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Taylor Marsh has been writing on line since 1996, with the archives provided here a representation of that work.

Tag Archives | investigation

Pentagon Papers II, Afghanistan Edition

By on 26 July 2010



Somewhere in hell, Gen. Westmoreland is rolling over.

Pres. Obama’s job of keeping the American people on board just got tougher. Wikileaks.org just unloaded a huge block of documents on the Afghanistan war, which mainly traces the Bush era debacles.

The White House is not amused:

“We strongly condemn the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organisations, which puts the lives of the US and partner service members at risk and threatens our national security. Wikileaks made no effort to contact the US government about these documents, which may contain information that endanger the lives of Americans, our partners, and local populations who co-operate with us.” – Retired Marine General Jim Jones, National Security Adviser

The New York Times revealed at the same time something that has been suspected for a long time: “…an organization called WikiLeaks, suggest that Pakistan, an ostensible ally of the United States, allows representatives of its spy service to meet directly with the Taliban…”

There has been a lot of talk about V.P. Joe Biden’s strategy of looking to Pakistan, which has been used to attack Pres. Obama on his Afghanistan focus as being wrongly pointed. If we learn anything from the reports coming out and the new Wikileaks it should be that engaging in Central Asia isn’t a simple equation of choosing one of these countries over another.

We’re up to our eyeballs in intrigue and it is becoming clear we don’t have the first clue how far behind we are in understanding the players or their motives.

More writing on the secret CIA paramilitaries, aka “the euphemism here is OGA, for ‘other government agency’” is going to bring high decibel caterwauling. Civilian casualties in war are always heartbreaking. But I don’t know what people are expecting in a complicated, civilian embedded enemy zone during an assymetrical free for all. I’m not condoning it, but let’s not be naive. What did you think was going on in Afghanistan?

But if you want to know why Gen. McChrystal blew his career by venting to a Rolling Stone reporter, the information cascading out right now leads you to the answer.

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Immigration Beheadings! Bunk

By on 09 July 2010

If I lived in Arizona, I’d be embarrassed. Gov. Brewer is a disgrace, but so is John McCain, Jon Kyl, and Mike Huckabee. But Brewer is starting to sound a lot like Sharon Angle.

Jan Brewer has lost her head. The Arizona governor, seemingly determined to repel every last tourist dollar from her pariah state, has sounded a new alarm about border violence. “Our law enforcement agencies have found bodies in the desert either buried or just lying out there that have been beheaded,” she announced on local television. Ay, caramba! Those dark-skinned foreigners are now severing the heads of fair-haired Americans? Maybe they’re also scalping them or shrinking them or putting them on a spike. [...] – Dana Milbank

Not a fan of Dana “mad bitch beer” Milbank, but this column is a beauty. He destroys the right-wing talking points shown in the compilation video via WonkRoom.

As for the Justice Dept. case against Arizona, Brewer isn’t seen to have much of a chance, according to multiple reports, the latest in the LA Times.

“It’s one thing for MALDEF [Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund] or the ACLU to say this [Arizona law] interferes with federal policy. It is quite a different thing when the federal government goes to court and says it,” said Jack Chin, a University of Arizona law professor. “The clear rule has been that states do not have the power to regulate immigration.”

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Al Gore’s Paula Jones

By on 24 June 2010

Drudge is hoping for a comeback to his glory days, giving the Gore story the Clinton treatment.

After the Edwards scandal and the media spiking the story for years, The Oregonian at least printed some details, including the fact that the case wasn’t investigated because there wasn’t sufficient evidence. It’s been picked up by the AP, Washington Post, and every right-wing blog you can name.

The details of the case coming so close after the Gores’ separation provide lots of fodder. Former Vice President Al Gore’s office didn’t respond to my query for further comment, with Kalee Kreider having given this statement to the
Oregonian, which is where they’re leaving it: “Not only has there not been a settlement, we haven’t been approached about one nor can we imagine any basis for one.”

John Powerline asks a stupefying question: I know the “imagine if it were a Republican” theme gets tedious, but still: is it conceivable that if there were a police report accusing Dick Cheney of a sexual assault, it would not be the occasion for the biggest media frenzy of recent years? If this happened and if a “media frenzy” resulted it would be because the very event of a “sexual assault” would likely kill the man.

Not even the National Enquirer, who broke the story, seems to be taking this as seriously as they did the never ending John Edwards scandal. The documents that detail the alleged event are hilarious, though I fully realize that if this were true there would be nothing funny about it. I just find the entire storyline the stuff of romance novels, complete with repetitive plot line we’ve seen before.

[...] She also detailed why she didn’t flee, claiming she was fearful she might be shot or tasered by the retired politician’s security detail.

However, when Detective Cheryl Daul of Portland Police, quizzed the masseuse further, she later admitted she saw no security in or near the hotel suite; a contradiction that she apparently did not grasp.

After first being rebuffed, Gore tried another tactic, according to the woman, “pleading for the release of his second chakra ” — a euphemism for sexual activity, she claimed. [...]

