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Rotten to the Core: Groundswell and Congressional Collusion
Author: Raine    Date: 07/31/2013 15:53:00

Last week I wrote a post about the coordinated efforts on the right to manipulate the public via the media. Mother Jones broke the story of a group called "Groundswell". On Tuesday Morning, our friend Karoli at Crooks and Liars posted actual audio (transcript here) from one of their meetings and it is proving to be eye-opening. Remember the IRS scandal? It was created by Groundswell.
On May 8, 2013, True the Vote is a facilitator and presenter at a meeting where Ginni Thomas and others are key players. TTV presents their plan to attack "the left" for daring to register voters. They're committed to stopping them from challenging any and all efforts to disenfranchise voters. Or as they describe it, securing the vote. Others might call it democracy corrupted.

On May 9, 2013 the IRS "scandal" breaks after Lois Lerner plants a question in a conference Q&A about IRS "targeting."

On May 21, 2013, True the Vote, represented by ActRight Legal Foundation, sues the IRS for not granting their tax-exempt status and targeting them for their beliefs. ActRight Legal Foundation uses Cleta Mitchell as one of their consulting attorneys. Mitchell is a well-known and very high profile litigator on behalf of conservative causes. There are very few conservative nonprofits that don't have Mitchell's fingerprints all over them.

True the Vote goes all over conservative media with their tale of woe. Their message: The IRS was used as a tool by the liberal president to target conservatives and suppress their free speech rights. Until True the Vote was a victim of the terrible IRS, they were under Congressional investigation for voter suppression, by the way.
Same thing with Benghazi.
At 3:45, Jerry Boykin advises the group of the meetings he and Frank Gaffney had with Speaker John Boehner and Rep. Darrell Issa concerning Benghazi on the evening of May 7th about how the Benghazi investigation is progressing. This was the night before the last Congressional Oversight Committee hearing was held on Benghazi, where the so-called whistleblowers were to testify.

In the late-night meeting with Gaffney and Boykin, Boehner advised both that they needed to allow the regular order of committee meetings to play out before he would push for a select committee. Issa told him the same thing.
Karoli correctly states that these scandals weren't/aren't coincidental: It was orchestrated and planned by this group of people, who had the will and the power to secure the participation of people like Darrell Issa, John Boehner and more.

Groundswell has practically been given a yawn by some people, such as Salon's Alex Pareene
But let’s get real: While the people involved in this organization probably think that Corn has exposed a vast right-wing conspiracy, what he really exposed is the silliest corner of the vast right-wing conspiracy.
Jay Rosen a Journalist Professor at NYU said it was no big deal. Turns out, it actually is a big deal. It's not silly when we have the Speaker of the House allowing for scandals to take over weeks and weeks of news cycles. This isn't RW nuttery, it's seditious manipulation of our government. Boehner and Issa have granted the requests of this activist group. They are willing participants in this scheme. It quite possibly goes beyond House leadership. Karoli's article has some great comments, including this:
On May 29, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin), posted the second video in his "Victims of Government" Youtube series. This video focused on one such "victim" from Texas who "has been waiting for nearly 3 years to receive 501©(4) approval from the IRS." The 'victim' in the video? Catherine Engelbrecht of True the Vote and Groundswell.

What role did Groundswell have in coordinating propaganda with Sen. Johnson's office? What role did Groundswell and Engelbrecht play in getting Johnson to use tax dollars to fund these videos in the first place?
That comment isn't some wild speculation. A quick search comes up with this:
Senator Ron Johnson (WI), Ranking Member on the Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight, announced the release of the second video in his 'Victims of Government’ series. The video details the story of Catherine Engelbrecht, of Harris County, Texas.

Catherine is a wife, mother, community volunteer and a small businesswoman. Three years ago, Catherine applied for tax-exempt status for two organizations, a group to work for election integrity and a tea party organization. After three years, she still has not received approval from the IRS. But in the interim, she has been visited by the FBI six times, received hundreds of questions and document requests from the IRS, had her personal and business taxes audited, and had her business visited and inspected by OSHA, the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and others.
And here it is on the Senator's government funded website. Oh and North Carolina? True the Vote has it's fingers in your new voting restriction laws.

Last week I wrote of the faux memes that are created out there.
Be very very aware of every meme and talking point out there. It's important because of stories like this.
Did Daily Caller pay to frame Menendez?

