gingersnapp says...

I find this letter hilarious since I spent eight years calling out the 4th estate during the years of Mr. 19% approval rating. I see now after about 5 months we will never come together in opinion anymore. I thought originally with the election of BHO we would all be singing happy songs and cum by ah because he pleaded for it in his 2004 Blue State Red State Speech.

I realize now it is never going to happen so I say to all those out there so afraid of Mr. Obama, get over it. I spent 8 years sick and afraid of your pick now you get to go through the same.

June 20, 2009 at 1:37 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

JAFO says...

thanks for showing the moderates, and the right what liberal tolerance is all about. mr socialism won, so why rub it in? just be happy, and collect your monthly check, and your food stamps. and while you're home not getting a j-o-b, why don't you and the rest of the free loaders rub together what brain cells you have left from smokin' doobies 30-40 years ago, and think of other ways to take workers' money. i guess to the victor, go the spoils. and while you're at it, get some good wine to go with your government cheese.

June 20, 2009 at 4:33 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

suz_muse says...

I agree journalism in this country is dead. The American people are not going to be informed by the media. I do not like Republicans any better than the Democrats, but what ignorance in saying the American people should "just take it" or blame stupidity on the "doobie smokers". People who have such ideas were stupid before they smoked pot (if they did) and are stupid now. I think gingersnapp should check the approval rating trying to be cited. Also, check the approval rating of the current Speaker of the House and Congress. Things will only get better when the American people decide to take the power away from the politicians and force change.

June 20, 2009 at 5:35 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Wright_Winger says...

Michelle's involvement in the firing of the I.G. needs to be thoroughly investigated. This sure smacks of "Travelgate."

"A top Republican senator is asking whether First Lady Michelle Obama's office played any role in last week's firing of former service program Inspector General Gerald Walpin."

"The concern, one of several surrounding Walpin's sudden dismissal, stems from the timing of a staff switch in the first lady's office. Just days before Walpin got the boot, the White House announced Michelle Obama's chief of staff would be appointed senior adviser to the agency Walpin was responsible for monitoring. Michelle Obama said at the time she and her outgoing staffer, Jackie Norris, would work closely going forward."

"Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has sent a letter to Alan Solomont, board chairman for the Corporation for National and Community Service, asking that he provide all relevant correspondence from several offices and individuals. Included in that list was "contacts with officials in the Office of the First Lady."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/...

June 20, 2009 at 7:03 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Trixie says...

WW - would you please name just ONE administration since Eisenhower that has NOT been embroiled in scandal at one point or another? It's how the attack dogs work against whoever has the White House and/or the congress. Yes, Iran-Contra counts for Reagan. It's become so predictible that it is boring.

GS - once again, you are spot-on. Dialog is impossible with people who are convinced that if you do not agree with them it is because you are either ill-informed or not thinking clearly.

I quit.

June 20, 2009 at 7:56 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

falcon says...

"Since Eisenhower"? Ever hear of Sherman Adams?

June 20, 2009 at 9:59 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Trixie says...

Falcon, that was before my time - but good point! LOL

June 20, 2009 at 10:31 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Wright_Winger says...

Wasn't the Carter administration just more grossly inept than scandalous? Of course you had the loony brother and crazy daughter, but that can happen in the best of families. The grain embargo was the first time food exports had been used as a political tool and certainly hurt the U.S. farmers much more than the Sovs. Then denying our Olympic athletes a chance to compete was disheartening to them after four years of hard training. The military was dismantled to the point where we couldn't even fly a helo a couple hundred miles to rescue the Tehran hostages. Then the energy shortage, just wear a sweater!! And the double digit inflation, double digit interest rates and double digit unemplyment rate. Plus the "malaise" speech. But, no scandals. Jimmy was no prize, but probably less damaging than our Beloved Leader of today.

June 20, 2009 at 10:52 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

teacherlady says...

First, President Obama's decision to fire Walpin was not pollitical and was made after repeated complaints and problems. To fire an IG, according to the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008, the president must inform Congress thirty days before terminating the IG's employment as well as provide Congress with a reason for doing so. Obama suspended Walpin with pay and informed him that he would be terminated after thirty days. Obama wrote Congress to inform them of this decision and supplied his reasoning in accordance with the law.

In this reasoning, Obama cited a letter written by U.S. Attorney Lawrence G. Brown to the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency condemning Walpin's actions and accusing Walpin of overstepping his authority, compromising his impartiality, and withholding information from the U.S. Attorney's Office. These claims were made again by Obama Counsel Norman Eisen in the letter he wrote to the Senate Committee that oversees AmeriCorps. Eisen wrote that Walpin had engaged in "troubling and inappropriate conduct," and had become "disruptive to agency operations." Not to mention that the firing was made, according to Eisen, "after unanimous request from the AmeriCorps board of directors."

It's clear that Obama did not violate the law in firing Walpin and that he had ample reason to fire him, nevertheless, conservatives persist in their claims that the firing was political. In reply, I ask if it was political when President Bush "quietly forced out" another IG, Luise S. Jordan? Jordan served as IG of the CNCS just like Walpin. Like Obama, Bush didn't violate the law in replacing these IGs, but unlike Obama, Bush did not have such clear reasoning for the firings, so it's rather disingenuous to now cry "politics" over the firing of an IG who was overzealous, biased, and inept.

June 20, 2009 at 12:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Wright_Winger says...

And besides all that, it appears Michelle wanted him fired to make room for one of her people.

June 20, 2009 at 12:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

teacherlady says...

If he was doing a bad job and deserved to be fired--and it looks like he did--does it matter?

June 20, 2009 at 12:53 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Wright_Winger says...

That's a big "IF" from most of the other reports I have seen and heard. He has a LOT more people speaking on his behalf than those on Michelles's side. This is not going away soon.

June 20, 2009 at 1:03 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

lbc says...

Teacherlady......I just feel warm and toasty all over to learn that firing Walpin wasn't political. Getting in the middle of a political payoff was certainly "troubling and inappropriate" and with this admistration would surely be "disruptive to agency operations". Obama certainly did have ample reason to fire him.

What if he had completed that investigation, god forbid, and what if that nice NBA basketball star wouild have been found to be doing nasty little illegal things, that indeed would have been disruptive. We need to be sure these political payoffs go smooth and under the radar screen. Walpin was horribly inept.....he allowed a illegal political payoff to surface before he could wrap it up.

And, you will recall Michelle is well versed with putting your own little buddy in a job. Afterall she was elevated from a salary of $130,000 to over $300,000 as hubby moved up, and her position was not filled when hubby went to the White House. I'm sure that wasn't "political" either.

These labels are so disruptive and unfair.

June 20, 2009 at 1:12 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

dalearch says...

I can understand people being afraid during the Bush administration.

Afraid they might have to crawl out of their bottles and get a job.

June 20, 2009 at 1:23 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

teacherlady says...

This morning presidential aide Norm Eisen sent a letter to Senators Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins, the Chairman and ranking minority member on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (with a copy to McCaskill), outlining a number of reasons Walpin was let go. It read:

"Mr. Walpin was removed after a review was unanimously requested by the bi-partisan Board of the Corporation. The Board's action was precipitated by a May 20, 2009 Board meeting at which Mr. Walpin was confused, disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior that led the Board to question his capacity to serve. Upon our review, we also determined that the Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California, a career prosecutor who was appointed to his post during the Bush Administration, had filed a complaint about Mr. Walpin's conduct with the oversight body for Inspectors General, including for failing to disclose exculpatory evidence. We further learned that Mr. Walpin had been absent from the Corporation's headquarters, insisting upon working from his home in New York over the objections of the Corporation's Board; that he had exhibited a lack of candor in providing material information to decision makers; and that he has engaged in other troubling and inappropriate conduct. Mr. Walpin had become unduly disruptive to agency operations, impairing his effectiveness and, for the reasons stated above, losing the confidence of the Board and the agency. It was for these reasons that Mr. Walpin was removed."

So the board of the corporation unanimously asked for him to be fired, which led them to check in out. During their investigation they learned he wasn't presenting evidence he felt weakened his cases, he wasn't going to work even though the board asked him to, he wasn't being honest with investigators, his conduct was "troubling and inappropriate," and "disruptive." Any one of those reasons would be sufficient. I'm sorry, but I think this is pretty much over.

June 20, 2009 at 1:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

teacherlady says...

Ibc, while Walpin alleges that he was fired for sniffing out wrongdoing of a politically connected former NBA player who has gone on to become mayor of Sacramento, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California, meanwhile found that Walpin's conclusions seemed overstated and did not accurately reflect all the information gathered in the investigation. Again, Walpin didn't bother with evidence that he didn't like, which is part of the many legitimate reasons why he's being fired.

June 20, 2009 at 1:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Wright_Winger says...

"Presidential aide" are the operative words above.

June 20, 2009 at 1:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

teacherlady says...

Until they actually replace him, I'm not concerned with the Michelle angle to this whole story, and it seems ironic to me that conservatives are up in arms about who might replace Walpin in the midst of the Ensign mess.

June 20, 2009 at 1:34 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Wright_Winger says...

What, pray liberal_lady, does the "Ensign mess" have to do with the suspicious firing of an I.G. who blew the whistle on a pal of The Benighted One and his Beloved?

June 20, 2009 at 1:52 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

JLS says...

Wait! I know what happened... President Obama forced Sen. Ensign to have an affair!! I bet he forced him to climb in bed with that woman! Dang ol' Obama!! How dare he! Obama made Ensign sleep around on his wife so that people would forget that he is a secret Muslim and his wife is forbidden from going to middle east countries!!

Wow! This is getting too easy to make up things as I go along.. no wonder some of the conservatives do it all the time!

June 20, 2009 at 1:53 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

lbc says...

I heard Mr Walpin answer questions on several talk shows. He is not nearly as "disoriented" as some of the conclusions that have been recited in earlier remarks herein.

