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Showing posts with label Joe Scarborough. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joe Scarborough. Show all posts
Monday, May 4, 2015
Joe Scarborough vs Baltimore's Police Brutality: "Beyond A Reasonable Doubt" (WHITE vs BLACK Justice)
#BaltimorePolice
#MorningJoe
JOE SCARBOROUGH vs BALTIMORE'S POLICE BRUTALITY: (VIDEO)
"BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT"
Monday, May 4, 2015 on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" show with Lead Hosts JOE SCARBOROUGH (a former Congressman) & MIKA BREZINSKI (her dad advises Pres OBAMA), there was indept discussion about 6 BALTIMORE Cops charged with FREDDIE GRAY'S Murder.
It appears Joe Scarborough strongly disagrees with these Criminal charges.
According to Joe and a Legal Expert Guest, the Grand Jury panel must find these 6 Rogue Cops GUILTY "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt".
Why is it whenever a Victim is BLACK and the Murderers involved are WHITE, "Beyond a Reasonable Doubt" is the Legal Standard??
However if the Victim is WHITE and the Murderer is BLACK, he or she is automatically GUILTY??
Sources: MSNBC, Youtube
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
JOE SCARBOROUGH COMPARES FERGUSON POLICE DEPT TO APARTHEID STATE (HE'S RIGHT)
#Apartheid
#FERGUSON COMPARED TO APARTHEID BY MSNBC HOST JOE SCARBOROUGH.
AMERICA'S POLICE BRUTALITY = APARTHEID & MARTIAL LAW
I'M SURE HIS CO-HOST MIKA BREZINKSI DIDN'T APPROVE OF JOE SUPPORTING BLACK PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT ELITE.
Article Sources: MSNBC; National Review; Politico; Youtube (Circa August 25, 2014)
ARTICLE: "Making Sure Ferguson Never Happens Again"
Michael Brown will be buried today.
It will be a solemn end to a brutal month that should have never happened.
The people of St. Louis County have endured a long, hot August punctuated by protests, riots, looting and streets that looked more like Fallujah than Ferguson.
It has all put the issues of race and police brutality up for debate across America and the world.
The generals of Egypt and the ayatollahs of Iran have joined a chorus of dictators who have seized on the grim images of August to condemn our country.
But there’s no need to concern ourselves with lectures coming from tyrants. Instead, now is the time for us to start asking how this altercation spiraled out of control and became an international incident.
No one knows whether the shooting of Michael Brown was justified.
Forensic evidence should give us a better idea of what happened on that fateful afternoon. But we can already pass judgment on the negligent response of local officials to the teenager’s death.
The first ingredient in this toxic brew was a police force that was radically different from the people they were paid to serve and protect.
It’s hard to practice what experts call community policing when your force looks nothing like the community they patrol.
New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has been a champion of community policing. It is a strategy designed to get the community invested in keeping city streets safe.
The choke-hold death of Eric Gardner shows that New York cops aren’t perfect, but the bank of trust that Bratton’s approach has built up keeps New York’s protests over the killing peaceful.
As the Rev. Al Sharpton said while calling for peace at the New York rally, “We are not against the police.” That’s because many come from the same communities they are policing.
Sadly, the same cannot be said for Ferguson residents. In a town that is overwhelmingly black, the Ferguson police force of 53 has 50 white cops on the streets.
That’s an ethnic breakdown that’s more reminiscent of apartheid governments from South Africa’s grim past than community policing in today’s America.
And while many are quietly criticizing the welfare culture that they claim has led to the collapse of this troubled Missouri town, these armchair sociologists should be just as concerned with a police culture in Ferguson that is unrepresentative and isolated from the very people they should protect and serve.
A second cause of the Ferguson tragedy was the callous treatment of Michael Brown’s body after the shooting.
Policing experts suggest that officers gather evidence quickly and get a body off the street as quickly as possible. Former NYPD Detective Sgt. John Paolucci said police should conduct very little examination of the body at the scene other than photographing it.
Then, out of respect to the deceased and his community, the body should quickly be removed.
But Michael Brown’s body was left in the middle of a street in sweltering heat for over four hours. Parents had to rush their children away from the area and keep them hidden in rooms with windows facing away from the grisly scene.
As Bloomberg’s John Heilemann said today on ‘Morning Joe,’ it’s inconceivable to believe such a delay would have happened had a black cop shot a middle-class white teenage boy in his affluent hometown.
Rand Paul has declared there to be two different Americas when it comes to criminal justice. This should not be an opinion open to debate.
It is a fact provable by objective evidence. Anyone still denying that reality in 2014 has their head stuck in the sand — or worse.
The third ingredient to this toxic brew is the hyper-militarized nature of the Ferguson police department’s initial response.
Republicans Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Erick Erickson condemned Ferguson’s militarized tanks, assault rifles and other war-ready equipment shipped from Washington with very little training and fewer strings attached.
The militarization of local police departments is a trend so troubling that Red State’s Erickson wrote that conservatives should not wait for a white teenager to get killed under such circumstances before they demand change.
For law enforcement officials worried about an overreaction to the events of this August, they must understand that if D.C. bureaucrats are going to ship out high-grade military equipment to small-town cops, tough guidelines and rigorous training have to be a part of the deal.
The problem is not with each and every police officer in towns like Ferguson.
The problem is cultural and these weapons demand an intense, disciplined training program to make sure we never repeat these same mistakes again.
How do we make sure this never happens again? You start with community policing — a force that represents the people they are supposed to protect.
Then we need a tough, long look at the militarization of local police departments. And finally, it is past time to put cameras on cops. As I said at the beginning of this crisis, these cameras would protect citizens, protect good cops and provide evidence that would let us know in real time what happened in cases like Michael Brown’s.
The only people hurt by putting cameras on cops are bad cops.
And we need them the hell out of the police force anyway to make sure we don’t endure a month like the one that just passed.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Obama's "Kill List" Great Foreign Policy Move For Re-election; Long Term? Not So Much
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Obama's ‘secret kill list' shows president is final word on terrorist killing missions
When it comes to the "secret kill list"--a regularly updated chart showing the world's most wanted terrorists--President Obama is the "final moral calculation" in the kill or capture debate, according to the third in a series of New York Times articles assessing his record.
