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
PoliticoreportedTuesday evening that Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s administration is in negotiations with the Obama White House to accept about $100 million in federal money to implement an Obamacare Medicaid program to help elderly and disabled Americans.
Perry has been a heated opponent of the health law. He refused to accept $100 billion in federal funding to expand Texas’ Medicaid program under Obamacare, which could have helped 1.5 million poor Texans afford basic health benefits. As recently as April, Perry essentially called the expansion a joke. “Seems to me April Fool’s Day is the perfect day to discuss something as foolish as Medicaid expansion, and to remind everyone that Texas will not be held hostage by the Obama administration’s attempt to force us into the fool’s errand of adding more than a million Texans to a broken system,” said Perry.
Now, Perry is seeking federal dollars for Texas’ Medicaid program anyway.
The Affordable Care Act grants state funding to expand a program called Community First Choice, which aims to improve the community-based medical services available to disabled and elderly Americans. The wildly popular program is administered through Medicaid and could prevent thousands of disabled and older Americans from being uprooted from their homes and into a long-term care facility for their treatments. Approximately 12,000 Texans could take advantage of it in the first year alone.
Perry spokespeople emphasized to Politico that the governor’s support for the program — and the Medicaid funds that make it possible — shouldn’t come as a surprise and doesn’t change his position on the Affordable Care Act.
“Long before Obamacare was forced on the American people, Texas was implementing policies to provide those with intellectual disabilities more community options to enable them to live more independent lives, at a lower cost to taxpayers,” said the spokesperson in a statement. “The Texas Health and Human Services Commission will continue to move forward with these policies because they are right for our citizens and our state, regardless of whatever funding schemes may be found in Obamacare.”
Advocates for the poor and disabled who support expanding Community First Choice under Obamacare were apprehensive to even talk about the program’s relation to the health law out of fear that Texas officials would back out of their funding bid over political considerations.
“It would be worse than a shame if Texas’s moving ahead with [Community First Choice and Balancing Incentive Program] policies — both are from the ACA — was hurt as the result of scrutiny from a press inquiry,” one Texas advocate told Politico.
Maybe it's high time for two Americas. One for Texas and the haters of the US Government, and a separate one for people who don't leave their brothers and sisters out in the cold to die - to line the pockets of corporations.
Most Talibangelicals speak with a forked tongue, Perry is no different. It seems the only talent needed to be the governor is being able to talk out of both sides of your mouth and your ass the same time.
With regards to Perry's "intellectual disabilities" comment, is there a more intellectually challenged Governor in these United States than Perry? Me thinks not!
THE AMERICAN TALIBAN FAILS TO READ ITS OWN AUTOPSY
The Republican National Committee had what seemed like easy advice for the rest of the GOP after the 2012 election: Stop inflaming racism and expand the voter base beyond male, white America. After a disastrous few months since the RNC autopsy report, they tried again Thursday, with an event celebrating the “rising stars” of the Guns Over People.
But Teahadist leaders worry its already too late, as Politico reported on Friday, “influential GOPers told us the party is actually in a worse place than it was Nov. 7, the day after the disastrous election.” The American Taliban has repeatedly gotten in their own way of appealing to Hispanic, black, Asian, and gay Americans. Here are just a few examples:
1. Voted to deport DREAMers: With DREAMers standing in the room and booing, 221 House Republicans voted to defund the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which would effectively resume deportations. Meanwhile, comprehensive immigration reform has come to a grinding halt in the House, which has split on whether to include a path to citizenship.
2. Suppressed minority votes: Immediately after the Supreme Court struck down part of the Voting Rights Act, Texas moved to enact a voter ID law and North Carolina rolled out a series of voter suppression bills. Texas has now joined a case to permanently undo Voting Rights Act protections. It doesn’t help matters that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia called the Voting Rights Act a perpetuation of “racial entitlement.”
3. Dismissive and racist language: Republicans haven’t figured out a way to keep Rep. Steve King (R-IA) quiet, since the congressman refuses to apologize for calling immigrants drug mules. But it’s not just Steve King. In private King insists his colleagues agree with him, while Rep. Don Young (R-AK) used the word “wetbacks” to describe Hispanics. Meanwhile, Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) has made a case against multiculturalism, saying, “there’s only one race here, it’s the American race.”
4. Boycotting Spanish-language TV: Due to its invented controversy involving networks broadcasting Hillary Clinton documentaries, the RNC said it will boycott Spanish-language networks Telemundo and CNN Espanol for 2016 debates, too.
5. Insensitivity on Trayvon Martin: Texas Governor Rick Perry reacted to George Zimmerman’s not guilty verdict for the death of a black teen by insisting the justice system is “color blind.” Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) told African-Americans to “get over it.” King blamed Obama for Zimmerman even having to stand trial for Martin’s death. And Florida Governor Rick Scott has refused to even open debate on the state’s controversial Stand Your Ground law.
6. Tea Party condescendingly talks race: Even as he attempted to broaden the Republican party’s appeal to black voters, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) condescendingly discussed the history of civil rights and discrimination during his April speech at Howard University. Paul, who once admitted he opposes the Civil Rights Act of 1964, recently explained he doesn’t “think there is any particular evidence” of black voters being prevented from voting.
7. Relied on racist author’s Heritage study to fight immigration reform That former Heritage author Jason Richwine earned his Ph.D for a racist dissertation linking race and IQ has not stopped Republicans from heralding Heritage’s discredited findings on immigration.
8. Pursued rabidly anti-LGBT agenda: Gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli has stood by his position of viewing LGBT people as “soulless” and “self-destructive.” The RNC also unanimously passed anti-LGBT resolutions without any debate in April. Neither shows Republicans are serious about showing LGBT Americans “we care about them too,” like the RNC stated.
9. Ignored uninsured voters: Latinos have among the lowest rates of health coverage in the U.S., and also back Obamacare 2 to 1. The GOP has ignored this issue, and haven’t offered any alternatives for the uninsured, even as many of them threaten to shut down the government to block Obamacare.
10. Still arguing for self-deportation: Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, invited by Republicans to testify on immigration, is still arguing for self-deportation. Even RNC chairman Reince Priebus slammed this approach as“horrific.”
