2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumHillary Clinton, Saudi Arabia and Weapons Manufacturers.
Last edited Sun Jan 17, 2016, 12:56 PM - Edit history (3)
I would like to preface this, by saying that I never intended to post it. Yes I posted about it frequently in comments, but few have noticed.
I changed my mind after Clinton's announcement that she wanted more sanctions on Iran. That was the straw that broke the camels back, so to speak.
So anyway, what connects Clinton to Saudi Arabia and Weapon's Manufacters?
Her Campaign Chairman, John Podesta.
The Podesta Group is a lobbying and public affairs firm based in Washington, D.C.. It was founded in 1988 by brothers John Podesta and Tony Podesta and has previously been known as Podesta Associates, podesta.com and PodestaMattoon.
The firm reported earning $27.4 million in lobbying fees in 2011.[6] In 2007, Chairman Tony Podesta was ranked by his peers as the third most influential lobbyist in Washington.
So John co-owns it with his brother, who is known as a super-lobbyist.
Their client list includes:
Wal-Mart, BP and Lockheed Martin."[5] Other clients include Abdisalam Omer, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, Amgen, Bank Of America, Cherokee Nation (Casinos), Cintas, Covidien, Duke Energy, Egypt, Genentech, General Dynamics, Harrah's Entertainment, Heineken, Merck, Michelin, National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), National Public Radio (NPR), Nestle, Novartis, Orange County, Florida, Raytheon, Reed Elsevier, Republic of Albania, Republic of Georgia, Sallie Mae, Sunoco, Synthetic Genomics, TJX Companies, Tyco Electronics, Republic of Kenya and United Technologies.[8][9][10]
In addition, the Podesta Group acts as a lobbyist for Egypt on U.S. policies of concern, activities in Congress and the Executive branch, and developments on the U.S. political scene generally,' according to forms filed with the Justice Department in 2009."[5][11]
They also received revenue of $900,000 over the last two years from the "European Centre for a Modern Ukraine, a Brussels-based organization sympathetic to Yanukovich and his political party".[12]
The Podesta Group also carries out public relations work for the government of Azerbaijan for a monthly fee of USD 60,000 plus expenses.[13] According to human rights watchdog organizations, the government of Azerbaijan in mid-2014 has "intensified its already authoritarian crackdown on independent political and other public voices" and has imprisoned at least 40 political activists, human rights defenders, journalists and others "on various trumped-up charges, including drug possession, tax evasion, and even treason".
They also represent Saudi Arabia.
https://theintercept.com/2015/10/05/saudi-arabia-continues-hire-politically-connected-american-lobbyists-public-relation-firms/
"U.S. lobbying, PR firms give human rights abusers a friendly face"
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/12/17/19051/us-lobbying-pr-firms-give-human-rights-abusers-friendly-face
From Azerbaijan to Saudi Arabia, countries with poor human rights records spend millions to polish public image
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/12/17/19051/us-lobbying-pr-firms-give-human-rights-abusers-friendly-face
Hillary moneyman highlights new Saudi connection
"The Saudi government, under increasing criticism over civilian casualties from its airstrikes in Yemen and a harsh crackdown on political dissidents at home, has just hired a powerhouse Washington, D.C., lobbying firm headed by a top Hillary Clinton fundraiser an arrangement that critics charge raises fresh questions about the influence that foreign government lobbyists could have on her campaign."
http://mikeisikoffyahoo.tumblr.com/post/131300950476/hillary-moneyman-highlights-new-saudi-connection
Here's just the most recent sale from Lockhead Martin to SA.
"Lockheed Martin Corp. said Tuesday that it could seal a $11.25 billion deal to sell naval ships to Saudi Arabia as early as next year, countering the likely impact on domestic orders if the Pentagon is pressed into a prolonged stopgap budget."
http://www.wsj.com/articles/lockheed-martin-reports-drop-in-profit-1445344185
General Dynamics:
"$15-billion deal ... under which ... General Dynamics Land Systems will sell armoured vehicles to Saudi Arabia."
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/saudi-arabia-armoured-vehicle-deal-canada-stephen-harper-1.3244290
Raytheon:
"The US Department of Defense announced on 24 July that it had awarded a USD180 million contract to Raytheon's Missile Systems division to produce 355 AGM-154C-1 Joint Stand-Off Weapons (JSOWs) for Saudi Arabia and another 200 for the US Navy."
http://www.janes.com/article/53221/saudi-jsow-contract-awarded-to-raytheon
Tell me more you say?
