USA Today, LA Times reports on Blackwater hearing didn't note Prince's contributions to Republicans
SUMMARY: In articles on Blackwater USA chairman Erik Prince's congressional testimony about his security contracting company's performance in Iraq, USA Today and the Los Angeles Times did not report, as other media outlets have, that Prince has made more than $226,000 in political contributions to Republican organizations and candidates.
In October 3 articles on Blackwater USA chairman Erik Prince's congressional testimony about his security contracting company's performance in Iraq, USA Today reported that "Republicans defended the use of security contractors" and the Los Angeles Times reported that "[a]mong lawmakers, the defense of Blackwater broke along partisan lines, with almost all Republicans on the panel praising the company's behavior." Both newspapers noted that Republicans on the committee came to Blackwater's defense, but neither reported, as other media outlets have, that Prince has made more than $226,000 in political contributions to Republican causes and candidates, according to OpenSecrets.org.
A memo written by the majority staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee -- which was posted on the Los Angeles Times website -- in anticipation of Prince's testimony said that Prince "is a frequent political contributor, having made over $225,000 in political contributions, including more than $160,000 to the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee." From the October 1 memo:
Blackwater is owned by Erik Prince. Mr. Prince is a former Navy SEAL who owns the company through a holding company, The Prince Group, LLC. In the late 1980s, Mr. Prince served as a White House intern under President George H.W. Bush. Mr. Prince's father was a prominent Michigan businessman and contributor to conservative causes. Mr. Prince's sister, Betsy DeVos, is a former chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party who earned the title of Bush-Cheney "Pioneer" by arranging at least $100,000 in donations for the 2004 George W. Bush presidential campaign. Her husband, Richard DeVos Jr., is a former Amway CEO and was the 2006 Republican nominee for Governor of Michigan. Mr. Prince himself is a frequent political contributor, having made over $225,000 in political contributions, including more than $160,000 to the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Other media outlets have noted Prince's financial support of the Republican Party. A September 25 article on National Public Radio's website reported that Prince "has been a steady contributor to the Republican National Committee, giving more than $200,000 since 1998" and that he "has supported various conservative candidates, including President Bush, Sens. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Rick Santorum (R-PA), Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), and indicted former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX)." In an October 3 "Washington Sketch" column about the hearing, The Washington Post's Dana Milbank wrote that Prince "has given $236,000 to GOP candidates and conservative causes -- typical of a defense contracting industry that, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, gave nearly $1 million to members of the oversight committee since 2003 -- 83 percent of it to Republicans."
OpenSecrets lists an Erik Prince as an employee of Blackwater USA who gave $1,000 to Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) on March 31, 2005. Prince's address is listed in McLean, Virginia, in the 22102 ZIP code. An Erik Prince living in the same ZIP code and listed as working for Prince Household LLC or the Prince Group, which is located in McLean, Virginia, and is the parent company of Blackwater USA, has given $57,150 to Republican lawmakers and Republican organizations, including the Republican National Committee. That total includes a $5,000 donation to the Green Party of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. According to an August 1, 2006, Philadelphia Inquirer article, supporters of then-Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) "gave $40,000 to fund a petition drive that has allowed [Green Party candidate] Carl Romanelli to collect about 100,000 voter signatures to qualify for the Senate race." The list also includes an Erik Prince living in Cody, Wyoming, and working for the Prince Group who gave $23,950 to Republicans. An Erik Prince in Cody, Wyoming, also gave $68,000 to the Republican National State Elections Committee, but his employer was not listed. OpenSecrets has other donations from people named Erik Prince, all of which went to Republican politicians or organizations such as the Susan B. Anthony List, a group that opposes abortion rights, which received $6,000 from Prince. All told, OpenSecrets shows that Erik Prince has given $226,750 in political contributions to Republican causes and candidates.
From the October 3 USA Today article:
Tuesday's hearings were marked by partisan debate over the Bush administration's growing use of private contractors, who do many jobs once handled by the military.
Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said the wide use of security contractors may have "created a shadow military of mercenary forces that are not accountable to the United States government or to anyone else. Blackwater appears to have fostered a culture of shoot first and sometimes kill, and then ask the questions."
