Tough Couple Of Weeks For President
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Gary [email protected]
Most recently, this past Thursday, a bipartisan panel of lawmakers expressed deep concerns about leaks of classified material.
They’re pushing for an investigation.
The FBI this week launched a probe into leaks about a plot to blow up a jet headed for the U.S.
You may remember the story. A CIA operative posed as a would-be bomber and got close to an al-Qaida bomb maker. The bomber delivered the device to the FBI and the CIA ordered a drone strike. But only hours after the drone strike, the media already had the story.
I remember thinking at the time it was a little weird that I was hearing all the details about how the CIA foiled a bomb plot just hours after the fact.
Then there was the outing of the Pakistani doctor who helped find bin Laden by staging a fake polio vaccination campaign to get DNA samples. Why do we know about this?
The good doctor now labors in a Pakistani prison, convicted of treason. Thanks for the assist, doc.
Also under investigation is the claim that Hollywood filmmakers were allowed to actually sit in on classified briefings with regard to the killing of Osama bin Laden. Ostensibly, I suppose, to make a better movie about that event.
Other leaks – like the fact that Obama oversees a “kill list” and personally approves drone strikes, and that he approved the use of a computer virus against Iran’s nuclear capabilities – also are under scrutiny.
A group of U.S. Senators, two Republicans and two Democrats, are pretty steamed up about it and want an investigation.
Dianne Feinstein a member of the group, said this to Wolf Blitzer on CNN:
“What we're seeing ... is an Anschluss, an avalanche of leaks. And it's very, very disturbing. You know, it's dismayed our allies. It puts American lives in jeopardy. It puts our nation's security in jeopardy.”
And she’s a Democrat.
Of course some politicians, most notably Republican Sen. John McCain, are going for the jugular, suggesting that the White House leaked the information on purpose to make the president look like a tough guy ahead of the November election.
“A really disturbing aspect of this is that one could draw the conclusion from reading these articles that it is an attempt to further the president’s political ambitions for the sake of his re-election at the expense of our national security,” McCain said on the Senate floor late Tuesday.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said that was absurd: “Any suggestion that this administration has authorized intentional leaks of classified information for political gain is grossly irresponsible.”
When informed of Carney’s comments, McCain doubled down:
“No, what is grossly irresponsible is U.S. officials divulging some of the most highly classified programs involving the most important national security priorities facing our nation today,” McCain noted in a statement released Thursday.
Stay tuned, folks. This has the potential to get really interesting.
Then, of course, there was the Wisconsin recall election which fully went the wrong way for the White House.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett lost in his bid to unseat Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Walker was recalled because of his anti-union policies.
It wasn’t even close. It was just short of an hour after the polls closed, and less than 30 percent of the votes had been counted that the networks started calling the race.
Of course, all the networks reported that Walker “survived.” Everybody knows in an election, a margin over 5 percent is a pretty big win.
Not this time. That 7-percent margin of victory was a real squeaker.
I love how political types like to spin this stuff. Democrats all across the land are saying this recall election was meaningless with regard to the fall election.
Of course, if Walker had lost they would be saying how it sounded the death knell for Mitt Romney.
Curious though.
If the Wisconsin recall was of no national electoral consequence, why did the Democratic National Committee try in vain to convince Wisconsin Democrats not to pursue the recall in the first place?
(That little tidbit was reported in the Wall Street Journal.)
I know. I know. The DNC was worried that a loss in the recall election would be – meaningless.
Right.
As if all this wasn’t enough to annoy the president over the past couple weeks, Bill Clinton has to pop off.
Former President Bill Clinton told CNBC Tuesday that the US economy already is in a recession and urged Congress to extend all the tax cuts due to expire at the end of the year.
“What I think we need to do is find some way to avoid the fiscal cliff, to avoid doing anything that would contract the economy now, and then deal with what’s necessary in the long term debt-reduction plans as soon as they can, which presumably would be after the election,” Clinton said.
Already in a recession? Thought we were on the right path.
And then this:
“So I don’t think that we ought to get in the position where we say this is bad work, this is good work. ... There’s no question that in terms of getting up and going to the office, and you know, basically performing the essential functions of the office, a man who has been governor and had a sterling business career crosses the qualification threshold.“
So Clinton undercuts the lynchpin of Obama’s campaign – that Romney’s business career doesn’t qualify him to be president.
It’s not just off message. It’s antithetical. The question is, why?
Clinton is probably one of the most politically astute people alive. There’s a reason he’s tossing the wrench in the works and it’s more than just a grudge over what President Obama said about his wife, Hillary, during the 2008 campaign.
Perhaps it’s because Clinton and other prominent Democrats are a more than a little concerned that Obama’s uber-populist campaign strategy could alienate the party from Wall Street, business and high finance.
Not to mention the tons of cash those entities provide.
That’s just speculation on my part, and I could be all wrong.
But regardless, it makes for some good political theater.
