McCarthy's Contributions - Still An Impenetrable Mystery At The Times

What might have been motivating the fired CIA officer?  The Times noted her $2,000 campaign contribution to John Kerry in their Friday coverage, but overlooked another $5,000 contribution that she had made to the Ohio DNC; they also overlooked her husband's max contribution to John Kerry (OK, per the FEC database they have the same last name and same address so we are guessing "husband").

David Cloud follows up for the Times on Saturday, and still scores an "incomplete", twice, in his coverage:

Others said it was possible that Ms. McCarthy — who made a contribution to Senator John Kerry's presidential campaign in 2004 — had grown increasingly disenchanted with the methods adopted by the Bush administration for handling Qaeda prisoners.

And a bit later:

Several associates of Ms. McCarthy said she returned to the C.I.A. in 2004, taking a job in the inspector general's office. That year, public records show, she contributed $2,000 to Mr. Kerry's presidential campaign, identifying herself as a "government analyst."

This is simply not this difficult - gee, someone get the Tmes a subscription to "Open Secrets".

For what it's worth, as the Times ponders Ms. McCarthy's motivation to leak and struggles to connect the dots and, let's point out a few possibly relevant details from their article:

When President Bush took office in 2001, Ms. McCarthy's career seemed to stall. A former Bush administration official who worked with her said that although Ms. McCarthy was a career C.I.A. employee, as a holdover from the Clinton administration she was regarded with suspicion and was gradually eased out of her job as senior director for intelligence programs. She left several months into Mr. Bush's first term.

And:

Rand Beers, who at the time was Mr. Clinton's senior intelligence aide on the National Security Council, said he had hired Ms. McCarthy to be his deputy.

"Anybody who works for Charlie Allen and then replaces him has got to be good," said Mr. Beers, who went on to serve as an adviser to Mr. Kerry's campaign in 2004. Ms. McCarthy took over from Mr. Beers as the senior director for intelligence programs in 1998.

I'm stretching here, but let's see - her CIA career had stalled under Bush; her old boss was a senior advisor to Kerry.  Dum de dum, in 2004 might she have been rooting for Kerry specifically, and Democrats generally?  And there's nothing wrong with that!

However - one might wonder whether she was part of the White House - CIA war that preceded the 2004 election.  And the Times might be more inclined to wonder that as well, if they would even get the basic facts about her campaign contributions lined up in front of themselves.

Well, the truth is out there - here are Jonah Goldberg and Andrew McCarthy of the NRO.

HELP:  I saw some lovely trouncings of the Times hagiography of McCarthy.  If folks could recommend their faves, that would be great.  Or, put in a plug for the other side - bring it on.

A REMINDER:  Was Ms. McCarthy's only outlet as a "whistleblower" to go to the press?  Please.  DCI Porter Goss wrote about the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act in a NY Times op-ed and I had a harangue about it here.  Believe it or not, we actually have laws covering this sort of thing - Ms. McCarthy would have had special protection if she had revealed her classified info to members of the Congressional oversight committees.

And we know that Harry Reid has figured out how to arrange for a closed session of the Senate.

WE COULD GET TO LIKE DANA PRIEST:  Ms. Priest took an on-line victory lap after her Secret Prisons article came out last November.  Her bitter foes will seize on this bit of misdirection:

Washington, D.C.: Cliff Kincaid writing in "Accuracy in Media" says that your story on secret prisons yesterday "reflects the view of a faction in the agency (CIA) that opposes this policy and wants to use The Post to convey its view publicly. Once again, the secret war against the Bush administration is on display for all to see."

While I don't expect you to reveal your sources to us -- although go ahead if you want to do so -- you should at least be able to tell us if there is any truth to the notion that currently serving CIA officers are trying to undermine the Bushies. Are they?

Dana Priest: ...

Most CIA people I've met probably voted for George Bush. And the CIA is responsible for executing the war on terror and capturing the vast majority of the terrorist suspects around the world. No one from the CIA and no one who used to be in the CIA proposed that I write the article I did. On the contrary.

