Islam Hi-Jacks American Labor Day

Cross-posted by Maggie at Maggie’s Notebook

I’ve added Tyson contact info at the end of this piece.
Thanks to Monkey in the Middle …
who pondered how a request for a Jewish holiday might be handled by the Union and Tyson.
We know the answer to that one.

After having most of the day to think about this, I suggest the non-muslim workers (who are a minority) at the Shelbyville plant walk out tomorrow morning – along with non-muslim workers at Tyson plants everywhere. Non-employees, you can be sure, will support our valiant efforts by never buying another Tyson product – and that goes for the beef and pork, as well as the chicken.

H/T to Stop the ACLU, Stuck on Stupid and Fox News

A short rant: WHY ISN’T THIS ON FOX 24/7?

A Tyson Food plant in Shelbyville, Tennessee contractually agreed with a Union to drop Labor Day and instead, give all employees off for a new holiday – the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

Shelbyville Times-Gazette

A recent press release from the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) stated that a new contract at the Shelbyville facility “implements a new holiday to accommodate the … Muslim workers at the plant.”

The RWDSU stated that “the five-year contract creates an additional paid holiday, Iidal Fitil, a Muslim holiday that occurs toward the end of Ramadan.”

Eid al-Fitr falls on Oct. 1 this year.

That’s what the RWDS Union says. Here’s the TRUTH:

Tyson’s Director of Media Relations, Gary Mickelson, stated that while the new contract does not provide an additional holiday, as the union claimed, “the new contract includes eight paid holidays, which is the same number provided in the old contract.”

Is there a Union anywhere whose word can be trusted.?

The U.S. Department of Labor gives this background on America’s Labor Day, which Tyson employees in Shelbyville will no long celebrate with fellow-Americans:

“Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country,” said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. “All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man’s prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day…is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation.”

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

The press release stated:

…there are approximately 700 Muslims working at Tyson, but Mickelson said that Somalis only represent approximately 250 of the 1,200 employed at the plant, a little over 20 percent of the workforce.

What do Somali Muslims have to do with hi-jacking Labor Day? No clues in the Shelbyville Times-Gazette. The Coalition Against Illegal Immigration (CAII) reported in December 2007 that Tyson legally imported 400 Somali Muslim “humanitarian refugees” to top up its 2000 employee work force in Emporia – but not Shelbyville.

1200 employees at Tyson-Shelbyville – 700 are Muslim. My math tells me that 58% of the employees at this plant are Muslim.

Evidently we can be comforted that only 250 of the Muslims are from Somalia. Where are the remainder 500 from? Are they legal. Are they Black American Muslims? No, I don’t think so. By the way, who are the Union leaders? No red-blooded America would ask to destroy Labor Day in honor of any Muslim holiday.

WorldNetDaily:

The union boasts on its website, “Diversity is one of the strengths of our union. … We may come from different countries and speak different languages. But what unites us is the belief that by standing together we can better advance our interests.”

When Muslims dominate we’ll see their definition of “diversity,” and “standing together,” and “advancing our interests.” Muslims are ALLOWED one “interest,” and that’s “advancing” Islam with no diversity accepted.

I’m telling you friends, we’d better rise up against this. All Tyson products are off my shopping list but we need to do far more. Islam-creep and its mission-creep is gathering steam and in the name of goodwill, America is giving up all it holds dear.

Contact Information

Mail:	Tyson Foods, Inc. P.O. Box 2020 Springdale, AR 72764-6999	Telephone:	1-800-643-3410
	Consumer Relations CP631 2210 West Oaklawn Drive Springdale, AR 72764-6999

Tyson Foods Brings Latent Tuberculosis to Emporia, Kansas

Cross-posted by Maggie at Maggie’s Notebook

Photo from the Topeka Capital-Journal. Their caption reads:
Courtesy / Kansas Health Institute

An estimated 750 to 1,000 Somali refugees are living in Emporia, a magnet because of jobs at the Tyson Foods meatpacking plant. Many have latent tuberculosis.

H/T to Texas Fred and his comment thread.

Tyson Foods’ blatant disregard for the institutions of America is worse than we thought – and it stretches outside just the Shelbyville, TN plant.

Here’s how the Topeka Capital-Journal under the heading “Somalis arrive in Emporia with tuberculosis” describes the “exotic, new arrivals:”

EMPORIA — When hundreds of Somali refugees began showing up to work at the meatpacking plant, nurses Lori Torres and Renee Hively were among the first to get to know the exotic, new arrivals.

“We got notified a day in advance that 70 Somalis were being transferred from a (Tyson Foods) plant in Nebraska,” Hively recalled. “That 70 soon grew into 400, seemingly overnight.”…Torres is the case manager for about 160 Somalis in Emporia who have been diagnosed with latent tuberculosis….

WHERE WAS the Center for Disease Control?
HOW DID THESE PEOPLE GET INTO THE U.S.?

I found the following at immigration.com:

Section 212(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act states that aliens with specific health-related conditions are ineligible to receive visas and ineligible for admission into the United States. The Attorney General may waive application of this inadmissibility on health-related grounds if an application for waiver is filed and approved by the consular office considering the application for a visa. The Division of Migration and Quarantine, NCID uses this application primarily to collect information to establish and maintain records of waiver applicants in order to notify the Immigration and Naturalization Service when terms, conditions and controls imposed by waiver are not met. NCID is requesting the extension of this data for 3 years. There total estimated annualize burden is 167 hours.

