BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE
FADED CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O HAS ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT ALREADY. ZACHMA -- HIS HOT AND HEAVY RELATIONSHIP WITH ZACH GALIFIANAKIS -- IS RUMORED TO HAVE ALREADY HIT THE ROCKS
NOW COMES THE LATEST WALL ST. JOURNAL - NBC POLL WHICH FINDS ONLY 41% OF AMERICANS APPROVE OF THE JOB BARRY O IS DOING.
REACHED FOR COMMENT, BARRY O HUFFED, "I'VE DONE A VIDEO WITH ZACH AND I'VE GONE SHOPPING AT THE GAP. THAT WAS SO MUCH WORK I WAS EXHAUSTED FOR THE WHOLE WEEK!"
FROM THE TCI WIRE:
Secretary of State John Kerry appeared this morning before the House
Appropriations State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs
Subcommittee. US House Rep Kay Granger is the Subcommittee Chair and US
House Rep Nita Lowey is the Ranking Member. Kerry was the only witness
as he begged for money -- tax payer money.
The theme of the hearing was: Let's All Pretend Iraq Doesn't Exist.
I was tipped off to that theme last night by a State Dept friend when I
noted I was going to have to be in two places at once -- the veterans
hearing and the State Dept budget hearing. "Iraq," I was told, "frankly
doesn't matter to him [John Kerry] and he'll only bring it up if
asked."
Looking at the roster of the Subcommittee members, it was obvious that
Israel would be at least the first hour. So I attended 90 minutes of
the veterans hearing (while asking a friend at Kerry's hearing to text
me if Iraq came up).
It did. Briefly in Kerry's opening remarks:
We have kept our funding request in line with what was appropriated to
the Department and USAID in Fiscal Year 2014 within our base request of
40.3 billion. And the additional part of our request for OCO, Overseas
Contingency Operations, totals 5.9 billion. And with OCO funding, we
support programs, as you know, in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, as we
continue to right-size those commitments.
That one sentence was it for his opening remarks.
If you don't get how John Kerry ran from Iraq, notice what he had to say
about the Syrian refugee crisis (and I'm using his prepared remarks
that were marked up by my friend to note the changes between prepared
and delivery):
For the Syrian people, for Lebanon, Turkey, for Jordan, coping with how
to keep their societies running and keep extremists at bay while they
host millions now of refugees, our support is critical to that. We’re
the largest donor in the world. And that helps us, because it is
critical to us that Lebanon and Jordan remain stable.
How do you talk about Syrian refugees and not note Iraq?
The only real mention of Iraq was from US House Rep Frank Wolf who kept
mentioning the Iraq Study Group (which accomplished nothing, a fact Wolf
misses) because he wants a Syrian Study Group and, get this, he wants
US President Barack Obama to ask Bully Boy Bush to head that Syrian
Study Group.
US House Rep Barbara Lee doesn't give a damn about war these days.
Judging by her tired and expanding face, all she cares about is eating.
She didn't even note Ukraine. I walked in when Barbara Fake Ass Lee
was testifying (speechifying? It wasn't questions). I did a double
take. I don't know if she's had plastic surgery or if she had just
pulled her hair back to harshly but her eye brows were up at least a
half inch more than usual and it really did look like a botched face
lift. If so, I'm glad she found a hobby to fill her time now that she no
longer uses it to call out war. And I'm especially glad she looks butt
ugly. In time, you do get the face you deserve and it's sitting on her
neck right now.
Prior to my arrival, the topics were (going by the texts my friend sent
me and his notes) Israel, Israel, Israel, that soda boycott (which Lowey
did not support), Israel, Egypt, Egypt, Israel, Ukraine, Iran, Cuba,
Israel, North Korea, Venezuela -- with the exception of Israel and Egypt
it was basically war requests from members of the Subcommittee --
Democrats and Republicans -- to go to war on these countries. Into that
mix, Babsie Lee offered nothing on peace, just scratched herself a lot
as she babbled on about Uganda (and it's LGBT issues). After I arrived?
