If it wasn’t already clear that the US government was unhappy with National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden—and the feds want him extradited, President Obama denounced him—it is now. Today, the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and her House counterpart, Mike Rogers (R-MI), both emphasized there would be no mercy coming from Washington.
“He was trusted; he stripped our system; he had an opportunity—if what he was, was a whistle-blower—to pick up the phone and call the House Intelligence Committee, the Senate Intelligence Committee, and say I have some information,” Feinstein told CBS’ Face The Nation. “But that didn’t happen. He’s done this enormous disservice to our country, and I think the answer is no clemency.”
The New York Times, 3 days ago (“FBI and Justice Dept. Said to Seek Charges for Petraeus”):
The F.B.I. and Justice Department prosecutors have recommended bringing felony charges against David H. Petraeus, contending that he provided classified information to a lover while he was director of the C.I.A., officials said, and leaving Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. to decide whether to seek an indictment that could send the pre-eminent military officer of his generation to prison.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) urged the Department of Justice not to bring criminal charges against former CIA Director David Petraeus over his handling of classified information.
“This man has suffered enough in my view,” Feinstein said on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, explaining why she doesn’t think Attorney General Eric Holder should seek an indictment.
Petraeus “made a mistake,” added the senator, who is vice chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. “But … it’s done, it’s over. He’s retired. He’s lost his job. How much does the government want?”
David Petraeus, the person who Feinstein said has “suffered enough,” was hired last year by the $73 billion investment fund KKR to be Chairman of its newly created KKR Global Institute, on top of the $220,000/year pension he receives from the U.S. Army and the teaching position he holds at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Let us all pause for a moment to lament the deep suffering of this man, and the grave injustice of inflicting any further deprivation upon him.
In 2011, I wrote a book, With Liberty and Justice for Some, that examined the two-tiered justice system prevailing in the U.S.: how the U.S. imprisons more of its citizens than any other country in the world (both in absolute numbers and proportionally) often for trivial transgressions, while immunizing its political and economic elites for even the most egregious crimes. Matt Taibbi’s book, The Divide, examines the same dynamic with a focus on the protection of economic elites and legal repression of ordinary citizens in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.
This latest example from Feinstein is one of the most vivid yet. She wanted Julian Assange – who isn’t even a U.S. citizen and never served in the U.S. Government – prosecuted for espionage for exposing war crimes, and demanded that Edward Snowden be charged with “treason” for exposing illegal eavesdropping which shocked the world. But a four-star general who leaked classified information not for any noble purpose but to his mistress for personal reasons should be protected from any legal consequences.
Long-standing mavens of DC political power literally believe that they and their class-comrades are too noble, important and elevated to be subjected to the rule of law to which they subject everyone else. They barely even disguise it any more. It’s the dynamic by which the Obama administration prosecuted leakers with unprecedented aggression who disclose information that embarrasses them politically while ignoring or even sanctioning the leaks of classified information which politically glorify them.
It is, of course, inconceivable that someone like Dianne Feinstein would urge the release of ordinary convicts from prison on the ground that their actions are “in the past” or that they have “suffered enough.” This generous mentality of mercy, forgiveness and understanding – like Obama’s decree that we Look Forward, Not Backward to justify immunity for American torturers – is reserved only for political officials, Generals, telecoms, banks and oligarchs who reside above and beyond the rule of law.
Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images
This is how our politicians all are..Feinsteon, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, all elected crooks..American tired of it…most of you are drinkers and I think you should all have to be drug tested just like anyone else including the oresident…
She’s afraid that they will target HER next?
The greatest threats to progressivism- the DC DEM leadership- Reid, Obama, Pelosi, Hoyer, Biden, Billary, Feinstein, corporate person MSNBC. No spring chickens here, just dedicated veterans of schmoozing to the plutocracy. Repubs are pretty straightforward about being cheerleaders for greed, exploitation and violence, because Jesus was a capitalist entrepreneur. The DC DEMs and their handlers prey on “liberals” who don’t realize they’re being had, because they are too busy trading yuk-yuk stories about wingers, probably heard from darling Rachel. Any approval rating for Obama above 1% indicates a disconnect between the American public and reality.
Equal Justice Under The Law must apply here.he must face the full force of the Espionage act if for no other purpose but to correct how far off the rails it has gotten.
You are saying money makes up for time spent in a war zone, away from his family- watching people die due to your useless wars the morons your types keep starting & dragging us into. The pension, he earned after 47 years serving his country, non-stop – the teaching posts also earned by hard work, a PhDs & more real life experiance than the author will ever have…. He was hired by the cut throat financial firm because he is good…..no for charity
This article wreaks of envy, written by one of the entitled trolls, who want everything for free…. It is true- America is where the hate is….
Thanks, Glenn, for this piece. I have long since ceased to be surprised by Feinstein’s blatant elitism and lack of any semblance of a sense of justice or even familiarity with the Constitution that she swore an oath to uphold and defend. We can be sure that her next reelection campaign will be well financed by all the scum she protects. We can also be certain of continuing broad support for her among the non-thinking masses of the democratic party.
David Petraeus should certainly be prosecuted for being a VICIOUS POLITICAL/MILITARY LUNATIC, irrespective of what he said to Paula.
“A few minutes and a few bullets were enough to turn Abdullah from an 11th grade student with dreams of becoming a translator to the despairing head of a family of more than a dozen. His father and oldest brother were shot dead last August at the start of a midnight assault by NATO-led troops on their house in Afghanistan’s east. Abdullah himself was hooded, handcuffed and flown to prison, where he was detained for questioning and then released. They were casualties of a night raid, a controversial tactic that has been stepped up dramatically since General David Petraeus took over running the Afghan war last year, despite strong opposition led by President Hamid Karzai. There were nearly 20 each night over the past three months, according to a senior NATO official who requested anonymity.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/24/us-afghanistan-raids-idUSTRE71N15U20110224
CORRECTED
glenn,
glad to see you’re foregrounding feinstein’s elitist hypocrisy. she has been exposed as a tool throughout her tenure as chairperson of the senate intelligence committee. it’s nice to see someone calling her out for the sycophant that she is. your guest appearance on democracy now was quite good, too. you seemed even more articulate than usual on the issue of the use of the term “terrorism” in the west. these facts of empire just keep snowballing: the elites advance economically and are continuously insulated from the very system that they use to terrorize those not of their ilk. i appreciated that you showed decency and consideration towards petraeus on the espionage charge but his fundamental role in the debacle known as Obama’s “surge,” i think, should be appended to the narrative since before ISIS it was presented as his signal achievement in the war on terror. thanks for the prodigious, articulate and highly credible output. i like the way that your appearances on news stations immediately elevates the discussion because of the knowledge and humanity that you bring to the airwaves.
