Bill Clinton and Obama: innocent victims of Greta Van Susteren's dishonesty

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Wednesday June 22, 2011 · 3:33 AM PDT

2011/06/22 · 03:33

She started off her show by saying that President Barack Obama must really be annoyed by what former President Bill Clinton has just done.

But is that true? Almost certainly, no. First off, Obama is comfortable enough with his own ideas that he's open to hearing contrary opinions. Secondly, Obama has solicited alternative ideas over and over again, so why would he suddenly hate that Clinton is proposing ideas - most of which Obama has publicly supported already anyway? Lastly, Bill Clinton has a global initiative which he is now directing to look inward, to look at helping the USA - why would that annoy Obama, to get help where help is clearly needed?

About the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI)
Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

This is yet another example of the right trying to turn something that's positive, in this case substantive cooperation between leaders in the Democratic Party, into a negative, as though everything is a competition and there can only be one winner and everyone else is therefore a loser. That's not the way the Democratic Party works, first off, and Bill Clinton and Barack Obama aren't enemies. They are friends, colleagues, and partners. Sure, Bill Clinton wanted his wife to get the 2008 nomination, because he thought that she'd be the best candidate and the best President. That doesn't mean that he thinks that Obama is incompetent or second rate - it simply meant that among many qualified candidates, he supported his wife for the job. But both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton are clearly in Obama's corner now. It can't be denied - well, that is, it can't be denied unless you're a crazed FoxNews employee whose job it is to denigrate and disrespect the presidency if a Democrat holds that office.

Follow me below the fold for what caused her comments and my explanation for why she's wrong as wrong can be.

DollyMadison

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Sunday May 15, 2011 · 2:18 PM PDT

2011/05/15 · 14:18

There was a diary published a couple of days ago that provided the mother's side of the story in a custody battle that happened in North Carolina. She has Stage 4 Breast Cancer that metastasized to her bones

The title of the diary interested me when I first read it, and after reading the diary, but before commenting, I did a little research - the story sounded fishy to me.

Turns out, I was right to be suspicious. The judge's decree wasn't available, and all we were hearing was the Mom's side of the story. Well, now more info is available, and it really makes it clear how biased, partisan, and one-sided the Mom's version of the custody battle really was.

Turns out that if she moves to Chicago, they'll have 50-50 custody! Turns out that there were many strikes against the Mom, and that her cancer and her unemployed status as factors in the custody case were unfairly portrayed by the previous diarist as the sole reasons. The evidence we have shows us that it's the Mom and not the judge nor the Dad who made the whole case about her having cancer.

To read more, follow me below the fold.

DollyMadison

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Wednesday May 11, 2011 · 12:27 PM PDT

2011/05/11 · 12:27

I've recently heard that the Obama Administration is allowing the CIA to show interested members of Congress photos of the dead Osama bin Laden.

The photos are in CIA headquarters, and must remain there for viewing. Congressmen and women can't duplicate the photos, and reportedly only House and Senate members of the Armed Services, Intelligence and Homeland Security committees can view them for right now.

A few Congressmen have already said they'd go see the photos.

A spokeswoman for a Maryland congressman says some members of Congress will be allowed to view photographs of Osama bin Laden's body.
Heather Molino, a spokeswoman for Democratic Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, said Wednesday morning that the congressman is planning to view the photos at CIA headquarters either Wednesday afternoon or Thursday.

Ruppersberger is a member of the House Intelligence Committee. Molino says all of that committee's members are among the congressional representatives who have been offered a chance to see the photographs.

Poll

23 votes Show Results

Who should see the photos?

23 votes Vote Now!

Who should see the photos?

Select members of Congress

11 votes

All members of Congress

3 votes

Members of Congress and news media without the right to publish the images

4 votes

The media in general, with the right to publish them if they so choose

5 votes

Factcheck got it really wrong about Social Security

DollyMadison

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Friday February 25, 2011 · 6:02 PM PST

2011/02/25 · 18:02

Too many people don't understand how Social Security is funded and don't bother to try to figure it out. Others understand, and then prey upon those who don't in order to fearmonger. Still others try to get it right, but get confused with all the info and then proceed to misinform others!

