As Usual The President Will Disavow Any Knowledge Of His Actions

And we are supposed to take this guy seriously? From Peter Baker of the Times:

Obama Avoids Taking Sides on Effectiveness of C.I.A. Techniques

WASHINGTON — The C.I.A. maintains that the brutal interrogation techniques it used on terrorism suspects a decade ago worked. The Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that they did not. And on that, at least, President Obama is not taking sides.

What, is he working on his college football playoff picks?

Even as Mr. Obama repeated his belief that the techniques constituted torture and betrayed American values, he declined to address the fundamental question raised by the report, which the committee released on Tuesday: Did they produce meaningful intelligence to stop terrorist attacks, or did the C.I.A. mislead the White House and the public about their effectiveness?

That debate, after all, has left Mr. Obama facing an uncomfortable choice between two allies: the close adviser and former aide he installed as director of the C.I.A. versus his fellow Democrats who control the Senate committee and the liberal base that backs their findings.

“We are not going to engage in this debate,” said a senior administration official close to Mr. Obama who briefed reporters under ground rules that did not allow him to be identified.

 

It's an uncomfortable choice? Poor dear.

 

C'mon, how hard can this be - chat with Valerie, find out what you think, mumble a few words to a few rich donors at your next fundraiser, and tear off the band-aid.

 

The Times makes a point Glenn Greenwald pounded the table about a few years ago:

As a president who receives regular briefings on terrorist threats and is responsible for stopping them, Mr. Obama sees the situation differently than he did as a candidate denouncing the incumbent of the other party. In his statement on Tuesday, Mr. Obama not only did not condemn Mr. Bush for authorizing the techniques, but he also sounded a note of empathy.

“In the years after 9/11, with legitimate fears of further attacks and with the responsibility to prevent more catastrophic loss of life, the previous administration faced agonizing choices about how to pursue Al Qaeda and prevent additional terrorist attacks against our country,” he said.

Oh, reality bites and taking on adult, not to mention Presidential, responsibilities involves tough choices - do tell.

MORE: Sen. Bob Kerrey rips the "partisan" committee process. Weird - if this was a partisan base-rouser, why isn't Obama on board? Well, he will evolve to a more supportive position soon enough.

Comments

[MarkO]

First.

Further proof Obama doesn't know what he's doing.

[Captain Hate]

The Quibbler in Chief

[rse]

New post up for anyone wanting more details on why political radicals hate an ability to read well. http://www.invisibleserfscollar.com/rejecting-reading-to-avoid-the-magic-elixir-bolstering-of-the-independent-human-mind/

[NKrebootsquared]

Obummer about Bush? that's one of thefew Presidential things he's ever said. Pleasant surprise.

[Dublindave]

Really???It's all Obama's fault???

ROFLMAO...jesus...sometimes I read Tom's stuff and I see exactly why Americans don't want a Republican running the White house.Yes,let's talk about Obama's weakness in refusing to take a position on the effectiveness of torture techniques and completely ignore the weakness involved in crushing nuts and feeding them up an innocent man's ass cavity BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT CRITICAL THINKING IS ALL ABOUT!!!

Sigh.

[James D.]

and right on cue, rse proves, for the millionth time, why she's so important.

[lyle]

You're one sick cretin, duda.

[Captain Hate]

Weird - if this was a partisan base-rouser, why isn't Obama on board?

Even Schmuckie Schoooooooomer and Tom Harkin are aware that 404 only cares about himself.

[Captain Hate]

You're one sick cretin, duda.

He has a real obsession about male anal cavities.

[lyle]

So Precious is voting "present." Again.

[NKrebootsquared]

Here is the former CIA pushback against the Feinstein nonsense: http://ciasavedlives.com/

[Miss Marple]

lyle,

His entire term in office is composed of plausible deniability, waiting to see which way the wind is blowing, and talking out of both sides of his mouth.

Once in a while it reaches ludicrous extremes, as we see in this instance.