glenn–
glad to see you’re foregrounding feinstein’s elitist hypocrisy. she has been exposed as a tool throughout her tenure as chairperson of the senate intelligence committee. it’s nice to see someone calling her out for the sycophant that she is. your guest appearance on democracy now was quite good, too. you seemed even more articulate than usual on the issue of the use of the term “terrorism” in the west. these facts of empire just keep snowballing: the elites advance economically and are continuously insulated from the very system that they use to terrorize those not of their ilk. i appreciated that you should decency and consideration towards petraeus on the espionage charge but his fundamental role in the debacle known as Obama’s “surge,” i think should be appended to the narrative since before ISIS it was presented as his signal achievement in the war on terror. thanks for the prodigious, articulate and highly credible output. i like the way that you appearances on news stations immediately elevates the discussion because of the amount knowledge and humanity that you bring to the airwaves.
Brilliant.
How much influence does Feinstein have on the decision-making process of the DOJ? Officially or unofficially?
Law for the privileged! and A LAW FOR ALL THE REST EH! SEND THESE DUAL C?T?ZENS BACK TO ISRAEL
At least some Americans still believe that human beings are equal and should be treated as such. It often looks as though the U.S. is moving to the aristocratic system of 17 and 18 century Europe.
I’d like to hear Feinstein rationalize her double standards just for the entertainment value. She’s good. Very good. But then, she’s been at it a long time: Playing the delicate game of serving–and being served by–the top tier in both the government and corporate worlds while paying lip service to the issues of commoners. Feinstein is hardly a liberal or progressive Democrat, or even a moderate one on many issues, so her stance on this doesn’t surprise me at all. She’s just being Diane Feinstein, rolling with the money and the status quo. No surprise here.
Feinstein is as “liberal or progressive” as any democrat.
One of the biggest fraudulent schemes in politics in the Corporate States of America is the pretense
that democrats oppose the agenda which they actually share with the republicans and libertarians.
They use words to keep the gullible within the corporate control system of domination while their
real achievements are to implement the traps of the agenda more slowly than the republicans.
No democrat is really allowed to be “progressive” if they are ever in a position to make a difference.
Their masters are the same as the republicans’ and the libertarians’.
There are two sets of Justice in America.
The first set is used to exonerate and defend people in high places while the second is used to prosecute just-us.
Something is amiss in the power structure when Feinstein must publicly absolve the general.
It would have been accomplished in private, quietly, if all were well… before the prosecution by Justice was announced.
So what’s going on?
Payback for past actions or a set up for future falls?
These matters are not normally for our eyes and ears.
I’m half expecting someone of importance to have a “boating accident” or some such thing.
BTW, nobody should be getting their hopes up that one of the elites discovered their inner patriot and is doing the right thing for America.
I remember, as a kid, when I first watched “All the President’s Men”on TV, and I was too young to follow what was happening, and my English was not fully there yet. My dad explained to me, “In America, they can remove the president from power for telling a lie.” To me, growing up in a Muslim country under a totalitarian regime, it seemed like a concept from another galaxy.
Oh, what has happened? America is changing from a country of proud individuals to a country of Nobles and Plebs, and so fast. Oh what has happened?
You know how people start to look like their dogs sometimes. Does feinstein have a little terrier?
see, look: http://s7.postimg.org/4eka71ni3/00a.jpg
Remember the comic strip “Nancy”? I can just see Feinstein hanging out with Sluggo.
I do miss Michael Hastings:
“Michael Hastings Confronts Piers Morgan Over Media ‘Mythologizing’ Petraeus & Ignoring Poor Record”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shKGAggOKMI
I miss him too. Sometimes I go back to some of his youtube videos.
I just watched “Kill the Messenger.” Such a sad, sad, and moving story. Growing up in a third world country, where the papers and the news are highly scrutinized, and the reporters are jailed, and beaten, you tend to have an appreciation for good reporters from a very early age. You grow up listening to adults talk about “reporter so and so, who wrote such and such. What will now happen to him? How courageous.”
Rest in Peace, Gary Webb. And thank the gods for Glenn Greenwald and Jeremy Scahll and Max Blumenthal. Max is terrific. Every other line in his articles is a fact. Max is special. The Intercept should hire him immediately.
I’m not a violent man, but Jesus, I believe Pierce Morgan is capable of bringing out the worst in a Buddhist monk.
I don’t think that Morgan is the issue that Hastings is addressing, though he certainly tries to be. I thought that Hastings was on to Brigadeer Gen. Kimmett, Ret. – who was disliked by most of his subordinates and by the press (and perhaps by his command too) – Gen. Kimmett was/is the liar that tried to cover up the death by drone of the wedding party (innocent civilians) at Mukaradeeb that CENTCOM eventually was blamed for; Kimmett tried to claim the wedding party was a terrorist party. Odd that the corporate press doesn’t often provide information about what our Generals are up to (in real life).
“Gen. Kimmett was/is the liar that tried to cover up the death by drone”
should be Gen Kimmett was/is the liat that tried to cover up the death by airstrike (not drone) of innocents. I can only speculate but Hastings was also, no doubt, aware of the funny business surrounding the death of Col. Theodore S. Westhusing who may have been a whistle blower . Gen. David Petraeus was Westhusing’s commanding officer and was transferred out of theater (Iraq) immediately after Westhusing’s death.
The crazy thing is, these guys claim to be the representatives of the American people but the American people have no fucking clue what is done in their name, and that is one of the main reasons they keep on standing so ignorant and clueless behind these so-called heroes and fighters for their freedoms. They are in fact the true enemy of the American citizen. My thing with Morgan was just the total patronizing attitude he had towards Hastings. He is a paid talking head that reckons himself a liberal but is nothing more than a twat.
Any thoughts on the question raised in this piece by James Petras?
