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When Roger West first launched the progressive political blog "News From The Other Side" in May 2010, he could hardly have predicted the impact that his venture would have on the media and political debate. As the New Media emerged as a counterbalance to established media sources, Roger wrote his copious blogs about national politics, the tea party movement, mid-term elections, and the failings of the radical right to the vanguard of the New Media movement. Roger West's efforts as a leading blogger have tremendous reach. NFTOS has led the effort to bring accountability to mainstream media sources such as FOX NEWS, Breitbart's "Big Journalism. Roger's breadth of experience, engaging style, and cultivation of loyal readership - over 92 million visitors - give him unique insight into the past, present, and future of the New Media and political rhetoric that exists in our society today. What we are against: Radical Right Wing Agendas Incompetent Establishment Donald J. Trump Corporate Malfeasence We are for: Global and Econmoic Security Social and Economic Justice Media Accountability THE RESISTANCE

Friday, January 31, 2014

DAVID WILDSTEIN STARTS SINGING - SAYS CHRISTIE KNEW




A former top aide to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says that the governor was aware of the lane closings on the George Washington Bridge and claimed that “he had the evidence to prove it,” the New York Times reports. Christie has repeatedly denied having any knowledge of his administration’s involvement in the closures before incriminating emails surfaced in early January.

Former Port Authority official David Wildstein — the former director of interstate capital projects — said in a letter released by his lawyer that the Christie administration ordered the closure of the traffic lanes and said “evidence exists as well tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference” three weeks ago.

“Mr. Wildstein contests the accuracy of various statements that the governor made about him and he can prove the inaccuracy of some,” the letter added. The letter is sent from the law offices of Alan L. Zegas to the general counsel at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey challenging the Authority’s decision not to pay the former official’s legal bills.

The bridge controversy blew up after documents revealed that Christie aides orchestrated the September lane closures as an act of apparent retribution against the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee who refused to endorse the governor’s re-election bid. The documents also showed that Wildstein and several other Christie staffers were aware that the traffic closures were causing massive delays in Fort Lee and impeding public safety but kept the lanes closed for three additional days.

Wildstein, who attended high school with Christie, resigned last year in light of the scandal and has until now taken the Fifth and refused to answer questions at a state Assembly committee hearing investigating the matter. He is currently seeking a plea deal. Christie, meanwhile, has insisted that he barely knows Wildstein.
“I am outraged and deeply saddened to learn that not only was I misled by a member of my staff, but this completely inappropriate and unsanctioned conduct was made without my knowledge,” he said during a Jan. 9 press conference. “…This behavior is not representative of me or my administration in any way, and people will be held responsible for their actions.”

Stay tuned and pop the popcorn, as we'll keep you apprised of this late breaking news.





NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

Thursday, January 30, 2014

PREMIUM GRADE - A GRASS FED FREE RANGE BULLSHIT


After he summed up the State of the Union and subsequent GOP responses last night, Jon Stewart moved on to the backlash President Barack Obama’s speech has received from Republicans who are accusing him of giving up on bipartisanship. For Stewart, those claims are “total bullshit.”

Stewart translated Obama’s promise to use executive orders to bypass Congress as, “With all due respect, fuck all y’all.” But the way that Republicans responded to Obama with “hurt feeling” is what he found most outrageous. “The only problem with their ‘we just want to work with him’ is that it’s total bullshit,” Stewart declared. “Premium, grade-A, grass fed, free range bullshit, collected and packaged by hand from the polished anuses of award-winning Texas longhorns that have been bred for peristaltic perfection so that each individual dookie meets the exacting standards of the American Bullshit Association.”

And we wasn’t done after that. Stewart proceeded to use tweets from a GOP congressman calling Obama a “socialist dictator” as just one example of how absurd it is that Republicans are claiming they want to work with the president. After showing a clip of Rep. Paul Ryan threatening a “big problem” with Obama, Stewart said, “No, you’re not going to have a big problem, because you already had a big fucking problem.”

By the end of the segment, Stewart turned to one Republican member of Congress who showed his true colors when he thought the “cameras weren’t on”: Rep. Michael Grimm, who threatened to throw a NY1 reporter off a balcony following the State of the Union.

“You know what’s almost more upsetting than knowing that Republicans from day one planned to sabotage the administration in every way that they knew how? Or that the guy threatening to hurl a NY1 reporter off a balcony is not a thug in a Batman film, but someone we elected to Congress? Or that the public persona these folks display is so radically different from how they behave otherwise?” Stewart asked. “It’s that he went after a NY1 reporter.”


GRADE A GRASS FED BULLSHIT






NFTOS
STAFF WRITER

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

CLASS........ITS ALL IN WHO YOU INVITE





Last night at the SOTU [State of The Union] address, one party choose to invite a hero, one choose to invite a do-rag wearing hillbilly.

First the hillbilly




And now the hero - where the President choose to bring a soldier, who on his tenth tour of duty, just about died.

So no big blog today, just my heart felt thank you to Army Ranger Sergeant First Class Cory Remsburg - Sir, thank for your unconditional commitment to serving our country. You heroism is matched by none!

Army Ranger Sergeant First Class Cory Remsburg Hero Ovation





NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West


Tuesday, January 28, 2014

MADDOW TELLS THE DUKES BROTHERS FROM TRADING PLACES, " ITS OUR COUNTRY TOO"



Rachel Maddow muddles around in the Koch network enough to prove her claims the Kochs demanded she disavow, then reminds them that they don't own us. Yet she not only rebuts the claim the Koch brothers had nothing to do with drug testing in Florida -- an allegation they demanded she retract on the air -- but also reminds them that they have the right to spend as much as they want on politics and she has the right to report it.

