Obama’s $150,000 ‘BRIBE’: Team ‘paid Rev Wright to stay quiet during 2008 campaign’
May 14, 2012 by Jack Blood
Filed under Americas
Via Daily Mail
Reverend Jeremiah Wright caused problems for President Barack Obama’s campaign in 2008, and new details have emerged alleging that the then-candidate tried to convince his former pastor to keep quiet.
The retired pastor, who came under fire after an old sermon where he said that the September 11 terrorist attacks were ‘America’s chickens coming home to roost’, said that he was offered $150,000 to stay silent until the election was over.
Journalist Edward Klein interviewed Mr Wright and included their conversation in his new book, The Amateur.
Close ties: A controversial sermon by Rev. Jeremiah Wright (right) caused political problems for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama (left)
‘After the media went ballistic on me, I received an email offering me money not to preach until the November presidential election,’ Mr Wright told the author, as relayed by The New York Post.
Mr Wright said that ‘one of Barack’s closest friends’ sent an email to a member of the church saying that he would pay $150,000 for the pastor to keep quiet for fear of saying something incendiary.
He said that following the incident, the then-candidate Mr Obama requested a private, secret meeting with the Reverend to make a personal plea.
Mr Wright said that, while he wasn’t sure whether or not Mr Obama was wearing a wire, they met and discussed their options.
Damage control: After Rev Wright’s sermon went viral, Mr Obama gave a speech condemning Mr Wright’s political remarks
‘And one of the first things Barack said was, “I really wish you wouldn’t do any more public speaking until after the November election,”‘ Mr Wright told Mr Klein.
‘He knew I had some speaking engagements lined up, and he said, “I wish you wouldn’t speak. It’s gonna hurt the campaign if you do that.”‘
Portrait: The new book was written by Edward Klein, the former editor-in-chief of the New York Times Magazine
Mr Obama, who was in the midst of navigating the ensuing political storm that occurred after Rev. Wright’s comments went public, hoped to stem the tide by getting his long-time family friend to ease off until Election Day.
‘Barack said, “I’m sorry you don’t see it the way I do. Do you know what your problem is?” And I said, “No, what’s my problem?” And he said, 2You have to tell the truth.” I said, “That’s a good problem to have. That’s a good problem for all preachers to have. That’s why I could never be a politician,”‘ Mr Wright said in the interview.
Mr Obama went into damage-control mode after the video of the sermon went viral, and delivered a well-received speech on the racial state of America.
In the speech, called ‘A More Perfect Union’, Mr Obama criticized the political views of Mr Wright but tried to balance his personal history with the man and his controversial thoughts.
‘I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy,’ Mr Obama said in the March speech.
‘I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community.’
Whistle-Blower? Calif. FBI agent missing, possibly armed, “Suicidal”
May 13, 2012 by Jack Blood
Filed under Americas
Agent gone Rogue? We cannot help but wonder what this agent was working on, what did he know that he wasn’t supposed to know (coming false flag?) and will he be able to tell that story before his fellow agents get to him, or he commits ‘suicide’. Otherwise – something like this tends to be kept quite, not to embarrass the agency, or the Govt…
| |
May 13, 3:52 AM (ET)
|
BURBANK, Calif. (AP) – Law enforcement officers in Southern California have launched a massive search in rugged mountain terrain for a missing FBI agent who was said to be despondent and possibly suicidal.
About 100 FBI agents, 40 sheriff’s department rescuers and a dozen local police officers participated in the search for Los Angeles-based Special Agent Stephen Ivens, who remained missing late Saturday. He was described as an avid hiker and runner.
FBI Special Agent Steve Gomez said dogs had tracked Ivens’ scent toward the rugged Verdugo Mountains, east of Burbank, but searchers were fanning out throughout Los Angeles County.
Ivens, 35, was last seen by family members Thursday evening, KABC-TV reported (). He left his Burbank home the next morning on foot and had not been seen since, FBI officials said at a news conference.http://bit.ly/K6vDfr
Ivens was distraught and authorities fear he may have harmed himself, according to KABC-TV. Officials did not say why Ivens was distraught.
A search of his home did not turn up his handgun and police believe he may have taken it with him.