Yeah, whatever - it does not take a majority to form a disgruntled group of leakers.

But we like this "Plame equivalence" Q&A:

Columbia, S.C.: Great Work!

How do you answer critics who point out this may be a 'leak' that could potentially compromise national security, ala the Plame leak?

Dana Priest: I don't actually think the Plame leak compromised national security, from what I've been able to learn about her position.  As for my article, we tried to minimize that by not naming the countries involved and, otherwise, no, I don't believe it compromised national security at all.

HELP WANTED:  J.west has sent a spreadsheet of big donors to Ohio Democrats in the October 2004 (Balky text file).  But what does it mean?

FWIW, Ohio had clearly been pegged as a battleground in October.  Whether Kerry made a special fundraising appeal for that state is something I have not pinned down.

Comments

[windansea]

I like this from the Captain (re is it a sting)

commenting on this from WAPO article

Others pointed out that the information in question was known by so few people that the number of suspected leakers was fairly small, enabling investigators to work swiftly.

Captain comments

It seems to me that the series of detention centers described by Dana Priest in the article based on the McCarthy leaks would have included a not-insignificant number of support personnel, assisting in the clandestine movement of agents and detainees through secret facilities in Europe and elsewhere. The logistics of such a program would be overwhelming. Either a clandestine team would have to be created for the effort, or the resources of CIA field offices throughout Europe would have to be exploited to ensure the program remained effective and secret. The only scenario I can see where the information on the program could be contained within just a few individuals would be that the program never really existed at all -- and that's why the investigation centered so quickly on McCarthy and a few others.

http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/

Many here don't think it could be a sting, but perhaps our fearless leader decided to hell with the polls and press...let's meet the fockers

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

Slightly off topic, but Fox News Sunday show was in total meltdown today thanks to Juan Williams. Over Mary McCarthy, and high gasoline prices.

On the latter topic Brit Hume described Juan's incoherence in explainiing away the laws of supply and demand as 'economic glossolalia; speaking in tongues'. When Bill Kristol attempted to explain to a clearly uncomprehending Williams the camera cut to a shot of Hume covering his eyes and shaking his head.

Then came a segment on McCarthy leaking classified info and Juan was so ridiculous that even Chris Wallace and Mara Liason joined in the fun.

[Dwilkers]

How many prisons were there supposed to be? I don't remember, but wasn't it 8 or something like that?

I thought it odd at the time. I've read there are only 18 or so high value prisoners. Why would the CIA be building a whole series of prisons across Eastern Europe to hold 18-25 prisoners? What a pain it would be to keep that many locations secret. And remember we already HAD a prison in Afghanistan - where we have a nice military contingent and also is the place these guys were caught.

Never did make much sense to me. Maybe ONE super secret prison in Europe. Not a whole bunch of them though.

OT sorta - does anyone have a link to or know what the organizational structure is to the CIA? I find myself very curious this morning about what our little Matahari Mary's position was on the ole org chart vis a vis Muchausen Joe's wife.

[clarice]

aybe we ought to run our own NTP (Not the Pulitzer) where we award the person who puts together the best bit on key thinga about the story neither the crack team at the WaPo nor that of the NYT saw fit to report to interested readers:
The full extent of her Dem contributions;
Dana Priest's husbands's connectgion to the Marxist CIP' Fenton's connection to both the CIP and IPIP;the fact that the IPIP is Wilson's speaking agent; Fenton's connection, as well to the Tides Foundation and Teresa's contributions to it. Indeed, how and why Tides was set up and why it is even allowed to serve tax free foundations as a money laundering outfit.

Ford Foundation's connection to CIP. Indeed, how we continue to give tax exempt treatment to fabulously wealthy foundations who reward this by funding every Marxist operation in sight.

That's my outline. Am I in the running?

[windansea]

here's what Dana Priest thinks

Dana Priest: Well, actually, the media is not breaking the law by publishing classified information. That’s still a safeguard we have in the law. The person/s who turn it over are breaking the law, technically.