[narciso]

he forced the insurance companies to hide the rate increases, sure he doesn't take sides

[NKrebootsquared]

BigGov rates-- they are not hidden, they are held down by the promise of the bailout. Refuse appropriations for the bailouts, let SCOTUS defund the Fed Exchange next June, the whole thing unravels without having to 'repeal' the whole law. It dies by budget reconciliation and SCOTUS. Sweet revenge.

[lyle]

From HA:

“He squirmed. He dodged. He apologized,” Politico’s David Nather wrote of our adept hero. “But Republicans barely laid a glove on him.”

Nather deemed the hearings a failure, but only because Issa and his fellow Republicans could not get Gruber to repeat comments which he had already made on video about the illegality of subsidies provided to state-level exchanges and America’s general imbecility.

“Tuesday’s hearing was Issa’s series finale — his last high-profile hearing as chairman of the most powerful investigative committee in the House,” Nather continued. “He did what he does best: He attracted lots of media attention, got a celebrity witness to squirm and dodge questions, and made life miserable, once again, for the Obama administration.”

… “Celebrity?”

No, Groober had nothing to do with this abomination. He's just a celebrity witness, you peasants.

[Jane]

"Further proof Obama doesn't know what he's doing."

You needed further proof?

[NKrebootsquared]

he is a muppet,a useless muppet.

[Iggy]

--WASHINGTON — The C.I.A. maintains that the brutal interrogation techniques it used on terrorism suspects a decade ago worked.--

All the partisan adjectives to further the leftist project that are fit to print.

[lyle]

http://www.hoover.org/research/fatal-conceit-jonathan-gruber

Draws apt parallels between Soviet planning and Groober's O-care implentation.

[narciso]

well as usual, Volodya's pet badger is wrong, he has done everything to expand the influence of Salafism

[the wolf]

Well, they did manage to spend $40 million on an investigation without actually interviewing anyone who managed or participated in the interrogations.

[NKrebootsquared]

Speaking of Putin-- I don't ever doubt Evans-Pritchard getting his facts straight, has anyone seen data that Western/Northern EuTopians have enough LNG import facility capacity to get them off of PutinGaz when Aussie/USA supply expands in 2015 and beyond. Is that true?

[Jane]

Oh Sheesh!

Gruber came to my attention more than two years ago. As a scholar of Soviet planning, I was struck by its parallels with ObamaCare.

[lyle]

11 minutes... ;)

[Jack is Back!]

NK,

The Euro's have about 20 LNG terminals and more under construction.

That is about 1/3rd of overall requirements. LNG is more expensive than piipeline gas and that is the rub but anything to make Putin miserable. I think the Dutch (Groenigen) fields produce about another 1/3rd. What's Vlad going to do? Stop pumping and not sell?

If so, I'd short vodka futures.

[Captain Hate]

The perils of going off prompter:

http://twitchy.com/2014/12/09/in-nashville-obama-refers-to-bible-verse-about-throwing-stones-in-glass-houses/

[Jack is Back!]

CH,

What an idiot. Its an idiom that has nothing to do with anything in the Bible. Perhaps he mean't the Qu'ran?

[Threadkiller]

The first area was Obama’s identity — just who was he?

“Obama was steeped in Islam but knew nothing about Christianity,” Klein says.

Klein asked Wright if he converted Obama from being a Muslim into a Christian.

“He said, I don’t know about that. but I can tell you that I made it easy for him to come to an understanding of who Jesus Christ is and not feel that he was turning his back on his Islamic friends and his Islamic traditions and his understanding of Islam,” Klein says.

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/05/jeremiah-wright-i-made-it-comfortable-for-obama-to-accept-christianity-without-having-to-renounce-islam/

Iniquity, inequity....

[narciso]

turn those machines, back on:

http://twitchy.com/2014/12/10/tweeters-wonder-if-sen-mark-uterus-udall-focused-too-much-on-abortion-as-he-rips-obama-cia-on-torture/

[NKrebootsquared]

JiB-- I'm shocked that the EuTopians have acted so rationally about breaking PutinGaz's virtual monopoly. Check our Telegram's Evans-Pritchard today.

