Friday, February 5, 2016

THE CLINTON BODY-COUNT

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY!

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy. It's inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." -- Winston Churchill.

NEW! Updated for Hillary's 2016 run!

The following is a partial list of a large number of persons who have recently met their demise in suspicious circumstances who appear to have some connection to the Clintons. I stress partial because new additions are coming in faster than closffets can be found to hide the bodies in!

Don Adams

Died January 7, 1997

Long before Whitewater's land flips made the Clinton's circle of friends rich, many of the same players had been involved in a similar land swindle in Branson. Don Adams was a lawyer in Arkansas who got involved trying to help the people who were being swindled out of their life savings.


Click for full size article of Don Adams missing.


Click for full size article of Don Adams found dead.

The successor attorney for Don left for parts unknown about a year after Don was killed.

Gandy Baugh

Attorney representing Mr. Lassater in a case concerning alleged financial misconduct.

Died: January 8, 1994

Died in an alleged suicide by jumping out of a window of a multi-story building. - Mr. Lassater was a close associate of Gov. Clinton, and was later indicted on drug related charges, among other things. Baugh's law partner was "suicided" one month later on February 9, 1994.

Admiral Jeremy Boorda

Chief of Naval Operations

Died May 16th, 1996 

Boorda supposedly went home for lunch and decided to shoot himself in the chest (by one report, twice) rather than be interviewed by Newsweek magazine that afternoon.

Explanations for Boorda's suicide focused on a claim that he was embarrassed over two "Valor" pins he was not authorized to wear.

Former CNO Admiral Elmo Zumwalt said on the May 17 Larry King Live show that Admiral Boorda was not only authorized to wear the "V" on his medals, but that had personally authorized him to do so when he was serving as Commander Naval Forces Vietnam.

When it turned out that Boorda was entitled to those decorations, blame shifted to stresses over the down sizing of the Navy, and even (Washington Times) the adverse affect that feminism was having on the Navy's morale.

Boorda supposedly left two suicide notes, neither of which was released.

On Thursday, June 25, 1998, Navy Secretary John Dalton formally acknowledged that Boorda had been entitled to wear the decorations.

So, like Brown, and like Foster, the proximate cause for the "suicide" turns out to be fraudulent.

Ron Brown

Former Chairman, DNC; Commerce Secretary

Died: May 3, 1996

Ron Brown died along with 39 other people when the T-43 (a converted 737 used by the Air Force) carrying the group on a trip to Bosnia crashed while approaching the Dubrovnik airport. On the verge of being indicted and having stated publicly his willingness to make a deal with prosecutors, Ron Brown's death brought to an end his ability to testify. The very next day, Ron Brown's personal lawyer was murdered in a drive-by shooting. A few days later, the Air Traffic Controller who had been in charge during the aircraft crash was found dead and declared a suicide.

James Bunch

Influential Texan

Exact date of death unknown

Died from a gunshot "suicide", similar to Vince Foster. - Was discovered to have a "little black book" containing the names of many influential persons in Texas and Arkansas who visited certain prostitutes.

Eric Butera

Witness

Died: December 4, 1997

An informant who came forward offering information regarding the murder of White House intern Mary Mahoney. He was then sent into a known crack house to make an undercover buy for the police and was beaten to death. His mother was awarded $100 million in compensation, but a Federal Judge later slashed it to just $1 million.

Caetano Carani.

Witness to a shooting near the White House.

Died: November 11, 1994

Suffered an unknown infection just before he was to testify. Death attributed to "apparent" food poisoning.


Click for full scan of article

William Colby

Director of Central Intelligence (ret)

Died: April 27(?), 1996

William Colby had been the DCI from 1973 to 1976 under Nixon and Ford.

At age 76, Colby had found a new career and had just started writing for Strategic Investment at the time of his death. This had worried many insiders in the intelligence community who felt that Colby had already divulged too many of the CIA's secrets in the preceding years. Indeed, his dismissal by Ford because of his over-cooperation with Congressional investigations into CIA wrongdoing. It was Colby who had revealed to Congress the plans to kill Fidel Castro, the spying on American citizens (in direct violation of the CIA charter) and the conducting of biological tests by the CIA on unsuspecting citizens. George Bush replaced him.

According to the original CNN report, Colby was reported missing by neighbors who "recovered" his canoe, by one story from under the dock at Colby's house, by another report, 1/4 of a mile downstream from Colby's home.

Colby was by all report a methodical, tidy man, yet police found his home unlocked, his computer on, and a partly eaten dinner on the table. The official story is that Colby just put down his fork and decided to drop everything and go canoeing.

Colby at 76 was still a world-traveler and consultant to many corporations. He recently became an editor of an important financial newsletter, "Strategic Investment," which covered the Vince Foster "suicide" in detail. Its editors hired three renowned handwriting experts to investigate Foster's suicide note, which hadn't been found when his briefcase was first searched, but later materialized, torn into pieces, with no fingerprints on any of the pieces. Upon comparing this document with others of Foster's writings, these experts declared it was a forgery, and a not very good one at that.

Colby had old enemies as well as new, with plenty of motives for his extermination. He was in charge of the infamous Operation Phoenix during the Vietnam War, in which more than 20,000 South Vietnamese citizens -- supposedly Vietcong sympathizers -- were rounded up, tortured and executed. In the 1970s he opened some of the secrets of the CIA to Congress: "Colby insisted on going public about the agency's role in tapping the telephones and opening the mail of Americans; plotting the assassination of Fidel Castro, and using human guinea pigs for mind-control experiments involving LSD," the Times reports.

On Monday, May 6th, Colby's body was found just 20 yards from where his canoe had been recovered, in an area that had been thoroughly searched several times by helicopters and search teams.

Most notable about the body was the absence of a life jacket, which according to his wife, Colby always wore on the water.

As has since been proven to have happened in the JFK Jr. case false stories were being deliberately planted in the media, including one quoting Mrs. Colby herself as having been told by William Colby by phone that he was going canoeing. Mrs. Colby denied any such story. The week that he died, Colby was scheduled to meet with the Disclosure Project.

Suzanne Coleman

Had affair with Clinton when he was attorney general of Arkansas.

Died: February 15, 1977

Died of "suicide" with gunshot wound to the back of her head. No autopsy allowed. Was 7 months pregnant at time of her death. She had told friends it was Bill Clinton's child. (See Danny Williams). She was 26 at the time of her death.

Gregory Collins

Witness to the Train Deaths

Died: January 1989

Greg had information on the Ives/Henry deaths. He died from a gunshot blast to the face. Declared a suicide.


Keith Coney (or Koney)

Witness to the Train Deaths

Died: May 1988

Keith had information on the Ives/Henry deaths. Died in a motorcycle accident in July 1988 while being chased by a car. Ruled a traffic accident.


L.J. Davis

Reporter investigating Clinton scandals. Attacked at his hotel room in Little Rock. His notes were stolen.


David Drye

Died 8/1999. Pat Matrisciana, owner of "Jeremiah Films" (which produces such vides as The Clinton Chronicles), and David Drye planned a trip to Washington DC by Private plane. At the last second, pat had to cancel and David left without him, dying when the plane crashed.


Daniel A. Dutko

C-chairman of Leadership 2000

Died: July 27, 1999

Daniel A. Dutko, 54, was the co-chairman of Leadership 2000, the Democratic National Committee's main fund-raising effort. He held many other high-level political positions, including vice chairman of finance for Clinton-Gore in 1995; finance chairman of the 53rd inaugural ball; and vice chairman of finance for the DNC in 1996 (when the Chinese money poured in). Attributed to a bicycle accident in which it's claimed he struck his head on the concrete twice.


Five Navy aviators

Clinton bodyguards/escorts

(names not determined) Died: 3/26/93 - all died in a crash of an E-2C Hawkeye in Italy. The crash occurred shortly after the plane was "waved off" from a landing attempt on the Carrier Roosevelt, due to a "foul deck". - All five men had been Clinton's escorts during Clinton's visit to the Roosevelt 2 weeks prior. Three other men, who had flown Clinton to the Roosevelt for that visit also died later in a helicopter crash.


Hershell Friday

Attorney and Clinton fund raiser.

Died: March 1, 1994

Killed when his plane exploded. Cause unknown.


[Vince Foster]

Vincent Foster

Deputy White House Counsel

Died: July 21, 1993

Found dead in Ft. Marcy Park in Washington, DC, of a supposed suicide by gunshot. A suicide note was supposedly found a few days later, torn into several pieces, in his briefcase, after his office had been entered by White House staff and materials removed. The "suicide" note, (leaked despite official efforts to keep it from view) has since been revealed to be a forgery.

The gun which he supposedly used to kill himself was reported to be still in his hand, but the person who first found the body reports that there was no gun at that time. Many irregularities surround the death and the investigation of it. For one thing, neither Foster's fingerprints or blood were on the gun he supposedly inserted into his mouth and fired. There was no blood on Foster's hands.

Foster was also from Hope, Ark., like Clinton, and also worked for the Rose Law firm. Foster had intimate knowledge of the Clintons' personal finances. Foster was involved in an investigation of their finances, and reportedly made a phone call to Hillary Clinton, in Los Angeles, just hours before his death. Foster had been called to testify to Congress about the records Hillary refused to turn over. Another possible motive for the murder relates to the Clinton Presidential Blind Trust, being prepared by Foster, but six months late. Testimony during the Whitewater hearings suggestsd the trust was fraudulent, with the Clintons retaining control over much of their finances, in order to profits from inside information.

Recently, the signed report of M.E. Dr. Donald Haut was uncovered at the National Archives, proving that Foster had a previously unreported gunshot wound to his neck.

