Given Hagel’s hard core socially conservative record, the only reason I can ascribe to the Obama media’s (a redundancy ) jihad to get him confirmed would be his rather bizarre foreign policy views and his desire to gut the Pentagon.
by Joel B. Pollak
Throughout the fight over Chuck Hagel’s nomination as Secretary of Defense, a devoted group of pro-Hagel journalists has been determined not only to defend Hagel, but to attack his critics and their credibility. They have gone beyond the “normal” mainstream media bias, which for most outlets merely meant ignoring flaws in Hagel’s record and his refusal to disclose key information. “Team Hagel” has even ignored its own scoops
For example, BuzzFeed was the first outlet on Feb. 14 to recover and post the prepared text of a controversial speech that then-Sen. Hagel delivered at Rutgers University in March 2007. (The controversy surrounds remarks allegedly made by Hagel about Israel in the question-and-answer session that followed.) BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith immediately took to Twitter to declare: “Nothing eyebrow raising in that prepared text.”
Evidently Smith had not read the speech properly, because he tweeted a few minutes later: “Actually, that ’07 Hagel speech isn’t so innocuous,on a second read. Hagel wanted consulate in Iran, talked cooperation.” For Smith, debunking criticism of Hagel was a higher priority than getting the story right–a story that BuzzFeed itself was the first to have, and could have been the first to break at a critical moment in the debate.
In a similar episode, Politico’s Dylan Byers and Mackenzie Weinger were the first to break the news that a 2008 speech by Hagel to the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) had been recovered and would be released later that day. Byers and Weinger reported, without having viewed the speech for themselves, that there was no newsworthy information in Hagel’s remarks: “the tape comes up clean,” they wrote.
Their sole source for the story was the ADC itself, an organization so anti-Israel that it gave an award to former journalist Helen Thomas after her anti-Jewish views had been exposed, even naming a scholarship after her. Yet when the video was released, it was clear that Byers and MacKenzie were wrong: [.......]
Byers was also wrong on another point: he had suggested, prior to the video’s release, that it was debatable whether Hagel’s remarks had been “formal,” meaning Hagel may not have misled the Senate by not making the video available. But the video made clear that the speech was formal, even if extemporaneous: Hagel was the keynote speaker, and was given an official introduction, delivering his remarks from the dais of dignitaries.
Likewise, on December 17, Dave Weigel of Slate (falsely) accused the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol of making up Hagel’s infamous remark about the “Jewish lobby” on Capitol Hill. “The quote isn’t merely redacted. It’s partly fabricated,” [........] However, as he later admitted, he had not checked the accuracy of the quote with the author who had recorded it. It was more important to attack Kristol than to ask what had Hagel said.
Perhaps the most glaring example of Team Hagel’s lack of interest in researching the nominee was another BuzzFeed scoop: namely, that Senate Republicans were focused on former Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri as one of a handful of worrisome foreign donors to the Atlantic Council, which Hagel chairs. Citing “a senior GOP aide close to the confirmation process” (yes, an anonymous source), BuzzFeed’s Zeke Miller wrote:
[......] But Miller did not report exactly why the Senators were particularly concerned about Hariri or the others.
It turns out that Saad Hariri has been a prominent supporter of Hamas, meeting with the Hamas leadership as prime minister and maintaining public contact with the group since leaving office. In December, Hariri sent a personal representative to a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the anti-Israel terror group in Beirut. It is worth asking why Hagel’s organization would accept funds from such a source. But Team Hagel has not bothered.
The hard work of vetting Hagel has fallen to a few conservative media outlets, which have unearthed a mountain of material on Hagel while Republican leaders prevaricated and major pro-Israel organizations sat on the sidelines. The scale of that evidence is beginning–perhaps belatedly–to weigh on the conscience of Democrats, who once eagerly denounced Hagel as “anti-Israel” and who attacked his “questionable record.”
In 2009, Ira Forman, the chair of Jewish outreach for President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign, defended Hagel’s appointment to the National Intelligence Advisory Board by stating that he would oppose Hagel’s appointment to any senior policy role: [.......]
The National Jewish Democratic Council declared in 2007 that Hagel “has a lot of questions to answer about his commitment to Israel.” Today, it defends Hagel to the hilt, on the sole grounds that he was selected by President Obama, whose pro-Israel credentials are, it says, “unprecedented” and “unquestionable.” It has not been interested in asking lingering questions about Hagel’s views–nor have the members of Team Hagel.
