Archive for the ‘Ethics’ Category
One man’s unsubstantiated accusations might be a liberal’s smokescreen. That appears to be the case with this editorial. Here’s what I’m specifically talking about:
Remembering this is a family newspaper, my descriptors point more toward sad, spiteful, brutal, even mean. Yes, they come in two colors: red and blue.
Whaddya mean I can’t say U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann is dead-on right to say fellow House Rep. Keith Ellison is tied to a terrorist group?
Those two statements summarize several correspondences I’ve had from local readers wanting to share their opinions on unsubstantiated accusations from both of these elected officials.
This isn’t an unsubstantiated accusation. It’s Randy’s excuse for not running an LTE I submitted during the height of the National Security Five noncontroversy. I provided the proof of the Keith Ellison-Muslim Brotherhood connection in this post:
Tax records show the group that paid Ellison’s expenses, the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, received nearly $900,000 in taxpayer money in 2006 and 2007 from a rental arrangement for Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TiZA), an Inver Grove Heights charter school.
Here’s the connection to the Muslim Brotherhood:
In May 2005, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross reported in The Weekly Standard that MAS is a U.S. front group for the Muslim Brotherhood, a claim supported by a September 19, 2004 Chicago Tribune story that stated: “In recent years, the U.S. Brotherhood operated under the name Muslim American Society, according to documents and interviews. One of the nation’s major Islamic groups, it was incorporated in Illinois in 1993 after a contentious debate among Brotherhood members.”
It’s become increasingly clear that Krebs sees his job as providing political cover to the DFL. This isn’t an unsubstantiated rumor. Documents filed with the state of Illinois identify the Muslim American Society as being part of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Tax records verify that the MAS/Muslim Brotherhood paid for Ellison’s trip to Mecca. In fact, Ellison was the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation for accepting that expensive of a gift at a time when Democrats were in the majority.
It’s stunning to think that Krebs thinks that the connection between the Muslim Brotherhood and Keith Ellison isn’t direct and substantiated.
Simply put, it isn’t that the last 3 months of a campaign are the silly season. A legitimate case can be made that campaigns get silly in September and October.
It’s that it’s silly season 24/7 at the Times.
Tags: Media, Media Bias, St. Cloud Times, Randy Krebs, Keith Ellison, Muslim Brotherhood, Muslim American Society, Democrats, Michele Bachmann, National Security Five, GOP, Election 2012
There’s no question that President Obama appreciates this disgusting ad:
That’s because this president, and the staff he surrounds himself with, love playing dirty politics. President Obama picked Bill Burton to be his deputy press secretary. President Obama knew that Bill Burton wasn’t a man of great character. That’s why it can’t be a surprise to the Obama campaign that Burton put this disgusting, almost defamatory, ad together.
It’s the Chicago way.
About the ad itself, others have given Mr. Soptic a pass:
It is my sincerest hope that when you made your anti-Romney ad mentioning your wife, your thinking was still too muddled by grief to make reasonable judgments. If so, shame on those who encouraged you and on those who exploited your rash words in this ad.
I won’t give Mr. Soptic a pass. I won’t hesitate in saying that it’s tragic when a woman that young dies of cancer. That’s as far as I’ll go, though.
It’s important to remember that it’s been 6 years since his wife passed away. That’s plenty of time to properly grieve his wife’s death. It’s equally important to remember that the insinuations didn’t come from a man who’d lost his wife weeks ago. They came from a man who’d had 6 years to collect himself.
He knew that Mitt Romney didn’t have anything to do with his wife’s death. Let’s be clear about this. If Bain hadn’t closed GST Steel, would his wife still be alive? No rational person would argue that.
President Obama hired David Axelrod, too. Axelrod plays dirty like other Chicago politicians and operatives. He doesn’t play hardball. He’s an outright liar who, when he’s caught, tries to deflect,change the subject and obfuscate. He’s a despicable person.
Which leaves the Dirtbag-in-chief. He’s loving this. If he has to have his henchmen use a dishonest, albeit sympathetic, man insinuate that Mitt Romney killed his cancer-riddled wife, he won’t hesitate in pulling that trigger.
