Protecting The Troops And Protecting His Speech

The NY Times reports on Obama's flip-flop on the release of detainee photographs and includes this:

The administration said last month that it would not oppose the release of the pictures, but Mr. Obama changed his mind after seeing the photographs and getting warnings from top Pentagon officials that the images, taken from the early years of the wars, would “further inflame anti-American opinion” and endanger troops in two war zones.

...“The publication of these photos would not add any additional benefit to our understanding of what was carried out in the past by a small number of individuals,” Mr. Obama told reporters on the South Lawn. “In fact, the most direct consequence of releasing them, I believe, would be to further inflame anti-American opinion and to put our troops in greater danger.”

The LA Times goes a bit further and connects another dot:

But military officials had expressed concerns that they could spark a backlash in the Muslim world. Obama is scheduled go to Egypt next month to address Muslims in a much-anticipated speech.

I guess it was a matter of presenting the issue in a way which resonated with The One.

GATES BEING POLITE:  The NY Times has this about Defense Secretary Gates:

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said he had changed his mind about releasing the photographs, and suggested the president did as well, because of the strong views of the top commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gen. Ray Odierno and Gen. David D. McKiernan, who is being replaced.

Changed his mind?  What had Gates thought before?  When the topic was the OLC enhanced interrogation memos, Gates had thought that resistance was futile:

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates expressed concerns on Thursday that the release of Justice Department memorandums on harsh interrogation techniques might be used by Al Qaeda and other adversaries and put American troops at risk.

But Mr. Gates said that the public release of graphic, detailed information on American interrogation techniques for terrorists was inevitable and that he had focused his efforts in cabinet-level discussions on how the United States should deal with the expected international backlash.

Mr. Gates declined to say whether his private advice to President Obama was to release or withhold the documents and instead said he urged careful attention to dealing with the consequences of their disclosure.

I'm guessing Gates has thought that releasing these pictures was unhelpful to the military but inevitable.  To the extent that he has changed his mind, it is about the futility of resistance, not the desirability of releasing the photos.

LAST THOUGHT:  Andy McCarthy pointed out on May 12 that the court tussle over the release of the photos could be ended by Executive Order:

But contrary to what the administration would have Americans believe, the Second Circuit ruling is not the end of the story. FOIA also contains an exemption from disclosure for matters that are “specifically authorized under criteria established by an executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or foreign policy.” That exemption was not at issue in the Second Circuit case.

Thus, if President Obama wanted to keep these photos from being exploited by America’s enemies, all he would need to do is issue an executive order sealing them, based on a finding (which could be drawn from public statements he has already made) that their release would imperil the national defense — as well as frustrate ongoing American foreign-policy efforts in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Palestinian territories, and elsewhere in the Muslim Middle East.

Some will say that the president won’t do that because he does not want to anger the anti-war Left, a significant part of his base. In truth, the president is the anti-war Left. He won’t issue an executive order of this kind because he wants the photos revealed. It is important to understand that disclosure here is not an inevitable outcome. It is a choice. It doesn’t have to happen unless Obama wants it to happen.

WOW, THEY'RE SERIOUS:  Yesterday I mocked this White House spin, as did Jake Tapper:

 'The president "believes their release would endanger our troops," a White House official says, adding that the president "believes that the national security implications of such a release have not been fully presented to the court."

Press Flack Gibbs is an utter liar here:

MR. GIBBS: Because the argument that the President has asked his legal team to make is not an argument that the previous legal team made in that case. They argued a couple of different things including a law enforcement exception, and a judge ruled that to seek a law enforcement exception you have to disclose the name of the person that would be -- that harm would be derived for in seeking that exception. This is a different argument that the President thinks is compelling.

Q When did you decide that it was important to make that argument? Did one of the lawyers come to him and say --

MR. GIBBS: No, he came to the lawyers.

Q And when did all of that take place?

MR. GIBBS: That was a meeting that was held last week in the Oval Office.

Oh, my goodness - Obama, drawing on his Harvard legal training, reviewed the case file and the appeal court ruling and hit upon an argument that Team Bush and Team Holder had completely missed .  What a guy!

