February 2, 2018

"That the FBI has grave concerns should give one pause but should not be dispositive. The important thing is we want the Congress to be able to challenge executive branch determinations that things not be made public."

Said Morton Halperin, who — as the Washington director of the American Civil Liberties Union — helped draft Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). He's quoted in "Nunes memo centers on a 40-year-old law written to prevent surveillance abuses" (WaPo). The abuses of 40 years ago included the FBI's warrantless surveillance of American civil rights activists and Vietnam War protesters.
Halperin, who is no supporter of the House GOP, lauded the effort to use the provision, and said Congress should use it more often.

On Monday, the House panel voted along party lines to release the memo. In another vote, the Republican majority essentially blocked the public release of a Democratic memo that seeks to counter the GOP document.
Essentially blocked.... What does that mean?

I have trouble understanding why the Democrats have staked so much on resisting transparency. If I understand it correctly, the argument they offer us is: 1. There is a political motivation to release the formation, 2. The information might not be that accurate or complete, and 3. We should preserve and rely on the good reputation of the FBI.

There's the unstated argument — implicit in all 3 stated arguments — that Democrats have a political motivation to suppress the information.

As to stated argument #1: There's political motivation on both sides. The entire dispute is political. I don't see why this should make me lean toward getting less information. By the way, why hasn't this memo already leaked to the press? Or has it leaked to the press but the press only publishes leaked information that helps Democrats?

Stated argument #2 isn't a reason not to want to see the memo. If it is inaccurate or missing things, it will create pressure to correct and refine it. One thing is necessarily true: What's in the memo is what's in the memo. And that's a truth we need to look at and think and talk about. When X lies, we don't say, we don't need to know what X said, because it's a lie. We say I want to decide for myself how much of a liar X is. I want the truth about the lie.

Argument #3 is perverse. Trust the FBI? I remember the abuses of 40 years ago. If the FBI is trustworthy, the memo and the follow-on corrections and supplements to the memo will bolster our trust. If the FBI is not trustworthy, we should want to find out. Why isn't the Democratic Party on this side of the analysis as it was 40 years ago?

Whatever is in that "essentially blocked" Democratic Party memo, I assume it will come out in the discussion of the Nunes memo. Surely, the mainstream press will have that information and print it up for us.

97 comments:

rhhardin said...

The left's question is always what can women be made to think.

Whatever it is is the story that will have legs.

Humperdink said...

2. The information might not be that accurate or complete.

This argument by the Dems is the most revealing. As you put it, if the info is erroneous, the memo should be easily discredited. But the triumvirate of the Dems, the FBI and the media can't and they know it.

Tommy Duncan said...

"I have trouble understanding why the Democrats have staked so much on resisting transparency."

Why? For Democrats the memo is the political equivalent of Sheila Jackson Lee in a bikini.

lonetown said...

If the Democrat memo had anything that would help Democrats it would have been leaked by now.

traditionalguy said...

When Tail Gunner Joe claimed to have all the names of Communist infiltrators in his briefcase, he was attacked with demands to release the secret list.

If the real Communists were named in his list, then I am sure he would have been threatened not to release it like Nunes is being attacked today.

Julian Assange says all the Dems have done is let themselves be used by Trump to create a Totemic Power in the Coming Memorandum.

Unknown said...

Your #1 point is dead on. When stuff leaks from every place in DC, to have this entire memo hidden for so long after so many people have seen it from each political spectrum... it's bizarre. Why?

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Republicans Had Better Hope the Memo Lives Up to the Hype

It won't.

David Begley said...

From another blog comment section.

“Tell me the difference between Nixon's Plumbers and Obama's Plumbers?
Nixon's Plumbers were taken down by the FBI.
Obama's Plumbers ARE the FBI".

paminwi said...

The memo will not live up to its hype but I'm sure we will all learn something that has not been leaked. And that is a good thing. The Dem memo has yo go through the same process as the Republcan did. Why should the Dems be allowed to circumvent the process because "the Republcans"? Have them release the memo for the whole House to view. Then send it to the President and his staff to vet then release it. Dems just want to blunt whatever the Republican memo says by releasing theirs at the same time.
And it is amazing how many people think the Senate should be able to see the memo before it's released. When convenient the Dems want the rules ignored because they think Feinstein will leak it after taking more cold medicine.

