Don't be distracted by the Goss nomination. Let Bush have him, move on

[lottie244]

When Kerry is elected he can remove him or work around him. This is just not an issue I think we can focus on now while our soldiers are being killed in both Afghanistan and Iraq and our economy is suffocating the working masses in this country. Don't let the media keep making non-issues bigger issues than they deserve to be. Focus on what is important and meaningful to the people of the US.

[Spinzonner]

1. I disagree

The idiocy of the man needs to be pointed out so that it will reflect on the lousy quality of the people Bush appoints to the most important positions in the government.

[Tellurian]

14. Let Him Have Him? ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY,--- NOT!!!!

have you lost your mind?

He'll have Goss seeking out any CIA agent not loyal to Bush and having them assassinated...

Right now, the CIA is our best bet and ticket to FREEDOM!

[Joanne98]

2. No. He's going to shred documents and shut people up.

No way. FILLIBUSTER.

[lottie244]

5. Fillibuster so the Dems can be accused of standing in the way of reform

of the CIA? That just ain't smart. It's a useless debate. Anyone who the administration controls will shred documents and shut people up. Look at what is happening right now. We need to get smarter.

[bigtree]

9. how is the appointment of a man who openly supported Tenent throughout

'reform'?

[tom_paine]

12. And so we AGAIN yield to the Busheviks out of fear...

Why does that seem to be our answer for EVERYTHING?

Goss is most likely a monster and will do HORRIBLE things once inside the CIA. He will shred, intimidate, and purge the last honest CIA agents out or reduce their power to nothing (so they'll leave).

You may be right in your assertions about "picking our battles", but I haven't seen us give battle on much of anything at all.

1933 redux, more drawn out and Amerikan Style.

Meanwhile, Goss will have three months to do some terrible things (like perhaps let the guard down for LIHOP #2)

Sorry, that's how I see it.

Sound the retreat again...

[leesa]

31. It's NOT the CIA that requires reform. Don't you get it?

That's just a ruse to blame the Bush Crime Family's actions on "intelligence failures". It's a scam and the CIA is the only group with the power to bring it out.

[Raven]

3. I agree...the hearing process can be used to point out

the idiocy and bad judgment of this administration. God willing, Goss won't be in for long. We need to pick our fights!

[Atman]

4. NO NO NO!

Kerry can not practically/politcally remove him, nor would he even try. Shortsighted "take care of it later" thinking is at the heart of the current mess Bush has gotten us into. It is time to once again start asking questions FIRST, then acting. Otherwise we might as well just line up and march ourselves to the gulags.

[lottie244]

6. Yes he can. He can re-revampt the CIA with a Dem controlled Congress

We need to get busy and make sure Kerry has one.

[BiggJawn]

8. Why can't he dump Goss?

Goodness gracious! thinking like that, could it mean we'd be stuck with Rumsferatu? Yes it could....

Goss is a Bush appointee, I don't think anyone could fault Kerry for "Cleaning House".

[bigtree]

7. The problem is that Bush will use Goss to hammer Kerry from the CIA

Goss has repeatedly echoed Bush's argument that '90's cuts in the intelligence budget are responsible for our vulnerability to terror as opposed to Bush's neglect and indifference. I expect Goss to reinforce that false view from his elevated position as nominee or CIA chief. That's four months of obfuscation. Hard to ignore, Also Goss has been a vocal supporter of every lie that the administration has concieved regarding Iraq and the war on terror. It will be valuable to take him on in the confirmation hearings to remind Americans of the bogusness of Bush's foreign policy, and the hypocricy of his recent embrace of the 9-11 commission report which Bush and Goss openly objected to at the start.

I think it is dangerous to let Bush get so much ground in the coming months with a CIA chief echoing his lies and digging up as much dirt on Kerry as he can muster from the CIA files. Better to take Goss on directly than just wish him away.

[Tellurian]

18. Good Point, Big Tree.. Goss could jeopardize Kerry's chances

of attaining the presidency and most likely Goss's level of corruption meets the standards needed by Bush to thwart Kerry's bid for the presidency.

[F.Gordon]

22. What the Ent said......like, totally agree.....

..

[kentuck]

10. Mr Goss, I want you to understand this position you are taking....

If you are confirmed, you will be replaced by President Kerry. Are you aware of this probability? Is it worth it to you to leave the Congress for this short stint? Is this something you really want to do?

[Junkdrawer]

11. Goss is just a Trojan Horse - It's Charlie Manson they really want...

I mean Goss isn't NEARLY psychopathic enough!

Strong, Courageous Leadership for Troubled Times

[wurzel]

13. Goss is a gift.

He is a poster boy for the politicization of the CIA. Bush has opened the door.

[DakotaDemocrat]

15. Two points...

1) Do not hammer Goss from the perspective of politics, treat him as part of the problem with the CIA. If they want to tout his service (which is commendable), tell the world that the "old CIA" just won't cut it anymore. Myopic viewpoints by the CIA has been a huge part of the mess in the first place. Goss is the "old CIA", we need "new CIA". If his politics aren't involved, they can't politicize it. It shouldn't be part of the argument.

2) While I somewhat agree with the original post to "let him slide", look what "letting it slide" got us - a war in Iraq. Very few Democrats questioned the President for fear of Republicans labeling them as "unpatriotic" and "treasonous". It wasn't popular to stand up and say, "Mr. President, crazy don't sell here!" until Dean got in the mix. Stand up and fight the fight...

They do not dictate who we are and what we should do! Look where it got us when they did! Argue the man on his merits and weaknesses. Stand up, be heard, this is what the hearings are about.