And what a crock, as Andy McCarthy explains.  The Sept 22 2008 court ruling in favor of the ACLU is here.

The AP is not fooled - their lead:

WASHINGTON (AP) — In reversing itself and blocking the release of photos of U.S. military personnel abusing detainees, the Obama administration claims to have found a new legal argument. It hasn't.

What the administration has found is a way to pass the buck to the courts. President Barack Obama was criticized for last month's release of memos authorizing harsh interrogation techniques. If the photos are now made public over White House objections, the inevitable outrage might be deflected toward the courts and away from the president.

MAYBE A JUDGE WITH MORE EMPATHY WILL SUPPRESS THE PHOTOS:  The 2008 opinion ordering the release of the photos is intriguing.  The FOIA has an exception where the release of information could endanger "any individual".  Evil BushCo argued that "any individual" is broad enough to include members of the US military, coalition forces, and civilians who might be endangered by a surge in anti-American feeling in Iraq or the Muslim world.  The judges rang up the No Sale:

Do the defendants satisfy their burden of establishing the exemption’s applicability if they do not point to any one individual and establish that he or she could reasonably be expected to be endangered, but instead point to a group composed of millions of people and establish that it could reasonably be expected that someone in that group will be endangered? 

The plain language of the phrase “endanger the life or physical safety of any individual” connotes a degree of specificity above and beyond that conveyed by alternative phrases such as “endanger life or physical safety.” It is true that the statute does not read “any named individual,” and we thus understand it to include individuals identified in some way other than by name -- such as, for example, being identified as family members or coworkers of a named individual, or some similarly small and specific group. This does not, however, mean that the “individual” contemplated by exemption 7(F) need not be identified at all, or may be identified only as a member of a vast population. To the contrary, the legislature’s choice to condition the exemption’s availability on danger to an individual, rather than danger in general, indicates a requirement that the subject of the danger be identified with at least reasonable specificity.

Ahh, well - if Team Obama brings in some sympathetic sergeant (I suggest a woman) serving in Iraq, maybe they can persnalize the exception sufficiently to pass court muster.

TRIVIA:  Maybe it is simply a space issue, but the Times print headline was "Obama Reversal on Abuse Photos".  For the web, the more expansive headline is "Obama Moves to Bar Release of Detainee Abuse Photos".

Comments

[clarice]

Hmm--2d time in two days the AP has called the administration out--Yesterday it was Matt Appuzzo on Biden's preposterous claims that the stimulus program was working.

What's happenin'?

[Neo]

endanger troops in two war zones

Of course, lost in all of this is the fact that, according to the Geneva Conventions, prisoners or pictures of prisoners can’t be used for propaganda purposes.

Who among us all is willing to say that had the pictures been released that they would not have been used for propaganda purposes ?

A show of hands …. nuff said

[bad]

O's security during his trip to the muslim world is his top priority.

[Danube of Thought]

My hope--my slender, vanishing gossamer thread of a hope--is that Gibbs is simply being imprecise in his formulation. Perhaps he was told, but did not fully understand, that the "new legal argument" will be one based on an Executive Order that is about to be issued. If that is the case, it will constitute an intervening change in the law that can now be raised during the pendency of the appeal.

But if in fact he is correct that the administration is simply going to try to present some new argument that no one previously thought of, then the Second Circuit will simply laugh it right out of court. They won't even allow them to present further argument in the absence of a change in the legal posture of the case. And that will require the executive order.

[Old Lurker]

More than the AP, Clarice.

I know they are friendly voices, but recent columns from Barone, Will, Kudlow, WSJ and others are pushing the "lawlessness" of things, be they property rights (long settled BK rights etc per Chrysler), or the role of judges (empathy vs rule of law), or the similarities with Chavez, or "...considering changing the compensation levels of the (entire) finance industry". Not a cascade yet, but a beginning of an awakening perhaps.

The guy really does need to go read some history from our founding and then his oath of office.

Geezh.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

They won't even allow them to present further argument in the absence of a change in the legal posture of the case.

What? A court deny Obama something? Don't they know he's the President?

[Yo Bama]

It's stereotypical of a bully. Intimidate those you can and cower to those you can't. I think he'll overstep with his attempted bullying of Israel.

