Gerrymandered Gohmert

Texas District No. 1 (click here)

Louie Gohmert is so confident in his forever seat in the House all he does is seek egotistic opportunities promoting Right Wing rhetoric and hatred.

The link above is Gohmert's official website. There it little to no other topic on the front page except the Rightest of the Right Wing media. Today the top of Gohmert's website is Hannity. The listing below the Hannity clip is an article from Newsmax.

The rest of the front page is about soldiers, veterans, 9/11, hatred of illegal immigrants by complaining some kind of amnesty program. The really interesting article is this:

August 9, 2012 

WashingtonReps. Louie Gohmert (TX-01), Trent Franks (AZ-02), Michele Bachmann (MN-06), Tom Rooney (FL-16) and Lynn Westmoreland (GA-03) sent letters a few weeks ago to the Inspectors General of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice and the Department of State. These letters seek answers about the U.S. government’s involvement with the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group that calls for “civilization jihad” against America....

These guys are bizarre. They are in office because of voter manipulation of their gerrymandered district. Gohmert comes from Texas 1 District. Texas has been nothing but brick red in every federal election for as long as I can remember. When the rest of the nation was voting blue, Texas was red in recent decades.

It consists largely of three small East  Texas (click here) metropolitan areas — Lufkin-Nacogdoches, in the south, Longview-Marshall, and Tyler.

For most of its history, the district was based in Texarkana. However, in a controversial 2003 redistricting orchestrated by then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Texarkana was drawn out of the district and moved to the neighboring Fourth congressional district. Lufkin, Tyler and Longview were added in its place.

The district was predominantly rural for much of its history, and thus was far friendlier to electing Democrats to Congress even as most of Texas swung toward the Republicans. The district's four-term Democratic incumbent, Max Sandlin, was a particularly severe critic of the DeLay-led redistricting effort, claiming that lumping rural areas with urban ones stifled the voice of rural voters. Indeed, the 2003 redistricting made the district more urban and Republican, especially with the addition of the Republican strongholds of Tyler and Longview. Sandlin was heavily defeated in November 2004 by Republican Louie Gohmert, a longtime judge in the Tyler area. Gohmert is the first Republican to represent the district since Reconstruction.

Gohmert is a gerrymandered House Republican. He has experienced no legitimate election.

Election results from recent races

Race and year	Results
2000: President	Bush 68 - 32%
2004: President	Bush 69 - 30%
2008: President	McCain 69 - 30%

Gohmert was elected into office in the same proportions as the Presidential races. The link indicating the composition of Texas District 1 is Wikipedia. If one examines the entire page on Wiki about this district it is easy to note the Democrats have dominated this district since 1845. There were two exceptions to that all these years, until, it was gerrymandered by Tom Delay.

Gohmert is an illegitimate House Representative and probably one of the most overtly obvious example of illegitimate House Representatives. 

Amazing and Texas actually considers itself part of the USA? Republicans are sad examples of any leanings of democracy.

Sorry to hear Bush Senior isn't feeling well. He has holidays coming up.

I can't imagine a fella who jumped from planes at the age of 85 is happy about a chronic cough.

Hopefully it will resolve soon. 

My grandmother was 94 years old when she left us. In the later years of her life; it was nearly like clockwork; every February she had to go to the hospital for a tune up.

It was only once a year and it was an adjustment in her medication, but, it was necessary. We didn't encourage Gram to go to the hospital because as people age they are more susceptible to infection and there is plenty of it in the hospital.

I hope he will be home for a Merry Christmas with the former First Lady and his family.

You know that hacker that just stole all your information off your smart phone? Yep.

Homeland Security needs to check the vulnerability of all defibrillators including the emergency devices in hospitals, shopping malls and work places.

Published 28 November 2012

IT experts reported (click here) that security flaws in pacemakers and defibrillators could be putting lives at risk; the experts say that many of these devices are not properly secured and therefore are vulnerable to hackers who may want to commit an act that could lead to multiple deaths....

They don't care. Simple. Profits before people.

I am sure all we need is more compassion from Wall Street and Conservatives. Right? That's all we need. People die sometimes, that's all. It is a price to pay for a Wall Street economy. 

I suppose, if that is the only priority that lines your pockets. They don't need regulation, now do they?

Published November 27, 2012, 12:00 AM

By: Bryan Horwath, The Dickinson Press

Oil executive Nathan Garber (click here) pleaded not guilty Monday at the Stark County Courthouse to a felony charge that he threatened area drinking water with his company’s hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” wastewater disposal practices.

