Condi Rice Admits to White House Torture Talks

I just heard this on The Rachel Maddow Show.

These are news results that I've found so far:
http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS247US254&um=1&tab=wn&hl=en&scoring=n&q=condi+rice+admits+torture+talks&btnG=Search+News

It's always safe to 'fess up on your way out *Rolls eyes* Disgusting.

Sistas Come Out to Support Kwame? WTF?!

Women Rally in Support of Mayor Kilpatrick

A day after Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was arraigned on felony charges, a group of women held a press conference to praise the job he's done in office.

WATCH REPORT IN VIDEO PLAYER RIGHT

"This is a small representation of the broad support of women for Mayor Kilpatrick," said entrepreneur Monique Williams of the dozen women who gathered Wednesday morning at the Youthville center in Detroit's New Center area.

"I will continue to support this mayor," said Lorrie France, a leader in the Brightmoor area of Detroit. "He's done what he said he's gonna do. He's a community person." Added community activist Cynthia Davis: "It's not important to me in regards to the text messages. What's important is what he has done in building this city and it has come a long way."

Source

Damn. Wow Black people. We sure love us some trash.

Obama's Passport's Breached and Condi Apologizes; Former State Dept. Official Has Clinton Ties; Shame on Anderson Cooper

Why the curiosity? Trying to find some Muslim skeletons in his closet?

Rice to Obama: Sorry for Passport Breach
By DESMOND BUTLER

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday apologized to Sen. Barack Obama for a security breach in which three State Department contractors inappropriately reviewed the Democratic presidential candidate's passport file.

The episode raised questions as to whether the actions of the three contractors, two of whom have been fired, were politically motivated.

"I told him that I was sorry, and I told him that I myself would be very disturbed," Rice told reporters.

"None of us wants to have a circumstance where any American's passport files are looked at in an unauthorized way," she said.

Rice, who spoke with Obama by phone, said she was particularly disappointed that senior officials at the State Department were not immediately notified.

"It was not to my knowledge, and we also want to take every step to make sure that this kind of thing doesn't happen again," she said.

The State Department's inspector general is investigating the passport breach, which occurred on three separate occasions — Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and as recently as last week, on March 14. On Friday, the department announced that the Justice Department would be monitoring the probe in case it needs to get involved. More Stuff...


Clinton friend may be involved in passport breach

A State Department official in charge of the department during two of the three breaches into the passport files of Sen. Barack Obama occurred has a direct tie to Bill and Hillary Clinton and department officials are investigating whether she furnished information to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

Maura Harty was in charge of the Bureau Of Consular Affairs during the first two breaches of Obama's passport. Former President Bill Clinton appointed her to an ambassadorship during his Presidency. More Stuff...

Can't wait to see how Passport-Gate unfolds.


Note to Anderson Cooper:

Hey Mr. Cooper,

I'm really disappointed in you for suggesting that the Obama campaign would use this breached passport scandal to diminish the Rev. Wright media fixation. You started your sentence off with "I don't wanna sound cynical..." when you could've said "Some people would suggest..." It sounded as if YOU were suggesting that this would be some newfound cover for Rev. Wright media fixation and you also indirectly trivialized Obama's privacy being invaded three times out of "curiosity." You've gotta be more responsible as a reporter.

I still like and respect you (love your work on 60 Minutes and Oprah) but you've got one strike my dude.

Spitz Quits, Paterson's In

Scandal-hit NY governor resigns

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has resigned, after being linked to a prostitution ring.
Flanked by his wife Silda, Mr Spitzer, a leading Democrat, told a news conference: "I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work."

He once again apologised for failing to live up to the standards he demanded of others - but he gave no details.

Mr Spitzer had allegedly been identified arranging to meet a prostitute in a Washington hotel.

Mr Spitzer made his name as an investigator of organised crime, financial crime and prostitution.

At one point he was known as the "Sheriff of Wall Street", and his fall from political grace is being seen as one of the biggest New York has known.

In a brief resignation statement, he said: "Over the course of my public life I have insisted, I believe correctly, that people regardless of their position or power take responsibility for their conduct.

Source

He spent $80Gs over a course of 10 years and may have placed his affairs on taxpayers' tabs. SMH.



Lt. Gov. David Paterson Becomes First Black Governor of New York (and the first legally blind governor in the nation)

New York Lieutenant Governor David Paterson becomes the first Black governor of New York after Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned Wednesday.

Paterson will assume the position on Mar. 17 and will remain governor until the special election in Nov. 2010.