By Bill Burton’s standards, President Obama and disgraced AG Eric Holder have blood on their hands because Operation Fast and Furious led directly to Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry’s death.
If President Obama had character, he would’ve fired Holder and Secretary Napolitano immediately for their incompetence and their covering Operation Fast and Furious up. Instead, he hid the documents that Chairman Darrell Issa’s committee had subpeonaed with a flimsy assertion of Executive Privilege.
That’s before talking about the lies that Stephanie Cutter has told. She said she didn’t know anything about Mr. Soptic’s story so she wouldn’t comment on Burton’s video. Then it’s exposed that she participated in the campaign’s conference call with Mr. Soptic.
Don’t any of these people tell the truth?
President Obama’s administration and campaign are as disgusting as anything Richard Nixon ever put together. That’s what’s earned him the title of Dirtbag-in-Chief.
Tags: President Obama, Operation Fast and Furious, David Axelrod, Chicago Way, Bill Burton, Eric Holder, Joe Soptic, Stephanie Cutter, Janet Napolitano, Corruption, Richard Nixon, Democrats, Election 2012
It’s time that the Senate ran Sen. Reid out of office. Of course, Senate Democrats will protect Sen. Reid because their highest priority is maintaining power, not doing what’s right.
If Democrats won’t do the right thing, then it’s up to the American people to defeat them this November.
For instance, when ‘moderate’ Sen. Klobuchar stays silent about Sen. Reid’s disgusting behavior, her actions say she isn’t willing to take a principled stand against a disgusting human being. That’s all the reason Minnesotans should need to fire her this November. It isn’t like she has any accomplishments during her time in office. (Except if you count her voting to raise Medtronics tax bill by $175,000,000 per year as an accomplishment.)
Jon Tester, Sherrod Brown, Tim Kaine, Claire McCaskill, Bill Nelson and others should pay the price for not criticizing Sen. Reid’s disgusting statements, too.
It’s bad enough that Sen. Reid made the initial accusations without a bit of proof. What’s worse is his newest statements:
On Wednesday, Reid stuck to his story, and broadened it.
“I am not basing this on some figment of my imagination,” Reid said in a telephone call with Nevada reporters. “I have had a number of people tell me that.”
Asked to elaborate on his sources, Reid declined. “No, that’s the best you’re going to get from me.”
“I don’t think the burden should be on me,” Reid said. “The burden should be on him. He’s the one I’ve alleged has not paid any taxes. Why didn’t he release his tax returns?”
Talk about chutzpah. Sen. Reid makes statements that haven’t been substantiated by anyone willing to make these accusations public. When Sen. Reid’s honesty is challenged, albeit not by GOP senators or by the allegedly MSM, his reaction is that he shouldn’t have to prove he isn’t lying through his teeth.
Sen. Reid is a disgusting individual who isn’t worried about proving whether he’s telling the truth.
If GOP senators stay silent or make statements like this, they’ll send the signal to progressives that they don’t have an incentive to stop their smear campaigns:
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Wednesday that he did not see Romney’s tax returns as a “relevant issue” and that if people want more disclosure, “they should pass a law to make it that way.”
Talk about wimpy. Sen. Rubio could turn this into a media disaster for the Democrats if he issued this statement:
Sen. Reid’s disgusting and unsubstantiated accusations fit a pattern with Sen. Reid. His defeatist statement that “The war is lost” demoralized our troops while they fought bravely. His unsubstantiated allegation from a mystery investor who doesn’t have the courage to make these accusations in the light of day calls into question whether this person exists.
It’s time for Sen. Reid to put up or shut up or be held accountable for his disgraceful actions. Sen. Reid won’t pass a budget. Sen. Reid won’t accept responsibility for verifying the identity of this mystery investor.
While Sen. Reid sits on his thumbs or makes wild allegations, Republicans in the Senate and the House continue putting forward proposals to dig this nation out of the mess this administration and Sen. Reid have kept us in.
