Saturday Morning

Here we go.

Comments

[BR]

See LUN for E-voting machine company previously owned by Chavez. (The same ones used in Hamilton County, recently found to have virus, re Hoffman.) The Freepers are calling it the ACORN swine flu virus.

The problem with Holder is Obama placed him.
The problem with Obama is Chavez placed him.

The tool, the thank you, and the result.

">http://obamaisabitch.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/barack-obama-pissing-on-america.jpg">

[rrsafety]

Global warming busted??

[peter]

Pray for me. I will be installing a flat screen TV today. At the LUN, the Slimes compares Obama to Derek Jeter. What an insult to a great man. One is a leader who works tirelessly. The other is just a jerk.

[Jane]

Charlie - you just got instalaunched! Congrats!

[Janet]

On the So Give Him a Talk Show thread there are some wonderful pictures posted by Ann of Andrea Mitchell stalking Sarah Palin! The security guy's look at Andrea is priceless.
Also Ann's book signing adventure is recapped. Thanks Ann!

[hit and run]

Great news! Obama's Asia trip was awesome,says ... Obama.

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/finance/finhome/topstories/apf;_ylt=AmIUs0kaV.14a9ACLRnCrBRO7sMF;_ylu=X3oDMTE1Mjl0MGkyBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN0b3BTdG9yaWVzBHNsawNvYmFtYXRydW1wZXQ-/*http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/091121/us_obama_jobs.html?sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=>Obama trumpets Asia trip as boost to US economy- AP

President Barack Obama's eight-day trip to Asia produced no tangible wins for the United States, though he is citing talks with Asian allies that he says could help create thousands of jobs and open new markets for American goods in the future.

You get an 'A' for effort and a participation trophy,Obama.

Take a bow.

[clarice]

WaPo has front page article today--FBI picked up multiple conversations between Hasan and the Yemeni Jihadi imam..clear that this was prearranged terrorism and Hasan was even talking about how to transmit money to him.

FBI never told military.

Its job seems to be to race to the scene of the carnage and insist it's not terrorism.
PHBBT

[Porchlight]

Thank goodness it's getting frontpaged, at least.

ARRRGH. And there was a poll yesterday that said only 44% think it was a terrorist attack. Most said "killing spree." Well, duh, it was a terrorist killing spreee. IMHO it was very carefully worded to split as many people off from "terrorism" as possible, imho.

P.S. Where is Jamie Gorelick in all of this? I just know she's involved.

[Porchlight]

Oops sorry for the double imho...child on lap, can't edit properly...

[narciso]

She's working for the FHA, Porch, 'so all is well' I can't believe these retromingent people who are this clueless. I saw those photoshops and I thought she should have been slimed.

[Pagar]

"clear that this was prearranged terrorism "

From American Thinker article:

"God and Government: Islam and West Are Incompatible"

LUN

It is all prearranged and nothing will be done about it (in America) until it is too late. Europe is already gone and the Obama Administration has made making America defenseless against it their top priority.

[narciso]

Actually it's Sallie Mae, that Gorelick, the 'zelig of disaster' is putting her talents to,
so that's going to be great.

[clarice]

At LUN, the waPo article.
It's time to strip the FBI of its c/i activities. They are simply rotten at it.

[hit and run]

Porclight:
Oops sorry for the double imho...child on lap, can't edit properly...

Sure,blame it on your child's editing skills.

[hit and run]

"Porclight"?!?!?!

Yike.

I need your little one as my editor.

[Seeoflove]

Holder placed. So was the Americorps IG. He got fired and the new independent agency OIG wouldn't protect him. It's the same with the overseas CIA head of station and DSS and other OIG shit overseas. Tests to see what the new OIG is and the answer is..........gathering and in the game. It's too bad the DSS went bad, etc. They do great work for history. They've already lost and it's pretty cool to see a loyal American go to work for a foreign government's intelligence service and watch her say it's okay............because of sex or the climate!

So, Obambi's dad really wasn't an informant for CIA who used this to oppress his countrymen. It's capital, all about capital young man...........

[narciso]

So, DCIS is apparently not as impressive as it's Navy cousin. They do have Google at the FBI now, so what's their excuse.

[Porchlight]

Heh, hit. At least the coffee didn't end up on the keyboard (this time).

[Janet]

I agree Pagar @ 9:49, I agree.

[ROA]

Hasan and faked unethical global warming scientists aren't the real problem. The real problem is resurgent Militias.
At least that was the front page story in my local paper this morning. The fact that there may be more Hasan e-mails was on page six, and there was no mention of the global warming corruption.

