The Empress Has No Clothes

Could it be that there is a great big lie being told and everyone is in on it except Nancy Pelosi? 

First, she denied any knowledge that waterboarding had been discussed.

Then, she admitted to having been briefed about it.

Then, she said she was told waterboarding would not be used.

Then, she said she was told waterboarding had not yet been used.

Then, she said that she had only been privy to one meeting.

Now she has taken the position that the entire CIA is lying.

I can't imagine that will be a popular position to take (against the CIA) with the American people. We like the CIA, right? Don't we glorify the CIA on TV and movies and sometimes even pretend we're CIA ourselves when we talk to our friends? Mission: Impossible? Bourne? Alias? James Bond? (Yes, I know, but that's not the point). 24? Men In Black? We love us some spies.

Why not just fess up and admit she knew about it? She could even admit that she was opposed to the techniques because not-so-deep-down she wants the terrorists to conceal information that might assist in preventing further attacks on U.S. interests. The Dems wern't in a strong position to do much about it anyway, if it had come to a vote. Despite the fact that she was the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, she only attended one briefing on the matter. It wasn't for lack of opportunity. Ms. Pelosi was shirking her responsibilities. She sent her staff to subsequent meetings. She stated that she herself could not be bothered with this subject at the time because she was focused on taking control of the government. Could it be that, at this time, she is still most concerned about losing that control? Her back is against the wall. Who has the most at stake here? The CIA? What, are you going to disband the musketeers? The GOP? They can't lose much more than they already have. President Obama? To his credit, he didn't get involved in the politics. He accepted that waterboarding had been used and, according to his beliefs, choose to ban the controversial practice. 

I think Ms. Pelosi could learn A LOT from a children's song I remember from my childhood.

When you tell one lie, it leads to another.

Then you tell two lies to cover each other.

Then you tell three lies and, oh brother,

You're in trouble up to your ears.

So you tell four lies to try to protect you.

Then you tell five lies so folks won't suspect you.

Then you tell six lies and, you'll collect

A life filled with worries and fears.

'Cause you can't remember how many lies you've told

And half the things you say aren't true.

And sometime you'll slip up, you'll trip up, and then

Whatever will become of you?

So you lie and lie without even trying

And each lie you tell will keep multiplying

'Til the whole wide world will know you're lying

Then you'll be suspected,

Detected,

Rejected,

Neglected,

Disliked,

And you should.

When you lie, you're closing the door on everything good.

-Janeen Brady

If this song is a 12-step program, I believe Ms. Pelosi is at the "whole wide world will know you're lying" stage.

Every day she has a different story to tell - a different recollection. She apparently has no qualms about it, but if I were on her staff I think I would be putting my resume out. If I were her colleague, I would be distancing myself from her. If I were her family, I would be embarrassed. 

Census 2010

I got censured last week.

This is the first census I am actually aware of. Not sure what happened in 2000. I was around. Don't know if I was counted or not.

Actually, I'm not even sure I was counted this time either. Dude rings the doorbell. I open the door. Dude doesn't say anything but taps a few times at his tricorder. Then he says, "Almost done here. I'm just getting the coordinates of your home into my GPS for the census... Okay - all done." He then tears off a 'who was that weirdo at my house' information sheet from his pad and hands it to me.

"That's it?", I ask, wondering if they might also wish to know my age or race or how many people live in my home. Maybe my profession or income bracket.

"That's all there is to it. Thank you," as he walks away. I scan the horizon for snipers.

What in the world does the government want with a GPS lock on my front door? Is the hi-res aerial photograph of my house from four angles from 500 feet available for the world to see on Google not sufficient? Couldn't they have typed my address into Google Earth and simply pulled the latitude and longitude from there? Or better yet, to the entire country at one time with a free tool like batchgeocode.com?

Can I expect a GPS-guided missile strike soon? Was that guy CIA? The CIA guys are always pretending to be landscaping crews or cable TV repairmen as they surveil the mission.

Here's what census.gov explains about the 2010 census:

• The census is a count of everyone living in the United States every 10 years  (fine, I knew that)
• The census is mandated by the U.S. Constitution  (ok)
• The next census is in 2010  (cool - I'm done early)
• Your participation in the census is required by law  (seems to agree with the 2nd bullet)
• It takes less than 10 minutes to complete  (try 30 seconds)
• Federal law protects the personal information you share during the census  (such as? I wasn't asked any questions and didn't share anything; but I'm happy to know that had I done so, the continued privacy of my personal information would be backed up by the full faith and confidence of our government, who has time and again proven it's trustworthiness beyond all doubt)
• Census data are used to distribute Congressional seats to states, to make decisions about what community services to provide, and to distribute $300 billion in federal funds to local, state and tribal governments each year  (seriously? that's $1,000 per U.S. resident! I'd love to see a breakdown of the civic/social benefits my family receives for our $5,000 share)

The census wasn't at all what I had expected.

Have you completed the census yet? Is my experience common? Should I be concerned?