John Podesta

John Podesta: Anyone But Hillary Would 'Squirrel Away in a Cabin' After So Many Attacks
By Mark Finkelstein | September 26, 2015 | 7:26 AM EDT

Hillary Clinton: bravest person in America? You betcha! But don't take my word for it. Here's John Podesta, Chair of Hillary for America, in an email sent out this morning: "If anyone else faced the constant barrage of insults and attacks that Hillary endures everyday, they would quickly and happily squirrel away in a cabin hidden somewhere in the Rockies. Not Hillary. Her default setting is resilience."

Huh: that's funny. I can think of millions of Americans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and other insalubrious locales who didn't run and hide despite facing "barrages of attacks" that some might say were even worse than the slings and arrows poor Hillary has suffered.

$12 Million Buys Soros & Steyer White House Meeting; Media Ignore
By Mike Ciandella | August 7, 2014 | 2:28 PM EDT

Money may not buy happiness, but it certainly buys access. Liberal billionaires George Soros and Tom Steyer met with John Podesta, the counselor to the president, to advise him on environmental policy.

Despite repeatedly hyping liberal fears about conservative donors influencing politics, ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN and major newspapers all ignored the meeting. Soros’ spokesperson and advisor Michael Vachon, who was also in attendance, told E&E News that the men “discussed a variety of topics,” according to the Washington Free Beacon.

CNN's King, Panelists Hit Obama From Left on Climate Change: 'Why Did They Wait So Long?'
By Matthew Balan | May 6, 2014 | 3:12 PM EDT

CNN's John King, along with the AP's Julie Pace and National Journal's Ron Fournier, targeted President Obama from the left on Tuesday's New Day over the issue of climate change. King highlighted Obama's interviews with meteorologists in order to "push his agenda for climate change," and wondered, "If the President has this power...through executive authority, and this issue is so important to him, why did they wait so long? Why not do this in the first term?"

The two guests seconded the correspondent's question, with Fournier hyping how the apparent crucial nature of the issue: [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]

AP and Politico Both Sleep as Risen Calls Obama Admin 'Greatest Enemy of Press Freedom'
By Tom Blumer | March 25, 2014 | 3:15 PM EDT

A search on the name of James Risen (not in quotes) returns nothing relevant at the Associated Press. All that comes back at the Politico is a link to a post yesterday at Dylan Byers' On Media Blog containing one pertinent sentence: "James Risen slams the Obama administration." Whoopee.

Risen is the Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist for The New York Times who has been in the Obama administration's crosshairs "in a years-long legal battle against the government to reveal one of his confidential sources, even petitioning the Supreme Court to hear his case." On Monday, according to Andrew Beaujon at Poynter.org, Risen, appearing at at a George Polk Awards conference called Sources and Secrets, went after the Obama administration's heavy-handedness towards the press (bolds are mine throughout this post):

MSNBC's Alex Wagner Beseeches Obama to Forward LGBT Agenda in 'Year of Action'
By Matthew Balan | February 4, 2014 | 6:48 PM EST

Alex Wagner made it clear that she was in Senator Harry Reid's Amen corner on the Tuesday edition of her MSNBC program, promoting the Nevada Democrat's green light to President Obama to use his controversial "year of action" end run around Congress to advance the agenda of leftist LGBT activists. Wagner expressed her hope that "with the White House promising a 'year of action'...we can only hope that creating a more fair and equitable society is on that list." [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]

The host also spotlighted the reporting of ThinkProgress.org, and cited new Obama adviser John Podesta, but failed to disclose that she once worked for the Podesta-founded Center for American Progress, which runs the left-wing website.

MSNBC Quotes Liberal Group's Poll to Declare How to Help End Poverty
By Randy Hall | January 9, 2014 | 10:56 AM EST

Since Wednesday was the 50th anniversary of president Lyndon Johnson’s announcement of an “unconditional war on poverty” during his State of the Union address in 1964, MSNBC used the occasion to promote a poll conducted by a far-left think tank to assert that a government program providing “affordable access to quality child care could help lift millions of Americans out of poverty.”

