Yesterday, I wrote this post regarding House Democratic Speaker Frisco Nan's lies regarding her awareness of the methods American CIA interrogators were using to pry information from high-value terrorists.
I simply wrote,
"But perhaps the best unexpected consequence came when Frisco Nan began telling tall tales in an attempt to distance herself from the mess.
You see, some years ago, upon gaining membership in the House Intelligence oversight committee, Nan, along with others, was briefed on, and concurred with the CIA's methods. Other House members, including then-member, later CIA Director, Porter Goss, have corroborated the stories that Frisco Nan was present, understood the methods were being used, and even asked if they went far enough.
Nan, on the other hand, went on record this week claiming that she never realized these methods were actually being applied. In turns of phrase that have been described as "Clintonian" in their opacity, shifts of timeframe and tense, Nan has attempted to claim she 'knew nothing,' in order to avoid being caught in the net with which she herself is trying to ensnare well-meaning Bush officials in the Justice Department."
But then I viewed Glenn Beck's Friday Fox News program today, and realized the situation is both much simpler and, for Nan, much stickier.
I was just considering that others could contradict Frisco Nan's contentions that:
-She didn't know the methods were being or would be used, only that they might be used.
-Anyway, the briefings were not seeking comment, permission or response, only outlining the methods, as if no input were welcome or required.
But Beck and one of his guests pointed out how much worse this mess is for Nan. And for a very simple reason that escaped me yesterday when I wrote that post.
There must be minutes of the Congressional briefings. If Frisco Nan objected to these methods, upon hearing them described, in whatever context, surely she must be on record as having said something like,
'Well, whether you ever actually do these things or not, as a member of Congress, I want to go on record as stating my objections to them.'
Or,
'As I understand this briefing, we are not being asked permission or to give a response to these methods, but, as a member of Congress, just let me go on record as objecting to these methods.'
Failure to produce such documented objections, on the record at the time, effectively will prove Frisco Nan is lying now, when she claims to have: not known about the methods, or that they were actually in use, or that Congressional feedback was sought.
Very black and white, if you will. Either Nan objected, on the record, or she did not. She can't have it both ways.
And, if briefed, and she did not object, then she is in the same position as those Bush administration officials whom she seeks to put on trial.
Really, this woman is not very intelligent, if she could not see this coming as a result of her attacks and push for show trials. And I do think that's the truth. She's not intelligent.
She's purely politically motivated, evil, and way, way out of her depth.
As Beck contends, and I suggested in yesterday's post, this could well blow up into career-altering proportions. But, then, it wouldn't be the first time a Democratic Speaker had done this, would it? Anyone recall Carl Albert, Jim Wright, or Dan Rostenkowski?
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Frisco Nan Weaves A Web Of Lies
The liberal Democrats in Congress and the administration are apparently unable to help themselves from politicizing every issue on which they have disagreed with former president George Bush.
Now, Wonderboy has reversed himself on investigating Bush administration officials involved in building the case for aggressive handling of certain high-value terrorist captives. Detractors call it 'torture,' but it's not. At least, Mideast Arabs, were you to ask how to torture someone, would reply with real methods of torture, not the psych ops used by American interrogators.
However, even the opening moves aren't going so well for the Democrats. First, Wonderboy's own man, Dennis Blair, noted how effective the methods were at uncovering future terror plots against the US.
Then four former or current CIA Directors wrote to advise against releasing the memos which have caused the recent storm, as well as educated our enemies as to our methods.
But perhaps the best unexpected consequence came when Frisco Nan began telling tall tales in an attempt to distance herself from the mess.
You see, some years ago, upon gaining membership in the House Intelligence oversight committee, Nan, along with others, was briefed on, and concurred with the CIA's methods. Other House members, including then-member, later CIA Director, Porter Goss, have corroborated the stories that Frisco Nan was present, understood the methods were being used, and even asked if they went far enough.
Nan, on the other hand, went on record this week claiming that she never realized these methods were actually being applied. In turns of phrase that have been described as "Clintonian" in their opacity, shifts of timeframe and tense, Nan has attempted to claim she 'knew nothing,' in order to avoid being caught in the net with which she herself is trying to ensnare well-meaning Bush officials in the Justice Department.
