Former Justice Department Official and U.S. Attorney Admits There Was a Republican Loyalty Test For Prospective Prosecutors – In written answers to questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee, Bradley Schlozman, the former Justice Department official and U.S. attorney who’s been at the center of the firings controversy, admitted that he had once urged hiring certain prosecutors for his office based on their political affiliation. It’s against civil service laws to do so.
General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker Didn’t Tell the Whole Truth – General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker said in their testimony to Congress was pretty much expected. It’s what they did not say that is interesting:
A chart displayed by Army Gen. David Petraeus that purported to show the decline in sectarian violence in Baghdad between December and August made no effort to show that the ethnic character of many of the neighborhoods had changed in that same period from majority Sunni Muslim or mixed to majority Shiite Muslim.
Neither Petraeus nor U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker talked about the fact that since the troop surge began the pace by which Iraqis were abandoning their homes in search of safety had increased. They didn’t mention that 86 percent of Iraqis who’ve fled their homes said they’d been targeted because of their sect, according to the International Organization for Migration.
While Petraeus stressed that civilian casualties were down over the last five weeks, he drew no connection between that statement and a chart he displayed that showed that the number of attacks rose during at least one of those weeks.
Petraeus also didn’t highlight the fact that his charts showed that “ethno-sectarian†deaths in August, down from July, were still higher than in June, and he didn’t explain why the greatest drop in such deaths, which peaked in December, occurred between January and February, before the surge began.
And while both officials said that the Iraqi security forces were improving, neither talked about how those forces had been infiltrated by militias.Petraeus didn’t say that many believe that al Qaida numbers increased in Ninevah province only after the surge began.
Petraeus said 445,000 people were on the security forces’ payroll, but didn’t discuss that many officials believe that thousands of those don’t actually exist, but are phantoms whose salaries actually go into ministry officials’ pockets.
General Testifies to Congress That We’re Making Progress in the War – The date: April 28, 1967, the General: Westmoreland, the War: Vietnam.
“The numbers [on Viet Cong troop strengths] troubled Westmoreland, who feared that the press would not understand them. He did not order them changed but instead did not include the information in reporting to Washington, which in his view was a decision that the data were not appropriate to report.” Sound familiar? If not, you skipped the article above.
Romney Adviser Linked to Anti-Thompson Smear Site – A top adviser to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney appears to be behind the launch of a new Web site attacking GOP presidential rival Fred D. Thompson during his first week on the trail. The site, PhoneyFred.org, painted an unflattering picture of Thompson, dubbing the former TV star and senator Fancy Fred, Five O’clock Fred, Flip-Flop Fred, McCain Fred, Moron Fred, Playboy Fred, Pro-Choice Fred, Son-of-a-Fred and Trial Lawyer Fred. A series of inquiries led to the political consulting firm of J. Warren Tompkins, Romney’s lead consultant in South Carolina. Tompkins was the chief strategist for George W. Bush in South Carolina at the time a smear campaign was launched against Senator John McCain to sully his character and spread rumors, including that he had once fathered an illegitimate black child.
Democratic Leadership Afraid to Confront Administration – House Democratic leaders have decided to postpone a vote on a criminal contempt resolution against White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers for several weeks, and possibly longer. Democrats had vowed to take up the issue when Congress returned from its August break, with Democratic leaders declaring that any failure to do so would undermine the ability of Congress to conduct its constitutionally mandated oversight role. “Congress will act to preserve and protect our criminal justice system and to ensure appropriate congressional oversight in all areas essential to the well-being of the American people,†Pelosi said back then.
The Latest Ugliness From Ann Coulter – Ann Coulter spoke at Xavier University last week. She spouted these gems in her speech:
“If Barack Obama is half white and half black, Bill Clinton is half white and half trash.”
“Don’t let the Democratic Party anywhere near foreign policy,” she said, drawing more applause. “It’s a conflict of interest when you ask people to defend America who don’t like America.”
“Liberals don’t recognize the existence of evil,” she said. “The closest thing to it in their vocabulary is Wal-Mart.”
“Democrats believe public restrooms are only for snorting coke.”
“Terrorists are Democrats with more gumption.”
One attendee said, “Conservatives like her because she says what we think.”
Regards,
Jim
Andy Hailey