Rachel's retort was sparked by Politico's in-awe article of the upcoming annual meeting of billionaires and donors in Palm Springs:

The shift is best illustrated in the expansion of three pieces of the Koch political network expected to be showcased or represented at the three-day meeting in Palm Springs, whose evolving roles were described to POLITICO by several sources.
Center for Shared Services: a nonprofit recruiter and administrative support team for other Koch-backed groups, which provides assistance with everything from scouting office space to accounting to furniture and security.

Freedom Partners: a nonprofit hub that doled out $236 million in 2012 to an array of conservative nonprofits that is now expanding its own operation so that it can fulfill many of the functions of past grantees.

Aegis Strategic: a political consulting firm started last year by Koch-allied operatives who will recruit, train and support candidates who espouse free-market philosophies like those beloved by the Kochs, and will also work with nonprofit groups in the Koch network, like Freedom Partners, with which it has a contract to provide policy analysis.

MADDOW Video courtesy of MSNBC






This is classic Koch behavior. Control is the name of the game. In their business dealings, they own their own hedge fund firm, their own accounting firm, and more. Their non-profits have been moving toward a more centralized structure where key organizations (usually disguised as LLCs or trade organizations) revolve around a funding hub, a services hub and a policy hub. It takes some work to link one to the next to the next with this structure, because it's rare to see direct funding.

Despite all the millions they poured into 2012, their success rate was dismal. Part of the reason was flawed candidates, but part of the reason was also flawed policy ideas. These billionaires reckon that if they just keep pushing and pushing and pushing the same bad policy, we'll all throw our hands in the air and surrender.

Hardly. It's our country too, and we have a right to participate in it even if we're not invited to the Billionaire Boys Club meeting in Palm Springs. So you go right ahead, billionaires, and plot your takeover of the government. We'll be right behind you shining the light on it.




NFTOS
STAFF WRITER

Monday, January 27, 2014

THE MENTALITY OF THE TURTLE



Despite agreeing to a budget this month, it seems Congressional Republicans are not yet done holding the economic fate of the country hostage in order to pass aspects of its agenda. In an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told host Chris Wallace that it would be “irresponsible” for Republicans not to try to add amendments to a bill raising the debt ceiling, which they may need to pass as early late February. Failure to pass a debt ceiling increase would be catastrophic for the economy, forcing the country to default on its obligations:
WALLACE: So are you saying right here, “We are going to attach something to the debt ceiling”? And if so, what? 
MCCONNELL: What I’m saying is we ought to attach something significant for the country to [President Obama's] request to increase the debt ceiling. That’s been the pattern for 50 years, going back to the Eisenhower administration. I think it’s the responsible thing to do for the country. 
We’re never going to default — the Speaker and I have made that clear. We’ve never done that. But, it’s irresponsible not to use the discussion — the request of the President to raise the debt ceiling — to try to accomplish something for the country.

THE TURTLE





Asked for a “good example” of what Republicans could demand in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, McConnell cited the Keystone XL pipeline because it would “create jobs.” In truth, though the project would create nearly 4,000 temporary construction jobs, it would ultimately only create 35 permanent jobs, resulting in “negligible socioeconomic impacts." Upgrading existing pipelines instead would both create more jobs and help protect the country’s drinking water supply from contamination from leaks.

Since 2011 — motivated in part by the growing influence of the Tea Party — Republicans have viewed the debt ceiling as what McConnell called “a hostage worth ransoming.” It was because of that very brinkmanship that Standard & Poor’s lowered the country’s credit rating, which cost taxpayers $19 billion and lost the country over a million jobs.




NFTOS
STAFF WRITER

Friday, January 24, 2014

BAN FLAGS ALLOW GUNS


What is the bigger risk inside a state capitol building: openly carrying an American flag or an assault rifle? In Virginia, visitors to the state legislature cannot bring American flags and signs affixed to sticks, because capitol security considers sticks a public threat. Firearms, however, are allowed.

A group of gun violence prevention activists discovered this when they arrived on Monday to attend a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day event. According to Virginia Capitol Police, the groups were informed beforehand of the restriction barring sticks at permitted rallies, because they can be used as weapons. Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America’s Gena Reeder said they were aware of the rules, but “certainly not in our wildest imagination thought that could apply to the American flag.”

While the moms tore out the dowels of their flags, capitol grounds visitors with firearms were ushered through the entrance. That day, Virginia Citizens Defense League and other gun rights groups organized a “Guns Save Lives” day. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that about half of the crowd was armed, packing weapons that ranged from handguns to assault rifles.

The anti-gun violence activists couldn’t reconcile this conflicting message in their heads, Reeder explained. “We are sending a message that you cannot hand carry an American flag into a state capitol, but you can bring a loaded weapon,” Reeder said. “Are guns becoming more patriotic than an American flag?

The same weekend, gun violence prevention activists faced a similar situation in the Washington state capitol. Moms Demand Action’s Washington Chapter Leader Kate Beck said the group arrived to lobby the capitol for gun violence action, only to find out all signs with sticks could not be carried inside. However, Washington state allows firearms on its capitol campus.

Virginia is not the only state that allows guns in its legislative buildings. Texas faced an awkward situation last year when police confiscated tampons from the gallery in the midst of a debate on abortion restrictions, while allowing others to walk in with firearms. In Kentucky, another state with open carry inside public buildings, a lawmaker accidentally fired a handgun in her capitol office. Kentucky state Rep. Leslie Combs shrugged off the incident. “I’m a gun owner,” she said. “It happens.”