And despite his liberal background, Obama has taken an aggressive approach to counterterrorism.
The Times said it interviewed three dozen current and former advisers to Obama for the article, who described his "evolution since taking on the role, without precedent in presidential history, of personally overseeing the shadow war with Al Qaeda":
They describe a paradoxical leader who shunned the legislative deal-making required to close the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, but approves lethal action without hand-wringing. While he was adamant about narrowing the fight and improving relations with the Muslim world, he has followed the metastasizing enemy into new and dangerous lands.
When he applies his lawyering skills to counterterrorism, it is usually to enable, not constrain, his ferocious campaign against Al Qaeda—even when it comes to killing an American cleric in Yemen, a decision that Mr. Obama told colleagues was "an easy one."
Part of Obama's "evolution" on terror apparently began early in his term, when a drone strike resulted in civilian casualties:
Just days after taking office, the president got word that the first strike under his administration had killed a number of innocent Pakistanis. "The president was very sharp on the thing, and said, 'I want to know how this happened,'" a top White House adviser recounted.
In response to his concern, the C.I.A. downsized its munitions for more pinpoint strikes. In addition, the president tightened standards, aides say: If the agency did not have a "near certainty" that a strike would result in zero civilian deaths, Mr. Obama wanted to decide personally whether to go ahead.
"The care that Mr. Obama and his counterterrorism chief take in choosing targets," the Times said, "and their reliance on a precision weapon, the drone, reflect his pledge at the outset of his presidency to reject what he called the Bush administration's 'false choice between our safety and our ideals.'"
And Obama's success limiting civilian deaths in drone strikes is, in part, due to "a disputed method for counting civilian casualties" embraced by Obama. According to the Times, the White House considers "all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants ... unless there is explicit intelligence posthumously proving them innocent."
Obama's personal involvement in counterterrorism operations can be seen in his study of the "baseball card"-like "kill list." For example, in January 2010--four months before he ordered the operation that killed Osama bin Laden--President Obama questioned the ages of some of the al-Qaeda suspects on it.
"How old are these people?" Obama asked during his regular Tuesday briefing with intelligence officials--dubbed the "Terror Tuesday" meeting--in the White House Situation Room. "If they are starting to use children, we are moving into a whole different phase."
The White House has also struggled with the so-called "Whac-A-Mole" approach to counterterrorism--an al-Qaida leader killed in, say, a drone strike is simply replaced with another.
"One guy gets knocked off, and the guy's driver, who's No. 21, becomes 20?" William M. Daley, Obama's chief of staff in 2011, told the Times. "At what point are you just filling the bucket with numbers?"
Joe Scarborough On Obama 'Kill List': 'I Wonder How This Is Going To Look Ten Years From Now'
Joe Scarborough expressed discomfort on Tuesday with President Obama's newly revealed "kill list" of alleged Al Qaeda suspects.
The New York Times ran a lengthy story about Obama's intimate involvement in personally deciding which people should go on the list of targets for drone strikes. The opening scene of the story showed Obama choosing whether or not to target two teenagers, "including a girl who looked even younger than her 17 years."
On Tuesday's "Morning Joe," Scarborough said that the story made him "flinch." He wondered whether it was right for the president to be so personally implicated in such choices. "Something to me is just not right about taking that into the Oval Office," he said.
The other panelists all seemed to be fine with Obama's participation, saying that it showed a willingness to confront the realities of his decisions.
Scarborough still seemed uneasy:
I just wonder, ten years from now, what we're going to be saying about a president lining up pictures of teenagers in the Oval Office and picking.
I'm not talking the morality of doing it or not doing it, I'm just talking about whether it should be kept away from the president, away from the White House.
And you stack that on top of us launching drone attacks in countries where we haven't even declared war? There are going to be some searing critiques a decade from now about our overreach.
"There could be critiques of a president who was disconnected as well and did not choose to look and did not choose think about every angle, including the moral choice," Brzezinski said. "Don't you think?"
"No," Scarborough replied. "I don't. I think there are a lot of people that are going to spin for Barack Obama ... I think you're going to have a lot of liberal hand-wringing."
Sources: AP, ABC News, AOL, Huffington Post, NY Times, The Daily Beast, Yahoo, White House
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Cory Booker & Joe Scarborough: Scarborough Was Right! Booker's Admonishment Hurts Democrats; Turns Off Independents
“Inconsistency with ourselves is the greatest weakness of human nature.”
John Addison
"Morning Joe" Host Joe Scarborough's analysis of Cory Booker's first Apology Video following his appearance last week on "Meet The Press" DID in fact make him appear as if he were being "held Hostage".
Cory Booker's recent Admonishment by the National Democratic Party for speaking out on "Meet The Press" proves Independent Minds are NOT welcome in 21st Century Politics.
Its 100% Partisan Politics or Else!
The Democratic Party’s recent Attack on Cory Booker hurts his Political Brand & Disrupts his legacy of Helping the Poor and being able to reach across the Aisle as an Effective Bi-Partisan Leader.
As a result Independent Voters have been Turned off by how Poorly Booker was treated by Democrats following his "Meet The Press" comments.
Cory should NOT have Apologized!
I don't know WHO advised him (Male or Female) to Apologize but they offered him some very Damaging Career Advice.
Instead he should have just reiterated his Stand for Pres. Obama & also reiterated his Support for Private Equity.
However he should NOT have Apologized.
Here's Why.
During his appearance on "Meet The Press", Mayor Booker criticized Both Political Parties for Negative Ads which further Divide American Voters.
Millions of Voters & Political Leaders from all walks of life and ethnic groups agreed with Cory's Straight-From-The-Heart comments.
Voters are so tired of Politicians saying ANYTHING just to get Elected & Re-elected.
