Puterbac News Network and Political Discussion Thread

[Jungle Rat]

Why is acknowledging your mistress so taboo anymore? It's 2014 people.

[Dr. Strangelove]

'Judging Jewell'...this was a really good 30 for 30 short if anyone has 20 minutes to spare.

http://grantland.com/features/30-for-30 ... ng-jewell/

[10ac]

It was terrible what happened to Jewell and, IIRC, there was not as big a rush to apologize as there was to condemn.

[hedge]

The best part of that Biden clip was how fast he went from his overly serious (actually downright grave) look to his clown look..

[Toemeesleather]

A most excellent example of this admin speaking w/forked tongue.....remember the laser-like focus on jobs?


The U.S. State Department on Friday released yet another "final" environmental impact statement that finds no major objection to the Keystone XL pipeline -- a project that would contribute approximately $3.4 billion to the U.S. economy and create 42,100 jobs, according to the State Department's own report.

So why won't President Obama approve the job-creating project that's been in limbo since 2008? White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough repeatedly dodged that question Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"So is this thing ready to be greenlighted by the president? What would hold him back from saying, yes, the Keystone pipeline should be built, should go forward?" David Gregory asked McDonough on Sunday.

"He laid out his view on this last summer, which is that -- his view is that, if this is to go forward, it should not significantly exacerbate the climate crisis in this country," McDonough replied.

"Right," Gregory said. "Didn't the State Department answer that and said it won't?"

McDonough said the State Department report is "important to that process. We'll hear from other Cabinet secretaries." He then noted that the U.S. is now producing more oil than it imports.

"You didn't answer my question," Gregory said.

McDonough pointed to a news report about the "terrible drought in the West" which he blamed on "climate change." "So we're going to obviously resolve the Keystone question, but that's one in a much bigger issue...climate."

Gregory tried again, asking McDonough to "just indulge me -- what would stop (Obama) from saying yes at this point, given his own State Department saying there's not a big impact on the climate, from doing this?"

McDonough replied that Obama is going to "insulate this process from politics."

"I didn't ask about politics. You got a State Department study," Gregory said.

"We have one department with a study," McDonough agreed. "Now we have other expert agencies -- the EPA and many others -- who have an -- the Energy Department -- an opportunity to look at this and make their determination. The president wants to protect their ability to do that, make this decision based on the best analysis and most sound science."

[10ac]

PETA Man of the Year

[10ac]

SNL Producer: 'Republicans Are Easier for Us than Democrats'
'Democrats tend to take it personally; Republicans think it’s funny.'
7:24 AM, FEB 3, 2014 • BY DANIEL HALPER

[Johnette's Daddy]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/power-playe ... .html?vp=1

If this happens, will we see a mass exodus?

[10ac]

http://freebeacon.com/the-belarusian-connection/

Oh shit!

[Professor Tiger]

More problems with Obamacare, shockingly reported by the Washington Post. That author's career in journalism is now ruined.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/pos ... ep-coming/

[10ac]

[youtube]xBXvrVgWToM[/youtube]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... video.html

[10ac]

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/02/113230- ... tel-rooms/

More from the Worker's Paradise.

If only we could get our government to control everything.

[10ac]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/05/politics/ ... mate-hubs/

Oh Boy? A new bureaucracy and cabinet office in the making. Soon it will have it's own SWAT team.

[hedge]

As long as you're their first target, I have no problem with that...

[bluetick]

Great to be back in the good ol' USA. Apparently marshall law hasn't been declared...and nobody rounded up my guns.

pipes froze, though....thanks algore

[10ac]

heh

[Johnette's Daddy]

He's just warming up the cell for his boss:

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A New Jersey state trooper shoplifted gun accessories and attempted to get out of his arrest by telling a Pennsylvania police officer that he would lose his job as a member of Gov. Chris Christie's security detail if charges were filed, a police chief told The Associated Press on Monday.

Trooper William Carvounis, 35, of North Brunswick, N.J., was at a Cabela's sporting goods store on Jan. 8 when he put several items in his cargo pants pockets - including some handgun grips, a pistol magazine and a hat - and put a $29.99 binocular strap in a box for a product worth $19.99, according to a criminal complaint filed by Tilden Officer Dennis Schwoyer.