[bad]

How was the trip Old Lurker? Great to have you back!

[matt]

I think more and more people are wising up to this thug. He's a stone cold liar and either doesn't know or is ignoring the law of the land. I'm waiting to see what the Chrysler BK judge comes out with. Is he a sycophant or will he apply the rule of law?

[Jack is Back!]

If he won't issue an EO providing a waiver to the FOIA then can he at least issue an EO providing a waiver for more Carrie Prejean photoshopped boobie pics?

[bad]

Mr. bad and the badette looked at the pictures in the Maxim Hot 100 and they said there were many pictures much more risque than those recently circulated of Carrie.

[Jack is Back!]

On a more serious note, you know things are unraveling somewhat when your version of "Kremlin wall watchers" like Bill Krystol have already noted your tendencies in leadership and figure out before you do that you will reverse your previous judgement. When the opposition becomes clairvoyant because you have become so predictable what have you got left - not much that they can plan ahead for and be there before you are.

[DrJ]

On Monday I had the pleasure of visiting the exclusive venue of Chez Clarice. It lives up to its stellar reputation of generous hospitality, stimulating conversation and outstanding food. There is a single item on the daily menu -- check before you go! That day's was Italian, consisting of a traditional antipasto with home-baked bread, Osso Bucco with Risotto, a green salad with balsamic vinegar, and a chilled chocolate with rasperries. A variety of beverages are offered with dessert; the decaf Espresso was excellent.

A visitor should make use of the efficient shuttle service to and from the local subway. There is no corkage fee.

Highly recommended for those JOM cognoscenti who visit the greater Washington DC area.

More seriously, it truly was a pleasure to meet Mr. and Mrs. Clarice. It was a short evening, as I was exhausted from travel and a full day of work. Still, we had a pleasant, wide-ranging conversation that was quite enjoyable.

It is always interesting to meet people one knows only through the Internet. The most notable surprise, I suppose, is that Clarice speaks without typos!

[madawaskan]

Robert Gates was saying this back on April 24th-

At the same time, however, Gates voiced concern that the release of photos, along with disclosures of interrogation memos and other materials, could cause unrest and create further problems for U.S. troops serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

"I also was quite concerned, as you might expect, with the potential backlash in the Middle East and in the theaters where we're involved in conflict, and that it might have a negative impact on our troops," he said.

Washington Post

[Jane]

Uh Dr J - unbeknown to the hostess with the mostest we are all descending on her on Sept 12th. WEll at least 100 or so of us. Don't tell her, we want it to be a surprise.

[madawaskan]

Argh why don't links work in the body of the comments over here?

And I use to love to read the comments over here until the several link page problem-it's a pain in the arse!

Anyways-I do remember people saying

LUN-So that's where I will put the link to the Washington Post article.

[Fresh Air]

Jack--

These predictions were foretold by many on this very site, Commentary, Protein Wisdom, etc. It was only the fools in Washington and New York still reading the MSM Dead-Tree Editions who actually bought into the "moderation" B.S.

Zero, as Mark Levin so trenchantly put it a month or so before the election, is a "radical." Always has been, always will be. I do take exception to the term "leadership," since I haven't actually seen any of it yet. Is "followership" a word?

[DrJ]

I won't tell, Jane, but she does seem to be vaguely aware of it. And can I come too?

[RichatUF]

matt-

I'm waiting to see what the Chrysler BK judge comes out with.

That horse left the barn. The Non-TARP bondholders didn't have enough of a stake, and the BK judge, to my knowledge, hasn't seperated the TARP and Non-TARP claimants. The next big issue is going to be the dealerships and the seemingly inevitable GM bankruptcy. The interesting thing on GM's bankruptcy is that they want to start importing cars from China and sell their European operations to Fiat. Not sure how importing cars from China is going to create or save UAW jobs, but there you are. I also have a sneeking suspicion that Fiat buying Chrysler's NA operations and buying GM's european operations is to get access to the DOE "green car" re-tooling money, and through GMAC Finance, get access to FDIC insured bonds. We'll see.

And a Hubble update, the new camera has been installed and the old camera has been stowed away. Next task is to replace the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling Module, the device that failed last year.

