The title of the post, back on February 15th of this year, was: RNC’s Michael Steele: “You have absolutely no reason – none – to trust our words or our actions at this point.”
And that was BEFORE the crazy “birther” stuff, and a whole bunch of other bogus stuff slung by the GOPers nationally. Well, and locally too, by FEC Tony and MudSlingerMike. So, since some things never change, here that post is again – Michael Steele telling the world there is no reason – NONE – to trust what the GOP has to say.
Yep – that’s the RNC’s Michael Steele talking; talking to Glenn Beck. Beck was saying conservatives can’t trust today’s GreedOverPrinciples party; I submit NO ONE can trust today’s GreedOverPrinciples party. Let’s watch, and then – below the fold – I’ll elaborate:
**original YouTube pulled down; link here to watch**
OK, now, why can’t reasonable people (and conservatives, too) trust today’s GreedOverPrinciples party?
Let’s review just the past couple of weeks.
On CNN a while ago, some clown GOP Congressman was claiming that a Congressional Budget Office report concluded (in one variation of the various GOPer soundbites) that very little spending from the stimulus bill would occur in the first two fiscal years.
The only problem with that claim, that this and other various GOPers were making? There was no CBO report. HuffPo’s Ryan Grim fisked that one; I double checked, too.
The GOPer’s leadership simply made it up; the GOPer’s rank (and I mean “rank”) and file dutifully regurgitated it.
The Colorado Independent did a story about Trancredo’s clone replacement, GOPer Mike Coffman, who dutifully spewed that party line.
Locally, I’d be surprised if Kline, Paulsen, or Bachmann didn’t follow suit, but it’s a Sunday and I got stuff to do and I’m not going to take the time to check. So, I’ll go on to the next incident of Republicans You Simply Cannot Trust – and it’s on the same subject, The Stimulus Bill.
And this incident has to do with John Boehner, the Liar-In-Chief for the US House republiCons. I first saw this, over at Mercury Rising, so a hat tip is in order for Phoenix Woman. Here’s what she wrote:
Stupid And Evil, That’s Our Boehner!
Posted by Phoenix Woman on February 15, 2009If anybody’s thinking of running against John Boehner next year, here’s some lovely oppo for ya!
Boehner recently uttered this slam against passenger rail spending in the stimulus package:
“Tell me how spending $8 billion in this bill to have a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and Las Vegas is going to help the construction worker in my district.”
Turns out that 1) there is no line from LA to Vegas and 2) Ohio stands to benefit mightily from high-speed rail.
And, yes, Boehner actually said that – that there was $8 billion in the Stimulus Bill for a line between LA and Vegas, even though there isn’t. Boehner said it on the floor of the House; Boehner has it on his web page: “Tell me how spending $8 billion in this bill to have a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and Las Vegas is going to help the construction worker in my district.”
I’m not going to talk about how Boehner is objecting that there’s no pork for his district, if there were a line between LA and Vegas; about how that would be an obvious example of hypocrisy typical in today’s GreedOverPrinciples party: objecting to pork ONLY WHEN THEY DON’T GET ANY – no, not me! I’m simply focusing on how reasonable people reasonably cannot trust republiCons like John Boehner to tell the truth – which is what new RNC Chair Michael Steele acknowledged, and you saw, in that YouTube above the fold. So, who’s next, you might ask?
Well, Minnesota’s own “Let’s Investigate Those Un-American Types In Congress” Michelle Bachmann!
Oh, wait – I just pointed out, just yesterday, how Michelle Bachmann made stuff up about how there’s $5 BILLION for ACORN in the stimulus bill. Well, and how Bachmann made the claim the good ol’ USofA is “running out of rich people”, despite the obvious results of the GreedOverPrinciples’ war on the middle class during these last 3 decades. And actually, there’s more outrageous stuff that Little Miss Hiding In The Weeds said; but again, it’s a Sunday….
So, let’s go back to that Boehner bit, for a second, and look at how a few GOPer Congressman are touting (yes, “touting” – according to McClatchey) the just passed Stimulus Bill:
GOP lawmakers tout projects in the stimulus bill they opposed
By David Lightman
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Rep. John Mica was gushing after the House of Representatives voted Friday to pass the big stimulus plan.“I applaud President Obama’s recognition that high-speed rail should be part of America’s future,” the Florida Republican beamed in a press release.
Yet Mica had just joined every other GOP House member in voting against the $787.2 billion economic recovery plan.
Republicans echoed their party line over and over during the debate: “This bill is loaded with wasteful deficit spending on the majority’s favorite government programs,” as Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., put it.
But Mica wasn’t alone in touting what he saw as the bill’s virtues. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, also had nice things to say in a press release.
Young boasted that he “won a victory for the Alaska Native contracting program and other Alaska small business owners last night in H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.”
