It’s not that both sides don’t have such patrols, it’s just that the rightwing patrols are larger and therefore, much noisier when they stumble upon anything that appears hinky by any senior Democratic official or celebrity tied to the Democratic Party.
They are particularly obsessive about Obama, both Clintons, and Soros. Most of what they surface is BS and either quickly dismissed as silly or quickly debunked. Occasionally they or someone not aligned with them takes a closer look and stumbles upon related stuff that appears hinky and that initiates a new round of outrage. Then exhaustion leads to everyone dropping it and anyone that steps in way late to the party and suggests that in haste, there were other hinky aspects of the story that weren’t covered is quickly dismissed as a CT.
This one begins on Memorial Day 2016.
Round 1: A photo —
Absolutely nothing wrong. But rightwingers went apeshit because they operate with half a brick. In this instance, the half was knowledge that military personnel can’t appear in uniform at a political campaign event. Thus, in their peabrains, this guy in US Navy dress uniform must be an actor hired by Hillary to exploit her military creds or she was exploiting a guy and causing him to voilate the law.
The simple answer is that it was a freaking Memorial Day Parade and not a political event. But before that occured to anyone, they were already checking out this actor and Snopes jumped in to debunk their fantasy.
He is Oscar Flores, director of operations at the Clintons’ New York home, who was also a member of the United States Navy until he retired in 2011 after 22 years of service. Flores attends the Memorial Day parade each year to pay his respects to those who were killed or who are missing.
Round 2: Snopes included a bit too much in its debunking report. Another photo and
The Clintons attended Flores’ retirement ceremony aboard the USS Makin Island:
Zero Hedge picked up on that and after collecting information reported: ‘Everyday American’ Taxpayers Funded $90,000 Private Jet For Hillary (And Her Mom) To Visit Her Chef
…Flores originally served as Bill’s White House Chef but has stuck with the Clintons over the years …
In fact, according to a note from CNBC, the Clinton’s are so tight with their chef that back in 2011 then Secretary of State Hillary chartered a G-5 to attend his Navy retirement ceremony in San Diego. Per Hillary’s official schedule below, she also brought Bill, Chelsea and her mom, Dorothy Rodham, along for the ride…
All the facts in Durden’s ZH report are verifiable facts. Wingers can be outraged all over again and HillFans can play their standard role — it’s nothing and stop picking on Hillary. Both positions are opinions based on the facts in the article, and in this instance, arguing opinions is a waste of time, and both the pro and anti-sides will exhaust themselves soon enough over this matter. (Please don’t re-ignite a dueling opinion debate in comments to this diary. That would be trollish, indicating a failure to read and comprehend this diary, and any such comments will be rated accordingly.)
Round 3: Corrections and questions that seem not to have been asked.
- What was private citizen Doug Band and Clinton family associate/friend doing aboard that USG chartered jet? (Note: complaining about politicians including family members in their government paid for jaunts when space permits is a perq and therefore, a waste of time to complain about.)
- Both Snopes and Zero Hedge incorrectly identified Flores’ military service. He retired from the US Navy Reservs. That is not the same as the US Navy. Flores may have served in the US Navy before joining the US Navy Reserve, but that hasn’t been reported and isn’t necessary for the US Navy Reserve.
Those with no prior military experience usually agree to a term of two to eight years. If you have past military experience the amount of time that you spend in the Navy Reserve will greatly vary depending on your past.
Reservists may retire after 20 years of satisfactory service (50 points per year). This is based on a combination of active duty time, attendance at training periods and completion of correspondence courses. Mandatory retirement age is 60 (sometimes waivable to age 67 for Physicians).
The next two points relate to this one:
3. Do all twenty-plus year US Navy Reserve Chief Petty Officers receive such a lavish retirement ceremony and dinner reception? Or was there something unique and special about Flores’ active service that made him worthy of this?
Including a tribute from the House floor?
If not, the Department of the Navy should explain this exception.
4. Related to #3
According to the official Navy press release, Hillary described Flores as the “Mayor of Chappaqua because a simple trip to the grocery store or to the post office turns into a three hour town hall meeting. Everybody wants to talk to Oscar.”
Obviously, Mr. Flores’ would have to have been working for the Clinton’s for some period of time for HRC to make such a statement. What else was disclosed is:
Chief Culinary Specialist Flores represents the best of what our Nation has to offer and has demonstrated exemplary and laudable service while on the Presidential Food Service Staff at the White House as Chef and Personal Enlisted Aide to the President.