Big Mike said...

As I understand it, the Democrats, under the leadership of Adam Schiff, demanded that the Republicans vote to release their counter-memo without having had a chance to read it. It’s the sort of ridiculous gambit that will not be reported honestly or accurately by today’s media, but ultimately will fool no one who doesn’t already want to be fooled. For all I know the Democrats may have important points to make, but given their underhanded tactics to date that is not the way to bet.

@Althouse, you and I both remember when every stone the Church Committee turned over revealed ever-uglier abuses by our own law enforcement and intelligence agencies against American citizens. You wait long enough and sooner or later they’re back at it again.

Bob Boyd said...

This is another good example of how the Democratic Party has come full circle, has become everything they always claimed to be fighting against.

Or maybe they haven't really changed at all.

Tank said...

. If the FBI is not trustworthy, we should want to find out. Why isn't the Democratic Party on this side of the analysis as it was 40 years ago?

Why indeed? I think Begley has the answer above.

Curious George said...

"In another vote, the Republican majority essentially blocked the public release of a Democratic memo that seeks to counter the GOP document."

The didn't block anything. They simply wanted to put it through the same steps starting with ACTUALLY BEING ABLE TO READ IT FIRST>

Second, there is Democratic memo. They knew the GOP would block their stupid request, and they wanted to use that fact to sell the lie.

"Or has it leaked to the press but the press only publishes leaked information that helps Democrats?"

The answer here is "Dunno" and "Of course."

Phil 314 said...

This weeks controversy like this weeks cold, annoying but short-lived.

Shouting Thomas said...

Althouse's commentariat has been almost completely won over by Trump.

And it didn't start out that way.

I came out for Trump at the beginning of the primaries, and he's performed beyond my expectations.

His most important contribution has been what his opponents think is his weakness... attacking PC censorship with ruthless ridicule and his refusal to back down. This is a job the artistic community should have performed. But that community has collapsed into cowardly conformity.

Breaking down PC censorship was the key to economic revival. You can't deal with economic reality if you can't talk about it openly and bluntly.

I'm pleased that Althouse's commentariat has come around and seen what Trump is, an American patriot.

iowan2 said...

This
Thoughtful examination by anyone looks just like this. If not, why not? Accepting that Republicans have some political motivation, along with doing their job. What is the Dems, and DOJ/FBI motivation to bury the information? If your enemy is digging their own grave, the political rule book is to get out of the way, not take away their shovel. DOJ has talked them self into a corner. The are force to say more facts will change that conclusion, but will refuse to come forward with those facts. Those facts are contained in documents that the DOJ has ignored requests to produce. Republicans only have to explain that they have been waiting for a year for the DOJ to produce the requested information and they have been stonewalled.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Shouting Thomas said...
Althouse's commentariat has been almost completely won over by Trump.


OR

The sane ones have all left.

We report, you decide.

PeterK said...

"Essentially blocked.... What does that mean?"

Representative Hurd (TX) was on NPR this morning and he said that the Democratic memo is 10 pages long and does contain classified information. He said that it is being reviewed and the classified information is being removed and that in all likelihood it will also be released

Mike Sylwester said...

We all were supposed to be satisfied and happy with the previous arrangement, which is that Trump-hating bureaucrats would decide which government secrets to selectively leak to Trump-hating journalists, who then decide which of those government secrets to publish.

iowan2 said...

I would love to be a Republican running for office. The Dems have written the script for me.
Illegals more important than American citizens, Money I earn belongs to the govt, not me. $1000 is crumbs. Cant investigate secret govt bureaucracies, using secret courts, and secret warrants to spy on American citizens. I got video of the Dems sitting on their hands when a story about a young boy putting out 40,000 flags on the graves of veterans. The left really hates what the world knows are American values.

PeterK said...

Tommy Duncan wrote;
"Why? For Democrats the memo is the political equivalent of Sheila Jackson Lee in a bikini."

egads! Sir, you owe me a new keyboard as well as a bottle of eye and brain wash. It will take a lot to remove that image

Curious George said...

"AReasonableMan said...
Shouting Thomas said...
Althouse's commentariat has been almost completely won over by Trump.

OR

The sane ones have all left.

We report, you decide."

Name 'em.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

iowan2 said...
I would love to be a Republican running for office.