Earlier this year, the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office charged Garber — listed in court documents as a Kalispell, Mont., resident — with a Class C felony, arguing that a company led by Garber knowingly attempted to deceive Industrial Commission inspectors.

Following the brief hearing before Stark County Judge H. Patrick Weir, neither Garber nor his attorney, Monte Rogneby of the Bismarck-based Vogel Law Firm, wished to comment to The Press. A Stark County official said a date for a pretrial conference would be set at a later time....

Is the female uterus a Wall Street commodity?

It all depends on how economic growth is defined. 

If Wall Street can make a $20.00 profit off every American in a year, then they can increase profits if there are more Americans.

If that $20.00 profit means the American people are impoverished, then that is what it means and an increase in population means more $20.00 from more Americans.

Quality of life is not a priority for Wall Street. Profit driven corporations are adverse to quality of life if there is no conscience in government to counter it. 

The USA is in a very precarious spot with its economy. How does it manage to move quality of life forward for its people without crashing the economy it is recovering? Is there room for tax increases to pay down the national debt in a way that will continue the recovery of the "People's Economy?" That is the debate right now.

There is plenty of room at the top of the economy of the USA for taxes to increase. There is no reason for anyone to believe there will be an economic downturn because the wealthy has to pay more in taxes. There is sincerely no debate. The revenues for the USA has to increase and not decrease. This is not a time for cutting taxes.

President Obama and the Democrats know the national debt is a high priority and they are not about to enter into frivolous spending. The Republicans are always using the idea Democrats are 'tax and spend' to secure their political aspirations. Does anyone in the country actually believe Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is void of the understanding of the national debt in relation to the vitality of generations of Americans? I don't believe that for a minute and I am confident she is able to protect the Middle Class.

I have found the goals of the Obama Economy inspired, quite frankly. He has managed to support Americans in need while still recovery a very stubborn economy. It is amazing we are where we are right now. He is a great leader. A great President. I trust him.

The Middle Class has to grow. It has to grow globally to sincerely have a vital and vibrant world of people comfortable with each other to stop hatred and victimization. But, that is a priority the USA does not have control over, but, can simply seek cooperation. What the USA does have control over is the outcome of its own people. When the USA Middle Class has a majority it moves a global economy regardless of other priorities abroad.

Foreign economies do put a drag on the USA economy, but, that is where the State Department makes a huge difference. The State Department is not about domestic economic growth, but, international relationships that secure the USA. The economic stability of other nations is vitally important to national security in the age of terrorist infiltration into social structures. 

At any rate, the USA Middle Class has to survive and thrive. The more economic advantage the USA Middle Class has to those goals the faster the economic recover and that is why there will be contraction of the USA economy if the Middle Class is asked to pay more taxes than they are today. The economy won't disappear, but, it will contract and recover at a different rate and in a different way. We are far better off trusting the Middle Class with local economies to restore the vitality to the USA's economy and that of the global economy.

Look, have a good day. President Obama knows what he is doing, he had done his job exceptionally well and will continue to 'right the ship.' The American people are great people and we will figure it all out and move forward. Promise.

The current fiscal concerns of the USA have no analogy to anything Wall Street in 2008.

I think it is a mistake to find parallels to anything 2008 with this fiscal concern of the USA. There will be increased income post New Year's Eve, there is no sincere analogy there. 

If Wall Street freaks out that is not USA's concern. Not at all. If Wall Street freaks out it simply shows their lack of confidence and expertise in their own interests.

The added income post New Year's Eve will allow the USA to pay its bills until a solidly good solution is reached in the competent hands of a new Congress in January. If Wall Street honestly wants to protect from stress in its markets, then it needs to stop spending billions on USA elections to find guarantees to their outcomes. Sincerely. Corporations are not people. Simple.

The 'trend' in the GOP today is the course correction needed to achieve real solutions. Wall Street may be their focus but the USA has OBLIGATIONS to its people and I completely reject the inflammatory speech of the extremists "We are Greece." That is nonsense. By sheer size and economy the USA is not Greece. Greece is far more vulnerable economically than the USA.

