Thursday, May 21, 2009

Barack has to take a stand against Pelosi

Debs says: "ASK FOR THE WITCHES RESIGNATION. She isn't qualified to be in such a position anyway.
She should climb on her broomstick and fly back to her corrupt San Francisco, where people on the left can say or do anything they wish and only the Conservatives are flogged."

Barack, get off the fence: Pelosi's accusations against the CIA can no longer be met with silence
Wednesday, May 20th 2009, 4:00 AM
He's the man with the silver tongue, "a gift," as he once called his inspired ability with words. Yet while a heated battle with national security implications rages around him, President Obama has pushed his mute button.
It's been six days since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went wiggy and accused the Central Intelligence Agency of repeatedly lying to her and others in Congress, saying "they mislead us all the time."
But Obama has not said a single word on the subject. His press secretary has brushed off efforts by reporters to learn whether Obama agrees with fellow Democrat Pelosi or with Leon Panetta, his CIA director.
Panetta, a former Democratic congressman himself, forcefully rejected Pelosi's charges, which, if true, would constitute serious crimes.
Republicans are happy campers, with Pelosi's televised rant providing a welcome break from their own problems. GOP House leader John Boehner, partisan motivations aside, is right when he challenges Pelosi either to offer evidence she was misled by the CIA on the waterboarding of terror detainees, or apologize to those trying to keep America safe.
Pelosi's refusal to budge is Obama's cue to get involved. He must come to the defense of the CIA or explain why he thinks Pelosi has a case.
Silence is not an option. The stakes are too high for the President to take a pass.
In political terms, Obama's desire to stay neutral is understandable. It's a no-win situation, with Pelosi holding the fate of his numerous pieces of sweeping legislation.
He would also pay a price for alienating the CIA by backing Pelosi. The spook-and-dagger crowd is well known for getting even with Presidents it doesn't like - see George W. Bush - and it takes only one disgruntled agent to leak unflattering information.
Yet the presidency is more than just our politician in chief. And the sweeping nature of Pelosi's charges, coming while we are at war with an enemy that vows to attack us again, demands Obama's voice and judgment. We cannot afford to have a demoralized CIA.
If he doubts the seriousness, Obama need only review Pelosi's shocking claims. She said she had attended a CIA briefing in September 2002, where "the only mention of waterboarding at that briefing was that it was not being employed."
The CIA disputes that, saying it told her the interrogation technique had been used. Panetta issued a confirming report, citing agency notes.
Curiously, Pelosi does admit she learned from an aide in early 2003 that waterboarding had been used, but never once complained to the CIA or the White House about a technique she calls torture. At the time, she was the top leader of House Democrats, so her complaints could have made a difference.
Some of Pelosi's theatrics heighten the need for Obama's involvement. In what struck me as a partisan fixation bordering on paranoia, Pelosi ranted in an "us against them" way that was disturbing: "This is their policy, all of them. This is their policy. This is what they conceived. This is what they developed. This is what they implemented. This is what they denied was happening."
Later, with reporters questioning her honesty, she tried to turn the tables on the unnamed bogeymen again. "They mislead us all the time. I was fighting the war in Iraq at that point, too, you know, saying to my members the intelligence does not support the imminent threat that they are conceding. . . . They misrepresented every step of the way. And they don't want that focus on them. So they try to turn the attention on us. We had to win the election to make the change."
Indeed, Democrats won two elections in a row and Obama sits in the Oval Office.
That responsibility demands his leadership on this sordid mess.Read more: "Barack, get off the fence: Pelosi's accusations against the CIA can no longer be met with silence" - http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/columnists/goodwin/index.html#ixzz0G8xv6wKK&A

2 comments:

judy said...

barack wont do anything to upend nancy pelosi because she is in large part, the reason he got elected...her statement charging that the "CIA misinforms them all the time", is nearly treasonous, were it said by other than pelosi. i am not sure why she gets away with many of the things she says...many are venomous in nature and make her look not very bright..the things she will never give the bush administration credit for are:his keeping our country safe for the past 8 years, education progress his wife was very instrumental in, keeping people employed, keeping taxes down, allowing people to keep more of their hard earned money..and yes, letting the country see for the first time ever, the stock market soaring over 14,000...i believe obama is merely the spokesperson for pelosi and reid, but moreso rahm emanuel..obama has become a puppet like figure they keep sending away from washington so they can mess things up even more than they have already. if you doubt this, take a look at her own state of california...what a disgrace...why dont they put the gitmo detainees at alcatraz? that would make her feel warm and cozy.

judy said...

told you nothing would happen as a result of pelosi's calling those in the CIA, liars...obama administration has conveniently put her issues with the CIA on the back burner while they discuss the sotomayor issue, as obama and his teleprompters travel around in the jets and helicopters, like some "king who had no clothes" messiah imaged person.