When Rosa Nell Eaton was 21 years old and living in segregated North Carolina, she became one of the first African Americans in her county registered to vote, after successfully completing a literacy test that required her to recite the preamble to the Constitution. But now, at 92 years old, she faces new obstacles under the voter suppression law signed by Gov. Pat McCrory (Teahadist) Monday. For one thing, she may not qualify for the voter ID card required under the new law, because the name on her birth certificate is different from the name on her driver’s license and voter registration card. Reconciling this difference will be a costly and time-consuming administrative endeavor. For another, she has participated in early voting since it was instituted in the state. Now, it’s been cut back a week.
She is one of several individuals who, along with civil rights groups, are already suing the state for what may be the most restrictive voting law in the nation. Other restrictive new provisions in the law include the elimination of same-day registration and early registration for high schoolers in advance of their 18th birthday, and prohibiting certain kinds of voter registration drives that tend to register low-income and minority voters.
ROSANELL EATON
Eaton participated in Moral Monday protests in North Carolina before the law passed, expressing opposition with fellow North Carolinians to a raft of new state conservative policies that would hurt the poor, women, minorities, and the environment. During one Moral Monday event, her daughter Armenta told reporters on her behalf, “She thought things were smooth sailing. She’s seen the good, bad, and the ugly. Now she’s seeing the ugly again. She fought for civil rights, she was a civil rights worker, and now she sees that it’s going backward.”
Voter Fraud Under Bush four one hundred thousandths of a percent [.00004]
Tuesday morning, she was back out again protesting the passage of the bill, this time delivering an impassioned address to an energized crowd. “Here I am at 92 years old doing the same battling,” she told the crowd. “I have registered over 4,000 citizens in the state, and at it again, alongside Republicans’ efforts to eliminate and cut early voting. … We need more, not less, public access to the ballot.” She concluded, “At the age of 92, I am fed up and fired up.”
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, you are today's asshat of the day!
Politicians arguing about religion is routine. But politicians arguing that one major party is "anti-God" because it disagrees with him is well outside the norms of the United States.
In other words, in Virginia, E.W. Jackson may have finally gone too far.
From the power Oz this week is a look at some of the religious rhetoric coming from Virginia Republicans, which strayed awfully far from the American norm.
Last Thursday, E.W. Jackson, the Virginia GOP's right-wing-nut candidate for lieutenant governor, doubled down on his previous theological condemnations of those he disagrees with politically.
Jackson has said in the past that he thinks believing in God and voting Democratic are fundamentally incompatible, so WLEE host Jack Gravely asked if he still believes it. Gravely explained that he's a Christian and tends to vote Democratic, just like his parents and family. Jackson didn't back down.
"You are saying for us, we're all wrong, leave that party. And all I'm saying to you is, if you said it before, you still have to believe it, why did you say it?" Gravely asked. "Oh, oh, oh I do believe it," Jackson responded. He continued: "I said it because I believe that the Democrat Party has become an anti-God party."
As a rule, major-party candidates for statewide office simply don't talk this way in the United States. American politicians have argued about religious issues since before we were even a country, but those hoping to represent a diverse constituency of millions of people generally don't argue -- out loud and in public -- that one party is "anti-God" and one party is pro-God.
Jackson, in other words, whose rhetorical excesses have made him a caricature of what a ridiculous candidate looks like, is pushing the envelope beyond traditional American norms. He's also lying -- while most secular voters gravitate towards Democrats, there's literally nothing about the Democratic Party or its platform that's hostile towards religion or the supernatural, and most Democratic voters nationwide consider themselves religious.
Indeed, Jackson went so far that Pat Mullins, chairman of the Virginia Republican Party, distanced himself from the candidate's extremism. "I do not agree with that statement," he told Salon in a statement. "My parents were Democrats, and I've got a lot of Democratic friends in Christian churches all around Virginia."
To provide some context, it's not at all common for a state GOP chair to criticize a statewide GOP candidate's rhetoric three months before Election Day. Jackson has apparently gone so far, he's too extreme for far-right Republicans.
To even have to utter such a statement for the record is testament to the untoward extremism of our Tea Partying friends and foes!
Some of my best friends are - are the most offensive defense of what usually turns out to be one's indefensibly display of ignorance when it comes to Christianity- at the least, or worst, latent or otherwise, dearly held prejudices are the norm for The American Taliban!
So, in my state of Virginia, there's a set of party affiliated candidates who are so prejudiced against the other major party brand they'd cast them out or pillory them for crimes against the spirit?
A whole lot of bullshit resides in the minds of Virginia Talibangelicals these days, and its not healthy for our nation, nor the Christian faith!
MICHELE "BATSHIT CRAZY" BACHMANN SET TO LEAVE CONGRESS
Say it isn't so, Batshit crazy is to exit stage right in 2015? That's right readers, early this am, Michele Bachmann makes her first ever productive announcement as a congressperson - she will not be running in 2014 - this morning she uploaded an eight minute video to youtube calling it quits. [Much like her length of service, her good bye video was way too long.]
Bachmann shall be sorely missed here at NFTOS as she has made quite a name for herself - as the bombastic buffoon of the American Taliban, and yes, the average IQ of both the Intelligence committee and House of Representatives will rise exponentially when Michele Bachman is gone.
SAYING ITS OVER
Matt Taibbi once said of Bachmann:
[Michele] Bachmann is a religious zealot whose brain is a raging electrical storm of divine visions and paranoid delusions... Bachmann is exactly the right kind of completely batshit crazy... crazy in the sense that she's living completely inside her own mind, frenetically pacing the hallways of a vast sand castle she's built in there, unable to meaningfully communicate with the human beings on the other side of the moat, who are all presumed to be enemies.
Bachmann leaves behind one of the most politically heated Congressional careers in the organizations history. Her stances on major issues — and the initiatives she has pushed throughout her eight years — have been dangerous, insensitive, moronic, and down right Batshit crazy. Below is a look back at some of Bachmann’s most controversial Batshit moments:
"I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane. He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?' Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we've got to rein in the spending." –Rep. Michele Bachmann, suggesting at a presidential campaign event in Florida that the 2011 East Coast earthquake and hurricane was a message from God (Aug. 2011)
"Well what I want them to know is just like, John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. That's the kind of spirit that I have, too" -Rep. Michele Bachmann, getting her John Waynes mixed up during an interview after launching her presidential campaign in Waterloo, Iowa, where she grew up. The beloved movie star John Wayne was born in Winterset, Iowa, three hours away. The John Wayne that Waterloo was home to is John Wayne Gacy, a notorious serial killer. (June 2011)
"I will tell you that I had a mother last night come up to me here in Tampa, Florida, after the debate. She told me that her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter." –Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN), on the HPV vaccine, Fox News interview, Sept. 12, 2011
"Why should I go and do something like that? But the Lord says, 'Be submissive wives; you are to be submissive to your husbands." -Rep. Michele Bachmann, recalling in a 2006 speech at a Megachurch in Minneapolis that pursuing tax law wasn't her choice, but she did so at the urging of her husband because she was certain God was speaking through him.