But the courts and the body politic have always looked at this as the cost of democracy and that is one huge reason why reporters have not be pursued previously. It’s the trade off for having a free press. The alternative is prior censorship and government control of the media, a la Israel, China, Iran, etc.

here's Rocky

But the vice chairman of the same committee, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), complained in a letter to the national intelligence director last month that "damaging revelations of intelligence sources and methods are generated primarily by Executive Branch officials pushing a particular policy, and not by the rank-and-file employees of the intelligence agencies."

and the DOJ

The Justice Department also argued in a court filing last month that reporters can be prosecuted under the 1917 Espionage Act for receiving and publishing classified informationThe brief was filed in support of a case against two pro-Israeli lobbyists, who are the first nongovernment officials to be prosecuted for receiving and distributing classified information…..

The Espionage Act makes it a crime for a government official with access to “national defense information” to communicate it intentionally to any unauthorized person. A 1950 amendment aimed at Soviet spying broadened the law, forbidding an unauthorized recipient of the information to pass it on, or even to keep it to himself.

http://www.floppingaces.net/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/04/AR2006030400867_pf.html

[Other Tom]

We are already seeing, from the likes of perpetual gasbag Larry Johnson, the anticipated spin: "It's a tragedy that Mary had to go to the press to get the truth about an abuse out to the American people." This ought to be nipped smartly in the bud. McCarthy had available to her the procedures of the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act, which sets forth the actions to be taken by an employee who suspects that an abuse has occurred. The employee is to make a complaint to the Inspector General, who is then required to report it to the Director. The Director, in turn, is required to notify the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. I would be astonished if it turns out McCarthy attempted to avail herself of this statutory procedure. I would be even more astonished if we see anything about it in the media.

On the subject of the sting, it still seems highly improbable to me that, given the nature of the harm to our relations with foreign intelligence services, this story could have been planted to smoke out a leaker. Why not just find the NSA leakers, whose leaks indisputably concerned an existing program?

[windansea]

what if the harm to foreign intelligence services is imaginary....part of the sting...

[windansea]

this sting may be also aimed at NSA leakers as well

[windansea]

may also be?

[kim]

Here's an irony. the Watergate break-in and cover-up was a pitifully small-time and amateur operation compared to the McCarthy Monstrousness. The scale of what was attempted at Watergate pales in comparison to the scale of this plot.

More irony. It is just delicious, and an objective measure of their degradation, to watch the MSM report this precisely backwards from the role they have perceived for themselves after Watergate. The brave and intrepid corps of journalists should be sniffing out the entrenched and unconstitutional powers being assumed by partisan politicians masquerading as disinterested public servants.

Truly these are perverse times. Later generations will wonder at the disjunct from reality by the press partisans, or their utter betrayal of the principles of a free press.
======================================

[Other Tom]

If the harm to the relations with foreign intelligence services is imaginary, and part of the sting, then Porter Goss lied in his testimony to Congress.

[Other Tom]

Incidentally, the lawful procedure that was available to McCarthy is set forth in Section 8H (at least I think it's H) of the Inspector General Act.

[SteveMG]

It is interesting that the press seems to have almost zero interest in the possibility - possibility I say - than unelected officials in the government were trying to influence an election by leaking classified and secret information.

Good grief, it's a sexy story. Spies, elections, classified information, politics, intrigue - it's like a Allan Drury novel (interesting that one of the themes in his Advise and Consent is that "even" liberals can do bad things in their desire for power)

Can you imagine if this had been a liberal Administration being undermined by conservatives in the CIA? By - cover your eyes Matthews in case your're reading this - neoconservatives?

But they have no interest because: (1) they like leaks and don't want the spigot to be turned off and (2) they're clearly in some cases sympathetic toward the goals of the leakers, e.g., injuring Bush, stopping policies they don't like, et cetera.