[matt]

A headline on Yahoo news today was rather droll. It said "Can Obama tame the democrats?". I would have thought by now that many in Congress are feeling the same way about the president.

[madawaskan]

And for some reason you can find Gates quoted as saying the same thing interchangeably about the photos and/or the memos.

Different sources will quote him as saying the release of the photos I suspect is inevitable-so we are going to release all of the photos.

But then different sources will quote him saying almost the exact same thing about the memos.

There has always been a high linkage between the memos and the photos-which seems superfluous .

The Court never ordered Obama to release the memos-but they-The Obama Administration chose to time the memos with the photos.

That always looked suspicious to me.

It's as if they wanted the impact of the photos-[look how much mileage Andy Sullivan has gotten off of the few released thus far]-to create the most political harm to what the Liberal's always seem to view as the real enemy-republicans.

[Jane]

I won't tell, Jane, but she does seem to be vaguely aware of it. And can I come too?

We are counting on it!

[matt]

regarding Pelosi, weren't there Republicans in the same meetings with the CIA? Why don't they speak out?

[hit and run]

DrJ:
The most notable surprise, I suppose, is that Clarice speaks without typos!

Yes, but in my experience, it just takes a couple glasses of wine to get the typos flowing...

[dude08]

Karl Rove told me on the TeeVee that after the release of the memos the terrorists know we don't do torture anymore. So what is the big deal in releasing the photos?

[madawaskan]

They have.

There is a republican member of the House that did exactly that.

Pete Hoekstra.

[Thomas Collins]

Looks as if another episode in my favorite reality show, Nancy vs. CIA, has started. See LUN.

[madawaskan]

Porter Goss-who served on the Intelligence Committee in the House before he was advanced to Director of the CIA.

Goss represented the Florida's 14th congressional district, which includes Lee County, Fort Myers, Naples, and part of Port Charlotte. He served for a time as the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

[clarice]

Very funny, Dr J.

You , too, Hit.

Matt"regarding Pelosi, weren't there Republicans in the same meetings with the CIA? Why don't they speak out"
Porter Goss was at the first meeting and spoke out in support of the CIA's version.

[narciso]

Goss, he got the ball rolling, don't know if Hoekstra was in on the smaller group, put he probably was. Cheney who has ties not only to Yoo and Addington, but other people in the bureacracy, knew exactly which
levers to push

[Jane]

So what is the big deal in releasing the photos?

Ask President Obama DUde. I'm sure he has a website that takes questions and delivers transparency.

[centralcal]

I bet Steny Hoyer is whistling a happy tune today!

[centralcal]

Clarice: I thought Dr J's line about not speaking in typos was exceptionally clever and wickely funny!

I am still giggling.

As to typos AFTER imbibing, I am afraid many of us are prone to that.

[hit and run]

Karl Rove told me on the TeeVee that after the release of the memos the terrorists know we don't do torture anymore. So what is the big deal in releasing the photos?

Well, good point -- I mean everyone, terrorists especially, knows that Karl Rove always tells the truth. Or not just Rove, but the US in general. Terrorists believe every word that is spoken or written by the US government. And that's just the ones who get the info first hand -- rather than the poor goat farmers who get their information from their local mosque, not CNN, who are especially likely to hear and agree that we don't torture.

But even still...let's just say it out loud here.

Knowing we don't torture = captured detainees knowing they don't have to fear for their lives, thus giving up less intel.

Releasing detainee photos = riots in the streets, imams whipping up crowds into frenzy, terrorist recruiters picking up more gullible, green-shoot terrorists to join the cause that would not have otherwise. And on-the-fencers deciding not to help provide intelligence out of increased hatred or elevated fear for their safety.

I completely understand if that's too nuanced for you.

[clarice]

The idea was to do what was done with Abu Ghraib pics--take aberrant behavior of a handful of bad apples whi were already punished for their behavior after court martials --and treat them as proof that the wicked Cheney and Bush and Rummy were behind it all and that the war is so ugly and awful we should just give up this minute and go back to saving Chrysler and the UAW and dumbells who bought mortgages they coulden't afford at the urging of public interest groups like ACORN.