… The woman alleged Gore tried to take off her top and then told her to come into the bedroom and listen to his iPod, a song by Pink “about the current president, Bush, that would shock me,” she told police.

Gore then played “Dear Mr. President” and according to the police documents, that was the trigger for things to get rougher.

But Mr. Gore has finally got his Paul Jones, with a splash of Lewinski added in for drama. Gore’s accuser calls him “a crazed sex poodle.” Oh, it gets better:

After fleeing Gore’s suite, the woman returned home to discover, a la Lewinsky, “stains on the front of my black slacks.” Suspecting that the stains were Gore bodily fluids, the woman made sure not to clean them. “I carefully hung them up and decided to be sure not to launder them until I knew more what to do with what had happened. Just my intuition.” While the masseuse hired a civil attorney, “I was not interested in making any money from this case,” she told cops. “I did not want to be labeled a gold digger like the women in this situation are often labeled.” The woman recently eased off this principled stand when she offered to sell her story to the National Enquirer for $1 million.

I mean, really.

The D.A. closed the case for lack of evidence:

Law enforcement authorities in Portland, Oregon said Wednesday they had investigated complaints by a 54-year-old masseuse that she was “subjected to unwanted sexual touching” by former Vice President Al Gore in 2006, but that the case was closed for insufficient evidence.

“Insufficient evidence” is why she’s taking her case to the media.

Statute of limitations for this drama, which would be considered a “third-degree sex abuse” charge, runs out in 2013. The alleged victim has not filed a civil suit.

Maybe some new Republican “elves”* will surface to help Al’s accuser out.

*“Elves” – Coined by Michael Isikoff, it once referred to right-wing lawyers, two of whom were Richard Pryor and Jerome Marcus, with the Federalist Society their common political bond, who provided anonymous and pro bono legal help to Paul Jones on the condition that they not be identified. Anne Coulter would later surface among the Jones’ “elves,” too. In fact, the “elves” reached out to Ken Starr before he was independent counsel. Some of his friends included the Independent Women’s Forum, which reportedly had respected conservative “luminaries,” to use Ken Gormley’s words. Ken Starr not only advised Jones’ attorneys, but filed a “friend of the court” brief on behalf of Jones before he got the job he coveted running the OIC. See Salon.com for more.

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Eric Holder Goes to Congress Unprepared

By on 16 May 2010

“It’s time for Americans across this great country to stand up and say, ‘We’re all Arizonans now. … And in clear unison we say, ‘Mr. President: Do your job. Secure our border.’” – Sarah Palin

Talk about serving up red meat to the right. File it under unhelpful.

It doesn’t take any time to read the Arizona law, yet before going in front of Congress, Eric Holder hadn’t done so. How does the Attorney General of the United States explain such blatant unpreparedness? Simple, he can’t.

Now it’s encapsulated in a TV ad, with added punch of Gov. Brewer now having Sarah Palin by her side.

… Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin joined the national battle over Arizona’s controversial new immigration law Saturday, appearing with Gov. Jan Brewer in Phoenix to denounce the Obama administration’s criticism of the law.

“It’s time for Americans across this great country to stand up and say ‘We’re all Arizonans now and, in clear unity, we say Mr. President, do your job, secure our border,’” Palin said, standing beside Brewer at a Saturday afternoon press conference. [...]

… “And while Mexico’s president has begun to crack down on the violent drug cartels and corruption in his own country,” she continued, “It’s time for the United States government to enforce the rule of law as well.”

Brewer also took jabs at Obama and the federal government.

“Our border is being erased and our president apparently considers it a wonderful opportunity to divide people along racial lines for his personal political convenience,” she said.

An example of Palin’s “momma grizzlies,” ready and willing to defend the border, while denying the Arizona law will encourage racial profiling. Never mind that it’s the federal government that is supposed to create and enforce immigration policy.

Therein lies the rub. The feds, with Obama now in charge, is hamstrung by a Congress that can’t move forward on securing the borders because of politics. But when you have the chief law enforcement officer parading on Capitol Hill unprepared it looks like you either don’t care about the people’s real troubles along the dangerous border of Mexico, or simply aren’t taking the real issue of border security seriously.

The Arizona law isn’t the answer. However, in an election year will Pres. Obama or the Congress have the will to do anything about it?

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Sunday Morning After, with Bill Maher Blasting Obama Over Oil

By on 02 May 2010

“Look,” Obama said, “obviously I’ve learned this year that politics can be a tough business. But there are times you can’t help but laugh. You know what really tickles me? Eric Massa,” he said of the former Democratic congressman from New York State who resigned amid allegations of sexual harrassment of staffers. “Apparently, Eric claimed that (White House Chief of Staff) Rahm Emanuel came up to him in the House locker room, stark naked, screaming obscenities at him. “To which I say, welcome to my world.” – W.H. C’spondents: Humor birthing room

A “crude car bomb” was found in New York City. However, Sect. Janet Napolitano says there’s no evidence that it was “anything other than a one-off.”

A crude car bomb of propane, gasoline and fireworks was discovered in a smoking Nissan Pathfinder in the heart of Times Square on Saturday evening, prompting the evacuation of thousands of tourists and theatergoers on a warm and busy night. Although the device had apparently started to detonate, there was no explosion, and early on Sunday the authorities were still seeking a suspect and motive.

“We are very lucky,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said at a 2:15 a.m. press conference. “We avoided what could have been a very deadly event.”

As for what Bill Maher said on Friday night, I’m all over it, Bill. Because the truth is that since the BP oil catastrophe, Obama’s mantra of wait now, drill later, seen through the prism of our spill, baby, spill reality, is not all that much different from what the right-wing crowd like Sarah Palin is promoting.

MAHER: The Teabag, well, you know they always say they feel like neither Party represents them. That’s how I feel this week. So Teabaggers, you’re not alone. And the reason why is because yes, I’m mad at the oil company who didn’t obviously build their rig well enough. I’m mad at America in general because we should have gotten off the oil tit starting in the ’70s. I’m mad at the people who go, “Drill, baby, drill.” And by the way, they should turn up on the Gulf Coast and start cleaning up the birds with their “Drill, baby, drill” t-shirts. But I’ll tell you who I’m really mad at which is Barack Obama. Couple of weeks ago, the President, our President said, “It turns out the oil rigs today generally don’t cause oil spills. They are technologically very advanced.” Now if, if I was quoting George Bush, this crowd would be laughing in hysterics.

LAURA TYSON, ECONOMIST AND FORMER CLINTON ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Yes they would.

MAHER: So, why isn’t Barack Obama getting more shit for this? I think he should.

…and since it’s Sunday, Sect. Clinton will be on with David Gregory, who finally gets a new set. It’s marvelous and long overdue. We’ll now have to see how they use it.

As for the Gulf spill, beyond yesterday’s phone call with Denis McDonough, Com. Thad Allen and John Brennan, I reached out to oil experts on the matter. One of the big critiques so far is that the PR effort is lousy, though that’s my wording not theirs. Senior officials need to do more than be on media calls. There’s an overall outreach effort that is also lacking, according to experts who know the drill. But everyone agrees that BP will be judged on how effective they are in stopping the leak at the source, not to mention their on PR efforts, which begin today on “This Week.” I also heard beefs about the constant mantra that BP will pay for the spill, which is hardly the only issue rising to the top on this one. How the catastrophe will be managed is the bottom line. BP is looking like they were in no way prepared for what has erupted in the Gulf, which lends extra weight to what one long-time oil pro said, which is that you have to have a structure in place to handle the response management of a catastrophe of this size; not simply concoct one after something explodes. Pres. Obama’s on his way there today.

What’s on your mind today? Consider this an open news thread.

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Palin’s Hand-y List

By on 07 February 2010

Tea Party Palin

Stefan Sirucek of Huffington Post broke this story.

“Energy.”

“Budget [crossed out] (Cuts).”

“Tax.”

“Lift American spirits.”

If Sarah Palin thought she needed notes there is no reason or excuse for not simply bringing them. The junior high school action of writing things on your hand you want to remember is so fundamentally embarrassing for an adult to do that there is really nowhere to go with this except to state the obvious. Mrs. Palin is so insecure, while being so protective of her own image, that she wanted to hide the fact that she might need notes to keep her on point. That there is nothing wrong with having notes is obvious. The character flaw in trying to fool people that you don’t want them to know you do reminiscent of the 2008 primary season.

The writers on Saturday Night Live will have a banquet on this one. But I can’t wait for Jon Stewart on Monday.

Why Sarah Palin wouldn’t protect herself, setting herself up for such ridicule is beyond comprehension. Except, she just doesn’t care, feeling that the worst has happened, so that there’s almost a bulletproof nonchalance about it.

Ann Althouse weighs in and proves there’s some truth to that:

It might be a little silly to have writing on your hand, and it’s definitely awkward to look at your hand in the middle of answering a question, but those few words could hardly be of much help if you actually don’t know what you are talking about.

Silly, indeed.

The place this leads me is if Sarah Palin was a man what would happen to his reputation if he’d done something so amateurish? Yet Palin’s fans will continue to flock to her. It’s not surprising, as it’s the nature of her star power and why watching her is so fascinating. Althouse’s reaction instrumental in the collective shrug this will bring from many.

But not even George W. Bush tried this stunt and he needed all the help he could get.

The right is coming to her rescue:

And here’s a test: How many readers have NEVER written crib notes on their hand? Perhaps a few. Now, how many have pronounced “corpsman” as “corpse-man” in a nationally televised broadcast? I see. None. And with that, the trophy for ultimate stupidity goes to TOTUS.

Now, Obama earned jeers from me and others over his teleprompter at a 6th grade school room, which was earned.

It’s up to you if Sarah’s hand-y list is the same or worse.

Sarah Palin wants to be taken seriously, so let’s state the obvious to say this isn’t the way to go about it.

But the oddity of where we are in politics today is that it won’t phase some people, especially those who’ll be going to the polls in November. As for 2012… It will be very old news by then, though her adversaries aren’t likely to forget it and I’m not just talking about Democrats either.

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