[Stuckinthebush]

17. Good post (EOM)

[F.Gordon]

19. Why not?

Do not hammer Goss from the perspective of politics

It's all about politics, regardless. Even breaking the issue down to a discussion of old versus new will still be used by the bush* administration. The selection of Goss was 100% political on their part. How can this game be played any other way?

And they are already dictating "who we are" in this election. bush* is framing the woor on tar debate and making the Dems come to him. It should be the other way around.

So, the Dems should just lie down and sing the praises of Goss? I don't care if he did invent the secret decoder ring and save the world from Pussy Galore, he's 100% repuke and the man has never seen a WMD report that he didn't like.

No, it's time to make a stand. If the Kerry campaign isn't strong enough to weather rejecting Goss then it probably wasn't that strong to begin with.

[DakotaDemocrat]

24. Kill them softly motivated...

We cannot bellow from the rooftops - "he's a politician, he's a politician!", like Durbin did this morning on TV. Joe Idiot just switches the channel and automatically thinks that Durbin is the one playing the politics, not Bush.

It's all about politics, regardless.

No duh, which is why you shouldn't frame it so black and white, like the right does. Be more nuanced. Kill them softly. If you come right out and automatically disagree with the choice for the sole fact that he's a republican, that isn't a good enough reason for the average citizen, who has little knowledge of the things you know about this administration.

Pull a Krugman. Be calm, collected and fact-based to argue the base points:
1) The CIA Director is important, but President Bush should give the National Intelligence Director search more priority.
2) Goss is a an old CIA guy willing to continue the old CIA ways, which hasn't worked. If you want to pull a Bush: "He was part of the CIA that made this Iraq mess and couldn't find 9-11 plots".
3) Bush gives us terror warnings, but no bin Laden.

[F.Gordon]

28. I'm in partial agreement with you....

And I don't advocate bellowing from the rooftops. Although, that's what I would do and is why no one in the Kerry campaign is returning my phone calls.
:evilgrin:

I didn't list the points I made as counters for Kerry, these are just the reasons I felt Kerry shouldn't lie down on this one.

But, even if the Dems "kill them softly" Rove will find a way to turn this around. ANY attack; soft, mild, or hot on Goss will be used in the political arena by bush*. So, if we're going to kill them, I say kill them with an anvil.

[KoKo]

20. Those are two Great Points, "Dakota." Letting it slide, got us a war in

Iraq and I will add maybe 9/11 given the incompetence of Tenant and others who allowed themselves to be co-opted by Cheney/Rumsfeld.

Goss is tied to Cheney and will continue what they already started...and then on to Iran..on to Syria...the while ME will be their oyster.

[DakotaDemocrat]

25. Heartily agree with your 9/11 assessment, KoKo01

We cannot leave Tenet out of the mix, placing Goss and Tenet as comparable may give us a good shot at eliminating Goss.

Everyone railed on Tenet because of his old CIA ways - the cold war CIA, etc. Why is Goss different? He was part of the cold war CIA, what's changed in his stripes...

[Norquist Nemesis]

16. I want to know how closely Goss is tied to Daddy

Was Goss and operative during GHWB's stint as CIA Director? There's just too much of the same handful of powerbrokers for my taste.

BTW, I read that Daddy Bush still gets daily CIA briefings. Apparently, this is an option former Presidents can exercise and he's chosen to do it since he left office. Hmmmmm.

[DaveFL99]

21. It does look like a distraction technique

[F.Gordon]

23. Do you honestly believe this?

When Kerry is elected he can remove him or work around him

Kerry isn't going to fire Goss, if approved. For the very reasons you've already mentioned, and more. Kerry will have a full plate come next January. And I'm not sure how the hell he can "work around him".

And if bush* cashes in on the deal he made with Satan and gets re-selected? What then? Now we have a CIA head that only a PNAC mother could love.

It's not a distraction, it's just a little bump in the road.

[LeftHander]

26. NO effing way....

Because if Bush is still President after Jan next year.
The world is 100% toast with this guy in the CIA...he will feed Bush all manner of crap to send us to war using nukes.

[napi21]

27. I wonder why Goss even accepted the nomination?

Even the Pubs realize this could be a 3 month job! Why would someone want to go through the anguish of the vetting process in Congress for a job that has a 50/50 chance of being temporary?

[leesa]

29. Absolutely not. The CIA has been the organization to stand up

against Bush. Goss' job will be to purge this group of agents that are loyal to America rather than Bush. His job will be to prevent the truth of 9-11 from EVER seeing the light of day.

Bush has made it very clear that this person will be answerable to himself alone.

[KCS72000]

30. I have a real bad feeling about this Goss nomination.

Listen to these sound bites from NPR. (scroll to 1:30 for quotes)

http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=3844693



"were talking about the balance between privacy on the one hand and protection from big brother government. but were also talking about the governments
responsibility to protect our people, it comes down to the choices (my staff has said to me many times) between big brother and dead brother;
and I think our first responsibility in government is to make sure we don't have any more dead brothers."
Porter Goss


I don't see any "balance" here.

Will the dems fall for Rove's trick again.
This is exactly the same MO as the appointment of extremist judges.
Some of which were stopped.

The Dems should fight against the Goss nomination even if accused of being soft on "terr-r"
Stopping the appointment of a partisan bozo is not soft on terror.
Realizing the importance of this powerful office and
taking time to find the right person is not soft on terror.
Doing the right thing is not soft on terror.

If you are asking yourself "How much damage can he (Goss) do it's only 4 months?"
Remember "How much damage can he (*bush) do its only 4 years".

Consider this worst case scenario:
*bush steals the election and we have Asscrust, Rumfilled and Gross- an axis of evil and a totalitarian government with no checks and balances.