Gene Sperling is the guy who threatened Bob Woodward (Updated)

Yid With Lid  "Well that didn't take long! This morning the liberal political site Buzzfeed it was Gene Sperling, the director of the White House Economic Council who sent the threatening Email to Wapo reportner(sp) Bob Woodward:

Bob Woodward called a senior White House official last week to tell him that in a piece in that weekend’s Washington Post, he was going to question President Barack Obama’s account of how sequestration came about - and got a major-league brushback. The Obama aide “yelled at me for about a half hour,” Woodward told us in an hour-long interview yesterday around the Georgetown dining room table where so many generations of Washington’s powerful have spilled their secrets. Digging into one of his famous folders, Woodward said the tirade was followed by a page-long email from the aide, one of the four or five administration officials most closely involved in the fiscal negotiations with the Hill. “I apologize for raising my voice in our conversation today,” the official typed. “You’re focusing on a few specific trees that give a very wrong impression of the forest. But perhaps we will just not see eye to eye here. … I think you will regret staking out that claim.”

 

Gene Sperling was a guest on a recent Fox News Sunday. See the difficulty of interviewing an Obama administration official as they filibuster each question. Numerous times Brett Baier tries to cut Sperling off with another question, but like a robot, Sperling refuses to stop until he has read off the Democrat talking points.  I'd say he seems perfectly able to lecture Mr. Woodward for half an hour, wouldn't you?

 You knew this next was coming, didn't you?

Update with added posts:

'What the hell happened to Bob Woodward?'  "Is there dissension in the ranks of the Big Media over the Obama administration’s heavy hand on even friendly media?"
...."But far from the press establishment rallying around Woodward, some elements are wondering how and why he wandered off the reservation with his criticism of the administration."
Many in the press will eat their own to protect Obama.

 

Proof: White House Threatened Bob Woodward "Now the left is toning it down and claiming that Woodward is exaggerating, but think about it for a minute. A top spokesperson, a lawyer for the President of the United States, tells a far less powerful man that he will regret reporting the truth, how would you take it? What if it were you?"

Jonathan S. Tobin; War on Woodward May Be a Tipping Point
 "But there is more at work here than just a case of White House flacks picking a fight with the wrong guy. The problem here for President Obama is that the willingness of Woodward to expose the falsity of the administration’s position on the sequester, as well as their threat, could mark the beginning of the end of the administration’s magic touch with the mainstream press."

One can hope, but we're taking on a celebrity president here, remember. 

What will the White House do to Bob Woodward for his "madness" remark?

Mark Levin just reported that Woodward was sent an email saying he would regret his ‘Madness That I Haven’t Seen In A Long Time’ statement.
We will continue to watch for comment on this. Here is what we have so far:

BOB WOODWARD: A 'Very Senior' White House Person Warned Me I'd 'Regret' What I'm Doing  "Bob Woodward said this evening on CNN that a "very senior person" at the White House warned him in an email that he would "regret doing this," the same day he has continued to slam President Barack Obama over the looming forced cuts known as the sequester.
"CNN host Wolf Blitzer said that the network invited a White House official to debate Woodward on-air, but the White House declined.
"I think they're confused," Woodward said of the White House's pushback on his reporting."  Read more.

CNN: Bob Woodward on threat from White House staff: "...it makes me very uncomfortable to have the White House telling reporters, you're going to regret doing something that you believe in"
"Today on CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, The Washington Post’s Bob Woodward told CNN that he has been threatened by White House staff over his budget cut challenge. Highlights from the interview are below; a full transcript will be posted on http://archives.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/sitroom.html

.
Megyn Kelly Panel Fights Over White House’s Trashing Bob Woodward Due To His Account Of The Sequester
“I would imagine this is the last time Bob Woodward is going to have intimate access to the White House,” Shapiro replied. He said that the White House rewards reporters who behave as “lap dogs” and refuse to report information that the White house regards as being politically unhelpful."

Obama Uses Intimidation Tactics and has for a long time 

“If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, ‘We’re gonna punish our enemies and we’re gonna reward our friends who stand with us…

 

Obama's Media Intimidation Works!
"Why is Fox News AWOL?
"Is it because the network is gun-shy after getting smeared by the White House and Democrats? Is it because princes from Saudi Arabia, where much of CAIR's foreign sponsorship emanates, maintain key ownership holdings at Fox's parent company? Or is it just a journalistic oversight? Time will tell."

President's Schedule - February 27, 2013

WhiteHouse.gov with thanks to Mark Levin

9:30 am	The President and the Vice President receive the Presidential Daily Briefing. Oval Office; Closed Press
10:00 am	The President meets with senior advisors Oval Office; Closed Press.
11:00 am	The President delivers remarks at the unveiling of a statue of Rosa Parks. United States Capitol; Pooled Press (In-Town Travel Pool Gather Time 10:25AM – North Doors of the Palm Room)
7:30 pm	The President delivers remarks at the Business Council dinner and answers questions Park Hyatt Hotel; Pooled Press

For Hypocrisy, Push Juan

HopeNChange

"While Hope n' Change didn't really want to revisit the sequester debate again today, we couldn't let Janet Napolitano's shameless fear mongering slip by without comment because our freaking heads would explode."
....
"There is nothing in the upcoming sequester which should raise fears of doom in the American public. Rather, our fears should be directed at the willingness of our elected officials to deliberately inflict hardship and misery on us in order to protect their addiction to insane spending."

Explaining the Inexplicable

Victor Davis Hanson  "Almost daily we witness things that make no sense. A few examples, from the profound to the trivial."

We list here the topics Mr. Hanson discusses in this article with just a few excerpts to lure you in:
Rich Without Being Rich
"The president, as is his wont, blasted the “one percent,” the “millionaires and billionaires,” and the “well-connected” in his recent State of the Union speech — and then he flew off to golf and hang out with the one percent of the one percent in South Florida while his wife and kids jetted to Aspen to ski. Then Obama flew back for more class-warfare rhetoric over so-called sequestration, ridiculing the Republicans as again being for the “rich” — and on Al Sharpton’s radio show, no less (of Tawana Brawley fame)."

$4-a-Gallon Cheap Gas
"Any gas station that is now just 10 cents cheaper per gallon is packed with cars that trail out to nearly block traffic. (On this clear day, we could see the eastern face of the Coast Range Mountains in the distance — beneath them is reportedly 20-30 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Monterey Shale formation that apparently will remain mostly untapped.)"

Non-racist Racism
...."It is almost as if the sick policy is: “Come here to read how sensitive to race we are while experiencing how racist our readers are.” "


I Love What I Leave
"Polls taken in Mexico reveal the absurdity: a majority of Mexican citizens believes both that southwestern America properly belongs to Mexico and that they would prefer to live there. One of two things is thus probable: people are nuts and would prefer to extend a failing culture that they are fleeing to a country that they would flee to; or...."

When Debt Is No Debt
"There are no major programs that the president wishes to cancel, but plenty of new ones he envisions. Given the scale of borrowing, and given the abject denial that there is a spending problem, what gives? Here are some possibilities."....
I kinda lean toward this fifth possibility:
...."5) The president is more interested in golf, photo-ops, or picking the Final Four, and so he shrugs and thinks: “Debts, schmebts. Who cares?” "

politicsandfinance 

Left-wing group urges Obama to shut down campaign apparatus

The Daily Caller  "The president of the United States should close down his new lobbying, advocacy and fund-raising organization, says a left-wing group that has long sought to reduce the role of donations in politics."

“If President Obama is serious about his often-expressed desire to rein in big money in politics, he should shut down Organizing for Action and disavow any plan to schedule regular meetings with its major donors,” said Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, which helped pass the 2002 campaign finance law.

"OFA is a novel advocacy operation run by Obama from the White House, via his 2012 campaign staff. It is expected to play a role in the 2014 election, and likely will try to help Democrats gain a majority in the House, and buffer their Senate majority.
"The group has caused Obama some embarrassment in recent days, following news reports that OFA’s leaders were offering political access in exchange for cash."

 

How Should the United States Respond to State Failure in Egypt?

JINSA  "U.S. policy thus contributes to state failure while identifying American policy with this state failure. America has become part of the vicious circle, and runs the risk of being identified as the cause of the vicious circle.

englishblog.com

"What should the United States do? If there are no good alternatives, America should choose the least bad alternative. U.S. policy should be guided by self-interest. It may not be in the world community's power to avert Egyptian state failure, short of a massive and continuing commitment of financial aid that seems outside the realm of political possibility. At a minimum, America should seek to prevent Egypt's crisis from turning into a regional security disaster, while maximizing its influence over Egyptian institutions and prospective governments."

