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kpete
kpete's Journal
kpete's Journal
May 31, 2015
Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) led the push for Bill Clinton’s impeachment. Following a disappointing election in November 1998, he announced he was stepping down as Speaker and resigning from Congress.
Gingrich later admitted that, while he was pushing for Clinton’s impeachment, he was engaged in an affair with a Congressional aide. “There were times when I was praying and when I felt I was doing things that were wrong. But I was still doing them,” Gingrich said in 2007. He later said the situation was “complex and, obviously, I wasn’t doing things to be proud of.”
Bob Livingston
After Gingrich announced his resignation, Republicans unanimously selected Rep. Bob Livingston (R-LA) to succeed him.
................................
On the day of the impeachment vote, Livingston announced he was resigning following revelations that he had engaged in an extramarital affair. According to Hustler Magazine Publisher Larry Flint, who offered a reward for information about the sex lives of members of Congress, he “found four women who said they had been involved with Mr. Livingston over the last 10 years.”
Dennis Hastert
Following Livingston’s resignation, which occurred on the same day the House voted on impeachment, Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) quickly gained support of the Republican leadership to succeed him as Speaker-designate. He began formally serving as speaker in January 1999, and held that role while the Senate conducted their trial on the articles of impeachment.
On Thursday, Hastert was indicted on charges that he illegally structured $1.7 million in payments to an individual in an attempt to cover up prior misconduct. According to reports, the payments were allegedly intended to “conceal sexual abuse against a former male student he knew during his days as a teacher in Yorkville, Ill.” The LA Times also reported that “investigators also spoke with a second man who raised similar allegations that corroborated what the former student said.”
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/05/30/3664334/now-know-republican-speakers-helped-impeach-bill-clinton/
The 3 Men Who Led The Impeachment Of Clinton
Newt GingrichSpeaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) led the push for Bill Clinton’s impeachment. Following a disappointing election in November 1998, he announced he was stepping down as Speaker and resigning from Congress.
Gingrich later admitted that, while he was pushing for Clinton’s impeachment, he was engaged in an affair with a Congressional aide. “There were times when I was praying and when I felt I was doing things that were wrong. But I was still doing them,” Gingrich said in 2007. He later said the situation was “complex and, obviously, I wasn’t doing things to be proud of.”
Bob Livingston
After Gingrich announced his resignation, Republicans unanimously selected Rep. Bob Livingston (R-LA) to succeed him.
................................
On the day of the impeachment vote, Livingston announced he was resigning following revelations that he had engaged in an extramarital affair. According to Hustler Magazine Publisher Larry Flint, who offered a reward for information about the sex lives of members of Congress, he “found four women who said they had been involved with Mr. Livingston over the last 10 years.”
Dennis Hastert
Following Livingston’s resignation, which occurred on the same day the House voted on impeachment, Rep. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) quickly gained support of the Republican leadership to succeed him as Speaker-designate. He began formally serving as speaker in January 1999, and held that role while the Senate conducted their trial on the articles of impeachment.
On Thursday, Hastert was indicted on charges that he illegally structured $1.7 million in payments to an individual in an attempt to cover up prior misconduct. According to reports, the payments were allegedly intended to “conceal sexual abuse against a former male student he knew during his days as a teacher in Yorkville, Ill.” The LA Times also reported that “investigators also spoke with a second man who raised similar allegations that corroborated what the former student said.”
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/05/30/3664334/now-know-republican-speakers-helped-impeach-bill-clinton/
May 31, 2015
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/judith-millers-comeback-20150529#ixzz3bixB3zVE
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
ROLLING STONE: Judith Miller's Comeback: "400 pages of dogs eating 400 pages of homework"
Judith Miller's Comeback
The disgraced reporter's memoir: 400 pages of dogs eating 400 pages of homework
By Matt Taibbi May 29, 2015
a snippet:
Miller is not a gifted writer in the normal sense, but she does have one very obvious skill on the page: certainty. (Here it comes: Hitler, another otherwise plodding writer, had the same talent!) Miller on paper is so sure of herself that the reader may find his or her self mesmerized by the lack of qualification. This unwavering quality in her writing is very unique and helped sell a fake war to a whole country.
Years later, she is still blind to the fact that that was the flaw, the abject certainty she brought to her work. Instead of addressing that profound and no doubt deeply unsettling personal problem, she repeated the mistake, apparently spending all of these years in the wilderness coming up with a 400-page explanation for why nothing that happened was her fault. It's amazing on the one hand, but also depressing, even for her sake.
In the F. Scott Fitzgerald era of "no second acts in American lives," Miller would never have returned to the public stage. A successful comeback now would mark a new peak in the Reality TV era, a time when all fame is value-neutral and infamy, if marketed correctly, is just another stage of celebrity. Is this really going to happen?
Years later, she is still blind to the fact that that was the flaw, the abject certainty she brought to her work. Instead of addressing that profound and no doubt deeply unsettling personal problem, she repeated the mistake, apparently spending all of these years in the wilderness coming up with a 400-page explanation for why nothing that happened was her fault. It's amazing on the one hand, but also depressing, even for her sake.
In the F. Scott Fitzgerald era of "no second acts in American lives," Miller would never have returned to the public stage. A successful comeback now would mark a new peak in the Reality TV era, a time when all fame is value-neutral and infamy, if marketed correctly, is just another stage of celebrity. Is this really going to happen?
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/judith-millers-comeback-20150529#ixzz3bixB3zVE
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook
May 31, 2015
Beau Biden, age 4, watches from his hospital bed as father Joe Biden is sworn in as a U.S. senator. | AP Photo
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/beau-biden-former-118450.html#ixzz3birPIjrp
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/beau-biden-former-118450.html
Beau Biden, age 4, watches from his hospital bed as father Joe Biden is sworn in as a U.S. senator.