It’s time for Sen. Reid to prove he isn’t lying through his teeth. If he brings this Bain investor forward, then it’s a debatable issue. If he continues making these allegations without offering proof, it’s reasonable to think that Sen. Reid is lying.
UPDATE: This has the feel of Rathergate. Disgraced ‘journalist’ Dan Rather tried accusing George Bush of not fulfilling his service to the Texas Air National Guard during the 2000 campaign.
When that fell through, he waited until 2004 to run the story. The fledgling blogosphere quickly discredited the article, leading to Rather admitting that the documents were “fake but accurate.”
Is this Harry Reid’s “Rathergate moment”? I can’t rule it out.
Tags: Ethics Investigation, Harry Reid, Taxes, Bain Investor, Dishonesty, Amy Klobuchar, Jon Tester, Tim Kaine, Claire McCaskill, Scandal, Democrats, Election 2012
People can’t forget Harry Reid bragging to the press that “the war is lost.” It was a despicable, anti-American thing to say. He said it repeatedly. He said it without hesitation or regret. Frankly, America is worse off having Harry Reid still in office.
They’re worse off because he’s a despicable, discusting human being who won’t hesitate in doing a hatchet job without the slightest bit of proof.
His latest disgusting act was accusing Mitt Romney of not paying his taxes for an entire decade. He said that he’d heard that from an anonymous Democrat who invested with Bain:
Reid suggested that Romney’s decision to withhold tax information would bar him from ever earning Senate confirmation to a Cabinet post. Then, Reid recalled a phone call his office received about a month ago from “a person who had invested with Bain Capital,” according to The Huffington Post.
Reid said the person told him: “Harry, he didn’t pay any taxes for 10 years.”
“He didn’t pay taxes for 10 years! Now, do I know that that’s true? Well, I’m not certain,” Reid told HuffPo. “But obviously he can’t release those tax returns. How would it look?”
First, it’s doubtful that this confidential informant exists. If the dirtbag exists, however, then he’s a gutless wimp for not coming forward and making the accusations in public.
Whether the disgusting dirtbag exists or not, Sen. Reid shouldn’t make those unsubstantiated allegations public because it’s impossible, short of hacking into the IRS website, to verify the voracity of these allegations.
What’s disgusting is that President Obama’s campaign hasn’t criticized Sen. Reid for making these unsubstantiated (and unsubstantiatable) allegations. Their silence implies that they approve of Sen. Reid’s accusations. Their silence in this situation should earn them nothing but unlimited derision and criticism.
I don’t want Sen. Reid to apologize. I want Republican senators to make his life a living hell before running him out of the Senate. I want Republicans to torment him, call him out for what he is: a dirtbag who won’t hesitate to make unsubstantiated allegations.
The other thing that I’d recommend them to do is use Sen. Reid’s disgusting outburst to raise money to defeat as many Democrats as possible this fall. The best punishment for Sen. Reid short of running him out of the Senate is to turn him into the Minority Leader.
It’s time for Republicans to take the gloves off. If they continue acting like gentlemen and ladies, Sen. Reid, Sen. Durbin, Sen. Schumer and other notorious hatchetmen won’t have an incentive to stop being hatchetmen.
Let’s hope the GOP grows a spine ASAP. Let’s hope they carry out a ruthless vendetta against this dirtbag from Nevada.
Finally, here’s my (rhetorical) question to Harry Reid: Sir, have you no shame?
Unfortunately, we know the answer to that question is no, he doesn’t have any remorse or shame.
Tags: Taxes, Harry Reid, Scandal, This War Is Lost, Ethics Investigation, President Obama, Smear Campaign, Democrats, Mitt Romney, GOP Senators, Election 2012
Bruce Hentges is in hot water. In Hentges’ St. Cloud Times op-ed, he made this statement:
According to Sahlberg, education in Finland, a country with virtually no private schools and a very low poverty rate, has been seen first and foremost; not as a way to produce star performers, but as an instrument to even out social inequality.
Finland offers all pupils free school meals, easy access to health care, psychological counseling and individualized student guidance. In other words, by focusing on equity of opportunity for all students, Finland has produced academic excellence.