One provision would have made it harder for minority businesses to win contracts, and Young explained that he “worked with members on the other side of the aisle to make the case for these programs, and was able to get the provision pulled from the bill.”
Yet later in the day Young — who recently told McClatchy that he would’ve included earmarks, or local projects, in the bill if it had been permitted — issued another statement blasting the overall measure.
“This bill was not a stimulus bill. It was a vehicle for pet projects, and that’s wrong,” he protested.
That was more in line with the Republican message.
Young wouldn’t return a request for comment on the apparent contradiction of his press releases.
(more, here:Miami Herald)
Ladies and Gentlemen, these examples of republiCons making stuff up and dutifully repeating the made-up stuff are the obvious ones; they stick out without really looking.
But what is amazing, is the new RNC Chair, Michael Steele, saying about his party what reasonable people already knew:
“You have absolutely no reason – none – to trust our words or our actions at this point.”
It’s about time the GOP quit making stuff up, and I – for one – am glad the RNC Chair finally acknowledged that.
(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)
“Here’s the answer: In 2009, they ran the first negative ad for the 2010 Minnesota elections.”
“Who are FEC Tony and MudSlingerMike?”
“You are correct!”
Smart money was betting that with the election of Tony Sutton and Michael Brodkorb, the GOP was going down and dirtier. So far, those bets look like winners. Over 15 months out, and Sutton and Broadkorb seem bound and determined to make the 2010 elections the nastiest ever.
(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)
So, I see the tweet, from MudSlingerMike:
mbrodkorb The bad press continues for Congressman Collin Peterson; http://tinyurl.com/m3n23w; #mngop #mn2010
So, I link on the tinyurl, and read this:
But Republicans on Tuesday saw the gaffe as an opportunity to make headway in Peterson’s conservative Seventh Congressional District, which he has securely held for many years. In 2008, he won 72 percent of the vote.
Got that? Less than a year ago, DFLer Colin Peterson won 72% of the vote.
So, what does the intrepid Deputy Chair of the GreedOverPrinciples Party say about Colin Peterson?
“This has really I think energized activists in the area and is going to lend [itself] to a first-tier candidate coming forward to run against him next year,” said Minnesota GOP deputy chair Michael Brodkorb, adding that there has been an “absolute explosion” of interest in the seat in the past 24 hours.” (Strib)
Say, Brodkorb? An “absolute explosion” of interest in taking on a guy that just won with 72 percent of the vote??!?
Yeah, “right.”
And a “first tier” candidate to boot? Not gonna happen – no “first tier” candidates remain in today’s GreedOverPrinciples party. T-baggers and “birthers”? You got pawlenty. “First tier”? Not so much.
Oh, noticed this tweet, from MudSlingerMike, too:
RT @MinnPostRSS: Minnesota GOP ready to launch ad campaign against Peterson remarks: http://bit.ly/DByJR
Say, Mikey? Good luck with that “ad buy” you’re tryin’ to sell. When you say “five figure ad buy” that really means “$999.99 or less” – yes?
Although personally, I wish the GOPers would dump a coupla hundred thousand into the 7th, between now and the new year….
(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)
Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Joe Repya is, by any standard, an American Hero. People may not like his conservative political philosophy, but few (if any) have served this great country with the courage, valor, integrity and distinction Lieutenant Colonel Joe Repya has. Colonel Repya served in combat in Vietnam, the Gulf War in 1990, and in 2004 – at age 58 – came out of retirement to serve again in Iraq. How Colonel Repya missed The Balkans has to be an interesting story; a story I’d like to follow up on – but, that’s a tangent.
Colonel Repya challenged then-incumbent MN-GOP Party Chair Ron Carey in 2007, on a “reform the party” platform – because, clearly today’s GreedOverPrinciples party needs to be cleaned up. For this, Colonel Repya was essentially smeared called an “enemy of the party” by then-GOP Party Chair Ron Carey. An important point is Ron Carey’s campaign manager was current GOP State Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb.
Everybody got that? Challenge the party chair’s “stewardship” and get trashed as essentially an “enemy of the party”, by the guy (Ron Carey) who’s campaign Michael Brodkorb ran.
Fast forward, to last month. Tony Sutton, the GOP party’s Treasurer under Carey, is elected Party Chair. Sutton was “the man” while a whole bunch of the GOP Party’s FEC problems were unfolding – link here to read the Tostenson Memo. Michael Brodkorb, who’s plotical tactics Joe Repya has condemened, is elected GOP State Party Deputy Chair.
