Mercy! Mercy! That Dang Nabed PERCY!

A Positive Spin on the Current Administration

I'm reading the new book by David E. Sanger, “Confront And Conceal.” This is the book that Marine General James Cartwright, a member of the Joint Chief’s of Staff is in such hot water over. General Cartwright, once a favorite of the President, is alleged to have leaked classified information to Sanger who included it in his book.

As I read the book I can only shake my head. This has to be the “Leakiest” administration in the history of the Republic. A “sieve” would be a generous analogy, however, “ hemorrhage” might be more accurate. As long as these leaks served the current administration’s political agenda they were treated with a blind eye and or maybe with that all-knowing wink.

That all changed after the fateful night of Benghazi. Suddenly there was a political secret that was the White House’s worst nightmare. The missing hours where the President was disengaged had to be concealed at all costs. For the White house the reason was political, however for the enablers who have helped shroud it, the motivation is perhaps a misguided notion of National Security.

Anyway, as I read Sanger’s book, it’s written in a manner that casts the current administration in a generally favorable light. This is because Sanger is as close to a “favored Insider” as a writer can be. At least this was the case before his latest book came out. In my next few blogs I will try and point out what the book says, (and doesn’t say) that the CIA, DIA and/or NSA finds so troubling. Before continuing let me say that I have no information that is not available from the sources I quote. I don’t have a particularly partisan point of view and consider myself a moderate, independent voter. I will say that I am no fan of the current president and this administration. However, I am delighted to find in Sanger’s book a sympathetic voice to those currently in power and will attempt to convey both the good and the bad. On my first read I’ll set my filters on the “Leak” issue and show some of the many forms this dragon takes as it rears its ugly head.

The first example I see is called the “Parthian Volley.” This is when a high government leader gives a bitter parting shot.

“Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, stood in front of the US Senate and delivered remarks that would have likely gotten him fired if he were not already halfway out the door… he called the Haqqani network a veritable arm of the ISI. (This is the same Adm. Mullen who gave Secretary of State Clinton a free pass on Benghazi. Haqqani: A group that existed in the netherworld between an insurgent group and a criminal cartel, and lived unmolested in Pakistani territory. ISI: Pakistani Intelligence Agency).”