US captive soldier in Afghanistan exchanged for 5 Guantanamo detainees

I judge by what Merkley's people say their internal polls say and what the real polls say. Nothing from thin air.

Timing is what links the release of the information to the national scandal.

 

Sure. It's very likely that, 5 or 6 months from the election, the incumbent felt the need to hide an unrelated national scandal that he had nothing to do with by releasing information about his not-yet-opponent.

Or maybe, since the primary was a week away, maybe the primary opponent felt like this might get the win for him?

Somehow the latter seems like a more plausible theory.

barfo

 

Yes, I hate women. Grrr! Women bad!

If you don't support a particular female candidate, you are engaged in a War on Women. That's not a completely stupid idea, is it?

barfo

 

Come on. That's the way you ALWAYS sit there.

Or, maybe 3 times.

Is she? I haven't met her. But I'll take your word for it.

Wow, I thought she was duped into doing them based on her eagerness to perform her favorite surgery. But I guess if she did them deliberately you've got a stronger case than me.

barfo

 

It's more likely that the VA debacle is going to sting democrats for the next 5-6 months.

 

You could be right, but my guess is not. This shit (at the VA) has been going on for decades, and while the Democrats definitely should have cleaned it up in the past few years while they've been in power, and didn't, it's unlikely that this will be the story of the 2014 election.

We'll see. But that doesn't mean your attempt to link stalking and VA is plausible in the least.

barfo

 

There's a lot of video tape of the democrats railing against W. Now they've been in charge for years and they've failed to keep their promises.

Not only that, the VA is the poster child for "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you."

And you're busy trying to talk about stalking vs. the VA debacle. At least the Democrats have you duped.

 

No doubt. I agree the D's should have cleaned it up. Absolutely they bear the blame for that.

However, the political implications of that are another story. So far, voters have not held either party accountable for the many, many VA scandals over the years.

barfo

 

http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/for-democrats-va-problems-pose-a-real-political-threat-20140515

Democrats who believe they have emerged unscathed from the Republican focus on Benghazi and the IRS—which President Obama has described as a "sideshow"—are not quite as confident about the burgeoning scandal at the Veterans Administration. As Congress opens hearings on allegations of secret "waiting lists" and veterans dying because of treatment delays, the political threat is considered very real.

"The one that I think hurts the Democrats the most is not Benghazi, is not IRS, is not Obamacare," said veteran Ohio Democratic strategist Jerry Austin. "It is the Veterans Administration. The idea of having wounded warriors dying and all these terrible stories here, that is something that no one can defend."

He added, "It looks like that is one that has legs."

---------------------


You go, Paul.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DE6DD113FF934A15752C0A9609C8B63

I know about a health care system that has been highly successful in containing costs, yet provides excellent care. And the story of this system's success provides a helpful corrective to anti-government ideology. For the government doesn't just pay the bills in this system--it runs the hospitals and clinics.

No, I'm not talking about some faraway country. The system in question is our very own Veterans Health Administration, whose success story is one of the best-kept secrets in the American policy debate.

 

USA Today for the win, again!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/06/05/bergdahl-afghanistan-va-scandal-column/9969187/

White House plots VA-scandal distractions: Column

In the wake of the VA scandal, President Obama mounts a series of PR moves.

...

Then a new crisis emerged — revelations that veterans seeking health care through the Veterans Administration were waiting months to be seen and that records were falsified to hide the facts.

Sensing correctly, if not a bit late, that this scandal could not only be seriously damaging to the president, but also to congressional Democrats running in the 2014 elections, the White House rolled out the PR limo. But after five-plus years of high mileage, it is running more like a rickety fire truck manned by the Keystone Kops.

 

That's cute. You are the one who attempted to link the two, as you know perfectly well.

barfo

 

Do you think the voters are going to hold Obama accountable? How are they going to do that, given that he's not ever running for office again?

That's why I say "the D's".

barfo

 

This is a very interesting rant, but I can't quite connect it to stalking, the VA, or reality.

barfo

 

You're the one making something out of a non-issue to help bury the VA scandal.

 

Am I "the one"? I didn't start the stalking story (here or elsewhere). And I haven't tried to shut anyone up about the VA. I don't think the two have anything to do with each other, and both can exist simultaneously. One is national, one is local.

barfo

 

As USA Today makes it clear, there is a concerted PR effort underway to move the VA scandal off the front burner.

She does a fundraising mailer based on the VA issue. Almost immediately the smears against her start.

In politics, you can tell who's winning the PR battle by what is in the news.