LUN
" If the words sound familiar, there is good reason. It is rhetoric that was typical of the so-called patriot movement of the 1990s, amid similar circumstances: A Democrat, Bill Clinton, was in office. There was heightened interest in gun control legislation. Veterans were returning from the first Gulf War. Elaborate conspiracy theories were spreading.

Today's troubled economy and the perception that other countries are rising in influence might also be fueling activity among white supremacist and militia groups, according to an intelligence assessment by the federal Department of Homeland Security.

A significant difference this time, according to the April analysis, is that the nation has its first black president. "Right-wing extremists," the report says, "are harnessing this historical election as a recruitment tool."

There is a violent edge to this movement. Lone wolves and small groups who are "embracing violent right-wing extremist ideology are the most dangerous domestic terrorism threat," according to the report. It cited an April shooting in Pittsburgh that left three police officers dead at the hands of a gunman reportedly influenced by racist ideology and fears that a gun ban was imminent with Barack Obama in charge.

In the first five months of Obama's presidency, racist, right-wing extremists killed at least nine people, according to Chip Berlet, senior analyst with Political Research Associates, a Somerville, Mass., think tank."

[narciso]

one lone wolf Muslim extremist, killed 12, and injured 42, that's the elephant in the middle of the room here. Yet apparently he didn't match the description of the DHS watch list. That would be gun loving bitterclinging
pro lifer, with veterans in the family. That seems to be more the M.O. of the "Boadicea of the Boreals" I didn't come up with it, I'm ashamed to say.

[Pagar]

Is the Senate meeting today closed door? Or has it been decided that $1.625 trillion is not worth worrying about?

"Real cost of senate reform bill: $1.625 Trillion"

LUN

[Jane]

Pager,

Some say it's more like $4.5 Trillion.

[cathyf]

Last night DrF's first reaction was to point out that the Hockey Team could now claim that the hackers "augmented" the emails, data & programs when they broke into the system. Has anyone seen signs of that argument appearing yet?

[clarice]

Mary Landrieux is being quoted today as saying she's leaning toward a yes vote tonight--What will make the lean a yes--another $100 million for Louisiana in her right pocket?

[PD]

For you Susan Boyle fans who don't already know about this, she has a CD coming out soon.

[PD]

Mary Landrieux is being quoted today as saying she's leaning toward a yes vote tonight--What will make the lean a yes--another $100 million for Louisiana in her right pocket?

Sure makes me proud to be from LA.

[Pagar]

I liked Huey Long a lot better.

"Huey did not personally enrich himself with these funds and had very little money to his name when he was killed."

LUN

[anduril]

It's time to strip the FBI of its c/i activities. They are simply rotten at it.

The email exchanges discussed Hasan's plans to transfer money overseas secretly. The FBI may not unreasonably have believed that that signified a plan to operate a financial support ring, rather than an intention to go jihadi, and therefore preferred not to disseminate this information broadly. I understand you're upset that the FBI investigated AIPAC, but try to keep these things separate. To tear down our entire C/I structure and start from scratch would be a dangerous thing to do in this time of international terror.

[anduril]

Great David Broder article today:

A budget-buster in the making

By David S. Broder
Sunday, November 22, 2009

It's simply not true that America is ambivalent about everything when it comes to the Obama health plan.

The day after the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) gave its qualified blessing to the version of health reform produced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Quinnipiac University poll of a national cross section of voters reported its latest results.

This poll may not be as famous as some others, but I know the care and professionalism of the people who run it, and one question was particularly interesting to me.

It read: "President Obama has pledged that health insurance reform will not add to our federal budget deficit over the next decade. Do you think that President Obama will be able to keep his promise or do you think that any health care plan that Congress passes and President Obama signs will add to the federal budget deficit?"

The answer: Less than one-fifth of the voters -- 19 percent of the sample -- think he will keep his word. Nine of 10 Republicans and eight of 10 independents said that whatever passes will add to the torrent of red ink. By a margin of four to three, even Democrats agreed this is likely.

That fear contributed directly to the fact that, by a 16-point margin, the majority in this poll said they oppose the legislation moving through Congress.

I have been writing for months that the acid test for this effort lies less in the publicized fight over the public option or the issue of abortion coverage than in the plausibility of its claim to be fiscally responsible.

This is obviously turning out to be the case. While the CBO said that both the House-passed bill and the one Reid has drafted meet Obama's test by being budget-neutral, every expert I have talked to says that the public has it right. These bills, as they stand, are budget-busters.