Can you imagine if we'd fought WWII this way?!?!?!

[centralcal]

Obama: Cheney Request Denied

No, they won't release the memos he asked for.

See LUN

[narciso]

We'd be speaking Japanese on the West Coast and German in the East. Question, why weren't these picture deleted after Abu Ghraib. They will likely leak from some source, somewhere in the bureaucracy, and
the consequences we've feared will come to pass. Look the world is "nasty, brutish, and short" specially in that corner of it, where he's going in June, the theological head of Salafism, the home of much of AQ
middle management; Dunder Mifflin, if you will.

[sbw]

We did fight WWII this way. Where do you think SNAFU came from?

[Topsecretk9]

So, the Obama administration has just admitted the Memo's Cheney requested exit and if they contradicted Cheney they would have released them

LOVE IT!

[Topsecretk9]

exit shoue EXIST

[Topsecretk9]

shoue SHOULD BE SHOULD -- my lord I can not type today (or any day for that matter I guess)

[bad]

The change of heart about the photos is supposed to provide some cover for denying Cheney's request. Is that how it works?

[Cecil Turner]

To the extent that he has changed his mind, it is about the futility of resistance, not the desirability of releasing the photos.

Yes, the utterly ludicrous contention that aiding and abetting enemy propaganda only makes us stronger appears limited to the moonbat crowd (and fellow travellers, like current White House occupants).

Looks as if another episode in my favorite reality show . . .

Yep, this is getting good. Pelosi loses her mind:

Asked whether she was accusing the CIA of lying to her during a 2002 briefing on the use of so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques," Pelosi said: "Yes, misleading the Congress of the United States, misleading the Congress of the United States. I am."

As if they aren't going to be able to leak embarassing particulars about her briefings (and she's already internally inconsistent, so that's a plus). Go long popcorn!

[Fresh Air]

green-shoot terrorists

About the only "green shoots" we'll be seeing this year.

[clarice]

They did mislead her, Cecil. They know Pelosi briefings are supposed to be done with crayons on big sheets of paper.

[narciso]

No, that doesn't make any sense, what do the results from an interrogation, have to do with footage of a different set of
interrogation, But there really is no rhyme and reason to it, from Ryan Lizza's look at Obama's budget via Beldar;it's the Pulitzer
for credentialed morons

[Mike Huggins]

Pelosi is like little Anthony Fremont without the special abilities.

[Danube of Thought]

I suppose Jon Stewart will have an update on his Pelosi shtick now.

The non-TARP lenders withdrew their opposition, so it looks to me like a done deal. How long will it be before the operations of the reorganized Chrysler and GM are uneniable losers? Can anyone imagine what sort of lipstick this weird administration will apply to these pigs?

[Cecil Turner]

. . . and that the war is so ugly and awful we should just give up this minute . . .

Good summary of the effect of airing enemy propaganda. The converse is also worth considering. Remember newsreels and other pro-US propaganda? Whatever happened to the idea that supporting this country was patriotic (instead of a scandal)?

[Jane]

So, the Obama administration has just admitted the Memo's Cheney requested exit and if they contradicted Cheney they would have released them

Exactly.

Absolutely exactly.

[matt]

So now Obama is going to close almost 800 Chrysler dealers and hang them out to dry and GM will import cars from Shanghai GM...hundreds of thousands put out of work in America and this helps us how?

I agree with the Fiat ploy, Rich. They have almost zero downside and are getting it for free, and no one finagles better that the Italians when it comes to taxes, grants, etc. Why isn't Lutz screaming at the top of his lungs?

This is insane.

[clarice]

Well, I suppose if the Congress is stupid enough to go to show trial hearings of the prior administration, the subjects can make a great deal of the fact that they are being denied the obviously exculpatory material in the govt's possession.

I wonder if there is some other way to blast them out ? Did the president open that door when he partially released them?

[Extraneus]

The change of heart about the photos is supposed to provide some cover for denying Cheney's request. Is that how it works?

Like Rush is probably saying right this moment, Cheney gets results.

[Sue]

I saw this elsewhere so I don't want to claim credit for it...Cheney is the only one getting results going after Obama and republicans in DC want him to shut up? Now, this is me talking...Go Cheney, go Cheney, go Cheney!!!!

