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

Category: Media

  • Conyers pleads guilty to bribery

    Monica Conyers, the wife of John Conyers, neither of whom belong to a political party, apparently, pleaded guilty to charges that she engaged in bribery as a member of the Detroit city council this morning;

    The terms of the plea agreement were not immediately available, but had been negotiated between prosecutors and Mrs. Conyers’ lawyers for more than a week.

    Mrs. Conyers had been under investigation for allegedly accepting bribes from a consultant in connection with a City Council vote to approve a $1.2 billion sludge hauling contract.

    The consultant, Rayford W. Jackson, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a city official in connection with the contract to Houston-based Synagro Technologies Inc.

    Now this should over shadow an errant husband’s scandal, shouldn’t it? Oh, that’s right – we expect Democrats to be thieves and crooks. I forgot that discussion we had yesterday for a minute.

  • Army bans S&S reporter from Mosul

    There’s been a report, mostly from Stars and Stripes, about Heath Druzin, a reporter for the unofficial military perodical, who has been banned from embedding with the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division by Col. Gary Volesky, their commander. Volesky claims that Druzin empahsized malcontented Iraqis in Mosul in an article he wrote on March 8th.

    Many residents want only Iraqis to handle security, to show respect for the country’s sovereignty. And some say the U.S. presence actually makes the city more dangerous by offering more targets for bombers.

    “Everywhere the Americans go they get (attacked),” said Sulah Ahmed Azam, a baker in the Shadad neighborhood.

    Even some in the Iraqi military want the Americans gone.

    “The coalition forces, they haven’t done anything bad to the people, but the truth is anyway that they came to invade Iraq and the people don’t like it,” said Iraqi 1st Lt. Asad Mehsin, who works closely with U.S. soldiers. “My viewpoint: I would like them to leave. You’re American, would you like Russia to invade your country?”

    In an article today, the S&S quotes an Army spokesperson on the embed controversy;

    “Despite the opportunity to visit areas of the city where Iraqi Army leaders, soldiers, national police and Iraqi police displayed commitment to partnership, Mr. Druzin refused to highlight any of this news,” Maj. Ramona Bellard, a public affairs officer, wrote in denying Druzin’s embed request. Officials also asserted that Druzin declined to answer a commander’s questions about his future stories and used quotes out of context.

    In another article today, Mark Prendergast, the ombudsman for the S&S wrote;

    In a raft of e-mail correspondence between Stars and Stripes and the military that began May 11, the colonel and the major emphasized that their problem was not with the newspaper but with Druzin — another Stripes reporter would be welcome in Mosul, they said. (Army officials in Baghdad offered to let Druzin embed somewhere else.)

    So, once again, Stars and Stripes becomes the news instead of the events they’re supposed to be covering. Service members can turn to virtually any other newspaper or news source in the world and read how they’re not wanted in Iraq. However, Druzin can’t be bothered to toss in a few lines about successes in the Mosul region into his *yawn* article about how some Iraqis don’t want us there.

    To his credit, he did write an article on March 22d that highlighted how the Kurds want us to stay there, but then, that’s old news, too. There hasn’t been a single American soldier killed in Kurdistan since the 2003 invasion of Hussein’s Iraq.

    I remember when we used to read the Stars and Stripes because we got the news that no one else would write about the good we were doing in the world – how we fit into the big picture. If Druzin wants to write the same old bullshit, let him flak for the New York or Los Angeles Times. If a commander deems it hurtful to morale or the mission, he should have the right to toss one single reporter to the curb.

    And if the story was that important, the Stars and Stripes should have sent another reporter instead of making a stand against their readership.

  • Democrats’ glee

    The Washington Post was obviously relieved that Mark Sanford was caught yesterday returning from an extra-marital affair in Argentina. The front web page of the Post this morning looked like this;

    wapo-sanford

    In the “news” article, they gleefully predict the death of the Republican Party because of the Sanford admission;

    Coming a week after Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) admitted to an extramarital affair, the scandal will impact the Republicans in several ways. First, it further damages the GOP brand, potentially driving away more voters or at least making it more difficult to win back some of those who abandoned the party in the past two elections. Second, it could disillusion social and religious conservatives — a critically important part of the Republican coalition — who may now wonder whether those who share the Republican label truly share their values. Third, the Sanford saga removes one more new-generation GOP leader from the field of prospective 2012 candidates, adding to doubts about the strength of the party’s bench.

