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Dronezap kills 15 in Pakistain
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Page 6: Politix
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Cellini accused of campaign fund extortion
A major Illinois power broker was indicted Thursday on charges of conspiring with convicted influence peddler Antoin "Tony" Rezko to shake down an investment firm for campaign contributions to embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich. William Cellini Sr., 73, for decades one of the biggest behind-the-scenes Republican players in Illinois politics, was charged as part of Operation Board Games - an ongoing federal investigation of corruption in the Blagojevich administration.

Blagojevich hasn't been charged with any wrongdoing and was not even mentioned by name in the indictment, which referred to him only as Public Official A. "The governor was not involved in the improper activities alleged in the indictment," Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero said Thursday.
He gets named in the next indictment which occurs when Cellini flips. Cellini is an old man and doesn't want to spend the rest of his life in prison.
During Rezko's trial earlier this year, Judge Amy J. St. Eve and witnesses identified Blagojevich as Public Official A. The charges in Thursday's indictment essentially add Cellini as a participant in the same extortion conspiracy alleged in the Rezko case. Rezko was acquitted of extortion but convicted of fraud and other counts.

Cellini's indictment comes weeks after Rezko began talking with federal prosecutors in hopes of getting a lighter sentence for his June conviction on charges of scheming to squeeze payoffs from a contractor and money management firms seeking state business. But there was nothing to indicate how much, if any, of what he said led to Thursday's charges.

The indictment said admitted fixer Stuart Levine, the government's star witness at Rezko's trial, also was part of the alleged conspiracy.
Posted by: Fred || 10/31/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Confessions of an astroturfer for Obama
Found this via Jawa Report; don't know if it's for real or not, but I'm thinking it is.

Ok, I want to clear my conscious a little. Hopefully you could make a blog post to help some fellow clinton supporters out. I work for a campaign and can’t wait for this week to be over. I was doing it for a job. I was not a fan of any candidate but over time grew to love HRC. The internal campaign idea is to twist, distort, humiliate and finally dispirit you. We pay people and organize people to go to all the online sites and “play the part of a clinton or mccain supporter who just switched our support for obama” We do this to stifle your motivation and to destroy your confidence. We did this the whole primary and it worked. Sprinkle in mass vote confusion and it becomes bewildering. Most people lose patience and just give up on their support of a candidate and decide to just block out tv, news, websites, etc. This surprisingly has had a huge suppressing movement and vote turnout issues. Next, we infiltrate all the blogs and all the youtube videos and overwhelm the voting, the comments, etc. All to continue this appearance of overwhelming world support. People makes posts to the effect that the world has “gone mad” Thats the intention. To make you feel stressed and crazy and feel like the world is ending. We have also had quite a hand in skewing many many polls, some we couldn’t control as much as we would have liked. But many we have spoiled over. Just enough to make real clear politics look scarey to a mccain supporter. Its worked, alough the goal was to appear 13-15 points ahead. see, the results have been working. People tend to support a winner, go with the flow, become “sheeple” The polls are roughly 3-5 points in favor of Barack. Thats due to our inflation of the polls and pulling in the sheeple. Our donors, are the same people who finance the MSM. Their interests are tied, Barack then tends to come across as teflon. Nothing sticks. And trust, there were meetings with Fox news. The goal was to blunt them as much as possible. Watch Bill Oreilly he has become much more diplomatic and “fair and balanced” and soft. Its because he wants to retain the #1 spot on cable news and to do that he has to have access to the Obama campaign and we worked hard at stringing him a long and keeping him soft for an interview swap. It worked and now he is anticipating more access. So he is playing it still soft. This is why nothing sticks. The operation is massive, the goal is to paint a picture that is that of a winner, regardless of the results. There is no true inauguration draft or true grant park construction going on. There will be a party, but we are boasting beyond the truth to make it seem like the election is wrapped up. Our goal is to continue to make you lose your moral. We worked hard at persuasion and paying off and timing and playing the right political numbers to get key republican endorsements to make it seem even more like it was over and the world was coming to an end for you all. There is a huge staff of people working around the clock, watching every site, blogs, etc. We flood these sites. We have had a goal to overwhelm. The truth is here. I could go on and on, but you get the picture. I am saying this because I know HRC was better for the country, and now realize this. I was too late by the time I connected to her. To me Barack was just a cool young dude that seemed like a star. I didn’t know him or his policies, but now I understand more than I care to and I realize his interests are more for him, and the DNC and all working like puppets with dean. I always thought a president wanted the better good for the country. The end result I see is everyone dependent on the government, this means more and more people voting for the DNC. This means the future is forever altered. I don’t see this as america, so I am now supporting John Mccain. Sarah Palin is a huge threat, and our campaign has feared her like you can’t imagine. If it seems unfair how she has been treated, well its because she has had a team working round the clock to make her look like a fool. this is a big conspiracy and I am so shocked that its not realized. We released a little blurb the other day that the Obama campaign was already working on reelection and now putting our efforts towards 2012. This was to make it seem like it was above us to continue caring about 2008. Trust me, its a lie. David is very smart, but its a sticky ugly not very truthful kind of intelligence. Its not over yet, but I think the machine is working. And its a hill to climb. I will be quitting my post on nov 5th and my vote will be for John Mccain. Fortunately, my position has been a marketing position and I don’t feel I had any part of anything I would feel guilty for. But I look forward to getting out of this as the negativity and environment upsets me. I wish you all well, and goodluck.

