Although the focus has so far been on allegations that the White House threatened Perella Weinberg, sources familiar with the matter say that other firms felt they were threatened as well. None of the sources would agree to speak except on the condition of anonymity, citing fear of political repercussions.The sources, who represent creditors to Chrysler, say they were taken aback by the hardball tactics that the Obama administration employed to cajole them into acquiescing to plans to restructure Chrysler. One person described the administration as the most shocking "end justifies the means" group they have ever encountered. Another characterized Obama as "the most dangerous smooth talker on the planet—and I knew Kissinger." Both were voters for Obama in the last election.
One participant in negotiations said that the administration's tactic was to present what one described as a "madman theory of the presidency" in which the president is someone to be feared because he was willing to do anything to get his way. The person said this threat was taken very seriously by his firm….
These allegations add to the picture of an administration willing to use intimidation to win over support for its Chrysler plans—and then categorically deny it.
Carney also links to another financial blog which provides a hedge fund manager's account of what "car czar" Steven Rattner told him to assure his fund's acquiescence in the Chrysler deal:
"Who the ---- do you think you're dealing with? We'll have the IRS audit your fund. Every one of your employees. Your investors. Then we will have the Securities and Exchange Commission rip through your books looking for anything and everything and nothing we find to destroy you with."
The blogger continues:
[T]he fund whose tale I am privy to is allegedly not the only entity that was subject to such inducements. There are, according to my source, two others. Of course, in the present climate it would take a rather courageous witness to come forward and confirm these allegations. Let's hope that comes to pass. No, scratch that. Let's hope that the entire thing turns out to be a fabrication. While I doubt this, it would be much easier to sleep if it were.
Yet as a blogger at the Wall Street Journal points out, the intrepid investigative reporters in the mainstream media have yet to touch any of these stories. No wonder the newspapers are going bankrupt.
Obama's madness doesn't end at home. In the Middle East, our closest ally is Israel, and our most dangerous enemy is Iran. So Obama is pursuing a policy of deliberately sacrificing Israeli security—for the sake of better relations with Iran.
The Jerusalem Post reports on intensified anxiety in Israel over the Obama administration's refusal to extend the basic courtesies that America ought to offer to a close ally in a dangerous part of the world.
"Obama's people brief their Israeli counterparts in advance much less about security and Middle East policy activities than the Bush administration used to," the officials said.In addition, when they do brief Israeli officials, they don't consult with them or coordinate their statements in advance….
The last incident was the statement of Assistant US Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller, calling on Israel to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The statement had not been coordinated with Israeli officials in charge of the nuclear issue and they heard it first from the media….
The American policy toward Iran has remained generally ambiguous as far as Israel is concerned and the administration has not outlined to Israel its plan for a dialogue with Iran in an orderly way. Many of the details Israel learned about this plan were obtained via European channels.
The Israelis are seeing the writing on the wall, so to speak, and are becoming concerned that Obama is planning to throw them under the bus in order to appease Iran. And they are right to be worried. In Newsweek, Michael Hirsch predicts an impending foreign policy "train wreck" between the US and Israel. The substance of the clash?
The biggest potential flashpoint is Iran's nuclear program….[T]he Obama administration has already begun to signal that if Tehran agrees to sit down, its fallback position has changed significantly from the Bush administration's, and the outcome of any talks may no longer have to be the complete cessation of Iran's uranium-enrichment program.
So the US will pressure Israel to accept a Palestinian terrorist state on its borders (and arguably within its borders) and to give up the right to its own nuclear deterrent—in exchange for talks that will allow the Iranians to string the US along until they are capable of building their own nuclear arsenal.
No, I do not think that Obama is actually a madman. But I do think that he is as fully committed as we feared to the far-left, anti-American ideology of his friends Jeremiah Wright and William Ayers. And the attempt to implement that ideology is leading to results which resemble those of a suicidal maniac in the White House.
Be as un-reassured as you have the wits to be.
The news this week is pretty bleak, so I promise I'll cheer you up again in the future with some good news—as soon as I can scrounge it up
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