Thus when Cory Booker spoke so eloquently about Negative Campaign ads which revisit the Jeremiah Wright drama & attacks Private Equity, the Clouds opened up for American Voters.
However while Independent Voters were Lauding Booker, Leaders within the Democratic Party and many within Pres. Obama's Re-election camp obviously viewed Cory's comments as a Spotlight stealing gimmick.
It Wasn't!
Cory Booker has primarily been a Staunch Advocate of Pres. Barack Obama, even when he was just Senator Obama.
So why would he suddenly become a "Turn Coat" or a Traitor to Pres. Obama?
Cory merely stated an Opinion. An Independent Opinion.
How could an Honest Opinion in which he criticized the Negative Actions of Both Political Parties, cause Cory's Loyalty to Pres. Obama's Administration to be Questioned?
I thought all American Citizens regardless of their Ethnicity, Economic & Social Status were legally Afforded Freedom Of Speech rights as provided by the U.S. Constitution.
Hold It!
Cory Booker was an Obama Surrogate right?
Apparently Political Surrogates are NOT allowed to Express their Own, Independent Opinions.
Especially NOT BLACK, Political Surrogates within the Democratic Party.
You see its acceptable for WHITE Political Surrogates to Express their Independent Opinions once in a while, but BLACK, Political Surrogates are ALWAYS expected to do as they are told versus practicing Independent Thinking.
i.e., Slavery Group Think Mentally!
In essence Cory Booker largely known for being an Effective Bi-Partisan Leader, was Forced by the National Democratic Party and by some of his Inner Circle Socialite Friends to become a completely Partisan Political Leader or ELSE!!!
In other words pick a side or we will Black List You!
Sure sounds like "Hostage Politics" to me.
Cory Booker was Celebrated by Independent Voters for his "Meet The Press" comments because not only did he speak from the Heart but he demonstrated a Human trait so many 21st Century Politicians have lost.
How Sad such an Admirable Human Relations Trait is no longer welcome in the world of Partisan Politics.
Both Parties!
Partisan Politics are to blame for a Broken Congress & a Dysfunctional Executive Branch Government.
Booker sees American Citizens NOT just as Voting Blocks or as Separate Voting Groups, but Cory Booker sees American Citizens as Individual HUMAN BEINGS Created in GOD's Image.
Cory Booker was Admonished for simply Daring to be Independent & for Daring to be Human versus a Political Machine.
For that Mayor Booker's Political Career has been Damaged, All the Good he has done to help Clean Up a Corrupt Metropolitan City Forgotten & his Once shining light as a Rising Political Star Dimmed.
In 2008 Barack Obama was Praised by Registered Independent Voters for being a seemingly Effective Bi-Partisan Political Leader, willing to Compromise for the sake of the Collective American Electorate.
Fast forward to 2012.
Cory Booker another rising star within the National Democratic Party is Whipped, Admonished & Blacklisted for attempting to be an Effective Bi-Partisan Political, also willing to Compromise for the sake of the Collective American Electorate.
Perhaps there will Always ONLY be room for just ONE rising, BLACK Political Star within the National Democratic Party at a time.
I suggest Cory Booker choose some New Inner Circle Social Friends (Male & Female) and....a New Public Relations Adviser.
I also suggest Cory Booker decide if he should remain a Staunch Democrat or consider becoming a Registered Independent like one of his Mentors Mayor Mike Bloomberg.
After all what is the use of remaining a Staunch, Loyal Democrat Surrogate if the Democratic Party will treat you like Horse Manure if you choose to "Step Out Of Line"?
i.e., Political Slavery!
i.e., "Held Hostage"!
But Republicans shouldn’t laugh at this latest misstep by Democrat Leaders.
Key GOP Leaders have also been known to recently Attack rising Republican Leaders & Candidates who stray off-message.
So much for Authentic American Democracy.
So much for Bi-Partisanship.
So much for Independent, Critical Thinkers.
Dear God Help Us!
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Cory Booker’s truth — and its consequences
The past several days of Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s life have been painfully amusing to watch.
Painful because Booker, a rising Democratic star, is such a good guy. Amusing, because rarely are Americans treated to such premier seats in the political theater of truth and consequence.
That is, tell the truth and beware the consequences.
Booker has gained much unwelcome attention from his own political party, while being nearly sanctified by Republicans, for the singular offense of telling the truth.
And then untelling the truth.
And then . . . stay tuned.
To know Booker is to like him. He’s one of those political figures whose persona telegraphs “honest broker.” Educated at Stanford, Oxford and Yale Law School, he’s also a popular mayor in one of America’s toughest, most challenged cities. Open-minded and solution-oriented, he’s what we hope for in public officials. Or say we do.
But honesty is not always a rewarding trait in politics, especially during high-stakes election years, as Booker promptly learned when he recently spoke from the heart on “Meet the Press.” He said that attacks on Bain Capital, where Mitt Romney made a fortune, were “nauseating” to him, as were similar attacks from the right to resurrect the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
“I have to just say from a very personal level, I’m not about to sit here and indict private equity,” Booker said. “To me, it’s just this — we’re getting to a ridiculous point in America, especially that I know. I live in a state where pension funds, unions and other people are investing in companies like Bain Capital. If you look at the totality of Bain Capital’s record, it ain’t — they’ve done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses.”
Hearts leapt.
While regular folks shielded their eyes from the blinding light of Truth, political operatives left and right shifted into warp speed. Republicans produced an insta-ad capitalizing on Booker’s remarks — See? Even Democrats dislike President Obama’s attack on Bain — while their counterparts on the left began launching correctives.
David Axelrod promptly made the rounds and explained to talk show hosts what Booker really meant. (As though Americans can’t understand what they plainly hear.) Others pointed out Booker’s own cozy relationship with equity capital political donors. And Booker, obviously scrambling to recapture favor with the Obama campaign, posted a YouTube video before another sun had set.
What he “really” meant: “Let me be clear. Mitt Romney has made his business record a centerpiece of his campaign,” Booker says in the video. “He’s talked about himself as a job creator. And therefore it is reasonable — and in fact I encourage it — for the Obama campaign to examine that record and to discuss it. I have no problem with that.”
