If it is ILLEGAL For Government Officials On Any Level To “LEAK” Classified Information, Why Should
It Not ALSO Be ILLEGAL
For Reporters To PRINT It?
Your Thoughts Please.
If you just say, "Because of the First Amendment," that will not qualify as a contribution. The point here is to think through the reasons for having the First Amendment, and to determine whether any limits should be placed on it in order to protect National Security or possbly to uphold prevailing Standards of Decency and Propriety.
The Town Crier said
ReplyDeleteLate Breaking News!
President Trump has issued an extraordinary ultimatum to North Korea, warning Kim Jong Un not to make any more threats against the United States or they will "face fire and fury like the world has never seen." (CNN)
The harsh words followed reports that US intelligence analysts have assessed that North Korea has produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead, according to multiple sources familiar with the analysis of North Korea's program.
Sorry to start with an Off-Topuc comment, FreeThinke, but I thought this news could really be important. I hope you agree?
I'll be interested t see how the crowd chooses to /answer your provocative question. It's a real poser.
So far "the crowd" has demonstrated their usual concerted effort to deny my determination to see that this blog be maintained as ASSHOLE-FREE ZONE, Town Crier. };^)>
DeleteI thank you for alerting us to what-could-be an impirtant development in the news.
The Town Crier said
DeleteMORE Late Breaking News!
Tillerson dials back North Korea rhetoric (CNN)
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is trying to reassure Americans that war with North Korea is not imminent, despite bellicose rhetoric from both President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
The federal code covering punishment of mishandling classified information is directed at those with clearances and entrusted with custody of the information.
ReplyDeleteNow, if someone, including a reporter, steals the information, then they can be prosecuted.
That doesn't satisfy, I know, but that's the way it is and I don't have a problem with it. I don't like the idea of the federal government going after reporters. Sounds like something out of the Chavez, Castro or Obama regimes.
Okay, but please remember this: Most REPORTERS –– especially today –– are NOT loyal American citizens. They are in truth the ENEMEDIA –– a term I coined at least twenty years ago, and don't use lightly.
DeleteI saw this and was appalled by it's blatancy when CNN's coverage of the first Gulf War spike of OUR country as though she were only a participant in hostilities. The "reporters" –– the namely "Peetah Ahnett," that Christiane Amanpour, that supercilious, mush-mouthed Persian bitch who married Jamie Whatisname, and Wolf Blitzer demonstrated a frankky shocking determination NOT to favor OUR side.
Lincoln JAILED "reporters" who did not support HIS murderous, ruinous, DICTATORIAL, UNCONSTITUTIONAL agenda. So did Woodrow Wilson –– or at least he threatened to.
By the time FDR came along Progressivism had gotten so powerful that just about every "reporter" in the nation ate breakfst lunch and dinner from FDR'S anus –– or at the very least dined on the Jakes produced by FDR'S Brain Trust.
By the end of WWII, what-I-call The ENEMEDIA was fully developed, held a complete MONOPOLY in the dissemination of News and Information, ––– and Bob's your uncle!
Could our Founders have imagined anything so appalling when they drafted the Bill of Rights?
I credit Bill Buckley and Rush Limbaugh –– but nostly the latter –– with starting the movement that finally began to break the DEATH GRIP the Marxian Media had in the formation and direction of Public Opinion.
"I hate newspapermen. They come into camp and pick up their camp rumors and print them as facts. I regard them as spies, which, in truth, they are." - William Tecumseh Sherman
Delete"If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world, but I am sure we would be getting reports from Hell before breakfast." - William Tecumseh Sherman
Heh heh heh!
Delete];^}>
Great quotes. Thanks for sharing them!
DeleteWe're Americans. We have the right to return threats to them or anyone who threatens us first.
ReplyDeleteOf course, but the underlying question we need to address is this: IS IT WISE?
DeleteApparently Rex Tillerson did NOT think it wise to step up bellicose rhetoric with the viciously insane fat boy with the bad haircut.