Finally, an FBI memo surfaced dated the day after the date of the official autopsy, in which the autopsist informed the FBI that there was NO exit wound.


Cpl Eric S. Fox

Died: March 22, 1999

Crewman for Marine One, the Presidential Helicopter. Shot in the head, and declared a suicide. 


Aldo Franscoia, Secret Service Agent

Cpt. Kevin N. Earnest, Aircraft Commander

Cpt. Kimberly Jo Wielhouwer, Pilot

2Lt. Benjamin T. Hall, Navigator

SSgt. Michael J. SmithJr., Loadmaster

Sr. Airman Rick L. Merritt, Flight Engineer

SSgt. Michael R. York, Loadmaster

Sr. Airman Billy R. Ogston, Crew Chief

Airman Thomas A. Stevens, Loadmaster.


Died: August 18, 1996

Killed when the C-130 carrying the Presidential Limos crashed near Jackson Hole, Wyoming. All nine people on board a White House support plane were killed late Saturday (10:48pm MDT), when it crashed into Sheep Mountain (also known as Sleeping Indian Mountain) near Jackson Hole Wyoming. The aircraft was en route from Jackson Hole to John F. Kennedy International airport. The Air Force Lockheed Martin C-130 Hercules transport aircraft was carrying a presidential vehicle and many pieces of luggage, all related to the president's vacation (50th birthday celebration in the Grand Tetons). President Clinton said Sunday afternoon that he was told the pilot was attempting to return to the Jackson Hole airport when it crashed (CNN news report). The Air Force reported finding no evidence of an in-flight mechanical emergency after examining the flight data and flight voice recorders and could not find evidence that the pilot radioed mechanical trouble before crashing into the mountainside as reported by the White House. The victims included 8 crew members and one Secret Service agent. The aircraft and crew were stationed out of Dyess Air Force Base.


Four Marine Pilots

Marine One Presidential Helicopter pilots.

Died: April 8, 2000

(names not determined) - all died (with 15 others) in a crash of a V-22 Osprey near Tucson. Witnesses reported the craft burst into flames in mid-air, then crashed.


Kathy Ferguson

Witness

Died: May 10, 1994

Kathy Ferguson supposedly committed "suicide" May 10,1994 when she shot herself in her living room. Kathy's ex husband was Danny Ferguson, who was the Arkansas trooper who said he escorted Paula Jones to Bill Clinton's hotel room. Kathy often told friends and co-workers about how Bill had gotten Danny to bring women to him and stand watch while they had sex. Danny Ferguson was a co-defendant along with Bill Clinton in Paula Corbin Jones's sexual harassment suit. Kathy Ferguson was a corroborating witness for Ms. Jones.

Oddly, next to Kathy's body were her packed bags, as if she was expecting to be going somewhere.


Duane Garrett

Radio Host and Al Gore fund raiser.

Died: 7/26/95

A lawyer and a talk show host for KGO-AM in San Francisco, Duane was the campaign finance chairman for Diane Fienstein's run for the senate, and was a friend and fundraiser for Al Gore.

According to Garrett's lawyer, Garrett was under investigation for defrauding investors in Garrett's failed sports memorabilia venture. There was talk of a deal to evade prosecution. On July 26th, Garrett canceled an afternoon meeting with his lawyer because he had to meet some people at the San Francisco airport.

Three hours later he was found floating in the bay under the Golden Gate Bridge.


Carlos Ghigliotti

Thermal Imaging Expert

Died: April 28, 2000

Carlos Ghigliotti: 42, was found dead in his home just outside of Washington D.C. There was no sign of a break-in or struggle at the firm of Infrared Technology where the badly decomposed body of Ghigliotti was found. Ghigliotti had not been seen for several weeks.

Ghigliotti, a thermal imaging analyst hired by the House Government Reform Committee to review tape of the siege at Waco, Texas, said he determined the FBI fired shots on April 19, 1993. The FBI has explained the light bursts on infrared footage as reflections of sun rays on shards of glass or other debris that littered the scene.


Judi Gibbs

Penthouse model, and call girl

Died: January 3, 1986

Judi Gibbs (along with her sister Sharon) appeared in the December 1979 issue of Penthouse, and later worked at a bordello in Fordyce, near Mena, Arkansas which also ran a blackmail operation with photos taken of the customers with their girls. According to the Gibbs family, Bill Clinton was a regular customer of Judi, and there were photos of him having sex with her that threatened his Presidential campaign! While cooperating with law enforcement in a drug investigation, Judi died when her house burned down. No cause for the fire was found. Judy had called the fire department to report the fire, but her body was found on the floor in front of a ground floor window, near a door that would have allowed her escape. In a sworn statement, Clinton bodyguard Barry Spivey related how he had been with the governor when the governor's plane had flown over Judi Gibb's house and Clinton had shown Judi's penthouse photos on the plane and pointed out the house.


Paula Grober

Clinton's speech interpreter for the deaf.

Died: December 9, 1992

Died in a one-car accident with no known witnesses. Her body was thrown 33 feet from the car, indicating a very high speed. A very attractive women, Paula traveled extensively with Clinton from 1978 until her death. Clinton, through a spokesman, called Grober's death "a great personal loss." He also said, "Hillary and I extend our sincere sympathy to Paula's family. I had the privilege of working with her over many years."


Staff Sgt. Brian Haney

Marine Sgt. Tim Sabel

Maj. William Barkley

Capt. Scott Reynolds

Clinton bodyguards

Died: May 19, 1993

All four men died when their helicopter crashed in the woods near Quantico, Va. - Reporters were barred from the site, and the head of the fire department responding to the crash described it by saying, "Security was tight," with "lots of Marines with guns." The Marines seized a videotape made by a firefighter. All four men had escorted Clinton on his flight to the carrier Roosevelt shortly before their deaths. 


Stanley Heard

Chairman, National Chiropractic Health Care Advisory Committee

Steve Dickson

Counsel to Mr. Heard

Died: September 10, 1993

Both died in a plane crash outside Dulles airport, after their aircraft, rented after Heard's personal craft developed troubles, crashed while attempting an emergency landing after reporting a fire on board. Let's repeat that. They took off in a plane. It developed problems. They got it back to the airport. They rented a new plane. They took off in the new rented plane and IT developed a problem. On the way back to the airport it crashed. - Heard, in addition to serving on Clinton's advisory council, also personally treated Clinton's mother, stepfather, and brother.


John Hillyer

NBC and freelance cameraman

Died: 1996

Hillyer passed away in a Dentist's office from unknown causes, despite being very health-conscious and in good physical condition. Declared a heart attack. Was working on an investigation into Mena and assisted with the "Circle of Power," and "Clinton Chronicles." Some time after his passing, his widow recalled her husband saying he felt he could be in danger.


Stanley Huggins

Partner in Memphis law firm

Died: June 23, 1994

Investigating Madison Guaranty. Reported to have succumbed to viral pneumonia (See attack on Russel Welch). His 300-page report has never been released. Stanley had been at a Cotton Carnival Party on a Friday night. He was supposed to escort his wife all week during the 7 day event, but told her he couldn't as something important was going down. He has recently left the law firm in Little Rock where Hillary C worked and set up a small office in Memphis. On that Friday night I saw Stan and spoke to him briefly. He seemed extremely nervous & about to jump out of his skin. The word circulated throughout the party that he had been involved in some secretive issue that was under the microscope. Soon after that we were told by his wife that he had flown up to a NE University to give a speech on a Saturday. He checked into the provided dorm room, by the university employees that said he looked fine. When they called up to his room later in the day he didn't answer the phone, so they went to check on him and found him dead. The death was declared due to viral pneumonia. His wife has tried to get the hospital records, but they were sealed by Janet Reno under presidential orders of Clinton. Over that weekend his Memphis office was broken into and the only noticeable thing taken were his files. His 300 page report was never released.



Read more: whatreallyhappened.com http://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/BODIES.php#ixzz3zJ9Dm39Y


Sandy Hume

Journalist

Died: February 2, 1998

On Sunday, February 22nd, 1998, Sandy Hume, the 28-year-old son of journalist Britt Hume, was reportedly found dead in his Arlington, Virginia home. Aside from the statement that this was an "apparent" suicide, there remains in place a total media blackout on this story, possibly out of concern that the actual facts will not withstand public scrutiny. Indeed, it was reported in Associated Press that the Arlington Police were not responding to any inquiries.

Hume was a reporter for The Hill magazine, newspaper about Congress for Congress, and had broken a major story in 1997 regarding the friction between House Speaker Newt Gingrich and a faction led by Representative Paxon (who announced his resignation just 24 hours after Hume's death).

In addition, Sandy Hume had just joined the staff at Fox TV News and was just three weeks into a job that represented the pinnacle of his young career. Oddly enough, aside from echoing the one Associated Press story, the Fox News website has ignored the death of its newest commentator.

Sandy already had a reputation for getting the story that nobody else wanted to look at. It is worth noting that his death came hard on the heels of reports that "a reporter" was about to break a story confirming the White House's use of investigators to dig up dirt on critics.

It has recently been confirmed that the man who performed the as-yet-unreleased autopsy is none other than Dr. James C. Beyer, who has a record of concealing homicides behind a ruling of suicide.

Kenneth Starr's "suicidologist" Dr. Alan L. Berman has waded in again and as he did in the Foster death ruled it "100% certain that this is a suicide and can be nothing else".


