"We have no grand political scheme" (Marc Lynch)

Marc Lynch:
“We have no grand political scheme”  —  I spent the morning at a lecture organized by GWU's outstanding Homeland Security Policy Institute's Ambassador's Roundtable Series featuring Israel's Ambassador to the United States Sallai Meridor.  It was a profoundly dismaying experience.

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New York Times Charges $75K Per Day For Front
Page Advertisement Wow, Are WE At The GTL Undercharging Or What

Is The Value Of A “Page One” Ad In The Mainstream Print Media REALLY Worth That Much More Than The Value Of A Front Page Ad On A Major Blog?WOW. I’m really shocked and amazed at the fact the direct competitor of The New York Times, The New York Post is reporting the Times...

This is only a comment summary. Visit http://guntotingliberal.com to view the lastest content complete with some of the most outrageous original photoshops in the political blogosphere!

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Manufacturing Tuesday: Week of 1.05.09

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!It's the start of the new calendar year, the start of a new Presidential administration (well on the 20th actually), and of course the start of the first business quarter.  We got in some disturbing, ok that's putting it[...]

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http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Docudharma/~3/505227258/showDiary.do

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Feinstein Explains Her Reticence* About Panetta
Nomination (Elana Schor/TPM Election Central)

Elana Schor / TPM Election Central:
Feinstein Explains Her Reticence* About Panetta Nomination  —  Just talked with Dianne Feinstein outside the Senate chamber about her qualms with the Leon Panetta nomination.  The incoming Senate intelligence committee chairman said that both President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden called …

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End Times - VIRTUALLY ALL THE predictions about
the death ... (Michael Hirschorn/The Atlantic Online)

Michael Hirschorn / The Atlantic Online:
End Times  —  VIRTUALLY ALL THE predictions about the death of old media have assumed a comfortingly long time frame for the end of print—the moment when, amid a panoply of flashing lights, press conferences, and elegiac reminiscences, the newspaper presses stop rolling and news goes entirely digital.

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Panetta a 'Brave' Choice, Says Former CIA Agent
(Kathryn Jean Lopez/The Corner)

Kathryn Jean Lopez / The Corner:
Panetta a ‘Brave’ Choice, Says Former CIA Agent  —  “Ishmael Jones” is a former deep-cover officer with the Central Intelligence Agency.  He is author of The Human Factor: Inside the CIA's Dysfunctional Intelligence Culture, published last year by Encounter Books.

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FL-Senate: Jeb Bush Will Not Run (Chris
Cillizza/The Fix)

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
FL-Senate: Jeb Bush Will Not Run  —  Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush is expected to make a decision soon about whether he will run for the open Senate seat in Florida in 2010.  —  UPDATED, 3:48 p.m. ET: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will not run for the open Senate seat of Sen. Mel Martinez …

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On Hardball, Buchanan said Reid doesn't
want Burris seated "[b]ecause he's an African-American"

On the January 6 editionof MSNBC's Hardball, political analyst Pat Buchanansaid of Roland Burris' appointment to the Senate and the Senateleadership's refusal to seat him: "[W]hy does [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reidnot want this guy? Why can't he get elected? Because he's anAfrican-American."Host Chris Matthewsresponded that Illinois has previously elected African-Americans to the Senate; however, neither Matthews norBuchanan mentioned that Reid stated --well before Illinois Gov.Rod[...]

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http://mediamatters.org/items/200901060019

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Caroline Kennedy Wants To Pitch For The Yankees

There is value to experience, especially when it comes to high-pressure jobs like United States Senator or, yes, major-league pitcher.[...]

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http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/06/caroline-kennedy-wants-to-pitch-for-the-yankees
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Obama on Panetta: 'Breaking with ... the past'

Download | Play    Download | Play [H/t Dave]

It's been assumed that Barack Obama's planned nomination of Leon Panetta as CIA chief was intended to send a signal to the intelligence community about the use of torture. And Obama made that explicit in his press conference today:

REPORTER: Some are questioning Leon Panetta's lack of intelligence -- lack of experience on intelligence matters. Sorry about that. I know this is tricky for you since you haven't announced him yet but what does he bring to the table for you.

OBAMA: Well, as you noted, I haven't made a formal announcement about my intelligence team. That may be him calling now -- finding out where it's at. I have the utmost respect for Leon Panetta. I think that he's one of the finest public servants that we've had. He brings extraordinary management skills, great political savvy, an impeccable record of integrity. As chief of staff, he's somebody who, to the president, he's somebody who was fully versed in international affairs, crisis management, and had to evaluate intelligence consistently on a day-to-day basis.

Having said all that, I have not made an announcement. When we make the announcement, I think what people will see is that we are putting together a top-notch intelligence team that is not only going to assure that I get the best possible intelligence -- unvarnished -- but that the intelligence community is no longer geared toward telling the president what they think the president wants to hear but instead are going to be delivering the information that the president needs to make critical decisions to keep the American people safe.

I think what you're also going to see is a team that is committed to breaking with some of the past practices and concerns that have, I think, tarnished the image of the agencies and intelligence agencies and U.S. foreign policy. Last point I will make on this is that there are outstanding intelligence professionals in the CIA, DNI and others and I have the utmost regard for the work that they've done and we are committed to making sure that this is a team effort that's not looking backwards but is looking forward to figure out how we're going to serve the American people best.

Of course, a Panetta appointment would send such a signal, since he has been such a pronounced critic of waterboarding and other such practices indulged by the CIA under Bush.

As with all these appointments, though, we should also be looking out for disinformation from the right. Today on Fox, Bill Kristol was trying to stir up opposition to Panetta from the left, pointing out that he was chief of staff at the White House in the 1990s when it began the policy of "extraordinary rendition" (i.e., capturing terrorists and then shipping them to nations where they can be interrogated by governments with fewer prohibitions.

Download | Play    Download | Play

It's true that Panetta was CoS at the time Clinton adopted that policy (he signed the executive order in June 1995, during Panetta's tenure), but that is not prima facie evidence he favored it. Moreover, rendition under Clinton occurred only occasionally; as compared to the massive program involving hundreds of prisoners it became under Bush.

Expect, however, for the question to be raised during confirmation hearings. If it's coming from neocons, though, expect it to turn out to be wrong.

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