Beau Biden, age 4, watches from his hospital bed as father Joe Biden is sworn in as a U.S. senator. | AP Photo
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/beau-biden-former-118450.html#ixzz3birPIjrp
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/beau-biden-former-118450.html
May 30, 2015
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/30/1389022/-Barney-Frank-calls-out-Dennis-Hastert-GOP-hypocrisy-with-a-perfect-statement
Barney Frank calls out Dennis Hastert & GOP hypocrisy with a perfect statement
Barney Frank:"There is a hypocrisy issue," Barney Frank said. "Dennis Hastert was a member of the House who voted for the Defense of Marriage act. He subsequently as Speaker twice put before the House of Representatives the constitutional amendment that would have cancelled retroactively all the same sex marriages that had taken place legally. ... The rank hypocrisy of this man using his power to persecute other people for doing what he was doing. Secondly, and it is relevant to note that in terms of the hypocrisy area, you mentioned Gingrich had to quit. It turns out Gingrich was at the time having an affair with the woman he is now married who was an employee of the House Agriculture Committee. And then Livingston who was supposed to replace him had to quit because he was having an affair not just with a woman but with a lobbyist who was lobbying him. So then in an effort to get somebody [who was clean], they get Hastert. The point is that all this was happening while they were impeaching Bill Clinton for having oral sex. So I think that it now looks like if you take Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, Dennis Hastert, and Robert Livingston the the Republican Speakers or would be speakers, Clinton is a choir boy."
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/30/1389022/-Barney-Frank-calls-out-Dennis-Hastert-GOP-hypocrisy-with-a-perfect-statement
May 30, 2015
More Americans Support Bernie Sanders For President Than Every Republican Contender
Social liberalism is on a fast rise, Bernie Sanders is appealing to old school GOP voters, and now he has more support for the presidency than any of the Republican contenders for 2016. Is America seeing a progressive uprising? I sure hope so.
A recent Quinnipiac Poll shows that Senator Sanders is supported by 15% of Democratic voters compared to 57% who support Hillary Clinton. Vice President Joe Biden nabs 9% of the vote with the other 14% undecided.
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2228
However, the interesting part is no one in the GOP has over 10% support. Senator Marco Rubio (FL), Governor Scott Walker, Ben Carson, Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee are all tied for 10% while Senators Rand Paul (KY) and Ted Cruz (TX) have 7% and 6% respectively. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina trails with only 2%.
So, in other words, more people rally around Bernie Sanders than they do a solid GOP candidate. Even though the GOP field has over 9 declared candidates and an additional 8 considering a run, the Democrats factored in (among Clinton and Sanders) Joe Biden, Lincoln Chafee, Martin O’Malley, and Jim Webb.
MORE:
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/05/29/more-americans-support-bernie-sanders-for-president-than-every-republican-contender/
May 29, 2015
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2005/09/edmonds200509
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2005/08/03/607/55336/otherpolitics/Vanity-Fair-Reports-on-Alleged-Turkish-Bribes-of-Hastert
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brad-friedman/fbi-whistleblower-hastert_b_277704.html
05 FBI Translator Sibel Edmonds Overhears Wiretap: "Denny Boy" Hastert-$$$ For Political Favors+info
A September 2005 article in Vanity Fair revealed that during her work, former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds had heard Turkish wiretap targets boast of covert relations with Hastert. The article states, "the targets reportedly discussed giving Hastert tens of thousands of dollars in surreptitious payments in exchange for political favors and information. Following his congressional career, Hastert received a $35,000 per month contract lobbying on behalf of Turkey:
But that isn't the half of the allegations against Hastert. Vanity Fair's September edition, now out in New York but yet to hit national newsstands, packs a punch with an article about Sibel Edmonds, the FBI translator who has been gagged by the Bush Administration from revealing information about conversations she translated surrounding a seemingly major corruption scandal involving Turkish nationals and U.S. lawmakers. From Vanity Fair: "Edmonds has given confidential testimony inside a secure Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility on several occasions: to congressional staffers, to investigators from the OIG, and to staff from the 9/11 commission," Rose continues. "Sources familiar with this testimony say that, in addition to her allegations about the Dickersons, she reported hearing Turkish wiretap targets boast that they had a covert relationship with a very senior Republican indeed - Dennis Hastert, Republican congressman from Illinois and Speaker of the House since 1999. The targets reportedly discussed giving Hastert tens of thousands of dollars in surreptitious payments in exchange for political favors and information. "The Dickersons," says one official familiar with the case, "are just the tip of the iceberg." "Some of the calls reportedly contained what sounded like references to large scale drug shipments and other crimes," writes Rose. "One name, however, apparently stood out - a man the Turkish callers often referred to by the nickname "Denny boy." It was the Republican congressman from Illinois and Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert. According to some of the wiretaps, the FBI's targets had arranged for thousands of dollars to be paid to Hastert's campaign funds in small checks. Under Federal Election Commission rules, donations of less than $200 are not required to be itemized in public filings.
More:
http://www.bidstrup.com/arc20060501.htm
More:
http://www.bidstrup.com/arc20060501.htm
http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2005/09/edmonds200509
http://www.talkleft.com/story/2005/08/03/607/55336/otherpolitics/Vanity-Fair-Reports-on-Alleged-Turkish-Bribes-of-Hastert
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brad-friedman/fbi-whistleblower-hastert_b_277704.html
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