SMG

[Ranger]

Ok, here’s the plot of a political espionage novel I’ve been working on:

Mr. X is a former high level intel guy who’s dream in life is to be National Security Advisor or DCI, or some other very top level intel job. His party lost the White House, but that’s actually not a bad thing for him, because the upcoming election will give him a chance to outshine all his competition and get a lock on the job in a new administration provided he picks the right candidate. So, he knows exactly what to do, he will build his own private intel network inside the CIA and use it to demolish the incumbent president in the press. Once the network is in place he can cause a leak to prove its value, then offer his services to the opposition front runner campaign (with the leak as proof he can deliver the goods). Part of this plan requires having people in place in the agency. He has some already, but what he needs is a good cutout who can also get access to juicy bits of info that his inside sources themselves might not see (that damn compartmentalization of information makes things harder than it should be).

So, the answer is clear, get someone into the IG’s office before the election campaign starts. The IG’s office sees all the dirt that is going on in the agency (or at least most of it) and it is a perfect conduit for information to the outside (thus protecting assets deeper in the operational and analysis shops). But turning a current member of the IG staff is a dangerous game. What to do? Well, how about find a trusted colleague (let’s call her Ms. Y) and get them to volunteer to work in the IG’s office. Once Ms. Y is in place, let the fun begin.

Unfortunately, if you replace Mr. Beers for Mr. X and Ms. McCarthy for Ms. Y, it seems my story has already been done, at least in theory.

[kim]

Particularly insidious is that she was with the Inspector General. Like the fairy stories we grew up with of an objective press, and inspector general is supposed to be judge-like, above the fray.

She should hang, with Wilson, with Clarke, with Beers; and Berger should be quartered. There really isn't punishment enough for these people. Thank God the judgement of history will probably not err.
===========================

[kim]

Or disemboweled. I'll bet money he's chewed up papers and swallowed them.
=========================

[kim]

There was diplomatic damage done by the story of the prisons whether or not it was true.
===========================

[Dave in W-S]

Just to hammer one point around which many seem to be flirting: McCarthy worked in the CIA Inspector General's office, which among other things, is the designated place for "whistleblowers" to file their complaints. She would absolutely know how to report perceived abuse legally. As OtherTom points out above, there should be a paper trail available to investigators to determine whether McCarthy even availed herself of the proper channels. Not that it would absolve her if she did, but my suspicion is that she did not, which would completely remove any claim to whistleblower status.

[Dwilkers]

OK, I'm reading a lot of whistleblower horsesh*t on the net and its starting to irritate me just a bit, so I'm calling bullsh*t on that one right now.

There is no such thing as a CIA employee blowing the whistle by revealing highly sensitive national security information like this. "Whistleblowers" are people that tell us when there is some plot to defraud the government.

There has never been a person that was given the awesome responsibility of access to our government's most dear secrets and then traded in that information that is accurately called a "whistleblower". There is a word for that behavior - Whistleblower isn't it.

Highly classified information is not the property of McCarthy, she had no right to give it to anyone. She stole it for personal profit - whether that was simple self aggrandizement, political gain or smug self satisfaction we don't know as yet. What we do know is it was a crime, not whistleblowing.

[larwyn]

Patrick
Juan Williams "Not even wrong".

SEASON OF TREASON Lorie Byrd
coined, is just beginning. Hugh
better update and include the Uncles!

TIGERHAWK:
Looks like Joseph Goebbels began that "fake, but accurate"
meme:

Meanwhile, the article itself refers to an early believer in "fake, but accurate":
The exhibit cites a quote from Joseph Goebbels, a decade before he became Adolf Hitler's propaganda minister:

"I believe that `The Protocols of the Wise Men of Zion' are a forgery. (However) I believe in the intrinsic but not in the factual truth of the `Protocols.'"

Century-Old Nazi Propaganda Still in UseBy CARL HARTMAN, Associated Press Writer Sat Apr 22, 4:13 AM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060422/ap_on_re_us/propaganda_resurgence
--------------------------------------------------
Hugh Hewitt hopefully is giving us a headsup to catch this on CSPAN:

I spent the day at the Palm Springs Festival of Books, and was on a panel with the always canny Susan Estrich. (She was on my right; Susan McDougal on my left. I pleaded with the audience for a photo.)Professor Estrich believes the Dems must press the attack on Rumsfeld as the way to signal to the voting population that the Dems have a different plan. This was the only point on which we disagreed, and deeply so.

