Older Posts - May 2006

Wednesday  5/10/06  Reasons for replacing Goss with Hayden as CIA director 

The sudden departure of the CIA director, Porter Goss, leaving the intelligence community as the best defense against terrorism adrift at sea mirrors the overall state of government under Bush’s watch. Like many departments, FEMA, Homeland Security, Environmental Protection Agency, and Food and Drug Administration, that serve the essential welfare and the interest of the American people, CIA has become the latest casualty on the growing list of dysfunctional government departments and agencies.

 

Goss’ unexplained resignation (“a mystery”) and his nominated replacement, Air Force General Michael Hayden, an architect of Bush’s spying program (NSA eavesdropping), indicate several possible conclusions: 

1. In an attempt to raise his plunging poll numbers, Bush is trying to cast aside blame for both intelligence failures on terrorism (9-11 attacks) and on prewar intelligence on Iraq by having Goss as the scapegoat.
2. After Goss has cleared the CIA of dissidents by forcing out many talented and respected intelligent officers, Bush can now provide a military perspective on a cilivian agency by placing a military officer as the head of CIA for his ongoing “war on terror."
3. Bush is grabbing power by extending military dominance over civilians through civilian agencies acting as military Gestapo.  

More importantly, the intelligence community is facing an overhaul unlike any other in U.S. history. The directors of other major intelligence agencies, National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Reconnaissance Office, have been in office for less than a year. The head of the FBI’s counterterrorism and intelligence branch resigned last week and the head of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency plans to leave next month.

 

In retrospect, evidence of the Bush administration lying to the nation to go to war against Iraq and even against Afghanistan (al-Qaeda was not tied to the 9-11 attacks) shows that Bush is to be blamed, not our intelligence community. Yet, Congress allows the Neocons to continue dismantling our intelligence community by supporting Bush’s overhaul policies and nominations.

Tuesday  5/2/06 - Stephen Colbert's Weapon of Mass Derision at the Correspondents' Dinner 

The comedian, Stephen Colbert, ambushed the audience at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner to the delight of millions cable TV viewers. He not only insulted the guests of honor — the press, but also mocked the most distinguished man in the room — the president. Displaying satire at its finest, Colbert riddled the non-suspecting crowd at the black tie event with razor-sharp barbs, stinging truths, and poignant ironies.

 

Here are some of his quotes on the press corps:

 

“Over the last five years you people were so good over tax cuts, WMD intelligence, the effects of global warming. We Americans didn’t want to know, and you had the courtesy not to try to find out.”

 

“I am appalled to be surrounded by the liberal media that is destroying America, with the exception of Fox news. Fox News gives you sides of every story, the president’s side and the vice president’s side. “

 

“The president makes decisions, he’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type.”

 

“Reporting on N.S.A. wiretapping or secret prisons in Eastern Europe? Those things are secret for a very important reason — they’re super depressing. And if that’s your goal, well, MISERY ACCOMPLISHED.”

 

“Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know — fiction."

 

on the Bush administration:

 

“I believe the government that governs best is the government that governs least. And by these standards, we have set up a fabulous government in Iraq.”

 

“So the white house has personnel changes…they’re just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic…. that is a terrible metaphor. This ship’s not sinking. This administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on the Hindenburg... “

 

“General Mosley, General Peter Pace. They still support Rumsfeld. You guys aren’t retired yet, right? (Looking at them) Right, they STILL support Rumsfeld.”

 

“Joe Wilson is here. And of course, he brought along his lovely wife Valerie Plame. Oh, my god! (covering his mouth with one hand) Oh, what have I said? I am sorry, Mr. President, I meant to say he brought along his lovely wife. Pat Fitzgerald is not here tonight?”

 

“And we can’t forget man of the hour, new press secretary, Tony Snow. Secret service name, Snow Job. Got some big shoes to fill, Tony. Scott McClellan, too, SAY NOTHING like nobody else.”

 

and on Bush:

 

“We don’t pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in "reality." And reality has a well-known liberal bias.” 

 

”I stand by this man because he stands FOR things. Not only for things, has he stood ON things. Things like aircraft carriers and rubble and recently flooded city squares. And that sends a strong message, that no matter what happens to America, she will always rebound with the most powerfully staged photo ops in the world.”

 

“I’ve never been a fan of books. They’re all fact, no heart. I mean, they’re elitist telling us what is or isn’t true, what did or didn’t happen. What’s Britannica to tell me the Panama Canal was built in 1914? If I want to say, it was built in 1941, that’s my right as an American. I’m with the president, let history decide what did or did not happen.”

“The greatest thing about this man is he’s steady. You know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday, that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday.”

 

It was truly an unforgettable event where he shamed the press for their inept coverage of the administration’s malfeasance, where he demonstrated the bravado that Congress lack in confronting the “Decider,” and where he spoke for the rest of common Americans how we really felt towards our incompetent leader, cowardly government and sycophantic press.

 

Without a doubt, Colbert dropped a bomb of weapon of mass derision at the annual Correspondent’s Association Dinner, leaving the victims “shocked and awed,” the conspirators “silently” uneasy, and the guilty “ready to blow.” Time will tell if Colbert’s performance as a message for soul-searching will have any affect on those attendees.