[Don Henry][Kevin Ives]

Kevin Ives & Don Henry

Witnesses

Died: August 23, 1987

Initial cause of death was claimed to be the result of passing out on a railroad track in Arkansas after smoking twenty marijuana cigarettes. This ruling was reported by the State medical examiner Fahmy Malak, and supported by Sheriff Jim Steed, whose "thorough" investigation of the crime scene left one of the boy's foot sitting in the open for two days! In April 1988, Kevin's body was exhumed, and another autopsy was performed, this one by Atlanta medical examiner Dr. Joseph Burton who discovered that Kevin died from a crushed skull prior to being placed on the tracks. Don Henry's body was exhumed and discovered to have been stabbed in the back prior to being placed on the tracks. Governor Bill Clinton excused Fahmy Malek's "errors" saying that Malek was "tired and stressed out." Reports indicate that Ives & Henry might have stumbled upon part of the Mena drug operation, specifically a drop site in the area of Bauxite and Alexander, Arkansas. The police chief of Alexander, John Brown, acknowledged he obtained a taped confession from one of the murderers of the two boys, which was suppressed at the request of the FBI!

Jean Duffey headed up Arkansas' 7th District drug task force in 1990. She was never allowed to conduct a thorough investigation of drug running in Mena or any possible connection to the train deaths. Her task force and a federal grand jury were shut down after they started examining corruption involving public officials.

Dan Harmon was a local government official, the prosecuting attorney for Saline, Grant, and Hot Springs counties in 1979 and 1980 and then again from 1991 through 1996. He was convicted in June of 1997 on drug, racketeering, and extortion charges and has started serving eight years in prison. In January 1991, long before his drug offenses became public knowledge, Harmon convinced a judge to subpoena evidence obtained by Jean Duffey's task force -- evidence gathered against him and other public officials. Ms. Duffey refused to honor the subpoena, fearing for the lives of witnesses (many of whom did turn up dead) and fled the state when a warrant was issued for her arrest.



Gary Johnson

Witness

Attacked: June 26th, 1992

Beaten near death and left for dead. Someone in the Clinton organization sent 3 goons to beat up and almost murder Gary Johnson, who was Gennifer Flowers’ neighbor. Gary Johnson had a security camera installed at his condominium and by chance he had many tapes of Bill entering Gennifer's condominium while governor and married to Hillary). Gary's tapes were taken.


John F. Kennedy Jr.

Potential Candidate for Senator from New York.

Died: July 16, 1999

Within days of an NBC Dateline story hinting at a possible run for the Senate seat currently assumed to be the property of Hillary Clinton, JFK Jr. and his wife and sister-in-law died when the Piper Saratoga II TC JFK Jr. was piloting crashed in to the ocean just short of Martha's Vineyard. The NEWSWEEK issue for the following Monday, which NBC Dateline had reported would announce JFK Jr's candidacy, was yanked from distributors and destroyed.

Even before the wreckage of the plane had been found, the media was saturated with news stories declaring the weather to have been very hazy (the weather was VFR conditions, and 8 mile visibility, plus weather radar and witnesses on Martha's Vineyard all reported clear skies) making it impossible for JFK Jr. to know which way was up (he also had working instruments in the aircraft).

As was the case when TWA 800 was shot down, the United States Navy took control of the crash site, ordering an unprecedented 5 mile wide no-fly zone while the wreckage of the aircraft was recovered and taken to a military base.

Reporters Cindy Adams and Andrew Goldman have documented the planting of false information about JFK Jr. in the media in the days following his crash. The feeding of false information to the press proves there is a cover-up. The existence of a cover-up is why JFK Jr. gets an entry on the Dead Bodies List.

According to some reports, Mrs. Kennedy was pregnant.


Jordan Kettleson

Witness to the Train Deaths

Died: June 1990

Kettleson had information on the Ives & Henry deaths. He was found shot to death in the front seat of his pickup.


Johnny Franklin Lawhon, Jr.

Witness

Died: March 29, 1998

In the spring of 1997, a tornado ripped through some junked cars at Johnny's transmission and opened up the trunk of a car that proved to have a box of Whitewater records in it, including a copy of a $27,000 cashiers check drawn on Madison and payable to Bill Clinton. Johnny Franklin Lawhon, Sr. realized what he was looking at and turned the box of documents over to the FBI.

According to police, Lawhon Jr. (the son) and a friend hit a telephone pole at a high rate of speed after their car had become airborne and left the road. They had driven less than 1/4 of a mile at the time of the accident.

This manner of death is similar to the single vehicle accidents that killed Paula Grober, and Neil Moody.


[Mary Mahoney]

Mary 'Caity' Mahoney

White House Intern

Died: July 1997

An attractive 25-year-old woman, Mary was a former White House Intern for Bill Clinton working as the Assistant Manager at a Starbuck's Coffee shop in Georgetown.

[Starbucks]

In the pre-trial publicity surrounding Paula Jones lawsuit Mike Isikoff had dropped hints that a "former White House staffer" with the initial "M" was about to go public with her story of sexual harassment at 1600 Pennsylvania. Just days later, gunmen entered the Starbuck's while the crew was cleaning up after closing.

Mary's two associates, Aaron Goodrich, 18 and Emory Evans, 25, were taken to a room and shot. Mary herself had five bullets in her, from at least two different guns, most likely with silencers. A total of ten shots were fired; none of them heard by neighbors in the densely populated Georgetown section.

Mary was shot in the chest, her face, and in the back of the head. Someone wanted her very dead. Or to send a message.

Even though more than $4000 remained in the store, the police have categorized the triple murder as a robbery, even as they acknowledge the "execution style" killings.

There was no sign of forced entry, which means that either Mary of one of the employees let the killers in (at least one hour after closing). That means that the killers included at least one person known to the victims.

One report is that the Starbuck's was still locked when the bodies were found the next morning. Robbers don't bother locking doors.

George Stephenopolis, Monica Lewinsky, and Chelsea Clinton were all regulars at the Starbuck's.

Carl Cooper, the man charged with the Starbuck's murders on the basis of a confession has now recanted that confession, claiming that it was obtained under coercion (not unlike that of James Earl Ray).

A affidavit filed by NOAA's Sonya Stewart, confirms that the Department of Commerce was selling trade mission seats in exchange for campaign donations, and illegally blocking FOIA requests. Named in the affidavit as the White House staffer directly connected to this obstruction was Doris Matsui. Doris's assigned intern during this period was Mary Mahoney.


Christine M. Mirzayan

White House Intern

Died: August 1, 1998

On August 1, 1998, yet another young female government intern with the initial "M", Christine M. Mirzayan, was murdered, beaten to death with a heavy object near Georgetown University.

Eventually, Mike Isikoff's "former White House staffer" finally surfaced and its NOT Mary Mahoney, or Christine M. Mirzayan, but Monica Lewinsky. If the killing of Mary Mahoney and Christine M. Mirzayan was to silence a "bimbo eruption", they got the wrong woman! (Just how many of the interns was Clinton getting oral sex from anyway??)


Florence Martin

Accountant subcontracting to CIA

Related to the Barry Seal case. Dead of three gunshot wounds to the head. At the time of her death she had the account numbers and PIN for a bank account in the Cayman's in the name of Barry Seal which held 1.4 million dollars. Immediately following her death, the money was moved to someplace in the Virgin Islands.


Gordon Matteson

Clinton associate.

Died: May 15, 1997.

Shot in the head. Declared a suicide.


[McDougal]

James McDougal

Crook

Died: March 8 1998

Jim McDougal was serving his 3-year sentence for bank fraud at the Fort Worth Federal Medical Center in Texas, a facility operated by the federal Bureau of Prisons for inmates who need medical attention.

Just prior to another round of testimony before Kenneth Starr's grand jury, and while the reporters who were covering that story were two hours away covering a standoff situation in Waco that just "went away", Jim McDougal suffered a heart attack while in solitary confinement. Left alone for too long, when Jim McDougal was taken out of solitary, instead of attempting to defibrillate his heart with equipment on hand at the facility, he was driven over to John Peter Smith hospital. Not the closest hospital to the Fort Worth Federal Medical Center, John Peter Smith hospital is a welfare hospital, where (in the words of one local) ,"They let interns practice on deadbeats".

NEW! The Fort Worth Star-Telegram acquired the official report of the McDougal death via a Freedom Of Information Act request, and report that doctors ignored McDougal's signs of imminent death.


Keith McKaskle

Witness to the Train Deaths

Died November 10, 1988

Keith had information on the Mena drug running and the henry & Ives murders. Stabbed 113 times. He had told his family someone was out to kill him and told them "good bye".


Charles Meissner

Assistant Secretary of Commerce for International Economic Policy.

Died: May 3, 1996

John Huang was placed on a Commerce Department contract that allowed him to retain his security clearance by Charles Meissner. Charles Meissner died on the plane with Ron Brown.


James "Dewey" Milam

Witness to Mena drug operation and Henry/Ives murders

Died: 1989

Milam was decapitated. Clinton's notorious state Medical examiner, Fahmy Malak, initially ruled death due to an ulcer, claiming that the victim's small dog had eaten the head, which was later recovered from a trash bin several blocks away.


Charles Wilbourne Miller

Involved with Clipper Chip

Died: January 12, 1999

Declared a suicide even though shot twice by two different guns.


Ron Miller

Witness

Died: October 12, 1997

Ron Miller, investigated by authorities over the sale of his company, Gage Corp. to Dynamic Energy Resources, Inc. was the man who tape recorded Gene and Nora Lum and turned those tapes (and other records) over to congressional oversight investigators. The Lums were sentenced to prison for campaign finance violations, using "straw donors" to conceal the size of their contributions to various candidates. Indeed, Dynamic Energy Resources, Inc. had hired Ron Brown's son Michael solely for the purpose of funneling $60,000 through him to the Commerce Secretary, according to Nolanda Hill's testimony.

Reportedly a healthy man, Ron suddenly took ill on October 3rd, and steadily worsened until his death 9 days later. (This pattern fits Ricin poisoning.) Owing to the strangeness of the illness, doctors at the Integris Baptist Medical Center referred the matter to the Oklahoma State Medical Examiner's Office.

