Mr. Sandman's Sandbox

The musings of a Deaf Californian on life, politics, religion, sex, and other unmentionables. This blog is not guaranteed to lead to bon mots appropriate for dinner-table conversation; make of it what you will.

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Location: Los Angeles, California, United States

Monday, July 25, 2005

Langley Thinks It's a Big Deal

Well, I've checked over at Free Republic and a few other sites and blogs, just to see if maybe common sense triumphed over partisanship-- no such luck. It seems betraying national security isn't seen as a crime-- to hard-core right-wingers, it's just a tempest in a teapot, a big hullaboo over nothing. I'm beginning to wonder just where these people would draw the line. They're so eager to toss the word "treason" at anyone who questions any action by this administration, but get concerned, even just a little bit, over the outing of an undercover agent? Nope.

The CIA, on the other hand, is plenty mad-- or at least some of its minions, if not the top brass. As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle, quite a few agents (or to be more accurate, retired agents) aren't too pleased with how cavalierly Smirk is treating the matter. Part of that anger, I'm sure is due to the fact that it wasn't just Valerie Plame's cover that was blown, but the people that worked with her and under her (WaPo article, therefore registration-restricted).

I think to join the CIA, one has to have a certain mindset, and part of that mindset is loyalty to your country, to a degree far above and beyond the average citizen. Part of the loyalty extends to protecting and preserving the well-being of the nation and its government. So I'm not too surprised that there's anger emanating from this quarter. It's just sad that this particular "president," who I'm sure many of these now outraged men and women supported and voted for, seems to hold those values as cheaply and flimsily as possible; political considerations, personal self-interest, and expediency mean far more to Smirk and his henchmen/women than making sure the people who work for them are protected and supported.

Let's hope these former CIA folk remember all this next time there's an election, and choose to support someone who has the country's real interests at heart, not just some flim-flam talk about "honesty" and "integrity." Going back on your word about rooting out thugs in one's own administration doesn't count as "integrity" in my book.