Republicans defended the use of security contractors, saying they are a necessary part of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The shooting on Sept. 16 is "being used by those seeking to exploit accumulated resentments and draw attacks on private contractors, a force even the Iraqi government concedes is still a vital layer of security," said Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, the committee's ranking Republican.
The U.S. military estimates there are about 7,300 private security contractors working for the Defense Department in Iraq. They are part of a force of more than 130,000 private contractors in Iraq who perform a variety of jobs.
Blackwater has a contract with the State Department to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq. The company has about 1,000 personnel in Iraq, Prince said.
The company, based in Moyock, N.C., has received more than $1 billion in federal contracts since 2000, committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said.
From the October 3 Los Angeles Times article:
Among lawmakers, the defense of Blackwater broke along partisan lines, with almost all Republicans on the panel praising the company's behavior and some suggesting Waxman was using the security firm as a proxy to criticize the Bush administration's conduct of the war in Iraq.
Republicans repeatedly pointed out that no U.S. official under Blackwater's protection has been killed or seriously wounded in Iraq -- a testament, they argued, to the company's proficiency.
"That's a perfect record, and you don't get any credit for it, for some reason," said Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.).
Prince sought to portray the 195 shooting incidents the company has been involved in since 2005 as rare occurrences. He said that so far this year, Blackwater has guarded 1,873 convoys, out of which there were 56 shootings, or less than 3% of all assignments. Last year, the company had 6,254 missions and 38 incidents.
Prince also said committee calculations that Blackwater guards had fired first in more than 80% of the shootings were misleading. Many of those involved suspected car bombs that were moving toward diplomatic convoys, he said.
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Onward Christian Evangelical Corporate Soldier marching onto Profits!
We have a military, we have Marines that for as long as I have been alive have been protecting State Department Personel spectacularly!!
American Democracy has no chance of survival if we pay for, and encourage corporate CEO's and wealth fanatics to have their own militia!!
We trained these guys, we paid to teach them their trade so if they can't get enough combat we should intern them into the military, put them under Military command, and the UCMJ so they may more effectively serve our nation.
If you hear an argument to pay a soldier $200k a year while under no direct military command to do what a Marine does for 1/5 of the same pay, your listening to a Fascists rationalizing American taxpayers overpaying for their own private Army!
That ladys and gents is simply TREASON!
Happy Thoughts;
Dan Grady
I'm very disheartened about this Blackwater even being in exsistance at all!
Can you imagine if this mercenary group was as big as it is now when Clinton was prez.... you can easily visualize the hypocritical reaction of the Blackwater defenders of today!
As a resident of Illinois I'm also thoroughly disgusted by the fact that Blackwater has a facility here, mind you, its about 80 miles SW of here. I've written letters trying to get rid of this filth.
This pathetic group is nothing more than a group of 'men' that only feel tough and manly when they have a gun in there hands.
Could most of them kick my butt, yes, but that doesn't make them 'men' in my book!
If these guys want to be taken seriously by anyone not a right-winger they need to be willing to be subject to, if not internationjal law, then certainly US law!
Of course, the founder of Blackwater just happens to be a Bush/Cheney supporter..... big shock about what we do know about this Gestapo ready group!
The troglodytes like to compare modern America to ancient Rome, insisting that Rome fell because they tolerated gays. Their warning is that, if we tolerate gays, we'll collapse like Rome did. This is nonsense, of course, but real historians speculate that one of the factors leading to Rome's demise was its increasing dependence on foreign mercenaries.
For some reason, I don't hear Pat Robertson pontificating about this.
Anybody know anything further about his Green party donations? Maybe just vote-siphoning, but it's interesting.
I do have to say, I'd like to sit at that Thanksgiving table, or at least be a fly on the wall. With Prince and his Bro-in-Law, imagine the dinner conversation between reps of Blackwater and Amway. Yikes!
Yeah, I wonder if Glenn Beck is connecting THESE dots?
One of the more bizarre elements of the Blackwater story is that the FBI agents going over to investigate the killing of Iraqi civilians by Blackwater mercs are being escorted by Blackwater.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/2007/10/03/2007-10-03_blackwater_to_guard_fbi_team_probing_it-2.html
Republicans repeatedly pointed out that no U.S. official under Blackwater's protection has been killed or seriously wounded in Iraq -- a testament, they argued, to the company's proficiency.
