Public Nuisance |
|
|
Random commentary and senseless acts of blogging.
The first Republican president once said, "While the people retain their virtue and their vigilance, no administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can seriously injure the government in the short space of four years." If Mr. Lincoln could see what's happened in these last three-and-a-half years, he might hedge a little on that statement. Blog critics Gryffindor House Slytherin House Ravenclaw House House Elves Beth Jacob Prisoners of Azkaban Muggles
Party Animals:
Jewish Bloggers Join >>  
|
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
Ryan Lizza noted a while back that being counter-terrorism director under Bush has been a bit like being the drummer for Spinal Tap: he loses one after another. In reading Clarke's Against All Enemies, I noticed that what's been true at the NSC has been equally true at the FBI: Dale Watson came in late in the Clinton Administration to replace John O'Neill, probably the most effective counter-terror officer in recent years. O'Neill went to New York, but continued working on numerous national and international briefs while Watson was the Bureau's counter-terror man in Washington. O'Neill left the FBI in the summer of 2001 and was killed on 9/11. Meanwhile:
In 2002, Dale Watson, the FBI's leading couterterrorism official, retired. Months later, Watson's replacement asked to be reassigned and a third person became the Executive Assistant Director for counterterrorism. Within two months, the next incumbent retired and the post was vacant again. Monday, May 24, 2004
Can we shut up now about the silly idea of McCain being Kerry's running mate? This dying horse was still being flogged on Sunday by Chris Matthews; fortunately it seems to be less popular now than it was last month. The Democratic Party should nominate candidates who are Democrats and who endorse the party's candidates. Besides, McCain's status as a decorated veteran can be matched by Bob Kerrey and Max Cleland, among others. Wes Clark has the combat decorations, executive leadership in wartime, and the track record of not being a partisan activist until driven to it by Bush's incompetence. The only thing McCain really brings that Clark doesn't is the adoration of the Washington media. And that's a very mixed blessing - it's handy to have a candidate whom the media loves, but we really shouldn't trust anyone who has a big fan club among the liars who stuck us with Dubya in the first place. This article in the Washington Post is a strange duck. It does show just how incompetent and politicized the CPA is, but goes to some pains to spin away what it shows. The article discusses a team of 6 conservative activists who worked on budget issues for the CPA. It lets slip a few hints about who they are, stating that, "Many had strong Republican credentials... and had no foreign service experience." But that's rather an understatement, as is the later description of those profiled. It does focus on Simone Ledeen, daughter of neo-con activist Michael Ledeen, and also describes Todd Baldwin as an aide to Rick "man on dog" Santorum. But it also describes team member John Hanley as a webmaster; in fact, he is the webmaster of the Heritage Foundation and also worked as a columnist for townhall.com. While in Iraq, he wrote a dispatch including a photo of himself with Andrew Burns, another Heritage and CPA minion. Anita Greco, described as a "teacher", was an intern at Heritage. The other member of the team, Casey Wasson, was a recent graduate of Patrick Henry College (where she won the Beverly LeHaye Leadership Award), an institution specifically designed to train home-schooled children as far right activists. Although not an accredited school, PHC currently has 7 students working in White House internships. Among the 6 CPA employees that Cha profiles, the number with close Republican/conservative ties is 6. The number with expertise in Arabic, Islam, or economics is 0.
Ledeen's journey to Baghdad began two weeks earlier when she received an e-mail out of the blue from the Pentagon's White House liaison office. The Sept. 16 message informed her that the occupation government in Iraq needed employees... Without hesitation, she responded "Sure" to the e-mail and waited -- for an interview, a background check or some other follow-up. Apparently none was necessary. A week later, she got a second e-mail telling her to look for a packet in the mail regarding her move to Baghdad. Cha quotes a CPA spokesman as saying of the hiring "Nowhere did we ask party affiliation", apparently meaning that jobs were as open to Democrats who worked for the Heritage Foundation and the Bush campaign as to Republicans.
The article could have, but didn't, mention who wasn't working for the CPA - the people who have actual experience from the efforts to rebuild Bosnia, Haiti, and Kosovo after US or NATO interventions, and those who actually do know something about Arabic culture and the Middle East. They stayed home so that unqualified ideologues could have a free hand.
We are steadily told that Iraq is essential, that we can't afford to fail there. It's important enough to be worth the lives of the soldiers who die there almost evey day. But not, it seems, important enough for civilian jobs to be staffed by professionals instead of being a public works program for Republican campaigners in an off year. Friday, May 14, 2004
So I take a little break from blogging for a month or so, and when I come back Blogger has a whole new interface. I guess I'll figure out how to publish this post and then see how it looks. Some things don't change, and one of them is hate radio shock jock Michael Savage. As David Brock's new site points out, Savage has decided who to blame for the murder of Nick Berg and it isn't the murderers:
Nick Berg, an American, not military, over there building transmission towers, was captured by the Untermenschen the sub-humans, who wrap themselves in a religion....you can thank the Democrats, you can thank the Senate Arms Services Committee for their hysterical hearings. You can thank John Kerry, Chuck Hagel, Biden, The New York Times, the alphabet channels and The Washington Post for this atrocity because they caused it.... Thank you New Yorker. Thank you Carl Levin. Thank you Ted Kennedy. Thank you Hillary Clinton. I'm sure that Mr. Berg's parents appreciate what you've done for them.
Funny how eager the folks who always complain about the 'blame America first' crowd are to do just that, as long as they can blame the right Americans.
|
