Kit Bond's Politico Projections

/in /by

Before Kit Bond went on MSNBC this morning to call for John Brennan’s resignation, he planted the same attack in what was one of the most ridiculous Politico articles I’ve seen since its last Dick Cheney blowjob.

For example, you know the rule that says anonymous sources often appear, giving on-the-record quotes, elsewhere in the same article? This article, entirely focused on Kit Bond’s baseless attack against Brennan (though mentioning that Crazy Pete Hoekstra also made baseless accusations against Brennan) ends with this:

“There is tension between the intelligence community and Brennan,” a Republican member of Congress who has long worked on intelligence issues told POLITICO. “They just feel that he is trying to micromanage, and also playing somewhat of a political role.”

Hmm. “Republican member of Congress who has long worked on intelligence issues” would be a prominent intelligence committee member. Such as Crazy Pete. Or … Kit Bond! Way to hide your tracks Bond, um, Kit Bond.

Then there’s this line, in which Bond tries to associate Brennan with Rahm.

Others with ties to the intelligence community think Brennan—who works in closer proximity to White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel than any other intelligence official—is behind the push to fight back against political attacks on White House counterterrorism policy.

But here’s the fundamental problem with Kit Bond’s attack. As the article even notes (though doesn’t explain, but then it’s Politico), Brennan is pushing back against baseless politicized attacks on no-nonsense policies. Those baseless attacks were coming from … Kit Bond!!!
So essentially, the Politico has granted Kit Bond anonymity and an otherwise unobstructed soap box to wail that John Brennan pointed out that Bond’s–and other Republicans’–attacks were completely nonsensical given the briefings they received, not to mention the rule of law.

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  1. Jim White says:

    Aaargh. Politico has stepped up to provide on a daily basis what Russert used to provide weekly. Thanks for calling them out, yet again, even though they will pay journalistic standards no attention even when called out.

  3. BoxTurtle says:

    Mr. Bond isn’t fooling anybody who’s paying attention. He’s counting on the fact that most of HIS voters aren’t paying attention. Or that they’d vote for Satan himself before they’d vote for a democrat.

    He’s probably right. If he were to show up around here with that story, he’d get tossed into Freep’s cage with the rest of the trolls. But we’re not his target audience and his target audience will be very receptive. And Obama responds to pressure by either compromising or folding.

    I agree with you that he’s not the brightest light in the string, but with his combination of decent political instincts and low animal cunning he may be able to get something of value from Obama in return for shutting up. Or he may be able to increase the pressure to the point where Obama folds and Brennan goes away.

    Boxturtle (McBush was right about one thing: Obama would be a very poor poker player)

    • bmaz says:

      Bond is retiring, so voters are not his issue.

      Don’t know how all those Show Me people voted for a dude in a red tie and pink shirt all those years though…..

      • BoxTurtle says:

        You ever see a midwest car dealer commercial? That outfit would be positively restrained. Our local dealers have appeared as priests, dressed as godzilla, flung poorly performing salesmen off highway overpasses, in drag, in tuxes (including a lime green and pink one), and apparently nude. The difference between a politician and a used car dealer is…..unh….hmmmm…..a used car dealer has some tangible to sell?

        Boxturtle (Glad to hear he’s not running, he’s one we’re better off without)

  4. ezdidit says:

    Kit Bond was briefed under legal statutes that require he be briefed. He leaked critical information.

    Isn’t that against the law?

  5. Mary says:

    The Dems, long ago, should have been saying “Republican want to take filthy criminals and treat them like Warriors, giving them military recognition. Stupid stupid stupid”

    I did listen to part of the Mayer interview yesterday and I was really happy to hear a bit of a discussion about the fact the Mr. Undies parents would never have been involved in the original heads up or the subsequent assistance in the debriefing if they thought that the American system was going to disappear him into torture. This is something that I’ve thought needed to be hammered for a long time – way before the undie bomber even. You cannot get good humint from communities when they know you run a disappearance, assassination, torture regime.

    You will get enemies turning over enemies. What you won’t get is parents or sibling who are worried, but unsure and scared about what will happen to their family members if they go to authorities with concerns (or who are sure, but unwilling to turn a family member over for torture and assassination). When you bomb homes and villages (with a lot of fudge factor), you don’t have people in those villages that willing to come forward. When you disappear people with no consequences, covertly shipping them to foreign countries for more torture and permanent disappearance, people who may come to you with intel begin to worry – *what if I’m wrong, what if they think I know more than I do, etc.* and worry what will happen to them if they do contact the torture regime. If you are a lawyer and someone comes to you for advice as to whether they should go to the authorities or not, what do you tell them when you know that no one within the justice system can give you any assurances that would prevent your client being disappeared like Padilla or Arar or el-Masri or al-Libi or KSM’s children or Siddiqui’s children or Binyam Mohammed etc. How can you in good faith broker a deal for them and their info when you know that there is nothing preventing gov from just reneging and disappearing via rendition or even putting them on an assassination list – and the Courts and Congress are doing nothing but encouraging that kind of behavior?

    You don’t treat criminals like “warriors” and torture regimes don’t win hearts and minds. Simple concepts – what the hell is wrong with Dems and the media that they have such a hard time with them?

    • CTMET says:

      The Dems, long ago, should have been saying “Republican want to take filthy criminals and treat them like Warriors, giving them military recognition. Stupid stupid stupid”

      Its not too late. That would be F*&#ing brilliant.

    • readerOfTeaLeaves says:

      Brennan is pushing back against baseless politicized attacks on no-nonsense policies. Those baseless attacks were coming from … Kit Bond!!!
      So essentially, the Politico has granted Kit Bond anonymity and an otherwise unobstructed soap box to wail that John Brennan pointed out that Bond’s–and other Republicans’–attacks were completely nonsensical given the briefings they received, not to mention the rule of law.

      Mary, on Ed Schultz’s show today at MSNBC, Sen Ron Wyden (OR), who serves on the Sen Intel Committee made your point quite well: these guys are criminals who badly want the US to treat them to military trials so that they can claim they are ‘warriors’. First, why give them the satisfaction? Second, over the long term you get better info by treating these as criminal trials.

      FWIW, it’s my view that Brennan did his job, which is to look out for the people who report to him and call b.s. on anyone whose grandstanding impedes their work.

      And it was notable that Andrea Mitchell (who ought to know) stated earlier this week that for Brennan to push back like this was virtually unheard of, but that she’s heard ‘the intel community’ is really fed up with the politicization.

      Which is even more interesting given the fact that Bond never did answer Guthrie’s question, which was, “What’s the relationship between Mirandizing and getting information?” To which he dodged by saying that ‘the information changes all the time.’ If Bond can’t even answer the basic question, you know the GOP is following marching orders from someone.

      I looked for the puppet strings Cheney is using to control Bond, but the lighting on the set must have hidden them.

      • bobschacht says:

        …Andrea Mitchell (who ought to know) …’s heard ‘the intel community’ is really fed up with the politicization.

        Are these the same folks who would be really fed up with the “politicization of policy differences,” and who would be very upset of the torturers were indicted with war crimes, or are they the other team?

        Bob in AZ

    • BoxTurtle says:

      I would agree with him, he may well be the most competent employee of BushCo.

      He managed to come up with a series of memos on torture that enabled BushCo to do whatever it wanted. Even after they were made public, they were held to protect any lower level torturer who followed their guidelines. They were held to protect those who ordered the torture, on the grounds they had a legal opinion backing them.

      And he wrote those opinions so well, that all he can be held responsable for is bad lawyering. He still has his law license and is actually teaching law at a major university.

      Boxturtle (And it wasn’t really bad lawyering, it was evil lawyering)

  8. Leen says:

    Sure did not hear Bond asking for the resignations of those in the Bush administration who created, cherry picked and disseminated false pre war intelligence .

    Hypocrite gone wild

  9. MadDog says:

    Via Greg Sargent at The Plum Line:

    White House: Kit Bond’s Call For Brennan’s Resignation Is “Pathetic”

    …The White House is now dismissing Bond’s efforts as “pathetic,” and pointing to Brennan’s lifetime of professional intelligence experience as proof that Bond is putting politics over our national security. Asked for comment on Bond’s broadside, White House spokesman Nick Shapiro emails over a brief and dismissive comment:

    “Through his pathetic attack on a counter-terrorism professional like John Brennan who has spent his lifetime protecting this country under multiple Administrations, Senator Bond sinks to new depths in his efforts to put politics over our national security.”

    The conventions of political journalism for some reason discourage doing this, but it’s worth pointing out that the White House is right…

    • Mary says:

      I could almost believe in eleventy dimensional chess, if someone wanted to sell me on Brennanco and Bond working a bit hand in glove so that the “liberal left” would feel compelled to defend Brennan from Bond’s “attacks”

      Truth is – I don’t care if he does go. Sometimes you hang on to the “right result, even if it is for the wrong reason” mantra for all it’s worth.

      Not that he will be gone, or not that Obama would appoint someone less tainted and more reliable if he was.

        • Mary says:

          Damn you bmaz. You do know how to make me start defending Brennan – Hayden coming back puts the *ill* in brilliant. Or was it the *ant*?

        • bobschacht says:

          bmaz,
          Your cynical tone reminds me of myself back before, say, oh, 1980. I got to be right a lot, but it didn’t make me happy. In fact, I became, I believe, clinically depressed (but undiagnosed).

          I’m not saying you’re wrong, mind you. I just choose these days to have a different frame of mind– which you would probably call delusional. But I’m not saying you’re wrong, mind you. *g*

          Bob in AZ

  10. klynn says:

    Oh, I see. You professionally point out GOP inconsistencies in their sound bites to the media, point out their outright lies, and further note how they operated with even worse standards under a GOP executive. Suddenly a GOP voice box shows false and inflated outrage while instrumenting the politicizing national security.

    Shameful behavior Kit Bond.

    So essentially, the Politico has granted Kit Bond anonymity and an otherwise unobstructed soap box to wail that John Brennan pointed out that Bond’s–and other Republicans’–attacks were completely nonsensical given the briefings they received, not to mention the rule of law.

    Shameless PR Politico.