The Oklahoma State Medical Examiner's Office promptly ran tests on samples of Ron Miller's blood, but has refused to release the results or even to confirm that the tests were ever completed.


Charles Wilbourne Miller

Vice President and Board Member for Alltel

Died: January 12, 1999.

Alltel was the computer company that wrote the White House "Big Brother" computer system. Found shot to death with two guns. Multiple shots had been fired. Declared a suicide.


John Millis

Staff Director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Committee

Died: June 4, 2000

Millis had just helped the HPSCI complete it's "investigation" into alleged CIA cocaine smuggling which predictably (given that Millis was himself a long time CIA agent) concluded that the CIA was innocent of all allegations of wrongdoing. Fairfax, Virginia police were tipped off by an anonymous phone call claiming that "a man" was threatening suicide in a motel room. Police arrived to find Millis dead of a gunshot wound. As was the case with Vincent Foster and Sandy Hume, the death was immediately declared a suicide.


Neil Moody

Died August 25, 1996

Following Vincent Foster's murder, Lisa Foster married James Moody, a judge in Arkansas, on Jan 1, 1996.

Near the time Susan McDougal first went to jail for contempt, Judge Moody's son, Neil died in a car crash. There were other reports that Neil Moody had discovered something very unsettling among his stepmother's private papers and was threatening to go public with it just prior to the beginning of the Democratic National Convention. He was alleged to have been talking to Bob Woodward of the Washington Post about a blockbuster story. Witnesses said they saw Neil Moody sitting in his car arguing with another person just prior to HIS CAR SUDDENLY SPEEDING OFF OUT OF CONTROL AND HITTING A BRICK WALL.


Tony Moser

Anti-Corruption Journalist.

Died: June 10, 2000

Tony Moser, a critic of the Arkansas Democratic Party political machine, was killed as he crossed a street in Pine Bluff 10 days after being named a columnist for the Democrat-Gazette newspaper and two days after writing an article which exposed the looting of programs designed to obtain money from "Dead beat" parents to then give to their children.


Click for full size image.
The police declared that no crime had been committed since the anonymous driver of the 1995 Chevy Pickup truck that struck and killed Moser was not intoxicated nor was he speeding. In Arkansas, that apparently makes it legal to run down a politically unpopular journalist.


Larry Nichols

Former official at ADFA and author of "The Clinton Chronicles."

The man who broke many of the Clinton scandal stories. Several attempts on his life.


Paul Olson

Federal witness in investigations to drug money corruption in Chicago politics

Died: September 8, 1994

Paul had just finished 2 days of FBI interviews when his plane ride home crashed, killing Paul and 130 others. The Sept. 15, 1994 Tempe Tribune newspaper reported that the FBI suspected that a bomb had brought down the airplane.


Jerry Luther Parks

Head of Clinton's Gubernatorial security team in Little Rock.

Died: September 26, 1993

Gunned down in his car at the intersection of Chenal Parkway and Cantrell Road, near Little Rock. Parks was shot through the rear window of his car. The assailant then pulled around to the driver's side of Park's car and shot him three more times with a 9mm pistol.

His family reported that shortly before his death, unknown persons were following them, and their home had been broken into (despite a top quality alarm system). Parks had been compiling a dossier on Clinton's illicit activities. The dossier was stolen.

When news of the discovery of Vincent Foster's body came over the news, Parks is reported to have said, "I'm a dead man." He had told his wife that Bill Clinton's people were "cleaning house," and he was "next on the list."


Dennis Patrick

Court clerk

Had millions of dollars laundered through his account at Lassater & Co without his knowledge. Four attempts on his life.


C. Victor Raiser II

National Finance Co-Chairman, Clinton for President Campaign

Montgomery Raiser

Son of C. Victor Raiser II

Died: July 30, 1992

Both men died in a private plane crash in Alaska, one day before a scheduled interview with John Hillyer. The crash was blamed on the pilot, who survived. Five others not connected to Clinton died in the crash. - DeeDee Meyers described Raiser as a "major player" in the Clinton organization. Victor raiser was also chairman of Mobile Telecomm Technologies Corp., whose subsidiary, SkyTel Corp. is an international paging company used by federal police agencies such as the FBI.

Victor Raiser was a Washington lawyer and he was counsel to the Washington law firm of Jones Day Reavis & Pogue until 1991. At his death, he was the national finance co-chairman of the Clinton for President campaign. The campaign's press secretary, Dee Myers, described him as a "major player" in the Clinton organization. He and his wife had been friends of the Clintons for ten years. He was the past national finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee. He served on the boards of the Democratic Business Council and the Center for National Policy and the board of advisers of the Democratic Leadership Council.

On May 29, 1993, President Clinton announced that he had selected Raiser's widow, Molly Raiser, 50, former Democratic co-chair of the Women's Campaign Fund, to be his protocol chief and stated that he planned to nominate her for confirmation as an ambassador.


Jeff Rhodes

Witness in the Train Deaths

Died: April 1989

Jeff had information on the deaths of Ives, Henry & McKaskle. His burned body was found in a trash dump. He died of a gunshot wound to the head and there was some body mutilation, specifically that his hands and feet had been partially sawn off, leading to the speculation that he was tortured prior to being killed. The body was then burned.


Maj. Gen. William Robertson

Deputy Commanding General, V Corps, Europe

Col William Densberger

V Corps Chief of Operations and Plans

Col. Robert Kelly

V Corps Chief of Intelligence

Spec. Gary Rhodes

Crew Chief

Died: February 23, 1993

All were killed when their Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crashed in Wiesbaden, Germany. No cause was ever determined. - V Corps figured prominently in the US Bosnia-Serbia peacekeeping operations, along with the carrier Roosevelt. These men, and 8 others associated with Clinton's visit to the Roosevelt all died within 4 months of each other.


Dr. Ronald Rogers

Dentist from Arkansas

Killed in plane crash as he was on his way to an interview with a "London Sunday Telegraph" reporter to reveal some Clinton dirt.


Charles Ruff

Clinton lawyer

Died: November 20, 2000

Charles Ruff was one of Clinton's attorneys during the impeachment trial and was known to have inside infomration on the White House emails scandal as well. Original reports were that he died in an accident in his home although no details were given. Then the report changed to claim that he was found in his bedroom unconscious, then declared dead on arrival at the hospital. The authorities will provide no details other than the usual (and quite premature) assurances that there was no foul play involved.


Col. James Sabow

Died: 1991

Supposedly about to blow the whistle on drug running activity taking place on the naval base where he was stationed, Col. James Sabow was found by his wife in the backyard of their home with his head blown off with a shotgun. The Navy ruled it a suicide. In all, more than 40 deaths by individuals concerned with drug traffic on military bases have been declared as suicides despite evidence that murder was involved.


Walter Scheib

Clinton White House Chef.

Died: June 13, 2015

Walter Scheib was hired by the Clinton White House and continued to serve the Bush administration. He was reported missing by his family when he failed to return from a hike. His body was found more than one and as half miles off of the trail he was supposed to be on, at the bottom of a river. No official cause of death has been released.


Barry Seal

CIA drug pilot

Died: February 19, 1986

Now known to have been a gun and drug smuggler for the CIA, operating out of the Mena airport, Barry Seal had reportedly kept in contact with Bill Clinton's head of security at the governor's mansion, Raymond "Buddy" Young, the ex rodeo clown who is now the number 2 man at FEMA.

Following his fall from CIA grace, Barry was sentenced to live at a Salvation Army Housing Complex by a judge who also prohibited Barry Seal to either have any guns or to employ any bodyguards. Corruption doesn't become any more obvious than this. Barry was gunned down with machine gun fire in the parking lot of the Salvation Army Housing Complex.

In violation of the court order, Barry had hired bodyguards who worked a rotation schedule. But the bodyguard who was to be there when Barry was killed never showed up. That bodyguard, according to video producer Daniel Hopsicker, was a former associate (meaning drug pilot) of Barry's named William "Bear" Bottoms. Bottoms prowled the internet insisting that there never was any drug running operation at Mena, Arkansas.


Anonymous

Barry Seal's aircraft mechanic at Mena

Died: March 29th, 1995

(name unknown as of this time) supposedly died of an "overdose of mouthwash". Regarded by local authorities as an obvious homicide.


Bill Shelton

Arkansas state trooper and fiancée of Kathy Ferguson

Died: June 1994

Allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself at the grave site of his fiancée - Officer Shelton was the fiancée of Kathy Ferguson, who was the ex-wife of Trooper Danny Ferguson. Kathy Ferguson also supposedly committed "suicide" June 1994 when she shot herself in her living room. Oddly, next to the body were her packed bags, as if she was expecting to be going somewhere. Danny Ferguson was a co-defendant along with Bill Clinton in Paula Corbin Jones's sexual harassment suit. Kathy Ferguson was reported as a corroborating witness for Ms. Jones.



Paul Tully,

Democratic National Committee Political Director

Died: September 24, 1992

Found dead in a hotel room in Little Rock Arkansas of "unknown causes." No autopsy allowed. - Described by Clinton as a "dear friend and trusted advisor. Tully authored several key strategies for Clinton and the party. Paul Tully, 48, Democratic National Committee political director and architect of a strategy to make the party competitive again in presidential elections, was found dead in his hotel room on September 24, 1992, in Little Rock, Arkansas of unknown causes. Authorities speculated his death was from a heart attack or stroke. In a press release, then-presidential candidate Clinton called Mr. Tully "a dear friend and trusted adviser." He said he was "deeply saddened by the loss." Tully devised a strategy of targeting states based on their value in the Electoral College, and coordinating the presidential campaign with state and congressional races.


