Jul 09 2006
Liberals, Media And Pols United In Failure
Given Times new front page liberal fantasy about Bush’s efforts since 9-11 I think the theme for the summer will be how the left self destructed by forgetting that their need for power doesn’t trump Americans’ right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness – in other words protection from terrorist attack. More on that later when the articles are on line, but Bush’s progress in democratizing the radical muslim region is inexcapable and no amount of denial is going to change the face of Iraq.
Mac Ranger is reporting that there is a good indication that the leaks about the NY City tunnel bombers came from posturing Senate Dems (Schumer and Hillary) who tried to use the news to get more Federal dollars (greed drives people to do terrible things).
Per an email tip from a reader, Colonel Randall Larsen, USAF (Ret), who according to his bio: “served for three years as the founding director of the Institute for Homeland Security and two years as the chairman of the Department of Military Strategy and Operations at the National War College”, expressed on FNC during an interview this after, who he believed put up the tip:Senator Chuck Schumer and Senator Hillary Clinton. For what reason? As Larsen put it was a recoup the recent cut of 9/11 funding.
I’m looking for the transcript of that now. That said of course we have no evidence of this, but if proved true it would blockbuster. Neither enjoy any so-called protection under the first admendment and if found guilty of leaking could be censured or removed from office.
Has anyone noticed that the leaks have gone quiet as 5 terrorist killers remain at large due the fact the FBI and their cooperating foreign governments had to move earlier than they wanted? All of a sudden their is no follow up reports – and no more details. This indicates to me that there was a serious breach and even the leftwing news media is trying to avoid further damage (well some are). If the 5 others were tipped off, that could only happen if reporters were trying to get more details and started making calls to their contacts.
If Al Qaeda is smart (and they are) then there will be Al Qaeda agents posing as news sources strategically placed to get wind of anything coming to our press, even before publication. These stories take months to come out as the media checks for confirmation and the government tries to convince them not to damage our national security. This is a perfect window for the terrorists to get an early warning and make adjustments.
The media is all up in arms for being caught risking our lives to line their paychecks and trophy walls. Their holier-than-the-rest-of-us attitude since the NY Times story has only cemented their reputations for being to self absorbed for the national good. No one elected them to decide when it was time for us to disarm and expose ourselves. No one elected them to decide what is a threat and what is not. And if we need
to remind the news media of these facts through strong, unified responses then we will. The idea of boycotting any industry associated with the NY Times is a good start. If your ad is in the Times, my money is going elsewhere.
Well, to be fair, the leak on the tunnel plot went to the NY Daily News, not the Times. But I did note one blogger (can’t remember exactly who posted it, darn it) who mentioned learning that Congress was briefed on the SWIFT program in March … and the NYT story comes out a few months later.
This would explain what has bothered me most about some of these leaks, they have been more damaging than the kind I would think someone working inside that community would divulge. Most people I have met in the intelligence community have just not been so political as to risk a project they were working on for political gain. But a member of Congress is a political animal and the oversight committies are briefed on these programs.
What that means is that in order for congressional oversight to work, you must trust politicians of the opposite party with information that could be embarrasing or damaging to your party or policies if exposed. That means that we need people in those positions with a very high degree of integrity and who puts the country before personal or party politics. Fat chance.
I believe it is time we overhauled intelligence oversight in this country. We should have an independent panel, almost like judges but not judges, who can be cleared to the highest levels and act as an oversight panel. They could possibly be retired but still highly regarded politicians or business leaders who could be trusted to see that the “whistle is blown” when we are doing something that is just plain wrong. We need to do something because it is obvious that informing members of Congress isn’t working and is a risk to our intelligence operations.
Check this out:
If I were the administration, I would be a little concerned about briefing Congress too.
And we all noted, I’m sure, that Hoekstra’s letter was leaked to the NYT. Maybe he’s been cut out of the loop for a reason?
As much as Hoekstra is touted as “a strong supporter” of the President, it seems he’s been throwing quite a few hissy-fits lately. Wasn’t he an early objector to the Ports deal? Then there was the Hayden nomination.
But as long as they spell his name right, I suppose.