Chief Culinary Specialist Flores’ tireless work ethic will be missed by the U.S. Navy, though his strong commitment continues as a Personal Chef, Personal Aide, and Director of Operations at the Clinton Residence.
An interpretation would be that while on US Navy active duty that Flores served WJC in the White House. However, that’s not what it says and it would surprise me if the Navy makes active duty assignments to the WH kitchen staff. (At the Camp David kitchen wouldn’t be so surprising, but no mention is made of Camp David.) Reservists in all branches of the military hold jobs in and out of government, but that’s not part of their military service. If that job is for a government VIP, it’s natural enough that his/her boss would appear at the retirement ceremony for the individual (in part because such government VIPs like to be seen in the company of military officers), but the appearance should not mislead the public that the individual is being honored for exceptional military service when none exists and nor should government officials be spending a significant amount of federal dollars to make an appearance.
Thus, it appears that at the time of his retirement from the US Navy Reserve, Oscar Flores was a long-term employee of the Clinton family. Very nice that the family wanted to be at his military retirement. But it was personal to them, far away from where their homes and normal places of work, and with their entourage, including the Secret Service, their personal desires shouldn’t lead to unnecessary taxpayer costs.
[Estancia Hotel — Price Range: $248 – $444 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)].
- It’s not known how the government accounting was handled for this trip. Will give the Clintons the benefit of doubt that reimbursements were made to the USG for the travel costs of Chelsea, Mrs. Rodham, and Mr. Band and that only HRC/WJC’s and Abedin’s Friday night Estancia Hotel rooms and meals were charged to the USG. Even though I stated in #4 that I personally consider this trip a boondoggle, the fact that the retirement ceremony was an official US Navy function, HRC/WJC’s (along with her personal aide) attendance broadly qualified as government business. USG accounting verification of this should be easily available. (And if there was an overlooked oops, correcting it is what is important and preferably without over-the-top public outrage.)
- An aha! The co-mingling of the personal with the business and the business.
April 1-3, 2011. Whatever HRC and Abedin did the weekend of April 2-3 is no concern of ours (unless she had some official public event obligations not listed on her schedule). There’s no evidence that either of them or Mrs. Rodham attended the CGI U 2011 event. It doesn’t matter if they took some R&R time in La Jolla and the return trip was on Sunday or Monday and included the whole same entourage which is what her schedule indicates.
I really am confused. Do they think that after the election, HC should continue as always with the Foundation? That seems to be why they attacked Sanders for insufficient fealty. Guess would have been better for him to say “no comment”? He doesn’t have such a pretzel set of ethics. Thank you, John Roberts. That “appearance of corruption” is sooooooooo handy.
The answers seem to be:
As First Man, WJC won’t have an income and may need to continue to travel the world imparting his pearls of wisdom for cash because he has bills to pay. Of course, all their bills for aides will go bye-bye because they’ll put them on the USG payroll. Maybe Bill can catch a ride on AF-1 with HRC to help him with his world travel expenditures (probably wouldn’t even need to reimburse the USG at the standard rate of a first class commercial ticket cost). Since they’ll be back in pubic housing, they might sell off the DC house.
Won’t be a boss around for either of them that requires a separation between the CF and WH, but the agreement with boss Obama wasn’t worth the paper it was written; so, they only have to care about Congress.
The GOP witch hunt has not ended in 25 years. No one has to start one. Just gathering at the GOP dunking stool and cheering is sufficient.
Once again, in dunking witches, whether the witch is innocent or guilty is immaterial; it’s the community’s sense of atonement that matters. The alleged witch is drowned regardless. Likely there were some poor souls back in the days of literal witch hunts who felt themselves possessed by the devil; in that sense they were “guilty”. Tragic waste, it was.
Not to miss today’s WaPo article Bill Clinton’s nearly $18 million job…
Is WaPo cleaning out their drawers of articles they held off on publishing while Sanders was a viable candidate and now putting them out there prior to the final election beat down of Trump and to avoid charges of not covering the Clintons and/or leaving this low hanging fruit for other publications to run with?
Well (as Booman also has noted) the actual news in that article was discussed during the primary.
So when Washington Post waits until now to publish it, I think it is safe to assume that they did not want to publish it as long as Sanders had a chance.
Bill Clinton said, a couple of weeks ago, that he would step down from the CF if Hillary wins so I’m not sure that there’s much of a story here with Bernie.
