Day: June 14, 2012
Nixon’s ‘Operation Diamond’ Plan to Neutralize Antiwar Protesters Included Mugging Squads and Kidnapping Teams
John N. Mitchell, Nixon’s campaign manager and confidante, met with Liddy at the Justice Department in early 1972, when Mitchell was attorney general. Liddy presented a $1 million plan, code-named “Gemstone,” for spying and sabotage during the upcoming presidential campaign.
Here’s Why Politicians Lie
Because they can — and they know they won’t get called on it.
As Jon pointed out yesterday, Mitt Romney’s campaign has turned lying into something of a craft, if not an art form. But Mother Jones’ Kevin Drum offers an explanation why every time a politician tells a lie, he or she is likely to get away with it:
Politicians have increasingly discovered over the past couple of decades that even on a national stage you can lie pretty blatantly and pay no price since the mainstream media, trapped in its culture of objectivity, won’t really call you on it, limiting themselves to fact checking pieces like Kessler’s buried on an inside page. And because virtually nobody except political junkies ever sees this stuff, it doesn’t hurt their campaigns at all.
Democrats Targeting Cantor on National Stage
He screwed us, and us is pissed.
— Democratic operative Dave “Mudcat” Saunders, disclosing to the Daily Caller the campaign message of Wayne Powell (D), who is set to take on House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA). Said Saunders: “We’re going national. And we’re going to be doing a lot of national shows.”
Gingrich: Election System Is ‘Rigged In Favor of the Wealthy’
It is very difficult in America today. If you look at New York where Mayor Bloomberg spent an extraordinary amount of personal money to buy the mayor’s office for the third time. It is fairly hard to compete with a billionaire if — if they get to spend all the money they want and the middle-class candidate’s raising money in $2,500 units. So I think the current system is rigged, frankly, in favor of the wealthy.
— Former presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, whining to MSNBC and conveniently ignoring the fact that casino sleazebag Sheldon Adelson gave his campaign $25 million and that Gingrich himself had a $500,000 tab at Tiffany’s.
Obama: No New Ideas from GOP
I am telling you, I want you all to pay attention over the next five months and see if they’re offering a single thing that they did not try when they were in charge, because you won’t see it.
— President Obama, quoted by ABC News.
Most Blame Economy on Bush
68%
Of Americans say former President George W. Bush deserves a great deal or a moderate amount of blame for the nation’s economic woes — substantially more than the 52% who say the same about President Obama.
Extreme Times Call for Extremist Brains
A researcher has discovered a possible cause for the rise of the Tea Party and the Republican Party’s increasing swing toward the far right — they have bad brains. No, really, it’s science.
According to the Telegraph:
So what has this got to do with science? Studies suggest that on average, and even across national boundaries, people who opt for the Left, and people who opt for the Right, tend to be identifiable not only by their stated ideologies but by their personalities and quantifiable psychological traits.