“Elite Intrigues: It’s Not About Sex, Stupid!”
http://petras.lahaine.org/?p=1920
Excerpt:
Treason weII defined as we see some in jaiI. Ed Snowden Ieaked cIassifed information and no Oct. 30, 2013 Senator McCain caIIed him a traitor and he shouId be charged. Senator Feinstein said on 6-14-2013 that Snowden committed treason against the USA and shouId go to jaiI. Now Petraeus aIIowed his mistress access to high cIassified information from 2006 untiI he was caught in 2012. Yes the enemy had time to pIan and bomb 3 US Embassies and the information on our troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Petraeus was part of the enter circIe that pIanned the War and Torture with the Bush Administration. Yes if the jeaIous girI cat fight over Peaches aka Petraeus had not be exposed no one but the enemy wouId have known. Keep in mine 2012 Ambassador Stevens asked Congress twice for more security but he was denied. It seems the CIA saw no probIems. Now Iawmakers have to protect Petraeus or he wiII expose they knew about everything from 2002-2008. Feinstein says Petraeus has suffered enough by retiring and Iosing his mistress. Now Iawmakers wiII have to make Treason IegaI to save Petraeus.
You don’t go after a 4-star general in this country. You just don’t. Petraeus didn’t resign from the CIA for adultery and the FBI is not after him for sharing some pissant classified data. This nascent prosecution is a threat: keep quiet or go to jail. As head of the CIA he no doubt became aware of the vast criminal activities of that agency and others, and seems he didn’t go along with it, so they are determined to shut him up. And if he won’t shut up, they will destroy him.
as someone who is regularly called a conspiracy nut, your theory is only one of a thousand possibilities, and without one shred of evidence, it makes no sense to present it as fact
Look forward not backward. We can’t start looking into who shared classified information with whom. The business of fortune building with a little help from insider info is the last place we would want to start subjecting to scrutiny. We sufficiently knocked him down a peg or two, he learned his lesson, there is no need to start poking hornets nests.
you really should put something like “snark” or “sarcasm” at the end of that post, otherwise, someone that only watches faux news will think you are serious
I wonder if the decision to not go after James Risen anymore (announced today) is related to the Petraeus case? Maybe the Obama administration can say that they didn’t go after Risen so they don’t have to go after Petraeus? This situation makes me think of the “Too Big To Fail” crap that happened with the banks. I am inclined to think Petraeus was a good decent guy outside of this catastrophy, and it is probably really harsh to send him to jail for 25 years, but on the flip side it doesn’t seem fair that the big shots get off scott free while the little guys have to serve their time. As CIA director, if there was something that he felt needed to be shared with the media, he could have worked to get it declassified through proper channels. He didn’t need to be leaking stuff. Or maybe this was a pleak?
He’s a medium bad guy, not THE bad guy. But I believe he was part of a group. Once it is articulated who that group is and the pressures that were placed upon them…then the Justice department and the American public can show mercy. If they ALL continue lying, while collecting huge corporate salaries, that’s a problem. Either you are a public servant or you’re not. It’s gonna go one way or the other. They may get away with their crimes against humanity…or they may not. He’s looking at a beach house in Hawaii or Florence ADX Supermax. That’s the situation. If anyone knows for sure which way it’s gonna go, please state the case.
she does seem to be a bit of a twat.
A twat with power no less.
In sincerely hope that Diane Feinstein reads this piece. I doubt she is capable of shame, conceding her double standard, or admitting that she is wrong. But on the upside, being called out and held accountable for her hypocrisy and the fact that she is no public servant worthy of the title will piss her the hell off. Maybe she’ll even stamp her feet and pull out a few of those expensively dyed sparse hairs. And that image gives me a tiny bit of satisfaction.
Dianne is not only incapable of grasping the truth of her own double standards of governmental ethics, she is yet incapable of grasping the idea that the NSA actually does conduct mass surveillance on US citizens. Her constituent bulletins continually assure us that it does not. Well then might we all wonder just what all this fluff over Snowden was for, anyway? Ah well- the senator from California has always been one of those few American officials who have directly benefited from the practice of government by assassination.
A little ditty ’bout Dave and Diane
2 ‘Merican crooks throwin’ up in the heart(less)land
Davey’s bein’ forgiven for shop-talkin’ sex
Cause Diane’s married to the military-industrial complex
Haha! Brilliant!!
I was singing it in my head :)
Oh, yes – great parody! :-)
This is where the US government show it’s true, hypocritical, colors. If Patraeus gets a pass while Chelsea Manning rots in prison and Snowden waits in exile, the world will see how US justice really works. It’s a two tier system with a different set of rules for the wealthy and powerful than the rest of us. Any suggestion that US government actions are guided by rule of law is pure propaganda. It’s a fantasy narrative perpetrated to shield our powerful leaders from public scrutiny and scorn.
Here’s where the US government shows it’s true, hypocritical, colors. If Petraeus gets a pass while Chelsea Manning rots in prison and Snowden waits in exile, the world will see how US justice really works. It’s a two-tier system where the wealthy and powerful live by a different set of rules than the rest of us. The idea that US government actions are somehow guided by rule of law is propaganda. It’s a fantasy narrative perpetrated to shield our privileged leaders from public scrutiny and scorn.
I suspect Feinstein doesn’t want to prosecute Petraeus for the reasons Glenn listed in the article, and because if put on trial, Petraeus could probably rain and brimstone on the whole system, Feinstein included.
Feinstein makes me want to throw up. Not that I harbor any fantasies about Eric Holder actually filing charges against Petraeus. Holder’s “Justice” Dept. never files charges against anyone with a net worth above $10 million, let alone anyone associated with the National Spooks, Stars ‘n Stripes.
The Spook Mafia have gobbled up tens of billons of dollars and have never prevented a terrorist attack.
Blackmail … corporate espionage … insider trading … drone terrorism … international narcotics … they have nothing to do with protecting USA and everything to do with exploiting US citizens for power and profit.
The Spook Mafia and their political enablers are among the USA’s most dangerous enemies.
Feinstein voted FOR Bushs Iraq war in 2002.
Feinstein is a fellow war criminal with Petraeus.
Feinstein is a hypocrite.
Govt is a proven tool ONLY for the powerful to get away with anything they way.
