti-Obama television ads. Also during the 2008 presidential campaign, Bauer as counsel for the Obama campaign wrote letters to television station managers and to Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General John Keeney arguing that airing an anti-Obama ad pointing to the known association between Obama and Weather Underground radical Bill Ayers would violate federal election rules. Also during the 2008 campaign, Bauer intervened on behalf of Obama to block the California-based American Leadership Project from running a television ad campaign over support from unions, including the Service Employees International Union. Again, Bauer filed a complaint with the FEC alleging that the union-funded television campaign the American Leadership Project planned to run in Indiana against Obama was illegal under federal election laws. In addition to representing Obama on eligibility cases, Bauer also is hired as legal counsel to represent the president in the criminal probe going on into the activities of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Last year Bauer was at the center of the controversy over Obama's decision to reverse course on his promise to accept pubic financing for his presidential campaign after a meeting with Sen. John McCain's attorney, Trevor Potter, when Bauer claimed McCain did not want to reach a compromise on the issue. The McCain campaign sharply criticized Bauer's characterization of the meeting. It was in June 2007 when Bauer authored a piece in Huffington Post regarding Vice President Dick Cheney's aide, Scooter Libby, arguing that liberals should not oppose a White House pardon because a pardon would draw President George W. Bush directly into the case, with the potential the "presidential fingerprints" could become politically explosive. | |||||||
| Obama Attorney Threatens Sanctions | |||||||
| After the flippant dismissal by U.S. Circuit Court Judge James Robertson of the lawsuit to attempt to determine whether Barack Obama is constitutionally eligible to occupy the Oval Office, D.C. attorney John Hemenway received a letter from a lawyer representing Barack Obama and Joe Biden. (Hemenway had enjoined the suit launched by Hillary Clinton's ally, Philip Berg, the former Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania and attorney Lawrence Joyce of Arizona, in an attempt to force Obama to disclose his birth records, currently being protected against public scrutiny by the Obama legal team at a reported cost of as much as one million dollars.) The letter, written by Obama attorney Robert F. Bauer, states the following: "I represent President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden. I write to request that, in light of the District Court's March 24, 2009 Rule 11 order in Hollister v. Soetoro, No. 08-2254, you withdraw the appeal filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, No. 09-5080. For the reasons stated in Judge Robertson's order, the suit is frivolous and should not be pursued." "Should you decline to withdraw this frivolous appeal, please be informed that we intend to pursue sanctions, including costs, expenses, and attorney's fees, pursuant to federal Rule Appellate Procedure 38 and D.C. Circuit Rule 38." Mr. Hemenway's response to the letter was a promise to "write and protest and attack those against the demand that Obama show proof of his birth, and I will continue to do anything I can think of doing that might perhaps deter or injure those who are opposed to "transparency" and "openness" and honesty in governmental operations — all those good and vague promises that Obama threw out in speeches read from his teleprompter." There's more here . . . | |||||||
| Barnett v. Obama | |||||||
| Is The Fix In? In a stunning blow to the impartiality of the American Judicial system, Federal Judge David O. Carter, who is hearing the case Barnett vs. Obama, in the Central District, Southern Division Court at Santa Ana, California, has just hired a lawyer who works for a law firm where Robert F. Bauer, one of Obama's top lawyers is a partner. And that, just days before the Oct. 5, 2009 hearing on the Motion to Dismiss, in which Judge Carter's demeanor radically changed. Siddharth Velamoor is the lawyer chosen by Carter to serve as one of his two official clerks, from Oct. 1, 2009, till Sept. 30, 2010. Velamoor is listed as an associate with Perkins Coie, LLP's office in Seattle, Washington. It is not clear if he has broken his relations with the firm. Robert F. Bauer, is a partner of Perkins Coie, LLP's office in Washington, D.C.. His bio at the company identifies him as holding the Chair of the Political Law group at the firm; general counsel to Obama's Campaign for America and general counsel to the Democratic National Committee. Continue reading here . . . Bauer is Obama's chief "birther" lawyer. His job is to keep Obama's personal artifacts hidden from the American People. He has demonstrated that he will use all available means to do this. Mr. Bauer's wife is none other than Anita Dunn, Obama's Communication's Director, whose affection for Chairman Mao is documented in the next item.