The GOP has sincere leadership stating if 98% of the people are protected from tax increases it is abiding by its promises to stop the burden of tax increases on the American people. That reality should be secured today and the Middle Class needs to be released from its bondage as hostages to the wealthy. I am quite sure the Democrats have a bill waiting for passage to protect 98% of the people in the USA. Quite sure. The bill could be passed within days and signed by the President immediately. Such a bill would INSURE the forward movement of the current economic recovery. The lack of such a bill will cause contraction of the economy and it is directly the responsibility of the dysfunctional Republican House.

Wall Street has a problem and consumer confidence has resulted in contrary to profits. The consumer to Wall Street products has become more and more impoverished TO THEIR CONFIDENCE in purchasing power.

November 28, 2012|Mark Hulbert, MarketWatch

...What these statistical results mean: (click here) Consumer confidence tells us more about how the stock market has already performed than it does about the future. But insofar as consumer confidence tells us anything about the future, it’s that stronger readings are more negative than positive for the stock market....

The reason consumer confidence and Wall Street vitality are in opposition is because consumers lose monies in their coffers when Wall Street makes profits. So, these indexes are antagonistic to each other. The less monies consumers have in their coffers the less confident they are. Simple. When that occurs Wall Street seeks to encourage spending anyway and further impoverish their consumers.

CREDIT to consumers approach toxicity while CEOs reap bonuses.

The poverty rate in the USA is at an all time high. That is a direct result of Wall Street impoverishing their own consumers through poverty wages. The relationship between Wall Street and poverty to achieve profits has become so toxic the USA government under Republican policy has sought to gut the power of their own citizens with changes to bankruptcy laws, etc. There is NO MARGIN anymore to the impoverishment of the consumer to benefit profits of Wall Street.

Wall Street needs to imagine what their profits would look like if the impoverished to the USA and potentially the world were actually Middle Class consumers. It gets far more interesting than they could imagine.

Wall Street's loyalty to profits at the rates they have existed in recent years is hideous to their best outcomes. Sooner or later, the impoverished will become more and more impoverished and there will be no markets for Wall Street. If that is the path Wall Street wants that is their choice, but, for ME; "I simply LOVE consumer confidence in relation to local economies." And local economies are far more aware of their consumer vitality. The local consumer economy has DIRECT positive relationships to profits. The better the local consumer does the better the local economies do.

So, to worry about Wall Street's happiness in attempting to purchase elections, encouraging gerrymandering, voter oppression and consumer impoverishment has little loyalty from me. Wall Street lost in 2012. President Obama and the Democrats have four more years to turn the corner on complete national impoverishment with the ruling Plutocrats attempting to play their hand against the Middle Class. 

The USA has obligations. I stated OBLIGATIONS. It needs to pay them and it won't happen if there is chronic pandering to Wall Street. Quite the contrary. The more confidence the Middle Class has in USA obligations the better the future looks on all fronts. 

Blankfein can go straight to hell along with his buddy that was once Secretary Treasurer.

BP is $6 billion from its divestiture goal of $38 billion to pay for damages resulting from the disastrous Deepwater Horizon.

The responsibility of the USA government is to maintain the integrity of its sovereign borders, waters and economic interest of its people. The problem BP created for itself when it proceeded with a reckless methodology to increase profits is not the problem of the people of the USA. The leases stand and it is up to BP to raise the necessary funds to protect USA assets in recovery from this complete idiocy.

Eleven people died. In the latest explosion, which was not BP, two people died and one is now missing and the search efforts have stopped. This level of negligence of human life has a very long history in this industry. The most recent deaths were due to a welding rig meeting its activities with natural gas. There are indications it was avoidable. There is little to no conscience within the petroleum industry. It is a profit driven industry without regard to life or environment.

By Steven Mufson, Published: September 10

...The latest sale leaves BP close to its $38 billion goal (click here) for divestments to settle claims linked to the spill, part of a program that will leave the London-based oil giant more streamlined but still in possession of its best prospects for growth and most profitable assets. BP chief executive Bob Dudley said in a statement that the sales were “consistent with our strategy of playing to our strengths.”

BP sold interests in three fields connected to the Marlin platform the company installed in 1999 and used as a production hub southeast of New Orleans. It also sold its interests in four other fields and some exploration prospects associated with the fields. Together the fields produced 59,500 barrels a day of oil and natural gas liquids....

President Obama should consider Retired Admiral Mullen as Secretary of Defense.

He took on Pakistan and established a global recognition of the Haqquani Network. He put them on the map. That is not a minor accomplishment.