[Captain Hate]

JiB, I don't know if Janet has been keeping a chronicle of all the times 404 has badly misquoted and/or completely misunderstood the text of the Bible but his batting average would get him run from the Mets any sandlot team.

[narciso]

I know the point is lost on them"

http://therightscoop.com/jose-rodriguez-defends-enhanced-interrogations-to-msm/

[narciso]

he rarely fails to go full Otto.

[Stephanie]

Oh, come on and cut em some slack... anyone in that hive of scum and villainy that even picks up much less reads a bible is sure to spontaneously combust.

[Jeff Dobbs]

in-nashville-obama-refers-to-bible-verse-about-throwing-stones-in-glass-houses/

Looks like Obama literally said "good book" - which to most people refers to the Bible. But it's Obama - are we sure we should be scouring Dreams From My Father for the reference?

[Captain Hate]

While in Nashville, did 404 explain why he didn't do a damn thing to help them recover from the 2010 flood, which they managed very well through private donations? Impressive contrast to Katrina imo.

[Walter Sobchak]

So, here is the thing. Hussein must think somebody else is the President of the United States, and he is just a community organizer. Here is more evidence:

“Power concedes nothing without a fight, that’s true , but it’s also true that a country’s conscious has to be triggered by some inconvenience,” Obama said.

OK so who is "power".

"But, you are the Man."

[rse]

An interesting thing about Nashville is when I was chasing down something called the Workplace Data Quality Campaign and went through several renditions of looking at the Biard and partners it eventually led to me to CERC-the Center for Regional Competitiveness.

It is apparently who the Dems and Reps hire to come up with their economic development plans going forward. The metro area of Nashville and the state of NC were two of the recent clients they created plans for that the typical taxpayer probably does not even know about.

[narciso]

Good point, but there is a passage that is somewhat on point, had he bothered to find it

[rse]

The missing word in the acronym is Economic.

It is entities like CREC that make Congress and the legislatures buy these visions that governments are in charge of the economy and infrastructure will drive the future.

[rse]

http://creconline.org/projects/ is a link.

[Jane]

Sorry Lyle. I should have refreshed.

[Captain Hate]

“Power concedes nothing without a fight, that’s true , but it’s also true that a country’s conscious has to be triggered by some inconvenience,” Obama said.

Assuming that's from the released text, doesn't Zippy the Pinhead most awesome orator evarrrr mean "conscience".

[Jane]

How do we get a breakdown of what Senate staffers spent $40million on without interviewing even one person, in their latest "torture" report?

[Old Lurker]

Cross posting in hopes of jumping to the active lillypad...

NK, I am willing to wait and see if your theory pans out - I realize you have felt this way for a long time now.

What worries me though is this $1T CR "appears" to give Reid & Pelosi all that they wanted and "appears" to approve funding for things like Obamacare and in reality Amnesty through the balance of FY2015. My question is what would have been lost by approving the same bill for say 4 months so that at least it would "appear" to the voters that handed Reps the huge win that the new Congress might actually do what the voters elected them to do i.e. stop Obama in his tracks.

Assuming we don't really care what Dems think, why did Boehner go out of his way to appear to support the Dems and dis all of us?

I would have extended the CR from 12/11 to the Debt Ceiling date and give the new Congress two months to put fixes to both on the table that might have looked like what the voters thought would happen.

In conclusion, if they do as you say, maybe they can fix some of the damage done to our side, but why in the world did they self inflict that in the first place?

[Walter Sobchak]

It sort of depends on which translation you use but glass does not appear in the bible more times than you can count on your fingers, and none of the verses say anything about throwing.

"Hit and run" probably has it right, we need to check Dreams of Some Other Dude's Father and the Audacity of Ghostwriting.

[GMax]

New Thread and boy are you guys slow...

[Old Lurker]

And when the Senate folds to My Friends and Trent Lott and gives back the 60 vote filibuster for Judicial Appointments will the calculus show Reps getting more Dem votes in the future than they lose from Reps who just say "F-Off GOPe?

[Old Lurker]

Are we like the dog who after years of chasing the car, catches it and then wonders what to do with it?

