[Wash Times] The chairman of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday demanded the Obama administration explain why it allowed Hillary Rodham Clinton to be the only Secretary of State in more than a half-century without a permanent independent watchdog to police conduct inside the department.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, wrote in a letter to Mrs. Clinton's successor, John Kerry, that he thinks some of the problems uncovered after the fact about Mrs. Clinton's tenure, such as improper handling of classified information on a private email server, may have been prevented or detected had President Obama named a permanent inspector general at the State Department much sooner. Beltway lawyer shortage? DoS was using the CIA Inspector General instead? Hillary wore two hats, served as her own IG ?
#1
for convenience, like Hillary only having "one device"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/28/2015 8:46 Comments ||
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#2
Simple. When you have a party to plan crimes, you generally don't invite a cop.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
08/28/2015 9:14 Comments ||
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#3
We're engaged in sensitive activities which directly involve the security of the United States. I'm providing Inspector General oversight from my office. If we need additional assistance, we will contact you. Now please go away.
[ARABNEWS] Billionaire Donald Trump extended his lead yet again atop the Republican presidential field, with front-running Democrat Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as America's Blond Eminence and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Hamilton Fish ... slipping and Vice President Joe Foreign Policy Whiz Kid Biden The former Senator-for-Life from Delaware, an example of the kind of top-notch Washington intellect to be found in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body... faring better than her against Republicans, poll results revealed Thursday.
Trump, the combative real estate mogul, leads the 16 other Republican candidates with 28 percent support among registered voters nationwide, up from 20 percent in a similar July 30 survey by Quinnipiac University.
Thursday's lead marks the widest margin for any Republican so far in the election cycle, the survey said.
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson placed a distant second with 12 percent, followed by former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Senator Ted Cruz and Senator Marco Rubio, each with seven percent.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was next with six percent, and Ohio Governor John Kasich and businesswoman Carly Fiorina each registered five percent.
"Other GOP hopefuls seem to disappear. Trump proves you don't have to be loved to be the leader," said Quinnipiac poll assistant director Tim Malloy.
Trump's abrasive style, including his caustic criticism of rivals, has led some observers to say he does not have the temperament to be president, but he has dominated the race essentially since he declared his candidacy in June.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/28/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
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#1
The one thing that Trump has that none of the other candidates, Republican or Democrat, have is the innate understanding of the media, especially the reality based TV media.
This allows him to drive the story and not be driven by the requirements/demands of the MSM.
He also has grabbed on to, like any good populist, the rawest open sores on the body politic to use as the basis for his campaign. Note that these sores are not necessarily the most important or difficult just the sorest. He's talking more about the stubbed toe and bumped shin than about the raging cancer.
[Newsmax] House Speaker John Boehner fired a stunning blast at Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, reportedly calling him a "jackass" during a Colorado fundraiser.
The Daily Caller, citing two people who attended the Steamboat Springs event for GOP Rep. Scott Tipton, reports Boehner glibly remarked that he liked that Cruz's presidential campaign keeps "that jackass" out of Washington -- and from telling the Speaker how to do his job.
"I about fell on the floor," a woman who attended the Wednesday event tells the Daily Caller.
"To build coalitions to work together in Washington, D.C., you don't start it out by calling your colleague a 'jackass.'"
Another attendee, businessman Ed MacArthur, was fuming.
"I don't think it's terribly speaker-like, and I think it kind of goes against everything that [former President Ronald] Reagan ever said about disparaging Republicans," MacArthur, the president of Native Excavating, tells the Daily Caller.
"It's becoming very disturbing to me that we can't have good, polite conversation," though he added that he believes the Ohio Republican has "got the right to say it."
According to the Daily Caller, at least 100 people attended the fundraiser.
It isn't the first time Boehner's taken a shot at Cruz at a GOP gathering, the Dallas Morning News reports, noting at a Midland, Texas, event in May, the Speaker flipped the bird at Texas Republican Party Chairman Tom Mechler when asked for his thoughts on Cruz's presidential bid.
The Morning News reports a Boehner aide later said it was just a joke.
Boehner has been sharply criticized by some conservative activists, the voters whom Cruz is courting, and the Speaker's shot could help Cruz's cause, the Daily Caller notes.
#4
Not that we actually required further confirmation, but Boehner could not have better showcased his own and the beltway old guard's contempt for the youthful Cruz and the Tea Party crowd.
