Monday, June 11, 2012

Leak, Follow, or Get Out of the Way



Last Friday, just after Barack Obama declared in a special news conference that "the private sector is doing fine" and "candy grows on trees in my world and everyone can fly," the president was blindsided by an actual question from an actual reporter which clearly got him wee-wee'd up.

Specifically, the reporter asked about the devastating series of leaks of classified information which are destroying our intelligence capabilities while - entirely coincidentally - portraying Barack Obama as a military strongman who could kick Rambo's ass without putting down his ice cream cone. Leaks which seem to come directly from the Whitehouse.

A clearly peeved president responded that the suggestion anyone in his administration could be involved with revealing classified secrets just to make him look good was "offensive," adding "we could do it, but that would be wrong." No wait, that last statement was from Nixon. Sometimes we get the two of them confused.


So egregious are these high-level leaks that only hours after the embarassing questioning, Attorney General Eric Holder - entirely coincidentally - appointed two attorneys to lead criminal investigations into any "unauthorized disclosure of classified information."

STOP EVERYTHING! It's time to play "Spot the Weasel Wording!" Did you catch it in Holder's statement? (tick, tick, tick...)


Time's up! The weasel word was "unauthorized." Meaning if Holder's investigators (one of whom was nominated by the president, and who has given thousands of dollars to Obama's campaign) discover that the leaks were authorized from within the Oval Office, they can honestly report that they found "no unauthorized leaks" and therefore no criminal activity.

Sure, some people might say that it's criminal to prop up Obama's declining popularity by throwing our allies to the wolves, endangering American lives, and compromising our ability to run intelligence operations in the future...but unfortunately, none of that will stand up in a court of law.


The court of public opinion is an entirely different matter, though. And if it can be shown that high-level members of the Obama administration or the president himself is behind these leaks, the judgement should be harsh, the punishment swift, and be administered by the voters of the United States in November.

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If only the problem was really this easy to solve.
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37 comments:

Karla said...

Daily we see Obummer's ineptitude, lack of ethics, classlessness, contempt for America and her values, lack of leadership ability, etc., etc., ad nauseum.

How can half of voting Americans support this poor excuse of a president?

Pete(Detroit) said...

Karla, "for the first time in my life, I'm proud of my country"
Clearly, that does not mean what we think it means...

Velcro said...

"Unauthorized"... that's a very good point, Stilton. I'm puzzled by the court thing though, in the broader context of wiki-ass-ange and the traitorous wimp in the Army. When (and why) did we stop executing traitors?

Angry Hoosier Dad said...

@ Karla:
I think this is proof that half of voting Americans still believe what the MSM tells them. They may also be naturally inclined to believe that American presidents are good, decent, intelligent people, evidence to the contrary notwithstanding. With Obama you have a fluffing and compliant media doing all it can to prop him up. But more and more the JDLR factor creeps into people's assessment of him. Those doubts aren't easily dismissed. He's still running on "hope and change", but more of us are recognizing this as "smoke and mirrors". We will know by November is that equals enough of us.

Dave aka David Schmoyer from Facebook said...

Well first of all isn't it a conflict of interest for Holder to be in charge of the investigation....Shouldn't it be a Congressional investigation or a Senate inquiry? Not that it really matters because if any information came out it would be spun by the Media to sound like the White-house was infiltrated by some Tea Party radical. Or the other option would be to through some brain-dead left-wing nut to the wolves...but you can bet there will be no true investigation of these leaks just as there was never any true investigation of Fast and Furious or any other scandal out of this administration.

Gang of One said...

@ Karla -- Half the voters in this nation agree with the fascists: they have a sordid image of America and can barely contain their Caucasian Guilt® or the racial animosity and bitterness if they are 'minorities'. Just look at that pillow-biter in WI who, when Walker defeated the union thugs, started bawling and carrying on about " ...the end of America as we know it ...".
He is correct: it IS the end of the America that they see and know, an America dominated by their Big Government ideology.
Faster. Please.

Colby said...

Hung like a Clydesdale FILLY, that is....

If only they made Depends that absorbed BS! Dickless, nutless, thoughtless, and heartless.

I read somewhere that they catch a lot of arsonists at the scene actually watching the fire they started. Is our "arsonist" standing by playing pocket pool while he watches his handiwork?

Emmentaler Limburger said...

@Gang Of One: I'm with you! I'm awaiting the spread of the "fiscal insanity and disregard for the working class" of Wisconsin to spread through the remaining 45 states (I really don't expect New Yorkavokia, Czechosloconnecticutt, Massachussetsgovina, or Californiastan to ever succumb to such craziness...) with bated breath.

To the point of today's cartoon, it is abundantly clear that our self-aggrandizing POTUS (Puppet Of The Unamerican: Soros) is the leak. And I expect that nothing will be done about it. Traitors are no longer prosecuted and executed; they're labelled as champions of truth, lauded by the media, and made into operatives of the democratic party...

