The Pelosi-Panetta Problem

The Repos are seemingly thinking that they are smelling blood in the water. I think it's possible there may be blood shed in this little dust-up, but I still think the Repos better be careful for they may reap what they sow. A few thoughts on this development:

1. Pelosi had better be telling the truth. I initially thought she was caught lying like a sailor, but after former Sen. Bob Graham came out and backed up her assertion that they were not told about water-boarding during the first briefing from the CIA, I tend to give her more credibility. However, if she's lying, she's toast, and she'll deserve to be toast.

2. New CIA Chief Leon Panetta says that the CIA did not mislead Pelosi and others during that initial briefing back in 2002. Okay, what else would he say...really?! He just got into the job, he has to back up his men publicly even if he believes they screwed the pooch here. Moreover, this is the case because Cheney still has some people who he has influence with in the inner-workings of that agency, and Panetta needs to win them over. Bashing the former administration and stabbing your people in the back isn't a way for a new Director to win friends, and curry favor for things he may need later down the line. So, what Panetta says is no surprise to me.

3. According to the documents I've seen/heard about, the CIA put out the notes they had from the briefing. A couple easy points here to combat these notes which seem to damn Pelosi:

a. There is that possibility that the CIA has falsified these "notes." I find it particularly appalling and pathetic that Repos are going around saying the CIA would NEVER lie to them during a briefing, or even mislead them. Hello! They are the C-I-fucking-A...that's what they do! They are in the business of lies and deception. Goodness, how obtuse!

b. From what I recall, the documents say something fairly vague about the mention of enhanced interrogation techniques being used and the mention of that during the briefing. Okay, this could be anything, and the CIA briefers could have just not mentioned water-boarding as one of those "techniques." There was nothing in those documents that specifically stated that water-boarding was discussed, so to assume that it was discussed is patently unfair to Pelosi and those who were given the briefing.

I wonder if it's possible that a CIA puppet briefing controlled largely by the strings attached in the then Vice President's office could have been essentially a sham....hmmmmmm...tough call there. NOT!

We know the country was lied into a war against Saddam and Iraq, centering on WMD. If they would lie their way into an unjust, unfounded war for kicks, what would stop the Dubya administration from either lying/misleading during a CIA briefing and/or falsifying documents/notes from said briefing?

Pelosi is now calling for a clearing of the air, and I hope she gets the Repos to bite. If they bite, this will get ugly, but not for Dems...it will get ugly for the Repos and it will cause the Cheney story to dominate the political landscape for months, if not years. This would be helpful to an Obama re-election, but also to the President getting his agenda passed through without much fuss.

More on Cheney in a moment.