Tom Ridge said that he was pressured into doing terror alerts?

[southernleftylady]

i heard this somewhere.. did he come out somewhere saying this yesturday?? thanks

[YEM]

1. Yes. And I'm not surprised. More lies from the administration.

Ridge reveals clashes on alerts
Says threat level often raised over his protest

By Mimi Hall
USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though then-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge argued there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level, Ridge now says.

Ridge, who resigned Feb. 1, said Tuesday that he often disagreed with administration officials who wanted to elevate the threat level to orange, or “high” risk of terrorist attack, but was overruled.

His comments at a Washington forum describe spirited debates over terrorist intelligence and provide rare insight into the inner workings of the nation's homeland security apparatus.

Ridge said he wanted to “debunk the myth” that his agency was responsible for repeatedly raising the alert under a color-coded system he unveiled in 2002.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

[Jo March]

3. Do you have the link to that story?

Wow! We knew it all along but damn! To have Ridge come out and say it!

No wonder he quit.

I hope all of the rats who deserted the sinking ship start to talk.

[southernleftylady]

9. here is a link..

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20050...

[Jo March]

14. Thank you! nt

[mopaul]

4. i don't think tom was abused here, he is in on the nazi plan too

but i do believe him.

[hatrack]

5. Yes, yes, he was the "lone voice of reason" within ChimpCo

Yeah, whatever, Tom - just pick up your rubber chicken circuit checks and your lobbying salary and SHUT THE FUCK UP.

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. Rove using our national security system to score points with the voters

Unbelievable. Isn't that similar to crying "fire!" in a crowded theater?

[ProfessorGAC]

16. Another Sock Puppet Heard From

Then why didn't he go public and say, "Well, i didn't approve the increased alert, so really there's nothing to worry about."?

He got the job because he was an empty suit who would follow orders and now he's "mea culpa-ing" out of shame. Well Mr. Empty Suit, one can only be ashamed of actions taken willfully.

He's a slut.
The Professor

[Moderator]

18. YEM

Per DU copyright rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source
and provide a link to
the news source.


Thank you.


DU Moderator

[annabanana]

25. What I want to know is....WHO!

"There were times when some people were really aggressive about raising it, and we said, ‘For that?' ”

"Some" people... C'mon Tommy.. drop the other goddam shoe!!

[sinkingfeeling]

30. Here's a clue as to who it might have been:

"The level is raised if a majority on the President's Homeland Security Advisory Council favors it and President Bush concurs. Among those on the council with Ridge were Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI chief Robert Mueller, CIA director George Tenet, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell." -
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20050...

[MADem]

2. That would not be a surprising admission

Every time he foot-dragged to the podium to play "Color by Numbers" he always had this look on his face, a cross between constipation and a strong desire to fart, but not knowing how bad it will smell or if his work product would be a bit wet or loud.

He had that "gun to his head" look every time he did a presser. He looks much more relaxed since he was "freed."

[KlatooBNikto]

7. There were three people on this administration who had a pained

look when spouting sanctioned lies: Paul O'Neill,Christie Whitman and Tom Ridge.That tells me that decent people like them did it believing they were serving the country only to find to their dismay that they were collaborating with evil.

[MADem]

29. Don't forget Colin Powell

He got on the phone to half the Senate about BOLTON after he got fed a load a'shit to deliver to the UN. They say he is still bullshit about that!!

[spooked911]

6. Whoa, if verified, that could be big: proof that the administration was

playing games with national security.

At some point, all this stuff has to sink in to the media and the public.

[mopaul]

8. so, we're all being played for chumps huh?

i knew it all along. and there ain't so santa claus either

[KlatooBNikto]

10. Should we all start playing connect the dots? If the terror alerts were

faked, could Al-Qaeda have been a fake,could Bin Laden have been a fake and could the entire 9/11 story have been a fake?Curious minds want to know.

[mopaul]

11. could the president himself be a fake?

fake news, fake reporters, fake war, fake wmd's, fake foreign policy.

the whole fucking system is a hoax.

[KlatooBNikto]

17. The short answer to you is Yes. Remember he was not elected.

Al Gore was.

[spooked911]

21. Abso-fucking-lutely

[BlueEyedSon]

12. Yes, yes and yes.

[FreedomAngel82]

34. With recent events

hopefully it's starting to happen.

[rwork]

15. Jon Stewert

asked him if the terror alerts were political.He lied and said no.

[peacebaby3]

20. I saw that too and it was an emphatic NO. n/t

[Mika]

19. As per Frank Luntz

[EvolveOrConvolve]

22. Isn't that technically treason?

To put a political battle in front of national security?

[mopaul]

24. technically yes, but let's not get all hung up on laws and rules etc.

treason only occurs under democratic presidents

[EvolveOrConvolve]

33. Oh yea, I forgot that rule

If a president gets a blow job in the oval office, it's treason. If a gay hooker is given unprecedented access to the White House, us evil liberals are at fault because we're persecuting homosexuals. If the White House manipulates terror alerts for political purposes, possible putting the country at more risk, it's probably our fault. If a Republican slaughters tens of thousands of innocents in a war based on lies, manipulations, and machinations, its considered patriotic. God, honor, and country, and all that bullshit.

The story about the little boy that cried wolf comes to mind...

[MaineYooper]

23. can someone dig up the plot of * approval ratings along with alert timing?

That would go very nicely with this article.

Put the two together-

(1) Ridge now admits "pressure" from the administration on issuing terror alerts,
(2) Terror alerts tended to miraculous occur when *'s approval rating dipped precipitously low

What a lying bunch of weasels

[NCMojo]

31. This may help...

[yellowcanine]

26. Funny how in the "bright light of day" when he is no longer the secretary,

Ridge suddenly develops an acute case of candoritis. Is a book involved?

[gratuitous]

27. Yeah, exactly

Gee Mr. Ridge, thanks so much for doing your public service duty, which you apparently perceived to extend only so far as to ask "How high?" whenever one of the political commissars said "Jump, frog!"

Pissant little ethically-challenged mutant.

[radwriter0555]

28. Ridge is forever OWNED by the bush regime for his cover up of the PA crash

site from 911.

That's why he got the gig.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

32. When the Bushistas are out of power -there will be more people coming out.

and we will all be vindicated. I do think that the people with a conscience will "come out."

The question is - how long will this take to happen...

[paineinthearse]

35. See "Bush Administration Manipulated Terror Alerts"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

It has 7 votes on the "greatest" page.