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Did you ever walk into the middle of a scandal brewing? Perhaps at work, or your church, or social club you frequent to get time away from your spouse? You had no clue walking in that anything had happened, and the business meeting to censure someone is underway….
You get told… “oh, it’s terrible. It’s the end of the world, We have to do something. Why have they not done something yet?”
And you are going… “Really? What’s going on? Someone fill me in. What started it? Why is this so bad? What really happened? Why do we have to get a new boss?”
Sort of like walking into the Monica Lewenski scandal midway, and going,…. what? You’re impeaching the best President of the United States we’ve ever had, …. over a relationship?
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So can someone fill me in as to why this Veteran’s controversy is so bad? It is not like it is news. We’ve known this, since forever. The demand has always been greater than the supply. In fact, this leader whose head we are calling for, has moved the department competitently forward during difficult times.
Perhaps perspective is called for?
Did we fire the head of JP Morgan for the London Whale disaster? Both are still working for JP Morgan, aren’t they? Did the head of BP resign or get fired? I don’t think so. Is Freedom Enterprises still intact after spoiling the drinking water of all of civilized West Virginia? Why yes, it is..
So what was so bad at the Veteran’s administration, that is so horrible, so abysmal, that it trumps the theft or loss of $2 billion dollars, or a gigantic oil spill ruining miles of 5 state’s Gulf Coasts, or toxic licorice smelling chemicals infesting the tap water of a entire state’s largest two cities?
Waiting lists.
Oh… waiting lists?
Yes… it it terrible, tragic, horrible, that due to insufficient space, veterans were put on waiting lists….
Uhh….. Ok.
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Is there anyone out there who can explain why this waiting list thing is so bad, why it is being called a terrible scandal? One necessitating the firing of the Secretary in charge of the Department? Why is this not being treated as was Abu Ghraib , which was just some rogue soldiers messing around that certainly didn’t require chopping off the head of the Department of Defense? What was his name back then? Oh yeah… Donald Rumsfeld.
Especially since the only person who can fix the Veteran’s Administration in a timely fashion, is the very person Republicans are calling upon to be fired?
So please…. inform me. Otherwise just stepping into this and trying to grasp what is going on, looks just like an exercise, similar to Benghazi….. of watching people trying to make a GIGANTIC scandal out of one pea missing out of sequence from an unopened pea pod……
Isn’t the real scandal, seriously, one about the incompetence of these people shouting: its a major scandal?
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Sheesh. And people ask why no one cares about politics anymore? Now, Lindsey Lohan? …. there’s a real scandal….
Photo courtesy of the EPA.
That would be my advice. Truth is, we quickly make Russia into a demon. They do the same to us. If there is anything we have learned over 100 years since the Great War started in August 1914, it is that going to war, should be the last resort…
Back in the early ’90’s upon being given the privilege to look over the Soviet’s intelligence when Communism fell, we were shocked that all their aggressive actions were seen in their eyes as defensive moves against possible aggression being planned by us….It is best represented by a young officers story from the cold war. I’ve long forgotten the source, if it comes up later I’ll tag it in…
But a young officer was in charge of a section of the German fence, and on his first shift, received a request for orders and told the reconnaissance brigade to go 5 more miles along the fence past where they usually turned around. They called back to say they’d stumbled on fresh movement of troops being maneuvered to that gap on front line we never had bothered to inspect.. After finding our troops were now outnumbered by their new response, this young officer ordered another brigade to move up from the south. That brigade also discovered another large number of troops moving in from the eastern reserves to that same point… The officer began to sweat. Was he witnessing on his watch, in his territory, the beginning of the long-feared invasion of Western Europe by the Soviets? He called up two more brigades and ordered them to dig in around that point. The Soviets brought up tanks, and lined them up for an invasion… The young officer then picked up the phone… Far away, the head of command looked over all the evidence… Finally he gave this advice… Pull your troops out, by ten miles…. he did, and the Soviets pulled theirs back as well. Ok, came the next order. Resume normalcy. And soon, everything again was routine….
For those that don’t understand war, the point of the story was, that the young officer caused the crises. The whole Russian buildup, was because of him. He made a move the Russians didn’t understand, and since they didn’t understand, they prepared for an attack. As we brought up more, so did they. They were simply matching our moves… Fortunately someone wise enough to understand that he Russians really didn’t want to go to war, stepped in and averted a possible WWIII start-up incident…
As if on cue, already dumb John McCain is rattling swords and demanding we nuke Moscow. Soon Lindsey Graham will follow as Tweedle Dumb always follows Tweedle Dee… Likewise, Putin will also have his exact same crowd (probably riding Harleys), his group of idiots, clamoring for war as well…
The Western press has already begin its war talk, leading with the condemnation of the Russian Government… But really, isn’t that a bit premature? No one has died. Far less than anything that happened in Kiev earlier this week….