Jon Parnell Walker

RTC investigator

Died: August 15, 1993

Mysteriously fell to his death from an apartment balcony. He was investigating the Morgan Guaranty scandal. The same apartment which was alleged to have been a secret getaway which Vince Foster may have visited.


Calvin Walraven

Drug witness

24 year old Walraven was a key witness in Jocelyn Elder's son's drug case. Ten days after Elder's son was convicted of trafficking in cocaine, Walraven was found dead in his apartment with a gunshot blast to the head. Tim Hover, a Little Rock police spokesman said no foul play was suspected.


Gary Webb

Journalist

Died: December 10, 2004

Webb, a Pullitzer prize winning journalist, exposed CIA drug trafficking operations in a series of books and reports for the San Jose Mercury News. He was found dead on Friday morning in what the police said was an apparent suicide. Webb had been shot in the head TWICE!


Maynard Webb

Mena airport witness

Maynard Webb had stumbled on several aircraft whose tail numbers were being changed on a regular basis. Was about to go public when he walked headfirst into a spinning propeller.


Russel Welch

Infected with military grade anthrax.


Alan G. Whicher

Oversaw Clinton's Secret Service detail.

Died: April 19, 1995

In October 1994 Whicher was transferred to the Secret Service field office in the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. Whatever warning was given to the BATF agents in that building did not reach Alan Whicher, whom died in the bomb blast. 


Paul Wilcher

Washington attorney investigating gun running out of Mena, Arkansas.

Died: June 22, 1993

Found dead on a toilet in his Washington apartment. No cause of death was ever reported by the coroner. At the time of his death, he was investigating connections between the "October surprise" during the 1980 federal election campaign and drug and gunrunning out of Mena, Arkansas, as well as the BATF assault on the Waco, Texas Branch Davidians. Was planning on producing a television documentary on his findings. He had delivered a 105-page affidavit to Janet Reno detailing the evidence he had collected regarding the drug operation at Mena, just three weeks before his death.


Ed Willey

Real Estate Attorney, Clinton Fund Raiser

Died: November 30, 1993

Died of a shotgun blast to the head. Body found in deep woods in Virginia. Ruled a suicide, no note was found. Died on the same day his wife was sexually assaulted in the White House by Bill Clinton. - Intimately involved in several Clinton fund raising events.


Gareth Williams

MI6 Agent

Died: August 16. 2010

Gareth Williams, an MI6 spy who wored on both sides of the Atlantic, engaged in some unauthorized hacking by breaking into Bill Clinton's database of friends and connections, ostensibly to give to a friend in the media. This breach caused a diplomatic nightmare for MI6's new director, Sir John Sawers.

Gareth was found naked, padlocked into a sports bag, in his own bathtub. No fingerprints, palm-prints footprints or traces of William's DNA were found at the scene. The key to the padlock was inside the bag, underneath his body.

As usual, declared a suicide! The sheer absurdity of this claim provoked a public uproar, and the promoters of the suicide theory even went so far as to try to demonstrate how Williams could have inserted himself into the bag!

But even this charade failed to convince anyone and the police were finally forced to acknowledge William's murder, even to the point of admitting they had two suspects in the crime ... who were never arrested.


John Augustus Wilson

Former Washington DC Council member

Died: May 18, 1993

Wilson claimed to have info on Whitewater, a political controversy that began with the real estate dealings of Bill and Hillary Clinton and their associates, Jim and Susan McDougal in the Whitewater Development Corporation, a failed business venture in the 1970s and 1980s, and was willing to talk. Found hanged. Declared a suicide.


Jim Wilhite

Vice Chairman, Arkla, Inc.

Died: December 21, 1992

Died in a one-person skiing accident. - Wilhite had extensive ties with Clinton and Mack McLarty, with whom he visited by telephone just hours before his death. 


Theodore Williams, Jr.

Bettie Currie's brother.

Died: December 16, 1997

A passing car hit the brother of Presidential Secretary Betty Currie after his own car had somehow run off the road. Bill Clinton called Monica Lewinsky at 2:00 AM the next morning to tell her of the death and alert Monica that her named appeared on the Paula Jones witness list. Betty's brother had also been beaten shortly before Betty testified in a previous matter.


Steve Willis

Robert Williams

Conway LeBleu

Todd McKeehan

Clinton bodyguards

Died: February 28, 1993

"executed" by gunfire in the Waco, Texas assault on the Branch Davidians. - All four were examined by a "private doctor" and died from nearly identical wounds to the left temple, so-called execution style. According to Linda Thompson, videotapes and other evidence indicates that none died from guns fired by Branch Davidians. In his address to employees of the Treasury Department in the Cash Room on March 18, 1993, Clinton said: "My prayers and I'm sure yours are still with the families of all four of the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents who were killed in WACO -- Todd McKeehan and Conway Le Bleu of New Orleans; Steve Willis of Houston, and Robert Williams from my hometown of Little Rock. Three of those four were assigned to my security during the course of the primary or general election." However, the Little Rock, Arkansas office of the ATF confirmed that all four had at one point been bodyguards for Bill Clinton, three while he was campaigning for President, and while he had been governor of Arkansas. In the videotape by the American Justice Federation, "WACO II, the Big Lie Continues," Linda Thompson demonstrates that 15 shots were fired from six separate weapons into and out of a room into which three of the four agents had entered through a window. Four of these shots were fired from an overhead helicopter, an agent outside the window, firing an MP5 submachine gun, who also threw in a concussion grenade, fired at least two shots into the room. In the autopsies of these agents, three had virtually identical wounds to the left temple that exited through the rear of the head, execution-style. A "private physician" treated all four. 


Barbara Wise

Commerce Department Staffer

Died: November 29, 1996

As the scandals continued to swirl around the John Huang, one of Huang's associates, Barbara Wise, was found dead in her locked office on the fourth floor of the Department of Commerce, partially nude (by one report completely nude) and covered with bruises. No cause of death has ever been announced even though an autopsy was conducted (prior to next of kin being notified). Calls to the D.C. autopsist, Dr. Jaardemal have gotten an assurance that the bruises were not from being beaten but nothing else. Despite claims of ongoing illness, no record of a hospital visit in the months leading up to her death has surfaced. Oddly enough, following the discovery of her body, Bill Clinton made an unscheduled return to the White House from Camp David, claiming he needed a book of poetry in order to complete his inauguration speech.


Richard Winters

Suspect in the deaths of Ives & Henry

Died: July 1989

Winters offered to cooperate. He was killed by a shotgun blast to the face during a "robbery" which was subsequently proven to be a setup.

Dan Harmon, the Prosecutor who Winters reportedly made the offer to, was implicated in the Kevin/Ives deaths and was jailed for running his office as a criminal enterprise to extort narcotics and cash, proof that elements of Arkansas law enforcement were corrupted by drugs during Bill Clinton's tenure as governor.


Terrance Yeakey.

First police officer to arrive at the Murrah Building following the OK City bombing

Died: April 19, 1996

Terrance Yeakey had collected together a vast amount of hard data on the bombing of the Murrah building. Terrance Yeakey's patrol car was found abandoned along a dirt road, the front seat covered with blood. Officer Yeakey himself was found a short distance away, with cut wounds on both arms and his throat, plus a gunshot through the head. No gun was ever found, and the death was declared a suicide. His material on the OK City bombing was never found following his death. His life had been threatened.


Sadly, the list goes on......



Read more: whatreallyhappened.com http://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/BODIES.php#ixzz3zJ9pADia

National Journal: Luntz Fails to Disclose Rubio Connection


Rogelio V. Solis/AP Photo, Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

by BREITBART NEWS4 Feb 20161,286

S.V. Dáte writes at National Journal:

Polit­ic­al junkies who fol­low Re­pub­lic­an mes­saging guru Frank Luntz know how he felt that Marco Ru­bio per­formed in the most re­cent GOP pres­id­en­tial de­bate—his tele­vised fo­cus group, his Twit­ter stream, and his in­ter­views left no doubt that he’s a Ru­bio fan.

What they prob­ably don’t know about is Luntz’s close re­la­tion­ship with Ru­bio over the years, and how Ru­bio paid Luntz’s firm a third of a mil­lion dol­lars to pro­duce and pro­mote a book that Ru­bio used to im­prove his statewide name re­cog­ni­tion in Flor­ida a dec­ade ago.

It’s not clear wheth­er Fox News was aware of that his­tory when it broad­cast Luntz quizz­ing fo­cus-group mem­bers fol­low­ing the de­bate, eli­cit­ing re­sponses such as “con­fid­ent,” “elo­quent,” elect­able,” and “pres­id­en­tial.” (But not fol­low­ing up with one dis­sid­ent who called Ru­bio an “at­tract­ive op­por­tun­ist.”)

Fox did not re­spond to a Na­tion­al Journ­al query. Nor did Luntz, a pop­u­lar con­sult­ant in Re­pub­lic­an circles whose cli­ents, ac­cord­ing to Fed­er­al Elec­tion Com­mis­sion re­cords, have in­cluded House Speak­er Paul Ry­an, Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) of Geor­gia, and the Amer­ic­an Cross­roads su­per PAC in re­cent years.

Between May 2005 and Au­gust 2007, when Ru­bio was first speak­er-des­ig­nate and then speak­er of the House, the Re­pub­lic­an Party of Flor­ida paid Luntz’s con­sult­ing com­pan­ies a total of $345,451, ac­cord­ing to Flor­ida Di­vi­sion of Elec­tions fil­ings. That was the peri­od when Luntz helped Ru­bio pro­duce his “100 In­nov­at­ive Ideas” pro­ject, which in­cluded a book of policy pro­pos­als that Ru­bio pushed dur­ing his two years in charge of the state House.