Please keep talking Mr. Speaker. Please keep talking.
#6
To be fair, I call Boehner things like "Traitor" "Spineless" "Eunuch" and "Assmonkey". So he's free to call people names back. In fact, I encourage him to do so, let the public know what he really thinks and how firmly his lips are planted to Obama's ass so that we can send him on his way.
#8
Huh. I think Boehner might actually be intentionally trying to help Cruz.
That's the only possible result of this outburst, and the Speaker of the House -- even an asshat like this one -- doesn't just blurt things out. Question is why?
#9
The prevailing wisdom is that Cruz and Trump are vying for the same votes. Trying to help Cruz is then actually a shot at Trump, which would explain what fell out of Boner's mouth hole
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/28/2015 14:58 Comments ||
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#10
Cruz is just the kind of knowledge asset Trump might wish to recruit as his running mate. One term for the Donald, then it's Ted's turn.
#11
Boner is calling Ted Cruz a jackass? Since jackasses are also called donkeys, and donkeys are the symbol of the Democrat Party, I'd say Boner is far closer to a jackass than Cruz. Aren't RINOs the same as Donks?
#13
#12 - yes, RINOs are old time Donks who got thrown out of their old party by the socialists, so they decided to take over the party that used to represent the right.
The now-growing Biden camp is said to have received no fewer than nine phone calls from different politically-connected and Clinton supporting individuals in the span of just 24 hours -- each one demanding to know why the Vice President appeared ready to declare his intent to run for president in 2016.
Each phone call centered on the same question to Mr. Biden -- "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"
What's the problem with a two-term sitting vice president running for the top job? That's what they do. Gore. Bush I. Nixon. It's not like Dick Cheney established a binding precedent...
What motivated the panic within the Clinton Machine was not the initial media reports that Biden was now leaning toward running, but the over-the-weekend roll out of that very plan by the Obama White House which included surprisingly supportive commentary of a Joe Biden campaign from the Valerie Jarrett-controlled White House media office.
Team Clinton fears that if Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett begin to direct campaign dollars toward Biden, the Clinton war chest will be greatly diminished.
She could always tap the Foundation nest egg...
Even more troubling than the financial impact is the legal one. With an ongoing FBI investigation into her mishandling of sensitive government documents, the Clinton campaign is now bracing for the Obama White House to remove the political firewall that has protected both Hillary Clinton and the president.
Couldn't happen to a finer, more deserving person...
"Joe Biden has been told what they have on Hillary and that she may not survive the scandal. That was a very big motivator for him to get into the race."
So says a trusted D.C. Whispers source with considerable knowledge of the day-to-day operations within the White House.
The Clinton heartburn is certain to continue following a Quinnipiac University poll released today indicating Mr. Biden is more competitive against the top GOP candidates than Hillary Clinton and presently 83% of Democrats polled view Joe Biden favorably vs 76% for Hillary Clinton.
Better a dummy than a crook, sez the poll responders...
"The Clintons maintain substantive and potentially damaging dossiers on every significant figure in D.C. They will first remind the Vice President of this. If that doesn't work, expect them to begin leaking some of that information to their most trusted media figures."
Like what? That's he's dumb as a bag of hammers? That he's a plagiarizer? That he puts his hands on women in inappropriate ways? We already know all that.
UPDATE: Clinton supporter, Iowa political power broker and former U.S. Senator Tom Harkin appears to be the one chosen by the Clinton Machine to fire the first warning shot over the bow of the Vice President's presidential aspirations. Harkin gave the following statement to the New York Times (exactly as our D.C. Whispers source said would happen) regarding a prospective Joe Biden 2016 campaign:
"He has served the country so well and been a good friend of mine -- I love Joe. I just don't think this would be a wise move...With Hillary as president, I can see him being secretary of state or ambassador to the United Nations. There are a lot of things he can do down the road that would be of valuable service to the country or the world."
What Harkin is offering is a promise from the Clintons that Joe Biden will be financially taken care of should he agree to "play ball" and back off from what now appears to be an imminent presidential campaign announcement. Harkin's comments also included a barely veiled hint at the above mentioned Clinton dossier file on the Vice President -- "I just don't think this would be a wise move."
The proverbial ball is now in Mr. Biden's court as the Clintons await a response to what is both an offered deal and/or a threat.
#2
What concerns me is not a Biden run, but rather the fact that with the email scandal brewing, the Clintonistas still believe they have a shot at the office.