"I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out under another, then under another Democrat president, Jimmy Carter. I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence." -Rep. Michele Bachmann, on the 1976 Swine Flu outbreak that happened when Gerald Ford, a Republican, was president, April 28, 2009
"But we also know that the very founders that wrote those documents worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States. ... I think it is high time that we recognize the contribution of our forbearers who worked tirelessly -- men like John Quincy Adams, who would not rest until slavery was extinguished in the country." -Rep. Michele Bachmann, botching American history while speaking at an Iowan's for Tax Relief event in January 2011. The Founding Fathers did not work to end slavery, and John Quincy Adams was not one of the Founding Fathers.
"Before we get started, let's all say 'Happy Birthday' to Elvis Presley today." -Rep. Michele Bachmann, while campaigning for president in South Carolina on what was actually the anniversary of Elvis's death, Aug. 16, 2011 (Elvis was born on January 8)
"I just take the Bible for what it is, I guess, and recognize that I am not a scientist, not trained to be a scientist. I’m not a deep thinker on all of this. I wish I was. I wish I was more knowledgeable, but I’m not a scientist."
"The President of the United States will be taking a trip over to India that is expected to cost the taxpayers $200 million a day."
"Carbon dioxide is natural, it is not harmful, it is a part of Earth’s lifecycle. And yet we’re being told that we have to reduce this natural substance, reduce the American standard of living, to create an arbitrary reduction in something that is naturally occurring in Earth."
"The big thing we are working on now is the global warming hoax. Its all voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax."
"Lady Liberty and Sarah Palin are lit by the same torch."
"If we look at American history, between 1942 and 1947, the data that was collected by the Census Bureau was handed over to the FBI and other organizations at the request of President Roosevelt, and that’s how the Japanese were rounded up and put into the internment camps. I’m not saying that that’s what the Administration is planning to do, but I am saying that private personal information that was given to the Census Bureau in the 1940s was used against Americans to round them up, in a violation of their constitutional rights, and put the Japanese in internment camps."
BACHMANN CLAIMED ABOLISHING THE MINIMUM WAGE WOULD CREATE JOBS: While testifying in front of the Minnesota Senate in 2005, Bachmann said, “Literally, if we took away the minimum wage — if conceivably it was gone — we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level.” This isn't remotely true. Even simply reducing the minimum wage would, as Paul Krugman noted, “at best do nothing for employment; more likely it would actually be contractionary.”
BACHMANN LIKENED VISITING IRAQ TO VISITING MALL OF AMERICA: In 2007, Bachmann returned from a junket to Iraq and told her colleagues, “[T]here’s a commonality with the Mall of America, in that it’s on that proportion. There’s marble everywhere.
BACHMANN SUGGESTED GAY SINGER SHOULD REPENT AFTER GETTING CANCER: Bachmann saw Melissa Etheridge’s cancer as a teachable moment: “Unfortunately she is now suffering from breast cancer, so keep her in your prayers,” she said in November 2004. “This may be an opportunity for her now to be open to some spiritual things, now that she is suffering with that physical disease. She is a lesbian.”
BACHMANN BOASTED ABOUT BREAKING THE LAW: In advance of the 2010 national Census, Bachmann told The Washington Times that she would break the law by not completing the forms. “I know for my family, the only question we will be answering is how many people are in our home,” she said. “We won’t be answering any information beyond that, because the Constitution doesn’t require any information beyond that.”
BACHMANN CLAIMED THAT GLENN BECK COULD SOLVE THE DEBT CRISIS: During a February trip to South Carolina, Bachmann told a South Carolina audience, “I think if we give Glenn Beck the numbers, he can solve this [the national debt].”
"We will talk a little bit about what has transpired in the last 18 months and would we count what has transpired into turning our country into a nation of slaves."
"This is an earthquake issue. This will change our state forever. Because the immediate consequence, if gay marriage goes through, is that K-12 little children will be forced to learn that homosexuality is normal, natural and perhaps they should try it."
"I don’t know where they’re going to get all this money because we’re running out of rich people in this country."
"There are hundreds and hundreds of scientists, many of them holding Nobel Prizes, who believe in intelligent design."
"Normalization (of gayness) through desensitization. Very effective way to do this with a bunch of second graders, is take a picture of ‘The Lion King’ for instance, and a teacher might say, ‘Do you know that the music for this movie was written by a gay man?’ The message is: I’m better at what I do, because I’m gay."
"I’m very concerned about the international moves they’re making, particularly … moving the United States off the dollar and onto a global currency, like Russia and China are calling for."
"If we took away the minimum wage — if conceivably it was gone — we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level."
"It is horrific to know that in the African American community, 50 percent of all African American pregnancies in the United States end in abortion, 50 percent. That is a genocide of African Americans of the United States. It should not be. There are Americans all across this country who would love to adopt African American babies, but they can’t because 50 percent of all African American pregnancies today are ending in abortion."
"And what a bizarre time we’re in, when a judge will say to little children that you can’t say the pledge of allegiance, but you must learn that homosexuality is normal and you should try it."
"Unfortunately, the Census data has become very intricate, very personal, a lot of the questions that are asked. I know for my family, the only question we will be answering is how many people are in our home. We won’t be answering any information beyond that, because the Constitution doesn’t require any information beyond that."
"Un-elected bureaucracies will decide what we can and cant get in future health insurance policy. That's why they're called death panels."
"A woman (Terri Schiavo) was healthy. There was brain damage, there was no question. But from a health point of view, she was not terminally ill."
"[Pelosi] is committed to her global warming fanaticism to the point where she has said she has even said she is trying to save the planet. We all know that someone did that 2,000 years ago."
"Not all cultures are equal."
"But we also know that the very founders that wrote those documents worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States."
"Carbon dioxide is portrayed as harmful. But there isn’t even one study that can be produced that shows that carbon dioxide is a harmful gas."
"I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back."
"I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out: Are they pro-America or anti-America?"