Paterson is also legally blind, which would make him the first blind governor in the country and only the fourth African-American to run a state in US history.

Paterson was elected to the state Senate in 1985, representing the 29th District in the New York State Senate that included Manhattan's Harlem and Upper West Side. He then rose to become New York's highest-ranking black legislator.

Paterson is the son of former New York Secretary of State Basil Paterson, who the first African American NYC Deputy Mayor, the first to run for statewide office in New York, and the Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor in 1970.

The younger Paterson gained the post of Senate minority leader in 2002. In 2004, he became the first blind person to address the Democratic National Convention.

Source

CROSS-POST: Hillary Clinton’s Qualifications to Serve as Vice President

I found this blog piece on The Vigil. Greg Craig does a good job of breaking down Hillary's claims of experience that she's expressed to the media recently.

Hillary Clinton’s Qualifications to Serve as Vice President --- are 'just words'?

I hope everyone got this memo today:



When your entire campaign is based upon a claim of experience, it is important that you have evidence to support that claim. Hillary Clinton's argument that she has passed "the Commander- in-Chief test" is simply not supported by her record.

There is no doubt that Hillary Clinton played an important domestic policy role when she was First Lady. It is well known, for example, that she led the failed effort to pass universal health insurance. There is no reason to believe, however, that she was a key player in foreign policy at any time during the Clinton Administration. She did not sit in on National Security Council meetings. She did not have a security clearance. She did not attend meetings in the Situation Room. She did not manage any part of the national security bureaucracy, nor did she have her own national security staff. She did not do any heavy-lifting with foreign governments, whether they were friendly or not. She never managed a foreign policy crisis, and there is no evidence to suggest that she participated in the decision-making that occurred in connection with any such crisis. As far as the record shows, Senator Clinton never answered the phone either to make a decision on any pressing national security issue - not at 3 AM or at any other time of day.

When asked to describe her experience, Senator Clinton has cited a handful of international incidents where she says she played a central role. But any fair-minded and objective judge of these claims - i.e., by someone not affiliated with the Clinton campaign - would conclude that Senator Clinton's claims of foreign policy experience are exaggerated.

- Northern Ireland: Senator Clinton has said, "I helped to bring peace to Northern Ireland." It is a gross overstatement of the facts for her to claim even partial credit for bringing peace to Northern Ireland. She did travel to Northern Ireland, it is true. First Ladies often travel to places that are a focus of U.S. foreign policy. But at no time did she play any role in the critical negotiations that ultimately produced the peace. As the Associated Press recently reported, "[S]he was not directly involved in negotiating the Good Friday peace accord." With regard to her main claim that she helped bring women together, she did participate in a meeting with women, but, according to those who know best, she did not play a pivotal role. The person in charge of the negotiations, former Senator George Mitchell, said that "[The First Lady] was one of many people who participated in encouraging women to get involved, not the only one."

News of Senator Clinton's claims has raised eyebrows across the ocean. Her reference to an important meeting at the Belfast town hall was debunked. Her only appearance at the Belfast City Hall was to see Christmas lights turned on. She also attended a 50-minute meeting which, according to the Belfast Daily Telegraph's report at the time, "[was] a little bit stilted, a little prepared at times." Brian Feeney, an Irish author and former politician, sums it up: "The road to peace was carefully documented, and she wasn't on it."

- Bosnia: Senator Clinton has pointed to a March 1996 trip to Bosnia as proof that her foreign travel involved a life-risking mission into a war zone. She has described dodging sniper fire. While she did travel to Bosnia in March 1996, the visit was not a high-stakes mission to a war zone. On March 26, 1996, the New York Times reported that "Hillary Rodham Clinton charmed American troops at a U.S.O. show here, but it didn't hurt that the singer Sheryl Crow and the comedian Sinbad were also on the stage."

- Kosovo: Senator Clinton has said, "I negotiated open borders to let fleeing refugees into safety from Kosovo." It is true that, as First Lady, she traveled to Macedonia and visited a Kosovar refugee camp. It is also true that she met with government officials while she was there. First Ladies frequently meet with government officials. Her claim to have "negotiated open borders to let fleeing refugees into safety from Kosovo," however, is not true. Her trip to Macedonia took place on May 14, 1999. The borders were opened the day before, on May 13, 1999.

The negotiations that led to the opening of the borders were accomplished by the people who ordinarily conduct negotiations with foreign governments - U.S. diplomats. President Clinton's top envoy to the Balkans, former Ambassador Robert Gelbard, said, "I cannot recall any involvement by Senator Clinton in this issue." Ivo Daalder worked on the Clinton Administration's National Security Council and wrote a definitive history of the Kosovo conflict. He recalls that "she had absolutely no role in the dirty work of negotiations."

