tagged w/ Accountability Now
-
"Say NO To Terrorism" Movement to inform of the atrocities of terrorism and subsequently to forewarn all of its supporters and hold them all individually accountable."Say NO To Terrorism" Movement to inform of the atrocities of terrorism and... more
-
-
Count me in as one of the many Americans who feel we need to get to the bottom of what went wrong. "I agree. We need to be able to read the page before we turn the page."
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy insisted on Monday in firm and passionate terms that a comprehensive investigation be launched into the conduct of the Bush administration, saying anything less would prevent the country from moving forward.
Speaking at a forum at Georgetown University, the Vermont Democrat suggested the creation of a truth and reconciliation commission to uncover the "misdeeds" of the past eight years.
"Many Americans feel we need to get to the bottom of what went wrong," said Leahy. "I agree. We need to be able to read the page before we turn the page."
The Senator also stated that Attorney General Eric Holder never gave assurances to Republican Senators that he would not prosecute Bush administration officials who may have been involved in illegalities such as authorizing torture or warrantless wiretapping.
"There are some who resist any effort to investigate the misdeeds of the recent past," he said. "Indeed, during the nomination hearing of Eric Holder, some of my fellow Senators on the other side of the aisle tried to extract a devil's bargain from him in exchange for the votes -- a commitment that he would not make... That is a pledge no prosecutor should give and Eric Holder did not give it. But because he did not it accounts for some of the votes against him."Count me in as one of the many Americans who feel we need to get to the bottom of what... more
-
-
Police opened fire on an unarmed couple during a routine traffic stop late Tuesday night because one officer "thought he was shot," a high-ranking Salinas Police Department official said Thursday.
"He saw what he perceived as a threat and thought he was shot, and based on that both officers discharged their firearms," said Dino Bardoni, commander of investigations.
No one was hurt in the 11:24 p.m. incident at North Sanborn Road and Freedom Parkway, but the couple's SUV was riddled with bullet holes and its rear window was shattered.
Police are releasing few details about the incident or case and have characterized it as a "priority investigation," Bardoni said.
It's the fourth officer-involved shooting in the city in the past seven months, two of which were fatal.
Interim Police Chief Daniel Ortega refused to discuss the most recent case, referring all questions to Bardoni.
Bardoni said the incident began when one officer stopped the vehicle because one of its license plate lights was not working. He was joined shortly thereafter by a second officer.
Bardoni said the primary officer was in the midst of contacting the vehicle's occupants, a driver and passenger, when the problem began.
"He was walking up to them, nothing out of the ordinary," Bardoni said, when there was the perception of a threat and the officer thought he'd been shot.
Police later determined that the couple was unarmed.
Neither of the vehicle's occupants was arrested or cited.
The couple, Adrianna Velasquez and Julio Fernandez, could not be reached for comment.
Bardoni declined to identify the officers or to confirm or deny that one of them is the same officer who was involved in the tragic shooting death last year of Maria Irma Del La Torre, 45, of Salinas.
She was shot and killed when officers mistook a knitting needle for an ice pick and said she lunged at them. De La Torre was taking medication for epileptic seizures at the time of her death.Police opened fire on an unarmed couple during a routine traffic stop late Tuesday... more
-
-
The Punk Patriot talks about the situation in Gaza and US foreign policy.
-
-
asherp
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
-
While most viewed Obama's inauguration as a fresh start for the country, many on the political left - among some of Obama's most ardent supporters - want to hold George W. Bush accountable for what they believe were illegal activities in office, including misleading Congress on the Iraq war, spying on Americans, and permitting coercive interrogations that critics consider to have been torture.
[more at article]While most viewed Obama's inauguration as a fresh start for the country, many on... more
-
-
asherp
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
-
I was afraid George W. would succeed in silencing the voice of justice. There may be reason for hope after all.
By Zachary Roth
So does that letter Newsweek obtained, sent January 16 by the Bush White House to Karl Rove's lawyer, instructing Rove not to respond to any subpoenas that might be issued, change the state of play as to whether Rove will end up testifying on the US Attorneys firings? After all, President Bush is now on the record claiming the right to assert executive privilege even after leaving office.
