Newsweek's Jonathan Alter Demands Evidence of White House Corruption, Gets It
Newsweek's Jonathan Alter, who last year wrote a lengthy book on the first year of Barack Obama's presidency, looked very displeased on Dylan Ratigan's MSNBC program earlier this week when other guests concurred with accusations of corruption against the White House.
The Ratigan segment centered on a statement by Rep. Darrel Issa, R-Calif., incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Goernment Reform Committee, that Obama's is "one of the most corrupt administrations ever."
"There is zero evidence" of corruption, he insisted. When fellow guest Tim Carney, a Washington Examiner columnist, disagreed, Alter demanded Carney produce evidence. So he did (video below the fold).
In a followup post on the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog, Carney listed what he notes is an incomplete list of corruption in the Obama White House:
• Ex Google lobbyist Andrew McLaughlin working as the No. 2 tech policy guy in the White House discussing net neutrality with Google lobbyists (registered and unregistered) while Google stood to profit from the administration's Net Neutrality rules.
• Former Goldman Sachs lobbyist Mark Patterson taking a job as Treasury Department chief of staff within 9 months of his work for Goldman.
• Former H&R Block CEO Mark Ernst being hired by Obama's IRS and then writing new regulations on tax prep -- regulations that H&R Block has endorsed, and that will help H&R Block.
• Obama officials meeting off campus for official business for the sake of avoiding the Presidential Records Act.
• And this nugget from the same NYTimes piece: "Two lobbyists also cited instances in which the White House had suggested that a job candidate be “deregistered” as a lobbyist in Senate records to avoid violating the administration’s hiring restrictions."
• The firing of AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin. As my colleague Byron York has explained: "The method of Walpin's firing could be a violation of the 2008 Inspectors General Reform Act, which requires the president to give Congress 30 days' notice, plus an explanation of cause, before firing an inspector general."
• Giving a car company (Chrysler) to a political entity that spent millions to get you elected. This deal involved alleged threats by a since-indicted car czar to knee-cap investors who didn't want to agree to the White House's deal.
Of course, as Carney notes, Issa's statement is hyperbolic. But Alter's indignant on-air response to accusations of corruption suggests that he thinks the Obama administration is wonderfully free of corrupt practices of any kind. (It should be noted that corruption, as defined here, can include activities that are perfectly legal.)
That is nonsense, of course. But for a reporter who can't seem to find a single fault in Obama's economic or foreign policies (any problems are Bush's fault, of course), it's not altogether surprising.
Note: I was once an intern at the Washington Examiner.
- Lachlan Markay's blog
- Login to post comments
Comments
Alter"s look on his face is
Submitted by inquiringmind on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 4:17pm.
Alter"s look on his face is classic!
I would say "priceless."
Submitted by motherbelt on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 5:19pm.
I would say a sympathetic camera man pulled the camera off him quickly, to minimize the exposure.
He looks like he's mentally kicking himself for not heeding the lawyer's maxim to never ask a question you don't know the answer to.
Alter wouldn't know journalism if he stepped in it
Submitted by ironchefofmunchies on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 4:31pm.
Alter: that's what JOURNALISM looks like. It may look odd to you since you have no idea what journalism really is.
Alter is more about propaganda.
Shill
Submitted by KC Mulville on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 4:35pm.
The shill is the part of The Act who goes into the public and acts like a disinterested observer, who just happens to do exactly what the Seller wants. The purpose is to deceive the public.
Alter is a complete shill.
I guess this sticks a fork in Alter's next book title . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 4:38pm.
. . . Saint Barack.
Saint Barack
Submitted by Jaylouem on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 4:44pm.
Saint Barack.... that's classic.
Unfortunately, facts don't matter to Alter. They'll just be buried somewhere in his small brain.... lost forever.
At Newsweek they Alter the facts.
Submitted by needle on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 5:17pm.
At Newsweek they Alter the facts.
- Looking forward to the self-annihilation of the Manipulated Stories Machine.
And the #1 answer by the studio audience is.......
Submitted by almostacowboy on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 4:40pm.