More from the Topeka Capital-Journal:

…each of the department’s [Tyson’s] nurses divided the case management responsibilities, but with the surge it was decided Torres would take them all, in essence creating a full-time tuberculosis nurse position. They also persuaded the clinic’s managers to hire a full-time Somali translator. [Your package of chicken fingers just went up a quarter.}

Here’s the EXOTIC word again:

The Somalis are the most recent and perhaps most exotic wave for this city of about 25,000 people. Not everyone in Emporia has been welcoming. There have been incidents of vandalism and an armed robbery attempt at the Ayan Restaurant, a Somali-owned eatery that also serves as an informal community center for the refugees.

An article posted Nov. 3 on the Emporia Gazette Web site about a state grant to Catholic Community Services to help the Somalis settling in Emporia drew scores of angry, anonymous reader reactions, including this one:

“Emporia is going to be its own 3rd world country before long because of all the damn, bleeding hearts.”

“They came post 9/11. They’re black and they’re Muslim,” Hively said, describing some of the hostility demonstrated toward the Somalis. “Emporia didn’t have many black people before. This is a small town.”

If you haven’t caught the latest news, Tyson contractually, with its Union, canceled Labor Day – no joking here – at their Shelbyville, TN plant and replaced it with a Muslim holiday sometime each Fall.

Let us put Tyson Foods out of business!
No extraordinary measures needed.
No time out of your day
Just don’t buy anything made by Tyson Foods

Tyson is not only about chicken. They sell beef and pork products, including bacon. One of my readers suggested that we query restaurants. Are they using Tyson for their chicken fingers, hot wings, etc.?

Don’t buy Tyson until Labor Day is acknowledged again at their Shelbyville plant and these refugees are sent back home.

Contact Information

Mail:	Tyson Foods, Inc. P.O. Box 2020 Springdale, AR 72764-6999	Telephone:	1-800-643-3410
	Consumer Relations CP631 2210 West Oaklawn Drive Springdale, AR 72764-6999

Tyson Foods Brings Latent Tuberculosis to Emporia, Kansas

Cross-posted by Maggie at Maggie’s Notebook

Photo from the Topeka Capital-Journal. Their caption reads:
Courtesy / Kansas Health Institute

An estimated 750 to 1,000 Somali refugees are living in Emporia, a magnet because of jobs at the Tyson Foods meatpacking plant. Many have latent tuberculosis.

H/T to Texas Fred and his comment thread.

Tyson Foods’ blatant disregard for the institutions of America is worse than we thought – and it stretches outside just the Shelbyville, TN plant.

Here’s how the Topeka Capital-Journal under the heading “Somalis arrive in Emporia with tuberculosis” describes the “exotic, new arrivals:”

EMPORIA — When hundreds of Somali refugees began showing up to work at the meatpacking plant, nurses Lori Torres and Renee Hively were among the first to get to know the exotic, new arrivals.

“We got notified a day in advance that 70 Somalis were being transferred from a (Tyson Foods) plant in Nebraska,” Hively recalled. “That 70 soon grew into 400, seemingly overnight.”…Torres is the case manager for about 160 Somalis in Emporia who have been diagnosed with latent tuberculosis….

WHERE WAS the Center for Disease Control?
HOW DID THESE PEOPLE GET INTO THE U.S.?

I found the following at immigration.com:

Section 212(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act states that aliens with specific health-related conditions are ineligible to receive visas and ineligible for admission into the United States. The Attorney General may waive application of this inadmissibility on health-related grounds if an application for waiver is filed and approved by the consular office considering the application for a visa. The Division of Migration and Quarantine, NCID uses this application primarily to collect information to establish and maintain records of waiver applicants in order to notify the Immigration and Naturalization Service when terms, conditions and controls imposed by waiver are not met. NCID is requesting the extension of this data for 3 years. There total estimated annualize burden is 167 hours.

More from the Topeka Capital-Journal:

…each of the department’s [Tyson’s] nurses divided the case management responsibilities, but with the surge it was decided Torres would take them all, in essence creating a full-time tuberculosis nurse position. They also persuaded the clinic’s managers to hire a full-time Somali translator. [Your package of chicken fingers just went up a quarter.}

Here’s the EXOTIC word again:

The Somalis are the most recent and perhaps most exotic wave for this city of about 25,000 people. Not everyone in Emporia has been welcoming. There have been incidents of vandalism and an armed robbery attempt at the Ayan Restaurant, a Somali-owned eatery that also serves as an informal community center for the refugees.

An article posted Nov. 3 on the Emporia Gazette Web site about a state grant to Catholic Community Services to help the Somalis settling in Emporia drew scores of angry, anonymous reader reactions, including this one:

“Emporia is going to be its own 3rd world country before long because of all the damn, bleeding hearts.”

“They came post 9/11. They’re black and they’re Muslim,” Hively said, describing some of the hostility demonstrated toward the Somalis. “Emporia didn’t have many black people before. This is a small town.”