Hentges references Pasi Sahlberg, director of the Finnish Ministry of Education’s Center for International Mobility in the first paragraph. In that first paragraph, Hentges attributes to Sahlberg that education in Finland…has been seen…as an instrument to even out social inequality.
Hentges’ second paragraph looks like a personal observation but it isn’t. Here’s what was written in the Atlantic:
In the Finnish view, as Sahlberg describes it, this means that schools should be healthy, safe environments for children. This starts with the basics. Finland offers all pupils free school meals, easy access to health care, psychological counseling, and individualized student guidance.
Here’s the last sentence in the Atlantic’s paragraph:
Finland offers all pupils free school meals, easy access to health care, psychological counseling, and individualized student guidance.
Here’s the first sentence in Hentges’ second paragraph:
Finland offers all pupils free school meals, easy access to health care, psychological counseling and individualized student guidance.
After that, Hentges says this:
In other words, by focusing on equity of opportunity for all students, Finland has produced academic excellence.
Here’s the next paragraph from the article in the Atlantic:
In fact, since academic excellence wasn’t a particular priority on the Finnish to-do list, when Finland’s students scored so high on the first PISA survey in 2001, many Finns thought the results must be a mistake. But subsequent PISA tests confirmed that Finland, unlike, say, very similar countries such as Norway, was producing academic excellence through its particular policy focus on equity.
It’s clear that Hentges’ op-ed didn’t give attribution to the Atlantic’s article. It’s clear that Hentges ‘borrowed’ one sentenced from the Atlantic’s article, then mixing it with his own personal opinion.
In the dictionary, that’s known as plagiarism:
the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one’s own original work, as by not crediting the author
This isn’t a criticism of the St. Cloud Times. It’s difficult for them to know the wording of every article on every subject. Instead, it’s an indictment against Mr. Hentges, especially considering the fact that AJ Kern used that same sentence, with attribution, during her presentation on improving teacher quality during the Restoring Excellence in Education Forum.
Considering the fact that Mr. Hentges is an academic who sits on the St. Cloud School Board, he knows better than to claim personal credit for things written in an article. It’s plagiarism, pure and simple. It’s proof that Mr. Hentges’ professionalism and ability to serve should be questioned.
Tags: Finland, Education, Bruce Hentges, Plagiarism, Corruption
When Valerie Plame was all the talk with liberals, conservatives grew tired of Joe Wilson’s fabrications. I said at the time that the easiest way to detect whether Amb. Wilson was lying or not was to see if his lips were moving. Based on her bold accusations, then her immediate backtracking on the issue, I’d suggest that the Joe Wilson Rule applies to Nancy Pelosi. Here’s Pelosi’s disgusting accusation:
When Newt challenged her, saying that she should “bring it on”, Pelosi started backtracking faster than I thought an old lady like her could move. Here’s Newt’s response:
After Newt’s response, Team Pelosi went into damage control:
Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s office on Wednesday said the minority leader doesn’t have any dirt on Newt Gingrich.
Pelosi has suggested in two interviews that she knows something that could prevent Gingrich from becoming president, but her office said the California Democrat doesn’t have any secrets about Gingrich, who has shot to the top of national Republican polls after winning the South Carolina primary.
“The ‘something’ Leader Pelosi knows is that Newt Gingrich will not be President of the United States. She made that clear last night,” Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill said in a statement.
“Leader Pelosi previously made a reference to the extensive amount of information that is in the public record, including the comprehensive committee report with which the public may not be fully aware,” Hammill said.
San Fran Nan is a windbag. Tell her to jump on her broomstick and tell her to get the hell back to San Fran.
Tags: Nancy Pelosi, Joe Wilson, Valerie Plame, Plamegate, Democrats, Newt Gingrich, Republicans, Election 2012
Mitt’s been peddling the notion that Newt’s sanctions were proof of a fatal character flaw. This video, featuring Brooks Jackson, says the opposite:
First, Brooks Jackson is the most trustworthy, no nonsense campaign finance reporter in the business. Second place behind him doesn’t exist.