I don't know what Factcheck.org's excuse is, but they posted a piece today that's extremely, undeniably false and misleading with respect to Social Security. They apparently failed to know or learn that there are 3 milestones with respect to the funding of Social Security, First, benefit payments outstrip revenue from FICA and employers, but the Social Security Trust Fund continues to grow due to huge interest payments from the special issue US Treasury securities. The second milestone is when revenue and interest from the Social Security Trust Fund is outstripped by benefit claims - that happens 5 to 10 years from now. And then the third milestone, which almost certainly won't happen - when the combination of Trust Fund is fully spent and the current revenues from current workers won't be sufficient to cover the benefit claims of retirees, survivors and disabled workers.

The issue here is the vast financial distance between the revenue from taxes and the outgo in expenses we currently have. Deficit spending and the exploding National Debt that deficit spending has been creating is a crisis, but, except for the deficit spending that was pushed this December to fund the payroll tax reduction, Social Security doesn't add a penny to the deficit. Factcheck is wrong, and most Democrats are right!

Poll

0 votes Show Results

0 votes Vote Now!

Black woman unfairly tried and convicted - NOT!

DollyMadison

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Thursday February 03, 2011 · 9:50 AM PST

2011/02/03 · 09:50

Here's the latest info, along with a recap of the previously-known details, about Kelley Williams-Bolar, the mother in Akron, Ohio, was was found guilty of felony tampering with evidence about 2 weeks ago for lying on a variety of government forms about her two children's residence.

We've seen two diaries on this topic, both of them alleging, without even one shred of evidence, that the woman was targeted because she was black. I argued, over and over again, that there was no evidence that the prosecution was racially-motivated.

Turns out I was right.

What'dya know?

DollyMadison

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Friday January 28, 2011 · 1:40 PM PST

2011/01/28 · 13:40

I haven't seen this diaried here, but read it in my paper yesterday.

There's been a ridiculous meme among people on the anti-abortion bandwagon, claiming that abortion is harmful to many woman's mental health.

They use a few anecdotal cases from women who regret having an abortion as "proof". Of course, that's not proof at all. Many women who have babies later regret getting pregnant in the first place and/or choosing to remain pregant and/or keeping a child and/or putting that child up for adoption! Other women are perfectly happy with having had an abortion. Other women are perfectly happy having had a baby that the put up for adoption.

Well, a pretty definitive study was recently released that stated that women who have abortions aren't, in fact, more at risk for mental health issues after having that abortion.

Poll

47 votes Show Results

Do you argue with abortion foes

47 votes Vote Now!

Do you argue with abortion foes

Never. I won't lower myself to their level.

4 votes

Never. I agree with them.

4 votes

Never. I've found that they won't listen to reason.

11 votes

Sometimes. I have to satisfy my need to refute their nonsense at times.

8 votes

Sometimes. Some people seem like they can be educated on the topic.

6 votes

Sometimes, but not for long. I don't suffer fools gladly.

6 votes

Always. I'd never have one myself, but I hate those who want to deny that right to others.

0 votes

Always. It's just the right thing to do.

1 vote

Always. I feel a need to defend a woman's right to choose.

7 votes

"Together We Thrive" - another zombie lie

DollyMadison

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Friday January 14, 2011 · 8:45 AM PST

2011/01/14 · 08:45

Many on the right are claiming that the "Together We Thrive" theme of the memorial service at the University of Arizona is the new campaign slogan of President Barack Obama.

The Truth?

It's not. But I'm taking odds on how often we'll hear the lie, that it was an Obama White House creation, repeated over and over again for years to come.

DollyMadison

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday January 08, 2011 · 12:30 PM PST

2011/01/08 · 12:30

Well, they should, anyway.

