Ratfucking- Apparently DU Needs A Refresher Course What With Support For Norquist's "Investigation"

[KittyWampus]

Some DU'ers seem to think Norquist "just wants an investigation".

Apparently the Republicans infesting Wikipedia have contested the Ratfucking entry and it's just a passing mention on the Dirty Politics entry. The below is from an old DU post I just googled.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratfucking

Ratfucking is an American slang term for political sabotage or dirty tricks. It was first brought to public attention by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in their book All the President's Men.

...Woodward and Bernstein's exposé All the President's Men reports that many staffers who had attended the University of Southern California such as Donald Segretti, Tim Elbourne, Ronald Louis Ziegler, H. R. Haldeman and Dwight Chapin had participated in the highly-competitive student elections there. UPI reporter Karlyn Barker sent Woodward and Bernstein a memo "Notes On the USC Crowd" that outlined the connection.

It was here that the term "ratfucking" had its origin. It is unclear whether it was derived from the military term for stealing the better part of military rations and tossing the less appetizing portions away or if the military adopted the phrase from the political lexicon.

...the purpose of the campaign was to create as much bitterness and disunity within the Democrat primary as possible.... He also said he was interested in planting spies in the Democrat candidate's offices."



here's a snippet from the Karl Rove link at the bottom of the linked page above-

Rove traveled extensively, participating as an instructor at weekend seminars for campus conservatives across the country. He was an active participant in Richard Nixon's 1972 Presidential campaign. As a protégé of Donald Segretti (later convicted as a Watergate conspirator), Rove painted the Nixon opponent George McGovern as a "left-wing peacenik", in spite of McGovern's World War II stint piloting a B-24.<10>

[Skidmore]

1. K&R Association with Norquist is a suicide pact.

[WeDidIt]

2. Norquist will use the firebaggers to try and bring down Obama

then drown Firedoglake in a bathtub.

[malaise]

3. +1 n/t

[blondeatlast]

Dead-on target; that is no doubt what's going on in his evil little mind. nt

[Frances]

Agree

Norquist wants the richest 2% to have all the power and the rest of us to serve as serfs. Norquist wants to destroy the middle class so that it will be easier for the top 2% to control the poor, uneducated masses. The intellectual work necessary for the U.S. to run will be done by immigrants imported for limited times at low pay with no power to vote or otherwise deter the richest.

I can only assume that the people at Firedoglake never lived under segregationist/apartheid rules. They just don't have a clue as to how bad things can be when "good" people are jailed LEGALLY because of laws written by the powerful.

When I was growing up the Ku Klux Klan membership was composed of poor whites, but the poor whites killing blacks were protected by the richest Southerners (the big mules) who controlled the legislature and the judiciary and the police/sheriffs. The Klan's "pay" was a guarantee that blacks, no matter how smart or how hard-working, would always be a class below the poor whites.

[KittyWampus]

12. These ratfuckers sided WITH Apartheid in South Africa. To believe they just want a little ole

investigation into Rahm Emmanuel is hopelessly ignorant.

They actively channeled money into South Africa.

[OneGrassRoot]

4. At some point, it simply becomes about integrity...

Being knowledgeable about political games, maneuvering and machinations are one thing as far as "working the system" to achieve a desired result. Partnering with Grover Norquist et al is, to me, an example of losing one's integrity.

If the desired goal had integrity to begin with, that is.

An awful lot of ego is taking over and the goals themselves are disappearing. Sheer survival is taking hold and the basest of human emotions are being revealed for all to see in our supposedly "civilized" society.

These choices are up to us. We can stand in our integrity with our choices of who and what we support. Or not.

IMHO.

[WilliamPitt]

5. Wait wait wait wait wait wait

DUers are jumping on board with Norquist?!

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask for a link or two to support that contention.

[babylonsister]

6. Here, though the motive is suspect...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7325195#7325209

[WilliamPitt]

8. Gad zooks

:banghead:

[KittyWampus]

9. okay okay okay here's one from this morning-

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7324454

[KittyWampus]

10. The other day (it was locked)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7320601

[POAS]

14. It's so true Will

So called "progressives" lying down with the likes of Grover and soon they'll be wondering how they got fleas.

Lee Atwater must be so proud of his minions!

edited to add:

They are also going after Bernie, start at the link below and then search for more vileness, I don't have the stomach for it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7313439&mesg_id=7313439

[WeDidIt]

16. It started with Jane Hamsher

This is what being pissed off over HCR has lead to.

[POAS]

18. I'm not so sure it doesn't predate

even the election of 2008 from within the "PUMA" camp.

[WeDidIt]

19. I'm sure tons of PUMAs have now become firebaggers n/t

[NoPasaran]

20. There never really were tons of PUMAs

In fact, they could probably all fit into Grover Norquist's bathtub.

