May Day

Shadow Government Leaks

MCCARTHY’S POLITICAL DONATIONS
By Andy McCarthy, The Corner, Ap 24

...Even with McCarthy considered alone, we are not talking about a single leak – the reporting indicates that she may be a serial leaker, the black-sites story being only the most prominent instance. But the broader context here is an intelligence community that was, quite brazenly, leaking in a manner designed to topple a sitting president. A big question here -- maybe not for purposes of guilt under the espionage act, but for the more important policy issue of a politicized CIA -- is whether she was part of a campaign that was grossly inappropriate for the intelligence community to engage in.

Remember Michael Scheuer, aka “Anonymous.” It is simply dumbfounding that, as an intelligence officer heading up the bin Laden team (i.e., the unit targeting the number one, active national security problem facing the country) he was permitted by the CIA to write books about what he was doing. He has indicated, though, that it was fine with the agency as long as he was slamming the Bush administration.

Valerie Plame Wilson thought the whole Bush administration notion that Saddam was trying to arm up with nukes was crazy. She maneuvered to have, not an objective analyst, but her husband – with no WMD expertise but an enemy of the president’s policy – sent to Niger, whence he returned and wrote a highly partisan, misleading and damaging op-ed in the NYTimes about the Bush administration’s case for toppling Saddam … which op-ed he was permitted by the self-same CIA to write notwithstanding that his trip was (and should have been) classified.

All the while, there has been a steady drumbeat from the former intelligence officers – who anonymously fill Seymour Hersh books when they are not venting their spleens on the record – attacking every aspect of the administration’s handling of the war on terror....

The Pulitzer Prize for Treason

The Pulitzer Prize for Treason
Powerline, Ap 17

Last year we noted that the AP had won "The Pulizer Prize for felony murder" for its spot photographic coverage in Iraq. We followed up in a series of posts featuring the analysis of former New York Times photographer D. Gorton (here and here). Mr. Gorton recapitulated his analysis in a devastating column for the Standard. Below is the photo in issue. (I wonder if Bilal Hussein was the AP stringer who has enjoyed such a fruitful collaboration with terrorists.)

Following in the footsteps of the AP last year, New York Times reporters James Risen and Eric Lichtblau won the Pulitzer Prize today for their treasonous contribution to the undermining of the highly classified National Security Agency surveillance program of al Qaeda-related terrorists. As I argued in a column for the Standard, the Risen/Lichtblau reportage clearly violated relevant provisions of the Espionage Act -- a particularly serious crime insofar as it lends assistance to the enemy in a time of war....

Today's Pulitzer Prize award to the Times brings a new shame to the Pulitzer Prize committee that builds on its disgrace last year via the award to the AP.

More...

It's Hard to Keep Up... (Powerline Ap23)

...with the revelations coming out about Dana Priest, the Washington Post reporter who published the "secret prisons" story, and Mary McCarthy, the Democratic Party activist and now-fired CIA bureaucrat who leaked the story to Priest.

Sweetness & Light points out that Dana Priest is married to William Goodfellow, the Executive Director of the the Center for International Policy (CIP). At the top of its web site is CIP's mission statement: "Promoting a foreign policy based on cooperation, demilitarization and human rights." It appears that CIP's idea of "demilitarization and human rights" is best exemplified by Cuba.

Sweetness & Light goes on to hightlight connections among CIP, which operates The Iraq Policy Information Program, Joe Wilson, and Dana Priest. This is not just guilt by association: Priest herself participated in an anti-Iraq war program put on by her husband's group, CIP, along with Joe Wilson and other even more unsavory characters. (Via The Corner).

Then we have Ms. McCarthy, the CIA leaker, who turns out to be a substantial contributor to the Democratic Party. Andy McCarthy notes that the Washington Post has published a sympatetic portrait of McCarthy--who leaked, remember, to the Post, resulting in a story for which the Post won a Pulitzer Prize--which touts McCarthy as unbiased without ever mentioning that she was a Kerry supporter who has given up to $7,700 a year to Democratic candidates!

So we have a Democratic Party activist violating federal law by leaking classified information to an antiwar activist on the payroll of the Washington Post, which publishes the criminal leak and is awarded a prize by the left-wing Pulitzer committee....

Inflatable Soldier

High Patriotism

Is Kerry actually so obtuse, or is he just pretending? Even if partisanship no longer stops at our shores, honest criticism isn't the same as false charges, partisan misrepresentation and intentionally underming the war effort. John Kerry is patriotic like Jane Fonda is patriotic. And yes, the issue is patriotism. One of them, anyway.

Kerry: Opposing Iraq War Is Patriotic
By Mark Pratt, Associated Press Writer Apr 22

BOSTON - Those who disagree with the Bush administration's policies in Iraq face the same scornful charges that they are unpatriotic as Sen. John Kerry did 35 years ago when he spoke out against the Vietnam War, the Massachusetts Democrat said Saturday....

