NewsMax -
Democratic political strategist James Carville is revisiting the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth’s attack on John Kerry in 2004 to scare up financial support for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
In a mass e-mail sent out under the "Hillary for President” banner, Carville offers a quote from the StopHillaryPAC: "Those Swift Boat Veterans for Truth were the real heroes of the 2004 election. We at the StopHillaryPAC want to do the same thing to Hillary.”
Carville writes: "You read that right. There are people who think the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth are heroes for what they did in 2004 – and now they have their sights set on Hillary...
"These ‘swift-boaters’ know, like you and I do, that Hillary is the strongest candidate Democrats have. They know she’s a fighter who will stand up for what’s right, as she has done all her life. And there’s nothing they fear more...
"Let’s show these attack dogs what we’re made of.”
Carville – the architect of Bill Clinton’s win in 1992 – asks for contributions of $100, $50 or $25 to Hillary’s exploratory committee.
On its Web site, the StopHillaryPAC statement quoted by Carville actually reads in full:
"We at the StopHillaryPAC want to do the same thing to Hillary: take her record - ever since she became a radical, America-hating lawyer at Yale Law School in the 1970s all the way through her years in Arkansas and the White House and now as a Senator - and use it against her.”
23 February 2007
22 February 2007
Why David Geffen Hates Hillary & Bill Clinton
NewsMax - Why does movie mogul David Geffen hate the Clintons so much?
His personal attack made this week on Hillary Clinton harkens back to then-President Bill Clinton’s refusal to pardon an American Indian activist Geffen believes was falsely convicted of murder.
DreamWorks co-chairman Geffen and Bill Clinton were once close, and Geffen raised some $18 million for Clinton. He was even a guest in the White House's Lincoln Bedroom during the Clinton presidency.
Geffen turned his back on his friend when he pardoned fugitive financier Marc Rich in the last days of his administration – after rebuffing Geffen’s request for a pardon for Leonard Peltier.
In June 1975 – during protests by the American Indian Movement – federal agents entered a ranch on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. Following a shootout, two agents were found shot at close range through the head.
Peltier, who was on the reservation that day, fled to Canada but was later extradited, convicted of murder and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. He remains behind bars. Supporters, including Geffen, have claimed that authorities falsified evidence and withheld other evidence at the trial, and have long sought a pardon for Peltier, now 62 and in poor health.
In his recent anti-Clinton remarks that were quoted by New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, Geffen called Bill Clinton a "reckless guy,” criticized Hillary’s stand on the Iraq war, and asked if there is "anybody more ambitious than Hillary Clinton?”
Geffen, who is supporting Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president, also said: "Marc Rich getting pardoned? . . . Yet another time when the Clintons were unwilling to stand for the things that they genuinely believe in.”
Word from Hollywood sources was the Geffen, at first, had taken Clinton’s decision not to pardon Peltier in stride.
But Geffen went ballistic when he learned that President Clinton issued pardons to wrongdoers like Rich and 139 others in his final days in office. Among the pardons that sparked the most controversy:
Marc Rich was indicted on tax evasion, commodities fraud and other charges in 1983 and fled to Switzerland. After Clinton pardoned him, a House committee probing Clinton’s pardons sought testimony from Rich’s ex-wife Denise, who had been a major contributor to Democratic causes – including Hillary’s Senate campaign and the Clinton Presidential Library. Denise Rich invoked the Fifth Amendment.
Almon Glenn Braswell was pardoned of his mail fraud and perjury convictions after paying about $200,000 to Hillary’s brother, Hugh Rodham, to represent his case for clemency. He later returned the payments, but he too invoked the Fifth Amendment during a Congressional hearing.
In 2000, Clinton pardoned Vonna Jo Gregory, owner of the carnival company United Shows International, and her husband Edgar for a 1982 bank fraud conviction. After the pardon, the company gave Hillary’s brother Anthony Rodham $107,000 in "loans” that he has never repaid.
On his last day in office, Clinton pardoned his old friend Susan McDougal, who had already completed her sentence for her role in the Whitewater scandal.
