Hey Senator Feinstein - Get Over Yourself!
Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-CA, Simulates Fellatio in Recent Senate Hearing on Aggressive Interrogaton Techniques.
The more I think about it, the more inspired I think President-elect Barack Obama’s pick of Leon Panetta for CIA Director is.
Senator Diane Feinstein apparently doesn’t. Why? Because she wasn’t consulted. CALL THE WAHMBULANCE!
Dame Feinstein is apparently having a hissy. Here’s what she’s sending around to the media this afternoon:
“I was not informed about the selection of Leon Panetta to be the CIA Director. I know nothing about this, other than what I’ve read,” said Senator Feinstein, who will chair the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in the 111th Congress.
“My position has consistently been that I believe the Agency is best-served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time.”
Guess what, Lady? The O is in charge of presidential appointments. You’re just making yourself look like an ass by complaining. I should also note that as of 5 p.m. EST, your crybaby statement wasn’t posted on your Senatorial website for all of the constituents to see what a political hag you are.
Just looking at what’s on the president-elect’s plate - Gaza, depression economics, Wild Man Putin, China building aircraft carriers, Gitmo, his girls starting at a new school, Bill Richardson - do you think you could give the man a break, Diane?
Seeing as how Leon Panetta is supposedly a friend of yours, could you have handled this tirade with a call to Rahmbo? This the kind of shit that guy lives for - Rahm would’ve made it right.
Instead, you act like a bitter, old hag and look like a tool. Get over yourself!
Leon Panetta a Curious but Intriguing Choice as CIA Director
We’ve become a nation of technicians, specialists, degreed and certified to do specific things. When the big jobs come up, you’ve got to have experience in a specific area to get noticed. We often overlook making personnel choices which could add another dimension, challenge the status quo or effect change merely by dint of the choice being made.
The potential appointment of former Congressman, White House Budget Director and White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta to lead the often embattled Central Intelligence Agency is a refreshing appointment by President-elect Barack Obama. Rather than choose a technician from either the operations or analytical ranks of the intelligence community, Obama’s choice is to put a public service-oriented smart-guy manager in charge. With Panetta’s service in the Clinton White House, Obama will be served by Panetta’s perspective on what the chief executive needs from the CIA.
There is a great deal of analytical and operational skill within the ranks of the CIA. Putting a big picture-oriented thinker and manager in charge who brings a better understanding of intelligence product from the customer’s perspective is a worthy experiment.
We are at a time when the CIA is also smarting from the influence of the Cheney Vice-Presidency. Panetta is smart enough - and humble enough - to not come to the intelligence table with unsubstantiated pre-conceived ideological notions which may bring outcomes damaging to our country’s standing in the world. Panetta is also service-oriented, spending time over the last few years helping to build the Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy at a branch of the California State University sited on a former U.S. Army base.
Obama’s choice may get some flak from intelligence community insiders and pundits who were awaiting the annointing of the next director from within their own ranks. Putting a citizen in charge with a fresh perspective on the world and our place in it may turn out to be a tremendous win for Obama.
DICK Cheney and State Sponsored Torture
Filed under: Afghanistan, Bush Foreign Policy, Terrorism
VP DICK Cheney appeared on CBS’ Face the Nation this morning. This interview wasn’t substantively different from any of the others he’s done in the past month:
Cheney also urged the Obama administration to continue the Bush administration’s interrogation policies.
“I would hope [Obama] would avoid doing what others have done in the past, which is letting the campaign rhetoric guide his judgment in this absolutely crucial area,” Cheney said. “We were very careful, we did everything by the book, and in fact we produced very significant results.”
So many problems with that statement, DICK. There are a great many smart people, including former members of the Bush Administration who warned you and David Addington about getting too carried away with agressive interrogation techniques. Chief among their concerns was something we patriots like to call the U.S. Constitution. There’s also this other little concern known as the Geneva Convention. You can argue all you want that our foes in the war on terror are not lawful combatants, but the rest of the world needs to somewhat agree, or, it looks like selective application of an international human rights treaty. And, what about the old bromide that we’re not going to stoop to their level. There’s so much more than campaign rhetoric behind the criticisms of the Bush Administration’s endorsement of torture.
U.S. Sunday Papers | December 21
Filed under: Afghanistan, Bailout Bill, Barack Obama, Economic Stimuls, Energy Policy, Iraq, Obama Transition, Recession, State Governments, Terrorism, U.S. Economy
Los Angeles Times
- ‘Lethal Warriors’ in Iraq, linked to string of crimes back home
- Obama ups the ante on economic stimulus
- Op-Ed, Doyle McManus: Obama must spend wisely
New York Times
- Obama expands recovery plans
- Economy tests Obama’s vision of energy efficient auto industry
- White House philosophy stoked mortgage bonfire
- Russian push on treason raises fears
- Canada agrees to its own auto bailout
- Ambush raises unsettling questions in Afghanistan
- Op-Ed, Alan Blinder: Missing the Mark with $700 Billion
- Op-Ed, Tom Friedman: China to the Rescue? Not!
