New Comments Policy

I've decided to take a page from the Bush Administration and their handling of the CIA and institute a new policy. From now on in the comments section I only want to read positive comments about my posts. Things like "Way to go!" or "Boy you said it" or "You sure are right there." I don't want to hear see any comments that dissent from my opinions in the slightest, nor do I want any facts presented that might contradict my opinions. I'm pretty sure if I have an opinion, I'm right, so there is no need to examine other views.

President Bush has placed Peter Goss in as the new CIA Director with a very similar mandate. Tell me what I want to know, don't tell me things that contradict what I already know. Like me, President Bush and his advisors already know what policies to follow, and if the facts don't support their policies, the facts are probably wrong. Of course this might make Goss's tenure at the CIA somewhat rocky, as an article at Salon by Spencer Ackerman suggests.

The widespread animosity toward Goss is likely to mark his entire tenure. Effective, long-lasting DCIs typically owe their success to an ability to balance three constituencies: the White House, Capitol Hill and Langley. DCIs who neglect their CIA power base don't often survive or implement much. Goss seems to be predicating his career on deliberately antagonizing the agency and forcing it into submission. But without the support of the agency he runs, Goss will be forced to rely on the warm wishes of the president for his continued service, which will only escalate the bitterness between Goss and the CIA.

The director has already shunned those who've pleaded for conciliation. Four former deputy directors of operations attempted to "tell him to stop what he was doing the way he was doing it," an ex-senior official told the Washington Post, but Goss refused to meet with them. As tensions rise between Goss and the agency, they risk becoming mutually reinforcing -- and difficult to defuse. If Goss thought the CIA was dysfunctional before, he has guaranteed that it is now.

Fortunately I don't have any staff so I am free to delude myself into thinking I am always right. It also helps that my website has an approximately 0% chance of affecting your life. With the CIA, the chance their recommendations could impact your life is somewhat greater.

Oh and in case you are wondering, of course I'm joking. Go ahead and critique me all you want. I think reading well reasoned critiques helps me understand my positions better and improves my ability to comment well.