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Most recently, this past Thursday, a bipartisan panel of lawmakers expressed deep concerns about leaks of classified material.
They’re pushing for an investigation.
The FBI this week launched a probe into leaks about a plot to blow up a jet headed for the U.S.
You may remember the story. A CIA operative posed as a would-be bomber and got close to an al-Qaida bomb maker. The bomber delivered the device to the FBI and the CIA ordered a drone strike. But only hours after the drone strike, the media already had the story.
I remember thinking at the time it was a little weird that I was hearing all the details about how the CIA foiled a bomb plot just hours after the fact.
Then there was the outing of the Pakistani doctor who helped find bin Laden by staging a fake polio vaccination campaign to get DNA samples. Why do we know about this?
The good doctor now labors in a Pakistani prison, convicted of treason. Thanks for the assist, doc.
Also under investigation is the claim that Hollywood filmmakers were allowed to actually sit in on classified briefings with regard to the killing of Osama bin Laden. Ostensibly, I suppose, to make a better movie about that event.
Other leaks – like the fact that Obama oversees a “kill list” and personally approves drone strikes, and that he approved the use of a computer virus against Iran’s nuclear capabilities – also are under scrutiny.
A group of U.S. Senators, two Republicans and two Democrats, are pretty steamed up about it and want an investigation.
Dianne Feinstein a member of the group, said this to Wolf Blitzer on CNN:
“What we're seeing ... is an Anschluss, an avalanche of leaks. And it's very, very disturbing. You know, it's dismayed our allies. It puts American lives in jeopardy. It puts our nation's security in jeopardy.”
And she’s a Democrat.
Of course some politicians, most notably Republican Sen. John McCain, are going for the jugular, suggesting that the White House leaked the information on purpose to make the president look like a tough guy ahead of the November election.
“A really disturbing aspect of this is that one could draw the conclusion from reading these articles that it is an attempt to further the president’s political ambitions for the sake of his re-election at the expense of our national security,” McCain said on the Senate floor late Tuesday.
White House press secretary Jay Carney said that was absurd: “Any suggestion that this administration has authorized intentional leaks of classified information for political gain is grossly irresponsible.”
When informed of Carney’s comments, McCain doubled down:
“No, what is grossly irresponsible is U.S. officials divulging some of the most highly classified programs involving the most important national security priorities facing our nation today,” McCain noted in a statement released Thursday.
Stay tuned, folks. This has the potential to get really interesting.
Then, of course, there was the Wisconsin recall election which fully went the wrong way for the White House.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett lost in his bid to unseat Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Walker was recalled because of his anti-union policies.
It wasn’t even close. It was just short of an hour after the polls closed, and less than 30 percent of the votes had been counted that the networks started calling the race.
Of course, all the networks reported that Walker “survived.” Everybody knows in an election, a margin over 5 percent is a pretty big win.
Not this time. That 7-percent margin of victory was a real squeaker.
I love how political types like to spin this stuff. Democrats all across the land are saying this recall election was meaningless with regard to the fall election.
Of course, if Walker had lost they would be saying how it sounded the death knell for Mitt Romney.
Curious though.
If the Wisconsin recall was of no national electoral consequence, why did the Democratic National Committee try in vain to convince Wisconsin Democrats not to pursue the recall in the first place?
(That little tidbit was reported in the Wall Street Journal.)
I know. I know. The DNC was worried that a loss in the recall election would be – meaningless.
Right.
As if all this wasn’t enough to annoy the president over the past couple weeks, Bill Clinton has to pop off.
Former President Bill Clinton told CNBC Tuesday that the US economy already is in a recession and urged Congress to extend all the tax cuts due to expire at the end of the year.
“What I think we need to do is find some way to avoid the fiscal cliff, to avoid doing anything that would contract the economy now, and then deal with what’s necessary in the long term debt-reduction plans as soon as they can, which presumably would be after the election,” Clinton said.
Already in a recession? Thought we were on the right path.
And then this:
“So I don’t think that we ought to get in the position where we say this is bad work, this is good work. ... There’s no question that in terms of getting up and going to the office, and you know, basically performing the essential functions of the office, a man who has been governor and had a sterling business career crosses the qualification threshold.“
So Clinton undercuts the lynchpin of Obama’s campaign – that Romney’s business career doesn’t qualify him to be president.
It’s not just off message. It’s antithetical. The question is, why?
Clinton is probably one of the most politically astute people alive. There’s a reason he’s tossing the wrench in the works and it’s more than just a grudge over what President Obama said about his wife, Hillary, during the 2008 campaign.
Perhaps it’s because Clinton and other prominent Democrats are a more than a little concerned that Obama’s uber-populist campaign strategy could alienate the party from Wall Street, business and high finance.
Not to mention the tons of cash those entities provide.
That’s just speculation on my part, and I could be all wrong.
But regardless, it makes for some good political theater.
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