Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Hurts So Good

But, but, but the CIA doesn't ever pass false information. Wah!

It is all Pelosi's fault! Wah!

And one more 'Wah' for good measure.

Another Lawmaker Points To An Error In CIA Briefings Doc | TPMMuckraker:

"Here's yet more evidence -- as if it were needed -- that that CIA briefing document that Republicans are trying to hang around Nancy Pelosi's neck is hardly a reliable source of information.

Rep. David Obey, who chairs the appropriations committee, just sent the following letter to CIA director Leon Panetta:"
_______

But, but, but.....

Wah!
“It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress.”
Doesn't mean they don't do it. It is just not 'policy' or 'practice'. Whew, glad that's cleared up.

CIA Won’t Say Whether Panetta Disputes Pelosi Claim She Was Lied To | The Plum Line

A spokesperson for the CIA is declining to clarify whether CIA director Leon Panetta is disputing Nancy Pelosi’s claim that the agency lied to her about the use of torture.

It has, of course, been widely reported that Panetta smacked back hard against Pelosi’s claim in that note he sent to CIA employees last week. But as Politico’s Josh Gerstein pointed out yesterday, a close reading of Panetta’s note shows clearly that he did not directly dispute Pelosi’s allegations.

The crux of Gerstein’s argument is that Panetta said: “It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress.” That’s a statement of current policy and intent, not a rebuttal of Pelosi’s claims. And the part of Panetta’s statement that does address what was said in briefings is too vague to be conclusive.

So I asked a CIA spokesperson whether it was the CIA’s position that Pelosi was not lied to, as she has claimed. The spokesperson declined to elaborate, instead saying that Panetta’s note would have to speak for itself.

To be clear, this doesn’t prove one way or the other whether Pelosi was in fact lied to. She very well may have been told of the use of torture. Still, it’s sobering to think that while it’s been widely reported that Panetta disputes Pelosi’s allegations, this may not be at all true and may never have happened at all.

_______

Shrum does a pretty good job here.

Giuliani: ‘Of course’ the CIA has given ‘incorrect information’


“It just happens to be the truth,” Shrum said of his charges against the CIA. “Every once in a while, the truth ought to be uttered.”

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani chimed in at that point to say indignantly, “The general calumny of the CIA is outrageous. The CIA is a dedicated organization of patriotic people who are working their backs off to protect us.”

“Have they ever lied, Mr. Mayor?” Shrum asked.

“These people have dedicated their lives,” Giuliani replied.

“This is drivel,” Shrum retorted. “This is the kind of stuff you tried to run for president on and it didn’t go anywhere. Have they ever lied?”

“It’s absolutely outrageous that you accused them in general terms of being liars or systemically lying,” Giuliani responded. “Of course they’ve made mistakes.. Of course they’ve given incorrect information. Intelligence is a very difficult …”

At that point, the discussion largely broke down into cross-talk. However, Scarborough concluded the segment by backing up Giuliani in his assertions that the CIA does not lie. “The proof is in the pudding,” Scarborough stated. “The evidence is the United States of America has not been attacked since September 11, 2001.”

_______

Cafferty. One of only a handful of 'news' people worth watching on TV.

Commentary: Prosecute sins of Bush-Cheney era - CNN.com


The Bush presidency is thankfully over...but the damage he and Dick Cheney did continues to press on the nerve of the American people like an impacted wisdom tooth. And until the questions surrounding arguably the most arrogant and perhaps most corrupt administration in our history are addressed, the pain won't go away.

From Nancy ("Impeachment is off the table") Pelosi to President Barack ("I want to look forward, not backward") Obama, the country is being poorly served by their Democratic government. And on this subject President Obama is dead wrong.

George W. Bush and his accomplices damaged this country like it's never been damaged before. And it's not just the phony war in Iraq or the torture memos that justified waterboarding. It's millions of missing emails and the constant use of executive privilege and signing statements.

It's the secretive meetings with Enron and other energy executives and the wholesale firing of federal prosecutors. It's trying to get the president's personal attorney seated on the Supreme Court and that despicable Alberto Gonzales sitting in front of congressional investigators whining, "I don't remember, I

It's the domestic eavesdropping in violation of the FISA Court, the rendition prisons, and the lying. It's looking the other way while the City of New Orleans drowned and its people were left to fend for themselves.

It's the violations of the Geneva Conventions, the soiling of our international reputation and the shredding of the U.S. Constitution. It's the handing over of $700 billion to the Wall Street fat cats last fall, no questions asked. Where is that money? What was it used for?

_______

Gay.

We're talking a very well heeled community here, overall.

Olbermann butchers RNC chairman on same-sex marriage:

"“Now all of a sudden I’ve got someone who wasn’t a spouse before, that I had no responsibility for, who is now getting claimed as a spouse that I now have financial responsibility for,” Steele told Republicans in Georgia. “So how do I pay for that? Who pays for that? You just cost me money.”

But Olbermann pointed out that weddings are a boon for small businesses — and studies have estimated that same-sex marriage legalization will create thousands of new jobs.

“Mr. Steele, in this country, weddings are a $70 billion a year industry,” Olbermann remarked. “B, billion, as in Bridezilla. Seventy billion. Most of it spread among local florists, local photographers, local hotels, local restaurants, local bridal stores.

“Admittedly,” he added tongue-in-cheek, “the number of wedding gowns ordered when two men get married is zero, but think of two women, with two gowns and two sets of bridesmaids.”

“There is a reason that conservatives in California opposed [Proposition 8 banning the legalization of same-sex marriage],” he added. “Last year before the rights of same-sex couples were repealed, UCLA calculated that just in California the wedding business was going to explode by $684 million over three years."
_______

Cooley made a comment in the past regarding....

And I paraphrase...."Not being able to smoke in a bar in North Carolina is like taking public transportation in Detroit.... Get it?"

North Carolina smoking ban ends era in US tobacco heartland:

"North Carolina's governor signed a statewide indoor smoking ban into law Tuesday, signaling the end of an era in the United States' leading tobacco-producing state."
_______

Yep, they'll do that.

Omaha man blames casino drinks, drugs for big debt

_______
_____
___

2 comments:

davyproctorboy said...

J---You and I are both falling into the same trap of giving the Repub talking point credence. What the CIA said or did not say to Pelosi is not important compared to the real issues. That said, the CIA is one of most evil forces in the world. They kill, overthrow governments, elected or not, torture at will, install and support brutal torture dictatorships all over the world, etc. And people think they don't lie!!!! On the other hand I do not trust Nancy Pelosi or almost any Republicrat as far as I can throw them. But let's stop reacting to the Repub smokescreen and get on to the War Criminal trials....

AAW said...

Davy, one must cut through the bullshit in order to get to the 'real issues'. I'm pointing out the hypocrisy, not falling into a trap of Repub talking points.