Berger: Incident was Honest Mistake

[yardwork]

I hate to even post this in LBN, because even though the article is brand-new, it's just more hysterical flailing of a dead issue by the WH directed press.

However, I think it worth noting the truly over-the-top comments from our "esteemed" leaders of the House and Senate. Unbelievable. Somebody get the rabies vaccine.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040721/ap_on_el_pr/sept_11_berger_probe&cid=694&ncid=716

WASHINGTON - Former national security adviser Sandy Berger says he regrets the way he handled classified terrorism documents, calling the whole thing "an honest mistake."

snip

"What information could be so embarrassing that a man with decades of experience in handling classified documents would risk being caught pilfering our nation's most sensitive secrets?" House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., said. "Mr. Berger has a lot of explaining to do."

snip

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, told reporters the case was about theft and questioned a statement by Berger issued Monday attributing the removal of the documents and notes to sloppiness.

"I think it's gravely, gravely serious what he did, if he did it. It could be a national security crisis," DeLay said.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. Where was the outrage when a counter terrorism specialist was outed

you vaccuous gasbag, Delay?

[David Zephyr]

17. But How Do You Really Feel?

:hi:

[sandnsea]

2. national security crisis

That's a hoot.

Something big is coming. Plame Indictments or that 9/11 report is not good.

[Dogmudgeon]

3. Plifering our nation's most sensitive secrets?

I though Sandy Berger was accused of retaining copies of those documents.

Yes, it could indeed be a national security crisis, as Tom DeLay said. If anything Berger copied reflects badly on Team Bush, then we'll have to have another terrah attack right away.

--bkl

[shockingelk]

9. Hassart could be on to something actually

"What information could be so embarrassing that a man with decades of experience in handling classified documents would risk being caught pilfering our nation's most sensitive secrets?" House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill

"Embarassing information?" How about a PDB or two to Bush stating the veracity of Hussein Kamel's 1995 claim that he ordered and carried out unilateral destruction of all proscribed materials ... and that Iraq had not restarted proscribed activities. Maybe another one with a rundown of how much money could be made off of occupying Iraq. Now that would indeed be embarrassing! And face it, Berger would come out a hero if he took such a "risk" to force release of the information. And if his intention was to create a media frenzy about it, he sure succeeded.

There actually is a little bit of reason to believe Berger took documents unrelated to the 9/11 Commission's work - I posted this in GD:

Berger stated that he didn't return "a few" documents, "When I was informed by the archives that there were documents missing, I immediately returned everything I had, except for a few documents that I apparently had accidentally discarded." (LA Times). I assume when he said "documents" he wasn't referring to his handwritten notes.

An anonymous 9/11 Commission panel member says Berger didn't have access to anything there weren't copies of,
''None of our work is affected in any way," said the panel member, who spoke on condition of anonymity. ''We have many copies of it. He did not have access to anything that wasn't in duplicate. It can't have been to deprive us of information." (Boston Globe)

Yet there are reports archive staff report one document still missing,
Archives officials have also told investigators that one document is still missing -- an analysis of the effectiveness of counterterrorism efforts against threats tied to the turn of the Millennium. (CNN) (but that could mean a copy of a document was still missing)

So Berger says there are "a few" documents he discarded, a 9/11 commission member says they have copies of everything Berger saw, yet the archives say one document is missing.

The only way all three of these reports cited above can be true is if Berger took documents not related to the 9/11 Commission's work.

My little conspiracy theory :tinfoilhat:

[rooboy]

4. Good to see Hastert and DeLay putting themselves back in the limelight...

because as I recall, they have "a lot of explaining to do" as well.

[stevielizard]

5. I do hate these sanctimonious MFs

but they're playing the game. One would never know that this whole event took place last fall unless one checked out sites like this one. The whole ordeal (which I suspect is not a stuffing-shit-in-his-socks coverup) sounds like an urgent new bulletin- and it takes a bit of poking around to see that that's not the case.

Anyway, were the tables turned, I would want to see our guys saying basically the same thing.

[burrowowl]

7. MCs

is the word du jour!

[stevielizard]

8. MC's- I stand corrected

I like that, except it makes me picture that particular MC in a hip-hop way- wearing a Flava-Flav outfit and snarling with the shiny teeth- thanks for the NIGHTMARE Mr. or Ms. CCC

[izzie]

6. Now who will blow up about the missing disks? NM labs?

This goes on all the time and the other side always jumps on it.They were crazy when the disks were gone when Clinton was Pres. so lets see what they do about it when Bush is in.Bush has made all his papers and fathers off the line for reporters and that is as bad as walking off with a few papers, but where in the story on that? We are in the season to get each other for sure.

[Democat]

10. Democrats should be attacking with all Bush scandals right now

Plame, DeLay fundraising, Bush WMD lies, Enron, Hacking, Energy Task Force - nothing should be left unsaid.

If the Republicans want war, let's go to war!

[bklyncowgirl]

11. Absolutely--let's take one of their guys down! n/t

[mom cat]

12. What Berger did is nothing comparred to the outing of Valarie

Plame, the waging on an illegal war, the dirty dealing by the republicrooks, etc. :puke:

[fjc]

13. David Gergen put this all into perspective on CNN last night.

He said that it's all nothing more than election year politics, and that Berger is guilty of nothing more than a technical violation of the rules of the National Archive. He did not break the law and there absolutely was no breach of national security. He said that Sandy Berger is a national hero for thwarting the planned millenium attack and should be regarded as such.

