That question thing is something that Rush does all the time, along with, "I'm not saying, but others have said ..."

It's pretty weak, if you want to make accusations have the courage of your convictions and make accusations.

#4 seems to show the poster is unaware that Cheney picks up a paycheck every week from Halliburotten

#5 is not supported by the poster with any facts. It's on the level of the Clinton drug dealing allegations. Everything I have read on it shows a particular far-right wing x-superior officer, himself suspected of war crimes, has a vendetta against Kerry along the line of Richard Mellon Scaife, the behind-the-scenes guy pulling Ken Starr's strings, whose vendetta for Clinton ended up guarenteeing Clinton's re-election.

Interesting enough, one of my Republican friends bemoans this whole "Swift Boat" adventure. Like the Monica Lewinsky stuff, to the red meat crowd it seems like great stuff. But the impeachment attempt was a major miscalculation on how the average person would feel about the issue, and this is the same kind of stuff.

While the red meat crowd writhed a St. Vitus dance of outrage over Clintons blow job, the rest of the people could have really cared less, and the red meat crowd's own hatred blinded them to this fact to the point they just lemminged out. My friend states that in y'all pushing this, you are just doing the Democrats a great service, because it ends up just highlighting Bush's dismal military achievements at a time of war, while no matter how you spin Kerry, you have a guy who went and risked his life in a combat zone to the point of achieving our nation's second highest military medal, vs a President who couldn't even show up for a mandatory physical. My friend believes this is being pushed by the same short-sighted hate crowd in the Republican Party that led them to electoral disaster in the Lewinsky thing. You might want to give it some thought, but in the meantime I hope you keep posting this stuff so I can keep pointing out things like the fact the National Guard unit Bush was in (right down the street from where I live by the way) was flying obsolete planes that were rejected for service in Vietnam, thereby guaranteeing any pilot who got to fly one that he would not go to Vietnam, a fact known to Bush's daddy. That seems to suggest he purposefully avoided combat, about the same time Kerry was saving someone's life under fire. As long as you are inviting me to make comparisions like that, then:

Quote Msfowler.....Enjoy!.....

thank you. Thank you, I enjoyed that very much.

I'm a war hero elect me.

Wrong party.

Now hush, and get back in your cage where you belong.

awww dat Sivler Star is all for nothin?

Silver, huh. Oh.

I'm done with jokes on that issue.

B

Thanks being permanently damaged can mess with a guys head.

Conspiracy theorists: What's up with this?
 

I think Halliburton made him do it.

B
---------------
AP: Clinton Adviser Probed in Terror Memos

By JOHN SOLOMON

WASHINGTON - President Clinton (news - web sites)'s national security adviser, Sandy Berger, is the focus of a criminal investigation after admitting he removed highly classified terrorism documents from a secure reading room during preparations for the Sept. 11 commission hearings, The Associated Press has learned.
_
Berger's home and office were searched earlier this year by FBI (news - web sites) agents armed with warrants. Some drafts of a sensitive after-action report on the Clinton administration's handling of al-Qaida terror threats during the December 1999 millennium celebration are still missing.

Berger and his lawyer said Monday night he knowingly removed handwritten notes he had taken from classified anti-terror documents he reviewed at the National Archives by sticking them in his jacket and pants. He also inadvertently took copies of actual classified documents in a leather portfolio, they said.

"I deeply regret the sloppiness involved, but I had no intention of withholding documents from the commission, and to the contrary, to my knowledge, every document requested by the commission from the Clinton administration was produced," Berger said in a statement to the AP.

Berger served as Clinton's national security adviser for all of the president's second term and most recently has been informally advising Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry (news - web sites). Clinton asked Berger last year to review and select the administration documents that would be turned over to the commission.

The FBI searched Berger's home and office with warrants earlier this year after employees of the National Archives told agents they believed they witnessed Berger put documents into his clothing while reviewing sensitive Clinton administration papers, officials said.

When asked, Berger said he returned some of the classified documents, which he found in his office, and all of the handwritten notes he had taken from the secure room, but said he could not locate two or three copies of the highly classified millennium terror report.

"In the course of reviewing over several days thousands of pages of documents on behalf of the Clinton administration in connection with requests by the Sept. 11 commission, I inadvertently took a few documents from the Archives," Berger said.

"When I was informed by the Archives that there were documents missing, I immediately returned everything I had except for a few document that I apparently had accidentally discarded," he said.

Lanny Breuer, one of Berger's attorneys, said his client has offered to cooperate fully with the investigation but has not been interviewed by the FBI or prosecutors. Berger has been told he is the subject of the investigation, Breuer said.

Government and congressional officials familiar with the investigation, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because the probe involves classified materials, said the investigation remains active and that no decision has been made on whether Berger should face criminal charges.

The officials said the missing documents were highly classified, and included critical assessments about the Clinton administration's handling of the millennium terror threats as well as identification of America's terror vulnerabilities at airports to sea ports.

Sounds like he is in a world of $hit.

