Thanks For Your Service

• Author: Ben Keeler
• Filed under: Scandalous
• Date: Jun 23,2008

Sunday the New York Times ran an article titled "Inside a 9/11 Mastermind's Interrogation."

The article appeared innocent enough. Of course, it was not. The NYT determined that they were going to go ahead, despite official pleas not to, and reveal the name of the man who questioned and got information from among others, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. The article even says this person did not torture him. Nice reward for doing your job. I will not link to the piece on principle. If you haven't read it yet you should be able to find it even if you have only limited internet searching skills.

Official NYT explanation: The Central Intelligence Agency asked The New York Times not to publish the name of [not using name here], an interrogator who questioned Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and other high-level Al Qaeda prisoners, saying that to identify [not using name here] would invade his privacy and put him at risk of retaliation from terrorists or harassment from critics of the agency.

After discussion with agency officials and a lawyer for [not using name here], the newspaper declined the request, noting that [not using name here] had never worked under cover and that others involved in the campaign against Al Qaeda have been named in news stories and books. The editors judged that the name was necessary for the credibility and completeness of the article. The Times’ policy is to withhold the name of a news subject only very rarely, most often in the case of victims of sexual assault or intelligence officers operating under cover.

Side note: Why didn’t the NYT follow these rules when they ran that smear article on Sen. McCain alleging that he was "close" to a lobbyist? What? There is an election soon? Oh.

Coincidentally, some of those who provided information for the story were not named. The [jerks] who gave information without any approval get protected by the paper and the guy who does his job gets screwed over.

Some Democrats will be quick to point out that people like me defended the Bush Administration in the Joe Wilson / Valerie Plame / Robert Novak / Scooter Libby / Richard Armitage / Peter Fitzgerald witch hunt. Fair. We've argued about that in circles on my other site many a time. Assuming they were right (for arguments sake only), then this obviously must upset those same people and outrage them. This seems about 65x worse to me. You wanted Bush and Cheney to go to Guantanamo over that? How about the author of this article Scott Shane and his bosses at the Times? Just to do it, the NYT published sensitive information that they really didn't need to. An alias would have worked fine. But no. Then for an extra poke in the eye, they told you just where this person works now and in what capacity. Pretty shocking when you think about it. Really.

It is a shame, because it ruined an otherwise pretty informative and interesting article that talked about different interrogation types and specific details on overseas raids from past years and how ill prepared US intelligence was post 1990s to deal with emerging threats. The piece still would have credibility even without using the name in question. There just wasn't a need to do so.

The New York Times, looking out for America's best interest. No wonder their subscription rate and stock are plummeting. It makes you wonder if they even care about profit or if they just are willing to lose money to push an agenda and destroy lives. It is getting hard to argue against the latter. Just ask [not using name here].

The Secret Scandal

• Author: Ben Keeler
• Filed under: Congress, Scandalous
• Date: Jun 16,2008

Story: Two influential US senators got "VIP" loans from a leading subprime mortgage lender that saved them tens of thousands of dollars, it was reported last night. The Democratic pols, Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Kent Conrad of North Dakota, both received the highly favorable loans under the designation "Friend of Angelo," a reference to embattled Countrywide head Angelo Mozilo, Condé Nast Portfolio reported.

Obviously Dodd (Chairman of the Banking Committee) and Conrad (Chairman of the Budget Committee) were unaware they got special treatment of any kind. Who actually believes that line? You did not hear much about this because the two senators involved are Democrats. Dodd saved about $70,000 with his two loans; Conrad saved about $10,700 on his. That seems like a conflict of interest from the most ethical Congress ever! This will never turn into anything big because of their party affiliation and the media. Also, no one except political nerds like me know who Kent Conrad is. These two wealthy Democrats got cheaper interest rates than you or I could have, but they "didn't seek them." Very noble, but they had no problem taking them even though the conflict of interest could not be more clear. Conrad and Dodd saw no wrong doing with getting financial breaks due to their positions, or at least they didn't until common people found out. Additionally, Conrad, who fancies himself as a budget wizard, got his loan for his Delaware vacation home that he may have some disclosure problems with (oh my god oh my god the article said Conrad's wife is a lobbyist, does Barack know this?). If Dodd ever got above 2% in any poll when he ran for president, this could have sunk him. No worries there as he was stuck down in Kucinich territory.

The lesson learned: If you ever want to become to refinance your house at a low, special rate or even become a slumlord, just work your way up to become chairman of a powerful United States Senate committee. And make sure you are a Democrat. I do not advise any Senate Republicans to do this. So Richard Shelby or Judd Gregg, if you are planning to get a home loan, do not take favors. You will not get a free media pass. They will use it to try and sink you.

If the very unfortunate happens (it won't) and Conrad and Dodd have to resign their seats, they could always take Jim Johnson's slot on the Obama VP vetting committee (this is actually how this all came to light). And if they actually did have to leave the Senate, Republican Governors Jodi Rell (Connecticut) and John Hoeven (North Dakota) could appoint their replacements and Republicans could enjoy a few months in the majority before they lose more seats in 2008 and work their way down to around 42-44 seats after holding 55 of the 100 seats on January 3, 2005. But that is another story in of itself which I will talk about this week, updating this previous Senate 2008 post.

Obama's Point Man for VP Selection

• Author: Ben Keeler
• Filed under: Obama, Scandalous
• Date: Jun 8,2008

Story: Eric Holder, recently appointed by Barack Obama to his vice presidential search committee, played a leading role in one of the most infamous events of a presidency filled with infamy: the pardon of billionaire fugitive Marc Rich.