If you haven’t caught the latest news, Tyson contractually, with its Union, canceled Labor Day – no joking here – at their Shelbyville, TN plant and replaced it with a Muslim holiday sometime each Fall.

Let us put Tyson Foods out of business!
No extraordinary measures needed.
No time out of your day
Just don’t buy anything made by Tyson Foods

Tyson is not only about chicken. They sell beef and pork products, including bacon. One of my readers suggested that we query restaurants. Are they using Tyson for their chicken fingers, hot wings, etc.?

Don’t buy Tyson until Labor Day is acknowledged again at their Shelbyville plant and these refugees are sent back home.

Contact Information

Mail:	Tyson Foods, Inc. P.O. Box 2020 Springdale, AR 72764-6999	Telephone:	1-800-643-3410
	Consumer Relations CP631 2210 West Oaklawn Drive Springdale, AR 72764-6999

You Want to Vote for Obama?

The following article is unedited and in the authors own words. Essential reading in my opinion.

Be careful of who and what you vote for, America’s future is at stake.

Three absolutely critical articles can be found at ANewtOne discussing this in detail, Bill Keller on Obama, More Obamanation, and Obamanation. Read them!!


We ask for your immediate attention, and viral dissemination of this news.

America is being fooled by Borak Hussein Obama!!
By ibn Misr

“YES, MUSLIMS ARE MEMBERS IN OUR CHURCH.” “WE HAVE MANY MEMBERS IN OUR CHURCH WHO ARE MUSLIMS.”

I am Usama K. Dakdok, President of The Straight Way of Grace Ministry. I am invited by churches all over America to speak about ISLAM and its threat to America and the West.I have had concerns about Senator Obama,s honesty regarding his so called Christian faith.I called The United Church of Christ in Chicago ILLINOIS, where Senator Obama is a member.

If Senator Obama was indeed a Christian, he would be regarded as an “Apostate” which according to Islamic Law, would mean he would be subject to a death warrant imposed upon anyone who leaves Islam, according to Prophet Mohammed himself. Many of such murders take place around this world to Muslims who have left Islam. Putting Islamic law aside, he would still be condemned by Islam. However, in Senator Obamas instance, Muslims in America are joyously happy to think that Obama would be a Muslim President in the white House. Obama is deceiving America. Muslims would not be endorsing a Muslim who left Islam and became a Christian.

It is important to note that I had four witnesses to this telephone conversation with his church. The dates, time and length of the entire conversation can be verified by phone records. The following is the conversation I had with the church, regarding his membership there.

“My name is Usama, and I am from Egypt.” “I am interested in joining the church.” “I need to ask some questions please.” The operator directed me to the membership office. I proceeded to ask questions that only a Muslim would ask. “What is the difference between Baptist and your church?” She responded, ” WE believe exactly what Baptists believe.” My second question was, “How big is your church and what kind of church is it?” She responded, “We are a Black African American Church and we have 6000 members. I asked, “Do I have to attend Sunday School classes or other meetings to be a member?” She answered “No.” I asked, “Do I have to be baptized to join the church?” She again answered, “No.” I asked, “Do I have to pay a membership Fee to join?” Her answer was No. I then asked her what I needed to do to join. She told me that I needed to attend two Sunday School classes in a row and then I would walk the aisle. I replied, “That sounds easy.” “One last question please.”

“IF I AM MUSLIM AND I BELIEVE IN PROPHET MOHAMMED, PEACE BE UPON HIM AND I ALSO BELIEVE IN JESUS, BE UPON HIM, DO I HAVE TO GIVE UP MY ISLAMIC FAITH TO BE A MEMBER IN YOUR CHURCH?” SHE ANSWERED, “NO.” “WE HAVE MANY MUSLIM MEMBERS IN OUR CHURCH.” It is important to note that Muslims and Christians would not attend the same church.””I asked her, “is that how Senator Borak Hussein Obama became a member?” There was silence.

I went on and stated that his father and step father were Muslim, his grandfathers and grandmothers are Muslim, his uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces and cousins are Muslim and everyone in his family in Kenya are Muslims. She replied to me, “I am sorry, I cannot answer these questions for you.” I of course sensed she was uncomfortable. I ended the conversation by saying to her, “YOUR CHURCH HAS DONE GREAT HARM TO THIS COUNTRY BY COVERING A WOLF IN SHEEPS CLOTHING AND THAT WOLF IS SENATOR BORAK HUSSEIN OBAMA.” end of phone call……

This is fraud to the people of the United States of America.

Sincerely, Usama Dakdok

P.S. I am willing to expose this to the media in all outlets.

God Bless America

Send inquiries to SonsofApesAndpigs@gmail.com

You Want to Vote for Obama?

The following article is unedited and in the authors own words. Essential reading in my opinion.

Be careful of who and what you vote for, America’s future is at stake.

Three absolutely critical articles can be found at ANewtOne discussing this in detail, Bill Keller on Obama, More Obamanation, and Obamanation. Read them!!


We ask for your immediate attention, and viral dissemination of this news.

America is being fooled by Borak Hussein Obama!!
By ibn Misr

“YES, MUSLIMS ARE MEMBERS IN OUR CHURCH.” “WE HAVE MANY MEMBERS IN OUR CHURCH WHO ARE MUSLIMS.”