Not according to Neil Eggleston, who specialized in executive privilege issues for President Clinton's White House. Eggleston told TPMmuckraker that, since President Obama has already issued an executive order that appears to take the view that a former president can't assert executive privilege, he's unlikely to back Bush's claim. And assuming things then wind up in court, Eggleston said he'd be very surprised if a court sided with Bush, ruling that executive privilege can be asserted retroactively.
"Remember what Obama kept saying during the transition: 'There's only one president at a time?'" asked Eggleston. "This is one where I think a court's going to decide there's only one president at a time."
Eggleston told TPMmuckraker last week that Obama's order seemed designed to help gain access to Bush White House documents and testimony that Congress has been seeking, including on the US Attorney firings matter.I was afraid George W. would succeed in silencing the voice of justice. There may be... more
-
-
This doesn't happen by accident. It is done to confuse ordinary Americans, making them think the Republicans have better ideas. The Republicans were voted out, despite the efforts of cable news. It's time for Democratic voices to be heard. Cable news must stop spinning for the right. We are watching. We can't expect change as long as cable news keeps operating the same.
As Media Matters has documented, during the Bush administration, the media consistently allowed conservatives to dominate their shows, booking them as guests far more often than progressives. The rationale was that Republicans were “in power.”
It appears that old habits die hard. Even though President Obama and his team are in control of the executive branch and Democrats are in the majority in Congress, the cable networks are still turning more often to Republicans and allowing them to set the agenda on major issues, most recently on the debate over the economic recovery package.
On Sunday, conservatives began an all-out assault on President Obama’s economic recovery plan, with House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) both announcing that they would vote against the plan as it stood. Despite Obama’s efforts at good faith outreach, congressional conservatives have continued to attack the stimulus plan with a series of false and disingenuous arguments.
The media have been aiding their efforts. In a new analysis, ThinkProgress has found that the five cable news networks — CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Fox Business and CNBC — have hosted more Republican lawmakers to discuss the plan than Democrats by a 2 to 1 ratio this weekThis doesn't happen by accident. It is done to confuse ordinary Americans,... more
-
-
Special Comment by Keith Olbermann
-
-
Chique
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
-
The election of Barack Obama gives me hope of a better day, but hope is not enough. The prosecution of George W. and his cohorts would guarantee better leadership in the future. The only way forward is to prosecute and shame those who have committed crimes in plain sight.
by Elizabeth Holtzman
President Obama, on his first day in office, can make a number of changes that will mark a clean break with the Bush presidency. He can, and should, issue an executive order revoking any prior order that permits detainee mistreatment by any government agency. He should begin the process of closing Guantánamo, and he should submit to Congress a bill to end the use of military commissions, at least as presently constituted. Over the coming months he can pursue other reforms to restore respect for the Constitution, such as revising the Patriot Act, abolishing secret prisons and "extraordinary rendition," and ending practices, like signing statements, that seek to undo laws.
While these steps are all crucial, however, it is not enough merely to cease the abuses of power and apparent criminality that marked the highest levels of George W. Bush's administration. We cannot simply shrug off the constitutional and criminal misbehavior of the administration, treat it as an aberration and hope it won't happen again. The misbehavior was not an aberration--aspects of it, particularly the idea that the president is above the law, were present in Watergate and in the Iran/Contra scandal. To fully restore the rule of law and prevent any repetition of Bush's misconduct, the abuses of his administration must be directly confronted. As Indiana University law professor Dawn Johnsen--recently tapped by Obama to head his Office of Legal Counsel--wrote in Slate last March, "We must avoid any temptation simply to move on. We must instead be honest with ourselves and the world as we condemn our nation's past transgressions and reject Bush's corruption of our American ideals."
What we need to do is conceptually simple. We need to launch investigations to get at the central unanswered questions of Bush's abuse of power, commence criminal proceedings and undertake institutional, statutory and constitutional reforms. Perhaps all these things don't need to be done at once, but over time--not too much time--they must take place. Otherwise, we establish a doctrine of presidential impunity, which has no place in a country that cherishes the rule of law or considers itself a democracy. Bush's claim that the president enjoys virtually unlimited power as commander in chief at a time of war--which Vice President Dick Cheney defiantly reasserted just last month--brought us perilously close to military dictatorship.
