Well, Brennan survived the first round of questioning in his quest to head the CIA. Imagine, 4 years ago he had to withdraw because of protests over torture, but apparently extra-judicial assassination in your campaign of terror is okay. How fitting that Code Pink protested today and was cleared from the hearing room and how typical that Senator Feinstein cleared the room so the public once again is kept in the dark. But you did release that secret legal memo that justifies killing Americans without a trial. Of course, it was under duress, since some of the committee threatened to filibuster Brennan’s nomination unless you let them see it. I liked Saxby Chambliss’ questioning of Brennan about why he prefers killing terrorists over detaining them. Brennan insisted “I never believe it is better to kill a terrorist than to detain him. We want to detain as many terrorists as possible so we can elicit intelligence from them” to stop future attacks. Chambliss asked twice, “how many high value targets have been arrested, detained and interrogated by the United States” during Brennan's tenure and never got a straight answer. Finally, Chambliss declared, the answer is "one." This is why he–and you–are so dangerous, Mr. President. Evasion and secrecy suround everything you and he do. You promised the most transparent administration ever, but you’ve done just the opposite. Typical of your MO. Sell one concept to the public, do the opposite and trust nobody notices. I thought Mary O’Connell’s Op Ed piece in this morning’s NYT pretty much nailed the whole issue of targeted assassinations, covert wars and the secrecy surrounding the justification for all of it. “Secret law” she wrote, “is an oxymoron. The rule of law is the basis of our democracy and the foundation of international relations. Facts like operational details may properly be kept confidential, but not the law itself.” O’Connell ripped the White Paper leaked to NBC News as being in the same category as Bush’s justification for torture, warrantless wiretapping and indefinite detention, a sham and a fraud, a spurious effort to justify the unjustifiable. We already know the secret memo will be twisted logic, redefinition of terms and evasion of existing law and the Constitution. Brennan’s your boy, just the kind of guy you want running the CIA, a secretive cold-blooded technocrat killer who follows orders and believes 110% in the righteousness of what he’s doing. Just like Hitler’s Eichmann.
What are the odds she'll block his nomination to be CIA Director?
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| Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D, CA) meets with John Brennan, nominee for CIA Director, on Capitol Hill in Washington January 31, 2013. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas |
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