SEIU President Andy Stern's record number of visits to the White House while Obamugabe's Marxist regime ensured unions would be on the receiving end of every labor-related action under the sun.
DING-DING-DING-DING-DING!
Competing for first prize in corruption
Submitted by needle on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 5:23pm.
Let's never forget the Billions of Stimulus money carved out to save way-overpaid SEIU jobs and the huge backwash of union donated campaign money.
- Looking forward to the self-annihilation of the Manipulated Stories Machine.
The List Doesn't Include
Submitted by JustAl on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 4:40pm.
Offering federal jobs as a way to influence primaries. Or accepting the nobel prize cash while in office and not turning it over to the government.
"nobel" prize
Submitted by Huapakechi on Sat, 01/08/2011 - 8:45pm.
He kept that money because he needed the cash to pay the lawyers hiding his birth certificate.
Watching This Video - Free
Submitted by Chris Of Rights on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 4:48pm.
Seeing the look on Alter's face: Priceless.
Carney took all three of
Submitted by Barack_must_go..... on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 5:08pm.
Carney took all three of those MSNBC dupes from leaning forward to fully bent over before they knew what hit them.
Even the gerbil whisperer couldn't help but chime in something about Wellpoint just before the tape cut off.
In about three seconds flat Alter and Maddow's plaything went from talking over one another about the Ass Clown and no proof of corruption, to well his isn't the most corrupt administration.
........and just think, Issa hasn't even begun his investigating yet. Maybe we really can remove Barack before the natural end of his reign of terror.
Barack_Must_Go.....
A excellent opportunity for media bias metrics
Submitted by needle on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 5:42pm.
NewsBusters will have to work overtime in order to record all of the Liberal media’s deficient/non-existent coverage of Issa’s oversight investigations.
Issa’s oversight investigations provide a predictably lush opportunity to catch the Liberal media shortchanging the public WRT honest reporting of corruption within the Obama Administration.
In fact it is such a great opportunity I think NewsBusters should maintain on its front page a running score box of how poorly the each of the usual culprits are doing in reporting the news of corruption within the Obama administration.
- Looking forward to the self-annihilation of the Manipulated Stories Machine.
Im sure the LSM will cover it
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Sat, 01/08/2011 - 3:21am.
Im sure the LSM will cover it ... as a witch hunt and it will bring down America.
Newsweek is not even any good as bun wad
Submitted by needle on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 5:09pm.
Who on earth would expect Newsweek's Jonathan Alter to know about the corruption of his creature Obama?
Alter is not much different from a Mafia member’s mother proclaiming from the witness stand that the fruit of her womb is a pure as the driven snow.
Newsweek has as much to do with honest dissemination of unbiased news as Enron’s Advertising Department.
- Looking forward to the self-annihilation of the Manipulated Stories Machine.
Poor Alter...
Submitted by bigdaddy on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 5:28pm.
..Once you go Barack, you don't go back...
.....unless it's bare...
Submitted by Barack_must_go..... on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 5:34pm.
.....unless it's bare...
Barack_Must_Go.....
Maybe next time he'll be more
Submitted by Cowboy on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 5:30pm.
Maybe next time he'll be more careful what he asks for...
I'm all for it.
Submitted by blablablather on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 6:09pm.
I hope Issa calls him out on this. Only wish we had someone doing the same for the Bush Administration. Democrats were total wusses.
You hooked me...
Submitted by ontheright on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 6:32pm.
...what is it exactly that you wish ..."we had someone doing the same"...with regards to "Bush corruption"...
Please, do tell! And, if you don't mind, be sure to cite your sources - I am excited to thoroughly analyze your "Alter-like proof".
What's that I hear, crickets?
Submitted by ontheright on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 6:50pm.
What's that I hear, crickets? Unless I'm completely misreading you, I'm calling a troll alert.
If in fact I've misread, I humbly appologize - and therefore no harm, no foul.
Have a great weekend!
OTR
Submitted by jdlybrand on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 8:40pm.
I think I smell troll poontang. Four weeks?Just a guy? (see profile)? In fact, I'm thinking drive by troll.
"What a revoltin' development this is!"
