[Bob Seger]

No biggie here, just ran across this and thought it would bring a chuckle to the someone's day.

Secret Srevice agents associated with Vice President Joe Biden bought a pile of cupcakes and cookies from the baker who refused to host Biden at his shop-and they did so out of gratitude. [more]

http://washingtonexaminer.com/secret-ser...C1jbKmPUl9

[WideRight05]

That's awesome news...obviously I have never cared for Biden but even more, it was downright sickening today to see Biden take a shot about Paul Ryan losing his dad at 16.

[Granny Bear]

I love Joe Biden. He's the only one in the entire administration that has brought laughter to me!!

See his latest remark about Romney putting us "back in chains". LOL
I mean, you can't WRITE this stuff, and it just rolls out of his mouth with no filter.

[Old School]

The sad thing is, he's only one step away from being President. But, then again look who's there now.

[RunItUpTheGut]

Biden is a jewel, thats for sure.

[Hoot Gibson]

Another day, another gaffe. nicker:

Biden: ‘I’ve known 8 presidents, 3 of them intimately’

[Granny Bear]

"known"? like...Biblical???
:Clap:

[vundy33]

He is our Vice President. These guys work directly under him. You do not publicly do something like that. Whatever happened to respect and loyalty? Just like the military, politics does not concern these guys.

No matter how much I dislike this administration, and VP Biden, I can't support going against the guy you protect with your life in a public environment like that. It's not their damn job. I just can't sell out everything I know just for a damn political argument. If these Secret Service agents said that, which I'd almost believe because alot of them are nothing but cowboys these days, then they are wrong.

It's just how it is. And those who agree with it just out of spite for the administration are also wrong in my opinion, as well.

[TheRealVille]

He is our Vice President. These guys work directly under him. You do not publicly do something like that. Whatever happened to respect and loyalty? Just like the military, politics does not concern these guys.

No matter how much I dislike this administration, and VP Biden, I can't support going against the guy you protect with your life in a public environment like that. It's not their damn job. I just can't sell out everything I know just for a damn political argument. If these Secret Service agents said that, which I'd almost believe because alot of them are nothing but cowboys these days, then they are wrong.

It's just how it is. And those who agree with it just out of spite for the administration are also wrong in my opinion, as well.

The people on this board that make fun are the reason I've turned into a yellow dog democrat.

[vundy33]

I just can't sell out, and that's the way I look at it.

Using what these Secret Service officers, who are on the Vice Presidential detail, allegedly said about the man and administration they protect as a "win" for our side in showing how widespread the disdain for this administration is just doesn't appeal to me. These guys are not civilians, they are not politicians...they do not have the rights that you and I do. Just like that Marine Staff Sgt who spoke out publicly against the administration. He wasn't permitted to do that, he knew it, and knowingly broke the rules time and time again and was punished for him.

No matter how much I agree with what that Marine and what these Secret Service officers might have said, I just can't use that against the administration, and I won't.

[Hoot Gibson]

I just can't sell out, and that's the way I look at it.

Using what these Secret Service officers, who are on the Vice Presidential detail, allegedly said about the man and administration they protect as a "win" for our side in showing how widespread the disdain for this administration is just doesn't appeal to me. These guys are not civilians, they are not politicians...they do not have the rights that you and I do. Just like that Marine Staff Sgt who spoke out publicly against the administration. He wasn't permitted to do that, he knew it, and knowingly broke the rules time and time again and was punished for him.

No matter how much I agree with what that Marine and what these Secret Service officers might have said, I just can't use that against the administration, and I won't.

I agree, Vundy. Government employees assigned to provide protection for the president, vice president, etc., need to learn how to keep their mouths shut because opening them can endanger those whom they are paid to protect.

However, I am also sick of people like Obama and his underlings leaking classified information for political gain. Every administration has leakers but the type of top secret information oozing from this administration indicates that much of it is being done systematically.

Biden and Obama might inspire more loyalty and silence among their charges if they set a better example at how one should treat classified information. Their failure to do so does not excuse members of the secret service and some elements of the military from making unacceptable public comments, but it is an explanation of why Biden and Obama are not more respected by many of their subordinates. People are not born with leadership skills, they must be developed through practice.

[vundy33]

I agree, the leaks are starting to get ridiculous. Actually, it's been that way for a while. Quite a few of this admin's decisions seem Nixon-esque, in terms of just not giving a shit about the law.

On another note, for some reason this reminded me of it, but you all really need to get on Netflix and watch "The Man Nobody Knew". It's about former CIA Director William Colby, a documentary narrated by his son. He disappeared in 1996 when he went canoeing in the ocean, and his body washed up 9 days later. He was a vet of WWII, and one of the best CIA officer's we've ever had. His son interviews several former and active high-ranking CIA, military officials and diplomats. Lol, don't know why I was reminded of it, but watch it, it's great. I was really surprised.

[Hoot Gibson]

I agree, the leaks are starting to get ridiculous. Actually, it's been that way for a while. Quite a few of this admin's decisions seem Nixon-esque, in terms of just not giving a shit about the law.

On another note, for some reason this reminded me of it, but you all really need to get on Netflix and watch "The Man Nobody Knew". It's about former CIA Director William Colby, a documentary narrated by his son. He disappeared in 1996 when he went canoeing in the ocean, and his body washed up 9 days later. He was a vet of WWII, and one of the best CIA officer's we've ever had. His son interviews several former and active high-ranking CIA, military officials and diplomats. Lol, don't know why I was reminded of it, but watch it, it's great. I was really surprised.

It seems like the leaks during this campaign have had the goal of making Obama look tough or competent. In previous administrations, including the Clinton and Bush administrations, it seemed like most leaking was done by whistle blowers trying to embarrass the president.

The source of all leaks should be investigated and dealt with, but I find deliberate leaks by the top ranks of the administration more disturbing. There does not seem to be much curiosity on Obama's part to find and punish the leakers. Contrast his approach to the process that resulted in Scooter Libby being sent to prison for attempting to cover-up the leak of Valerie Plame Wilson's name as a CIA operative (she was a DC desk jockey), when Libby did not have knowledge or involvement in the actual leak.

The leaker was identified as a member of Colin Powell's staff early in the investigation and Libby was sentenced to prison (Bush commuted that part of the sentence the following month), 400 hours of community service, fined $250,000, and disbarred for subsequently misleading the special prosecutor when he did not even know who leaked the information. Scooter Libby received a much stiffer sentence that Bill Clinton did for lying during a sworn deposition in the presence of a federal judge. Both received much stiffer sentences than the leaker(s) of pro-Obama classified secrets will likely ever get.

[vundy33]

Valerie Plame was not a DC desk jockey...

[Hoot Gibson]

Valerie Plame was not a DC desk jockey...

She was based at Langley and not working covertly when career diplomat, Richard Armitage revealed her name to Robert Novak. Nobody was charged with a crime for leaking the name of a covert agent because no crime was committed. Special Counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald, knew that Armitage was the leaker before he even began the investigation.

Libby was snared and $2.58 million of taxpayer money was spent investigating a leak when the source and circumstances of the leak were already known. Bush should have issued Libby a full pardon when he left office. He suffered far more punishment than Bill Clinton and Clinton lied to deny a fellow American the right to a fair trial and save his own skin.

There is no excuse for Obama not to have already named a special counsel to investigate the many leaks of classified information that have actually endangered the lives of CIA operatives, our military, and confidential informants around the world. The Plame leak was apparently unintentional and endangered no lives, yet it was a major scandal. What should be a major scandal is being swept under the rug and nobody in the media or Democratic Party seems to mind.

As Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, should be demanding some answers herself. So should our Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta. They are not looking out for their own people.

[vundy33]

A desk jockey doesn't work in counter-proliferation in the field, or need a cover at any time in their careers. Her work with the CIA was classified at the time of the leak.

[vundy33]

I do agree that these leaks should be a much, much bigger deal than it is though.

However, I don't agree that Secretary Clinton and Secretary Panetta "aren't looking out for their own people". There's only so much you can do when disagreeing or going after the President of the United States of America for illegal activity, lol. I really think that personally, Secretary Clinton doesn't like the President very much, and doesn't agree with him on quite a bit.

[Hoot Gibson]

A desk jockey doesn't work in counter-proliferation in the field, or need a cover at any time in their careers. Her work with the CIA was classified at the time of the leak.

Armitage did not intentionally "out" Plame, which is why Fitzgerald did not charge him with a crime. Fitzgerald deliberately kept the name of the leaker secret while he "investigated" the source of a leak that he already knew. He wasted more than $2 million entrapping Scooter Libby for a crime that would not have occurred had he simply ended the investigation and announced his findings. Fitzgerald ordered Armitage not to disclose that he was the leaker while Fitzgerald continued his political witch hunt. IMO, Powell should have and could have ended the investigation before it began.

One of Bush's worst mistakes was hiring Colin Powell as Secretary of State. Powell's endorsement of Obama in the 2008 election just added an exclamation point to that fact.

[INDENT]

[COLOR="Blue"]Plame Out
The ridiculous end to the scandal that distracted Washington.
By Christopher Hitchen

I had a feeling that I might slightly regret the title ("Case Closed") of my July 25 column on the Niger uranium story. I have now presented thousands of words of evidence and argument to the effect that, yes, the Saddam Hussein regime did send an important Iraqi nuclear diplomat to Niger in early 1999. And I have not so far received any rebuttal from any source on this crucial point of contention. But there was always another layer to the Joseph Wilson fantasy. Easy enough as it was to prove that he had completely missed the West African evidence that was staring him in the face, there remained the charge that his nonreport on a real threat had led to a government-sponsored vendetta against him and his wife, Valerie Plame.

In his July 12 column in the Washington Post, Robert Novak had already partly exposed this paranoid myth by stating plainly that nobody had leaked anything, or outed anyone, to him. On the contrary, it was he who approached sources within the administration and the CIA and not the other way around. But now we have the final word on who diddisclose the name and occupation of Valerie Plame, and it turns out to be someone whose opposition to the Bush policy in Iraq has—like Robert Novak's—long been a byword in Washington. It is particularly satisfying that this admission comes from two of the journalists—Michael Isikoff and David Corn—who did the most to get the story wrong in the first place and the most to keep it going long beyond the span of its natural life.

As most of us have long suspected, the man who told Novak about Valerie Plame was Richard Armitage, Colin Powell's deputy at the State Department and, with his boss, an assiduous underminer of the president's war policy. (His and Powell's—and George Tenet's—fingerprints are all over Bob Woodward's "insider" accounts of post-9/11 policy planning, which helps clear up another nonmystery: Woodward's revelation several months ago that he had known all along about the Wilson-Plame connection and considered it to be no big deal.) The Isikoff-Corn book, which is amusingly titled Hubris, solves this impossible problem of its authors' original "theory" by restating it in a passive voice:

The disclosures about Armitage, gleaned from interviews with colleagues, friends and lawyers directly involved in the case, underscore one of the ironies of the Plame investigation: that the initial leak, seized on by administration critics as evidence of how far the White House was willing to go to smear an opponent, came from a man who had no apparent intention of harming anyone.
[/COLOR]

[/INDENT]