Maybe if we affixed the flag to the gun?

cross posted from thinkprogress





NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Subpoenas Go Out For Christie Campaign And GOP State Committee Over Bridgeghazi

SAMPLE FEDERAL SUBPOENA



The U.S. Attorney for New Jersey has issued a subpoena for documents to both the Christie for Governor reelection campaign and the New Jersey Republican State Committee, an attorney for both organizations confirmed today.

According to attorney Mark Sheridan, the subpoenas request documents from the two organizations in relation to the investigation into lane diversions at the George Washington Bridge in September.

Both organizations are represented by the law firm of Patton Boggs, which has offices in Newark. In a statement to NJ.com, Sheridan said the following:

"The Christie for Governor re-election campaign and the New Jersey Republican State Committee received subpoenas for documents from the U.S. Attorney's office, in addition to the subpoena the campaign previously received from the state legislative committee. All three subpoenas focus on the closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge. The campaign and the state party intend to cooperate with the U.S. Attorney's office and the state legislative committee and will respond to the subpoenas accordingly.''

Calls to both the Christie reelection campaign and the state GOP committee for comment were not immediately returned.

The U.S. Attorney's subpoenas follow a round of 20 issued last week by the Assembly committee conducting its own investigation into the lane diversion scandal, which has quickly morphed into a nightmare for the governor.

Email records released earlier this month show a member of his administration was involved in the lane closures, from the beginning. While the Port Authority officials responsible for the controversy claimed the lane diversions were part of a traffic study, the email traffic hints it was done as a form of political retribution.

The governor is now facing potential federal involvement on two fronts. Last night, NBC reported FBI agents were questioning Hoboken employees in connection with claims from Mayor Dawn Zimmer that the administration threatened to choke off Hurricane Sandy relief if she failed to support a development project favored by the governor.

Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, who Zimmer said issued the threat, has vehemently denied the accusation, but last night agents questioned two of Zimmer's closes advisors.

Meanwhile, the investigation by the Assembly committee is expected to merge Monday with the probe underway by a Senate committee. Response to the subpoenas issued in that investigation are due in early February.

To date, no evidence has surfaced that connects Christie himself to the lane closures, however, the scandal already has claimed the jobs of Port Authority officials Bill Baroni and David Wildstein as well as Christie administration Deputy Cheif of Staff Bridget Kelly, the staffer who was implicated by an email she sent in August apparently ordering the lane diversions.

"Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee," she emailed a month before the lanes were diverted, to which Wildstein replied, "Got it."

The administration also cut ties with Christie's two-time campaign manager, Bill Stepien, who Christie said he had lost faith in after reading emails between Stepien and Wildstein showing Stepien discussing the media reaction to the lane closures with Wildstein.

Article form NJ.com





NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West


Wednesday, January 22, 2014

PANTS SHITTER TED NUGENT: "Obama Is A Subhuman Mongrel And Deserves Just Due Punishment For Treason"

THE PANTS SHITTER DEFECATES AGAIN



THE PANTS SHITTER





Conservative rocker Ted Nugent - the "patriot" who shit his pants to get out of military service - said that he wouldn't rest until President Barack Obama -- who he called a "subhuman mongrel" -- and of the all "liberal Democrats" had gotten the "just due punishment" that they deserved for treason.

In an interview with Guns.com last week, Nugent said that him winning the presidency in 2016 would be "the perfect ballet of freedom."

Nugent, who is a National Rifle Association (NRA) board member and a spokesperson for the Outdoor Channel, opined that he would be the best candidate because "our politicians check their scrotums at the door. Even Hillary. But Obviously, she has spare scrotum's."

He went on to apologize to members of the military for allowing "a commander in chief who is the enemy" to take over the country.
"I have obviously failed to galvanize and prod, if not shame enough Americans to be ever vigilant not to let a Chicago communist-raised, communist-educated, communist-nurtured subhuman mongrel like the ACORN community organizer gangster Barack Hussein Obama to weasel his way into the top office of authority in the United States of America," Nugent continued. "I think America will be America again when Barack Obama, [Attorney General] Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton, [Sen.] Dick Durbin, [former New York City Mayor] Michael Bloomberg and all of the liberal Democrats are in jail facing the just due punishment that their treasonous acts are clearly apparent."

The Motor City Blowhard added that his rhetoric was less "inflammatory" than the so-called scandal over the 2011 terrorist attacks at the U.S. consulate in Benghazi.
"What difference does that make?" he asked. "Not to a chimpanzee or Hillary Clinton, I guess it doesn't matter."
When a repulsive nasty draft dodging pants shitting child molester invokes treason........it's rich readers, its rich.




NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Former Governor Bob McDonnell And Wife Federally Indicted

BOB AND MAUREEN MCDONNELL - CROOKS AND LIARS




From my local TV station WTKR

Former Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen have been charged with illegally accepting lavish gifts, luxury vacations and large loans from a wealthy businessman who wanted special treatment from state government. Authorities say McDonnell and his wife received gifts from dietary supplement executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr. on many occasions.

In exchange, the McDonnell's allegedly worked to lend the prestige of the governorship to Williams’ struggling company, Star Scientific.

McDonnell acknowledged he received the gifts from Williams but claims he did nothing wrong.

Click here to read the entire indictment.

Investigators say McDonnell lied. The indictment charges the McDonnell’s with 14 counts and claims that they accepted more than $135,000 in loans and gifts from Williams and also lied on loan applications and other documents.

