Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Michelle Bachman: Traitor or fool?

She babbles, you decide. Yochi J. Dreazen at The National Journal...
"[H]er comments on Pakistan’s nuclear program represent either a news-making leak of previously unknown classified information or another in her recent series of seemingly-random, and highly inaccurate, public comments."
I suppose "and" should be an option...

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Friday, February 05, 2010

Chart of the day.

You'll have to click it bigger to read it, but Larry Gross explains...
There’s an interesting chart on the web that compares the religiosity of the various states—based on a Gallup poll—with other factors. Based on these stats it would seem that the five least religious states are six percent more intelligent than the five most religious states. The most religious states also have 70% more poverty, 133% more murders, 57% more thefts and 33% more divorces.

How'd we do in the upper left? Pretty smart, not so religious, fairly safe. Kinda stingy, though.

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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

From the "Yes, but…" file.

NYT headline...
Banned Techniques Yielded 'High Value Information,' Memo Says
Yes, but...
"The information gained from these techniques was valuable in some instances, but there is no way of knowing whether the same information could have been obtained through other means," Admiral Blair said in a written statement issued last night. "The bottom line is these techniques have hurt our image around the world, the damage they have done to our interests far outweighed whatever benefit they gave us and they are not essential to our national security."

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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

You've got to admire a man…

…with perspective. Chas Freeman...
When Admiral Blair asked me to chair the NIC I responded that I understood he was “asking me to give my freedom of speech, my leisure, the greater part of my income, subject myself to the mental colonoscopy of a polygraph, and resume a daily commute to a job with long working hours and a daily ration of political abuse.” I added that I wondered “whether there wasn’t some sort of downside to this offer.”
Pity we lost him.

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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

A reminder…

…from Dave Johnson
We were attacked on 9/11 after the Bush administration ignored a memo titled, "Bin Laden Determined To Strike In US," and went on vacation. Never forget that.
Never.

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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Override?

Override?

The Speaker's blog has a round up of links and excerpts for a dozen editorials from major newspapers from coast to coast (including the P.I.) calling for an override of the Intelligence Authorization veto over its anti-torture provisions. It's shaping up to be a fight we can win.

Whatever you think we were, or should be, right now America, by executive edict, is the kind of country that tortures people.

The Constitution? Pish. International treaties? Tosh.

Someone scared the Preznit and now we torture people.

Override? Damn straight.

Sic 'im, Madam Speaker.

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Sunday, December 09, 2007

Hold on just a minute.

We don't know what those members of Congress were told in September of '02. We don't know how they reacted. They can't tell us, so we're left with the report of "two officials present."

That would be two executive branch officials. Executive branch officials entrusted with briefing Congress, including Democratic members of Congress, on highly sensitive, and potentially politically charged, operations.

Ya' think mayby those officials would have been pretty thoroughly politically vetted before that assignment? Ya' think maybe they'd have an axe to grind, or a case to make now? A motive, perhaps, beyond the public's right to know?

It just might be worth thinking about before we all jump off the deep end.

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The American Intelligence Establishment...

On ABC’s This Week, host George Stephanopoulos told his audience,“You should know that I invited the CIA director, the director of national intelligence, and President Bush’s national securityadviser to join us today. They all declined.”
Hat tip to Think Progress.

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