The point, for Team Hagel, has not been to hold Hagel or the Obama administration to account, but to hold conservative critics of Hagel in contempt. Through prejudice and deliberate neglect, they have given a pass to Hagel and to the rest of the mainstream media. In doing so, they may have helped clear the path for one of the most radical, poorly qualified, and least transparent nominees ever offered the Pentagon’s top job.
Read the rest – How media’s ‘Team Hagel’ did Obama’s dirty work
Tags: Chuck Hagel, Joel B. Pollak
I saw a photo of Hagel the other day -- he looked like a Waffen S.S. officer.
And the way they are using the “new media”; the rules of sock puppets doesn’t apply to them:
GOP lawmaker: Obama using fake Twitter messages in fight over gun control
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/284679-gop-lawmaker-says-obama-using-fake-people-to-flood-twitter-with-gun-control-messages#ixzz2LwFUNJUs
Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook
I wonder if they’ll ever face the Rule of Holes
@ waldensianspirit:
Its OFA.
@ Rodan:
Another of their messages:
See? The problem is that we aren’t spending enough!
Rodan wrote:
Yes we see it here on the blog with our favorite troll.
Of course, Obama doesn’t always like having the media around:
@ lobo91:
I thought the Stimulus was supposed to eb spent on Infrastructure. Oh thats right, it went to OFA and the Cayman Islands.
The sad part is Obama will get away with this BS.
@ Speranza:
I have nots eem him in a while. Maybe we have fallen off OFA’s radar.
@ Rodan:
I’ve just about reached the point where I don’t care anymore. We clearly no longer have a functioning republic.
They aren’t going to like the next phase.
Java by Oracle and PDF by Adobe are software pieces of crap. It seems like every day I am downloading and installing a different version for them.
@ lobo91:
Just prepare yourself and look out for yours. This is what a dictatorship looks like.
@ lobo91:
Cool. So if I am in debt and spend more than I make, I should just spend the money to fix up my house and buy a new car!!!!
@ 10 lobo91: I was talking about the economy with a friend this AM. And neither of us are confident in the way the country it headed. We both think a person has to prep for disaster and hold a personal responsibility.
Though in all likelihood you may never need it. Get meds, water, first aid, some e-rats, guns and ammo stored up for six months. And learn how to grow some of your own food from seeds. should be part of the modern lifestyle. In the northwest, kale, squash, and berries grow well. I’m completely urban with no dirt so I have to make adjustments.
lobo91 wrote:
@ Rodan:
WTF happened to the first near trillion dollars we were grifted of for this same purpose?
An accounting is in order.
This story is ready made for an anti-admin ad. Juxtapose it with komrade zero joking about the some of the projects not being quite shovel ready, and maybe some stats on where the money from his first stimulus went.
There was so much low hanging fruit like this, komrade zero’s own words and actions in the run-up to the election, that it is hard to describe my frustration with the GOP and Romney for attacking.
How hard would it be to use their own words in context to show the demonrats as sneering condescending elitists contemptuous of the electorate as they rob us blind?
darkwords wrote:
I’ve noticed a problem with Adobe Flash Player lately.
I think I’ve had to download a new version about 5 times in the past week.
@ Rodan:
hey Rodan, you seen RS Mccain’s latest post on his site and I left a link at dod
RSM is fun when he unleashes
MikeA wrote:
And finance it all with a home equity loan, so that you’re paying for it over 30 years.
@ citizen_q:
The problem is, nobody knows where the money went.
MikeA wrote:
Exactly! You do not have a debt probvlem. You need a new car. Obama said so!
@ citizen_q:
@ lobo91:
I bet OFA got a good chunk of it!
Durka durka heh heh heh…. For those of you who might have missed this late last night…
Obama the great destroyer…
@ rain of lead:
I’m checking it out as we speak.
@ 12 Rodan: I’m a loner but success in an Obama disaster is probably done by being a member of a conservative gun rights group. One will need to be in an informal militia type of structure that can communicate and survive.
Civil unrest in just the Rodney King riots in Seattle was ignorant young black men feeling a need to threaten people based on their skin color. The WTO riots in seattle and the OWS movement was a need by youth to violently oppose anything not them. They were all bullies and takers. Had nothing to give.
That energy is all still there and just looking for a trigger point. In the wrong combinations it will become a game of death. Where the unprepared will become just useless mortality statistics everyone forgets about a few months later.
and speaking of Hagel…http://freebeacon.com/farrakhan-endorses-hagel/
lobo91 wrote:
A flushing toilet would then be an appropriate visual.