Whether this is real or not, the election is not over until it is over. VOTE. Even if you are the only one voting your way in the whole county, VOTE. If you vote, your side still might lose. If you don't vote, we know for damned sure that your vote didn't count because you didn't let it.
Posted by: Mike || 10/31/2008 12:51 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  AstroTurfing? I don't doubt that this goes on. Otherwise how would the polls be all over the board but mostly favoring The One. As I have said, BO and his campaigners, manipulators, ACORN, collection of community organizers, well-heeled Hollywood types, etc. will do ANTHING to get elected. Suppose all this is true, there will be hell to pay down the road. Just remember what goes around comes around. Payback is always a bitch.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/31/2008 14:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Whether the report is true or not, we've certainly had our share of "I'm a McCain supporter who's voting for Obama" lying assholes clowns here.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 10/31/2008 14:22 Comments || Top||

#3  "Found this via Jawa Report; don't know if it's for real or not, but I'm thinking it is."

I'm thinking that at least part of it could be confirmed: "There is no...true grant park construction going on. "
anybody in the area could do a drive by and confirm or refute this statement.

i hope its true, and that the 'sheeple' aren't worn down. please vote!
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 10/31/2008 15:09 Comments || Top||

#4  I think that they aren't as effective as they think they are. They do drive us crazy and they do create a sheeple effect, that I don't doubt. 3% sounds about right. But in the end, I think the opinions they change most are the ones of the people least likely to show up and vote.

I don't follow sports. So if you told me that the Red Sox were the best team in the universe and that they won the world series, I just might believe you. And if I was standing around the water cooler trying to sound important, I might say, "how 'bout them red socks". But, obviously, I'm not going to buy tickets and I probably won't tune in. Sooo... that's my point. In the end, I only end up annoying those who can't believe I'm THAT stupid.
Posted by: Betty || 10/31/2008 18:46 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
"Team Sarah" responds to Obama
Posted by: Mike || 10/31/2008 14:25 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good video.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/31/2008 18:16 Comments || Top||


A ringing defense of earmarks
Rep. Chris Carney (D-Calif.) defends a $174M earmark for salmon farmers in San Francisco.



Convincing, ain't he?
Posted by: Mike || 10/31/2008 13:28 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The other guys look incredulous.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 10/31/2008 13:59 Comments || Top||

#2  So I had to pay money for sanfrannies to be able to eat salmon for lunch and dinner?

Maybe I should start growing pineapples here in SW KS. If I can get them through one season on my own I can declare it an indiginous endangered crop and get farm money and park money, make a fortune off of one pineapple tree on the prairie.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 10/31/2008 17:45 Comments || Top||


Tax Cuts for those earning less than 250...200...150 do I hear $120,000
We're down to $120,000
New Mexico's Governor Bill Richardson just said on KOA that the Obama Tax plan has NOW moved down to $120,000. It started at $250,000, then it was $200,000, then it was $150,000, and Now it is $120,000.