Let’s wear Putin’s shoes for moment….
What if the predominantly Mexican population of San Diego wanted to be aligned with Mexico instead of the USA, all because we couldn’t get Republicans to pass immigration laws.. What if they gathered en masse in San Diego to protest, stayed, burned down government and private buildings. What if we tried to make them stand down, and it roused up even more Mexicans to their defense. What if the Mayor fled to Yuma, and camped out in a sanatorium. … …
What would the US do. OUR entire Pacific Fleet rests in San Diego… We would probably act prudently. and move outward to expand our perimeter. We would probably commander all airports and ship docks in that area in order to be able to land reinforcements if necessary. We would probably park a couple of gunboats facing the city as an intimidating force reminding the Mexicans we had forces they couldn’t get to, so their behavior should keep that in mind. We’d probably block access roads leading into the port, so an invasion army wouldn’t be able to charge in unannounced…
Just to play devils advocate, what might happen if we took no action to defend ourselves? As most Americans are asking the Russians to do? We saw the Mexicans had little respect in town for law and order. There are a lot more of them than there are of us… What if 10,000 of them just walked on to the base, armed with shotguns, hunting rifles, and a few semi automatics. What if they boarded all our ships, our subs, and put our sailors at gunpoint into the brig, and announced they were in charge of the Baja Mexican Navy… Now the 2nd largest navy in the world. What would the US do? Would we sail into our own harbor as did the Free French and blow what used to be our own ships up out of the water?
Of course the Mexicans would say we are invading their new country. Of course every Spanish tonged nation South of our border would be condemning us for invading Mexican California… despite the fact that a lot of gringos, maybe even a majority, live around San Diego and support our American troops being there and keeping the masses of Mexicans from turning on them….
Point is, we would ourselves, do what Russia just did...
So how can we condemn them, when we have contingency plans to do exactly the same thing?
There is further evidence this is not like Sudetenland, . One, no one has died. It was a smooth peaceful quiet takeover, textbook by American Standards. Two, action is isolated to the port and Crimea. Three, all evidence points to these actions solely for the purpose of controlling access to the base.
As Americans we would laugh at Europe, Russia, and China telling us to abandon San Diego. There are a lot of similarities between that and the Russian base. The number one move now appears to be: for the Kiev Ukraine government to insist that the base will forever stay Russian, and guarantee the safety of all Russians living on Crimea… Second, it should state that the current administration insists there will be no change for those who like having Russians close by. For that select group, there will be only two options. Life goes either goes on the same; or it gets better. The third option that it may get worse, is forever off the table.. .
It would be the equivalent of that American young officer calling off his men, and telling them to retreat backwards 10 miles.. it would be the opposite of what happened 100 years ago, where threats begot threats and soon rigid plans took effect and not one leader had the chutzpah to stop it from going forward. 6 million soldiers died, 15 million civilians died, and a whole generation of young men was wiped out. Girls had to marry men their father’s age.. and in the end Western Europe’s borders were right back where they were before the whole event started.
Cool heads must prevail. Of course the McCains will spout off. They don’t matter. What matters is that we treat the Russians with respect just as we would like them to do for us, if the shoe were on the other foot and we were fighting the battle of San Diego…..
“If you deprive the military of the ability to train, the ability to have flight hours for our pilots and air crews, the ability of our people to have the right kind of equipment to fight with, then you are putting us in danger in my view,” John McCain said.
Here is a clip of McCain speaking with Lindsey Graham alongside, correctly assessing the harm the sequestration will cause our armed forces… No repairs? Mothball fleets? 20% pay cuts for all military personnel? What will that do to morale?
So, dude, why didn’t you do anything to stop it?
All you had to do was vote for an additional tax of one single penny on every dollar earned over $1 million…..
This sequester then would never have happened? Why did you singlehandedly cause this sequestration by your own inaction, when you and your party could have so easily prevented it?
And then you go on television to say it is really bad? America is looking at you like you are the dumbest person alive….
Today Governor Scott, Florida Tea Party who rode into the statehouse itself upon the promise he was going to abolish the abomination of Obamacare in the state of Florida.
He threw in the towel and now supports it. His state is joining the Federal exchange. His reason? He saw with his mother that it was a really super great plan full or wonderfulness, and that not buying in, would be very bad for Florida.
Go figure.
Republican Governors have thrown in the towels one by one. It is such a great plan, they can’t refuse… Without it, balancing a state budget is impossible. Ironically Republicans who supposedly hate bigger government, are all lining up for the Federal exchange.
It is the best and will be the closest best thing to single payer.
Furthermore, more great Obama care news.