DeleteOnce again President Trump's appointees prove Mr.Trump's wisdom and good judgment in selecting a cabinet of gifted, independent minded people, all proven extraordinarily capable in challenging fields of endeavor and not afraid of "speaking truth to power."
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DeleteI SAID this was to be an ASSHOLE-FREE ZONE, and i MEANT it,
DeleteDubious characters of your desicable ilk are NOT WELCOME HERE.
As we all know North Korea has an incompetent , and foolish little Idiot as their leader who is capable of doing anything!
ReplyDeleteAnd of course McCain has to weigh in and support the other side.... This is when we are suppose to come together you Bozo.
I don't think any other Nation would sit idly by while North Korea threatened them with nukes or to attack them!
This time the Korean Boy King has done far more than just use "mean words", he's launched several missiles, and demonstrated he CAN strike the US Mainland, and he HAS threatened to attack.
The previous American Presidents didn't have to contend with North Korea possessing ICBMs with nuclear warheads on them.
They were happy to kick the can down the road, and do nothing but ignore him. Which they all did. But however things have taken a DRASTIC turn for the worse.
So, What's the solution?
More 'Talks' with the Little Insane Pervert?
More unenforceable 'sanctions'? That never seem to work, especially when you dealing with a Little Insane Pervert
Invite the pervert to dinner at the White House? Or perhaps a “Beer Smit”?
The Fat Little Pervert wants nuclear weapons so he can blackmail and bully his neighbors into giving him what he wants.
He does seem to enjoy copious amounts of 'kiddy-porn' and french champaign.
Maybe a few Liberal/ Democratic politicians could chip in from their stashes, and send him a few Prostitutes ?
But this time the Pervert has come up against the WRONG MAN to attempt to blackmail and bully.
Kim Dung may be nuts, but he sees this as his big chance, the chance that he has been waiting for...he thinks his nukes could now earn him a seat at Obama’s Thanksgiving Day Table
Time and time again McCain has proven himself to be a vain, arrogant individual whose inconsistency makes him less dependable in a crisis than a weather vane.
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ReplyDeleteWe're here to discuss relevant issues, come up with ideas, and to try to generate soilutions for problems, Mrs. P. We are NOT here to scold other bloggers, especally when they have not posted anything objectionable HERE.
DeleteTHIS POST WILL REMAIN IN PLACE UNTIL WE GET SEVERAL SATISFACTORY RESPONSES TO THIS QUESTION:
ReplyDeleteIf it is ILLEGAL For Government Officials On Any Level To “LEAK” Classified Information, Why Should It Not ALSO Be ILLEGAL For Reporters To PRINT It?
So your saying that if President Trump discloses classified information at a news briefing, and any reporters "report" on it, they should be imprisoned? What "means" do reporters have of "knowing" what is classified, and what "isn't". Government officials have the means of knowing, the documents are clearly MARKED. Words carry NO "classification markings" when spoken (and not replayed from a recording).
Delete...and "NO," the answer is not to read journalists into classified government programs. They have no "need to know".
DeleteTo reprint information clearly marked "classified" should be a punishable offense under the treason statutes that speak to "aiding and abetting enemies of the United States." The thing is, one must PROSECUTE them (as I would have done for the leakers of the Pentagon Papers)
Deletebut they made a legal end-round... from Wiki
DeleteDaniel Ellsberg knew the leaders of the task force well. He had worked as an aide to McNaughton from 1964 to 1965, had worked on the study for several months in 1967, and Gelb and Halperin approved his access to the work at RAND in 1969.[9] Now opposing the war, Ellsberg and his friend Anthony Russo[19] photocopied the study in October 1969 intending to disclose it. Ellsberg approached Nixon's National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger, Senators William Fulbright and George McGovern, and others, but none were interested.[9]
In February 1971, Ellsberg discussed the study with The New York Times reporter Neil Sheehan, and gave 43 of the volumes to him in March. Before publication, The New York Times sought legal advice. The paper's regular outside counsel, Lord Day & Lord, advised against publication,[9] but house counsel James Goodale prevailed with his argument that the press had a First Amendment right to publish information significant to the people's understanding of their government's policy.
