At Spytalk, Jeff Stein writes
CIA's Madame X Waits in the Wings
“She knew her CTC work would come back to bite her, and said as much back when we were both on the 7th floor,” a former colleague says of Madame X, the undercover woman CIA Director John Brennan is considering to run the National Clandestine Service, the belfry where the spooks hang out.
“She was quite nervous when Justice was considering whether to prosecute folks involved in the interrogation program,” the colleague added. It “will be interesting to see how this plays out.”
“She’s just an excellent officer,” the colleague said. “Very savvy and extremely competent - and would be a great choice.”
The woman had "mastered several languages and served multiple tours in Moscow and other cities overseas," according to The Washington Post’s Greg Miller and Julie Tate, who sent spy tongues wagging Wednesday with their delicious insider account on the angst Brennan is said to be feeling over appointing a person to run the NCS who was “heavily involved in the interrogation program at the beginning and for the first couple of years,” according to a former senior U.S. intelligence official they quoted.
In 2005, the woman, who has held several senior CIA posts, was chief of staff when both signed the infamous order for underlings to destroy videotapes of harsh interrogations at a secret CIA detention site in Thailand. [...]
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Be sure not to miss the final day of the Social Security Defenders Blogathon Friday. Starting off the day at 11 a.m. Pacific Time will be Economist Dean Baker. You can read all the diaries so far in the series here. |
Blast from the Past. At Daily Kos on this date in 2004—GOP donors funding Nader:
We all knew this was happening...
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader is getting a little help from his friends - and from George W. Bush's friends.
Nearly 10 percent of the Nader contributors who have given him at least $250 each have a history of supporting the Republican president, national GOP candidates or the party, according to computer-assisted review of financial records by The Dallas Morning News.
Among the new crop of Nader donors: actor and former Nixon speechwriter Ben Stein, Florida frozen-food magnate Jeno Paulucci and Pennsylvania oil company executive Terrence Jacobs. All have strong ties to the GOP.
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Tweet of the Day:
Could someone PLEASE explain to my hubby that I need him to turn the water into WHITE wine? We're having FISH, for God's sake!
— @JesusWife via TweetDeck
On today's
Kagro in the Morning show,
Greg Dworkin joined the discussion of a new category of #GunFAIL: guns people claim they "forgot" they were carrying. Cold, dead hands! But also, I totally forgot I even had a gun! But some think there's no point in the TSA screening for guns at all. Also: cops having trouble finding bullets, thanks to hoarders, who in turn blame shortages on hoarding by cops, because Reality! 2nd hour: WalMart runs itself into the ground in a vicious cycle wherein the drive for bigger management bonuses depends on cutting payroll, and when short-staffing hurts sales, they compensate by... cutting payroll. Yeah. Austerity much?
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