.......SNIP.......
Consider that panel: Glantz, McDougal, Frank, Estrich...and me.I thought it was a fair match.So did Professor Estrich. For the first time in many weeks I felt good about the GOP's prospects in November.

There's no way to hide the Democrats' crazy aunts in the basement.There are too many of them.
--------------------
And one is the Minority Leader in the U S CONGRESS!
-----------------------------------
Don't miss a look at photo of Scooter Libby at top of AP's story on Mary McCarthy at Gateway Pundit:

Today's Culture of Treason: Scooter's Back! & Dana's Pinko Hubby

Any question the LSM is in the
Season of Treason. Or that is just in their blood: A Culture of Treason and *John F*** Kerry is on Sunday shows wallowing it in!

*LifeLikePundits' Culture of Treason Logo features the (gag! gag!) young visage of JF****K!

[Dwilkers]

Two on a match. To be clear, that wasn't aimed at you Dave in W-S.

[Dave in W-S]

Didn't take it so, Dwilkers. Both of us just hammered that meme from two different angles.

Great minds...

[SteveMG]

If I can be class lecturer for a second, I'd suggest one should be judicious with the "treason" charge. Treason is not simply revealing classified information; or even giving "aid and comfort" to the enemy.

Treason is waging war against the country or adhering to their [the United State] enemies, giving aid and comfort. [US Const., Art. III, Section 3]

Folks like Hiss and the Rosenbergs and Jane Fonda committed treason.

Nothing done so far by McCarthy, Priest et al. even remotely approaches that standard.

SMG

[CorgiMom]

KosKids have a post up saying that the NYT is now changing the "secret prison" story to reflect the view of the Administration! Right, like that would so happen. But they know the original story was true because there were over 50 hours of testimony from people claiming to have been abducted (their words) by CIA agents. Now if we could only get official count of hours of testimony from those claiming to have been abducted by Aliens then we could prove, well, you get the picture.

[Beto Ochoa]

I agree windansea. Hey that rhymes.
Anyhoo, It would be very intersting to see if Saint McCarthy had been under suspicion for another reason and they laid out a canard and she actually spied on the US for her connections.
Jesus told a parable in Luke 16 of a servant who, when he realized he was going to be sacked, paved his way out by going around and greasing a lot of palms with his masters money by forgivng a lot of peoples' debts. Something that he was entrusted with in his role as servant.

5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much do you owe my lord?

6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take your bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.

7 Then said he to another, And how much do you owe? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take your bill, and write fourscore.

8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

"It was done for a single minded purpose with the added reward of great celebrity in the cottage industry left wing republican bashing that sells so well to it's captive audience. Write a book or tell a tale that bashes this President or the people around him and you are guaranteed major news segments, scads of greenbacks and the eternal praise of the "progressives". Then add the bonus of spin, smoke and cover fire from your MSM promoters and it becomes a "Slam Dunk"."

If Juan Williams meltdown on FNS is any example of the hysteria on the left,
the din and caterwaul is about to be racheted up several notches.

[Sue]

If the MSM are going to continue to quote Wacky Quacky Larry Johnson, shouldn't they also note he is part of a group that called for the very thing Mary McCarthy did? It seems relevant to the story, to me.

[Beto Ochoa]

Ah Sue, Relevance only pertains to their Moral Authority.

[ghostcat]

Here's a deep insight for ya as we all approach May 14: Treachery's monogram is MOM.

[richard mcenroe]

On the sting possibility —

The secret prison meme may not have originated with Goss. He may simply have released bogus info to take advantage of the already-existing allegations.

[larwyn]

windandsea,
You are forgeting the leaking of the CIA FLIGHTS USED FOR RENDITIONS.
Any doubt the Intel services of our European "allies" were very upset and embarrassed by that leak.

Other Tom,
So Goss wasn't lying when he testified at Senate about damage done in Europe.

Make it very likely that the Euros would be happy to participate in the sting.