Clinton also pardoned his brother Roger on drug charges, and former Housing secretary Henry Cisneros, who was convicted of lying to the FBI about payments to a mistress.
Clinton slashed the prison sentences of four men convicted of stealing millions in federal grants. The men were from a community of Hasidic Jews in New Square, N.Y., which voted 1,400 to 12 in favor of Hillary Clinton in her first Senate race.
Clinton also commuted the sentences – over the objections of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office – of 11 members of a Puerto Rican nationalist group that set off more than 100 bombs in the U.S. The large Puerto Rican community in New York City supports Democrats.
His personal attack made this week on Hillary Clinton harkens back to then-President Bill Clinton’s refusal to pardon an American Indian activist Geffen believes was falsely convicted of murder.
DreamWorks co-chairman Geffen and Bill Clinton were once close, and Geffen raised some $18 million for Clinton. He was even a guest in the White House's Lincoln Bedroom during the Clinton presidency.
Geffen turned his back on his friend when he pardoned fugitive financier Marc Rich in the last days of his administration – after rebuffing Geffen’s request for a pardon for Leonard Peltier.
In June 1975 – during protests by the American Indian Movement – federal agents entered a ranch on the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota. Following a shootout, two agents were found shot at close range through the head.
Peltier, who was on the reservation that day, fled to Canada but was later extradited, convicted of murder and sentenced to two consecutive life terms. He remains behind bars. Supporters, including Geffen, have claimed that authorities falsified evidence and withheld other evidence at the trial, and have long sought a pardon for Peltier, now 62 and in poor health.
In his recent anti-Clinton remarks that were quoted by New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, Geffen called Bill Clinton a "reckless guy,” criticized Hillary’s stand on the Iraq war, and asked if there is "anybody more ambitious than Hillary Clinton?”
Geffen, who is supporting Sen. Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination for president, also said: "Marc Rich getting pardoned? . . . Yet another time when the Clintons were unwilling to stand for the things that they genuinely believe in.”
Word from Hollywood sources was the Geffen, at first, had taken Clinton’s decision not to pardon Peltier in stride.
But Geffen went ballistic when he learned that President Clinton issued pardons to wrongdoers like Rich and 139 others in his final days in office. Among the pardons that sparked the most controversy:
Marc Rich was indicted on tax evasion, commodities fraud and other charges in 1983 and fled to Switzerland. After Clinton pardoned him, a House committee probing Clinton’s pardons sought testimony from Rich’s ex-wife Denise, who had been a major contributor to Democratic causes – including Hillary’s Senate campaign and the Clinton Presidential Library. Denise Rich invoked the Fifth Amendment.
Almon Glenn Braswell was pardoned of his mail fraud and perjury convictions after paying about $200,000 to Hillary’s brother, Hugh Rodham, to represent his case for clemency. He later returned the payments, but he too invoked the Fifth Amendment during a Congressional hearing.
In 2000, Clinton pardoned Vonna Jo Gregory, owner of the carnival company United Shows International, and her husband Edgar for a 1982 bank fraud conviction. After the pardon, the company gave Hillary’s brother Anthony Rodham $107,000 in "loans” that he has never repaid.
On his last day in office, Clinton pardoned his old friend Susan McDougal, who had already completed her sentence for her role in the Whitewater scandal.
Clinton also pardoned his brother Roger on drug charges, and former Housing secretary Henry Cisneros, who was convicted of lying to the FBI about payments to a mistress.
Clinton slashed the prison sentences of four men convicted of stealing millions in federal grants. The men were from a community of Hasidic Jews in New Square, N.Y., which voted 1,400 to 12 in favor of Hillary Clinton in her first Senate race.
Clinton also commuted the sentences – over the objections of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office – of 11 members of a Puerto Rican nationalist group that set off more than 100 bombs in the U.S. The large Puerto Rican community in New York City supports Democrats.