I am Usama K. Dakdok, President of The Straight Way of Grace Ministry. I am invited by churches all over America to speak about ISLAM and its threat to America and the West.I have had concerns about Senator Obama,s honesty regarding his so called Christian faith.I called The United Church of Christ in Chicago ILLINOIS, where Senator Obama is a member.

If Senator Obama was indeed a Christian, he would be regarded as an “Apostate” which according to Islamic Law, would mean he would be subject to a death warrant imposed upon anyone who leaves Islam, according to Prophet Mohammed himself. Many of such murders take place around this world to Muslims who have left Islam. Putting Islamic law aside, he would still be condemned by Islam. However, in Senator Obamas instance, Muslims in America are joyously happy to think that Obama would be a Muslim President in the white House. Obama is deceiving America. Muslims would not be endorsing a Muslim who left Islam and became a Christian.

It is important to note that I had four witnesses to this telephone conversation with his church. The dates, time and length of the entire conversation can be verified by phone records. The following is the conversation I had with the church, regarding his membership there.

“My name is Usama, and I am from Egypt.” “I am interested in joining the church.” “I need to ask some questions please.” The operator directed me to the membership office. I proceeded to ask questions that only a Muslim would ask. “What is the difference between Baptist and your church?” She responded, ” WE believe exactly what Baptists believe.” My second question was, “How big is your church and what kind of church is it?” She responded, “We are a Black African American Church and we have 6000 members. I asked, “Do I have to attend Sunday School classes or other meetings to be a member?” She answered “No.” I asked, “Do I have to be baptized to join the church?” She again answered, “No.” I asked, “Do I have to pay a membership Fee to join?” Her answer was No. I then asked her what I needed to do to join. She told me that I needed to attend two Sunday School classes in a row and then I would walk the aisle. I replied, “That sounds easy.” “One last question please.”

“IF I AM MUSLIM AND I BELIEVE IN PROPHET MOHAMMED, PEACE BE UPON HIM AND I ALSO BELIEVE IN JESUS, BE UPON HIM, DO I HAVE TO GIVE UP MY ISLAMIC FAITH TO BE A MEMBER IN YOUR CHURCH?” SHE ANSWERED, “NO.” “WE HAVE MANY MUSLIM MEMBERS IN OUR CHURCH.” It is important to note that Muslims and Christians would not attend the same church.””I asked her, “is that how Senator Borak Hussein Obama became a member?” There was silence.

I went on and stated that his father and step father were Muslim, his grandfathers and grandmothers are Muslim, his uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces and cousins are Muslim and everyone in his family in Kenya are Muslims. She replied to me, “I am sorry, I cannot answer these questions for you.” I of course sensed she was uncomfortable. I ended the conversation by saying to her, “YOUR CHURCH HAS DONE GREAT HARM TO THIS COUNTRY BY COVERING A WOLF IN SHEEPS CLOTHING AND THAT WOLF IS SENATOR BORAK HUSSEIN OBAMA.” end of phone call……

This is fraud to the people of the United States of America.

Sincerely, Usama Dakdok

P.S. I am willing to expose this to the media in all outlets.

God Bless America

Send inquiries to SonsofApesAndpigs@gmail.com

Serious Allegations Against The Clinton Campaign in Nevada

Cross posted from Wake up America

Statement from Obama campaign manager David Plouffe:

We currently have reports of over 200 separate incidents of trouble at caucus sites, including doors being closed up to thirty minutes early, registration forms running out so people were turned away, and ID being requested and checked in a non-uniform fashion. This is in addition to the Clinton campaign’s efforts to confuse voters and call into question the at-large caucus sites which clearly had an affect on turnout at these locations. These kinds of Clinton campaign tactics were part of an entire week’s worth of false, divisive, attacks designed to mislead caucus-goers and discredit the caucus itself.

We will investigate all of these thoroughly and would encourage anyone who had concern about actions at the caucus sites to call (866) 675-2008.

Normally, when one campaign makes statements like this, they must be taken with a grain of salt; when they are followed up with firsthand eyewitness accounts backing those statements up, whether the incidents would have changed the final results or not becomes secondary to the question of accountability for using underhanded–and possibly illegal–tactics to begin with.

Let’s start with the first allegation of caucus doors being closed thirty minutes early and people being turned away.

From a Daily Kos diary, thereisnospoon:

Here’s my story:

I got to the location at 10:30am and set up. The Hillary people were already there. In charge of them was a 60-ish woman with a slight Brooklyn accent. Here were the irregularities in my precinct alone:

* The Hillary operative tried to force the doors to close at 11:30am. KK was outside greeting people, and she overheard the Hillary campaign mention that the doors would be closing at 11:30am, and she went to talk to the precinct chair. So we intervened and said that that was absolutely not legal by the rules. She then started screaming at the chair to close the doors. When he read the rules that they were open until 12noon, she said that “that’s not what I was told, other campaigns were spreading misinformation.” We stood our ground, and the doors remained open.