"During the last 100 days we have seen an orgy. It would make any local smorgasbord embarrassed … The government spent its wad by April 26."
"(Gay marriage) is probably the biggest issue that will impact our state and our nation in the last, at least, thirty years. I am not understating that."
Bachmann claims that leaving congress is not due to; a potential heated race in Minnesota, a FBI investigation into misappropriated campaign funds, nor her possible violation into congressional ethics violations.
I am not sure who is the supreme benefactor in this deal, the state of Minnesota, or these great Untied States. Let's be clear readers, one less Batshit crazy American Talibaner making decisions about our lives is great news for all, but when a top General of stupid and radical right wing ideology is gone- its time for Congress and American's across this land to be rejoicing!
So much for this right wing nut jobs so-called Titanium spine. While the GOP's collective I.Q. may have just inched up a bit, they still have a long way to go to shed the stupid party mantle.
Who knew? Who knew just how many radical GOPers resided in the state of Virginia?
Virginia has had its share of lunatics this week oozing from the annuls of the slimy cesspool that is the Virginia GOP. Mark Obenshain, E.W. Jackson [ my personal favorite VA American Talibaner] and now, yet another believer - that pasty white old fashioned neocons - should have the right to be in women's vagina.
American Taliban of Virginia Treasurer Bob FitzSimmonds, a former aide to and “very close friend” of gubernatorial nominee Ken Cuccinelli II (R),toldVirginia blogger Ben Tribbett that he is “not a big fan of contraception, frankly.”
At last weekend’s state party convention, Tribbett asked FitzSimmon whether he supported the distribution of emergency contraception on college campuses. “I’m not a big fan of contraception, frankly,” the Republican Party official explained. “I think there are some issues, we’re giving morning-after pills to 12-year-olds, and pretty soon I guess we’ll hand them out to babies, I don’t know.”
FitzSimmonds also told Tribbett that sex education has caused the spread of sexually transmitted diseases: “I believe that we don’t recognize the causal effect between the type of sex education that we’ve been giving and the spread of STDs. We focus on things like abortion, cause it’s a big pressure thing. I go into schools 15-20 times a year, I run a non-profit that goes into schools and talks to kids about sex. They’re all abortion and HIV. HIV’s kind of hard to catch. Abortion happens if you get pregnant. But we’re on the track for 50 percent of the American people to have Herpes by the time these kids are my age. And that is a profound — not only health but sociological crisis facing this country.”
FitzSimmonds posted on his Facebook page shortly after last November’s election, “When Obama is 90 years old and he dies and goes to Hell, he is going to say ‘This is all Bush’s fault.’”
Ladies of Virginia and the United States, how you can vote for these overreaching Neanderthal-ish thugs is beyond me. Most women that we speak to are amazed at just how far Virginia's version of the American Taliban will go with the probing of women's vagina's. If your not on-board, then should these radical right wing nut jobs gain the offices they seek, then you truly get what you deserve!
Congratulations Bob FitzSimmonds, on memorial day weekend, you become the third Virginian [GOP version] this week - to be today's worst person in the world.
FIRST SCOUT CHIEF EXECUTIVE JAMES E. WEST WITH PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT
I have tried to stay out of this conversation, as the BSA is close and dear to my heart. My families history is long and deeply entrenched in scouting.
I have sat back and watched the American Taliban and their likes destroy, mock, and pillage [verbally] what my family worked so hard to build. I am not sure how my kin-folk would react or vote to gays in scouting, I can only speak for myself. But I can assure you, I'd take a million LBGT over one tea bagger any day of the week and twice on Sunday!
I hearken back to the words of Christ, and a lesson that these so called "Christians" fail to heed:
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” – Jesus
This is my major problem with Christianity, Christians are so unlike their Christ!
The roughly 1,400 voting members of the Boy Scouts of America’s (BSA) National Council voted 61-38 percent Thursday to end the ban on gay youth participating in the program, but reaffirmed their policy of mandatory discrimination against LGBT leaders and volunteers.
The move — suggested by the national leadership as an attempted compromise — represents a modest step forward, but still comes as a disappointment to the thousands of Eagle Scouts,1.8 million Change.org petition signers, and the 56 percent of Americanswho want the BSA to end its anti-LGBT discrimination.
While the policy change will permit openly gay Scouts like Ryan Andresen to receive their Eagle Scout awards, it will still prevent openly lesbian parents like former Cub Scout Den Leader Jen Tyrrell from volunteering with their parent’s Scout units.
BSA President Wayne Perry wrote, in a USA Today op-edWednesday, that allowing LGBT leaders “would have conflicted with the majority of our partners, 70% of which are religious organizations, and would have disrupted our ability to deliver Scouting.” But in the same statement, he noted, the organization was “unaware of any major religious chartered organization that believes a youth member simply stating he or she is attracted to the same sex, but not engaging in sexual activity, should make him or her unwelcome in their congregation.”
This admission and the rule change seem to contradict the BSA’slong-standing rationale that “homosexual conduct is inconsistent with the requirements in the Scout Oath that a Scout be morally straight and in the Scout Law that a Scout be clean in word and deed, and that homosexuals do not provide a desirable role model for Scouts.” By finally admitting that being LGBT is not, itself, incompatible with being “morally straight” or “clean,” the justification for excluding adults purely on the basis of their sexual orientation seems to now be reduced to “some religious organizations prefer discrimination.”
The BSA’s Honorary President Barack Obama and former BSA national board member Mitt Romney agreed in their 2012 presidential campaign that the organization should stop discriminating based on sexual orientation — a view shared by corporate CEOs and more than 7,000 Eagle Scouts.
EARL WALKER JACKSON, AMERICAN TALIBAN LUNATIC FRINGE
Yes Virginia, something is rotten in your politics.Virginia's GOP primary election opened the door to the lunatic fringe, a fringe so extreme - that women beware.
Just when you though the fruit basket was full, out comes the three amigos, Ken Cuccinelli, Mark Obenshain, and E.W. Jackson.
While the other two are just as off the reservation as Jackson, let's concentrate on NFTOS' "worst person in the world" for this entire week, AKA E.W. Jackson.