    How many Republicans are there in the country? Two people admit to affairs and that’s the end of the party? Funny that they didn’t predict the end of the Democrat Party when John Edwards and Eliot Spitzer was busted.

    As our reader, that Disgruntled former IVAW Member said, Democrats don’t expect their politicians to be the least bit moral – doesn’t that say something about their party right there? No, obviously not. They use the excuse that “Well, the Republicans are the family values party.” When was the last time a Republican candidate mentioned family values?

    While it’s true that I won’t vote for any candidate of any party who cheats on their families, it’s not because I’m a “family values” voter – if a man’s wife can’t trust him to come home every night and fill his shoes as a father and husband, why should I trust him to do what he says he’ll do in elected office?

    It’s too bad that all voters don’t hold their candidates to a standard of truth and faith. Maybe politics would change if we tolerated a little less of the lying and cheating. But, since Democrats expect their politicians to be corrupt, there won’t be much chance of that.

  • Salon’s Neo-nazi rush job

    The other night I mentioned Salon’s Matt Kennard and his hastily assembled Neo-Nazis are in the Army now in relation to Geof Millard, IVAW’s self-styled racism expert. Oh, did I say hastily assembled? Actually it was merely an edited version of the same article Kennard wrote last summer. It didn’t get much attention then, but I remember reading it.

    I guess Kennard and Salon and the entire Leftosphere thought it was a good time to resurrect the POS article in reaction to the shooting last week at the Holocaust Museum to stir up the moonbats.

    All Kennard did was retype the introduction – he used the same interviews, the same stale facts that didn’t impress anyone last year, but with James von Brunn still fresh on everyone’s mind, the stale story found new life.

    Here’s the opening paragraph of the “new” article;

    On a muggy Florida evening in 2008, I meet Iraq War veteran Forrest Fogarty in the Winghouse, a little bar-restaurant on the outskirts of Tampa, his favorite hangout. He told me on the phone I would recognize him by his skinhead.

    And, a screen cap of the old article he wrote last September;
    kennard-fogarty

    New beginning paragraph and the news is new again – if you throw in a dash of a shooting at the Holocaust Museum.

    In both articles Kennard drew on last year’s FBI report. He takes the FBI report a step further than the FBI intended, though;

    Following an investigation of white supremacist groups, a 2008 FBI report declared: “Military experience — ranging from failure at basic training to success in special operations forces — is found throughout the white supremacist extremist movement.” In white supremacist incidents from 2001 to 2008, the FBI identified 203 veterans. Most of them were associated with the National Alliance and the National Socialist Movement, which promote anti-Semitism and the overthrow of the U.S. government, and assorted skinhead groups.

    See – 203 veterans in seven years. But Kennard goes a bit further and beclowns himself;

    Because the FBI focused only on reported cases, its numbers don’t include the many extremist soldiers who have managed to stay off the radar.

    But what the report actually says is;

    A review of FBI white supremacist extremist cases from October 2001 to May 2008 identified 203 individuals with confirmed or claimed military service active in the extremist movement at some time during the reporting period.

    Nothing about “reported cases” – confirmed or claimed military service. We know what “claimed military service” is here at This Ain’t Hell, don’t we? The FBI report continues;

    Although the count of 203 includes persons with unverified military backgrounds—some of whom may have inflated their resumes with fictional military experience to impress others within the movement….

    The FBI actually says there were probably fewer veterans, but Kennard says there were probably more veterans in racist organizations. Nice try, though, Kennard. Learn to read, buddy.

    The only thing remotely new in the latest article was the thoroughly discredited and withdrawn DHS report. He quotes the most egregious line from the report;

    “The willingness of a small percentage of military personnel to join extremist groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned, or suffering from the psychological effects of war is being replicated today.”

    The “small percentage of military personnel” had only one example in the DHS report – Timothy McVeigh who used none of the skills he learned as a Bradley gunner with the 1st Infantry Division when he bombed the building in Oklahoma City. But that line sounded good to Kennard, so he included it.