...The USO also honored (click here) the 17th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, USN (Ret) and Mrs. Deborah Mullen as this year’s Spirit of the USO Honorees. The Mullens were honored for their illustrious military career and staunch support of troops and military families. They were surprised by a special tribute video by entertainer and USO tour veteran Robin Williams.

“We are here to celebrate two very dear friends of mine. Not just because they are friends of mine but because of their extraordinary dedication and service to our troops and their families both here and abroad. Admiral Mike Mullen and his wife Deborah Mullen or, as I refer, to her after thousands and thousands of miles of traveling together, ‘Mom,’” Williams said. “We visited five continents on four USO Chairman Holiday tours, the emotional highs and lows of these trips were remarkable each trip was a unique experience. … So Chairman and Mrs. Mullen, I thank you for your leadership, commitment, service and your friendship.”

Mrs. Mullen said she was humbled by the USO award, “It’s an honor for us to be recognized with the Spirit of the USO Award, but really, when you think about it, the heart and the soul and the spirit are really all the staff and volunteers, who are serving around the world, around the clock and at installations and airports. They’re in harm’s way and they’re the ones really we need to recognize and never forget their selfless work that they do on behalf of our troops, our families and the families of the fallen.”

Admiral Mullen reflected on his deep connection with the USO. “We’ve watched up closely and very personally the USO for decades, affect our lives, but more importantly, affect the lives of those we care about the most, both in peace and in war and at the most difficult times and if I were going to sum it up in so many ways, it would be to bring that smile, that support, that little piece of home into the hearts and souls of those who serve around the world and do so, so nobly, for so long.”...

One has to know the objection to Susan Rice is pure politics realizing her relationship to TransCanada.

To begin the Secretary of State is more than a pipeline carrying Oil Sludge from Canada. In addition, I trust Ambassador Rice to realize how important the topic of global warming is to President Obama. One of the reasons stated in objection to the pipeline from this administration is the dangers of proliferating carbon dioxide as an acceptable by-product in energy production in the USA.

Ms. Rice would have to recuse herself from the proceedings regarding the pipeline. That reality is far more interesting to me than her conflict of interest.

...Rice's holdings in TransCanada Corp., (click here) valued at between $300,000 and $600,000, are listed in a financial disclosure report for 2011 that was filed earlier this year.

The holdings open up Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, to criticism from environmentalists at a time when she’s already under fire from Republicans over her descriptions of the attack on U.S. diplomats in Benghazi, Libya.

Green activists are strongly pushing the Obama administration to reject TransCanada’s proposal for the pipeline that would bring oil from Canadian tar sands projects to Gulf Coast refineries....

Susan Collins is being ridiculous about Ambassador Rice and she knows it.

When Senator Collins states she holds Ambassador Rice responsible for the bombings in 1998 when she was Assistant Secretary of African Affairs, it is like saying the current Assistant Secretary of African Affairs should be held responsible for the attacks in Benghazi.

The lack of security of the consulates across Africa has a long history. Much of it is due to lack of funding and it is the Republicans with the most significant insults to the funding issue and the poor security to our consulates. At least that is according to a highly regarded former ambassador.

The African continent has been a victim of one kind of rebel group or another for decades, since guns were invented. So, the reality violence against American embassies and consulates becomes reality is not new to our State Department.

The one person with a great deal of credibility who spoke to the lack of security in Nairobi was Ambassador Bushnell. She has an extensive career in foreign relations. She fought for the stability of Rwanda before the genocide and continued to fight to stop it once it began. She was in Kenya when the dual bombing took place. It was her point of view the embassy was not secure, but, as noted below that was nothing the USA concerned itself with.


JGH:  There seems to be such a fine line (click here) between the incredible
need for personal diplomacy and the safety of Foreign Service officers.  How can it be defined?

PB: It comes down to defining what we, as a country, stand for.
I have not seen that defined either by the current administration or by
our presidential candidates.   The lack of an articulation of the values
on which we base our foreign policy makes it difficult to rationalize
decisions, including the security risks.  I do not think that fighting terrorists is a value; it may be an imperative, but that is different.  If it is
a world at peace we are seeking, then we would likely be creating a
different range of policies and strategies.  For example, if the U.S.
seriously articulated the value of peace in the world, we could create
a range of strategies to have diplomats promote peacemakers, rather
than relying so heavily on our military to train warriors, as we are
doing now.  Without a definition of what we stand for as a country, it
is hard to create coherent policies or correctly balance the need for
safety and outreach in a way people can understand.

JGH: Have we learned anything, as a country or as a State
Department, in the decade since the bombing?

PB:  As an organization, we have learned a lot.  I think Aug. 7,
1998, was the State Department’s 9/11.  I know that ambassadors
and employees are far less likely to complain about security restrictions.  One of the differences that the East Africa bombings created was a shift in attitude about the responsibility of department leadership —
from the idea that our leadership doesn’t owe us anything because we
choose to be at a post, to:  By God, they do owe us something because
we have seen colleagues die and we could die, too.
As a country, unfortunately, we didn’t really pay any attention to
the bombings in East Africa.  That changed, of course, on Sept. 11,
2001. 


Former Ambassador Bushnell also has an extensive oral history of her life online. The excerpts regarding her life as Ambassador at the time of the dual bombings is below:

Q: When it's done by faxes and e-mail, yeah. (click here)

BUSHNELL: Right. You may remember Newt Gingrich and the Congress closed the federal government a couple of times. Agencies were starved of funding across the board. Needless to say, there was no money for security. Funding provided in the aftermath of the bombing of our embassy in Beirut in the '80 that created new building standards for embassies and brought in greater numbers of diplomatic security officer dried up.

As an answer to lack of funding, State Department stopped talking about need. For example, when we had inadequate staff to fill positions, State eliminated the positions, so we no longer can talk about the need. If there's no money for security, then let's not talk about security needs. The fact of increasing concern at the embassy about crime and violence was irrelevant in Washington. So was the condition of our building....

...I had learned before I got to Nairobi that the Foreign Buildings Operation, now Overseas Building Operations, was planning to a $4-7 million renovation of this building that was unsafe and much too small for us. Having spent three years in African Affairs dealing with an assortment of disasters, I thought it was dumb to invest more capital in a building that would never be considered safe. There just was no way to protect the building. I suggested that FBO sell the building and pool the proceeds with the money proposed for the renovations to buy a new site. Washington's response was somewhere between "are you nuts?! and get out of the way, the renovation train has already left the station."

Q: Did your security office or the apparatus in charge of that back in Washington pay any attention to the problem?

BUSHNELL: Our security officer, for whom I had a great deal of respect, understood the issue, as did the entire Country Team.

Q: Now, just to get a little feel for this, had any incidents happened, like the Khobar towers, or was that later?

BUSHNELL: The terrorist attack on Khobar Towers had already occurred but terrorism was virtually unknown in Kenya.

Q: Again, we're setting the stage. Did Osama Bin Laden or al Qaeda or the Taliban or anything like that cross your radar much?

BUSHNELL: I think I mentioned before that Nairobi was a favorite spot for a number of characters and groups. As ambassador I was told there was also an al Qaeda cell in Nairobi and that interested the intel community in Washington. Bin Laden at the time was considered a terrorist financier, not an activist, at least so far as I was told. I had been told in Washington that we wanted to disrupt his activities, which seemed pretty sensible and benign to me. I was not told that a special unit had been established to watch bin Laden's activities, nor that there was a secret indictment against him because of his hand in shooting down the black hawk helicopter. I was aware that a "walk in" had warned us in December 1997 that the embassy may be bombed but I was assured that the guy had done the same thing a number of times to other embassies in Africa and that he was considered "a flake."...

Senator Collins really should be ashamed for her roll in this scandal. Collins knows the reality of our foreign service and if she doesn't then she should not be speaking so freely. Not every US embassy was secured with $1.3 billion as was spent in Iraq. 

The Republicans are 'running game' on the President. They are also trying to distract from the fiscal changes the President wants to make to protect 98 percent of the country from increased costs to their paychecks as of midnight on New Years Eve.

A product of the 2010 elections.

Is Ayotte a Tea Party? Her newness to the Senate is very obvious. Being elected to federal office is far different than being AG of New Hampshire. The realities require backbone.

...Ayotte has the backing of former vice presidential candidate (click here) and tea party doyenne Sarah Palin, yet aides note that she has maintained a sense of moderate appeal in ways that other conservatives, such as Nevada’s Sharron Angle and Delaware’s Christine O’Donnell, have not.

A 42-year-old mother of two and wife of an Iraq War veteran, Ayotte’s personal background is attractive to Senate GOP leaders who want a fresh face to help boost their message strategy next year.

“The addition of a Republican woman from New England who’s young, who’s a mom,” one senior GOP aide said, “all of these things broaden the Republican party’s appeal and say to different segments of the population, ‘This party has folks in it that are just like you.’”...

