Being a grandmother House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s(D-Ca) vindication probably did not result in a night of tequila shots to celebrate, but there were probably a few Cheshire cat grins around the office, Panetta Admits CIA Misled Congress on “Significant Actions”
CIA Director Leon Panetta told the House Intelligence Committee that the agency had misled and “concealed significant actions from all members of Congress” dating back to 2001 and continuing until late June, according to a letter from seven Democrats on the panel.
[ ]…House Democrats have put a provision in the bill which would eliminate the executive branch’s right to decide when to brief the full Intelligence panels, rather than just the top committee and congressional leaders, known as the “Gang of Eight,” on the most sensitive intelligence activities. Congress would set the ground rules for the “Gang of Eight” briefings instead. The White House has threatened to veto the bill if it includes the provision.
The issue is politically sensitive because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif., found herself at the center of a firestorm in May when she accused the CIA of misleading Congress over the use of harsh interrogation methods during the Bush administration.
Its still a good news/bad news story since the Obama administration opposes yet another attempt to live up to its campaign promises of more transparency. An administration spokesman issued some rusty boilerplate nonsense about eroding the powers of the executive. If the CIA informs the full intelligence committees, the greater the chance that a few of them will be fully awake and paying attention. You know, the kind of attention that might prevent another foreign occupation quagmire.
It may take a year or longer, but the current Iranian leadership might want to start siphoning some money into their Cayman Island accounts. The masses and religious leadership, not counting the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ahmadinejad, want change. Thursday Protests Called in Iran, State Threatens Crackdown
The opposition in Iran has called for further public nationwide demonstrations on Monday, urging protesters to use the techniques of nonviolent noncooperation. Those who are afraid to risk beatings in the streets at the hands of state security organizations are urged to drive around and honk their horns. Thursday commemorates the anniversary of 1999 student demonstrations that were violently repressed by the regime.
The foaming at the mouth Right recently raised the fickle finger of treason in Obama’s attempt to renew START and nuclear arms reduction with Russia. The agreed upon reductions were very modest. We will have enough warheads and launchers to destroy the world for years to come, U.S.-Russia nuclear deal: spin or deep cut?
But the cuts announced on Monday only take the United States and Russia 25 operationally deployed warheads below a range of 1,700-2,200, which both sides had already committed to reach by 2012 under the 2002 Moscow Treaty.
After the cuts — which have to be made within seven years of a new treaty taking force — the United States and Russia will still have enough firepower to destroy the world several times over.
I’m trying to be patient with Obama. His state and federal senate career has been marked by his tendency to make political moves with careful deliberation. That said the most cogent criticisms of his policies continue to come from the liberal political sphere as Republicans keep to crawling in the gutter with the birther movement and shrill cries of socialism occasionally interrupted by shrill cries of fascism. Let’s say that like a blind squirrel, the rabid Right accidentally finds a nut; they spent eight years telling us their management of the economy was peaches, Iraq was the golden path through which eternal peace and democracy for the Middle-East lay (cost? Trillions and counting), running up a deficit and letting China float our debt was cooler then cherry jello. In other words they’ve spent any credibility they had. Their road back to power rests almost entirely on Obama’s potential failure to get a few good curves on the economic charts by 2012. Little wonder they’re doing everything they can to obstruct progress and pretend the last eight years never happened.
OK, Republicans do not have a clear shot if Obama fails miserably. Con baggage includes, among other things, not being able to keep that pure white foot out of their mouths, Fox’s Brian Kilmeade Would Like Species and ‘Ethnics’ to Remain Pure and Steve King: I Opposed “Yet Another Bill” To Commemorate Slavery, In Order To Protect Judeo-Christian Heritage. King was the only Republican to oppose the bill. High school U.S. history continues to be watered down and sanitized least kids get the impression that the U.S. did not spring fully formed and perfect. King can relax, the tradition of teaching a romanticized version of our history is likely to continue. In college it gets a little better, but only about 16% of Americans graduate with a college undergrad degree.
Taps Mori Dinauer on the Jeb Bush interview in Esquire,
Until today, I had no opinion on Jeb Bush. But after reading this Esquire interview with him, I think it’s safe to say he’s completely internalized GOP denial about the political landscape, doesn’t have any sound policy ideas, can’t stand the fact that Barack Obama is popular whereas his brother is loathed, and believes climate change science is “politicized.” In other words, he’s the perfect Republican presidential candidate.
The Long Goodbye 