Transcript of Governor Bill Richardson: What Obama wants to do is is he is basically looking at $120 thousand and under among those that are in the middle class and there is a tax cut for those earning under $120,000

Hear it here
Posted by: Beavis || 10/31/2008 13:16 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  BO is coming for your pocketbook. Candidate of change my a$$. Old style Chicago dhimmicrat.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/31/2008 18:18 Comments || Top||

#2  You know, I think the Obama campaign is getting cocky and starting to believe their own hype. It gives me hope. This is starting to get to the people who hate Bush and now hate Sarah and think McCain is just too much like Bush. This effects... THEM ...and suddenly they begin to understand.
Posted by: Betty || 10/31/2008 18:52 Comments || Top||


Murtha pleads for $1 million
Give til it hurts, you racist redneck peasants!
Posted by: tu3031 || 10/31/2008 09:59 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  TAKE IT OUT OF YOUR OWN POCKET YOUR MOUTH GOT YOU INTO IT
Posted by: chris || 10/31/2008 10:28 Comments || Top||

#2  This is the silver lining of the economic down turn. All his pork buddies who got special contracts in his district unable to fork over that amount of money. John, just take a lesson from the One, set up a credit card dump site and turn off all the security checks. I'm sure your 'friends' will take care of you.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/31/2008 10:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Retirement fund.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 10/31/2008 10:49 Comments || Top||

#4  T.S.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/31/2008 10:58 Comments || Top||

#5  Is the sweat off my b*lls a tax deductible donation?

Never mind, I wouldn't even give him that.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 10/31/2008 11:18 Comments || Top||

#6  Goodbye Murtha. Please rot in obscurity somewhere away from the grown ups.
Posted by: DarthVader || 10/31/2008 11:31 Comments || Top||

#7  They gonna put the mad cow out to pasture?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 10/31/2008 11:49 Comments || Top||

#8  Nah, he'll become a lobbyist.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/31/2008 11:57 Comments || Top||

#9  Hey, Murtha! Get worse, pal.
Posted by: eltoroverde || 10/31/2008 17:23 Comments || Top||

#10  Murtha, if you were twenty years younger I'd like to see your lying ass beat like a drum. Since you're old and senile, I'll settle for seeing you kicked to the curb like the corrupt POS you are. You're one of the biggest proofs there is that America isn't fascist. If it was, someone who supports the military would have blown your head off a long time ago. You'd have been toasted in a heartbeat in Weimar Germany.
Posted by: Jolutch Mussolini7800 || 10/31/2008 21:20 Comments || Top||


Race Tightens As Americans Take Closer Look at Radical Obama
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 10/31/2008 07:58 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Told my obama friend last night that the cutoff dropped from 250 to 200, and biden said 150. Didn't believe it till he looked it up on internet. He was not impressed. On Monday my friend said he would apologize to me if obama's economic policy was not what he was touted. What my friend didn't realize is that he would have to apologize even before the election results were in.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 10/31/2008 12:52 Comments || Top||


Minnesota Obama Supporters Plant Red Star On Their Flag
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 10/31/2008 07:56 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe it's a tribute to the Red Star Line or that they prefer a particular brand of clothing.

That's not it? Hmmmmm
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 10/31/2008 8:28 Comments || Top||

#2  North Korea?

Posted by: Anonymoose || 10/31/2008 10:29 Comments || Top||

#3  William Ayers had a red star on his tee shirt at the time Fox tried to interview him. Must be a donk communist thingee...
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/31/2008 10:37 Comments || Top||

#4  White Star would have made more sense.