Ayotte is a Sarah darling. Is there anything else anyone needs to understand here? She is good cover for the party screaming memes from South Carolina and Arizona. Their politicking is inappropriate and they are seeking a 'wedge issue.' I am sure the media enjoys the circus for their own purposes.

Ayotte can take credit for the budget cuts to the State Department, too. So, maybe the guilt is overwhelming.

By Walter Pincus, Published: October 1, 2011

The State Department (click here) is still reeling from deep cuts made by Senate and House appropriations panels to the Obama administration’s budget requests for next year, with some officials warning of national security risks.

Andrew Shapiro, assistant secretary of state in its Bureau of Political Military Affairs, told a meeting last week of the Center for New American Security that the hefty cuts will compromise national security. He noted that the 2012 funding bill for State Department and foreign operations was cut 8 percent by the full Senate Appropriations Committee and a whopping 18 percent by the House Appropriations State and Foreign Operations subcommittee....

I am sure this will enter the State Department investigation as well to understand if the Regional Security Officers were already measuring their expenses with impending 2012 budgets.

And for those who find anecdotal conclusive, that is what brought about the wrongful and immoral war in Iraq. It just isn't evidence that has any brevity without solid intelligence to determine the link to national security. It is why Ms. Ayotte is more dangerous to the USA national security than a UN Ambassador working with USA intelligence talking points.

Hello?

Kelly Ayotte releases an al Qaeda turd blossom.

The thing is this, the focus of Ms. Ayotte is the fact Ambassador Rice is a problem in stating al Qaeda has been decimated. Ambassador Rice was backed in her assertions by others, including the USA Defense Secretary. The only difference is that Secretary Panetta is not a potential candidate for Secretary of State. Who is inconsistent and irrelevant now, Ms. Ayotte? It is witch hunt only the Republicans are so invested in it they can't find the door out of the circus.

By KATE BRANNEN
11/21/12 9:12 AM EST

Leon Panetta: Al Qaeda’s leadership ‘decimated’ (click here)

Ever since United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice used “decimate” to describe Al Qaeda in September, Republicans have been crying foul: The terrorist organization cannot be decimated if it’s also behind the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

Now, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is weighing in. Al Qaeda’s leadership has been decimated, if not the organization itself, he declared Tuesday night.

Speaking at the Center for a New American Security in Washington, Panetta qualified Rice’s statement that has come under fierce scrutiny from Republicans on Capitol Hill.

“Over the last few years, Al Qaeda’s leadership ranks have been decimated. This includes the loss of four of Al Qaeda’s five top leaders in the last two and a half years alone — Osama bin Laden, Sheikh Saeed al-Masri, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman and Abu Yahya al-Libi,” Panetta said.

The terrorist organization has not been eliminated and the administration knows this, Panetta said. “We have slowed the primary cancer — but we know that the cancer has metastasized to other parts of the global body.”...

Ms. Ayotte and her buddies are more of a national security issue than Ambassador Rice ever could be.

November 28, 2012
...Pakistan says 35,000 people have been killed (click here) as a result of terrorism since the 9/11 attacks and the 2001 US-led invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan....

...“The cabinet today approved the National Counter-Terrorism Authority Bill the need for which has been felt for a long time,” Kaira told reporters after a regular cabinet meeting.

To come into effect the bill needs to be approved by parliament and signed into law by President Asif Ali Zardari.

Kaira said the new authority would “devise policies and improve coordination among provincial governments and intelligence agencies” as well as “research and devise long-term policies to defeat” the terrorist mindset....

PaKistan has a long way to go and the Haqqani Network is one of the hurdles it faces. Haqqani is not al Qaeda, in case Ms. Ayotte didn't know that.

By Mehreen Zahra-Malik

ISLAMABAD | Tue Nov 6, 2012 8:20am EST

(Reuters) - Pakistan is already cracking down (click here) on the Haqqani network and does not need to impose extra measures following the group's addition to the U.N.'s blacklist, a government spokesman said on Tuesday.

The U.N. Security Council's Taliban sanctions committee on Monday added the Pakistan-based group, accused of high-profile attacks in Afghanistan, to its sanctions list.

The action obliges all U.N. members to implement an asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo for the Haqqani network.

"The three elements of the ban -- arms embargo, asset freeze and travel ban -- are all already in place in Pakistan," Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira told Reuters....