[NKrebootsquared]

and XReply to OL-- OL@2:36-- there would have been no CR for 2 months or 4 months to 3/15, or anything other than the FY because DirtyHarry would not have brought that to a vote, and Obummer would start selectively shutting down the Fed gov't on Friday and the House Repubs would back down, and on and on. That would have been no way to start the new repub Congress Amnesty and Budget fights. What will the new repub Congress do, it's obvious what they should do, we'll all have to watch what they actually do.

[Old Lurker]

Hmmmm. Thanks NK.

[Walter Sobchak]

Sorry, I forgot to add than you can search the bible yourself at:

https://www.biblegateway.com/

[jimmyk]

DirtyHarry would not have brought that to a vote

I would have liked to see the MSM try to blame that on Republicans. If only for amusement.

[NKrebootsquared]

"I would have liked to see the MSM try to blame that on Republicans."

Easy lift for the Legacy Media. Next!

[Iggy]

Is there anything stupid enough for this guy to say to convince people what an ignoramus he is?

Bush couldn't hold a candle to the pile of malapropisms, mispronunciations and mistaken facts and claims Barry has unleashed.

[jimmyk]

Easy lift.

Easy for them to try, not so easy to succeed. Of course it would be helpful if 30% of the Republicans didn't agree with them.

[jimmyk]

Easy lift for the Legacy Media.

Easy for them to blame, yes, not so easy to make it stick if Harry blocks the vote.

And as AliceH says, why would it be any different in 2015 when Obama's veto is the threat? The only reasonable take on this is that Rs won't play games of chicken with Ds.

[AliceH]

Apparently, predicting specific Dem action is allowed, but suggesting possible Republican action must remain TBD. Nice debate rules.

[NKrebootsquared]

Not debate rules, established patterns of behavior. 9/13, Boehner first caved to the 'shut down now' wing of his caucus, the conditional (ObummerCare defund) CR was passed by the House and sent to the Senate, DirtyHarry refused a vote, Legacy Media pinned it in the Repubs, Boehner and the House passed lots of sensible partial CRs to re-open the gov't all unilaterally rejected by Harry, all blamed sucessfully on repubs, then House repubs caved - and Ted Cruz sez 'who me?'. Nothing accomplished, but thanks to ObummerCare rollout, Syria, Isis, $4.50 gas and $5.00 hamburger, no lasting damage. Repeat this again for Christmas '14?... BRILLIANT!

[NKrebootsquared]

I can be persuaded that the Repubs will actually do what they should do with the Budget power because it is in their personal interests to do so. The Bloomberg (Bloomberg!) polling is murder for the Dems on Amnesty, and all other significant issues. It's still wait and see, but there is a case for optimism: http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-12-09/approval-ratings-hit-5year-high-for-gop?hootPostID=df087efa3308d748e18657dbdbe8bcfb

[AliceH]

Why does having Obama veto bills work in Rs favor, but having Reid table them does not?

How does a shutdown due to Obama not signing a budget not get blamed on Rs when having Reid table them does?

If caving in advance to Reid is necessary and pragmatic, what sort of principles will prevent caving in advance to Obama?

I really can't reconcile your pre- vs. post- New congress argument.

[Captain Hate]

There's an essential divide between people who think that government shutdowns are the worst thing in the history of mankind and should be prominently mentioned in history books over wars and innovations and those of us who have yet to see one tangible bit of non-poll data, such as election results, that show that voters care about them one iota.

[Iggy]

Red Squaw and Pelosi are balking at supporting Cromnibus leaving Boehner looking less likely to push the mess through, since he'll probably need Dem support.

[NKrebootsquared]

"I really can't reconcile your pre- vs. post- New congress argument."

With respect, it's obvious. Starting January the repubs have the power to adopt budget respolutions, passed by both houses, that do things we know voters like. Defund ObummerCare, defund Amnesty, cut spending and stop borrowing $500B/year, etc. The dems can't stop the votes from happening in the Senate, and vulnerable Senate Dems have to vote. Until january harry will prevent those votes and get away with it. We know that from 4 years of experience. In the next congress, there will be Senate Budget votes, the remaining faux centrists dems will have to make public votes and then defend them in '16. There is nothing to reconcile, there is only waiting to see what the repubs do with the Budget power.

