Unintelligence in Federal Intelligence Agencies

Joel S. Hirschhorn

The Bush administration has found yet another way to waste taxpayer money while providing huge sums to private contractors. According to a survey of activities in 2007 by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, about a third of the federal professional intelligence workforce now consists of contractors, mostly in the Washington, DC area.

From the Mercury News:¹

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David Springer, an Intel program manager and a San Jose team leader for the McCain campaign, focused on Palin's credentials as a natural leader and a passionate reformer as Alaska's governor. He plays down the suggestion that McCain is using Palin to skim Clinton votes away from Obama.

"I suspect there's a part of that in there, but the choice for vice president is a lot more important than just picking a characteristic that'll swing a few voters," he said. "John is picking her as a natural successor. I don't think gender matters one way or another in how he made his choice."

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Perhaps Mr. Springer missed the recent attempt by Karl Rove to pre-marginalize Obama's Vice Presidential pick for a running mate. Mr. Rove tried to set the stage and dialogue for the Obama choice by using Governor Tim Kaine as an example, stating that he felt Obama would make a political choice and not a choice based on what would make a good Vice President or a potential President in the event the Veep was called upon to fill a vacancy.

Unfortunately for the McCain campaign, for Ms. Palin, for Mr. Springer and for Karl Rove, the video of that criticism is available online -- and applies perfectly to McCain's selection of Palin.

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"Trust, but verify."

        -- Ronald Reagan¹
          40th US President

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As each election cycle approaches, more and more articles about alleged voter fraud, voter caging, vote manipulation and voter intimidation begin to come out.

Sometimes, they are simply examples of fear-mongering used to attempt to move the public in one direction or another with regard to Voter Identification laws.

Sometimes, they appear to be conspiracy theories by nutcases.

And sometimes, they turn out to be grounded in reality.

In all cases, you never know what you'll find unless you first look at the facts -- and sometimes getting to those facts takes Herculean efforts.

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"Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything."

        -- Josef Stalin (1879-1953)
          Georgian Soviet politician

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Why?

Over the fold, some quotes, some reflections, some news about ongoing developments over at the Velvet Revolution and a list of related stories.

This is an Open Thread.

Nick Benton runs syndicated columnists in the Falls Church News Press, and one of the regulars is Maureen Dowd. Lot's of time she ticks me off 'cause I really dislike her kind of snide commentary, however in this case... She makes some good points on a topic that really gets me mad--how the hate machine is going after Michelle Obama. And I am truly nonpartisan on this subject. I definitely think that Laura Bush, as opposed to her husband, definitely does show a human side sometimes. Yeah I know it is kept carefully hidden.
Anyway, I suggest you give her piece a read. The title is Mincing Up Michelle. Nick ran it in this weeks paper, but it originally aired on June 11.

originally posted 2008-06-11 18:24:22, bumped -- cho

Is Compassionate Conservatism Right for America?

In an ongoing effort to make their colleagues unelectable, and to provide Democrats with an unassailable platform in November, House Republicans are dismantling and blocking some of the most popular provisions of the Iraq spending bill. Today they blocked passage of extended unemployment benefits despite rising unemployment. And, as we speak, they are working to remove a moratorium on seven Medicaid Rules changes proposed by Bush.

cross-posted @ This Week With Barack Obama

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It is not typically my style to write editorials or news stories about religion. Religion typically inspires people to emotional reactions rather than intellectual thought, however this time I have a point about America's political and corporate leadership that requires me to examine what the Bible said and how loyally the Republicans and Right-Wingers have followed the dictates of Jesus Christ.

You see, the Republicans of my lifetime (1966 up until present day) have been very fond of claiming that the Christian God is on their side and that they're doing the Lord's work. George W. Bush even went so far as to claim that his favorite philosopher was Jesus Christ. But really, when you read the words of Jesus Christ how well do the Republicans walk the walk? What would Jesus Christ say about Republicans such as Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush or Rush Limbaugh?

The second half of the Diane Rehm Show today which featured an interview with Mickey Edwards. He is a former Republican congressman who has been chairman of the American Conservative Union and a trustee of the Heritage Foundation and presently teaches at Princeton and is Vice President of the Aspen Institute. He attacked Bush for attempting to seize executive power illegitimately and argues that he not a legitimate American conservative.

While it was dullsville in West Virginia, with media pundits refrying the beans, the real news was happening in Mississippi. Not only did Travis Childers win the congressional race in one of the MOST CONSERVATIVE districts in the United States, but he won it handily 54 to 46. And this is the third such bi-election win in the last three months. This district has not only been solidly Republican, but in 2004 the vote there was 60% to 40% in Bush's favor.