Kerry's speech came 35 years to the day after he testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to call for an end to the Vietnam war.

Reid's Homeland Security Plan

Fioghting them just makes them mad, and then they fight us harder. Best to bend over, relax and enjoy it.

Sluggo Cynthia

FOXNEWS.COM
Police Report: McKinney Struck Officer With Closed Fist

Rumsfeld for Emperor

It is a slow news week, a holiday to boot, and during slow times undermining Rumsfeld seems to be the media's choice for promoting its bash Bush agenda.

Despie the breathless reporting, the retired generals' case against Rummy is far from persuasive.

• If there's a policy, strategic or other substantive disagreement, six of over 6,000 on active duty and retired is not an impressive number. The media's hype lacks perspective.
• If it's a complaint about Rumsfeld's management style, then it needs to come from a higher rank of generals, the three and four star generals who actually interact directly with him.
• Whatever the beef, it should have been made before retirement, not after. If the disagreement merits action as a matter of conscience, they should resign over it, express their objections at that time, and then withdraw from the dispute. That's the military way, the honorable way. Playing Monday morning quarterback and taking potshots from retirement is cheap and cowardly behavior, no matter the merits of the issue, no matter their bravery during active duty.
• Zinnie's on a book tour, and the other Marine is likely jealous of Pete Pace.The four Army Generals are likely choking on sour grapes because Rumsfeld cut the Crusader cannon and wants a "mobile" Army. The very idea that people whose jobs are to break things and kill people could get upset because Rumsfeld yelled at them is beyond the pale, suggesting they may have retired 20 years too late.

HT: Why Rumsfeld should stay, by AcademicElephant

Suicide Bombs

Islamofascist strategists understand, probably better than we, that the seeds of our own demise already grow within our own society. Why bother with nuclear WMDs when the radical left is deconstructing America from within?

Mainstream Democrat

Hil tries for the mainstream in all the wrong places.

New Quote Book Captures Hillary Clinton in Her Own Words

New book "I've Always Been a Yankees Fan" documents the outrageous comments of the former First Lady, NY Senator, and Presidential hopeful.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) April 5, 2006 -- From World Ahead Publishing comes an indispensable addition to the Hillary oeuvre. Using extensive, attributed sources, editor Tom Kuiper has assembled the first ever collection of quotes by Hillary Clinton quotes, putting them into witty, sometimes illustrated, and often hilarious context.

"I’ve Always Been A Yankees Fan: Hillary Clinton In Her Own Words" (World Ahead Publishing; paperback: $12.95; ISBN 0974670189) -- which hits stores nationwide on April 11 -- documents Hillary's comments on issues ranging from health care to Oval Office hijinks, and from Watergate to Whitewater. The book humorously but pitilessly underscores her hypocrisy, flip-flops, and endless pandering -- and it could have a major impact on her presidential aspirations.

"Sometimes a politician is her own worst enemy," writes Dick Morris in the book's foreword. "She said she always rooted for the New York Yankees when she decided to run for Senate in New York, but during the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1996, she said she was a Chicago Cubs fan, as a native of that city.

"Among the many gems in the book are some choice statements by Hillary on the Secret Service:"

[We have nothing but praise for their courage, integrity and professionalism, and we feel lucky to remain friends with many of the agents who protected us."

"If you want to remain on this detail, get your a** over here and grab those bags." (To an agent who wanted to keep his hands free in case of a security threat.)

Hillary on living in Arkansas: "I had never before lived in a place so small, so friendly and Southern, and I loved it. I went to Arkansas Razorback football games and learned to call the hogs."

"This is the kind of s*** I have to put up with." (To a friend after a Clinton supporter gave her a pair of Arkansas Razorback earrings.)

And these are just a few examples of Hillary's many illustrations of insincerity and inconsistency documented in the pages of "I've Always Been a Yankees Fan." It is a must-read for anyone looking to learn more about the real Hillary Clinton.About World Ahead Publishing: Headquartered in Los Angeles, World Ahead is the West Coast's leading publisher of conservative books. Visit http://www.worldahead.com to learn more.

The Media is the Battlefield

Bad News Bearers
The media won't defeat America by fighting the last war.
WSJ.com Opinion Journal, by JAMES TARANTO, February 1, 2006

In October the U.S. government released a letter found in Iraq and purportedly written by Ayman al-Zawahiri, al Qaeda's No. 2 man, and addressed to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the terror group's leader in Iraq. "More than half of the battle is taking place on the battlefield of the media," Zawahiri wrote. "We are in a media race for . . . hearts and minds." He added, "The aftermath of the collapse of American power in Vietnam--and how they ran and left their agents--is noteworthy."

They say that generals always fight the last war, and the same seems to be true of terrorists--and journalists. But the media today do not have the power they had during the Vietnam era--the power to lose a war....

