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UNIMPORTANT INACTION ALERT: PARDON THE ALL-CAPS, BUT HARRY REID IS A FREAK.

By Mark Kilmer Posted in Special Features — Comments (9) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Sunday, July 22, 2007
Tim Russert started out NBC's MTP with Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell. Among other things, Russert demanded to know why we hadn't caught Osama bin Laden; McConnell responded that it is difficult to capture someone whose single mission in life is to stay hidden. Then Russert asked him if OBL be dead – and we can go into being and death somewhere else – and McConnell said that we do not officially know. We haven't heard from him in over a year, he said, adding that he personally thinks bin Laden lives. (Dunno if this is similar to Chertoff's "gut feeling" about an imminent terror attack.)

Russert next interviewed Russell Feingold, but that thing came across largely as a series of buzzes and clicks. He did say that timeline/date certain was now en vogue -- but not an all-girl band – and that he wants to censure Bush. (Dingy Harry Reid later said on FTN, though, that she Senate had better things to do.)

On FOX News Sunday, host Chris Wallace opened with the President's National Security Advisor Fran Townsend. Among other things, Wallace asked her why, since Pak won't go into their tribal hinterlands and shut down al Qaeda, we don't just go preemption doctrine on them and do it themselves. Fran said that just because we haven't said anything doesn't mean we aren't.

Next on FNS, Wallace talked to Senator Kit Bond of Missouri and the excitable (not) Evan Bayh of Indiana. Bond said that as long as Musharraf was in power and cooperating, we wouldn't do anything to undermine him. Bayh added helpfully that Pak was scheduled to hold elections soon and we would work with whoever won these.

On FTN, Senate Dem leader Harry Reid was an actual freak. (He should have stayed in Vegas.) He accused Republicans of blocking the bipartisan Iraq amendments. He accused the Republicans of caring more about protecting the President than about protecting our troops. Reid defined Jim Webb as a "decorated Vietnam vet" who should have the final word on our troops. Harry said that Russ Feingold was the smartest man in the world, but that he was wasting the Senate's time with his censure resolution. He said that polls have already confirmed Bush as, in the opinion of the American people, the "worst President we've ever had." Reid complained that Bush let Osama bin Laden escape by pulling our troops from Tora Bora and stationing them in Iraq. He told host Bob Schieffer that he liked the President personally, but that the President was a liar. Schieffer could only laugh at him.

Next on FTN, Lobsterland lady Olympia Snow declared that she is holding firm to the September deadline for the military in Iraq, adding that she wants the Congress to begin drawing up plans for what we will after General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker report that nothing has been accomplished.

There was no TW on ABC. There were golfers instead.

On LE, host Wolf Blitzer talked to Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmoud Kasuri, who launched into the United States media for portraying Pakistan as doing nothing in their tribal wastelands. He explained that they had made sacrifices, lost a lot of soldiers fighting al Qaeda. He faulted the United States for not giving him "actionable intelligence." (Blitzer played a clip of Fran Townsend last week saying that we'd invade the Pakistani hinterlands ourselves if we had the intelligence.)

Next on LE, 't was Mitch McConnell. Senator McConnell pointed out that this was the 200th day of the new Congress, and they still hadn't done much of anything besides naming post offices and debating Iraq resolution. He pointed out that they are the least popular Congress in history.

McConnell said that September 15 was an important day in the course of the Iraqi conflict for Republicans and several Democrats; most Democrats, he iterated, had already made up their minds and would ignore the report from General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker.

Mitch pointed out that he'd lost fewer Republican votes on the Levin-Reed withdrawal amendment than they had on past Iraq votes, and Blitzer cut off the interview to talk to some other folks about some debate CNN is hosting.

The excitement continues in the show-by-show review, beneath the everpresent fold…

MIKE MCCONNELL ON MEET THE PRESS Russert's first guest on his NBC program (MTP) was retired Admiral Mike McConnell, the nation's director of National Intelligence. Russert began the interview by waving his copy of last week's NIE as if he had all the damning evidence he needed for whatever.

McConnell told Russert that an al Qaeda attack on the United States, if they were successful in penetrating our defenses, would be chemical, biological, or radiological. They had not achieved a nuclear capacity.

Russert posited that al Qaeda was stronger than ever and asked how they managed to restrengthen. McConnell explained that when al Qaeda withdrew to the Pakistani badlands, Pak President Pervez Musharraf pursued treaties with the area's governing tribal leaders. That didn't work out, and al Qaeda moved in. Russert asked why we haven't had any suicide bomb attacks like they've had elsewhere, and McConnell replied that al Qaeda sees us as having significantly better defenses than we did in 2001, plus a greater ability to prosecute them and to learn about their plans.

Russert asked one of his favorite questions: Why haven't we caught Osama bin Laden? McConnell explained that "it's not difficult to find something large"; however, when you have one person whose main purpose in life is to hide, it is more problematic.

Russert stated that the government of Pervez Musharraf would fall if we captured OBL, suggesting that we might be letting OBL roam freely so as to preserve the friendly Musharraf government in Pak. He asked McConnell if things would really be worse if we captured OBL and Musharraf fell. McConnell disagreed with Russert's premise that Musharraf would fall if OBL were caught, and talked of Musharraf presenting himself as a "moderate." He said that losing Musharraf would be difficult, but not so much if he were replaced in a democratic manner.

Russert, who had just demanded to know why we haven't dropped everything to concentrate on capturing bin Laden, then confounded the senses by asking if OBL were alive. McConnell said that he personally thinks so, but that officially, we haven't heard from him in over a year and we do not know if he's dead or what.

Russert asked McConnell about TORTURE. We've adopted a revision of the rules on what is acceptable. McConnell explained that we allow techniques which create psychological uncertainty in the terrorist, but that they are not torture. Russert said that if this were the case, the McConnell would be happy to use them on U.S. citizens. McConnell said that he would not use them on U.S. citizens, but they still weren't torture.

Russert asked McConnell if it were fair to say that al Qaeda was more robust in Iraq now than it was before the war. (Russert is not one who believes that al Qaeda was anywhere near Iraq before the war.) McConnell said that they are, but he explained that they are not as robust in Iraq as they have been since. He pointed out that tribal leaders in Iraq had begun policing al Qaeda

Russert asked McConnell what was the bigger threat in Iraq: Sectarian violence of al Qaeda? McConnell explained that the two cannot be separated, as al Qaeda was an accelerant of the sectarian violence. Russert complained that Bush is blaming al Qaeda for everything but it is really the sectarian violence. McConnell tried to explain again that al Qaeda was part of the sectarian violence, but it didn't seem that Russert was paying attention to his guest.

RUSS FEINGOLD ON MTP. Senator Russell Feingold (D-Cheese) was Russert's next guest. Russell declared that timetable/date certain was now a "mainstream view" because of his efforts. He thinks he will pass timetable/date certain this fall. He said that he had been talking to dingy Harry Reid about the Congress using the "power of the purse," but he was careful to stipulate: "only after we've redeployed." Of course, "redeployment" is the Democrat codeword/euphemism for surrender.

Russert told Russ that the New York Times reporter John Burns has said that the situation in Baghdad would deteriorate into chaos if we ran away now. In essence, Russert was proclaiming that even a lefty reporter from a lefty newspaper thinks it would be dangerous to surrender. Feingold took the mind-numbing Jack Murtha position: It's already quagmire, quaqmire, Vietnam, so it couldn't possibly get any worse.

At about this time, my mind began rendering everything which was said as a series of buzzes and clicks, which, while making significantly more sense than what must have been actually said, is not transcribable in the English language as we know it.

FRAN TOWNSEND ON FNS. First up for host Chris Wallace on FOX News Sunday was Homeland Security Advisor Fran Townsend. She said that the United States was better protected against terrorist attacks than ever, that we are a tougher target. Wallace asked her, since we know that the tribal areas of Pakistan are being used by al Qaeda and since Musharraf can't stop it, why don't we use the President's doctrine of preemption and take them out ourselves? Townsend hinted that the Administration might be taking steps behind-the-scenes and just not mentioning them publicly. She explained that much of this nether region in Pakistan was never under Pak governmental control.