Commentators have all cast their ballots as to whether Booker should have corrected himself. Almost unanimously, the answer was no.
Obviously, if you’re a surrogate for the president, as Booker described himself on “Meet the Press,” your job is to regurgitate talking points. No wandering around the reservation, no independent thinking, certainly no personal confessions. You absolutely do not declare the centerpiece of the president’s attack on his opponent to be “nauseating.”
Unless it is. And unless it’s true. For you, you know when you’re alone with your conscience. Or having lunch with your private-equity donors, as the case may be. But definitely not while on TV!
On Rachel Maddow’s show, Booker dug a little deeper: “Obviously, I did things in the ‘Meet the Press’ interview, as I told you, that did not land the points that I was trying to make. And in some ways, you know, frustratingly, I think I conflated the attacks that the Republicans were making with Jeremiah Wright with some of the attacks on the left. And those can’t even be equated.”
Worse, from the party’s perspective, Booker described himself as an “independent Democrat.” Oops.
We may like independents in theory, but surrogates don’t get to be independent. You gotta pick one or the other. This has been the immediate lesson for Cory Booker. But the broader lesson for the public is that there’s no space in our body politic for an independent mind, even though more Americans describe themselves as independent than either Democrat or Republican.
Thinking outside the box may solve problems in the real world. But in the political realm, creative noodling will get you cast into the outer darkness. No matter which way you lean, The Machinery requires cogs, not cognizance.
Cory Booker’s Brand takes a hit
It only took 15 seconds on “Meet the Press” to turn Cory Booker’s gold-plated political brand into an imperiled commodity.
Booker has cemented a reputation as a rising Democratic star with crossover appeal, whose open secret is his desire to become either senator or governor.
But the Newark mayor may have done himself serious damage before he gets the chance to act on his long-held ambitions, thanks to his pointed criticism of the Obama campaign’s assault on Mitt Romney’s private-equity tenure, which he equated with the GOP using the Rev. Jeremiah Wright against Obama.
Booker’s words, combined with his painful, videotaped walk-back hours later, may have done the Democrat more harm than good.
“Mayor Booker forgets there’s Democratic primaries you have to [go] through before you get the nomination and statements like that don’t help you with the Democratic primary base,” said Julie Roginsky, a New Jersey-based Democratic political strategist.
Some Democrats, and Republicans, believe that the telegenic, African-American mayor emerged from the week — in which he called the attacks on Romney’s record at Bain Capital “nauseating” on “Meet the Press” — as a pragmatist, one who could work with the Republicans in the Democratic-leaning Garden State.
But while the mayor’s “No Labels” centrist appeal may work with donors and center-right voters, it will do little for him in a Democratic primary against, say, Sen. Frank Lautenberg in 2014 — especially if Obama is reelected, and holding onto a grudge.
“It is absolutely crazy to go and blast the president,” said one Democratic operative who knows Booker well, and asked not to be identified. “And he could have gotten away with it. He could have bemoaned negative campaigning. That would have been fine and that would have been great. (But) he compared the Bain attack to Jeremiah Wright. That’s crazy.”
Booker, who has fundraised heavily from the financial-services sector and is a player in the private-equity-financed, education reform movement, has been eyeing statewide office for years.
He is believed to most covet the governor’s office, although he would never challenge Gov. Chris Christie, who’s been a political friend and has deftly moved to co-opt the Newark mayor, unless the Republican was truly vulnerable.
A potential Lautenberg challenge is seen as likelier — and it’s a fact of which that the senator is keenly aware. Following Booker’s comments, the 88-year-old senator went on a media tour to rub salt in the wounds after the mayor’s walk-back, which was made after national Democrats contacted him.
“Now we have a different record,” Lautenberg cheerily told Roll Call of the difference between himself and Booker, accusing Booker of “sabotage” against the president.
Not everyone thinks Booker did himself damage.
“I just don’t see any situation where this really hurts him politically in New Jersey,” said Bradley Tusk, who managed New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s 2009 reelection campaign and who has worked with Booker on education initiatives. “I don’t think voters will remember this if he runs for office. I don’t think they’d care even if they did remember.
Nor do I think anyone would challenge him from the left.”
“I don’t think that will” damage him, agreed former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean.
“He’s a very attractive candidate — there aren’t that many of them around.
He is one of them. … I think what people like about candidates these days is when they’re honest — so what he said about ‘a plague on both your houses,’ I think it was very well received.
I don’t think it helped him or hurt him in the end.”
The counter-argument to why Booker has hurt himself, according to a number of Democratic operatives, is simple: he’s black and will pick up nearly every African-American vote, he can raise infinite sums of money, and he’s a terrific and tireless campaigner who has made good use of social media to grow his base of support. It’s the Obama playbook on a statewide stage.
Yet Kean pointed to what may have been the biggest problem for Booker out of last week — that his tortured-looking YouTube reversal of his “nauseating” remark, a nearly four-minute mea culpa in which he tried to stick with his original words while saying Romney’s Bain tenure is fair game — didn’t help someone trying to maintain a brand as a straight talker.
“The problem is he backtracked, so that makes him look like one of them, not one of us,” Kean said. “But I think the initial comments were on target. (I) don’t think they were critical of the president, they were critical of an ad strategy.”
Booker’s aides did not return calls for comment.
Booker’s words on last Sunday’s “Meet the Press” provoked a week of national scrutiny never before faced by the mayor criticizing the first black president.
He became the first Democrat to question whether the president should be launching attacks on private equity — which invests in New Jersey pension funds, and the Democratic Party — and was soon followed by other Democrats, such as ex-Rep. Harold Ford, and former Democratic National Committee Chairman Ed Rendell.
Although Democrats quickly piled on Booker — including Obama himself, stating clearly the Bain attacks would continue — Republicans embraced Booker as an ally. The GOP launched an “I Stand with Cory” campaign, and Romneyland has repeatedly emailed out his money quote, that the Bain attacks are part of a “nauseating” pattern of negativity in national politics.
