Comments on: Sandy Berger Probed in Terror Memos

By: Gary and the Samoyeds

Gary and the Samoyeds — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 19:44:19 +0000

If Kerry publicly dumps Berger and Wilson, I don't see any problem. After all, John Walker had a security clearance. If circles the wagons around them, that shows he is more worried about spin and political fallout than national security. Even if Berger beats the rap on some technical point, I wouldn't trust him, nor anyone who did.

By: One Fine Jay

One Fine Jay — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 18:30:35 +0000

Sandy Berger slugfest party
I was inclined to assume incompetence over malice for Sandy Berger and his stuffed pants, until his socks were, reportedly, stuffed too. More than the matter of this matter, I find much more interesting the huge party (go through Doc Joyner's links) w...

By: PoliBlog

PoliBlog — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 16:49:32 +0000

Berg Reaction: Left v. Right
While the rightish side of the Blogosphere has been talking about the Berger business, the leftish side hasn't gotten into the act yet. At 11:30am central I checked Kos, Liberal Oasis, Kevin Drum, Hellblazer, Matthew Yglesias, Brett Marston, Crooked T...

By: Suburban Sundries Shack

Suburban Sundries Shack — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 16:42:25 +0000

Mmmm...Berger
The Sandy Berger story is blowing up all over the blogosphere, if not actually in the major media.

By: PoliGov - American Fundamentalism

PoliGov - American Fundamentalism — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 16:31:39 +0000

Sandy Berger Probed in Terror Memos
This is really execellent coverage of the Berger "missing" (stolen) papers scam ..... Click Here

By: Boyd

Boyd — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 16:28:23 +0000

I also don't see much of a connection between Berger's problems and the Kerry campaign.

That said, how many times have I seen some young troop get burned because they had an inadvertent security lapse with classified info? If Berger was stuffing classified materials down his trousers, then it's pretty clearly a willful act, and deserves harsh punishment.

Won't happen, though. The political class isn't held to the same standard as junior military personnel (junior enlisted and junior officers alike).

By: Wizbang

Wizbang — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 15:27:17 +0000

SANDY BERG(L)ER?
The fact that former Clinton pal Sandy Berg(l)er stole highly classified documents has the blogosphere abuzz. But note the difference in how the story was reported by the AP then picked up by the New York Times.. Watch my bolding....

By: Ipse Dixit

Ipse Dixit — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 15:13:52 +0000

And That's All I Have To Say About That Sandy Berger, of all people, should know better than to "inadvertently" remove classified documents from their secure storage. He used...

By: On The Third Hand

On The Third Hand — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 13:48:16 +0000

Sandy Berger
Seems that practically everyone on the pro-war side of the blogosphere is covering the investigation of Sandy Berger for removing classified documents from the national archives; at least one of those documents is still missing. There are several roun...

By: James Joyner

James Joyner — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 12:38:45 +0000

Fredrik and Scott: I follow national security matters rather closely and never had any inkling that Berger was a security risk. I can't fault Kerry for thinking a former NSA would be a good foreign policy advisor. Wilson is a more dubious choice, to be sure. Still, until a few days ago, his integrity wasn't (to my limited knowledge) in question. Turner is a knowledgable fellow, so I don't mind him as an advisor, although he was by most accounts ill-suited for the DCI job.

By: Ambient Irony

Ambient Irony — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 09:45:13 +0000

M N O Goldfish
Geeze, it's only July and already the Democrats are circling the drain. I was hoping for more entertainment than that....

By: RiverRat

RiverRat — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 08:06:03 +0000

Kerry responded, informally and off camera: "Let me tell you, we've just begun to fight. We're going to keep pounding. These guys are the most crooked, you know, lying group I've ever seen." I guess we now know who Kerry was talking about with this famous quote; two of his campaign foreign policy advisors, Joe Wilson and Sandy Berger. "One charbroiled Wilsonberger to go, please. No Ketchup, I hate the smell."

By: Heretical Ideas

Heretical Ideas — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 06:07:11 +0000

JUST SOUND AND FURY...?
As far as I'm concerned, this sounds like an innocent mistake.President Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, is the focus of a Justice Department investigation after removing highly classified terrorism documents and handwritten notes f...

By: Fredrik Nyman

Fredrik Nyman — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 05:58:07 +0000

ScottM: Don't forget that the The Big He was also rather notorious for questionable treatment of classified information, including losing the biscuit that goes with the football. (Source: History Network a week ago, Technical Marvels or a similar program where the Football was the subject at hand).

By: Fredrik Nyman

Fredrik Nyman — Tue, 20 Jul 2004 05:54:50 +0000

"Unless evidence emerges that Kerry helped him stuff documents down his pants, it's hard to see how it impacts his qualifications to be president." Well, you're known by the company you keep. It can fairly be taken as further evidence of Kerry's poor judgment on national security that he has retained Sandy Berger, Joe Wilson and Stansfield Turner as advisers and chosen John Edwards as VP candidate.