[clarice]

Another howler of a post. I want whatever Tom is drinking or smoking today.

[Threadkiller]

"Uh...uhm... it's like the good book says about uhh.. you are your second cousin's keeper, uh."

http://dailycaller.com/2014/12/09/citing-fear-of-torture-obamas-second-cousin-seeks-asylum-in-us/

[Jane]

Let him move into the White House.

[AliceH]

With respect, NK, do you believe a Republican passed budget will get signed into law by by obama?

Passing bills "that do things we know voters like" only "do things" if they are signed into law. Over the last 2 years, The House passed a couple hundred Bills, a great many of which would "do things voters like".

Are you counting on Obama signing good, R bills? Or are you counting on Obama paying a price that he and Reid did not pay before for the effectively the exact same obstruction? Is that the criteria I'm missing?

Because, if not, having the House and Senate is not much different having the House and not the Senate.

[jimmyk]

With respect, it's obvious.

What's obvious is that you have no response to Alice's point that the same argument about Reid blocking a budget now applies equally to Obama next year. Either you think that the MSM will miraculously blame Democrats next year but Republicans this year, or you are just kicking the can down the road and making Republicans look weak now. Why not fight it out now with lame dick Reid, coming right off the huge election victory for Rs, then wait till next year when who knows what else will be happening?

[jimmyk]

Of course, AliceH can speak for herself.:)

[Old Lurker]

When we have the Senate, we can cause more pain to Obama and the Dems for acting the way Harry has for six years. (Confirmations, Hearings, Subpoenas, etc)

[AliceH]

Thanks, jimmyk ... as usual, I prefer your version. ;) (and not just because your terrific typo is better than my garden variety ones.)

[DrJ]

jimmyk,

lame dick Reid...

Undoubtedly that was a typo, but I like it!

[MarkO]

That "throw stones" biblical reference is from the time Jesus cast the Progressives from their penthouses.

[Old Lurker]

Obama is saying that Christians should think of illegals the same way as Mary & Joseph in the manger?

Huh? Were not M&J going to Bethlehem to pay their taxes that all legal citizens owed? Doesn't seem to similar to me.

[jimmyk]

I confess it wasn't a typo.

[jimmyk]

"then" vs "than" was a typo, however, but I presume that wasn't the one Alice was referring to.

[lyle]

No fair, jimmyk gets all the good typos!

[Extraneus]

I had a feeling that wasn't a typo.

[jimmyk]

Can we make a list of Barry's biblical howlers?

1. brother's keeper
2. inequities/iniquities
3. glass houses

I know there are others, drawing blanks.

[Iggy]

I believe they were in Bethlehem for a census, OL.

[Iggy]

If Barry had any Biblical knowledge he would equate illegal aliens with Mary and Joseph's escape to Egypt with the toddler Jesus following Herod's decree to slaughter the innocents.

[Old Lurker]

Of course, thanks Iggy. Point stands.

[Captain Hate]

Btw why are we seeing so much of worthless Trent Lott now that the GOP has returned to Senate power? When I last saw him he was tossing the salads of the Shakedown Revruns and begging them to forgive him for being friends with Strom Thurmond. If you want to figure out how to be the minority party again, Trent's the go to guy. Also he needs to lose that varmint roadkill on his dome; it doesn't fool anybody.

[Old Lurker]

Same reason we see so much of McCain. He hurts us.

[Ken]

I wonder if the “terrorists” who experience "waterboarding" would rather have experienced being "assassinated" by a hell fire missile fired from a drone????   I wonder if these people who are clambering all over the CIA have ever wondered how the operators of the drones got their target information????   Hint - it was from assets on the ground!!!   The only real difference is that the “waterboarding" occurred under the "Bush/Cheney" administration and the "assassination" by hell fire occurred under the "Obama/Biden" administration.