* A man in a wheelchair came in with his daughter, and said he was an Edwards supporter. When his daughter began to wheel him to the middle of the room, the Hillary operative tapped her on the shoulder, took the wheelchair and took him to the Clinton corner. I rushed over from talking to an undecided voter and objected loudly, but his daughter was a Hillary person. The Clinton operative said, “I don’t control what he does; she does.” At that point I said to the man, “Nobody controls you. If you want to vote for Edwards, you have every right to go to the center of the room. Do you need help?” He looked at me plaintively, but said nothing as his daughter dragged him farther back into the corner and just shook his head.

* The Clinton operative herself had a Brooklyn accent and I overheard her mention having been from New York. When she stood to be counted in the middle of the room, I objected and asked her if she was actually from Nevada. She said yes. I talked to the chair and asked him to ask her name and find her on the list. He asked her her name and checked the list, and she was not on it. At this point the chair said, “well, I can’t ask for ID.” I said, “She can’t participate if no one will vouch for her.” At this point a Hispanic man wearing a Hillary shirt said she was his wife. While that’s not impossible, it was also improbable–but I had no way to verify or object further.

* One voter who hadn’t even finished registering said that she was undecided, and the Hillary operative physically escorted her to the Hillary side. I went to talk to the woman, but she was immediately surrounded by 3 Hillary supporters who would not let me in, and I had to attend to others registering at that point (our operatives were outnumbered by hers 2-1).

* Hillary supporters were doing check-in, and a Hillary sign was behind them. I forced the sign off the table, and I went to the front desk to verify that everything went according to the rules at checkin–but if nothing else, the necessity of doing so prevented me from doing other needed work.

Read the whole thing; they also relay stories of what others are telling them and are saying they have video to support some of these claims.

This diarist also ends with something that should be very disturbing for Democrats in general:

After being a part of this campaign, doing this work, and seeing this level of viciousness from a supposedly Democratic candidate, it will be a cold day in hell before I do any work for anyone in any way associated with Hillary Clinton. At this point, even my general election vote is in question. I am furious almost to the point of nausea. There are so many young, idealistic activists here who are absolutely crushed–not because we lost here, but because of the way we “lost.” Disillusionment is running extremely high–and I doubt very much of many of them will be back in 2008, or ever again. Illegal and immoral campaign tactics like this aren’t just reprehensible: they also come at a cost to the party in the long run.

Another firsthand account comes from LV Pol Girl:

As many of you know I am an Obama supporter and a first time caucus goer. Here is my experience…

We showed up at 10 AM and the Hillary camp was all set with signs and volunteers. It didn’t take long for the Obama volunteers to neutralize Hillary’s head start. For starters, we noticed that Hillary’s supporters were breaking the rules by placing Hillary signs where they were not allowed and we asked them to take them down, which they did. We then noticed, that a car sporting Hillary signage, was double-parked, blocking people who needed access to handicapped parking. We told a woman who just had a hip replacement to park her car right beside the car.

The next controversial issue involved the voter cards disappearing into the Hillary camp, so that the Edwards and Obama people were left with no cards. When we asked them to give us back some cards, we then noticed that they had all been pre-marked for Hillary.

Another controversy arose, when a Hillary supporter became hostile with the Precinct Chair because she felt that things were not moving as fast as she would have liked — the time was only 11:00 a.m. This, along with the voter card stunt, ended up hurting the Hillary camp because the precinct chair, a known Hillary supporter, was turned off by these tactics and decided to join the Obama camp.

Once again, there is much more to that diary–those are just the highlights.

The next account is from RunnerAAA, who lists multiple problems at the caucus as well as from some Hillary supporters, from trying to close the doors early [again] to people trying to vote in more than one precinct, people being sent to the wrong precinct deliberately as well as precinct captains being interrupted–in violation of caucus rules–when they had their five minutes to speak to the group about their candidate.

That diary ends like this:

We’ll see how the results come out, but for now I’m left with a bad taste in my mouth about the Clinton campaign. I won’t forget these dirty tactics today will never be forgotten. I hope that everyone realizes how much this reflects on Hillary’s character. Anything to win, even if it means cheating. I am as strong a supporter for Obama as ever. We can’t let the machine win.

It should be noted that complaints are coming in about both the Obama campaign AND the Clinton campaign as reported at The Hill.

Rick Moran puts together a list of some of the newsworthy dirty tactics the Clinton campaign has recently utilized since before–and during–the Nevada caucus, over at the PoliGazette.

There is quite a bit of buzz about this on the left side of the blogosphere and Ed Morrisey wonders why we even have caucuses instead of primaries being the standard.

He has a point. Precinct chairs who favor one candidate over another leads to decisions being made, not in fairness to the process but with bias for the campaign that the chair supports… there is nothing fair in that process and leaves us wondering if any legal action can be taken against such tactics as those having been reported.

Secondly, many were so disturbed about the process and what they saw from their own “side” they have been turned off of the whole political process altogether.

Third, because of the chaos at some of the precincts, first time caucus goers may never participate in the process again.

I would bet good money on the fact that nasty tactics, dirty tricks, voter suppression and fraud have just begun in this race, but the fun part about it is the Democrats are using these tactics against each other.

It is like finally ripping the roof off of hell and letting the world see what the Democrats really are all about.

