Category: Uncategorized

Somebody’s mucking around with Sharyl Attkisson’s computers?

It’s so nice when they update the classics.

Well.  Isn’t this a thing:

Sharyl Attkisson, the Emmy-award winning CBS News investigative reporter, says that her personal and work computers have been compromised and are under investigation.

“I can confirm that an intrusion of my computers has been under some investigation on my end for some months but I’m not prepared to make an allegation against a specific entity today as I’ve been patient and methodical about this matter,” Attkisson told POLITICO on Tuesday. “I need to check with my attorney and CBS to get their recommendations on info we make public.”

Of course, one shouldn’t jump to any kind of conclusions: after all, it would be the height of stupidity for, say, executive branch officials to order an illegal, politically-motivated break-in against an opponent in order to glean confidential information oh wait.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

McClatchy circles back to #benghazi, and the lies about the video.

McClatchy (!) has decided to get in on the Benghazi dogpile, probably because, hey, no line for this one*!

Lost in the controversy over who requested revisions of CIA-written talking points on September’s attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans is one key fact: In every iteration of the document, the CIA asserted that a video protest preceded the assaults, and no official reviewing the talking points suggested that that was in error.

Yet interviews with U.S. officials and others indicate that they knew nearly immediately that there had been no protest outside the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi before attackers stormed it, setting a fire that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and Sean Smith, a State Department computer expert. A subsequent attack on a CIA annex nearby killed two security contractors, former Navy SEALs Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.

Why the CIA insisted that there had been a protest tied to a YouTube video that mocked the Prophet Muhammad for several days after the attack, mirroring some news reports, has never been publicly explained.

Well, never been publicly explained by the CIA. Everybody reading this knows that the actual reason that the protest was linked to the video is because the Obama administration could argue that there’s no realistic way to predict when a random event like a ‘spontaneous demonstration’ would go deadly. But a planned terrorist operation? Yeah, the American public has an expectation that counter-terrorism agencies are supposed to catch that sort of thing. Goodness knows that the Obama administration has been pushing itself as being hyper-competent and on-the-ball; a disaster like Benghazi** might have destroyed that narrative.  Which is why they kicked the can down the road by claiming that nonsense about a video. Continue reading McClatchy circles back to #benghazi, and the lies about the video.

Even the Left is admitting that Barack Obama has fatally hurt future bipartisanship efforts.

John Dickerson took perhaps too long to get to this paragraph, and he wrote it through gritted teeth, but he does put a finger on the central problem for the Obama administration right now:

The substantive differences between the president and Republicans on the budget may be insurmountable, but now it seems like even if the pipe dream of a substantive budget agreement could be reached it wouldn’t be enough. Even if Republican senators can engage in a trust-building exercise with the White House, how can they convince their constituents that the president is offering them a fair deal on the budget? A poisoned well is now roiling. Any Republican who tries to convince their constituents about a deal will now likely get funny looks. Their constituents would wonder why they were engaged in negotiations with an administration that has told evolving stories about its response to the attack in Benghazi and that houses an IRS targeting conservative groups.

Continue reading Even the Left is admitting that Barack Obama has fatally hurt future bipartisanship efforts.

DSCC learning nothing from SC-01 debacle?

Could be, could be:

Left to cope without the party’s top possible recruit, conservative Democratic Rep. John Barrow, who announced he would seek reelection to the House over a Senate bid, Georgia Democrats are now poised to nominate their own Colbert Busch: Michelle Nunn, a prominent nonprofit strategist who boasts a gilded surname in these parts.

Nunn’s father, Sam, once held the Senate seat up for grabs in next year’s race, but she claims no personal experience in the political arena and, like the Colbert Busch experiment, would likely pitch voters a technocratic vision of public service.

But Republicans say that formula has already been tested by voters whose conservative orientation closely mirrors the public sentiment found in Georgia.

Continue reading DSCC learning nothing from SC-01 debacle?

“Calvin & Hobbes: the Movie” trailer.

Yes, I am a bad man who made you click the link.  But look on the bright side:

This movie would not suck.  It could, in point of fact, be a kick-ass indy film that could say some very interesting things about how we come to terms with our childhood thoughts, dreams, and fears.  You could get people coming into the theaters who normally don’t go to indy movies.  You could make your money back on this film.

So I don’t feel guilty.  Neener neener.

Moe Lane

Senator Tim Johnson to retire?

Looks that way:

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson, a South Dakota Democrat, does not plan to run for re-election when his current term ends in 2014, sources close to the matter and key Capitol Hill staffers said on Monday.

Johnson, 66, joined the Senate in 1997 and has been widely expected to retire at the end of his term. He plans to make the announcement on Tuesday, the sources said. Johnson’s staff said that he will hold a press conference at the University of South Dakota on Tuesday.

Normally I’d say something mocking about this, but it’s medical: the man had a blood vessel burst in his brain in 2006.  Whoever at the DSCC made Sen Johnson run anyway in 2008 should be dragged out onto the street and beaten with sticks for that petty cruelty…

Moe Lane

PS: Yup, on my list as Serious Risk.  The Democrats are very likely to triage this race, too…

 

Russians looking to protect Cypriot… investments?

The American Interest and Hot Air are covering this one pretty well, so here’s the executive summary: the EU wants to raid Cypriot individual bank accounts in exchange for a bank bailout; this is freaking out Russians crony capitalist oligarchs, who have been using said banks to deposit their… questionable… gains for the last decade; and so the Russian energy company Gazprom is making a counter-offer to stabilize the banks, in exchange for what are frankly speculative natural gas exploration rights. The Cyprus government may or may not take that offer, but they will probably use it as leverage in order to screw over… somebody.  Either the EU, or the Russians, or maybe both.  Reply hazy: try again later.

That’s pretty much it, except for this operation: if you’re really worried about crony capitalism, check out Russia’s.  They make the Obama administration look like pikers, and the average Republican White House look like Milton Friedman and F. A. Hayek’s love child.

Barack Obama to double down on sequester stupidity and cancel Easter Egg Roll?

I am starting to conclude that Barack Obama is simply not as bright as he thinks that he is:

The next casualty of sequestration could be the Easter Bunny – at least according to a White House e-mail that recently landed in Capitol Hill inboxes.

The White House warned Congress that budget cuts could nix the annual Easter Egg Roll for kids, which is planned for April 1.

Neither, apparently, is White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, who spent Friday absolutely pooh-poohing (with a heavy dose of condescension) the idea that the Easter Egg Roll could ever be canceled:

Continue reading Barack Obama to double down on sequester stupidity and cancel Easter Egg Roll?