Saturday, April 7, 2012

What Went On In Vegas Didn't Stay In Vegas, This Time

H/T to the Huffington Post for posting the complete videography of GSA's 2010 Western Regions Conference in Las Vegas.



And here's the whole one-hour extravaganza:


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

TSB: Peter V Buren is getting to be my favorite snark... roasting our diplomatic heroines the only he can. gwb

http://wemeantwell.com/blog/2012/04/06/great-moments-in-public-diplomacy/

TSB said...

I like his book, and his overall position. He harms his own message by going way too far with obscene personal attacks against Hillary and some others, I think.

He must think so, too, since he quickly removes them from his website. That doesn't stop him from doing it again, however.

Anonymous said...

Good point TSB! I would say impertinent and humorous rather than obscene but I hope Robert Gates was right that any US leader who proposes sending a massive army to the ME will be faced with calls for a Psych evaluation. Happy Easter!! gwb

Anonymous said...

How Is This TSB? Hillary Clinton made a truly visionary statement in 1998 when she said: "We are going to have to do something about the internet." Since then she has worked tirelessly to make it happen.... Walah!! Thanks Hillary for keeping us safe! gwb

http://www.juancole.com/2012/04/americas-new-data-center-the-biggest-big-brother-of-all.html

TSB said...

GWB: That Wired report on Juan Cole's blog was great. We've got more technology than ever before for national security work, but - I think - less and less analytical capability and strategic purpose. We can't do much with the data we have now, but we'll go get 100 times more of it, just because we can.

FYI on van Buren, I was referring to his remark about Hillary Clinton violently self-pleasuring her [obscene term for female genatalia], which he speculated resembled a dried-up peach pit, while watching videos of Qaddafi being killed. That's the basis for the official charge against him of 'displaying bad judgment.'

Van Buren defends himself by saying he wanted to use an image that was as obscene as Hillary's laughing over Qaddafi's death. Okay, but then, why did he remove it from his website later that day? Removing it seems to show he knew he had, indeed, used poor judgment.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/post/state-dept-moves-to-fire-peter-van-buren-author-of-book-critical-of-iraq-reconstruction-effort/2012/01/31/gIQAiXNSCS_blog.html

He later made a similar remark about Michele Bachmann, and took that one off his site after a friendly commenter suggested that a habit of bad-mouthing women would demean his message.

Anonymous said...

OK, I missed those obscene remarks.
but I don't read all his stuff.

How about this atty for Sergeant Bales? I like this guy... he is aiming to put the war on trial which I think is a discussion worth having. They don't seem to have dealt with the crime scene evidence and waited for weeks to interview any witnesses. I say Lariam will take the rap and Bales will walk. gwb
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017933125_browne08m.html

TSB said...

Van Buren removed that particular remark very quickly. The day he posted it was the same day he was escorted out of Department headquarters; I don't know whether the post or the escorting came first. News stories on Van Buren have tap danced around the substance of the remark and haven't repeated it or fully described it, so most people who follow Van Buren probably assume it was much milder than it was.

Regarding Bates, a defense of diminished capacity based on required DOD medications would really be sensational. There are only two kinds of defense for his charges, either SODDI (Some Other Dude Did It) or diminished capacity, so that strategy makes sense.

Anonymous said...

TSB: I found this in the slush pile today. (Washington Examiner)

Vice President Joe Biden described former Saturday Night Live comedian, Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., as a "leading legal scholar," presumably in the Senate, today.gwb

TSB said...

I find it hard enough to believe Franken is a U.S. Senator. Maybe Biden meant that in the 'he isn't a legal scholar, but he plays one on TV' sense?