The confidence these people have in the light of all that is happening is telling. Is there something they know... that we do not ?
#4
They live in a bubble with folks covering for them constantly. I can see how they might underestimate the danger.
I also suspect Hillary cut a deal with Obama to get her to drop out of the race in exchange for being the 2016 candidate (with a side-deal of Sec State to get foreign policy on her resume) and that is looking extremely shakey right now because she botched everything.
#7
Hildabeest and ValJar both have ruthless character and a bag full of scandals, but while Hildy and Bill have a bigger bag, ValJar has the DOJ, the talking head and the undying loyalty of the essential black voting block. A shooting war mostly ruins Hildy' a chances, but she and Huma need the WH to keep the party going and Bill wants the perks and chicks again. I see ValJar winning a Pyrrhic victory. Feels like early Imperial Rome. And look, a Parthian mess looming against judea.
[Project Veritas] Award-winning journalist and New York Times' best-selling author James O'Keefe released a powerful new video today showing that the federal government's Export Import Bank is nothing more than a form of corporate welfare that corrupts the political process. Dillon Lesovsky, a staffer who says he runs the political arm for Republican Congressman Paul Cook of California, was captured on hidden camera admitting that his boss is going to vote in favor of reauthorizing the Bank because large supporters of the EXIM Bank, Boeing and Mitsubishi, were also large contributors to the Congressman and were exerting pressure. "They are big campaign contributors of ours," said Lesovsky "you know, we'll help them out."
[Hot Air] It hasn’t been a good month for the EPA. A few weeks ago, EPA engineers accidentally breached a mine dam and polluted waterways in southwestern Colorado and northern New Mexico, after having bullied the landowner to access the mine. Ironically, their new rule that expands their authority by redefining the legal term “navigable waterways” was about to take effect tomorrow. A federal judge in North Dakota shut that down this afternoon, ruling that the EPA had exceeded its authority and jurisdiction from Congress:
#4
In this case Raj I would go the Michael Collins route. The best weapon we have against these nanny state tyrants is our refusal. Refuse to follow their laws and regulations. They don't have the manpower or money to go after everyone and it can end them.
[WAPO] As Hillary Rodham Clinton was preparing for her farewell international trip as secretary of state, her close aide and confidante Huma Abedin e-mailed a small number of longtime political allies to help arrange an intimate get-together at a private club in Dublin.
"Maybe we can all gather for drinks/dinner and HRC can come join for as long as she can?" Abedin wrote.
The December 2012 event showcased the unique position that Abedin occupied at the apex of the Clintons' public and private worlds during the final six months of Hillary Clinton's tenure heading the State Department.
At the time, Abedin held four jobs with four different employers -- an arrangement allowed by a special government designation she held permitting outside employment. And each job had a connection to the Dublin dinner.
The invitation was sent from Abedin's State Department account as Clinton planned for an official trip in her role as secretary. The dinner was attended by the chief executive of the private consulting firm Teneo, which has close ties to the Clintons and employed Abedin as an adviser. Seated around the tables were donors to Hillary Clinton's campaigns as well as to the Clinton Foundation, where Abedin was a contractor preparing for Clinton's eventual transition to the charity. And Clinton, who was also paying Abedin out of personal funds to prepare for her transition from secretary of state to private life, showed up for about an hour.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
We're engaged in sensitive activities which directly involve the security of the United States. I'm providing Inspector General oversight from my office. If we need additional assistance, we will contact you. Now please go away. 
[ARABNEWS] Billionaire Donald Trump extended his lead yet again atop the Republican presidential field, with front-running Democrat 
[Newsmax] House Speaker John Boehner fired a stunning blast at Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, reportedly calling him a "jackass" during a Colorado fundraiser.
The now-growing Biden camp is said to have received no fewer than nine phone calls from different politically-connected and Clinton supporting individuals in the span of just 24 hours -- each one demanding to know why the Vice President appeared ready to declare his intent to run for president in 2016.
[Hot Air] It hasn’t been a good month for the EPA. A few weeks ago, EPA engineers accidentally breached a mine dam and polluted waterways in southwestern Colorado and northern New Mexico, after having bullied the landowner to access the mine. Ironically, their new rule that expands their authority by redefining the legal term “navigable waterways” was about to take effect tomorrow. A federal judge in North Dakota shut that down this afternoon, ruling that the EPA had exceeded its authority and jurisdiction from Congress:
