Plus ca Tricky, Plus ca Dick“If the President does it, it can’t be illegal.” — Richard M. Nixon, 1977 “President Bush’s chief spokesman said today the president has the right to declassify sensitive information whenever he chooses and that when he does, it is effective immediately.” — Washington Post, April 6 2006 It’s not a politically-motivated leak, it’s an on the spot declassification and disclosure in the national interest. If the President does it, it can’t be illegal. 3 comments to Plus ca Tricky, Plus ca DickLeave a Reply |
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Classified information is very tricky, what classifies it, when it’s secrecy, whenit’s not. Remember the Mig 25? The knowledge of that plane was so sensitive that apparently the commies would have been able if a member of the public even dreamed of it…at least until the air force wanted a new airplane, and then it turned out to be very fast junk, not a super fighter after all. Remember the Pentagon Papers? The secret was that the hippies, yippies, weather underground, and SDS types had been right all along, most of the Viet Nam war actually WAS to “generate income” form certain corperate entities. And, “Jolly Ollie” North and the guys who had sold people out were hailed as heros by the very people they’d screwed the worst. When he started blabbing about how they had been planning on suspending the constitution and a few other things, all of a sudden it all went behind closed doors. I also remember when the VN thing started going sour in a big way and people tried to kibosh Taber’s War of the Flea, classify it. Lucky for us it had been out for some time in the mainstream. Too bad not too many people have read it since.
White House Says Some Leaks Are Good
McClellan, Press Spar on Disclosure of Iraq Intelligence
Analysis
By JOHN COCHRAN
April 7, 2006 — - Scott McClellan wanted to talk about promising economic figures and the immigration bill on Capitol Hill. So when he walked into the White House briefing room, he read a statement of the points he wanted to make. The White House press secretary was all too aware that might be his last chance to talk about the issues the administration wants to push.
Then McClellan took questions, knowing the onslaught that would come and that they’d have nothing to do with the economy or immigration. It would be about “Topic A” in Washington this week: court documents alleging that President Bush authorized a leak to a New York Times reporter about previously classified material on Saddam Hussein’s nuclear intentions. In the documents former White House aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby said Vice President Dick Cheney told him the president had given the green light.
Twenty-four hours after the story broke, one very big question had already been answered. Had the president violated the law protecting the nation’s most sensitive secrets? No. The president has the authority to declassify material. So, once he authorized the leak, it became declassified material. But some big questions remained. Was the president, a fierce critic of leaks, a hypocrite? Had he leaked material for political reasons?
McClellan was ready as the questions came, one after another after another. He has a reputation for discipline behind the podium, never going beyond the point his superiors have instructed him to go. That often infuriates reporters, but that’s OK with McClellan and his boss, President Bush.
On this day, McClellan did not bother to deny the claim that the president had approved the leak. Instead, he argued there was nothing wrong about it. And he implied there was nothing really new about the story. After all, he said, he announced back on July 18, 2003, that information from the intelligence report had been declassified. But when making that announcement almost three years ago McClellan said: “It was officially declassified today.” That was 10 days after Libby had shared the Iraq information with Times reporter Judith Miller. McClellan now dismisses the 10-day discrepancy as meaningless, that what he meant three years ago was that July 18 was the day it was released publicly.
But what about the hypocrisy factor? McClellan was reminded that the president has said, “I’ve constantly expressed my displeasure with leaks.” And here is where McClellan summed up the administration’s defense: “The president believes the leaking of classified information is a very serious matter. And I think that’s why it’s important to draw a distinction here. Declassifying information and providing it to the public when it is in the public interest is one thing. But leaking classified information that could compromise our national security is something that is very serious, and there’s a distinction.” McClellan said nothing revealed to Judith Miller compromised sources or methods that could be harmful to national security.
The question then becomes this: Was the president leaking in the national interest or in his own political interest? The obvious answer is that it is very hard to separate the two. But McClellan tried. He noted that in the summer of 2003 many accusations flew around that President Bush had “manipulated or misused intelligence. That was flat out false.” The administration, he said, decided it was in the public’s interest to build its confidence in the reasons for going to war.
Of course, building confidence back in 2003 could also help the president and his poll ratings. What was Bush’s real motivation? Different people have different opinions on this. Unfortunately for the president, the leak controversy comes at a time when his popularity has hit some new lows. An AP-Ipsos poll puts his job approval rating at 36 percent, his lowest ever in that poll. Only 35 percent approve of his handling of Iraq. Questions about Bush’s reasons for leaking will do nothing to raise his numbers. Splitting hairs over the reasons for the leak is also unlikely to do much for what was once a strong point: public confidence in his candor and truthfulness. One Republican consultant said Friday: “Bush is a far better man than Bill Clinton, but unfortunately, this will sound to people like something you would expect from Clinton.”
When Friday’s contentious press briefing finally ended, Scott McClellan, a genuinely courteous man, thanked the press corps and wished them a good weekend. With that, he ducked into his office, clearly relieved that the weekend was finally here. TGIF.
Copyright © 2006 ABC News Internet Ventures
OK ok. So what is the bottom line?
Bush authorized Cheney to talk about certain intelligence.
Cheney shared some it with Libby.
Libby decided to use it to out V. Plame?
Libby an ass for outing plame and Bush an ass for letting Cheney run free with it?
or what?