I see no evidence or link to a widespread leftist conspiracy here. Sorry dude.

Socialist have soul. Conservatives just look for themselves (and they think they’re Xtians).

Socialists want to heal human pain. Right wingers give a damn.

Socialist countries in Europe, Cuba and others have higher literacy and health care rates than the richest (?) nation in the World. They are not paradises, but gets them closer to a humane State.

Winner & Associates currently count International Edison and Consolidated Edison as their clients. These are two very large energy companies in the United States. They have, as their top ten holders, JP Morgan, Goldman-Sachs, UBS, State Street and Barclay’s UK. Some of these investors are also on the top ten holders list for Commonwealth Edison/Exelon, the electricity company that is a large sponsor of Obama to the tune of $74k.

Goldman Sachs, UBS and JP Morgan are among Obama’s top donors with Goldman Sachs topping the list.

Most importantly, though, Commonwealth Edison, from Tom Ayers to current CEO, and registered lobbyist, Frank Clark have been Obama’s backers from the outset. Frank Clark is currently listed as a bundler for Obama under his trustee position at University of Chicago. Where Michelle works. Strangely, no mention of his ComEd/Exelon position.

David Axelrod, owner of ASK and currently Obama’s campaign manager, worked with ComEd to create C.O.R.E. (Consumers Organized for Reliable Energy) a front group for ComEd that presented itself as a “grassroots” organization to promote higher energy rates in Illinois when the rate freeze was about to expire in 2007 and Illinois was considering expanding it for another three years. The extension did not go through, but CORE was outed and made to go public with its association.

Also of interest, Avis Lavelle, Media Liaison for CORE and founder of Lavelle Cousins consulting was recently paid $24k by the Obama campaign in their August reporting.

ASK and Lavelle have worked with Winner&Associates in the past to create similar “front groups” on numerous issues, usually within the Illionois/Chicago millieu.

In 2005, Obama participated in one of his few votes in support of the 2005 Energy Bill that included many of these subsidies, loans and tax breaks discussed. According to a Harpers story on Obama, his presence was assuredly at the request of ComEd/Exelon.

There are other connections that tie Obama to the CORE/ComED and energy people.

Why is this important? The Gang of Ten was attempting to push through a comprehensive energy bill that included substantial subsidies, loans and tax breaks for energy companies, like ComEd, International Edison and ConEd, that would have benefited them greatly. It included below market loans for automakers and other subsidies (that were recently passed through the emergency spending bill to keep the government operating until the budget could be approved).

This bill from the Gang of Ten, as you know, would also have limited off shore drilling to 50 miles or more off shore. As many noted, that is the least likely place for oil to exist per surveys. The importance of limiting drilling would have kept supplies off the market and allowed oil prices to continue to remain high and provided the “fuel” for consumers to demand more electric and hydrogen vehicles as well as “alternative” heating and electricity based on hydrogen plants, wind farms and even nuclear plants. All of which these energy companies own or are attempting to build at this time.

At the time that the Gang of Ten was doing a last push to get support for their bill and enlisting more Republicans, McCain introduced Sarah Palin, the queen of “Drill here, Drill Now”. The RNC featured numerous speakers discussing the availability of oil in the United States and drilling.

Shortly thereafter, this video appeared trying to associate Palin directly with the AIP, secessionist and an organization that had a Chechnyan rebel website linked to theirs. A clear implication of terrorist relations as the world generally associates Chechnyan rebels with Al Qaeda.

There are, to my knowledge, no direct implications of payment from any or one of these groups to Winners&Associates for this video. Unless someone can get a public view of W&A accounting or of Ethan Winners bank statements. For that matter, it does not have to be a direct payment for the video. The more succinct point is that multiple employees and the owner of a known PR firm with these links to energy companies and the Democrat party may have, indeed, decided to do it on their own and felt that it served both their clients and their political aspirations.

As you know, the Gang of Whatever dissolved and were unable to push through a total ban. However, in the emergency bill to keep government running passed on Saturday, they did push through a provision that a) keeps oil leases from being granted until 2011 and b) keeps the east coast of the Gulf of Mexico off limits (west coast of Florida).

So, I believe that the issue with the video and Winner&Associates is more germane to local politics and relations.

I would if I saw it there, but I am a Pajamas/Instapundit regular and RWDB, not a Kos reader.

Insufficiently Sensitive:”The connection … are sufficiently established… The rest of us can take it from here and draw our own conclusions – Rosenthal has ‘framed the debate’ and ’set the agenda’ and ‘raised the concerns’ by the same methods used by the MSM.”

Rosenthal, poor bastard, is damned with the faintest of praise.

First, most (if not all) the information it contains can easily be found on-line. Just use Google. This is probably what John Rosenthal did anyways.

Second, even if the article is accurate (and it looks like it is), what’s the point? Are you implying that the French are using propaganda to push for their own agenda, or something along those lines? Big surprise. Because, guess what, this is exactly what everybody else does, the US, China, Bhutan. Oh, but maybe the French should be the only ones not doing it. Makes so much sense.

Third, Palin doesn’t need the French to be ridiculed. She did a great job herself with Katie Couric:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/25/palin-talks-russia-with-k_n_129318.html

Hey, Couric, sounds French, no? John, why don’t you Google this or check Wikipedia to find new info?

Although explicit (read: actionable) conclusions cannot be drawn without further evidence, we have gained some insight into the corporate philosophy behind what the Winner family has attempted to do.

Thank you for sharing your work.