Bad Deeds for: 1-17-2008

Charity Paid US Commander $100,000 While Cutting Wounded Veterans Budget – A charity that has been accused of ripping off veterans — and donors — paid a former commander of the United States Armed Forces to endorse it, before he later disassociated himself from the group’s solicitations. “Retired U.S. Army Gen. Tommy Franks, who led the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, was paid $100,000 to endorse a veterans charity that watchdog groups say is ripping off donors and wounded veterans by using only a small portion of the money raised for veterans services, according to testimony in Congress today.

Fox News Ignores Republican Affiliation of Suspected Terrorist Conspirator – Fox News is doing its best to arouse sympathy for a former Republican Congressman who was indicted Wednesday as part of a terrorist fundraising ring that allegedly sent more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan. The coverage of Rep. Mark Siljander’s indictment on Fox & Friends never mentioned his party affiliation, but featured his former aide, a conservative commentator who regularly appears on Fox, expressing her shock and disbelief and suggesting explanations for his actions. Debbie Schlussel is now best known for her attacks on Islam and Islamic culture, but twenty years ago, when she was an “Outstanding Teen Age Republican,” she served as an aide to Siljander. A year ago, Schlussel provoked a storm of outrage with a column titled “Barack Hussein Obama: Once a Muslim, Always A Muslim,” which exaggerated the Muslim elements in Obama’s family background and called his loyalties to the United States into question.

Ailing GIs Deployed to War Zones – Fort Carson sent soldiers who were not medically fit to war zones last month to meet “deployable strength” goals, according to e-mails obtained by The Denver Post. One e-mail, written Jan. 3 by the surgeon for Fort Carson’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, says: “We have been having issues reaching deployable strength, and thus have been taking along some borderline soldiers who we would otherwise have left behind for continued treatment.” Capt. Scot Tebo’s e-mail was, in part, a reference to Master Sgt. Denny Nelson, a 19-year Army veteran, who was sent overseas last month despite doctors’ orders that he not run, jump or carry more than 20 pounds for three months because of a severe foot injury. Nelson says he was one of at least 52 soldiers deployed who should not have been, and a veterans group says the military is endangering soldiers to meet its goals.

Republicans Help Corporations and Think It’s Great to Have to Work Two Jobs and Work Long Hours – Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA), the chief deputy Republican whip in the House, unveiled his proposal to stimulate the economy. His legislation – the so-called Middle Class Job Protection Act – does nothing for the middle class. Instead, it reduces the corporate tax rate by 25 percent. At a press conference today unveiling the stimulus proposal, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) justified the conservative plan to give tax breaks to corporations – instead of working Americans – by arguing that people actually like working long hours:

“I am so proud to be from the state of Minnesota. We’re the workingest state in the country, and the reason why we are, we have more people that are working longer hours, we have people that are working two jobs.”

Bachmann’s version of the American Dream is apparently working two full-time jobs and struggling to get by.

Bogus Iran Story Was Product of Pentagon Spokesman According to Reporter – An American journalist and historian who was the first to break the story of a secret Iranian peace overture to the Bush Administration in 2006 alleges that the latest Pentagon encounter between Iranian ships and a Navy vessel was a deliberate fabrication. The incident, on Jan. 5 in Strait of Hormuz off the Iranian coast, was originally described as a non-event — then quickly became one in which Iranian boats threatened to “explode” American ships. Porter identifies Bryan Whitman, the Pentagon’s top spokesman, as the culprit for the spurious account. Most of Whitman’s remarks that formed the basis for news stories were drawn from an off the record press briefing that was held on the condition he not be identified as a source.

The Surge Has Sucked All of the Flexibility Out of the System – “The surge has sucked all of the flexibility out of the system,” Army Chief of Staff George Casey said in an interview this week. “And we need to find a way of getting back into balance.” But President Bush made clear this week that additional troop withdrawals were far from a sure thing. After a meeting in Kuwait with Gen. Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Mr. Bush said he was open to slowing or stopping the withdrawal of troops to avoid jeopardizing recent security gains in Iraq.

FOX Sports To Inject FOX News Anchors and Politics Into Super Bowl Coverage – On Feb. 3, Super Bowl Sunday, reporters from FOX News will be teaming up with reporters from FOX owned and operated stations from around the country for a three hour broadcast event, focusing on presidential politics and professional football. The anchors will toggle back and forth between discussion of the Super Bowl and Super Tuesday.

Shell Oil Is Polluting Houston – Shell’s Deer Park facility is a 1,500-acre complex located on the Houston Ship Channel in Harris County, about 20 miles east of downtown Houston. It is the nation’s eighth-largest oil refinery and one of the world’s largest producers of petrochemicals. The facility is also the second largest source of air pollution in Harris County, which ranks among the worst in the nation in several measures of air quality. “I live and work downwind from Shell, in Channelview. My family and my employees simply can’t afford to breathe in any more air pollution,” said Sierra Club member and small business owner Karla Land. “We have laws to protect air quality for a reason. Shell is breaking those laws and they need to be made to stop.” “On average of more than once a week for at least the past five years, Shell has reported that it violated its own permit limits by spewing a wide range of harmful pollutants into the air around the Deer Park plant,” said Luke Metzger, Director of Environment Texas. “Because the state of Texas and the U.S. EPA have both failed to put a stop to these blatant violations, ordinary citizens are stepping up to enforce the law themselves.” Take action.

Mitt Romney Defends Himself Against Allegations Of Tolerance – Humor, but the joke here is not on Romney; it’s on intolerant Conservatives, and how the Republican candidates have to pander to them.

Regards,

Jim