Rebuilding a Spy Partnership
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on July 23rd, 2014 11:08 pm by HL
Rebuilding a Spy Partnership
David Ignatius, RealClearPolitics
WASHINGTON — Given recent German indignation about the National Security Agency, it has been easy to overlook the fact that for decades the German government has cooperated extensively with the NSA on surveillance activities. But after a high-level meeting in Berlin this week, this long-standing but veiled cooperation may have a firmer legal and political base. The two countries’ past partnership became so extensive that they even developed a special logo for their joint signals-intelligence activity, known by its initials, “JSA.” It shows an American bald eagle against the colors of the…
Blind Ideological Justice
E.J. Dionne, RealClearPolitics
WASHINGTON — Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens captured our ideal when he wrote of the judge as “an impartial guardian of the rule of law.” By effectively gutting the Affordable Care Act on Tuesday, two members of a three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals showed how far right-leaning jurists have strayed from such impartiality. We are confronted with a conservative judiciary that will use any argument it can muster to win ideological victories that elude their side in the elected branches of our government. Fortunately, the D.C. Circuit ruling is unlikely to…
Perry in Obama’s Face
Dick Morris, RealClearPolitics
By sending 1,000 National Guardsmen to the Texas/Mexico border, Governor Rick Perry is stepping up to challenge the president and fill the vacuum left by Barack Obama’s lack of leadership in a way other possible presidential candidates cannot match. His boldness and courage come as a welcome relief for the legions of Republicans and Independents who ask, with frustration, “Will nobody stand up to this president?” Legislators can only talk. Governors can act. Perry’s more cautious advisors likely warned the governor of the dangers he faces. What if the Guardsmen kill someone? Will there be…