Posted by: WilliamMarcyTweed || 10/31/2008 12:04 Comments || Top||

#5  Ayers red star
Posted by: ed || 10/31/2008 12:52 Comments || Top||

#6  Hmm, not just Minnesota. This is looks like official Obama campaign symbology.
Ayers’ “Red Star Symbolism” — again
Scroll down post for seven more examples.
Posted by: ed || 10/31/2008 13:04 Comments || Top||


There wasn't a category for stupid politicians, so I put this here.
Posted by: gorb || 10/31/2008 03:16 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good video, except that Beretta makes some very nice shotguns; so, three out of four, John.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike || 10/31/2008 7:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Joe Biden is one of the most incredible politicans I've seen. Makes you wonder about Deleware voters.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 10/31/2008 12:26 Comments || Top||


Hall adviser fired over vote registration queries
A consultant working the election campaign for U.S. Rep. John Hall, D-Dover, had her contract terminated over reports linking her to alleged voter registration improprieties.

Amy Little, who served as consultant for Hall in his race against Republican challenger Kieran Michael Lalor, left the campaign Tuesday.

Susan Spear, Hall's campaign director, said Little left the campaign after a posting on a blog by an associate professor of psychology at Grove City College in Pennsylvania mentioned Little was one of a group of about 150 people with sketch residencies who are registered to vote in Franklin County, Ohio.

"We called her to find out what the facts were and based on our conversation, her contract terminated," Spear said.

Current records show Little residing in New Paltz, but according to the blog, http://wthrockmorton.com, Little is registered to vote in Ohio. Little is residing in the headquarters of Vote Today Ohio, a grassroots group that supports Barack Obama.

"The VTO program is designed to help voters avoid a repeat of the notorious long lines, broken machines, and GOP intimidation faced by hundreds of thousands of disenfranchised Ohioans in 2004," reads a line from one of the group's press releases.

Pam Kapoor, a spokeswoman for Vote Today Ohio, said Little was part of a group of five or six people who had been living at the headquarters for the past three months. She said it wasn't uncommon, calling the news "much ado about nothing."

Prior to serving as a consultant with Hall's campaign, Little served as Hall's campaign manager in 2006. "In this campaign, she was simply playing a small consulting role - basically to provide institutional memory from the 2006 campaign," Spear said.

The Journal was unable to reach Franklin County officials Wednesday night.
Posted by: Fred || 10/31/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Is this evidence of a rational Democrat or a continuation of Operation CYA???
( I would like to think that not all the D's have flown the coop...)
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 10/31/2008 15:18 Comments || Top||


Majority of Allegheny prostitutes are on the Democratic side
John McCain and Barack Obama, if you're wooing a population of registered voters who are young, female and drawn to men in suits, then Allegheny County has 675 ladies ready to pull your lever.

They're convicted streetwalkers, escorts and brothel babes collared in 2000 and from 2003-2006, uncovered by the Trib.

Based on the prostitutes' voter registration cards, they're destined to become Obama girls in November. That's because 78 percent of them registered as Democrats. Countywide, Dems make up only about 62 percent of voters, according to the Division of Elections.
Posted by: Fred || 10/31/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "....ready to pull your lever."

*guffaw*
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 10/31/2008 7:50 Comments || Top||

#2  "Based on the prostitutes' voter registration cards, they're destined to become Obama girls in November."

So, what was on their press credentials?
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 10/31/2008 7:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Well, prostitution and solicitation isn't a felony in Pennsylvania, so they're still legitimate voters.

And hey, they're used to getting screwed.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 10/31/2008 8:43 Comments || Top||

#4  Professional courtesy.
Posted by: tu3031 || 10/31/2008 9:20 Comments || Top||

#5  ...Allegheny County has 675 ladies ready to pull your lever.

:) Someone has a sense of humor in the press. I can think of all sorts of other lines that could havealso been injected into this story. :)
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/31/2008 11:11 Comments || Top||

#6  Are the winds of change a'blowin?
:)
Posted by: Frozen Al || 10/31/2008 11:27 Comments || Top||

#7  I'm having trouble visualizing this... So, you go into the booth, draw the curtain, and this young lady is going to help you do What? Oh. Is this offer good for nonresidents, too?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 10/31/2008 12:36 Comments || Top||

#8  Since its unlikely he'll change the legality of Prostitution many of them legally make no income and would get a check back from Obama. Not a surprise how they would vote.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 10/31/2008 17:22 Comments || Top||


Breck Boy & Missus split?
IS it over between John Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth? "The wedding band is missing," the Washington Post reported yesterday after covering a speech the cancer-stricken mother of two gave in DC on Monday night.