Also in the indictment are emails from Maureen McDonnell that show she believed she could have Williams buy her a designer dress for the inauguration.

According to the indictment, a McDonnell staffer referred to only as “J.E.” said that would not be proper. McDonnell then became angry with “J.E.” and sent the following email:



Both Bob McDonnell and Maureen McDonnell have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit honest-services wire fraud, three counts of honest-services wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to obtain property under color of official right, six counts of obtaining property under color of official right, and one count of making false statements to a federal credit union.

Bob McDonnell is also charged with an additional count of making a false statement to a financial institution, and Maureen McDonnell is charged with one count of obstruction of an official proceeding.

Their initial appearance and arraignment will be held this Friday in Richmond.

McDonnell released the following statement on Tuesday afternoon regarding the indictment:
“My fellow Virginians, earlier today federal prosecutors notified my attorneys that they have filed criminal charges against me and my wife Maureen, alleging that we violated federal law by accepting gifts and loans from Jonnie Williams, the former CEO of Star Scientific. I deeply regret accepting legal gifts and loans from Mr. Williams, all of which have been repaid with interest, and I have apologized for my poor judgment for which I take full responsibility. However, I repeat emphatically that I did nothing illegal for Mr. Williams in exchange for what I believed was his personal generosity and friendship. I never promised – and Mr. Williams and his company never received – any government benefit of any kind from me or my Administration. We did not violate the law, and I will use every available resource and advocate I have for as long as it takes to fight these false allegations, and to prevail against this unjust overreach of the federal government.”



Stay tuned as we have covered this story every step of the way since MSNBC Rachel Maddow broke the story.




NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

Monday, January 20, 2014

SARAH PALIN IS NOW A MLK EXPERT

PALIN ON MLK



Some things never change -- and then, some things only get worse.

Sarah Palin is a very twisted piece of work:
Sarah Palin 

Happy MLK, Jr. Day! 
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character." – Martin Luther King, Jr. 
Mr. President, in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. and all who commit to ending any racial divide, no more playing the race card.

Sarah Palin actually uses words from MLK's famous "I have A Dream" speech to make as ignorant and phony a claim as she can on this most important day. And get this, over 12,000 people liked her comment, too. There are some truly disturbed people out there in Conservativeland.

Cross posted from Crooks and Liars





NFTOS
STAFF WRITER

Sunday, January 19, 2014

BLACKMAIL IN HOBOKEN NJ? SAY IT ISN'T SO GOVERNOR!

BLACKMAIL NOW IN CHRISTIE'S BAG OF TRICKS?


Move over, Bridgegate. The Christie administration is now accused of using blackmail in Hoboken, telling Mayor Dawn Zimmer that she would not get Sandy aid for her town unless she approved a real estate project pushed by the Christie administration.

Zimmer, appearing on MSNBC this morning, said that Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Rich Constable each made the threat in person, explicitly linking Sandy aid for Hoboken, which was 80 percent under water after the storm, to her approval of a real estate project pushed by the Rockefeller Group, a New York firm represented by David Samson, a Christie intimate who is chairman of the Port Authority.

Is it true? Michael Drewniak, the governor's acerbic spokesman, scoffed at the idea. But then again, that's what Drewniak does. When he was first asked about Bridgegate, he called that accusation crazy. A spokesman for Constable denied it, but Constable himself assumed his usual position under the covers with no comment.

Zimmer says she's ready to take a lie detector test and challenged Guadagno and Constable to do the same. She showed TV-host Steve Kornacki diary entries expressing her shock and disappointment at the time, and multiple emails from Christie's crew pushing for approval of the project.

This one is beyond ugly. Because in the end, Zimmer did get shorted. Hoboken got $342,000, a pittance for a town that was 80 percent under water after the October 2012 storm. She had requested $127 million.

This is a credible charge. Zimmer is describing the same kind of thuggish behavior from the Christie administration that we saw during Bridgegate.

But this one cuts deeper. Leaving people stranded in horrid traffic for four days is bad enough. But denying aid to victims of Sandy as a means of leverage against an elected official is simply revolting. And surely illegal.

Time for U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman to jump on this. And the Legislature should ramp up an investigation as well.

In the meantime, what about it, Ms. Guadagno? If you are telling the truth, why don't you belly up and take that lie detector test? And how about you, Mr. Constable?

Did governor Kripsy Kreme hold super-storm Sandy relief funds hostage? If so, this by far trumps the "Bridge Over River Hubris" scandal.

Like all things tea bagger, I am sure Darrell Issa, and Lindsey Graham will somehow be able to tie all this to Obama and Benghazi.




NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

Saturday, January 18, 2014

DUPED BY DUCK DYNASTY


The last two months I was actually in Real Time withdrawals, speaking for myself only, shows that obliterate the right wing nut job - are my favorite. So it was good to have Bill Maher back on HBO last night.

In his closing segment, Maher went on about New Years resolutions and in "New Rules", Maher gave America some guidance on what to do in the new year.

Some resolutions for America were for the War in Afghanistan to a more productive Congress to Duck Dynasty, especially to “stop hanging onto stupid stuff long after it’s relevant just because it’s tradition” like the penny, the Drug War, Daylight Savings Time, and having two Dakotas [North, South].

Maher compared Afghanistan to a bad relationship, suggesting it’s like “dating a girl for thirteen years who tried to kill you every day.” He also took on Congress for being less productive than ever and the country at large for being behind the rest to the point where “there are girls on 16 and Pregnant who aren’t this consistently late.”