"A dozen lobbyists bundled $882,000 for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee during the first quarter, records show, while one organization bundled $18,500 for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Top lobbyist bundlers for the DSCC this year include Democratic super lobbyist Tony Podesta of the Podesta Group ($145,000),"
That's John Brother, donating 145,000 to the DSCC:
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/04/25/12567/lobbyists-make-it-rain-democrats
Podesta has also lobbied for Mubarak:
http://www.salon.com/2011/01/28/egypt_in_washington/
And what was John doing BEFORE he was the Chairman of Hillary's campaign? Well... this is the part that has made me very wary about posting this... you see: Podesta is one of the most common faces in the Democratic Party and has been for decade.
He was:
Counsellor to President Obama
Head of the Obama/Biden transition team
Chief of staff, twice for Bill clinton
Counselor to Democratic Leader Senator Thomas Daschle
Podesta founded and is currently Chair of the Center for American Progress
"The president and chief executive officer of CAP is Neera Tanden, who worked for the Obama and Clinton administrations and for Hillary Clintons campaigns."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_American_Progress
And it runs in the family. This is Heather Podesta:
In the 2012 federal election cycle, Podesta and her colleagues bundled more than $300,000 on behalf of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the Senate Majority PAC, and individual Democratic candidates.[7]
The National Journal ranked Podesta as one of Washingtons Most Influential Women,[8] GQ named her one of the 50 Most Powerful People in Washington,[9] and The Hill has repeatedly named her one of its Top Lobbyists.[10] In 2010, the National Law Journal ranked Podesta as one of Washington's Most Influential Women Lawyers.[11]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Podesta
---
I wish Hillary wasn't trying to reinflame tensions with Iran, but when I look at who she has chosen to be her campaign chairman, I am in no way surprised.
EDIT: This article I just noticed has a pretty good overview of the direct relationship between Hillary and Saudi Arabia:
Under Hillary Clinton, the State Department approved $165 billion worth of commercial arms sales to 20 nations whose governments had given millions to the Clinton Foundation.
Israeli officials were agitated, reportedly complaining to the Obama administration that this substantial enhancement to Saudi air power risked disrupting the region's fragile balance of power. The deal appeared to collide with the State Departments documented concerns about the repressive policies of the Saudi royal family.
But now, in late 2011, Hillary Clintons State Department was formally clearing the sale, asserting that it was in the national interest. At a press conference in Washington to announce the departments approval, an assistant secretary of state, Andrew Shapiro, declared that the deal had been a top priority for Clinton personally. Shapiro, a longtime aide to Clinton since her Senate days, added that the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army have excellent relationships in Saudi Arabia.
These were not the only relationships bridging leaders of the two nations. In the years before Hillary Clinton became secretary of state, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia contributed at least $10 million to the Clinton Foundation, the philanthropic enterprise she has overseen with her husband, former president Bill Clinton. Just two months before the deal was finalized, Boeing -- the defense contractor that manufactures one of the fighter jets the Saudis were especially keen to acquire, the F-15 -- contributed $900,000 to the Clinton Foundation, according to a company press release.
The Saudi deal was one of dozens of arms sales approved by Hillary Clintons State Department that placed weapons in the hands of governments that had also donated money to the Clinton family philanthropic empire, an International Business Times investigation has found.
Under Clinton's leadership, the State Department approved $165 billion worth of commercial arms sales to 20 nations whose governments have given money to the Clinton Foundation, according to an IBTimes analysis of State Department and foundation data. That figure -- derived from the three full fiscal years of Clintons term as Secretary of State (from October 2010 to September 2012) -- represented nearly double the value of American arms sales made to the those countries and approved by the State Department during the same period of President George W. Bushs second term.
The State Department formally approved these arms sales even as many of the deals enhanced the military power of countries ruled by authoritarian regimes whose human rights abuses had been criticized by the department. Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar all donated to the Clinton Foundation and also gained State Department clearance to buy caches of American-made weapons even as the department singled them out for a range of alleged ills, from corruption to restrictions on civil liberties to violent crackdowns against political opponents.
http://www.ibtimes.com/clinton-foundation-donors-got-weapons-deals-hillary-clintons-state-department-1934187
Nyan
(1,192 posts)Isn't it just amazing that NONE of the MSM news channels report on these facts?
But then again, why would they question power? They're there to serve the power so they could go to the same parties with them and keep earning 6 figure salaries.
Politicians and lobbyists are the insiders and the so-called journalists are wannabes. That's the sad state of affairs at this point.
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)These companies hire Podesta to - in part - make sure the media doesn't report on this.