As the former district attorney in Brooklyn, New York, I know the price society pays for a doctrine of impunity. Failure to prosecute trivializes and encourages the crimes. The same holds true of political abuses--failure to hold violators accountable condones the abuse and entrenches its acceptability, creating a climate in which it is likely to be repeated. The doctrine of impunity suggests, too, that there is a dual system of justice--one for the powerful and one for ordinary Americans. Because the concept of equal justice under the law is the foundation of democracy, impunity for high-level officials who abuse power and commit crimes erodes our democracy.The election of Barack Obama gives me hope of a better day, but hope is not enough.... more
-
-
Jonathan Turley makes good sense. I hope Barack Obama is listening.
-
-
Follow the link to access each story
http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/category/y-2009
#1. Over One Million Iraqi Deaths Caused by US Occupation
# 2 Security and Prosperity Partnership: Militarized NAFTA
# 3 InfraGard: The FBI Deputizes Business
# 4 ILEA: Is the US Restarting Dirty Wars in Latin America?
# 5 Seizing War Protesters’ Assets
# 6 The Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act
# 7 Guest Workers Inc.: Fraud and Human Trafficking
# 8 Executive Orders Can Be Changed Secretly
#9 Iraq and Afghanistan Vets Testify
# 10 APA Complicit in CIA Torture
# 11 El Salvador’s Water Privatization and the Global War on Terror
# 12 Bush Profiteers Collect Billions From No Child Left Behind
# 13 Tracking Billions of Dollars Lost in Iraq
# 14 Mainstreaming Nuclear Waste
# 15 Worldwide Slavery
# 16 Annual Survey on Trade Union Rights
# 17 UN’s Empty Declaration of Indigenous Rights
# 18 Cruelty and Death in Juvenile Detention Centers
# 19 Indigenous Herders and Small Farmers Fight Livestock Extinction
# 20 Marijuana Arrests Set New Record
# 21 NATO Considers “First Strike” Nuclear Option
# 22 CARE Rejects US Food Aid
# 23 FDA Complicit in Pushing Pharmaceutical Drugs
# 24 Japan Questions 9/11 and the Global War on Terror
# 25 Bush’s Real Problem with Eliot SpitzerFollow the link to access each story... more
-
-
after reading the article, i felt pretty sick myself.
_____from the article_______
------------------------------------
And at that point between us and the Branhams and the Weisenbergers, we just knew that something was far out of the ordinary," Freund said. "You live MRI to MRI."
And there are more cases. More than a dozen cases.
"I am John Smith," said another patient. "I am on my second brain tumor."
An amateur video shows residents in McCullom Lake Village. It is a community of a thousand people - but every person in the video either has a brain tumor, lives with a relative with one or lost someone to brain cancer.
There, in a community of about 1,000 people, 14 residents have developed brain cancer. Nationally the rate is roughly seven out of 100,000.
Coincidence?
Attorney Aaron Freiwald says "absolutely not." He represents the McCollum Lake Village residents in their lawsuits against multi-billion dollar chemical company Rohm and Haas. Rohm and Hass has had a plant there since 1963. It makes specialty chemicals that are used in a variety of industries - from plastics to pesticides. It has 140 facilities in 27 countries.
"These people who lived in McCollum Lake did not know what was going on just a mile or so away. They didn't know. They didn't know until people were found to have brain cancer in these really striking numbers," Freiwald said.
(and though)
company admits that for 20 years ending in 1979, it dumped toxic chemical waste in an eight-acre pit on its property. The goundwater beneath the plant is polluted with gallons of chemicals - some are known human carcinogens. In May, the county tested only 14 of the water wells around McCullom Lake Village and found no contamination.
But local residents say no testing was done during the time Rohm and Haas was dumping chemicals.
"They knew that there were chemicals in there - that they were dangerous," Freiwald said.
Whatever is happening in McHenry, Ill., seems to be going on 800 miles east in Philadelphia. And it's not outside a Rohm and Haas plant - but inside.