But he saved his sharpest barbs for last, telling people to “be more cynical” and “less easily fooled,” citing the Duck Dynasty team to make his case. He showed a picture of them before they had the hit show, calling them “preppy assholes at the golf club” putting on an act. He concluded, “Take a hint, tea partiers, this is what the Republican party is always doing to you.”







NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

Friday, January 17, 2014

NSA REFORM?

NSA GATHERS 200 MILLION TEXT MESSAGES DAILY


President Obama scaled back the National Security Agency’s ability to collect and store telephone data, but did not embrace many of the recommendations experts have proposed to reform the NSA.

In a heavily-anticipated speech Friday, Obama said intelligence agencies can still collect millions of Americans phone records but will instead have to turn them over to a third party and get a judge’s approval before accessing them.
“When you cut through the noise, what’s really at stake is how we remain true to who we are in a world that is remaking itself at dizzying speed,” Obama said.

The NSA, however, will hold onto the records for now until the U.S. Department of Justice, Congress and national security officials agree on who will store the phone data. Starting immediately, the agency must get a secret court’s approval before tapping into the database. They must also start limiting their inquiries into American citizens who are “two hops” away from suspected terrorists, rather than three.

The presidential policy directive released Friday ahead of the speech specified that signals intelligence collection could not occur “for the purpose of suppressing or burdening criticism or dissent, or for disadvantaging persons based on their ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion.” The administration will also separately study privacy issues in big data collection in both the public and private sector, perhaps suggesting more sweeping reforms to come.

In its recommendations, the president’s NSA review board suggested phone companies or an independent, private third party keep the bulk phone data to reduce the risk of government abuse. Then the NSA and other intelligence agencies could only retrieve it after getting a court order under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Even though it hasn’t been decided who will house the phone data, Obama’s decision aligns with a bill introduced Tuesday by Rep. Adam Schiff that mandates the government ask phone companies for records on a case-by-case basis. But the president’s reforms fall short of the pending Senate bill that seeks to abolish phone metadata collection altogether.

Obama addressed very few of the 46 recommendations drafted by his hand-picked review group.

But among the panel’s recommendations, Obama said there should be a public advocacy panel to monitor government programs that may compromise civil liberties. Obama asked Congress to assemble a panel of privacy experts that will weigh in on only “significant and novel cases” that could have broad privacy implications, a senior Obama Administration official said during a news conference call Friday. Because the FISA court also handles individual criminal cases, the privacy and civil liberties panel will only take part in cases “where the court is rendering a judgment that affects a broader privacy equity,” the official said.

However, Obama ducked some changes offered by the NSA panel. For example, no mention was made of the panel’s recommendation to close loopholes that allow government backdoor spying through U.S.-based tech companies, or reforming whistleblower protections.

Cross posted from thinkprogress.




NFTOS
STAFF WRITER

Thursday, January 16, 2014

RAPING WIFE OK IF SHE IS IN A NIGHTIE

RIGHT WING NUT JOB DICK BLACK


Rep. Frank Wolf is retiring from Congress, leaving his Northern Virginia congressional seat open in a competitive race. At least two teapublicans, state Senator Dick Black and Delegate Barbara Comstock, are vying for their party’s nomination.

Black has a controversial record on rape, women’s health, slavery, and LGBT rights, as discussed by Mother Jones Wednesday. Comstock stands for ultra-conservative policies, too, particularly when it comes to restricting abortion and women’s health.

Those views complicate the GOP’s effort to moderate their policies and appeal to minority, gay, and women voters and resemble the positions of Ken Cuccinelli, the party’s failed gubernatorial candidate:

Abortion is like slavery and the Holocaust: According to Black, contraception is “baby pesticide” and a “toxic method of eliminating a child” (even though contraception prevents abortions). In addition to saying abortion is worse than slavery, Black has compared abortion clinics to Nazi concentration camps. Without making such stark comparisons, Comstock drew comparisons between abortion, infanticide, and execution in a 2008 NBC interview.
Denying abortion even if it puts the mother at risk: Comstock answered simply that the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade should be overturned to deny abortions even if the mother’s health is threatened. She insisted that the woman be forced to carry to term, even if late-term pregnancy complications put lives in danger.
Allowing guns in bars: Comstock’s record on guns has earned her an “A” NRA rating. Her voting record on guns include allowing firearms inside bars that serve alcohol. The bill passed the legislature, making Virginia one of at least six states permitting loaded guns in some of the most dangerous circumstances.
Spousal rape and military rape is fine: Mother Jones pointed out that Black defended spousal rape, saying he “did not know how on earth you could validly get a conviction of a husband-wife rape, when they’re living together, sleeping in the same bed, she’s in a nightie, and so forth, there’s no injury, there’s no separation or anything.” After that comment, Black only clarified he was not “taking a position for or against marital rape.” Before that, Black — a former military prosecutor — dismissed rape in the military “as predictable as human nature.” “Think of yourself at 25,” he said. “Wouldn't you love to have a group of 19-year-old girls under your control, day in, day out?”
Same-sex couples pose danger to the public In Virginia’s state Senate, Black promoted a slew of bills discriminating against gay men and women. On gay people serving in the military, Black has said “It’s a question of whether we will force soldiers to bond with homosexuals in the showers and the barracks, knowing that doing so will result in sexual bullying, male rape and forcible sodomy.” He has proposed a bill to ban same-sex couples from adopting children, using the reasoning that they are more likely to be violent and suicidal. He has attempted to ban same-sex couples from applying for public home loans. Black has even said public discussion of gay relationships puts children at risk of contracting HIV. Polygamy, he says, is “more natural” than being gay.

