My apologies if I left to much inference to the reader.

S'Ok. It was the ending 'this' in the previous sentence that caused the pause.

My apologies if I left to much inference to the reader.

Orwellian is too often used these days, but it seems justified in this case.

Charles, what's the antecedent of 'this case' in the quote?

Kevin Drum observes, “CIA is engaged in some pretty serious message sending against people they don’t like. My guess: I don’t know how Harman is going to weather all this, but I don’t think it’s going to turn out well for the CIA. They may have gone a couple of steps too far this time.”

Why Mr. Drum? Because the person hurt by the leaks wasn't a Republican? As I recall, it is just a couple of steps from one side of the aisle to the other in the House of Representatives. Apparently some leaks are more equal than others in Progressiveland.

I am most interested to see how whistle blowers are treated by the White House, the leadership in Congress and Big Media the next eight years.

Perhaps a little OT, but I can't wait for the Truth Commission to tell me what it is we are supposed to think about this. Orwellian is too often used these days, but it seems justified in this case.

I cannot wait until disgruntled agents of CIA start releasing information about some of the things Obama the Kenyan is up to.

Thank you. I was wondering if you had any credibility and you confirmed my suspicions.

I cannot wait until disgruntled agents of CIA start releasing information about some of the things Obama the Kenyan is up to

.

That'll be right after the FBI releases info on Ragshaft the Rastafarian.

What evidence do we have for that?

I don't see any possible way of interpreting his decision to forego an investigation as anything other than a quid-pro-quo for her support. I mean, even if he didn't plan to blackmail her, he was avoiding an investigation of someone solely because she was politically convenient. That is almost as bad.

Let's not be naive here. Gonzo is the same guy who went to John Ashcroft's hospital room to try to get him to override the legal judgment of Jack Goldsmith and James Comey. Gonzo was and is nothing more than a Bush consigliere -- with no more morals or scruples than any other mob lawyer.

You really want to defend the position that "we don't investigate our friends"?

If I were an FBI agent and I saw that kind of borderline criminal behavior from my boss, I'd be tempted to play whistleblower as well. Frankly, we could have used more whistleblowers during the past 8 years, not fewer.

Except that Gonzo was planning to use the info to blackmail Harman to publicly support the warrantless wiretapping program.

What evidence do we have for that? I read the report as simply saying that Harman was on the team and he didn't want to piss her off.

I think, maybe, Pelosi had both a need and a right to know that one of her members was compromised and potentially being blackmailed.

That may be right. The update from "The Hill" makes the nature of what was disclosed sound much less problematic. I gathered from Stein's report that this was a backdoor sabotaging of DOJ by disgruntled agents.

I think, maybe, Pelosi had both a need and a right to know that one of her members was compromised and potentially being blackmailed.

Surely, whether to pursue an investigation is the prerogative of the AG

Ideally, yes. In the case of the Bush admin, which pretty much abandoned the rule of law, perhaps so clear. Once more example of the inherent danger of placing politics, policy and individuals above the law.