Edwards, the former North Carolina senator who ran for president twice, finally acknowledged three months ago that he had an affair with campaign videographer Rielle Hunter. He denies he's the father of Hunter's baby girl, although he has been spotted visiting mother and child.

A source said Edwards is no longer living with Elizabeth and that the couple have separated. But reps for Elizabeth Edwards did not return calls and e-mails.
Posted by: Fred || 10/31/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good for her. She's better off without him. I wish her well.
Posted by: Betty || 10/31/2008 2:00 Comments || Top||

#2  I don't wish either of them ill.  But she enabled him, covered for him and can be vicious in a genteel Southern way.  They deserve each other IMO, although he's the bigger jerk.
Posted by: lotp || 10/31/2008 7:43 Comments || Top||

#3  Is her cancer considered terminal?
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats || 10/31/2008 8:47 Comments || Top||

#4  "The Thunder Rolls," third verse
Posted by: Mike || 10/31/2008 9:33 Comments || Top||

#5  He might have been the donk Presidential candidate had someone not been able to dig into his background revealing a history of screwing around, cover up, and bad judgment.

Now, the LA Times is giving Barack Obama cover about who knows what? This denies the voters information that might be relevant to electing a man to the highest elected office in the country. We as voters don't really know anything about BO. The MSM has given BO cover and nearly everyone agrees they are in the tank for him. Stories, coverage and MSM reporting are 70-80% favorable for BO and 20-30% unfavorable to McCain and Palin. I have never in my lifetime seen anything like this effort to get BO elected. As a young boy I was aware of FDR's election. I have seen every presidential election since FDR. There has absolutely never been anything like what is going on today to get BO elected. Fair reporting, the First Amendment, and consequently the truth have suffered in this process.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/31/2008 10:55 Comments || Top||

#6  Correction: 20-30% favorable to John McCain
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/31/2008 10:57 Comments || Top||

#7  Damn. Does this mean I gotta marry that skank?
Posted by: John Edwards || 10/31/2008 12:02 Comments || Top||

#8  Johnnie boy would never have been the Donk nominee. He never, ever got anywhere close the voters he needed. In the contested primaries he was third and sometimes fourth.


He would, however, very likely have gotten a Cabinet position in the Obama administration, particularly since he timed his endorsement of Bambi rather well. So it's just as well that his true nature was revealed. Our country owes the National Enquirer big-time for this.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/31/2008 12:07 Comments || Top||

#9  John Edwards, Defendant. I like the sound of that. It'll be back to bogus medical malpractice suits based on emotion, bogus scientific data, and a toothy smile after Elizabeth take him for all he's worth.
Posted by: ed || 10/31/2008 12:31 Comments || Top||

#10  Sounds great, ed, but from what (little) I've read she won't live long enough. He can - and no doubt will - drag it out until she's dead.

I have all the sympathy in the world for her, for her cancer. For her treatment by Johnny-boy, none whatsoever. She had the opportunity to bounce his ass a long time ago, and covered for him instead. Lie down with horndogs, get up with fleas.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 10/31/2008 13:43 Comments || Top||

#11  I hope Elizabeth Edwards recovers from her cancer, but I don't feel sorry for her over her husband. She's done well enough with his ambulence chasing cash to sneer at her less fortunate neighbors. She was an integral part of his hypocritical political campaigns, and even used her own illness to help him. That he would also use and lie to her doesn't break my heart.
Posted by: DoDo || 10/31/2008 19:11 Comments || Top||

#12  What Barbara said.
Posted by: Jolutch Mussolini7800 || 10/31/2008 19:43 Comments || Top||

#13  "Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas."
Don't insult my dog. My dog does not have fleas and is far more loyal than John Edwards.
Posted by: Darrell || 10/31/2008 21:20 Comments || Top||

#14  Re-read what I wrote, Darrell (including the strike-through) - I would never insult so noble an animal as a dog.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 10/31/2008 21:31 Comments || Top||


Democrat Mailer Enables Identity Theft
BOISE, ID -- Idaho Republican Party Chairman Norm Semanko called on Idaho Democrats to apologize for distributing Congressman Bill Sali's personal information to thousands of Idahoans earlier this week. The Idaho Democrat Party sent a campaign mail piece that included the Social Security numbers for both Congressman and Terry Sali, potentially exposing them to fraud and identity theft.

