... He indicated that though there was no absolute proof of the CIA's guilt in leaking the memo to CBS (the most anti-Bush of the non-cable networks), it was all but certain ...
The plan backfired. The president's poll numbers held; Democrat poll numbers plummeted, at least on national security issues. The grimmest irony for the elites of our permanent government is the blowback from their bungled campaign of leaks and misdirection: the CIA and FBI are under closer scrutiny now than they ever were.
If only our president would organise a cleansing purge.
You know, I suspected a Rat on one of the intel committees.
But I should have seen the signs. This makes sense. The CIA has been clumsy, arguing that they had a plan all along to deal with bin Laden but were never allowed to do it. So now what happens when Shelby starts throwing lamps all over Capitol Hill? Memos and leaks start coming out about the White House and the FBI.
NOTHING came out about the CIA.
It would be sad if the memory of a heroic agent such as Johnny Spann were tarnished by a Director more interested in covering his ass than anything else.
However, there is an upside: this gives Rudolph Giuliani his dream shot to take down Al Qaeda. The man's a bulldog, and should be given his chance at payback.
Besides, the CIA needs a buttkicker up top.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
The plan backfired. The president's poll numbers held; The plan worked perfectly, it put a lot of pressure on Bush, took the spotlight off of the CIA, and with the FBI fiasco of ignoring about as much as evidence as they would have needed, the CIA is sitting pretty. I don't know that the CIA leaked it, I doubt anybody ever will, but if it was, it succeeded. Too many tried to blame Bush, and this was one more piece of ammunition. Most of the problems (the real problems) seem to concern people left over from Clinton's administration, as well as the PC environment that ran rampant.
As far as poll numbers, FReepers should not place so much importance on them, otherwise they have selective memory - the elder Bush had higher numbers and it didn't get him re-elected.