    So basically all Kennard did was recycle the article he wrote last year, slapped in some newer, discredited report and put it up on Salon to whip the Leftists into a frenzy in the wake of the von Brunn murder. Never miss an opportunity to take advantage of a tragedy.

  • Chaka Fattah meets Neil Cavuto (Video added)

    I just watched Neil Cavuto interview Congressman Chaka Fattah on Cavuto’s show. I’ve never listened to Fattah before, but I get impression that Fattah is another one of those double talking hucksters that made Philadelphia famous. If I find the video, I’ll put it up here – but I guarantee that you’ll be chucking things at the screen like I did.

    UPDATE: I added the video at 6:40AM June 17;

    Cavuto’s main point that he was trying to get Fattah to admit was that this health care bill was actually a tax hike on working Americans. Fattah wandered all over the map trying to avoid answering. He preached about what he learned in church about giving to the least of us. He said that the President has promised that we don’t have to participate in the government health plan and we can keep our own current plan.

    Fattah said that he didn’t know who was going to pay for this healthcare plan “whether it’s the rich or corporations” or whether it’s just those of us who decide not to participate and keep our own insurance – while we pay for everyone else’s health insurance as well as our own.

    He even said that 95% of Americans got a tax cut. We did? My Army pension shot up $64/month. Is that the tax cut he’s talking about? That was just a reduction in my withholding – it doesn’t affect my tax bill at the end of the year. I finally figured out my withholding and the Democrats just screwed me all up. Just like they did in 1993.

    And since we got that whopping tax cut – is that justification to slam us with someone else’s health insurance bill?

    I have a rule of thumb; as soon as an interviewee begins an answer with either phrase “Well, look…” or “I mean…”, I’m about to hear a lie. Fattah began every answer with “Well, look….”

    In fairness, he probably didn’t lie – but he didn’t say anything to convince me he wasn’t.

  • Alo Presidente

    Hoping to cuddle with the new president, ABC News has decided to do an infomercial for the Administration on June 24th, according to the Drudge Report. They’ll film a live prime time special from the White House on the president’s health care plan without offering any opposing voices. Kinda like Hugo Chavez’ weekly rants on Venezuelan TV.

    Drudge reprints the RNC protest that ABC isn’t giving a fair airing of the opposition view. ABC, in turn answers on their web presence. It’s really rather humorous – ABC outraged that Republicans think they’re biased. DrewM at Ace of Spades summarized ABC response; “…shut up you f***ing whack jobs, we are the deciders.”

    But here’s the quote from ABC;

    Like any programs we broadcast, ABC News will have complete editorial control. To suggest otherwise is quite unfair to both our journalists and our audience.

    Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be a huge audience. On a June night, several hours long, the only folks watching will be bloggers looking for that one slip that will propel them into the ionosphere overnight. I can’t picture families huddled around their TVs taking notes.

    Other than the fact that ABC has decided to jump straight into the bag for Obama, there’s really no story here. What could this possibly accomplish? It’s not like there’s going to be a referendum on socialized health care (although, there really should be – the wonks might be surprised).

    It’s all just that feel-good ownership bull sh*t that won Obama the election. We all know that every damn Democrat is going to vote for this economy-killer and they’re in the majority. And the Democrats will vote for it for no other reason than to buy the votes of the ignorant, pliant masses who think government health care is the answer to overpriced medical treatment.

    I don’t know how ABC even thought this was a good idea – it just illustrates how stupid these TV execs are these days. I wonder how long before NBC, CBS or CNN offer Obama three hours every week in his red shirt and beret. Maybe The Sniper can give us a preview of how that’d look.

  • Pick a story, Millard

    I’m sure my regular readers will remember Geof Millard who I spent some bandwidth on last year. It seems he’s playing the part of my whack-a-mole again. Thanks to reader Mary who dropped off a link to a Salon.com story which warns that “Neo-Nazis Are in the Army Now“. It’s a fairly poorly researched article that ignores the facts to project fantastic stories – much like Jon Soltz and the rest of the Left does these days.

