(emphasis added, in case the absurdity wasn't obvious enough)
Posted on 08/16/2018 6:27:18 PM PDT by Kaslin
During Wednesday’s edition of The Lead, the panel found itself in a little bit of shock after learning that President Trump had revoked the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan, who has previously called President Trump treasonous in his new capacity as an NBC News analyst.
Panelist Symone Sanders agreed that it was done to distract from any number of negative Trump storylines: “I think someone wants to muck up the news cycle.” She then described the revocation of Brennan’s security clearance as “ridiculous” and warned that “we should all be scared about the state of our democracy” before declaring that “the President sent his White House Press Secretary out there today to basically poop on the people from the Press Secretary podium.”
Such graphic references by cable news personalities have actually become quite mainstream in the era of Trump. While interviewing Trump supporter Jeffrey Lord, CNN’s Anderson Cooper told him “if he took a dump on his desk, you would defend it.”
On MSNBC’s Morning Joe, a conversation about President Trump’s infamous “covfefe” tweet quickly devolved into a discussion about bodily functions, with co-host Mika Brzezinski saying the argument that President Trump actually meant to use the word “covfefe” instead of coverage would be “like a kid pooping their pants and saying I meant to do that” with fiance Joe Scarborough further lowering the bar of supposedly insightful analysis
After Sanders ruined the appetites of viewers, she suggested that Congress should censure the President over his decision to revoke Brennan’s security clearance, which she clearly viewed as an affront to American democracy.
Perhaps Sanders should have paid attention when her fellow panelist Amanda Carpenter pointed out that “[n]o one is entitled to a security clearance” before trashing the Trump administration’s decision to revoke Brennan’s security clearance as “a brazen act of intimidation” and arguing that it looks like the Trump administration wants to “silence his critics” that “played a role in the Russia investigation.”
According to CBS News, former CIA Directors get to keep their security clearances for the rest of their lives, with renewals taking place every five years. In order for former CIA Directors to maintain their security clearances, they must “behave like current CIA employees,” which means “avoiding travel to certain countries and generally living in a manner above reproach.”
As for the idea that President Trump infringed on Brennan’s First Amendment rights in an effort to “silence his critics,” Brennan will continue to enjoy a platform to trash the President on MSNBC and NBC as long as he remains an employee there in addition to having the ability to criticize him on Twitter.
A transcript of the relevant portion of CNN's The Lead from August 15 is below. Click “expand” to read more.
CNN's The Lead With Jake Tapper
08/15/18
04:12 PM
JAKE TAPPER: Let’s talk it over with the experts here. Jackie, I mean, the fact that the Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats did not know about this, was not consulted according to Jim Sciutto’s reporting, the fact that this caught the CIA unaware, how much is this actually rooted in national security versus vengeance?
JACKIE KUCINICH: It does seem like it’s the latter rather than the former and it’s really kind of cutting off his nose to spite his face because the reason that these individuals have, still retain these clearances is for the benefit of the United States and the current set of national security professionals. That’s why, it’s not just so they can have it and monetize it or do what they want with it for sentimental reasons or something. There is a reason so they don’t have to be read in, so they don’t, so you don’t have to have time when national security is involved.
TAPPER: And it is worth pointing out that Michael Flynn, who lied to the FBI, was not on that list and President Obama did not take his security clearance even when he was out there chanting “lock her up” in 2016.
AMANDA CARPENTER: Right. No one is entitled to a security clearance. But let’s make no mistake. What we witnessed from the White House podium today was a brazen act of intimidation. Not only do they list off critics of the President, these are people that are directly tied or played a role in the Russia investigation and so I think this is something that Mueller may be interested because it’s very clear that they are trying to silence their critics. If this was a policy directive rooted in legitimate reason and grounds they would all be listed together but they’re rolling them out one by one holding this over their heads and I think we should be very clear-eyed about this.
TAPPER: Also, Mary Katherine, it is interesting that Sarah Sanders mentioned that Brennan’s being punished for erratic conduct and behavior. You heard General Hayden laugh at that because obviously a lot of people think that President Trump displays erratic conduct and behavior.
MARY KATHARINE HAM: Yes and beyond that point, there’s the issue that that’s the tell; that this is about a speech related issue and that’s why I think when you get into dangerous territory if you’re punishing him for that reason. Frankly, and I say this all the time because it sticks in my civil libertarian craw, but in 2014, Brennan did lie to the Senate Intelligence Committee about having improperly gotten into Senate Intelligence Committee computer files so I think there’s an argument you could have made in 2014 that there could have been reasons for punishment on those grounds but revealing this now, by the way, very cynically a couple of weeks after it happened in this news cycle is an interesting choice today. It reveals that it’s not about that; it should be about that.
TAPPER: What do you make of the fact that it’s dated, this thing, this page of his revoking John Brennan’s security clearance. It’s dated July 26. Why release it today? A day that the Manafort jury is going to start debating whether or not to convict Manafort, a day where the questions about the N-word tape and Omarosa, a day after Sarah Sanders said she couldn’t guarantee that that tape doesn’t exist. Why release it today, do you think?