[anduril]

Excellent WSJ article by David Beamer re Holder. Money quotes:

The attorney general seemed bewildered in the face of these inquiries. Recurring themes in his responses included "I think," and "I can't imagine," and "I am not an expert in immigration."

Has our attorney general not considered these issues, or imagined the possible unintended consequences that will arise from his historic decision? It certainly seemed that way. If he had, he would have had better answers.

A second shocker: Mr. Holder said that he and his boss had not spoken in person about this decision. This matter only involves upholding the constitutional rights of Americans, establishing a precedent with battlefield impact, and the safety and security of our citizens in a time of war. What are the criteria to make something a priority with President Barack Obama? How can it be that this matter didn't make the cut?

The Democrats used much of their questioning time to heap praise upon Mr. Holder. They all repeated the same trope: We'll show the world that America can conduct these trials openly in criminal courts. And we'll be successful, even as we convey rights to the defendants that are not warranted.

Since when has "show the world" been a primary objective?

[Pagar]

Jane, I was just quoting the article. My personal guess is that it was suck every penny from America, except what the few politicians at the top manage to get from it.

For an example of how that works check out the personal wealth Fidel Castro is supposed to have.

"NEW YORK (Reuters) — Cuban President Fidel Castro was furious when Forbes magazine estimated his fortune at $550 million last year. This year, the magazine upped its estimate of the communist leader's wealth to a cool $900 million."

The bill will provide free medical for every illegal who can manage to get to the US, paid for by the few, the proud-those who still willingly pay their US income tax to a Treasury ran by a person who didn't properly pay his taxes and who apparently trying to hire others who don't properly pay their taxes. Yet we have Republicans who vote to confirm these tax cheats.

[clarice]

anduril--your penultimate post is unwarranted. I have been critical of the FBI's handling of the Hanssen case, the Chinese espionage cases and so forth.(It's not a Jewish thing any more than Bill Gertz' book was:http://www.americanthinker.com/2006/12/naked_to_our_enemies.html .)

I think AIPAC was pointless and a waste of time and so did the judge and finally rhe AG.

[PD]

"God and Government: Islam and West Are Incompatible"

I am making my way through _The Al Qaeda Reader_ (Raymond Ibrahim) and I give it a strong recommendation. It's really Islam and *any* non-Sharia form of government that are incompatible to these folks. See in particular the essay "Sharia and Democracy."

[anduril]

As if I've never criticized the FBI? But the volume and tenor of your comments on the AIPAC, as well as the decidedly one-sided nature of your commentary on that case, are what caused me to make that comment. I've criticized the FBI in all those cases, but I've also explained in great detail in published articles 1. why a simple dismantling of the current CI structure in inadvisable and 2. why the legal structures that have been put in place since Watergate make such failures well nigh inevitable. Instead of expending more vituperation on the FBI, you'd be better advised to offer constructive commentary on CI in general as I've tried to do.

[anduril]

Here's a perfect example of how mean spirited and slanted your criticism has become:

The first time they claimed it was because of the "Gorelick wall" although bureaucratic inertia and FBI problems with computers were claimed to have played a role as well. This time, it will be interesting to see the excuse.

Are you seriously suggesting that the "Gorelick wall" was not a real factor in the lead up to 9/11, that it was simply an "excuse?" There's a real animosity and lack of balance in your remarks that begs for some reasonable explanation.

[clarice]

The reasonable explanation is the long history of bureaucratic snafus and incompetence Gertz details so well.

It is no secret I have no confidence in the agency at all.

For those of us who read the transcript of the testimony of the FBI agent in the Libby trial who was forced to admit that the FBI interview report was inaccurate or who learned of the mysterious disappearance of the original notes of the Russert interview and the interviewer we have a good idea of how unprofessional the operation is.

I frankly would never undergo an interview with these folks without a video and a lawyer present.

[narciso]

This was abysmal handling all around, to have an American military officer,contacting
a known AQ 'source of inspiration' if not a recruiter per se, is possibly the largest
CI breach you could think of. Yet the CTTF didn't seem to see a problem either, nor the DCIS. He was being as brazen as Al Midhar, Al Hamzi, and Hani Hanjour, in his
professional life, all acolytes of Aulaqi.