Yeah, but how many Iraqi civilians have been killed?
And, the whole occupation went south when the Blackwater mercenaries were hung from the bridge. That led to Falluja being leveled and the complete loss of faith by Iraqis in the U.S.
Blackwater enmployees are paid on a contract basis for actual tasks performed. They are not paid as Blackwater employees. Also, 30 have been killed protecting VIP's , including members of congress, including Democrats, including Murtha!! The average income for those in the line of fire is 80 to 90 K a year. I would say they have earned their pay. Ex US servicemen and woman who are qualified are hired on a regular basis. If you listened to the hearing , their so called political ties were covered fully.
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Am I to understand your comments are to justify spending so much more for a private army under a contract should be used to substitute for a sworn military service person bound by the UCMJ??
If we have the resources we all should be able to field our own militia??? This is constitutional? This is to protect freedoms, democracy??? You see no danger in putting intelligence gathering, military operations in the hands of corporate militias??
The idea we would outsource our military and intelligence services to corporate interests in TREASON BY DEFINITION!
Happy Thoughts;
Dan Grady
Private Corporate Militia!! Black Choppers!!! Get a grip!! Prove to me that this so called "Private Army" has acted other that to protect personnel for the State Department.. One nut getrs drunk and goes off course does not take away from the success of lackwater. No injuries and no deaths of all those protected. By the way, how many Serb and Kosovo civilians were killed by aircraft fying at 28k feet?? American military aircraft. ever heard the left complain about that. So much about concern about civilian life!!
Yes, we leftists do complain about the 7000 killed by NATO's illegal war on Yugoslavia. But then we leftists are not Democrats.
"Also, 30 have been killed protecting VIP's , including members of congress, including Democrats, including Murtha!! "
Really? Name one Blackwater person killed while protecting John Murtha or any other member of Congress.
"The average income for those in the line of fire is 80 to 90 K a year. "
If you are suggesting that these brave independent contractors are underpaid perhaps you should take that up with the owners and excutives of Blackwater who, I am sure, make a lot more than $90K a year.
You doubt that blackwater I/C's have been killed while protecting VIP's including Congressman... you want names?!?! How dare people question the patriotism and the bravery of anyone who gives their life in the service to others~
Bruce "Bee" Dur - 3/15/2005
1/27/2007
Casey Cassavant
Steve Gernet
Ron Johnson
Art Luguna
Shane Stanfield
and those are just a few of the men I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with. What have you given to protect and defend our country?
CLAIR,
I don't have a problem with BlackWater contractors or employees from getting paid a crap load of money doing security......
The problem I have with BlackWater contractors and employees is that they are getting paid this money doing the work of the military in IRAQ!
Why the hell are they even there?
What, suddenly the military isn't capable of doing the job it's been doing since the founding of our nation!
If this kind of crap was attempted during Clinton's day the hypocrisy of the right-wing would be staggering.
Up until this illegal occupation at no time was security done by anyone but the military.
The only reason BlackWater is even there at all is that the founder is a Bush/Cheney supporter..... Big Shock!
So CLAIR, do you have a problem allowing a mercenary/Gestapo type group to not be subject to any laws, whether internation or US?
Consider your answer; as a yes means that when the day comes and they take you away for not being a 'good citizen' don't come crying to me (because I'll already have been long gone)
This kind of group needs to be stopped now, before it's to late!
Get a grip!! Show me , prove to me that those contracted have done anything other that protect VIP's. Iv'e heard it all now - Private corporate armies, acting under cover to take away my freedom and rights. And Capt., I was attached to an embassy when I was in the military and we always had civilians performing in the same capacity. Thou protest and project too too much. Lighten up, please.
"...and we always had civilians performing in the same capacity."
In time of war? To the same extent as Blackwater in Iraq today? A civilian contractor as partisan as Blackwater is? I doubt that VERY seriously...
SAVE DEMOCRACY, VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT!!
Lighten up?? We have no place for a private army.
We have a National Guard, Army/Navy/Marine/AirForce Reserves, and Regular Armed Forces, after that it's state police forces, and local police. We have many other uniformed forces but all under the direct control and oversight of American Government, not private corporate or religous leadership.