Some background: The Daily Caller on Nov. 1 reported that Dominican women, interviewed via web-video link, alleged that Menendez had paid them for sex. That story cited Figueroa by name as the lawyer representing the women. Though the women told the Daily Caller that they were promised $500 for their services and received only $100, the story failed to provide a compelling explanation as to why they’d testify to the alleged encounter with Menendez
. The Daily Caller later recanted the story -- after real journalism occurred but not before the damage to Menendez was done. It's no coincidence to me that Ginni Thomas - a prominent member of Groundswell - is also a columnist for the Daily Caller.
That is one story. The DailyCaller has this from 2012:
The Daily Caller’s Ginni Thomas recently spoke with (Dr. Sebastian) Gorka about President Obama’s muddled foreign policy choices, the threat political correctness poses to our national security, the threats to our constitutional order from forces both outside and inside our borders, myths of conventional thinking on national security matters and much more.
Karoli has confirmed that Dr. Sebastion Gorka can be heard on the audio posted. He is currently with the Westminster Institute. He often speaks at West Point. He doesn't like the Muslims, at all:
The Administration has adopted the position that it can work with Islamists—those who advocate a prominent political and legal role for Islam. This decision is having far-reaching consequences at home and abroad. Islamists have been brought into the innermost circles of America’s national security institutions; counter-terrorism training has been drastically curtailed in order to remove all mention of religion; and abroad the United States is supporting fundamentalist parties and ignoring those who are persecuted or who suffer as a result. This half-day conference will examine in detail the United States’ increasing cooperation with Islamists at home and abroad and will make the case why America’s freedom is threatened by this dangerous embrace.
There's your benghazi benghazi benghazi war drum.

This is not some silly little story. They have lost any plausible deniability that they once thought they had. We have names now. David Corn writes about the tape that Karoli posted:
This recording indicates Groundswell's mission extends beyond message coordination to scandal-stoking. (snip)

Gaffney, a birther who has been booted out of several conservative outfits for his fiercely anti-Islam views and who has accused Obama of "submission to Islam," added, "I'm somewhat encouraged that they're taking this thing very much to heart and we really impressed upon [Boehner] that there's a lot of restiveness on the part of folks like us, and some of their donors as a matter of fact, about what's happening here." In other words, Boykin and Gaffney were issuing something of a warning to Boehner and Issa: Go hard on Benghazi or risk losing financial and grassroots support.
This could very well be the tip of the iceberg, trust Karoli when she says things like this:
This is the first of a two-part series. Tomorrow, I'll look more closely at Ginni Thomas' involvement to see whether Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas engaged in unethical conduct or colluded with his wife and her associates.
It should be an interesting August.

Happy hump day!

and
Raine
 

55 comments (Latest Comment: 07/31/2013 23:29:01 by Raine)
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Comment by trojanrabbit on 07/31/2013 13:07:18
Good morning

Once again proving that Alan Colmes is little more than Fox News' resident wimp and Sean Hannity's butt-boy

Some of this stuff is really head-scratchingly dumb. And I know little about radio.

Rather than pay fees to Cumulus to carry these shows it makes more sense to put them on their own properties, reduce local talent costs, and save those fees.


I must be off my meds this morning. This statement makes no sense even if you replace Cumulus with Clear Channel.

Comment by Mondobubba on 07/31/2013 13:11:55
Quote by trojanrabbit:
Good morning

Once again proving that Alan Colmes is little more than Fox News' resident wimp and Sean Hannity's butt-boy

Some of this stuff is really head-scratchingly dumb. And I know little about radio.

Rather than pay fees to Cumulus to carry these shows it makes more sense to put them on their own properties, reduce local talent costs, and save those fees.


I must be off my meds this morning. This statement makes no sense even if you replace Cumulus with Clear Channel.




Comment by Raine on 07/31/2013 13:23:25
Quote by trojanrabbit:
Good morning

Once again proving that Alan Colmes is little more than Fox News' resident wimp and Sean Hannity's butt-boy

Some of this stuff is really head-scratchingly dumb. And I know little about radio.

Rather than pay fees to Cumulus to carry these shows it makes more sense to put them on their own properties, reduce local talent costs, and save those fees.


I must be off my meds this morning. This statement makes no sense even if you replace Cumulus with Clear Channel.
That was a bizzare post. I get that the boycott hurts everyone in talk radio, but this comment is ridiculous:
Fourth, what kind of liberal wants to clamp down on free speech and celebrate shutting someone up? The best antidote to free speech is — free speech. As the German theologian Martin Niemoller famously said, “First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist…” If I, as a liberal, didn’t speak out against those who would squelch the free speech of conservatives, I wouldn’t deserve to call myself a liberal.
Rush isn't practicing free speech -- it's hate speech.