War on Argentina because they don't fulfill their debts and even
more nonsense, if you can believe it. It's amazing how this
Subcommittee thinks the answer to everyone of the petty grudges is to
put US boots on the ground.
The US government does nothing to improve the lives of the Iraqi people
-- despite the fact that billions of US tax dollars flow to Iraq for
that supposed purpose.
So what does the State Dept work on?
They're lackeys for corporations. The State Dept works on debt collection -- a fact John Kerry felt was worth bragging about.
Secretary of State John Kerry: With our urging, Argentina has taken
some positive steps. In October they settled a long running investment
dispute with three US companies and implemented -- in January of this
year -- implemented an improved inflation index in order to address
inefficiencies in its IMF reporting and so forth. But we continue to
urge them to fulfill their global, international responsibilities.
US House Rep Debbie Wasserman Schultz wants war on Venezuela and demonized their president right after
Kerry said the Venezuelan government needed to stop demonizing people.
Debbie Washerwoman needs to learn to wash that ratty, oily hair. It
looks like the Exxon Valdez took a dump on her head.
Kerry pulled the little stunt he's so fond of doing since become
Secretary of State -- a stunt he wouldn't have stood for as Chair of the
Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
See, Secretary John is an 80s power woman in a Nolan Miller dress with
bulky shoulder pads. Secretary John is not just an 80s power woman,
John's an 80s super woman, rushing here, there and everywhere. It's
like a bad movie and he really needs an overweight sidekick (Baraba Lee,
you're being paged!) to pull it off his whole: I'm so busy, I can't
stay for the full hearing, I'm just too important and too busy to appear
before Congress for a full hearing. In other words, John looks like a
real bitch when he pulls this.
What John forgets?
If you pretend you have to leave, then you leave. You don't insist that
everyone be quick and that you'll reply in writing because you're in
such a rush and then go on to yack for 7 minutes straight because you
didn't like a statement a member of the Subcommittee made. He didn't
like the doubts about Barack's foreign policy or Iran and felt the need
to bore everyone with just how yawning inducing he can be ". . . we're
helping Tunisia, we're working on Libya, I just came from a conference
on Libya . . ."
Pretending, in that bitchy manner, that your time's too valuable for
Congress is misguided unless you're looking to add "Bitch" to your
professional title. But what's even worse is pretending you have to go
and then refusing to stop speaking.
It was during this marathon jaw boning that Kerry brought up Iraq for the second time.
Secretary John Kerry: We have inspectors -- not as frequently as the
other two but sufficiently - in Iraq in the plutonium reactor. They are
not able to complete the plutonium reactor.
Well thank goodness for that. They're not able to complete the plutonium reactor.
Except . . .
"They" isn't Iraq.
He said "Iraq."
He meant Iran.
He didn't want to talk about Iraq and a useless Subcommittee didn't want to either.
Iraq's all over the State Dept's FY2015 budget. Let's note some of it.
For the "Overseas Contingency Operations funding," the report notes:
In Iraq, OCO funding of $501.4 million supports operational requirements, movement security,
equipment and associated Operation and Maintenance, physical and technical security, static guards, and
security operations in Basrah and Erbil. The request is $4.4 million above the FY 2014 level and funded
through Worldwide Security Protection, consistent with FY 2014 Congressional action.
That's a half billion right there on Iraq. Right there.
But the useless members of the Subcommittee wanted you to instead know
that they pledge alliegence to the government of Israel, that they want
war on Venezuela's democratically-elected government and that the
grudge-fu**ing of Cuba will never, ever end as long as they draw breath.
A half billion's a lot. It's not all. I told another State Dept friend
I was going to review the budget and he couldn't stop laughing. It's a
fudged budget and it doesn't even add up on paper.
What? I was confused.
He flipped to a table in the back which notes $250 million is the amount
being requested for "Foreign Military Financing" for Iraq.
I was confused still. He flipped several pages and pointed this section out to me:
The FY 2015 Foreign Military Financing (FMF) Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) request of
$537 million is for Iraq and Pakistan.
