The presidential candidate [1] of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), the communist revolutionaries in El Salvador the Reagan administration battled in the 1980s, is, a Monday Washington Post story noted, a former correspondent for CNN en Espanol [2]. In the March 9 article, In El Salvador Vote, Big Opportunity for Leftists [3], reporter William Booth relayed from San Salvador that the journalist-turned-politician considers himself to be El Salvador's Barack Obama. Booth relayed:
After a 12-year civil war and a peace undermined by soaring crime, leftists in El Salvador are on the verge of completing a remarkable journey from armed struggle to the presidential palace.
Their candidate is a veteran TV broadcaster and morning talk show host, Mauricio Funes [4], whose Facebook page [5] lists his political views as other. Funes, 49, a former correspondent for CNN en Español, was recently recruited by the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), the revolutionary group-turned-mainstream political party that is favored by polls to win the presidency in a vote scheduled for March 15....
Funes considers himself to be El Salvador's Barack Obama -- an agent of change in a country beset by the highest murder rate in Latin America and an economy in free fall.
The comparison is overt: Funes and the FMLN use images of Obama in their ads (despite objections by the U.S. State Department), saying both candidates were smeared by their opponents as allies of extremists. The FMLN television spots complete the link by employing the Obama slogan in English and Spanish, vowing "Yes, we can!"...
Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair announced today that Ambassador Charles W. Freeman Jr. has requested that his selection to be Chairman of the National Intelligence Council not proceed. Director Blair accepted Ambassador Freemans decision with regret.
#1
Here is my comment from last week. Of course even a broken clock...
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#5 Sen Schumer and a few other Dems have called the White House on this.
Chas is likely to be gone in a week.
The IG stuff is probably just a CYA so the White House can tell the Saudis and Chinese that it wasn't their fault that Chas didn't make it.
Posted by mhw 2009-03-05 15:43|| Front Page|| Top
#3
An independent inspector general will look into the foreign financial ties of Chas W. Freeman Jr., the Obama administrations pick to serve as chairman of the group that prepares the U.S. intelligence communitys most sensitive assessments, according to three congressional aides.
Evidently the IG's questions have begun... and ENDED! Tickets, tickets please, tickets, tickets.
Representatives for Judicial Watch, which obtained e-mails and other documents showing the requests, say House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has treated the Air Force as her "personal airline." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has repeatedly requested military aircraft to shuttle her and her colleagues and family around the country, according to a new report from a conservative watchdog group.
Representatives for Judicial Watch, which obtained e-mails and other documents from a Freedom of Information request, said the correspondence shows Pelosi has abused the system in place to accommodate congressional leaders and treated the Air Force as her "personal airline."
The e-mails showed repeated attempts by Pelosi aides to request aircraft, sometimes aggressively, and by Department of Defense officials to accommodate them. "I think that's above and beyond what other members of Congress are doing and what is expected of our elected officials," said Jenny Small, a researcher with the group.
The group reported that Pelosi was notorious for making special demands for high-end aircraft, lodging last-minute cancellations, and racking up additional expenses for the military.
In one e-mail, aide Kay King complained to the military that they had not made available any aircraft the House speaker wanted for Memorial Day recess. "It is my understanding there are NO G5s available for the House during the Memorial Day recess. This is totally unacceptable ... The Speaker will want to know where the planes are," King wrote.
In another, when told a certain type of aircraft would not be available, King wrote: "This is not good news, and we will have some very disappointed folks, as well as a very upset Speaker."
Pelosi's office has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/10/2009 18:03 Comments ||
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#4
First off the speaker should be entitled to the same access for someone of her stature (3rd in line). This sounds more and more like a a power play on her part to demand equality with the President. Love to see how thie sheep-fight ends. My money is on Pelosi.
#6
The support started after 9/11. Given that Pelosi et al think there really isn't a war or threat anymore, the rationale for the support is moot. Let's remember the next time Nancy is whining about Executive 'privilege' to bring up her Legislative 'privilege' acts as well when discussing encroachment across governmental branch lines.
