Senator Barbara Boxer On The Oakland A's: "I Live In Oakland"

On the way to a fundraiser for Senator Barbara Boxer on Sunday (March 15th 2009), I walked into the Four Seasons Residences on Market Street and boarded an elevator that was already to be occupied by two women just eight steps ahead of me, with their backs to me.  When I boarded the elevator they both turned in conversation, the one closest to me was the person-of-the-hour, Senator Barbara Boxer.

Always gracious, Senator Boxer shook my hand, then after a few seconds on the elevator I asked her if she was "going to get involved in keeping the A's in Oakland."  She immediate said "You know, I live in Oakland, and that's important to me."  Boxer stopped short of stating what her action would be, but that response was all I needed to know that it's on her radar screen, and it doesn't spell good news for Lew Wolff because the rest of our talk consisted of me calmly but in cold detail explaining to her how Wolff had treated Oakland with great disrespect, making statements that he was "done with Oakland."  I also shared that San Jose and Santa Clara County -- where Wolff seems to want to take the organization -- represented 47 percent of the San Francisco Giants fan base. She listened intently. 

Remember, I'm a columnist: I state my opinion and advocate for a cause.  That's still within the relm of journalism, but people forget that when they disagree with you.  Still, it's important for readers to be reminded of the writer's position: I want Wolff to keep the A's in Oakland.  Period. 

The matter of the A's wasn't on the collective mind of the approximately 50 people that came to the home of planning consultants Lynn and Paul Sedway; the economy was.  While only six questions were taken because of the Senator's schedule -- she was making a fundraising swing through San Francisco -- all except two which I'll get to concerned the matter of the economy.  Some highlights:

• Boxer said that she thinks we've seen the "bottom" of the economy, at least from the stock market perspective, and that she expects to see a rebound.  In other words, no more dramatic market dives below the level we saw last week. 

• Boxer has had it with giving out Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) money.  She reported Congress as a whole is (holding her hand over her head) "up-to-here" with giving out more TARP funds, and much of that distaste for the effort she explained is directly related to the matter of AIG's attempt to give out $165 million in bonuses.  She said the Federal Reserve has a provision such that it can give our money if it has determined that such an expenditure would be in the best interest of national security.  Now, be smart about what you just read.  Boxer did not say she would not approve more stimulus money, but that's not TARP money.  It's clear that Boxer wants to send a message that Congress is unhappy with Wall Street's behavior.

• Boxer did not know about the block-buster news released Wednesday March 11th by Seymore Hersh that there was a "secret executive assasination group" that flew around the World for the purpose of killing officials on a "hit list" and answered only to Vice President Dick Cheney, but she did say she would talk with Senator Pat Leahy, who's pushed for the formation of a commission to review the activities of the Bush Administration.  This was my question to her, which caused a bit of an interesting response from her where she rose her brow in fear, and for good reason.  The contract killing of people is not something anyone likes to know about, especially when our government is alledged to be involved in it. 

• Boxer, in response to a question of when we (the USA) were going to get out of Afghanistan, supports President Obama's efforts there, because "The Taliban are terrible" to paraphrase Senator Boxer.

In all, Boxer stayed for a good while. The Sedways are long time friends of the Senator and gracious hosts in a place with a lovely view of San Francisco.

Murray Waas Exclusive: Dick Cheney’s admissions to the CIA leak prosecutor and FBI

More at Murray Waas: “Vice President Dick Cheney, according to a still-highly confidential FBI report, admitted to federal investigators that he rewrote talking points for the press in July 2003 that made it much more likely that the role of then-covert CIA-officer Valerie Plame in sending her husband on a CIA-sponsored mission to Africa would come to light.

Cheney conceded during his interview with federal investigators that in drawing attention to Plame’s role in arranging her husband’s Africa trip reporters might also unmask her role as CIA officer.

Cheney denied to the investigators, however, that he had done anything on purpose that would lead to the outing of Plame as a covert CIA operative. But the investigators came away from their interview with Cheney believing that he had not given them a plausible explanation as to how he could focus attention on Plame’s role in arranging her husband’s trip without her CIA status also possibly publicly exposed. At the time, Plame was a covert CIA officer involved in preventing Iran from obtaining weapons of mass destruction, and Cheney’s office played a central role in exposing her and nullifying much of her work.”