[clarice]

A real CI expert writes to me:
"I'm trying to read everything I can on the email issue on the nut case butcher and still have not seen anything which will explain to me why the Army CI folks were not brought into this early on. If not the CI folks than surely the security side of the Army. What was the Bureau thinking? The subject was a uniformed officer and there is zero reason for not getting that info to the Army for action. What was the Bureau thinking as to their jurisdiction in the matter? No matter what direction the inquiries take, it will be a cultural changer for the military and PC. The guy's track record as you are so ably reporting was astonishing and the fact that no one in command did anything, is mind boggling.
Keep up the good work on your reporting."

[anduril]

That's the nature of bureaucracies, generally, but especially those that are set up in the context of our current legal system. It's fine (and necessary) to catalog failures, but to simply write it off as incompetence with no more curiosity than that as to root causes is simplistic and ultimately irresponsible.

I wrote extensively about the Libby trial and have not changed my views that it was a miscarriage of justice that probably involved significant official misconduct. It was also unusual in that the FBI agents detailed to the case were effectively working directly for Fitzgerald. Sure, theoretically the FBI Director could have pulled them over allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, but we all know that as a matter of inside the Beltway politics that wasn't gonna happen. And I agree that it's sad that no one involved in the investigation has spoken out--whether prosecutors or investigators. I put the lion's share of the blame at the top.

BTW, the DoJ has had more than its share of bungled cases, too. Do you recommend dismantling the DoJ?

[narciso]

Hansen was the better part of twenty years, Ames nearly a decade, Boyce a few years, as with Nicolson, Myers who pled guilty yesterday, thirty years as with the Alvarezes.

Are we to assume that Hassan, was the only one, or just the most blatant

[anduril]

The guy's track record as you are so ably reporting was astonishing and the fact that no one in command did anything, is mind boggling.
Keep up the good work on your reporting.

In all modesty you should have left that part out. What you're doing is copying and pasting other people's reporting.

I will agree that, on the face of it, it seems to me that the Army should have been brought in to the case. I'll await your further reporting to learn why they weren't.

[anduril]

narciso, you're listing of old cases reminds us that the CIA, which has had its own in house CI section, has had many failures of its own. They were certainly very dilatory in consulting with the FBI re Ames. Maybe we need to dismantle the CIA, along with the FBI. That'd be really helpful and responsible.

[Pagar]

" rather than an intention to go jihadi,"

Until America accepts the following statement is believed by a good many citizens of this earth who belong the religion that has assigned the individual duty, every penny spent on CI is wasted.

"Osama then concluded that "The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies -- civilians and military -- is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it."

IMO, it is not Americans and or Israel citizen who believe in their religion who are assigned a duty to practice jihad.

[Tina]

Mary Landrieu sells out, but not for the $100M previously reported, but for $300M...she herself clarified the cost of her vote. Although in fairness, she actually said on the floor that this $300M was NOT the reason she is voting to move the bill to the floor for the debate (as if anyone actually believes her).

[anduril]

IMO, it is not Americans and or Israel citizen who believe in their religion who are assigned a duty to practice jihad.

It is if their religion happens to be Islam.

[anduril]

As for prosecutorial and investigative abuses, my view is that the best way police that problem is through judges. That would probably require further reforms to hold judges to certain standards, as well.

[narciso]

I read Mark Riebling's Wedge, years ago, I even used it for a paper so I am aware of
the CIA/FBI impasse that goes back as far
as Hoover's beef with the original OSS, and the Walter Trohan Chicago Tribune column, which truncated it's transition to the post war era. That's not what I meant at all,
there have been good people, Vertefuille on the Ames case, and the investigators on Hanson, featured in "Breach". One is struck
by unrealistic expectations of conpetence,

[Pagar]

Someone needs to do a poll of the people of Louisiana today and see how much they think they will get out of that $300 million sellout. Than someone needs to do a poll of the citizens of Louisiana in 5 years and see how much they have had to pay into this shell game to avoid going to prison over this shell game. Of course, not one leftist politician will lose. William Jefferon, who some may remember was convicted of bribery (but not $300 million worth) will draw a $50,000 pension (that is not the same word as prision) plus COLA increases for the rest of his life from the US Taxpayer. I posted the LUN yesterday.

[anduril]

Riebling makes some useful points--I'm not fully convinced as to his conclusions, but the history he goes through simply cannot be ignored. It's still with us. No bureaucracy in a country our size can be fulled staffed with competent and zealous people. Bureaucracies by their nature tend to be good at repetitive, rote type tasks but not as good when initiative and creativity is called for. But there's no real way around them, I'm afraid. The solution is to look to their structures and the legal framework in which they operate to try to maximize what efficiency can be wrung out of them. Dismantling is simply not an option.