NBC: Piss on Middle America

Victimhood

McKinney Witnesses Called to Testify

FoxNews.com, April 5, 2006

WASHINGTON — A staff aide to Rep. Sam Farr, D-Calif., will testify on Thursday in a probe that could determine whether to file charges against Democratic Rep. Cynthia McKinney for allegedly striking a Capitol Police officer, FOX News has confirmed.

Farr's office confirmed that the staff aide was subpoenaed as a witness in front of a grand jury. FOX News also confirmed that a second congressional staff aide has been called to testify, but for reasons of confidentiality, the identity of the aide was being kept anonymous.

The aides' appearances mark the first indication that the U.S. Attorney's office is convening a grand jury to determine if an incident last week involving the congresswoman merits prosecution. The U.S. Attorney's office could not discuss any grand jury subpoena, but told FOX News the investigation continues...

Democrat Plan to Protect America...

Democrats' Narrow Vision

WashingtonPost.com, by Fred Hiatt, April 3, 2006; A19

You can look at the Democrats' national security plan, released last week, as simply a political shield, akin to the upgraded body armor they promise for U.S. troops.

The party remains traumatized by the failure of biography to protect Vietnam veterans Max Cleland and John Kerry from charges of being soft on security.

So "Real Security" -- with its red, white and blue cover, its poll-tested phrases (policies that are "both tough and smart") printed in English and Spanish -- is an amulet for 2006 candidates: You see? We have a plan. We Democrats will buy more weaponry than the Bush administration, sign up more troops, give more to veterans, inspect more shipping containers.

But you can also look at the security plan as the Democrats say it is intended: as a serious strategy intended to show that the opposition party is ready to govern. Under that lens, it is a more interesting document.

The first thing you might notice is that the Democrats implicitly reject almost everything the Bush administration says about how Sept. 11 changed the world, or our perception of it....

The Democrats do indeed attack the failures and promise an end to incompetence. But they also reveal a different world view, one that is far more cramped and inward-looking. While reassuring voters that they will keep "foreign interests" out of "our national security infrastructure" -- including "mass transit" -- the Democrats do not find space to mention democracy even once....
The Democrats, led by Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (Calif.), seem to have reverted to the it's-the-economy-stupid Clinton of 1992. A section of their plan focuses on alternative energy and conservation, for example, but the goal is only "to free America from dependence on foreign oil"; climate change isn't mentioned. Pandemics such as avian flu are to be combated by spending more on public health at home; the rest of the world doesn't figure in.

Throughout the plan, in fact, there is no discussion of values, of liberty or generosity, of free markets or foreign aid -- of any purpose for American leadership larger than self-protection. The pollsters may be satisfied, but John F. Kennedy would not recognize his party.

Boop Sisters Add Gravitas

Like her sister Betty, Katie seems to have more heart than brains. But in fairness, CBS had a hard choice. Almost all the brainy females are at Fox News Channel.

CBS Prepares to Land a New Anchor
Katie Couric Set to Leave NBC's 'Today', WashintonPost.com, 4 April 2006.

NBC executives expect Katie Couric to leave the "Today" show and accept an offer from CBS to become the first woman to anchor a network evening newscast on her own, with an announcement of her departure likely as early as this week, according to well-placed sources at both networks and others familiar with the negotiations.

African Queen

Or princess... without a pot, or a window to throw it out of.

Warrants To Be Issued For Idiocy In The First Degree
From Captain's Quarters, 3 April 2006

McKinney and her supporters continued with their offensive offense today, continuing to claim that institutional racism in Congress caused the guards not to recognize her, blaming "racial profiling" instead. One Georgia politician, Alberta Abdul-Salaam, told the press that Congress and the White House have a well-planned conspiracy to attack black leaders, apparently involving the enforcement of procedures at security checkpoints. Another lunatic at her rally claimed that McKinney has been "set up" without providing any explanation of the plot. Did someone steal her pin? Was the Congresswoman told that the rules didn't apply to her, only to be shocked that the police take security rather seriously in our nation's capital?

McKinney's Hill colleagues, meanwhile, have developed a serious case of selective laryngitis on this matter. Do leaders of her party think that security protocols are part of a plot against their African-American members? Do they support the notion that elected officials that are responsible for securing our nation against attack somehow bear no responsibility for cooperating with security procedures designed to make themselves and their staffers and employees secure from danger? Their silence speaks volumes about the support they give the police officers who risk their lives every day to protect them; two of them died in 1998 protecting them from an insane gunman.

Until the Democrats and their allies start condemning McKinney's demagoguery and exploitation of racial tensions intended on distracting people from her status as an arrogant, egotistical idiot, we can't take anything they say on security seriously.

Judge Sluggo rules...

Judge Sluggo rules guilty... not for working while black but for being crazy while black.

The sentence: 'Shock' treatment.

See the VIDEO.