Monday Stuff (6/1/10)

I give you the following from clownhall.com (here)…

Elizabeth Birnbaum, Director of Minerals Management (MMS) at the Department of the Interior, resigned over the BP spill, in a classic, sacrifice-a-pawn, let-the-heads-roll, political sacrificial lamb ploy that folks in DC have witnessed countless times. Someone had to go. Anger over Obama Administration inaction, coupled with recent disclosures that government employees in the Department of Interior’s MMS division were often watching porn and taking drugs, demanded a head. So, the call went out, and Birnbaum was the sacrificial pawn.

It should be noted that the transgressions disclosed by the author occurred under Obama’s predecessor, by the way. It is not surprising that that was not pointed out, since the author of this piece of flotsam was a member of Bushco also (more on Birnbaum here).

The post in question was written by Lurita Doan, and clownhall.com tells us that Doan “is an African American conservative commentator who writes about issues affecting the federal government.”

And it is not surprising in the least that it was not noted that Doan was head of the General Services Administration under Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History; as noted here from April ’08, Doan “appeared completely befuddled before the Henry Waxman’s House Oversight Committee over whether or not she and/or her employees violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits government resources – including employees' time or space in a government building – from being used for partisan politics.”

(In a linked Think Progress post, we learn that a May 18th ’07 report from the Office of Special Counsel found that, as GSA chief, Doan engaged in a “serious violation” of federal law by holding a meeting of federal employees prior to the 2006 midterms to discuss how they could “help our candidates” win the next election.)

Doan’s criticism of Birnbaum for not de-lousing the Bushco Minerals Management Service is, to me, not unlike the fox criticizing the farmer for not allowing the predator to raid the henhouse.

Also, wingut Pat Toomey weighed in here on the crisis in which Israeli forces raided an aid flotilla trying to break a blockade of Gaza to deliver much-needed humanitarian aid (Toomey says that Israel “offered the ship a port and promised to deliver the humanitarian aid, but militant activists on the ship intentionally provoked a battle instead”).

I find that difficult to believe partly because, as noted here, the Israeli raid on the flotilla took place in international waters. And as the New York Times notes here…

Israel said the violence was instigated by pro-Palestinian activists who presented themselves as humanitarians but had come ready for a fight. Organizers of the flotilla accused the Israeli forces of opening fire as soon as they landed on the deck, and released videos to support their case. Israel released video taken from one of its vessels to supports its own account of events.

The Israeli public seemed largely to support the navy, but policy experts questioned preparations for the military operation, whether there had been an intelligence failure and whether the Israeli insistence on stopping the flotilla had been counterproductive. Some commentators were calling for the resignation of Ehud Barak, the defense minister.

“The government failed the test of results; blaming the organizers of the flotilla for causing the deaths by ignoring Israel’s orders to turn back is inadequate,” wrote Aluf Benn, a columnist for Haaretz, on the newspaper’s Web site on Monday, calling for a national committee of inquiry. “Decisions taken by the responsible authorities must be probed.”

…

Some Israeli officials said they had worried about a debacle from the start, and questioned Israel’s broader security policies.

Einat Wilf, a Labor Party member of Parliament who sits on the influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said that she had warned Mr. Barak and others well in advance that the flotilla was a public relations issue and should not be dealt with by military means.

“This had nothing to do with security,” she said in an interview. “The armaments for Hamas were not coming from this flotilla.”

The fatalities all occurred aboard the Mavi Marmara, a Turkish passenger vessel that was carrying about 600 activists under the auspices of Insani Yardim Vakfi, an organization also known as I.H.H. Israeli officials have characterized it as a dangerous Islamic organization with terrorist links.

Yet the organization, founded in 1992 to collect aid for the Bosnians, is now active in 120 countries and has been present at recent disaster areas like Haiti and New Orleans.

Israel is way out on a limb on this one; I will never be completely sympathetic to the Palestinians, but it’s time for our “partner” to get serious about negotiating a two-state solution for real (and don’t get me started on those goddamn settlements).

And by the way, to help Admiral Joe against Toomey, click here; with Snarlin’ Arlen now running out the proverbial clock, the battle for his PA U.S. Senate seat has begun in earnest. It is now time to portray Toomey as the clueless, supposedly small government, “values voter” zealot that he truly is.

Finally, I give you Pancake Joe Pitts at The Daily Caller here, concerning the recently observed holiday…

This Memorial Day we remember those who gave their lives so that we can enjoy freedom. We also think about those who are in harm’s way and pray for their safety and for their families here at home. For those families who lost loved ones the war never ends. We will enjoy that freedom with barbeques and swimming pools, but we must also take the time to honor those who have given the full measure so that we can enjoy the fruits of liberty.

As noted here, Pitts voted against a GI Bill to pay post-9/11 veterans' college costs and use tax hikes on individual incomes over $500,000 and joint incomes over $1 million to pay for the program. He also voted against a bill extending U.S. criminal jurisdiction to all of the government's private contractors overseas, not just those working for the military (can you say, “Blackwater/Xe,” boys and girls - I would argue that that makes our military less safe).

Also, Pitts voted against the bill sponsored by Dem U.S. House Rep Rush Holt of New Jersey to video record interrogations by anyone in a Defense Department facility, which would give those in the services legal cover in the event that any questions arise during the course of an interrogation (here and here).

When it comes to honoring our military, I have only this to say about Pitts, a decorated veteran who nonetheless broke a congressional term limit pledge:

Right message – wrong messenger (and to help Lois Herr, click here).