National Security should be out of the Senators’ ball park, she should be busy with the Nation’s unemployment. The General is retired, he did excellent as a Commanding General . The President fired him, but he was not alone. He should be able to enjoy his retirement. The NSA should be after terrorists, any & all terrorist . Not our “Patriotic Americans”
Well, while CENTCOM is dealing with its latest problem — something about their Twitter and YouTube accounts getting hacked by ISIS — we have analysis of today’s Feinstein story by the Patrician Broadcast System — PBS. Made possible by viewers like you! Thank you!
– – –
GWEN IFILL: … so, once again we return to a scandal involving General P. David Petraeus. For that story, we again have the analysis of former Gov. Pontius Pilate of the Plato Institute, and former consul Silius Soddus of the Aventine Center for Strategic Studies. Welcome all.
PILATE: Thank you, Gwen.
GWEN: So, this week, the former commander of the legions in Mesopotamia, and then the Roman Intelligence Agency, is back in the news.
SILIUS: I gather that the Tiberius administration is pondering whether to prosecute him over classified information he leaked to his mistress.
GWEN: Well, this is an old story, which broke two years ago when some threatening scrolls by the General’s mistress to at least one other woman, a possible rival, turned up on Capitoline Hill. We had allegations about other scrolls going back and forth between Petraeus and his mistress, and even being read by operatives in the Imperial Security Agency.
SILIUS: Yes, and apparently it was national security stuff, not just the little love murmurings you’d see in normal billets-doux. Pardon my Gaullish.
PILATE: Oh, yes, (pompous bass) “I love you, darling, and I’m about to start Operation Thracian Violation III.”
SILIUS: When he raped Thrace thrice.
PILATE: (cough) So, anyway, we knew that the intel agencies were also spying on Sen. Diana Feinstein, Sen. Lucretia Graham, the then-future Emperor Tiberius, and others.
SILIUS: Yes, and that may have caused some disquiet on Capitoline Hill. Plenty of Senators with a mistress or two or three of various genders, so they have plenty of reason to worry about being found out.
PILATE: Everybody knows that the Senators have their little amusements.
SILIUS: But they don’t want them on Visagebook walls all over Rome, for proletarians to have a little giggle. The patrician 1% had enough embarrassment during the scandal with Biggus Dickus.
PILATE: Well, this week Tiberius did cancel his vacation at Capri and return to the capital to deal with the Petraeus investigation, which is maybe why Sen. Feinstein spoke up.
GWEN: It’s never a good sign when the Emperor comes back to Rome in that mood. You don’t want to “cross” him.
PILATE: Indeed. Sen. Feinstein says that Gen. Petraeus has “suffered enough.”
SILIUS: Mistress Paula certainly could inflict suffering. Look up “dominatrix” in your Latin dictionary and you’ll find her there.
PILATE: And now he’s suffering more public embarrassment. Still a lot better than a trial and maybe having the general do a matinee performance in the Colisseum. Sen. Feinstein does have a point.
SILIUS: Maybe a trial would bring out a lot more than just Petraeus and his mistress. A lot of Senators don’t want their stories coming out. And speaking about Capri, the Emperor and leaked information, what was this about him and that boys’ choir from Numidia?
PILATE: I don’t think it would be wise to look into that.
SILIUS: Indeed. So I don’t think the General will go on trial.
GWEN: Thank you. And now for the latest on the economic situation, here is Paul Solmon in Achaea. Paul?
PAUL: Thank you, Gwen. The imperial governor in Athens, Pliny the Younger, has weighed in on the collapse of the Peloponnesian Central Bank and the pending Greek elections …
-30-
Um, Pliny was propraetore of Bithynia-Pontus. There was no imperial governor of Athens, and Pliny held office under Trajan, not Tiberius. Oh, and Visagebook would be Libervultus Latine. Nice homage to A Funny Thing and Zero Mostel with the “raped Thrace thrice” thing. You clearly are attempting to write not a story for amusement but a ktema eis aei.
You missed the references to the Monty Python canon, and besides, in this surreal alt-history universe I’ve constructed, we have PBS and television in the Tiberius administration, so I can assign Pliny the Younger anywhere I like — and I believe this Pliny was in Trajan’s administration, well after Tiberius. Carpe canem and all that. Besides, I’m sure Gwen Ifill probably doesn’t speak very good Latin.
Monty Python and the Romans – been there done that will many a Latin student and too obvious even to remark. Too bad you chose satire – a history of imperial America written in the style of Tacitus is what our times demand – cupido dominandi and all that sordid stuff, right down to court astrologers a la Gene Dixon (and oh, Reagan as that irresistible parallel to Claudius, with Dick Cheney to skirt L. Aelius Sejanus, and, now that he fancies himself an artist and an incendiary of the constitution and several once sovereign nations, how ’bout W to parallel Nero? And oh the courtiers, the delatores, the knavish freedmen – so many to choose so little time! I’d emphasize Eliot Abrams to start).
Of course the real point Glenn is making is a good one for Classics; recall Miltiades, the great hero of Marathon, was brought into court for embezzlement (and he preserved the Athenian state!) on a stretcher when nearly at death’s door. The Athenians were not real sentimental about their leaders, least of all military commanders if they breached the law (even if they were victorious; see the Battle of Arginusae; cf. Socrates killed in the witch-hunt post Athenian collapse, in part for abstaining from voting to execute the generals after said battle).
But I digress. What did in Rome’s free state? Very complicated – but my one sentence boiler-plate answer following Sallust and years of lecturing on the subject is excess concentration of wealth and attendant political and legal immunity that crushed anything left of public virtue and a legitimate political (and legal) process. I.e., the Romans violated their own laws and principles, didn’t care, and were quite happy to see a military dictatorship usurp a res publica.
Not that this has any relevance to us. Thank goodness it’s ancient history and can be relegated to irrelevance.
Probably not relevant to us, though the US is, like Rome, currently calling itself a Republic and maintaining all the outward ceremonies but in fact something of an empire. And while Tacitus indeed has many serious lessons, we probably can see the latter-day Suetonius in some of the goings-on in Washington and NYC high society. Our patricians and praetorians are definitely on a rampage. And Lindsey Graham plays Medea later this week.
The ubiquitous bureaucratic action exhibited by all branches of government at all levels from local to international — called ‘double-standard justice’ — will drive you crazy if you let it.