According to an article by Morgan Whitaker on MSNBC.com, “a vast majority of people polled in a new survey” conducted by the Center for American Progress “includes results from focus groups and a major survey of more than 2,000 American adults.”

In Comparing Conservatives to Jonestown, Podesta Sounds a Lot Like Liberal Media
By Tim Graham | December 18, 2013 | 9:50 PM EST

John Podesta is well-known for wanting President Obama to go around Congress with his executive powers. He told Glenn Thrush at Politico the president should “focus on executive action, given that they are facing a second term against a cult worthy of Jonestown in charge of one of the houses of Congress.”

The House Republicans are somehow comparable to a suicidal-slash-murderous cult that killed 900 Americans. Podesta is channeling an occasional liberal media meme, that Jonestown is an apt metaphor for Republicans or Catholics or lame reporters or even all of us. Below is a little collection I've gathered from over the last 20 years of MRC analysis: [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

Media Report Podesta’s Apology for Jonestown Quote, Ignore Jim Jones’s Strong Democratic Ties
By Mike Bates | December 18, 2013 | 7:47 PM EST

Obama adviser John Podesta today apologized for comparing House Republicans to the Jonestown cult led by Jim Jones.  The Washington Post’s Web site reports: Podesta made the remark in an article in Politico Magazine , saying that the Obama administration should focus on using executive action because it is “facing a second term against a cult worthy of Jonestown in charge of one of the houses of Congress.” Although Podesta was speaking this fall before being hired by the White House, he quickly apologized to House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) through a post on his Twitter account.

The Post and other media outlets didn’t note that “Reverend” Jim Jones, founder of the San Francisco People’s Temple, in truth numbered Democratic politicians, not Republicans, among his admirers.

Obama Recruits President of Soros-Funded Group, NYT Fails to Mention Connection
By Mike Ciandella | December 10, 2013 | 6:13 PM EST

President Barack Obama hired a new counselor for 2014, a man who used to lead a liberal Soros-funded group.

John Podesta, founder and president of the far-left Center for American Progress (CAP), was tapped by the administration and will focus on the health care law and climate change issues, according to a Dec. 9, New York Times article. That same article failed to mention any connection between CAP and Soros.

This isn’t the first time Podesta has worked with the president. He co-chaired the transition team when Obama first came into office. He was also White House chief of staff under Clinton.  Neera Tanden, who has worked for both Obama and Hillary Clinton, currently runs CAP.

Jay Leno Cites Soros-Funded Liberal Propaganda Machine Center for American Progress
By Noel Sheppard | July 13, 2012 | 5:11 PM EDT

NewsBusters reported Thursday that the co-author of last weekend's Tea Party-trashing episode of HBO's The Newsroom actually thanked the George Soros-funded liberal propaganda machine Think Progress for help with "vital" research on the script.

Hours later, NBC Tonight Show host Jay Leno cited a report from TP's parent, the Center for American Progress (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Liberal Funders Back Journalism Alongside the ACLU, Think Tanks
By Tim Graham | June 6, 2012 | 7:54 AM EDT

California savings-and-loan billionaire and liberal-Democrat philanthropist Marion Sandler died on June 1, and the Washington Post obituary on Wednesday by T. Rees Shapiro underlined once again how the media “establishment” is now funded not just by advertisers, but by Democratic financiers.

Sandler backed the ACLU, the Clintonistas at the Center for American Progress, and investigative reporting partners for the Post and The New York Times:

Video: Barney Frank Confronted Over His Many Ethics Problems
By EyeBlast.tv Staff | April 14, 2010 | 2:18 PM EDT

Jason Mattera of Human Events recently confronted Democratic congressman Barney Frank over all the ethics violations he has been accused of in his time on Capitol Hill:

Jason also confronted John Podesta of the Center for American Progress over his hiring of Van Jones. (video below the fold)