The admin don’t like it, they can fess up the numbers.
citizen_q wrote:
romney’s peeps in the investment world are rollin in stimulus money. i told yinz he was a shyster.
@ citizen_q: That trillion dollar was spent on good times. Party party party. Maybe 10 percent went to investments of which most failed. The problem with giving other peoples money to someone who has no experience in spending it and likes to avoid accountability.
@ Rodan:
That’s always his answer when someone asks about gas prices.
If you can’t afford to put gas in your car, I’m not sure how you’re supposed to pay for a new one.
@ darkwords:
Just prepare yourself. Things do not always go as planned.
@ lobo91:
Except when its a Republcian president. Then its the Oil companeis are in cahoots with the White House.
Every day the msm becomes a greater and greater threat to all mankind.
Evil and growing more so, yet unaware of the level of their own evil as they have sunk past their own understanding of right and wrong.
So, wrong is all they know now.
@ coldwarrior:
Plus Karl Rove made out like a bandit with his 400 Million, that we all know he got a cut. I am starting to think this is all for show.
Rodan wrote:
Well duh…
darkwords wrote:
Obama’s on the downlow and you’re on the download. What’s the problem?
////
@ lobo91:
If this were a conservative group, the IRS would have revoked its tax-exempt status by now.
lobo91 wrote:
even the media is calling bullshit http://freebeacon.com/chuck-todd-on-ofa-fundraising-this-just-looks-bad/
@ lobo91:
There would be audits and call for criminal charges.
Rodan wrote:
Obama can’t be a criminal, though.
He is the law, according to them.
@ taxfreekiller:
This is a soft dictatorship.
@ lobo91:
He is a god to them.
Rodan wrote:
but only because he does not have the backing of the military
lobo91 wrote:
Obama and Co. have learned that as long as you are blatantly illegal across the board, without apology, you can run amok and the law be damned.
People really need a life.
brookly red wrote:
Yet.
It appears that he is busily purging the military of those who might kick over taking an oath of personal loyalty to the Furor.
@ brookly red:
That may not last either.
@ Rodan:
Personally, I find the Progressive ads much more repulsive, because they don’t tell potential customers that their money is going to be used to fund left-wing causes.
lobo91 wrote:
That I agree with you. After all, its named Progressive Insurance for a reason!
@ buzzsawmonkey:
@ Rodan:
he may place cronies with lots of in positions of power but the grunts will never go for it
brookly red wrote:
I think that you are assuming a great deal too much. It is very difficult for someone low down on the chain of command to stand up and tell his superiors that he will not obey their orders.
buzzsawmonkey wrote:
I am assuming that 99.9% of American soldiers would not fire on other Americans if ordered to do so.
@ brookly red:
Don’t be so sure.
@ brookly red:
I doubt that it’s actually 99.9%, but the vast majority wouldn’t.
Rodan wrote:
That and faith in God are all I have.
@ buzzsawmonkey:
I don’t think that it would go that far down the chain of command.
@ 46 Rodan: Meh, I just assumed the pig was a metaphor for Obama. I didn’t attach the thought to bestiality until a million moms brought it up. Then I think that is where their minds are at. Then probably all these cartoon cats and dogs represent the same thing to them.
How about Mr Ed or those smart budweiser clydedales who market during the superbowl? We have a county here next to use where people keep getting caught trying to have sex with horses.
@ 53 brookly red: Well in my basic camp the chain of command was God, Country, and the service. I was not to question anything flowing down. Just execute the order to the best of my abilities. And the POTUS whoever he/she was was the Chief order giver.
If as a teenage I had to fire on my family I might question the order, but otherwise probably not. Some type of consciousness would have to come to me through the chain of command.
@ darkwords:
The Million Moms need to get a life.
Rodan wrote:
Good grief the “million moms” need to chill out.
Santorum fans.
@ darkwords:
I’m not sure what military you served in, but if it was ours, you were poorly trained.
The Nuremberg defense doesn’t work anymore.
@ 60 Rodan:
I suppose one could make a point on that one spot because it was a dating spot. But all those Geico animal commercials are about animals doing human things. I did think the cavemen ones were actually racist in they manner they dialogued with each other. Now if they show the pig in bed smoking a cigarette, I’ll agree with them.
@ Speranza:
Why do I have the suspicions that this group does not have many “moms.”
Rodan wrote:
It sounds so stupid that I wonder if they are Democratic “plants”.
@ darkwords:
I think its much ado about nothing.
@ Speranza:
Democrat plants or Santorum Fans. They are one in the same. I am convinced Santorum is a Democrat operative.