Chester Riley
Good idea - start off real slow like
Submitted by SickofLibs on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 8:13pm.
,
The next fill in for the Sarge?
Submitted by Tomorama on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 8:14pm.
Genius, the media wasn't calling out Bush every hour of every day for every year he was President?
You must be kidding and if you are, I apologize for the mock attitude.
If you are serious, the DailyLoss and Huffblow are another neck of the words "your type" should hang out in (the uninformed bunch.......).
If the Dems had something, it WOULD HAVE happened especially 2006 on.
Firing of 8 Federal US attorneys
Submitted by stunned on Sat, 01/08/2011 - 1:30am.
Clinton fired ALL of the AG's but when Bush replaced 8 of his own appointees there were hearings and the MSM went nuts accusing Bush of "politicizing" the Justice Dept by Attorney General Gonzales. No Crime No Laws Broken in fact the US attorneys serve at the will of the President but it was a huge scandel according to the MSM.
Three inspector general probes have all exonerated Gonzales of a litany of accusations that he had committed criminal acts in Washington. The results of the last one came in July 2010, when a Department of Justice-appointed investigator cleared Gonzales of any wrongdoing in the controversial removal of eight U.S. attorneys in 2007. The MSM buried that story.
They have not even bothered covering the Obama AG firings since he took office.
No media outrage when Attorney General Eric Holder stated during a May 14,2009 congressional hearing, "Elections matter. It is our intention to have the U.S. attorneys that are selected by President Obama in place as quickly as we can." No problem for MSM as it was for Bush according to the Dems.
Obama’s fired of Inspector General Gerald Walpin on June 11, 2009 illegally without notifing Congress as required by law because he investigated Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who was an Obama supporter and former NBA basketball star, into the misuse of federal grants by St Hope Academy that Johnson headed with no media outrage. Obama's WH even tried to imply he was senile with again no MSM outrage.
Walpin's "crime" was still investigating the April 9, 2009, Acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence G. Brown announced that St. HOPE Academy had agreed to pay $423,836.50 over ten years in settlement of allegations. But as Walpin wrote Johnson got a pass:
"As St. HOPE is insolvent, the absence of any obligation imposed on…Kevin Johnson, and the absence of any guarantee or security to ensure payment, makes the settlement a farce," Walpin wrote.
"Mr. Brown knows," Walpin concluded, "that the settlement agreement was carefully drafted so that no obligation is imposed on Mr. Johnson to pay to [AmeriCorps] a single penny of the amount supposedly to be paid to [AmeriCorps] by St. HOPE." NO MSM outrage again.
tired of liberal lies
just sayin...
Submitted by blablablather on Sat, 01/08/2011 - 10:30am.
MSM and IG there now and there in Bush's time. Not sure who Issa's opposite number was back then. It's not like there wasn't anything to investigate. There's ALWAYS some shenanigans going on in ANY administration, and you've got blinders on if you don't think so. I have just had it with the ole boy network and lawmakers kissin the ass of the people who make the big contributions. They ALL do it.
BTW, that AG thing, correct me if I am wrong, but don't they almost always all get replaced at the beginning of a new administration (including GWB) - and what was unusual was that these were replaced at the begining of the second term.
googled it for the hell of it. granted it is wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismissal_of_U.S._attorneys_controversy
I wonder what the internal memo read
Submitted by gopcongress on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 6:17pm.
I'm sure MSNBC brass had a hissyfit when they tried to figure out how Issa got on the program and was allowed to answer the way they did. I'm sure the host of that program got a scathing memo demanding why he didn't jump in immediately to intercept, or at least mitigate, the ability of Issa to respond the way he did.
"The news and truth are not the same thing." -Walter Lippmann (1889-1974) FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER
"Wet pants " time for Alter
Submitted by redright88 on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 6:37pm.
Hope he was wearing some Depends.
Awwwww, poor widdle Alter had
Submitted by Scuba Dude on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 7:59pm.
Awwwww, poor widdle Alter had a look on his face that said "Stop Them Dylan!!! Why are you letting him tell the truth?!?!?!? Shut him up!!!!!!"
