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What Billmon says

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17 comments

What Billmon says

POSTED: Sunday, July 12, 2009, 6:41 PM

Philly's favorite part-time blogger on "the Addington administration."

What an eventful weekend! Stay tuned.

Will Bunch @ 6:41 PM Permalink | 17 comments

17 comments

Comments (17)

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:05 PM, 07/12/2009

Right, that memo that was buried on a Friday night because it said that, had the NSA surveillance program been in place pre-9/11 it would have helped identify and pre-empt 9/11 perpetrators. That memo that was illegally and treasonously leaked and publicized by the criminals in the NYT. Yup, that memo. And your takeaway of importance is that one of the administration's attorneys was given the responsibilty of reviewing who could be told about the program? I wonder if Addington approved the criminal leak to Risen and Lichtblau? Do you think Addington, or Cheney, or Bush approved that? Which one approved it? Who do you think?

— Mr. Smith

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:10 PM, 07/12/2009

What a weak President George W. Bush was. The VP has no inherent authority to order anybody to do anything. For eight years, the wingnuts couldn't do anything but sing his praises.

— SteveMG

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:12 PM, 07/12/2009

Smitty, just becauser something is leaked doesn't make it treason. Only hysterical people cry treason at every offense. Fact is, treason prosecutions are rare. Why aren't you crying about the "treasonous" Valerie Plame leak?

— SteveMG

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:24 PM, 07/12/2009

Because Valerie Plame was responsible for the Valerie Plame leak, and it had no impact on anything. The Risen/Lichtblau leak resulted in the dismantling of a program that was effective in learning from and disrupting terrorist communications. Other than that, no difference.

— Mr. Smith

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 9:45 PM, 07/12/2009

Daily Kaos as a source? Please. I have an idea:before everybody (including Will and his alter ego TPS)get their knickers in a twist, let's wait and see what the REAL story is. And SteveMcG-the VP has whatever authority the prez delgates to him. Look at what Bambam has given the Delaware Dope. And as for leaks, Sen. Leahy from Vermont was thrown off the intel committee because he leaked information that got people killed. He should be in jail.

— georgel

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 10:01 PM, 07/12/2009

It appears to me that Scooter may have been the wrong target, since Addington had the power.

— Archimedes

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 10:24 PM, 07/12/2009

Wow! Mr. Smith, apparently, believes that the FISA court wouldn't have given warrants for conducting surveillance on the 9/11 hijackers. LOL! Of course, that's ridiculous. Of course the FISA court would have issued such warrants - and \there was absolutely no such constraint that prevented the Bush administration from preventing 9/11. Which only proves that once again, Mr. Smith will, toadyistically, justify any incompetence an/or any illegal and/or unconstitutional actions of the Chene..., er, Bush administration.

— Talking point sleuth

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 11:10 PM, 07/12/2009

TPS (or Will). Go back to your mother's basement. While there, study your thesaurus. You need some new words. What a deranged moron.

— georgel

Comment removed.

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 7:16 AM, 07/13/2009

If you read the article, it states the particular program in question never got off the ground. It existed in theory, not reality. Of course, non reality is the liberal mindset, hence their reaction.

— jmc

Comment removed.

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 8:44 AM, 07/13/2009

"If you read the article, it states the particular program in question never got off the ground. It existed in theory, not reality." It actually says no such thing; it says it "...never became fully operational, involving planning and some training that took place off and on from 2001 until this year." I'm guessing that the planning and training took place in the realm of reality not just theoretically. But of course those masters of the gaming the system universe will have some convoluted "depends on what the meaning of is is" reason why it didn't and when pinned down by the illogic of their position will counter with "don't you want America to WIN against the terrorists?". One could say that FEMA wasn’t fully operational in New Orleans immediately after Katrina, but that doesn’t mean the program didn’t yet exist.

— GreyHippie

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 9:00 AM, 07/13/2009

No surprise there. On another note, watch the swinging pocket watch, America. You are getting sleepy: the CIA is America's intelligence agency, the Army Security Agency - excuse me, NATIONAL Security Agency - just listens to peoples cell phones, they have no power. The CIA is America's...

— Hamlet

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 9:32 AM, 07/13/2009

The sloth is a registered purebreed lapdog.

— ocjones

0 like this / 0 don't • Posted 9:59 AM, 07/13/2009

The President only delegated to the VP the authority to declassify certain information as he saw fit. If the President wanted to have another government officer to issue orders to the CIA or any other Department, it requires an act of Congress. Remember, Congress had to establish the Department of Homeland Security and legislate the new command structure that subordinated the CIA (and other intelligence services) to the DNI. The fact that the VP was allowed to give orders just goes to show you that the President was not in charge in the White House. I can understand the he would have influence, and that he is an important political figure, but he cannot issue orders.

— SteveMG

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