"The doctors knew right away that there was something terribly wrong," said Lee Hsu, whose husband Charles was one of 12 research scientists who has died of brain cancer in the past 30 years, working at the Rohm and Haas facilities north of Philadelphia. "It was the saddest day in my life."
At least five of the 12 researchers worked on one hallway in this one building - building Number 4.
Hsu's supervisor, Barry Lange, also died of brain cancer. His widow, Linda Lange, and several other widows are suing Rohm and Haas.
"I think there could be a cancer cluster there, you know Charles Hsu worked for my husband," Linda Lange said. "I am not a scientist but the numbers alone make me questions it."
Corporate whistleblower Thomas Haag said: "I was lied to, I was given the run-around, I was stalled and I was brushed off. I don't brush off easily."
Haag is a trained chemist and former executive at Rohm and Haas. In 1996, he wrote the company's chief of medicine about a possible brain cancer problem at the company. But it wasn't until six years later when two more scientists died and one more was diagnosed with brain cancer that the company decided to conduct its own study.
"I think the company is wrong from end to end," Haag said. "I think they have committed fraud in not alerting their own employees."
__________________________________________________________________________________
the same company's that are probably killing off bee's and damning every other animal on this planet! including humans!after reading the article, i felt pretty sick myself.
_____from the... more
-
-
Many think the dollar bill has the devil always watching you.(that would make sense if you believe money is the root of all evil).
Others try and figure out the connections between who designed the bill and what it meant then,and what it should mean now.
The link above has a lot of other links within, with cool information, like how our founding fathers used symbolism to further educate and guide people (or something like that).
the trick is that if the symbol is depicting a secret society, then this information is what they want you to know instead of the truth, which they horde for themselves for eternity.(founding fathers).
all i gathered was that the masons must have admired the stone work of the pyramid. and that they loved greek mythology & there ancestors were in egypt before the united states was whole.( see zeitgeist.com movie # 1 i think for more info)
anywhooo, i will end this rant with a "what do you think about the U.S.A's trippy number 1 bill?
because just like physics, every thing is mostly just a theory.Many think the dollar bill has the devil always watching you.(that would make sense if... more
-
-
Jon Gold
9/11 Blogger
Dec. 1, 2008
Donna Marsh O’Connor, mother of 9/11 victim Vanessa Lang Langer, recently posted an “idea” at change.org, “which was then promoted at both 911truth.org and 911blogger” for America to have a new investigation into the attacks of 9/11. Unfortunately, Donna’s “idea” never picked up steam.
However, on 11/28/2008, Debora Blake posted a similar “idea” at change.org, and for whatever reason, that entry “took off.” Within 2 days, the “idea” for a new investigation into 9/11 was #1 on the entire site with 660 votes. The #2 entry, “Pass the DREAM Act Now!,” posted on 11/24/2008, only has 347 votes.
They have since deleted every “idea” calling for a new investigation into 9/11, including the #1 entry. Here is the email I just received from change.org:
Hello Jon,
We wanted to send you a note about an idea you recently voted on in the Ideas for Change in America competition titled “Conduct a new, independent investigation into the attacks of September 11, 2001?
We support calls for truth and transparency in our government on every subject and welcome you to directly petition the new administration about this matter, which you can do at http://change.gov/page/s/ofthepeople. However, this is unfortunately outside the scope of the Ideas for Change in America project, which aims to offer specific policy solutions rather than investigations into past government action. As such, it is not eligible to enter the second round of the competition.
We understand that good people may disagree with our vision. But this is a private effort not connected to the Obama campaign or transition team, and we reserve the right to keep the competition and its content aligned with the stated mission and overall spirit of the project.
Thank you for your understanding. As mentioned above, we welcome you to directly petition the Obama administration about your proposal at http://change.gov/page/s/ofthepeople. And we hope you continue your work to advance change.
