Scandal Sells

What is going on with the MSM feeding frenzy on tyring to put Nancy Pelosi smack dab in the middle of the torture scandal because of Intelligence briefings? While the networks all reported that Pelosi accused the CIA of "lying" in her briefing in opposition to the CIA's assertion that she knew the specific interrogation methods had been used, none of the reports noted that in a letter accompanying the documents, CIA Director Leon Panetta suggested the information in the documents may not be "an accurate summary of what actually happened."

I'm not a Pelosi fan, and if she is not being truthful then she should be gone as well. That being said, she's asked the CIA to release the documents that prove them right and her wrong, but they've refused. If they have her nailed to the wall, then why the refusal? She's also suggested for a truth commissin to sort this all out. Would someone who is lying ask for truth commission? If your operation is being called bogus, then it's in the CIA's best interest to release said documents and prove Pelosi wrong, shut her up and save face. Why won't they do that?

It's also come to light that the former head of the Intelligence Committee, Sen. Bob Graham, is siding with Pelosi. His meticulous notes confirm attendance at only one meeting in which they were not told about waterboarding being used while the CIA said he'd been briefed four times.

Graham: "When I asked the CIA when I had been briefed, they gave me four dates, two in April and two in September of '02. On three of the four occasions, when I consulted my schedule and my notes, it was clear that no briefing had taken place on that date and eventually the CIA concurred in that. So their record-keeping is a little bit suspect."

Ultimately, this is a distraction from the fact that waterboarding was used in August of 2002 and the committee wasn't briefed until September of 2002. That's the story.

The media focusing on Nancy Pelosi and the CIA discrepancy over torture techniques and when they were used is the equivalent of dangling a carrot on a stick in front of a mule. "Oooh! Pelosi called the CIA liars!"

It's a distraction from what they should be covering. It also sells. The CIA is a department with no face. Scandal loves a face, and if they can connect a little, grandmotherly type like Pelosi to torture it sells papers. What are they going to do, post a picture of the CIA building entrance next to the type? Have the CIA logo over the talking heads' shoulders while they try to blame torture on a department instead of someone in the former Vice President's office? Doesn't Pelosi's face over that pundit's shoulder look more scandalous?

Douchebags of the Week: It's a TIE!

I never thought it would come to this, but there I was thinking about who I would win Blog-O-Mania's Douchebag of the Week honors. And contrary to popular belief, this is a dubious honor.

Being that the recovery bill in the Senate was debated over for days, there were many douchebags to choose from this week, but finally someone emerged from the pack. As I was about to make my selection, I received further news of immense douchebaggery that could not go without notice. So I have decided to call this one a tie between Senator John Thune (R-SD) and Congressman Peter Hoekstra (R-MI).


Senator John Thune wanted to give us an explanation of how much $1 Trillion actually is. Not in a mathematical sense, but in a physical sense. He spent a good two minutes of what was probably a 3 to 5 minute time frame on the floor of the Senate, complete with graphic charts and an easel paid for by you and me, Mr. & Mrs. American Taxpayer, to illustrate his point.



I have another one for Senator Thune. Senator, if the head of the Coalition Provisional Authority were to transport $1 trillion in Lockheed C-130 Hercules Military airlift planes to Iraq in $12 billion shipments, plastic wrapped on pallets, it would take 36,893 planes. If you lined up those planes nose to tail, they would stretch the length of 13,773 football fields. Since Senator Thune likes to use nonsensical illustrations to prove nothing, I thought I'd hand him another.

As if that douchebag weren't enough, we have Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) who thought is was a great idea to Twitter the whereabouts of he and his fellow congressmen during a secret trip to Baghdad, complete with updates every few hours. This is the same Peter Hoekstra who is a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, you know, the people who are the gatekeepers of our nation's deepest secrets, those who are protecting us from the evildoers. But publicly divulging information of a clandestine trip to the green zone in an unstable middle eastern country putting himself, his delegation and our state secrets in danger seemed like a hell of an idea.

Senator John Thune and Congressman Peter Hoekstra: Douchebags of the Week!