[…]

In 2007, Luntz praised Ru­bio’s 100 Ideas pro­ject in a Wash­ing­ton Post op-ed, writ­ing that it brought for­ward “the prin­ciples of good gov­ern­ment and polit­ic­al ac­count­ab­il­ity.” That art­icle also failed to men­tion his role in the book’s pro­duc­tion and pro­mo­tion—a pro­ject that boos­ted Ru­bio’s name around the state, lay­ing the ground­work for his suc­cess­ful U.S. Sen­ate run in 2010.

Mike Fas­ano, a Re­pub­lic­an who served with Ru­bio in the state le­gis­lature, said he was aware that the party had paid for Luntz’s work, but had not known how much. “Oh, my Lord. I’m in the wrong busi­ness,” said Fas­ano, now the elec­ted tax col­lect­or of Pasco County. “When you have a guy like Frank who col­lects a pro-Marco group, of course they’re go­ing to say that Marco won.”

Luntz’s praise began not long after the de­bate began last Thursday. Just 12 minutes in, Luntz de­clared in a tweet: “Ex­cel­lent start for him to­night.” Halfway through, at 9:51 pm, Luntz tweeted: “This is @Mar­coR­u­bio’s best de­bate so far. He’s mak­ing people switch over to him.”


Read the rest here.

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2016 Presidential Race, Marco Rubio, Frank Luntz 

Marco Rubio’s 7 Top Achievements in U.S. Senate


Disney, AP

by JULIA HAHN4 Feb 2016Washington D.C.412

Following Rick Santorum’s inability to name a single achievement of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), the media sought to answer the question for themselves. Yet many reporters appear to have come up empty handed.

As The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizzawrites, a “major part of the problem is that Rubio doesn’t have all that many accomplishments in the Senate.”

“When Rubio is asked to name his single greatest achievement in the Senate, do you hear crickets?” tweeted the National Journal’s Ron Fournier.

Though Rick Santorum was unable to name the accomplishments of the man he just endorsed, there are indeed several accomplishments that are quite noteworthy. Below are a few of Sen. Rubio’s achievements that Rick Santorum could have identified on MSNBC this morning:

(1) The Rubio-Schumer Gang of Eight Bill

The Washington Examiner’s Byron York hasdescribed the 2013 Rubio-Schumer bill as Rubio’s “signature accomplishment.” Although Santorum seemed reluctant to mention it, Rubio’s immigration bill is probably the first accomplishment that comes to mind when anyone thinks of Rubio’s very brief career in the U.S. Senate.

Rubio’s immigration bill would have tripled the issuances of green cards, doubled the dispensation of foreign worker visas, and granted citizenship — and, thereby, welfare access and voting privileges — to illegal immigrants.

Reports ranging from the The National Review, to the Tampa Bay Times, to the Washington Post, to the New Yorker have all suggested that the Gang of Eight bill would have likely not passed the Senate if not for Sen. Rubio’s tireless efforts. Indeed, Rubio was the key salesman of the Obama-backed immigration agenda. As Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker reported at the time, Rubio served as “the Gang’s official ambassador to the right,” and was able to convince prominent conservatives to promote the open borders legislation.

Lizza wrote: “[Democratic Senator Bob] Menendez told me that Rubio’s role was to ‘work over the conservative universe, particularly the conservative opinion-maker universe,’ in order to ‘neutralize them’ and, in some cases, ‘proselytize them.’ Schumer said, ‘He’s the real deal.’”

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin told Lizza, “[Rubio] has been invaluable… He’s willing to go on the most conservative talk shows, television and radio, Rush Limbaugh and the rest.”

Moreover, Rubio was also able to successfully strike down all conservative amendments to the Gang of Eight’s proposal. As Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) pointed out, ““Marco and Schumer basically had a secret deal to block all amendments.” Indeed, Rubio joined Chuck Schumer in voting down an amendment offered by Sen. Thune, which would have required the completion of a double-layer border fence. He also successfully defeated an amendment offered by Sen. Vitter, which would require the implementation of an exit-entry tracking system in order to prevent foreign nationals from illegally overstaying their visas.

(2) Obamatrade

Sen. Rubio cast the 60th and deciding vote to fast-track the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement. By giving President Obama fast-track powers, Rubio essentially helped to ensure the passage of not only the TPP, but all subsequent trade pacts, which are now liberated from Senate filibuster, amendment process, and constitutional treaty vote.

This represents a significant legislative victory for the young Senator, who previously endorsed TPP and described Obama’s trade deal as the “second pillar” of a President Rubio’s three-pillar foreign policy strategy.

Moreover, Rubio was also successful in promoting foreign currency manipulation by helping to vote down a provision to crack down on the illicit practice that had been proposed by Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH).

(3) Blocking Curbs to Muslim Immigration

Rubio told Sean Hannity he’d “hate” to block funding for Obama’s refugees, and suggested that curbs on Muslim migration would be unconstitutional. This pro mass-migration offensive helped give Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) the space he needed to wave in a vast new group of Muslim migrants.

Rubio further lent aid and comfort to Paul Ryan by joining a large group of Senators invoting down a proposal offered by Sen. Rand Paul to curb Muslim migration. Sen. Paul’s  amendment would have suspended visa issuances to more than 30 Muslim countries with active Jihadist populations.

Rubio has been one of the most ardent champions for increasing Muslim migration. The U.S. has admitted roughly 1.5 million migrants from Muslim countries since 9/11 on a permanent lifetime basis. Yet Rubio has sought to grow that number vastly. In 2015, Rubio introduced an immigration bill which would have allowed for an unlimited increase in Muslim migration.

(4) Enabling His Corporate Backers to Replace Americans With Foreign Workers

In 2015, Florida Disney laid off scores of Marco Rubio’s constituents and replaced them with low-wage foreign workers brought in on H-1B visas. However, before terminating their American employees, Disney forced Rubio’s constituents to train their lesser-skilled foreign replacements.

If Rubio had spent his political capital in 2013 trying to reform the H-1B program, instead of massively expanding it, he could have saved these careers of these Disney workers, instead of enabling their termination by leading the charge for more foreign workers. In 2013, Rubio’s aide even told Ryan Lizza that “There are American workers who, for lack of a better term, can’t cut it. There shouldn’t be a presumption that every American worker is a star performer. There are people who just can’t get it, can’t do it, don’t want to do it. And so you can’t obviously discuss that publicly because–.”

At this point another Rubio aide jumped in, asserting, “But the same is true for the high-skilled worker,” to which the first Rubio aide replied, “Yes, and the same is true across every sector, in government, in everything.”

Shortly before the Disney workers got the axe, Rubio introduced legislation in January of 2015 to massively expand the H-1B program. Rubio’s 2015 Immigration Innovation Act would have tripled the number of H-1B visas. Interestingly, the bill was endorsed by Disney’s CEO Bob Iger via his immigration lobbying group, the Partnership for a New American Economy. According to Open Secrets, the Walt Disney Corporation is one of Rubio’s biggest financial backers, having donated more than $2 million.

Unfortunately, Rubio’s success in protecting his corporate backers’ ability to increase their bottom line has gone virtually unreported in the corporate media. This perhaps explains why so few are able to list his Senatorial achievements.

For instance, Julia Preston of the New York Times has written multiple articles about the Florida Disney’s H-1B scheme. Yet Preston fails to mention the fact that Florida Senator Rubio introduced legislation to triple the H-1B program, nor does Preston like to mention that Disney is one of Rubio’s financial backers. To demonstrate, here are several stories in which Preston writes about Rubio’s corporate backer replacing Rubio’s constituents with H-1Bs, yet makes no mention whatsoever of Rubio nor Rubio’s H-1B legislation:

Pink Slips At Disney, But First Training Foreign Replacements

In Turnabout, Disney Cancels Tech Worker Layoffs

Lawsuits Claim Disney Colluded To Replace U.S. Workers With Immigrants

Disney Has No Comment On The Recent Reversal of Layoffs

Senator Seeks Inquiry Into Visa Program Used At Disney  [The Senator mentioned here in Preston’s story is Florida’s Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL). In contrast to Sen. Rubio — who provided cover to Disney’s cheap-labor practices by pushing to expand H-1Bs — Sen. Nelson joined Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) to propose legislation that would reduce the number of H-1Bs and eliminate visas for low-wage jobs. Preston’s story makes no mention of Sen. Rubio nor his desire to expand H-1Bs.] 


(5) Blocking Food Stamp Reform

In 2011, Marco Rubio voted against a Republican proposal which the Congressional Budget Office projected would save the U.S. government $10 billion by reining in the abuse of the food stamp program. The measure was backed by almost all Republicans and opposed by virtually all Democrats. The measure, as Sen. Jeff Sessions explained when he proposed it, would have eliminated what is known as the “categorical eligibility” for food stamps, which makes people “automatically eligible” to receive government benefits even if that household has “substantial assets.” Rubio was one of only seven Republicans to oppose the measure, but his no vote helped stall momentum for food stamp reform– which remains elusive.

Rubio’s campaign did not respond to Breitbart’s request for explanation as to why Rubio voted against the 2011 food stamp reform.

(6) Benghazi

As George Will pointed out, Sen. Rubio gave his “enthusiastic support of the Barack Obama/Hillary Clinton intervention in Libya.” Indeed, as the Washington Examiner wrote at the time in a piece entitled “Rubio takes the lead to support Obama’s war in Libya.”

“Rubio proposes that the Senate authorize the president’s use of force in Libya, and that the authorization state that the aim of the use of force should be the removal of the Qaddafi regime,” the piece said.

George Will notes that “Rubio supported this third adventure in regime change in the Muslim world since 9/11, perhaps on the principle that practice makes perfect.”