Because of Obamacare, the Medicare expense projected for the rest of this decade, has just in this past year alone, fallen half a trillion dollars. $511 billion dollars to be exact! Obamacare is cutting the deficit right in the entitlement belt….
Half a trillion dollars.
This is not new news. It was out there when the bill first got passed. It has been out there ever since. But for some reason the American media chose to focus on those who were against it, long before they understood it… Once understanding, everybody is coming aboard.
Where was the communication breakdown? Why wasn’t this positive news rolled out int he beginning? Just think, it could have save a lot of drama had these facts been picked up and extolled by the media, and had the right wing been excoriated for their stupidity.
Good things win out in the end, and Obamacare, as one can see by the Republican Governors coming aboard one by one, is a good thing.
Just think how horrible it would have been if on day one, Romney had signed a bill to abolish Obamacare?
Fortunately for all of us, America always knows best.
Donald Trump has a small penis. (His overcompensation gives it away). He wants America to appreciate small things. And most importantly, he wants to use his massive amounts of money make others do so, even if by funding a candidate up to the $200 million dollar level now that there is no limit….
Senator Ted Cruz envisions himself as President some day. He will need money…. Lots of money. His own supporters (the former Tea Party) are poor. The wealthy in his state do not like him so he can’t count on Texas. He will need a big donor when he makes his run.
Dick Durbin is up before Ted Cruz as a candidate for the President’s Secretary of Defense. “Dick” Durbin is rumored to have a big dick because his wife is always smiling.
Ted knows, that if he is very hard on Mr Big, (Dick Durbin) he will catch the eye of Donald Trump. If he stymies Mr Big (Dick Durbin) he will get noticed even more. Furthermore, Ted Cruz also knows some of his party compatriots, also have hard-ons for the presidency, and they also are planning on being anti-Big to get Donald’s eyes as well.
Ted Cruz knows he has to be the biggest, baddest, Dick (Durbin) basher on the committee, if he wants Donald Trump to fund him through out the primaries, instead of another suitor….
Every Republican Senator tries to one-up the other when it comes to bashing Dick, and that, explains the irrationality of the entire hearing, the filibuster, and the vote.
The behavior was certainly irrational if one considers the state of the country, the lost election, the armed forces, the sequestration, the upcoming NATO meeting on the future of Afghanistan. But it very rational, very rational indeed if you have no money and are looking for a Sugar Daddy to spread apart, open up your path into the Presidency….
Now.
Substitute Adelson, Israel, Chuck Hagel, and you finally have an idea of what was going on with the Chuck Hagel hearing and vote.
With just ten minutes left for one Senator to possibly scramble upstairs and cast a vote that would not change the outcome, Chuck Hagel’s secretary of defense nomination was sent to the Floor….
One of the more surprising moments was the very Senatorial response given by Mazie Hirono, the replacement for Dan Inouye, who passed away after the election.
In a brief statement she noted (at exactly the 2:00 mark) that the national security need for an immediate Secretary of Defense was necessary, and to abort the process and begin anew was irresponsible, for with sequestration, budget reductions, downsizing after Afghanistan, re-pivoting to the Pacific, challenges of North Korea, Syria, North Africa, cyber attacks to our data systems, power grid, infrastructure, all requiring immediate attention. Chuck Hagel exemplified himself in war, as a CEO, and in the chambers of the Senate itself. That puts him as equally qualified as anyone else in that room. Simply put, we need someone now, this man is capable, he has my vote.
Courtesy of C Span
I guess she hasn’t learned to be long winded yet.
Which brings up the Republicans… What on earth is wrong with them? Are they nuts?
Every unbiased report confirms they are nuts.
Republican foreign policy is farce, not even worthy of Shakespeare.
So Republicans have decided that Afghanistan doesn’t exist. At last summer’s Republican National Convention, Mitt Romney never mentioned the Afghan War (that was left up to Clint Eastwood).
Drones, Zero mentions.
Cyber warfare, two came from Committee Republicans..
China, only one mention came from a Senate Republican. (and that occured when Texas Sen. Ted Cruz asked Hagel if he had traveled to China with Chas Freeman, a former American diplomat known for critical views toward, you guessed it, Israel.)
Israel (178 Republican mentions)
America must help Israel prevent the development of Iran’s nuclear weapon. (171 mentions)
The GOP campaign against him has descended even deeper into triviality. Republicans on the Armed Services Committee are now refusing to vote on Hagel’s nomination until he provides evidence that no organization he was affiliated with received foreign funding over the past decade? WTF? Every Republican on that committed gets foreign political funding from AIPAC….
His answer: no.
Republicans stoop even lower.
Republicans are demanding that he prove that no company or non-profit he has been involved in has received any foreign funding either!
