Nope, if the proposed bad guy were Cheney, there’d still be a shortage. Just keep repeating the correct answer, that the president is explicitly authorized to declassify, and maybe eventually it will get through.
Bush can declassify for whatever reason, or non-reason he chooses. When he chooses to do so for partisan political profit he shows himself to be unworthy of his position, but not necessarily a lawbreaker. This just isn’t all that hard to grasp.
I don’t know at whom this is aimed, but I haven’t seen anyone saying it was Okey-dokey for the prez to make political hay out of declassifying information. I think it’s a despiciable act.
So, that section that says “In no case” doesn’t apply somehow? It does not say, “In no case, except for. . .” or “In no case, unless the President. . .”
Dear John, I gave you a cite with all the rules and procedures for classifying and declassyfing information. Please read it. Or don’t read it as you see fit, but stop asking me for it.
Can we see the evidence you have that the appropriate declassification procedures were not followed for the doucents in question here?
The head of the CIA did not know this information was declassified. If he did, he should step up and say so.
If it should happen that the President is forced to explain (and I highly doubt he ever will be), I think the response is rather predictable. “I meant classified leaks. When I leak it, it isn’t classified, and what I chose to share had nothing to do with Plame. Next question. What? No, I answered your question. Next question.” Whatever contradictions or cognitive dissonance you may be fixating on, just let that slip away.
The answer has already been given:
Ahhh. I feel slightly less dirty now. Thanks.
What information? Plame’s covert status. Please see my post 137.
If you’re referring to something else, can we have some sort of cite? Not that I distrust you, I just doubt that you’re correct.
Not to be snarky, but why should anyone feel “dirty” about the documents we’re talking about in this thread? I’ve asked several times for someone to point us to what info that is contained in this news story can be construed as an attempt to smear Joe Wilson. Do you know of some? Let’s see it!
Look at the top of the page here
These are Libby’s own assertions that the admin. felt it important to discredit Wilson. These are the things that the defendant saw and heard that put him in the state of mind that his disclosures were in the national interest. Wilson’s wife, junkets, etc. Outing Plame may have been Libby getting overzealous, I don’t know, but the subject of Wilson’s op ed., the whole yellowcake debacle, is mixed up in all of this rather inextricably. As the admin. appears to be tacitly agreeing with Libby’s assertion the Prez authorized leaks, I see no reason to doubt the alleged reasons for doing so.
Some might think you’re referring to Bush with this statement.
Ya know, I’m gettin’ mighty tired of this whole thing. Heck, the whole presidency. If there’s any single American citizen who should be above reproach, someone who should always put the common good of America before any other concerns, it’s the President. I maintain no delusions that I’m a perfectly moral and ethical person- but then again, I have no desire to run for that office. Bush is the President. He represents us to the rest of the world.
And he’s embarassing us.
What he may have done may be perfectly legal. I don’t know whether it is or not- at this point, I don’t care. What I care about was why it was done. What I care about is that he flat-out lied to the American public about his complete innocence regarding the leak. That’s shitty, and embarassing.
Ah, John, c’mon. I am not trying to pick a fight with you, but Scott Mclellan? Really? Would YOU buy a used car from this man? It’s a press secretary’s job to spin. Nobody’s dumb enough to actually believe him.
Yes. That is what the order says.
Now, who can change that Order? Who can change it anytime he wants, without even writing out a new one?
Who is the one man on the face of the planet that can modify that order in any wau he pleases?
No. The law does not require anything in writing if the President determines it. The law doesn’t say, “If the President determines in writing…” or “If the President publishes an order…” or anything like that. Just “If the President determines…”
Period.
That’s it.
If in fact he did this, then I agree with you, and I’ve said as much many times before.
But if you go accusing Idi Amin of being guilty of securities fraud, I think it’s fair to say, “Look, the guy was a major league scumbag that did all sorts of evil deeds, but I’m pretty sure he never committed securities fraud.”
That’s the situation we have here. Biggirl is insisting Bush violated the law. She won’t admit that she made a mistake. She won’t simply say that, ok, while legal, it was a shitty thing to do. She insists on shoring up and defending her error.
And with the exception of John Mace, every other poster and reader here is letting her do it, without comment.
If she did this about some other factual issue, people would be all over her. But since it’s Bush, the crickets chirp in the background.
If you’re reading this, on a board devoted to fighting ignorance, why aren’t you commenting on Biggirl’s tactics?
And just to clarify, my feeling dirty was due to thinking like a pol for a second, mitigated only slightly by it being a pretty accurate effort. 
But I think many of us have agreed with you 100% earlier in the thread that what the Prez allegedly (and, now, apparently, there’s some confirmation) did was completely legal. I remember being aghast at the notion many months ago, and now I’m completely on board. You were entirely right. You and JM are arguing with BG pretty effectively, so forgive us for not piling on.
Do you even read your own posts? “President Bush’s own Executive Order”. Right there in your own post. If President Bush has the authority to write the order in the first place, then he has the authority to CHANGE IT any time he feels like it. Or are you saying that, once President Bush issues an Executive Order, he cannot change it?
Anyways, here’s more opinion that agrees with Bricker.