Idaho Democrats, including Walt Minnick, on whose behalf the mailer was sent, have refused to denounce the mailing or the disclosure of personal information. When questioned about including the private information in the mailer, Idaho Democrat Party Executive Director, Jim Hansen, replied to the Spokesman Review, "Frankly, I didn't think about it."

"I would like to think that the Idaho Democrats inadvertently included Congressman Sali's personal information out of carelessness and incompetence, not spite," said state party Chairman Norm Semanko. "Regardless, this mailer shows a thoughtless and reckless disregard for Bill and Terry Sali's privacy. This irresponsible act goes well beyond the boundaries of a decent and spirited political campaign, and the Idaho Republican Party condemns such actions. This kind of win-at-all-costs campaigning might pass in Barack Obama's Chicago machine, but not here in Idaho. Walt Minnick and Idaho Democrats owe Congressman Sali's family, and Idaho voters, an apology."
Posted by: Fred || 10/31/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This is getting very limited media attention in Boise. Nothing in the Idaho Statesman and the local talk radio is acknowledging it without any hint of outrage. They say that Sali is having to suspend his campaign to deal with it and that the democrats apologized. Next item.

It doesn't matter. Sali will win. Republicans will sweep. I think they just did out of spite since they know they will lose despite all of their time and money.
Posted by: Betty || 10/31/2008 18:59 Comments || Top||


Sheehan's SF Headquarters Heavily Damaged in Late Night Attack
Just five days before the election, at 3 a.m. Thursday morning, someone smashed through all the front windows of the Cindy Sheehan for Congress campaign headquarters in San Francisco. Although someone had been in the office less than an hour earlier, no one was in the building at the time of the incident. No One was hurt and there were no witnesses. Sheehan is running against Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Speaker of the House, for the 8th Congressional District seat. "It seems to have been a calculated intimidation tactic," said Tiffany Burns, the Cindy for Congress campaign manager. "One of our computers was stolen, but no other property was taken from our offices and no surrounding buildings were targeted. Clearly they wanted to both frighten us and to gather information." Total damage to the campaign office is currently estimated at more than $5,000.
Posted by: Fred || 10/31/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  uh huh.
Posted by: Gabby Cussworth || 10/31/2008 0:18 Comments || Top||

#2  It's another Rovian Right-Wing Plot!

Couldn't have been one of Nancy's Nazis...
Posted by: Bobby || 10/31/2008 6:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Hummmmmm.... is that my Spidey Sense?

or is it deh chili?
Posted by: .5MT || 10/31/2008 6:41 Comments || Top||

#4  "Total damage to the campaign office is currently estimated at more than $5,000." Why thats half her total budget. Note to police: look inside not out.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 10/31/2008 6:50 Comments || Top||

#5  "It seems to have been a calculated intimidation tactic,"

Or it could be a smash and grab by a coupla junkies, which is what I'm betting on.
Posted by: tu3031 || 10/31/2008 9:30 Comments || Top||

#6  WHAT'S BAD IS SHE ACTUALLY HAS A CHANCE TOO WIN IN CALIFORNIA
Posted by: chris || 10/31/2008 10:31 Comments || Top||

#7  File next to 'ATM mugging' till a real investigation is done.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/31/2008 10:35 Comments || Top||

#8  Didn't she just pull in about 5K at a rally? that makes it a wash.

but it would be good to see her beat nancy; she lack of seniority would give her diddly-squat to do and take NP's hands off the purse.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 10/31/2008 15:22 Comments || Top||

#9  What have we here? Media-licensed thuggery by Pelosinians or a false-flag by the Cyndinistas?

Time will tell, though the media won't (unless Republicans did it).
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 10/31/2008 17:57 Comments || Top||


The Card Shark
Barack Obama has turned a blind eye to the use and abuse of prepaid credit cards. It's just one way he hides who his contributors are and just how much they're giving.