If you don't recall, Rich was one of many pardoned by former President Bill Clinton literally on his way out of office. Rich was the one that got the most attention due to the absurdity of the fact that it was even considered in the first place (look what donations to the Clinton Library can do). Holder was Deputy Attorney General at the time and the key figure in helping Rich obtain his pardon. In 2002, a congressional committee reported that Holder was a "willing participant in the plan to keep the Justice Department from knowing about and opposing" the Rich pardon. Obviously the Rich pardon process was kept close to the vest of Clinton Administration officials. Real smart to bring the Marc Rich pardon back to life. What was Obama thinking appointing this guy? He is already getting hammered for some of his associates. Bad move.

Some "change." No doubt Marc Rich pardon enabler Eric Holder would be under consideration for the AG slot in a potential Obama Administration.

Asked for a comment the Obama campaign replied, "These are just distractions." Or at least they probably did.

I said before I wouldn't do a rundown of Obama's potential selections, due to his supporters claiming whoever it is the best choice regardless. Upon thinking about it more though, he should pick Bill Richardson. He is really the only person out there I see that brings a state. Obama/Richardson brings the 5 Electoral Votes in New Mexico. You can say "well 5 EVs wont matter;" tell that to Al Gore. If your VP wins a state, then it was a good selection. I don't think Strickland brings him Ohio. I don't think any of the Virginia Three would help push him over the top there (Warner, Kaine, Webb). Sebelius won't help him carry Kansas. No one else out there but Richardson locks up a state. I know that Team Obama doesn't care about my advice, but in this case they should. So I hope they don't take it.

Moran Campaign Responds To Widowfield Resignation

• Author: Kyle Kutuchief
• Filed under: Local, Scandalous
• Date: May 29,2008

Hudson City Councilman Mike Moran is running for the State House seat being vacated by the ethically challenged John Widowfield. The ethics of Ohio Republicans is what lead to a landslide victory for Democrats in 2006. It looks like John Widowfield is looking for history to repeat itself. The Republican House Caucus will appoint Richard Nero to serve our the remainder of his term. Nero was the candidate the Republicans had nominated to replace Widowfield and run against Moran. The Moran campaign issued the following statement in response to Widowfield's resignation and Nero's appointment:

"I believe this community deserves a new brand of leadership. I am ready to bring integrity and strong representation back to this district,” commented Moran.

“It would be unfortunate if the Republican Party decided to play politics with this open seat,” Moran said. “I would hope that they would follow the lead that Governor Strickland set today and appoint a nonpolitical person to hold the office in the interim until the voters choose a representative in November.”

Well said.

Share Your Favorite Dann Memories Here

• Author: Ben Keeler
• Filed under: Ohio Government, Scandalous, Strickland
• Date: May 14,2008

Though it was a short run (January 2007 - May 2008), there were moments that everyone enjoyed.

My personal favorite is the time he swore at reporters in Youngstown when he was questioned about his daughter working for the Secretary of State's office. There are no wrong answers here and there are many options to choose from. It appears the Sunshine Express is about to make it's final, somber voyage. The famous SUV should go on Ebay or something, all proceeds going to the State of Ohio of course. It can be earmarked for Jennifer Brunner to travel to collect awards for making Ohio's voting system "more secure."

You can also use this thread to speculate on who Ted Strickland will appoint as the replacement. I also will use this space to say that I felt the Democrats were scheming to keep Dann around for awhile to avoid a special election. I was wrong. They did the right thing. That Ted Strickland is VP material!

Updates: On the left, Pho and Writes Like She Talks liveblogged the press conference. On the right, Nix Guy and WMD hear that Mike DeWine is gearing up to run for the AG slot. Last week, Right Runner speculated it would be Cordray against Portman.

Ohio and Eternal Marc Dannation

• Author: Ben Keeler
• Filed under: Ohio Government, Scandalous
• Date: May 13,2008

This post may be now moot……see update at the bottom of the page. Or maybe not, see the 2nd update.

First things first. This headline is from The Boring Made Dull, but I just had to use it. Kudos for thinking of this, TBMD.

We have let other blogs beat up on this story, but I felt I should probably weigh in with everything that has gone on, especially today. The story just won't go away. Impeachment articles were filed against Dann this morning. The articles outline nine counts of why Dann should be impeached, according to those who filed them - the Democrats. The Democrats' resolution to impeach their own needs Republican support from both the Ohio House and Ohio Senate.

Something posted at the Darke Blog caught my attention. The Democrats do not want a special election. That is clear. They want to drag this out - and it will fade out of the news - until September 24, at which time Dann can resign and have his replacement not run until 2010 ( no special election). I think it is entirely possible, and maybe probable, that the Democrats actually want nothing to be done so they can blame the Republican legislature for the inaction. That is how politics is played - and the Democrats are going to try and spin this back around on Republicans who really have nothing do with this. Of course, the resolutions can't go anywhere without Republican support.

And as Darke Blog put it: And in either event, impeachment may take until after September 24, in which case Democrats will have their cake and eat it too. Indeed. There will be an investigation. It will take months, not days. There is no set timetable (thanks Ohio House Republicans) for the Inspector General to complete his investigation which still cannot begin until this legislation passes. Hence, things don't get started for awhile, the deadline passes for a special election and Democrats are happy. Strickland gets to appoint whomever he wants and he/she won't have to face the voters for the office.

Or maybe both sides just want this guy the hell out of the AG Office. Democrats were the ones to bring up the impeachment articles, so now Republicans have to decide what to do. I think they should vote for impeachment and then deal with the appointment and subsequent special election if it happens. Nix Guy thinks Republicans should proceed with the vote as well.

One last note: The bill allocates $250,000 to cover costs of the investigation. That could be used for a lot of paint jobs for the Sunshine Express.

UPDATE:The Plain Dealer is reporting that Dann will resign later today.

UPDATE 2: Dennis Willard of the Akron Beacon Journal reports that Dann will not resign today.