The Intel Double Standard.

Here’s Stephen Hayes on another Obama double standard, this one on intelligence gathering:

So, the Obama administration has buried a report on recidivist Guantanamo Bay detainees that would cause political problems but it is seeking to release “torture” memos that could prove politically beneficial. Those Bush-era memos, according to Newsweek, would be released “over objections from the U.S. intelligence community.”

Surely we will read stories in the Washington Post and New York Times this week about the Obama administration “politicizing intelligence,” no? Especially because Obama advisers have overruled “intelligence professionals” before, right?

As the old journalism axiom has it: Three is a trend.

It would be most interesting to see Obama explain the double-standard tonight.

Read the rest.

Those Bush-era memos, by the way, were just that: memos written by White House staff to discuss and debate in 2002 and 2003 their options on intelligence gathering, detainees, policies, etc. They weren’t executive orders, as is often portrayed by the slanted press. Imagine if every staff meeting conversation you had at work ended up on the company-wide distribution list…