Maggie Gallagher, Jimmy Carter, and the MSM(Liberal Obsession with Bush Scandals as They Ignore REAL Scandals)
I'm not even going to rehash the whole "RatherGate" fiasco, as years were spent investigating a theory of Bush's National Guard service while the Veterans of Vietnam were just vilified AGAIN by ideological agendas. (ooops, did I already rehash it?)
Grab your duct tape, you WILL NEED IT!
I woke up this morning to coverage in the media on the "scandal" of Maggie Gallagher (link for this story provided further down, keep reading- you will get there). I was VERY unhappy. This is just not cool by any means. Being a mother surely helps in times like this. You love your children. You believe in them. You know they are inherently good and mean well, but there are times........... Well, there are times when you just have to shake your head and you find yourself saying, "What on earth were they thinking?" There are other times you are literally grasping for self control, fighting all urges to yank them up by the ears and knock some sense into them. There are even times when some parents may have to face the fact that the child they so love, has chosen a path that is so far from what you believe in, that you just cannot continue to support them in their endeavors. This is when you let them know that they are just on their own, but if they choose to start living out the values that will not continue to destroy their lives; you will be waiting with open arms and great joy. This story on Maggie happens to have me in that state where I am just shaking my head and.......
After getting the kids off to school, I go to my computer and find an email about this story on Jimmy Carter. I admit it- I started to feel much better. There is nothing the least bit flattering to myself in admitting this, but I am a work in progress. There is nothing the least bit noble in standing on a hill, looking down onto the village, and taking notes on their evil behavior as one plans to hand the list over to others to ensure swift judgment upon the heathens. Especially when you yourself are living in a village less than sin-free. All that being said, I admit it- I was feeling much better. I will take the heat for admitting this. Since integrity is so important to me, I decided I needed to do a little more research on both stories.
This is where I REALLY start to feel better. I am not a journalist. I am a blogger, analyst, essayist, editorialist, pundit, whatever- take your pick; but I am NO journalist. I point this out, because what I found in doing my research was AMAZING!!!! The first thing I did was a Google search on Maggie Gallagher (under News). Then I did a Google search on Jimmy Cater. If you click on the links, I think you will see where I am going with this. There are many stories on the "Maggie scandal" by the MSM; however, the stories on Jimmy Carter and his possible ties to the Oil for Food Scandal through his "friend" and fellow "activist" Samir Vincent, seem to be quite absent. (Except for 2- one from World Net Daily and one from The Conservative Voice). Does this not send up some red flags? The MSM is all over a scandal of $21,000 by an Op/Ed writer, but oblivious (or purposely IGNORANT) to a story about a former President, and present-day activist in foreign relations, being tied to possibly the biggest scandal of our time! This is just flat out INSULTING!
To make things a little easier for us, I will point out some highlights:
January 18th on Samir Vincent
WASHINGTON : An Iraqi-born American citizen pleaded guilty Tuesday to several charges as part of the federal investigation into the U.N. Oil-for-Food program, becoming the first person to be convicted in the growing scandal.
Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the agreement with Samir Vincent, accused of being an unregistered Iraqi agent between the first and second Persian Gulf wars......
Vincent, of Annandale, Va., pleaded guilty to making false statements on income-tax returns, acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. He could be sentenced to 28 years in prison.....
In a statement in federal court in New York on Tuesday, Vincent said that in 1996 during negotiations on the Oil-for-Food program some Iraqi government cash was given to a person "whom I understood was a United Nations official."
Court documents say only that this unspecified payment went to "another individual" to satisfy an agreement regarding the pro-Iraqi effort to influence the U.N. resolution creating the program.
Vincent received, apparently legally, five separate allocations of Iraqi oil vouchers under Oil-for-Food, partly as compensation for lobbying efforts. He reaped profits totaling millions of dollars by selling those five allocations to an oil company, the Justice Department said.
Vincent got instructions in 1995 and 1996 from high-level Iraqi officials, and carried those instructions out in meetings with U.N. officials, Justice officials said....
During that period, Vincent never registered with the federal government as an agent of the Iraqi government.
Yet between 1998 and 2003, Vincent lobbied former U.S. officials close to both the Clinton and Bush administrations in an unsuccessful attempt to soften U.S. policy toward Iraq.
He then reported on his meetings to the Iraqi Intelligence Service and other Iraqi officials.
In particular, Iraqi intelligence officials sent a message to Vincent that he was to relay to a former U.S. official regarding Iraq's position on re-admitting weapons inspectors in return for the repeal of sanctions.
