Obama is adamant that enhanced interrogation techniques did not make America safer, but releasing all the details of those techniques will...WH Press Secretary Tweet
- On occasion, the police screw up. Also, on occasion, the CIA and our intelligence agencies screw up. But the facts are clear: they all have more successes than failures (successes our intelligence agencies rarely publicize). So where is our gratitude?
- All of these entities have one goal in common: to keep us safe---safe from all the hundreds and thousands of scumbags in the world that want to do us harm. In general, they do a good job. But you wouldn't know it from the recent news coming out of the mouths of many politicians and from the media. As Michael Goodwin of the NY Post pointed out so well: "Only the truth is tortured."
- Even more disturbing is this "moralistic grandstanding" we've witnessed in the last few weeks. Sen. Flunkenstein's release of the CIA Report, the contents of which she's known about for years because---like many others in government---she was briefed on those techniques years ago is just one example. As one observer pointed out recently if Flunkenstein had any courage, she would have spoke out about these earlier techniques to stop them. But she didn't. She did it for purely political reasons. Nothing more. Nothing less.
- Regarding the critics of the police who now proudly wear those "I Can't Breathe" T-shirts? I should started wearing one of those because I can't breathe through the stench of lies, misinformation and myths that these knuckleheads keep trying to sustain. For example, the Bureau of Justice reported recently that 85% of those requesting police assistance were satisfied with the police response. In the last five months, complaints against the NYPD fell 26% and excessive force complaints were down 29%. In addition, police have approximately 44 million contacts a year with citizens. Oh, one more item. Face-to-face contacts with police were more common among males, whites and younger subjects.
- Officer Down Memorial Page reports that 43 police officers have died due to death by gunfire, an increase of 65% over the previous year. Total line of duty deaths now stand at 108 or an increase of 16%. One police officer dies an average of every 58 hours. In addition, there have been almost 60,000 assaults against law enforcement officers in the last decade. Since the first recorded law enforcement line of duty death in the late 1700's, 20,000 have been killed. The NYPD has suffered more line of duty deaths than any other police department with 697 in its history. National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund
- The CIA reports 111 agents died in the line of duty in the agency's history. In 2009, the agency lost 7 operatives in one day from a Taliban suicide bombing in Afghanistan.
- Yes, Michael Goodwin was correct when he wrote: "Only the truth is tortured." Even more important, where is our gratitude?
