The Democrat's theme of the culture of corruption has about run its course. Earmarks were
used by everyone on both sides and there are as many tales of corruption about one party as the other. A culture
much more insidious and harder to shake off is the culture of betrayal being uncovered by investigations of the
CIA. It is the story of certain members of a minority party willing to sabotage their nation in time of war for
the sake of personal political power.
On April 20, 2006, the CIA announced the firing of a career bureaucrat, Mary McCarthy, for failure to pass a number
of polygraph examinations and subsequent admission that she had unauthorized contact in which she shared classified
material partly about black-site prisons with Washington Post reporter Dana Priest and others.
McCarthy, 61, was within ten days of retirement and her pension rights are not affected by her dismissal. Before
the House at the moment is the Intelligence Authorization Act of 2007, which mandates that the Director of National
Intelligence study contract rules that would allow the revocation of pensions for those who disclose unauthorized
information.
Whether McCarthy will be charged with a felony criminal espionage act remains to be seen. The matter has been referred
to the Justice Department. Other probes of leakers, directly supervised by CIA Director Porter Goss, are still
underway. The same toxic practice may be readily found in the Defense and State Departments.
An active Clintonista, Ms. McCarthy remained silent while her allies mounted a typical three-part defense against
the CIA leaking charges
- I didn't do it. With the word "it" being flexibly defined, McCarthy's attorney denied that
she was the central source of the leaks surrounding a Post article. He did not deny that she was a source.
- Everybody does it. The lap dog press has already written several stories about Republican officials
who "do the same thing."
- Bush made me do it. Lead by John Kerry, a number of comments have been made to the effect that while
leaking state secrets is certainly not a good thing, McCarthy leaked in the cause of truth, justice and advanced
vegetarianism. Their mantra is that things would be best if they were in power, therefore, anything that brings
increased power to them is good for America and therefore both understandable and excusable.
McCarthy was a ten-year participant in a group of Clinton appointees who wished to be selected again for high
office by John Kerry in 2004 or Hillary Clinton in 2008. McCarthy personifies the successful strategy of the Democrats
in 2000 when they stalled administrative appointments and convinced/intimidated President Bush to keep Democrat
hold-overs in the departments. It was a major Bush blunder that is still being paid for today.
McCarthy's circle of colleagues and friends form a large percentage of the quotable people regularly used by the
New York Times and the Washington Post. Dedicated to getting lefty Democrats elected and appointed, they are:
- Rand Beers The foreign policy advisor to the campaign and leading candidate to be Secretary of State
in a Kerry administration. Former Clinton and Bush counter-terrorism advisor.
- Richard Clarke The leading second-guesser of foreign policy whose committee testimony was proved to
be false and rejected in their final report.
- Joe Wilson The apologist for ignoring uranium yellowcake negotiations between Iraq and Niger, Wilson
has been thoroughly discredited by the bi-partisan Senate Intelligence Committee.
- Valerie Plame The wife of Joe Wilson, she is alleged to have had a hand in the criminal referral of
Lewis Libby through the IG's office where McCarthy worked.
- Sandy Berger Plead guilty under a lenient plea agreement to stealing documents deposited in the National
Archives. National Security Advisor to Bill Clinton.
- Jamie Gorelick A member of the 9/11 commission, she artfully prevented any look at her own role in the
run up to the tragedy. McCarthy testified at the hearings. She was the primary advocate for the firewall policy
of the Clinton years that prevented intelligence agencies from sharing data with each other.
What we have with this whole Clinton crowd is an age-old question - when does dissent become sedition? Sedition
is more than dissent and less than treason. It is the incitement, particularly through speech and writing, of discontent
or rebellion.
McCarthy is charged with selectively leaking material that was operational in nature. The disclosure of operational
information identifies personnel, sources and methods. It can put both American and foreign operatives in danger.
It gives enemies and potential enemies sensitive details. Finally, its disclosure makes friendly foreign partners
reluctant to risk cooperating with a partner who can't keep secrets. This is especially harmful when America has
eliminated much of its own human intelligence resources due to Democratic party policies.
As we endure the hot gas of summer in Washington, the public will likely get more and more disgusted with all politicos
and pundits. After Labor Day, however, it will be time to get serious. What, if any, actions rise to the level
of sedition is debatable. It will likely not be debatable that the Democrats and their media intend to inflame
the passions of the ill-informed. The media supplies the misdirection as well as the selective reporting. The leaks
are grist for the mill.
For Mary McCarthy, being a known Democrat who donates money to her party is not a problem. However, the releasing
to the press of classified secrets of the United States in order to defeat the policy of the elected leaders of
the nation is not mere dissent. It steals the mandate of the electorate and substitutes her judgment for theirs.
Why? Not as much for ideology as to improve her chances for a future political appointment.
The left's loss of loyalty to the nation is a culture of betrayal that should be examined and should not prevail.
04/28/06