According to the report, Vincent's company, Phoenix International, was awarded vouchers for 1.5 million barrels of oil in 1999 and 2000, which Vincent sold for $1 million.
In total, Vincent and Phoenix received vouchers for 7.9 million barrels of oil, realizing a profit of $3.6 million, between 1997 and 2001, according to the report.
January 20th story
Former President Jimmy Carter has been linked with a key figure in the U.N.'s oil-for-food scandal by the group leading the nationwide effort to evict the United Nations from American soil and halt U.S. funding of the U.N.
Move America Forward today will call upon Carter to provide a full accounting of his meetings and conversations with Samir Vincent, who yesterday pleaded guilty to participating in numerous illegal activities as part of the U.N. scandal.
"President Carter needs to tell the American people exactly what relationships he had with the individuals involved in the oil-for-food scandal," said Melanie Morgan, co-chairman of Move America Forward, which is running television ads attacking the U.N. on national cable news networks, conducting an online petition drive and soliciting contributions to spread the message of the TV spots......
Based upon an investigation by Move America Forward, it appears President Carter and his associates are among the former officials with whom Vincent collaborated.
January 26th story (the one I found this morning)
The group that first revealed links between former President Jimmy Carter and Samir Vincent, a key figure in the U.N.'s oil-for-food scandal, is calling on two Carter organizations to release to the public a list of all financial contributors from 1999 to 2003.....
"Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, invited Mr. Vincent to their home to discuss their shared opposition to economic sanctions in Iraq. Then, public records revealed that Vincent was invited to be on the board of an organization, A World of Friends Inc., closely connected to Carter," said Melanie Morgan, co-chair of Move America Forward.......
"We know that Carter's son, Chip, gave Samir Vincent a tour of the Carter Center complex. What we want to know is whether the Iraqi agent directed oil-for-food money to the Carter Center in return for Carter promoting Saddam Hussein's position."
Carter and his associates have used the Carter Center as a weapon in the fight against America's foreign policy in Iraq. The board of directors includes Carter, his wife and Carter's ambassador to the U.N., Andrew Young.
In an April 2002 interview with Gulf News, Carter said he didn't "agree that the sanctions are doing any good; I think they are counterproductive." In the same interview, Carter lamented, "The United States and Great Britain are now acting, to a substantial degree, without the authority or approval of the United Nations organization itself."
The Carter Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that is not required to file a list of individuals or entities that provide it with funding.
"President Carter and his associates should follow the lead of Jack Kemp, who has stepped forward and spoken candidly about his relationship with Samir Vincent," said Move America Forward Co-chair Howard Kaloogian. "Kemp obviously feels he has nothing to hide. After years of boisterously opposing U.S. foreign policy in Iraq, all we've gotten is months of silence from President Carter followed by a carefully guarded statement from his spokeswoman.......
Former President Jimmy Carter is not an Op/Ed writer. He literally travels the world, meeting with the likes of Fidel Castro, sticking his nose into foreign policy anywhere he can get a photo op or a microphone. After his record in dealing with foreign relations as our President ( hostages in Iran), I have no idea why anyone thinks his traveling around "in our best interest," is anything short of a disaster. Carter's own Library can't even get the facts right:
"The toll of patient diplomacy was great, but President Carter's actions brought freedom for the hostages with America's honor preserved."
HUH??? This sentence reads like a parody from a Saturday Night Live skit! They call his COMPLETE IMPOTENCE in this situation "patient diplomacy?" (Where's the duct tape?) Then they go on to state that Carter actually took "actions?" What actions did he take? An oil embargo? Is this the same thing that he was lobbying against the UN for, in the case of Saddam? ( Need MORE duct tape!) I am utterly speechless by the time we get to the part where they claim his "actions brought freedom to the hostages.."( My eyes are beginning to bleed at this point, while the phrase "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto" comes to mind) The final blow is "with America's honor preserved." HELP! Someone call 911, I have either flipped into another dimension or I am truly insane. Someone actually wrote this! Other, presumably EDUCATED, people thought is was a great sentence to put into a President's Library as if it were an historical FACT!
AMAZING! And the MSM is trying to blast bloggers for credibility issues? The MSM is worried about Op/Ed pieces?
Dear MSM, please forgive the speck in my eye, and may I please, please, please borrow a line from a President with REAL integrity, "Anyone wanna buy some wood?"