I sure wish Bernie would say it though. :/
CharlotteVale
(2,717 posts)EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)Appreciated.
sonofspy777
(360 posts)There's a big flashing "for sale" sign on her forehead.
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)Business as usual.
Which is the sad thing.
Locrian
(4,522 posts)She's a true believer in "money and power" are the only ways to "get things done". Never mind that you eventually have to "pay the piper" when the human toll comes due.
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)The piper doesn't seem to work for civilians in poor countries.
A Simple Game
(9,214 posts)of the rich, powerful, connected and their hanger-ons, then there is the America of the disposable ones or the 99%. And you are right, but it's not just in poor countries. The piper gets paid by the non-elite but works for the elite who rarely if ever suffer from the consequences of their mistakes. The 99% pay with our money, our bodies, and even with our lives while the 1% party and plot.
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)And sadly apathy and ignorance breed more apathy and ignorance.
99Forever
(14,524 posts)To paraphrase:
We came, we saw, we bombed, we droned, they died, we fattened our bank accounts.
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)I'm not sure which is worse.
Saying that, look at Yemen where the US is probably committing war crimes as we speak. All just to help our "ally" SA.
Thats right, we're actively starving millions of children, and helping al Qaeda and ISIS in Yemen. At the behest of SA.
I'm sure there will be no blowback.
Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)By the ignorance and apathy of US citizens.
The best thing we can do to stop it is to let everyone know it's happening.
Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)It's bizarre.
People still fucking justify the Iraq war. It's sickening.
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)don't care...
apathy and ignorance are the main engines of perpetual war... more so than even greed
Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)It's an evil, malignant regime.
And fuck the evil assholes who sell weapons to them.
FlatBaroque
(3,160 posts)EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)By pretty much our entire political class including almost all Democrats.
Ferd Berfel
(3,687 posts)This needs to go viral.
How the hell can I even hold my hold me nose and support her( should a tragedy occur)? She will be WORSE than status quo.
goddamnit.
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)And feel free to share it if you think people need to know. I do. Obviously.
Ferd Berfel
(3,687 posts)and posted it on my webpage. I've also copies the entire thing and printed it to hand out at a Bernie Debate watch tonight. I also like "pamphleteering" - leaving printouts like this around work, in the doctors waiting room (Wednesday), waiting room where I get my oil changed, etc, etc
This needs to go viral
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)That's amazing!
That you so much!
And keep it up!
senz
(11,945 posts)Thank you, Ferd. I love your tactics.
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)FlatBaroque
(3,160 posts)not get Ukraine as a client???
Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)which to my eye, doesn't fit with these disgusting actions of his PR group.
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)😆
Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)don't understand
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)between a desire for "disclosure" and any other beliefs of political ideals?
Most of the right-wing nutters on conspiracy sites like GLP also want disclosure AND They think "Obama is a secret Muslim trying to destroy America go Trump".
I've never seen any sort of reliable correlation between ufos and liberalism or progressivism.
Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)To clarify, I don't think UFO disclosure is a nutty right-wing belief.
I think it spans the political spectrum and it is something I'm interested in as well.
I was just thinking someone interested in UFOs might be less of a war monger.
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)I totally get that...
I have just never made that connection...
if you go to say godlikeproductions and look at a few threads, then search the sire for disclosure, you'll see a bunch of racist warmongering trump supporters demanding disclosure... :/
I'm sure many amazing people are also interested in it, but ... I just don't associate it with liberals I guess...
cantbeserious
(13,039 posts)Let there be no war that HRC and cronies cannot profit from.
As POTUS - HRC will be the uber capitalist from Hell.
Divernan
(15,480 posts)Sharks and remora fish work together. A not so picky eater, the remora fish attaches itself to the shark.
Remoras attach themselves to the shark and eat the leftover food remains that they can find. This would fall into the commensalism symbiotic.
In other words, the Clinton Family and the Podesta Family - perfect together.
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)It's a mutually beneficial relationship that ignores what's best for America.
Very sad.
starroute
(12,977 posts)I find in checking my files that as early as 2004, Robert Dreyfuss writing about the Center for American Progress in The Nation had stated, "In looking at Podestas center theres no escaping the imprint of the Clintons. Its not completely wrong to see it as a shadow government, a kind of Clinton White-House-in-exile or a White House staff in readiness for President Hillary Clinton.
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)Pretending that all those lobbyists working in the White House or funding the Party don't want anything is absurd.
starroute
(12,977 posts)I can't recall any other administration that gave signs of having a detailed strategy to get back in power less than four years after leaving office. And on googling, I find that by 2003 there were already trial balloons about Hillary running the following year:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1440149/Hillary-Clinton-urged-to-take-on-troubled-Bush-in-2004-contest.html
30 Aug 2003
Democrats, who have been in the doldrums since the September 11 attacks sent Mr Bush's poll ratings soaring into territory that made him seem impregnable in 2004, have recently begun to believe that the President could be in trouble. . . .
"Hillary could do it," said a Democratic official. "She could rid us of Bush. Launching a campaign now would transform the 2004 race and leave the White House quaking. But will she run? I just don't know." . . .
Mrs Clinton has repeatedly ruled out running in 2004, stating that she is concentrating solely on being re-elected to the Senate in 2006, the end of her first term in Congress.
But it is an open secret that she has been laying the foundations for a White House challenge in 2008 when, until now, her strategists had assumed that Mr Bush would be stepping down after being re-elected comfortably in 2004.
Divernan
(15,480 posts)They really seem to have gone to ground, as one says in the fox hunting world. That's when the fox has taken shelter in a hole. The huge, negative response to the Chelsea debacle seems to have been the nail in the coffin. There's a "farewell, mean ole DU" thread over in their protected group. I never post there or would have said, "Good. Don't let the door hit you on the way out!"
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)Is to get Bernie the nod.
Otherwise a lot of people are gonna have to hold their nose tightly in November. Or sit it out.
BeanMusical
(4,389 posts)All that foaming at the mouth must be messy.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)...that THIS crosses the line, and they can no longer support the War Mongering,
and undercutting the current Democratic administration.
Just ONE.
...but I probably wouldn't see it because I have most of them on Ignore.
Armstead
(47,803 posts)Podesta is just typical of a system that has devolved to a point where such connections and backscratching and revolving-doors take place are just business as usual.
The upper echelon oligarchs and their lackeys move very comfortably from well-paid positions in government and politics and business and finance, and lost the ability to notices the inherent conflicts of interest and contradictions that raises.
The fight to restore some level of democracy is what Bernie represents. The fight to keep it in place is what Clinton represents.
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)That's exactly right.
She's representative of a system.
Fast Walker 52
(7,723 posts)BeanMusical
(4,389 posts)Corrupt to the core.
bvar22
(39,909 posts)DURec,
and saved for future reference.
Thanks!
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)Glad to hear it!
LWolf
(46,179 posts)EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)Appreciated
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)power to start wars and make decisions, or influence them, than the American people? Damn you know the system has been totally corrupted, but just when you think you know enough,, it just keeps getting worse.
You should not worry about telling the truth. It is the only way the people can stop the corruption.
With the deregulation of the media, the people don't get the truth. Thanks Clinton for that.
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)Is that the feeling of helplessness that so many people get when they learn these things leads to apathy which is the opposite of what we need.
And it's not just for us.
Our country. Our taxes. Our elected leaders. Our military. All of these frequently do great harm around the world.
We've abdicated our responsibility for the biggest weapon the world has ever seen.
Right now that weapon is aimed at Yemen, where it's being used to bomb civilians. Women and children. We're also enforcing a naval blockade - and have been for months - that is LITERALLY staving MILLIONS of children. The UN and aid agencies have been warming us for months that these are war crimes. Collective punishment, etc.
Our main reaction? We killed a UN investigation into our ally Saudi Arabia on whose behalf we're acting.
And guess what:
ISIS is steadily gaining strength in another Middle Eastern country while everyone looks the other way
http://uk.businessinsider.com/isis-in-yemen-2015-12?r=US&IR=T
As Yemens Civil War Rages, Al Qaeda Gains
http://www.wsj.com/articles/as-yemens-civil-war-rages-al-qaeda-gains-1449160723
We're literally helping ISIS and al Qaeda.
While:
SIX MILLION people are on the brink of starvation as war ravages the desperate country
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3177550/Heartbreaking-images-reveal-human-face-hunger-Yemen-SIX-MILLION-people-brink-starvation-war-ravages-desperate-country.html
While:
The US State Department has approved the sale of $1.29 billion (£848.6m) worth of bombs to Saudi Arabia, as its military carries out air strikes in neighbouring Yemen.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34838937
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,523 posts)I am sickened by everything I've read here.
EVERYTHING.
EdwardBernays
(3,343 posts)And should make you deeply concerned about your country.
olddots
(10,237 posts)JRLeft
(7,010 posts)senz
(11,945 posts)That, for president? No no no no no....
JRLeft
(7,010 posts)senz
(11,945 posts)Surely someone in the MSM could cover this story more widely. It needs it.
Thank you, EdwardBernays.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)It's always a pleasure to see what you can put together. Reality is hard work.