Drudge Retort: Reinheitsgebot's blog

GOP Pundit Leaves the Flock

reinheitsgebot — Sat, 25 May 2013 21:33:23 -0400

Jonathan Chait: A week had passed since the 2012 election when Josh Barro finally said the unsayable. The 28-year-old Bloomberg View columnist is -- or, arguably, was -- the most precocious of a coterie of conservative reformists whose numbers have steadily swollen, those arguing that the GOP's product itself, not merely its marketing slogans, needs to change. ... Over time, Barro's writing has fitfully evolved from muted, oblique criticism to polite, persistent criticism to, finally, firm opposition. His alienation crystallized in a widely read post declaring Romney's infamous "47 percent" video as fatally defining the Republican candidate. Now Barro writes things like "The party's economic agenda, as embodied in the latest Ryan budget, is simply terrible for the vast majority of Americans."

Bush Aide's Son Charged in Murder

reinheitsgebot — Sat, 25 May 2013 19:33:15 -0400

The son of a former aide to President George W. Bush is charged with killing a man with a hatchet in Montgomery County, Md. Claude Alexander Allen III, 20, was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder Friday. Police say Allen killed a man at a home owned by his father, Claude A. Allen. The elder Allen was a domestic policy adviser in the Bush White House who resigned in 2006 after being arrested for shoplifting at a Target store in Gaithersburg, Md. He pleaded guilty to theft and told the judge at his sentencing hearing that he had lost perspective while working long hours and getting little sleep in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

No Food Stamps for Thee, Farm Subsidies for Me

reinheitsgebot — Wed, 22 May 2013 19:32:48 -0400

Stephen Fincher, a deranged Republican congressman from Tennessee, is very angry that the federal government is committed to preventing poor people from starving to death:

Republican Congressman Stephen Fincher of Tennessee, who supports cuts to the program, had his own Bible verse from the Book of Thessalonians to quote back to Vargas: "The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat," he said.Devising new ways to make the peasants suffer is what makes Republicans wake up in the morning. What's fascinating about this particular case, though, is Fincher's background. The reason this is even more egregious than the usual Republican class warfare is that Fincher himself is a poster boy for government dependency. It's not just that he's benefited here and there from some government help. That sort of low-level hypocrisy is almost to be expected from these types. But Fincher has received millions - $3.2 million as of June 2010 - in federal crop subsidies

Here's What a Real Political Cover-up Looks Like

reinheitsgebot — Wed, 22 May 2013 06:45:22 -0400

There have been nine public hearings and countless hours of commentary about the so-called Benghazi "cover-up" – really some bureaucratic back-and-forth about "talking points" for a second-tier official's appearance on TV. But none of the outraged members of Congress or the news media seems to have any idea what a real cover-up looks like.

In 2011, I gained access to files at the George H.W. Bush library in College Station, Texas, showing how Bush's White House reacted to allegations in 1991 that he had joined in an operation in 1980 to sabotage President Jimmy Carter's negotiations to free 52 American hostages then held in Iran.

What those files revealed was how to run a cover-up! Its framework was set on Nov. 6, 1991, by White House Counsel C. Boyden Gray, who explained to an inter-agency strategy session how to contain and frustrate a congressional investigation into the so-called October Surprise case

FBI Investigating Bachmann Campaign

reinheitsgebot — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:30:02 -0400

The FBI has contacted two former staffers of U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann's (R-Minn.) presidential campaign, adding to the swirl of federal and state investigations looking into alleged financial improprieties by top officials in the campaign. The former campaign aides with direct knowledge of the investigation spoke to the Star Tribune on condition of anonymity. St. Paul attorney John Gilmore, who represents former Bachmann chief of staff Andy Parrish, also confirmed that his client is among those being interviewed by the FBI as a witness. "Andy Parrish has been contacted by the FBI for purposes of an interview," Gilmore said. "That has been set up for next week and Parrish will cooperate fully." Veteran election lawyers say an FBI inquiry would be unusual in a typical campaign finance case.

Dirtbag Darrell Issa's Criminal Past

reinheitsgebot — Sun, 19 May 2013 11:11:49 -0400

Now that we're all being treated to the sight of Darrell Issa puffing up and bloviating about his work as chairman of the House Oversight Committee, this clip with Ari Melber and Martin Bashir is an excellent reminder of which fox currently chairs the henhouse. Ryan Lizza's 2011 profile of Issa served as the basis for today's discussion.

There is the car theft, for example. Oh, alleged car theft, I should say. After all, the man who made his fortune from a car alarm company was accused of auto theft at one point:But probably the most suspicious and most uninvestigated event in Issa's checkered past is the mysterious 1982 fire at his factory at a time where he was buying out the owner of Steal Stopper, the predecessor to Issa's car alarm company. Issa quadrupled his insurance coverage and then boom! The place burned down.

Hispanic RNC Official Quits Party

reinheitsgebot — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:33:40 -0400

A recent study from the Heritage foundation criticizing the cost of the Congressional immigration reform bill has cost the party a key operative. Pablo Pantoja, the Republican National Committee's head of Latino outreach in Florida, wrote in a letter Monday that, because of the study and its author's past racist writing, he felt the GOP was too steeped in intolerance for him to remain a member of it. Pantoka switched over to the Democratic Party and made a contribution to the ACLU, "for the efforts in helping protect the rights of immigrants and civil liberties in general."