The New York Times began publishing excerpts on June 13, 1971; the first article in the series was titled "Vietnam Archive: Pentagon Study Traces Three Decades of Growing US Involvement". The study was dubbed The Pentagon Papers during the resulting media publicity.[9][20] Street protests, political controversy, and lawsuits followed.
To ensure the possibility of public debate about the papers' content, on June 29, US Senator Mike Gravel entered 4,100 pages of the papers to the record of his Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds. These portions of the papers, which were edited for Gravel by Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky, were subsequently published by Beacon Press, the publishing arm of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.[21] A federal grand jury was subsequently empaneled to investigate possible violations of federal law in the release of the report. Leonard Rodberg, a Gravel aide, was subpoenaed to testify about his role in obtaining and arranging for publication of the Pentagon Papers. Gravel asked the court (in Gravel v. United States) to quash the subpoena on the basis of the Speech or Debate Clause in Article I, Section 6 of the United States Constitution.
That clause provides that "for any Speech or Debate in either House, [a Senator or Representative] shall not be questioned in any other Place", meaning that Gravel could not be prosecuted for anything said on the Senate floor, and, by extension, for anything entered to the Congressional Record, allowing the papers to be publicly read without threat of a treason trial and conviction. When Gravel's request was reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, the Court denied the request to extend this protection to Gravel or his legislative aide, Leonard Rodberg, because the grand jury subpoena served on them related to a third party rather than any act they themselves committed for the preparation of materials later entered into the Congressional Record. Nevertheless, the grand jury investigation was halted, and the publication of the papers was never prosecuted.
Later, Ellsberg said the documents "demonstrated unconstitutional behavior by a succession of presidents, the violation of their oath and the violation of the oath of every one of their subordinates."[22] He added that he leaked the Papers to end what he perceived to be "a wrongful war."[22]
Capiche?
DeleteYes, thank you. I would have you know, however, that reporting on words tweeted or said aloud by the president is NOT what I had in mind when I asked the question.
DeleteI am referring to the filthy bastards who surreptitiously "leak" forbidden information to reporters to gain political leverage.
I regard the practice as downrght treasonous. But frankly, I believe the scum who report this information in the ENEMEDIA are even WORSE than the sneaks who leak it in the first place.
Why the ENEMEDIA sohuld not be prosecuted for publiishing SECRET information that may very well prove injurious to the best interests of our nation, I cannot imagine. If defies logic.
The ENEMEDIA is loathesome and totally unworthy as far as i am concerned. I despise the bastards.
Ellsberg, Gelb, Halperin, Chomsky and Zinn! And what pray tell do they allhave in common?
DeleteI dare not say for fear of retribution. So powerful is the immunity from honest observation, critical analysis and any form over oversight whatsoever enjoyed by this particular entity quite literally " NONE can call their power to account."
I think that's deplorable, and so do a lot of other people, but our voices have been effectively silenced –– possibly forever.
And so our country and our culture suffers immeasurably as a result.
___ Make Kim Toast! ____
ReplyDeleteWords, words, words!
I'm so sick of words
We get words all day through
First from Kim, now from you ––
Is that all you blighters can do?
Don't favor talk with dignity
It’s Kim you must balk, not me!
Tell us no hope reason prevails
Don’t be a dope, show me!
Here we are together in the middle of a war
Don't purse your lips, it’s such a bore.
Anyone who's threatened with attack
will tell you that
There is no time for a chat!
Doesn't your soul long for a win?
That is no sin, show them.
Don't talk of peace lasting through time
Utter instead a harsh vow:
Kill Kim NOW!
Don’t say your prayers, waste no more time
More talk’s a crime, KILL Kim!
Stop being nice, don’t give advice
Talk is a vice!
