Ace of Spades HQ

« ISM Jobs Report: *tuk tuk tuk tuk* | Main | Report: Hussein Used Same Money-Launderers as Osama Bin Ladin »

June 03, 2004

Tenet's Out; Rudy Can't Fail?

Conservatives have been calling for his head for years.

I've never been on that bandwagon, for several reasons. For one, I doubt that simply sacking the boss will actually change the nature of a huge institution. And the CIA's failures, while of course partly due to Tenet, are mainly due to institutional problems and, frankly, everyone working there. When an NFL team performs poorly, sure, the coach gets sacked more often than not; but let's face it, the coach may be important, but player performance has something to do with losing too.

Another reason I was never super big on firing Tenet: I assumed Bush had reasons for keeping him on. Obviously, Bush no longer has the same level of trust in Tenet now (hence the sacking), so I guess I'm happy to see him go.

I'm curious as to the reasons for this. Not as curious as the lefty bloggers like Joshua Micah Marshall, who are undoubtedly writing novel-length conspiracy theories linking the sacking to Valerie Plame.

Tenet was, I think, a weak director. I think the CIA is a very politicized institution, and I think Tenet wasn't strong enough to push back against the Clintonistas who, for example, claim with an evangelist's passion that there was "no connection" between Saddam and Al Qaeda, despite the mountain of evidence proving beyond any doubt that there was, at the very least, some "connection."

So I'm looking for a strong director, one with credibility with the public, one with popularity with the public, a man with the balls to reform the Agency, a man who's tough enough to tell the Clintonistas that we're going to have a dispassionate analysis about The Connection whether they like it or not.

In other words, I'm looking for Rudy Guiliani.

I don't think this is necessarily a pipe dream. While Rudy has been upfront about his desire to make a pile of money, he undoubtedly also wants to serve America in the fight against terrorism. And DCI isn't some minor posting. He could walk in and take command of an incredibly important institution and change it for the better.

It would be like being Mayor of a Shadow City. And we know Rudy likes being Mayor.

And we all know Rudy wants to be President. And we all know his liberal social positions are a near bar to his getting the nomination from the Republican Party.

He needs to do something big -- something even bigger than his steadfast performance on 9-11 -- to overcome the conservative hesitancy about him.

Becoming a major player in the war on terror and reforming yet another unreformable, sprawling mess could certainly be that "something big."

posted by Ace at 03:32 PM

Comments

Yeah, the libs are all donning their tinfoil hats on this one. Here's a comment from another website I look at:

"I was wondering the same thing...my husband and I were discussing this, and I really don't think that Bush would have chosen for Tenet to leave, and especially not now. Perhaps Tenet has just had a snootful of being the fall guy, and he's tired of Bush's "I-Can-Do-No-Wrong-Because-I-Can-Blame-Everything-On-Someone-Else-Philosophy"?!?! I hope and pray that Tenet has a tell-all book already written that can hit the stands right about the middle of October... **rubbing hands gleefully** If anyone knows where the bodies are buried, it's Tenet!"

Rudy would be an interesting choice. For some reason, I'm picturing Mr. Burns rubbing his hands together, saying, "Excellent."

Posted by: Scout on June 3, 2004 04:02 PM

Just to clarify that wasn't MY nutty comment I was quoting. It was made by a far-far-FAR-leftist.

Posted by: Scout on June 3, 2004 04:03 PM

Rudy certainly seems to be the most popular candidate in the blogosphere for what Cori Dauber calls "body's not cold award", and, being a New Yorker, he's got my vote. And those who like the idea of Rudy as DCI do so for the same reason you do Ace: Balls. Big ones.

As far as who will become the permanent DCI, I guess it all comes down to the outsider/insider issue and George Bush winning the election. I can't see the Bush Administration seeking confirmation this close to the election.

Unless, of course, the the President's choice for DCI is a slam-dunk.

Posted by: Robert on June 3, 2004 04:15 PM

But I think Rudy would be a slam-dunk. How many Democrats would have the cojones to vote against him?

They'd risk tipping off the public that they are nothing but partisans whose chief interest is not in protecting America but rather in weakening Bush.

If a highly-competent, popular, credible man agrees to take such a difficult job, you say Thank You. You don't attempt to derail his appointment.

Unless you're not particularly interested in having a highly-competent, popular, and credible man in the post.

Posted by: ace on June 3, 2004 04:38 PM

Ace, great call on Rudy. He would be a total ball-buster choice.