David Bonior, one of the most partisan Democrats ever to be part of leadership is quoted as saying “Mr. Gingrich engaged in a pattern of tax fraud.” John Lewis said ” We cannot have a Speaker who is under investigation for lying to counsel investigating his involvement in a massive tax fraud scheme.”
The problem with their coordinated attacks is that they aren’t based on anything resembling reality. That isn’t opinion. That’s the Clinton IRS’s ruling in the matter.
There’s no doubt but that Mitt wants to continue this narrative. Similarly, there’s no proof that substantiates Mitt’s attacks. In short, Mitt is being as dishonest as the Agenda Media. In the eyes of conservatives, it’s one thing to attack a man’s character or his record. It’s another to be as deceitful as the Agenda Media.
In fact, Mitt’s arguments mirror Nancy Pelosi’s arguments. First, here’s Mitt:
“Speaker Gingrich has also been a leader,” the former Massachusetts governor said. “He was a leader for four years as speaker of the House. And at the end of four years, it was proven that he was a failed leader and he had to resign in disgrace. I don’t know whether you knew that, he actually resigned after four years, in disgrace.
Romney continued: “He was investigated over an ethics panel and had to make a payment associated with that and then his fellow Republicans, 88 percent of his Republicans voted to reprimand Speaker Gingrich. He has not had a record of successful leadership.”
The IRS found that the initial allegation leveled by Pelosi, Boniors and others didn’t have merit.
Here’s what Bill Jacobson at Legal Insurrection said about Mitt’s attacks:
So Romney is going on attack. The centerpiece will be Newt Gingrich’s consent to a single ethics violation (out of 84 charged) in the 1990s. The process was highly politicized by Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi. Newt ultimately was vindicated by the IRS on the issue, but you wouldn’t know it from Romney’s speech yesterday in Florida.
If Mitt is going to buy into Pelosi’s and Boniors’ propaganda, then he’ll further damage his credibility with conservatives. People didn’t trust him before Mitt’s deceitful attacks. They’ll trust him less after this.
Newt isn’t Mitt’s biggest problem. Mitt is. Mitt’s seen by the base as artificial, plastic. Attacking Newt won’t solve Mitt’s conservative crisis.
Tags: Ethics, Investigation, IRS, Newt Gingrich, Florida, Mitt Romney, Nancy Pelosi, GOP, Election 2012
If there’s been a more childish, juvenile stunt pulled by a presidential frontrunner’s campaign than this, I wouldn’t know what it is:
The Romney campaign today will deliver an anniversary cake to Gingrich HQ in SC today marking the 15th yr (to the day) that Gngrich became the first Speaker of the House ever reprimanded for an ethics violation.
Here’s Greta’s opinion:
I don’t know about you but with all the serious issues confronting our nation and for our next President to address, whether it be President Obama or a Republican, I find this gesture (below) from the Romney campaign to make them look very junior high. If Governor Romney even knows about this (and he may not), he should pull the plug on this prank. It doesn’t make his campaign (and thus him) look presidential. He wants to appear Presidential right now. It is one thing to point out and emphasize differences and experiences, it is another to ridicule.
Romney’s campaign manager tweeted about it today, linking to a page at Romney’s campaign site titled Happy 15th Anniversary, Mr. Speaker.
This isn’t just amateurish. It’s proof that Mitt can’t handle not doing well. When things don’t go his way, like they did in Monday’s debate, Mitt’s “looks presidential” facade disappears. It didn’t take long for Mitt to revert to his spoiled brat ways.
This stunt screams “I don’t look presidential.” How appropriate.
Tags: Eric Fehrnstrom, Mitt Romney, Looks Presidential, Childish Prank, Newt Gingrich, Ethics, GOP, Election 2012
If there’s a place where people aren’t surprised about politicians censoring the media, it’ Chicago. It’s appalling and disgusting that this story explains how the media played an active, participatory role in silencing a reporter’s voice.