Argentina has put its previous leaders on trial, so is Egypt. UK & US need to learn from these countries that even if you are a President, that does not mean that you are above the law. unfortunately, the US would not even participate in the international criminal court, lest its leaders be subject to judgements for their crimes. Israel is also above the laws.
Scott Horton’s nearby article should be read as a companion piece.
Insulation from the consequences of collusion (particularly with a former CIA chief) is a Congressional perk; bureaucrats share their power with politicians who share their power with bureaucrats. Win/win from the participants’ point of view.
I always wonder about the quid pro quo.
Feinstein’s loud advocacy of the torture investigations and defense of Petraeus hints at something else here.
Perhaps Petraeus shared CIA information with the Senate investigators.
Right on, as per usual, and I hope no one minds if I post (maybe re-post?) a parody I wrote about Petraeus back in the day. I thought it was long past it’s shelf date, but thankfully, he’s back in the news! :)
A Modern Four-Star General
November 10, 2012 at 11:56am
Petraeus:
I am the very model of a modern four-star General,
I decimate the terrorists and militants and criminals.
I know the laws of conflict are considered quite rhetorical:
Men seventeen to ninety-two are guilty categorical.
I’m very well acquainted, too, with stopping the fanatical;
I understand insurgencies of simple Muslim radicals.
About Near-Eastern surges I am teeming with a lot o’ news.
It surely fixed Iraq — and, no, we didn’t do it for the Jews.
I’m very good at exercise to keep my body fabulous.
Broadwell’s happy to report my dictum’s quite mirabilus.
In short, in matters terroristic, militant, and criminal,
I am the very model of a modern four-star general.
Broadwell:
I know my place in history: an “author” with two arms of rock
Who pandered to a paragon and rode him to advance my stock.
I quote in tones ecstatic all the crimes of Peachy Petraeus
While spotting my superior in exercises amorous.
I can sell undoubted crimes to Stewart, Jon and company;
I know how to invoke the strains of liberal hypocrisy
So I can sell my book of which I didn’t write a syllable —
My “partner’s” Vernon Loeb, a PR hack who’s most despicable.
Transmitted he with unchecked glee our Jessie Lynch’s desert storm
From Pentagonal sources kept anonymous — how true to form!
In short, in matters sexual, professional, political,
I, machine-gun model, love my modern four-star general.
Iraqi child:
The fact is that I know there’s something wrong with my young cranium.
It’s surely unrelated to my coating of uranium.
But when I watch the pundits lionizing this Iscariot
Be sure I know precisely what is meant by “commentariat.”
And I have learnt that progress is defined by Western gunnery,
By those who now tell Broadwell, “Hey, slut, get thee to a nunnery.”
These sinner-breeders elegize their manly killer prodigy
And lie aspread awaiting one more worthy, for the standard fee.
Yes, this military avatar of reprobate hypocrisy,
Garlanded with laurels by a fawning mediocrity,
Reminds, in matters terroristic, militant, and criminal,
We’re all the very targets of a modern four-star general.
Allen:
I am another model of a modern four-star General
Whose meteoric rise may prove to be somewhat ephemeral.
I thought I’d hitch my wagon to a military oracle
Applauded by a press who thought him more than oratorical.
I was to be the chief of force-projection kinematical;
My nomination to the post is somewhat problematical.
And while I thank Panetta for the process that to me is due,
I think there is a danger that the public might prefer it, too.
So, while I welcome every check on power when it comes to me,
I cannot in good conscience recommend it to humanity.
In short, in matters terroristic, militant, and criminal,
I am another model of a modern four-star general.
Jill Kelly and Natalie Khawam:
We’re socialites who specialize in fêting Tampa’s local brass.
We’re acolytes who fantasize about acceptance by their class.
We like to fund our parties with the proceeds of our charity
And do our patriotic bit to showcase moral clarity.
With telling ease we infiltrated circles of the highest sort
While stroking power’s levers in the service of our own support.
And as we schemed and cheated we proceeded with impunity
By trading on connections to our warrior community.
And if you wonder how such men were caught by narcissistic clones,
You’ve yet to disabuse yourself of cheers by journalistic drones.
But in these matters sexual, financial, and, yes, criminal,
Will we still be considered honorary consul-generals?
FBI:
The fact is that we know there’s something wrong in every residence.
We copy every data stream and treat it all as evidence.
Patrolling all of cyberspace with fiber-optic lariats,
We’ve built a pattern for you that includes all random variates.
We’ve got in place behavioral space that we get all synoptic on
Consisting of all patterns in our limitless panopticon.
Your ISP is A-OK with giving aid unwarranted;
Who knows what quo we will bestow on them for this abhorrent quid?
Perhaps it’s understood that we’ll ignore their own bureaucracy
As long as they play down the scope of Stasi-like autocracy.
In short, in matters terroristic, militant, and criminal,
You’re all the very targets of a firm attorney general.
(c) 2012 Doug Tarnopol
Nice one Doug! Its great when ones work has temoporal resilience !
Hasn’t the man suffered enough? He had aspirations to be President and now he’s nothing but a punchline for late night comedians and internet satirists. Even Diane Feinstein has taken pity on him.
I like it, very good. HMS Pinafore? Can’t tell for sure, listening to Chopin Nocturnes, so can’t get any other music into my head right now.
ROFLOL..
Thanks ! ” Just can’t stop laughing over the line ” …there’s something wrong in every residence….”
And speaking of “National Security”:
http://news.yahoo.com/u-s–military-command-s-twitter-account-apparently-hacked-by-isis-181757697.html
A joke? Propaganda?
NSA comes under the military. Apparently they are too busy spying on US to protect their own networks, from ISIS or some jokers. Pathetic.
The Bureaucrat Buddy System protects insiders only. Normally these favors are hidden from the public.
I believe you forgot druglords.
If you go to the feinstein office and say that cocaine importers gang stalk you for exposing theme and that they make scalpolamine porn of you, well the law dont apply to theme neither.
As well as the giacoma lionsgate employees, they dont have to fear the law neither with their frenh fotographer stefane…….
Could you guys report on drugs and etc used in gangstalking.
Do the files you got talk about some families.
Do the files also talk about phedofilia?
I think an argument can be made that General Betrayus can be held to a higher standard than the others as his actions, when they occurred, we’re when he was on the army. As such, the more stringent standards as found in the USMJ may come into play.