An American Democracy will not survive with thousands of billionaires, churches, and a mirade of organizations free to form their own militias.
This not a grey area, America has a military and nobody else is allowed. We have no future as a democracy if we outsource our national sercurity, and thats what is happening. It started in Reagan with the constant talk of privatization until we find ourselves now paying private corporations and their armies to gather sensitive intel, and to protect valued assets.
This is a path to Fascism, the marriage of corporate interests and government, not Democracy!
Happy Thoughts;
Dan Grady
Prince is a far-right fundie Christian. His men are in Iraq to fight Islam and bring about the Rapture. This is why they kill Iraqis in cold blood so easily. These guys are on Crusade to kill the infidel. Prince is American Taliban. This is a religious war to him.There's speculation that Blackwater is being used for agent provacateur and death squad operations are well, the El Salvador Option. CIA used mercs to do the same in Vietnam, the pattern repeats. These guys are the SS of the American Reich. They need to be disbanded as an illegal militia.
Interestingly enough, one of the complaints against King George III in the Declaration of Independence was his use of mercenaries against his own people. Blackwater mercs were sent to police New Orleans, but they're not trained in policing nor was there any justification for using them.
"far-right fundie Christian"?
What's disconcerting is that as soon as one mentions fundamentalist Christianity, you're talking politics as well as religion. These "Christiana" have made it clear that they have not just the right but an obligation, a divine command, to use politics to establish a governmental system compatible with their religious beliefs. And the leader of Blackwater is a fundamentalist Christian? Oh, that's just great...guns and God, what a combination.
This is the opposite of Christianity.
To those who believe that Blackwater is an assett in this war effort, I submit:
How about taking the $$$$$ we spend on the contractors, and hiring a few more actual soldiers, or maybe train them better? As I do the math, you could get about 10 well-trained soldiers for each Blackwater employee!
Or wouldn't this be "supporting the troups"?
"using the security firm as a proxy to criticize the Bush administration's conduct of the war in Iraq." Right, like anyone needs a proxy to criticize because the actual occupation has gone so swimmingly.
"Blackwater enmployees are paid on a contract basis for actual tasks performed. They are not paid as Blackwater employees."
The company charges the government by the day (typically $1222 per day per guard).
"Also, 30 have been killed protecting VIP's , including members of congress, including Democrats, including Murtha!!"
I'm sorry some have been killed (they shouldn't be there at all). The fact that they have escorted Democrats or Murtha is wholly irrelevent. Why aren't we using the army for these tasks again?
"The average income for those in the line of fire is 80 to 90 K a year."
Meanwhile the company charges $445,000 per guard per year, 90% of which comes from tax payers' dollars.
"Ex US servicemen and woman who are qualified are hired on a regular basis."
So are foreign nationals who have worked for brutal dictators like Pinochet.
"If you listened to the hearing , their so called political ties were covered fully."
I doubt seriously that there has been anything close to full disclosure of this privately owned, unregulated and highly secretive private army. In so far as it is being discussed, it's long overdue. "So called political ties"? The owner of the company, Erik Prince, is a large donor both to the GOP directly and to multiple right wing (predominantly Religious Right) groups.
There are allegations, currently under government investigation, that the company has smuggled arms into Iraq that were subsequently transfered to the PKK (designated a terrorist group by NATO, the EU and the US government).
Wow!! I attempt to lay out a little logic, truth and realistic approach and I get a lot of extreme left gibberish. Much ado about nothing. Get a grip folks. I was attached to an embassy when I was in the miltary and we always had civilians focused on protecting our people. Private armies, mercenaries, my God!! But, I understand this need to attack Bush & Co. Your congress has a 9 % approval rating - focus there. LISTEN UP - NO LOSS OF LIFE OR LIMB when protected BY THESE PROFESSIONALS!!
LISTEN UP - NO LOSS OF LIFE OR LIMB when protected BY THESE PROFESSIONALS!!
You listen up. At what cost? Both monetarily and politically.