The destabilization and chaos that resulted from the overthrow of Qaddafi not only provided an operating ground for ISIS, but also provided the conditions that led to the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi.

(7) Worst Attendance Record

Reports note that Sen. Rubio has amassed one of the worst attendance records in the Senate, which is quite an achievement. The Washington Post writes, “Since the beginning of the year, Marco Rubio has cast votes about two-thirds of the time he could have — the worst attendance of any senator seeking a presidential nomination.” The Sun Sentinel editorial board noted, “Rubio has missed more votes than any other senator this year. His seat is regularly empty for floor votes, committee meetings and intelligence briefings. He says he’s MIA from his J-O-B because he finds it frustrating and wants to be president, instead… But two other candidates — Sens. Rand Paul andSen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — have missed only 10 Senate votes during their campaigns for the White House. You, on the other hand, have missed 59, according to a tally by Politico.”

By contrast, Iowa’s Sen. Chuck Grassley set the record for the “longest temporal stretch of perfect attendance in senatorial history,” as Roll Call reported earlier this month. Roll Call notes that the Senator has “not missed a recorded vote in 22 years, six months and six days.”

Given the media’s reluctance to report on the young Senator’s achievements, it is perhaps understandable why Santorum was unable to identify any of Rubio’s achievements when put on the spot.

Although the media seems loath to report it, Sen. Rubio has been one of the most ardent and successful champions of the donor-class’s open borders trade and immigration agenda. While other establishment Republicans such as Jeb Bush, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), or Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have been unsuccessful in promoting the donor-class’s priorities, Rubio has repeatedly demonstrated his adept ability to deliver for his donors — evidenced by his ability to win praise from prominent conservatives like Rush Limbaugh even as he pushes policies that Limbaugh and others have warned would wipe out conservatism.

This perhaps explains why Rubio’s campaign has been enthusiastically embraced by some of the most powerful mass migration advocates, like Paul Singer and Larry Ellison.

Thursday, February 4, 2016

EXCLUSIVE–1st and 2nd Voicemails: ‘Ben Carson Suspending Campaigning’; Cruz: ‘Accurate Report’


Chris Carlson / Associated Press

by ALEX SWOYER4 Feb 20164,975

New audio obtained exclusively by Breitbart News indicates that as the Iowa caucuses began on Monday night, the Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) campaign called precinct captains informing them that Dr. Ben Carson was suspending campaigning, and instructing them to tell voters they should “not waste a vote on Ben Carson and vote for Ted Cruz.”

The calls were placed after the Carson campaign had already clarified that Carson was not suspending his campaign.

Nancy Bliesman, a precinct captain for Cruz in Crawford County, Iowa, told Breitbart News that she received two voice mails–one at 7:07 p.m. Central Standard Time (CST), and one at 7:29 p.m.–on the night of the Iowa caucuses, which began at 7:00 p.m.

The first call came from a woman with a phone number out of Galveston, Texas at 7:07 p.m. (transcript follows audio):

[inaudible]…from the Ted Cruz campaign, calling to get to a precinct captain, and it has just been announced that Ben Carson is taking a leave of absence from the campaign trail, so it is very important that you tell any Ben Carson voters that for tonight, uh, that they not waste a vote on Ben Carson, and vote for Ted Cruz. He is taking a leave of absence from his campaign. All right? Thank you. Bye.


The second voicemail was left at 7:29 p.m. from an Iowa phone number that Breitbart News traced back to a Cruz campaign volunteer hotline.

Hello, this is the Cruz campaign with breaking news: Dr. Ben Carson will be [garbled] suspending campaigning following tonight’s caucuses. Please inform any Carson caucus goers of this news and urge them to caucus for Ted instead. Thank you. Good night.


“My precinct people voted” without hearing the rumor that Carson would be suspending his campaign, Bliesman told Breitbart News. “Ben Carson did get his votes in our precinct ’cause I didn’t take the calls.”

Bliesman’s husband, who was also with her on Monday night, told Breitbart News that they were at the precinct labeled “DC-A-B,” which stands for the areas of Dow City, Arion and Buck Grove.

According to Mr. Bliesman, the total vote count in the precinct was as follows:

Donald Trump = 33

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) = 15

Ben Carson = 12

Ted Cruz = 12

Carly Fiorina = 3

Jeb Bush = 2

John Kasich = 1

Chris Christie = 1

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) = 0

Ric Santorum = 0

Mike Huckabee = 0


Bliesman said there was a “huge turnout,” adding, “we had probably at least 100 percent increase from four years ago.”

“Everyone knows the mainstream media says things–whether it’s true or not, check it out,” she urged, saying she wishes the Carson campaign had been consulted before the report was spread.

The revelation about Cruz’s campaign calls and voicemails comes after an email surfaced from Cruz’s deputy Iowa campaign director Spence Rogers, sent at 6:56 p.m.–four minutes before caucuses began–suggesting that Carson would be “taking time off from the campaign trail after Iowa and making a big announcement next week.” The email told supporters: “Please inform any caucus goers of this news and urge them to caucus for Ted Cruz.”

Cruz apologized to Carson on Tuesday, saying his team should also have forwarded a subsequent after Carson clarified that he would not be suspending his campaign.

However, the Carson campaign had already clarified at 6:53 p.m. that he was not dropping out.

The original report by Chris Moody of CNN at 6:44 p.m. had reported explicitly that Carson was not suspending his campaign.

Carson–who accepted Cruz’s apology–held a press conference on Wednesday, saying that he believes the messages sent out by the Cruz campaign damaged his results in Iowa.

On Thursday, he sent a message attacking the Cruz campaign, saying that “no attempts were made to verify the truth” about his departure, and that “no actions have been taken to correct the problem.”

The Cruz campaign referenced a clarifying tweet by CNN’s Chris Moody that was published at 7:30 p.m.

Cruz campaign spokesperson Catherine Frazier told Breitbart News on Thursday (via email):

The senator has already apologized for not more quickly making that clarification, and there is no evidence that our sharing of this news story impacted Carson’s campaign – he well outperformed expectations. The voicemails are in line with the reports that were made at that time. Our campaign shared an accurate report that Carson was suspending campaigning after the caucuses – he went home and he went to D.C. – and these voicemails do not suggest that he would completely drop out of the race.

Lastly, it should surprise no one that Carson’s initial announcement he was taking time off the trail would be a news story. It is highly unusual for candidates to take time off the trail between the first voting states.


Carson modestly out-performed his public poll average in Iowa by 1.6%.

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Gov. Branstad says Cruz employed ‘unethical and unfair’ tactics Monday night.

www.radioiowa.com

Governor Terry Branstad      (file photo)

Governor Terry Branstad is crediting Ted Cruz for running an “old-fashioned”, 99-county campaign that yielded victory in Monday night’s Iowa Caucuses, but Branstad is joining the chorus criticizing Cruz for “questionable” campaign tactics.

“This thing that they distributed on Caucus night saying that Dr. Carson was likely to drop out and his supporters should support Cruz, that is, I think, unethical and unfair,” Branstad said this morning. “I think there’ll be repercussions to that.”

Cruz has apologized to Carson, the retired neurosurgeon who finished fourth in the Caucuses on Monday night. Iowa Congressman Steve King, a Cruz backer, helped spread the drop out rumor and Branstad said King owes Carson an apology.

“You know, we have a strong sense of fairness in Iowa,” Branstad said during an interview with Radio Iowa. “Distributing information that was not true about a candidate right at the time people are voting in the Caucuses is an inappropriate thing.”

King tweeted: “Carson looks like he’s out” on Caucus night. King has told reporters in Washington, D.C. he had an “obligation” to tell Iowans about a report he’d seen indicating Carson was flying home to Florida Monday night rather than going to New Hampshire. Branstad is not out personally recruiting a Republican to challenge King in a primary this June.

“Yet I think there are a number of people in the renewable fuels industry that are not happy with (King),” Branstad says. “I guess time will tell what happens.”

Branstad is a critic of Cruz’s opposition to the federal ethanol production mandate. Two weeks before the Caucuses Branstad said he hoped Cruz would be defeated — a move Congressman King blasted as a “de facto endorsement” of Donald Trump.

“Well, I did,” Branstad said today of his wish for Cruz’s defeat. “Actually, I think Trump, by skipping the debate, hurt himself.”

Branstad’s 2010 and 2014 campaign managers migrated to New Jersey Chris Christie’s presidential campaign. Christie finished 10th, with fewer than 3300 votes. Branstad said Christie didn’t spend enough time campaigning in Iowa.

“None of the governors did well,” Branstad said. “…Rubio came on strong at the end because people were looking for somebody new.”

The Caucus winner was someone Branstad opposed and Christie finished next to last, but Branstad rejects the notion Monday’s Caucus results are in any way a rebuke of him.

“First of all I’m not running for president. I’ve never had an interest in running for president or national office,” Branstad said. “My focus is on my state and jobs in my state and farm income.”

AUDIO of Radio Iowa’s interview with Governor Terry Branstad

Branstad attended his precinct caucus Monday night, but he is not revealing who he voted for. Branstad said the record turn-out for Monday’s Republican Caucuses was “an encouraging sign” for the fall election, since Iowa is likely to be a toss-up state in the presidential race.

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The Smith Project: What Voters Want


Scott Olson/Getty Images

by JOHN HAYWARD3 Feb 20162,635

Veteran pollster Pat Caddell’s Armada group has spent the past several years charting the alienation of the American electorate, constructing a fascinating model of what most Americans desire in the ideal political candidate – the great statesman, or stateswoman, voters want for our time.

Using a large volume of survey data, they created a hypothetical “Candidate Smith” whose platform would enjoy strong majority support from the entire country.