This is why I hate leaving comments on blogs via iPhone. Auto Correct is EVIL!
It’s “Lavocat”, NOT “Avocation”. Also, it’s “were” not “we’re” and “USCMJ” not “USMJ”.
You’re right that Petraeus should be held to a higher standard as a general officer. It’s UCMJ not USMJ, and it damn sure would have been applied against a plain soldier. Feinstein is guilty of looking after her ‘class’ in our ‘classless society’. She should be run out of office; she’s an embarrassment to the people of California.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again–Sen. Diane Feinstein is a scumbag of the highest order. I look forward to dancing a jig the day she and Dick Cheney shuffle off this mortal coil, together with a long list of their fellow American scumbags from John Yoo to Jay Bybee. Because it is human beings in name only, like her and Darth Dick, who make it impossible to have a better country and better world.
I was going to say something similar. My first thought upon seeing her mugshot was “..oh my God, Satan had a sister!” But I didn’t want to bring down the level of academic intercourse. She is certainly pathetic. If God were to have mercy on her soul there would be no mercy left.
And who do you think will replace them? More of same until something really radical happens in this country. Unfortunately, it seems like other major players in the world are of the same ilk. Like many, however, I really don’t have a good idea for how this could happen.
Why would anyone in our government want to prosecute their peers? If they do, then they won’t be forgiven for their own “sins”.
Has there really been any point in history when the rich and powerful have not been treated this way? I dislike it as much as anyone else (I suppose because I am not one of them), but what else can one expect? Why would the people that make and enforce the laws want it to be any different?
Glenn at one point in his life, as an attorney, helped “enforce” the laws in this country. My guess is he’d like it if it was the case that all people, regardless of relative wealth or power, were treated equally before the law. I assume that he expects that the law applies to him in the same way it should apply to everyone. I help enforce the law as an attorney and I know I would like it to be different. I expect that the law applies to me in the same way and to the same degree that it applies to the poorest American and as I’d prefer to see it applied to the richest.
I concede my “expectation” is tempered by the reality that the more wealth a person accumulates the greater the likelihood that person can make “the law” serve his/her/its individual interests. Generally but not always. That’s a big problem and it shouldn’t be that way as a normative, ethical and moral matter. Lots of lawyers and others recognize that this is the current reality and work in ways big and small to try and change it. And I agree that what they are doing is insufficient. But that also doesn’t mean I believe the present reality is some sort of timeless immutable truth or reality that cannot be changed. To quote MLK Jr. “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” At least over time I believe that to be true even when that arc is temporally interrupted. And I believe that the primary focus should be “economic justice” because all other forms of justice are derived therefrom.
The rich need to be brought to heel. They need to be taught that they are not above and beyond the law. But so long as Americans who are not members of the “upper classes” continue to fight amongst themselves for the scraps discarded from the rich man’s table, there will never be a functional “system of justice” in America where all are treated equally before the law. So long as the economic elite are permitted to write the laws in service of their narrow economic and political interests the non-elite will continue to be satisfied with fighting each other for the scraps.
It doesn’t have to be that way, but that’s the way it currently is–in my humble opinion. Until the American people rediscover their “class” identity and interests and organize effectively to challenge the status quo, I’d agree things will continue to suck badly for 80% of the American people. We will continue to be, for all intents and purposes, powerless in the political, legal and economic sense..
I’ve said many times that unless and until a majority of the working class in this country are prepared to refuse to work for months on end and demonstrate that they are willing to tear down the entire economic system upon which the capitalist economic elite depend for their very wealth and power (and which labor creates), then nothing will change. I agree that would be painful for all involved. But I believe it is absolutely necessary.
Tinkering with the system of purported “capitalism” isn’t going to cut it. There needs to be a global revolution of the working classes that says “either change the system so that it provides a basic standard of living for all who assist in creating global wealth” and a “decent standard for those who cannot care for themselves” otherwise “we will start the revolution by feasting on the wealth and physical bodies of those ‘capitalists’ who have feasted on our physical bodies and wealth for centuries.”
No man creates “wealth” on his own. And until the “wealth” that all men participate in creating is distributed equitably there will be no justice in the world. In my humble opinion the janitor and the garbage are just as “valuable” if not more than any banker who has ever walked the earth.
I don’t even like to use the word “capitalism or capitalists” because I think our current global economic system is better described as “neo-feudalism” or systemic “debt peonage”. When you reduce human beings to their “economic value” to another man or entity, you’ve countenanced a morally bankrupt economic system in the first instance. That makes some men our “economic lords” and we their “serfs”. Until we stop acting like their serfs and demand better little if anything will change.
Hi Roger Springfield and rrheard –
Wow – very thought-provoking posts from both of you. My two cents:
Has there been a time in history where the rich and powerful haven’t held the reigns to tightly (to paraphrase)? Now when we look at modern history —- there are some exceptions. I believe there was a middle class movement in Britain, the French threw off feudalism, the Progressive/Reform era in the early 20th C. here in the U.S. did achieve some progress, and the 50’s and 60’s here in the U.S. were a time of struggles, but with a tendency toward more political and economic inclusiveness. But too often the elites have had the rest by the thumbs.
and rrheard – you really have thought things out admirably. I think you have great points. That said, I’m not sure the revolution you envision is likely, at least not yet. We 99% er’s are still too divided and still fighting each other. Just look at comments on say The Guardian or Yahoo in response to a story about someone struggling economically. Basically it boils down to many commenters feel “it’s all their fault.” Yes, there’s a place for individual responsibility, but it’s not always quite as simple as that. There are policies that impact individuals’ lives – and not always positively. We need to somehow, someway build bridges between ourselves if we are to make any true progress.
Anyway, enjoyed both posts and like rrheard’s conclusion:
“That makes some men our “economic lords” and we their “serfs”. Until we stop acting like their serfs and demand better little if anything will change.”
P. S. Let’s not forget that some of the elites are females – so maybe we should think ‘some “people” are our economic lords’….
Glenn, she was singing a different tune back in 2012 when the original scandal broke.
http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2012/11/12/dianne-feinstein-obama-should-have-been-informed-sooner-about-petraeus-scandal-video/
Benghazi! You can learn all kinds of interesting things about DiFi by reading her hometown newspaper.
