The Common Ills: These days, you can profit from foreign governments and work for the White House

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

These days, you can profit from foreign governments and work for the White House

Last night I dreamed I saw the planet flicker
Great forests fell like buffalo
Everything got sicker
And to the bitter end
Big business bickered
And they call for the three great stimulants
Of the exhausted ones
Artifice brutality and innocence
Artifice and innocence
-- "The Three Great Stimulants," written by Joni Mitchell, first appears on her Dog Eat Dog album

Artifice, if the American press ever had to stop selling it, what would they have to hawk?

Whether it's Jackie Calmes (New York Times), Jonathan Allen and Carrie Budoff Brown (POLITICO) or Reuters, they're all glorified gossip columnists pretending to offer meaning or insight.

But it's just gossip.

At least Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons never kidded themselves about what they were.

So John Podesta, they want to tell you, will be a "counselor" to US President Barack Obama.

Then the whores of POLITICO want to quote Tom Daschle -- a man who belongs face down in a political grave.

In Louella and Hedda's day, they had enough honesty to quote someone by noting something like, "Tom Daschle said of Joan Crawford, whom he worked with on Mildred Pierce . . ."

But the whores of POLITICO don't even have those ethics. So they just offer:

“John brings a lot to the table — experience, stature and networking ability,” said former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. “He also enjoys great chemistry with all senior White House staff.

The chat whores fail to note Podesta used to work for Tom.

It's all so incestuous and hidden, but that's DC, isn't it?

And Podesta looks and moves like a two-headed, inbred feline, doesn't he?

Podesta's addition is further proof of how Barack really wasn't opposed to the Iraq War. If you were opposed to it, you don't bring Podesta into your administration.

Dropping back to the March 28, 2007 snapshot:

Interviewed by Bonnie Faulkner (KPFA's Guns and Butter) today, professor Francis Boyle discussed how a 2003 exploration of impeachment by the Democrats was cut short when John Podesta announced that there would be no introduction of bills of impeachment because it would harm Democrats chances in the 2004 election. Speaking of the measures being applauded by much in the media, big and small, Boyle declared, "It's all baloney. All they had to do was just do nothing and Bush would have run out of money. . . . The DNC fully supports the war, that was made clear to Ramsey [Clark] and me on 13 March 2003 and nothing's changed." John Podesta, former Clintonista, is with the Democratic talking point mill (that attempts to pass itself as a think tank) Center for American Progress -- with an emphasis on "Center" and not "Progress."

David Swanson (in 2009, at Democrats.com) discussed Podesta's role in the Iraq War:

Boyle and Ramsey Clark presented the case for impeachment to Democratic congress members on March 13, 2003, just days before the bombs hit Baghdad. Impeachment could conceivably have prevented over a million deaths. The congress members present accepted the validity of the case, but John Podesta and others argued that it would be better for Democrats in the next election to let the war happen. We saw this same cold blooded calculation, of course, in 2007 and 2008, as the Democrats controlled the Congress and claimed to "oppose" the war while keeping it going. While Clark argued for the political advantage of pursuing impeachment, Boyle declined to address that point, preferring to stick to the facts. Sadly, electoral arguments are almost the only thing most congress members care about, and human life is not even on the list.

Boyle spoke to Dori Smith (Talk Radio Nation -- link is audio and transcript) February 7, 2007:

Francis A. Boyle: We just need one person to introduce the bill with courage, integrity, principles, and of course a safe seat. In Gulf War one I worked with the late great Congressman Henry B. Gonzales on his bill of impeachment against Bush Sr. We put that one in. I did the first draft the day after the war started. So in my opinion there is no excuse for these bills not to have been put in already. In fact, on 13 March 2003, Congressman John Conyers convened a meeting of 40 to 50 of his top advisors, most of whom were lawyers, to debate putting in immediate bills of impeachment against Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Ashcroft, to head off the war. There were draft bills sitting on the table that had been prepared by me and Ramsey Clark. And the Congressman invited Ramsey and me to come in and state the case for impeachment. It was a two hour debate, very vigorous debate, obviously all of these lawyers there. And most of the lawyers there didn't disagree with us on the merits of impeachment. It was more as they saw it a question of practical politics. Namely, John Podesta was there, Clinton's former White House chief of staff, who said he was appearing on behalf of the Democratic National Committee and they were against putting in immediate bills of impeachment because it might hurt whoever their presidential candidate was going to be in 2004. Well at that time no one even knew who their presidential candidate was going to be in 2004. I didn't argue the point, I'm a political independent. It was not for me to tell Democrats how to elect their candidates. I just continued arguing the merits of impeachment. But Ramsey is a lifelong Democrat and he argued that he felt that putting in these bills of impeachment might help the Democrats and it certainly wasn't going to hurt them in 2004.