If you use private contractors for security or for intelligence gathering and/or anlysis, to the extent that we have in the Iraq war then that's a recipe for disaster. There are obvious questions of allegiance, accountability and control which you blindly haven't considered. Why? Do you have a relative who works for Blackwater? You're awfully proud of Blackwater's record of not losing any clients. When can we expect to see Blackwater's ads on TV?
But Goddess forbid you're an Iraqi civilian on the scene when those Blackwater mercs decide to open up at a car that might be a little too close. They routinely shoot WOMEN! These are supposed to be ex-US soldiers, by and large. Why are they so trigger happy and why can they NOT discern that the targets are unarmed men and women in these instances of random SLAUGHTER? Or are they rolling about the streets of Iraq with a racist attitude and a religious agenda coming down from the higher echelons? Youre defending bad men. Bad on you.
Clair, when I focus on the 9%, I don't see that number so clearly!
Even Fox news cites 24%, at present. The current average numbers are around 25%, maybe 28 or 29%, depending on your time window. In fact, I can find NO poll at all this year that goes below 18%
Where do you get this number? Should I take this spurrious number as indicative of your general reliability on questions of fact?
The Blackwater scandal is yet another example that we are no longer living in the Federal Republic governed by a representational democracy invisioned by the founding fathers but in a fascist state. Get your heads out of the sand people!
Wide spread cronyism is one of the 14 points of fascism described by Laurence Britt.
[link to www.oldamericancentury.org]
Most are too busy arguing over which fascist party should have the power.
"Your congress has a 9 % approval rating - focus there"
The word "your"
What scandal ? what are the facts? I don't want supposition, allegations or feelings about this. If you can show me specifics, I'll be there with you.
What was all that fuss we were hearing about money from Norman Hsu again?
Oh yeah, Hsu's a criminal, which makes his campaign money dirty.
But what does the right wing have to say about campaign money that's splattered with blood?
30 Blackwater personnel killed in the line of fire - yea, lots of blood. Still waiting for the facts folks. C'mon!
Here, file this under "Winning hearts and minds."
[link to news.yahoo.com]
Hey, Clair, how many real American soldiers have been killed as a result of the screw-ups of independent contractors? Ever hear of Falluja?
These mercenaries don't desreve to be mentioned in the same breath with real American soldiers who are sacrificng for their country.
Clair,
Part of your post was "Your congress has a 9 % approval rating - focus there"
The word "your" interests me....... are you not an American? If yes, then this 9% Congress is yours as well...... if no, then to which military are you speaking of that you worked for?
As for your attempt at claiming 'logic' in your words...... um... try again!
The use of mercenary groups during a time of war or when the military is being used for any reason is the main point of my postings!
Whether or not it will lead to a gestapo type arm of the government, time will tell, but that doesn't take away from the fact that BlackWater mercs by simply being there, armed to the teeth no less, are making matters worse.
My main point is why are mercs allowed to be there at all? Couldn't fully trained soldiers of the US military do the same? Or even better job?
I'm disgusted by the fact that my tax dollars are being used to pay for a 'for profit' merc group instead of a larger US Army!
Just what democracy needs, a group of American mercs not subject to any laws of any kind, yeah, thats a way to spread freedom and democracy!
The Bush regime and the FOX Noise propaganda machine have declared this "War on Terror" the fight for our very existance.......
If this is the case, why haven't they asked ALL Americans to sacrifice, what have the top 3% done for the health and security of our country?
Any second now, one of the Regurgicons will tell us that the reason we have a troop shortage is because of Clinton's cuts. Even if that were true in 2002, what's the excuse 5 years later? How many soldiers did we put into the field in the first year of WWII? We've been told that this is a battle for our survival...some even call it WWIV...so where's the army that we're supposed to fight it with?
Cheney and Rumsfeld have been working on the privatization of the US military since Pappa Bush's presidency. They off course went off to work at the same corporations who were getting all the contracts. And Clinton cannot be absolved of blame, he too allowed more and more privatization of the logistical support services, which means we have an army without it's own cooks, truck drivers, mechanics, etc. Commanders have little or no control over the civilian personnel, so if they decide not to do the job, there's little the local commander can do but to complain up the chain of command...and the Pentagon is far more likely to take the contractors side, because of political pressure. One thing I've learnt from US military history, the war profiteers and military contractors have a long sad legacy of screwing our lads over for their own profit. It's just a little bit of history repeating.