Yet, the Republicans actually running for office are all bailing. Farewell Trey Gordy, we Bengahzi knew you.

jaydub said...

@Shouting Thomas do you have new meds? Your comment seems strangely lucid.

Michael The Magnificent said...

And here I thought that democracy dies in darkness.

#releasethememo

Amadeus 48 said...

"The sane ones have all left."

And yet you are still here.

Darkisland said...

Trad guy,

Can you name 3 people McCarthy unfairly accused?

3 people he was wrog about?

Russian collusion doesn't seem to be a problem when it is demmies doing the colluding, does it?

Stalin may even have had a vice president in his pocket. (or maybe not) but, yeah, go after mccarthy

John Henry

Molly said...

1. A lot of the condemnation of releasing the memo relies on an assumption that releasing the memo will help Trump; from this standpoint, the FBI is seen as a neutral objective party. However, releasing the memo will hurt the FBI (potentially), so FBI objections need to be viewed as trying to avoid embarrassment for the FBI.

2. There has been remarkably little discussion of the biggest potential losers from releasing the memo: the historical reputations of Obama, the Clintons, and Loretta Lynch. If those parties acted (dare I say conspired?) to use the machinery of government to influence the election it is the biggest political crime in US history.

Darkisland said...

Trad guy,

Can you name 3 people McCarthy unfairly accused?

3 people he was wrog about?

Russian collusion doesn't seem to be a problem when it is demmies doing the colluding, does it?

Stalin may even have had a vice president in his pocket. (or maybe not) but, yeah, go after mccarthy

John Henry

Darkisland said...

Arm says the sane ones have left.

Yet he's still here.

John Henry

Pookie Number 2 said...

ARM: It won't.

That seems entirely possible, and if that's how it plays out, fine. But the idea that it's okay to accuse the President of malfeasance but it's not okay to accuse the FBI is at least inconsistent.

Humperdink said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amadeus 48 said...

"By the way, why hasn't this memo already leaked to the press? Or has it leaked to the press but the press only publishes leaked information that helps Democrats?"

These are really interesting questions. Over 200 Republicans read it and a handful of Democrats. People at the White House have read it. People at the FBI have read it. And yet it hasn't leaked. You would think that some news organization somewhere would want the scoop, but nobody has published it. Congress, the White House, and the FBI are full of blabbermouths---but no one has published what purports to be a summary or the text of the memo. This is unprecedented in the post-Watergate era where Bernstein and Woodward are folk heroes (who, by the way, got their scoops from a disgruntled senior FBI official, whom Reagan later pardoned for authorizing illegal surveillance break-ins).

So what's up with this? Does the GOP thinks this is a really good one and is demonstrating self-discipline to avoid lessening the impact? Why haven't the Dems leaked it so it will be old news by the time it is released? Why are the media outlets (including Fox) so quiet?

We'll know soon what is in the memo, but what has been going on here?

Bruce Hayden said...

I noted a couple days ago, when Schiff pulled this, that I thought that he had screwed up. The Dems should have had their counter memo to the committee, and the full House, within a day or two of the Nunes memo. Schiff had talked about it, but didn't get it done. He is like the attorney flying by the seat of his pants up against one who gets all his ducks in a row before going into court, and now is asking for an extension to respond to something that he knew about weeks ago, but just didn't get around to dealing with. Now, judges will often give it, so that they can deal with countermotions at the same time. But don't have any obligation to do so. In this case, it is pretty obvious that Schiff is playing defense as hard as he can, and that means trying to screw up the Republican timing, while countering their memo. Do I think him disingenuous? Of course - I have seen video of him in committee hearings for the last year, and he never fails to live up to his reputation as being one of the biggest tools in the House. Not quite Maxine Waters level, but that would be hard.

Wince said...

The contemporaneous sanctimony surrounding release of the movie "The Post" has been the situational ethics on display that sticks in my craw. Instapundit had this Tweet from Jon Gabriel:‏

"The Post," but where Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep try to prevent the publishing of a memo about the Pentagon Papers.

Humperdink said...

dis(ARM) said: "It won't (live up to the hype)."

Interesting comment. So tell me ARM, if it won't be devastating to the Dems, why are they placing themselves in front of the freight train to prevent it's release?

Original Mike said...