Ivens was described by FBI colleagues as well liked. Married with a one-year-old child, he has been working for the FBI for the past three years in the national security area. Prior to that, he worked as a Los Angeles police officer for eight years.
Gomez told reporters that foul play was not suspected and Ivens was not believed to pose a threat to others.
—
Information from: KABC-TV, http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/
RNC & Its Attorney Proclaim State Delegates ‘Unbound’
May 13, 2012 by Jack Blood
Filed under Americas
Ron Paul: Keeping the Elite on their Toes…
In an article last week, it was pointed out that many of the delegates that the states are actually electing are Ron Paul delegates. Though Paul has not won a single state in the primaries, he has won several in delegate counts. While the main stream media and the GOP apparently think that Mitt Romney is the nominee, that has yet to be seen.
Ben Swann of Fox News local 19 explains why the Republican National Convention does not recognize a state’s binding on their delegates, but, in fact, considers them free agents that can vote their conscience or preference.
Swann brought up the issue of the 2008 GOP convention when John McCain ran against Mitt Romney for the nomination. At that convention a delegate did not want to join with the rest of the state and vote for John McCain. Instead he wanted his vote to be cast for Mitt Romney. McCain won Utah with 62 percent of the vote in the Primary.
According to one source, Jennifer Sheehan, Legal Counsel for the RNC, plainly stated in a letter to Nancy Lord, Utah National Committeewoman, several weeks before the convention,
“The RNC does not recognize a state’s binding of national delegates, but considers each delegate a free agent who can vote for whoever they choose.”
and
“The national convention allows delegates to vote for the individual of their choice, regardless of whether the person’s name is officially placed into nomination or not.”
This is all in accordance with Rule 38 of the Republican Party Rules.
According to Ben Swann, “The delegate process was designed to entrust a group of voters with the power to override the popular vote in each state in order to ensure that the best candidate is chosen.
Remember that neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party are government agencies. They are private agencies that are more like clubs or as we call each of them, a “party.” So they are only governed so far as the rules that their party dictates.
Fairvote.org also chimed in on the issue, stating:
“For further clarification on the meaning of Rule 38, it is instructive to look to the debate in 1964 when the RNC debated whether to strike the Rule 38 language from a proposed amendment that was adopted that year. The debate begins on page 64 of this source. The RNC voted 59 to 41 to keep the rule in the amendment, noting that it helped to clarify a longstanding practice that a delegate was free to take exception to the roll call, and was free to vote his or her preference. Those who sought to strike the rule feared that its inclusion in the rules would give delegates freedom from both a non-existent legal obligation and a moral obligation to vote according to instructions from their state. However, even these opponents of the rule admitted that there never has been any legal obligation for a delegate to do so.”
So while it is not clear that Mitt Romney will win the nomination of the GOP just yet, despite the numbers promoted in the media, one thing is clear, and that from the RNC and its own attorney, all delegates en route to Tampa this year are not bound by their states to vote for the winner of the state, but by their own consciences.
After complaints about “illegal” activity, Ron Paul faction takes GOP convention to parking lot
May 13, 2012 by Jack Blood
Filed under Americas
Marie Mentesana / Red Dirt Report Ron Paul supporters flooded the Embassy Suites parking lot in Norman at the conclusion of the OK GOP state convention. The rump convention was formed because of alleged "illegalities" related to proper procedure not being followed.
By Andrew W. Griffin
Red Dirt Report, editor
Posted: May 12, 2012
OKLAHOMA CITY – “Not for sale! Not for sale!” and “Follow the rules! Follow the rules!” That is what was being chanted by Republican delegates and attendees of Oklahoma Republican State Convention, as it moved out into the parking lot of the Embassy Suites in Norman late Saturday afternoon.
Red Dirt Report received calls from UStream viewers from around the country after our name and phone number was posted filmed at the site of the rump convention. All of the viewers (and likely Ron Paul supporters) were very polite and informative and were wanting media to cover the unfolding events.
As this political drama unfolded, emails flooded our Red Dirt Report inbox as well. Joseph wrote: “Romney tried shutting down convention. Ron Paul fighters conducting business in parking lot now.”
Marie Mentesana, a photographer for Red Dirt Report, was quickly dispatched to the scene of the parking lot convention in Norman and along with another freelance reporter were able to talk to a number of conventioneers.
