This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: Media

  • Caldwell cleared of “staring at Senators”

    The Defense Department’s Office of the Inspector General has cleared Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV of the specious charges brought against him by Rolling Stone Magazine and LTC Michael Holmes who claimed that Caldwell employed psychological operations against visiting Senators, according to the Associated Press;

    The office of the Defense Department inspector general wrote in a memorandum dated July 22 that it agreed with an Army probe that concluded that the allegations against Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell IV were not substantiated. The Army probe was ordered by Gen. David Petraeus, then the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan. It was completed March 25 but has not been made public.

    We wrote of the incident to some minor acclaim when I predicted that Rolling Stone would be embarrassed by working in an environmnet with which they are unfamiliarback in January. Then I accused their messenger, LTC Holmes, of being a juvenile, love-struck, middle-aged Lothario and when Holmes testified to the Army and choked on his words, his lawyer tried to defend him on this blog, because Holmes accused me of being one of Caldwell’s paid agents (by the way, Bill, still waiting on the check).

    Now, six months later, the DoD OIG says the allegations were unsubstantiated. Big duh, that’s what happens when amateurs try to report on the military. They get blinded by the sensational and outrageous without a thought to whether the story is even plausible.

    So, Ackerman, Hastings, Holmes and Zaid does my ass taste like strawberries like I’ve been told by, oh so many before you?

    By the way, that line “Men Who Stare at Senators” was stolen from our pal Matty O’Blackfive. Credit where it’s due.

  • Issa: White House intimidating witnesses

    The Washington Times reports this morning that Congressman Darrel Issa is accusing the Obama Administration of intimidating witnesses in the “Fast and Furious” probe.

    House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell E. Issa, California Republican, said at least two scheduled witnesses expected to be asked about a controversial weapons investigation known as “Fast and Furious”received warning letters from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to limit their testimony.

    Of course, this would be a leading news item if it was the Bush Administration. We’d be reading about it on Huffington Post and the Daily Kos – however neither of those fine websites have even mentioned the Congressional probe into the US government ignoring it’s own laws and causing the deaths of US citizens and federal agents of that same government.

    The investigation merits barely a mention in the Washington Post. The newspaper that still prides itself on the investigation of Richard Nixon’s cover-ups won’t touch this cover up.

    Yet we were subjected to months of front page coverage on Valerie Plame, even after it turned out that she had blown her own CIA cover on a magazine cover. And no one was killed as a result of her outing. But here we have people killed in the line of duty as a result of guns being allowed to be sold to unqualified buyers and to fall into the hands of our nation’s enemies…and barely a peep from the Old Media.

  • NYT: The Norway slaughter is the fault of US bloggers

    You knew that somehow it has to be our fault that Anders Behring Breivik murdered scores of Norwegians on Friday, and the New York Times is quick to point fingers;

    The author of a 2009 Department of Homeland Security report on right-wing extremism withdrawn by the department after criticism from conservatives repeated on Sunday his claim that the department had tilted too heavily toward the threat from Islamic militants.

    The revelations about Mr. Breivik’s American influences exploded on the blogs over the weekend, putting Mr. Spencer and other self-described “counterjihad” activists on the defensive, as their critics suggested that their portrayal of Islam as a threat to the West indirectly fostered the crimes in Norway.

    Oh, look, there’s that Homeland Security Department report again. Imagine my surprise. There are millions of Americans ho read those blogs and have yet to act on their “fears” in the way that Behring Breivik acted on his fears.

    The killings in Norway “could easily happen here,” [Daryl Johnson, the Department of Homeland Security analyst who was the primary author of the DHS report] said. The Hutaree, an extremist Christian militia in Michigan accused last year of plotting to kill police officers and planting bombs at their funerals, had an arsenal of weapons larger than all the Muslim plotters charged in the United States since the Sept. 11 attacks combined, he said.

    Yeah, the Hutaree boogeyman – we looked at laughed at the Hutaree last year. Nine guys who played soldier in the woods on weekends were going to embroil the nation in civil war. And if they’re so dangerous, why are they out of jail on their own recognizance. One of them was declared incompetent for trial earlier this month.