KILL Kim!
Nn more do we want to see or hear another word
There isn't one, we haven't heard.
While we’re here together
___ we should make a battle plan
Shut your damned mouth,
act like a man.
Let’s use our arms, lay down some mines.
Please don't draw lines, KILL KIm! KILL him!
Don't wait until our West Coast
Burns down fulfilling Kim’s boast.
Make Kim TOAST!
~ Sorry, Alan Jay, but someone had to do it
And of course that someone naturally had to be FreeThinke. Think with your head, not your ass man. Responding to a thug with bellicose rhetoric brings us to his level. Just what Kim wants. McCain is right. AGAIN.
ReplyDeleteWhat a totally fucking idiotic comment. FDR should not have responded in kind when the Nips attacked us.
DeleteGo back to your gender studies, anon moron.
Oh go a little easy on the poor thing, Pug. He's not very bright. Has no sense of humor. No appreciation for playful language, and apparently, no awareness of satire.
DeleteThat's how leftists tend to be –– humorless, dull-witted, literalistic, and tedious beyond description.
And please in future try to avoid using vulgar terms like "fucking" except in the rarest of instances.
The subtler, more erudite approach has more impact.
Thanks to the Left's determination to drag us down to neo-primitive depths, four-letter words have lost their abiity either to shock or stimulate, and have, therefore, become merely boring.
That old RINO John McCain will do anything to keep Trump from completing his goals to “Make America Great Again” He is a bitter self-absorbed sick, old man who lost an election to Obummer then he lost the primaries to Trump. Now he’s trying to stop Trump on North Korea, I think this man has a lot more than Brain Cancer, I think that he has complexly lost more than his brain, he’s lost all of his common sense.... I think thatOld RINO Parasite would sooner see an America go up in a fire ball rather than have Trump achieve anything at all.
ReplyDelete.McCain should resign his seat and be put out to pasture ..
Of course his veteran status has nothing to do with his progressive voting record. I can remember his voting record showed that he is as responsible for the passing of Obamacare as Nancy Pelosi was. Starting with McCain Feingold bill in which was a major piece in the way the banks were operating, which led to the downfall of the economy. Then 2 days before the Stock Market crashed, he went on record stating that the economy was not his strong suit, but the fundamentals of the economy was strong. He lost that election, which led to the election of Barrack Hussain Obama, which led to the passing of Obamacare. And now that he had an opportunity to repeal it, he votes to keep it in place... so go figure!
He’s a gutless hypocrite just like the rest of the RINO’S in Washington. .Another example of our elected officials!
America has been disrespected for the last 8 years, but thankfully those days are now gone. There’s a new Sheriff in town. The problem is not President Trump it is the people of the USA! We have become complacent. And now that we’ve woken up, everybody’s getting on The President’s case for acting the way an American President SHOULD act. We need to step up and stand behind our President and Country!!
President Trump’s statement is distinctly similar to that of President Harry Truman’s, when he addressed the Country after bombing of Hiroshima, Japan in 1945.
“If they do not now accept our terms,” Truman said on Aug. 6, 1945 after the bombing, “they may expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth. Behind this air attack will follow sea and land forces in such numbers and power as which they have not yet seen.”
He didn’t hold up a sigh with a “Hashtag” like Moochell Obama did saying “Bring Home Our Abducted Girls”. Oh boy a lot good that did!
Kim Jung Dung, threatens to use Nukes , because he knows that it worked against Bill Clinton, Bush and Obama. But Dung knows that Trump is different. And so does Russia, and so does China. Everyone knows. Even the democrats know it.
Did anyone really think that after all the speaking softly for years by all those other Presidents , Kim Dung understands anything but talking tough?
Kim Dung will Understand Trump soon enough, and so will the rest of the world and even the spineless RINO politicians in Washington, the only people that really understand Trump, are the people that voted for him.