21 February 2007
Hillary Furious at Hollywood
NewsMax -
Hillary Clinton was reportedly "furious” at the three Hollywood moguls and Clinton "friends” who hosted Tuesday night’s fund-raiser for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Three of the entertainment industry’s biggest names – DreamWorks studio founders Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen – hosted the private Beverly Hills fund-raiser for Sen. Obama, and checks from Hollywood’s A-list of stars – including George Clooney, Eddie Murphy and Barbra Streisand – added up to a one-night take of $1 million.
The New York Post, quoting a source, said Sen. Clinton "was furious at the three, who she thought were her friends, for supporting her rival.”
The source said that someone in Clinton’s office even called Geffen.
"They were very angry [the moguls] were holding this event. They calmed down after an assurance was made that there would still be support and money left over for [Clinton].”
A Clinton spokesperson denied that anyone spoke to Geffen. As NewsMax reported on Tuesday, "Obama’s display of celebrity sizzle and campaign dollars challenges any assumptions that Hollywood dollars would default to Sen. Hillary Clinton, who has longstanding ties to the industry, along with her husband.”
In a further slight to Hillary, Geffen told New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd that Republicans "believe she's the easiest to defeat."
"It's not a very big thing to say, 'I made a mistake' on the war, and typical of Hillary Clinton that she can't," Dowd quotes Geffen as saying.
When asked if Obama can stand up to "Clinton Inc.," Geffen replied: "I hope so, because that machine is going to be very unpleasant and unattractive and effective."
Hillary Clinton was reportedly "furious” at the three Hollywood moguls and Clinton "friends” who hosted Tuesday night’s fund-raiser for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Three of the entertainment industry’s biggest names – DreamWorks studio founders Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen – hosted the private Beverly Hills fund-raiser for Sen. Obama, and checks from Hollywood’s A-list of stars – including George Clooney, Eddie Murphy and Barbra Streisand – added up to a one-night take of $1 million.
The New York Post, quoting a source, said Sen. Clinton "was furious at the three, who she thought were her friends, for supporting her rival.”
The source said that someone in Clinton’s office even called Geffen.
"They were very angry [the moguls] were holding this event. They calmed down after an assurance was made that there would still be support and money left over for [Clinton].”
A Clinton spokesperson denied that anyone spoke to Geffen. As NewsMax reported on Tuesday, "Obama’s display of celebrity sizzle and campaign dollars challenges any assumptions that Hollywood dollars would default to Sen. Hillary Clinton, who has longstanding ties to the industry, along with her husband.”
In a further slight to Hillary, Geffen told New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd that Republicans "believe she's the easiest to defeat."
"It's not a very big thing to say, 'I made a mistake' on the war, and typical of Hillary Clinton that she can't," Dowd quotes Geffen as saying.
When asked if Obama can stand up to "Clinton Inc.," Geffen replied: "I hope so, because that machine is going to be very unpleasant and unattractive and effective."
20 February 2007
Iraq Debate a 'Disservice' to Troops
NewsMax - Rep. Duncan Hunter said Congress has wasted time debating an increase in U.S. troops in Baghdad because the 82nd Airborne is already executing the plan.
Hunter, a California Republican, said the debate about the escalation is misguided and insults the troops in the field.
"The idea that Congress pulls the rug out from under the soldiers as they're actually carrying the mission out, by condemning this mission . . . I thought it was a disservice to our soldiers. There is a right way to leave Iraq and that is to continue to rotate Iraqi battalions that we've trained and equipped into the fight."
Hunter visited first-in-the-nation primary state as part of his campaign for the party's presidential nomination. The former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said he would focus on a strong national defense and a self-described conservative message.
"I don't have to hire consultant to develop a conservative image because I am a conservative," Hunter said.
He stopped in Concord to meet with state party officials and then planned stops with Dartmouth College Republicans, state Republican legislators and a gun rights group. Throughout his two-day trip, he planned to talk with voters about the growing threat of China.
"Not only do we have a bad trade deal with China but they're cheating on the one we do have," Hunter said. "China is cheating on trade and they're using our trade dollars to buy ships, planes and missiles. They're becoming a super power and stepping into the shoes of the Soviet Union."