”Argument #3 is perverse. Trust the FBI? I remember the abuses of 40 years ago. If the FBI is trustworthy, the memo and the follow-on corrections and supplements to the memo will bolster our trust. If the FBI is not trustworthy, we should want to find out. Why isn't the Democratic Party on this side of the analysis as it was 40 years ago?

I don’t expect virtuous behavior from politicians, but the democrats in this affair have been truly despicable.

MikeR said...

AFAIK, no one has blocked the Democratic memo. They have simply started it in the same process the Republican memo went through. It won't be released at the same time, but of course it will be released.
If Republicans _really_ tried to stop it, it would simply leak to the press. The idea that they could actually stop it is absurd.
As for why the media has not leaked the Republican memo, they are currently pushing a meme that it's incredibly irresponsible to leak classified information. Of course they would never do such a thing. This time.

Original Mike said...

” So tell me ARM, if it won't be devastating to the Dems, why are they placing themselves in front of the freight train to prevent it's release?”

It could be a brilliant strategy to heighten expectations, amplifying the thud even more. But Schiff et al. don’t strike me as that clever.

Anonymous said...

paminwi: The memo will not live up to its hype but I'm sure we will all learn something that has not been leaked.

It probably won't, leaving us with the next question: why were the Dems sweating and freaking over a nothingburger?

Sebastian said...

"Democrats have a political motivation to suppress the information." Say it ain't so!

"Why isn't the Democratic Party on this side of the analysis as it was 40 years ago?" Ah, back to faux questions -- but this one stings. Not that progs care.

Anonymous said...

Molly: 2. There has been remarkably little discussion of the biggest potential losers from releasing the memo: the historical reputations of Obama, the Clintons, and Loretta Lynch. If those parties acted (dare I say conspired?) to use the machinery of government to influence the election it is the biggest political crime in US history.

"Remarkably little discussion" in the MSM, certainly. In vast-right-wing-conspiracy land, it's been a fave topic.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Angel-Dyne said...
why were the Dems sweating and freaking over a nothingburger?


I don't see this. Many Dems and Republicans think it might be a bad idea to further escalation of attacks on the FBI.

A while back the right suddenly discovered our surveillance state, ten years after everyone else. Their sudden discovery that the FBI has too much power is pure expediency - in order to protect old lard ass rather than some principled response. The FISA reauthorization went through unmolested by this concern, so I call bullshit.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Stated argument #2 isn't a reason not to want to see the memo. If it is inaccurate or missing things, it will create pressure to correct and refine it.

In unrequited fairness to the Democrats, it is possible that the Nunes memo is misleading due to omissions, and could easily be shown to be misleading, except for the fact that the information needed to show that is classified for good, honest, national security reasons

Of course, were that the case, then the Democrats should have said so. By requesting their response be released, they essentially state that the information it contains, if made public, would not harm national security.

Jeff Weimer said...

"Essentially blocked" =/= actually blocked.

Schiff has only been throwing up chaff to delay the Republican memo so they can get their talking points out at the same time or before - damage control and narrative control. They're afraid of a news cycle or two that doesn't have their spin attached.

Pookie Number 2 said...

Their sudden discovery that the FBI has too much power is pure expediency - in order to protect old lard ass rather than some principled response.

100% true, and matched only by the Democrats' equally unprincipled and expedient opposition to transparency.

tim in vermont said...

I have trouble understanding why the Democrats have staked so much on resisting transparency.

Because facts matter.

Their sudden discovery that the FBI has too much power is pure expediency - in order to protect old lard ass rather than some principled response.

Yes yes yes, “Republicans pounce,” we know all about it.

Bob Boyd said...

At this point, a cover up would create far more problems than it would solve, in fact, at this point a cover up is no longer possible. What surprises me is that any normal citizen would find it desirable.
In light of what we do know, there are serious reasons to suspect malfeasance on the part of some people at the FBI. If that is wrong, it needs to be cleared up in an open and public way. If it is not wrong, people need to be held accountable. Going after bad cops is not an attack on all cops. The people need to have faith in the system and its institutions.

tim in vermont said...

I don't see this. Many Dems and Republicans think it might be a bad idea to further escalation of attacks on the FBI.

