Bush Administration Blows Security on Spy Effort Into Al Queda

You know, if this happened during the Clinton administration, the right wing would be all up in arms, 24/7, with Limbaugh and Fox going nuts.

But since it was their bumbling hero Bush, they're not saying anything.

Here's what happened: a private security outfit, called SITE, infiltrated Al Queda's e-network and managed to acquire very early a copy of Bin Laden's latest video. SITE then offered to share the video with the White House, but of course asked that it be kept secret so that SITE infiltration would not be detected.

Big mistake. Within hours of sharing the info with the Bushies, it got LEAKED to the news media, including FOX, which put it up on its own website with all the identifying info. (See "Leak Severed a Link to Al-Qaeda's Secrets")

Gee, do you think one of W's r-wingers hit the ol' speed dial to Fox and alerted them that the White House had gotten an advance copy of Bin Laden's latest. Probably implied that this was due to some terrific White House sleuthing, etc., etc.

So now Al Queda has shut down the channels through which SITE got the video--and had been getting other surreptitious info on Al Queda.

Of course, the party line from the administration and its media apologists is that the government has its own means of getting similar intelligence. Well, let's hope they don't share it with anyone in the West Wing, lest it, too, get compromised.

Right Wing Hypocrisy on Libby And U.S. Attorneys

Today we look at a couple forms of right wing hypocrisy when it comes to the judicial system.

1. Pardon Me! Libby Hypocrisy.

No sooner is Scooter Libby convicted than the Wall Street Journal begins beating the drums for a presidential pardon in not one, but two, editorial pieces (one an official WSJ editorial, the other an op-ed piece they've obviously been sitting on just waiting for the verdict).

What hypocrisy. This is the same newspaper that went after Bill Clinton and every member of his cabinet with every piece of sleaze and dirt it could dig up, no matter how reliable. They relentlessly promoted books and videos produced by the most virulently paranoid right-wing fanatics and pushed for the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars on questionable special prosecutions. The cheerleaded a silly impeachment proceeding.

But now the WSJ intones that Bush "owes" Libby "a pardon and an apology." Evidently, the WSJ doesn't think it's serious business when Republicans lie to grand juries and obstruct justice.

[Fox News had its own unique take on the Libby trial yesterday, running a banner across the story declaring that Libby had been acquitted, which of course was true as to one count, but not the real story. Fair and balanced, as always.]

To be sure, we do feel sorry here for Libby, who certainly is a scapegoat. But Libby's problem was that he was too loyal to his boss, Dick Cheney. All Libby had to do was tell the truth to the FBI and grand jury. As it turns out, if he had told the truth, there would have been no consequences.

We don't share the WSJ's casual--and partisan--disregard for the legal process.

Partisan Politics With U.S. Attorneys

Another side of right wing hypocrisy is the unfolding scandal over the Bush Administration's dismissal of a number of U.S. Attorneys around the country. (See Washington Post story here.)

Of course the Bushies and their congressional allies are in full-blown spin mode on this one, claiming that no one was dismissed for political reasons.

We hardly need congressional hearings to know that's false. If we've learned anything about this administration over the past six years, it's that EVERYTHING is political. Clearly, when it comes to personnel appointments, loyalty to the White House and the Rove machine is valued over all other traits. That's one reason the administration is so incompetent. They don't care if you can do the job, man--just that you're loyal.

So now we're learning that various federal prosecutors received calls from Republicans in Congress about the status of their investigations into certain political figures. It's not yet clear whether those calls were instigated by Rove's office--we wouldn't be surprised. But you can bet that AFTER those calls, follow-up complaints were made to Rove, who in turn got friendly Justice Department officials in meting out discipline, Rove style.

The most obvious case, so far, is that of New Mexico prosecutor David Iglesias, who received a call one day AT HIS HOME from Sen. Pete Domenici, a Republican. Domenici pointedly asked Iglesias whether charges would be filed against a local Democrat, under investigation, "before November" (i.e., before the election). When Iglesias said no, Domenici reportedly said "I'm sorry to hear that" and hung up.

Domenici claims he didn't ask that Iglesias be fired over the issue. We're sure he didn't put it in exactly those words--Washington is a bit more subtle. But we'd love to put Domenici under oath. We're pretty sure he managed to convey his displeasure to the appropriate officials in the White House and at Justice, and that, as they say, those officials "got his drift."

Of course, none of this is really new. Instead, it's just larger pieces of the political corruption iceberg that's been coming into view over the past two years as we've learned how the Republicans operated in the Capital during their reign.

Have they learned anything since the election? Evidently not--see 1. above!

O'Reilly Lunacy; Bush Admin Suppression of Global Warming Papers

Bill O'Reilly Blames Child Kidnap Victim

In further proof that Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly is what's wrong with our country, the bloviated "conservative" suggested a few days ago that Missouri kidnap victim Shawn Hornbeck was to blame for his four-year confinement by 41-year-old pederast Michael Devlin.

O'Reilly, speaking as usual without regard to any facts or expertise, stated that 15-year-old Hornbeck, who was kidnapped when he was 11, didn't attempt to escape Devlin because he was able to have "a lot more fun than what he had under his old parents."
Since Hornbeck "didn't have to go to school" and "could run around and do whatever he wanted," O'Reilly concluded the kid voluntarily stayed with his captor. (For more detail on O'Reilly's lunatic statements about Hornbeck, see this piece on Media Matters.)

This just shows that O'Reilly, who pretends to be an advocate for children, is an idiot--as if we needed more proof of that. He certainly doesn't know much about kids.

The Curmudgeon coaches a couple dozen 11-year-olds in soccer, and we can't imagine that any of them would have the maturity and mental fortitude to resist an angry, manipulative physically imposing man such as Michael Devlin, who no doubt terrorized young Shawn with threats and backed it up with actions. Indeed, press reports suggest that Devlin's adult neighbors were intimidated by him as well, based on his volatile outbursts.

Presumably, Devlin told Hornbeck that if he tried to escape, Devlin would track him down and kill him, maybe kill his family as well. That's a pretty real threat to a young boy swiped off the street in broad daylight.

No doubt Hornbeck was also abused by Devlin. Was that something Shawn liked--something "more fun than he had with his old parents?" We don't think so.

And as for the psychological power of a bully, all we have to do is look at O'Reilly himself: millions of people remain captivated by him.

Letting Big Oil Edit Government Global Warming Reports

The story has become so commonplace that we're no longer shocked or surprised: a political hack in the Bush White House interferes with the legitimate work of government employees, to the detriment of the country.

In this case, it was Phil Cooney, a former lobbyist for the petroleum industry who was put in charge of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. It turns out Cooney regularly interfered with government scientists writing reports on global warming issues. Cooney went so far as to line edit reports to the point of altering their meaning. We think that's like letting a tobacco lobbyist edit the Surgeon General's annual report on smoking.

"There were a very large number of edits that came at the 12th hour after all the earlier science people had signed off," said Rick Piltz, a former senior associate at the US Climate Change Science Programme. Piltz, who eventually resigned from his job because of such pressure, stated that in one instance Cooney demanded 400 last-minute changes that significantly changed the meaning and tone of the report. (For more, see Bush Administration Accused of Doctoring Scientists' Reports on Climate Change.)

Cooney has now left the White House and gone to, of all places, ExxonMobil, which is attempting to paint itself green these days, just like the White House. We have to doubt the sincerity of both. We liked it better when they simply denied global warming, since the public could better judge their credibility at that point.