The candidates are far to the right of where the district leans politically. Wolf held his seat for 17 terms, but the “increasingly purple” district is seen as competitive for either party. Though it went 50-49 for Mitt Romney in a state that voted for President Obama in 2012, the district was 51-48 for Obama in 2008.

Dick Black, you are today's worst person in the world!




NFTOS
STAFF WRITER


Wednesday, January 15, 2014

THE BOSS MOCKS CHRIS CHRSITIE


Embroiled "Bridge Over Hubris" Governor Chris Christie adores him some Bruce Springsteen - when it comes to the GW traffic jam, the feelings don't seem to be reciprocal.




Freaking hilarious!



NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The American Taliban Stonewalls On Two Unemployment Bills


Senate Republicans once again blocked emergency unemployment aid for Americans unemployed six months or longer. In fact, Senate Republicans filibustered an extension of the jobless benefits into November, and they blocked a three-month extension. After the votes, Sen. Jack Reed pointed out that the CBO had estimated that the longer aid extension would create 200,000 jobs.

Republicans continued to whine over procedure in an attempt to distract from the fact that they are standing in the way of unemployment insurance. What they want is to force a lengthy series of votes on poison pill amendments, both slowing the bill's progress and trying to weaken it or pass something unrelated as well as harmful. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid did offer a deal on amendments; it just wasn't the capitulation Republicans sought:
In response to Republican requests that they be allowed votes on their amendments to the bill, Democrats agreed to consider five Democratic and five Republican amendments at a 60-vote threshold, with a catch: That the GOP would consent to a simple majority vote on the underlying bill, which would extend emergency benefits through November. 
Republicans swiftly rejected the offer from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who said Republicans were trying to “have their cake and eat it too” by requiring 60 votes on the underlying legislation while also demanding consideration of their amendments. 
“Are Republicans filibustering unemployment insurance benefits, or are they not?” Reid said on the Senate floor.

They are. And, infuriatingly, on the longer-term extension, they had the support of three Democrats: Mary Landrieu of Louisiana and Mark Udall and Michael Bennet of Colorado.

More than 1.3 million Americans, a number growing every week, are desperately in need of this unemployment insurance extension. So is the American economy.




NFTOS
STAFF WRITER

Monday, January 13, 2014

ITS ALL ABOUT ME

SANDYGATE AND BRIDGEGAZI CONSUME CHRIS CHRISTIE



The Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has opened a federal investigation into whether New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie improperly used Hurricane Sandy relief funds to produce commercials starring himself and his family ahead of his re-election campaign. Auditors will examine how the Christie administration used $25 million set aside for “a marketing campaign to promote the Jersey Shore and encourage tourism,” focusing on the bidding process awarding a $4.7 million contract to a politically connected firm that cast Christie and his family in the Sandy ads, while “a comparable firm proposed billing the state $2.5 million for similar work” but did not include Christie in the commercials.

The ads produced by the company, MWW, attracted significant criticism. The New Jersey Star Ledger accused Christie of siphoning off “money that was intended for victims of Sandy to promote himself in a series of TV ads,” and described the move as “offensive” and a ” new low.”

CHRIS CHRISTIE AD




Congress raised alarms about the ads in August. In August, Rep. Frank Pallone alerted the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that the Christie administration may have “irresponsibly misappropriated funding allocated by Congress from the Sandy aid package” and used funds set aside for promoting the state “for political purposes.” “The contract was awarded to a firm that is charging over $2 million more than the next lowest bidder to develop the marketing plan,” Pallone wrote, noting that “the winning bid proposed including Governor Chris Christie in the advertisements, while the lower cost proposal that was not selected did not.” “It is inappropriate for taxpayer-funded dollars that are critical to our state’s recovery from this natural disaster to fund commercials that could potentially benefit a political campaign.”
Conservatives questioned Christie’s staring role. In November, Sen. Rand Paul said Christie’s appearance in the television ads gave the recovery effort a “black eye.” “People running for office put their mug all over these ads while they were in the middle of a political campaign,” Paul said during a committee hearing. “In New Jersey, $25 million was spent on ads that included somebody running for political office. You think there might be a conflict of interest there? That’s a real problem and that’s why when people who are trying to do good and trying to use taxpayers’ money wisely, they’re offended to see our money spent on political ads. That’s just offensive.”
Chair of bidding committee has close ties to Christie. A six-member bid evaluation committee of Christie administration officials selected the higher price despite issuing a report that said Sigma’s proposal also “addressed the tasks and deliverables specified in the RFQ (request for quotation) … (and) could effectively meet the requirements of this RFQ.” Michele Brown, a close Christie aid, led the bid evaluation. “Brown is a former federal prosecutor in New Jersey but resigned that post in 2009 amid controversy over a loan of $46,000 from Christie,” Asbury Park Press reports.
The winning firm donated thousands to Republicans. The East Rutherford, New Jersey based MWW Firm has donated heavily to Democrats, but “MWW employees donated $1,000 to Christie’s 2009 Republican gubernatorial primary campaign and $1,500 to his 2010 inaugural committee.” The MWW Group PAC “spent $95,250 in the 2012 federal election cycle, with 73 percent of the money going to Democrats, though the largest single expenditure, $5,000, went to the National Republican Congressional Committee.” The losing ad firm, Sigma, did not make any political contributions.
The winning firm originally sought more money. Contract documents reveal that “MWW’s team had sought $5.2 million in labor costs and markups, with company CEO Kempner requesting his own compensation to be set at $595 per hour. After negotiations with state officials, MWW reduced its price and removed Kempner from the compensation list.”
Christie says he selected firm for its “statewide connections.” The Christie administration insists that MWW was the best choice, claiming that it had “statewide connections that would allow it to mobilize quickly to perform the high-stakes work of boosting tourism in the first summer season since superstorm Sandy.” “The size and scope of the PR campaign that MWW undertook was far larger and more labor-intensive than any other bidder’s,” said Michael Drewniak, a Christie spokesperson.