I know you make it a policy to completely disregard all mention of any Clinton scandal, but if, just for a moment say, you were to look at the way the FBI changed the words “Gross Negligence” to “Extreme Carelessness,” just for a single example, and then reflected, I know that this is way to far and you probably already stopped reading at any mention that Hillary might have actually been guilty of something, anyway, then imagine that the same people that changed that wording were in charge of the Uranium One investigation, which they were, out of the thousands of agents, only these few could handle cases involving Hillary.

The damaging stuff is out there. The FBI needs to come clean to be trusted again. They are not intended as some kind of lefty secret police.

tim in vermont said...

Secret police are never far from the hearts of the left.

Pookie Number 2 said...

The FBI needs to come clean to be trusted again.

At the risk of sounding ridiculously out of date, we know that some of these people betrayed their families. The assertion that they're all far too moral to let politics ever affect them is laughable.

Paul Zrimsek said...

Hide the decline!

tim in vermont said...

ARM links Jonah Goldberg.

You always agreed with everything Johan wrote in the past, Right ARM, otherwise, you might be open to this charge: “The sudden discovery of National Review is pure expediency.”

Did you notice anything there? Did you notice that when turned on you the accusation fo “expediency” doesn’t really mean anything? Same as when you used it. It’s a shopworn Democrat trope, used by your allies in the press for decades at least.

I wonder if one day you will rise from bed and say “I ought to be thinking for myself rather than repeating talking points! Naah, the talking points thing is easier, what does DailyKos have for me to think today!”

CWJ said...

"The sane ones have all left."

ARMchair psychology.

Anonymous said...

ABT: A while back the right suddenly discovered our surveillance state, ten years after everyone else. Their sudden discovery that the FBI has too much power is pure expediency - in order to protect old lard ass rather than some principled response.

Which would be no more or less principled a response than the left's (and your) concerns, both freshly discovered and freshly discarded. So, your point?

Cookie is filling the elderly-teenager, "I'm the only one who knows, man, the rest of you sheep are falling for a con" niche right now, and he fills it well. We don't really need another, and the market for "Teh Hypocracy!" arguments no longer has any buyers outside the dilapidated ideological dollar-store frequented by seedy cucks.

You're a broken man, ABT. That, or you're just a lot dumber than I thought.

tim in vermont said...

I bet ARM is a huge, yuuge fan of Liberal Fascism.

tim in vermont said...

Jonah the neocon preferred Hillary the Warmonger.

Gahrie said...

Why isn't the Democratic Party on this side of the analysis as it was 40 years ago?

because the Democratic Party have been using the FBI (and the IRS) as weapons against the Republican Party.

TrespassersW said...

...essentially blocked..."

Speaking of weasels, "essentially" in this context is what we call a weasel word. It allows soi disant journalists to lead careless readers to believe that something was blocked when it was not blocked in any way whatsoever.

tim in vermont said...

Yet, the Republicans actually running for office are all bailing. Farewell Trey Gordy, we Bengahzi knew you.

And yet, the generic ballot has fallen from 18 points in favor of Democrats to 2 points. Here’s a hint, in the past a 2 point lead for Democrats leads to Republican gains.

Gahrie said...

The left's question is always what can women be made to think.

Close.

The Left's question is always what can women be made to feel.

tim in vermont said...

So tell me ARM, if it won't be devastating to the Dems, why are they placing themselves in front of the freight train to prevent it's release?

Their motive is none other than pure, noble, exalted patriotism.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Going after bad cops is not an attack on all cops.

And yet Lefty allies (BLM) have called for murdering cops without that hideous viewpoint smearing the Democrats. Republicans are simply calling for TRANSPARENCY and HONESTY from DOJ/FBI. Not murder just the facts and the Deep State is squealing like their being lined up with blindfolds on.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Pookie Number 2 said...
100% true, and matched only by the Democrats' equally unprincipled and expedient opposition to transparency.


The left, as opposed to the Democrats, has actually been pretty good on this. The FISA reauthorization vote was a complete farce, but the Republicans were the ones that pushed it through.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

“Blogger AReasonableMan said...
Republicans Had Better Hope the Memo Lives Up to the Hype

It won't.”

Seems like it already has served it’s purpose. Someone observed that all of Trump’s bait contains a hook. And the Democrats strike it every single time. Trump has stripped them of all continence and restraint.

Derek Kite said...

The Democrat memo is blocked the same way the GOP memo was blocked two weeks ago. There is a process to follow and it is on that track.