-- The picture that is developing is one of a person - VP Richard Cheney - who was running a "shadow government" in the Bush Administration. Just what laws were broken is not clear at this point, but the pure smell of secrecy and lies is evident. The whole matter of how we got into Iraq is an open book for legal analysis.

Did George Bush "Out" Valerie Wilson?

The question of the day: did Did George Bush "Out" Valerie Wilson ? Kpete certainly thinks so. In Democratic Underground, Kpete observes

During the (Today's Show) interview, Scottie revealed the two things that really pissed him off with the Bush Administration. First, being set up to lie by Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. And second, learning that Bush had--himself--authorized the selective leaking of the NIE.

The "NIE" is a National Intelligence Estimate, and according to Wikipedia,

are United States federal government documents that are the authoritative assessment of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on intelligence related to a particular national security issue. NIEs are produced by the National Intelligence Council and express the coordinated judgments of the United States Intelligence Community, the group of 16 U.S. intelligence agencies. NIEs are classified documents prepared for policymakers.

This NIE was the document that in this case contained Valerie's identity. Even though Scott McClellan has tried to protect the President and even fingered Vice President Dick Cheney, it seems that the more Scott talks, the more likely the President may be in some trouble. The reason is that while it's not clear that President Bush did do what Kpete asserts, and there's no direct smoking gun, it seems that McClellan may be giving more ammo for people to try and connect disparate dots. Stay tuned.

Scott McClellan Goes Nuclear On Bush White House

Oh, No: Bad Day At The White House, originally uploaded by NAVROC Command.

Scott McClellan Goes Nuclear On Bush White House

That headline says it all. Former White House Spokesperson Scott McCllellan released a new book called..
What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception

.. that blasts President George Bush, accuses him of creating the "lie" of the existence of Weapons Of Mass Destruction", operating the Adminstration in "campaign mode" with constant propaganda messages, and in the process throwing the Administrations' entire Iraq War and foreign policy rationale into damage control mode, while simutaneously harming Senators John McCain, and Hillary Clinton, and the mainstream media. Only Senator Barack Obama benefited from McClellan's PR Nuclear Bomb, as McCain's strength -- foreign policy -- was just turned into a weakness.

This story dominated the news offline and on. Here's what one Flickr member NAVROC Command wrote:

FORMER WHITE HOUSE Press Spokesman Scott McClellan blasts the Bush White House, the Vice President, the deception leading up to the Iraq War, the Valerie Plume debacle - - Well, the list goes on and on. It's all in his current book: What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception.

White House aides appear stunned by the scathing tone of the book. Press secretary Dana Perino's statement: "Scott, we now know, is disgruntled about his experience at the White House. For those of us who fully supported him, before, during and after he was press secretary, we are puzzled. It is sad - this is not the Scott we knew."

Perino says POTUS is not expected to comment: "He has more pressing matters than to spend time commenting on books by former staffers."

Click to Read: Washington Post: Scott McClellan

Click to Read: Wall Street Journal Extracts

Click to Watch: NBC Tim Russert


White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan and President Bush announce that Mr. McClellan is resigning his position on the South Lawn Wednesday, April 19, 2006. "One of these days he and I are going to be rocking on chairs in Texas, talking about the good old days and his time as the Press Secretary," said the President. "And I can assure you I will feel the same way then that I feel now, that I can say to Scott, job well done."

May 2008 - White House photo by Eric Draper.

But the words don't stop there. On MSNBC's Hardball, CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, and other cable shows, members of the White House Press Corp found themselves attacking Scott McClellan and thus on the same side as the Bush Administration! Scott McClellan accused the press of not digging enough to ask hard questions about the Iraq War, and CNN's Jessica Yellen labeled her old employer ABC News as pressuring her to favor stories that backed the Bush Administration's view of the Iraq War and the Mid East. (Yellen did not name ABC, but said her "former employer')

As to how the general public is receiving the story, take a look at these Amazon.com comments on the book:

wake up call, May 28, 2008
By roland (Idaho) - See all my reviews
McClellan has finally come forward, as many other people from the Bush administration have over the past few years, to tell the truth about the most corrupt and deceiving administration in our history. While many people are waking up to reality, reflected in our presidents all time record low approval rating, this book advances the much overdue debunking of Bush and his evil lying crooks in his administration. Being the former spokesperson for this administration gives McClellan's book a special poignancy and undeniable puissance. As if we needed more convincing, this country is in need of change more than at anytime in our past. Its the facts in books like this that have brought me to change parties and to reject the disgusting mess the GOP has become. The republican party deserves all the losses they have been experiencing, and will surely deserve being defeated this November. Bush is a war criminal no doubt about it. The fear mongering and manipulation of us American citizens will not work this time around. McClellan deserves to be commended for his honesty and the timeliness of this books release.
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141 of 212 people found the following review helpful:
Finally....., May 28, 2008
By T. E. Zsolt "Tom From Toronto" (Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

