Open Thread: Judd Gregg, Victim of Tyranny Edition

Too bad the party of 'no' did not think to say no to our sadistic (0.00 / 0)

torturer in chief.  According to an FBI document, there's actually an executive order authorizing abusive behavior against detainees in Iraq.  Not only were those detainees mostly men that were randomly rounded up and never even charged with any crime, they weren't even part of an organized resistance.

However, I've got a new theory that might explain what was going on.
You see, it was well recognized by Rumsfeld and the rest of the gang that they were lacking what he called "humint"--i.e. human intelligence.  But, instead of employing and training Arabic speakers who could collect information on the ground, as "special forces" contingents and the CIA usually do, Rumsfeld & co decided to do it on the cheap by rounding up large numbers of Iraqis and feeding whatever information they might have into the computers for analysis with "sophisticated" models.  It was the Total Information System put into practice.  Problem was that, like the Wall Street models on which the credit default swaps were based, the models didn't produce accurate information.
I used to refer to the efforts as looking for needles in haystacks that hadn't been built.  Well, what they were actually about was trying to build the haystacks, while the needles were obviously never found.
Somebody forgot about "garbage in, garbage out."
In addition to serving as "analysts" for the TV networks, there's a whole bunch of retired military and CIA who have moved into the information technology sector and pushing the Pentagon to buy their stuff.  Much of it never does what's promised.  But that's OK.  Because it means the Pentagon will have to issue a request for something new.
Electronic anything is a wonderful product 'cause it always needs replacing sooner rather than later.  The shelf life of a computer is........?  

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by: hannah @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 06:07:02 AM CDT

On another matter. (0.00 / 0)

There seems to be a quotient of human interaction that people need to satisfy and no matter how "efficient" managers try to make things, people will extract their quotient of human contact.  I say that because it's now taken five months, six telephone conversations, over two hours to get a commitment that electric service to a derelict hamburger stand will be disconnected some time next week.  22 minutes on the phone just this morning with a crew supervisor who needed to hear the whole sorry story that started when somebody didn't forward a $60 dollar payment and the power company pulled the meter for the living quarters of an 89 year old man last September.
Yesterday, they insisted on speaking to him in person and getting the last four digits of his SS# and then said that wasn't the number in their system--a kerfuffle that produced a minor bout with tears, in response to feeling threatened once again.  How's a person not to feel threatened if the power gets shut off but the bills keep coming even after they were paid?

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by: hannah @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 06:46:23 AM CDT

he was on TV (0.00 / 0)

In lockstep with Rip Van Sununu on the catchall catcalls Judd spoke outside the Senate on MSNBC Wednesday, and he was calling the President's spending agenda a "San Francisco" controlled agenda.Maybe we should refer to their tactics under Bush as "Beijing Policies of Nation Building: Torture, and Lies"

'Aints no more

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by: JonnyBBad @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 06:51:00 AM CDT

I coulda had class... (4.00 / 4)

I coulda been a Cabinet secretary. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.

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by: Tim C. @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 07:37:45 AM CDT

That was so funny! n/t (0.00 / 0)

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."  Franklin D. Roosevelt    

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by: Kathy Sullivan 2 @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 12:10:02 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Report from the south (4.00 / 1)

We still have a Globe, but the clock is ticking louder than ever.

http://www.bluenewstribune.com...

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by: JimC @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 08:14:56 AM CDT

Stay classy, Judd, stay classy (4.00 / 1)

Boy, I sure am glad we named a bridge after this champ.

America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand. -Harry Truman

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by: Peter Sullivan @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 09:58:57 AM CDT

Funny... (0.00 / 0)

Replace 'Hugo Chavez' with 'Glenn Beck' and I could make the same comment Judd made and aim it at him instead.

IT for John Lynch '04 and NHDP '08 - I'm liking my track record so far!

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by: RealNRH @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 12:29:33 PM CDT

How dare Democrats use their legitimately elected positions of power to do what they said they would do before the American people voted them in! It's socialism, I tell you! (4.00 / 2)

This argument amazes me every time I hear it.

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by: This Was The Moment @ Fri May 01, 2009 at 18:38:26 PM CDT