A series of emails provided to the House Energy and Commerce Committee from individuals tied to Solyndra offer striking characterizations about running strategy with the White House to secure assistance for the now-bankrupt solar energy firm.
Emails among George Kaiser, head of the George Kaiser Family Foundation; Ken Levit, the executive director of the Foundation; and Steve Mitchell, who manages Argonaut Private Equity and was a member of Solyndra’s board; show that Vice President Joe Biden’s office were very gung-ho.
“They about had an orgasm in Biden’s office when we mentioned Solyndra,” reads a Feb. 27, 2010, email from Levit to Mitchell. A follow-up email from Mitchell to Levit later that day responds with: “That’s awesome! Get us a (Department of Energy) loan.”
According to exchanges obtained by Fox News, in an email from Mitchell to Kaiser on March 5, 2010, Mitchell writes that “it appears things are headed in the right direction and (Energy Secretary Steven) Chu is apparently staying involved in Solyndra’s application and continues to talk up the company as a success story.”
[…]
White House spokesman Eric Schultz said the document dump from the House Energy and Commerce Committee offers only “cherry-picked” emails.
“Even the documents cherry-picked by House Republicans today affirm what we have said all along: this loan was a decision made on the merits at the Department of Energy. Nothing in the 85,000 pages of documents produced thus far by the administration or in these four indicate any favoritism to political supporters. We wish that House Republicans were as zealous about creating jobs as they were about this oversight investigation,” he said.
Solyndra received a half billion dollars in loans from the Department of Energy even as questions were raised over whether the California-based firm would stay afloat. The company filed for bankruptcy in September just weeks after the administration weighed a bailout.
[…]
Writing to White House Counsel Kathryn Ruemmler regarding the panel’s recent subpoenas, Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Rep. Cliff Stearns, R-Fla., suggested seeming inconsistencies in White House responses.
“The White House has repeatedly stated that no political influence was brought to bear with regard to Solyndra, and that Mr. George Kaiser, a Solyndra investor and Obama fundraiser, never discussed Solyndra during any of his 17 visits to the White House. Documents recently obtained by the committee directly contradict those statements,” they wrote.
In the land of Unicorns, wishing something to be so is enough to make it so. And every boy gets to marry a Princess. With a tiny carbon footprint.
Unfortunately for progressives, they just can’t seem to get reality to bend to their will the way their imaginations do.
And we keep having to suffer for it.
Lord God Almighty, say it isn’t so:
If this is true, everyone with the remotest knowledge of it—or the remotest suspicion of it—should be drawn and quartered.
What’s worse, there are people all over the Internet saying that Paterno “did his duty” by reporting it up the chain of command, and so it’s the people above him who are to blame.
WTF?
Anyone with that attitude cannot be trusted to protect kids against predators. Anyone who wouldn’t have followed-up on the allegations with a baseball bat or at least a call to police needs to do a helluva lot of soul-searching. Or at least lay off the pr0n.
And every
boygirl gets to marry a Princess. With a tiny carbon footprint.That’s reality setting in, right there.
His duty included going to the police, not just telling his bosses.
His legal duty did not require him to do anything more than he did. Depending on exactly what was told to him, his moral duty would have required more of him.
The MFM continues to ignore Solyndra. Imagine what the coverage would be like if Team R had done this.
That guy who said he saw the kid getting molested in the shower? Had a moral duty to immediately beat Sandusky unconscious and then drive the kid to his parents while calling the cops.
That’s still one of the most shocking details of the story to me. That guy who just let it happen. How can one be wired in such a way that this doesn’t provoke an instantaneous, murderous rage?
Depending on exactly what was told to him, his moral duty would have required more of him.
Doesn’t matter what they told him. If I found out my superiors weren’t acting on an eye-witness account of child rape, I’d take matters into my own hands until resolution.
Even if it cost me my job.
Some people are actually weighing a storied coaching legacy against child rape and not knowing what side to come down on.
How can one be wired in such a way that this doesn’t provoke an instantaneous, murderous rage?
Even if you were to shocked or freaked out to grab a baseball bat or otherwise intervene, you still take a deep breath, dial 911, and report a felony in progress.
I’ve been going ALL CAPS on a couple of threads at The Corner. I can’t believe that people are finding gray areas and angles and nuances in this case. You can certainly find fault with the decision to not fire MORE people, but that’s it.
There’s even one douchebag over there who insists that all this outrage is mere posturing, that of course child molestation is wrong, but to express it in so many words is a superfluous exercise in moral preening.
All I can think is, “Cripes, he’s one of them.”
Doesn’t matter what he was told? Really?!