We've got bigger worries


Man Sought for Photographing Texas City Refineries


Email this story

Jul 19, 2:57 PM (ET)

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Law enforcement officials said on Monday they are looking for a man seen taking pictures of two refineries in Texas City, Texas.
Texas City, located on the Texas Gulf coast about 30 miles south of Houston, has three refineries including the largest U.S. plant operated by BP Plc., which is the third-largest U.S. refinery, processing 470,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

The man, described as white with dark hair, was seen taking pictures outside the refineries, all located on the same highway, at about 5 p.m. CDT on Saturday, said Bruce Clawson, emergency management and homeland security director for Texas City.

While it is not illegal to take pictures of a refinery from a highway or street, officials would like to talk to the man to find out his reason for taking the photographs.

"This is based on the idea that al Qaeda does its homework," Clawson said. "That's not to say we don't have enough home-grown idiots already who might want to do something."

The man was seen driving a white van.

Valero Energy Corp. operates a 243,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery in Texas City. Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC, a joint venture between Marathon Oil Corp., and Ashland Inc., operates a 76,000 bpd refinery in Texas City.

The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has repeatedly warned refiners that they are possible targets for would-be terrorists. U.S. refinery security officials say their security guards regularly report people observing or taking pictures of refineries.

During the Independence Day holiday, ExxonMobil Corp. tightened security at the largest U.S. refinery, the 538,000 bpd plant in Baytown, Texas, 30 miles east of Houston, because of general warnings about possible terrorist activity.

Classified material is supposed to be stapled or bound with a brightly covered sheet with all kinds of nasty admonishments all over it. Each sheet should be Identified a certain way (I am revealing nothing that isn't legal). Its impossible to mistake those documents for anything else.

But Burger is no fool. He knows security procedures and would know he would be caught. So I really doubt he did it purposefully. I can imagine picking-up a stack of combined personal paper and classified and then inadvertently stuck them in his personal binder.

If accidental then he should get some stern frowns and removal of his clearances. If he did it on purpose, burn him. Only the gravest political reason can justify breaking security. Like Daniel Ellsberg's breacj for example. IF its politics, he needs a trial. What bothers me is that he claims he destroyed some of them. I can't imagine how you do that by accident.

But I kind of doubt its intentional. I think he screwed-up. It happens.

Bot

PS

Oh my, he also brought unapproved derived documents out of a secure facility. That's a breech, too. The document, anything he learned from the document, any copies or drawings made while reviewing documents, etc are all covered. I can't believe he was that dumb. I wonder if all upper-level bureaucrats are that cavelier with the rules? Might explain the mindset of the nitwit who revealed Wilson's wife's identity to the press.

If upper-level doesn't scrupulously obey the rules, and get punished for violating them, what effect does that have on the lower echelons?

B

Then there's this:

"Former CIA Director John Deutch was pardoned by Clinton just hours before Clinton left office in 2001 for taking home classified information and keeping it on unsecured computers at his home during his time at the CIA and Pentagon. Deutch was about to enter into a plea agreement for a misdemeanor charge of mishandling government secrets when the pardon was granted."

This is not another "get Clinton" moment. But it is a pattern that I see emerging that political people seem to be immune to the rules that get the technical level in extremely deep doodoo. Somebody in Congress needs to bust the Executive over this.

Bot

He's starting to get some support. Here's some observation from Gergen, the democrat who calls himself a Republican:

Gergen on Berger: 'Innocent' actions


WASHINGTON, July 20 (UPI) -- A former colleague said Tuesday Clinton national security adviser Sandy Berger only took copies of documents from the National Archives.

Berger was researching Clinton documents last summer in preparation for testimony before the commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Former Clinton aide David Gergen, who worked with Berger in the White House, was interviewed on NBC's "Today" show Tuesday and said of Berger's actions, "I think it's more innocent than it looks."

Gergen said Berger was not attempting to remove anything critical of the Clinton administration. Copies of the purportedly missing documents apparently are widely dispersed, and Berger has said the Sept. 11 commission received everything it asked for.

Sources confirm the FBI is investigating Berger's actions.

Gergen defended Berger in the "Today" interview.

"I have known Sandy Berger for a long time," he said. "He would never do anything to compromise the security of the United States."

Gergen also said he found it "suspicious" that news of the investigation should surface just at the Sept. 11 commission is about release its report.

G.A.S. about timing of the leak. If timing was important, Burger could have controlled the timing but chose not to. Somebody was gonna dump this at a time that best served their interest. Burger couldda.

The rumor mill is stoked on this one. I hope that the FBI wraps-up the investigation quickly and either presents it to a grand jury or drops it. I'm betting on an administrative reprimand, loss of security status, and a misdemeanor plea bargain.

The problem is NOT Burger, per se. The problem is that politicians play loose with rules governing secrets. For example, I think it was Orrin Hatch who revealed that NSA was able to listen-in on top Al Queda satphone conversations. What a fool. Jimmy Carter revealed stealth technology in an election year ploy to defuse Reagan's B-1 bomber song and dance. What an ass. Somebody in the Whitehouse revealed Wilson's wife's name to politically discredit Wilson, endangering a CIA agent. Those MoFos play political games with national security. Congress needs to investigate the politization of national security secrets and put a stop to it. Its wrong and a danger and its up to Congress to stop it in law and policy.

Bot