Christie has responded by attributing the ads to Obama: “The Stronger Than The Storm [ad] campaign was just one part of the first action plan approved by the Obama Administration and developed with the goal of effectively communicating that the Jersey Shore was open for business during the first summer after Sandy,” Christie spokesperson Colin Reed said in a statement. “We’re confident that any review will show that the ads were a key part in helping New Jersey get back on its feet after being struck by the worst storm in state history.” While the Obama administration approved a waiver to allow the state to spend $25 million on ads, it was not involved in the bidding process under federal review.

I am reminded that "Deep Throat" once told Bob Woodward. "follow the money" - apparently this is still prudent advice today. At this rate maybe we could get Christie to the big house, the gray bar hotel, jail.





NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

Sunday, January 12, 2014

C'EST LA VIE TRANSVAGINAL BOB

BOB MCDONNELL'S CLAIM TO FAME


Gov. Terry McAuliffe was inaugurated as Virginia's Governor yesterday, succeeding now-former Gov. Bob McDonnell . Over his tenure as a state Delegate, Virginia Attorney General, and Governor, he amassed a shockingly right-wing record.

Here are the biggest disappointments of his two decades as a public official:

He and his family took tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts from a supporter — and helped his controversial business. In what Republican state legislator Bob Marshall called the “type of activity” that “undermines public confidence,” McDonnell and his family reportedly accepted $145,000 in gifts and/or loans from Jonnie R. Williams Sr., the CEO of Star Scientific Inc. The McDonnell's then helped promote the scientifically-unproven dietary supplements line made by the controversial tobacco company-turned-supplements manufacturer. While Virginia’s lax gifts law allows elected officials to accept unlimited gifts — even from lobbyists and those with business before the state — McDonnell may still have broken the law by not fully disclosing what he and his wife received. A possible federal indictment was reportedly put on hold until after McDonnell left office. This was not McDonnell’s first time under ethical fire: in 2005, he exploited a loophole to evade disclosure requirements, hiding corporate contributors to his attorney general campaign.

He consistently opposed LGBT equality. As a legislator, McDonnell launched a crusade against LGBT rights. In 2004, he authored a resolution calling on Congress to pass a federal marriage inequality amendment. A year later, he helped to write the state’s constitutional amendment which bans same-sex marriages, unions, and partnerships. He even voted against a proposal in 2000 that would have changed Virginia’s unconstitutional law banning consensual sodomy between two adults from a felony to a misdemeanor and used that antiquated ban to oust a state judge he believed might be a lesbian. Among his first acts as governor was rescinding protections for gay and lesbian state employees via executive order (though he later issued a less potent “executive directive” telling his appointees not to actually discriminate). McDonnell said that this decision was made because LGBT Virginians don’t face widespread discrimination. He has opposed adoption rights for same-sex couples and signed bill allowing child-placing agencies and clubs on public college and university campuses to discriminate based on sexual orientation if their “conscience” so dictates.

He worked tirelessly to block women’s reproductive rights. As a graduate student at Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network University (now Regent), McDonnell wrote a thesis laying out a far-right agenda for the Republican Party that included significant restrictions on women’s reproductive health. He brought that agenda to the House of Delegates, where he voted for numerous abortion restrictions and actually voted against a bill to clarify that “abortion” was not defined to include “contraception.” As governor, he has backed a radical “personhood for fetuses” bill and signed TRAP restrictions aimed at closing abortion clinics and an unfunded mandate requiring women to receive a medically unnecessary ultrasound before having an abortion.

He dismissed climate science and pushed for more fossil-fuel use. Falsely claiming that the science showing that climate change is real and caused by humans is “mixed,” McDonnell eliminated his predecessor’s state climate change panel. He strongly supported the coal industry (for whom his wife worked as a consultant) and touted off-shore oil drilling at a BP-funded conference in Texas. He amended a 2010 bill to weaken state air pollution regulations.. And last year, he pushed for and signed a transportation bill that lowered the gasoline tax and shifted highway costs to bikers, pedestrians, and people with hybrid vehicles.

He rolled back voting rights. In 2012, McDonnell signed a voter ID law aimed at combating virtually non-existent voter impersonation fraud. The bill was cleared by the U.S. Department of Justice as it included enough options for types of valid identification as to not disproportionately disenfranchise minority voters. After the 2012 elections were marred by long lines, confusion about voter ID laws among poll workers, and insufficient staffing and equipment, McDonnell decided to respond by making it harder still to vote. Last March, he signed a strict photo ID law that will cost the state hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

He rolled back gun violence legislation, while working to slash mental health funding. Despite Virginia’s history as a haven for gun trafficking, McDonnell signed a bill repealing the state’s one-gun-a-month law. He also signed a bill to allow guns in bars and another which he used to bring the National Rifle Association’s controversial “Eddie the Eagle” gun safety program into elementary school classrooms. As he rescinded gun violence prevention laws, he simultaneously proposed major cuts to mental health services. The NRA and many Congressional Republicans have often suggested that an improved mental health system, rather than gun laws, is the way to reduce gun violence.