Here are some of the many highlights from the poll, which is attached below:

70% agree that the federal government today no longer has the consent of the people79% want to recruit and support more candidates who are ordinary citizens rather than professional politicians and lawyerA majority of voters would join a third party if it had a chance of success77% prefer candidates who “take on the political elites and special interests” to those who conform to a set ideology

 Considering how bitterly fractured the electorate has become, with intra-party disputes almost as vicious as the exchange of heavy artillery fire across the partisan divide, there is a remarkably strong consensus about what “Candidate Smith” would stand for. All of the existing candidates from both parties fall far short of this lofty ideal… and yet, the passionate supporters of every candidate in the race would insist their man or woman isCandidate Smith.

Caddell’s research therefore offers a fascinating insight into the nature of the great American divide.  

Democrats, Republicans, and independents have very similar ultimate missions, but they heatedly disagree about every detail, and every step that should be taken to reach the goal. The Smith platform was constructed from years of survey data to aggregate what all voters claim to support… but they would disagree about the precise meaning of every word in that platform.

Maybe this is such an angry election because every partisan is obsessed with how far he thinks all other politicians fall from the Candidate Smith ideal. Every other candidate is a heretic, traitor, sellout, phony, or trickster, even if they agree with our favored candidate on most important issues.  

For very different reasons, every brand of liberal, conservative, and libertarian thinks our current government falls far short of what Candidate Smith – the honest and selfless avatar of American popular will – would deliver. They are losing faith in the two-party system, because it produces so many politicians that Candidate Smith would refuse to share a congressional cloakroom with.

For this reason, Caddell and company look upon the turmoil of the Iowa caucuses as proof that “politics in the United States today is a revolution, not a revolt,” asserting that 2016 will be “an election of insurgency.”

“A new paradigm has emerged,” the researchers argue. “It is a shift in political tectonic plates, the death rattle of the old order and the coming of the new political order. The old rules that reflected an establishment-centered, ideological two-party duopoly are now under siege by an anti-establishment, anti-political class, anti-duopoly movement that is nonpartisan and to a great degree even non-ideological.”

It will be an impressive insurgency indeed, if it includes “the overwhelming majority of American voters of every persuasion,” as the Smith Project paper argues. Nothing less than “the beginning of the end of the two-party duopoly in the United States” could be at hand.

In brief, here are the points that strong majorities are said to agree upon:

America is in decline, and the next generation may be the first that is worse off than its parents were.The system is rigged against ordinary people, as powerful interests – corporate and political – exploit the rules for their own benefit.Both the Democrat and Republican parties are “essentially useless” in changing this situation, with both of them dominated by well-connected special interests, and too interested in accumulating power instead of fulfilling their essential duties to the American people.The political class is too insular, and should be infused with fresh blood from “ordinary citizens,” rather than “professional politicians and lawyers.”

Like the modern Prometheus, the Armada group poured this consensus data into a human mold, struck with with the lightning of politics, and created Candidate Smith, whose almost universally beloved platform reads as follows:

“Candidate Smith’s belieyfs are not based on liberal or conservative ideas, just fundamental American common sense. Smith says we can’t change anything with the usual politics, the usual politicians, and the usual interest groups. We need new leaders from mainstream America, like Candidate Smith, who take on the political elites and special interests, and put the American people in charge again.”

Pollsters tested the Smith platform and registered an astounding 77 percent favorable rating, with only 11 percent unfavorable. Smith Project researchers assert he would be chosen as an independent candidate by voters of allparties and demographics, handily defeating every big name from both parties. He’d also be a formidable contender in the primary of either party, as demonstrated by testing him as a hypothetical alternative with survey groups.

The veteran political observer would note that “generic candidates” very often outperform real human beings in this sort of survey, because the generic candidate has no history. No one can step forward to complain about that one time Candidate Smith voted against a bill he once claimed to be for, or the time his failure to play ball with the Party cost it an important election, or that dodgy real estate deal he got involved with 25 years ago. The generic candidate doesn’t turn off young voters with the wrinkles in his face, turn off older voters by looking like a high-school class president, have a screechy voice, or carry 50 extra pounds over his belt.  

We might take those observations to conclude that either the two-party system is incapable of giving us Candidate Smith… or that no conceivable alignment, of any number of parties, is likely to produce someone pure enough to unite disparate groups into a coherent insurgency against the established order. And let’s face it: fragmented insurgencies that mostly fighteach other are little threat to any established order worth its salt.

Another intriguing detail of the Smith Project can be gleaned by looking at the four broad points of consensus listed above, and even the more specific positions the Project describes as enjoying super-majority support. There is so much room to disagreeabout what each point of consensus really means.

For example, here’s how the Project describes the “Platform of Reform and Rejuvenation” Candidate Smith stood upon to win 81 percent favorability from all voters:

Smith says no one candidate can fix our system or our country alone. What we need is for ordinary Americans to stand up, take responsibility and take control. Eighty-one percent of voters agree.  

Smith believes our economic policies of both parties have failed and we must grow the economy and provide real jobs and better wages for the middle class. Eighty percent agree.  

Smith says that America cannot succeed unless we take on and defeat the corruption and crony capitalism in our government. Seventy-six percent agree.

Smith says we must fix our broken political system before we can go about solving the other important issues, like economic growth, education, national security or immigration. Two-thirds of all voters agree.


Senator Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is currently riding high in the Democrat primary on a promise to spend another $20trillion dollars, and raise taxes by $10 trillion to fund half of his agenda.

No one who supports Bernie Sanders seriously believes “ordinary Americans” need to “stand up, take responsibility, and take control” when he’s offering a cradle-to-grave universal welfare state with such funding methods… not in remotely the same sense that a conservative or libertarian would understand the concepts of responsibility and citizen control.  

But for people on the far Left, the essence of liberty is freedom from want, achieved by using collectivist means to provide for a long list of basic necessities. Notice how the term “access” in the liberal political lexicon is now synonymous with public financing – if something like contraception isn’t “free,” then some number of people are “denied access” to it. People who think this way are convinced that citizens can “control” such an all-encompassing welfare state by voting for the right people. They tend to define “taking responsibility” as obeying the law and paying your taxes without complaint. They worry about losing their freedom to predatory business interests, including the one that signs their paychecks, more than they fear the government, which they believe they can control through the sacred power of the vote.

In a similar vein, if you ask people of different political alignment how to “grow the economy and provide real jobs and better wages for the middle class,” you will get very different answers about what makes the economy grow, how jobs are created, and what forces are keeping wages down, followed by a vicious argument about what the “middle class” is. That eight percent consensus would go up in smokevery quickly, the instant Candidate Smith explained what he thinks all those terms mean.

76 percent agreement that corruption and crony capitalism are critical problems sounds great… until you ask a mixed crowd of Clinton, Trump, Sanders, Rubio, and Cruz supporters who they believe the culprits are, and how they should be stopped.

The Smith Project is a fascinating study because it prompts us to ask these questions, reverse-engineering consensus to learn how we find ourselves having such bitter disagreements. What Candidate Smith really represents is the essence of populism,2016 style: a way for political leadership to understand why so much of the public has lost faith in them. Every candidate in this race, and those to come, could benefit from studying what so many Americans agree they want, when all of their partisan and personal barriers are lowered. The measure of our discontent is the difference between what we want, and what we expect.

Here is one point of spirited disagreement with the Smith Project’s conclusions: it is argued that none of the current Republican or Democrat candidates was considered more than “somewhat similar” to the ideal Candidate Smith. To the contrary, most partisans probably do think their guy or gal is batting in Smith’s league – perhaps more than they consciously admit, when surveyed in the manner of the Smith Project.  

To put that another way, they think their preferred candidate has the personal qualities Candidate Smith would exemplify to them: a selfless public servant, a brilliant master of policy, a stalwart defender of liberty, someone who sees the true greatness of America, and so forth. They probably believe circumstances, both personal and political, forced the compromises that bring their candidate up short of true Smith-hood. Many supporters would fervently insist their candidate truly wants to do so much more than they campaign on today, and blame the opposition for corrupting their pure vision.

It would be absolutely fascinating to put supporters of every 2016 candidate in a focus group, describe Candidate Smith’s platform, and ask them how their favorite presidential contender agrees with every point of the Smith platform. They could probably all do it, citing public statements or legislative positions to support each of their contentions.

And that is why the Smith Project may be correct that an election of insurgency is at hand. Consensus on the big picture, vigorous disagreement about every detail of the specifics, and an urge to make every opposing faction submit to grand visions, indeed actively punishing them for social crimes: we have agreed to disagree.

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16

Scarborough: Arguments Against Rubio Are ‘He Is the Republican Obama,’ ‘an Empty Suit’


by JEFF POOR4 Feb 201666
Thursday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” host Joe Scarborough doubled down on the claim Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) is the “Republican Obama.”


Scarborough pointed to the two arguments against Rubio when laying it out, explaining that Rubio was seen as an aspirational politician and that it is unclear what he represents.
“There are two arguments,” Scarborough said.” The first argument is, he is the Republican Obama and he really is. They anointed him, Time magazine anointed him the Republican savior before he threw his first pitch. And the second argument, which is a devastating argument that worked a long time ago in the state of Florida had to do with him being an empty suit. And I remember Florida Trend had just an empty suit and it asked whether a certain senator from the state of Florida was an empty suit. It was devastating.”
Later in the segment, Scarborough compared him to then-Sen. Barack Obama of 2008.
“Both of whom, the second they get to Washington, DC, decided they were running for president instead of deciding they were going to be,” he added. “Please, give me a list of accomplishments of every candidate, put it up there next to him and let’s see who the emptiest suit is. There’s not really a competition.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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