As Mentesana explained: “The Oklahoma GOP was holding a delegates conference and they were not allowing everyone to vote. They shut down everything and left. They took it out to vote in the parking lot” … and pizzas were provided by Ustream viewers.*
“People are mad,” added Mentesana, who also sent us several photos from the scene.
In a voice memo Mentesana sent to us, one attendee explained to her that the convention was adjourned illegally and proper protocol was allegedly not followed by the party leadership.
“We had to move it outside and adjourn it … we were electing delegates for president,” explained one man.
In the background chants of “Ron Paul, Ron Paul, Ron Paul!!” filled the air. Pizzas were also being passed around to the hungry crowd.
Indeed, Ustream.tv/channel/suriyahfish# was streaming the rump convention in the Embassy Suites parking lot. Everyone was excited when pizzas were ordered for the excited crowd. Some pizzas were ordered for the folks by people in the Netherlands.
Axxiom for Liberty‘s Kaye Beach also kept us up-to-date on developments as day turned to night and a civil rump convention was conducted in the hotel parking lot.
It is interesting to note that Mitt Romney visited Oklahoma City right before the convention, which was closed to most media. Red Dirt Report was not allowed to cover that visit, despite being allowed to cover the Romney’s prior visit to Oklahoma City in October.
Red Dirt Report attempted to reach Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Matt Pinnell Saturday night and we were unsuccessful. If we do hear from Pinnell, we will be sure to add his comments as well.
UPDATE: As we have discovered (and suspected) it was UStream viewers who paid for those pizzas, not the Ron Paul campaign. There may have been some confusion on the ground. Regardless, people were fed and people were clearly working to make things right. We hope to have more information on this political drama as it continues to develop. Thanks again to all the people who contacted Red Dirt Report today!
UPDATE II: The rump convention adjourned at a little after 9:30 p.m. Freedom and liberty is alive and well in Oklahoma, despite the actions of some at the convention. The Daily Paul and UStream audiences really came through on this one. Thanks so much!! We have learned that Scott Mitchell on News 9′s Sunday morning program Your Vote Counts will be discussing this incident and showing pictures taken by our crack photographer Marie Mentesana.
*Our photographer said in the chaos and excitement of the situation, she misunderstood who provided the pizza dinners.
Copyright 2012 Red Dirt Report
Minnesota Moms Attacked by Government for Giving Their Family food
May 12, 2012 by Jack Blood
Filed under Americas
Life Liberty and Property? Is your body not YOUR Property? If it isn’t, what is? As George Carlin said – From the perspective of Govt.s and the Elite… They Own YOU. They will decide what you eat and when.
US Military Taught Islam is Enemy, Muslims to be Nuked
May 12, 2012 by Jack Blood
Filed under Americas
Also check out Mikey Weinstein’s Military and Religious Freedom Org for a history of Religious abuse and indoctrination by US Military command. – Hat tip to Davidicke.com
Saturday, 12 May 2012 07:45
‘The US military has been offering a course which teaches that its enemy is Islam in general, suggesting a Hiroshima-type massacre to obliterate the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina in what can be seen as another instance of promoting Islamophobia in the United States.
The course, titled “Perspectives on Islam and Islamic Radicalism,” was offered five times a year since 2004, with about 20 students each time, meaning roughly 800 students have taken the course over the years before it was removed in late April after protests.
“They [Muslims] hate everything you [Americans] stand for and will never coexist with you, unless you submit,” the instructor, Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Dooley, said in a presentation last July for the course at Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia, the Associated Press reported.’
Read more: US Military Taught Islam is Enemy, Muslims to be Nuked
Head Fake – WH won’t push gay marriage into party platform
May 11, 2012 by Jack Blood
Filed under Americas
President Obama declared his personal support for same-sex marriage yesterday, but the White House chose not to push for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act today.
“Well, party platform issues are for the party to decide,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said when asked if Obama would call for the repeal of DOMA and endorsement of pro-gay marriage language in the party platform. “That process is underway, and I refer you to the DNC on the question about the platform.”
He added that “the President’s belief that DOMA ought to be repealed is well stated.”
Carney refused to disclose when Obama actually completed the process of “evolving” towards support for gay marriage. “I don’t have a specific date for you,” he said.