Posted by: David on June 3, 2004 04:58 PM

Who'd risk tipping off the public, ace? It's been my experience that the fringe -- on EITHER side of the political spectrum -- are the most vocal. I can't *envision* it, but I guess there *might* be a semi-conservative Democrat who might have some Maalox moments when thinking about this issue, but the radical lefties that I see around here don't give a rat's ass about what my conservative honkiness thinks.

BTW, I'm going to be sorely disappointed if Rudy's not nominated, now. I think he'd be perfect.

Posted by: Emma on June 3, 2004 05:35 PM

I've always thought the main problem with getting Rudy into politics again was the lack of an appropriate venue for him. He is a large fish. He requires a large fishbowl.

I always sort of doubted that he'd run for Senator, because being a Senator is a big step down from being the executive of the largest metropolis in America.

Vice President is bullshit, too. Cheney's made the post a powerful one, but there's no guarantee that another Bush VP would have the same power. It would be pretty unlikely.

So I've always thought that the only real possibilities for Guiliani in bigger politics were 1) President 2) Governor of New York 3) Head of the FBI 4) Attorney General or 5) Head of the CIA. I guess now that DHS is a cabinet-level position that would be big enough for him, too, but I don't know about that job. It seems sort of ill-defined and ungainly.

Obviously, there aren't openings for most of those jobs at the moment. (And I think AG might even be beneath him.)

DCI seems perfect for him. It's a huge job. It's not the sort of one that would diminish him.

Posted by: ace on June 3, 2004 05:58 PM

I think Tom Ridge's stature has been diminished by the bureaucratic DHS job.

I can't see that happening with Rudy as DCI.

For one thing, there's the mystery of it. There are liberals who are still shrieking about the fact that George Bush the elder was DCI in the seventies.

Posted by: ace on June 3, 2004 06:01 PM

Beat ya to the punch on this scoop, Ace.

I love the idea. Anyone who can clean house in NYC can handle the CIA. "If you can make it there, you'll make it a-nee-where..."

Posted by: Aaron's Rantblog on June 4, 2004 02:48 AM

Unless, of course, the the President's choice for DCI is a slam-dunk.

I'm with you 100% on this one ace.

I was taking a jab at Tenet by saying Rudy's confirmation would be a slam dunk.

Sarcasm doesn't always work on comment boards.

Posted by: robert on June 4, 2004 02:54 AM

Oh no! Hamas' de facto press agent at the UN complains that she can't use her credit cards or rent a card now that she's been sanctioned as a terrorist operative
Why does this keep happening to members of the "political organization" (per Tucker Carlson) of Hamas?!?!

Tucker Carlson claims that it's weird that Ted Cruz is interested in the massacre of Christians by Nigerian Muslims, because he has "no track record of being interested in Christians," then blows off the massacre of Christians by Nigerian Muslims, saying it might or might not be a real concern
Tucker Carlson enjoys using the left-wing tactic of "Tactical Ignorance" to avoid taking positions on topics. Is Hamas really a terrorist organization? Tucker can't say. He hasn't looked into it enough, but "it seems like a political organization to me." Are Muslims slaughtering Christians in Nigeria? Again, Tucker just doesn't know. He hasn't examined the evidence yet. He knows every Palestinian Christian who said he was blocked from visiting holy sites in Bethlehem, but he just hasn't had the time to look into the mass slaughter of Christians in Nigeria that has been going on since (checks watch) 2009. He doesn't know, so he can't offer an opinion. Wouldn't be prudent, you know? Don't rush him! He'll sift through the evidence at some point in the future and render an opinion sometime around 2044.
Of course, if you need an opinion on Jewish Perfidy, he has all the facts at his fingertips and can give you a fully informed opinion pronto. Say, have you ever heard of the USS Liberty incident...?
You'd think that the main issue for Tucker Carlson, who pretends to be so deeply concerned about Palestinian Christians being bullied by Jews in Israel (supposedly), would be the massacre of 185,000 Christians in Nigeria itself. But no, his main problem is that Ted Cruz is talking about it, "who has no track record of being interested in Christians at all." And then he just shrugs as to whether this is even a real issue or not.
Whatever we do we must never "divide the right," huh?
Tucker is attacking Ted Cruz for bringing the issue up because he's acting as an apologist for Jihadism, and he can't cleanly admit that Jihadists are killing any Christians, anywhere. There is no daylight between him and CAIR at this point.
One might conclude that Tucker Carlson himself isn't interested in the plight of Christians -- except as they can be used as a cudgel to attack Jews.
Just gonna ask an Interesting Question myself -- why is it that Tucker Carlson's arguments all track with those shit out by Qatarian propaganda agents and the far left? That if Jews crush an ant underfoot it is worldwide news, but when Muslims slaughter Christians it elicits not even a vigorous shrug?

