Breaking: Chas Freeman withdraws name from NIC appointment
The Hill reports on the good news:
Rebuttals to the “Chas Freeman is a realist” arguments
Over the last few weeks, an intense debate has developed in (mainly) punditocracy and blogosphere circles over the Obama administration’s choice of Chas Freeman as head of the NIC. This pick was atrocious for a number of reasons discussed here. Unsurprisingly, it was reported last week that the vetting process did not happen on Chas Freeman until after he had been offered and accepted the position and after it was announced publicly by Dennis C. Blair, the director of national intelligence. Blair had – according to his spokeswoman – not notified the Obama administration before he made the announcement of the selection of Freeman, which implies that the Obama administration would have had him more thoroughly vetted had they known of his selection – and we know how thorough the “vetting” process is for Obama admin picks, right?
Two different Presidents, two different reactions
Take a look at this video, which contrasts how the Marines reacted to President Bush on a visit a couple of years ago to Anbar versus how they did with Obama recently when he visited Camp Lejune to announce withdrawal plans:
Another Obama pick gets vetted after the fact
I wrote last week about Chas Freeman, Obama’s atrocious pick for NIC head – a position which doesn’t require Senate confirmation. The pick was so bad that there are even loyal liberals like Marty Peretz and Jon Chait have expressed their strong disagreements with Obama’s choice.
When will Obama thank Bush? When will Obama admit he was wrong about the surge?
Why thank Bush? For authorizing the surge plan – you know, the one President Obama opposed as a junior Senator and still opposed as a candidate for president (even after it was blatantly evident that the violence and killings had dramatically decreased) – that eventually helped the security situation in Iraq stabilize and the political reconciliation process begin to take place to the point that the Commander in Chief after him could put in place a realistic withdrawal plan, approved by top military brass as well as supported by top Republicans, that would allow our troops an honorable exit from Iraq within 19 months with a certain number of forces sticking around just in case?
Obama’s atrocious pick for National Intelligence Council
If you thought some of Barry Oh!’s other cabinet/admin picks were problematic, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Make sure to read Moonbattery’s full post on Chas Freeman, and then get back with me and let me know if you can figure out what the hell Team Obama was smoking when they (and he) made the decision to pick this anti-Semitic anti-democracy anti-American weasel to head the NIC.