Tuesday, March 24, 2015

President Obama and Hillary Clinton have an afternoon quickie at the White House


Secretive meeting between the once and future has wags’ tongues wagging, but White House won’t kiss and tell — Yet

Both the Obama folks and the Clinton camp give terse statements acknowledging the White House tete a tete  —   White House says Barack and Hillary  “...enjoy catching up in person when their schedules permit...”

One hopes a good time was had by all....


According to Politico and other outlets, “...  Hillary Clinton did meet privately with President Barack Obama on Monday at the White House. Clinton was in Washington for an event about the future of urban policy hosted by the Center for American Progress in the morning and the presentation of the Toner Award at a dinner in the evening [reported on this blog in a 3/24/15 UPDATE to the prior post]. ***  In between, the all-but-declared Democratic presidential candidate swung by to see her old boss in the building she’s hoping to move into. ***   The White House wouldn’t comment about whether a meeting was going to happen earlier in the day, but White House press secretary Josh Earnest confirmed afterward that it had happened — though he provided few details. ***   ‘President Obama and Secretary Clinton enjoy catching up in person when their schedules permit,’ Earnest said. ‘This afternoon they met privately for about an hour at the White House and discussed a range of topics.’...” (See “Hillary Clinton meets Barack Obama at the White House’ by Edward-Isaac Dovere, 3/23/15, Politico [http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/hillary-clinton-barack-obama-white-house-116327.html]).

Interestingly, Politico added this: “Reflecting the growing message [sic] coordination between the White House and the Clinton near-campaign, immediately after the White House announced the meeting, her official account tweeted out a photo of her going in for a hug with Obama....”

Earlier in the day, the White House press corps had specifically inquired as to whether Hillary Clinton, who was known to be in D.C. for events, would be visiting the President. According to Breitbart News, Associated Press reporter Josh Lederman asked, “Does the President have any plans to meet with her?   And if he does, would you be able to open that up to some level of access, considering the circumstances of it?”  The Press Secretary declined to answer substantively, saying “I don’t have any additional details to share about the President’s schedule today,” he said, acknowledging that they had visited in the past. “I don’t have any meetings to share with you from here.” However, after the meeting between Obama and Clinton had finished, and Hillary had been whisked off, Josh Earnest did acknowledge that the meeting had occurred but without providing any details of what had been discussed ( See “Obama Hosts Secret Meeting at the White House With Hillary Clinton” by Charlie Spiering, 3/23/15 [http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/03/23/obama-hosts-secret-meeting-at-the-white-house-with-hillary-clinton/]).

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hillary only stopped by to see which rooms need repainting for when she moves in.

But come on tell us Gale about Tea Partier Ted Cruz! Is the Brooklyn Tea Party pumped that they finally got one of their own to throw his hat in the ring? Wasn't yesterday a big day for Frank Russo and the other Patriot crazies of our beloved Bay Ridge? Can you get a quote? I didn't see the Brooklyn Tea Party Patriot banner at the parade on Sunday - are there not enough members to carry it? I was looking for BTPP for Cruz buttons. And you tell your Tea Party compatriots from our beloved borough to may NO Mind to the front page of the Daily news today and the rest of the free world calling their candidate a clown and unfit for office. You keep fighting because Frank Russo and his party of two (men of course)are the party of family values, a pre-conciliar God, and closed borders. Stand strong tell him.



Anonymous said...

Frankie R isn't from Bay Ridge. What parade, you talkin' about?

Anonymous said...

There is an imposter on this blog.

Lock your doors and secure all windows.

Anonymous said...

And be sure to tell Frankie R and his team of two that Hillary herself extends a big thank you and hug for having a Tea Partier like Cruz as a contender. The Brooklyn Tea Party must be proud of how far someone just like them has come. Hillary commends you all. She especially looks forward to the debates with Tea Party Teddy. And since Gale has been blessed with his very own Hillary BSI be sure to reach out if you need any campaign strategic assistance during the GOP primary blood letting. Truly Hillary wants to help.

Brooklyn Tea Party Patriots and Ted Cruz a match made in heaven!

Anonymous said...

Hey Gale can't you block this Hillary Feminazi?

Galewyn Massey said...

FOR MY UPDATE: THE “MAINSTREAM MEDIA KEEPS ASKING NEW QUESTIONS ABOUT HILLARY CLINTON’S E-MAILS — AND WHAT WAS GOING ON AT THE STATE DEPARTMENT WHILE SHE WAS SECRETARY OF STATE ?” EDITION ( See my 3/24/16 Comment to my March 11, 2015 post “Oh no ! — Not again, Mrs. Bill ! — It sure looks like Hillary Clinton is caught in a Catch-22 trap of her own making ” below). The comment deals with the failure to name a “permanent, independent Inspector General” at the State Department while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State.

Galewyn Massey said...

BACKFILL: THE “REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST” EDITION

MAKE NO MISTAKE — ON MONDAY, HILLARY CLINTON DID TWEET THAT SHE JUST LOVES “OBAMACARE” — BUT AS MUCH AS ANYTHING ELSE “OBAMACARE” IS THE “UN-HILLARYCARE” — AND CLINTON HAS SIGNALED THAT SHE IS OPEN TO AMENDING THE LAW

DID HILLARY MAKE A GAFF BY REMINDING PEOPLE ABOUT HER OWN HISTORY OF FALSE STARTS AND BLUNDERS OVER THE YEARS WHEN IT CAME TO ISSUES INVOLVING NATIONAL HEALTHCARE


As was reported in my main post above, on Monday, Hillary Clinton met with Barack Obama at the White House for about an hour to discuss "a range of topics," according to the White House. Following her meeting with the president, Hillary Clinton made clear her “embrace” of Obama and the law bearing his name in a Monday tweet marking Obamacare’s fifth anniversary (see also “Clinton tweets 'embrace' of ObamaCare” by Peter Sullivan, 3/23/15, The Hill [http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/236691-clinton-tweets-embrace-of-obamacare]; also “Hillary Clinton embraces [Obama and ] Obamacare at White House meeting with president” by Dan Roberts, 3/23/15, The Guardian [with copy of photo of the Clinton-Obama hug] [http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/mar/23/hillary-clinton-embraces-obamacare-white-house-meeting-barack-obama]).

On Monday, Bloomberg News presented this stark contrast: “On this, the fifth anniversary of the signing into law of the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, many of the presumed and actual Republican candidates for president much of the day attacking the legislation. *** While Texas Senator Ted Cruz asked his audience at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University to ‘imagine in 2017, a new president signing legislation repealing every word of Obamacare,’ former Florida Governor Jeb Bush kept pace by declaring the law a ‘disaster.’.... Across the ideological divide, however, one prospective presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, was busy embracing the law, as well as the man who's name is so closely associated with it.... ‘I think we are on the right track in many respects but I would be the first to say if things aren’t working then we need people of good faith to come together and make evidence-based changes,’ Clinton said....” ( See “Affordable Care Act – Make No Mistake, Hillary Clinton Loves Obamacare” by David Knowles, 3/23/15, Bloomberg News [http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-03-24/make-no-mistake-hillary-clinton-loves-obamacare]).

Equally important, Bloomberg News pointed out that “... Clinton has also signaled that she might be open to amending [Obamacare], specifically targeting the medical device tax. ‘On the tax itself, again, I think we have to look to see what are the pluses and minuses that are embodied in a decision about either to remove or alter or continue this particular piece of the Affordable Care Act,’ Clinton told a Chicago conference of medical device makers in October.”

So, as she usually does, Hillary Clinton has hedged her bets — this time with her position(s) on Obamacare. You might ask: “WHERE’S THE GAFF IN THAT ?”

The banana peel that threatens a pratfall for the former almost everything Hillary Clinton is that her tweet on the Fifth Anniversary of Obamacare can be used to remind people about Hillary’s own checkered history on the issue. First, “Hillarycare,” the national health program personally crafted and advanced by Hillary in the early-to-mid-90s, was the signal failure of Bill Clinton’s first term as President – leading to the first GOP takeover of Congress in over forty years; second, Hillary Clinton opposed Obama’s approach to healthcare reform during the 2008 campaign with a proposal of her own – and that position was rejected by Democrat voters in the 2008 primaries along with Hillary herself; and third, with respect to the current incarnation of Obamacare – Hillary was generally on board, except for those parts for which she isn’t.

Galewyn Massey said...

UPDATE: THE “3/24/15 MORE PROBLEMS FOR HILLARY CLINTON*” EDITION

DHS INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT RAISES SPECTER OF INFLUENCE PEDALING BY HILLARY CLINTON’S BROTHER AND OTHER TOP HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTERS

According to reports in Newsmax and the Wall Street Journal, Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has been criticized in a report from the DHS Inspector General for personally intervening in three visa cases involving influential Democrats. Those “influential Democrats” included Anthony Rodham, brother of former Secretary of State and likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton. The blistering 97-page report from DHS IG John Roth states that Mayorkas became personally involved in providing favorable treatment in three cases that involved former Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Ed Rendell, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid – Democrat from Nevada and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, as well as Hillary Clinton’s brother (See “DHS Deputy Secretary Intervened in EB-5 Visa Cases for Dems” by John Blosser, 3/24/15, Newsmax [http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/homeland-security-visas-influential/2015/03/24/id/634297/]; see also “Homeland Security Watchdog Cites Favoritism in EB-5 Visa Program – Report suggests special access in handling of visas for foreigners investing in U.S” by John R. Emshwiller & Andrew Grossman, 3/24/15 [http://www.wsj.com/articles/homeland-security-watchdog-report-cites-favoritism-in-eb-5-visa-program-1427220658]).

According to an ABC News report, Anthony Rodham E-Mailed DHS Deputy Secretary Mayorkas and sought to speed up the processing of immigrant visas, while he was involved in the financing of an electric car venture (See “Top Homeland Official Alejandro Mayorkas Accused of Political Favoritism” by Matthew Mosk & Brian Ross, 3/24/15, ABC News [http://abcnews.go.com/US/top-homeland-official-alejandro-mayorkas-accused-political-favoritism/story?id=29868429]).
_____________________

* Do you see where I’m going with this ?
HINT: THIS IS THE FIRST OF AN ONGOING SERIES OF UPDATES: “...MORE PROBLEMS FOR HILLARY CLINTON” EDITIONS

Galewyn Massey said...

UPDATE: THE “3/24/15 MORE PROBLEMS FOR HILLARY CLINTON*” EDITION

DHS INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT RAISES SPECTER OF INFLUENCE PEDALING BY HILLARY CLINTON’S BROTHER AND OTHER TOP HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTERS

According to reports in Newsmax and the Wall Street Journal, Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has been criticized in a report from the DHS Inspector General for personally intervening in three visa cases involving influential Democrats. Those “influential Democrats” included Anthony Rodham, brother of former Secretary of State and likely Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton. The blistering 97-page report from DHS IG John Roth states that Mayorkas became personally involved in providing favorable treatment in three cases that involved former Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Ed Rendell, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid – Democrat from Nevada and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, as well as Hillary Clinton’s brother (See “DHS Deputy Secretary Intervened in EB-5 Visa Cases for Dems” by John Blosser, 3/24/15, Newsmax [http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/homeland-security-visas-influential/2015/03/24/id/634297/]; see also “Homeland Security Watchdog Cites Favoritism in EB-5 Visa Program – Report suggests special access in handling of visas for foreigners investing in U.S” by John R. Emshwiller & Andrew Grossman, 3/24/15 [http://www.wsj.com/articles/homeland-security-watchdog-report-cites-favoritism-in-eb-5-visa-program-1427220658]).

According to an ABC News report, Anthony Rodham E-Mailed DHS Deputy Secretary Mayorkas and sought to speed up the processing of immigrant visas, while he was involved in the financing of an electric car venture (See “Top Homeland Official Alejandro Mayorkas Accused of Political Favoritism” by Matthew Mosk & Brian Ross, 3/24/15, ABC News [http://abcnews.go.com/US/top-homeland-official-alejandro-mayorkas-accused-political-favoritism/story?id=29868429]).
_____________________

* Do you see where I’m going with this ?
HINT: THIS IS THE FIRST OF AN ONGOING SERIES OF UPDATES: “...MORE PROBLEMS FOR HILLARY CLINTON” EDITIONS

Anonymous said...

In the latest CBS poll Hillary has double digit leads over any possible GOP contender. Clearly, the American voters are not buying into the media falsehoods and bashing of Hillary. I completely debunked your mischaracterization and fabrications concerning Hillary's role in the Irish peace process. One would think Gale that you learned your lesson in not to reiterate the hyperbole and falsehoods of the media.\

But the real question is: Why the radio silence on your very own GOP / Tea Party presidential candidate Teddy Cruz? Cat got your tongue? Where are the Brooklyn Tea Partier "Patriots" now who in the past questioned Obama's legitimacy? Your guy Cruz was born in Canada to a Cuban father who fought "for" Castro. He immigrated to the U.S. yet he does not believe in immigration for others. Where is your Tea Party buddy now the birther - you know, the crazy who has been banned from speaking at BTPP meetings? Ted Cruz is against Obamacare yet he recently enrolled in the plan himself? We call that hypocrisy. Ted Cruz shut down the government costing the taxpayers (that's us) 24 billion dollars. Every NY institutional Republican including the nut job Peter King has denounced Ted Cruz. John McCain called him a wacko (but that's Kettle Black lingo and I don't mean the scene of the crime Bay Ridge pub). So cease your picking on Hillary which you are doing because she is a woman - so typical - and tell us about Cruz.

And while you are at it, tell us why your BYR's which you champion here so often have taken to disgusting ethnic stereotyping against Mr. Vincent Gentile? I though the era of denigrating Italian Americans ended with Mario Cuomo and Geraldine Ferraro (Rest in Peace). According to the Brooklyn Young Republicans, Mr. Gentile must be a thug simply because he is of Italian decent. AND, an Italian priest from Brooklyn - one of the wealthier parishes - sent me that information. And not the cigar smoking priest, someone else. He too thought it was disgraceful. So Gale, physician heal thyself. You run around with these BYR lugs. Do you condone their ethnic epithets against Mr. Gentile?

And leave Hillary alone.

Galewyn Massey said...

RESPONSE: THE “YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST” EDITION

DEVASTATING FOR THE PRO-HILLARY CROWD IN NEW YORK AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY — CBS REPORT OF HILLARY CLINTON’S PERFORMANCE IN QUINNIPIAC POLL IS DEFINITELY NOT GOOD FOR NEW YORK’S “ ‘ADOPTED’ FAVORITE DAUGHTER”

HILLARY HAS NO OPPONENT IN THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY IN NEW YORK — BUT SHE IS “LOSING GROUND” AND SCORES ONLY FIFTY-ONE PERCENT [51%] AGAINST NO SIGNIFICANT OPPOSITION

THE “TAKEAWAY” FROM THIS POLL — IN NEW YORK LOTS OF DEMOCRATS DON’T WANT HILLARY AS THEIR NOMINEE FOR PRESIDENT — THAT’S VERY BAD NEWS FOR THE DEMOCRATS PULLING FOR HILLARY NATIONWIDE LOOKING FORWARD TO 2016

First, let me thank comment maker “Anonymous... 4:27 AM” for prompting me to check out the CBS report of this poll. Second, remember it’s still very early in the 2016 Presidential Election cycle. Third, according to the report, this poll comes after recent criticism of Clinton’s use of a personal E-mail account for some of her government-related communications while she was Secretary of State.


Here’s what CBS News had to say about a recently released Quinnipiac Poll of New York voters: “Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is losing some ground in the polls.... In New York, Clinton would get 51 percent of the vote in a possible 2016 Democratic presidential primary, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Monday.... The poll surveyed 1,228 New York State voters between March 11 and March 16 with a margin of error of +/- 2.8 percentage points.” (See ““Hillary Clinton ‘Wipes Out Everybody’ In New Presidential Poll” by CBS News Staff, 3/23/15, CBS News/ Local New York [http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/03/23/hillary-clinton-wipes-out-everybody-in-new-presidential-poll/]).

The polling on the GOP side revealed this: “... [F]ormer Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker have seen a surge in favorability in the polls on a national level, but it’s a different story in New York. *** ‘The Republicans are all over the lot.... There’s no dominant figure in the Republican side,’ [said Quinnipiac Assistant Poll Director Maurice Carrol].”

“When stacked up against the top Republican contenders, Clinton still leads by margins of 20 percentage points or more [according to the report].” But remember, that’s in heavily Democrat-voting New York.

Galewyn Massey said...