Serious Allegations Against The Clinton Campaign in Nevada

Cross posted from Wake up America

Statement from Obama campaign manager David Plouffe:

We currently have reports of over 200 separate incidents of trouble at caucus sites, including doors being closed up to thirty minutes early, registration forms running out so people were turned away, and ID being requested and checked in a non-uniform fashion. This is in addition to the Clinton campaign’s efforts to confuse voters and call into question the at-large caucus sites which clearly had an affect on turnout at these locations. These kinds of Clinton campaign tactics were part of an entire week’s worth of false, divisive, attacks designed to mislead caucus-goers and discredit the caucus itself.

We will investigate all of these thoroughly and would encourage anyone who had concern about actions at the caucus sites to call (866) 675-2008.

Normally, when one campaign makes statements like this, they must be taken with a grain of salt; when they are followed up with firsthand eyewitness accounts backing those statements up, whether the incidents would have changed the final results or not becomes secondary to the question of accountability for using underhanded–and possibly illegal–tactics to begin with.

Let’s start with the first allegation of caucus doors being closed thirty minutes early and people being turned away.

From a Daily Kos diary, thereisnospoon:

Here’s my story:

I got to the location at 10:30am and set up. The Hillary people were already there. In charge of them was a 60-ish woman with a slight Brooklyn accent. Here were the irregularities in my precinct alone:

* The Hillary operative tried to force the doors to close at 11:30am. KK was outside greeting people, and she overheard the Hillary campaign mention that the doors would be closing at 11:30am, and she went to talk to the precinct chair. So we intervened and said that that was absolutely not legal by the rules. She then started screaming at the chair to close the doors. When he read the rules that they were open until 12noon, she said that “that’s not what I was told, other campaigns were spreading misinformation.” We stood our ground, and the doors remained open.

* A man in a wheelchair came in with his daughter, and said he was an Edwards supporter. When his daughter began to wheel him to the middle of the room, the Hillary operative tapped her on the shoulder, took the wheelchair and took him to the Clinton corner. I rushed over from talking to an undecided voter and objected loudly, but his daughter was a Hillary person. The Clinton operative said, “I don’t control what he does; she does.” At that point I said to the man, “Nobody controls you. If you want to vote for Edwards, you have every right to go to the center of the room. Do you need help?” He looked at me plaintively, but said nothing as his daughter dragged him farther back into the corner and just shook his head.

* The Clinton operative herself had a Brooklyn accent and I overheard her mention having been from New York. When she stood to be counted in the middle of the room, I objected and asked her if she was actually from Nevada. She said yes. I talked to the chair and asked him to ask her name and find her on the list. He asked her her name and checked the list, and she was not on it. At this point the chair said, “well, I can’t ask for ID.” I said, “She can’t participate if no one will vouch for her.” At this point a Hispanic man wearing a Hillary shirt said she was his wife. While that’s not impossible, it was also improbable–but I had no way to verify or object further.

* One voter who hadn’t even finished registering said that she was undecided, and the Hillary operative physically escorted her to the Hillary side. I went to talk to the woman, but she was immediately surrounded by 3 Hillary supporters who would not let me in, and I had to attend to others registering at that point (our operatives were outnumbered by hers 2-1).

* Hillary supporters were doing check-in, and a Hillary sign was behind them. I forced the sign off the table, and I went to the front desk to verify that everything went according to the rules at checkin–but if nothing else, the necessity of doing so prevented me from doing other needed work.

Read the whole thing; they also relay stories of what others are telling them and are saying they have video to support some of these claims.

This diarist also ends with something that should be very disturbing for Democrats in general:

After being a part of this campaign, doing this work, and seeing this level of viciousness from a supposedly Democratic candidate, it will be a cold day in hell before I do any work for anyone in any way associated with Hillary Clinton. At this point, even my general election vote is in question. I am furious almost to the point of nausea. There are so many young, idealistic activists here who are absolutely crushed–not because we lost here, but because of the way we “lost.” Disillusionment is running extremely high–and I doubt very much of many of them will be back in 2008, or ever again. Illegal and immoral campaign tactics like this aren’t just reprehensible: they also come at a cost to the party in the long run.

Another firsthand account comes from LV Pol Girl:

As many of you know I am an Obama supporter and a first time caucus goer. Here is my experience…

We showed up at 10 AM and the Hillary camp was all set with signs and volunteers. It didn’t take long for the Obama volunteers to neutralize Hillary’s head start. For starters, we noticed that Hillary’s supporters were breaking the rules by placing Hillary signs where they were not allowed and we asked them to take them down, which they did. We then noticed, that a car sporting Hillary signage, was double-parked, blocking people who needed access to handicapped parking. We told a woman who just had a hip replacement to park her car right beside the car.

The next controversial issue involved the voter cards disappearing into the Hillary camp, so that the Edwards and Obama people were left with no cards. When we asked them to give us back some cards, we then noticed that they had all been pre-marked for Hillary.

Another controversy arose, when a Hillary supporter became hostile with the Precinct Chair because she felt that things were not moving as fast as she would have liked — the time was only 11:00 a.m. This, along with the voter card stunt, ended up hurting the Hillary camp because the precinct chair, a known Hillary supporter, was turned off by these tactics and decided to join the Obama camp.

Once again, there is much more to that diary–those are just the highlights.