It’s just a matter of time before Booker stars in a future Romney campaign ad, containing some version of this sentence: “Even Obama ally Cory Booker believes the Bain attacks are wrong…”
The two-term mayor, who’s in his early 40s, is at a crossroads in terms of his political future. A rising star for a decade, his chances for statewide office may start to dim if he doesn’t make a move soon.
Andrew Tisch, whose family runs the Loews Corp. and who is a major Booker donor himself, insisted that the mayor leaves this week in good shape, and is not running out of time.
“He’s 42 years old!” Tisch said. “When you say, name the great mayors in the United States, you start with Bloomberg, you go to (Rahm) Emanuel, you get to (Antonio) Villaraigosa, and then you get to Booker. He’s on the top of everybody’s tongue, and he’s made a hell of a name for himself at a very young age — and he’s one of the few people I’ve ever met in politics who has patience.”
But the “young gun/rising star” brand tends to have a shelf life.
“The challenge for Cory is, how many years can he keep his brand fresh and still be a viable statewide candidate,” said one Democratic operative.
One option is to run for a third term as Newark mayor, a city where he’s become famous for engaging with his citizens on Twitter, showing up to shovel people’s yards during a blizzard in 2010 and recently performing heroics during a building fire.
But Booker’s national presence and his social media prowess belies the fact that his own numbers in his city have not improved in recent years, and neither have some of the key indicators of urban success, most notably the perennial Newark crime scourge.
Crime statistics went down for his first years in office, but some rose again after the fiscal crisis. He only got about 59 percent of the vote in 2010 against a central rival who was soon after sentenced to prison.
He is not generally part of what one source called “the fabric of the Democratic party in New Jersey that wins elections.”
The $100 million investment that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg pledged to the Newark school system, during a famous Oprah Winfrey chat with Booker and Christie, is actually a matching grant. And while Booker has made major progress toward matching it, he hasn’t yet completed his end.
Booker’s close connections to donors across the river in New York City have given him an air of distance from his state, and while his ties to Christie have helped him nationally, they inspire some distrust among Democrats statewide.
Lautenberg, meanwhile, is, as one Democrat said, “no shrinking violet,” and he has the personal wealth to help fuel a bloody intraparty challenge.
Booker also has an insular circle, and tends to heed his own counsel — which is fine on a local level, but difficult to pull off more broadly.
What the mayor may have demonstrated in his Sunday show outing, said one Democrat, is this: “He may not be ready for prime time.”
Where Booker has been successful is as a communicator — he gives strong speeches, and was frequently deployed as a surrogate for Obama during the 2008 campaign.
“He’s a solid Democrat, but he’s built this (reputation) where he speaks his mind and is unafraid to speak is his mind,” said Republican operative Mike DuHaime, a top Christie adviser.
Kean raised the prospect of Booker becoming a Cabinet member in a second Obama administration if he doesn’t run for office again.
“There could be a number of Cabinet positions open, one of them might be attractive to him,” Kean said. “He could do what certain candidates have done in the past, these cable shows would love to have you. (A) number of ex-candidates who have done pretty well there.
There are a number of doors open to him if he wants to take them. He’s still an attractive, compelling candidate.”
But despite insisting that they welcomed the focus on the Bain debate, Obama aides were displeased with Booker. Several Democrats suggested he was more loyal to the donors who fund his campaigns and his education reform efforts than he was to the president, and that he simply showed where his sympathies really lie.
And Booker’s remarks helped muddy the message that Chicago was trying to deliver.
A second-term Obama administration may not inspire much more fear than the first-term one did. But there are ways that an incumbent president can make things difficult for an aspiring candidate.
Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf, who has handled New Jersey races, said that only time will tell whether Booker suffered damage this week — but that he can’t exist without the donors who would fund a statewide campaign.
“He did help himself with Wall Street,” Sheinkopf said. “You can’t buy TV ads with great compliments — you gotta pay cash.”
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Sources: AOL, Crooks & Liars, Huffington Post, MSNBC, Mediaite, Meet The Press, Politico, Washington Post, Youtube, Google Maps
Friday, August 5, 2011
John Kerry Slams Media For Helping Tea Party Drum Up Fake Debt Crisis!
As Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) Said This Morning On MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Show & CNN's Don Lemon Stated Last Weekend, Its Time For Mainstream Media Journalists To STOP Being Biased In Their Reporting By Giving Racist Tea Party Kooks Extra Air Time To Promote Racist Political Talking Points & Baseless Ideas. After Proving They Were Willing To Tank The American Economy Just To Get Rid Of Pres. Obama, Why Continue Patronizing Those Idiots?
Kerry blasts GOP, media in debt deal
Senator John F. Kerry said this morning that Congress was “taken hostage” by some House Republicans during the ferocious debt-limit debate that ended this week, and criticized the media for giving them a platform.
Appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” the Massachusetts Democrat said in an implicit reference to Tea Party Republicans who resisted raising the debt limit as “a group of people who are completely unaware or didn’t care about the consequences of their actions.”
“They were actually arguing for a default, which would have been even more catastrophic with respect to what’s happening in Europe and what’s happening here at home now,” he said.
But Kerry didn’t reserve his criticism to those making those arguments, saying that in the name of balance, the media gave too much ink and airtime to those obstructing a debt limit deal.
During the interview, Kerry also discussed the situation in Syria and Libya, and pressed for passage of his bipartisan proposal for an infrastructure bank that would build roads, bridges, and other public works without large public investments.
Here are excerpts of his comments:
“We have to change the minds of those people in the House of Representatives who have appropriately focused on the deficit and debt, but who have completely inappropriately left out any kind of plans whatsoever for how you create jobs and grow America. Everybody’s talked it, yes the Congress was taken hostage, the country, the economy was taken hostage. You had people there who were literally ready to cut the baby in half.