And he has other Iraq connections.

There's the Podesta lobbying group. From the February 13th snapshot:

Felons rejoice, at his company website, Tony Podesta self-boasts, "Many people in Washington can tell you what just happened to you. Tony Podesta helps you change outcomes." The company slogan appears to be -- because it's all over the website -- "we are the podesta group. we deliver." -- "the trash" must have been left off due to a lack of space. Or maybe with the Podestas, trash is just implied?
In the second most popular episode of Charlie's Angels, season one's "Consenting Adults" (written by Les Carter), Farrah Fawcett's Jill lays down some basic truth with Laurette Spang's Tracy.

Jill: Okay, let's both stop playing games. For starters, you can drop the "Tracy." It rhymes with Stacy and Macy and all those other jive names hookers like to latch onto.

Hookers and con artists frequently have to change their names -- which one is the Podesta Group? Wikipedia explains the lobbying group "was founded in 1988 by brothers John Podesta and Tony Podesta and has previously been known as Podesta Associates, podesta.com and PodestaMatton" or, as it's called in DC, "the Podestaphile." Byron Tau, Anna Palmer and Tarini Parti (POLITICO) reported this afternoon, "The government of Iraq is in the final stages of inking a contract with the Podesta Group as its first D.C. lobbying firm, according to multiple sources." Really? One wonders how the Iraqi people will feel about that, their government signing with John Podesta's lobbying firm considering John's Iraq history.

John Podesta profits from the Podesta Group.

And Nouri al-Maliki hired them this year.

It's all so whorish and deceitful.

The Cult of St. Barack has dwindled. But its mouth pieces still exist at MSNBC, The Progressive, The Nation, etc.

The whores try to get you upset daily, use your anger to distract you.

Every second you're told how you should hate the Republican Party for this, that or whatever.

It's all lying. It's all distraction.

It keeps you stupid and outraged about the most trivial things and while you're not looking, while you're distracted, the real thefts take place.

Look what little Barry Obama made:

The Foreign Affairs Policy Board was launched in December 2011 to provide the Secretary of State, the Deputy Secretaries of State, and the Director of Policy Planning with independent, informed advice and opinion concerning matters of U.S. foreign policy. The Board serves in a solely advisory capacity, with an agenda shaped by the questions and concerns of the Secretary. Its discussions focus on assessing global threats and opportunities; identifying trends that implicate core national security interests; providing recommendations with respect to tools and capacities of the civilian foreign affairs agencies; defining priorities and strategic frameworks for U.S. foreign policy; and performing any other research and analysis of topics raised by the Secretary of State, the Deputy Secretaries, and the Director of Policy Planning.

Pretty important. And made during his war with the Republicans -- his faux war.

If you doubt it, look who serves on it:

Bully Boy Bush's Stephen Hadley -- pro Iraq War (and part of the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame), John Negroponte, Robert Kagan, John Podesta -- it's all a Whore's Whore of who backed and sold the Iraq War.

John Negroponte. What a flipped middle finger to Latin America by Barack that was.

Hey, remember when Bully Boy Bush was pushing Negroponte to be US Ambassador to the UN and all these Democrats in the Senate stepped forward to speak of how wrong he was for the position (some, like then-Senator Chris Dodd, cited the Honduran death squads when Negroponte was the Ambassador to Honduras in the 80s)?

No opposition to the behind the curtain appointment Barack made.

But, for show, they'll distract you, they'll pretend. For show, they'll make a fool out of you and you'll accept it and take to repeating whatever talking point Rachel Maddow left you with last night.

And sprinkled in, look, there's Carla who will ensure that the interests of Coca Cola, Chevron and JP Morgan Chase are protected. If you look at the list and you know the people, you'll realize Corporate America has personhood in Barack's administration, Corporate America's interests are served over and over.

Don't see anyone on the list looking out for you? That's because the American people don't matter in this administration.

There was no change you could believe in, only a con game that preyed on the weakest.

And now, someone who profits off Nouri al-Maliki will be advising Barack, someone taking in money from a foreign leader will have the ear of the US president.

It's all artifice. Con games you can depend upon, the real Obama campaign slogan.

The following community sites -- plus The Diane Rehm Show, Antiwar.com and Dissident Voice -- updated since the snapshot went up yesterday -- also Wally's "THIS JUST IN! LIKE A ROCK!" is not showing up still: