Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Last Call

You didn't actually think a slimeball outfit like FreedomWorks, the Republican money machine led by former GOP House Speaker Dick Armey, was going to be able to spend tens of millions of dollars in a losing effort to elect basically zero Republicans and yet that nobody's head was going to roll, right?

Take it away, David Corn!

When the news broke in early December that former GOP Rep. Dick Armey had abruptly resigned as chairman of FreedomWorks, a powerhouse of the conservative movement and an instrumental force within the tea party, Armey maintained that the nasty split was due to differences he had with the top management of FreedomWorks about the group's operations and future. Immediately, media reports disclosed that Armey had been concerned that Matt Kibbe, the group's president, had used FreedomWorks resources to promote a book he had written (which was released in June) and that Armey himself had received an $8 million payout from a FreedomWorks board member to ease his departure. But internal documents obtained by Mother Jones show that the bitter war inside FreedomWorks has also resulted in allegations of staff wrongdoing (prompting an investigation by lawyers) and counter-allegations that Armey and his allies tried to turn FreedomWorks into a partisan outfit backing establishment Republicans over tea party insurgents.

Grab some popcorn and find a comfortable chair, folks.  This sordid tale of winger cannibalism is about to begin.

On December 12, James Burnley IV and C. Boyden Gray, two FreedomWorks board members (and allies of Armey), sent Kibbe a letter informing him that they had received "allegations of wrongdoing by the organization or its employees." They notified Kibbe that the group's board of trustees had retained two attorneys, Alfred Regnery and David Martin, to conduct an independent investigation of the allegations. Burnley and Gray ordered Kibbe to cooperate with the lawyers, to make sure no records were "destroyed, deleted, modified or otherwise tampered with," and to send Regnery a check for $25,000 to cover his initial fees. (Regnery, a prominent conservative, is the past president of Regnery Publishing, a right-wing firm that has put out books by Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Pat Buchanan, and other notable conservatives.) The letter did not specify the allegations being investigated. In an interview with Mother Jones, Burnley declined to discuss the alleged wrongdoing at FreedomWorks. "The letter speaks for itself," he says. Gray, Kibbe, and a spokeswoman for FreedomWorks did not respond to requests for comment.

So Dick Armey was shown the door by Matt Kibbe and the Tea Party wing of the organization.  As a result, Armey's remaining allies in FreedomWorks accused Matt Kibbe of wrongdoing.  But now Kibbe has fired back:

Shortly after receiving the December 12 letter, Kibbe wrote a memo outlining his beef with Armey, Burnley, and Gray. In the document—titled "Republican Insiders Attempt Hostile Takeover of FreedomWorks"—Kibbe accused the three of being shills for the Republican establishment and undercutting the group's standing as an independent, non-partisan, conservative organization. (FreedomWorks has at times endorsed tea party candidates in primary elections against mainstream or incumbent Republicans, drawing the ire of mainline Republicans.) Kibbe charged that the three men were trying to punish him for defying their effort to steer FreedomWorks into the conventional Republican fold. He contended that the divisive fight within FreedomWorks was not really about his book contract or other organizational matters; it was a grand ideological clash pitting those fully loyal to the tea party cause (such as Kibbe) against backroom, Washington-centric pols attempting to wield their influence to benefit their pals.

Now the big question:  given the fact that basically nobody FreedomWorks got money to actually won in November, if you're a big-time GOP donor, are you going to give these clowns another $100 million to blow in 2014?

I'm thinking FreedomWorks won't be the only GOP dark money operation to implode before November 2014, either.  Watch the bonfire, kids.  It'll keep you warm this winter, as the long-predicted GOP civil war is about to break into the open.

All I Want For Christmas Is Fluffy's Head

Apparently, when our conservative blogger friends aren't getting into the spirit of Christ's word unto men by celebrating the guy's birthday through calling their liberal neighbors ignorant know-it-alls and glib and warped totalitarians, they're too busy spending the day gleefully plotting the prosecution of people who think peace on Earth might be a good idea.

On Sunday, in an interview with the National Rifle Association’s head, Wayne LaPierre, Gregory displayed what appeared to be a 30-bullet gun magazine. He pushed LaPierre on the question of whether fewer children would have died during the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre this month had the gunman had access to fewer bullets.

The presence of the gun magazine on the show raises questions about a section in the D.C. code — much cited by conservatives and gun rights activists after “Meet the Press” on Sunday — which stipulates that “No person in the District shall possess, sell, or transfer any large capacity ammunition feeding device regardless of whether the device is attached to a firearm. For the purposes of this subsection, the term ‘large capacity ammunition feeding device’ means a magazine,” among other devices.

As such, the DC Metro cops are now investigating this "incident".  Nobody's happier than our old friend Col. Mustard, who has decided that David Gregory must burn as a lesson to liberals and conservatives alike, and that because NBC won't respond to him, that they must be guilty.

There's your Christ-like behavior on Christmas.  And people wonder why I'm agnostic.

Not A Good Christmas For Hockey Fans

As the National Hockey Leagues lockout pitting millionaire players versus multimillionaire owners reaches the 100-day mark, it's fans who are getting the biggest lumps of coal this year.

Team owners have wiped out 625 games through January 14, just over half the planned schedule that was to have started in October, and vow they will not stage a season with less than 48 games per team, requiring a mid-January deal.

Players, who were paid 57 percent of revenues under the old deal, have moved closer to the 50-50 split found in other North American sports, but want owners to increase the amount of shared revenue from strong teams to bolster the fortunes of owners pleading poverty under the previous system.

Ice hockey fans, who returned from the prior lockout in record-setting numbers, have lost half a season because rich players and richer owners cannot hammer out a way to divide $3.3 billion in annual revenues.

Players have approved decertifying the NHL Players Association as a union to allow players to file US anti-trust lawsuits against NHL club owners, although that move has not yet been made.

Forget the fiscal cliff, we're talking about the very real prospect of the end of pro hockey here in North America.  Two lost seasons out of nine when you're arguing about who gets the tens of millions the fans give you to play, and you don't play two entire seasons in a decade because you can't decide who should get even more millions, in this economy?

The entire league can go straight to hell.

Sorry, NHL.  Columbus Bluejax tickets being easy to get or no, I'm sticking with minor league hockey from now on.  At least the Cincinnati Cyclones take to the ice.

Merry Christmas, you greedy jagoffs.

StupidiNews, Christmas Edition!

Related Posts with Thumbnails