Day: March 29, 2006

Candidate Who Faked ‘Calm and Stable’ Iraq Photo Was Architect of Davis Recall

Jon Ponder

GOP Candidate to Succeed Duke Cunningham Falsified Evidence of Media Bias Against Iraq War

Before he was disgraced today by liberal bloggers, you had probably never heard of Howard Kaloogian. But here in California he is a notorious GOP operative who made his mark in the 2003 campaign to unseat Gov. Gray Davis.

Kaloogian said the photo of peaceful Baghdad proved the media lied about conditions in Iraq because “journalists are opposed to the U.S. effort to fight terrorism.”

A one-time back-bencher in the Assembly, Kaloogian was a mastermind of the recall election that removed Davis from office and replaced him with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Now, as a candidate in the special election in San Diego to replace former Rep. Duke Cunningham, who recently began serving time for bribery and corruption, Kaloogian has been nailed trying to defraud the public and with an attempt at classic Bushista disinformation meant to prop up support for the war:

[Kaloogian] posted on the official Web site for his campaign a picture [see above] taken in “downtown Baghdad,” he said, during his visit to the city, which supposedly indicated that the media was wrong about the level of violence in the city. “We took this photo of downtown Baghdad while we were in Iraq,” he wrote. “Iraq (including Baghdad) is much more calm and stable than what many people believe it to be. But, each day the news media finds any violence occurring in the country and screams and shouts about it – in part because many journalists are opposed to the U.S. effort to fight terrorism.“

The photo didn’t look right for Baghdad to some liberal bloggers. Women were seen in western clothing and people were holding hands:

In less than a day, it was over. “Jem6X” at the popular DailyKos blog confirmed the street scene was in Istanbul, not Baghdad.

Tipped off by someone who recognized the actual intersection in Istanbul, Jem went through online photo galleries and in a matter of minutes today found a snap taken by a “Faruk” that lined up with the “Baghdad” photo in numerous conclusive ways. Game, set, and match to the blogosphere.

Gray Davis was not a masterful politician but this fraud is more proof that his recall was just another needless and costly Republican sham.

Abramoff Sentenced to Over Five Years in Fraud Charges

Jon Ponder

This is separate from the sentences he’ll receive for bribing Ohio Republican congressman Bob Ney and possibly Tom DeLay and others:

Disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a business partner were sentenced Wednesday to five years and 10 months in federal prison, the minimum they faced for fraud related to their 2000 purchase of the SunCruz Casinos gambling fleet.

Abramoff and Adam Kidan both pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud, but they won’t have to report to prison immediately….

Abramoff and Kidan admitted concocting a fake $23 million wire transfer to make it appear they had made a large cash contribution to the $147.5 million purchase of SunCruz Casinos. Based on that fake transfer, lenders provided the pair with $60 million in financing.

The same week Abramoff pleaded guilty to the SunCruz fraud, he entered guilty pleas to three federal charges as part of a wide-ranging corruption probe that could involve up to 20 members of Congress and aides, including former House Majority Leader
Tom DeLay, R-Texas.

The two also face questioning regarding the mob-style murder of the owner of SunCruz, Gus Boulis.

‘NY Times’ Resists the WH Spin

Buck Banks

Attaway: The “New York Times” Washington Bureau chief refused to participate in President Bush’s informal, off-the-record chats with the White House press groupies. This series of informal meetings follows the infusion of several new (read: naive) reporters from major news outlets into the White House beat.

Here’s how the “Times” explained the decision:

Philip Taubman, the Washington bureau chief for The Times, said in a statement last night: “The Times has declined this opportunity after weighing the potential benefits to our readers against the prospect of withholding information from them about the discussion with Mr. Bush. As a matter of policy and practice, we would prefer when possible to conduct on-the-record interviews with public officials.”

Way to resist the Dark Side, Phil!

The Perils of Cronyism

Buck Banks

The following is a statement from one of my favorite wingnuts, Richard A. Viguerie, posted on ConservativeHQ Alert:

“Fortunately for the Bush family, Ronald Reagan put a premium on loyalty to Republican principles, not to himself personally. Otherwise, Reagan would not have selected George H.W. Bush as his vice president, and the first President Bush could never have made it to the White House on his own.”
— Richard Viguerie

It’s good news that Andy Card has resigned as President Bush’s Chief of Staff.

The bad news is that President Bush’s DNA apparently won’t allow him to associate with anyone who is not a longtime Bush family loyalist – thus Josh Bolten’s appointment as Card’s replacement.

Fortunately for the Bush family, Ronald Reagan put a premium on loyalty to Republican principles, not to himself personally. Otherwise, Reagan would not have selected George H.W. Bush as his vice president, and the first President Bush could never have made it to the White House on his own.

America has been poorly served because both President Bushes apparently are comfortable only with those who have pledged lifetime loyalty to the Bush family.

“Personnel is policy.” Non-conservative personnel results in non-conservative policies. President Bush has not governed as a conservative and will not govern in the future as a conservative as long as he insists on surrounding himself with moderate to liberal big-business, big-government Republicans.

And, conservatives will only support President Bush if he actually governs as a conservative.