That was Then

From this Maguire post here's an interesting back and forth between the CIA director nominee John O. Brennan and the Washington Times editorial board several years ago regarding terrorism and jihad..  Mr. Brennan had taken umbrage at how a speech of his had been described. 



Such ideology should appeal to liberals but that wasn't the case four years ago, when Mr. Brennan's presumed involvement with Cheney's dark side black sites forced him to withdraw from the same nomination.  Now four years later he's an action figure likely to rattle a few GOP cages so all is good. Time and election victories heal all wounds, as they say. 

One has to also wonder if Mr. Brennan has been cleared by the two US Attorneys working diligently to discover who leaked classified intel about Yemen and Iran to the Times and AP.  We haven't heard much about this important investigation of late, probably because no independent prosecutor was named.  Or maybe because the outed spy was probably a brown Arab guy and not a Democrat-leaning platinum blond spy.  Scott Shane of the Times mentions this dead letter in his recent explanatory piece about convicted CIA leaker John Kiriakou:

An outcry over a series of revelations last year — about American cyberattacks on Iran, a double agent who infiltrated the Qaeda branch in Yemen and procedures for targeted killings — prompted Mr. Holder to begin new leak investigations that have not yet produced any charges.

No charges yet?  Shocking.  

Then there's this.

Anywho, as we sail into 2013 on a cozy wave of Bush era anti-terror policies--wrapped in a new era where all previous constitutional violations are now considered inconsequential due to a change of command (and don't worry about a unitary executive anymore)--the selections of Mr. Hagel and Mr. Brennan almost appear more designed to meet a political need than fill positions.  The president seems intent on poking a finger in the eye of his real enemy--the real terrorists--Republicans.

After all, what better way than to use a few against them on a national stage just as Zero Dark Thirty morphs into the KSM trial and people are reminded once again about Bush and the dark side.  The president doesn't 'torture' AQ suspects anymore, even when they run wildly across the desert before getting blown away in extra-judicial drone strikes.  AQ is on the ropes, except in Africa, where they must be swinging on vines or something. 

All of which could make a Benghazi hearing featuring Hillary seem rather mundane by comparison, especially as a bunch of old white Senators second guess a poor, sick woman who has given her all for America while agreeing to implement every one of the recommendations her internal accountability review board found, most of which resulted in the firings resignations transfers discipline extended vacation something of four mid-level staffers. Happy new year, all is well..