[WeDidIt]

25. Apparently, they've all jumped into Norquist's bathtub. n/t

[KittyWampus]

7. I"m too busy hiding out in the Barack Obama Group forum here on DU. Only wandered into GD

to post this... sorry.

[blondeatlast]

11. Post 37 and beyond here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=7309075

I, for one, was flabbergasted.

[blondeatlast]

13. Norquist was more responsible for the Katrina disaster than anyone, really. It's gratifying

that many DUers are aware of his history and know that some are playing a dangerous game by allying with them.

Kudos--keep up the good work.

[Kingofalldems]

15. Bet the rent--he already has his own Plan X

[sendero]

17. Fannie and Freddie.

... were a serious part of this but on the list of bad actors they come in around fifth or sixth.

Mostly unnoticed around here was the Federal gov't now declaring that they will backstop any and all losses at Fannie and Freddie effectively squaring the circle - taxpayers now bail out EVERYBODY.

[MH1]

21. Everybody? Who usually gets Freddy or Fannie loans?

I know I didn't.

[sendero]

22. About half of the mortgages extant..

.. in the US are owned by Fannie or Freddie.

[MH1]

31. But it's for lower income or less attractive mortgagees, right?

(I mean less attractive to the banks of course)

If you have a 700+ credit score don't you do better outside of Fannie or Freddie? I just remember looking into it and finding it wasn't the best deal. I assumed it was for people who have a harder time getting a mortgage, to expand opportunities for home ownership.

[bridgit]

23. RatFucking is pretty straight forward, if I saw RatFucking on a menu I wouldn't order it...

But when Laissez-faire Fascism dusts off Norquist's little makeup kit and sends him packing out front, it's not a routine day; they have a sense and rightly so - their free lunch is in grave peril and their pernicious obscenities are subject to review






http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5ULlIP5MJMs/R7hhqypkKUI/AAAAAAAAAnk/aZyDz-6_saw/s320/Grover+Norquist%27s+Bath.jpg



Of course Grover wants an investigation, just not of anything he or his puppet masters are actually doing


And so he throws the monkey somewhere else. The RW has little cared for Immanuel for a long time, and with the left in a gushing outrage themselves over Immanuel; Norquist, being really *not* a creative guy even as a mouthpiece more so as a pissy little yip-yip able to follow instructions - is, however, very able to see a triangulated moment already standing right there. Already smiling already scorned http://firedoglake.com/2009/12/23/jane-hamsher-grover-norquist-call-for-rahm-emmanuel%E2%80%99s-resignation

[femrap]

24. Grover Norquist is NOT

to be trusted. And if I found myself agreeing with him, I would stop dead in my tracks and investigate further.

No way I'm agreeing with this crook.

[bertman]

26. It's been interesting watching this scenario unfold. First, Jane Hamsher deigns to go on Fox

and say that she's unhappy with the healthcare deform that's going on. Can you believe that?? How could anyone be unhappy with our President's healthcare deform?

So, she's pilloried for being a traitor to the Democratic party (especially the segment that wants the Corporations to have complete and total control of EVERYTHING) despite the fact that she's expressing the sentiments of a very large percentage of Democrats. Apparently the audacity to appear on Faux News to try to inject at least one or two sentences of sanity into the otherwise totally slanted right-wing coverage was too much for some of us Democrats. After all, we are not supposed to talk to or interact with the "enemy", meaning the 30% or so of Americans who think Fox is a real news channel and who's views do not align with our own.

She appeared on Fox; therefore, she's a traitor. Ummm. This woman, who has had cancer three times, who has been a staunch advocate for women's rights, real healthcare reform, and liberal causes for years, whose website has informed and roused progressives to action, is NOW a traitor to our Democratic party? No frickin' way.

Now, she has called for an investigation of Rahm Emanuel's role in the Freddie/Fannie debacle, and none other than notorious right-winger Norquist jumps onto the same bandwagon, so Jane Hamsher is "joining forces" with him? Sounds to me like she is calling for the kind of investigation WE PROGRESSIVES should all be calling for, and Norquist has seen an opportunity to scare the bejesus out of the wimp wing of the Democratic party by going along with it. Does that mean that Jane Hamsher is being manipulated or co-opted by Norquist. Not hardly.

Does Jane Hamsher have a very good idea when she suggests that some of these issues of corporate influence in our government are NEITHER left-wing nor right-wing problems, but are simply problems that EVERY thinking American should be working to correct? I think she does. I think she is ahead of the pack when she sees that a coalition of working-class/middle-class Americans of all ideological stripes is what it is going to take to wrest control of our government from the hands of the corporatists. Is she becoming a right-winger by doing this? HELL NO. She's just talking common sense.

[KittyWampus]

27. #1. I'm unhappy with the HCR bill too & don't care if she goes on FOX. #2. Her having cancer is

immaterial to her behavior. #3. NORQUIST is the one who started the whole investigation and Hamsher was too shallow a thinker to act appropriately. #4. there is nothing left to investigate. It's BEEN investigated.

[ipaint]

29. No it was being investigated.

Ed Kelly , the inspector general was conducting an investigation into fannie and freddie and their part of the housing mess, which of course leads directly to Rahm's time on the board in 2000 and 2001, when Obama up and fired Kelly as IG, demoting him to an auditor. Obama also denied a freedom of information request by the chicago tribune to take a look at the minutes of the freddie board when Rahm was on it. He claimed it was commercial info even though it was federal government entity when rahm was on the board.
Rahm "can't remember" what happened when he was on the board.

Obama was able to demote Kelly because of a loophole in a law written and co-sponsored by none other than Rahm, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.
Obama never replaced the fired inspector general, 16 months and counting and lo and behold on christmas eve gave fannie and freddie a blank check for bailouts through 2012. Fannie and freddie are responsible for 6 trillion in loans.

No oversight, no accountability, no congress, no FOIA.



A bit of background about Rahm's time spent on the freddie board-

Rahm Emanuel's profitable stint at mortgage giant

The board met no more than six times a year. Unlike most fellow directors, Emanuel was not assigned to any of the board's working committees, according to company proxy statements. Immediately upon joining the board, Emanuel and other new directors qualified for $380,000 in stock and options plus a $20,000 annual fee, records indicate.

On Emanuel's watch, the board was told by executives of a plan to use accounting tricks to mislead shareholders about outsize profits the government-chartered firm was then reaping from risky investments. The goal was to push earnings onto the books in future years, ensuring that Freddie Mac would appear profitable on paper for years to come and helping maximize annual bonuses for company brass.

The accounting scandal wasn't the only one that brewed during Emanuel's tenure.

During his brief time on the board, the company hatched a plan to enhance its political muscle. That scheme, also reviewed by the board, led to a record $3.8 million fine from the Federal Election Commission for illegally using corporate resources to host fundraisers for politicians. Emanuel was the beneficiary of one of those parties after he left the board and ran in 2002 for a seat in Congress from the North Side of Chicago.

The board was throttled for its acquiescence to the accounting manipulation in a 2003 report by Armando Falcon Jr., head of a federal oversight agency for Freddie Mac. The scandal forced Freddie Mac to restate $5 billion in earnings and pay $585 million in fines and legal settlements. It also foreshadowed even harder times at the firm.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/chi-rahm-emanuel-profit-26-mar26,0,5682373.story


As Cenk said-

That’s Politics 101.

Now I wouldn’t be in favor of it if they didn’t make legitimate points. But they do make legitimate points. And those are good questions. Rahm has to answer them. But on a political level, this is the kind of thing you’ve gotta do to say “you know what, you can’t only appease the right wing. I have to make sure that I appease the right wing and the left wing.” Especially because the left wing elected you, they’re the ones who gave you the votes.

So if it wiped the smug smile off of Rahm Emanuel’s face, and his dismissive attitude about all the people who voted for Barack Obama, well then it’s a great step in the right direction.

And don’t think it doesn’t have consequences — Jane Hamsher is catching massive heat from the left for doing this. How dare you join up with a right winger, how dare you damage Democrats politically.

Listen. If you don’t have the stones to go after the Democrats, they’re never going to listen to you. They don’t listen to reason, they listen to power. So Jane’s approach is definitely the right approach. As long as she’s got her ducks in order, and she’s not going with nonsense, she’s going with real concerns, that’s definitely the way to go.

Okay, that’s hard ball. And if you’re not willing to play it, you’re going to lose on every policy issue and on every political issue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Et-hdHe7kew&feature=player_embedded


The meet in the middle approach enabled the housing crisis and this recession. There will be no voting in of progressives as long as it's business as usual at the top. Expose the corruption and investigate wrongdoing on all sides, unfortunately for us obama won't look back and investigate anything, and give folks a reason to vote progressive and not centrist.

[truedelphi]

32. We have clean drinking water in the state of California because of Republicans

The Dems were too naive in assuming that the Big Environmental Causes like the Sierra Club and National Resource Defense Council knew the truth about MTBE.

Anyway no one party has a handle on truth.

At times,politics makes for strange bed fellows. As long a someone outlines what their concerns and their goals are, I don't have a problem with the strange bedfellowness of attempted reform.

Anyway I am far more willing to support Hamscher in what she is doing than in supporting a President who has Rahm as his side kick and trusted friend. With the other close buddy Tim the Elf just a few doors down the hall from the Oval Office.

[cliffordu]

28. I'm thinking we are getting some of that good old timey

ratfucking right here on DU these days.....

I wish we could go back to the good old days of the hatred expressed during the Primaries.

[MH1]

30. it's some of the same people

back for round 2.