The Sotomayor Attack: Lacks Intelligence?!

You gotta hand it to the Party of No Clue. The same party that brought you Joe the Plumber, Joe Barton, Michele Bachmann, Steve King, Rick Santorum, Alberto Gonzales, Harriet Miers, Sarah Palin and yes, George W. Bush, is attacking President Obama's nomination for Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor because according to them, she's an "intellectual lightweight."

Let's look at her lack of pedigree:

Coming from a housing project in the Bronx, Sotomayor ended up graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton. She also was a co-recipient of the M. Taylor Pyne Prize, the highest honor Princeton awards to an undergraduate. Sotomayor then went to Yale Law School, where she served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal and managing editor of the Yale Studies in World Public Order.

No journalism major to speak of. No, she didn't attend five schools in six years to achieve her Bachelor's degree. I guess they just hand out summa cum laudes to every Hispanic that walks through their doors (you know, that affirmative action thing). But hey, if the GOP says she's not smart enough, then I suppose we should listen.

Spies R Us

As if our Constitutional rights haven't been pissed upon enough, here comes another doozy.

U.S. May Ease Police Spy Rules
More Federal Intelligence Changes Planned

The Justice Department has proposed a new domestic spying measure that would make it easier for state and local police to collect intelligence about Americans, share the sensitive data with federal agencies and retain it for at least 10 years.

... law enforcement agencies would be allowed to target groups as well as individuals, and to launch a criminal intelligence investigation based on the suspicion that a target is engaged in terrorism or providing material support to terrorists. They also could share results with a constellation of federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and others in many cases.

...Michael German, policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the proposed rule may be misunderstood as permitting police to collect intelligence even when no underlying crime is suspected, such as when a person gives money to a charity that independently gives money to a group later designated a terrorist organization.

Excuse me while I go vomit.

Waterboarding Is Like Swimming

Missouri's Senator Kit Bond is the ranking REPUBLICAN on the Senate intelligence committee... and he thinks waterboarding is like swimming. But he wouldn't use it. Maybe the good Senator can't swim.

And The Hits Just Keep On Coming

Analysts' Warnings of Iraq Chaos Detailed

This from the Washington Post:

Months before the invasion of Iraq, U.S. intelligence agencies predicted that it would be likely to spark violent sectarian divides and provide al-Qaeda with new opportunities in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a report released yesterday by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Analysts warned that war in Iraq also could provoke Iran to assert its regional influence and "probably would result in a surge of political Islam and increased funding for terrorist groups" in the Muslim world.

This was in January, 2003, months before Bush and his buddies invaded Iraq. But as we all know, once again intelligence was ignored or cherry picked to strengthen support for the war and occupation. In reading sections of the report, it seems that the administration used positive, albeit incorrect assessments as talking points to solidify their stance on Iraq such as the following:

...terrorist threats heightened by the invasion would probably decline within five years.

...oil revenue would greatly ease the rebuilding of Iraq's economy.

John D. Rockefeller IV (W.Va.), and three other Democratic panel members said: "The most chilling and prescient warning from the intelligence community prior to the war was that the American invasion would bring about instability in Iraq that would be exploited by Iran and al Qaeda terrorists."

Apparently, the "fight them there so we don't fight them here" theory only exacerbated the al-Qaeda problem. The invasion and current occupation "emboldened the enemy". But the Republicans would have you think the Democrats are to blame as so many of them regurgitate the usual talking points about Dems being weak on defense and the like.