Philip Mudd, he of the CIA torture imbroglio has withdrawn his name from consideration to be the top intelligence chief at the Homeland Security Department. He was being considered for the post of undersecretary of intelligence and analysis at Homeland Security.
Sometimes raising hell yields good results. Here is a good example of where holding the administration's feet to fire can lead to something good. According to the the AP, Philip Mudd, the guy who had some roles to play on EITs in the CIA during the Bush administration, has withdrawn his name from consideration to be the top intel guy at DHS. Stating that he doesn't want to be a 'distraction to the president and his vital agenda.'
What is not clear however, is whether he was asked to do this or he just read the signs in the air and figured the best thing for him is not to draw too much attention to himself. He was scheduled to appear before congress next week. I'm sure he wasn't looking forward to the grilling that's sure to come from house members regardless of his statement above.
It'll even be a lot better if it turns out people in the administration asked him to step aside. It may suggest that there is hope for future actions on prosecuting all those assholes who have tortured in our name. I'm hoping to be proved right on this. In any, case this is still welcomed news. We need to keep up the pressure, no matter how many hours of TV time the media is going to give 'The Vaders'-Dick and Liz-to continue to poison the american public. This is one fight we can't give up on!