The next account is from RunnerAAA, who lists multiple problems at the caucus as well as from some Hillary supporters, from trying to close the doors early [again] to people trying to vote in more than one precinct, people being sent to the wrong precinct deliberately as well as precinct captains being interrupted–in violation of caucus rules–when they had their five minutes to speak to the group about their candidate.

That diary ends like this:

We’ll see how the results come out, but for now I’m left with a bad taste in my mouth about the Clinton campaign. I won’t forget these dirty tactics today will never be forgotten. I hope that everyone realizes how much this reflects on Hillary’s character. Anything to win, even if it means cheating. I am as strong a supporter for Obama as ever. We can’t let the machine win.

It should be noted that complaints are coming in about both the Obama campaign AND the Clinton campaign as reported at The Hill.

Rick Moran puts together a list of some of the newsworthy dirty tactics the Clinton campaign has recently utilized since before–and during–the Nevada caucus, over at the PoliGazette.

There is quite a bit of buzz about this on the left side of the blogosphere and Ed Morrisey wonders why we even have caucuses instead of primaries being the standard.

He has a point. Precinct chairs who favor one candidate over another leads to decisions being made, not in fairness to the process but with bias for the campaign that the chair supports… there is nothing fair in that process and leaves us wondering if any legal action can be taken against such tactics as those having been reported.

Secondly, many were so disturbed about the process and what they saw from their own “side” they have been turned off of the whole political process altogether.

Third, because of the chaos at some of the precincts, first time caucus goers may never participate in the process again.

I would bet good money on the fact that nasty tactics, dirty tricks, voter suppression and fraud have just begun in this race, but the fun part about it is the Democrats are using these tactics against each other.

It is like finally ripping the roof off of hell and letting the world see what the Democrats really are all about.

CNN, How Does Your Garden Grow?

Catch the Wave!

Also posted at Digital Journal here.

CNN fell down on the job vetting questions for Republican candidates. While the questions were lame, to say the least, the blatant lack of honesty in revealing the identity of the questioners calls into question both CNN’s and the DNC’s moral standards.

We all know the democratic crop of 2008 Presidential hopefuls is lame, to say the least. They will promise anything to anyone, hoping their camp followers will blindly swallow it and vote for them–as their party did with the pie-in-the-sky 2006 elections with promises they haven’t been able to deliver.

And, we all know that with the exception of Fox News, no one else, least of all CNN, even attempts to pretend they are fair and balanced in their reporting. In fact, they most blatantly are not fair and balanced and lean decidedly left.

The Presidential hopefuls (Democratic ones anyway) shake in their tiny shoes at the mere thought of appearing on FOX News and, while stamping their little feet, state they won’t appear on FOX. Because they’re afraid. Back in June, FOX News boss Roger Ailes was quoted as saying,

“The candidates that can’t face Fox, can’t face al-Qaeda. And that’s what’s coming,”

This was in direct response to the Dems fear of facing viewers in a debate on FOX News Network

Now, why would the Dems be afraid to face FOX? After all, don’t they all tout how tough they are and how they’d be so “tough” on terror? So why afraid of FOX?

They are also paranoid.

While the Dems won’t appear on FOX out of fear, the Republicans will appear when and where asked. They may not all be the greatest of candidates (there are several I don’t agree with in many areas) but they certainly aren’t afraid to face a network.

The CNN YouTube debates scheduled for November 28, 2007, were scheduled for Republicans. We are not yet in the general election. Each party has their own debates so constituents can get a “feel” for the candidates and the stand each candidate is taking on issues important to constituents.

It has come out in recent weeks, however, that most of the Dem candidates can’t handle unscripted questions, Hillary Clinton being chief among them. So there have been scandals regarding “plants” at the Dems debates to ask typically “softball” questions of the candidates so they don’t have to struggle so hard to find a believable answer.

They went a step further for the Republican YouTube debates and actually planted several “questioners”, presumably hoping to trip up the candidates with unscripted, potentially embarrassing questions.

The most prominent of these plants was an employee on Hillary’s GLBT council, Ret. Brig. Gen. Keith H. Kerr, a gays in the military lobbyist. What was rather funny, though, was the question regarding don’t ask, don’t tell. A policy implemented by Bubba himself.

Among other “plants” in the CNN garden? “Journey” aka “Paperserenade”–John Edwards supporter (also in love with Anderson Cooper); David Cercone–Barack Obama supporter; LeeAnn Anderson–John Edwards supporter and Pittsburgh Union Activist; Yasmin–former CAIR intern (all of the above courtesy of Michelle Malkin here and here); Adam Florzak–Dick Durbin supporter (courtesy of Power Line.com here); Ted Faturos–former Jane Harman intern; David McMillan–John Edwards supporter (both of the above exposed at Jason Coleman.com here and here). More are coming in periodically.

Oh yes, my sources are blogs. I have found blogs generally have the scoop before the newspapers.

Now, why is this such a big deal?

Several reasons. One, this was a Republican debate. It was not a general election debate. You don’t see the Republicans invading dem debates. So, props for general rudeness to the dems.

Two, the whole idea was an attempt to embarrass the Republicans. Well, it was shown no matter how ridiculous the question, the Republicans at least make an effort to think on their feet. They don’t have to be in total control with each individual question. It also shows the Republicans aren’t afraid to go onto any particular network based on a paranoid delusion of perceived bias.