Saints be praised, E.W. Jackson is just amazing. Aficionados of the GOP's new move towards abject batshit insanity have found a new poster boy in inexplicable Virginia Lt. Governor nominee E.W. Jackson:
E.W. Jackson is Allen West, but more prone to irrational fury. He's Louie Gohmert, but more incoherent. He's Steve King and Michele Bachmann, but with the hatefulness dialed up to eleven and a half. How the hell is it that the American Taliban just discovered this loon now? One would have thought they'd have shaken every tree in the conservative nut orchard by now, but no, this "Christian" seems to have been specially cloned in a American Taliban lunatic candidate vat.
If you were to put the dregs of conservative Internet comment sections into a pot, boil them down to their essence, then run the resulting product through a sieve to get it to its rawest, most pure form of vitriol, it would probably look something like E.W. Jackson’s Twitter feed.
Through much of President Obama’s first term, Jackson, who was nominated this past weekend as the Republican nominee for Virginia Lieutenant Governor, used his Twitter feed to attack gays, Muslims, Obama, and even Michael Jackson.
Thinkprogess sifted through each of Jackson's 662 tweets, and here are Jackson’s 20 most vitriolic tweets (in no particular order):
Homophobia
"The President has proclaimed June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Pride Month. Well that just makes me feel ikky all over. Yuk!" 8:34 AM - 3 Jun 2009
"If Bill Clinton was the "first black President," Barack Obama is the "first homosexual President," based on their respective affinities." 10:20 PM - 10 Oct 2009
"By allowing openb homosexuality, liberals have made clear that they are their own gods with their own morality." 11:24 PM - 19 Dec 2010
"This "Christian" Pres. believes homosexuality is right and the Bible is wrong. He thinks he's Pres. of Sodom & Gommorah! Or he'd like to be." 6:46 PM - 10 Oct 2009
"The homosexual movement is a cancer attacking vital organs of faith, family & military - repositories of traditional values." 12:25 PM - 12 Oct 2009
"Harvard endows first Gay, Les, Bisexual Transgendr Professorship. Named for Harvard Scholar who killed himself over Gay lover. What?" 11:50 PM - 3 Jun 2009
"Tony Perkins was disinvited as spkr at Andrews AFB because he opposed Obama promoting open homosexuality in the military. This the Gestapo?" 3:08 PM - 26 Feb 2010
"I am going to be at the Justice Dept. on Monday speaking at a press conference opposing the Hate Crimes Law as anti-Christian bigotry." 6:55 PM - 13 Nov 2009
Islamophobia:
"Did you know that Obama appointed 2 "devout Muslims" to the Homeland Security Department? Email me at stand@standamerica.us I'll forward it." 10:53 AM - 17 Nov 2009
"Frank Gaffney - Washgtn Times - wrote an excellent article on Obama & Islam. "First Muslim President?" Chk it out." 6:27 PM - 13 Jun 2009
Vitriolic attacks on Obama and Democrats:
"I do not believe Obama is the anti-Christ. But "Christians" who follow Obama would probably follow the Anti-Christ. Are they Christians?" 4:52 PM - 27 Sep 2009
"I love America. I love God. I am black. Obama does not love America & does not love God. His being black is not enough!" 11:37 AM - 14 Oct 2009
"Admittedly, for anybody willing to face the truth, Obama's radical anti-American, anti-Christian ideology was apparent." 4:08 PM - 14 Jul 2009
"Are Obama & his admin anti-semitic? They bow & shake hands with every two bit dictator, but feel the need to come down on Israel?" 2:29 PM - 14 Mar 2010
"Scott Brown was sent by voters as the 41st vote against Obamacare. So Obama's Marxist brigade decided "no more Senate votes." Democracy?" 8:06 AM - 21 Mar 2010
"I don't like to name call, but you have to be a disloyal idiot to stand with a foriegn leader who condemning your own country and citizens." 7:39 AM - 21 May 2010
"Obama & comrades are totalitarianists. Their Unholy Alliance will destroy this country if we let them. Uprising in 2010 elections!" 7:36 AM - 20 Dec 2009
"Can we repeal the Demoncrats who are giving us economic, social & military degeneration? No. I guess we just have to cast them out at the ..." 11:11 PM - 19 Dec 2010
Climate denial:
"Obama was apparently suppressing a report debunking the global warming hysteria. Transparency? Sure! Like an iron curtain." 7:30 PM - 29 Jun 2009
The death of Michael Jackson:
"When you worship a human as if he were God, you always end up with a dead god ala Michael Jackson." 5:35 PM - 27 Jun 2009
The first thing this Einstein should learn is, that every character you type on the internet,every site you visit - is a time stamp of your actions, and are always traceable to the owner.
Let's be clear fellow Virginian's, this "Christian" could be your next Lt. Governor! If you have been reading my blog for awhile, you know my favorite quote: "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." Mahatma Gandhi
E.W. Jackson words reflect nothing of our Christ, nor of a true Christian.
The tea baggers have sent a clear concise message when they nominated "the Cooch", E.W. Jackson, and Mark Obenshain - extreme radical 1200 B.C. governing. Extremist come in many forms, hence the name the "American Taliban"- at a time when Virginia is on the cusp of moving this state forward, or moving it back to the 1950's - where jobs, education and transportation should be at the forefront - we get men who take umbrage to boobs on state seals and women's personal parts.
We need men and women who are going to lead with the intent that all Virginian's move forward, not just the radical American Taliban [can't use "pasty whiten men" in this instance]. We need governance where the ideology is aligned with the times, not ideals from centuries long ago.
To the "Cooch", Obenshain, and Jackson, I say thanks but no thanks!
Ken Cuccinnelli aptly named the "cooch" because he thinks its his business to be in women's vagina's.
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II (R), the Republican nominee for governor, endorsed his newly-nominated running mate, Bishop E.W. Jackson Sr., but refused to say whether he agreed with Jackson’s myriad ofcontroversial comments.
Cuccinelli told a crowd in Abingdon, VA on Monday that he wants Jackson, as Lt. Governor, breaking ties in the currently split Virginia Senate: “I don’t need to know what the subject matter that’s going to tie up 20-20 that the LG can vote on will be. I’m confident that we’re going to get the right vote every single time out of E.W. Jackson. So I’m glad he’s on this ticket, too.”
But in a statement to the Virginia Pilot, Cuccinelli also said he would not answer questions about his new running mate’s views. “We are not defending any of our running mates’ statements now or in the future,” he noted, adding “The people of Virginia need to get comfortable with each candidate individually.”