Great read, concise and well written. Finally someone with credibility confirms what we all knew was true. Too bad our press couldn't have called this out when it was apparent, a lot could have been avoided.
TEZ
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130 of 200 people found the following review helpful:
A True Texan: McClellan Stands Up for the Truth, May 28, 2008
By Straight Shooter "Texan" (Texas) - See all my reviews
Takes a real Texan to stand up and tell the truth about this failed administration. McClellan even admits his faults but he tells the story like a historian not a political hack. The unfair attacks now coming at him so how pitiful this administration has become. Bush should stand up and apologize to America and to McClellan.

We'll have more on this bombshell story.

AP: Ex-State officials allege corruption cover up

Arthur Brennan & James Mattil talk to Senate Democrats

The State Department's policies "not only contradicted the anti-corruption mission but indirectly contributed to and has allowed corruption to fester at the highest levels of the Iraqi government," Arthur Brennan told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.

The Bush administration repeatedly ignored corruption at the highest levels within the Iraqi government and kept secret potentially embarrassing information so as not to undermine its relationship with Baghdad, according to two former State Department employees. Brennan, who briefly served in Baghdad as head of the department's Office of Accountability and Transparency last year, alleges the State Department prevented a congressional staffer visiting Baghdad from talking with staffers by insisting they were too busy. In reality, Brennan said, the staffers were watching movies at the embassy and on their computers.

The staffers' workload had been cut dramatically because of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's "evisceration" of Iraq's top anti-corruption office, he said. Brennan charges the State Department never responded to his team's report, which was retroactively classified because agency officials said it could hurt bilateral relations with Iraq. Other recommendations by the group also were kept secret, including a negative assessment of Iraq's Joint Anti-Corruption Committee, Brennan said.

Mattil, who worked with Brennan, made similar allegations. Specifically, he said the U.S. "remained silent in the face of an unrelenting campaign" by senior Iraqi officials to subvert Baghdad's Commission on Public Integrity, which had been led by al-Radhi. Then, the U.S. turned its back on Iraqis who fled to the United States after being threatened for pursuing anti-corruption cases, he said.

"Since we have done so little (to undercut corruption), it's easy to see why the government of Iraq has not done more," said Mattil, who left the accountability office last October after having served for a year as its Chief of Staff. "We have demanded no better."

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Factor military duty into criticism, Mr. Limbaugh. Did you volunteer, Mr. O'Reilly?

Vice President Dick Cheney, who was born the same year as Jeremiah Wright, received five (5) military service deferments, four for being a student and one for being a prospective father. Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, both five years younger, used their student deferments to stay in college until 1968.

In 1961, amid an increasingly turbulent time in this country, after hearing President John F. Kennedy's challenge to, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," Wright gave up his student deferment, left college in Virginia and voluntarily joined the recently integrated U.S. Marine Corps. Remember, it was not until the spring of 1968 that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. All men may have been created equal, but in the U.S. in the 60s there was little assuring they would be afforded equal rights in most places.

Who is the real patriot? The young man who interrupted his studies to serve his country for six years or our three political leaders who beat the system? Are the patriots the people who actually sacrifice something or those who merely talk about their love of the country?

How many of Wright's detractors, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly to name but a few, volunteered for service, and did so under the often tumultuous circumstances of a newly integrated armed forces and a society in the midst of a civil rights struggle? Not many.

While words do count, as Lawrence Korb and Ian Moss point out in the April 3rd piece in the Chicago Trib after looking into Jeremiah Wright's history, so do actions.

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Dick Cheney On Cousin Barack Obama - CNBC’s Larry Kudlow Interview

Here's a video of Vice President Dick Cheney's comments on the finding that he's related to Senator Barack Obama:

Dick Cheney in 1994 Video Says Getting Sadam Hussein Was Not The Answer

Wow. You've got to see this video that's circulated by MoveOn. Dick Cheney says -- in 1994 -- that going in and taking out Sadam Hussein and invading Iraq's not the answer because it would just create an instable place.