Every report which I have seen on Nan's comments casts doubt on her statements and notes her obvious interest in lying about what she knew back in 2001-02, and later. My lunch partner and old colleague, B, thinks that this, alone, could either lead to Nan's unseating next year, or, if the Democrats hold onto the House, her removal as Speaker.
Don't forget, too, that other Congressional Democrats will be in the same boat. If the liberals really go after Bush operatives in an attempt to hold show trials, you can bet the Republicans will be bringing all the Democrats who were involved into the picture. The latter will then be faced with retaining counsel and spending a small fortune to defend themselves, along with the Bush administration officials, or will have to call off the witch hunt.
Of course, the whole enterprise will expose Wonderboy's regime for the spiteful, misguided partisan administration that it is.
Now, Wonderboy has reversed himself on investigating Bush administration officials involved in building the case for aggressive handling of certain high-value terrorist captives. Detractors call it 'torture,' but it's not. At least, Mideast Arabs, were you to ask how to torture someone, would reply with real methods of torture, not the psych ops used by American interrogators.
However, even the opening moves aren't going so well for the Democrats. First, Wonderboy's own man, Dennis Blair, noted how effective the methods were at uncovering future terror plots against the US.
Then four former or current CIA Directors wrote to advise against releasing the memos which have caused the recent storm, as well as educated our enemies as to our methods.
But perhaps the best unexpected consequence came when Frisco Nan began telling tall tales in an attempt to distance herself from the mess.
You see, some years ago, upon gaining membership in the House Intelligence oversight committee, Nan, along with others, was briefed on, and concurred with the CIA's methods. Other House members, including then-member, later CIA Director, Porter Goss, have corroborated the stories that Frisco Nan was present, understood the methods were being used, and even asked if they went far enough.
Nan, on the other hand, went on record this week claiming that she never realized these methods were actually being applied. In turns of phrase that have been described as "Clintonian" in their opacity, shifts of timeframe and tense, Nan has attempted to claim she 'knew nothing,' in order to avoid being caught in the net with which she herself is trying to ensnare well-meaning Bush officials in the Justice Department.
Every report which I have seen on Nan's comments casts doubt on her statements and notes her obvious interest in lying about what she knew back in 2001-02, and later. My lunch partner and old colleague, B, thinks that this, alone, could either lead to Nan's unseating next year, or, if the Democrats hold onto the House, her removal as Speaker.
Don't forget, too, that other Congressional Democrats will be in the same boat. If the liberals really go after Bush operatives in an attempt to hold show trials, you can bet the Republicans will be bringing all the Democrats who were involved into the picture. The latter will then be faced with retaining counsel and spending a small fortune to defend themselves, along with the Bush administration officials, or will have to call off the witch hunt.
Of course, the whole enterprise will expose Wonderboy's regime for the spiteful, misguided partisan administration that it is.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Green Nonsense
I can't wait for this week to end. All the faux-environmental nonsense just drives me up a wall.
Mind you, I'm not a consuming hedonist. Watching CNBC this morning, I heard one on-air staffer's daughter lecture viewers on 'green' things to do, many of which the more common-sensible of us began years ago, if not a lifetime.
For example, one of the early memories of my youth was my late father walking by unoccupied, lit rooms, switching off the light and loudly proclaiming to anyone within earshot,
"What, do you own stock in the electric company?"
I long ago began using my own grocery bags. But not primarily for environmental reasons. No, I have always found plastic grocery bags to be too small and flimsy for my tastes. Paper piles up and tears easily. So nearly a decade ago, I purchased reusable nylon bags, to which I've added, over time, large canvas ones.
My thermostat is generally kept no higher than 64 degrees in winter, so I wear a lot of wool. Again, it's not an environmental decision. Rather, I don't see the point in needlessly wasting my money heating air when I can more economically clothe myself to the same warming point.
Generally speaking, when prices are set correctly, consumers will economize on resources. That's why vehicles with better gas mileage sell well in times of expensive gasoline.
It's sensible to economize on the consumption of expensive resources, or, for that matter, any resource that is not free. But that is an entirely different issue than claiming to 'save the earth,' or some other similarly pompous motivation.