OK capt - I get it- you don't like Bush, you don't really like the military and you don't like war. How may terrorist attacks have we had in this country in the last six years? Lets expand this - do you like tax cuts , no child left behind,, terrorist surviellance programs, How about a booming economy? Disgrunteled, unhappy, gloom and doom, i feel sorry for you, I truly do. I am the only clear thinking contributor on this site. I guess I'll have to call on the troops to expose this Hillary originated attempt to restore the fairness doctrine. No fairness here certainly.
Clair, someone made your point to me the other day about there being no terrorist attacks (on our soil) for six years. I think we can aggree that this is a GOOD thing. However, as I count it, Clinton managed to go from Feb, 1993 to Jan. 2000 without a repeat. That makes seven! And, the attack that DID follow, came almost two more years later. That makes almost nine! Hmmm... 150% better performance than Bush, so far.
Also, your argument seems even weaker if we start counting without the qualifier "on our soil".
Clair, why is it that you have failed to respond substantively to any of the many questions posed to you above, at least mine for sure, but yet you unilaterally expand the discussion and ask a list of questions unrelated to the discussion. Can't respond or just can't keep your thoughts straight becuase you hate liberals so much? BTW, Clair, who have you ever killed for your country?
SAVE DEMOCRACY, VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT!!
P.S.; Claire, I served in the Navy from '77 to '83 and was honorably discharged, I made every muster, every medical, which is much more than you can say for the Draft Dodging Bandaid Purple Heart Wearing crowd you hang with.
Clair,
It is obvious that you are no one of substance, or even consequence, yet I find myself needing to reply back to your pathetic attempts to sound off.
In all the posts you have made you have yet to answer any of my questions or those of many others in here!
Why? Unless you know that your answers would come off as baseless, stupid, or erroneous as those of the other right-wing puppets?
Your presumption that I hate the military is absurd. How does your mind come up with that kind of illogic based on my post?
I want the military to do the job it is supposed to do..... and a for-profit mercenary group doesn't allow them to do it at all, in fact it makes them more vulnerable to attack!
If anyone doesn't like the military and want them to be used as cannon fodder, it is false patriots like you and those like you. Period!
Claire,
You asked:
do you like tax cuts?
I do, but not for the top 3% of our citizens, if anything, they should be taxed more, so that they can pay a comparative rate to their income to the rest of us!
no child left behind?
Are you kidding me? When Bush became gov of Tex, Tex was 5th in the nation in education, when his cronies implemented NCLB there, Tex droped to 49th, so this great plan just had to shared with the rest of us! Great!
terrorist surviellance programs?
To get the real bad guys, yes. To snoop on those of us that speak out, no. They want to survail on me, fine by me, I have nothing to worry about, but I would want them to use the FISA Act to get the warrant and make it public record as to why they went after me, unless of course we are a fascist state already
How about a booming economy,
This statement is so beyond the absurd I had to calm down for 10 minutes from laughing my ass off before I started to type this post! Are you fricken kidding me? Our economy is so far into the tank it's scary that we might be facing 1929 all over again, if we aren't already!
Bush, the first prez since Hoover to preside over a net loss of jobs
No one has been asked to sacrifice to supposedly the most dangerous time to our society since WWII
Cronies and/or unqualified nimrods running our government to the ground while stealing the treasury left and right and you think things were bad under Clinton?
Tax cuts for the top 3% during a time of war has never been done before in the entire history of man, but these clowns have done it and want to do more of it!
And NERZOG - I guess we should bring the 25,000 tropps that are still in Bosnia and Kosovo that Clinton said would be home in short order. I guess we have to keep them there to protect the from an attack by Milosovich!! Give me a break
So why are they still there after Repub majorities and presidencies?
What's wrong, Clair, Blackwater got cut off the gravy train in Bosnia and Kosovo. Awwww... But, hey, remember this...maybe Bush's upcoming war in Iran will mean even greater Blackwater profits.
No, CLAIRE...you give me a break. I have no problem taking troops out of Kosovo. What does that have to do with Iraq? Of course, the real point is that our troops aren't dying every day in Kosovo...are they? Maybe you know something I don't?