    But, of course, when they’re having a tough time finding someone to tattle on the military, the Leftists at Salon go to IVAW, and Geof Millard is IVAW’s self proclaimed expert on racism in the military. He’s been telling a story since before Winter Soldier, as quoted by Aaron Glatz;

    That evening, Millard said he was in a briefing where the chain of command was informed of the shooting.

    “After the officer in charge briefed it to the general in a very calm manner, a commander turned in his chair to the entire division-level staff, and he said—and I quote—‘If these f——g hajis learned to drive, this s–t wouldn’t happen.’”

    Millard said he looked around the room at the other officers and the other enlisted men, mostly higher ranking than himself. “I didn’t see one dissenting body language, one disagreeing head nod,” he said. “Everyone was in agreement that it’s true, if these f—–g hajis learned to drive, this s–t wouldn’t happen. I couldn’t believe it, but it was true. That stayed with me the rest of my tour.”

    Well, just for Salon, Millard changed the story a bit;

    Geoffrey Millard, an organizer for Iraq Veterans Against the War, served in Iraq for 13 months, beginning in 2004, as part of the 42nd Infantry Division. He recalls Gen. George Casey, who served as the commander in Iraq from 2004 to 2007, addressing a briefing he attended in the summer of 2005 at Forward Operating Base, outside Tikrit. “As he walked past, he was talking about some incident that had just happened, and he was talking about how ‘these stupid fucking hajjis couldn’t figure shit out.’ And I’m just like, Are you kidding me? This is Gen. Casey, the highest-ranking guy in Iraq, referring to the Iraqi people as ‘fucking hajjis.’” (A spokesperson for Casey, now the Army Chief of Staff, said the general “did not make this statement.”)

    “The military is attractive to white supremacists,” Millard says, “because the war itself is racist.”

    Now, it’s General Casey, and he just passed by Millard and made the statement. Funny how much better it sounds now that phony soldier Millard has had 18 months to work on his narrative, ain’t it? I know it didn’t happen because the General Casey version would have made it to the Winter Soldier testimony – and it didn’t.

    First of all, there’s nothing offensive about the word “hadji”. Proof? OK, here’s a picture I took in Bethesda, MD last year. Bethesda is the most politically-correct town in the country – would they tolerate this on Wisconsin Avenue (the main street that leads to Georgetown in DC)?

    Hadji's

    Secondly, Millard; pick a story and stick to it – this is too easy. can’t you give me a challenge? Millard began by lying about his backpain in the Army and when he couldn’t get a medical retirement, he went AWOL and got busted for it – then he promoted himself to sergeant again and gave himself a stack of medals all after he got out and forged his DD214 to reflect the cool stuff. He also broke the first rule of This Ain’t Hell – he awarded himself a CIB that he didn’t earn. So why is Salon bothering to interview him? Because he brings them the message they want to hear.

    We’ll have more on the Salon article later, I promise. It’s a pretty long piece, and I’ve got some links to find.

  • That PT boat Captain

    Oh, yeah, on that PT boat “Captain” that shot the security guard at the Holocaust Museum, the one about whom Military.com ran this headline;
    Military.com headline
    Yeah, well, Terry D dropped off a link yesterday that goes to PT 159’s log. That stuff about him being a captain comes from this entry;
    a_pt_159_crew_listdocument_name_web2a
    Notice the date – July 13, 1945. The US dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima on August 6th and on Nagasaki August 9th, President Truman announced Japan’s surrender on August 14th and VJ Day was September 2d. And notice his rank – an O-1 O-2. Yet, for those six weeks, he’s forever known as a “World War II PT Boat Captain”. I’ve had the hiccups longer. It’s about the same amount of time that Jesse MacBeth spent in the Army.

    Von Brunn enlisted on April 29, 1942 and was immediately placed in the inactive reserves. March 16, 1943 he was recalled to active duty and was appointed a midshipman and was ordered to report for “Midshipmen’s School” in New York City ordered on April, 20, 1943. I don’t see what he did after that until he took over PT 159. Wikipedia says he was “awarded three battle stars” but I can’t find the record of them.

    It looks like PT 159’s log ends October 1, 1945. I don’t see any proof that von Brunn retired from the Navy, either, even though the media has interchanged the word “retired” with folks who just ended their service. I’m pretty sure the media doesn’t know the difference. Military.com should, though.