The logical endpoint of unbridled, senseless eco-zeal is for us to go back to caves and eschew any energy source save, I suppose, dung. After all, when we return to our species' early lifestyle, the eco-terrorists will likely forbid us to burn wood or coal.
Despite the claims of leftist climate modelers, there is no uniform agreement on the cause or long term effect of greenhouse gases. One news channel anchor noted yesterday that only twenty years ago, on the first earth day, climate 'experts' forecast falling temperatures by the mid-1990s, along with a collection of other dire predictions, none of which have materialized.
Our planet is a living mass of elements. Watching just a few History Channel programs about "Megadisasters" should be enough to convince anyone that we cannot control the forces that really affect it. One good volcanic eruption in Yellowstone, which has become suspiciously active lately, and you can kiss most of the US midwest goodbye under eight feet of ash.
Where will EPA standards be, then? We'll be talking nuclear winter, global famine and a likely descent into misery not seen since the Dark Ages.
To me, most of the windbaggery and environmental hoohah stems from people falsely presuming to have predominant influence over dynamic changes in our planet that, in fact, can easily erase all life in less than a year, without our consent.
Humbling, isn't it?
Mind you, I'm not a consuming hedonist. Watching CNBC this morning, I heard one on-air staffer's daughter lecture viewers on 'green' things to do, many of which the more common-sensible of us began years ago, if not a lifetime.
For example, one of the early memories of my youth was my late father walking by unoccupied, lit rooms, switching off the light and loudly proclaiming to anyone within earshot,
"What, do you own stock in the electric company?"
I long ago began using my own grocery bags. But not primarily for environmental reasons. No, I have always found plastic grocery bags to be too small and flimsy for my tastes. Paper piles up and tears easily. So nearly a decade ago, I purchased reusable nylon bags, to which I've added, over time, large canvas ones.
My thermostat is generally kept no higher than 64 degrees in winter, so I wear a lot of wool. Again, it's not an environmental decision. Rather, I don't see the point in needlessly wasting my money heating air when I can more economically clothe myself to the same warming point.
Generally speaking, when prices are set correctly, consumers will economize on resources. That's why vehicles with better gas mileage sell well in times of expensive gasoline.
It's sensible to economize on the consumption of expensive resources, or, for that matter, any resource that is not free. But that is an entirely different issue than claiming to 'save the earth,' or some other similarly pompous motivation.
The logical endpoint of unbridled, senseless eco-zeal is for us to go back to caves and eschew any energy source save, I suppose, dung. After all, when we return to our species' early lifestyle, the eco-terrorists will likely forbid us to burn wood or coal.
Despite the claims of leftist climate modelers, there is no uniform agreement on the cause or long term effect of greenhouse gases. One news channel anchor noted yesterday that only twenty years ago, on the first earth day, climate 'experts' forecast falling temperatures by the mid-1990s, along with a collection of other dire predictions, none of which have materialized.
Our planet is a living mass of elements. Watching just a few History Channel programs about "Megadisasters" should be enough to convince anyone that we cannot control the forces that really affect it. One good volcanic eruption in Yellowstone, which has become suspiciously active lately, and you can kiss most of the US midwest goodbye under eight feet of ash.
Where will EPA standards be, then? We'll be talking nuclear winter, global famine and a likely descent into misery not seen since the Dark Ages.
To me, most of the windbaggery and environmental hoohah stems from people falsely presuming to have predominant influence over dynamic changes in our planet that, in fact, can easily erase all life in less than a year, without our consent.
Humbling, isn't it?
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Wonderboy's Healthcare
Sent to me by a colleague today.....
A French doctor says 'Medicine in my country is so advanced that we can take a kidney out of one man, put it in another, and have him looking for work in six weeks.'
A German doctor says 'That is nothing; we can take a lung out of one person, put it in another, and have him looking for work in four weeks.
The Russian doctor says 'In my country, medicine is so advanced that we can take half a heart out of one person, put it in another, and have them both looking for work in two weeks.'
An American doctor, not to be outdone, says 'You guys are way behind. We recently took a man with no brains out of Illinois , put him in the White House, and now half the country is looking for work.'