Between political correctness, the legal culture, years and years of bad television melodrama, and the fact that (if I’m remembering what I heard in passing —I’m not following this story closely) he was just a student assistant and Sandusky was whatever he was in Penn football (—I follow college football even less closely), my guess is he probably figured by the time the story reached university and state officialdom, Sandusky would have caught him raping a boy in the showers. Who ya gonna believe, Sandusky or some nobody?
Everything, everything in our culture is geared toward keeping the individual from acting as an individual.
Doesn’t matter what he was told? Really?!
What could he have been told that would absolve him of following through to make sure nothing bad was actually happening?
Just with regard to Mark Madden — he’s a blowhard “sports talk” guy in Pittsburgh (where I live) with a penchant for getting himself fired for saying stupid, false things.
There’s a lot to hate and scorn at Penn St. right now, but let’s not get too fired up about a wider conspiracy until there’s some evidence from a more credible source than Ben Roethlisberger’s biggest fan, who only resorted to “sports talk” radio when he got canned from his pro-wresting announcer’s gig.
Though it’s interesting: at The Corner, the Usual Trolls and the friendlies are in total agreement over this one. It’s just the people who don’t seem to get the seriousness of the crimes and the moral depravity of not stopping it who are causing problems.
Even Hewitt, who did his whole show on the case, said “Paterno’s a good man, but…”
No, Hugh. If you don’t have the moral courage (and moral compass) to make sure child rape is not happening, you are by definition Not A Good Man, regardless of whatever else you’ve done.
As I said at Moe Lane’s place, I disapprove of the use of fists in such a case. The risks to you are too high; there’s no reason you should suffer even bruised knuckles.
Get the victim to safety, then empty a clip of your favorite caliber into the rapist.
I am a bad person. I have insufficient moral outrage, apparently. A coach, twice removed from a heinous act, magically gets some obligation placed on him for the actions of someone else. The idea that you don’t even give a shit about what he was told is shocking. Hey coach. I saw Cisch C on the shower with someone. Didn’t seem right, but didn’t know if I should tell you until I talked to my parents. Just thought you should know.
My children should be taken from me immediately.
Yep.
Going to the police is the minimum if you’ve only got second hand evidence. If the local (or university) police won’t do anything, then the state. If the state won’t do anything, figure out how to get the feds involved. If you can’t do that, figure out how to get it to the press to force the police to get involved.
Had he been slitting the throats of children in the university showers, would there be any question? And if not, then do you really want to be in the position of saying, “well, he was just raping them, not like he was slitting their throats”?
You left out the part about the “someone” being underage, bent over, and being sodomized.
No, Crawford. Do you know that is what he was told? No, you do not. If he was told what I typed, instead of what you are assuming, would you feel the same? Usually this place doesn’t like to get their OUTRAGE on.
Do we know what he was told? I haven’t followed this outside of what I hear on the radio.
I obviously condone child rape and slitting baby throats. And I kick puppies. Brb, gotta go starve an old person, and oppresss a minority.
Bh – no, we do not.
Bh – not only do we not know, but it doesn’t matter what he was told.
What he claims he was told I’d in the grand jury transcript and involves suggestions of a sexual nature which both mcqueary and Paterno acknowledge which is why Paterno wasn’t charged with perjury. The other two were because the changed the allegations ad told to them to be much less incendiary thereby excusing their non actions in going to the cops. The act that belies their testimony though is that Sandusky wad banned from bringing kids onto the campus in 2002. Just after the incident in question.
Excuse the typos freaking iphone
If you’ve been listening to Rush, it sounds like (to me anyway) Rush is intimating Sandusky’s predilections were something of an open secret.
With respect to PSU, it reminds me too much of the aphorism usually attributed to Edmund Burke: All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Argh
That is all.
BECAUSE YOU WHITE NEOCON FACISTS WONT LET A TRULY INLIGHINED LEADER LEAD, YOU CREATE THESE SITUATIONS!!!
*SPIT!*
“INLIGHINED”?
I DEMAND you invest in a dictionary.
“INLIGHINED”
Someone needs to lighten up on the crystal meth.
And for your information, little missy, I am nearly orange from all of the spray tan.
I mean “facist” could be a typo. But “inlighined”? Really?
Inlighined? Is that a euphemism for what’s going on in your mouth just before you *SPIT!*?
I’m not sure why she linked to a yahoo sports article. I think she’s off her meds, to be honest.
“…you create these situations!!!”
Now, I get three there, not two. But whatever. So, is it the ticket purchase to see the ballgame?
If he was told what I typed
What, this?
Hey coach. I saw Coach C in the shower with someone. [ed.— someone? WITH A KID!] Didn’t seem right, but didn’t know if I should tell you until I talked to my parents. Just thought you should know.