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http://libertypundits.net/article/looking-over-our-shoulder-to-drive-libs-nuts-did-obama-spend-millions-to-keep-birth-cert-secret/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=looking-over-our-shoulder-to-drive-libs-nuts-did-obama-spend-millions-to-keep-birth-cert-secret
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Side Effects: Obamacare Strengthens Compliance-Based Medicine
Obamacare alters the practice medicine by putting a stronger emphasis on adherence to government-determined measures of quality.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) already offers hospitals financial incentives to report on their compliance with certain measures of care. These are posted on Hospital Compare, a site where, according to Kaiser Health News, "patients can shop around by putting in their zip codes and the website churns out a list of nearby hospitals, with detail on available services, care outcomes, patient satisfaction ratings and more."
These quality indicators include some measures of outcome, but they overwhelmingly focus on measuring processes. A recent study by the University of Michigan looked at whether process measures actually indicate that higher quality of care is being achieved.
They found that they did not. The study looked at the outcomes of 352,052 surgeries at 2,189 hospitals and compared them to adherence to process measures reported by Hospital Compare. According to the authors, they "found little evidence of a consistent relationship between hospital compliance with processes of care and operative mortality rate." Furthermore, they write that "currently available information on the Hospital Compare website will not help patients identify hospitals with better outcomes for high-risk surgery."
What does this mean for Medicare patients under the new law? Obamacare goes a step further than simply requiring hospitals to report on their adherence to measures. Beginning in 2013, hospitals that treat Medicare patients will be reimbursed at different rates based on performance, measured using the same quality indicators on Hospital Compare. In light of studies such as the one highlighted above, this means that the new law will compel physicians to perform processes that do not necessarily benefit patients. Moreover, hospitals risk being compensated less for not adhering to the measures, though they may nevertheless be providing high-quality health care.
Heritage research finds that, under such a system, Americans:
would see population-based study results applied to their individual situations despite their unique health conditions, their personal values, and their doctors' experience. They would find themselves under the care of physicians restricted in their ability to exercise their best medical judgment to tailor care to their patients' specific situations and preferences. These physicians would have more incentive to check the boxes on the automatic protocol lists that generate compensation than they would to act in the best interests of their patients. This would undoubtedly decrease the level of medical innovation and weaken the doctor–patient relationship.
Value-based purchasing in Medicare will alter reimbursement only under Medicare Part A, but from the legislative language, it appears that the way that hospitals treat all patients will be used to determine performance scores. This means that all Americans, not just seniors, will be affected. The negative consequences of compliance-focused medicine are numerous. To read more, click here.
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Houston Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee Electioneering And Harassing Poll Watchers
Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Houston) violated election laws when, on Monday, October 18, she entered into Acres Home Multiservice Community Center, walked to where the voting booths were looking for the poll watchers, greeted voters there, and then found and confronted the poll watchers before being directed to, and then asked by, the presiding judge Bernard Gurski to leave the area.
A source speaking on the condition of anonymity said that she heard people say that Sheila Jackson Lee was in the voting area. The lobby of the building was chaotic because some people were in line to vote and some people were in line for the food bank.
So the source, a poll watcher, went into the room housing the voting booths and there stood Congresswoman Lee shaking hands with voters and greeting others–clearly electioneering. The poll watcher then went to one of the clerks and asked the presiding judge to take care of it.
While this occurred, the poll watcher heard Lee loudly say to the crowd in the voting area,"I've heard a lot of complaints about voter intimidation by poll watchers. I am not going to allow voter intimidation."
The poll watcher started writing the incident down.
Lee then went to the poll watcher and asked,"What's your name? Who do you represent?"
A poll watcher is not allowed to speak in the polling area, so directed Congresswoman Lee to the presiding judge. The poll watcher said that Congresswoman Lee indicated that she wanted names to report to the Department of Justice for voter intimidation.
The presiding judge asked Congresswoman Lee to leave.
It should be noted that Congresswoman Jackson-Lee's office is also located in the building where voting takes place. In fact, she has to walk past those in line to vote every day on the way to her office.
Both the poll watcher and the presiding judge characterized the relationship between them to be pleasant and mutually respectful. Presiding Judge Gurski seemed more confident in the integrity of the election process than did the poll watcher, however.
The poll watcher observed and documented several violations of election code and characterized the problems as "systemic".
This account is backed up by another worker there, an election clerk, who also wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution. He relayed concern for his safety.
The election clerk described the poll watchers as timid. He said that they stayed out of the way, were quiet and and did not talk to any voters.
He confirms that Congresswoman Lee was, in fact, back near the voting booths and talking to the presiding judge but he did not overhear her conversation but saw her from a distance. He estimated that Sheila Jackson Lee was within 10 feet of the voting machines but was not herself voting. He also witnessed Congresswoman Lee talking to the poll watcher but again, could not hear the contents of the conversation.