When Steve and Rachel Larman of North Kansas City, Mo., opened their credit-card bill recently, a strange charge appeared on their statement -- a $2,300 donation to Barack Obama's presidential campaign. This was odd, they thought, since they had not only not made the donation, they were planning to vote for John McCain.

It was one more piece of evidence that the unprecedented flow of cash to and through the Obama campaign is not entirely legit. In any campaign, bogus or unwanted contributions can slip through the cracks. But team Obama has deliberately created a chasm of credibility.

In addition to noncontributors being charged for contributions, at least $218 million has been received by the Obama campaign from donors of under $200 whose names it is keeping secret, according to FEC spokesman Robert Biersack.

Fact is, team Obama has deliberately encouraged credit-card fraud by deliberately turning off the online safeguards normally used by sites receiving contributions or payments. There is no checking of names, addresses or card numbers done on the front end.

According to the Washington Post, "Faced with a huge influx of donations over the Internet, the campaign has also chosen not to use basic security measures to prevent potentially illegal or anonymous contributions from flowing into its accounts, aides acknowledged."

Campaigns can accept donations of under $200 without disclosing contributors' names. McCain, who accepted public financing while Obama did not, has made his full donor database available on the Internet. Of the $150 million Obama claims to have raised in September, some $42 million was raised from secret contributors and listed under a single line, "Donors, Unitemized."

Obama's deliberate lack of finance vetting allows the use of largely untraceable prepaid credit cards. These can be purchased at a local drugstore and used under any name, allowing anonymous donors to exceed limits on contributions and even foreign donors to funnel money to Obama's campaign.

A Newsmax report noted a separate FEC database, of more than 11,500 foreign contributors to the Obama campaign, totaling $33.8 million. It was the largest influx of foreign money into a campaign since the Clinton-Gore campaign took millions of dollars of unregulated soft money from donors with ties to Chinese military intelligence.

Typical is Viktor A. of Lagos, Nigeria, who gave $500 to Obama in May. State abbreviations accepted by the Obama campaign include IT (Italy), FR (France), GR (Greece), NZ (New Zealand), JP (Japan) and GA (Gaza). According to Newsmax, 2,372 donors gave their state of residence as "ZZ" with addresses from Beirut to Kiev to Shanghai.

Considering the Obama campaign's $800,000 donation to ACORN to "get out the vote," this may be the first political campaign in which vote fraud is financed by credit-card fraud. Not only can Mickey Mouse register to vote, he can contribute to the Obama campaign.
Posted by: Fred || 10/31/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  prepaid credit cards?
Never heard of them.
Posted by: 3dc || 10/31/2008 0:55 Comments || Top||

#2  This is what happens when there is NO ONE IN CHARGE to prosecute the voter fraud. They do it and nothing happens.
Posted by: Betty || 10/31/2008 1:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Well, not nothing, Betty; we're going to get an empty suit for President.
Posted by: Bobby || 10/31/2008 6:50 Comments || Top||

#4 
prepaid credit cards?

Common in Europe and the middle east IIRC.

Posted by: lotp || 10/31/2008 7:45 Comments || Top||

#5  A technical look at Obama's campaign finance fraud
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 10/31/2008 7:52 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Qaeda wants Republicans, Bush "Humiliated™": Web video
DUBAI (Rooters) - An al Qaeda leader has called for President George W. Bush and the Republicans to be "Humiliated™," without endorsing a party in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, according to an Internet video posting.

"O Gawd, humiliate Bush and his party, O Loîd of the Worlds, degrade and defy him," Abu Yahya al-Libi said at the end of sermon marking the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr™, in a video posted on the Internet.

Libi, a top al Qaeda commander believed to be living in Afghanistan or Pakistan, called for God's wrath to be brought against Bush equating him with past tyrants in history.

The remarks were the first from a leading al Qaeda figure referring, albeit indirectly, to the U.S. elections. Muslim clerics often end sermons by calling on Gawd to guide and support Muslims and help defeat their enemies.

Terrorism monitor SITE Intelligence Group said in a report on Wednesday that militants on al Qaeda-linked websites have for months been debating the significance of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama or Republican John McCain.