They understand him, and the world will see that, when he cleans house in 2018
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ReplyDeleteI SAID this was to be an ASSHOLE-FREE ZONE, and i MEANT it,
DeleteDubious characters of your desicable ilk are NOT WELCOME HERE.
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI SAID this was to be an ASSHOLE-FREE ZONE, and i MEANT it,
DeleteDubious characters of your desicable ilk are NOT WELCOME HERE.
Sorry pal, but how would the media know it was classified if someone gives it to them.
ReplyDeleteThere's a de facto conspiracy –– i.e. "collusion" ;-} –– between corrupt, disloyal government officials and the ENEMEDIA, Kid. This stuff is ALL "political" meaning it is designed or carefully selected by those in the know to WOUND-and-if-possible KILL –– a hated political opponent.
DeleteIf the information were not classified, if would hardly be worth leaking, would it?
Sure it would. If it were "embarrassing".
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ReplyDeleteI SAID this was to be an ASSHOLE-FREE ZONE, and i MEANT it,
DeleteDubious characters of your desicable ilk are NOT WELCOME HERE.
;P
ReplyDeleteVery difficult to perform. Makes great demands on the technique of the organist,–– as challenging as most of Bach's Great Organ Works, BUT it lacks the musical substance Bach and other great composers brought to Fugal Prodecure, as we musicians all it. This does not modulate enough, rarely changes textures, and lacks a sense of DIRECTION. It is, therefore, pretty STATIC in that it seems only to go on and go without having any partcular POINT in mind till finally it just STOPS.
DeleteI had never heard of "Pepe" before, though it's a common enough Italian surname. I wonder who mught have composed it? Do you know?
And what could it POSSIBLY have to do with the potential advantages and disadvanages –– or even the POSSIBILITY –– of controlling the ever-more-destructive-machinations of the perverse, ubuquitous, heavily biased Left-Wing ENEMEDIA?
Shadilay is the Kekistani national anthem. The Kekistanis were the victors in the Great Meme War of 2016.
DeleteAll Praise to Kek and Pepe, his Prophet!
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ReplyDeleteI SAID this was to be an ASSHOLE-FREE ZONE, and i MEANT it,
DeleteDubious characters of your desicable ilk are NOT WELCOME HERE.
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DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI SAID this was to be an ASSHOLE-FREE ZONE, and i MEANT it,
DeleteDubious characters of your desicable ilk are NOT WELCOME HERE.
"stupidity and recklessness with people's lives?"
ReplyDeleteYou really wanna go there? How about President Bill Clinton authorizing Bernard Schwartz of Loral Corp to transfer advanced missile technology to China?
What we are experiencing now are the fruits of decades of greed-driven, stupidity-powered foreign policy.
Reporters who publish classified information should be held accountable.
ReplyDeleteIt's treason. Period.
It's a fine line you walk. What's to stop an authoritarian paranoid president and his administration from nefarious activities?... Just sayin.
ReplyDeleteAsk Obama.
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DeleteI SAID this was to be an ASSHOLE-FREE ZONE, and i MEANT it,
DeleteDubious characters of your desicable ilk are NOT WELCOME HERE.
A good point, but we must ALWAYS "walk a fine line" no matter what.
ReplyDeleteThat seems to be what life is all about –– a constant attempt to maintain balance in a world where the ground is forever shifting beneath our feet.
Failure to stay balanced on life's swaying tight rope means we must fall into The Pit yawning beneath every one of us.
Right now, however, the GLOBALIST-SOCIALIST-EDUCRAT-ENEMEDIA-Complex has far too much power. The People have virtually none. We are constantly ACTED UPON, and given little or no chance to ACT on our own anymore.
I believe that is the basis for the immense hostility we daily visit on one another.
Few realize precisely WHAT is wrong, but they FEEL the EFFECTS of it, and the tension and aggravation engendered makes people lash out in desperation.
The Powers that Be LIKE it that way, because constant confusion, turmoil, anxiety and dissension suit their purposes (ultimate world domination) very well.
