ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist&reg;.com: Even Utilities Must Pay Their Bills</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style1 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <table cool width="598" height="1274" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="116" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="116" height="1"></td> <td width="31" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="31" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="267" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="267" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> <tr height="79"> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> <td width="116" height="118" colspan="1" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="31" height="79"></td> <td width="450" height="79" colspan="3" rowspan="1" valign="top" align="left" xpos="147"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> <td width="31" height="39"></td> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="267" height="39" colspan="1" rowspan="1" valign="top" align="left" xpos="329"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr height="20"> <td width="1" height="20"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="20"></td> <td width="597" height="20" colspan="5" rowspan="1" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong>HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#149; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#149; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#149; <a href="teflon.html">THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#149; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com">REACTIONS</a> &#149; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="7"> <td width="1" height="7"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="7"></td> <td width="116" height="1135" colspan="1" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="31" height="7"></td> <td width="182" height="7"></td> <td width="267" height="7"></td> <td width="1" height="7"></td> </tr> <tr height="1128"> <td width="1" height="1128"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1128"></td> <td width="480" height="1128" colspan="3" rowspan="1" valign="top" align="left" xpos="116" content csheight="1123"> <font size="5" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>GOP&#39;s National Insecurity</b></font><p><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>by John M. Curtis<br> (310) 204-8700</b><br> </font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright April 19, 2009<br> All Rights Reserved.</i></font></p> <p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style1">A</span>ttacking President Brack Obama for releasing Justice Dept. memos detailing  enhanced interrogation techniques, the GOP launched a new PR campaign asserting the country is less safe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>It started with former Vice President Dick Cheney opining Feb. 4 on CNN that closing Guantanamo Bay raises the risk of another terrorist attack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Cheney also warned that banning  enhanced interrogation techniques would handcuff the intelligence community from protecting the American public against possible terrorist threats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>GOP officials rebuked the White House for exposing internal Justice Dept. memos authorizing the military and CIA to use  waterboarding and a variety of other harsh interrogation methods to glean intelligence from  enemy combatants. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Releasing the Justice Dept. memos provided the public with the rationale to avoid prosecuting past military and CIA interrogators.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Obama s successful trips at the G-20 economic summit in London and this weekend s Western hemisphere security conference in Trinidad and Tobago, presents problems for the GOP.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> After their drubbing in the polls Nov. 4, they were hoping for any traction stemming from Barack s mistakes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> When he received high marks in London, the GOP ratcheted up the attacks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Only 18 months from Midterm election, time is running out on slowing Democratic momentum that could make the GOP irrelevant for the foreseeable future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> The release of these memos is dangerous, said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), blasting Obama on ABC s  This Week with George Stephanopoulos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Speaking on  Fox New Sunday with Brit Hume, Rep. Dick Army called the memos  grotesquely irresponsible. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Word of U.S. interrogation tactics has been known for years.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Former National Security Agency and CIA Director four-star Gen. Michael V. Hayden warned April 19 on Fox News of dire consequences to releasing Justice Dept. memos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> You will have agency officers stepping back from the kinds of things that the nation expects them to do, said Hayden, playing fast and loose with facts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>A Jan. 21, 2009 ABC poll indicated that 58% of the public supports closing Guantanamo Bay and opposes  enhanced interrogation techniques, such as  waterboarding, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Hayden and other GOP apologists fail to mention that former GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) strongly condemned  enhanced interrogation techniques, regarding them as torture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Despite GOP arguments favoring controversial methods,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>there s no evidence that that they produce the intelligence breakthroughs intercepting terror attacks or saving U.S. lives.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Obama s decision to not prosecute former CIA and military interrogators was directly related to the release of Justice Dept. memos detailing U.S. interrogation policy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>It was, after all, former White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales that crafted the clever definition of  enemy combatant that helped evade the Geneva Convention granting specific rights to prisoners of war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When Gonzales ran the Justice Dept {Feb.2, 2005 to Sept. 17, 2007], he gave the green light to use  enhanced interrogation techniques. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While the GOP blames the White House for releasing the memos, they forget they were published May 30, 2005 in the New York Review of Books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> One of the reasons the president was willing to let this information was out was that the information was out, said White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel on  This Week. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>GOP officials want to spin it as a new security breach.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Disclosing the Justice Dept. memos held symbolic value in advance of the London G-20 and Americas summit in Trinidad and Tobago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>It helped Barack face world leaders with a clean slate, showing the world the U.S. had turned a new page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Seeking to restore America s credibility overseas, Obama reminded world leaders that the new administration meant business when it came to ethical counter-terrorism operations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> The president has banned these enhanced interrogation techniques, said Obama s Chief Strategist David Axelrod on CBS s  Face The Nation with Bob Schieffer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> We have turned the page on this episode in our history, reminding voters why they elected a new president:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>To restore a damaged U.S. image.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>All the GOP talk about releasing Justice Dept. memos attempts to undermine Obama s momentum from two successful foreign trips.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Obama s recent overseas trips reinforced his campaign promise to restore America s global image.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>GOP leaders blame Bush s foreign policy mishaps as sour grapes from world leaders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When Bush detoured from Afghanistan to Iraq, he lost the support of the world community for the events of Sept. 11.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When Barack made a brief swing to the Middle East, he was criticized for  bowing to Saudi King Abdullah, when, in fact, he was stooping down to greet the diminutive Saudi leader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Now the GOP rants about showing weakness to Cuban President Raul Castro, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> A more benign interpretation has Barack building rapport and laying the groundwork for improved relations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Antagonizing world leaders is no act of courage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Improving U.S. national security involves building better relations.</p> <p><u><b>About the Author</b></u></p> <p><b>John M. Curtis</b> is editor of OnlineColumnist.com and columnist for the Los Angeles Daily Journal. He&#146;s director of a Los Angeles think tank specializing in political consulting and strategic public relations. He&#146;s the author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>. <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="75" height="25"> <tr> <td></td> </tr> </table> </td> <td width="1" height="1128"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong>Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com">Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">&copy;1999-2001 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>