SAVE DEMOCRACY, VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT!!
clairtaylor3459384 / Thursday October 4, 2007 03:37:49 PM EST
Booming Economy in hock to China, Japan, and Saudi Arabia with a trade deficit of nearly a trillion dollars, in deficit beyond even the wildest predicition just 7 years ago, along with a crumbling housing market fueled by deregulated lending practices of the Republican Leadership! Recession being artificially held off til Jan '09 with lowering interest rates from the Fed!
Unfunded Mandates of the No Child Left Behind designed to dismantle the public school system, a complete failure leaving a whole nations school children left behind.
I'm wondering what freedom loving American, Republican or Democrat that would BRAG about our government spying on it's own citizens!!!
Tax cuts that by Dick Cheney's estimation means deficits that don't matter!
Now that we see how you evalutate the policys of our current leadership a much clearer picture emerges of the obvious distortions you seem satified to accept!
Happy Thoughts;
Dan Grady
DAN GRADY I was in the US Air Force from 1955 to 1962 and served honorably. You don"t know who I hang out with. Your attack is a typical liberal response that is uncalled for. I'm doing my best here to respond with approx 5 to 6 attacking. How about a little fair play. I do get carried away a little because I believe strongly as all of you do. But, I do try to stay on point.
How about a little fair play. I do get carried away a little because I believe strongly as all of you do. But, I do try to stay on point.- clairtaylor3459384 / Thursday October 4, 2007 04:17:01 PM
Okay, taking you at your word, let's start here. A standard that you routinely have heard from conservatives over the years is how important they consider the rule of law (you heard it 50 times a day during the Clinton Impeachment). I happen to agree with real conservatives that it is a key concept for a civilized society.
Military contractors like Blackwater have been specifically excluded from legal oversight. They do not fall under Iraqi law because Paul Bremer signed Coalition Provisional Authority Order 17 which specifically immunized all contractors from the laws of the country in which they operate. (Imagine the outcry in this country if heavily armed foreign mercs were allowed to operate freely of our legal system.) Unlike our soldiers, contractors are not bound by the UCMJ, nor are their activities while in Iraq bound by American criminal law (there are some wrongful death suits by Blackwater families pending against the company in civil court).
Hence, you have a situation in which you have a virtual army with no oversight. An example: In December 2006 a drunken Blackwater employee killed a bodyguard protecting the Iraqi Vice President (imagine if this happened to one of Dick Cheney's men). The employee was fired, but faced no criminal charges because none were applicable. When asked about this, Prince glibly replied "we can't flog him." Iraqi civilians killed or injured by Blackwater or other mercs have even less recourse to justice than the Iraqi VP. Do you approve of this state of affairs?
SAVE DEMOCRACY, VOTE FOR A DEMOCRATY!!
How about a little fair play. I do get carried away a little because I believe strongly as all of you do. But, I do try to stay on point.- clairtaylor3459384 / Thursday October 4, 2007 04:17:01 PM EST
I was constantly civil with Neo-Con distortions, lies, and dirty tricks, but it has gone way past that with the Bush/Cheney & Republican Rubber Stamp of the past 6yrs.
1. They are willing to break the law to win elections, and have introduced wholely illegal tactics to win as a RNC strategy from top to bottom. No respect for the RULE OF LAW.
2. They are willing to prosecute poor working citizens for voter's fraud for honest misunderstanding that has no effect on any election except to frighten a whole class of Americans from participating in elections.
3. When I saw "Bandaid Purple Hearts" on RNC leadership including Ken Mehlman, Dan Bartlett on the National Convention Floor in a time of a 2 front War, with American Servicemen/women in combat, wearing these bandaids to mock a serviceman's bravery, that my dear was the last straw of civility for me.
This is not including the long list of desecrations of our constitution and our democracy, or the blood on their hands for motives that had nothing to do with American Security!
I have sworn off the premise that the Republican is speaking policy sincerely, I believe they are Republicans before they are Americans until I see evidence of the contrary!
That evidence begins with the title of this posting, and has been since 11/04!
Happy Thoughts;
Dan Grady
Claire,
Just by calling a program "No Child Left Behind" doesn't make it so. NCLB focuses so much on these tests that we end up with children who have no time for gym, health class or recess. I guess we can call it "No Child Without a Big Fat Behind".
