Security Clearance is Serious Business

It is not a matter of piling on or taking advantage of an unintentional or harmless mistake to ask the President to enforce a high standard of accountability and integrity among the members of his staff.

Anyone who has followed the career of Karl Rove, especially his 'dirty tricks' in the race of George W. Bush against Ann Richards or in the Republican primary in South Carolina against John McCain knows that the smear tactics he employed against Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife Valerie are a part of his longstanding method of operation. What makes things different this time are that he employed these tactics not in the heat of a political campaign but in a manner that undermines our national security.

One does not need to have top security clearance to run a political campaign. But you cannot be a top policy adviser to the president of the United States without such security clearance. Thus for the president to set the bar so low as to say that regardless of the poor judgment, regardless of the clear evidence of culpability in the outing of an undercover CIA agent, regardless of the obvious effort to stonewall and coverup, his only standard will be conviction of a crime, is ludicrous and calls into question the qualifications of the president for the office he holds.

Can you imagine a president of the United States with his security clearance lifted? 

I have been reluctant to reach this conclusion, but when the president announced that he would only fire Karl Rove or Scooter Libby if they were convicted of a crime, he pushed me to the tipping point. It was bad enough for him to say, I want to wait until the investigation is concluded before deciding what course of action to take. But now he says, Regardless of what either of these political operatives working from the Office of the President and the Office of the Vice President have done, if they can escape criminal conviction, I will take no action!

Mr. President, you are no longer running for office. You need a policy adviser who meets the highest standards of integrity; a policy adviser who knows the difference between national interest and personal interest; a policy adviser whose honesty is beyond reproach. It is time for Karl Rove to step aside regardless of whether the president has the courage to ask for his resignation or not.

You can register your views on this topic by following the links below.

John

John E. Cleek, Ph.D., Moderator

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/A_Better_Future/

"Let's tell the American people the truth, that there are no gains without pains, that this is the eve of great decisions, not easy decisions -- like resistance when you're attacked, but a long, patient, costly struggle which alone can assure triumph over great enemies of men: war and poverty and tyranny -- and the assaults upon human dignity which are the most grievous consequences of each."  Adlai Stevenson

Begin forwarded message:

The People Email Network Security Breach ACTION Alert

We didn't vote for Karl Rove, did you?  We didn't see his name on any ballot and not "Scooter" Libby either.  We don't know whether they will be ultimately convicted of treason for leaking the identity of a vital undercover CIA officer trying to protect us from WMDs.  What we DO know by Rove's OWN ADMISSION is they were reckless, negligent and malicious in confirming the agent's identity in clear violation of official White House security policy.  Now the president says he will not take any action until someone is convicted of this crime.  How low has the ethical bar sunk to where that has become their standard?  Why don't we tell our members of Congress they must demand the leakers be fired?

http://www.usalone.com/rove.htm

The White House says they want to know the facts, but if they've asked their own staff even a single question in the last two years maybe that's their idea of the kind of secrets they have to protect.  Their denials have become so laughable the press corps is actually doing that, laughing out loud at the stonewalling.  Well compromising our national security for petty smears of administration critics is no JOKE.  Anyone who can't be trusted to handle classified information in the interests of the country BY DEFINITION should not have a security clearance, and as a result can no longer work in any position that would require one.  Please tell your members of Congress to call for Rove and Libby to be fired immediately.

http://www.usalone.com/rove.htm