Spring Takeover? Warnings of civil unrest in Venezuela
May 11, 2012 by Jack Blood
Filed under Americas
KISS OF DEATH?
Politicians across the spectrum in Venezuela are trading dire predictions of impending violence in the vacuum left by uncertainty about the health of President Hugo Chávez.
The opposition has warned of plans to postpone or even cancel elections due in October because of speculation that the socialist leader’s cancer will prevent him from running.
“Civil unrest is coming, they are going to provoke it, to stop the elections,” Henry Ramos Allup, a leading opposition politician, told reporters this week, accusing the government of arming paramilitary groups with Kalashnikov rifles.
“Since they can’t win the elections, those subversive groups will organise a tumult including looting, selective attacks on opposition leaders and members of the middle classes,” he said, adding that this would be used to justify military rule.
On the other side, government officials and loyalists have spoken of plots to assassinate Mr Chávez and stage coup d’états.
The president himself, who officials said on Wednesday had just completed a sixth round of radiotherapy in Cuba following a recurrence of the cancerous tumour in his pelvic region, broke a week-long silence on Monday to denounce such schemes, as well as deny that he was abandoning his duties as president while in Cuba.
“They have always had and always will have those plans up their sleeve, with the backing of the empire [the US government], most of all because of Venezuela’s vast resources,” he said during a telephone call to state television. “Our task is to be alert to neutralise [any attempt at destabilisation],” he added, before promising a “knockout” election victory in October.
The information minister, the attorney-general, two prominent deputies in congress and a pundit on state television have all made similar warnings this week. On Wednesday, the pundit claimed on a prime-time programme that a puzzle in one of the country’s most widely circulated newspapers contained a hidden message instigating the assassination of the president’s older brother, Adán Chávez.
Speculation about the health of Mr Chávez has been mounting. He has been seen in public only once since mid-April, in a short address which ended with the leader in tears. Last week, he created a council of state, ostensibly charged with advising the president on policy issues. But some believe the agency is a transitional body intended to smooth the way towards a post-Chávez Venezuela. Venezuela’s sovereign debt has rallied on the speculation over Mr Chávez’s illness, as investors bet that a more market-friendly government may soon take power.
The contrasting versions of reality given by either side are also reflected in opinion polls. Jesse Chacón, a former minister turned pollster running Caracas-based GIS XXI, said on Wednesday that an April survey showed that 57 per cent intended to vote for Mr Chávez, compared with just 21 per cent for the opposition candidate, Henrique Capriles Radonski.
That contrasts with the results released on Tuesday of a hitherto-unknown outfit called Encuestadora Nacional Predicmática which showed Mr Capriles beating the incumbent by eight percentage points. Venezuelans often joke that opinion polls can be found for all tastes.
On this story
- Chavez sets up Council of State
- View from Caracas Trouble in Venezuela brings benefits to its neighbour
- Chávez supporters celebrate amid worries
- Fleeing judge accuses Chávez of abuses
On this topic
- Chávez reveals plot against presidential rival
- Rumours in Venezuela as Chávez returns
- Venezuelan politics sparks big bond jump
- Editorial Venezuela opts out
More
IN Latin America & Caribbean
House panel: Don’t even think about more base closings
It wasn’t enough for lawmakers to refuse approval of additional rounds of base closings; they have voted to stop the Pentagon from spending any money on even considering the idea.
The Military Times reports the House Armed Services Committee, which omitted the Pentagon’s request to authorize two more rounds of base closings in the 2013 defense authorization bill, added a provision to the bill that would specifically bar spending any money next year “to propose, plan for or execute” the base closing and realignment process. The 44-18 vote came Wednesday.
Piggycide? Farmers Considered Felons in Michigan, Forced to Mass Slaughter their Healthy Pigs
In the heart of Western Michigan are picturesque rural towns that are now a backdrop to a raging battle between farmers and the government. The Department of Natural Resources in Michigan has deemed a certain type of pigs an invasive species. Farmers have been ordered to slaughter every last one of their pigs and piglets and farmers that don’t comply are now faced with jail time and a felony. But some farmers are putting up a fight. RT Correspondent Liz Wahl and Photojournalist Jon Conway traveled to Michigan to investigate what’s really behind the swine carnage.