CenTexTim said...

"...if it can be shown that high-level members of the Obama administration or the president himself is behind these leaks..."

Seems to me that's already been shown.

"Just weeks after Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency officials warned publicly of the dangers posed by leaks about the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, top officials at both agencies and at the White House granted Hollywood filmmakers unusual access to those involved in planning the raid and some of the methods they used to do it, newly released government records show."

"The Pentagon is now withholding from the public and the press the same name DoD gave the filmmakers..."

Of course, that was an 'authorized' release of information.

FlyBoy said...

Remember the good ol' days when the media actually did it's job-like when they worked their bowels into an uproar over the whole Valerie Plame "leak"? The main stream media were ready to crucify George Bush because.....Plame was outed as a CIA operative. Did Plame's outing cause the U.S. any harm? Did it reveal to our enemies anything? Did the Bush administration do it as a way to gain points in the polls?
If I were in the U.S. intelligence business right now, I'd be extremely nervous, and looking for another line of work....just like (I hope) Barry will be doing a year from now.

Emmentaler Limburger said...

@FlyBoy: You're confused. Clearly, that was a traitorous leak since it was not performed by one of those media-lauded champions of truth: a democratic party operative.

Wisconsin fallout begins! A heartening read: See this here link: After Walker victory, Indiana governor suggests public unions should go

Pete(Detroit) said...

Emmentaller - POTUS - HA!!!
Great link, but it's broken (extra "http//") - try this one
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/06/10/after-walker-victory-indiana-governor-suggests-public-unions-should-go/

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@Karla- At least half of voting Americans never hear about most of Barry's sins, while at the same time being fed shovel loads of untrue crap about his greatness ("he's the thriftiest president since Eisenhower!")

@Pete(Detroit)- We're told that it didn't mean what we thought it meant. But our own eyes and ears tell us otherwise.

@Velcro- The weasel-wording is really running rampant. Holder refers to the "unauthorized" release of information, and Barry himself says it's offensive to even make the accusation that anyone has leaked "classified" information. But conveniently, Barry can de-classify anything at anytime by whim. At the point he shares secrets, or authorizes their sharing, the definition becomes declassified by definition.

And you're completely right that these leaks are just as damaging as anything revealed in Wikileaks, and the punishment should be just as severe.

@Angry Hoosier Dad- Clearly we're on the same page here.

@Dave- As far as I'm concerned, it's a huge conflict of interest to have Holder involved in the investigations. Check out the headline on Drudge today; Holder is about to be slapped with a Contempt of Congress citation for stonewalling and outright lying about "Fast and Furious." Meanwhile, he's out on the stump for Obama telling black audiences that there's a massive conspiracy on the right to deny blacks the right to vote, he's still pursuing litigation against any state which enforces immigration laws, and on and on. Holder is Obama's willing puppet and would benefit from a long vacation in Greybar Hotel.

@Gang of One- Caucasian Guilt® was a huge factor in Obama's election last time around, but it didn't work out to be the great, racially-healing experience voters hoped it would be. Instead, you've had an administration devoted to ratcheting up race-hatred in order to win votes. This country will never see meaningful change for the better on matters of race until the victimization mentality ceases to be useful either to citizens or politicians.

@Colby- Playing pocket pool? Our president?! What an offensive suggestion. Although I did read somewhere that the president keeps a tube of hand lotion next to his death photos of Osama bin Laden. Now where did I see that...? Oh yeah! On Hope n' Change Cartoons.

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@Emmentaler- In the end, I don't think it will be possible to bring legal action against anyone for these damaging leaks (when even liberal Dianne Feinstein is calling for an investigation and calling the leaks incredibly destructive, you KNOW there are major problems). Lacking legal accountability, I think we need to somehow get to the bottom of this and then make it public in a big, big way before November. Let moral outrage do what the courts can not, or will not.

@Flyboy- You raise a huge and important point when you talk about intelligence operatives considering another line of work. That's exactly why these leaks are so damning. They've put the Pakistani doctor who helped us find bin Laden behind bars for 30 years. They compromised a British intelligent operation and the identity of an undercover agent who was embedded with Al Qaeda. They outed the details of the Stuxnet virus (used against Iran). No one who might cooperate in a clandestine operation with the United States has any faith that they won't have their names revealed for the political benefit of Barack Obama. And so potential allies are pulling back.

And regarding Valerie Plame, Scooter Libby went to prison over this "leak" situation...even though he wasn't the one who leaked diddly-squat. Three guesses if we'll see anyone in the Obama administration take a fall like that.

@Emmentaler- Your link didn't work for me, but hopefully this one will work for others. I'm liking the sound of this!

mlester101 said...

