In other words: A discussion of The Bush Administration
Businesses help Bush (ethics be damned)
Sinclair Stations to Air Anti-Kerry DocumentarySinclair Broadcast Group of Maryland, owner of the largest chain of television stations in the nation, plans to preempt regular programming two weeks before the Nov. 2 election to air a documentary that accuses Sen. John F. Kerry of betraying American prisoners during the Vietnam War.Who needs state owned media... in America "The Party" (that'd be the GOP) owns the media (thus the term SCLM which you may see on the web it means "So Called Liberal Media"). This is why the Bush Administration pushed so hard on letting media monopolies occur... its good for them.
Sinclair has ordered its 62 stations, some of which are in the critical swing states of Ohio, Florida, Iowa and Wisconsin, to air "Stolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal" during prime-time hours next week. The Sinclair station group collectively reaches 24 percent of U.S. television households.
...
Sinclair's top executives, including members of the controlling Smith family, have been strong financial supporters of Bush's campaign. The company made news in April when it ordered seven of its ABC-affiliated stations not to air a "Nightline" segment that featured a reading of the names of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq; a Sinclair executive called that broadcast "contrary to the public interest."
Sinclair also is one of the few station-group owners that puts corporate opinion on its local newscasts. Hyman delivers conservative commentaries called "The Point."
Because Bush is good for Business (ethics aside)
Crony capitalism and the occupation of IraqWhat qualifications did a company called Custer Battles have to get several no-bid security contracts worth more than $100 million a year from the Coalition Provisional Authority, including the contract to provide security for Baghdad Airport? The company was brand new, and neither of its principals had any actual security experience, though one was a fomer Army Ranger and defense consultant.
Why, the best qualification of all: the other principal was a Republican contributor and a former Republican congressional candidate (who is also a Fox News commentator). The name, which sounds like a sick joke, is actually the last names of the two principals.
Contracts in hand, Custer Battles seems to have proceeded to steal everything that wasn't nailed down and to pry up most of what was. With a few shell companies to do phony invoicing, it manged to inflate $3 million in costs on a cost-plus contract to $9 million. One estimate of the total fraud reaches $50 million.
And it's quite possible that, because the CPA technically wasn't part of the United States Government (an arrangement designed precisely to get around procurement rules), the False Claims Act doesn't apply, and the thieving war profiteers will get away with it. At least that seems to be the reason why the Justice Department declined to join in the whistleblower lawsuit (technically, a qui tam action) despite voluminous documentation of a most egregious set of frauds.
...
The Custer Battles affair shows the same pattern of putting politics before victory that led to the staffing of the CPA with a staff of people chosen for political reliability (having posted resumes on the Heritage Foundation website) rather than knowledge of the business they ere going to handle, knowledge of Iraq, or knowledge of Arabic.
The firm has now been suspended from getting any new contract awards, but it gets to keep billing on its current contracts. No word about whether Mike Battles will keep reporting for Fox News.
- rob 1:18 PM - [PermaLink] -
----
TCS Now offers a News Reader Feed
Subscribe to the TCS Feed
Having trouble with some of the poor English
on this site?
Imagine what it looks like when translated by a machine:
This is a "team" blog. We are a bunch of
Americans, whose rising distress
in our leader's decisions brought us together to make this site.
As Bush said, he's a "uniter." Many of us have never even met.
That's the internet for you.
Buy our cool stuff.
And tell everyone what you feel.
We have a little Store
you can visit.
Our store's selection of items is constantly growing. Come
see what we have.
We're also Amazon Associates, so if you want to buy something from Amazon, please search for it below, and we will get a few bucks from the sale.
Static Sky
Tin Foil Caps
The Free Speech Zone
The office of the independent blogger
Buzzflash
Tom The Dancing Bug
VerifiedVoting.org
Get Your War
On
This Modern World
Eschaton / Atrios
Daily Kos
meowpurrmeow
Contribute to America's Future
It is now more important then ever.
Donate to the Democractic Congressional Campaign Committee
Donate to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee
Some More Site Mottos
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the
president, or that we are to stand by the president, right or wrong, is
not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the
American people."
- Teddy Roosevelt
"Government has a final responsibility for the well-being of
its citizenship. If private cooperative endeavor fails to provide work
for willing hands and relief for the unfortunate, those suffering
hardship from no fault of their own have a right to call upon the
Government for aid; and a government worthy of its name must make
fitting response."
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt
"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and Constitutions, but laws must and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."
- Thomas Jefferson
"The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home."
"All men having power ought to be distrusted to a certain
degree."
- James Madison
"I believe in human dignity as the source of national purpose, in human liberty as the source of national action, in the human heart as the source of national compassion, and in the human mind as the source of our invention and our ideas. It is, I believe, the faith in our fellow citizens as individuals and as people that lies at the heart of the liberal faith. For liberalism is not so much a party creed or set of fixed platform promises as it is an attitude of mind and heart, a faith in man's ability through the experiences of his reason and judgment to increase for himself and his fellow men the amount of justice and freedom and brotherhood which all human life deserves."
- John F. Kennedy
"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are [a] few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
more coming...