[bad]

I don't want him to shut up. The only ones who want him to shut up are those who realize how stupid they seem in comparison.

[madawaskan]

centralcal-

Thanks for the link.

They have got to be kidding-well they aren't. Unbelievable.

[maryrose]

The funny thing about the Cheney requested memos is that they deflate the whole purpose of the aforementioned scam perpetrated by the dems to try and con Americans into believing that enhanced interrogation techniques don't work. Only dummies would buy into that and most thinking Americans don't. Jack Bauer would be ashamed of these wussy, soft on terrorism dems. This is their Achilles heel and the way back for the republicans. Also the question in 2010: Are you better off today than you were during the Bush administration? In Ohio , a neighboring auto plant was closed the day after Obama's Chrysler annoucement that no auto plant would be affected. This Twinsburg,Ohio plant had just voted on a new union contract two days before. So they were lying at the Gibbs press conference.

[centralcal]

Ditto, Sue!

[madawaskan]

No you can't allow them to get away with that set-up.

If you give them the Cheney excuse it obscures their real motives.

A guy with 19% approval ratings and a minority party in the House and Senate-which is about to lose it's ability to even filibuster-

Well that isn't the source of the Obama pivot.

Don't fall for that bullshit.

[Boom, Boom, Pow.]

Oh, Boy, the administration hands Cheney ammo and a reason to pull the trigger, and Pelosi hands the CIA a target on her back and a reason to pull the trigger.

You know, they've gotten into this mess because they've come to realize, with reason, that the MSM will cover them for everything. Well, happily, it just ain't quite so.

[centralcal]

Clarice: re your question about an open door, the last paragraph by Hayes says this:

"A senior Bush administration official points to the irony of Obama administration’s position -- using a FOIA technicality to block the public disclosure of information.

“So, because Amnesty International has filed a broad FOIA request for detainee related materials, the American people are unable to see memos that document the effectiveness of our detainee program. Wouldn’t the legal memos previously released also, presumably, have been subject to this FOIA? Why wasn’t their release blocked under the same provision?”

[Captain Hate]

They're lying all over the place. Today on the radio I heard about the Chrysler dealers that are closing in NE Ohio; they're all the big ones that had the bucks in the past to have TV ads continually so the name recognition is huge. I don't think that Obamski is going to be able to demonize them adequately for even this Donk playpen not to be shocked by this.

[dude08]

"Releasing detainee photos = riots in the streets, imams whipping up crowds into frenzy, terrorist recruiters picking up more gullible, green-shoot terrorists to join the cause that would not have otherwise. And on-the-fencers deciding not to help provide intelligence out of increased hatred or elevated fear for their safety.

I completely understand if that's too nuanced for you."

Wait - now you sound like one of those freaking terrorist loving libruls - you know, the kind that say they hate us for what we do, not what we stand for. Where did all the love for GWB go?

There's nuance, and then there's incoherence.

[hit and run]

“So, because Amnesty International has filed a broad FOIA request for detainee related materials, the American people are unable to see memos that document the effectiveness of our detainee program. Wouldn’t the legal memos previously released also, presumably, have been subject to this FOIA? Why wasn’t their release blocked under the same provision?”

The president can declassify and release whatever he wants. The memos Cheney wants are being processed through the national archives -- for whom the provision is limiting.

Obama could override that provision in a heartbeat by declassifying them unilaterally. If he wanted.

[Pops]

If these people had any balls, when the ACLU sued to get every picture of abuse released, the military should have included these 30 - 40, plus the 10,000 others showing our troops being waterboarded in training and pictures of all civilians killed by the terrorists including all the photos from Sept 11th.

It would have made much better news to have 35 pictures of Americans abuse included among 10,000 pictures of Islamic abuse of civilians.

[Sis, boom, hah.]

dude08, cognitive dissonance is the source of your confusion. Chill a bit, and think it all through.

madawaskan, do I ever hope you are right. Obama is a gigantic fool to think he can keep his past a closed book. And Pelosi doubling down is a sign of desperation. It's pretty clear that she was one of the ones who asked if the CIA were doing enough.

