The "story" back then was about how Speaker Pelosi "demanded" the use of a bigger jet and "rejected" the jet her predecessor utilized. the P-G's own Ruth Ann Dailey had the "story" down cold.
Too bad it just wasn't at all true.
The request was put in by the House Sergeant-at-Arms and it was done, at least partially, for security reasons. The Bush Administration decided that the Speaker of the House (as well as all the other high ranking Congressional officials) fly on military planes. We live in a post-9/11 world and all that.
Well now that we're a week away from an election, Richard Mellon Scaife's "news" paper, the Tribune-Review republished some re-findings from their source on the story, Judicial Watch.
Heh-heh-heh. You know what comes next, right? When I wrote "their source", it had somewhat of a double meaning. You see, my friends, when you look at the funding for Judcial Watch, there's Scaife money as far as the eye can see.
According to the mediamatters, two of the foundations controlled by Richard Mellon Scaife (Carthage and Sarah Scaife) have given a whopping $9 million to Judicial Watch over the last 13 or so years. More than all the other foundation donations combined.
So when I wrote "their source" I really meant it.
From Scaife's braintrust:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., treats the Air Force as her personal taxi service, taking her here, there and everywhere — all at taxpayers' expense.And:
Documents newly obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Judicial Watch show the speaker took 85 flights on Air Force aircraft from March 2009 through June 2010 — an average of more than one per week, with family members aboard two D.C.-to-California flights.
Documents previously obtained by Judicial Watch show Mrs. Pelosi's peregrinations cost the Air Force — and taxpayers — more than $2.1 million over two years. Of that, more than $101,000 went for in-flight expenses including food and alcohol, such as liquor purchases for one Mideast junket that reads like a catalog of top-shelf brands.Iwas curious about that flight. When did it happen?
Judicial Watch has it at May of 2008. The trip was for 5 days and went to Tel Aviv and Baghdad. And it was a CODEL (meaning a Congressional Delegation - ie NOT a personal trip). So why include it here? In an editorial complaining about Speaker Pelosi's use of military aircraft as a "personal taxi"?
The answer is obvious, doncha think? It's a smear, pure and simple. Bought and paid for by Scaife money and pushed feces-like into the public discourse by Scaife's editorial page.
3 comments:
snore snore snore
I trust mediamatters as a "source" as much as you trust the Trib.
After 9/11, the Bush Administration issued an Executive Order that, because the Speaker was in line for the presidency, (behind the VP and Pres, of course), the Speaker should no longer fly commercial. It was a security matter.
Dennis Hastert was the first Speaker to get his own plane, for flights to Illinois. Nancy Pelosi, with a longer distance to travel, got a plane with longer range (as ordered by the House Sgt-at-Arms.).
Of course, the allegation uses Newt's travel for comparison, since he was pre-9/11. The argument that she's Queen Nancy loses steam if Hastert is included.
More manufactured outrage from the Right Noise Machine.
Actually, the "predecessor" as Speaker that they choose to use, is Newt Gingrich. They can't use Dennis Hastert, because he also, following GW's Exec
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