Townhall.com, Where Your Opinion Counts
Talk Radio:   Bill Bennett   Mike Gallagher   Dennis Prager   Michael Medved   Hugh Hewitt   
BREAKING NEWS  LeftArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican   RightArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican  
Columns, funnies & more in your inbox!
Login | What's Hot
  • Check the boxes and send us your email address to receveive your free newsletter
  • Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
  • Townhall.com’s weekly inside scoop on what’s happening behind the scenes in the world of politics. When news breaks, we report.
  • Signup to receive the latest daily Townhall cartoons
Monday, July 13, 2009
Rich Galen :: Townhall.com Columnist
Someone HAS to be the Grownup
by Rich Galen
Forward Print Share Single Page
Vote on It:
Average Vote:
[+] Text [-]
 
 
Poll
Will Congress pass Obamacare by the end of the year?

Those shipments of paper bags to the House and Senate Office Buildings over the weekend are to treat the hyperventilating of Members and staff over the news that the CIA did some spying about which it did not tell the Congress.

The New York Times front pager yesterday started thus: The Central Intelligence Agency withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney, the agency's director, Leon E. Panetta, has told the Senate and House intelligence committees, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said Saturday.

I have now idea - nor, by the way, do most Members of the House and Senate - what that "secret counterterrorism program" did or didn't do, whether it worked or didn't work, whether it was legal or illegal.

Here's what I do know. This upping the ante between the Congress - especially the U.S. House - and the CIA has got to stop.

Read the last clause of that opening graf from the NY Times piece again. I'll help you: "… two people with direct knowledge of the matter said …"

This is why the CIA is so eager to run up to the Hill every hour or so to report on how many bathroom flushes there have been at Langley this week.

Because no sooner does the CIA keep members of the Intelligence Committees informed of important activities than "two people with direct knowledge of the matter" race out of the room in the Capitol and grab their cell phones to call a newspaper like reporters in a 1930's black and white courtroom drama after a witness has spilled the beans racing to the payphones in the courthouse hallway shouting for "rewrite!"

The CIA is largely a group of analysts who do things like look at the prescriptions of foreign heads of state and deduce the medical conditions for which they are being treated.

Some member of a spy agency, stationed in a foreign land, has to convince the person who cleans the foreign leader's bathroom to write down what's on the labels in the medicine cabinet so the analysts have something to analyze.

Not exactly Burn Notice, but there you are.

The Times reported that Vice President Dick Cheney ordered the CIA not to report whatever this particular surveillance activity was to its Congressional overseers.

How can the Veep do that? If the CIA leadership agreed with the Vice President then they were just following the policies as directed by what is called "the National Command Authority." Continued...
1 2
| Full Article & Comments | Next >
Share:
Forward Print Single Page
Vote on It:
Average Vote:
 
About The Author

Rich Galen has been a press secretary to Dan Quayle and Newt Gingrich. Rich Galen currently works as a journalist and writes at Mullings.com

Be the first to read Rich Galen's column. Sign up today and receive Townhall.com delivered each morning to your inbox.

Join The Debate!

Post Your Comment
(36 comments so Far)
View in ascending order     View in descending order
Reply # 1
Date: Jul 15, 2009 - 12:39 AM EST
BE FORWARNED !
If everyone thinks the real issue today is Nancy Pelosi and the CIA, think again. There is a Washington D.C. political pattern that keeps ocurring with confusing debates over obscure issues.

First, there was the release of the classified CIA documents from the Bush administration. There was a lot of hoopla and press coverage over that. The people debated it while the large budget bill was passed without being read, except by Congressman Waxman's speed reader.

Second, was the threat of prosecution of former Bush officials who may or may not have legally authorized waterboarding. Bingo! that took our attention off of the illegal GM takeover FOR A WHILE.

Third, was the Big Pelosi Lie - "I was not informed about waterboarding, and the CIA miss informs Congress all the time". While everyone was ahgast at her lie, she is off drumming up business and votes for the Cap and Trade bill, which passed easily in Congress soon after.

Fourth - The CIA contentious debate is quiet for a few weeks, but now there is the Obama Healthcare bill to pass. "I want it on my desk by Friday", Obama says. It will affect us all, but the public does not know the entire contents or how it will be paid for and he is ready to sign it.
Meanwhile, the press's attention is on Pelosi and the CIA, Cheney (again), and Sarah Palin. Smoke and mirrors is what we are getting from Washington while they push their Socialist/Progressive agendas on us.
Unless we are a united people against big government it is hard to fight them. The infighting and the purposeful divisions and distractions promoted by these mentally deficient leaders are a simple ploy to keep us from being united on the main issues.

WE NEED A CONCISE and EFFECTIVE PLAN !

Flag as Offensive

Reply # 2
Date: Jul 14, 2009 - 5:46 PM EST
Straw man argument...
Allowing CIA interrogations to be secret during a time of war isn't EXACTLY the same thing as saying "Give me $1 trillion to spend how I please" – though the distinction is very subtle.

It’s been so long since WWII (back when most everyone in our country still wanted us to win) that much of our populace has become naïve and unthinking enough to believe everyone has an absolute 'right to know' about everything.

First, the Constitution doesn't say that - though it is worth noting that during WWII, members of Congress wouldn't have leaked top-secret information that would result in the death of American soldiers, whereas today many would.

In one particularly heartwarming story, Senator Patrick Leahy (then vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee) during a TV interview once disclosed a top-secret communique that had been intercepted that had allowed the capture of the terrorists who had hijacked the cruise ship Achille Lauro and murdered American passengers. This resulted in the DEATH of at least one Egyptian operative who had been involved in the operation. Of course, Senator Leahy is still a ‘highly-respected’ member of that august body of moral and intellectual titans. (I wonder if he’s ever troubled…?)

There’s a reason these things are kept secret – Congress isn’t exactly the most selfless or non-politically motivated group of folks in the country. (“No – they’re there to be sure the president doesn’t waste MONEY!”) If Congress is comprised of such conscientious ‘grown-ups,’ then why did the U.S. just blow by the $1 trillion dollar deficit mark (by JULY, no less) for the first time in history? Who exactly did THAT?

Spilling secrets like children about a war we’re still fighting is now standard operating procedure in Washington. Division of power aside, why would anyone WANT members of Congress to be told about every top-secret operation in which the CIA is involved? Who hates our soldiers and agents THAT much?
Flag as Offensive
Sign Up to Post Your CommentsSign Up to Post Your Comments
If you are already registered, click here to login. Otherwise, please take a few seconds to register with Townhall.com. Once you sign up, you’ll be able to post your comments immediately, use the action center, get podcasts, and more!
Note: Fields marked with a red asterisk (*) are required.
Salutation:
First Name:
*
Last Name:
*
Email:
*
Nickname:
*
Note: Nick name will be shown when you post comments.
Address 1:
*
Address 2:
City:
 *
State:
 *
Zip:
 *
Phone:
       
Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
(Bi-Weekly) We highlight the best opportunities from our partners for surveys, action items and more.