- Op-Ed, Olivier Roy & Justin Vaisse: Winning Islam Over
Washington Post
- Obama expands stimulus goals
- Extradition of terror suspects founders
- Tiny state, huge pain
- U.S. might double Afghanistan force
- Will executive pay packages get slashed?
- Op-Ed, Leonard Downie Jr.: Could we uncover Watergate today?
- Op-Ed, George Will: Executive powerplay makes Congress moot
Fox News’ Chris Wallace Gets Long Interview with Cheney and The Word “Torture” Is Not Uttered Once
Chris Wallace may come from the same gene pool of his dad, 60 Minutes’ Mike Wallace, but he couldn’t carry his dad’s reporter’s notebook.
As I watched Wallace interview DICK Cheney today on Fox News Sunday, I was given more reason to lament the hard times our U.S. newspaper industry is experiencing. The only pure journalists left are at the nation’s dailies, where journalism is a craft and the pursuit of truth and both sides of the story is relentless.
TV just doesn’t have the time, or the journalistic talent for the most part to act as the Fourth Estate, the Watchdog. Wallace failed his country miserably today when he did not press Cheney on the U.S. torture policy in the wake of 9/11. Part of the problem must me be that he’s an airhead — does he lack basic information or the ability to synthesize it? The other part of the problem is that Fox is going to run out the Bush Administration string and remain the “Republican Network” until January 19.
Here’s another thing Wallace did today that will hopefully have the elder Wallace on the phone bawling him out. He gave in to doublespeak, the euphemism. In a word search of the interview with Cheney, not once does the word “torture” cross either one of these guys’ lips. Here’s the closest either one ever comes to calling torture, torture:
I think you can have a robust interrogation program with respect to high-value detainees. - Dick Cheney
There is a legitimate argument to be made that much of what the U.S. did under the Bush Administration in the so-called War on Terror actually exacerbated the problem in many parts of the world. By setting up Guantanamo, extraordinary rendition, black-site dententions and torture, they did more to dishonor the Constitution and rile up a generation of Third World extremists than they ever did to keep us safe.
The butcher’s bill for the arrogance and paranoia of Dick Cheney will likely be paid well into the future. Chris Wallace didn’t even scratch the surface.
Transcript: DICK Cheney on Fox News Sunday | The Exit Interview | December 21, 2008
Filed under: Bush Foreign Policy, Iraq, Terrorism, U.S. Economy
(Source: CQ Transcriptswire)
Editor’s Note: This portion of the show transcript contains only the Cheney interview.
Mr. Chris WALLACE: Mr. Vice President, welcome back to “Fox News Sunday.”
Vice-President Dick CHENEY: It’s good to be back, Chris.
WALLACE: The president has announced a $13 billion short-term loan to the U.S. auto makers without binding conditions on the unions or the bond holders.
Haven’t you, in effect, kicked this problem down the road to the Obama administration?
CHENEY: Well, I wouldn’t describe it quite the way you did, Chris. I think what he’s tried to do is manage a difficult problem. And obviously, an important consideration is the fact that we’re in the middle of a transition and that it will shortly become a problem that the next administration’s going to have to deal with. Read more
Indian Source: Surgical Cross-Border Strikes Into Pakistan On the Table
Over the past few days, the grumblings from the Indian government have been that the Pakistanis are not doing enough to go after and wrap up the terrorist organizations that call Pakistan home. A story this evening in the Times of India quotes a source from a meeting of the Indian foreign minister and defense officials:
“The option of cross-border surgical strikes has not been abandoned. The armed forces, on their part, are maintaining a high level of alertness to meet any eventuality, as they have been directed,” said a source.
If you see the envoys from the United States and Great Britain upping their profile in Islamabad and New Delhi in the midst of more words like this from Indian or Pak officials, the West is trying to help the East not go nuclear.
Transcript: Bush Delivers Defense/Terrorism Speech at West Point | December 9
(Source: White House Press Office)
11:25 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Please be seated. Thank you, General, for your warm welcome. Thank you for inviting me here to West Point. I now know why you’re so happy I’m here — (laughter — all classes were cancelled. (Applause.)
I had the honor of sitting next to the General and Judy during the game over the weekend. I am disappointed I could not bring the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy with me. However, you just get the Commander-in-Chief. (Applause.)