Repugs Silent When Beirut Bonzo Got 241 Americans Killed

reinheitsgebot — Sat, 11 May 2013 00:38:33 -0400

Benghazi wasn't the scandal that the conservative right tried to make it out to be. Unfortunately, the Democratic president didn't engage in a big cover-up, and the Republicans trying to score political points by shouting "Benghazi, Benghazi!" are rapidly becoming irrelevant. In the fact of that, it should be pointed out that this amount of supposed outrage is completely hypocritical. One way to illustrate this is using the Beirut Barracks Bombing of 1983, which occurred during, and was the fault of, the Reagan administration. Where was the outcry from Republicans when Reagan ignored then-Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger's pleas to put the Marines in a more defensible position, or not station them at all?

Catholic League Pans Bowie Video

reinheitsgebot — Fri, 10 May 2013 06:43:49 -0400

Never known for its temperance, humility or logic, the Catholic League is at it again. This time, the U.S.-based religious group is taking David Bowie to task for the singer's new music video for the "The Next Day," calling him a "switch-hitting bisexual senior citizen from London." (Oooh, the old London burn!)

In a 1997 email forward blog post titled "BOWIE'S 'JESUS' VIDEO IS A MESS," Catholic League President Bill Donahue unfurls his rage and sizes up the Floria Sigismondi-directed video as such:

"David Bowie is back, but hopefully not for long. The switch-hitting, bisexual, senior citizen from London has resurfaced, this time playing a Jesus-like character who hangs out in a nightclub dump frequented by priests, cardinals and half-naked women."

Faux News Ignored W's 13 Benghazis

reinheitsgebot — Fri, 10 May 2013 06:32:59 -0400

Not only have numerous sources previously debunked the Benghazi information being peddled by the Republicans and Fox News (for example, contrary to what the Republicans are saying, yes, reinforcements did in fact arrive before the attack on the CIA compound), but none of these people raised a single word of protest when, for example, American embassies in Yemen and Pakistan were attacked numerous times. Why didn't the Bush administration do something to secure the compounds after the first attacks? Why didn't he provide additional security?

Where was your inquest after the Karachi attacks, Mr. Graham? Where were you after the Sana'a attacks, Mr. Hannity? What about all of the embassy attacks in Iraq that I didn't even list here, Mr. McCain? Do you realize how many people died in attacks on U.S. embassies and consulates when Bush was supposedly keeping us safe, Mr. Ailes?

Cheney:‘We were always ready on 9/11′

reinheitsgebot — Thu, 09 May 2013 04:31:01 -0400

Former Vice President Dick Cheney on Tuesday lashed out at President Barack Obama's administration for a "failure of leadership" over an attack in Benghazi that killed four Americans on Sept. 11 of last year, saying that the Bush administration was "always ready on 9/11″ -- at least, the anniversaries."When we were there, on our watch, we were always ready on 9/11, on the anniversary," the former vice president added, not mentioning that nearly 3,000 people had died during the original 2001 attacks. "We always anticipated they were coming for us, especially in that part of the world."

Malkin Links Norquist To Boston Bombing

reinheitsgebot — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:43:36 -0400

During an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday night, conservative commentator Michelle Malkin alleged that influential anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist was indirectly linked to the Boston Marathon bombing. "I think of course political correctness has always been the handmaiden of terrorism, on top of that political pandering, and unfortunately neither party has its hands completely free of this," she told Sean Hannity while discussing the bombing suspects.

"If you go on my website right now, michellemalkin.com, I talk more about the first president of the mosque that the bombers attended, Abdurahman Alamoudi, who has ties to the GOP -- and in particular Grover Norquist -- that a lot of people in the establishment had never, never condemned," Malkin added. "If this had been a liberal who was tied to it, everybody on the right would be screaming about it. So both parties, both establishments are guilty of not speaking up enough and not doing enough to stop these people."

Part Of 9/11 Plane Landing Gear Found In Manhattan

reinheitsgebot — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 18:00:58 -0400

A piece of landing gear believed to be from one of the commercial airplanes that crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, was discovered on Friday, wedged between two lower Manhattan buildings, authorities said. The piece of landing gear discovered in a narrow alleyway behind 51 Park Place and 50 Murray Street in Manhattan's financial district includes a "clearly visible" Boeing identification number, according to a New York City Police spokesman.

The discovery was made on Wednesday by a construction crew inspecting the rear of the Park Place building, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.

The piece of landing gear, wedged one story above ground, is about 5 feet high and 3 feet wide.

N.H. Pol: Government Bombed Boston

reinheitsgebot — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 21:32:39 -0400

A state representative from New Hampshire posted a comment on Glenn Beck's Facebook page alleging that the Boston Marathon bombing was carried out by the U.S. government. State Rep. Stella Tremblay (R-Auburn) posted, "Just as you said would happen. Top Down, Bottom UP. The Boston Marathon was a Black Ops 'terrorist' attack. One suspect killed, the other one will be too before they even have a chance to speak. Drones and now 'terrorist' attacks by our own Government. Sad day, but a 'wake up' to all of us. First there was a 'suspect' then there wasn't."

Romney Intern Busted for Blackmailing

reinheitsgebot — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 07:11:13 -0400

A former intern for the 2012 Republican presidential ticket of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan and for Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign was charged with cyberstalking young women and blackmailing them into sending nude photos in federal court on Tuesday. Adam Savader, a 21-year-old from Great Neck, N.Y., obtained nude photos of 15 different women and threatened to publish the photos unless the women sent him even more naked pictures, according to a criminal complaint. Some of the victims were Savader's high school and college classmates.Savader's Twitter bio identifies himself as "Formerly @PRyan's sole intern on @MittRomney's campaign and a @newtgingrich campaign staffer."