While Carvounis paid for some items at checkout, he allegedly did not pay for the concealed items, which were worth $267.38.

Tilden Township Chief William McEllroy confirmed the arrest first reported by NewJersey.Watchdog.org, a news website run by an investigative reporter.

Schwoyer filed the charges after Carvounis repeatedly asked for a break, McEllroy told the AP.

"It was, more or less, 'Look, I've got a good job, I'm on the governor's security detail, I don't want to lose my job,' along those lines," McEllroy said.

Carvounis didn't explicitly ask for the break because of his position on the governor's detail; it was "more or less one cop asking another cop for a break multiple times," McEllroy said. He noted that his department's policy forbids such special treatment.

The trooper's attorney, Charles Sciarra, said his client denies he sought special treatment and the underlying shoplifting charges.

He said a police report and the criminal complaint don't mention the trooper asking for a break.


"The initial reports we have don't indicate anything about such a request," said Sciarra, of Hamilton, N.J. "With that said, my client made purchases that day and denies any allegation of any shoplifting. And quite frankly, we see no connection between what's occurred in the store in Pennsylvania and his duties for the New Jersey State Police."

Sciarra confirmed that Carvounis has been suspended from his job. He said "his suspension paperwork from the state police does not mention anything about asking for a courtesy and abusing his position."

Carvounis is charged with two counts of retail theft, online court records show. One is a first-degree misdemeanor that can carry up to five years' in prison, and the other a summary offense, which is similar to a traffic ticket.

The trooper remained free on bond Monday, and court records show he has waived his right to a preliminary hearing, meaning the charges must be disposed of at a trial or through a plea in Berks County Common Pleas Court.

[Professor Tiger]

He's just warming up the cell for his boss:

This is a phony scandal even if there is absolute proof that Christie ordered the lane closures and then lied about it.

The bridge was closed! The traffic jams were caused, whether it was by Christie's people or some locals who just wanted to cause a traffic jam. AT THIS POINT, WHAT DOES IT MATTER!

[10ac]

Christie lied, batteries died.

[Johnette's Daddy]

He's just warming up the cell for his boss:

This is a phony scandal even if there is absolute proof that Christie ordered the lane closures and then lied about it.

The bridge was closed! The traffic jams were caused, whether it was by Christie's people or some locals who just wanted to cause a traffic jam. AT THIS POINT, WHAT DOES IT MATTER!

It matters PLENTY for several reasons, not the least of which are:

1) The Governor of New Jersey - a former US Attorney - may have intentionally violated federal law to punish political enemies,

2) At least 3 people died -one of which is almost certainly due to slow EMT response - during the lane closure. If the traffic study was not legit, that is at best civil wrongful death and at worst conspiracy murder.

3) If the lane closures were (as has been speculated) part of an attempted power play to pressure developers to play ball with Christie's buddy-cum-Port-Authority-Director's law firm, that's a RICO violation and The Governor is going to a United States Correctional Complex for several years.

But the big thing - and what Christie rightly fears the most, since he mastered the technique when he was a US Attorney - is that it doesn't matter what the Feds are supposed to be investigating. Once they get in there, if they see ANYTHING out of place, they can expand the investigation to include anything (like, why was Wildstein given a $150K/year job that had neither a job description nor application process, did Christie misuse Sandy funds making campaign ads, how many boxes of pens are missing from the Governor's office, etc.). And the worst thing of all - lying to a federal investigator is perjury and/or obstruction of justice. Almost everyone involved on the Christie team is an attorney and knows that the majority of politician/political staff related federal convictions are for . . . perjury and obstruction of justice.

In the subsequent federal trial, United States v. Libby, the jury convicted Libby on four of the five counts in the indictment (one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury, and one count of making false statements)

On August 17, 2010, [Blagojevich] was convicted on one of the 24 federal charges, a charge of lying to the FBI, and the jury was hung on 23 other counts.

[John] Dean pled guilty to obstruction of justice before Watergate trial judge John Sirica on October 19, 1973.