AI
Tuesday, December 04, 2012 8:53:48 PM
Ex-Aussi Murdoch tries to buy American presidency .. the nerve some say .. lol,
sorry, can't help but laugh .. as Juan Cole pointed out Ailes was backsliding
.. yeah, backslide bullshit .. this only for the photographs and one added tidbit ..
Fox boss urged Petraeus to run for president
Date December 5, 2012 - 9:12AM - 42 reading now
Jon Swaine
General Petraeus ... politely declined offer. Photo: AP
WASHINGTON: General David Petraeus was urged to run for the US presidency by one of Rupert Murdoch's American lieutenants and was told that the media tycoon would bankroll his campaign, it has emerged.
The former CIA director, who resigned last month after having an affair with his biographer, reportedly declined the offer to protect his personal life. "My wife would divorce me," he said. "And I love my wife."
"The big boss is bankrolling it. Roger's going to run it. And the rest of us are going to be your in-house."
Kathleen McFarland
General Petraeus learnt, while commanding US forces in Afghanistan last year, that the chairman of Mr Murdoch's Fox television network, Roger Ailes, wanted him to challenge Barack Obama.
Alleged campaign backers ... Roger Ailes, left, and Rupert Murdoch.
Mr Ailes, a Republican powerbroker who worked for Richard Nixon, told General Petraeus he should reject the job of CIA director – from which he resigned last month – and campaign for president.
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"I thought the Republican field needed to be shaken up and Petraeus might be a good candidate," Mr Ailes told Bob Woodward, the veteran Washington Post reporter, who disclosed news of the talks. Mr Ailes passed his message to General Petraeus via an emissary sent to interview him in Kabul 18 months ago for Fox News, Mr Murdoch's American news channel beloved by US conservatives.
"I've got something to say to you directly from Roger Ailes," Kathleen McFarland, a national security analyst for the channel, told Mr Petraeus. "He loves you and everyone at Fox loves you.
"He says that if you're offered chairman [of the joint chiefs of staff], take it," McFarland continued. "But if you're offered anything else, don't take it, resign in six months and run for president."
General Petraeus was at the time the subject of fevered speculation among Republicans, who believed that he could return to the US as a respected war hero able to defeat Mr Obama in last month's election. The President's decision to make him CIA director was seen by some as an attempt to sideline a potential rival.
McFarland's 90-minute conversation with General Petraeus was recorded, and a digital copy of it somehow made its way into Woodward's hands.
McFarland, a Pentagon adviser to the Reagan administration, did not take no for an answer. The next time General Petraeus was in New York, she said, he should come and "chat to Roger and Rupert Murdoch", to which General Petraeus, for whom this conversation was clearly not the first of its kind, replied: "Rupert's after me as well."
"Tell him [Mr Ailes] if I ever ran," Petraeus laughingly says as the meeting is wrapping up. "I'd take him up on his offer. He said he would quit Fox."
McFarland says that "the big boss" would "bankroll" the campaign – a clear reference to Mr Murdoch. "The big boss is bankrolling it. Roger's going to run it. And the rest of us are going to be your in-house."
The Fox News chief tried to make light of the recording in a telephone interview with Woodward on Monday. "It was more of a joke, a wiseass way I have," Mr Ailes said, before going on in time-honoured fashion to blame the messenger – in this case McFarland.
"She was way out of line. It's someone's fantasy to make me a kingmaker. It's not my job." [ wannabe kingmaker, will do ]
Spokesmen for Mr Murdoch declined to comment.
General Petraeus politely declined and said he needed to focus on his home life after commanding troops at war. "It's never going to happen," he said. "My wife would divorce me. And I love my wife".
General and Mrs Petraeus, who have been married for 37 years, are now seeking to repair their relationship.
Telegraph, London; Guardian News & Media
http://www.smh.com.au/world/fox-boss-urged-petraeus-to-run-for-president-20121205-2au2o.html
In your 1st reply to the one this post replies to this understatement of the year of Juan Cole's, in bold
"Murdoch is worth over $8 billion, and is the 38th wealthiest person in the US. He was a force behind George W. Bush’s and Tony Blair’s Iraq War, and his media have plumped for far right wing causes, climate change denial, and the far right wing Israeli Likud Party, and have promoted fearmongering and racism against minorities. Murdoch has a practical streak, so that he also backed Tony Blair and said he thought well of Barack Obama, but he is only pragmatic when he has to be, presented with centrist winners. He much prefers the George W. Bushes and the Newt Gingriches."
this bit feels likely
"Some observers wonder whether he did not already have personal skeletons in the closet by spring of 2011"
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=82107444
your 1st reply to that one ..
Petraeus gave Afghanistan away to NeoCon Think Tanks (Elliott)
"Like others we spoke with, Kagan said Petraeus and other generals have routinely brought think
tankers to both Iraq and Afghanistan, both to solicit outside advice and to shape the debate back home."
and this bit
"He said the military does not have a comprehensive list of think tank members who have visited the U.S. headquarters in Kabul."
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=82108955
they should have a list so the veracity of the claim of balance could be verified .. the shaping of the news brought this back ..
"For the first time that I know of in recent American history, the uniformed military have created what amounts to a pressure group of their own. Generals Petraeus and McChrystal are the leaders but, by influencing or controlling promotions panels, they have fostered the advancement of middle grade and junior officers who agree with them. Some have been brought into a group called “the Colonels’ Council.” They have participated in what Andrew Bacevich has called a “quasi-coup. A small group of individuals, none of them elected or holding appointed office, had joined forces with military dissidents to engineer a change in policy. Those with statutory responsibility for providing military advice to the president were sidelined. It was an impressive achievement, but its implications are troubling. If [retired General Jack] Keane’s manoeuvre proves a precedent, the chain of command will cease to exist.” 18 And numbers of retired senior officers have joined not only in what President Eisenhower called the “military-industrial complex” but have become the opinion-makers on foreign policy in the media. Private soldiers and non-commissioned officers have, at the same time, become a major component of the private armies of such groups as Blackwater and form an active part of the constituency of the right wing of the Republican Party." - http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=43834785
On Kagan. How well qualified is Fred Kagan for any Iraq/Afghanistan military advisory role?
Frederick Kagan is an Unqualified Fraud: Read His CV Here
Sun Jan 14, 2007 at 06:29 PM PST - by The Angry Rakkasan
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/01/14/290900/-Frederick-Kagan-is-an-Unqualified-Fraud-Read-His-CV-Here?detail=hide
Oh .. this one i hope hasn't been up before ..
The 10 strangest details of the David Petraeus affair [Updated]
This tangled, tortured story of sex, national security, and jealous emails shows that truth really is stranger than fiction
By Peter Weber | November 20, 2012
http://theweek.com/article/index/236330/the-7-strangest-details-of-the-davidnbsppetraeus-affair
is a bit thought provoking .. gawd .. who's working on a movie script?
.. chapter ???? .. the failed making of an American president ..
sorry, can't help but laugh .. as Juan Cole pointed out Ailes was backsliding
.. yeah, backslide bullshit .. this only for the photographs and one added tidbit ..
Fox boss urged Petraeus to run for president
Date December 5, 2012 - 9:12AM - 42 reading now
Jon Swaine
General Petraeus ... politely declined offer. Photo: AP
WASHINGTON: General David Petraeus was urged to run for the US presidency by one of Rupert Murdoch's American lieutenants and was told that the media tycoon would bankroll his campaign, it has emerged.
The former CIA director, who resigned last month after having an affair with his biographer, reportedly declined the offer to protect his personal life. "My wife would divorce me," he said. "And I love my wife."
"The big boss is bankrolling it. Roger's going to run it. And the rest of us are going to be your in-house."
Kathleen McFarland
General Petraeus learnt, while commanding US forces in Afghanistan last year, that the chairman of Mr Murdoch's Fox television network, Roger Ailes, wanted him to challenge Barack Obama.
Alleged campaign backers ... Roger Ailes, left, and Rupert Murdoch.
Mr Ailes, a Republican powerbroker who worked for Richard Nixon, told General Petraeus he should reject the job of CIA director – from which he resigned last month – and campaign for president.
Advertisement
"I thought the Republican field needed to be shaken up and Petraeus might be a good candidate," Mr Ailes told Bob Woodward, the veteran Washington Post reporter, who disclosed news of the talks. Mr Ailes passed his message to General Petraeus via an emissary sent to interview him in Kabul 18 months ago for Fox News, Mr Murdoch's American news channel beloved by US conservatives.
"I've got something to say to you directly from Roger Ailes," Kathleen McFarland, a national security analyst for the channel, told Mr Petraeus. "He loves you and everyone at Fox loves you.
"He says that if you're offered chairman [of the joint chiefs of staff], take it," McFarland continued. "But if you're offered anything else, don't take it, resign in six months and run for president."
General Petraeus was at the time the subject of fevered speculation among Republicans, who believed that he could return to the US as a respected war hero able to defeat Mr Obama in last month's election. The President's decision to make him CIA director was seen by some as an attempt to sideline a potential rival.
McFarland's 90-minute conversation with General Petraeus was recorded, and a digital copy of it somehow made its way into Woodward's hands.
McFarland, a Pentagon adviser to the Reagan administration, did not take no for an answer. The next time General Petraeus was in New York, she said, he should come and "chat to Roger and Rupert Murdoch", to which General Petraeus, for whom this conversation was clearly not the first of its kind, replied: "Rupert's after me as well."
"Tell him [Mr Ailes] if I ever ran," Petraeus laughingly says as the meeting is wrapping up. "I'd take him up on his offer. He said he would quit Fox."
McFarland says that "the big boss" would "bankroll" the campaign – a clear reference to Mr Murdoch. "The big boss is bankrolling it. Roger's going to run it. And the rest of us are going to be your in-house."
The Fox News chief tried to make light of the recording in a telephone interview with Woodward on Monday. "It was more of a joke, a wiseass way I have," Mr Ailes said, before going on in time-honoured fashion to blame the messenger – in this case McFarland.
"She was way out of line. It's someone's fantasy to make me a kingmaker. It's not my job." [ wannabe kingmaker, will do ]
Spokesmen for Mr Murdoch declined to comment.
General Petraeus politely declined and said he needed to focus on his home life after commanding troops at war. "It's never going to happen," he said. "My wife would divorce me. And I love my wife".
General and Mrs Petraeus, who have been married for 37 years, are now seeking to repair their relationship.
Telegraph, London; Guardian News & Media
http://www.smh.com.au/world/fox-boss-urged-petraeus-to-run-for-president-20121205-2au2o.html
In your 1st reply to the one this post replies to this understatement of the year of Juan Cole's, in bold
"Murdoch is worth over $8 billion, and is the 38th wealthiest person in the US. He was a force behind George W. Bush’s and Tony Blair’s Iraq War, and his media have plumped for far right wing causes, climate change denial, and the far right wing Israeli Likud Party, and have promoted fearmongering and racism against minorities. Murdoch has a practical streak, so that he also backed Tony Blair and said he thought well of Barack Obama, but he is only pragmatic when he has to be, presented with centrist winners. He much prefers the George W. Bushes and the Newt Gingriches."
this bit feels likely
"Some observers wonder whether he did not already have personal skeletons in the closet by spring of 2011"
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=82107444
your 1st reply to that one ..
Petraeus gave Afghanistan away to NeoCon Think Tanks (Elliott)
"Like others we spoke with, Kagan said Petraeus and other generals have routinely brought think
tankers to both Iraq and Afghanistan, both to solicit outside advice and to shape the debate back home."
and this bit
"He said the military does not have a comprehensive list of think tank members who have visited the U.S. headquarters in Kabul."
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=82108955
they should have a list so the veracity of the claim of balance could be verified .. the shaping of the news brought this back ..
"For the first time that I know of in recent American history, the uniformed military have created what amounts to a pressure group of their own. Generals Petraeus and McChrystal are the leaders but, by influencing or controlling promotions panels, they have fostered the advancement of middle grade and junior officers who agree with them. Some have been brought into a group called “the Colonels’ Council.” They have participated in what Andrew Bacevich has called a “quasi-coup. A small group of individuals, none of them elected or holding appointed office, had joined forces with military dissidents to engineer a change in policy. Those with statutory responsibility for providing military advice to the president were sidelined. It was an impressive achievement, but its implications are troubling. If [retired General Jack] Keane’s manoeuvre proves a precedent, the chain of command will cease to exist.” 18 And numbers of retired senior officers have joined not only in what President Eisenhower called the “military-industrial complex” but have become the opinion-makers on foreign policy in the media. Private soldiers and non-commissioned officers have, at the same time, become a major component of the private armies of such groups as Blackwater and form an active part of the constituency of the right wing of the Republican Party." - http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=43834785
On Kagan. How well qualified is Fred Kagan for any Iraq/Afghanistan military advisory role?
Frederick Kagan is an Unqualified Fraud: Read His CV Here
Sun Jan 14, 2007 at 06:29 PM PST - by The Angry Rakkasan
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/01/14/290900/-Frederick-Kagan-is-an-Unqualified-Fraud-Read-His-CV-Here?detail=hide
Oh .. this one i hope hasn't been up before ..
The 10 strangest details of the David Petraeus affair [Updated]
This tangled, tortured story of sex, national security, and jealous emails shows that truth really is stranger than fiction
By Peter Weber | November 20, 2012
http://theweek.com/article/index/236330/the-7-strangest-details-of-the-davidnbsppetraeus-affair
is a bit thought provoking .. gawd .. who's working on a movie script?
.. chapter ???? .. the failed making of an American president ..
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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