“I’ve heard a lot of criticism of the president. The president had no choice here. Congress had no choice here. We did the same thing the president had to do, which is save America from a default, because a default would have been far more disastrous. And what we had was a group of people who are completely unaware or didn’t care about the consequences of their actions. They were actually arguing for a default, which would have been even more catastrophic with respect to what’s happening in Europe and what’s happening here at home now. So we have to break that.
“And I have to tell you, I say this to you politely. The media in America has a bigger responsibility than it’s exercising today. The media has got to begin to not give equal time or equal balance to an absolutely absurd notion just because somebody asserts it or simply because somebody says something which everybody knows is not factual.
“It doesn’t deserve the same credit as a legitimate idea about what you do. And the problem is everything is put into this tit-for-tat equal battle and America is losing any sense of what’s real, of who’s accountable, of who is not accountable, of who’s real, who isn’t, who’s serious, who isn’t?”
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Sources: Boston Globe, Huffington Post, MSNBC, Youtube, Google Maps
Friday, November 19, 2010
Joe Scarborough Suspended Over Campaign Donations Too
Joe Scarborough Suspended From MSNBC For Campaign Donations
MSNBC said Friday that it is suspending “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough for two days after he acknowledged giving eight previously unknown $500 contributions to friends and family members running for state and local offices during his tenure at the network, a violation of parent NBC’s ban on political contributions by employees without specific permission from the network president.
“I recognize that I have a responsibility to honor the guidelines and conditions of my employment, and I regret that I failed to do so in this matter,” Scarborough said in a statement. “I apologize to MSNBC and to anyone who has been negatively affected by my actions,” he said, adding that after he was made aware of some of the contributions, he called MSNBC President Phil Griffin “and agreed with Phil's immediate demand of a two-day suspension without pay.”
POLITICO had sought comment from the network after finding evidence that Scarborough gave at least five previously unknown $500 contributions while serving as an MNBC host — all to Republican candidates to whom he was close who were running for state legislative seats in or near Scarborough’s hometown of Pensacola, Fla. After being contacted by POLITICO about the donations, Scarborough voluntarily disclosed three other $500 contributions to a friend running for county office in Florida.
Scarborough’s suspension, during which he will not be paid, will end Wednesday, Griffin said in a statement, adding, “As Joe recognizes, it is critical that we enforce our standards and policies.”
The disciplinary action against Scarborough, a former Republican congressman who also writes a weekly column for POLITICO, came two weeks after MSNBC announced it was suspending “Countdown” host Keith Olbermann “indefinitely” for three contributions he made to Democratic candidates during the 2010 campaign cycle. The network later reduced the suspension to two days.
After the Olbermann suspension, POLITICO found two other contributions in Scarborough’s name, though the network said he had permission for one and accepted his explanation that the other was actually given by his wife.
Still, Griffin said in his statement that, the Olbermann situation prompted a conversation with Scarborough about political giving, in which the host “did not recall” the Florida contributions.
Olbermann’s suspension provoked outrage from many supporters of the former sportscaster, whose liberal opinions have helped define MSNBC as a counterpoint to Fox News with its conservative show hosts such as Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly. Other critics said it was pointless to enforce the standards of objective news organizations with hosts whose entire appeal is based largely on their ideological viewpoints and their personalities.
The eight newly unearthed contributions from Scarborough, who left Congress in 2001, were all made since he joined MSNBC fulltime as host of the evening show "Scarborough Country” in 2003.
They include a pair of checks to Scarborough’s brother, George Scarborough, an attorney who twice ran for state legislature, as well as three to a father-son legislative duo who have known Joe Scarborough since the mid-1990s, and three to Scarborough’s former congressional chief of staff David Stafford, who is Escambia County’s elected supervisor of elections.
The five state legislative donations – each of which was for the state’s legal maximum of $500 per election – turned up in a search of the Florida Division of Election’s campaign finance database. Some were recorded in variations of Scarborough’s full name, Charles Joseph Scarborough. In each case, his wife, Susan Scarborough gave matching contributions on the same day.
Joe and Susan Scarborough each contributed $1,000 ($500 last year and another $500 this year) tostate legislative candidate Matt Gaetz, who won an April special election for a suburban Pensacola seat. And the Scarboroughs also each gave $500 in 2005 to the state senate campaign of Gaetz’s father, Don Gaetz.
“These contributions were nothing more than simple acts of friendship,” Scarborough said in his statement Friday. “I gained nothing personally, politically, or professionally from these donations.”
But a close friend of Scarborough’s was more dismissive about the donations. “These are bulls-- local races that mean nothing to Joe,” the friend said. “Anybody who knows Joe’s life wouldn’t be surprised by the fact that these small, local donations were not top-of-mind.”
Pointing out that Scarborough on Friday was in NBC’s Washington bureau to conduct an interview with Vice President Joe Biden, the friend said “Nobody is more pissed by this distraction than Joe. He goes from interviewing the vice president of the United States to being asked about local races in Escambia and Okaloosa County, years ago. Give me a break.”
Like Scarborough’s previously disclosed contributions to Kitts and Merrill, the newly unearthed Florida contributions do seem to reflect support for longtime friends – and, in the case of his brother, close relatives.
The Gaetz’s relationship with Joe Scarborough dates back to his first congressional campaign in 1994, when Don Gaetz was running for school board and, due to a scheduling conflict, could not attend a cattle call-style debate featuring candidates for a range of offices, including Scarborough.
Gaetz asked his son Matt, then a precocious 12-year-old, to take his place.
Scarborough, then in his early 30s, joked that “he wanted to bring me to all the debates because nobody would say that he was too young to run for Congress,” recalled Matt Gaetz, who said he was so impressed by Scarborough, that he wanted to help his campaign.
“I reached in my pocket and I think I had about $12 on me, and I made a contribution to his first campaign for Congress in 1994 when nobody thought he could win,” Gaetz said. “So, when I decided to run for state representative, I called him up and asked if he would return the favor – if he would contribute to my campaign.”
Matt Gaetz also reported receiving $500 from Scarborough’s son Charles in 2009, when the latter was a college student in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Both Gaetzes remain in the Florida legislature. And Matt Gaetz said he keeps in touch with Scarborough via periodic phone calls and text messages, and considers him a mentor.