Rodan wrote:
That’s a bit of a stretch, however the mindset his supporters have (see Michelle Malkin) is the type that stands for defeat as long as they remain pure.
maybe Buzz is right about the GOP taking a fall..where are they?
they are letting the donks shit all over them with hardly a peep…I surf the news and everyday some twit says more out of this world crapola with no opposition….fucking pols, the worst people in the world
Rodan wrote:
the million moms need to get laid and get their mind out of the gutter.
@ Rodan:
That’s ridiculous. It’s a joke.
Kind of goes along with M.Malkin.
@ Speranza:
I’ve found Twitchy to be an excellent resource, and whenever she or her staff gets preachy, the regulars there usually let her have it.
For instance:
Look at the response.
Also see:
Again, not the content, but the response.
People are standing up for the kind of government they want.
I’m convinced that MOVING towards TRUE (both emphasized for different reasons) libertarianism is the way to pick a lot of votes.
@ coldwarrior:
I’ll do it!
//////////
Speranza wrote:
more likely “Progressive” insurance plants
brookly red wrote:
The most annoying ads on TV -- “Flo” played by Stephanie Courtney for “Progressive”.
coldwarrior wrote:
/their just pissed because flirting with a pig was what got them into this predicament in the first place
@ Speranza:
Imagine a Santorum vs. Cuomo race? That would be a nightmare. Either way, a Totalitarian wins.
@ Bumr50:
I do enjoy Twitchy.
Rodan wrote:
Good grief that would make me reach for a sharp straight razor (maybe not).
coldwarrior wrote:
Good grief, even Rock Stars have their physical limitations ya know…
@ Bumr50:
Many “Conservatives” are just Progressives of a different stripe.
@ Speranza:
Either way America would be done in by either of those 2.
@ doriangrey:
I got dibs on the million moms, rockstar…!!;-)
…
@ Bumr50:
Rodan wrote:
whatever handle you hang on them, they are all living large on our money, then turn around and knife us in the back…all of them
@ heysoos:
Yup.
@ Rodan:
While I agree some people do need to get a life that ad is seriously repulsive. But hey- if they think they can sell insurance by making people barf its on them.
@ darkwords:
Hey now! The clydedales didn’t hint they wanted some nookie!! LOL!
@ Rodan:
@ Speranza:
I believe that smart Dems are actually looking FOR a “Republican” victory in 2016.
I think that they’d like to give the appearance of a balanced electorate approving their agenda.
Ok. I am not a santorum fan or a “million mom”. But neither has anything to do with thinking some chick that wants to fuck a pig is disgusting.
That isn’t the animal “doing people things” like driving a car or making their kids do homework -- it is a chick that wants to fuck a pig.
Disgusting.
So shoot me.
mskelly wrote:
neither did the pig.
@ coldwarrior:
Bless his heart. He just wants to play … SPACE NINJAS!! lol
@ mskelly:
that’s no pig, that’s my wife!
@ mskelly:
It’s gross, for sure.
A free society can respond as it will.
Progressive Insurance runs more ads than anyone on TV, and I’m pretty sure they’re just flinging poo on the wall to see what will stick.
IMO, best response is to ignore it and NEVER patronize Progressive.
“People making a big deal about it” was probably one of the reasons they ran it.
Don’t buy Progressive Insurance.
Drawing MORE attention to the disgusting ad is what the ad guys want.
@ mskelly:
i just thought the ad was pretty stupid. not as good as the ‘mayhem ads’.
@ heysoos:
*throws tomatoes*
*corn*
oh heck *some oranges too*
@ Bumr50:
I’m with ya on that.
I just wanted to point out that it’s not only uptight, straight-laced, santorum fan soccer moms that find the ad gross.
@ coldwarrior:
That idjit follows me around!
mskelly wrote:
he is just happy he isnt bbq.
I refuse to use the NYC subway…some kind of bad mojo down there
mskelly wrote:
the mayhem ads are taken from actual cases.
i like the farmer’s insurance ads as well. the dude who plays the prof cracks me up.
@ Bumr50:
Nah, I think the Dems will go for the kill in 2016. They are gouing to run Hillary it seems. She probably will pick Deval patrick as her VP. It will not matter who the Republcians put up, Bill Clinton, Obama, OFA and Hillary will crush anything the GOP throws at her.
If Hillary runs, expect many big name Republcians to take a pass.
heysoos wrote:
NOOOO!!! REALLY???