This is my last visit to a military academy as President, so I thought I would exercise a certain prerogative of office one last time: I hereby absolve all cadets who are on restriction for minor conduct offenses. As always, I always — I leave it to General Hagenbeck to determine what “minor” means. (Laughter.) Read more
Video: Meet the Press, Special Guest President-Elect Barack Obama | December 7, 2008
Filed under: Bailout Bill, Barack Obama, Obama Transition, Recession, Terrorism, U.S. Congress, U.S. Economy, U.S. Financial Crisis
Transcript: Barack Obama on ‘Meet the Press’ | December 7, 2008
Filed under: Barack Obama, Big Three Automakers, India, Obama Transition, Recession, Terrorism, U.S. Congress, U.S. Economy, U.S. Financial Crisis
(Source: MSNBC)
Dec. 7: President-elect Barack Obama
MR. TOM BROKAW: Our issues this Sunday: In 44 days, Barack Obama will become the 44th president of the United States. His new team is almost complete. But since Election Day 2008, the list of challenges facing the incoming president has only grown: that terrorist attack in Mumbai, growing turmoil in the financial markets, the worst unemployment in 15 years, and the auto industry on the verge of bankruptcy. Tough problems all waiting on the desk of our exclusive guest, the president-elect of the United States, Barack Obama.
And yesterday in Chicago I did sit down with the president-elect, Barack Obama, to talk about those topics and much more.
President-elect Obama, welcome back to MEET THE PRESS.
PRES.-ELECT BARACK OBAMA: Great to be here. Thank you. Read more
Mumbai Attacks: More Suspects Captured, India-Pak Relations
Two More Suspects in Mumbai Attacks in Custody
- India police arrest two - Washington Post
- Terrorist SIM card trail leads to Calcutta - Times of India
- J&K cop arrested for SIM card used by terrorist - Indian Express
Tensions Still High Between Rivals India - Pakistan
- Op-Ed, Muzamil Jameel: Why Pakistan Won’t Give Up Lashkar - Indian Express
- Mumbai Terror Seige Politicizes an Upper Class - New York Times
- Mumbai Attacks test for Pakistan on curbing militants - New York Times
- Indian media stoking stoking anti-Pak sentiment - Dawn
- Report: Pakistan agrees to 48 hour deadline to act on Lashkar - NDTV
What the Islamic Terrorists May Really Want: Strike the Match on Pakistan’s Tinderbox
Filed under: Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Terrorism
Indians demonstrate in New Delhi against Mumbai attacks this week.
One encouraging sign of potentially avoiding a violent dispute between Pakistan and India in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks was the planned visit to India by the leader of Pakistan’s sometimes rogue intelligence agency.
Known as ISI which stands for Inter Services Intelligence, the agency is ostensibly an arm of the Pakistani Army. ISI is chiefly known for being the main conduit between the United States and the Afghani mujahadeen groups who fought Soviet occupation. When the Soviets left Afghanistan, ISI threw in its lot with the Taliban. The Taliban in turn eventually welcomed Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda back into the country and the roots of the current worldwide war on terror took hold.
So, to have the chief of ISI interacting with the Indian government would be a good sign. Only the ISI chief essentially told Pakistani President Asif Zardari, “No.” He didn’t make the trip. Read more
Full Text: Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism | World at Risk
Click Here for PDF of the Report
Captured Mumbai Terrorist: A Tale of Slavery and Drugs?
Azam Amir Qasab and Other Evidence from Mumbai
This article from the London Daily Telegraph brings home just what we’re dealing with regarding terrorists from the Third World. Evil? Sure. But, we are also facing a mentality and level of human sophistiphication from the Middle Ages on steroids - literally.
Azam Amir Qasab, the captured Mumbai terrorist has reportedly told his captors he was sold by his father to the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taibat. Lashkar-e-Taibait is thought to be the group behind the training and planning for the Mumbai attacks.
Qasab says he was sold to Lashkar to earn money for his family. Additionally, it’s being reported that Qasab and his nine terror mates used cocaine and other drugs to stay awake during their rampage. Finally, the muscle-bound crew had reportedly used steroids to help chisel their physiques for their Jihad fantasy.
We’re dealing with people from the Middle Ages with access to modern drugs and weapons. The more of them we kill and the greater number of their countries we become embroiled in only emboldens the next cohort of warriors. Isolationism is not the answer in our globalized society, but we do need to get off the black/white short-term solutions to the bigger problem.
What got Western Civilization out of the Dark Ages?
Transcript: Obama News Conference Announcing Hillary Clinton and National Security Team | December 1
Filed under: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Terrorism
(Source: CQ Transcripts Wire)
SPEAKERS: PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA; SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, D-N.Y.; SUSAN E. RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY WORKING GROUP LEADER, OBAMA-BIDEN PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION TEAM; GENERAL JIM JONES (USMC, RET.) SECRETARY OF DEFENSE ROBERT M. GATES;
GOVERNOR JANET NAPOLITANO, D-ARIZ., ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER, OBAMA-BIDEN PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION TEAM; FORMER DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL ERIC HOLDER; VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
[*] OBAMA: Good morning, everybody. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Last week, we announced our economic team which is working as we speak to craft an economic recovery program to create jobs and grow our struggling economy.
Today, Vice President-elect Biden and I are pleased to announce our national security team. The national security challenges we face are just as great and just as urgent as our economic crisis. We are fighting two wars. Our old conflicts remain unresolved. And newly- asserted powers have put strains on the international system. Read more
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