Best,
- The Ideas for Change in America Team
Through Obama’s entire campaign, he promised “change.” If organizations like change “idea” of what’s to come, then those people fearing Obama’s message was just rhetoric for political purposes, are probably right.Jon Gold
9/11 Blogger
Dec. 1, 2008
Donna Marsh O’Connor, mother of 9/11... more
-
-
Truth should win over spin! Accountability for misleading ordinary Americans should be a requirement for supposed news organizations using American airwaves.
by Gustav Wynn
Revelations by a former right wing radio news director confirm broadcasters aired talking points supplied secretly by the White House, reminiscent of "covert propaganda" violations uncovered in the Armstrong Williams scandal of 2005. Meanwhile, Sean Hannity and his ilk have been "messaging" followers to believe Congressional boogeymen are targeting their free speech by conspiring to revive the Fairness Doctrine. If you agree the two most-listened-to radio programs in the U.S. are not making reasonable attempts to provide crucial facts and evenhanded political coverage, find out how you can do something about it using Twitter at the end of this article.
Preemptive Propaganda "Air" Raids
Airing this week on talk radio shows have been a slew of "538" ad buys, confusing listeners into thinking a revived Fairness Doctrine would muzzle partisan talk. Hannity in particular began referring to the law as the "Censorship Doctrine" but quickly laid bare in an L.A. Times piece, we saw the effort was an intentional "cry wolf", meant to begin a messaging campaign - that is, conditioning listeners to have kneejerk reactions at any mention of the Fairness Doctrine. Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, who calls it the "hush Rush" bill should perhaps be gearing up to answer different questions about disclosure requirements on public airwaves.
The most serious criticisms of right wing radio aren't about free speech or equal time for opposing viewpoints, rather the deliberately deceptive nature of show content. Unlike truth-in-advertising regulations for commercials, anything goes in show segments. But if you can't legally broadcast an advertisement that says a hearing aid filters out the noise you don't want to hear, why should Hannity be allowed to selectively present only the news items, guests and call-ins that reinforce his bias? If the limits of free speech fall short of yelling fire in a crowded theater, what might be the negative side-effects of someone urging "hate liberals!" in an orderly society every day? Might this not push some to commit violent acts like the unwell man who shot up a "liberal" church in Knoxville?Truth should win over spin! Accountability for misleading ordinary Americans should... more
-
-
E-Voting Machines Used in Disputed Franken, Coleman Race Failed Tests
By Jason Leopold
The Public Record
Electronic voting machines that a Michigan election official said last week incorrectly tabulated vote counts during pre-election tests in the state were used in Minnesota where the senate race between Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken is in dispute.
According to an Oct. 24 letter sent to the federal Election Assistance Commission (EAC), Ruth Johnson, the Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds, warned that tabulating software in Election Systems & Software M-100 optical scan voting machines recorded "conflicting" vote counts during testing in her state.
Minnesota voters uses optical scan ballots that voters mark by hand. ES&S's M-100 optical scan voting was used in Minnesota counties and in more than a dozen other states on Election Day.
On Wednesday, an unofficial vote count released by Minnesota election officials showed 2.9 million ballots cast with Coleman leading Franken by a razor-thin margin of .02%, or 475 votes. By late Wednesday, the unofficial vote total showed Coleman with 1,211,642 votes, or 41.99 percent of the total votes cast, while Franken had 1,211,167 votes, or 41.98 percent. Dean Barkley, who ran as an Independent, captured 15% of the vote.
That will lead to an automatic recount, which Minnesota state law says is triggered if the margin of victory is less than half of 1%. The recount will be conducted by hand and won't begin until Nov. 19.
The Associated Press declared Coleman the winner early Wednesday, but hours later the wire service "uncalled" the race. Franken told reporters Wednesday "this is a long election and it's going to be a little longer."
Franken went into Tuesday"s election with a slim lead over Coleman. According to exit polls, Franken won the 18-29 age group by 50% to 35% but apparently did not attract independent voters, according to polling data.
It's possible that a recount, the results of which would not be known until December, could turn out in Franken's favor or perhaps provide Coleman with additional votes.
Still, that the electronic voting machines manufactured by Election Systems & Software (ES&S) that were used in Minnesota Tuesday are said to be unreliable calls into question the integrity of the election.
The EAC,established by the 2002 Help America Vote Act (HAVA), launched a program to certify the integrity of e-voting machines in early 2007, but has been slow to act.