Screw you Alter, why doesn't your magazine DIE already?
Hyperbolic?
Submitted by ckc1227 on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 8:07pm.
"Of course, as Carney notes, Issa's statement is hyperbolic."
Issa said it is one of the most corrupt administrations ever. I don't think that's hyperbolic at all.
I agree
Submitted by Kansasgirl on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 10:51pm.
These people have exposed more than was ever intended. They're starting to act almost irrational to me. I hope I'm wrong.
Trim those puppies
Submitted by Tomorama on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 8:17pm.
"Nose hair" Alter's look made my DAY.
Who is this Carney and can we clone him or something?
Wow, Alter looked "beat up"
Submitted by mostlymoderate on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 8:23pm.
Wow, Alter looked "beat up" on that last frame after being inundated with evidence :)
Ordinarily I don't watch the videos
Submitted by megapotamus on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 8:26pm.
but that one was definitely worth it.
I had my own answer to that challenge in mind, off the cuff like the speaker, and only in the firing of Walping did it overlap. I had come up with that spontaneously to support an assertion that Obama is easily the most corrupt politician in American history if money is the metric. Think about it for ten seconds and you will have your list as well. All these depravities need to be looked into aggressively. Hope Issa is up to it, I find him a bit wanting in vertebral integrity though.
Also
Submitted by megapotamus on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 8:30pm.
we need one of those blink analyses on Alter. I think he is blinking out TORTURE in morse code!
truth is dead
Submitted by Indie Dude on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 9:34pm.
It would be impossible for one corrupt person to recognize another's corruption. That would be too easy. BTW, Alter can bite me.
Four senses come to mind
Submitted by Tomorama on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 9:55pm.
The amazing thing is boom, boom, boom factual truths about his corruption....
You could SEE the fear....
You could almost HEAR the Oh shit, this guy has facts.....
But then you could SMELL............ when Alter crapped his pants.
Smacking down (D)-bags like this TASTES so sweet.
Silly me
Submitted by Kansasgirl on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 10:40pm.
I thought it was the media's job to investigate WH corruption.
The media investigate?
Submitted by 26CX on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 10:43pm.
Not when it would be biting the hand that feeds you.
Ah,
Submitted by Kansasgirl on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 11:03pm.
but we have forced them to show their hand, and America doesn't agree with the hand that Obama is trying to deal us.
Kansasgirl
Submitted by 26CX on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 11:09pm.
I think we're engaging in felony metaphor mixing... best to stop now before the authorities get involved.
Alter was at a loss for words...
Submitted by Rukus on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 11:04pm.
That in itself is priceless! Love the vid! Be careful what you ask for, you might just get it! LOL!
Liberals "feel"
Submitted by TRH on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 11:32pm.
..facts hurt!
Alter should be
Submitted by panzerakc on Sat, 01/08/2011 - 1:00am.
Careful what he asks for!
Poor Little Marxists
Submitted by Lentenlands on Sat, 01/08/2011 - 2:29pm.
Marxist liberal socialist commie liars who spend their lives lying and defending the lies all in the name of karl marx.
http://smashabanana.blogspot.com/
And let's not forget, the
Submitted by dscott on Sat, 01/08/2011 - 10:39pm.
And let's not forget, the other corruption as well:
Obama's non ban - ban of coastal oil drilling caused many deep well operators to pull up stakes and head to other parts of the world, like Brazil's new oil field, one the just so happens to NEED deep well rigs, a prime investor in that little multibillion dollar undertaking and just coincidentally is a MAJOR campaign contributor to Obama and his Dem allies... Who might that be???? George Soros
The EPA rushing to implement carbon regulations. Who benefits? Why aren't those Obama's friends at the defunct Chicago Carbon Exchange and the new California Carbon Exchange? How about another huckster we know and love...Al Gore.
The other little beneficiary of the EPA regs will be Freddie Mac who patented their carbon footprint model of the housing sector. You won't be able to get a loan from the two GSE's unless you comply with their audit and PAY for Carbon Credits or make the expensive improvements to meet their """"Standards""""" And you wonder why the Dems who run the GSEs want the banks to get out of the home lending business????