[clarice]

Riebling may be right--but I expect that I will not be the only one suggesting a major reorganization which strips CI from the FBI is in order. I am even more sure that my comments on the FBI's performance re Hasan are temperate compared to what the Congressional hearings will generate.

[anduril]

For anyone who's interested, this article, Rethinking">http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/04/rethinking_the_fbi.html">Rethinking the FBI? is one that I can recommend. I find myself in close agreement with the author.

[Buford Gooch]

Anduril, your attacks on Clarice are unwarranted. See if you can make your points without having to attack someone who isn't arguing with you.

[daddy]

Concerning the Government's ability to "lose" stuff, as in "FBI Interview notes", etc.

In an investigation into an aircraft that crashed after touchdown on a Runway a few years back, the question of the reason for the source of the crash came down to suspicion of whether the right main landing gear Truck collapsed due to a design flaw. All the parts were still there on the runway as investigators arrived, and a landing gear Truck BTW is that whole huge metal and hydraulic assembly that hangs down when the landing gear is extended, and in this case had 4 huge tires on it, and weighed several thousands pounds and was about as big as a Hum Vee.

Suspicion pointed to a design flaw in the Truck which was suspected in this case of breaking away during a sideways G-force movement on landing, well before according to design limitations it should have been anywhere close to collapsing. Enough of all that.

My point is that during the FAA investigation of this crash, somehow this multi thousand pound 4 geared Landing Truck, probably 4 times bigger than the Ark Of The Covenant from the first Indiana Jone's Movie, mysteriously disappeared prior to fully evaluting blame, so the result was that weakest link in the chain, the pilot, got the boot. I am sure "Top Men, Top Men, Doctor Jone's Top Men", are still eagerly searching for that misplaced piece of vital evidence. And if they can lose stuff like that, losing FBI Interview notes or Rose Law Firm Billing records is child's play.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I lost all respect for the FBI way back, during the Alcyee Hastings impeachment. They were total buffoons and their testimony was embarrassing. Nothing all the way through the Libby trial did anything to change this first real look at them I had way back when.

I just cannot fathom how anyone could just ignore Hasan, his correspondence, and his demeanor around the office. When I think how my husband was put through the ringer prior to getting his security clearnce because his grandfather was a German from Russia, who escaped the newly forming Soviet state during the Trotsky-Lenin purges. That was the Cold War period, now we're in real wars and Hasan is writing to an enemy recruiter and indicating he is a sympathizer. The military has certainly changed.

[JM Hanes]

"What you're doing is copying and pasting other people's reporting."

"Here's a perfect example of how mean spirited and slanted your criticism has become:"

It must be Pot and Kettle Day.

[anduril]

They were total buffoons and their testimony was embarrassing.

How would you compare that to your patent inability to understand attorney-client privilege?

[Pagar]

"Hasan is writing to an enemy recruiter and indicating he is a sympathizer"

Meanwhile the entire military investigative services are being used to flush out Christian Chaplains who are praying in God's
name. Anyone think the Muslim chaplains are being told they can't pray to Allah?

Lt Gen Boykin is forced of his job for his belief in a Christian God. Anyone see any evidence Maj Hasan was forced out of his job for his beliefs in Allah.

Here's just one google result:
"But now a Pentagon inquiry has concluded that Lt. Gen. William Boykin did indeed preach his grossly offensive gospel at 23 churches, pronouncing Satan the mastermind of the terrorists because ''he wants to destroy us as a Christian army.''

LINK

Here's another Huge investigation
"Generals erred by taking part in Christian video"

The only way to be sure you won't get criticized in today's modern military apparently is to make sure your religion is the one no one dares mess with.

"His supervisor, Captain Naomi Surman, recalled his telling her that as an infidel she who would be "ripped to shreds" and "burn in hell.""
Who could complain about that? He was just tell her what Allah taught him.

The last quote from Maj Hasam's supervisor was in a Link from Daniel Pipes.org that I posted yesterday.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

How would you compare that to your patent inability to understand attorney-client privilege?

Excuse me? What are you talking about? And what, pray tell, gives you the idea that I have an "inability to understand attorney-client privilege," patent or otherwise?

[Ignatz]

--There's a real animosity and lack of balance in your remarks that begs for some reasonable explanation.--

You missed this part of the Pot and Kettle Day festivities JMH.