Johnson, the Oakland County Clerk, said in her letter last week to the EAC that the M-100 voting machines used in four communities Tuesday 'reported inconsistent vote totals during their logic and accuracy testing.'
'The same ballots run through the same machines, yielded different results each time,' says the letter addressed to Rosemary Rodriguez, the chairwoman of the Election Assistance Commission. 'ES&S determined that the primary issue [that caused the machines to formulate incorrect vote counts] was dust and debris build-up on the sensors inside the M-100'; voting machine. 'This has impacted the Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) settings for the two Contact Image Sensors (CIS).'
"This begs the question,' Johnson wrote. 'On Election Day, will the record number of ballots going through the remaining tabulators leave even more build-up on the sensors, affecting machines that tested fine just initially? Could this additional build-up on voting tabulators that have not had any preventative maintenance skew vote totals?
'My understanding is that the problem could occur and election workers would have no inkling that ballots are being misread.'
A spokesman for ES&S did not return calls for comment.
continued at link....E-Voting Machines Used in Disputed Franken, Coleman Race Failed Tests
By Jason... more
-
-
Legal experts question US Attorney's decision not to prosecute Obama 'assassination plot'
Brad Jacobson
Interviews with numerous legal experts suggest that Colorado US Attorney Troy Eid misled reporters and diverged from state law when declining to prosecute any of the three men arrested in Denver for threatening to assassinate Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.
Eid, who was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2006, declined to prosecute the three men on charges of threatening to assassinate Barack Obama during his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, saying that the suspects were "just a bunch of meth heads" and their words failed to meet the legal standard for "true threat."
"When you talk about threatening presidential candidates, there's a legal standard you got to meet," Eid told reporters. "It's got to be a credible threat as defined by the law. And that means that someone has a way to carry it out. And at this time we don't have sufficient evidence that there was a true threat."
He added, "They didn't reveal a plan" and characterized the alleged threats and assassination plot as merely "the racist rantings of drug users" and "one meth head talking to another about life."
But multiple legal experts interviewed by RAW STORY -- including criminal and constitutional law scholars, former Assistant US Attorneys and Denver-area defense lawyers also familiar with Colorado state law -- agreed that voluntary intoxication is not exculpatory and that such a claim, especially for a prosecutor, is unorthodox. While it may be presented in an effort to reduce a sentence after a conviction, experts say it is normally the domain of defense counsel.
"It's very unusual," says Scott Horton, a Columbia Law School professor who also writes for Harper's Magazine. "Basically, you have a US Attorney trotting out the sort of arguments that defense counsel makes on a plea for reduced sentencing."
Legal experts say that Eid's definition of true threat directly conflicts with the statue covering threats to presidential candidates, 18 U.S.C. 879, which defines the threat as "whoever knowingly and willfully threatens to kill, kidnap, or inflict bodily harm upon a major candidate for the office of President or Vice President, or a member of the immediate family of such candidate."
While noting the statute must be weighed against First Amendment rights, they argued that because voluntary intoxication is not a viable defense the First Amendment does not protect a speaker's threatening speech.
George Fisher, Stanford Law Professor and one of the nation's top scholars of criminal law and evidence, explained, "Certainly when there's a state of mind requirement in a crime, 'knowingly,' for example, you could say as a logical matter that somebody can't do something knowingly while under the influence. But there are these other laws, sometimes in the form of statutes and sometimes in the form of case law, that will say, 'But voluntary intoxication is no defense.' And the Supreme Court many years ago upheld those laws as not being a violation of due process."
Colorado defense attorneys agreed. They said Colorado state law does not differ from the Supreme Court's ruling on voluntary intoxication.
Thus, legal experts agreed that a verbal threat alone, intended by the speaker to be taken seriously, and said willfully and knowingly, is all that is necessary to satisfy the legal requirement for true threat. Contrary to what Eid told the press, a prosecutor in this case would not have to prove a plan existed or the viability of any such plan, only that a threat was made and understood by the speaker and receiver of the words to be said in earnest.
continued at link ...