Not finding any evidence of the CIA PRISONS - also put egg on the face on lots of pesty LIARS - like the NGO's, PHONY HUMAN RIGHTS LEFTISTS and their politician mouthpieces.

A WIN ALL AROUND! Love to see the celebratory notes and wines, beers and hard spirits to toast,in the SPECIAL pouches delivered this week!

[Beto Ochoa]

Ranger,
Your story should at least be adapted into a short film and presented at some conservative, pro patriot film fest.

[Sue]

Beta,

Okay, some of the other stuff I have been speculating is just that, speculation. That bit of information is fact. It was on their website. He is part of that group. It is relevant to Larry Johnson's opinion. Which they are happily quoting. It makes me go grrrrrrr....

[Dusty]

I read somewhere that the administration had requested the WaPo not publish the secret prison story. I know this happened with the NYT NSA story and this took place prior to the election. If the request to the WaPo did occur, was that also before the election?

The reason I ask is that it seems to me quite unusual for Mary McCarthy to go back to the CIA in 2004 after leaving in 2001. Tom, you mention a White House - CIA war and maybe so, but I am wondering if McCarthy is a Kerry campaign mole sent in to get dirt and make it public. It certainly seems to have many of the circumstantial connections to Bush's enemies and her going back in 2004 is just too unusual.

[larwyn]

PRIEST ON MSNBC trying to play down new Bin Laden tape!

"none dare call it treason"

SMG,
So we should keep our gloves on? Just let the DEMS & THEIR MINIONS SPIN IT.

And our spokesmen should get on the cable stations and with the short time they are given, with all the interruptions of the other panelists, with the "hosts" not only allowing but encouraging the rudeness..........

Our people should explain the law, read out the sections - to agree with the LEFTIES that McCarthy is ________! What????

SMG, perhaps you would like to ask any of your relatives(unless they were on Uncle Joe's side) who lived thru WWII - what they think McCarthy just did.

The "Uncle Joe" mention did not refer to you or to your relatives - only used as I believe that it only be that group that would see nothing wrong in her leak. As their spawn is now doing.

Average Joe Sixpack thinks 'TREASON" - RELEASE OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION WHILE WE ARE AT WAR'!

[Rick Ballard]

Dave in W-S,

Thank you for the information on the Hatch Act on another thread. You mentioned that it was 'loosened' by amendment in '93 (the last year of weasel majority), do you know if the impetus for amendment came from Miz Clinton's Executive branch? Was this a method of making the seeding of 'party servants' rather than public servants easier to accomplish?

Perhaps a rescission of the amendment would be a task that the current Congress might address?

[Rick Ballard]

Larwyn,

Going boldly forth once again, eh?

[ghostcat]

BTW: Goss and McCarthy have likely known one another for many years, given their respective roles in U.S. intelligence.

[Sue]

Dusty,

IIRC, they requested they not publish the story but when the WaPo was going to go ahead and publish, they requested they withhold the names of the countries and they did that. I think that was in the WaPo story itself.

[Beto Ochoa]

Sue, I was saying the MSM doesn't care if somethings relevant when it doesn't fit their template.

[SteveMG]

Larwyn:
SMG,
So we should keep our gloves on? Just let the DEMS & THEIR MINIONS SPIN IT.

Look, folks can post whatever they want here per the rules made by TM.

But this is Just One Minute, a blog run by Tom Maguire.

It's not Daily Kos, a blog run by, well, fill in the blank.

I'll not become a leftwinger in style but only with different subtance. BDS is a leftist autoimmune disease; let's not let it mutate and infect us.

Others can, obviously, choose a different path and post whatever they wish. I can't stop them.

Based on what we know, what McCarthy, Priest et al. did was not treason.

It was wrong, illegal, contemptible, unacceptable and unethical. But not treasonous.

SMG

[ghostcat]

SteveMG:

Do you agree it was treacherous? subversive?

[larwyn]

"BOLDY FORTH"
Rick,
Just got overconfident - check all my multipled tagged posts since last evening.