Chuck Hagel’s answer? “That information…is legally controlled by the individual entities and not mine to disclose.”
This is “unprecedented,” as well as “ridiculous and outrageous,” especially since there’s zero evidence that Hagel—a decorated Vietnam veteran—has ever subverted the interests of the United States in service of a foreign power.
One senses Chuck Hagel’s ridiculous farcical hearing process, brought to its knees by these Republicans, has not one iota of relevance to Mr. Hagel’s qualifications, and every bit of relevancy to fending off a potential evangelical Tea Party primary challenger chomping for a run against these Republicans in the next election season….
- In case you are waking up, you won’t get this story until noon.
The Daily Mail London just opened a can of worms on Benghazi….
Breaking News: The Daily Mail is reporting from inside sources that General Petreaus and the Ambassador Stevens were not informed that parts of the CIA had one day before, attacked the very same group of Libyan insurgents who returned the next day to attack at Benghazi. Furthermore, the Petreaus scandal was orchestrated by a rogue element of the CIA itself(7th floor) who were the ones behind the pushing of the FBI into investigating General Petreaus bedside manners.. (remember that fishiness of how the rogue FBI agent kept pushing his superiors? It makes sense now.)
Now get this. The same John Brennan who just testified to become the next CIA director, was who ordered the clandestine attacks the night before and who did not brief Petreaus, or the official side of the CIA, that they had done so.
So not only are Republicans completely wrong on Benghazi, they are now laughingstocks for every single word they said about it….
- We did know about the security threat.
- We did do something about it.
- We didn’t tell Obama, Clinton, Panetta, or Petreaus.
- All were in the dark, not to propagate deceit, but because they had no idea….
Every Republican needs to apologize to every Democrat starting now by getting down on their knees, and bowing their head to the ground in supplication… :)(Dick Morris can lick our toes).
One always fails if they bluster against competent people when all they have is their own hot air. That’s why good Democrats always win over bad Republicans.
In the press conference by those Republicans still trying to stir up Benghazi outrage, long after (1 week) after the election, a reporter questioned McCain as to why a hearing for Benghazi was being questioned, but we had unsecured Afghanistan documents in a unsecured socialite’s computer in Tampa.
John McCain said that was the dumbest question he’d ever answered… Four Americans died.
The follow up, was that what if more Americans were or did die from the breech of information? Wouldn’t that then be a graver threat than stirring up ashes from something that could be determined later and did not warrant such a grand scale such as a hearing, when an even greater episode was unfolding before our eyes?
Lindsey Graham stepped up to deflect the question…
But before I made up my mind, I went back and looked at the pictures of Kelley and Paula…. and said…” Damn, why are we even talking about Benghazi?” Can you even imagine the pics that went back and forth, leaking out and showing up on line, or some of the sexting, or maybe some soft porn?” I’m just beginning to…
Hell yeah!!!! Let’s instead hold hearing on the Petraeus breech of protocol… Yeah, Baby!!!
Slammed by Obama in his press conference, where it was brought up that penalizing the UN Secretary who had no direct knowledge of Benghazi attack, McCain, Graham, Ayotte, and Johnson are right now, all running for political cover… However, earlier today before they got embarrassed for looking childish, petty, inept and unmanly, they had a press conference to illustrate the 5 unanswered questions that now need answered……
5. Why were we not prepared and have enough counteractive punch in place and on the ground to prevent the loss of life in Benghazi on September 11th.
4. Why were we going on with “oh, life is normal” on the morning of September 11, 2001 when on August 6th, we had a CIA dossier that explicitly said….“Bin Laden Determined to Attack US”…. Why? Why weren’t there forces employed? How could we have been so unprepared?
3. Why were we not prepared and were caught completely off guard on January 30th, 1968 when Viet Cong and North Vietnam staged a surprise offensive that was able to take over and hold the embassy in Saigon once thought impregnable, at the same time they attacked 100 major South Vietnam towns and cities…. How could we be so unprepared?
2. Why were we not prepared and why were we surprised on the morning of December 7, 1941 when four aircraft carriers were able to navigate across half the Pacific Ocean unseen, and launch two air attacks on our sleeping crew and battleships in Pearl Harbor? This is outrageous. How could we not be so unprepared?
1. Why were we not prepared and had adequate security aboard the battleship Maine, before it was sabotaged in the harbor of Havanna on on February 15th, 1898…. 266 people died… This is outrageous. How could we be so unprepared….
These are serious concerns. They need an open hearing.
Therefore they suggested a Watergate style hearing along the lines of Iran Contra Hearings, or a 9/11 Commission to clear the air, ask tough questions and get tough answers…. The order of importance they should start with, should be item number one and work their way back up to the least important intelligence failing of them all…. Benghazi.
It is called: perspective.
kavips 