So, when FEC Tony and MudSlingerMike were elected Chair and Deputy Chair, Colonel Repya had had enough – he wrote an Op/Ed in the Pioneer Press titled “Why I’m leaving the Minnesota GOP.” While that Op/Ed is no longer available on the PiPress website, comments on that Op/Ed are. Nathan Hansen, GOP Deputy Chair of CD-4, did comment – here’s what he had to say:
I am Deputy Chair of the Fourth Congressional District and one of the newer anti-war Republican activists. It’s difficult for words to describe how happy I am that you are leaving our Party. The roots of your “neconservative” philosophy lie in Straussian Trotzkyite Communism. “Corporate money” influencing our Party? Nothing compared to the damage your military industrial complex (that Eisenhower warned us about) has wreaked on our Party and our Country.
I hope you will find a happy home among your fellow communists. Your days of endless illegal wars and military industrial complex domination of our party are over.
Obama is ramping up his War in Afghanistan and continues to illegally bomb Pakistan. Perhaps you can join him to satiate your bloodlust. (emphasis added) (PiPress)
Lieutenant Colenel (Retired) Joe Repya a communist??!? A neo-con??!? “…satiate bloodlust…” – WT(C)? Colonel Repya is a warmonger, too??!?
So, one might wonder how the new regime of FEC Tony and MudlsingerMike responded to an elected GOP Party Official – Deputy Chair of the 4th CD – trashing a bona fide American military hero? How did FEC Tony and MudslingerMike respond to an elected GOP Party Official essentially spitting on Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Joe Repya?
By rewarding GOP CD-4 Deputy Chair Nathan Hansen with a plum assignment within the State GOP.
Which really isn’t surprising, when you think about it – it’s a page “right” out of the GOP Playbook.
In today’s GreedOverPrinciples Party, “led” locally by Tony Sutton and Michael Brodkorb, you can expect anyone they don’t like to be slimed, smeared, and spit on.
It’s really rather pathetic – and just as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, it’s predictable, too.
(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)
Here’s another guy that has to be a GOPer, asking a question to Press Secretary Gibbs
Reasonable people simply cannot take what the GOP says seriously.
(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)
OK, I got my foursome together, and we’re teein’ it up at the DFL SD 42&43′s “Divots For Democrats” event in two weeks, on Saturday August 8th.
And you can, too!
Registration info is here: Divots For Democrats
Again, registration info is here: Divots For Democrats
(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)
Yesterday, in Part 3: “When Soldiers Speak Out” it clearly was stated the issue isn’t Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul’s right to speak out; the issue is following established military rules, regulations, and protocol while doing so. And Department of Defense Directive 1344.10 was mentioned.
Today, we’re going to take a specific look at that Directive, and it’s applicability to Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul’s use of his official @us.army.mil email account.
There is no doubt that Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul used his official @us.army.mil account for partisan political purposes; Political Muse first noticed this use back in April. Also, a quick google search (just enter “Dave Thul”) of blogs results in two hits on the very first page – this one:
They can’t ignore you if you show up in person
17 Jul 2009 by (redacted)@us.army.mil (Dave Thul)
Written by Dave Thul. Friday, 17 July 2009 09:17. Since I have yet to receive a phone call or email back from Congressman Walz’s office about the still unexplained photo of him claiming to be an Afghanistan veteran, I decided to visit …
True North – Pointing Minnesota in the… – http://looktruenorth.com/component/content/frontpage….
[ More results from True North - Pointing Minnesota in the... ]
and this one:
Minnesota’s own phony soldier
12 Jul 2009 by (redacted)@us.army.mil (Dave Thul)
Everyone who follows politics must remember the political uproar over Rush Limbaugh’s ‘phony soldier’ comment in 2007, referring to the media’s fondness for quoting ‘soldiers’ against the war in Iraq whose service and military records …
True North – http://www.looktruenorth.com/component/content/frontpage.html – References
[ More results from True North ]
Yes, gentle readers, that’s Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul calling Congressman Tim Walz a “phony soldier.” And that BS about the photograph? COMPLETE BS. Of course, would anyone expect anything else from the party of Tony Sutton and Michael Brodkorb? But, that’s a tangent, albeit a tangent we’ll get to later. For now, back to Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul and his use of his official @us.army.mil email account.
Department of Defense Directive 1344.10, like most Defense rules, regulations, and protocols, is dry reading. On the other hand, they usually are very clear, and DoDD 1344.10 is no different.
Paragraph 4, in it’s entirety, states:
4. POLICY
It is DoD policy to encourage members of the Armed Forces (hereafter referred to as “members”) (including members on active duty, members of the Reserve Components not on active duty, members of the National Guard even when in a non-Federal status, and retired members) to carry out the obligations of citizenship. In keeping with the traditional concept that members on active duty should not engage in partisan political activity, and that members not on active duty should avoid inferences that their political activities imply or appear to imply official sponsorship, approval, or endorsement, the following policy shall apply:
That last sentence is the important one with respect to Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul; clearly, if Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul were on active duty, or was on-duty full-time with the National Guard, Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul could have the book tossed at him for all the rules, regulations, and protocols he could have possibly and probably violated. If Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul were on active duty, or in an on-duty, full-time status with the National Guard, Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul easily “could end up in jail” – to use Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul’s own words (we’ll get to the significance of those words in a later episode). So, for the sake of argument, we’ll assume Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul is NOT in an on-duty, full-time status with the National Guard. If anyone knows differently, let me know.
