VIDEO CLIP: See Senator George Allen Get Blasted by Russert on FILIBUSTER

[Nothing Without Hope]

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/05/01.html#a2722

Video clip in Quicktime and Windows Media - "Meet the Press." Tim Russert is no favorite of mine or of most of you, but he really nails this lying fool and doesn't let him squirm loose. Very satisfying to watch.

Excerpt:

MR. RUSSERT: Let me turn to federal judges. Court of Appeals: Bill Clinton nominated 51 people to the Court of Appeals. Thirty-five were confirmed. Sixteen were blocked by the Republicans by not giving hearings or not allowed out of committee. George Bush nominated 52. Thirty-five were confirmed because the Democrats threatened filibuster. They don't run the committees, so they can't block it in committee. What's the difference?

SEN. ALLEN: I think you'll find on the Circuit Court judges that President Bush has the lowest percentage of Circuit Court judges...

MR. RUSSERT: I just gave you the numbers. Clinton nominated 51; 35 were confirmed. Bush nominated 52; 35 were confirmed. Those are the numbers.

SEN. ALLEN: Well, I have different numbers than that. The reality is that some of President Clinton's nominees were blocked in committee. They did not--and a lot of them were also brought up at the very end of his term.

[Erika]

1. I get so tired of the GOP projecting themselves as victims

It really gets old.

[SeveneightyWhoa]

2. "Well, I have different numbers than that"

Ha. This means that either:

a) Russert, one of the most respected political journalists in America, got a simple fact wrong.

b) Senator Allen's numbers, which he likely received from someone higher up in the Republican organization, are fabricated and deceptive.

Which one do you think it is?

[Nothing Without Hope]

3. Maybe (b), but I lean toward (c) Senator Allen thought he could get away

with numbers that were adjusted in some way that he didn't express. So he wouldn't exactly be lying, but that somehow the numbers were manipulated to make them look like the Dems were the bad guys, always unfairly blocking those wonderful judges. Perhaps it was a specially selected time frame or only a cherry-picked selection of courts. Some arbitrary filter that would tilt the numbers - that's what I suspect happened.

Whatever it was, it didn't work because Russert had his own numbers ready and he was certain of them. I hope the people watching were able to see the truth of what happened.

[KansDem]

19. A microcosm of the whole Bush/GOP operation: the Office of Special Plans

..."It wasn't intelligence‚ -- it was propaganda," she says. "They'd take a little bit of intelligence, cherry-pick it, make it sound much more exciting, usually by taking it out of context, often by juxtaposition of two pieces of information that don't belong together." It was by turning such bogus intelligence into talking points for U.S. officials‚ -- including ominous lines in speeches by President Bush and Vice President Cheney, along with Secretary of State Colin Powell's testimony at the U.N. Security Council last February‚ -- that the administration pushed American public opinion into supporting an unnecessary war.

Until now, the story of how the Bush administration produced its wildly exaggerated estimates of the threat posed by Iraq has never been revealed in full. But, for the first time, a detailed investigation by Mother Jones, based on dozens of interviews‚ -- some on the record, some with officials who insisted on anonymity‚ -- exposes the workings of a secret Pentagon intelligence unit and of the Defense Department's war-planning task force, the Office of Special Plans. It's the story of a close-knit team of ideologues who spent a decade or more hammering out plans for an attack on Iraq and who used the events of September 11, 2001, to set it into motion.

Six months after the end of major combat in Iraq, the United States had spent $300 million trying to find banned weapons in Iraq, and President Bush was seeking $600 million more to extend the search. Not found were Iraq's Scuds and other long-range missiles, thousands of barrels and tons of anthrax and botulism stock, sarin and VX nerve agents, mustard gas, biological and chemical munitions, mobile labs for producing biological weapons, and any and all evidence of a reconstituted nuclear-arms program, all of which had been repeatedly cited as justification for the war. Also missing was evidence of Iraqi collaboration with Al Qaeda.

The reports, virtually all false, of Iraqi weapons and terrorism ties emanated from an apparatus that began to gestate almost as soon as the Bush administration took power. In the very first meeting of the Bush national-security team, one day after President Bush took the oath of office in January 2001, the issue of invading Iraq was raised, according to one of the participants in the meeting‚ -- and officials all the way down the line started to get the message, long before 9/11. Indeed, the Bush team at the Pentagon hadn't even been formally installed before Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of Defense, and Douglas J. Feith, undersecretary of Defense for policy, began putting together what would become the vanguard for regime change in Iraq.
(more)
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2004/01/12_405.html

So the GOP senator has "different numbers?" I have no doubt that he does. It's all part of the OSP model...