Spot on Redford/watergate metaphor, great set-up, better payoff. On the phone disguise -brilliant.

When did we quit shooting traitors? When Jane Fonda was allowed off that plane un-handcuffed.

Gang of One said...

This should be fun:

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/06/11/gop-ramps-up-calls-for-leak-investigation/#more-796267

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2012/06/10/will-the-scooter-libby-rules-apply-to-obama-leaks-new-york-times/

Gang of One said...

@Stilton -- what is the chance of you being able to supply us lowly ones with a toggle that will embed a link in a word or phrase, you know that http:/ref thing ...?
Thank you ...

John the Econ said...

Yes, Obama's presser last week was another jaw-dropper. From his "private sector is doing fine" line to his assertion that our only salvation is to further emulate a bankrupt Europe by printing more money and borrowing from the Chinese Communists.

Yes, the only ones really suffering now are those in government. (A reference to Wisconsin?) Government is the real victim here. Again, in the mind of the Progressives, who serves who?

As for the journalist who dared ask the question about the leaks, I'd expect him to be banished to the back row for his insolence next time around. And I'm not holding my breath for a multi-year media fall-out like we got with the Valerie Plame non-scandal. The NFM (non-Fox media) has already dismissed it, and I seriously doubt the GOP has the balls to carry the issue forward like the Democrats did years ago. I know Romney the squishy won't touch it.

John the Econ said...

@mlester101, we will forever be paying for the mistake made by not dealing with Jane Fonda properly. The squishies didn't have the balls to deal with Hollywood, and now look where it's gone. Now that there are no consequences, any gutless fool can do nearly anything. I now believe that it's virtually impossible to commit and be tried to treason anymore. That little weasel private who offered up the document dump to WikiLeaks because he was "upset" about don't-ask-don't tell should have been quickly tried and escorted before a firing squad. And yet they won't touch him because he's gay. As long as you can affiliate with any grievance group, you've got a "get out of treason free" card.

So why should be expect that there will be any meaningful follow-up on the first black-gay-whatever administration?

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@mlester101- Glad you enjoyed the cartoon! I've got to admit that I was sort of tickled with the image of Obama wearing his Groucho Glasses as a disguise while on the phone.

As for your question, I believe the government stopped shooting traitors for treason at the point those traitors got Secret Service protection.

@Gang of One- I haven't read your links yet, but will. Titles sound very promising! As far as the magic html code which creates workable links, I'll admit that I'm something of a moron (or maybe just stubborn) when it comes to HTML. I use a $10 program called BlogAssist (for Mac) which allows me to paste in the link I want, and have it write all the code for me. It will actually do a LOT of things, though I only use it for creating links.

By the way, if you click on the link above you'll see a graphic which shows the code which the program is creating: you can actually do the same thing yourself manually - just copy that block of code in the "Result:" window exactly, then substitute the URL you want, and replace the word BlogAssist with whatever word or phrase you want to turn into hypertext. Hope this helps!

@John the Econ- You're right that it was a jaw-dropping one-two punch for the Bamster to say the private sector is doing fine, but we need a LOT MORE GOVERNMENT (and the tax increases to pay for it). Seriously, what does the government produce that would make this help the economy? Oh yeah, right, more government employees equal more consumers with money, right? Only to pay those new employees, Obama would need to continue squeezing the life out of businesses - and it's not hard to figure out how that will affect the economy.

Regarding treason, I think you're right - the concept is now as passé as patriotism (at least to those on the Left). You're not giving aid and comfort to the enemy when America is the real enemy, right?

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@Readers- An update on today's topic. According to the source quoted in this link, Israel did the actual development of the Stuxnet virus and had to talk the U.S. into reluctantly joining forces on it. So now Israel is super-pissed that a leak has not only revealed their involvement, but been tailored to make it look like the United States (ie, Barack O-Rambo) deserves credit.

Anyone want to guess whether Israel still thinks our government can be trusted to keep quiet about any plans for a possible strike on Iran? Hmmm...? I guess we'll all just have to be surprised at the same time.

Emmentaler Limburger said...

Agh! Sorry - left the : off of the http in that link. Thanks for reposting.

Colby said...

Yep! Your typical Obama supporter believes the private sector IS doing well because everyone they know has an iPhone and makes frequent stops at Starbucks. I mean, what else is there? And it's sort of tough to see how things really are when you're still happily sponging off your parents at the age of 30.

I'll betcha BO has read The Hunger Games series 85 times and fanatises about being an omnipotent president over an enslaved populace. Snow is probably his hero... right behind Stalin, Hitler, Kim Jong Il...

Gang of One said...

Hmmmm ... the plot thickens.

Gang of One said...

Have any of you guys seen this video yet?

John the Econ said...