Matthew Arnold's famous words, published two thirds of the way through the nineteenth-century, often come to mind:
... Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
~ Matthew Arnold - excerpt from Dover Beach (1867)
Bill Clinton could have gotten rid of the North Korean threat back in 1994 but he was too busy doing Interns in the Oval office and everyone else..
ReplyDeleteBut Donald Trump who was a real estate mogul, and had a TV reality show and not the President of the United States predicted the North Korean crisis. . Speaking to Tim Russert on “Meet the Press” in 1999, he said of probable conflicts with the nation, “First I would negotiate. I would negotiate like crazy. And I’d make sure that we tried to get the best deal possible.”
He also said that in a few years, North Korea would have missiles pointed at the United States. If negotiation didn’t work, “We have to solve the problem.” Reacting to former president Bill Clinton’s deal with North Korea in 1994, Trump added, “This country went out and gave them nuclear reactors.. And this is the person that the Liberal/Progressives calls an idiot, and Bubba is the Hero of the Lefties... Go Figure! .
Just watch all the Anti Nuke libs will come out on the TV shows this weekend, just like the Anti Gun libs come out every time a “so called” “Innocent” Gentle Giant get show by a Police Officer. .
Does the above ring true? Is it completely accurate. Or is it primarily a mix with a particularly noticible partisan warp?
DeleteI firmly believe that that President Trump is less of a threat to America than the former President Barack Hussein cObama was, who funded and enabled the Iranian nuclear program as well as refused to take action against North Korea in the 8-years of his presidency. As Obsma was the real Do Nothing President.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, its time to come together and support America – and if that means throwing the progressive socialist democrats and their RINO cohorts out of office. Then so be it!
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DeleteNow, Help me out here is you can.
ReplyDeleteDonald Trump Gives Kim Jong Un Serious Ultimatum.
Kim Jong Un, has threatened to send his Nukes over here to the United States and Our President tells him the Consequences, and the Liberals Call OUR President Unstable?
Has this country gone Wacky?
Has this country gone Wacky?
ReplyDeleteOh, absolutely not. Just the Mad Man of Bedminster.
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ReplyDeleteIt’s a great time to be an AMERICAN!!! Not so much if you’re ISIS, Democrat, Progressive or Antifa, But after only 6 short months: Trump is doing a hell of a job. I have never been so halppy to be an America before as I have been lately. Well, maybe once or twice but never by a politician. Ah, but Trump isn’t a politician, that’s probably why.
ReplyDeleteYou know how you can tell he’s doing a great job when CNN, MSNBC, and that TV talk shows are as piss off as they have been the past few weeks...
President Trump has done exactly what he said he’d do and more. Not only that he unmasked the fascist left, he has the Muslim terrorist support staff at CAIR in a frenzy, he’s got the Mexican president throwing a temper tantrum and democrats crying on the stage!! WINNING!
In the first 2 weeks, Trump has basically wiped the memory of Obama off the history books. That’s the real issue here. Obama was the fascist lefts hero, he could do no wrong.
The Democrat Senators/and the house that are blocking his appointees. was expected. As will all these dumb Investigations. And with a bit of luck, Hillary might even wind up behind the Eight Ball.
Stock market’s on the rise! illegal Immigrants are going elsewhere! Happy times are here again.
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Delete...who speaks too harshly to the North Koreans. LOL!
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ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
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DeleteOne of the many things that studying authoritarians reveals is that from the perspective of the outsider, weak leaders often act like strong leaders, and strong leaders often act like they are indifferent.
ReplyDeleteWeak leaders have every incentive to portray themselves as stronger than they are in order to get their way. They gamble on splashy policies. They escalate crises.
Insightful observation.
Delete"Weak leaders have every incentive to portray themselves as stronger than they are in order to get their way. They gamble on splashy policies. They escalate crises."
DeleteThat sounds like pure Alinsky, who said:
"Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have."
Alnsky –– like every one of his ilk –– was a profoundly evil individual.