[w4rma]

4. Russert could have hit him harder if he wanted to. He held back.

He wouldn't have held back and only tried to show an appearance of pairity if Sen. Allen were a Democrat defending Democrats.

[Nothing Without Hope]

5. Maybe, but the guy IS a US Senator - I thought Russert was pretty brusque

with him considering his office. If Allen had been, say a journalist or an aide of some sort, Russert could have been much rougher. The fact is, there is a tradition of giving some respect for the office in spite of what kind of lizard is occupying it.

I'm not a Russert fan, but I thought he was pretty tough considering he was telling a US senator he was flat-out wrong. If he was much tougher, a lot of viewers would have been outraged and might well have sided more with Allen.

[Nothing Without Hope]

6. kick - you really have to wonder how Allen ever got elected!

Does anyone know if there was anything fishy about the voting in his election? He is unprepossessing and came across as a narrow-minded dunce.

[Virginian]

7. He was elected in 2000.

That says a lot.

He ran against Chuck Robb, Lyndon Johnson's son-in-law. Robb may not have sensed this brat was a threat and may not have run hard enough.

Allen had a father by the same name who led the Washington Redskins to the superbowl I don't remember how many times. Some of those who had no idea who he was probably voted on name recognition. Some of the uninformed may have even thought they were voting for his father.

That was the first election I worked. We had many over-votes in my precinct. That was, more votes than voters. I don't remember the number of votes for senator, but the number of over-votes exceeded the difference between Bush and Gore. This could have been the result of the inexperience of the poll workers, confusion over who was initializing the voting machines or due to mischief. We will never know.

Allen is not from Virginia. He moved here. That doesn't excuse him, we have several home-grown idiots, too. It does tell me something about his character. He will change his value system to fit what he thinks will get him elected. The neo-cons who are grooming him, have given him this set of values to say publicly. I am not surprised that Russart was able to ask him a question in a different way that caused him to trip on the answer. That happens when you don't necessarily believe what you are preaching, or when you are just repeating the talking points.

I don't know the numbers, but if Clinton proposed 51 judges and Bush proposed 52, and they both had 35 approved. Bush has had more blocked. ONE MORE. Not a significant difference. I guess they don't include the numbers with the talking points.

[Bozita]

10. dad was Wash Redskin head coach -- now, THAT'S well qualified ...

... in Republican circles.

[ChiciB1]

14. BINGO!!! You Win The Game...

There was a thread here recently asking if anyone could beat Allen in 2008. How that could actually be a reality is beyond me. This guy is so RW he squeaks when he walks.

He has that stupid grin on his face all the time, especially when he thinks he's making SOME important point. He's nothing more than a radical "kiss up" to His Corruptness!

[LibDemAlways]

17. Will not ever happen.

Allen has a history of racism and has participated in at least one hate crime that plenty of people were witnesses to. Unless he's dumber than I thought and wants to be publically humiliated, he's gone as far as he can in politics.

[Virginian]

20. Can you be more specific and find any links on that?

I hadn't heard about that. I know he really smeared his opponent for Governor. I think she was the first woman to ever run for Gov in VA.
Since she was a successful lawyer, former attorney general and had not married, his group started spreading the Lesbian rumors.

The odd thing about that was that I heard a supporter say she thought the woman had a married lover and that was why she hadn't married.

I think the explanation the supporter was expressing was worse than the rumor the Allen group was spreading. Why does anyone have to be either gay or an adulterer to remain single? Why does being a single woman require an explanation at all? Wasn't her sucess explanation enough?

My, my, when I think of what I could have become had I not been distracted by boys.

Back to Allen. Can you fill me in on his hate crimes?

[LibDemAlways]

26. Allen was in my high school graduating

class - Palos Verdes HS Class of 70. It was a 100% caucasion school in a wealthy neighborhood with an ocean view in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. He had it all. His dad was an NFL coach and local celebrity. He was quarterback of our HS football team, and his girlfriend was a popular cheerleader.

He was also a proud racist. His Ford wagon was papered with Confederate flag bumper stickers - unheard of in Southern California, and he didn't hide his disdain for blacks.

One week our football team was scheduled to play a predominently black school from a nearby working class community that kids from "the hill," as Palos Verdes was known, definitely looked down on. The Monday before the game we returned from the weekend break to find the walls of our school spraypainted with anti-white graffiti and specifically mentioning the name of the black school. The students were outraged that our school had been targeted by blacks and there was a lot of anger and calls for payback.

Until someone pointed a finger at the real culprit - none other than George Allen, determined to stir up racial animosity and hatred toward black kids he had never met, he had vandalized his own school with racial epithets. He fessed up and apologized over the school PA. Because of his father's standing in the community, the graffiti was quickly covered over and the incident all but forgotten.

I haven't forgotten though. I contacted Chuck Robb's campaign back in 2000 and gave them names of other classmates who could corroborate the story. They didn't pursue it. Maybe they thought too much time had passed and it was nothing more than a youthful prank. I also wrote letters to the major newspapers in Virginia, but they were ignored. The press was not about to touch this. (My brother called a reporter in Virginia who in turn called him a liar.)

However, I think the incident speaks to character. This is a guy who went on to display a noose in his law office and decorate his home with a Confederate flag. There is a sickness in this guy's soul that is deep and well-engrained.

I was heartened when Lott lost his Senate leadership role because of racially tinged comments. Even the GOP has limits as to what is publically acceptable, though I'm sure they all speak the "N" word in private. I don't think Allen is dumb enough to risk having his past come back to so publically haunt him. If he ever ran for higher office, I'd do everything in my power to make sure it did.

[Virginian]

28. Thank you LibDem.

That further confirms my gut feeling about the guy.

Another culture, another time:

Some people in the South still cling to the confederate flag as part of their heritage. They don't realize that they didn't protect it's image and it has been hijacked to become a symbol of hatred. They aren't racist, they just want to reclaim the symbol of their ancestors. Unfortunately, it is too late. They can't rid that flag of the evil it has come to represent.

My family goes back to that period, but I wouldn't be caught dead with the stars and bars, not in these days. Our ancestors were poor. They never could afford the luxury of a horse for transportation much less the luxury of owning a personal servant. I think they were decended from indentured servants themselves. They lived in town and worked in the mills or did what other jobs they could find to support themselves. Fighting in that war only meant they needed to protect their homes and families from Union soldiers who were invading the region. They weren't fighting for slavery, they weren't even fighting for a cause -- that was for those who didn't have a war in their back yard. They were fighting to survive.

For someone who does not have the ancestoral connection to the war between the states to embrace the flag of the Confederacy is not only racist, it is an insult to Southerners. George Allen is one of those redefining the flag to represent hatred. I hate him for it.

As far as doing mischief and blaming it on others, it looks like he was practicing Atwater tricks before Rove and Bush became protoges of Lee Atwater.

Thanks for filling me in. I will be sure to tell two friends and they will tell two friends...

[yellowcanine]

21. He also chews tobacco, displays the Confederate battle flag, and

wears cowboy boots in an attempt to present himself as a Suthern Good Ol' Boy. Oh and I believed he was quoted once about "knocking their (Democrats) soft teeth down their throats." An altogether pleasant man to be around, it seems.

[Virginian]

22. What's with the cowboy boots? We don't have cowboys in Virginia.

Is that his way of following in Dubya's footsteps? I guess he brought the boots with him when he moved here. We have horses here, but not too many wearing western saddles. Most cows are milk producers and don't get "rounded up". They come to the pasture gate and wait patiently to be brought in for milking twice a day.

That cowboy stuff came from some place else. Who ever heard of an east coast cowboy? I wonder if he is afraid of horses like Dubya?

[dogday]

8. Stand up and take Responsiblity for your actions

you know you did it........

[spooky3]

9. thanks--Russert did a good job, behaved as a journalist should.

[dogday]

11. Should of Called Senator Allen on the different figures he said he had

Senator Allen said he had different figures. Russert should of asked him what figures, show them, let me hear them. But as usual Sen Allen changed the subject....

[underpants]

12. My e-mail to Allen on the missing money in Iraq-He didn't know about it.

Apparently Sen. Allen was never told about the $8.8 Billion missing from operations in Iraq. It is pretty sad when a private citizens has to inform a Senator, a Senator who sits on the Foreign Relations committee no less, about such matters.

Audit: U.S. lost track of $9 billion in Iraq funds
Monday, January 31, 2005 Posted: 0412 GMT (1212 HKT)
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/01/30/iraq.audit/

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Nearly $9 billion of money spent on Iraqi reconstruction is unaccounted for because of inefficiencies and bad management, according to a watchdog report published Sunday.

An inspector general's report said the U.S.-led administration that ran Iraq until June 2004 is unable to account for the funds.
The money came from revenues from the United Nations' former oil-for-food program, oil sales and seized assets -- all Iraqi money.

The audit did not examine the use of U.S. funds appropriated for reconstruction. (Full story)

Auditors were unable to verify that the Iraqi money was spent for its intended purpose. In one case, they raised the possibility that thousands of "ghost employees" were on an unnamed ministry's payroll.

"CPA staff identified at one ministry that although 8,206 guards were on the payroll, only 602 guards could be validated," the audit report states. "Consequently, there was no assurance funds were not provided for ghost employees."

Don't believe CNN? (probably don't) Here is one from Newsmax
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/1/31/100710.shtml

How about Fox News?
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,145848,00.html


Maybe the Senator can stop screaming about the "Sweet Nectar of Liberty" and be at least half way informed.

[Virginian]

23. He still doesn't know about it.

because he doesn't want to admit knowing.

If they know, they might have to do something. That would involve putting a republican in an embarassing spot. One does not embarass a fellow republican. So, it is simpler to just not know about it.

I called his office in protest on Jan 6. There was no one to answer the phone and no machine to take messages. I did get through to Sen. Warner's office and express my opinion to a live human. Sen. Warner is a Republican, but he is no George Neo-clone.

[Doctor_J]

13. Allen is the heir-apparent in the new "Dunces make good POTUS"

line of thinking. Maybe Russert is starting to catch onto the fact that having a moron run the country isn't that great, and wants to nip this in the bud

[LibDemAlways]

16. Allen has probably gone as far as he can in politics.

He has racial skeletons in his closet that would keep him off the ticket - even the repuke ticket.

[stevedeshazer]

15. Allen's a real genius, isn't he?

Every time I hear him, all I can think of is how DUMB he sounds.

Hell, he makes GW look almost smart.

[underpants]

18. Once again-Sweet Nectar of Liberty!!!!!

Allen said it AGAIN on Wednesday January 26th the year of our lord 2005

Condi Rice’s confirmation hearing
1/19/05
http://allen.senate.gov/?c=story&t=press&story=2005011961776.859375

Because of President Reagan's steadfast determination, hundreds of millions of people tasting that sweet nectar of liberty in central Europe are now friends and allies," said Senator Allen.

On the 2004 election
10/10/2004
http://www.vote-smart.org/speech_detail.php?speech_id=69507
Ronald Reagan's election changed the dynamic of the Cold War from one of containment and co-existence to the advancement of freedom. As a result, hundreds of millions of people in Central Europe, once behind the Iron Curtain, now taste the sweet nectar of liberty, have joined NATO, and are true friends and allies.

Senator Allen's Tribute to President Reagan
June 8, 2004
http://www.nrsc.org/nrscweb/newsdesk/articles/401.shtml

But President Reagan believed the blessings of liberty must not be bestowed only on a few nations and only to those blessed to be born on free soil; Ronald Reagan, with the strength of his convictions, exported and advanced democracy to continents, countries, and people yearning to taste the sweet nectar of libert.



GOVERNOR ALLEN SELECTED AS "JEFFERSON SCHOLAR"
August 28, 1998
http://www.alec.org/viewpage.cfm?pgname=3.1aa56

He also pointed to North Korea, China, Iraq, Cuba and other countries where "there are people who have never truly tasted freedom's sweet nectar.

[stevedeshazer]

27. Victorious America

Is this where Allen got this shit?

http://www.victoriousamerica.com/finalchap/ref_intro.htm

Looks like it:

<snip>

America must now stand alone to defend democracy as the forces of secular and religious tyrannies rise. She gave birth to these documents of freedom. She declared freedom of choice as the passport of liberty to be issued to those who were willing to defend and secure it and to keep the world free from fear and oppression. Now we are sailing thought this last great storm of deception. It is time to return to the our original point of departure as a nation where the quest for liberty first began, a war against tyranny, because liberty was born out of this and has been protected by its stance against it.

Therefore those nations and organizations that do not act to stand against tyranny and terrorism at this crucial juncture in history can not only no longer be considered our allies, but obstructionists in the noble quest to spread fundamental rights to all mankind.

Nations like Germany, France and Belgium that continue to taste the sweet nectar of liberty, secured thought the sacrifice of American blood seem to have forgotten to renew their passport of freedom. One needs to remind each of them especially France that Liberty is not tyranny's mistress and fear, self-interest and envy are not the alternatives to justify appeasement to nations of tyranny and terror, if one wishes to remain free and to be called a democracy and our ally.
======================================================================
I really do hate these people.

[ArkDem]

24. Say what you will about him but the Redskins haven't been the

same since he left.

[Nothing Without Hope]

25. This is really worth watching - George Allen looks like the fool he is n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

29. It's really worth seeing Allen caught lying n/t

[Nothing Without Hope]

30. kick - timely and should be seen n/t