He also promoted the anti-immigration fence along the southern U.S. border, an idea Hunter has sought for decades.
"If you want to start coming to America, you're going to have to start knocking on the front door," he said. "That fence is going to be up, that back door is going to be closed."
Hunter, first elected to Congress in 1980, has anemic poll numbers in New Hampshire. A statewide poll released this month shows 68 percent of likely GOP primary voters don't know him.
Hunter, a California Republican, said the debate about the escalation is misguided and insults the troops in the field.
"The idea that Congress pulls the rug out from under the soldiers as they're actually carrying the mission out, by condemning this mission . . . I thought it was a disservice to our soldiers. There is a right way to leave Iraq and that is to continue to rotate Iraqi battalions that we've trained and equipped into the fight."
Hunter visited first-in-the-nation primary state as part of his campaign for the party's presidential nomination. The former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee said he would focus on a strong national defense and a self-described conservative message.
"I don't have to hire consultant to develop a conservative image because I am a conservative," Hunter said.
He stopped in Concord to meet with state party officials and then planned stops with Dartmouth College Republicans, state Republican legislators and a gun rights group. Throughout his two-day trip, he planned to talk with voters about the growing threat of China.
"Not only do we have a bad trade deal with China but they're cheating on the one we do have," Hunter said. "China is cheating on trade and they're using our trade dollars to buy ships, planes and missiles. They're becoming a super power and stepping into the shoes of the Soviet Union."
He also promoted the anti-immigration fence along the southern U.S. border, an idea Hunter has sought for decades.
"If you want to start coming to America, you're going to have to start knocking on the front door," he said. "That fence is going to be up, that back door is going to be closed."
Hunter, first elected to Congress in 1980, has anemic poll numbers in New Hampshire. A statewide poll released this month shows 68 percent of likely GOP primary voters don't know him.
15 February 2007
Hillary Clinton Buying Black Vote for $200,000
NewsMax - The press reported on Tuesday that Sen. Hillary Clinton had scored a coup in the presidential race by winning the endorsement of a key black political leader in South Carolina, state Sen. Darrell Jackson.
Now it has come to light that just days earlier, Clinton’s campaign reached a deal to pay Jackson’s consulting firm $10,000 a month through the 2008 elections – a deal worth more than $200,000.
"Jackson had also been in talks with Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign about endorsing him and entering into a consulting contract for more than $5,000, sources said – raising questions about whether Jackson’s endorsement was bought by a higher bidder,” the New York Post reported.
Jackson – who is also the minister of a large church in the state capital, Columbia – acknowledged that he should have revealed his financial dealings with the Clinton campaign when he and fellow state Sen. Robert Ford, who is also African-American, endorsed Clinton.
But he told the Post: "It’s not about the money – there were some other candidates who offered to double [Clinton’s] offer,” Jackson told the Post, although he declined to name them.
Support from black voters is key in South Carolina, where 49 percent of the Democratic presidential primary vote came from blacks in 2004. The state will host the first Southern primaries for both the Democrats and the GOP in 2008.
Now it has come to light that just days earlier, Clinton’s campaign reached a deal to pay Jackson’s consulting firm $10,000 a month through the 2008 elections – a deal worth more than $200,000.
"Jackson had also been in talks with Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign about endorsing him and entering into a consulting contract for more than $5,000, sources said – raising questions about whether Jackson’s endorsement was bought by a higher bidder,” the New York Post reported.
Jackson – who is also the minister of a large church in the state capital, Columbia – acknowledged that he should have revealed his financial dealings with the Clinton campaign when he and fellow state Sen. Robert Ford, who is also African-American, endorsed Clinton.
But he told the Post: "It’s not about the money – there were some other candidates who offered to double [Clinton’s] offer,” Jackson told the Post, although he declined to name them.
Support from black voters is key in South Carolina, where 49 percent of the Democratic presidential primary vote came from blacks in 2004. The state will host the first Southern primaries for both the Democrats and the GOP in 2008.
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