Loose Lips Sink Ships

Translation: “Leaks Sink National Security”


Is there anyone else out there besides me that doubts the coincidence of the Senate’s confirmation hearings for General Michael Hayden as CIA director this week and USA Today’s Wednesday recycling of the headline story about NSA’s “massive database” of American phone calling habits?

In fact, USA Today has managed to kill two birds with one stone story—bashing Hayden as he sits before the Senators and keeping the “Bush bashing” going as the country moves toward November’s mid-term elections.

USA Today is also counting on their readers having short memories

As Michell Malkin points out in today’s NY Post , USA Today’s effort is just a rehash of an old NY Times article ON THE EXACT SAME SUBJECT published last December.

The only thing that I found new in the USA Today story was that AT&T, Verizon, and Bellsouth were cooperating with the program, while Colorado based Qwest has thus far balked at providing their cooperation.

I see a new add campaign emerging for Qwest:

“Qwest and Al Qaeda—Can you hear us now?”

Or maybe “Qwest—Preferred by nine out of ten terrorists living in the USA…”

I don’t care if you AGREE with the use of these type programs or not (I happen to support them), what you and I should be concerned about is the on going LEAKING OF NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION to the media and ultimately--TO OUR ENEMIES.

I want to slap the somber smirk off of Pelosi’s and Reid’s partisan faces when they jump in front of the nearest camera and declare their intention to “Get ToThe Bottom” of this story and other non-stories like it.

NEWS FLASH—There is absolutely nothing for them to get to the bottom of, because key senators are already constantly briefed about ALL of the NSA’s activities.

SECOND NEWS FLASH—IF a government employee, private contractor, or any other of the so-called “unidentified sources” has any concerns about the legality and propriety of anything which the government is doing, they already have official procedures in place to complain about it and insure that it is investigated.

Instead of going to USA Today or the NY Times with the story, why not pick up the telephone and go straight to the horses’ mouths Pelosi, Schumer, and Reid and let them deal directly with the potential offending parties.

But Nnnnooooooooo, dealing properly with their concerns, following the chain of command wouldn’t accomplish their actual goal here.

The goal isn’t about personal privacy or the legality of the programs, it’s about stirring public hysteria and thereby publicly embarrassing their political enemies.

I sincerely want President Bush to order the CIA and the FBI to go out and find a couple of these treasonous partisan assholes”unidentified sources,” try them publicly in court, televise the entire proceeding, and if and when they are convicted, lock them up in jail for about twenty years.

That should take care of the endless stream of “unidentified sources,”

It would also force USA Today’s reporters to do some actual reporting rather than simply serving as a conduit for the transmission of our national security secrets directly to terrorists.