(Completely irrelevant comment, Glenn, but that picture of her! I never spotted the resemblance to Hyacinth Bucket (pron. “boo-QUET”) before this).
Oh, and you might find more curious factoids from the old scandals with previous whistleblowers like Russ Tice and William Binney. The Chronicle archives include a number of interesting stories by reporter Michael Kelley including these interesting points:
http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/Egregious-Cases-Of-US-Government-Employees-4655191.php
The reference to NYPD is interesting in our current context, but I digress. I wanted to point up the interesting mentions of data from Petraeus (and, for that matter, Feinstein). Petraeus may have done a lot of talking to his mistress, and how many were listening in? LOVEINT was never this fraught with national-security implications.
Anyway, beyond “he suffered enough” is a past litter of interesting stories. Nice work if you can get it — and you can get it if you try.
The programs he blew the whistle on are unconstitutional and illegal. It is against the law to hide crimes by making the crimes top secret.
Feinstein is the one who committed treason, along with most of Congress, as well as the pResident.
Exactly.
Obviously Paula Broadwell’s advanced interrogation techniques has been shamefully successful and desirably, Look Forward to.
Vive la liberté d’expression
In case you missed it.
http://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/01/11/edward-snowdens-father-speaks/
Great article, thanks for posting the link!
Hey, TheScaleman –
Thanks soooo much for that link. It was a great read. Kudos to both Snowdens, the Rainses, and all truth-tellers!
BTW, here’s the link for the outlet’s article on the Rainses:
http://www.phillymag.com/articles/john-bonnie-raines-edward-snowden-1971/
All four star generals leak top secret documents to their girlfriends. Showing you’re someone entrusted with important information never fails to impress. But of course they aren’t going to leak anything with the potential to embarrass the US government – that would be counterproductive, since rather than impressing their girlfriends, it might invite their scorn.
This is very different than an outsider or a drudge who leaks top secret information for the purpose of showing that the US government has been acting illegally. Such persons should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, or even better, tried in secret courts beyond the purview of the law.
This is a double standard – but it’s understood that being a member of the club confers special privileges.
That seems to work in most governments (exception: Stalin and his generals). The French even coined a verb for it, limoger, in which unsuccessful generals weren’t sacked or court-martialed but simply transferred to a command far from the front, usually the military district HQ at Limoges. Even their mutineer generals seem to have gotten off relatively lightly.
Hi Benito, may I ask, what do you think has most embarrassed the US government in the last few years, if anything at all?
If the video of George W. Bush giving a noogie to the Chancellor of Germany, at the G8 summit, didn’t embarrass them, nothing will.
Today’s message on the US Centcom Twitter account must have been a bit embarrassing.
Pentagon says the YouTube and Twitter hacks were “cyber-vandalism,” nothing more. There’s no cause for alarm.
– – –
Hey, Petraeus is now in the same line of work as Feinstein’s husband!
Blum Capital and KKR both do private equity, maybe someday Blum can bring Petraeus on the payroll!
Equanimity is hard, but it’s a worthy goal. Granted, I don’t know enough about the legal system to know if these cases are exactly equivalent, so perhaps there are details that distinguish them. (I’m not even sure what was supposed to have been leaked in this case, actually). But in general, it is very hard to treat an existential threat the same way one treats a colleague who screwed up. Whatever did or didn’t happen with Petraeus, it doesn’t seem as if it had the potential to affect national security, which Snowden and Assange’s cases did. Even so, the law should help us to see past subjective preferences. To some people security is the be-all end-all value, to some sexual infidelity might be horrifying, etc. – we judge actions against a uniform standard to help dispel those very differences in the name of equality.
You have no idea what Patraeus leaked or how it might potentially affect national security, but don’t you think that motive should be taken into account? Snowden and Assange weren’t trying to profit from their leaks, they were attempting to inform the world of illegal acts and unwarranted secrecy by our governments. (And thus far there doesn’t seem to be any “existential threats” which have emerged as a result.) Patraeus, OTOH, was working his way into someones pants. But leaving motive aside, why should Patraeus be forgiven his sins merely because he leaked in a different manner? Do you honestly believe that he didn’t know what he was doing?
Did you even read my post?
If you honestly believe this applies here, I believe you’re as guilty of hypocrisy as Feinstein herself.
You’re missing my point. I don’t think the Snowden leaks were an existential threat, although I can see how other people could plausibly feel that way. Julian Assange scares me a bit in a way that Snowden doesn’t because he has unusual ideas and apparently has difficulty looking meek in front of a camera the way that Snowden does. My favorite color is blue. So what?
I think you are simply trying to establish your own preferences as “obviously” correct here. I’m saying the law should transcend such preferences.
Julian Assange scares me … because he has unusual ideas.
That Julian Assange should be prosecuted because he scares you strikes me as an unusual idea.
I hate life in this herd of easily scared animals.
BOO!
I hate life in this herd of easily scared animals.
Me, too, Glenn.
I LOL’d for reals at unusual ideas. I imagine every dissident could be accused of having unusual ideas which genuinely seems to frighten all kinds of authoritarian types. Imagine! Unusual Ideas. The horror! Run for your lives! Katie bar the door! And, lock the windows and head for the cellar, too!
That expressed fear of Unusual Ideas (tm Nic) makes the whole of Nic’s oeuvre make a lot more sense.
That is the exact opposite of what I said Glenn. Maybe your hatred of life would be alleviated if you took the time to listen to what people are saying instead of inserting your own prejudices.
You too TallyHo. What’s up with the self-congratulatory party over sentiments that you decided to attribute to me?
Hey, Nic, did you, or did you not write:
And, having done so, is, or is it not, unreasonable to respond to:
I think most would allow that Assange is a dissident, yes? And, you have admitted that he scares you a bit, in ways Snowden doesn’t, right? And, you attribute your specific concern to Assange’s unusual ideas, no? Well, that and his inability to appear “meek” in front of a camera. I’m sure the allegations about his personal hygiene worry you, as well.
ed note: Apologies to the thread for this staple-it-to-the-floor effort. I’m done. Promise.
TallyHo – Yes, and immediately after I stated my belief that rule of law is necessary to account for these subjective preferences, fears, etc., that we all have. What’s your point? That it’s wrong for humans to have individual preferences and fears and that rule of law would not be necessary from some Totally Objective viewpoint? That you don’t care about the general point I was making but are so offended that anyone could feel that way about Julian Assange that you must take umbrage? I don’t see where you’re going with this.