#7
I'll be interested in the details of her requests to fly 'her colleagues and family' around the country. Where, when, and how often were their flights.....
James Morrow, United States Studies Centre @ University of Sydney
If I could give one piece of advice to President Obama - besides telling him to shut up and let the Dow have a good day for a change - it would be to stop trying to do everything all at once. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel may have famously said that one should never let a good crisis go to waste (and oh, imagine the outrage had, say, Dick Cheney uttered similar words!), but in trying to do everything, Obama risks doing everything wrong.
"Look, I wish I had the luxury of just dealing with a modest recession or just dealing with health care or just dealing with energy or just dealing with Iraq or just dealing with Afghanistan," Obama said recently, even as it was reported that the new president is already "too tired" to do his job properly.
And the strain is starting to show. Take foreign policy, which Obama reportedly has very little interest in even at the best of times. Whether it is the clumsy snub of British PM Gordon Brown, the even clumsier offer to sell-out Poland and the Czech Republic to buy a little leverage against the Iranians, or the absolutely cringe-making "reset button" incident (what, the State Department doesn't have any translators), one is almost wistful for the clarity of George W. Bush's with-us-or-against-us doctrines.
None of this is helping the main game, which is the economy. The New York Times reports that "events are getting ahead" of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who has so far failed to impress either the public or the share markets.
The President needs to focus all his energies on restoring credit flows and national and international confidence in the American economy and its private capital markets. Now is not the time to tackle health care reform or attempt to impose the huge inefficiencies of a carbon cap-and-trade system on the US economy, nevermind the illusory promise of so-called "green jobs".
Obama's sort of stressed out, all over the shop sort of urgency does not inspire the feeling that the US has a confident, inspiring captain at the helm for the difficult times to come.
Instead, it calls to mind thoughts of the stressed-out housewife pleading, "Calgon, take me away!"
Posted by: Mike ||
03/10/2009 06:46 ||
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#1
The "reset button" and the "too tired" incident are both very difficult to fathom as there are plenty of people in Washington that could/should have prevented both snubs. But the only other alternative is that the President intended these snubs and that is certainly far more difficult and frightening to fathom.
Office of the Chief of Protocol
Under the direction of the Acting Chief of Protocol Gladys Boluda and the Deputy Chiefs of Protocol, the office is responsible for activities including the planning, hosting, and officiating of ceremonial events for visiting chiefs of state and heads of government, as well as coordinating logistics for the visits; managing Blair House, the President's guesthouse; and overseeing all protocol matters for Presidential or Vice Presidential travel abroad, working alongside the White House.
Read more about what the Office of the Chief of Protocol does or click below to read about the divisional duties.
Sorry Barry, can't claim too tired and stupid on this one. Better luck next time mate.
#4
Methinks that since BO has never held a regular job, he probably doesn't have the stamina to work a twelve hour shift on four hours sleep.
He has a nine to five mentality with an eight hours of sleep personality and those don't work with being the POTUS.
Posted by: James Carville ||
03/10/2009 10:46 Comments ||
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#5
How many people did Obama ever manage? A dozen? A hundred? I don't know, but it's nothing like what he has now. Google tells me that about 14.6 mill work for him now. That compared to the paltry number that he ever managed, let alone the 9.5 mill in Chicago or even the 11.4 mill in Illionis. The guy signs the paycheck for more people than he had in his state. Whatever possessed the Dems, the MSM and a majority of the voters to make them even consider him capable of handling the job, I can't understand. But the did it and we will pay for that totally irresponsible act on their parts. Anyone wish to record a blunder-of-the-day chronicle for this poor man? Victum of his fantasies and the monstrous illusions of millions of our neighbors. It would be funny if I didn't have to suffer, but I do and everyone it the US and the world will pay dearly for this.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
03/10/2009 11:01 Comments ||
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#6
Whatever possessed the Dems, the MSM and a majority of the voters to make them even consider him capable of handling the job, I can't understand.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
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