This week U.S. Senator Dick Durbin held a press conference with members of the mainstream media to talk about the downgrade crisis. But the Senator’s scripted storyline veered off-course when a conservative reporter, me, showed up to ask an embarrassing question. Namely, “Senator, you’ve blamed the tea party…but do you bear any responsibility for this downgrade crisis?”What you didn’t hear about this incident in the media? For those of you that need more proof that journalism is dead, read on.
Monday was another beautiful day for a mainstream media cover-up in Chicago. But it would not have been complete without a picnic-basket full of hypocrisy from our very own U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois.
The thought that a reporter doesn’t have the right to ask a U.S. senator a question is stunning, yet utterly predictable. Check out this video:
About 45 seconds into the video, an alleged reporter turned to Mr. Kelly and said “You’re allowed to stand here and listen but you aren’t allowed to ask questions during a press conference.” Prior to that, another alleged reporter told Mr. Kelly that he wasn’t “with the press.” Here’s what Mr. Kelly said to Sen. Durbin:
Senator, you’ve blamed everyone for the downgrade but yourself. You’ve blamed the TEA Party. You’ve called them terrorists.
At that point, another alleged reporter told Sen. Durbin “I know who he is” as if this was the press’s job to be Sen. Durbin’s unpaid press secretary and unpaid, and unlawful, body guards.
At one point, Sen. Durbin asked that Mr. Kelly be removed. That sounds like a tactic that a Soviet Politburo member would use in dispatching with an unwanted question from the Western press.
Sen. Durbin’s Chicago-style fascism is worthy of Third World dictators but it certainly isn’t worthy of the greatest nation in the world. Sen. Durbin is a jack-booted thug who doesn’t deserve re-election. Instead, that type of fascism should earn him a boot from the Senate.
Sen. Durbin took an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America. When he called for the removal of a member of the press for doing his job, he violated that reporter’s First Amendment rights.
Sen. Durbin is a despicable man. He needs to be booted from the Senate so it can return to being the greatest deliberative body in the world like it once was.
With fascist jack-booted thugs like Sen. Durbin, the Senate is now more famous for their attempt to limit debate than to get into spirited debates about the biggest issues of the day.
Keep up the good work, Bill. Don’t let a tyrant like Sen. Durbin prevent you from doing your job.
Technorati: First Amendment, Dick Durbin, Fascism, Censorship, Soviet Gulags, Nazis, Pol Pot, Media Bias, Democrats, Bill Kelly, TEA Party, Citizen Journalists
Minutes ago, Tony Sutton issued this statement:
St. Paul- Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Tony Sutton today issued the following statement in response to comments made by William Hailer, Director of Finance and Caucus Development for the Minnesota DFL House Caucus via his Twitter account. Hailer’s comment via Twitter was: “NPR Exec says modern GOP party is controlled by the Tea Party whom are fairly racists and uneducated… I guess truth gets you fired.”
“William Hailer’s comment via Twitter echoing NPR executive Ron Schiller’s comments earlier this week that the Tea Party and Republican Party are ‘racist’ and ‘uneducated’ is unacceptable. It is outrageous that Hailer would make such ridiculous comments. While we expect spirited debate with Democrats, this outrageous comment crosses the line and I assume will not be tolerated by DFLers or DFL leadership in Minnesota,” said Chairman Tony Sutton.
Hailer’s tweet is totally unacceptable, not to mention utterly stupid. In this political climate, to make this type of statement goes beyond an unforced error.
This is hateful speech from a close-minded person. What spurred him into thinking that Republicans are bigoted and uneducated is anybody’s guess. What the House DFL caucus does in terms of Hailer’s employment is up to them. I won’t call for his termination but I won’t say that isn’t appropriate considering the circumstances.
At minimum, Hailer should be suspended and told to formally apologize. Chairman Sutton is right in saying that there’s bound to be spirited debate on the issues. That’s what makes government healthy. Having a person think that people who don’t agree with him on policy are bigots doesn’t make the government healthy. Instead, it has a corrosive effect on the legislature.
Technorati: Twitter, Ethics, Tony Sutton, MNGOP, William Hailer, Apology, DFL