The Beltway debate over whether journalists should refrain from contributing to campaigns should take a backseat to the First Amendment, Gaetz said. “I don’t think you check your individual liberties when you step in front of a television camera or a microphone.”
Asked his thoughts on NBC’s policy of requiring employees to seek permission before contributing to campaigns, Gaetz said “That would be up to NBC not me. I’m a lowly state representative in Florida. I’ll let them make their own corporate policies.”
The Scarboroughs’ contributions to George Scarborough, an attorney, came in 2005, before he dropped out of a state legislative race, and 2007, when he lost in a primary.
After Olbermann’s donations were first reported by POLITICO, a search of campaign finance records also found contributions in Scarborough’s name in the amount of $4,200 to the Oregon congressional race of close friend Derrick Kitts in 2006, and for $5,000 in April to Alabama legislative candidate John Merrill, another old friend.
An MSNBC spokesman said at the time that the first donation complied with network policy because “Joe sought permission in advance.” And Scarborough’s co-host on “Morning Joe,” Mika Brzezinski told POLITICO, that it should have been recorded in the name of Scarborough’s wife. POLITICO was provided a copy of the bank transfer, which was dated April 9 and signed by Susan Scarborough.
Joe Scarborough Suspended Over Political Donations
MSNBC TV host Joe Scarborough was suspended without pay for two days Friday for making eight campaign donations to Florida political candidates, in violation of NBC News ethics policy.
Scarborough, a former Republican member of Congress from Florida and host of the cable network's "Morning Joe" program, said he agreed with the decision by msnbc President Phil Griffin, which was similar to the sanction Griffin imposed two weeks ago on another host on the network, Keith Olbermann.
When Olbermann, host of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," was suspended Nov. 5 for making donations to three Democratic congressional candidates, Scarborough acknowledged that two political contributions had been made in his name, but he said they had been made by his wife.
Griffin said in a statement that Scarborough informed him Friday that he had in fact made eight contributions from 2004 to 2008 to local candidates in Florida that he did not recall.
"He will be immediately suspended for two days without pay and will return to the air on Wednesday, November 24th," Griffin said. "As Joe recognizes, it is critical that we enforce our standards and policies."
In his own statement Friday, Scarborough he had "recently" been made aware of the contributions and told Griffin about them himself.
Like many news organizations, NBC News, parent of msnbc TV, prohibits political contributions by its journalists without prior approval of the president. (Msnbc.com, a joint venture of NBC Universal and Microsoft Corp., also has a policy against its journalists contributing to political campaigns.)
"Anyone working for NBC News who takes part in civic or other outside activities may find that these activities jeopardize his or her standing as an impartial journalist because they may create the appearance of a conflict of interest," the NBC News policy reads.
"Such activities may include participation in or contributions to political campaigns or groups that espouse controversial positions. You should report any such potential conflicts in advance to, and obtain prior approval of, the president of NBC News or his designee."
Scarborough said he made the contributions to the candidates — his brother and three family friends — as "simple acts of friendship."
"I gained nothing personally, politically, or professionally from these donations," he said. Nonetheless, he said he agreed with Griffin's decision and said, "I apologize to MSNBC and to anyone who has been negatively affected by my actions."
Scarborough's reaction was in sharp contrast to that of Olbermann, whose suspension ignited a firestorm of protest from supporters who created an online petition that attracted more than 250,000 signatures. Olbermann apologized to his supporters but not to NBC News and broadcast a commentary objecting to having been punished "without a hearing."
Sources: MSNBC, Politico, Youtube
Friday, February 12, 2010
Lawrence O'Donnell vs Marc Thiessen: Obama's Terror Policies
During today's heated discussion ("Crossfire") on "Morning Joe" Liberal Political Contributor Lawrence O'Donnell commented about Marc Thiessen's wealthy background and his lack of Military experience.
Wait a minute!
Which U.S. Military branch did Pres. Barack Obama serve in?
Didn't Pres. Obama graduate from both Columbia and Harvard??
O'Donnell's behavior further proves that Liberal Political Contributors who appear on MSNBC are in fact extremely biased towards GOP, Right Wing and Tea Party Leaders.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Morning Joe Goes "Crossfire"
Former Bush speechwriter Mark Thiessen went on "Morning Joe" Friday morning to talk about national security. But the Bushie wound up on the receiving end of a yelling tirade from Lawrence O'Donnell, who was on the New York set.
The liberal O'Donnell - who's hosting "The Ed Show" Friday night on MSNBC - wound up yelling at Thiessen, saying he was "lying." As the show's hosts tried to get him to stop, O'Donnell grew more irate, talking over everyone. Thiessen had to ask, "Can I get a word in?"
Finally, "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough put an end to it, saying: "Stop. Let's stop. We're going to break right now. We're going to break right now. We'll be right back and I'm going to be interviewing Mark by myself. We'll be right back."
When the show came back from the unscripted break, the show was announced as: "Thiessen Interview Take 2."
O'Donnell was still on set, Scarborough noted, "because we don't yell on this show. ... By the way, Lawrence, if you wanted some psycho talk, you just run the clip of yourself tonight, you got psycho talk."
Then Scarborough threw out new rules. "We're going to let you talk," he told Thiessen, adding that "Lawrence will get 30 seconds at the end and you'll have a 30-second response."
When O'Donnell was given his 30 seconds, he was far calmer, but his first question was: "I want to know your own personal experience with torture. I know you grew up in the richest zip code in America on the Upper East Side. You went to the only boarding school in Connecticut that I know of that has a golf course ... and then you went to Vassar. And, of course, like all the tortured mongers in the White House, that Cheney family included, you never served a day in the military, never considered that. I'm wondering with that background, what is it that gives you an expertise on torture? What makes you love it so much?"
Thiessen defended himself by saying "One, it's not torture ... I had a security clearance ... I met with the actual interrogators."
Scarborough finally concluded, "We don't usually do the Crossfire thing here, but what can I say."