Townsend explained that "Iraq is in no way a distraction" from the fight against al Qaeda; rather, it is an "enabler" for "al Qaeda central."

Wallace asked her if the new interrogation methods recently introduced harmed our ability to gain crucial information. She replied that this interrogation was a "Critical, critical program," yielding the bulk of the critical information we've discovered. She explained that there are multiple checks and safeguards to ensure that these interrogations do not cross the line.

KIT BOND AND EVAN BAYH ON FNS. Chris Wallace next interviewed Senators Kit Bond (R-Missouri) and Evan Bayh (D-Indiana). They talked about the situation in Pakistan, how much trouble is Pervez Musharraf in? Senator Bond said that as long as he is in charge and cooperative, we're not going to undermine him. Wallace asked Senator Bayh about this. Evan said that Pakistan has an election coming up, and "we'll see what happens." We'll work with whoever wins the election.

Senator Bond reminded that al Qaeda wants to establish the Caliphate in Iraq, and he further posited that they had thought they had already done it in Ramadi before the tribal leaders threw them out. Bayh offered that Iraq was not the central from in the war on terror; that would be, he said, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Wallace quoted Bayh from June 29, 2005, saying that Iraq was the central front in the war on terror. Bayh thanked him for holding him accountable and suggested that everyone has learned a lot over the past few years in Iraq. The old theory was that we should stand by the Iraqis until they solve their own problems. This didn't work, so the new theory is that we must threaten to "take away the crutch."

Kit Bond blamed Jerry Bremer, saying that we'd been following his ill-conceived plan for years. He added that Maliki is incapable of doing anything.

DINGY HARRY DOES FTN. Host Bob Schieffer's first guest on CBS's Face the Nation was Senate Democrat Leader Dingy Harry Reid, who should have stayed in Vegas. Reid has proven, again, that he is a freak.

Schieffer asked him about his freakish pajama party, after which Republicans blocked the vote. He asked Harry why he was blocking Republican efforts to work with him. Reid said he hasn't. He said that he asked for a simple majority vote on all of the various, sundry amendments, but Republicans refused to let him.

Schieffer asked if he had taken the defense authorization bill of the table until September, and he said he had asked Dick Durbin and John McCain to take care of it, or something bizarre like that. Harry talked about the cost of the war and added, "It's time for them to come home."

Harry said that the Senate needs "more Olympia Snowes… doing the right thing." Snowe, for whatever her faults, is not Chuck Hagel, who must feel slighted.

Schieffer said that the "get out now crowd" (his words) doesn't want vote on the Amendments, and the "stay the course crowd" doesn't want them. Reid said that he wants a vote on these Amendments, but the Republicans have blocked them. Levin-Reed, Collins, Nelson, Salazar are the amendments Reid listed off the top of his head, no crib sheet. The Republicans, he said, "are more interested in protecting the President than in protecting our troops." (They are trying to protect our troops from the freaks, Harry.)

Harry defined Jim Webb as a "decorated Vietnam veteran, decorated for valor," and he faulted the GOP for blocking the dope's nice Amendment to give them a much deserved time off.

Harry defined Russ Feingold as a "Rhodes scholar, a graduate of Harvard, a fine man," who wants to censure the President. He added that the President has violated the Constitution and gone nuts, but there are too many things to do to waste time with Feingold's censure. (A few more post offices must be named before that August recess!) He said that the American people already think Bush is the "worst President we've ever had." (Is Reid certain he wants to talk poll numbers? Yikes!)

Harry Reid complained that we "had Osama bin Laden where we wanted him, in Tora Bora," but that we "took our troops from Tora Bora and put them in Iraq." (This sounds like something Maxine Waters might say.)

Harry said that there is no Democrat plan for a precipitous withdrawal; rather, the Dems want to pull them out by May. Harry said that this will lessen chaos rather than increase it.

Schieffer brought up the experts who think there will be "all-out civil war now" and "ethnic cleansing" if we pull out. Harry said that we already have an all-out civil war and ethnic cleansing.

Reid said that the President gets only until September, then the "Republicans in the Senate must follow the lead of Olympia Snowe."

Schieffer pointed out that some say that Harry is as responsible for the partisan anger as is the President. Reid affirmed that the President is a liar. "I call things as I see them." He said that he is very bi-partisan, as he works with them to "get out of this morass in Iraq."

Harry said that he likes the President personally. Schieffer laughed at this. Reid reaffirmed again that the President is a liar.

How long the Dems stand for the freak in their leadership is questionable; after all, they've stuck by Howard Dean. "YEAAARRRRGH!"

OLYMPIA SNOWE ON FTN. From the land of the lobsters, Olympia Snowe was Schieffer's next guest. She said that it is unfortunate that the Senate is not reflecting the will of the American people. She understands Reid's frustration, but they have to be bipartisan. The Senate was created, she said, for consensus. She complained that the House had passed a Levin-Reed, but that Reid wouldn't let it go to conference.

Schieffer asked her if anything would happen in the Senate on Iraq before the fall. She suggested that they could "bring up the Department of Defense authorization" because that would get us "closer to consensus."

Snowe said that September 15 is a serious date for mission change and the House and Senate should come together and plan what to do after the report. (This is similar to what Lugar and Warner want the President to do.)

Snowe doesn't believe the Senate will accept the excuse from the military, if given in September, that they need more time. Too many deadlines have been missed, she shrugged.

PAKISTAN FOREIGN MINISTER KASURI ON LE. Wolf ran tape of his interview with Pakistan's foreign minister, Khurshid Mahmoud Kasuri. He said that Pak was already in the tribal area chasing bin Laden. He said that Pakistanis don't like what they read in our newspapers, that there are safe havens in the Pakistani hinterlands. Wolf excerpted from last week's NIE saying that al Qaeda was in the tribal regions. This wasn't just the press, Wolf argued.

Kasuri said that the NIE was refuted by the 9-11 Commission report. He said that this report was right because it was a "bi-partisan report." He said that Pak has "suffered casualties in the last three days," but that they need "actionable intelligence." He said that the Pakistani government cannot afford to curry favor in American public opinion. Pak is suffering great losses, paying a huge price, in this fight, and the people of Pak are angry with the American media. He said that the media was making bigger mistakes now than the ones it admitted before the Iraq war.

Kasuri does not like the tone from the American media. Pakistan is committed to winning. He wants actionable intelligence, and he faulted the United States for not providing it.

Wolf played a clip of Fran Townsend saying that if we had actionable intelligence on the whereabouts of OBL, we'd strike him ourselves in the Pak hinterlands. The foreign minister replied that the Pakistan Army "can do the job much better," so if we have actionable intelligence, we should give it to them.

Kasuri said that the U.S.-Pak relationship was "very good." They meet frequently. He just wants the American media would tell the public that Pakistan is fighting hard making sacrifices. He said that the war – "or whatever you want to call it" – can be won only with the hearts and minds of the public.

MITCH ON LE. Wolf's next guest on CNN's Late Edition was Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell. He played a clip of Russ on MTP threatening to introduce a resolution of censure against the President. Mitch said that today marked the 200th day of the new Congress, and this stunt along with their all-nighter showed why this Congress is the least popular in history. We've got post offices named and votes on Iraq, but that's about it.

Blitzer pulled out Feingold's list of BushLied™ -- no WMD, torture, etc. – and Mitch noted that it is safe to say that Russ doesn’t like President Bush. This Congress isn't doing anything.

Blitzer asked McConnell how important the September report would be. Mitch answered that the date was written into the legislation and many Republicans are looking to it, "along with several Democrats." Most Democrats, he reminded, had already made up its mind to surrender.

Blitzer asked him to underscore, and McConnell did: September 15 is an important date for a change of course.

Blitzer asked him if he really believes that the Iraqis will meet their benchmarks before September. Mitch said that they've been disappointing so far, but that he'll look at the situation in September.

Wolf and Mitch faulted the Iraqi parliament for planning their August vacation.

Mitch pointed out that they lost fewer Republican votes on the Levin-Reed surrender amendment than they did on many others.

Wolf cut the interview off there.

Wolf went on to talk about the fireworks we might be seeing tomorrow night at some debate or the other.
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That's it. Have at it!