A French doctor says 'Medicine in my country is so advanced that we can take a kidney out of one man, put it in another, and have him looking for work in six weeks.'
A German doctor says 'That is nothing; we can take a lung out of one person, put it in another, and have him looking for work in four weeks.
The Russian doctor says 'In my country, medicine is so advanced that we can take half a heart out of one person, put it in another, and have them both looking for work in two weeks.'
An American doctor, not to be outdone, says 'You guys are way behind. We recently took a man with no brains out of Illinois , put him in the White House, and now half the country is looking for work.'
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
The Left Hand & The Right Hand
I've been listening to Tax Cheat Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner give testimony before the Congressional TARP Oversight Committee this morning.
At one point just a few minutes ago, the absurdity of this administration's activities became viscerally apparent.
Geithner complained that, in the recent past, the private financial sector of the US economy took too many risks. Now, he alleged, it is taking too few risks, and needs to be taking more. So, he reasoned, the government was getting involved with the private sector, to encourage it to 'take more risk.'
Within the last week, the Wall Street Journal featured a headline calling attention to this administration's EPA declaring by fiat carbon-burning byproducts to be pollutants. Thus, the attendant article warned, all US business and consumers are now on notice that energy usage, costs, and the very way of American life have been thrown upwards in disarray and uncertainty.
Tim, we're all taking more risk now, everyday, thanks to the administration of which you are a part. That's why private capital remains on the sidelines.
Thanks to the EPA's unilateral declaration that our mainstay energy sources and processes are now probably going to be either declared illegal or incredibly expensive, nobody wants to take risks on the future value of assets.
Like FDR, Wonderboy has now given private capital a reason to flee markets. His administration is scaring the hell out of the American voting public. Nobody has any confidence that rules for investing, spending or just living are going to be consistent and reliable for the next four years.
Really, this is just too absurd. One Secretary implores the private sector to take risks, while another one declares life, lived as we now know it, to have suddenly become at risk on its own.
At one point just a few minutes ago, the absurdity of this administration's activities became viscerally apparent.
Geithner complained that, in the recent past, the private financial sector of the US economy took too many risks. Now, he alleged, it is taking too few risks, and needs to be taking more. So, he reasoned, the government was getting involved with the private sector, to encourage it to 'take more risk.'
Within the last week, the Wall Street Journal featured a headline calling attention to this administration's EPA declaring by fiat carbon-burning byproducts to be pollutants. Thus, the attendant article warned, all US business and consumers are now on notice that energy usage, costs, and the very way of American life have been thrown upwards in disarray and uncertainty.
Tim, we're all taking more risk now, everyday, thanks to the administration of which you are a part. That's why private capital remains on the sidelines.
Thanks to the EPA's unilateral declaration that our mainstay energy sources and processes are now probably going to be either declared illegal or incredibly expensive, nobody wants to take risks on the future value of assets.
Like FDR, Wonderboy has now given private capital a reason to flee markets. His administration is scaring the hell out of the American voting public. Nobody has any confidence that rules for investing, spending or just living are going to be consistent and reliable for the next four years.
Really, this is just too absurd. One Secretary implores the private sector to take risks, while another one declares life, lived as we now know it, to have suddenly become at risk on its own.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Obama's New Pal- Venezuelan Dictator Hugo Chavez
The media has dutifully played the video of Wonderboy mugging it up with Venezuelan dictator Chavez. Here's what's currently available on YouTube.
Sickening, isn't it? Our clueless First Rookie embracing a dissent-crushing dictator. Rather than use the presidential image and bully pulpit at this American States forum to give hope to Venezuelans struggling against Chavez' repression, Wonderboy passed and, instead, eagerly shook hands and conferred legitimacy on yet another of the world's thugs.
Good job, Rookie.
Sickening, isn't it? Our clueless First Rookie embracing a dissent-crushing dictator. Rather than use the presidential image and bully pulpit at this American States forum to give hope to Venezuelans struggling against Chavez' repression, Wonderboy passed and, instead, eagerly shook hands and conferred legitimacy on yet another of the world's thugs.
Good job, Rookie.
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