- Rwanda: Last year, former President Clinton asserted that his wife pressed him to intervene with U.S. troops to stop the Rwandan genocide. When asked about this assertion, Hillary Clinton said it was true. There is no evidence, however, to suggest that this ever happened. Even those individuals who were advocating a much more robust U.S. effort to stop the genocide did not argue for the use of U.S. troops. No one recalls hearing that Hillary Clinton had any interest in this course of action. Based on a fair and thorough review of National Security Council deliberations during those tragic months, there is no evidence to suggest that U.S. military intervention was ever discussed. Prudence Bushnell, the Assistant Secretary of State with responsibility for Africa, has recalled that there was no consideration of U.S. military intervention.

At no time prior to her campaign for the presidency did Senator Clinton ever make the claim that she supported intervening militarily to stop the Rwandan genocide. It is noteworthy that she failed to mention this anecdote - urging President Clinton to intervene militarily in Rwanda - in her memoirs. President Clinton makes no mention of such a conversation with his wife in his memoirs. And Madeline Albright, who was Ambassador to the United Nations at the time, makes no mention of any such event in her memoirs.

Hillary Clinton did visit Rwanda in March 1998 and, during that visit, her husband apologized for America's failure to do more to prevent the genocide.

- China: Senator Clinton also points to a speech that she delivered in Beijing in 1995 as proof of her ability to answer a 3 AM crisis phone call. It is strange that Senator Clinton would base her own foreign policy experience on a speech that she gave over a decade ago, since she so frequently belittles Barack Obama's speeches opposing the Iraq War six years ago. Let there be no doubt: she gave a good speech in Beijing, and she stood up for women's rights. But Senator Obama's opposition to the War in Iraq in 2002 is relevant to the question of whether he, as Commander-in-Chief, will make wise judgments about the use of military force. Senator Clinton's speech in Beijing is not.

- Iraq: Senator Obama's speech opposing the war in Iraq shows independence and courage as well as good judgment. In the speech that Senator Clinton says does not qualify him to be Commander in Chief, Obama criticized what he called "a rash war . . . a war based not on reason, but on passion, not on principle, but on politics." In that speech, he said prophetically: "[E]ven a successful war against Iraq will require a US occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences." He predicted that a U.S. invasion of Iraq would "fan the flames of the Middle East," and "strengthen the recruitment arm of al Qaeda." He urged the United States first to "finish the fight with Bin Laden and al Qaeda."

If the U.S. government had followed Barack Obama's advice in 2002, we would have avoided one of the greatest foreign policy catastrophes in our nation's history. Some of the most "experienced" men in national security affairs - Vice President Cheney and Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and others - led this nation into that catastrophe. That lesson should teach us something about the value of judgment over experience. Longevity in Washington, D.C. does not guarantee either wisdom of judgment.

- Conclusion: The Clinton campaign's argument is nothing more than mere assertion, dramatized in a scary television commercial with a telephone ringing in the middle of the night. There is no support for or substance in the claim that Senator Clinton has passed "the Commander-in-Chief test." That claim - as the TV ad - consists of nothing more than making the assertion, repeating it frequently to the voters and hoping that they will believe it.

On the most critical foreign policy judgment of our generation - the War in Iraq - Senator Clinton voted in support of a resolution entitled "The Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of U.S. Military Force Against Iraq." As she cast that vote, she said: "This is probably the hardest decision I have ever had to make -- any vote that may lead to war should be hard -- but I cast it with conviction." In this campaign, Senator Clinton has argued - remarkably - that she wasn't actually voting for war, she was voting for diplomacy. That claim is no more credible than her other claims of foreign policy experience. The real tragedy is that we are still living with the terrible consequences of her misjudgment. The Bush Administration continues to cite that resolution as its authorization - like a blank check - to fight on with no end in sight.

Barack Obama has a very simple case. On the most important commander in chief test of our generation, he got it right, and Senator Clinton got it wrong. In truth, Senator Obama has much more foreign policy experience than either Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan had when they were elected. Senator Obama has worked to confront 21st century challenges like proliferation and genocide on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He possesses the personal attributes of a great leader - an even temperament, an open-minded approach to even the most challenging problems, a willingness to listen to all views, clarity of vision, the ability to inspire, conviction and courage.

And Barack Obama does not use false charges and exaggerated claims to play politics with national security.