Too often, here at DailyKos, they don't.

Now, certain Conspiracy Theories (CT) have been banned. One can't allege that the World Trade Center towers collapsed due to controlled demolition, for example. There's evidence available that it wasn't a controlled demolition, so despite the fact that it might have looked, in some ways, like a controlled demolition, the evidence that it wasn't one is overwhelming! One can't assert that the Bush Administration let it happen on purpose (LIHOP). And that's because there's no evidence which would lead a sane, reasonable, and thoughtful person to believe that's the case!

But too often, people get their panties in a wad over an issue, and they allow their preconceived notions of how the world is to blind them to reality, and they leap to unsustainable conclusions, and then publish those unsupportable theories to others of a like mind here.

And what's even worse than CT's and other extraordinary claims without that requisite extraordinary evidence getting pushed here is that they regularly get enough recommends that they end up on the Rec List!

DollyMadison

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday December 08, 2010 · 8:53 AM PST

2010/12/08 · 08:53

Yesterday, Obama said that that

There are polls showing right now that the American people, for the most part, think it’s a bad idea to provide tax cuts to the wealthy.

And that's undeniably true. When one looks at people who don't want anyone to get continued tax cuts (and therefore don't want the wealthy to get additional years of a lowered tax rate on any adjusted gross income over about $230,000), and adds to that the people who believe that the less-wealthy should get tax cuts extended, one comes up with more than 50% of the American public in almost every available poll.

But somehow Politifact thinks it's only a "Mostly True" comment! Obama's statement doesn't need any additional information in order to be understood as a fair and accurate representation of what Americans believe.

Poll

24 votes Show Results

How often do you visit Politifact and trust their ratings?

24 votes Vote Now!

How often do you visit Politifact and trust their ratings?

I go there every day and trust everything they've ever pubished.

1 vote

I frequent the site and believe they provide a valuable service, but I know they view things through rightwing-tinged glasses at times.

4 votes

I only check them out when I have a question about something, and I've almost always found them to be fair to both sides.

5 votes

I only go there irregularly, and that's because I've found that they aren't reliably fair and impartial.

8 votes

I don't go there much because I don't like their rating system.

1 vote

I don't visit any factchecking sites on a regular basis. I do my own research.

5 votes

Breaking - Tom Delay is GUILTY!!

DollyMadison

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Wednesday November 24, 2010 · 3:05 PM PST

2010/11/24 · 15:05

Not much info yet, but he's been found guilty after 26 hours of deliberations of 2 counts of money laundering!

DollyMadison

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Tuesday November 02, 2010 · 8:31 PM PDT

2010/11/02 · 20:31

Tears of joy, that is!

I just heard that 8 term Democratic Representative Lloyd Doggett won in Central Texas! The Republicans in the Texas legislature, aided by Tom DeLay, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, tried to gerrymander Doggett out of a seat back in the second redistricting that was done in Texas after the 2000 census.

Doggett still won. He won again and again - he'd served for 16 years, since 1994. He'd win with 85% of the vote in the 90's, and still got 65% of the votes in the past decade.

It looked doubtful most of the evening...And now he's won again. I am thrilled.

DollyMadison

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday October 30, 2010 · 2:38 PM PDT

2010/10/30 · 14:38

The Washington Post had a great gallery of photos from the event.

I wanted to make sure that everyone got to see them.

Newer
Older

RSS

Bill Clinton and Obama: innocent victims of Greta Van Susteren's dishonesty

Updated info about children "yanked" from their mother

Showing Congress photos of Osama bin Laden

Factcheck got it really wrong about Social Security

Black woman unfairly tried and convicted - NOT!

Abortion doesn't increase risk of mental health issues

"Together We Thrive" - another zombie lie

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence

Politifact falsehood about Obama's tax hike comments

Breaking - Tom Delay is GUILTY!!

Dem Lloyd Doggett winning makes me cry

The Fight to Restore Sanity Rally with photos