Yeah, the only subjects the program focuses on is math and english. Everything else is to be ignored. And when a school fails to meet the test standards, the Feds can come in and sell the school off to a private company. It's all just a scam by the Feds to take over community schools. In fact, Federal government has no consitutional authority or jurisdiction in education. Schools are purely a state matter.
Dan Are you out there - how about a response to my most recent post. I think you owe it to me.
How about responding to Christopher Howard's very on topic post above yours, addressed to you?
By the way, I've seen mostly responses to your questions/statements, not attacks. You may feel a bit ganged up on, but if you offer reasonable points and avoid name calling, you generally receive a civil response.
So MediaMatters recounts a bunch of facts as if they are damning; I don't get it.
So Prince was a Navy seal, probably a conservative-republican that has given money to the party and organizations that he believes in, and he owns/operates a private (and very successful) security force overseas.
All I have to say is "Yeah, so?"
Why does the presentation of these facts mean 'problem', or 'corruption'?
Is anyone accusing Price of corruption? Is someone saying he bought favors? This is the implication of the article, but it never said outright. That's cheap.
Seems to me MediaMatters has absolutely nothing to say on the guy and instead implies impropriety in the hops that the silly leftist conspiracy kooks will read (with their secret decoder rings) some hidden meaning that doesn't actually exist.
Good grief.
Well - I guess not Dan Here we go folks: We currently have an international economy that is both interelated and interdependent. Maybe we should forece China to adhere to the provisions of the Kyoto Treaty and increase their cost to produce. Fair competition? Forget it.
Bush has increased to Education Dept 50% in six years. He didn,t allow the No Child Left Behind prgram to increase at an ever increasing rate, but he did continue to incease it to take care of so called un-funded mandates
GDP has increased at an average annual rate over 3%
Unemployment is LOWER on average than during the Clinton presidency
Minority Home ownership is over 50%, highest in history. Many of the defaults are in this area. Bush has approved a program to help these people.
The Government is monitoring communication from overseas and from within to connect the dots, not to hear about auint matildas aches and pains or her apple pie recipe.
OK bring it On!!!
OK but lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater. They are moving at this moment to assure the rule of law applies by covering the Blackwater personnel under the UCMJ. I will E-mail my Senator to follow-up and assure this happens You don't need to bring Cheney in to this. This is the real world, not the imagined one. And, if in the future we do have conditions in this country that are as dangerous as they were in Iraq when Bremer was there, what would you do to assure the safety of all of us. Cut the heads off of the lst press member we find cheking us out. Or, strap a bomb to youself and go after the conservatives. I dare say you might look at this a little differently if the situation were reversed. Ridiculous propositions require suggesting ridiculous solutions. But of course, you feel we should not be there at all so it"s a moot point.
If Blackwater mercs are put under the UCMJ, then that legitamizes them. Also, considering how many soldiers who have committed atrocities in Iraq have been allowed to skate free or been given very light punishment, there's NO reason to put any faith in the military justice system.
Hi Mary - I have not called anybody a name. My only reason for being here is to prove a point.. I am the only Bush supporter to be active on Media Matters. I have to honest with you. You guys are loaded for bear, but I'm not the bear. You are all very capable of following the Democrat line. But this is not where Hillary is going to pick up votes. You are all members of the same choir. Continue to preach to each other.
If you support Bush, you support fascism for America. Bad on you, again.
Hi Claire,
It would be easier to follow your posts if you click "reply" to the one you want to answer. This sometimes gets confusing when numerous replies get posted, but is still easier to follow. You said that people were attacking you, and my response was that many posters were attempting to throughtfully reply to your points.
Will you also kindly stop dividing yourself from your fellow citizens? You really set a tone of incivility from the start.
I've found that it is impossible to have a real discussion when the topic Jumps around and people throw in new things all the time. I'm interested in your response to what Christopher Howard posted yesterday. You said you "deserved" a response from Dan Grady (he did respond but you didn't really respond in kind, oddly enough) Now I think Christopher "deserves" a response from you.
Clair if all you see is preaching to the choir then why are you here? I mean other than to spout those tired old Republican talking points that we have all heard ad infinitum,