In 2009, Virginia was rated the nation’s best state in which to do business. But thanks in no-small-part to his backwards-moving policies as governor, Virginia has dropped significantly and, in 2013, tied for fifth-best.


C'est La Vie douchebag.



NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

Saturday, January 11, 2014

THE BRDIGE OVER RIVER HUBRIS DOCUMENTS

BRIDGEGATE - THE DOCUMENTS




Finally, NFTOS was able to get the full document disclosure of Chris Christie gate, or as its better known, BRIDGEGATE, or as I like to call it, "Bridge Over River Hubris".

Below is the entire lot of documents, enjoy.

Note to readers: This page will take several seconds to fully load all documents. Scroll down to view Exhibits A through G, released by the NJ Assembly committee investigating the George Washington Bridge controversy and the Christie administration's role in it. Also if you click the "exhibit" hyperlink it will take to a scribd viewer which is larger than what NFTOS can provide.










   Exhibit B




   Exhibit C



   Exhibit D




   Exhibit E



   Exhibit F



   Exhibit G






NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West


Friday, January 10, 2014

AND NOW THE REAL TRUTH

CHRIS CHRISTIE AND BRIDGEGAZI


Rachel Maddow presents a new possibility of what the induced Ft. Lee traffic jam was retribution for. If it wasn't over the mayor’s gubernatorial endorsement, what was it for? Keep reading as it doesn't have a thing to do with the Mayor of Ft. Lee, New Jersey.

If Christie was telling the truth when he said the mayor of Fort Lee wasn't really on his radar, then perhaps the retaliatory action wasn't aimed at the mayor at all. Maybe it was aimed at someone else.

Bridget Kelly sent the infamous email at 7:34 AM on August 13, 2013 saying it was "time for some traffic problems around Fort Lee." What would have prompted her to send that? What was happening in the middle of August (besides endorsements) that would have given rise to this particular form of political retribution?

New Jersey Supreme Court battles were happening.


MADDOW VIDEO COURTESY OF MSNBC





It certainly makes more sense than the theory that Christie was getting revenge on the mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing him. As Maddow pointed out in the segment, there were quite a few Democrats who didn't endorse Christie and they didn't experience any payback from the governor.

I anxiously await the song bird to start singing......enter Bridget Kelly.

RELATED: Documents released: Download the documents here (download speeds are slow due to demand) or view them here without downloading.






NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

Thursday, January 9, 2014

CORRUPT OR INCOMPETENT?




Today Chris Christie found himself waist deep in cow dung - today he spent the better half of two hours trying to tell both his state and the country that he knew nothing about "Bridgegate".

It's no surprise that Christie says he didn't know anything about his administration's involvement in the Fort Lee lane closure scandal until Wednesday of this week. But what is surprising is his explanation for why we should believe him, because it's a really flimsy one.


MADDOW Video Courtesy of MSNBC




E-mails show that the Christie administration wanted to create traffic problems in Fort Lee.

Even as Chris Christie attempts to distance himself from responsibility for the GWB fiasco, e-mails recently released to the public show that his administration orchestrated the traffic delays, with no concern about medical emergencies or the health and safety of New Jersey residents. This was apparently done in order to retaliate against the Mayor of Ft. Lee, Mark Sokolich.

CHRIS HAYES Video Courtesy of MSNBC




Wildstein today refused to testify before the Assembly, on January 9th.

Another Christie staffer, David Wildstein, later gave the order to close down the three lanes around the GWB. The public was not notified, nor were any plans made to prevent accidents and injuries, or ensure the safe flow of traffic for emergency vehicles.

Wildstein has been fighting against state and federal authorities, in effort to get a quash for a subpoena from the New Jersey State Assembly. A superior court judge denied his motion to quash and ordered him to testify before the Assembly, on January 9, 2014. Almost as soon as Wildstein took the stand, he exercised his right to remain silent, in order to avoid incriminating himself.

Christie can forget ever being President, and if a fired staffer steps up and speaks up, and they can link the bloviated road blocker to this fiasco, his days as governor are numbered as well.

Christie spent an enormous amount of his time today telling us how much of a bully - he is not -trying to slip-n-slide away from the narrative of - " are you sure you knew nothing of this plan"

Personally I could care less if Christie is a bully, my concern is- if he knew of this diabolical retribution schema, then he is one of the most corrupt deviant f*cks to ever hold a governors office - and if he indeed knew nothing of this, then he is the most incompetent Governor to ever hold office. Embarrassed, shamed, who cares.

So, I propose two queries, is Chris Christie a corrupt bastard, or is he incompetent? Does it matter if he is either of the two?

I would imagine that there is much more to story to be told, I'll hold judgment until the smoking gun is fully engulfed before I go full throttle on his ass. I would imagine there is a weasel in the weeds just waiting to sing the "Chris Christie knew of the plan" song. Stay tuned!






NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

CHRIS CHRISTIE INVOKING PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY

NEW JERSEY GOVNA CHRIS CHRISTIE ON THE TRAFFIC JAM



Look, it's Dick Cheney ordering Scooter Libby to take the fall for him all over again - oh no wrong liar.


Oh what a tangled web we weave, When first we practice to deceive.




Governor Soprano just turned rat.

As they said of the GOP God Ronnie Reagan during the Iran-Contra affair - if he knew that this was happening on his watch, then he's corrupt as hell - if he didn't know about it then he's completely incompetent. Which is it Chris?





NFTOS
Editor-In-Chief
Roger West