    The Times waves the Oklahoma City bloody shirt, too;

    John D. Cohen, principal deputy counterterrorism coordinator at the Department of Homeland Security, said Ms. Napolitano, who visited Oklahoma City last year for the 15th anniversary of the bombing there, had often spoken of the need to assess the risk of violence without regard to politics or religion.

    “What happened in Norway,” Mr. Cohen said, “is a dramatic reminder that in trying to prevent attacks, we cannot focus on a single ideology.”

    So what if that single ideology has people in this country facing trials this week. There is a more immediate threat in this country that no one except bloggers recognize, and it’s completely irresponsible og the New York Times to place the blame on anyone except the guy who perpetrated the crime. Most of us are just content to be aware of the threat and prepare ourselves to face it when it knocks on our door.

  • Sentinel-Echo responds to criticism

    Frankly Opinionated emailed the managing editor of the Sentinel-Echo, Carrie Dillard, about their false reporting of Curtis Barger’s awards that I wrote about yesterday. Here’s their response to him;

    On behalf of the Sentinel-Echo news staff, I would like to express our apologizes for the error regarding the medal of honor statement in the article on Mr. Curtis Barger. We have run a correction in regards to this error (see below).

    In the article “Heroes Welcome: Local veteran honored at July Cruisin’ event” in Wednesday’s edition, 84-year-old Curtis Barger was incorrectly listed as a medal of honor recipient. He, in fact, received a silver star and purple heart. We apologize for the error.

    No disrespect was intended, and again we send our apologizes.

    —
    Carrie Dillard
    Managing Editor
    The Sentinel-Echo
    123 W. 5th St.
    London, KY 40741

    I commend Carrie on her quick response, except that no one said anything about a Medal of Honor, it was the Distinguished Service Cross, his rank and the drill sergeant badge with which we had issues. So the correction and apology rings hollow since obviously the editor never read the article, or Frankly’s email for that matter.

  • WaPo: Is allowing Bush tax cuts to expire a tax hike?

    The Washington Post asked Grover Norquist that question, in an obvious attempt to trap him…and it worked. Norquist answered that “no” it wouldn’t violate the promise that most Republicans made to the public. Let me tell the Post that Norquist doesn’t speak for me or my vote.

    Of course, letting the tax cuts expire is decidedly not Mr. Norquist’s preference. Indeed, as a matter of policy, he is passionately opposed to a single dime in new tax revenue. But the fact that Mr. Norquist interprets his own pledge to permit such conduct suggests that Republican lawmakers who have been browbeaten into abjuring any tax increase, at any time, for any reason, may not be as boxed in as they believe. The official Republican line has been that allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire, even for those earning more than $250,000, would be a job-killing tax increase. The fact that the godfather of the pledge does not interpret the lapse as an increase is significant.

    I’m not adverse to an increase in tax revenues – I’m opposed to an increase in taxes to achieve an increase in revenues. revenues increased during the period of the Bush tax cuts (by the way, ten years after the tax cuts were effective, can we stop calling them tax cuts and start calling them the tax rates). I don’t know what political game Norquist is playing here, but if the tax rates rise above what they are today…well, that’s a tax hike. And if it’s caused by action or inaction by Congress, I’m holding them responsible in the 2012 election.

    The Post continues a few more times accusing Republicans of being opposed to an increase in tax revenues – and that’s not the case at all. Republicans don’t oppose increased revenues, that’s just ignorant and intentionally misinforming the public – apparently the bread and butter of the Post. Tax increases aren’t the only way to increase revenue as the post wants you to believe.

    In fact, the best way to increase tax revenues is to put Americans back to work – and raising taxes on their potential employers won’t do that.

  • Those nutty vets

    Olga sent us a link last week about James Hackemer, the legless iraq veteran who fell to his death from a roller coaster in my old stomping grounds at Darien Lake amusement park. I thought that it was a tragedy, but there wasn’t much I could say about it. Until today when our buddy David Bellavia linked a Democrat and Chronicle article on Facebook. the title of the article is “Roller coaster death shows risks of veterans’ thrill-seeking”;

    Combat veterans are known to come home from war hungry for adrenaline, taking up things like motorcycle racing or sky diving to satisfy their cravings. And some who come home without arms or legs are simply determined to do the things they did before war redefined normal.

