A Finger in the Dike

It's a good thing, as Martha would say. The CIA agent, Mary McCarthy, responsible for leaking classified info to the New York Times reporter, Dana Priest, winner of the Pulitizer Prize for the leaked story, is now unemployed and facing future criminal charges. It is about time. She should go away for a very, very long time.

The office of the Inspector General is investigating several more leaks. McCarthy failed more than one polygraph test and confessed to her crime. The operational details about CIA run secret prisons in Europe to obtain info from suspected terriorist captured on the battlefield was too good of a story to keep classified, I suppose. She signed a document swearing to uphold the confidentiality of classifed info, just as every other employee of the CIA does, yet she felt her personal opinion concerning President Bush and the war on terror overrode any such professional ethics. So, she has been terminated for violating a secrecy agreement and is potentially facing future charges. An inflated sense of personal importance torpedoed a 22 year career.

Apparently the rights of terrorists are more important than the security of her own country or the troops that are defending her priviledged lifestyle. McCarthy has previously defended the likes of Sandy Berger, the one caught stuffing classified memos into his pants before testifying before the 911 commission and Richard Clarke, the former State Department aide who had a hissy fit that his opinions were not put into policy and wrote the tell-all whining book touted by the likes of CBS news.

Intense hatred of all things Bush and his view of the world have produced an abundance of deranged actions from overgrown egos masquerading as patriots. Our ability to carry out missions for intelligence has been severely compromised and this is deadly for the troops. The intelligence community was down to bare bones over the course of the two terms of Clinton due to his contempt of the military and the intelligence community and it is taking a long time to bring it to the level needed to fight the world wide war on terrorism. Those without the ability to see the big picture or understand the importance of taking the fight to the enemy just don't get it. After 5 years it is a shame.

I watched Part 1 of HBO's "Elizabeth I" and it was good. If you are a fellow Anglophile you will want to check it out.

Also last night I watched FNC's story by Greta van Sustern about the Jill Behrman disappearance and murder in Bloomington, Indiana in 2000. I had heard about the story from my MIL who still lives there. Hubby is a native Hoosier, born and raised in Bloomington. It is interesting to see the story play out now.

So, I guess we can write off New Orleans for the foreseeable future. Ray Nagin and Mitch Landrieu are in a run-off, just as most predicted. It's too bad that the mayor will win re-election and the whole mess will continue. No new ideas, no big motivation to honor the people of New Orleans with a city that is re-built better than ever. It's a shame the folks in New Orleans haven't followed the example of those on the Mississippi Gulf coast or the people on the west coast of Louisiana and the east coast of Texas devastated by Hurricane Rita. They had leaders encouraging them to do for themselves as much as possible until more federal and state help could come. It's a whole different mindset that produces success and personal freedom.

Looks like the new computer will arrive Tuesday, according to the tracking info thru the website. Hubby and son are busy clearing out space for it in the room dedicated to computer work and other things technical. The old one will remain and be used, too.

Go on over to Basil's Blog and check out my interview. The site is www.basilsblog.net. It was fun and son helped me out with the technical question I had for submission of answers. That boy comes in handy.

Hubby is home and he got to attend a crawfish boil while in southern Louisiana with some work collegues. Lucky him. We used to love laying out newspaper on the picnic table on the deck and stuffing ourselves with crawfish in Lafayette. Pinching tail and sucking head. Doesn't get any better than that. A little zydeco music in the background and some cold beer (or root beer) and you have a party.

"This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it." - Psalms

The above is my favorite bible verse. I try to say it to myself, and sometimes to son, every day.