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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Once again GG you make many good points. But are not Bush, Cheney, Yoo, Bybee et.al. just the tip of the iceberg. The Bush family and the entire Republican party are equally involved. And the 59+ million Americans who voted for the Bushies and who endlessly support them are also equally involved.
Not to take anything away from the totally egregious guilt of the Bush administration, but doesn't all of this entire mess bespeak of some terrible sickness that engulfs so much of the entire right wing of America. And though we may indict those at the spear point, the tip of this mess, musn't we, at some point come to grips with the entire right wing that has and is swallowing so many Americans in Kansas (what did ever happen to Kansas) Indiana and the entire South, as well as the 59+ million.
What do we do about these people and how do we ever move forward. What disaster must occur before these people ever realize what they have done and are continuing to do, even now, and every day. All one has to do is listen to the likes of O'Reilly, Hannity, remember the now deceased Russert, listen to Coulter, Ingrahan, Noonan, Buchanan, Malkin, Limbaugh and all of the other, seemingly, sociopathics and the Religious Right that have long ago swallowed up the Republican party.
Doesn't the hate just keep on coming from these people. Or am I just focusing on too much, all at once?
Glenn,
I am a great admirer of your logic and look forward to your blog daily. That
is why I am all the more mystified at you and others that seem to be hung
up on the torture/rendition issue when it comes to the CIA and the intel
community. This issue only covers about 2% of what the intel community
deals with.
Don't read me wrong. I am in total agreement that these policies were not
only criminal, and NOT EVEN REMOTELY in the US's best interests, but why
is the appointment of a true intelligence professional out of the question,
when it comes to the new DCIA. Applauding Panetta in this job makes about
as much sense as Rumsfeld in the Pentagon. Panetta is a capable person,
but not in this realm, Clinton shared similar illusions about John Deutch,
I predict the same results if he's confirmed. Obama needed to find someone
in the intel community that was not of the political and torture realm, there
were plenty there, they just weren't vetted. And given the absolute importance
of this office, that's a great loss for America. It didn't have to be either or.
In my previous post, upthread. Sociopathics should read sociopaths.
So solly, cholly, Number one son make mistake, as the lovable Charlie Chan used to say. Yup, I'm that old, 65. Some levity in relief of the ego is always welcome, especially nostalgic levity from the 30's and 40's. America needs Charlie's wisdom, now, more than ever.
... the many articles documenting the complicity of the Democratic senators and congressmen in the crimes of the Republicans?
Your post is exactly what Glenn was describing in his previous article about tribalism.
None of the egregious acts of international terrorism committed by the western nations could have occurred without the complicity of their avowedly 'liberal' constituencies, and the political operators that represent them.
By the same logic you espouse, the entirety of the world is guilty. And you'd be right, to a degree, but it is rather useless to say so. It is entirely appropriate to point out those most directly responsible, those whose decisions have most directly caused the suffering of so many. Not ALL of the peoples of the USA and other nations have supported the endless wars of the power-mad. Many have sacrificed greatly to oppose them.
Just not enough ...
... I would hope that he would surround himself with people like Ray McGovern(VIPS), who seems able to stand up to the Cons, the Neocons and the Theocons who have stolen the now derelict and depraved Republican party.
Also mayhap, Valerie Plame, Joe Wilson, Scott Ritter, and David Kay can be prevailed upon to come back to Washington and the Intel/inspection community they are devoted to, as well as the TRUTH, and who would be dedicated to returning our government to a much greater level of professionalism than we have seen under the Bushies.
Possibly even the aged Hand Blix might be prevailed upon to serve in some advisory capacity to Panetta. His service to Obama-Biden and the Panetta Intel community would also serve to once again propel America onto the world stage, and might let the world know that we are back on the world stage and will stand for only truth and the facts, no matter where they lead.
Without strict attention to truth and the facts, America will again become nothing more than a further continuation of the Republican party of Theo-Fascism; the nexus of Big Business and Big Religion.
Not a word from the OLC-designate on Waco? Ruby Ridge?
Ruby Ridge was Bush the First. Not to mention the original Waco investigation was a carry-over from Bush the First's administration.
That's leaving aside the fact that it's not nice to shoot at federal agents, and when you do, you tend to invite a sudden influx of lead....
Cheers,
Don't read me wrong. I am in total agreement that these policies were not only criminal, and NOT EVEN REMOTELY in the US's best interests, but why is the appointment of a true intelligence professional out of the question, when it comes to the new DCIA. Applauding Panetta in this job makes about as much sense as Rumsfeld in the Pentagon.
The last real "insider" (former DO officer) as DCI was Bill Colby ... and with him and from him, we furthered the eventual rise of the nascent Taliban, kissing up to Pakistan's ISI when they encouraged the fundamentalists, and other blowback that came to bite us real bad on 9-11. See, e.g., Tim Weiner's "Legacy of Ashes" and Steve Coll's "Ghost Wars".
At some point, some in the CIA (and Richard Clarke in the administration) started taking alarm at the Taliban and bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan. But the highers-up in the CIA for long were so dependent on the ISI and concerned about Pakistan's stability (and its nukes) that they didn't want to rock the boat, and those that wanted to encourage support for Masoud and the secular Pashtuns (Karzai after his split from the Taliban), Uzbeks like Dostum, and republican royalists, were thwarted and shortchanged. And State was also of the misguided opinion that neutrality towards (and pressure on) the Taliban might moderate them. High CIA went along with this, to the frustration of the bin Laden unit, etc..
The last thing we want in the CIA is some former DO "cowboy" running their own show with their own ends in mind, without oversight or restraint.
Cheers,
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
219 Democrats and one Republican join in favor of the legislation, which passed by a narrow margin
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Salon headlines in your mailbox