Given the panic and criticism from some Republicans over Jackson’s surprise victory at Saturday’s Republican Party of Virginia nominating convention, it is unsurprising that Cuccinelli wants to keep his running mate at arm’s length. But their arch-conservative views on key issues seem largely identical:
LGBT Rights
Jackson opposes LGBT equality,claiming, “Homosexuality is a horrible sin, it poisons culture, it destroys families, it destroys societies; it brings the judgment of God unlike very few things that we can think of.”
Cuccinelli opposes LGBT equality,claiming, “When you look at the homosexual agenda, I cannot support something that I believe brings nothing but self-destruction, not only physically but of their soul.”
Planned Parenthood
Jackson has attacked Planned Parenthood, calling it “more lethal to black lives than the KKK ever was.”
Cuccinelli has frequently attacked Planned Parenthood, accusing them of having an “open willingness to participate in human trafficking,” and has suggestedthe fact that abortion clinics in Virginia are in urban areas with large African American populations is an example of white racism.
Health care
Jackson does not believe Virginia should comply with the Obamacare law, claiming, “Virginia is duty bound to DEFY NOT COMPLY with any federal encroachment on the rights and freedom of our people. Working families across the Commonwealth are disappointed that a Republican led General Assembly decided to COMPLY and NOT DEFY a law that will greatly hurt the economy and health care options affecting all Virginians.”
After Cuccinelli’sfailed challenge to Obamacare in federal court, he suggested Virginia might not need to comply with the law: “It’s not like there’s criminal penalties out there — it becomes a power struggle,” he noted, adding, “There have been periods of time when states have just thrown their hands up and said, ‘We’re not going to do this’… It’s still possible, but it’s outside the expected legal structure.
President Obama
Jackson hasattacked President Obama for having “Muslim sensibilities,” claiming Obama “sees the world and Israel from a Muslim perspective.” He called Obama an anti-Semite, blaming “his Muslim associations and his long period of mentorship under Jeremiah Wright.”
Cuccinelli dabbled in birtherism in 2010, saying, “Someone is going to have to come forward with nailed down testimony that he was born in place B, wherever that is. You know, the speculation is Kenya. And that doesn’t seem beyond the realm of possibility.” He quickly backed down.
For his part, Jackson sees Cuccinelli as an ideological soul mate. In a March posting on his campaign website, entitled “Ken Cuccinelli Is Right,” he wrote: “As an American and a Virginian whose ancestors were deemed by some to be less than human, I am proud to stand with a man who has the courage to speak to our consciences. As the Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor, I will be proud to help Ken Cuccinelli bring common sense values and governance to Richmond. If we are elected in November, KEN AND I WILL FIGHT FOR EVERY VIRGINIAN’S RIGHT TO LIFE, LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS.”
Make no bones about it readers, the American Taliban is alive and well in Virginia. The amount of radical GOPers trolling our streets are a plethora - and now enters the latest of right wing lunatics to step up and run for office in Virginia, Mark Obenshain.
If a woman in Virginia has a miscarriage without a doctor present, they must report it within 24 hours to the police or risk going to jail for a full year. At least, that’s what would have happened if a bill introduced by Virginia state Sen. Mark Obenshain (R) had become law.
And yet, the Virginia Republican Party wants to make Obenshain into the state’s top prosecutor. This weekend, Virginia Republicans selected Obenshain as their nominee to replace tea party stalwart Ken Cuccinelli (R) as the state’s attorney general.
When a fetal death occurs without medical attendance upon the mother at or after the delivery or abortion, the mother or someone acting on her behalf shall, within 24 hours, report the fetal death, location of the remains, and identity of the mother to the local or state police or sheriff’s department of the city or county where the fetal death occurred. No one shall remove, destroy, or otherwise dispose of any remains without the express authorization of law-enforcement officials or the medical examiner. Any person violating the provisions of this subsection shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Under Virginia law, a Class 1 misdemeanor carries a maximum sentence of “confinement in jail for not more than twelve months and a fine of not more than $2,500,” so Obenshain’s bill could lead to a woman who decides to take a day to grieve the loss of a pregnancy she’d hoped to carry to term spending a year of her life in jail for that decision.
Even without Obenshain’s bill, Virginia law already treats many miscarriages as potential crimes. Under existing Virginia law, “[w]hen a fetal death occurs without medical attendance upon the mother at or after the delivery or abortion or when inquiry or investigation by a medical examiner is required, the medical examiner shall investigate the cause of fetal death and shall complete and sign the medical certification portion of the fetal death report within twenty-four hours after being notified of a fetal death.” Obsenshain’s bill, however, would treat many women as if they were criminal suspects at the moment they are confronted with a deep personal tragedy — and imprison them if they would rather deal with that tragedy privately with their family than share the vulnerable moment after a miscarriage with law enforcement.
In a update to the story:
Jared Walczak, a Deputy Campaign Manager with Obenshain for Attorney General, provided a statement explaining his boss’ support for this legislation. The statement is copied below, with an added link to a news story Walczak identified as the “law enforcement issue” prompting the legislation:
At the request of one of his local Commonwealth’s Attorneys, Senator Obenshain carried legislation (SB 962 of 2009) dealing with a specific law enforcement issue. As sometimes happens, the legislation that emerged was far too broad, and would have had ramifications that neither he nor the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office ever intended. Senator Obenshain is strongly against imposing any added burden for women who suffer a miscarriage, and that was never the intent of the legislation. He explored possible amendments to address the bill’s unintended consequences, and met with representatives of both Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice in an attempt to identify a solution. Ultimately, however, he was not satisfied that any amendment could sufficiently narrow the scope of the bill to eliminate these unintended consequences, so he had the bill stricken at his own request.
Obenshain is just one of many radical GOPers in our land - yet another extremist wanting to over-reach and control a woman's body parts. This path, while a disgusting disturbing one, is the American Taliban we have come to know and love. First ladies, its put an aspirin between your knees for birth control, next it's have your lady parts probed whether you consent or not, always remember ladies that "rape is legitimate", and now, this Einstein wants to step further into business that should remain between both you and your doctor.
Women of Virginia, how and why you could vote for these Neanderthals are beyond me. The hypocrites on the right speak of the preponderance of too much government, when is enough enough? - when do pasty white archaic GOP men keep their ideologies out of a woman's rights? - their right for them to make up their own minds about their own person-hood!
Mark Obensahin, you sir are today's worst person in the world, congratulations Einstein!