Two things seem to be clear: 1) They do not want to shut down the foundation and 2) They want Chelsea to run the foundation.
A news link because I have no kind words to say about that woman:
The Guardian — Phyllis Schlafly, outspoken rightwing activist, has died aged 92
Didn’t realize she was 20 years older than me. I remember the Orange Juice commercials when I was a young 20 something. Didn’t realize she was as old as my mother.
Gaaah! I’m thinking of Anita Bryant!
This is pretty awesome Marie.
Really it deserves wider publication.
This is what consumes partisans who already know what they think.
But does any of this matter to those who are not?
I really tend to doubt it.
Thank you. Durden should have done better in covering this, but IMO he too got caught up in doing OMG.
They tune out the OMG! from both sides, but may be more open to hearing straightforward, factual, and complete reporting than media/news/blogs give them credit for. But where can they turn to for that?
So they are left with inchoate impressions that guides their opinions. Thus, HRC isn’t honest or trustworthy.
One would have to review other ex-President’s use of military aircraft and special treatment by the military on behalf of veterans of the military to argue that this was not SOP of some duration.
That it is surfacing solely about the Clintons and not as an examination of the privileges that the Presidential club, with advise and consent of the Congress, accords itself is the issue.
If you are going to hold politicians to a new standard of behavior, hold all of them to it.
Watergate was in fact not about lying but an abuse of power that should not have been allowed to be repeated (but will be). The Clinton impeachment for lying about consensual sex was imposition of a new workplace standard for politicians that all politicians should be held to. The legal process by which this happened was so hinky itself that it amounted to selective justice that forever is ingrained in the acronym IOKIYAR. The case of Dennis Hastert is one example of IOKIYAR. And the persecutors in the GOP whe themselves were having consensual affairs at the time and also had security clearances.
The privileges that part of the elite that C. Wright Mills called the political directorate have accorded themselves are quite astounding when journalist bring them out in the open. And the privileges members of the political directorate can extort from the civil service and military as courtesies are also quite astounding when brought out in the open.
Manufacturing outrage to manufacture consent is what the opposition units of campaigns do. You see the lines of attack already: “Trump and Putin”, “Dishonest Hillary”. Some are half-truths, exploiting appearances. Others are flat-out lies. Real investigative reporting would frame the report so as to permit systemic changes, not drown them in bothsiderism. Real investigative reporting would track back to see whether it was true that government funds were actually involved and what the relationship between the passengers on the plane and Mr. Flores actually were before assuming there was none. Real investigative reporting would not treat the fact that someone makes job changes through accompanying a boss to a different job venue is a normal occurrence. Real investigative reporting would recognize that in post-Bush America, the active military and the reserves lack clear differences and that the military does staff jobs at the White House as a matter of good relationships with the President.
Bill Clinton was an intern for William Fulbright. Maybe we should retrospectively investigate how William Fulbright, then a respected Senator, commingled private and public expenses.
While this sort of nitpicking is expected in NGOs and the better private corporations (from an accounting standpoint), it is not necessarily a universal due diligence. Indeed it is more honored in the breach than observed.
Does this amount to a showstopper for Clinton’s qualifications for President?
If so, screen Trump, Stein, and Johnson by the same standards to the extent they have held public office.
For me, Clinton’s view of foreign policy and corporate regulation are more serious issues. And everybody’s toleration of an unauditable Department of Defense and secret intelligence accounts is a more serious accounting deficiency.
You could have used fewer words to criticize my diary:
Doesn’t do any good for me to say that if given the same set of reports with the principle actor being any other senior USG official that I would have written the exact came diary because you seem to have convinced yourself that I’m a HillHater and therefore, anything I write must be attacked and criticized even if such criticism isn’t fact based or is contrary to principles you normally espouse in your comments. Pathetic.
A curious history of the Charity Navigator rankings….
“The saga with Charity Navigator is even stranger. First they were rated poorly, then they were watch listed (meaning be wary of), then, after the Clinton Foundation complained, they were simply removed as “not ratable” due to an “unusual business model,” and now suddenly get top marks.
Reply ↓
Bugs Bunny
September 6, 2016 at 9:50 am
Amy Sterling Casil looks at Charity Navigator here.
They recently changed leadership — a former Microsoft CTO for Public Sector is the new head. Coincidentally, that’s when they reversed position on the Foundation. They are also a member of the Clinton Global Initiative.