    James Hackemer’s family insists the father of two who lost both his legs to a roadside bomb in Iraq was no thrill-seeker, but his fatal fall from a roller coaster highlights the challenge of balancing the desire for excitement and even normalcy with the reality of new disabilities.

    Yeah, it’s because of the Iraq War that he was on the rollercoaster. And why were the other people on that same ride? And why do hundreds of thousands of Americans ride roller coasters every year in this country despite the fact that most of them have never been to Iraq? Why couldn’t James Hackemer have been on that roller coaster because he wanted to be normal and spend time with his family? Why does it have to be because he needed an adrenaline rush to replace the one he had in combat? Why couldn’t he just want to be like everyone else in spite of his injuries?

    “Going on a high-speed roller coaster is not the same as getting shot at and the danger involved with it is next to nothing, but it’s just the intensity of the high speed, the curves and everything else that are just so exciting,” said Dr. James Tuorila, a psychologist who’s worked with veterans and their “adrenaline addiction.”

    Fuck you, ya ignorant asshole pseudo-intellectual fuckstick. Why can’t we take our kids on an amusement park ride without being accused of being nutty rush-junkies who can’t put the war behind us? I’ll bet James Tuorilais is one of those faggots who won’t ride a roller coaster because it’s too scary for his pussy ass.

    I used to deliver the Democrat and Chronicle during the days of the Vietnam War when it was good newspaper that reported the facts, but I wouldn’t line a bird cage with it now. If that’s the kind of tripe they print now, letting a bird or a dog shit on it would be redundant.

  • Fox Wars

    Cortillaen sends us a link from US News which recounts some of the email exchange released by Judicial Watch between White House officials in regards to attempts to block Fox News correspondents access to the news;

    “In an email on the night of October 22, 2009, commenting on a report by Fox News Channel anchor Bret Baier noting the exclusion of the network from the pool, Psaki writes to Compte and fellow White House colleagues, ‘…brett baier just did a stupid piece on it — but he is a lunatic”.’”

    Brett Baier? Really? I’ve met Baier and he’s one of the nicest and apolitical people in Washington. That’s the reason I never miss Special Report – it’s always a fair look at events in Washington. Just because he doesn’t report the exclusive White House line, that doesn’t make him biased, it makes him a journalist. One of the few left.

    Can you imagine if emails like this had leaked out during the Bush Administration? Reporters would be storming the White House gates.

  • Stolen valor for mujahadeen

    Scott sends us a CNN article about famed anti-terrorist and former terrorist Walid Shoebat who has been making the speaking circuit condemning Islamic terrorism as a former participant since 2001;

    It’s a message Shoebat is selling based on his own background as a Palestinian-American convert to conservative Christianity. Born in the West Bank, the son of an American mother, he says he was a Palestinian Liberation Organization terrorist in his youth who helped firebomb an Israeli bank in Bethlehem and spent time in an Israeli jail.

    “I have never heard anything about Walid being a mujahedeen or a terrorist,” said Daood Shoebat, who says he is Walid Shoebat’s fourth cousin. “He claims this for his own personal reasons.”

    CNN’s Jerusalem bureau went to great lengths trying to verify Shoebat’s story. The Tel Aviv headquarters of Bank Leumi had no record of a firebombing at its now-demolished Bethlehem branch. Israeli police had no record of the bombing, and the prison where Shoebat says he was held “for a few weeks” for inciting anti-Israel demonstrations says it has no record of him being incarcerated there either.

    Shoebat says he was never charged because he was a U.S. citizen.

    Yeah, I’m pretty sure that the Israelis would have no problem locking up a troublemaker in spite of his citizenship. Of course, there’s one of two things at work here; either CNN is trying to discredit Shoebat because he’s been a powerful voice against jihadists over the past ten years, or Shoebat is an opportunist profiting from American fears.