Three, the dishonesty of it. It actually would have been okay if the questioners had said something along the lines of, “I’m so and so, I’m a democrat and I’m leaning towards this democratic candidate. How would you win my vote or persuade me to vote for you based upon this question”.

That, at least, would have been honest on the questioner’s part.

But there was no honesty on these questioners’ parts. It was a complete attempt to deceive. And CNN was complicit in this deception. That much was obvious from Cooper’s lack of surprise when Kerr’s actual status was pointed out to him by Bill Bennett.

Nor would CNN be attempting to justify this deception as they are now trying to do with so called “damage control”–with quite so much defensiveness (here in Politico’s “CNN Defends Vetting of Debate Questioners).

Dishonesty and paranoia–thy name is 2008 Democratic Presidential candidate.

CNN, How Does Your Garden Grow?

Catch the Wave!

Also posted at Digital Journal here.

CNN fell down on the job vetting questions for Republican candidates. While the questions were lame, to say the least, the blatant lack of honesty in revealing the identity of the questioners calls into question both CNN’s and the DNC’s moral standards.

We all know the democratic crop of 2008 Presidential hopefuls is lame, to say the least. They will promise anything to anyone, hoping their camp followers will blindly swallow it and vote for them–as their party did with the pie-in-the-sky 2006 elections with promises they haven’t been able to deliver.

And, we all know that with the exception of Fox News, no one else, least of all CNN, even attempts to pretend they are fair and balanced in their reporting. In fact, they most blatantly are not fair and balanced and lean decidedly left.

The Presidential hopefuls (Democratic ones anyway) shake in their tiny shoes at the mere thought of appearing on FOX News and, while stamping their little feet, state they won’t appear on FOX. Because they’re afraid. Back in June, FOX News boss Roger Ailes was quoted as saying,

“The candidates that can’t face Fox, can’t face al-Qaeda. And that’s what’s coming,”

This was in direct response to the Dems fear of facing viewers in a debate on FOX News Network

Now, why would the Dems be afraid to face FOX? After all, don’t they all tout how tough they are and how they’d be so “tough” on terror? So why afraid of FOX?

They are also paranoid.

While the Dems won’t appear on FOX out of fear, the Republicans will appear when and where asked. They may not all be the greatest of candidates (there are several I don’t agree with in many areas) but they certainly aren’t afraid to face a network.

The CNN YouTube debates scheduled for November 28, 2007, were scheduled for Republicans. We are not yet in the general election. Each party has their own debates so constituents can get a “feel” for the candidates and the stand each candidate is taking on issues important to constituents.

It has come out in recent weeks, however, that most of the Dem candidates can’t handle unscripted questions, Hillary Clinton being chief among them. So there have been scandals regarding “plants” at the Dems debates to ask typically “softball” questions of the candidates so they don’t have to struggle so hard to find a believable answer.

They went a step further for the Republican YouTube debates and actually planted several “questioners”, presumably hoping to trip up the candidates with unscripted, potentially embarrassing questions.

The most prominent of these plants was an employee on Hillary’s GLBT council, Ret. Brig. Gen. Keith H. Kerr, a gays in the military lobbyist. What was rather funny, though, was the question regarding don’t ask, don’t tell. A policy implemented by Bubba himself.

Among other “plants” in the CNN garden? “Journey” aka “Paperserenade”–John Edwards supporter (also in love with Anderson Cooper); David Cercone–Barack Obama supporter; LeeAnn Anderson–John Edwards supporter and Pittsburgh Union Activist; Yasmin–former CAIR intern (all of the above courtesy of Michelle Malkin here and here); Adam Florzak–Dick Durbin supporter (courtesy of Power Line.com here); Ted Faturos–former Jane Harman intern; David McMillan–John Edwards supporter (both of the above exposed at Jason Coleman.com here and here). More are coming in periodically.

Oh yes, my sources are blogs. I have found blogs generally have the scoop before the newspapers.

Now, why is this such a big deal?

Several reasons. One, this was a Republican debate. It was not a general election debate. You don’t see the Republicans invading dem debates. So, props for general rudeness to the dems.

Two, the whole idea was an attempt to embarrass the Republicans. Well, it was shown no matter how ridiculous the question, the Republicans at least make an effort to think on their feet. They don’t have to be in total control with each individual question. It also shows the Republicans aren’t afraid to go onto any particular network based on a paranoid delusion of perceived bias.

Three, the dishonesty of it. It actually would have been okay if the questioners had said something along the lines of, “I’m so and so, I’m a democrat and I’m leaning towards this democratic candidate. How would you win my vote or persuade me to vote for you based upon this question”.

That, at least, would have been honest on the questioner’s part.

But there was no honesty on these questioners’ parts. It was a complete attempt to deceive. And CNN was complicit in this deception. That much was obvious from Cooper’s lack of surprise when Kerr’s actual status was pointed out to him by Bill Bennett.

Nor would CNN be attempting to justify this deception as they are now trying to do with so called “damage control”–with quite so much defensiveness (here in Politico’s “CNN Defends Vetting of Debate Questioners).

Dishonesty and paranoia–thy name is 2008 Democratic Presidential candidate.