Cripes, I hate pronouns.
It doesn’t matter what Paterno’s higher-ups told him after he informed them. If they said “we’ll take it from here” or “say anything and you’ll lose your job” or “let’s not ruin our stellar reputation,” then he still had a moral obligation to make sure they followed through.
Even so, if all Paterno got from the grad student is what you typed, he STILL had a moral obligation to check it out.
WE DEMAND KAYINMAINE CEASE TO INCOHERE!!!
*snicker*
It’s not important, but I still wonder why Kay has determined to parade her retardation here? I mean, what possible good does she imagine she does either herself, or us? Just not seeing it.
Whenever I think of her, which is seldom, I think of the guy with the “Morans” sign.
sdferr — ‘feets is tolerated, and is even less coherent.
Wait. Kayinmaine was for real?!
That was wrong what you said about Happyfeet and you should apologize.
Happyfeet is one of the reasons I read this blog.
I like happyfeet plenty myself Rob, for lots of reasons. But then, I don’t take his political views all that personally, nor chase their implications as far as other folks (with possibly better analytic skills than I have) do.
She laid that same comment in Ace’s “Open Blog” thread, so I think it’s safe to assume that she won’t be engaging us.
WHAT YOU NAZIS CANT FIGUR OUT IS THAT THE PEOPLE HAVE TO RESORT TO KIDNAPPING THE *SPIT* RICH BECAUSE YOU WHITE NEOCONS AND THE FACIST CIA WONT LET HUGO SPREAD THE WELTH!!
Off the off topic topic, I’m more exercised about this story.
And I freely admit that it’s my own cultural assumptions and internal biases on display.
Link
Okay, this Kay thing is got to be an elaborate put on. Has to be.
I will accept no other answer.
A new Iraq War Was Wrong.
Kay reminds me of PEACE BE UPON HIM from a few years ago.
I liked witheld better.
He was a national treasure. Maybe someday if I’m bored, I’ll comb the archives for his comments and compile them into a book.
Or not so elaborate. Caps Lock? That’s so 90’s troll.
No one who calls so many people morons could possibly be carelessly misspelling words at the rate she does.
It has to be deliberate. Has to.
Like that Doctor whatshisname that used to frequent us. And Warren Bonesteel, although I’ve seen some evidence that he’s an actual person, and dead earnest about what he has to say.
It’s just that real people don’t pontificate like that, do they? I mean: with a straight face, and all?
Link
Oh yeah: Doctor Victorino de la Vega. That guy had to be screwing with us.
Señor LaRoche – Peace Be Upon Him was me ;-) the streets shal flow with the blood of the non-believers.
Kay is a whole different level of teh krazy.
Oh yeah, I’d forgotten that you were him, JD!
I know PIATOR wasn’t an elaborate put-one, but that dude holds a special place in my heart simply for the mocking scorn heaped upon him (and his incredibly stupid/pretentious handle).
And, of course, monkyboy’s “Ballon Fence” “Mile Hi Dirt Berm” insanity…
I will never forget monkeyboy. And actus. And semanticleo.
Really, we should have a lunatic-left pantheon.
Speaking of that, I was thinking about opening up comments again, just to bring back the energy this place used to have. But I’d need volunteers to police the threads to make sure that miscreants were tossed. At the same time, though, I kinda like the peace and quiet.
Thoughts?
I for one urged your adoption of the sign-in, in part for the sake of the peace and quiet, but yeah, have to admit I didn’t foresee the loss of energy. In some sense though, some great wasted gobs of that energy were spent merely in handling foolishness, which far from adding anything I thought valuable, sucked up the oxygen to no useful end at all. On the other hand, the remainder generated some great conversation, no question, and frequently. It’s a puzzle.
I miss the lunatics and the Zen of Comment Spam. My advice would be to enlist trusted help to deal with the onslaught of
any particularly tech savvy miscreants who might take it upon themselves to trash the jointhammerboi, should he wander back in.I like the quiet, just in that the commentariat – as it exists now – is funny, smart, and spirited when dealing with each other. When the insane were around, the commentariat spends more of its time dealing with the nonsense spewed by the insane rather than the interesting, challenging stuff you post. The posts themselves got lost because of the loonies and I HATE that. YMMV.
Fuck. No.
Too much negative energy.
If you have to do it, consider something like Open Line Friday. I humbly suggest Sling Shit Saturday.
Sling shit Saturday is an intriguing concept, but I don’t know how the mechanics could work. As far as inciting entertaining trolls to come by just on Saturday I mean…
Other than that, I’m with AFS @65.