Only one chance to make a first impression

 

Sequester hysterics

Putting Sequesteria in Perspective 

 "Now, I want to put it to you this way.  If spending more money this year than we did last year is going to bring this country to its knees, shouldn't that tell us that the government has way too much control over our lives?  Shouldn't that tell us that they have seriously overreached?  Shouldn't that tell us that we are way too dependent on government if all of this can happen while we spend $15 billion more than we spent last year?"  Rush Limbaugh

Neal Boortz; Sequester Fraud Continues  "What does 0bama want?  Simple .. higher taxes on the rich.  He already got a 4.6% increase in the tax rate on the rich in December.  Then ....;  Then ....  It seems rich people won’t be allowed to take care of their own health needs without paying a penalty.  Now 0bama wants tax deductions removed so that the hideous rich will pay even more. 

Last Honest MSM Reporter in America: Obama Sequester Cuts 'Madness'

"In this flood of government and government-media propaganda, though, there remains a single honest mainstream media reporter, the legendary Bob Woodward, with the courage to call out Obama for his demagoguing of sequester."  And, as you would expect, the leftist Media Matters turns on Woodward.
Pity the poor soul who dares disagree with Obama and his people, which is frightening.

DNC Boosts Obama Sequester Job Loss Threat Of 750,000 To 2 Million…
 

The Hagel House and its import for Israel

Alan Caruba on Obama and Hagel vs. Israel  "“What if Mr. Ahmadinejad is not lying” about Iran already being a nuclear power?” asked Kuhner. “Then the West—and especially the United States—faces a major crisis. It means the West’s policies of sanctions and diplomatic engagement have failed.”
"It means that President Obama’s efforts, as executed by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, throughout his first term have failed. It does not bode well that the new Secretary of State, John Kerry, in his first major foreign policy speech on February 20, believes that the real threat is climate change, not Iran and the other known enemies of the nation.
...."The designate for Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, is, if it is possible, an even worse choice so far as Israel is concerned."....
And Ron Paul would have been better... how?

The Jerusalem Post is concerned over what Hagel will mean with Obama's position on Iran  "Expert tells 'Post' the decision by US President Barack Obama to appoint Chuck Hagel as defense secretary raises questions over Washington’s commitment to preventing Iran from going nuclear."
Well, as Ron Paul said, if we are nice to Iran, they will be nice to us. 

The Hagel Finagle  "Unfortunately, if the last two presidential elections are proof of anything, during this period of American politics qualifications have little or no bearing." 
To digress a small bit; Shawarma Mayor asks, "Well, what if Israel had done a small bit of what it is accused of?"

Do you really think Hagel/ Obama are up to confronting Iran? All signs point to no.

Caroline Glick on Hagel, Hamas and the US Senate  "Hagel supports US engagement with Hamas. He also allegedly received money from a Hamas-associated organization.

"In all the verbiage we are exposed to everyday, sometimes it is hard to understand the significance of positions like this."....
So here is a clip of a speech by senior Hamas leader... Mahmoud al-Zahar. Students of the Old Testament will appreciate his remark about Pharaoh kicking Moses and the Israelites out of Egypt because they killed Egyptians.

Remember that Code Pink loves these people. (Obama supporters all.)

Obama's Sequester Strategy Backfiring

Thomas Lifson  "Barack Obama is overplaying his hand in the latest manufactured crisis of his presidency, Sequestration, and may be alienating his most important constituency of all, the media.  He and his advisors are heedless of the psychology of the media, who have been battered by downsizing and budget cuts far more draconian than the piddling 2.4% at issue in the Sequestration Crisis."
...."It may be that administration wolf-crying evokes a certain degree of scorn in the minds of event of their media allies. At same time, a degree of insulting high-handedness, if not contempt, is being demonstrated by the president lately:"....
...."The press corps is firing back, giving Jay Carney a hard time lately.

 

...."If Obama loses enough degrees of his media support, he might even (gasp!) start being held accountable.
"Maybe Obama will wise up and star making amends. But self-critical thought has not been his hallmark. "

GAO's own report shows we cannot afford ObamaCare

It’s official: Government ‘Confirms Everything Critics and Republicans Were Saying’: GAO Report Finds Obamacare Likely to Add $6.2 Trillion to the Deficit

"Back Benghazi who has continued to lie to We the people has finally been busted by his own government auditors on the actual costs of Obama’s Health Care, Rationing and Denial Program.

"Though he would love to keep doing it with smoke and mirrors, it’s over. ObamaCare is unaffordable and must be disemboweled ."


National Review has a copy of the GAO report and Sessions’ remarks: