Obama pays $400 million to Iran who releases four hostages

[T.Lex]

Guys,

The coverage of this is designed to help Obama, IMHO. The fact of the money is not news. Multiple agencies reported it back in January. That the $400M was delivered the day of the release, in cash, may be new facts, but it is really a rehash of what was already reported.

But, this give multiple cycles to how Obama "freed the hostages" when no one else could. How America won by scaling back Iranian nuke ambitions AND getting our people home AND paying 10% of what we would've owed if the Hague had decided the BS case.

The rest of it is noise.

People don't care about foreign policy. They care about bringing our hostages home.

Obama did that.

Arguing about whether it was a bad deal allows Obama/HRC to say "but we brought them home - has Trump ever done that?"

(At least Perot had that going for him.)

 

[printcraft]

There's no limit on what I can accomplish as long as there are no consequences for my actions!!!

Unfortunately, I live in what I like to refer to as "the real world" where there are consequences, so I can't do that.

 

[jamil]

No ****ing way he said that! This guy is just rubbing our noses in it. Classless.

Oh, I can just imagine the conversation about how they're going to spin this:

Cut to seen of hysterical laughter... "And then...and then we'll tell them we did it to save on carbon foot print!" BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

[hoosierdoc]

Iran: $400 Million in Cash Was Part of 'Expensive Price' to Free U.S. Hostages - Washington Free Beacon

 

[oldpink]

Does anyone remember a media that aggressively questioned politicians who violated the public interest and public trust?
Oh wait, that only happens when it's a Republican in the White House, silly me.

 

[hoosierdoc]

The media takes an event and frames it as "how will this affect Obama and his agenda" instead of "is this the right thing to do".

 

[HoughMade]

Oliver North had to testify before Congress for stuff less shady than this.

 

[PaulF]

Oliver North had to testify before Congress for stuff less shady than this.

...well, basically exactly as shady.

But, the point stands. Our ruling class has no respect for the law, as they are clearly held to some other standard.

As to his international debacle du jour, Obama clearly has no head for chess. Money for hostages? Call it what you will, but if you are willing to pay for hostages...they will find some to sell.

 

[Cemetery-man]

Call it what you will, but if you are willing to pay for hostages...they will find some to sell.

Exactly right!!!

 

[david890]

It is illegal for the US to make monetary trades with Iran using US dollars, but apparently legal for the US to send them Euro bills.

According to the existing sanctions against Iran (yes, there are still sanctions in place), US banks can't do transactions with Iran. So, cash it is (but not US cash).

 

[david890]

You can get back with me with your faux sanctimony the moment you can point to a high official in the Bush administration putting tens of thousands of e-mails, including multiple top secret documents, out there for whatever hacker wants them.

No system - none - is 100% secure.

And, no, neither Powell nor Rice actually set up a private server to totally bypass FOIA, putting their correspondence in an unsecured system.

"The State Department’s internal investigation arm issued a final memorandum today on the email practices of past and current secretaries of state, and it said definitively that past secretaries handled classified material on unclassified email systems." ABC News, March 4, 2016 (Emphasis mine).

Time to admit that your precious Obama and all of his little minions is a failure of the highest order.

73 straight months of job growth, the DJIA is twice what it was in 2008, lower gas prices, etc. If that's your idea of failure, I'd hate to see your idea of success, Old Pinko.

 

[david890]

Does anyone remember a media that aggressively questioned politicians who violated the public interest and public trust?
Oh wait, that only happens when it's a Republican in the White House, silly me.

Yeah, no one ever went after LBJ about his handling of Vietnam, or "incursions" into Cambodia. Nope. No one. Ever.

/Walter Cron...who??
//Monica who??
///What blue dress??

 

[Blackhawk2001]

No system - none - is 100% secure.



"The State Department’s internal investigation arm issued a final memorandum today on the email practices of past and current secretaries of state, and it said definitively that past secretaries handled classified material on unclassified email systems." ABC News, March 4, 2016 (Emphasis mine).



73 straight months of job growth, the DJIA is twice what it was in 2008, lower gas prices, etc. If that's your idea of failure, I'd hate to see your idea of success, Old Pinko.

Have you ever noticed that, while there is a big deal made about job growth in the MSM each month, economists quite often scale back the job numbers later in the month, which doesn't get much coverage? And have you also noticed that the majority of the "new jobs" are either part-time or low-paying jobs to help businesses avoid the expenses involved in funding ObamaCare? And have you noticed that, for all the "new jobs" increasing monthly, the number of unemployed adults is still over 94 million - just about a third to a quarter of our national population? That doesn't equate to an "unemployment rate" of 4.3%, which is what I heard advertised a day or so ago. Government provides fudged stats, forecasts are fudged, data is suspect.

 

[jamil]

According to the existing sanctions against Iran (yes, there are still sanctions in place), US banks can't do transactions with Iran. So, cash it is (but not US cash).

No, they could still have done 3d party transactions. I thought I read in one of the articles about it that the administration said they did the cash transaction because Iran requested that method as payment. I think it's reasonable to think they'd want it that way because it's easier to pay the terrorists they sponsor in cash.

No system - none - is 100% secure.

Holy ****. You surely understand that there is a vastly different competency required to hack a secured server compared to Clinton's basement server. And if you're going to compare what Clinton did to what Colon Powell or other SoS's did you're making a comparison that isn't even close to equivalent. When Comey gave the press conference, I listened to a liberal/progressive commentator, who is also a lawyer, say this sounds like he's building a case for indictment for negligence. He was actually quite surprised when the indictment didn't come. But even so, and you seem to do this quite often, someone else doing the same thing doesn't absolve the person accused of wrong doing. Bush did it too isn't a valid argument.

73 straight months of job growth, the DJIA is twice what it was in 2008, lower gas prices, etc. If that's your idea of failure, I'd hate to see your idea of success, Old Pinko.

What kinds of jobs? What's our GDP? I've heard many economists say that 3, 4 or 5% sustained growth is just a thing of the past. We'll just have to get used to 2% growth. That's the new norm. Well, at least until we can get someone sane in the White House. So not this time around.

Yeah, no one ever went after LBJ about his handling of Vietnam, or "incursions" into Cambodia. Nope. No one. Ever.

/Walter Cron...who??
//Monica who??
///What blue dress??

C'mon. Dude. You really think the most watched/listened to news sources report the Democrat shenanigans as Republicans? When wikileaks drops hacked emails showing major network reporters essentially asking the RNC for permission to write stories, maybe I'll take you more seriously.

 

[oldpink]

140!

 

[hoosierdoc]

140!

?? I am missing something

 

[jamil]

?? I am missing something

At the risk of committing a Denny, I believe he's referring to a certain poster's self-proclaimed IQ.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

It is illegal for the US to make monetary trades with Iran using US dollars, but apparently legal for the US to send them Euro bills.

Yes, it's called money laundering. If you or I do it, it's illegal. When governments (or the Clintons) do it, it's all hunky dory.

 

[david890]

And have you noticed that, for all the "new jobs" increasing monthly, the number of unemployed adults is still over 94 million - just about a third to a quarter of our national population?

Nonsense. The total population of those age 20-69 is ~198 million. You're suggesting HALF of the adult population is out of work, not 1/4 to 1/3.

Your ability to recognize BS stats is suspect.

 

[david890]

No, they could still have done 3d party transactions. I thought I read in one of the articles about it that the administration said they did the cash transaction because Iran requested that method as payment. I think it's reasonable to think they'd want it that way because it's easier to pay the terrorists they sponsor in cash.

If you can't cite your sources, don't make claims.

Holy ****. You surely understand that there is a vastly different competency required to hack a secured server compared to Clinton's basement server.

Kindly post the security arrangements of Clinton's server. Cite your sources.

And if you're going to compare what Clinton did to what Colon Powell or other SoS's did you're making a comparison that isn't even close to equivalent. When Comey gave the press conference, I listened to a liberal/progressive commentator, who is also a lawyer, say this sounds like he's building a case for indictment for negligence. He was actually quite surprised when the indictment didn't come. But even so, and you seem to do this quite often, someone else doing the same thing doesn't absolve the person accused of wrong doing. Bush did it too isn't a valid argument.

Clinton didn't destroy 22M e-mails; Bush did. Where was the House Oversight Committee on that?

What kinds of jobs? What's our GDP? I've heard many economists say that 3, 4 or 5% sustained growth is just a thing of the past. We'll just have to get used to 2% growth. That's the new norm. Well, at least until we can get someone sane in the White House. So not this time around.

Sane like Bush or Trump? Really???

C'mon. Dude. You really think the most watched/listened to news sources report the Democrat shenanigans as Republicans? When wikileaks drops hacked emails showing major network reporters essentially asking the RNC for permission to write stories, maybe I'll take you more seriously.

You think Fox News is "fair and balanced"? You think Wikileaks is an unimpeachable source? "News" today is entertainment, as evidenced by NBC News showing the latest viral videos. The journalism of Cronkite is long gone.