The Democrats are playing what they think is the real game, the moment to moment media opinion. Their memo is far more useful where it is, as a distraction.

stevew said...

The only justifications for secrecy in government affairs are the protection of national security and protecting the lives of citizens.

Publish the report, despite what the Democrats think and say we are capable of understanding it and of assessing its accuracy.

-sw

Bad Lieutenant said...

ALillianHellMan said...
Angel-Dyne said...
why were the Dems sweating and freaking over a nothingburger?

I don't see this. Many Dems and Republicans think it might be a bad idea to further escalation of attacks on the FBI.

Why would they think that? See yourself below talking about how much woker the Ds are to the surveillance state threat.


A while back the right suddenly discovered our surveillance state, ten years after everyone else.

Actual facts here please? What are your dates in question?

Their sudden discovery that the FBI has too much power is pure expediency - in order to protect old lard ass rather than some principled response.

1. The sudden discovery that "classified" means something, seems motivated by a parallel, if opposite, motivation by your side.
2. Oh, so the President is fat, is he? That passes for reasonable, does it? So I can come to your house and cut anything off you that sticks out?

The FISA reauthorization went through unmolested by this concern, so I call bullshit.
2/2/18, 7:53 AM

Unmolested by those same woke Ds. Hmm. Perhaps it was merely a matter of the flavor of the ox-goose gore sauce.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Oh, I'm going to try to remember to call you ALillianHellMan from now on, because like Lillian Hellman (as Mary McCarthy famously said), every word you say is a lie, including "and" and "the."

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

"Essentially" - the new "Unexpectedly"

JustOneMinute said...

Re: "As you put it, if the info is erroneous, the memo should be easily discredited. "

Well, this is the challenge of a representative democracy. It may well be true, as Democrats have argued, that refuting the memo and showing the full scope of the presentation to the judge, would require the release of cool, James Bond level intelligence, thereby compromising sources and methods.

IF they are not lying, refuting the memo is either not possible or a dangerous compromise of national security methods.

But they might be lying. No, seriously. And in the current environment (just as 40 years ago) their "Trust us, why would the FBI lie?" is not a compelling message.

What's missing is a group of elder statesman (or women!) trusted on both sides of the aisle. I might actually have confidence in a commission led by Mitt Romney and Mike Bloomberg, but by and large, credible names with bipartisan respect don't come to mind.

Michael said...

ARM

It will be so nice to see Tray Goudy at the Justice Dept. refreshing.

And I commend your stoicism for not crying when spanked and spanked hard.

Bob Boyd said...

Give me the red memo.
Let's see how deep the weasel hole goes.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

It's telling to watch the media carry the democrat party line on this one. The democrat party and the MSM are ONE.

Pookie Number 2 said...

The left, as opposed to the Democrats, has actually been pretty good on this.

Then that tiny minority should be congratulated for consistency.

exhelodrvr1 said...

The Democrats don't want what is good for America if it is bad for their party. That was made abundantly clear during the SOTU.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The FBI sold its soul for Hillary.... Knowing, once she was in control, they would be rewarded.

Mike Sylwester said...

JustOneMinute at 9:01 AM
What's missing is a group of elder statesman (or women!) trusted on both sides of the aisle.

Unfortunately, we got Robert "The FBI Whitewasher" Mueller instead.

steve uhr said...

unlikely the press are colluding not to release the memo. Above all else Time Warner is interested in profits and would not pass on the opportunity at a major news scoop, esp if they thought other networks had the info as well.

Murph said...

Yah, as PeterK said above, listen to NPR's Rachel Martin interview Rep. Hurd, and then listen to the follow up with Carrie Johnson (NPR's special DOJ person, gag - she should be wearing a cheerleading outfit 'cept it's radio.)

https://www.npr.org/2018/02/02/582631171/this-memo-is-not-going-to-erode-national-security-says-rep-will-hurd

[I listen to NPR, just as I check Politico, CNN, and MSNBC, to see what the "other side" is saying. The Martin/Hurd/Johnson bit is typical.]

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

LePetomainism in action! They've got to protect their phony baloney jobs!

AReasonableMan said...

Trump claims the FBI is 'biased' against him. Is it bias to be concerned that the lying lard ass would apparently say or do literally anything to advance his personal fortune and finances? Isn't that just a rational assessment that we have all made?

Mike makes right said...