Legal experts question US Attorney's decision not to prosecute Obama... more
-
-
John McCain may be trying to sell himself as a "maverick" and a "straight talker" who will tell the truth no matter the consequences, but independent, non-partisan watchdog groups aren't buying it. But, since he wrapped up his party's nomination, John McCain has offered more of the same false attacks and smears. To date, independent, nonpartisan fact checkers have published more than 50 fact checks debunking John McCain's lies and distortions.
To hold John McCain accountable to his own standard, the Democratic National Committee will count and chronicle the lies here on the McCainPedia's "Count the Lies" page.
175 Fact Checks
CNN: McCain’s Claim About Creeping Tax Hikes Is False. In a campaign speech Tuesday, October 28, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain accused Democratic opponent Sen. Barack Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, of being inconsistent on taxes.…The Verdict: False. What McCain is doing here, in part, is comparing apples and oranges. He compares two different aspects of Obama's tax plan as if they were the same. And Biden never said people making less than $150,000 are the "only" people who would get a tax cut under Obama's policies. [CNN, 10/29/08: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/29/fact-check-obama-biden-creeping-down-on-who-gets-tax-relief/]
Politifact.com: “Tiny” Ad Makes Large Error. Back in May, McCain made the claim in an address to the National Restaurant Association in Chicago. We rated that claim False. We examined it again in August when the ad first aired and again found the statement to be False. But the ad will be new to many viewers this week, so we are revisiting it here.McCain is distorting Obama's original comments…McCain twisted Obama's words when he claimed that Obama characterized the threat from Iran as tiny or insignificant. Obama never said that. ...This isn’t the first time Obama has talked about the grave threat posed by Iran. He has repeatedly characterized it as such during his campaign. Obama never said the threat from Iran was “tiny” or “insignificant,” only that the threat was tiny in comparison to the threat once posed by the Soviet Union. And if the McCain campaign was unclear on that point, it should have been clear after Obama's comment in May that "Iran is a grave threat." To continue to twist Obama's words, especially after that clarification, earns another False. [Politifact: http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/828/]
McClatchy: McCain Wrong on World Series. What happened: "No one will delay the World Series game with an infomercial when I'm president," the Republican presidential nominee told a crowd Tuesday in Hershey, Pa… Why that's wrong: It's not unusual for World Series games to start after 8:30 p.m., and according to the Web site Politico, the Fox executive who's responsible for the Obama ad purchase said the infomercial was replacing only the pre-game show. "Our first pitch for the World Series is usually around 8:30 anyway, so we didn't push back the game. It was really just about suspending the pre-game, you know, Joe Buck," said the account executive, Joe Coppola. "That's all we did." The request to delay the game came from Major League Baseball. McCain himself was responsible for shifting the time of the National Football League's 2008 opening game ... Penalty: 15 yards for misleading the public about Obama and the World Series. [McClatchy, 10/29/08: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/746704.html]
Complete list at link ... John McCain may be trying to sell himself as a "maverick" and a... more
-
-
U.S. Senate candidate Kay Hagan launched legal action against Sen. Elizabeth Dole's "godless" attack ad Thursday as a chorus of critics joined her in accusing Dole of crossing the line with the controversial TV spot.U.S. Senate candidate Kay Hagan launched legal action against Sen. Elizabeth... more
-
-
TODAY at http://www.operationitch.wordpress.com
- Time for a trillion dollar tag sale at the Pentagon
- U.S. Elections: Is the fox guarding the henhouse?
- HOWARD ZINN WON'T BE VOTING FOR OBAMA AFTER ALL
-Obama undertakes a presidential Internship
****don't forget to see the last video, on CULTURE WARS, and leave your ideas*****
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmHH9xzGv58
Today was a rushed video, with no script or editing. I'm sorry. You will have to wade through 7 minutes of content to get what I can normally deliver in 3- but I am rushed today- for reasons I explain in the video.
But let's chat about TAXES in the comments.
What do you think of Obama's tax plan?
Hey- did you see that ZINN retracted his endorsement of Obama? check the story here:
http://www.operationitch.comTODAY at http://www.operationitch.wordpress.com
- Time for a trillion dollar tag... more
-