I will say that their partner in many operations is Nature Conservancy, which has been captured by Wall Street as Sierra Club was a few yrs back. Took a fight to dislodge them, too. Nature Conservancy has been implicated in land grabs and REDD fraud.
I follow wildlife and environmental issues in Kenya and have to say that DE-forestation is proceeding at a tragic pace. They are cashing out their resources. I did ask about Foundation in one case and heard the money never appeared. That is just anecdote, of course.
Hijacking the Environmental Movement
“Financially compromised non-governmental organizations (NGOs), i.e. World Wildlife Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and 350, promise the largest return on investment Wall Street has ever seen. While some international NGOs still take money directly from corporations, it is more effective to launder money through foundations, i.e. NoVo, TIDES, Gates, Ford and Rockefeller.”
http://www.wrongkindofgreen.org/category/organizations/nature-conservancy/
The Charity Navigator information was posted in comments on naked capitalism.
Here’s another case of changing standards. Where were these stories when Liddy Dole was transforming the Red Cross into a profit-center model? Where were these stories when the AARP decided that chained CPI was OK for a grand bargain on Social Security?
Yes, a lot of NGOs have become wastes of money and havens of privileged professionals.
You are now charging that rating organizations of charities are corrupt in their ratings. If true, that issue is much bigger than their assessment of the Clinton Foundation.
I don’t think there are that many Friends of Bill in those many high places. Even with Microsoft.
Not only is it an anectdote, in the context you raise it it is essentially unsourced. How did they know that it was committed in the first place? And how did they know it never appeared? You, see the Clinton Foundation is an operating foundation. It buys stuff from vendors; it does not grant money to other NGOs. It receives money from other NGOs. What they did with de-forestation was build a nationwide database tracking its extent and mapping existing reforestation projects.
But that is way down in the weeds of all the different projects that the Clinton Foundation is doing.
As I said elsewhere, my current thinking is that the GOP propagandists are treating the Clinton Foundation like ACORN and they want to harrass it until the Clintons shut it down. Likely, after that second success, they will go after the Carter Center and yet another attack on Planned Parenthood.
Marie3 is right about hinky patrols in political campaigns. The problem in this campaign is that the Democrats are not doing shit on their hinky patrol. I don’t think it is because Republicans are more honest or attentive to the appearance of wrongdoing. It might be the lack of media interest.
I think you would be shocked at the ill repute of big Western NGOs among on the ground groups in the African states I follow–SA, Namibia and Kenya. TZ to some extent. They are almost ALL seen as “milking the rhino.”
That means raising money to pay their own salaries and expense account.
As far as forest issues, my worst angel tells me they are mapping in advance of carbon sales and getting ready to choose their REDD+ projects for Wall Street. That generally involves having Kenya Forest Service kick the indigenous out. Google Ogiek perhaps?
No it’s not. If it were I wouldn’t have known of them in real time and you wouldn’t be able to cite them today.
Had Dole been a serious ’00 GOP candidates, her record at the Red Cross would have risen to a story that would have been told again and again until she was either defeated or elected. AARP has long been a corporate affiliated scam, but old people like the benefits they get and have for so long been voting for candidates that want to destroy Social Security that we know what those voters want to leave behind.
Also — the “grand bargain” didn’t get much media attention because that would have Democrats/liberals to criticize Obama. Same reason why the “peace movement” disappeared after the ’08 election.
You can keep howling that a different standard is being applied to HRC than others but you’re using false equivalence. McCain/Palin and Romney didn’t get a free ride; nor contrary to your assertions is Trump. Not even strictly partisan rightwingers deny that he’s a crooked, incompetent jerkwad, but they just like such people over liberal smartasses that create a different sort of havoc.
And spouses of nominees have always been subjected to critiques, criticism, if there is any shred of questionable behavior and sometimes it didn’t require even that. Mary Todd Lincoln. Eleanor Roosevelt. To name just two. And I seem to recall that on the left side of the aisle, that Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush were fair game (Laura Bush not so much because she mostly remained hidden).
Doesn’t seem to me that there is anything here out of the ordinary. This is how rich people live. If anything, it is to their credit that they arranged a lavish retirement ceremony for their cook.
I don’t care how rich people live. That’s not what this diary is about. (Actually it’s mostly about the stupidity of hinky patrols and poor journalistic quality when they choose to cover whatever surfaces from the hinky patrols.) It’s about directly using the public purse to pay for stuff not in the interests of the public. May occur frequently, but that’s not known and no reason not to criticize those instances that are known.