[David Zephyr]

14. Tom Delay Gave Himself Way Too Many "Pesticide Enemas" in the 1970's.

Yes, David Zephyr now has this from the best of sources that Congressman Tom Delay, famous for his swinging hot tub parties down in Houston in the 1970's when he co-owned a crooked bug spray company, is now in the late stages of a mentally debilitating disease known within medical circles as SFB.

It turns out that Mr. Delay was particularly fond of pleasuring himself with Pesticide Enemas while ran his cockroach-killing business. Indeed, one of Delay's swinging partners from that time, who must remain anonymous, has told me, "Tom's addictive affair with those pesticide enemas ruined our hot tub parties. I mean, there was just no one in all of Sugarland who'd even want to get into a spa with Tom after he'd had pumped all of those stinking chemicals up his butt!"

Unfortunately, those chemical toxins have now long damaged the neurons within Delay's brain resulting in his outrageous behavior and bizarre comments.

Further, another well-placed source within the UCLA Medical School has confirmed that the institution has quietly requested Tom Delay's corpse upon his demise in order to study just how the pesticides were able to move so quickly through his central nervous system directly to his brain.

In fact, this astonishing rectal and cerebral relationship, which seems especially unique to Congressman Delay, is currently a very hot topic among leading scientists and physicians around the globe. It should be pointed out that this condition, SFB, or Shit for Brains, is thought to be a rare disorder at this time and poses no threat to the general public.

[Ravy]

15. Does anyone know?

Why would the people in control of the docuemnts WATCH him take these out of the building if national secuirty was at stake?

Did they lose their jobs?

Something isn't right on the face of this.

[JayS]

19. NPR said something to the effect of the documents being...

...numbered and that was how this was discovered. I was on the phone while listening to this so don't put too much stock in my post.

[Ravy]

20. Here is what the initial AP story said...

"The FBI searches of Berger's home and office occurred after National Archives employees told agents they believed they witnessed Berger place documents in his clothing while reviewing sensitive Clinton administration papers and that some documents were then noticed missing, officials said."


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/ap/20040720/ap_on_re_us/sept__11_berger_probe

Something doesn't smell right.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

21. You're correct...Berger has done nothing wrong.

[JayS]

22. I wonder how many different versions of this story are out there. n/t

n/t

[bobthedrummer]

16. By all means let's investigate all breaches of security and crimes

STARTING WITH THE US CHILD-RAPISTS, MURDERERS AND TORTURERS EMPLOYED BY THE ADMINISTRATION OF GEORGE W. BUSH aka THE WAR PRESIDENT:grr:

[monchie]

18. A Capsule Explanation of the Sandy Berger brouhaha:

The Sandy Berger thing is very easy to understand. It’s just a common modus operandi of the GOP Smear Machine.

First, you take a minor snafu or mistake committed by a Democrat, or maybe even something that’s been standard operating procedure for both parties for decades. Then you season it heavily with exaggerations, misrepresentations, and distortions, and cover it...uh...liberally with steaming, sneering innuendo. Finally, you top it off with maybe an outright lie or two -- in this case the socks-stuffing bit. And voila! You got yourself another sleazy pseudo-scandal manufactured by the GOP Smear Machine!

Think Whitewater-gate.

Think Filegate.

Think Travelgate.

Think Haircutgate.

Think Chinagate.

Think Campaign Finance-gate.

Think Marc Rich Pardongate.

Think White House Trashing-gate.

Etc., Etc.

The essential emptiness of all these pseudo-scandals goes a long way toward explaining why the GOP was reduced to going after President Clinton for lies about something that was none of our damn business in the first place.

[bbmykel]

23. Your analysis is right on

But I think it's wrong to dismiss this incident as not being very damaging. Many people "believe" each of the pseudo-scandals you listed above--though probably most could not name any relevant facts about them.

The Dems need to figure out how to counter this crap effectively which is very difficult givent he GOP stranglehold on the media echo machine.

[msmcghee]

24. There is a lot of truth in what you say.

Especially the first paragraph.

As far as the dems figuring out how to counter it, what makes you think there is any possibility of that happening.

The reason that many people "believe" the pseudo-scandals is because they fit perfectly into a world-view that the pukes have been inserting into the minds of Americans for 30 years now. It is an ideological (anti-logical) religious type of world-view that is held very strongly against all evidence to the contrary.

I once challenged a winger by taking them step-by-step through all the actual evidence in the "filegate" pseudo-scandal. After I had carefully acquitted the Clinton administration of every possible misdeed thrown at them by the pukes, and proven the impossibility of the charges, this person said, "Well, maybe there is no evidence, but I still think they're guilty because otherwise, why would the Republicans raise such a stink about it? And maybe the Clintons were just good at destroying the evidence."

So that's what we're up against. You don't change irrational, zealously held world-views like that, easily. It will probably take at least thirty years of smart marketing by the left to do so if we started today - and we haven't. The RW echo machine is what created that world-view in their minds and feeds it daily. But people do not drop such world-views because they see some evidence to the contrary.

Any shifting toward the left going on out there now is only because the neo-cons are so outrageously overstepping the limits of acceptable behavior in so many different areas that some puke voters may be willing to kick this particular RW administration out.

If we actually win in November it won't be because the American people in the middle and on the right are suddenly coming to believe in our liberal values. It would be a big mistake to believe otherwise.