Yeah, we're doing just great:

Fed: Americans’ wealth dropped 40 percent

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/fed-americans-wealth-dropped-40-percent/2012/06/11/gJQAlIsCVV_story.html

John Edwards was right; there is "Two Americas". Except, in reality it's the DC Beltway, academia, welfare riders and crony capitalists against the rest of us.

SC said...

@ Emmentaler Limburger...you forgot "The democrats Republic of Ilinois."

John the Econ said...

Also note that the EU is now going to bail out Spain.

Spain, by the way, has spent the better part of the last 10 years following the Obama economic agenda to a t; massive public works spending and "green" jobs that not only failed to produce national prosperity, but have only resulted is massive deficits and 25% unemployment. Instead of being a "jobs multiplier", their "green" jobs program has been a "job divider". Their best and brightest, recognizing that there is no future for them in Spain are now heading to Germany to find jobs.

Even the mainstream media has taken notice. ABC News Tonight had a great story on the Spanish failure:

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/spains-economic-woes-bullfighting-cutbacks-16544920

A country full of "Bridges to Nowhere" they said.

Of course, no comparisons to the Obama economic agenda. That would have been way too much to expect. I can't decide if it's just more cover or Obama, of if they honestly don't get the similarity.

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@Colby- A lot of Obama's supporters probably think everything is rosy, and those who don't have been told who to blame: The Evil Rich who don't pay their fair share! And it turns out that they really don't pay their fair share: according to a statistic that Rush Limbaugh shared today, the top 400 taxpayers in the U.S. pay virtually the same amount as the bottom 137,000,000 taxpayers combined.

@Gang of One- It will be interesting if Obama tries to throw this possible leaker under the bus and, if so, what the leaker might then have to say about the Bamster.

@John the Econ- How in the heck will Obama and the media spin the 40% decline in wealth for the average American family under this president? And how can the media - or anyone smart enough to get dressed without help - not see the parallels between our economy and that of Spain? The math isn't complicated...it's only terrifying.

Gang of One said...

@Stilton, Colby and John the Econ -- this just made me wince out loud.

In other, just as head-shaking news, we have Congress who is sitting up and taking notice.

John the Econ said...

@Gang, it was pretty difficult to take Obama out of context, and even if we did, how could that have been possible given that he was sold to us as the "worlds greatest orator"?

But you know that it really must burn the brighter Democrats up on the beginning of "Recovery Summer ]I[", that as an evil, exploitive capitalist at Bain Capital, Romney was responsible for more "jobs created or saved" than 3-1/2 years of Obama.

No, the Commentary article is correct; Obama does wish to double-down. After all, under Marxism we all will work for the government. Only then can we enjoy 100% employment; albeit much of it in a gulag.

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

@Gang of One- Per your link, it's impossible to take Obama's comment that "the private sector is doing fine" out of context because the context makes it worse. He didn't "misspeak" - he said what he believes (or at least what he wants us to believe): that there are no problems in the private job market, and the only reason our economy is dragging is because the government isn't growing fast enough while spending borrowed money. Insanity.

@John the Econ- How can it possibly get much clearer? Obama is against the private sector and all that goes with it (ie, capitalism, individualism, and constitutionality) and is in favor of an all-encompassing, all-controlling government. And the "100% employment" we'll get will consist of people having the "job" of spying on their neighbor in return for food.

November can't get here soon enough.

John the Econ said...

True @Stilton. There's 0% unemployment in North Korea. And much of their work consists of mandatory attendance at parades celebrating their glorious leaders; something the cult of the left already does for free.

Pete(Detroit) said...

and average diet is like 800 Cal / day! "Will parade for food!"

Colby said...

Doesn't matter if he leaked or not, Tom Donilon already has the imprints of bus tires all over him. I can almost hear the command... "Carney! Get me a sacrificial lamb, and make it snappy! I have a tee time at 8 AM! And call Holder and tell him to keep dragging his feet or the next bus will have his name on it!"

@Stilton,
That's an amazing statistic that you quoted from Rush Limbaugh. It drives me crazy when the idiots that need to hear those kinds of facts either don't listen to Rush, or brush him off as a fringe lunatic. Where does Soros fall in those numbers (hint = 400) and why the hell does he want socialism?! George, if you really don't want your billions, I'll be glad to give you an address to mail the checks to!

Colby said...

Oops - dang thing posted before i was done ranting...

@Gang,
I didn't think it possible to wince out loud, but you proved me wrong. And I'll give Darrell Issa this, he has gonads! I hope there isn't a bus out there with his name on it.

Bob Mack said...

Great cartoon, Stilt ... back in my day, revealing classified info was a GRAVE offense. I've seen people tossed into Leavenworth for even unintentional screw-ups -- & they were a lot less serious than Obama's purposeful leaks. Of course, as the so-called president, he can declassify whatever he wants, & then it's not a crime, it's just a campaign ad.