Hey, folks, does anyone want to peek at the birth certificate? How about Occidental College records?

[Thomas Collins]

The terminated dealers still have leases and other obligations that many now can't pay. So many of them will go into bankruptcy. Their inventory, much of which is new, is sold at auction sale prices, which will be significantly below the prices at which the remaining dealers are trying to sell their new Chryslers. Thus, the remaining dealers will have to lower their prices, thus putting more financial pressure on them.

The continuing cascade of the credit contraction . . . .

[centralcal]

Mad, MayBee, Facist Hyena: your little Obamabot over at Tappers (Angie in PA) seems a little deflated over Ms. Pelosi today. tee hee.

Also, any ideas - what is with her weird capitalization in her comments?

[Extraneus]

I'd like to take a look at the Columbia transcripts and the Harvard application, Sis.

[madawaskan]

Pop-

Boy-that's a damn good idea but I'm sure suddenly the press would become "concerned" about fomenting the American public-like after 9/11 when they started forwarding the idea that America could not handle all of the imagery.

Let's not forget the fact that for Democrats who so wish to honor the Geneva Convention-for participants who have broken that contract every which way from Sunday-to the point that these enemies have won more rights and are getting the benefits by default equal to that of a US citizen-it is still against the Geneva Convention to publish photos of prisoners.

I have never understood how they get around that...

Not only do they cherry pick the evidence of CIA memos but they cherry pick the Geneva Conventions?

[Jane]

I actually think that Pelosi was so stunningly incompetent today that there is more to the story. I have no idea what, but sheesh you would think as Speaker of the House she would be a little more agile.

[hit and run]

Where did all the love for GWB go?

The part where I state a reason for not releasing the photos based on part of Bush's reason for not releasing the photos should suffice.

There's nuance, and then there's incoherence.

I provide the one and you the other.

[madawaskan]

centralcal-

Oh! damn I need to go to Tapper's!

[Pan et a poison pill.]

Well, now Bob Graham backs up Nahncee a bit. This is going to be a war.

[Obama, better get some religion, fast; yer gonna need it.]

It would amuse the shit out of me to see the CIA end up defending Bush's use of intelligence. The Democrats seem to be trying to demonize both the Bush Administration and the CIA. And this is the Pandora's Box that Obama opened. What a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious mess.

Our enemies can't believe their luck. In their wildest dreams, they didn't think we could self-destruct this fast. And the trains? Neither on time, nor loaded. Freight is not moving. Tough times ahead.

[Jane]

Jim Geraghtt has a wonderful piece about Alinsky, power and Obama.

LUN

[Captain Hate]

Well, now Bob Graham backs up Nahncee a bit.

One brain-dead simpleton defending another. Isn't douche08 their bastard spawn?

[verner]

CIA refuses to release Cheney's memos.

[madawaskan]

Has anybody read that Second Circuit Court opinion?

Those cold blooded bastards-

It all depends on what the meaning of "any" is...

And then we all know how they can parse-"is".

If you have anyone on active duty status-it. will. make. you.-

SICK.

[hit and run]

Well, apparently I've angered the Typepad. Formatting denied on my last couple of posts.

[Hey, Machiavelli was actually a pretty good person, not so Alinsky.]

Well, Jane, I'm one up on Obama. I've met Saul Alinsky, even asking him a question after a lecture some 40 plus years ago. I don't remember the question, but do remember not understanding much of what he was talking about, in answer to the question, and during the lecture.

[Captain Hate]

hit, the formatting seems to come and go

[Jane]

Hey, Machiavelli was actually a pretty good person, not so Alinsky,

I'd ask you about it, but your name is too long.

[Danube of Thought]

"Did the president open that door when he partially released them?"

Are you thinking about some waiver argument with respect to the FOIA? I don't know the answer, but I'd be interested to see the results of whatever research has been done.

I think the idea would be that if the court has declared a particular subject matter to be unprotected by the Act, then under something akin to the "rule of completeness" all documents relating to that subject matter are unprotected, not just those that some particular litigant likes.

I don't know how this line of argument would affect the president's power to classify and declassify, except we know that that power does not altogether protect classified material from disclosure.