Grab your duct tape, you WILL NEED IT!
I woke up this morning to coverage in the media on the "scandal" of Maggie Gallagher (link for this story provided further down, keep reading- you will get there). I was VERY unhappy. This is just not cool by any means. Being a mother surely helps in times like this. You love your children. You believe in them. You know they are inherently good and mean well, but there are times........... Well, there are times when you just have to shake your head and you find yourself saying, "What on earth were they thinking?" There are other times you are literally grasping for self control, fighting all urges to yank them up by the ears and knock some sense into them. There are even times when some parents may have to face the fact that the child they so love, has chosen a path that is so far from what you believe in, that you just cannot continue to support them in their endeavors. This is when you let them know that they are just on their own, but if they choose to start living out the values that will not continue to destroy their lives; you will be waiting with open arms and great joy. This story on Maggie happens to have me in that state where I am just shaking my head and.......
After getting the kids off to school, I go to my computer and find an email about this story on Jimmy Carter. I admit it- I started to feel much better. There is nothing the least bit flattering to myself in admitting this, but I am a work in progress. There is nothing the least bit noble in standing on a hill, looking down onto the village, and taking notes on their evil behavior as one plans to hand the list over to others to ensure swift judgment upon the heathens. Especially when you yourself are living in a village less than sin-free. All that being said, I admit it- I was feeling much better. I will take the heat for admitting this. Since integrity is so important to me, I decided I needed to do a little more research on both stories.
This is where I REALLY start to feel better. I am not a journalist. I am a blogger, analyst, essayist, editorialist, pundit, whatever- take your pick; but I am NO journalist. I point this out, because what I found in doing my research was AMAZING!!!! The first thing I did was a Google search on Maggie Gallagher (under News). Then I did a Google search on Jimmy Cater. If you click on the links, I think you will see where I am going with this. There are many stories on the "Maggie scandal" by the MSM; however, the stories on Jimmy Carter and his possible ties to the Oil for Food Scandal through his "friend" and fellow "activist" Samir Vincent, seem to be quite absent. (Except for 2- one from World Net Daily and one from The Conservative Voice). Does this not send up some red flags? The MSM is all over a scandal of $21,000 by an Op/Ed writer, but oblivious (or purposely IGNORANT) to a story about a former President, and present-day activist in foreign relations, being tied to possibly the biggest scandal of our time! This is just flat out INSULTING!
To make things a little easier for us, I will point out some highlights:
January 18th on Samir Vincent
WASHINGTON : An Iraqi-born American citizen pleaded guilty Tuesday to several charges as part of the federal investigation into the U.N. Oil-for-Food program, becoming the first person to be convicted in the growing scandal.
Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the agreement with Samir Vincent, accused of being an unregistered Iraqi agent between the first and second Persian Gulf wars......
Vincent, of Annandale, Va., pleaded guilty to making false statements on income-tax returns, acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. He could be sentenced to 28 years in prison.....
In a statement in federal court in New York on Tuesday, Vincent said that in 1996 during negotiations on the Oil-for-Food program some Iraqi government cash was given to a person "whom I understood was a United Nations official."
Court documents say only that this unspecified payment went to "another individual" to satisfy an agreement regarding the pro-Iraqi effort to influence the U.N. resolution creating the program.
Vincent received, apparently legally, five separate allocations of Iraqi oil vouchers under Oil-for-Food, partly as compensation for lobbying efforts. He reaped profits totaling millions of dollars by selling those five allocations to an oil company, the Justice Department said.
Vincent got instructions in 1995 and 1996 from high-level Iraqi officials, and carried those instructions out in meetings with U.N. officials, Justice officials said....
During that period, Vincent never registered with the federal government as an agent of the Iraqi government.
Yet between 1998 and 2003, Vincent lobbied former U.S. officials close to both the Clinton and Bush administrations in an unsuccessful attempt to soften U.S. policy toward Iraq.
He then reported on his meetings to the Iraqi Intelligence Service and other Iraqi officials.
In particular, Iraqi intelligence officials sent a message to Vincent that he was to relay to a former U.S. official regarding Iraq's position on re-admitting weapons inspectors in return for the repeal of sanctions.
According to the report, Vincent's company, Phoenix International, was awarded vouchers for 1.5 million barrels of oil in 1999 and 2000, which Vincent sold for $1 million.
In total, Vincent and Phoenix received vouchers for 7.9 million barrels of oil, realizing a profit of $3.6 million, between 1997 and 2001, according to the report.