There are many issues with violence coming from Pakistan into Afghanistan. But, the truth of the matter is al Qaeda has been decimated in the region. Not that they don't still strive to exist and carry power over governments and people, but, their ability is being and has been dismantled. The deaths of al Qaeda in the region is considerable. There is no disputing that. So, where Ayotte gets the nerve to actually try to start the Bush War on Terror all over again is beyond legitimacy.

Nov. 28, 2012, 8:42 AM

Geoffrey Ingersoll

The well-trained, well-equipped attackers (click here) that breached the wall of the biggest U.S.-U.K. base in Helmand Province several months ago may have been trained in Pakistan, according to a USA Today report....

Now, there is a problem in Yemen. But, for the most part Yemen is the last strong hold of al Qaeda. The Saudis are being targeted globally and their ambassador in Yemen was killed today. If one recalls the ambassador in the USA was a target not long ago.

'The Last Refuge': Yemen, Al-Qaida And The U.S. (click here)
November 27, 201211:00 AM
...According to Gregory Johnsen, a journalist who has covered Yemen and Islamic insurgency in the Middle East extensively, al-Qaida's presence has tripled in size within Yemen over the past three years. Johnsen charts this growing influence on the country in his new book, The Last Refuge: Yemen, al-Qaeda, and America's War in Arabia.
Al-Qaida's approach to gain support in Yemen has been to pit the country's interests against those of the West, particularly the United States....

Yemen was a focus of Former General Petraeus and he continued that focus as CIA Director. I believe it was he that first engaged drones in Yemen.

I don't know about Ayotte and her determination as to the potential of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, but, 200 dead in a year is not a bad record.

• BY NOAH SHACHTMAN
• 09.05.12
• 2:44 PM

...29 dead in a little over a week. (click here) Nearly 200 gone this year. The White House is stepping up its campaign of drone attacks in Yemen, with four strikes in eight days. And not even the slaying of 10 civilians over the weekend seems to have slowed the pace in the United States’ secretive, undeclared war.

• At this week’s Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, you’ll hear lots of talk about the Obama administration’s pursuit of al-Qaida and its allies — including, of course, the raid that ultimately took out Osama bin Laden. But the hottest battlefield in this worldwide conflict isn’t likely to receive much attention. It’s a shame, because the fight in Yemen is one that demands discussion. Not only does the White House consider al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula to be the extremist group most likely to strike in the United States. But the American response to that threat was been widely questioned by regional experts, who wonder whether U.S. drones and commandos aren’t being duped into fighting on one side of a civil war....

  
  

  One might recall there is a real legitimacy for the USA in Yemen as the underwear bomber came from this region. Right? So, there is a reason and not simply a whim why our drones are there.

  
  I think the Saudi death in Yemen is being blamed on al Qaeda, but, it is not confirmed at this point. Military official, not an ambassador.

  Saudi Military Official Killed by Armed Men in Yemen, SPA Says (click here)

  By Deema Almashabi & Mohammed Hatem 

  Nov 28, 2012 8:37 AM ET

  Gunmen killed a Saudi Arabian military official (click here) in Yemen after he left his house with a bodyguard, the Saudi Press Agency said, citing an unidentified official with the kingdom’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

  The Yemeni bodyguard of Saudi Sergeant Khalid al-Onizi was also killed in the attack by two gunmen in the capital Sana’a, the official SPA said.

  This was the second assault on a Saudi official in Yemen this year. In March, unidentified gunmen kidnapped Abdullah al- Khalidi, Saudi Arabia’s deputy consul in the Yemeni port city of Aden. In August, Al Jazeera television reported that he was released by suspected al-Qaeda militants.

  Last month, a U.S. embassy security official in Sana’a was shot and killed by an unidentified gunman. Yemen, which borders Saudi Arabia and Oman, has been battling militants from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula with U.S. military support....

  US Embassies are not necessarily secured by Americans and that was the case here. If the USA is being aggressive in killing al Qaeda and extremists in Yemen, there will be a backlash. I suspect that is what this was.
  
  

  Thursday, 11 October 2012 09:07 EDT

  A masked gunman assassinated (click here) a Yemeni security official who worked for the US embassy in a drive-by shooting near his home in the capital Sana'a on Thursday, officials said.

  Yemeni officials said the killing bore the hallmarks of an attack by the al-Qaida offshoot in Yemen, but it was too early to determine whether the group was behind it....