Got a bit "blinded" by rage at we shouldnt be calling what they did/are doing "TREASON.

Notice how carefully the LEFT uses words. President George W Bush LEAKED?????

When the LSM takes up the CONSTITUTION, law books and dictionaries - then I will match their caution.

SEASON OF TREASON &
CULTURE OF TREASON
are apt and effective.

I won't expect GW, Gonzales or Goss to use the term. But have no problem with Joe Sixpack and the rest of the Red State YaHoos that vote R in the midterms embrace of it.

Great "discussion" to follow:

Republican are a "Culture of Corruption"!

Democrats are a "Culture of Treason" and "Corruption"

Vote Democrat - Two for the $$$$ of one!

[SteveMG]

Ghostcat:
Do you agree it was treacherous? subversive?

Yes, and yes.

It was (based on what we know now; obviously we'll know much more as this plays out) a betrayal of confidence and trust, undermining a policy and an Administration.

If she didn't like the policies, she needed to resign from her post.

Just because I don't view it as "treason" doesn't mean in any way I think it was okay.

SMG

[larwyn]

SMG,
You misunderstand me.

Let the DEMS & their mouthpieces

do the explaining why this is not

treason!

Give us a nice word that you would

use. A nice WORD that fits

into the slogan/bumpersticker

format that the DEMS are famous

for.

Provide that WORD and I will be happy to use it.

[Cecil Turner]

It was wrong, illegal, contemptible, unacceptable and unethical. But not treasonous.

I don't think I'm with you on this one. Concur the only acceptable definition is:

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.

However, leaking information in wartime that impairs the US ability to prosecute a war in the desired fashion (which is what the "secret prison" leak was all about, even if the motive was political), is either close to the line, or over it. That it was motivated by political considerations and not for love of Al Qaeda is irrelevant, if the effect was to help them. Finally, though I agree a conviction for treason in this case would be implausible, labeling it "treasonous" is within the bounds of acceptable political speech (even outside the fever swamps).

[Dusty]

Thanks, Sue. Reading it again, it doesn't sound as though this leak was something that went to the WaPo before the election, based on the way the story was written and that it was published on Nov 2 '05.

I must remember that it is still supposition that the McCarthy's leaks are of the secret prisons info and not other info (or other info, too.) Hey, it could be that the prison info was leaked because the NYT was dragging it's feet on the NSA story.

It would be nice to know when in 2004 McCarthy was rehired as well as who's bright idea it was to do so.

[SteveMG]

Cecil:
adhering to their enemies

McCarthy was "adhering" to what enemy?

Al-Qaeda?

Adhering as in devoted to or supportive of?

No evidence of that so far.

If this is acceptable discourse, then you see nothing wrong with the left saying Rove, Libby et al. committed treason in the Plame case?

No. Let's save the treason charge for the Alger Hisses and Jane Fondas. It seems to me that using the term for other "lesser" situations only weakens the charge when we have real traitors. Those who had and have a real desire to injure the nation in the cause of an enemy of the country.

Look, I'm not the word policeman here or anywhere else. Others may use whatever terms they want.

SMG

[larwyn]

Thank You Cecil!

I did not initiate the slogans and only go out to peruse respectable sites to bring back the nuggets I find.

To be compared with KOS KIDZ for quoting Lorie Byrd, GatewayPundit and Flopping Aces to name a few is to IMHO more over the line than using TREASON to describe this crime.

The Justice Department will sort it out.

Hope that SMG was as adament in criticizing the LSM for printing and saying that 'BUSH LEAKED"!

[noah]

Dangerous do-do heads?

[vnjagvet]

Let's see:

Wilson a part of the Kerry foreign policy advisory group in 2003? Check.

Berger a part of the Kerry foreign policy team in 2003? Check.

Dana Priest's husband a friend of the above members of the Kerry foreign policy team in 2003? Check.

McCarthy connected to all of the above? Check.

McCarthy a generous contributor to the 2004 Kerry campaign while employed by the CIA? Check.

Guilt by association or prima facie evidence of a conspiracy?

Watchathink, classmates?