It’s hard work.
By on Mar 6th, 2006 at 7:29 pm
It’s hard work.
“On many a workday lunchtime, the nominal boss of U.S. intelligence, John D. Negroponte, can be found at a private club in downtown Washington, getting a massage, taking a swim, and having lunch, followed by a good cigar and a perusal of the daily papers in the club’s library. ‘He spends three hours there [every] Monday through Friday,’ gripes a senior counterterrorism official.” (Via TPM)
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He probably thinks this job is his employment to supplement the social security check he receives, just like all the walmart greeters. To bad they did not have the political connections to get such a cushy retirement job.
March 6th, 2006 at 7:36 pmIf you knew all the World’s best secrets wouldn’t you act like it too?
March 6th, 2006 at 7:38 pmWow, These BushCo employees are so dedicated
March 6th, 2006 at 7:40 pmto doing a great job!
No wonder nothing bad ever happens on BushCo’s
watch!
Exactly the type of executive that Bush believes in - the kind that delegates responsibility to underlings and when something goes wrong the little guys get the heat.
Actually his amount of leisure time is probably very similar to Bush’s who is in total control of the GWOT - or as far as that can be said to be control. Perhaps the lack of effort to understand their world explains their failures.
Negroponte has a job that essentially allows communication between the agencies. The intelligence agenicies vehemently opposed an intelligence ‘czar’ so in the end Negroponte occupies a marginal agency that resolves disputes between the agencies.
We shouldn’t be surprised at this sort of managerial style though - George Bush is so detached that he believed Pakistan to be Arab. Considering that he has spent all his time since 9/11 (well and before that too) ‘thinking’ about grand schemes in the middle east and then carrying out botched wars one would imagine that somewhere along the way he would learn that Pakistan (as well as Iran) are not, in fact, Arab. Next watch him claim do PM Erdogan of Turkey that he is proud to have such a wonderful Arab partner. Yep, that’d go down great.
Ah, the corporate political lifestyle.
March 6th, 2006 at 7:43 pmI doubt Negroponte knows less about the ‘total’ picture than the CIA, DIA, etc. The purpose, at the beginning, was to create an agency that would allow the focuses of each agency to converge, creating a useful picture of the entire intelligence ‘world’. That would have been helpful.
Instead, every agency involved actively lobbied against its creation and then proceeded to undermine it. Now what we have is a 24/7 (well, we hope) dispute resolution center and a man, in Negroponte, who can be a figurehead for the intelligence communities. I mean think of it - Negropontes only real job appears to be to scare the crap out of people through interviews, when he is not too busy ‘relaxing’.
Hey, what kind of massages is this guy getting? And who is paying for them? Is a massage a legitimate use of taxpayer funds?
March 6th, 2006 at 7:49 pm#5
correction: “I bet that Negroponte knows less than the heads of the CIA, DIA, etc”
Ah, the wonders of forced sleep deprivation.
March 6th, 2006 at 7:50 pmYes, the life of the aristocracy, just like England.
Hey, didn’t we fight a war to get rid of guys like him back in 1776?
March 6th, 2006 at 8:06 pmI want that f**kin’ job. My ass would be grass if I took a 3 hour lunch break everyday. What a creep - wasting taxpayer dollars. Will November ever get here? Cheney will retire end of 2006, the Dems take control of Congress which will allow the long awaited impeachment of Bush… and then we have a truly non-entity as President until the next election. Hallaluia!
March 6th, 2006 at 8:37 pmAre you serious?
March 6th, 2006 at 9:12 pm“Every minute I spend in that office, only hurts my chance of succeeding…” George Costanza
March 6th, 2006 at 9:13 pmPerhaps he finds the confines of his office too restrictive? Maybe lacking that “aura”, that inspires a feeling of safety, when one is preparing to “unburden” oneself ? Or that there would be a record somewhere of their visit, which might prove to be…unfortunate, later on. So, HEY !, Let’s just meet at my “club”, who’s to know ? Dick and Rummy brought this guy back in. They have a very good reason for doing so. So now they are trying to make him look like most of the other “crony” seat fillers they have around. Another distraction attempt, because he should be watched.
March 6th, 2006 at 9:14 pmAnd I quote our fine, fine Preznit: “It’s hard work“
March 6th, 2006 at 9:16 pmDid anyone happen to mention his paid holiday schedule? Is it anywhere in line with his bosses?
March 6th, 2006 at 9:18 pmJohn Negroponte PLEASE!
March 6th, 2006 at 9:20 pmMonkey see Monkey do.
March 6th, 2006 at 9:20 pmThe work ethic is “strong” particularly for those doing the “hard work” just like the managerial style of Bush&Co.
Although, I don’t suppose it is easy to keep track of all the lies he’s told, the killings he’s arranged — he has to relax his tense muscles and ease his conscience - keep those memories at bay.
Like Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bush and the others, the more rotten you are the longer you stay on this earth.
