Archive for April, 2006
Friday April 7, 2006
Posted in News on 7 April 2006 by JohnnyThe only vaguely intelligible point in an entire one-hour press conference (that may or may not be classified, declassified, reclassified, or none of the above):
“What I said is what I said and you ought to listen to what I said.”
— Scott McClellan, press secretary, approximately 30 seconds ago
ADDED (1am): Here’s an excerpt, talking about the fact that Scooter Libby’s grand jury testimony indicates that the President ordered him to leak information about the National Intelligence Estimate on July 8, 2003:
Q I understand the reason why you thought it needed to be declassified, because of the debate at the time. The question was, when was it declassified. And you were asked that day, when — the question was, “When was it actually declassified?” And you said, “It was officially declassified today.”
If it had been officially declassified on July 18, 2003, then 10 days before, when the information was given out, it was still classified at the time.
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, you’re going back to an assertion that is made in a filing related to an ongoing legal proceeding when you talk about the second part of your question. There is no way for me to separate that question and talk about this issue without discussing an ongoing legal proceeding. And I can’t do that. We have a policy that’s been established, and I’m obligated to adhere to that policy.
Q But answer the question, it’s a factual question.
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, but you can’t separate that question from the legal proceeding —
Q Was it declassified that day … Well, let’s be really clear about this. It says right here on July 18th, “When was it actually declassified?” Mr. McClellan, answer, “It was officially declassified today.” Is that correct?
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, you’re asking me to get into the timing. I’m not backing away from anything that was said previously — that’s when the document was released, so that’s when it officially —
Q They don’t say “released.” They say “declassify.”
MR. McCLELLAN: I know, Jim. Let me tell you. That’s when it was officially released. So I think that’s what I was referring to at the time. I’d have to go back and look at the specific comments, but I’m not changing anything that was said previously, so let me make that clear.
And then there’s this gem:
Q Scott, can I follow on that for a second. Because in December of 2003, to follow on this, he says, “If there’s a leak out of the administration, I want to know who it is.” Now, is there a question — we’re not talking about legality here — while he’s saying that, according to the court filing — which I know you can’t get into the specifics of — but as he’s saying it, he certainly is aware who would have allowed the information to be disseminated. So, at best, isn’t the statement “If there’s a leak out of the administration, I want to know who it is” — at best, isn’t that just inconsistent, if not misleading?
MR. McCLELLAN: Absolutely not. That’s referring to the leaking of classified information.
Q Only the leaking of classified information. He doesn’t —
MR. McCLELLAN: I think that in the context of what that question was responding to —
Q So what about if it’s a political? And if it’s in political — if there’s a political purpose to it, then it’s fine?
MR. McCLELLAN: If it’s in the public interest, it’s another matter. And the National Intelligence Estimate was declassified because it was in the public interest to provide portions of that National Intelligence Estimate to the American people. As I said, there were people that were out there making irresponsible accusations that intelligence was manipulated or that intelligence was misused. There has been no evidence to back that up whatsoever. And if you look at the National Intelligence Estimate, Jim — you weren’t here at the time, but some others in this room were — it shows the collective judgment of the intelligence community.
The “public interest” seems to be Bush’s poll numbers, in this humble commentator’s opinion, especially as he gave only one example of a particularly damaging leak: the disclosure of the domestic spying terrorist surveillance program. Yeah, letting Americans know that the government might be listening in on their conversations without a court order is really damaging, Scott.
Thursday April 6, 2006
Posted in News on 6 April 2006 by JohnnyReally, all this post needs is a half-sentence lead-in: So archaeologists finally pieced together and translated an ancient copy of The Gospel of Judas and, well …
Also, the former high school students of Goose Creek, South Carolina, are getting a little financial recompense for having their civil rights violated back in 2003.
Last, an interesting post at Reason that discusses the actual economic effects of immigration and the minimum wage (I studied all papers therein back in Fall 2005.)
Added (23.30): Please do ensure that you have an adequate knowledge of American history and civics by taking this test. Get 10 out of 10 or else, people. Or else!
| You Passed the US Citizenship Test |
Congratulations – you got 10 out of 10 correct!
|
Tuesday April 4, 2006
Posted in News on 4 April 2006 by JohnnyCynthia McKinney, a black Congresswoman elected by the clearly delusional people of metropolitan Atlanta, punched someone last week. That someone happened to be a Capitol Hill security guard who asked that she go through the metal detector. Apparently, there is a policy that members of Congress don’t have to pass through security checkpoints. (Yes, the non-blown-up-ness of the U.S. Capitol rests on tiny pieces of metal. Then again, if you’re a Guy Fawkes fan, maybe this is a good thing in your opinion.) Regardless, the guard didn’t recognize her and tried to stop her, so she cold-cocked him. Naturally, she claims that she was being racially profiled by the bigoted Capitol Hill Police because she is African-American. She even got Danny Glover to hold a press conference with her, crying racism despite the fact that, um, she punched out a security guard at the Capitol building. Criminal charges were filed yesterday in the incident.
Following this so far?
The fact of the matter is that this woman is paranoid at best and evil at worst. Honestly, the only reason race is still such a dominant factor in American politics (outside of some pockets of the rural South that persistently refuse to enter the 20th century, let alone the 21st) is because minorities seek to make it an issue at any available opportunity. This incident has absolutely nothing to do with race and everyone with a straight face knows that, but now the Capitol Hill Police are a bunch of racist thugs because, um, they were doing their jobs.
This isn’t the first time McKinney has used her position and race in ridiculously irresponsible ways. Here’s some lovely gems from a Slate magazine article:
* In 1996, she called the entire Republican Party “a ragtag group of neo-Confederates.” Her Republican opponent in the Congressional race, naturally, was Jewish.
* In the mid-1990s, when her Congressional district was declared unconstitutional, due to the fact that it was essentially shaped like a 250 mile-long snake designed to lump as many blacks in Georgia together as possible, she compared the decision to the Dred Scott case and Plessy v. Ferguson.
* From the 2000 presidential campaign: “Al Gore’s Negro tolerance level has never been too high. I’ve never known him to have more than one black person around him at any given time.” As the article notes, his campaign manager was an African-American woman, Donna Brazile.
* In 2001, she remarked that, “[W]hen it comes to major foreign policy issues, many prefer to have black people seen and not heard.” This, of course, during a time where arguably the two most important foreign policy advisors to President Bush were black (Powell & Rice).
The fact of the matter is that this woman is adding to racial strife, rather than subtracting from it — and putting national security at risk (as this declining nation is, as of now, rather pathetically dependent on Washington). That’s an interesting combination, don’t you think?
<ADDED – 2:00 pm> While on the topic of race, we have word that the Virginia Beach Police Department has settled a discriminatory hiring practices lawsuit started by the Department of Justice and will compensate blacks who were adversely affected a total of $160,000. So what was the grave injustice?
Recruits had to pass a math test.
*bangs head against nearby desk*
Sunday April 2, 2006
Posted in News on 2 April 2006 by JohnnyThe catharsis of spring begins in earnest tonight, my friends. Baseball is back — and it’s the Tribe versus the World Champion White Sox first up at 8pm tonight.
Meanwhile, a sheriff who comandeered idle FEMA ice trucks to save the lives of diabetics and the injured in his community in the week after Katrina is being charged with interfering in a government operation. Hm. Instead, as I’ve said previously, I think we should probably charge relevant government officials with criminally negligent homicide. That, and contract future relief efforts out to a private company that knows something about logistics and customer satisfaction.