  
  So, the focus of al Qaeda by Former CIA Director Petraeus as a potential with Libya was directly related to his understanding of the dynamics within Yemen. This presence of al Qaeda in Yemen is not new. As a matter of fact, I don't recall al Qaeda being among those involved with the USA Consulate in Benghazi.

  
  I raise that doubt because the people involved with Benghazi were Salafists. That is my understanding. These are the folks that want to destroy the pyramids in Egypt. The idea of destroying icons of civilization and religion is not alien to al Qaeda. It has been noted before with Buddist statues. I think I have that right. Buddists. Regardless, we have witnessed this focus on destroying icons of faith, belief and basically social value as a precursor to aggression affiliated with al Qaeda.

  
  

  There was one other anecdotal reporting in Libya of an al Qaeda flag flying over a courthouse in Benghazi. But, the best this can be considered is anecdotal and not USA intelligence as to what was occurring inside the courthouse and the official Transition Council denied involvement.

  
  

  Ynet
  

  Published:  11.01.11, 14:10 / Israel News

  Flag seen flying alongside Libyan national flag (click here) but National Transitional Council denies any involvement. Interim rulers name US-educated engineering professor as Libya's new prime minister....

  
  

  I have absolutely no doubt al Qaeda was involved with the Libyan rebels. I am quite sure they armed the rebels. We have witnessed the al Qaeda military presence in a way that is more vicious than most of the regional rebels carry out. Al Qaeda intervention is easy to identify. They are far more virulent attacks.
  
  Was al Qaeda responsible for the September 11th attacks on the USA Consulate in Benghazi? My understanding is the jury is still out on that. I do believe Secretary Clinton has a classified investigation to these facts. Personally, I don't think there is anything al Qaeda about the attacks on the Consulate except the date of the attacks. Most of those involved in the attacks are identified and they are Libyans once involved in the revolution but a spin off group. No one has those answers, no one had the knowledge to the reason for the attacks that day they happened and how Ayotte can state she is concerned about the words of Ambassador Rice with so much unknown except talking points from USA intelligence is nothing more than tainted politics.
  
  If Ms. Ayotte wants to put herself forward as a superior knowledge to the evidence and events with Benghazi, then I have to ask where she is getting her focus except from sensational politics. There is no reason for the circus. There sincerely isn't. No one is happy about a dead Ambassador and three other American agents, but, to somehow spin this into an attack regarding Ambassador Rice is nonsense. Pure nonsense and sensationalism.

I hope Former Senator Dole is feeling better.

He was always regarded with respect as a US Senator and always regarded others in the same way.

Sorry to hear he isn't feeling well. Both he and his wife have given their lives to the USA in service of one kind or another.

I do believe his passion for "The Veteran" was expressed in the completion of The World War II Memorial. Of course, Senator Dole had paralysis in his right hand from a war injury. He frequently carried a pen in it to distract from his difficulty. The holidays are coming so I hope he returns home soon to enjoy them.

Same 'ole, same 'ole. No real solutions, just finger pointing.

Gov. Jeb Bush speaks during the A-Plus Plan rally April 5, 1999, (click here) at the Capitol in Tallahassee. The program - grading schools based on the results of standardized testing - and a statewide voucher plan.

Children are political soft targets. Everyone would like to hand the future of their children to a school system that churns out A+ students, but, that isn't realistic, now is it?

The fact of the matter is there is a lot wrong in the USA that impact children, including their school work, but teachers and teacher unions are not the problem, just a convenient scapegoat.

I really don't believe Jeb Bush has ever had anything to offer to children, certainly no solutions for their learning. The only thing he ever offered was a public 4 year old kindergarten which was a break for working parents. Other than that his theoretical educational reforms have become nothing but finger pointing and blame. Let's face it, when a politician hangs his hat on education and gets no real results, someone other than himself is to blame after all.

I have to laugh, when he started his 4 year old kindergarten he stated the learning curve for children is optimal long before the age of 5. Yet. He regards Headstart as menace rather than an opportunity to start a child's education young. If the idea doesn't come out of the Republican Play Book with the word "Privatization" written all over it then it is a bogus idea.

...“We need (click here) to have a teacher evaluation system that is based on teachers being professionals, not part of some collective trade union bargaining process,” said Bush, chairman of the Foundation....

None of the Florida teacher evaluation changes have proven to be fair. As a matter of fact a Florida judge has found them unethical and written and implemented outside the law. Bush has nothing to offer for 2016 except ideology. There is nothing here to debate. Children don't learn in a bubble.