Somebody get on this one! (Not me...I don't know how anymore.)

[I never met a Machiavelli I didn't like.]

See, 'A Dialogue on Language', and many other works. Multidimensional, he was.

[matt]

we need to encourage another Daniel Ellsberg to leak the Cheney memos, and more importantly, the Obama memos.In a few short months, this guy has lied more to the American people than anyone since Johnson.

[hit and run]

DoT:
Not me...I don't know how anymore.

Well, that and one of my http://justoneminute.typepad.com/main/2009/03/tribe-v-tribe.html?cid=6a00d83451b2aa69e201156f412ccc970b#comment-6a00d83451b2aa69e201156f412ccc970b>favorite lines from you: "...I think a lot better when I'm getting paid..."

[peter]

I actually think that Pelosi was so stunningly incompetent today that there is more to the story. I have no idea what, but sheesh you would think as Speaker of the House she would be a little more agile.

Well, they say that Botox can travel to the brain and do great damage.

[Topsecretk9]

Good questions from Capt. Ed and Allah

And if the CIA really had lied to her in the briefings, why didn’t Pelosi start out with that explanation? In fact, why didn’t she mention that in 2005 when both the EITs and the briefings were made public? Coming four years later, this explanation lacks any kind of credibility.

The killer quote from today’s presser is “they mislead us all the time,” a reference to the CIA’s bad intel on Iraq’s WMD. If there really is a pattern of deception going on, why would she wait until there’s a Democrat in the White House to complain when she could have pinned the whole thing on Bush by screaming about it earlier?

but, but, but I thought Bush bullied the poor souls at the CIA to twist the intelligence and and and it was the Booosh admin who were going to the poor CIA to cherry pick and all...

[madawaskan]

Any Academy grads around here?

Look at this -The Second Court of Appeals opinion is written by Gleeson from the Eastern New York District and he is working off the order written by Alvin Hellerstein from New York's Southern District-

In their conclusions the refer frequently to the Supreme Court decision-

Air Force vs. Rose-

Here is a bit from Hammerstein see here-

425 U.S. 352 (1976), as further explained in Reporters Committee, 489 U.S. at 768-69 (1989)
(remarking that “much of our discussion” in Rose, which dealt with Exemption 6, was applicable to Reporters Committee, which dealt with Exemption 7(C)). Rose involved a request submitted to the Air Force for case summaries of honor and ethics hearings, with personal references and other identifying information removed from the summaries. The summaries were kept in the United States Air Force Academy’s Honor and Ethics Code reading files, and were regularly posted on forty squadron bulletin boards and circulated to various faculty members and administration officials. 425 U.S. at 355.

They are referring to honor code violations at USAFA and equating that to a wartime situation..?

Somehow it makes sense to them...I'm not a lawyer I really don't get it.

It must be in the "details", or hell it could be grammar!

Alvin Hellerstein order LUN

[Topsecretk9]

the 1st 2 paragraphs in that should be blockquoted, guess it didn't show up

[clarice]

Yeah, DoT, that's kinda where my old brain was wandering..I suspect the person who would know the law on that better than anyone is Steve Aftergood of Secrecy News

[madawaskan]

Oh hell Hammerstein =Hellerstein-don't know how I messed that up.

[hit and run]

In the most important news of the day: 15 years ago today the girl of my dreams said "I do", propelling me on an uninterrupted ride of head-over-heeledness that continues unabated to this day.

[PeterUK]

If y the future of Chrysler and GM,read about British Leyland. and weep.This is what a socialist government and the Unions can do between them.

[verner]

Yeah Hit!!! way to go buddie, and congrats.

[Jack is Back!]

This just in:

"Immediately after the Nancy Pelosi presser today, where she continued to deny that the CIA had briefed her on the use of waterboarding as an existing EIT, the stock of the Orville Redenbacher Popcorn Company exploded by 23%. (AP)"

[matt]

congrats, hit!

[DrJ]

Congrats, Hit!

And to think I thought the head-over-heeledness came from the beer. I must be too cynical.

[centralcal]

Hit - If the girl of your dreams said "I do" to YOU, then happy anniversary!!!