Some posters have also argued over the merits of trying to attack the United States before the election or waiting until later, the report said.

But SITE said it did not expect al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden or deputy Ayman al-Zawahri to openly favor a candidate.

"To support a particular candidate would debase al-Qaeda's long-standing argument that the United States government is a corrupt institution no matter who is at the helm," SITE director Rita Katz said in the group's November newsletter.

In 2004 bin Laden issued his first video in more than a year just days before the U.S. elections. It derided Bush and warned of possible new September 11-style attacks.

Bin Laden made little mention of Bush's Democratic challenger, John Kerry, telling Americans: "Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or al Qaeda. Your security is in your own hands and each state which does not harm our security will remain safe."

Kerry has attributed his loss in part to the video's high-profile reminder of the terrorism issue.

In 2006, after Democrats captured Congress, Zawahri issued an audio message saying all Americans remained al Qaeda's enemies regardless of party, SITE said.

SITE said militant postings on al Qaeda-linked websites typically discuss Obama in terms of his race, or his religion and foreign policy. Some forecast a racial crisis dividing the United States if he wins. Others say his planned phased withdrawal from Iraq would be a boon to al Qaeda's affiliate and give it a base for Middle East expansion.

Republican presidential nominee John McCain has been portrayed as likely to allow "the continuation of Republican control and aggressive policies toward the Islamic world."
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 10/31/2008 15:13 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Funny, so does the owner of "Dialy Kos".
Posted by: OldSpook || 10/31/2008 19:43 Comments || Top||


Home Front Economy
Feds probe Countrywide's 'VIP' program
The wide-ranging criminal investigation into wrongdoing at Countrywide - once the nation's largest mortgage originator - now includes serious scrutiny of a loan program that provided special mortgage deals to the well-connected and powerful, including two U.S. senators.

NBC News has learned that Robert Feinberg - a former Countrywide loan officer who handled what were known as the "VIP" mortgages - spent six hours last Thursday with a six-person team from the Justice Department. The team included prosecutors from the Public Integrity section, which handles investigations of possible public corruption.

"The Justice Department is making very serious inquiry into any possible wrongdoing that may involve (former Countrywide CEO) Angelo Mozilo, other Countrywide employees, Sen. Chris Dodd, Sen. Kent Conrad, (former Fannie Mae CEO) Franklin Raines or other public officials," said Feinberg's lawyer, Anthony Salerno. "Robert has always cooperated thoroughly with authorities and is strictly a witness in their investigation."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 10/31/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  [online poker has been pooplisted.]
Posted by: online poker || 10/31/2008 17:23 Comments || Top||

#2  "prosecutors will be looking into whether Countrywide was trying to buy influence, and into whether public officials were taking improper gifts, or gifts they should have disclosed"

Yes and yes.

Next?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 10/31/2008 17:54 Comments || Top||

#3  If the BO gets elected and donks have a supermajority in Congress, this investigation will probably get deep sixed. If trunks are involved in jaywalking or ripping off mattress labels or spitting on the sidewalk there will be investigations on Congress and on TV.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/31/2008 18:25 Comments || Top||

#4  in Congress and on TV.
Posted by: JohnQC || 10/31/2008 18:26 Comments || Top||



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Fri 2008-10-31
  Dronezap kills 15 in Pakistain
Thu 2008-10-30
  Serial kabooms kill 68, injure 470 in Assam
Wed 2008-10-29
  Canadian al-Qaeda bomb-maker guilty in British fertiliser bomb plot
Tue 2008-10-28
  Haji Omar Khan is no more
Mon 2008-10-27
  US strike kills up to 20 in Pakistain
Sun 2008-10-26
  U.S. Troops in Syria Raid
Sat 2008-10-25
  Paks bang 35 hard boyz in Bajaur
Fri 2008-10-24
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Thu 2008-10-23
  Pirates seize Indian vessel with 13 crew near Somalia
Wed 2008-10-22
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Tue 2008-10-21
  Saudi terrorist trials kick off in Riyadh
Mon 2008-10-20
  Sri Lanka claims smashing 'final' Tiger defences
Sun 2008-10-19
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Sat 2008-10-18
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Fri 2008-10-17
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