So, let’s review that last sentence, in Paragraph 4, before we get into the sub-paragraphs:
“…and that members not on active duty should avoid inferences that their political activities imply or appear to imply official sponsorship, approval, or endorsement…”
Now let’s look at this sub-paragraph, of paragraph 4:
4.1.4. Subject to any other restrictions in law, a member of the Armed Forces not on active duty may take the actions or participate in the activities permitted in subparagraph 4.1.1., and may take the actions and participate in the activities prohibited in subparagraph 4.1.2, provided the member is not in uniform and does not otherwise act in a manner that could reasonably give rise to the inference or appearance of official sponsorship, approval, or endorsement.
“reasonably” – “reasonably.”
Is it reasonable for someone to infer that a blogpost critical of the President, or a Congressman, bearing an official @us.army.mil was approved by someone serving in official capacity within the US Army?
Yes, it is – unless, of course, you’re a partisan political hack and the President and Congressman being ripped is from a party other than your own.
That sub-paragraph is followed by this subparagraph:
4.1.5. Activities not expressly prohibited may be contrary to the spirit and intent of this Directive. Any activity that may be reasonably viewed as directly or indirectly associating the Department of Defense or the Department of Homeland Security (in the case of the Coast Guard) or any component of these Departments with a partisan political activity or is otherwise contrary to the spirit and intention of this Directive shall be avoided.
“…shall be avoided.” Not “should” be avoided; “shall” be avoided. Got it? “Clear, Sergeant, AIRBORNE!” would be the response I would have given, upon being read/told/DIRECTED (we’re quoting a “Directive” here), back in the day.
Clearly, by using his @us.army.mil email account, that shows up on google searches and probably google alerts, too, Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul is, or appears to, apply official military approval and/or endorsement.
Clearly, Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thu’s use of his official, @us.army.mil email account was wrong. Period. End of story.
Well, not exactly “end of story” – part 5 is coming – stay tuned!
(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)
Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul has been discussed in the blogosphere quite a bit lately, concerning his use (mis-use?) of his @us.army.mil email account. Political Muse began writing about this back in early April. Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul recently exacerbated the issue by launching an ambush on Congressman Tim Walz – as discussed yesterday in Part 2 of this series.
The issue isn’t Dave Thul’s right to speak out; the issue is following established military rules, regulations, and protocol while doing so. In today’s edition, we’re going to look at an article from US Army War College, written by noted Army lawyer Major John Kiel, an expert in military free speech issues. The name of that article is “When Soldiers Speak Out: A Survey of Provisions Limiting Freedom of Speech in the Military”.
“When Soldiers Speak Out” was published in the August 2007 issue of Parameters while the national debate about the war in Iraq was intense. This debate was beginning to include active duty soldiers, as Major Kiel explains:
Remarks against the President (Bush) have become more prevalent among service members because they communicate through a host of mediums unfathomable to yesterday’s generation of fighting men and women. Soldiers frequently post digital journals, cell phone photos, and music videos on popular Internet sites such as YouTube and MySpace. A few techno-savvy troops even manage their own milblogs, or online personal diaries where they can communicate in cyberspace about virtually anything to virtually anyone.
That sure sounds like Major Kiel could be directly referring to Dave Thul, his personal blog, and his comments about President Obama and Congressman Walz, doesn’t it?
Major Kiel goes on to describe in his 14 page article specific cases and specific rules, regulations, and protocols involving troops speaking out while on active duty.
In his article, Major Kiel discusses but doesn’t link to Department of Defense Directive 1344.10, Political Activities by Members of the Armed Forces. That Directive can be linked to, here.
In Dave Thul’s case, while on active duty is key. Clearly, according to this article published at the US Army’s War College, Dave Thul would be in some serious hot water over his actions — were he on active duty. Were he on active duty, Dave Thul could potentially face Courts Martial for his actions. The question is how these rules, regulations, and protocols affect members of the National Guard NOT on active duty – such as National Guard member and Steele County Republican Party Co-Chair Dave Thul.
So far, I have been unable to find rules, regulations, or articles about these questions.
Therefore, the questions raised have been brought to the attention of the Minnesota National Guard’s Public Affairs Office for clarification.
Stay tuned!
(crossposted from MnProgressiveProject)