The clerk corroborated the poll watcher's report that there were consistent election law violations in the polling places. He cited many examples including:
- One man asked to vote for Obama and the man was directed to vote down the line Democrat.
- Excessive assistance given at the polling booth to those who were physically able and able to read.
- Election clerks asked leading questions on multiple occasions such as, "You want to vote Democrat, right?" while assisting someone at the voting booth rather then instructing a person how to use the machine to decide himself.
The poll watcher relayed an example where a man clearly wanted to vote for one candidate for Governor and that's the only race he wanted to vote. The clerk assisting him kept insisting, "you want to vote Democrat, right?" To which the man would respond with the one candidate he wanted to vote for. His ballot eventually was cast with a straight Democrat ticket filled.
All people involved reported a civil and peaceful voting atmosphere though the poll watcher says various people coming in on the first day asking where and who the poll watchers were. One man came to the polling site and yelled, "Are those the tea baggers we saw on the news?'
As the week has worn on, though, all those interviewed report a calm atmosphere even as some election violations routinely occur.
Earlier in the week, it was reported that El Franco Lee also went to a polling place and harassed poll watchers. A claim he now denies which contradicts other eye-witness reports.
El Franco Lee said to the Houston Chronicle's Chris Moran, "Elections are won and lost on participation. Our best elections are when you have the highest participation."
His statement begs the question over whether the outrage over poll watchers is intended increase voter turnout. Poll watching is a healthy part of the democratic process according to liberal stalwart and former President Jimmy Carter.
"In an ideal circumstance," said the Acres Home clerk, "everyone would want poll watchers there because they legitimize the process."
Calls to Congresswoman Jackson-Lee's office were not returned.
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Rush: REVERSE Operation Chaos
"Reverse operation chaos," enthuses Rush Limbaugh, "even the Clintons are on board!"
If you're a Democrat, Rush Limbaugh wants you to stay home. Or, better yet, he says to vote Republican.
65 seats won't move the Democrats, Rush assures. At 75 seats? Now we're talking, he says.
Rush Limbaugh, the perennial prankster and again, trouble maker for the Democrats hits a raw nerve. He knows that the American public is thinking back to the halcyon days of a Clinton as president and a recalcitrant Republican Congress with fondness.
Only problem? Barack Obama is no Bill Clinton.
He's less fun. He's less flexible. He's less pragmatic. He's more liberal.
The only solution then, is to remind Americans of what they're missing and help engage everyone irritated with Obama to stay home or vote Republican.
Will it work?
Actually, I think this idea is pure genius.
People on the center left feel nothing but impotent rage. They don't like President Obama, but they don't like Republicans. This solution gives them an option. It gives them a good reason to vote Republican or to stay home.
Plus, it's true. I have been saying for a year that Hillary Clinton may be used to playing second fiddle but won't stay second fiddle.
I also predicted that Rahm Emanuel would leave serving the President right about now. Why? He's a Clintonista and would need to be free in order to help Hillary.
So far, things are going exactly as prophesied.
Would Hillary Clinton primary Barack Obama in 2012? Yes.
Would Hillary Clinton win? Yes.
Would Hillary Clinton be tougher for Republicans to beat? Yes again.
Rush's Reverse Operation Chaos is genius.
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The U.S. Takes “New Europe” for Granted at its Own Peril
The nations of "New Europe" have been staunch allies of the United States in the aftermath of 9/11, and have sacrificed resources and soldiers' lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. Again and again, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have shown their steadfastness and commitment to the United States. Yet America has not always returned the favor. Crucial ally Poland, as well as several other CEE countries, are still awaiting acceptance to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. The "Third Site" missile defense installations, eagerly anticipated by Poland and the Czech Republic, were traded away by the Obama Administration to win Russian support on resisting Iran's nuclear advances. CEE citizens have taken note, and public support for the U.S. and its policies has begun to waver. Russia stands poised—with an arsenal of propaganda, economic, and military might—to re-establish influence over the CEE region. The U.S. must not take support from New Europe for granted. The region has not yet been lost to Russian influence—but the U.S. must act now to preserve the crucial relationship with Central and Eastern Europe. Two of The Heritage Foundation's most senior foreign policy analysts explain what the American government can, and should, do.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/10/The-US-Takes-New-Europe-for-Granted-at-its-Own-Peril
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