UPDATE: THE “STRAWS IN THE WIND” EDITION

FIRST, HILLARY’S AND BARACK OBAMA’S CONVERSATION AT THE WHITE HOUSE ON MONDAY REMAINS “SECRET” — NOW, THAT’S NEWS BY ITSELF — BUT ALL OF A SUDDEN, CONNECTING ITS ARTICLE TO THAT MEETING, CNN ASKS WILL HILLARY “... INHERIT OBAMA’S BLACK VOTER ENTHUSIASM ?”

SECOND, TODAY OBAMA’S VICE PRESIDENT, JOE BIDEN WAS MENTIONED AS A TOP DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE BY A PROMINENT COLUMNIST FOR THE LA TIMES — ESPECIALLY, IF HILLARY “FALTERS”

The CNN Article started out like this: “Hillary Clinton held a closed door meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House on Monday [Details of that meeting remain confidential and unreported]. Although the former secretary of state, senator and first lady has not declared, it is treated as a foregone conclusion that Clinton is running for president. ***
Likely to launch her campaign in April, Clinton is regarded as the front-runner — if not the only Democratic candidate — and the inevitable Democratic nominee. *** There is an assumption that since Clinton supported Obama, the black community will now embrace her. But there are more than a few who didn't get that memo. At this stage of the game, many African-Americans may not be excited about a candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016. And after two terms of the nation's first black president, she should proceed with caution. *** Clinton need look no further than the 2008 contest, when black voters doused water on her presidential prospects.... ( See “Would Hillary Clinton inherit Obama's black voter enthusiasm?” By David Love, CNN [http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/25/opinions/david-love-hillary-clinton-barack-obama/]).

According to a report in the LA Times, once Hillary Clinton actually announces her run for the presidency, she plans to launch a series of speeches to build a rationale for her candidacy [Think about that long and hard. — Isn’t there something fundamentally wrong with Hillary needing to “build a rationale for her candidacy” ?]. Biden will still be confined in the role of the Obama's administration's energetic salesman, an honorable job but one that won't establish his claim to the Democratic nomination for president. However, if Hillary Clinton should run into trouble — for example, if she has health problems, or if significant legal problems pop up, or any other kind of problems crop up in her path forward — the Democratic Party is going to need another candidate, and fast. Biden is positioned to be his party's natural fallback candidate (See “Colum: Joe Biden is Democrats' 2016 understudy, in the wings in case Hillary Clinton falters” by Doyle McManus, 3/25/15, LA Times [http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0325-mcmanus-joe-biden-20150325-column.html]).

Doyle McManus finished his LA Times article with this: “A Quinnipiac poll this month found that with [Hillary] Clinton out of the race, [V.P. Joe] Biden would be the front-runner with 35%; Warren polled 25%. No other Democrat has attracted significant interest or support, even among political insiders. *** Biden's flirtation with [a] candidacy [for president] isn't delusional. It isn't just the self-flattery of a politician who long thought he ought to be president. Undeniably, however, he's the second choice — and there's nothing wrong with that. By taking on that thankless role, he's doing his party a big service....”

Anonymous said...

Hillary will be the Democratic nominee. But, if something were to happen and she is stripped of her rightful place as the nominee, you can be certain PUMA (People United Means Action or Party Unity My A**) will be back stronger than ever. This is a GOP blog, hence I am sure you do not know what PUMA is. But trust that it will return and Hillary will be a write-in candidate. The only question is: Who will be the Republican challenger? Today's NYT's says the conservatives don't like Jeb. And the mainstream Repubs don't like Teddy. So Gale tell us. Who's your guy?
And Anon at 11:23: Your must be the BYR brain trust.

Anonymous said...

Don't you mean "puma" as in cougar?

Galewyn Massey said...

REVERIE: THE "A REAL REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST" EDITION

WHAT "COUGAR" ALMOST ALWAYS MEANS TO ME

I don't pretend to be Marcel Proust -- I haven't even ever finished one of his works.... No true dilettante ever could....

Nonetheless, whenever I hear or see the word "cougar" I don't think of either a North American big cat or a sex-charged middle-aged woman. I think of a mid-50's Navy jet fighter plane -- the swept-wing version of Grumman's venerable F9F Panther-jet.

A "Cougar" was the first plastic model that I ever built. It was a Revell kit ("I made that") and I bought it with my own money in Valente's Hobby And Photographic Store on Bay Ridge Avenue between 4th and 5th Avenue -- long before it became the Flood's "Lincoln Brokerage."