Comment by wickedpam on 07/31/2013 13:25:43
Morning

Comment by trojanrabbit on 07/31/2013 13:36:03
Quote by Raine:
Quote by trojanrabbit:
Good morning

Once again proving that Alan Colmes is little more than Fox News' resident wimp and Sean Hannity's butt-boy

Some of this stuff is really head-scratchingly dumb. And I know little about radio.

Rather than pay fees to Cumulus to carry these shows it makes more sense to put them on their own properties, reduce local talent costs, and save those fees.


I must be off my meds this morning. This statement makes no sense even if you replace Cumulus with Clear Channel.
That was a bizzare post. I get that the boycott hurts everyone in talk radio, but this comment is ridiculous:
Fourth, what kind of liberal wants to clamp down on free speech and celebrate shutting someone up? The best antidote to free speech is — free speech. As the German theologian Martin Niemoller famously said, “First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist…” If I, as a liberal, didn’t speak out against those who would squelch the free speech of conservatives, I wouldn’t deserve to call myself a liberal.
Rush isn't practicing free speech -- it's hate speech.

Alan must really be enjoying that Fox News paycheck.

Yeah, Stephanie has said herself that the boycott is hurting everyone, but Colmes glosses over the fact that in cities where Cumulus has the better coverage AM stations (such as DFW, Chicago, DC and Detroit) CC will have to change format of one of their other stations if no one else will pick up Rush/Hannity. And from what I gather from these radio discussion boards, a CC station taking on Rush means a loss of revenue for Premiere.

Comment by trojanrabbit on 07/31/2013 13:39:04
Could THIS be where conservative talk is headed?

Comment by TriSec on 07/31/2013 14:39:07
http://img.techpowerup.org/090807/Multi%20Pie%20Achievement.jpg


Pie for Everyone!



Comment by Raine on 07/31/2013 14:59:37
Still writing!

Comment by Mondobubba on 07/31/2013 15:00:35
Quote by TriSec:
http://img.techpowerup.org/090807/Multi%20Pie%20Achievement.jpg


Pie for Everyone!




Mmmm pie.

How about these:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_csWcv2edrAM/SWI9Zgj09sI/AAAAAAAAATI/wh364Vg3Yg4/s320/moonpie.jpg


Wash it down with one of these:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bkq_c6NaNxQ/Tc9Ki3USGmI/AAAAAAAAAnE/hLsgvDWxgn0/s1600/rc_cola.jpg


Comment by wickedpam on 07/31/2013 15:09:18



Lord, I hope the raccoon bite him after the cameras went down.

Comment by Mondobubba on 07/31/2013 15:32:49
Quote by wickedpam:



Lord, I hope the raccoon bite him after the cameras went down.



Mala get out of my mind! :foilhat:

Comment by Mondobubba on 07/31/2013 15:34:09
Comment by wickedpam on 07/31/2013 15:38:16
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by wickedpam:



Lord, I hope the raccoon bite him after the cameras went down.



Mala get out of my mind! :foilhat:


is that where I am? I wondered why there were random facts in polypropylene bags stuffed onto shelves around here.

Comment by Scoopster on 07/31/2013 15:46:23
Mornin' all..


It wasn't me!! Why does everyone always look at me when something gets hacked?!!

Comment by Raine on 07/31/2013 16:00:40
Blog being edited!

Comment by Raine on 07/31/2013 16:00:56
Blog being edited!

Comment by BobR on 07/31/2013 16:11:53
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by wickedpam:

Lord, I hope the raccoon bite him after the cameras went down.

Mala get out of my mind! :foilhat:

is that where I am? I wondered why there were random facts in polypropylene bags stuffed onto shelves around here.



Comment by Raine on 07/31/2013 16:13:14
POSTED!


Comment by Mondobubba on 07/31/2013 16:20:59
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by wickedpam:



Lord, I hope the raccoon bite him after the cameras went down.



Mala get out of my mind! :foilhat:


is that where I am? I wondered why there were random facts in polypropylene bags stuffed onto shelves around here.



Hey! There is a very specific filing system in there!

Comment by Mondobubba on 07/31/2013 16:33:00
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all..


It wasn't me!! Why does everyone always look at me when something gets hacked?!!



It wasn't so much the hacking as it was the message, dude.

