The Story:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1207267695...s_us_whats_news

Clinton Aide Met on Trade Deal
Penn Held Talks
On Colombia Pact
Opposed by Senator



An OPINION on that story, which does ask an interesting question:

http://ruralvotes.com/thefield/?p=998

Remember, just a few weeks ago, one day before the Ohio primary, on March 3, when Senator Clinton - with an assist from Canadian officials - made a mountain out of Canadian press reports that an unpaid economic advisor to Senator Obama had reportedly met with a low-level Canadian diplomat?

Here is what she said:

“If you come to Ohio and you go give speeches that are very critical of NAFTA… and then we find out that your chief economic adviser has gone to a foreign government and basically done the old wink-wink – ‘Don’t pay any attention, this is just political rhetoric’ — I think that raises serious questions…

“I would ask you to look at this story and substitute my name for Sen. Obama’s name and see what you would do with this story… Just ask yourself [what you would do] if some of my advisers had been having private meetings with foreign governments.“

Now we get to find out.

The Wall Street Journal reports:"



How many 'degrees of speparation' are enough?

I am so glad that Gore has put distance between he and the Clintons. The more that I hear and read about, it makes me wonder what did they really do in the election of 2000. I bet Gore knows more and is not telling. He is such an outstanding individual.

Can anyone tell me it's OK for Hillary to misrepresent Obama's position on NAFTA and insinuate his people are doing backroom deals with Canada? At the same time Senator Clinton claims to be an early opponent of NAFTA, while her White House records and people who were there saw her promoting the passage of NAFTA.

:!:

http://current.com/items/88878461_hillary_...nafta_and_trade

http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/local/long...keds_nafta.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/19/c...a-_n_92434.html

No Wayne, it's no OK for Hillary to misrepresent Obama, but it seems to be okay for some people. Everytime fingers are pointed at Obama, it turns out that Hillary is guilty of twice as worse.

She builds up this sniper fire story. She builds up her experience to 35 years. She builds up her record on what she did for health care. It seems like SHE is all fluff and NO substance, to me. Of course, she is intelligent but everytime she opens her mouth, I even question that. :blink:

The amazing world of politic speak- Penn not as "out" as it may have been presented:

Penn: Never Out, Still In

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archiv...out_then_in.php

07 Apr 2008 01:39 pm

"Demoted Hillary Clinton strategist Mark Penn may no longer have the coveted title of chief strategist, but he remains a key member of the campaign's senior staff.

Mr. Penn took part on the campaign's morning message call this morning, as usual.

This afternoon, he is also scheduled to be on a call with Clinton and other aides to begin to prepare for Saturday's presidential debate in Philadelphia.

Mr. Penn "is still going to be very much involved," a senior campaign official said.

Indeed, it is not clear precisely what Mr. Penn's title-change entails, other than a public rebuke, although the official said that "there is a difference between being in charge and being one of many voices."

It's not. But both sides are doing it and both sides should stop it.

Is there anyone in Clinton's circle that isn't lobbyist/pro-NAFTA-any-trade-agreement?



Meet the Clinton Campaign's New Boss. Worse than the Old Boss

http://www.progressivedailybeacon.com/?p=655

"The Clinton campaign sort-a-kinda fired its chief political strategist, Mark Penn, for double dealing on trade policy. He'll still be advising and polling for the campaign, which is pretty much what he was doing before he was forced to walk the plank … in a truly slick Clintonian non-plank-walking way. Penn's replacement, Geoff Garin, it seems isn't much better. Matter of fact, when it comes to supporting bad trade policy, Garin maybe worse than Penn. At least he certainly has less respect for the American worker and the American people."

"Consider his commentary with regard to the North American Free Trade Agreement, a hot-button issue on the 2008 campaign trail.Back in 1993, when the Clinton administration was gearing up to promote the pact, Garin told The New York Times that Bill Clinton could close the deal by playing on the ignorance of Americans regarding trade policy in general and NAFTA in particular. …

As the congressional votes on NAFTA drew closer, Garin shifted to a new argument.

Opponents of the deal driven by fear and emotion, he told the Times. "They feel their livelihoods are at stake."

Backers of the agreement were more thoughtful. "The supporters tend to deal with NAFTA on a more intellectual level," the pollster explained."

......

"It turns out that the critics of NAFTA in the labor, farm, environmental and human rights movements — who said the deal would harm U.S. industries, depress wages in the U.S. and Mexico, undermine Mexico's farm economy thus spurring immigration and encourage an economic race to the bottom that would eventually see both the U.S. and Mexico losing jobs to China and other Asian countries – were the ones dealing with the issue on an intellectual level.

They were so intellectual, in fact, that they got just about everything right. … The Nation"

The hits just keep coming. Did Clinton believe the GOP wouldn't get all this figured out if she was the nominee?

HRC Colombia ties don't stop with Penn

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0408/9433.html


"Mark Penn isn’t the only Hillary Rodham Clinton supporter on the wrong side of the Colombia trade agreement.

The Democratic-leaning advocacy firm the Glover Park Group, former home to Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson, signed a $40,000 per month contract with the government of Colombia in April of 2007 to promote the very agreement that Clinton now rails against on the presidential campaign trail.

That means Glover Park Group was arguing the same position as Penn's firm. The contentious Clinton strategist and Burson-Marsteller chief executive lost his campaign job over the weekend after The Wall Street Journal revealed that he’d met with Colombian officials to plot strategy on the pact.

Several other Glover Park employees have deep connections with the Clintons, including founding partner Joe Lockhart, who served as the White House press secretary under President Bill Clinton, and Joel Johnson, who was a senior communications adviser in the Clinton White House.

Six employees of Glover Park Group contributed a total of nearly $20,000 to Clinton’s campaign in 2007, according to data kept by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Wolfson, who is set to take over many responsibilities from the departing Penn, resigned from Glover Park last year to avoid conflicts of interest but retains an equity interest in the firm."

......

This does concern Al Gore- and the difference between Gore and Clinton :good:


Backstory: Colombia, Clinton Inc.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/polit...a_and_clin.html

Posted April 9, 2008 6:42 AM
The Swamp

By John Riley

Following the excellent links in this Huffington Post story on Bill Clinton's ties to Colombia and lucrative trade-related speaking fees, we find:

In May, 2007, Colombia -- looking to overcome Democrats' resistance to a free trade deal -- hires Mark Penn's firm, Burson Marsteller, for $300,000. Penn is Hillary's chief strategist at the time, and the hiring is publicized.

In May, 2007, Colombia -- pursuing the same goals -- puts the Glover Park Group, partly owned by Hillary spokesman Howard Wolfson, on a $30,000 a month retainer. Wolfson is already working for Hillary, and that deal is also publicized.

In May 2007, Colombia announces plans for a gala in June to honor former President Bill Clinton, with President Alvaro Uribe (left) to honor Clinton with a "Colombia is Passion" award in return for his support. While Al Gore backed out of an April, 2007, event with Uribe because of his opposition to Colombia's human and labor rights practices, Clinton attends the June gala, and says in his speech, "We need to remember that we are friends."

.......

We're still skeptical about the significance of this story to ordinary voters. But if Penn's demotion was supposed to suggest to her blue-collar labor base that she was shocked and surprised that a top aide was working for Colombia, it just won't wash. The ties of Colombia and Clinton Inc. seem to have been pretty open and obvious.

It was hardly a secret.