Pakistan ($280 million): Given the ongoing transition in Afghanistan
and continued terrorist attacks
against civilian and military targets throughout Pakistan, FMF is
essential to Pakistan’s efforts to
increase stability in its western border region and ensure overall
stability within its own borders. The
$280 million Pakistan request will enhance the Pakistan Army, Frontier
Corps, Air Force, and Navy’s
ability to conduct counterinsurgency (COIN) and counterterrorism (CT)
operations against militants
throughout its borders, especially in the Federally Administered Tribal
Areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, improve Pakistan’s ability to deter
threats emanating from those areas, and encourage continued U.S.-Pakistan military-to-military engagement. FMF will continue to focus on seven
priority areas identified and agreed to with the Government of Pakistan, including precision strike; air
mobility and combat search and rescue; counter-improvised explosive devise and battlefield
survivability; battlefield communications; night operations; border security; and maritime
security/counternarcotics in support of CT aims.
Iraq ($267 million): The $257 million requested for Iraq in FY 2015 broadly focuses on helping the
Iraqis improve the capability and professionalism of their military and builds upon the efforts made
since 2003 by the U.S. military, coalition forces, and Iraqi military operations and initiatives. Of the
Iraq request, $7 million will fund administrative costs associated with the Office of Security
Cooperation in Iraq, which also supports implementation of Iraq’s own significant and ongoing
purchases through the Foreign Military Sales program. FMF will help ensure that a strong U.S.-Iraq
relationship is in place as Iraq continues to rely on its own fiscal resources to contribute to peace and
security in the region. The program will focus on the development of enduring logistics capabilities
and institutions to sustain U.S. and Iraqi post-war investments; professionalizing the security forces;
and strengthening the United States' long-term strategic partnership with Iraq.
Do you get that. The table's saying $250 million. The text is saying $267 million.
They don't give a damn.
This is what they turned into Congress.
The figures within the report turned in can't even be reconciled within the report/request itself.
And Congress is so damn stupid that they don't even notice it. (No, I
might not have caught it on my own. But, to the relief of most
Americans, I'm also not a member of Congress so it's not like it's my
job to pay attention to the budget the State Dept misrepresents to
Congress.)
There are 'glitches' like that throughout the report.
This is US taxpayer money and this budget demonstrates how much scorn
the administration has for the American people. They don't even care
that their own figures within the report don't add up.
And they know Congress will spread or bend over (to each their own
desired position) and just holler "Yes!" in an orgasmic orgy of spending
-- of wasting -- the tax payers money.
Can you image a business -- a legitimate one -- turning in a budget that
didn't add up, whose figures said one thing in one section and another
thing in another?
(If you want to crunch numbers, PDF format warning, you can find the budget online here.
You'll find many interesting tidbits such as 1.4 million for Iraq's
"International Military Education and Training," 11 million for
"International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement" and 22.5 million
"Economic Support Fund.")
One thing to remember, something the Subcommittee members all seemed to
forget, this was billed as a "budget" hearing. But outside of two
Democrats whining on behalf of the farmers in their communities, no one
felt the need to even acknowledge the money issues.
RECOMMENDED: "Iraq snapshot"
"Damon Albarn, St. Vincent, Kelis and Eagulls live ..."
"Iraq: At least 423 violent deaths so far this mont..."
"Nouri The Child Molestor and the media that covers..."
"Update on CCR’s Animal Enterprise Terrorism Case"
"Say no to another war! (Workers World)"
"The Lawlessness of the Enforce the Law Act"
"Kerry punks Congress"
"music thoughts"
"The Hollywood Reporter lies"
"Revolution"
"Sady Doyle's reaching -- and then some"
"From Lena Dunham's lips to God's ears"
"House Appropriations State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Subcommittee hearing"
"Janell Hobson is a piece of garbage who hates her own race"
"Barry Grey sticks to the facts"
"Matthew Rothschild's back"
"Barry goes shopping"
"THIS JUST IN! BARRY O THE FASHIONISTA!"