Comment by livingonli on 07/31/2013 16:35:47
Good day, folks. It's shit like this that really shows why I have such contempt for Righties these days. Here in New York, Clear Channel purchased WOR about two years ago and since it's already a talk format, it will be easy to slide Rush and Hannity over in this market although WOR before Crap Channel dropped Glenn Beck due to the fact that his show had low ratings in New York and I wonder if they flipped Green 960 just so they could have a station to dump Glenn Beck on where he didn't fit in. (They do syndicate the insane one's radio show)

Comment by Raine on 07/31/2013 16:48:51
Karoli has Part two posted.



Shelby County vs. Eric Holder The Voting Rights Act Case decided this June could arguably be Clarence Thomas' most important swing vote, and at a time where Ginni Thomas was deeply involved with True the Vote and their cabal of hard-core right ideologues. In Justice Thomas' dissent, he wrote that he concurred with striking Section 4 of the VRA, but wouldn't stop there. He explained that he "would find Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional as well." No surprise, then, to find that True the Vote also opposes Section 5 of the VRA, and has several blog posts written by Groundswell participant J. Christian Adams about it. TTV stood in opposition because Section 5 was used to block Voter ID laws, and Voter ID laws are a way to suppress minority votes.



Comment by trojanrabbit on 07/31/2013 17:02:19
Quote by livingonli:
Good day, folks. It's shit like this that really shows why I have such contempt for Righties these days. Here in New York, Clear Channel purchased WOR about two years ago and since it's already a talk format, it will be easy to slide Rush and Hannity over in this market although WOR before Crap Channel dropped Glenn Beck due to the fact that his show had low ratings in New York and I wonder if they flipped Green 960 just so they could have a station to dump Glenn Beck on where he didn't fit in. (They do syndicate the insane one's radio show)


Rumor has it he did say on his show yesterday that he'd welcome Rush and Hannity on his "network"

Comment by livingonli on 07/31/2013 17:15:33
Quote by trojanrabbit:
Quote by livingonli:
Good day, folks. It's shit like this that really shows why I have such contempt for Righties these days. Here in New York, Clear Channel purchased WOR about two years ago and since it's already a talk format, it will be easy to slide Rush and Hannity over in this market although WOR before Crap Channel dropped Glenn Beck due to the fact that his show had low ratings in New York and I wonder if they flipped Green 960 just so they could have a station to dump Glenn Beck on where he didn't fit in. (They do syndicate the insane one's radio show)


Rumor has it he did say on his show yesterday that he'd welcome Rush and Hannity on his "network"

SiriusXM Patriot already airs both Beck and Hannity but Rush never allowed his show on satellite radio probably because of the 50K flamethrowers that have been airing his show. Then again, Rush never wanted Crap Channel to syndicate a liberal talk show host even though they syndicate Randi Rhodes who used to beat him in the local ratings when they were head-to-head.

Comment by Scoopster on 07/31/2013 17:21:28
Quote by Mondobubba:
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all..


It wasn't me!! Why does everyone always look at me when something gets hacked?!!

It wasn't so much the hacking as it was the message, dude.

Oh that.. well.. already got that part down.

Comment by Mondobubba on 07/31/2013 17:47:19
Comment by wickedpam on 07/31/2013 17:58:23
Quote by Mondobubba:
MONDO WANT!



Mala want too!


Comment by Mondobubba on 07/31/2013 18:07:41
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Mondobubba:
MONDO WANT!



Mala want too!



My co-conspirator here at work wants one too.

Comment by TriSec on 07/31/2013 18:30:14
Grunt.

I think I need to invent "Stick Bombers".

I'd gladly put a pair of B-17s plus a "Little Friend" on the back of my car, but I bet nobody would get it.



Comment by Mondobubba on 07/31/2013 18:33:19
Quote by TriSec:
Grunt.

I think I need to invent "Stick Bombers".

I'd gladly put a pair of B-17s plus a "Little Friend" on the back of my car, but I bet nobody would get it.




I love this! Go for it! Which Little Friend? P-51 or P-47 and for extra nerd value, which version?

Comment by Mondobubba on 07/31/2013 18:38:08
Quote by TriSec:
Grunt.

I think I need to invent "Stick Bombers".

I'd gladly put a pair of B-17s plus a "Little Friend" on the back of my car, but I bet nobody would get it.



BTW I got it.

Comment by Raine on 07/31/2013 18:40:48
Look at what DC is getting!

( I fully expect Gawker to now expand its hatred of all thing brooklyn to DC -- I welcome their hatred. )

Comment by wickedpam on 07/31/2013 18:44:29
Quote by Raine:
Look at what DC is getting!

( I fully expect Gawker to now expand its hatred of all thing brooklyn to DC -- I welcome their hatred. )



Is that a good thing or bad? We've had the Georgetown Flea for years (though I've never been) Seems like franchising a Flea you lose any real deals you might get.

Comment by Raine on 07/31/2013 19:09:24
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Look at what DC is getting!

( I fully expect Gawker to now expand its hatred of all thing brooklyn to DC -- I welcome their hatred. )



Is that a good thing or bad? We've had the Georgetown Flea for years (though I've never been) Seems like franchising a Flea you lose any real deals you might get.
I think it's a good thing. IT's different from the G'town Fea in that this has vendors that are going to sell products they create. IT's not antiques and collectables, it's artisans and creators.



Comment by wickedpam on 07/31/2013 19:13:04
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Look at what DC is getting!

( I fully expect Gawker to now expand its hatred of all thing brooklyn to DC -- I welcome their hatred. )



Is that a good thing or bad? We've had the Georgetown Flea for years (though I've never been) Seems like franchising a Flea you lose any real deals you might get.
I think it's a good thing. IT's different from the G'town Fea in that this has vendors that are going to sell products they create. IT's not antiques and collectables, it's artisans and creators.



ok so that is different - I'm down with that


Comment by wickedpam on 07/31/2013 19:15:05
Is Randi being snarky? Isn't Anarchy in the UK like 20 years old?

Comment by Raine on 07/31/2013 19:22:39
Quote by wickedpam:
Is Randi being snarky? Isn't Anarchy in the UK like 20 years old?
I was just going to ask you the same question.

In listening to her excerpts from Chris Hays tho, snark night be warranted. IS he really trying to say that Whit on White crime is the scourge of America?

It's about as strange as Don Lemon's riff the other day (which I suspect set her off) I just read this, and I agree.

I like Don Lemon, but his was commentary was a bit simplistic. Chris Hayes sounds quite simplistic as well.




Comment by Raine on 07/31/2013 19:29:54
Oh, She HAS TO BE SNARKING.

Comment by wickedpam on 07/31/2013 19:30:12
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Is Randi being snarky? Isn't Anarchy in the UK like 20 years old?
I was just going to ask you the same question.

In listening to her excerpts from Chris Hays tho, snark night be warranted. IS he really trying to say that Whit on White crime is the scourge of America?

It's about as strange as Don Lemon's riff the other day (which I suspect set her off) I just read this, and I agree.

I like Don Lemon, but his was commentary was a bit simplistic. Chris Hayes sounds quite simplistic as well.





You know the problem with snark is some people don't get it. This is going to spin out horribly.


Comment by Raine on 07/31/2013 19:36:17
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Is Randi being snarky? Isn't Anarchy in the UK like 20 years old?
I was just going to ask you the same question.

In listening to her excerpts from Chris Hays tho, snark night be warranted. IS he really trying to say that Whit on White crime is the scourge of America?

It's about as strange as Don Lemon's riff the other day (which I suspect set her off) I just read this, and I agree.

I like Don Lemon, but his was commentary was a bit simplistic. Chris Hayes sounds quite simplistic as well.





You know the problem with snark is some people don't get it. This is going to spin out horribly.
I agree. I just went over to her page to see where she might be going with this.
Amid all of the Fox News bloviating about the deficiencies of “black culture,” this week saw shocking evidence of the dysfunctional nature of white culture... and I’m not even talking about the US House of Representatives. A rally of surfers in Huntington Beach, California, over the weekend turned into a violent riot. It’s odd that Geraldo Rivera and Bill O’Reilly didn’t have anything to say about these hordes of white kids rampaging on the streets of a law-abiding American city. Forget hoodies! The real thugs in America wear flip-flops and baseball hats on backwards.


I'm a bit confused to be honest.



Comment by wickedpam on 07/31/2013 19:38:18
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Is Randi being snarky? Isn't Anarchy in the UK like 20 years old?
I was just going to ask you the same question.

In listening to her excerpts from Chris Hays tho, snark night be warranted. IS he really trying to say that Whit on White crime is the scourge of America?

It's about as strange as Don Lemon's riff the other day (which I suspect set her off) I just read this, and I agree.

I like Don Lemon, but his was commentary was a bit simplistic. Chris Hayes sounds quite simplistic as well.





You know the problem with snark is some people don't get it. This is going to spin out horribly.
I agree. I just went over to her page to see where she might be going with this.
Amid all of the Fox News bloviating about the deficiencies of “black culture,” this week saw shocking evidence of the dysfunctional nature of white culture... and I’m not even talking about the US House of Representatives. A rally of surfers in Huntington Beach, California, over the weekend turned into a violent riot. It’s odd that Geraldo Rivera and Bill O’Reilly didn’t have anything to say about these hordes of white kids rampaging on the streets of a law-abiding American city. Forget hoodies! The real thugs in America wear flip-flops and baseball hats on backwards.


I'm a bit confused to be honest.




me too.

Comment by Mondobubba on 07/31/2013 19:47:23
Quote by wickedpam:
Is Randi being snarky? Isn't Anarchy in the UK like 20 years old?



1978. So, that would be 35 years old.

Comment by Raine on 07/31/2013 19:49:11
Well, I guess she was praising Chris Hayes.

Maybe it is the hypocrisy.

Comment by livingonli on 07/31/2013 20:00:23
I was listening to Randi in the car and from listening to her show and obviously Chris Hayes tone, it's not as much white-on-white crime but the crimes committed by those of white privilege (ie the very wealthy). It's not exactly a secret that because they can buy anything their kids want and buy their way out of trouble if you look at how often the poorest students with the lowest grades are usually the legacies who only got in because mommy and daddy could buy their way in. And let's look at all those bankers, debt collectors, and Wall Street business types who have committed many crimes but nothing is done about their crimes and they are allowed to walk free. As I've seen from my own situation, if you don't think there's a class problem in this country, you are not paying attention.

Comment by Raine on 07/31/2013 20:10:56
Quote by livingonli:
I was listening to Randi in the car and from listening to her show and obviously Chris Hayes tone, it's not as much white-on-white crime but the crimes committed by those of white privilege (ie the very wealthy). It's not exactly a secret that because they can buy anything their kids want and buy their way out of trouble if you look at how often the poorest students with the lowest grades are usually the legacies who only got in because mommy and daddy could buy their way in. And let's look at all those bankers, debt collectors, and Wall Street business types who have committed many crimes but nothing is done about their crimes and they are allowed to walk free. As I've seen from my own situation, if you don't think there's a class problem in this country, you are not paying attention.
Thanks for that, Liv! I think you nailed it.

I get it now.



I hope and pray that Chris Hayes was satire. Then again, No one does satire like the Onion -- except Colbert.

Comment by Will in Chicago on 07/31/2013 20:27:39
Hello, bloggers!!

Raine, thanks for a great blog. I am troubled by Groundswell and the connection of Ginni Thomas to it. In the case of any other court in the U.S. but the Supreme, the activism of Ginni Thomas would require Clarence Thomas to recuse himself. Although Clarence Thomas being impeached would be fair, I doubt it will happen. I think that we need a conflict of interest requirement for the court.

We now have officials colluding with groups like Groundswell to create the appearance of scandal. Is this not the sort of conspiracy that the right wing claims that persons like George Soros, Media Matters for America and the Center for American Progress are involved in conspiracies to subvert the American government. Is it too much to use the term sedition for what Groundswell and their allies in Congress and the Supreme Court are doing?

Comment by Will in Chicago on 07/31/2013 20:46:05
Here is David Corn's Article form Mother Jones on the lobbying of Boehner and Issa on Benghazi.

Comment by Raine on 07/31/2013 20:51:40
Quote by Will in Chicago:
Here is David Corn's Article form Mother Jones on the lobbying of Boehner and Issa on Benghazi.
It was Karoli's article that prompted Corn to write a follow up. I linked to both in the blog.

It's all really disturbing. As I mentioned in the blog comments earlier, Karoli posted the second part of all of this, calling for the impeachment of Thomas. Randi is talking about the connection now.



Comment by Raine on 07/31/2013 20:53:06
Quote by Will in Chicago:
Hello, bloggers!!

Raine, thanks for a great blog. I am troubled by Groundswell and the connection of Ginni Thomas to it. In the case of any other court in the U.S. but the Supreme, the activism of Ginni Thomas would require Clarence Thomas to recuse himself. Although Clarence Thomas being impeached would be fair, I doubt it will happen. I think that we need a conflict of interest requirement for the court.

We now have officials colluding with groups like Groundswell to create the appearance of scandal. Is this not the sort of conspiracy that the right wing claims that persons like George Soros, Media Matters for America and the Center for American Progress are involved in conspiracies to subvert the American government. Is it too much to use the term sedition for what Groundswell and their allies in Congress and the Supreme Court are doing?

The vast RW conspiracy is perhaps projection.

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