Sources: MSNBC, Morning Joe, Politico, Perseus Distribution Services
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Brit Hume Defends His Christianity Comments To Tiger Woods
Sources: Fox News Sunday, Bill O'Reilly, TPM, Politico, The Daily Beast, Youtube
Tea (Party) Is The New Kool-Aid For Republicans; Savior Of GOP's Future
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
The GOP's Tea Party Challenge
Jim DeMint is just the latest conservative flirting with the far right's growing insurgency. Mark McKinnon on who's who in the bid to lead the movement—and what Republicans can do to capitalize on it.
Tea is the new Kool-Aid for Republicans. And a lot of candidates and officeholders on the right are drinking from it like a fire hose. And they tend to be some of the bigger media magnets in the party—like Sarah Palin, say, and, lately, South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint, who’s hitting the headlines over his bid to block a Transportation Security Administration nominee.
Much of the media and most Democrats are dismissive of what is truly a grassroots movement. But the Tea Party has shown remarkable energy in its short life span—dating back about a year ago, when CNBC commentator Rick Santelli went on a live-TV rant about mortgage policy and suggested a Chicago Tea Party.
The Republican Party brand has taken a beating in recent years, so it’s not entirely surprising that among all voters the Tea Party is attracting more support than the Grand Old Party. And among unaffiliated voters, the Tea Party outpolls both major parties.
And so we increasingly see Republicans genuflecting to the movement that has more credibility than our own party in an effort to attract attention and support among mostly conservative voters.
It’s a very interesting dance right now watching the courtship between the movement and GOP candidates and officeholders. Former Republican House leader Dick Armey, head of Freedom Works, and Fox News bugle-blower Glenn Beck are among those helping to fan the flames of Tea Party fever. But the movement is wary of being identified as “Republican” or being controlled by any individuals or organization; note how its leaders furiously shot down RNC Chairman Michael Steele’s attempt to align himself and the national party.
But that hasn’t stopped GOP bees from flying around the honey in the Tea. Nor has it stopped the movement from a soliciting a select few like-minded politicians.
So far, the Tea Party list of unofficial political patriots includes:
• Sarah Palin:
The reigning queen of the disenfranchised. The former Alaska governor has been invited to be the keynote speaker at a national Tea Party symposium in San Antonio, Texas, January 24. Think this event will generate any press?
• Michele Bachmann:
The reigning Tea Party princess. The Minnesota House Republican with the sharp tongue has been leading the charge at Washington rallies and is one of only two elected officials to be asked to speak at the February national convention.
• Jim DeMint:
The junior senator from South Carolina, currently holding up a crucial TSA appointment. DeMint spoke at a Tea Party march in Washington Sept.12, and Dec. 2 at a Tea Party gathering for the screening of a movie about the movement.
• Rick Perry:
The Texas governor held a Texas “Tea Party” rally on April 15, which garnered national attention and Palin’s endorsement. He always speaks highly of the tea partiers—who had to love Perry’s call for Texas to secede from the Union.
Others, like Congressmen Mike Pence (R-IN), Eric Cantor (R-VA), Joe Wilson (R-SC), and John Culberson (R-TX), are vying for a seat at the table. And you can bet many more will be clamoring for scraps in the months ahead.
The Tea Party crowd is unlikely to actually become a third party, but their ability to leverage energy behind candidates and policies could be very similar to what MoveOn.org has accomplished on the left. Movements are also often identified by a clear leader. The question that remains: Who will that be? This list would be a good place to start.
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Sources: The Daily Beast, MSNBC, Morning Joe Show
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Are MSNBC Hosts Afraid To Speak Against Obama's Administration? Watch
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Ed Schultz Claims White House E-mails "Morning Joe" During Show
MSNBC's Ed Schultz claimed Friday that the White House communicates with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski during their "Morning Joe" program.
Schultz said he observed this when he was on last Thursday's program:
So Mika starts looking at her Blackberry and so does Scarborough and obviously the White House is texting them or emailing them or whatever and they didn't like the show. Because Arianna had been on there, I'm on there, Howard Dean had been on there and they wanted some balance.
Now think about that - here's the White House getting in contact with "Morning Joe" because they're afraid there's too many lefties on the air! Now if that's not sensitivity at its highest level, I don't know what is! I told ya a few days ago they had rabbit ears! They don't like anything that's being said right now, they're getting beat up!
In reality, this isn't as shocking as it might seem.
NewsBuster Mark Finkelstein reported in October that the White House e-mailed NBC's Savannah Guthrie while she was on the "MJ" set.
According to Guthrie, a senior White House advisor wanted her to tell Scarborough to "stop being an a**hole."
Honestly, you can't make this stuff up.
*****Update:
Ed Driscoll has an October video of Mika receiving an e-mail from the White House.
Shuster: Baucus Sober, Drudge "Repulsive"
Wow: David Shuster really lets it all hang out on Twitter . . .
In current tweets, the MSNBCer accuses Karl Rove of "hypocrisy," calls conservatives "wingnuts," claims Baucus wasn't wasted, and denounces Drudge as "repulsive" for supposedly suggesting otherwise.
Excerpts from Shuster's current Twitter feed:
* Thank you Wingnuts! By mentioning my tweets, you are bringing more attention to @karlrove hypocrisy
* Wingnuts, just because you want to believe something is true does not make it so. Obama wasn't born in Kenya. Baucus wasn't inebriated.
* Baucus speech was at 430pm in the afternoon. He was incensed at Wicker. He was emotional. To smear him, as drudge does, is repulsive.
* Re Baucus emotional floor speech last week: He always speaks in a halting fashion. The wingnut claims are lies and disgusting smears.
And as for David's countless fans among NB readers, worried he might disappear from the MSNBC airwaves: never fear . . . Shuster assures us that when MSNBC's 2010 line-up is announced "I'll be fine." Whew!
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Sources: Newsbusters, Ed Schultz Show, Morning Joe, MSNBC, Twitter, Radio Equalizer, Pajamas Media, Youtube, Google Maps
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