Im thinking Jeff Gannon may be a massuese
March 6th, 2006 at 9:41 pmHarper’s Magazine discussion/forum on IMPEACHMENT
March 6th, 2006 at 9:42 pmSam Seder is moderator
c-span 2 NOW
Aren’t these the same people who scream “Welfare Fraud!”?
Well what are we doing but subsidize his 3 hr. lunch, and Bush’s bike rides and daily work-outs, etc.?
Hypocrites.
March 6th, 2006 at 9:43 pmIt’s the uber-echelon republican work ethic in action, as set forth by the example of their leader King (it’s hard work) George.
March 6th, 2006 at 10:13 pmCome on — we’ve come a long way from John’s old days in Honduras.
He can run Death Squads and dope deals in 10 countries simultaneously, all from his Blackberry. Negroponte isn’t tied to the office anymore, now that US terrorism is wi-fi compatible.
March 6th, 2006 at 10:54 pmInteresting forum, Katy. Thanks for the tip. It’s nearly over now, and they have fairly clearly explained the hows and whys of impeachment. I took away from it — the people have to begin this movement - we must pressure our legislators. It took two years to impeach Nixon and he was very popular early in his second term.
March 6th, 2006 at 11:25 pmImpeachment is a safeguard provided by our founders against tyranny - the people must use it. The press is absent. The press sees the branches of government as Pres. Reps. and Dems. There are many reasons for their non-reporting, but the disappointment is palpable, so we must take up the battle from the ground.
#21 Marie, Too bad I live in Kentucky if they were going to look into impeachment(which they won’t) they’d have to do the governor first for the scandal he had to pardon a bunch of his administration for and is now in court trying to stop the investigation.
March 6th, 2006 at 11:30 pmClif, I was both encouraged and discouraged by this forum. A few months ago, I also saw the meeting, Downing Street Memo, (forced to be held in the basement storage room). There is a strong base supporting the removal of this regime, I believe, but it is having a hard time getting out the message. The press is DOA. If the public is unaware, the ground swell won’t occur.
March 6th, 2006 at 11:48 pmNow the drumbeat has begun for something drastic to happen in Iran.
It takes time just like 72-74, and this time we have not ability to get the congress to hold oversitr like in the case of Nixon, but that don’t mean the people don’t know.
Ralph Reed was toughed by the scandal and the christian right is backing away from him in Georgia.
The solution resides out here not in DC and many more people get it then the MSM or the DC crew realises.
March 6th, 2006 at 11:53 pmLet’s hope the march has begun.
March 7th, 2006 at 12:10 amyes, marie - the panel has given the information that the people need - they have agreed and advised: it is up to the people now…
i thought it was cool when lapham said he wouldn’t be surprised by a real revolution - take it to the streets! i sure am ready!
how about that dude at the end? - thought he was gonna pitch a fit with the questioners… if he’d just let them speak instead of inturrepting… it almost got mean… i thought he was a bit too short and “tyranical”…
it turned out well though…
ALL - go to john conyers site - information - sign petitions:
March 7th, 2006 at 12:30 amhttp://www.house.gov/conyers/
http://www.conyersblog.us/
IT’S OUR PATRIOTIC DUTY!
This is what we are paying for folks. He needs to get off his privileged ass and go to work. The “public servants” have completely forgotten who they serve. None of the posers in Washington work an honest day…it’s stealing from the taxpayers. By the way, your congress is getting ready to go on another break!
March 7th, 2006 at 12:59 amAll these motherf*ckers need to hang. Hold the trials, set up the gallows and hang Bush and all his criminial lackeys. These pricks don’t realize they are suppose to be servants of the people. Washington is a country club for rich ass holes helping their friends get richer while their leader cuts funding to disabled kids. It is time to start over from scratch. Let ‘em burn. Negropnte, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Rice, Rove, Chertoff, you are hereby found guilty of treason against the people of the United States of America, you will summarily be hung by the neck until dead.
March 7th, 2006 at 4:15 am“We have to address the fact that the president has broken the law.†— Senator Russ Feingold
March 7th, 2006 at 6:52 amWho was that other Bush admin. official ?? The one that asked for tie & suit advice by e-mail ?? Michael Brown, The FEMA Chief !! It seems the only requirement to be in the Bush administration is knowing to enjoy life and power !! :D
March 7th, 2006 at 9:59 amKaty, I’ve said it before: Torches and Pitchforks! Be Ready!
March 7th, 2006 at 10:00 amNegroponte is merely following the dictates of the president and congress.
The shruyb spends less time in his office than just about any president in the history of this country.
The puke led congress puts in less and less time each session for the past three sessions.
This is what POWER does for you. You vote them in en mass and you have yourself one big mess.
March 7th, 2006 at 10:13 amIs that massage with release?
March 7th, 2006 at 7:18 pm[…] A year after John Negroponte became the first director of national intelligence, key lawmakers worry that the spy agency is not fulfilling its vital mission. The office is “not adding any value†by enlarging the bureaucracy, said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra (R-MI). “They’re lengthening the time to make things happen.†(Maybe that has something to do with the 3 hours a day Negroponte spends at a health club?) […]
April 12th, 2006 at 9:04 am