This was a political hatchet job, plain and simple.

The bad behavior I seen is Obama's hatchetmen.

June 20, 2009 at 2:17 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

teacherlady says...

WW, conservatives are trying to make an issues where there doesn't really seem to be one. Yes, if he had been fired becasue Michelle wanted him replaced there would be a problem. There'd be a problem with conflict of interest and misuse funds. However, again, there seems to be several strong legitimate reasons for the firing.

Meanwhile Ensign doubled his mistress's salaries at both her jobs. (Hey, Republicans who donated to Ensign, guess where your money went?) Plus the mistress's nineteen-year-old son was given a paying job doing "policy work" for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which is chaired by Ensign. (Hey, Republican Party Donors...)

So people are freaking out because the Obama Adminstration MIGHT do something similar to something that a Republican Senator actually DID. And again, I think whomever is chosen to replace Walpin, it's a non-issue because the firing seems to me to be legitimate.

June 20, 2009 at 2:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

rk92559 says...

Yeah...Michelle should get more involved!! She does great work..I have a photo a friend emailed me of her doing work for the homeless. The photo was snapped of her smiling and dipping up food for a couple down on there luck people.They were thrilled she was there, you could tell, because one of the down on their luck people was taking his own photo of her dipping up his food while she was smiling at him, ...with a 500 dollar Blackberry Phone.

June 20, 2009 at 2:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Wright_Winger says...

The Eisen letter certainly didn't satisfy Senator Grassley's concerns about this troubling termination. Here is the senator's request to the white House for more information:

1) Did the [Corporation for National and Community Service] Board communicate its concerns about Mr. Walpin to the White House in writing?

2) Specifically, which CNCS Board members came forward with concerns about Mr. Walpin's ability to serve as the Inspector General?

3) Was the communication about the Board's concerns on or about May 20, 2009 the first instance of any communications with White House personnel regarding the possibility of removing Mr. Walpin?

4) Which witnesses were interviewed in the course of Mr. Eisen's review?

5) How many witnesses were interviewed?

6) Were any employees of the Office of Inspector General, who may have had more frequent contact with Mr. Walpin than the Board members, interviewed?

7) Was Mr. Walpin asked directly during Mr. Eisen's review about the events of May 20, 2009?

8) Was Mr. Walpin asked for his response to the allegations submitted to the Integrity Committee by Acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence Brown?

9) What efforts were made during Mr. Eisen's review to obtain both sides of the story or to afford the Office of Inspector General an opportunity to be heard?

10) In addition to the claim that Mr. Walpin was "confused" and "disoriented," the letter also says he exhibited "other behavior" that led to questions about his capacity. What other behavior was Mr. Eisen referencing?

11) If the initial and primary concern had to do with Mr. Walpin's capacity to serve for potential health reasons, why was he only given one hour to decide whether to resign or be fired?

12) If Mr. Walpin's telecommuting arrangements since the beginning of this year were a major concern, then why was Mr. Walpin not simply asked to stop telecommuting?

Grassley asks the White House for a response in writing by Wednesday, June 24

THIS ISN'T GOING AWAY!!!! HOLDS CAN BE PUT ON UPCOMING NOMINATIONS.

June 20, 2009 at 2:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

238er says...

WOW rk, a Blackberry can do anything including dipping food!! ROTFLMAO

June 20, 2009 at 9:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Chahn721 says...

This is from an article in the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper on Sunday.
The Business Section asked readers for ideas on "How Would You Fix the Economy?"

I think this guy nailed it!

Dear Mr. President,
Please find below my suggestion for fixing America's economy.. Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan. You can call it the Patriotic Retirement Plan:

There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force. - Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:

1) They MUST retire. Forty million job opening s - Unemployment fixed.
2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty million cars ordered - Auto Industry fixed.
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage - Housing Crisis fixed.

It can't get any easier than that!
P.S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress and their constituents pay their taxes...
If you think this would work, please forward to everyone you know.

June 20, 2009 at 11:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

momswisher says...

Chahn721.. Love it. Sounds like a great plan to me.

June 20, 2009 at 11:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

silver_pegasus says...

Well, I see the conservative think tank is up and running. JAFO and dalearch, where do you come off saying anyone that supports Obama's ideas must be a drug-using freeloader? I got my first job when I was 15, and have been working EVER SINCE. Can you say as much? I've never been in a bottle to "crawl out off" And if you can find me a J-O-B that is 40 hours a week and $9 or $10 an hour, I won't need assistance. Maybe you two are the ones that need to lay off the bottle. Oh, here's an idea-I'll just take your job, then I won't have any troubles in my life at all, right?
Whatever happened to "judge not, lest ye be"?
As for the IG investigation, here's a truly radical idea; FINISH THE INVESTIGATION BEFORE MAKING ACCUSATIONS. I mean, really, whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Oh, wait- I guess that only applies to conservatives and/or Republicans.

June 22, 2009 at 2:05 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )