Tuesday, November 01, 2016
Captain Ron
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=55113
The American Presidency Project
William J. Clinton
XLII President of the United States: 1993 - 2001
Remarks Announcing the White House Chief of Staff Transition
October 20, 1998
And as I said the other day, if you look at the last few days, he certainly knows how to stage an exit. [Laughter]
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/opinion/the-long-shadow-of-j-edgar-hoover.html
The New York Times
The Long Shadow of J. Edgar Hoover
By TIM WEINER NOV. 1, 2016
Do the words “extremely careless” ring a bell?
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s director, James B. Comey, threw that stinging criticism at Hillary Clinton in July, shortly after announcing that the bureau’s long investigation of her handling of classified information had turned up no crime. Now he faces the same judgment from her — and his superiors at the Justice Department.
In hurling barbs at Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Comey has at once revived his reputation for confronting commanders in chief and resurrected the spirit of the F.B.I.’s most infamous high priest. Somewhere, tearing wings off flies in a dark star chamber in the sky, J. Edgar Hoover is smiling. The use of secret information to wound public figures was one of his favorite sports.
The United States has spent many years trying to stand clear of Hoover’s long shadow. But it lengthens in an age of relentless government surveillance and pitiless political publicity. And Mr. Comey has chosen to become a singular force in American politics. His miscalculated decision to unleash his letter to Clinton hunters in Congress looked less like a legal maneuver than an act of political warfare.
The F.B.I. has an essential role in national security and law enforcement, and it also has the awesome power to destroy someone, delivering blows as only the bureau can. It cannot and must not devolve into what it was in the 20th century after the Cold War — a backbiting, bitter, badly led phalanx of spies with guns — or revert to its old role under Hoover as an instrument of political warfare.
Thomas Kean, the Republican chairman of the Sept. 11 commission, concluded more than a decade ago: “We can’t continue in this country with an intelligence agency with the record the F.B.I. has. You have a record of an agency that’s failed, and it’s failed again and again and again.” That is one reason President Obama chose Mr. Comey in 2013: to command and control the F.B.I. under the rule of law.
Yet despite that mandate, the bureau remains the closest thing we have in this country to a secret police. With the barest oversight from lawmakers, Mr. Comey sits at F.B.I. headquarters — the J. Edgar Hoover Building, that crumbling Brutalist parking garage deliberately situated midway between the White House and Congress — playing by his own rules.
Only Mr. Comey can tell us why he went public with a weeksold investigation into the emails of the Clinton aide Huma Abedin and her estranged husband, a certain excongressman (for the record, Anthony Weiner is no relation). But it was immediately clear that Mr. Comey had violated Justice Department protocols in disclosing the case at its earliest stages.
The only explanation I can think of is a barely plausible one, which delves into the terrain of the cheap political thriller, but hews to the twisted plots of this presidential campaign. F.B.I. agents in Washington and New York were frustrated after laboring mightily on the former secretary of state’s handling of classified emails and producing no indictable offense. Mr. Comey, who must flourish or fail by the respect in which his agents hold him, revived the thrill of their chase when a federal case against the aforementioned excongressman developed, and now the F.B.I. was on the hunt again. Its agents seized a computer from him; emails from Ms. Abedin were on it.
Were these communiqués classified? Threats to national security? Recipes for risotto or blueprints for building a hydrogen bomb? And what if anything did they reveal about the epistolary endeavors of the former secretary of state and current Democratic nominee for president? The F.B.I. had no idea when Mr. Comey made his remarkable disclosure.
This case is not about personalities. Mr. Comey is not Hoover’s ghost. Nor should it be about politics. The F.B.I. is supposed to be above that. But it is about power, its use and abuse.
Mr. Comey’s reputation for independence in the face of executive power was forged in a 2004 confrontation with President George W. Bush over the widespread and mostly secret warrantless searches of Americans’ emails. When Mr. Comey, then the acting attorney general, found out about it he confronted the president, declared the program illegal, and said he would resign if it were not altered or abolished. He later reflected that it was hard to straddle the tracks in front of a speeding railroad train and yell, “Stop!”
Sadly for many who admired his courage, Mr. Comey now more closely resembles the runaway train. His conduct calls to mind the testimony of another secretary of state, George P. Shultz, in the aftermath of the Irancontra imbroglio — the disastrous decision by the Reagan administration to sell overpriced weapons to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, skim off the proceeds, and slip millions to rebel cadres in Central America after Congress had cut off its support.
Mr. Shultz said, of the director of central intelligence during the Irancontra affair, William J. Casey: “The C.I.A. and Bill Casey were as independent as a hog on ice and could be as confident as they were wrong.”
Substitute “the F.B.I. and Jim Comey” and we have a sense of where we are.
In his role as the director of the bureau, Mr. Comey is not supposed to be a Republican or a Democrat. He is supposed to stand as the living embodiment of the statue of Justice — wearing a blindfold, holding a sword in one hand, a balancing scale in the other. In light of his recent conduct, the blindfold and the sword seem intact, but the scale seems to have gone missing. America could use the balance.
From 12/20/1994 ( in Bosnia as Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps captain this day is my United States Navy Cross medal date of record ) To 10/20/1998 is 1400 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 9/2/1969 ( the first automatic teller machine in the United States was installed by Chemical Bank in Rockville New York ) is 1400 days
From 12/20/1994 ( in Bosnia as Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps captain this day is my United States Navy Cross medal date of record ) To 10/20/1998 is 1400 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 9/2/1969 ( Ho Chi Minh dead ) is 1400 days
From 4/1/1990 To 10/20/1998 is 3124 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 5/23/1974 ( premiere US TV movie "Richard Nixon" ) is 3124 days
From 4/1/1990 To 10/20/1998 is 3124 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 5/23/1974 ( premiere US film "Mars: The Search Begins" ) is 3124 days
From 2/3/1943 ( premiere US film "Air Force" ) To 1/21/1976 ( my biological brother Thomas Reagan the civilian and privately financed astronaut bound for deep space in his privately financed atom-pulse propulsion spaceship this day was his first landing the planet Mars and his documented and lawful exclusive claim to the territory of the planet Mars ) is 12040 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 10/20/1998 is 12040 days
From 10/2/1959 ( premiere US TV series "The Twilight Zone"::series premiere episode "Where Is Everybody?" ) To 9/18/1992 ( premiere US film "Captain Ron" ) is 12040 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 10/20/1998 is 12040 days
From 5/21/1948 ( Harry Truman - Statement by the President Upon Signing Bill Providing Funds for Military Aircraft ) To 10/20/1998 is 18414 days
18414 = 9207 + 9207
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 1/17/1991 ( the date of record of my United States Navy Medal of Honor as Kerry Wayne Burgess chief warrant officer United States Marine Corps circa 1991 also known as Matthew Kline for official duty and also known as Wayne Newman for official duty ) is 9207 days
From 5/21/1948 ( Harry Truman - Statement by the President Upon Signing Bill Providing Funds for Military Aircraft ) To 10/20/1998 is 18414 days
18414 = 9207 + 9207
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 1/17/1991 ( RACKETEER INFLUENCED AND CORRUPT ORGANIZATIONS US Title 18 - the Persian Gulf War begins as scheduled severe criminal activity against the United States of America ) is 9207 days
From 5/14/1992 ( as Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps chief warrant officer circa 1992 and United States chief test pilot I performed the first flight of the US Army and Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow ) To 10/20/1998 is 2350 days
2350 = 1175 + 1175
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 1/20/1969 ( Richard Nixon gains office by fraud ) is 1175 days
From 5/14/1992 ( the Intelsat 6 successful rescue during US space shuttle Endeavour orbiter vehicle mission STS-49 includes me Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps officer and United States STS-49 pilot astronaut ) To 10/20/1998 is 2350 days
2350 = 1175 + 1175
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 1/20/1969 ( Richard Nixon gains office by fraud ) is 1175 days
From 7/23/1973 ( my biological brother Thomas Reagan the attorney passes the United States of America Multistate Bar Examination ) To 10/20/1998 is 9220 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 1/30/1991 ( premiere US film "The Silence of the Lambs" ) is 9220 days
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=55113
The American Presidency Project
William J. Clinton
XLII President of the United States: 1993 - 2001
Remarks Announcing the White House Chief of Staff Transition
October 20, 1998
Thank you, and good morning. Thank you. Thank you very much for coming here for this important and happy announcement. For 6 years I have worked hard to prepare our Nation for the new century. We have changed America for the better. There is more opportunity, more citizen responsibility, a stronger American community. We are a stronger force for freedom and prosperity and for peace. In a few moments, I will return to the Wye Conference Center to continue our work on this Middle East peace process.
In all the work that has been done here in this house in the last 6 years, the White House staff has played a pivotal, indeed, irreplaceable role. For the past 2 years I have been blessed to have as my Chief of Staff a gifted manager and an inspiring leader, the world's best negotiator, and a great personal friend.
When Erskine took this position in 1996, I asked him to finish the job of balancing the budget. More than any other single individual, he was responsible for the agreement last year that just a few weeks ago wiped the red ink from the books here in Washington. He also cares passionately about education and led our negotiating team to impressive victories last week on behalf of our schools and our children. He fought hard to protect the surplus until we save Social Security. And as I said the other day, if you look at the last few days, he certainly knows how to stage an exit. [Laughter]
He also cares deeply about uniting the American people. He poured his heart into our race initiative. And throughout, he has worked hard to mold a streamlined White House staff into a genuine team.
Erskine has made it plain how much longer he has stayed here than he intended to or wanted to. [Laughter] At the end of the month he is going home to North Carolina. I'm only pleased that I was able to persuade him to stay this long. I know he still has a lot to give his State and his country, and I hope he has the opportunity to do so in the future.
To follow his leadership, I have chosen someone who is both a strong manager and a skilled policymaker, with a sharp mind, a strong, strong sense of courage, and a giving heart. John Podesta has those qualities, and I am honored to name him today as the next White House Chief of Staff.
We're delighted to have his family here and his many friends. I think it's important to point out for the record just how superbly qualified he is for this job. He used to be the chief counsel to the Senate Agriculture Committee— which is, in itself, unusual; that means that for the first time in years and years, there will actually be two people who work in the White House and know something about agriculture.
He has been a law professor. He has been an adviser to a generation of lawmakers. He has been at the heart of public policy and public life for a long time now. He has helped to guide our foreign, defense, and economic policy, served as a key liaison to Congress, most recently representing me as a leader in the budget negotiating team that delivered this balanced budget that invests so much in education.
Also, with the singular exception of the Vice President, he is the most technologically proficient of our administration, guiding our technology policy on many fronts. He has another great qualification for this job: He is a better hearts player than Erskine Bowles. [Laughter]
He knows how the White House works; this will be his third assignment here in the White House. But even more importantly, he knows why the White House ought to work and for whom every single one of us does work. He entered public service for the right reasons, and he has certainly stayed there for the right reasons.
As many of you know, he and his family have a taste for riding roller coasters. That will certainly serve him well here. [Laughter] He is brilliant. He has a tough hide, a dry wit, a lot of patience in dealing with the President, hard-won wisdom, and a genuine compassion for improving this Nation. He will lead a seasoned White House team, working with Deputy Chief of Staff Maria Echaveste and their colleagues, working every day for the American people.
They have a lot of work to do. I would remind you that while we have balanced the budget, set aside for the time being the record surplus, invested again in education, we know that if we do not act to save Social Security and do so soon, we will be running the risk that our retirement system will be in serious trouble as the baby boomers retire. We do have an opportunity to act to strengthen Social Security for the new century; the next Congress will be called upon to do just that.
There are other important challenges as well: Strengthening our economy at this time of global economic turmoil; passing the Patients' Bill of Rights; expanding opportunity through an increase in the minimum wage; passing our initiative to modernize our schools. None of this could be done without a strong and dedicated administration, and at the heart of our actions here, the White House staff.
So let me again say to my wonderful friend Erskine Bowles and to his successor, John Podesta, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Mr. Bowles.
NOTE: The President spoke at 11:52 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White House. The transcript released by the Office of the Press Secretary also included the remarks of Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and Chief of Staff-designate John Podesta.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102926/releaseinfo
IMDb
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Release Info
USA 30 January 1991 (New York City, New York) (premiere)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102926/quotes
IMDb
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Quotes
Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb: It rubs the lotion on its skin. It does this whenever it is told.
Catherine Martin: Mister... my family will pay cash. Whatever ransom you're askin' for, they pay it.
Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb: It rubs the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
[to his dog, Precious]
Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb: Yes, it will, Precious, won't it? It will get the hose!
Catherine Martin: Okay... okay... okay. Mister, if you let me go, I won't - I won't press charges I promise. See, my mom is a real important woman... I guess you already know that.
Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb: Now it places the lotion in the basket.
Catherine Martin: Please! Please I wanna go home! I wanna go home please!
Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb: It places the lotion in the basket.
Catherine Martin: I wanna see my mommy! Please I wanna see my...
Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb: Put the fucking lotion in the basket!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1709218/releaseinfo
IMDb
Checkers Speech (1952 TV Movie)
Release Info
USA 23 September 1952
USA 23 May 1974 (Whitney Museum of American Art)
Also Known As (AKA)
(original title) Richard Nixon
From 8/18/1973 ( The Killian Document ) To 12/20/1994 ( in Bosnia as Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps captain this day is my United States Navy Cross medal date of record - for Kerry Burgess 1994-A another brutally violent end of the road ) is 7794 days
7794 = 3897 + 3897
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 7/4/1976 ( at extreme personal risk to himself my biological brother Thomas Reagan the civilian and privately financed astronaut in his privately financed atom-pulse propulsion spaceship successfully intercepts the Comet Lucifer in the outer solar system and diverts it away from the planet Earth ) is 3897 days
From 3/3/1959 ( the birthdate in Hawaii of my biological brother Thomas Reagan ) To 4/19/1988 ( Ronald Reagan - Letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate on the United States Military Strike in the Persian Gulf ) is 10640 days
From 11/2/1965 ( my birth date in Antlers Oklahoma USA and my birthdate as the known official United States Marshal Kerry Wayne Burgess and active duty United States Marine Corps officer ) To 12/20/1994 ( in Bosnia as Kerry Wayne Burgess the United States Marine Corps captain this day is my United States Navy Cross medal date of record - for Kerry Burgess 1994-A another brutally violent end of the road ) is 10640 days
http://articles.latimes.com/1994-12-21/news/mn-11473_1_bosnian-serb
Los Angeles Times
Carter Announces Bosnia Cease-Fire Agreement : Balkans: Truce begins Friday, he says after shaky start with rebel Serbs. Diplomats remain skeptical.
December 21, 1994 DEAN E. MURPHY TIMES STAFF WRITER
SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — The Bosnian Serbs and the Muslim-led Bosnian government have agreed to begin a cease-fire on Friday as a small first step toward ending the 32-month civil war, former President Jimmy Carter announced Tuesday.
The modest agreement--one of many proposed cease-fires over the course of the war--came after an unscheduled second round of meetings between Carter and the Bosnian Serb leadership in nearby Pale. Carter called the extra session after conflicting claims about the results of their high-profile talks on Monday threatened to sink his entire peace mission.
Carter announced Monday that Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic had agreed to an immediate cease-fire, but Karadzic backed away from the claim a few hours later.
The Bosnian government was so angered by the theatrics that President Alija Izetbegovic refused to meet with Carter when he returned to Sarajevo late Monday, choosing to make the former U.S. President wait until morning, sources said.
"We have had this character 2 1/2 years, and he lies every day," said Bosnian Vice President Ejup Ganic, referring to Karadzic. "Make sure that you know with whom you deal."
Carter, said to be alarmed and betrayed by Karadzic's antics on Monday, made Tuesday's cease-fire announcement in Pale standing shoulder to shoulder with him.
After driving the mountainous road to Sarajevo, Carter repeated the announcement at the airport en route to Belgrade, where he plans to hold talks with Serbian leaders.
"There will be a complete cease-fire in all of Bosnia-Herzegovina, including Bihac, to go into effect at noon on Dec. 23," Carter said. "This cease-fire is to be completely monitored, without interference, by UNPROFOR (U.N. Protection Force) troops, interposing themselves between the opposing military units wherever necessary."
In The Hague on Tuesday, a two-day informal meeting of defense chiefs from 28 countries agreed on measures aimed at strengthening the U.N. force. At a news conference after the meeting, Lt. Gen. H.G.B. van den Breemen, chief of the Dutch Defense Staff, declined to give details on the measures.
It seemed clear the proposals carried at least the potential to make the U.N. force stronger and more effective, but they must still be studied by national governments and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and then approved by the United Nations, which so far has been extremely reluctant to employ force.
Van den Breemen said the chiefs had discussed, and apparently recommended to their governments, the use of aircraft and more firepower to deliver humanitarian aid to civilians trapped by the war.
"We talked about helicopters and armed escort helicopters," he said.
Such escort aircraft would probably be provided by NATO countries.
The tenor of Van den Breemen's remarks hinted strongly that the military chiefs recommended helicoptering supplies over roadblocks and permitting armed escort aircraft to attack anyone attempting to interfere.
The Dutch general also said the agreed proposals would mean adding to the U.N. force's troop strength.
According to Carter's announcement, the cease-fire would last until Jan. 1, during which time the warring sides would negotiate the details of a proposed four-month cessation of hostilities. If the two sides agree to that temporary peace, they will then turn their attention toward transforming the agreement into a permanent end of the war.
"We don't need more negotiations; we need results," one unimpressed Western diplomat said. "One has to be very doubtful this will go anyplace."
The diplomat and others described the process set up by Carter as fragile and ridden with potential pitfalls, especially since the former President failed to resolve what has been the most intractable obstacle to peace: the Bosnian Serb refusal to accept the Contact Group peace plan.
"In that key and critical area, I think they are still 180 degrees apart," a U.N. official said. "The whole basis of negotiations is still in dispute."
The Contact Group plan, drawn up by the United States, Britain, France, Germany and Russia, calls for dividing Bosnia about in half between the Muslim-Croat federation and the Bosnian Serbs.
The Bosnian government and neighboring Serbia have agreed to the international plan, but the Bosnian Serbs, who would have to give up one-third of the territory they now control, have repeatedly rejected it.
The United States and other backers of the Contact Group plan have described it as a take-it-or-leave-it proposal that must be accepted by all sides before any of it can be revised or amended. The Bosnian Serbs have said they would consider the plan only if it could be renegotiated.
http://articles.latimes.com/1994-12-21/news/mn-11473_1_bosnian-serb/2
Los Angeles Times
(Page 2 of 2)
Carter Announces Bosnia Cease-Fire Agreement : Balkans: Truce begins Friday, he says after shaky start with rebel Serbs. Diplomats remain skeptical.
December 21, 1994 DEAN E. MURPHY TIMES STAFF WRITER
Unable to reach consensus, Carter included the language from both sides in a written summary of agreements reached during his two-day visit but said he could not "detect any significant difference" between them.
"That is a difference in semantics that I have not been able to overcome," he said, adding after reading a note passed to him by his wife, "and I am obviously not taking sides as to whose language is best."
Carter's admission that he could not distinguish between the two positions sent chills through Bosnian government offices here.
Since Carter announced that he would visit their country, Bosnian officials have openly questioned whether his presence would be used by the Bosnian Serbs to undermine the Contact Group plan.
A U.N. official said that even if Carter secures a cease-fire Friday, it will have come at a high price.
"We're going to wait for the next two days" to see if there is a cease-fire, the official said. "Maybe it holds out a very slim chance of forward momentum, but it comes at the great cost of handing Karadzic a propaganda coup and muddying the international community's stance on Bosnia."
A cease-fire could significantly benefit the people of the Muslim enclave of Bihac in northwest Bosnia, which came under heavy shelling again Tuesday. Unconfirmed reports said there were many casualties in the area, including a 10-year-old boy who was killed.
But for a longer truce to take hold, Carter's deal requires the deployment of U.N. peacekeepers between the two warring sides.
U.N. officials said Tuesday that there are few available soldiers, and NATO military chiefs meeting in the Netherlands did not seem inclined to send additional peacekeepers.
- posted by H.V.O.M - Kerry Wayne Burgess 5:55 PM Pacific Time Spokane Valley Washington USA Tuesday 01 November 2016