SYMONE SANDERS: You know, I think someone wants to muck up the news cycle, Jake. Look. I definitely…I think this is ridiculous. This is nothing short of extraordinary and we should all be scared about the state of our democracy. The President sent his White House Press Secretary out there today to basically poop on the people from the Press Secretary podium and not only threaten, like they didn’t just make a threat, it was a promise. They’re snatching John Brennan’s national security clearance. John Brennan was in the Situation Room when American heroes took out Bin Laden. Like, what is happening here? And so my question, as it always is, is where is…what is Congress going to do? Congress, as I like to remind people, is a co-equal branch of government. And are they going to…
HAM: They do need to be reminded.
SANDERS: They do need to be reminded. I know sometimes they be forgetting. But what is Congress going to do? Are they going to censure the President? Is Paul Ryan going to say that he didn’t see this in the news cycle today?
KUCINICH: Paul Ryan said that he was trolling the last time, when Trump said this to begin with. Paul Ryan said he was trolling.
HAM: And I actually thought he might be right.
TAPPER: And you thought he might be right?
SANDERS: He was wrong.
TAPPER: Everyone stick around.
Do these fools even understand just what a security clearance is and why they’re granted? When I left military intelligence my security clearance (the highest possible) was gone. That day. I had no right to keep it.
(emphasis added, in case the absurdity wasn't obvious enough)
libs have some sick, infantile fascination with poop. san francisco glories in epic tales of sidewalk pooping. cnn chief topics frequently includes poop.
Any theories on their coprophilia?
Symone Sanders: ““we should all be scared about the state of our democracy” before declaring that “the President sent his White House Press Secretary out there today to basically poop on the people from the Press Secretary podium.”
These Chicken Littles run out of their chicken coops yelling, “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” hoping the zero-info viewers will go in a panic. This is like crying “fire!” in a theater. The American people will create a backlash against their cry of wolf after they have missed their movie a couple of times.
sorry for no transcript but basically as was said on Fox just now, people may keep ‘convenience’ SCs after they retire IF they continue to act publically as if they are still in that position. In other words, zip it or lose it.
It is already common practice that if someone who lost their SC as a result of end of employment and was then needed at some time in the future to consult on an issue with a specific Admin person, that person would be granted a one-day or one-week, etc., temporary SC. Same as one is granted a temp pass for a military base, or secure buildings on that base. So cancelling a SC is hardly an earth-shattering event for anyone other than a gossip.
.
This is why CNN has a viewership of “3”
CNN having another bad week.
Thes people are basically idiots who don’t have a thinking brain cell among them. One thing to keep in mind when folks like this say President Trump is doing such and such because of “whatever” , the “whatever” is what they and the Democrats would do in the same situation, or have already done in the same situation.
‘Basically Poop on the People’
That’s exactly what CNN does all day long.
I doubted that they do.
I understand why they are upset, he was probably a reliable leaker and now they have revoked his security clearance! No more inside scoop!
RUSH: When did John Brennan become some sacrosanct? You guys…? Do you realize that this clown, Brennan, voted for the Communist Party candidate for president once, that he was a big muckety-muck in the CIA during 9/11 (which they had no idea was coming), and he was also part of the intel group that was telling everybody the Iraqis had weapons of mass destruction in the first Bush term? Now, where is it written that this guy’s infallible?
Where is it written that John Brennan — above all else — must be granted his security clearance, when this guy is actively engaged in overthrowing a duly-constituted and elected president? Well, you know the answer to the question. It’s because the left doesn’t care about the Constitution. It doesn’t care about the rule of law. It cares only about its power. And, folks, none of those are cliches. None of those are exaggerations. That is exactly what’s going on. It’s why Strzok is having liberals give him $400,000.
The guy broke every law you can break at the FBI. He got fired! He got fired from the Mueller team! You know why he got fired from the Mueller team? He was the original member. Because he got caught! Mueller didn’t want to get rid of him, and Mueller didn’t want to get rid of Lisa Page! But the IG investigation revealed the texts that they were sending to each other, and it made it clear that these people hated Trump and could not possibly, in an unbiased way, investigate him.
And Mueller didn’t want to get rid of him, and Mueller didn’t tell anybody why they were fired when he fired ’em! And he staggered the firings. I think Strzok Smirk was fired in August and Lisa Page the next one. Mueller tried to hide from people who they were and what they were doing. Brennan did on Clapper. All these people from the Obama Department of Justice should have had their security clearances pulled the moment was learned that they were involved in the dossier!
From the moment it was learned they were involved with the dossier and the Clinton campaign in trying to run an intel operation to sabotage a presidential campaign, they should have been gone. They should have had their security clearances stripped way back then. But note that Obama didn’t fire ’em, either. Obama didn’t want to get rid of ’em. Now, this was all in service to Hillary Clinton. It was all in service to making sure Hillary Clinton never got charged with any of the crimes that she had committed because their futures all depended on Hillary Clinton being elected.
More in the link
GMTA
Apple has a poop emoji.
Re: In order for former CIA Directors to maintain their security clearances, they must “behave like current CIA employees...”
Trump is the Chief Executive Officer of the CIA.
On several occasions, Brennan has accused Trump of treason on national TV.
I used to live in a country where that would be called “flagrant insubordination,” and it would be grounds for instant termination.
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