[anduril]

apologies, sara. i jumped the gun because i took exception to the notion that anyone could lose respect for an entire organization numbering many thousands of people across the nation based on one case. but since you raise the issue, perhaps you could explain why you think the fbi were "total buffons" in the alcee hastings case?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

They were stumblebums and almost incoherent, as I recall. It was many many years ago and I was lying in a hospital bed with nothing else to watch. My only knowledge of the FBI was the Untouchables and Efram Zimbalist on the FBI series. My bubble was burst that day. I can't be more specific, it was just a lasting impression of disappointment in thinking, "is this the best we have, are these really the best of the best?" which up to then I believed them to be.

[anduril]

They were stumblebums and almost incoherent, as I recall...I can't be more specific...

Thanks for the lucid explanation of how you lost respect for an entire organization numbering many thousands of people across the nation--based on one case.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

Anduril: The dumb starts at the top and infects the system. And I said, my impression wasn't improved over the years due to additional input, such as the shoddy work coming out of the lab, etc.

It is true, however, that in the last few years, I don't have much good to say about law enforcement in general, so I do have a current bias. Back then, though, I was still naive and thought all law enforcement was there to protect and serve and were the good guys.

[narciso]

I don't know if an American variant of MI-5
is the solution, But we have been here before
with the agent tracking Emad Salem who was with Sheik Rahman's cell, blocked by higher up. Ken Williams and the Phoenix memo, which outlined how the followers of Awlaki were putting their teachings in practice, blocked
by Marion "Spike" Bowman, who received a post 9/11 promotion. It;s much like with the famed DNI reorganization, with Van Diepen and co, rising to the top, no good came out
of that

[anduril]

narciso, some hybridization is required--the current system is very clearly not optimal. perhaps what might work would be something along the lines of a separate CI branch of the fbi that has control over hiring and promotion standards but whose head is appointed with IC input or even veto power. you have to have close coordination as a practical matter between CI/CT on the one hand and the criminal side, simply because, for example, many terror outfits finance their activities through criminal activity--it can often be difficult to figure out what you have. if you broke the fbi up into separate organizations you'd most likely lose that type of coordination (the type of coordination that Gorelick's "wall" did its damndest to prevent).

[Gregory Koster]

Anduril, I'm obliged to you for your posts on this topic, which I will point to the next time I am assailed as JOM's resident windbag...Would you care to comment on what happened to John O'Neill at the FBI? In my view, base on reading THE LOOMING TOWER, O'Neill was the one chance this nation had to stopping the 9/11 attacks. It was a damnably poor choice, hampered by O'Neill's lurid private life. Or is O[Neill's breaking and expulsion by the FBI just another "one case" like Sara's to be ignored because inconvenient?

Reforming the Effa Bee Eye: if not now, when? Evidently the Fort Hood deaths aren't enough in your view to merit stripping CI/CT away from the FBI. What is needed for you to consider it?

Continue to baste Clarice with your bag of fireflies that you seem think are a flamethrower. I don't think that these doses of vitriol improve the merits of your case.

[Pagar]

"I don't know if an American variant of MI-5
is the solution,"

IMO, as long as no one in America high authority is willing to admit what the problem is and who is promoting it, it matters not what type of structure is involved in trying to prevent what ever they are not willing to admit exists.

When you think of FBI failures, the William Ayres case has to be way up near the top of the list. I would rank it directly below their failure to prosecute John Kerry after his meetings with the North Vietnamese in Paris.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I agree Pagar, except I might rank their role in Waco to be right up there.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

I think one problem with the FBI is that it is so regimented, so lockstep, so robotic, there is no room for common sense.

[sbw]

so regimented, so lockstep, so robotic

J. Edgar lives!

[anduril]

Pagar, the FBI doesn't make prosecutive decisions. Those decisions are made either by the local US Attorney or in some cases, like espionage, by the DoJ.

O'Neill was talented and energetic, but no one man in a bureaucracy can be a savior against as multifarious an enemy such al Qaeda. The fact that key information was acquired in places as far flung as Phoenix and Minneapolis illustrates that fact.

[anduril]

so regimented, so lockstep, so robotic

Ah, yes--JOM!

[anduril]

so regimented, so lockstep, so robotic

Ah, yes--JOM!

[anduril]

damn typepad.

and this avatar is disgusting.

[Rumpelstiltskin :)]

Test 05.

[Daddy]

"i took exception to the notion that anyone could lose respect for an entire organization numbering many thousands of people across the nation based on one case."

Why are you damning typepad? 1 personal example of typepad dicking up and you're willing to damn typepad regardless of all the thousands of other times typepad didn't dick up?