Maddow opens her piece on Pelosi by saying "One of the lamest ways to get out of being in trouble for something is to say, 'Oh, everybody was doing it,'" and observes that this is what's happening right now in Washington. In fact, Maddow notes, conservatives are trying to pull Pelosi into that category of 'everybody' and that's why Karl Rove (via the Washington Post) is calling Pelosi a "torture accomplice."
The Washington Post made the Pelosi/waterboarding link back in December of 2007; I remember it well because I wrote about it. Pelosi did not comment at the time, and neither did anyone else on my blog post.
Back then, we were uneasy but okay about waterboarding because everybody (i.e. our government) seemed okay about it. But now that the new administration is not so okay, and blame is being assigned to various players, Pelosi is caught in the crossfire. Is she being scapegoated? Is she lying to avoid the taint of knowing what was going on and doing nothing? Could she have done anything in her role at that time?
Here's a little bit more on the Pelosi/waterboarding story -- analysis from those who've followed it:
- "Speaker's Comments Raise Detainee Debate to New Level" from Washington Post staff writer Dan Balz
- "Nancy Pelosi, Torture and Culpability" from About.com's Civil Liberties Guide Tom Head.
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Comments
I must say that I’m a little confused about why this is a “women’s issue.” I cannot say that it does *not* belong here, just that I’m not sure that it *does*.
Anyway, I think Pelosi has been caught up by her own attempts to outmaneuver Obama. I think Pelosi’s made several moves that show she’s not exactly enamored with the directions this administration has been taking. When pushing investigations on torture memos and justifications started to raise some ire among the left wing of Democrat Party, I think she leapt to move forward of Obama on this.
And now her politicking has caught up to her. She has contradicted herself, and wound up alienating the very people on the far left that she was trying to energize. I suspect that Cheney’s involvement will save her from any real consequences of this flub, but she’s lost monentum (political capital, as some might call it) vs Obama. Which to me, means she’s not only failed to gain what she sought, but will now find herself even less able to play a leadership role. A little less? A lot less? I don’t know. But less, I am sure.
It’s one of those situations where the left and right will never agree. Is Pelosi justified and just getting scapegoated or is there no merit in her actions?
The link above provides some interesting analysis on the situation and how the press is covering it.
STOP! The Attacks On Speaker Pelosi
Last time they tried to attack Speaker Pelosi ( second in line to the President of the United States) it was about her alleged abuse of military transportation. This attack as expected turned out to be bogus. It turned out that the previous Speaker (Hastert – a Republican) made far more use of military transportation. It turned out that Speaker Pelosi was possibly overly prudent and too self-restrained in her use of military transportation.
Now Republicans are trying to attack her about allegedly having been told by the Bush administration about things she was not told about, like water boarding. Republicans are attacking her because she is being so effective at getting the peoples work done in congress, like healthcare. And Republicans want to stop her. Don’t put up with that. Every time they attack Speaker Pelosi they are attacking you and the rest of the American people. If they go after her, go after them even harder.
They are trying to con Speaker Pelosi and the American people. And here is how it works. Approximately 6 years ago CIA had a briefing with Pelosi and congress, but DID NOT tell congress and Pelosi that the Bush administration was using torture ( water boarding ) on detainees. Then the Bush administration sent in Porter Goss to head the CIA and to destroy, and doctor records in part to make it look like Pelosi, and the Democrats in congress were onboard with the illegal torture of detainees by the Bush administration.
See, apparently at these intelligence briefings members of congress are not allowed to take notes. And if they do, they are not allowed to keep them. Apparently the CIA makes notes, but the members of congress are not allowed to see those notes either. And they can’t tell anybody about what was said at the briefings. But the CIA can come back six years later and claim they told members of congress something six years ago that they did not tell them at that time. And they can use falsified notes to substantiate their claim. Planting disinformation was the type of thing the CIA became very good at during the time Porter Goss was a young CIA agent. Just gotta love it.
If you will remember, their was a mass exodus of senior CIA officials after Porter Goss took over. And the complaint at the time was that longtime, highly experienced agents were being replaced by other people based mostly on their political loyalties to the Bush administration and their extreme right-wing ideologies. Which is just exactly what you need if you want people who will be willing to break the law under orders. Sound familiar? I don’t think you can trust any CIA records after Goss took over.
I have nothing but the utmost respect, and admiration for the dedicated and patriotic members of OUR! Central Intelligence Agency. When the Bush administration betrayed one of OUR! agents (Mrs. Wilson) it made me boiling MAD! I think our new Director Pennetta has got some internal investigation and agency house cleaning to do. If you backtrack on the individuals that have been making the false attacks on Speaker Pelosi, and trace who they have had contact and conversations with, you should be able to connect the dots and catch your conspirators.
The key that the CIA records are falsified is Sen. Bob Graham and his journal, and common sense.
By the way, I think Mr. Pennetta is an excellent choice to head the CIA and fix it.
They are trying to kill healthcare reform. And continue our healthcare crisis. Don’t put up with that.
PASS THE WORD.
To The Congress Of The United States:
If it is true that you are not allowed to have or make any permanent records of your intelligence briefings for later clarifications, and protection, that is ridiculous. That leaves all of you vulnerable to just this type of scam that is being perpetrated on Speaker Pelosi. So here is what you can do about it to protect your-selves in the future.
Members should be able to make notes and other recordings of these briefings. Then these briefings and recordings can be reduced to a computer file that can then be encrypted and digitally signed with a detached digital signature using key encryption. Then each of you can encrypt, and sign each others copy of the record that can only be unlocked with the other parties key. And both parties copies can be verified with each others copy of the files detached digital signature.
Very easy. Very secure. No more exposure to falsified records down the road.
You see, it almost doesn’t really matter what CIA allegedly did or didn’t tell Speaker Pelosi, and congress. Because the briefing format is so deficient of any checks, balances, or verification that all we know is that all external briefing accounts support Speaker Pelosi’s version of events. Pelosi and congress should have been given every benefit of the doubt. And that should have been it.
There are many other booby traps out there set for you congress. Be careful.
God Bless You
jacksmith — WORKING CLASS
p.s. I still think the timing of Sen. Bob Graham’s ruptured cerebral aneurism was suspicious. More so now, than before.