Well, what if the phone calls between Gen. Eisenhower and Kay Summersby had included, oh, details about the time, location and organization of Operation Overlord, and it got out around, say, May 1944? Gen. Petraeus was a theater commander as well, so he had, er, potential as well. Four stars can add up to one big leak.
You are in error. The Espionage Act does not distinguish as you imagine. You might want to read Title 18, US Code (I forget which sections).
Also, it would be fair to point out that Snowden and Assange’s cases, as you put it, did not materially affect national security, but rather revealed information that the American public needed to know and act on (but alas, did not, thanks at least in part to people like Senator Feinstein). If you were to read the definition of Top Secret, you would see that it is “information which if revealed would cause grievous harm to the United States.” What evidence is there of grievous harm having been done, save possibly to the egos of people like George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, who have been revealed in all their criminality?
As I imagine? I am so confused by all the “But you said this thing that I said you said but you didn’t actually say and now I shall voice my indignation at your imaginary comment!” responses to my comments. I can only conclude that Snowden and Assange are the equivalents of religious figures amongst this crowd and people respond quickly at any hint of blasphemy or insufficient shows of adulation in proximity to their printed names. (And geez, I have nothing against Snowden, Assange, or Petraeus at a personal level, I hope they all lead long happy lives, I was just musing over equanimity and rule of law). Sorry, Jeff, your comment was actually mild in that regard, you just happened to be the last one that I saw that finally triggered a “WTF?!” reaction.
Coram, thank you for not doing that, although I actually have no idea what you did say to me. No doubt an error in background knowledge and reading comprehension on my end, though.
The elite are only capable of feeling compassion for members of their own class because it’s only themselves they view as human.
This is more true than I ever imagined.
Yup.
It seems almost typical of female Democrats…Feinstein, Hillary Clinton, and the most repugnant, Madeleine Albright…to want to show that they have more balls than males.
Easy, Nete. The whole gestalt of equality or egalitarianism allows any representative of any group an equal opportunity to be an “asshole.” In that framework, women are as entitled as men to be aggressive, debauched, sadistic, and even misogynistic. To argue otherwise is to tread on the “herstory” [sic] of cultural gender expectations. I’m not sure you really want to go there.
I perhaps should have said “brains addled by testosterone”.
In case anybody wondered who the real enemies of the government were, apparently they are “We The [ordinary] People”. The “extraordinary” people who are closely connected to those with honorific titles (The Honorable, Mr. President, etc.), who are also known as the political elite, have special privileges and “get-out-of-jail-free” cards by virtue of their association.
We are no better than Communist Russia was in its heyday. One rule for the ordinary people, another rule for the political elites.
I need a taxonomy for elite. The financial aspects of the standard socio-econmic classification system (lower class, lower middle class, etc) just doesn’t work very well for our current “puzzles.” We see, I think, evidence of elitist notions (applies to thee but not to me) in a variety of places. The most recent one that came to mind was the response of Harvard professors to the impacts of ACA on their own health insurance program.
Is Petraeus still among the upper echelons of the Elite, or has he fallen to some lower level of Elite status? Can the Truly Elite now imagine prosecuting him for what would have been unthinkable were he leaking information that supported some propaganda policy/procedure/event aspiration? And, is Feinstein trying to re-elevate him from some Quasi-Elite status back to Truly Elite? And/or is she looking ahead to her own retirement some time in the future when she is no longer among the Truly Elite and wants to assure her own immunity? In which case does some sense of Current Elite and Former Elite come into play? This is confusing. A taxonomy would certainly help.
*http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/06/us/health-care-fixes-backed-by-harvards-experts-now-roil-its-faculty.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=1
I need a taxonomy for elite.
If we were to take Linnaeus’s taxonomy system and play around with the categories – Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species – a bit, it might serve as a model for such. For example:
Kingdom: Elite Human (though some might justifiably quibble with the latter designation, let’s keep it just for the thought experiment)
Phylum: Might entail examples such as,
A. Government/Political (or maybe Political needs its own Phylum)
B. Financial
C. Corporate
D. Media
E. Entertainment
From there you could further break down by Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species, etc.
I think it might turn out to be a worthy exercise since the elite seem hell bent on not letting us visualize them accurately in all their hideous privilege.
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species
Hmmm. I see possibilities.
Have to admit that I first read this: …in all their hideous privilege. as: …in all their hideous plumage. :-) Must have been the Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species tip-up.
Remarkable bird, the Norwegian blue, isn’t ‘e, squire? Beautiful plumage.
Pedinska, I believe Elite Human is classed among Arachnids.
Here’s how I understand the “taxonomy” of elite. I do 38 in a 25, get pulled over, get a hefty fine and a spike in my insurance rates; and by the way, your brake lights were out. The president and his courtiers preside over an illegal war and the numerous war crimes and mayhem that ensue (e.g. torture, use of white phosphorus, the displacement of millions of people, the forcing into prostitution of destitute women, etc. etc. etc.) and get book deals, hefty speaking fees, a library, and a permanent public podium – maybe even a public holiday (oh boy!) and my mediocre-beyond-belief artwork becomes famous; if I’m a proconsul who presides over the province during the whole debacle I might even get a publishing deal for my cookbook.
The taxonomy is pretty straight forward. You suffer more for doing 38 in a 25 than for presiding over the destruction of a number of countries (take your pick) and the destruction of your country’s constitution. No trick to it.
The successor promises to do better, but instead presides over the consolidation of extra-judicial conduct with the consent of desperate liberals who after 40 years in the wilderness are desperate for a sop. Invade, tyrannize, consolidate, clap harder, repeat! Oh for a bit of Athenian hard-mindedness when it comes to our leaders! I hope this was helpful . . . well, now off to traffic court!
Great rant – and so true.
No, Petraeus is not elite, he just does their bidding.
Petraeus was said to be GOOD at his job – rightly or wrongly – but this has been said.
Being good at a productive skill is for chumps these days.
Being good at a productive skill is for those who aren’t good enough at making a strong impression on another sociopathic robot – the ONLY skill that is respected these days.
This is so typical of the Meritocracy…a club for the grotesquely hypocritical. This type of thing pollutes almost every organization…where boot-polishing, back-stabbing flourish.