"unlikely the press are colluding not to release the memo. Above all else Time Warner is interested in profits and would not pass on the opportunity at a major news scoop, esp if they thought other networks had the info as well."

So they weren't clamoring to get Obama's transcripts or the Khalidi tape, or publish the Farakhan photo because they figured "it won't help profits?" Finally, an explanation!

tim in vermont said...

The left, as opposed to the Democrats, has actually been pretty good on this. The FISA reauthorization vote was a complete farce, but the Republicans were the ones that pushed it through.

And yet here are all of the lefties lined up in opposition to turning over one little nothingburger rock.

hombre said...

Deep state Democrats have leaked classified material to the leftmedia regularly. Then DNC/MSM will elevate the Democrat memo above the Republican memo and the facts.

As for transparency, Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch characterized the Obama Administration as "the least transparent" in the history of the organization. Democrats favor selective leaking over transparency.

steve uhr said...

MMM. As you well know, there is such a thing as the conservative media. Why didn't they publish the info you reference? Why aren't they publishing THE MEMO?

Birkel said...

The MSM networks are loss leaders for much larger entities. Those larger entities are well positioned to capture (or have already captured) the government regulators. Therefore, the loss leaders provide a quite profitable ability to affect the production of D.C.

They haven't produced the memo even though it has been leaked because it is bad for the business of D.C. This memo and the ones to follow will be the hook by which Trump challenges the civil service protections that make government bureaucrats powerful entities unto themselves.

I write again that the second Trump Administration will go after civil service protections because those protections have decreased accountability and increased corruption. It won't be a campaign issue, per se, but it will be an agenda item.

Lucien said...

When people use the words "lard ass" it always makes me think they're reasonable. I take their arguments more seriously.

steve uhr said...

Birkel -- public employees can't be fired w/o cause regardless whether there is a change in the law. Called due process. See us constitution amendment 14.

Birkel said...

steve uhr:

You are wrong. Statutes can be repealed. And it is statutes that protect civil service jobs. The statutes granted a property interest. But once repealed, that interest would, at most, only apply to those who entered with such an interest.

In fact, you're so damned wrong I have to call bull shit on whether you have any legal training whatsoever.

John Pickering said...

Poor baffled Ann, nonplussed as usual by what's going on:

I have trouble understanding why the Democrats have staked so much on resisting transparency.

Ann, who I used to think was well-informed and simply a jovial cheerleader for the interests of her tribe, now pulls her hood tightly over her head to defend the contemptible.

It's useless to point this out, but, Ann, if you were to read the newspapers beyond the style section and the movie ads, the reason the FBI objects to the memo is that it isn't transparent, that it omits material details, and that the result is misleading, rather than enlightening. It used to amaze me, but no longer does, that lawyer Ann is so inattentive to the evidence that's out there.

More confusion on the part of news-challenged Ann:

By the way, why hasn't this memo already leaked to the press?

Gosh Ann, there's lots of stories in the press about what the memo says, it seems to have been pretty well leaked already. The memo, which was written by Nunes's staff in non-denied consultation with the White House, asserts that the FISA warrant on Carter Page violated Page's civil rights because it was based on the Steele dossier. The purpose of the memo is to discredit the FBI and assert that there's been a conspiracy to delegitimize Trump's election. Ann, have you come across any such reporting (it's possible the news hasn't been covered by the Daily Mail)?

Ann is solidly on the side of Carter Page and the defense of his civil rights. Ann doesn't appear to have any idea of who Carter Page is or has done or his well-reported links to Russian intelligence services. Of course, Ann also has no problems with Russian interference in our elections; after all, Russians are white people too. No worries about caucasity from that direction.



readering said...

The reason not to release the memo is the classified info it contains. Halperin may be right that there is too much classification but it is hard to have a discussion when the information is being selectively declassified.

Birkel said...

readering chimes in to declare that the perfect is the only solution and the good must be rejected.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Lucien said...
When people use the words "lard ass" it always makes me think


It could be a term of affection. 'Old lard ass' is not that different to 'Old Yeller'. He is kind of an old yeller too.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

John Pickering said...
it's possible the news hasn't been covered by the Daily Mail


Nothing gets past the giant sucking maw of clickbait that is the Daily Mail.

Lucien said...

It does indeed seem like a term of affection when you use it, ARM. Whatever gets your motor running, I suppose.