The Virginia Teapublican Party this weekend nominated for lieutenant governor a minister who has a history of virulent anti-gay statements, accuses the Democratic Party of enslaving African Americans, and criticized President Obama for having “Muslim sensibilities.” The former Senate candidate ,who in 2012 garnered less than 5 percent of the vote in the Republican primary, bested six other candidates during the Virginia GOP convention, and will join conservative Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli on the Virginian American Taliiban ticket. He is the first black candidate the state party has endorsed since 1988.
Here are some of the most alarming facts you need to know about E.W. Jackson [Earl Walker Jackson Senior]:
He has said gays and lesbians are “very sick people, psychologically and emotionally” whose minds are perverted. He has also said homosexuality “poisons culture, it destroys families, it destroys societies”
This week’s Saturday Night Live opened with a news-of-the-week recap of sorts, meshing the Benghazi hearings with the Cleveland kidnappings and the Jodi Arias trial.
Mocking the GOP’s persistence of a cover-up in the Benghazi attacks, SNL held its own House Oversight Committee hearings, in which a faux-Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) doggedly pursued the truth by grilling… convicted murderer Jodi Arias. The show’s version of Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) also made an appearance — albeit with a bizarre “Rep. Peter Welch” plaque in front of him — to grill Arias.
Kenan Thompson portrayed Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) — but, like Gowdy, with an incorrect name card? — who downplayed the entire situation, and even suggested the committee consider grilling Cleveland kidnapping suspect Ariel Castro.
The Republican inquisition over the attacks against Americans in Benghazi has never really gone away, but it appears as though in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing and the House Oversight Committee’s Benghazi hearings this week there’s renewed psycho-histrionics over Benghazi.
Back in October as a bit of a refresher — especially since it appears as if no one, including and especially the traditional press, intends to ask any of these obnoxious, opportunistic liars about why they’re so obsessed by this one attack yet they entirely ignored the dozen-plus consulate/embassy attacks that occurred when George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were allegedly “keeping us safe.”
The Benghazi attacks (the consulate and the CIA compound) are absolutely not unprecedented even though they’re being treated that way by Republicans who are deliberately ignoring anything that happened prior to Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009:
January 22, 2002. Calcutta, India. Gunmen associated with Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami attack the U.S. Consulate. Five people are killed.
June 14, 2002. Karachi, Pakistan. Suicide bomber connected with al-Qaida attacks the U.S. Consulate, killing 12 and injuring 51.
October 12, 2002. Denpasar, Indonesia. U.S. diplomatic offices bombed as part of a string of “Bali Bombings.” No fatalities.
February 28, 2003. Islamabad, Pakistan. Several gunmen fire upon the U.S. Embassy. Two people are killed.
May 12, 2003. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Armed al-Qaida terrorists storm the diplomatic compound killing 36 people including nine Americans. The assailants committed suicide by detonating a truck bomb.
July 30, 2004. Tashkent, Uzbekistan. A suicide bomber from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan attacks the U.S. Embassy, killing two people.
December 6, 2004. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Al-Qaida terrorists storm the U.S. Consulate and occupy the perimeter wall. Nine people are killed.
March 2, 2006. Karachi, Pakistan again. Suicide bomber attacks the U.S. Consulate killing four people, including U.S. diplomat David Foy who was directly targeted by the attackers. (I wonder if Lindsey Graham or Fox News would even recognize the name “David Foy.” This is the third Karachi terrorist attack in four years on what’s considered American soil.)
September 12, 2006. Damascus, Syria. Four armed gunmen shouting “Allahu akbar” storm the U.S. Embassy using grenades, automatic weapons, a car bomb and a truck bomb. Four people are killed, 13 are wounded.
January 12, 2007. Athens, Greece. Members of a Greek terrorist group called the Revolutionary Struggle fire a rocket-propelled grenade at the U.S. Embassy. No fatalities.
March 18, 2008. Sana’a, Yemen. Members of the al-Qaida-linked Islamic Jihad of Yemen fire a mortar at the U.S. Embassy. The shot misses the embassy, but hits nearby school killing two.
July 9, 2008. Istanbul, Turkey. Four armed terrorists attack the U.S. Consulate. Six people are killed.
September 17, 2008. Sana’a, Yemen. Terrorists dressed as military officials attack the U.S. Embassy with an arsenal of weapons including RPGs and detonate two car bombs. Sixteen people are killed, including an American student and her husband (they had been married for three weeks when the attack occurred). This is the second attack on this embassy in seven months.
A few observations about this timeline. This initial list was quoted from an article on the Daily Kos which actually contained several errors and only 11 attacks (the above timeline contains all 13 attacks). Also, the list above doesn't include the numerous and fatal attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad during the Iraq war — a war that was vocally supported by Lindsey Graham, John McCain and Fox News Channel.
Speaking of Graham, a search was done on each attack along with the name “Lindsey Graham” in the hopes of discovering that Graham had perhaps commented about the attacks or raised some questions about why the administration didn't prevent the attacks or respond accordingly to prevent additional embassy attacks. No results. Of course. Now, this could mean the search wasn't exhaustive enough. But one thing’s for sure: neither Graham nor any of his cohorts launched a crusade against the Bush administration and the State Department in any of those cases — no one did, including the congressional Democrats, by the way.
This leads us to the ultimate point here. Not only have numerous sources previously debunked the Benghazi information being peddled by the Republicans and Fox News (for example, contrary to what the Republicans are saying, yes, reinforcements did in fact arrive before the attack on the CIA compound), but none of these people raised a single word of protest when, for example, American embassies in Yemen and Pakistan were attacked numerous times. Why didn't the Bush administration do something to secure the compounds after the first attacks? Why didn't he provide additional security?
Nearly every accusation being issued about Benghazi could have been raised about the Bush era attacks, and yet these self-proclaimed truth-seekers refused to, in their words, undermine the commander-in-chief while troops were in harm’s way (a line they repeated over and over again during those years).
So we’re only left to conclude the obvious. The investigations and accusations and conspiracy theories are entirely motivated by politics and a strategy to escalate this to an impeachment trial. In doing so, the Republicans have the opportunity not only to crush the president’s second term, but also to sabotage the potential for a Hillary Clinton presidency.