Sydney Sweeney has passed from celebrity to Meme Legend

Garth Merenghi is interviewed by the only man who can fathom his ineffable brilliance -- Garth Merenghi
From the comments:

I once glimpsed Garth in the penumbra betwixt my wake and sleep. He was in my dream, standing afar, not looking my way, nor did he acknowledge me. But I felt seen. And that's when I knew I was a traveler on the right path. I'm glad he's still with us.

Now that's some Merenghian prose.
Garth Merenghi on the writer's craft

Greetings, Traveler. If you still have not experienced Garth Merenghi -- Author, Dream-weaver, Visionary, plus Actor -- the six episodes of his Darkplace are still available on YouTube and supposedly upscaled to HD. (Viewing it now, it doesn't appeared upscaled for shit.)
I think the second episode, "Hell Hath Fury," is the best by a good margin. Try to at least watch through to that one. It's Mereghi's incisive but nuanced take on sexism.

TJM Returns with a discussion of Auteur Theory.

Podcast: The elections! NYC, Virginia, New Jersey, Texas, California, and the future prospects of the Republican party...

Update on Scott Adams:

Scott Adams had approval for this cancer drug but they hadn't scheduled him to get it. He was taking a turn for the worse. Trump had told him to call if he needed anything, so he did. Talked to Don Jr (who is in Africa) , then RFK Jr, then Dr Oz. Someone talked to Kaiser and he was scheduled. Shouldn't have needed it but he did and he says it saved his life.
Posted by: Notsothoreau

"Trump" goes trick-or-treating

Funny retro kid costumes, thanks to SMH
Good to see people honoring Lamont the Big Dummy

Four hours of retro Halloween commercials and specials
The first short is the original 1996 appearance of "Sam," the dangerous undead trick-or-treater from Trick r' Treat.

ICYMI: Australian journalist actually presses Kamala Harris when she repeatedly dodges questions about Biden's mental fitness
Kamala admits she didn't have the stamina to run for president, while continuing to insist he had the mental capacity to serve as president. He was too frail to run but perfectly strong enough to govern. Yeah sure whatever lying whore.

On Wednesday, we'll see the "Beaver Super-Moon." Which sounds hot.

Podcast: Historian and Pundit Robert Spencer joins us for a wide-ranging discussion about the Islamists in our midst: Mamdani in NYC, all across Europe, and others.

Full Episode: The Hardy Boys (and Nancy Drew) Meet Dracula
I don't remember this show, except for remembering that Nancy Drew was hot and the opening credits were foreboding and exicting

According to Grok, Latrine John-Pissoir has never failed to mention she is "black" (or "queer") during her book interviews
She may not know what the hell her book is about, but she definitely knows that "every day I wake up black and queer." Join the club, sister!

Schmoll: 53% of New Jersey likely voters say their neighbors are voting for Ciattarelli, while 47% say the cheater/grifter Mikie Sherrill
The "who do you think your neighbors are voting for" question is designed to avoid the Shy Tory problem, wherein conservative people lie to schmollsters because they don't want to go on record with a likely left-winger telling them who they're really voting for. So instead the question is who do you think your neighbors are voting for, so people can talk about who they themselves support without actually having to admit it to a left-wing rando stranger recording their answers on the phone.

Hackers take over University of Penn website, calling the school a "dogshit elitist institution full of woke retards" and threatening to release its admissions files to prove illegal racial discrimination
No lies detected so far

Live Now: Dana Loesch is interrogating Heritage President Kevin Roberts on his insistence that the gay Nazi Nick Fuentes is an absolutely essential "conservative" voice whose ideas we must take seriously and who we must absolutely not exclude based on his Naziism

TJM Complains about Wreck-It Ralph The very topical premiere of TJM's YouTube Channel.

Interesting football history: How the forward pass was created in response to the nineteen -- 19! -- people killed playing football in 1905 alone
The original rules of football did not allow forward passes. The ball was primarily advanced by running, with blockers forming lines with interlocked arms and just smashing into the similarly-interlocked defensive lines. It was basically Greek hoplite spear formations but with a semi-spherical ball. As calls to ban the sport entirely grew, some looked for ways to de-emphasize mass charges as the primary means of advancing the ball, and some specifically championed allowing a passer to throw the ball forward.