i was watching cctv today (and again tonite) when world insight was aired. what i heard was so disturbing, i went to the website to listen again to what i thought i heard. sadly, nathan king, the british anchor, parrots many of the republican talking points regarding the progressive disappointments in president obama, then goes on to list the bail-outs of the banks and auto industry without saying how the monies were paid back, among other republican type errors. but that isn't the unnerving part.
a former bush administration member, brad blakeman (yep, THAT guy, who now teaches public policy politics and international affairs at georgetown university. my how he's changed!), was brought on to discuss the republican primaries. when listening to his assessment of the importance of the "china card", i thought i heard him advise the chinese to reach out to the republican candidate (once selected) regarding the "china card", because waiting to do so when there was a "president elect" was too late.
is he really advising the chinese government and businesses to try to influence the american elections? you bet he is! he stated that the american government does it all the time to "opposition leaders"!
my jaw is still on the ground! go below the squiggle for the link -
so, i went to the website and pulled up the program.
karlyn bowman, a senior fellow at the american enterprise institute (22:10 into the program) starts off and discusses how santorum is unlikely to get much further than iowa. she is well presented and reputable in her analysis of the republican candidate
then, comes blakeman (24:28 min/sec. into the program) and i have been repeatedly listening to the remarks by this brad blakeman.
Bradley A. Blakeman most recently was the President of Freedom’s Watch a right of center conservative advocacy 501 C4. Prior to founding Freedom’s Watch, Mr. Blakeman was a member of President George W. Bush’s Senior Staff having served from 2001-2004 as Deputy Assistant to the President for Appointments and Scheduling, Vetting and Research,
as the anchor of world insight, tian wei, tries to get him to speak of who he thinks is going to win "this million dollar nomination", she points out the monies spent and asks how a candidate can survive after so much money is being spent attacking each other.
blakeman, after saying that the nomination is romney's to lose, starts in attacking president obama. okay, he IS a republican strategist.
the anchor of world insight, tian wei, does actually point out several times during the broadcast that he is a republican, and then she asks him that since ".. there are many different factions in the republican party that will have to unite to behind one candidate to put up a challenge to president obama, so what needs to be done from your perspective for that to happen."
i almost choked when blakeman said, "well, as you point out, we have a big tent...there are a lot of different ideologies, but we unite on one and that's defeat barack obama!... republicans dislike obama more than they would dislike their nominee" - usurping the democratic line? i got the feeling he was trying to muddy the waters for his chinese audience here... but it gets even better.
the anchor points out that obama is a very good campaigner and asks what it would take for the voters to be won over. she points out that the republican candidates are already spending huge amounts of money attacking one another and asks if any of them will ever survive barack obama with this... blakeman lays out (26:35 in) that the "most devastating thing that will happen to this president will be in the spring of this year...when the poll comes out and asks the american people "are you better off today than you were four years ago?" - (well - there we have the republican strategy - thanks to the 24 hr chinese news network! that is what we have to have answers to counter!)
blakeman goes on to say that he believes over 70% of the nation will go on to say they are not better off today - well, DUH! when the republicans have wasted two whole years by passing legislation to put a bust of churchill in congress instead of actual bills that affect american workers... (slapping forehead now...)
he then goes on to say that it all goes to the president's record - in order to beat him successfully, you must attack his record. he states that he thinks the president has done a horrible job on foreign policy and the record is obama's weakest link and that is where he has to be attacked and that is what is needed to defeat him.
at this point, the anchor says, "i can see you're from the republican party..." then she says (transcribed)
"...before we go, tell us, professor, there are in town, in beijing, we've got different analyses going on - some say the republican party tend to be more friendly toward china, some say not necessarily so...so, is the china card (???very???) important this time?"
this is blakeman's answer (transcribed from web video at 27:18 in)
"the china card is very important, china is an important part of america's foreign policy. my advice to china is once the republican nominee is selected, reach out to the nominee ... our country does it all the time to opposition leaders ... and create the relationship before the election. it's too late once a president is the president-elect to begin a relationship. do it once the nominee is selected."
my advice to china is once the republican nominee is selected, reach out to the nominee ... our country does it all the time to opposition leaders ... and create the relationship before the election.
it's too late once a president is the president-elect to begin a relationship. do it once the nominee is selected."
did i just hear him tell a foreign government to interfere in our election? is he saying to "build a relationship" by sending money? what IS he saying here? to me, his message is very clear. to have influence favorable to china, the chinese (government and businesses) need to be supporting the republican candidate. china is a very important part of american foreign policy and obama has been horrible in that area. how do you do that? money!
my question here - isn't that somewhat illegal? is he telling a foreign government or foreign businesses that they need to "reach out" (read, send money) to the republican nominee? that was the message that came across loud and clear to me.
watch the program and see what you think!
i don't know if the link will have the same show tomorrow - so look for the program that discusses the new regime of north korea, then the republican race is covered before a fascinating segment on the taliban in afghanistan.
if you don't tune into cctv (chinese 24 hr news station in english), i'd suggest you check it out. seeing how we are viewed as a nation, a slant from a different perspective is very eye-opening. while i don't always agree with what they present, they are doing it well - like the original cnn - but from a chinese/eurasian point of view! you can see past programs on their website.
hearing how we are viewed by asia is very different than our all beyonce's baby all the time!
footnote so far, the jewelry sales are at $685 and kind gifts (to be paid forward asap) is at $155, for a total of $840. i'm $3,960 away from having to start packing... so i'll be making a ton of earrings and other items to try to reach that goal by the 15th of january. i am struck by how many people are hurting on this site right now. it makes me feel very guilty for asking for help - there are so many kossacks in trouble right now... sigh... okay - back to this story...
Poll 2 votes Show Results is brad blakeman breaking the law or just skirting the edges? yes no don't know creep! 2 votes Vote Now! is brad blakeman breaking the law or just skirting the edges? yes 100% 2 votes no 0% 0 votes don't know 0% 0 votes creep! 0% 0 votes
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