Who woulda thought…
coldwarrior wrote:
I was Mayhem for Halloween. My receding hairline didn’t help.
I especially like the teenage girl whose BFF kissed her crush and the dog with the “awesome bone.”
Classic.
@ mskelly:
The answer is to change the channel.
@ Bumr50:
the bff ad is the funniest.
@ Rodan:
Not if I were a prog.
I’d be the biggest Chris Christie fanboy in the world.
Bumr50 wrote:
I liked the one where he’s mowing gravel, knocking the shit out of the house
Bumr50 wrote:
great idea!
i usually pass out candy wearing a suit and a richard nixon mask.
heysoos wrote:
“sorry Rrrrrobert….”
@ Bumr50:
Hillary will destroy Fat boy. If its Hillary vs. Fat Boy I am voting Libertarian. I already have decalred I will vote Libertarian in Florida’s 2014 elections.
@ heysoos:
“This is what five dollars an hour gets you.”
LOVE IT.
coldwarrior wrote:
What? Going old skool when you have Obama now terrorizing America?
doriangrey wrote:
jeeze! i dont want anyone takin a shot at me!
remember how relentless the press was against W when he couldnt name the paki prime minister?
@ doriangrey:
We’re all gonna die!!!
coldwarrior wrote:
I don’t get it…there is a Kazakhstan…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazakhstan
heysoos wrote:
there sure is.
there is no kyrzakstan tho.
lobo91 wrote:
I really doubt we could be that lucky…
coldwarrior wrote:
tongue twister countries all look the same to me
lobo91 wrote:
typical Chicago protection racket…
@ heysoos:
You’re not Secretary of State, though.
lobo91 wrote:
but I should be, eh?….
I’ll get a hair cut and do my nails
@ brookly red:
As if DHS has ever prevented a terrorist attack, anyway.
lobo91 wrote:
you know me and heysoos don’t always get along but I gotta say he would make a good Secretary of State and unlike Kerry we actually know he is on our side.
coldwarrior wrote:
So, even the 5 and 6 year old in your neighborhood are packin?
lobo91 wrote:
well now the troofers have something to worry about…
brookly red wrote:
check’s in the mail bro
doriangrey wrote:
their parents are and its pretty dark red round these parts.
doriangrey wrote:
you want my lunch money? Blam! Blam!
wow, Amarillio got pasted with 17in of snow driven by 70mph winds…that’s the next town over from sunny, mild ABQ…300mi away
heysoos wrote:
Hmmm, sound like the making of a catch song… Amarillo by Snow Storm…. where’s that Buzz at when you need him…
half way between Amarillo and Lubbock in the Texas panhandle is one of the flattest places on Earth, the famed Llano Estacado, Comancheria…factoid, win a drink
@ heysoos:
I don’t know how many times I’ve driven through Amarillo over the years, and I can’t recall ever having good weather there.
40-50 mph winds are pretty much a daily occurence there.
doriangrey wrote:
for that area, it’s a twice a lifetime storm…there will be song and myth
It’s nice here today.
35 degrees and sunny. Leia was out on the deck working on her tan.
Up there amarillo , dumas dalhart etal,
Canadian River bottom, the XIT Ranch.
Grandad and great grandad would hire without anything but evidence that a person has worked two winters in the Canadia River Bottoms.
Said, if you can live two winters in that dam place you deserve a job in the real world.
lobo91 wrote:
yeah, that is some very harsh country…I go up that way to Chicago and MI…and I’ve gone down the panhandle and cut across back to NM…how people can live out there is beyond me…not a soul lived on the Llano til wind turbines were invented to pump water…the Spanish called it the Staked Plains because you could not navigate the land without some sort of physical markers…mighty tough country
Barf alert:
Unlike the military personnel who were standing behind her, who mostly just serve as campaign props.
//
@ mskelly:
It’s just a woman that wants to fuck a pig. It’s not like the pig is a Democrat…
@ taxfreekiller:
does the XIT still exist?…I believe it was one of the biggest cattle ranches ever, like a third of the panhandle?…I may have to google it
@ heysoos:
Now you can navigate by the Stuckeys…
//
Iron Fist wrote:
The woman undoubtedly was, though.
the famed XIT…3 million acres…yikes, I love that stuff
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XIT_Ranch
New Thread
@ lobo91:
right, good one
@ lobo91:
Which explains the pig’s lack of interest…
lobo91 wrote:
what a total disgrace she is.
Iron Fist wrote:
Yup
brookly red wrote:
pigs do not understand the concept of disgrace
heysoos wrote:
Because they are not halal. /