Based upon the evidence presented in this memo, I conclude that Hillary Clinton should immediately knock off on her campaign for President. Then she could take a couple of crash courses at C.C.N.Y. in international relations and American foreign policy and see if she can't train-up and get up to speed by the third week in this coming August. She could then contend for the position of Vice-President on a slam-dunk winning Democratic ticket. But if she persists in her campaign to run on John McCain's shirt tails ... well, I guess we'll never get a chance to re-start the 21st century.

Hillary Clinton’s Qualifications to Serve as Vice President - The Vigil

Gerry Ferraro Defends Herself and Diminishes the Black Female Experience a la Gloria Steinem

From Daily Breeze:

Ferraro defends controversial comments on Barack Obama
By Gene Maddaus

In a follow-up interview today, Ferraro said her company had been deluged with vicious e-mail messages accusing her of racism.

But far from backing off from her initial remark, Ferraro defended it and elaborated on it.

"Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let's address reality and the problems we're facing in this world, you're accused of being racist, so you have to shut up," Ferraro said. "Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white. How's that?"

This is foolishness. You discredit the value of Obama's potential and make him out to be some faulty affirmative action token candidate all the while being a token VP in '84? Obama's lucky to be Black yet why hadn't that "lucky to be Black" fortune rubbed off on previous Black presidential hopefuls Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Carol Moseley-Braun?

Ferraro said she was simply stating an obvious truth, as seen in exit polls that show Obama taking as much as 80 percent of the black vote in the Democratic primaries.

"In all honesty, do you think that if he were a white male, there would be a reason for the black community to get excited for a historic first?" Ferraro said. "Am I pointing out something that doesn't exist?"

And (White) women aren't enraptured in Hillary's gender? So many White women are completely comfortable with voting for their vaginas and admitting to it. And Obama had more than his share of nay-sayers in the Black community before the Clintons threw Black people under the bus. Obama had to work for those votes because a lot of Black people were in love with the Clintons. It wasn't like Black people were saying "Let's give brothaman a chance."

Here are Gerry's remarks about Obama's campaign manager David Axelrod:

"He knows damn well that the best thing to do in a situation like this is to come back and hit with race," Ferraro said, adding that the response is a sign that the Obama campaign is "worried" about the first-term senator's lack of experience.

Hillary does not have a world of experience. Like I've said before, riding shotgun for years doesn't purport that you're a good driver. Hillary stayed with Bill and kept her married name for a reason.

Ferraro said she was not trying to diminish Obama's candidacy, and acknowledged up front that she would not have been the vice presidential nominee in 1984 if she had been a man.

The only sensible thing she's said so far.

But she also echoed remarks of feminist leaders like Gloria Steinem, who argued in the New York Times that Obama would not have succeeded if he were a woman because gender is "the most restricting force in American life."

"Sexism is a bigger problem," Ferraro argued. "It's OK to be sexist in some people's minds. It's not OK to be racist."

How would you know White woman? Step into a Black woman's shoes for one day and I might let you tell it. Gerry and Gloria are two foolish peas in a pod.

Eliot "Ethics King" Sptizer Admits to Smutting Around But Hasn't Resigned

What's taking him so long to quit?

From the New York Times:

Spitzer Is Linked to Prostitution Ring
By DANNY HAKIM and WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM

ALBANY - Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who gained national prominence relentlessly pursuing Wall Street wrongdoing, has been caught on a federal wiretap arranging to meet with a high-priced prostitute at a Washington hotel last month, according to a law enforcement official and a person briefed on the investigation.

The wiretap captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a hotel room, according to an affidavit filed in federal court in Manhattan. The person briefed on the case and the law enforcement official identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.

Mr. Spitzer, a first term Democrat, today made a brief public appearance during which he apologized for his behavior, and described it as a “private matter.” He did not address his political future.

“I have acted in a way that violates my obligation to my family and violates my or any sense of right or wrong,” said Mr. Spitzer, who appeared with his wife Silda at his Manhattan office. “I apologize first and most importantly to my family. I apologize to the public to whom I promised better.”

“I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself. I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family.”

Before speaking, Mr. Spitzer stood with his arm around his wife; the two nodded and then strode forward together to face more than 100 reporters. Both had glassy, tear-filled eyes, but they did not cry.

As he went to leave, three reporters called out, "Are you resigning? Are you resigning?", and Mr. Spitzer charged out of the room, slamming the door.

Source

Mrs. Spitzer reminds me of Dina Matos-Greevey but minus the crazed look.