January 20th story
Former President Jimmy Carter has been linked with a key figure in the U.N.'s oil-for-food scandal by the group leading the nationwide effort to evict the United Nations from American soil and halt U.S. funding of the U.N.
Move America Forward today will call upon Carter to provide a full accounting of his meetings and conversations with Samir Vincent, who yesterday pleaded guilty to participating in numerous illegal activities as part of the U.N. scandal.
"President Carter needs to tell the American people exactly what relationships he had with the individuals involved in the oil-for-food scandal," said Melanie Morgan, co-chairman of Move America Forward, which is running television ads attacking the U.N. on national cable news networks, conducting an online petition drive and soliciting contributions to spread the message of the TV spots......
Based upon an investigation by Move America Forward, it appears President Carter and his associates are among the former officials with whom Vincent collaborated.
January 26th story (the one I found this morning)
The group that first revealed links between former President Jimmy Carter and Samir Vincent, a key figure in the U.N.'s oil-for-food scandal, is calling on two Carter organizations to release to the public a list of all financial contributors from 1999 to 2003.....
"Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, invited Mr. Vincent to their home to discuss their shared opposition to economic sanctions in Iraq. Then, public records revealed that Vincent was invited to be on the board of an organization, A World of Friends Inc., closely connected to Carter," said Melanie Morgan, co-chair of Move America Forward.......
"We know that Carter's son, Chip, gave Samir Vincent a tour of the Carter Center complex. What we want to know is whether the Iraqi agent directed oil-for-food money to the Carter Center in return for Carter promoting Saddam Hussein's position."
Carter and his associates have used the Carter Center as a weapon in the fight against America's foreign policy in Iraq. The board of directors includes Carter, his wife and Carter's ambassador to the U.N., Andrew Young.
In an April 2002 interview with Gulf News, Carter said he didn't "agree that the sanctions are doing any good; I think they are counterproductive." In the same interview, Carter lamented, "The United States and Great Britain are now acting, to a substantial degree, without the authority or approval of the United Nations organization itself."
The Carter Center is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that is not required to file a list of individuals or entities that provide it with funding.
"President Carter and his associates should follow the lead of Jack Kemp, who has stepped forward and spoken candidly about his relationship with Samir Vincent," said Move America Forward Co-chair Howard Kaloogian. "Kemp obviously feels he has nothing to hide. After years of boisterously opposing U.S. foreign policy in Iraq, all we've gotten is months of silence from President Carter followed by a carefully guarded statement from his spokeswoman.......
Former President Jimmy Carter is not an Op/Ed writer. He literally travels the world, meeting with the likes of Fidel Castro, sticking his nose into foreign policy anywhere he can get a photo op or a microphone. After his record in dealing with foreign relations as our President ( hostages in Iran), I have no idea why anyone thinks his traveling around "in our best interest," is anything short of a disaster. Carter's own Library can't even get the facts right:
"The toll of patient diplomacy was great, but President Carter's actions brought freedom for the hostages with America's honor preserved."
HUH??? This sentence reads like a parody from a Saturday Night Live skit! They call his COMPLETE IMPOTENCE in this situation "patient diplomacy?" (Where's the duct tape?) Then they go on to state that Carter actually took "actions?" What actions did he take? An oil embargo? Is this the same thing that he was lobbying against the UN for, in the case of Saddam? ( Need MORE duct tape!) I am utterly speechless by the time we get to the part where they claim his "actions brought freedom to the hostages.."( My eyes are beginning to bleed at this point, while the phrase "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto" comes to mind) The final blow is "with America's honor preserved." HELP! Someone call 911, I have either flipped into another dimension or I am truly insane. Someone actually wrote this! Other, presumably EDUCATED, people thought is was a great sentence to put into a President's Library as if it were an historical FACT!
AMAZING! And the MSM is trying to blast bloggers for credibility issues? The MSM is worried about Op/Ed pieces?
Dear MSM, please forgive the speck in my eye, and may I please, please, please borrow a line from a President with REAL integrity, "Anyone wanna buy some wood?"
posted by Straight Up with Sherri at
11:11 AM
1 Comments:
30 years ago there was not talk radio and no net. I depended on the bigoted MSM for information. I voted for Jimmy - ONCE! Because the MSM did not tell the truth I din no find out what a crook he was until he was in office. The facts we found out were there in 76 the MSM just would not give us the facts!
Rod Stanton
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Anonymous, at 4:11 PM
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