Even if they never arrive at that goal, they have in their possession a cudgel formed of horseshit — a means of flogging the current administration with the singularly effective Republican marketing/noise machine, including the conservative entertainment complex. Very seldom does this machine fail to revise history and distort the truth. Ultimately, they don’t even need a full-blown impeachment proceeding when they have a population of way too many truthers and automatons who take all of these lies at face value — not to mention dubiously sourced chunks of “truth” proffered by radio and cable news conspiracy theorists who, if nothing else, are masters at telling angry conservatives precisely what they want to hear: that the probably-Muslim president is weak on terrorism. And so they’ll keep repeating “Benghazi-Gate, Benghazi-Gate, Benghazi-Gate!” without any regard for history or reality. Like always.
Jon Stewart took on the big Congressional hearing on Benghazi, and specifically on how it’s become the latest way Faux News has gone all-out in covering a potential Obama administration scandal while wondering where the rest of the media is. But Stewart pointed out that no one else is quite on board because everyone’s basing their outrage on speculation, and, frankly, “the denizens of Bullshit Mountain have cried wolf before.”
Stewart pointed out how Faux News has repeatedly highlighted how each different testimony in the past few months would be the big game-changer on Benghazi, and this one would be no different. He pointed out that there was already an accountability report released, and that the GOP seems to be more outraged about this attack than any attack on Americans abroad during the Bush administration.
Stewart also reminded viewers that pretty much every potential Obama administration scandal has been described as worse than Watergate, with one Teapublican congressman saying Benghazi is worse than Watergate plus Iran Contra times ten. But Stewart had to point out that the reason no one else is as outraged as Fox is that while they’re “at DefCon ‘this definitely happened,’” no one actually knows what happened, and so everyone’s just speculating. Stewart mocked all the speculation, saying “if dingleberries were diamonds, I could open a Kay Jewelers in my pants.”
Stewart said that Faux News has a “history of hysteria,” and they may be proven right when more facts come out, “but the denizens of Bullshit Mountain have cried wolf before.”
That dipshit Darrell will next be on HLN to connect both the Jodi Arias case and the Cleveland kidnappings to President Obama and Hilary Clinton.
Faux News is pissed off because both the Arias case and the kidnappings are taking away their thunder.
We at NFTOS are guessing the GOP wing nuts didn't get what they where looking for out of this hearing.
Republicans insist Benghazi is the worst cover-up since whatever the last thing was that was worse than Watergate.
Based on all the people on Fox attacking Hillary right now, she must be doing very well in the polls.
We did a story yesterday about Benghazi, and the important fact to take from that story is that under G.W. Bush ten embassies where attacked and 60 Americans died. Where was the American Taliban then?
Republicans are touting today’s House Oversight Committee hearing as a potential final nail in the coffin of the Obama administration’s continuing cover-up of what really happened the night a diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya was attacked last September. In truth, the event is sure to be a rehash of previously debunked finger-pointing and yet another round of political posturing surrounding the tragic death of four Americans.
The GOP’s star witness at today’s hearings is the former Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Libya, Gregory Hicks, who the right-wing has labeled the main Benghazi “whistle-blower.” Hicks is expected to give testimony before the paneldetailing what he believes could have done above and beyond the efforts the administration expended the night of the attack, actions he claims could have saved lives:
“If we had been able to scramble a fighter or aircraft or two over Benghazi as quickly as possible after the attack commenced, I believe there would not have been a mortar attack on the annex in the morning because I believe the Libyans would have split,” Hicks told House Republican investigators.
Hicks is also expected to explain to the panel that a team of special operations forces was told not to fly from Tripoli to Benghazi prior to the second wave of the attack. According to an excerpt of Hick’s testimony “[Col. Gibson] got a phone call from SOCAFRICA which said, ‘you can’t go now, you don’t have the authority to go now.’ And so they missed the flight … They were told not to board the flight, so they missed it.”
More Embassy Attacks happened under this guy than any other and not one GOP inquiry.
Republicans are latching onto Hicks’ testimony about the lack of military response during the attack as evidence of the administration’s negligence in protecting diplomats overseas and a resulting cover-up to avoid scrutiny. “We were certainly misled at every step of the way,” Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), one of the loudest voices on Benghazi, said on Monday to a surprisingly skeptical panel on Fox News.
The military has repeatedly said, however, that there were simply no air assets close enough to Benghazi that would have arrived in time to make a difference. Hicks himself admitted during his pre-hearing testimony that the nearest fighter jets were at Aviano Air Base in southern Italy, hours away from Libya with no tanker assets available for refueling purposes.
And while Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) during the Senate’s last hearing on the military’s response to Benghazi scolded the Pentagon for not having assets available at the Souda Bay naval base in Crete, Greece, the fact remains that even the hour and a half from the island to Benghazi would have been too late to save Ambassador J. Christopher Stephens and communications specialist Sean Smith. Both died during the first wave of the attack, less than an hour after the Pentagon was first notified.
Likewise, despite what Fox News reports have said, U.S. forces based in Europe as part of U.S. Africa Command would not have arrived until after the second wave of attacks, which took place at the CIA annex in Benghazi hours after the first, had finished.
“The United States military, as I’ve said, is not and frankly should not be a 911 service, arriving on the scene within minutes to every possible contingency around the world,” then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told the Senate Armed Services committee in February. That hasn’t stopped conservatives from railing against the lack of cavalry riding into Benghazi at the last minute, which in turn ignores the valiant efforts from the CIA’s response team that saved lives the night of the attack.
Much of what’s to be discussed today was already covered in the State Department’s Accountability Review Board report, which was overseen by former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Adm. Michael Mullen and former Ambassador Thomas Pickering. But that hasn’t stopped Republicans from trying to tear down the Board’s findings. Instead, the House GOP released its own report with a focus on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, claiming that their findings contradicted her testimony that she was unaware of requests for additional security in Libya.
Attacking Clinton seems to be theraison d’être of today’s hearings, despite lacking the authority order Defense Department assets into the field. “They’re no longer going after the White House, perhaps because the president’s not running for reelection, and they’re going after the former secretary of state, perhaps because she will be,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee, explained. And, much like the rest of today’s hearing, going after Clinton in relation to Benghazi is in itself nothing new.
Let's face it readers, this is the smoking gun that wasn't, this is more about discrediting the next President of the United States, AKA Hilary Clinton.
The facts are, more embassy attacks occurred under G. W. Bush than any other President, and in the same breath - during these attacks not one GOPer stood up and bitched, nor did they hold a "House oversight committee hearing".
Instead of wasting time with this hearing, why are these same tea baggers not holding hearings on sequestration, jobs, global warming, housing, wall street?