You are right, but this is an imperfect world.
I couldn’t get excited about Al Gore asking for campaign donations using his official VP phone, either.
I read this diary late at night. I guess I missed the point amidst all the detail.
Once again…I await a president who vacations in places like Newark, NJ and is driven around in an armored Chevy Volt. And I am by no means alone. All of these “fact-checking” accusations and counter-accusation do not matter a hill of beans compared to the inescapable fact that HRC is a member in good standing of the controller class.
And…the controller class has fucked up. It has fucked up royally…an adverb that can easily be used on the actions of any and every controller class.
The U.S. electorate is tired of the royals.
Long live the next king or queen!!! Because it’s a flat-out guarantee that neither of these two candidates are going to go the common man route.
Neither of them is that intelligent or subtle.
Bet on it.
AG
Nobody vacations in Newark, NJ; so, that’s a stupid expectation of a president.
A goodly number of Americans absolutely do want US Presidents to be posh and act like royalty. Somehow, like for ordinary Brits, it makes them feel good about themselves to see what passes for US royalty. It probably goes way back into our history — girls were just mad about “Alice blue” over a hundred years ago — but that style icon thing seems to have been more firmly planted as a desirable positive during the Kennedy administration. Roslyn Carter was attacked the most for not just falling short of that standard but was uninterested in maintaining it at all. No President’s team is going to allow that to happen with a FLOTUS in the future. Regardless of how many like you and me find it repulsive.
“Nobody vacations in Newark, NJ;”
References like this always brings to mind the first time I saw Newark in the 1970’s. My plane had a 40 minute layover in Newark en route to Chicago, probably originated in Richmond VA. I was gray and dull and dingy. My first thought while landing was “If this was my town, I’d burn it down too.” Subsequent trips did nothing to improve my impression.
But Marie…that’s why a president should do something like that. On a regular basis. I mean…the Portugese food alone is worth a Newark vacation!!!
How many serious vacations did Obama take last year, discounting weekends at Camp David? hat info doesn’t seem to be readily available on the web, but let’s say it it was at least four. two major…Hawaii, Martha’s Vineyard and a couple of others that didn’t get as much publicity. maybe a couple of longer weekends at Camp David w/the family.
Think of the publicity that would come to say Newark or New Haven…another wreck of a city, save the Yale money…if he vacationed there. beaches? hell, they have helicopters to get to the beaches. Golf courses too, if need be.
How about one in West Virginia? Oakland? The choices are legion. There are people scuffling everywhere in this country. Think of the goodwill he could have mustered instead of going upscale as he…and every other president in recent memory…has so gleefully done.
I’m tellin’ ya…images like the one below have done him…and the DemRats…no real good. In fact, they have been harmful.
Bet on it.
AG
Robert Treat Hotel used to be very nice; don’t know if new ownership ruined it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Treat_Center
If you want a working class president, you have to move to Bolivia. Or Uruguay.
Here comes the president:
By the way…the two most disturbing features of that photo are:
1-The scowling Secret Service guy between Clinton I and Flores
and
2-Andrew Cuomo’s big dick hanging left in his pants. He is getting off on the attention and on his proximity to the Royal Family.
A nasty man. He will be in the thick of the hunt for the presidency next time there’s a possible opening.
Watch.
AG
Secret Service guys are supposed to scowl. That’s how others know that they’re on duty.
Cuomo is New York’s problem — until you all decide to foist another unacceptable person on the rest of the country; although wouldn’t blame New Yorkers for paying back Californians for Nixon and Reagan.
LOL!!!
Thank you.
AG
P.S. They both scare me. Cops and robbers!!!
You’re right about Cuomo. I didn’t notice until I looked. Well, he is Italian. :-,
Or…he had it airbrushed in for effect.
I mean…Bush II wasn’t Italian…
All pols are exhibitionists at heart, Voice. Someone like Anthony Weiner is just a little less…subtle.
AG
thanks for mentioning – bizarro world
Bizarro world.
Ain’t it the truth!!!
A “peace president” who wages vicious mechanized and proxy wars for eight years, a DemocRatic presidential candidate who is totally owned by big business and regularly hugs Henry Kissinger, plus a population that still believes that the two parties have differing agendas after almost the entire power center of the Ratpublican Party has either tacitly or openly endorsed Hillary Clinton.
“Bizarro world” doesn’t even begin to cover it!!!
Later…
AG