In a preview of a forthcoming PBS Frontline documentary, John Rizzo, one of the top attorneys for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), claims that President Barack Obama has "endorsed" nearly all of the controversial Bush administration secret warfare programs.

"I was part of the transition briefings of the incoming Obama team, and they signaled fairly early on that the incoming president believed in a vigorous, aggressive, continuing counterterrorism effort," Rizzo said.

[snip]

He added: "With a notable exception of the enhanced interrogation program, the incoming Obama administration changed virtually nothing with respect to existing CIA programs and operations...."

This video is from PBS Frontline's documentary "Top Secret America," scheduled to air at 9 p.m. on Sept. 6, 2011.

C'mon, kids - it'll be fun!

The White House is engaging in a Change.org-type experiment with their We The People campaign. The site allows anyone to start a petition on any issue they want. If they build support and generate 5,000 signatures for the petition, the White House promises to review and respond to it. The review will be done internally by Administration officials. The President, in a statement, characterized it as "giving Americans a direct line to the White House on the issues and concerns that matter most to them."

There's more at CBS News.

This reminds me of the BarackObama.com groups during the Presidential campaign. After then-candidate Obama announced his support for the FISA amendments act, activists opposed to Obama's position used the tools on MyBarackObama to create a Get Fisa Right group that eventually became the biggest group on the site, with tens of thousands of supporters. Eventually, Obama responded to the Get FISA Right group, where he pledged to listen to the group's concerns and "seek to earn [their] ongoing support." There was a promise of an internal review of the FISA law after the election.

None of this really happened. The Administration has adopted the tools of warrantless surveillance from the Bush Administration and arguably taken them further. The group pressured the President to address their concerns in a statement, but the engagement really ended there.

As if the WH hasn't been receiving hundreds of thousands of letters, e-mails, and phone calls from people expressing thier concerns on issues ranging from the economy to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, to the wars, to ...are they kidding me?

According to a diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks, U.S. troops massacred an Iraqi family in the town of Ishaqi in 2006, handcuffing and then shooting 11 people in the head including a woman in her 70's and five children ages five and under.  

McClatchy is reporting that the soldiers then called in an air strike on the house to cover up evidence of the killings.

Obama has two options:

1. Immediately say, "That's cool, we'll do it another day." The date, again, is inconsequential. Why get in a fight over this?

2. Go on the offensive. Make the argument that Obama chose the day because it was the first day Congress was back in session. What's more important to the American people than jobs? And anyway, the White House ran it by Boehner and he had no objections, so why is he freaking out now?

Either one would've been fine. But instead, we got a crazy hybrid--the White House initially went on the offensive, called Boehner a liar, started working reporters on a pushback campaign, and then, suddenly, collapsed to Boehner.

It was the worst of all worlds. Rather than look accommodating or strong, the White House came off looking indecisive and weak. All over the biggest non-story of the month. It was a great way to cap off a dismal August...

But Markos' key critique of the Administration is well-taken. First, everything they do is almost designed to make them look craven and weak. Being accommodating is one thing; being constantly humiliated like Charlie Brown kicking a football is quite another.

And it's not even working to attract independents. It's terrible politics, in addition to being terrible policy. link

Yawn.

Every Friday, they have a post called "Overheard in DC" which usually includes some fairly amusing snippets of random people's conversations.

I thought on this Friday, I would share a few that I thought were kinda funny and hopefully will bring a smile to your collective faces, and start off your Labor Day weekend in the right manner.

Outside D.C. Superior Court, around 10 a.m. on a weekday:

A man in his late 30s on a cell phone: "Yeah, so they charged me with violating my probation, and possession of heroin, but they never field tested me!"

[Pauses to listen to the person on the other end.]

"Cuz, man, if they had field tested me, they woulda realized it was just a pile of coke!"

++++++++

At a U Street (trendy and hip) bar on Monday night:

Two guys are having a conversation about grooming when one randomly asked: "So you're the only one who got his a$$ waxed today?"

+++++++++

I understand these people perfectly:

Several people are watching CNN at a large government agency:

Federal employee #1: "Congress' disapproval rate is 82%? Oh my god!"
Federal employee #2: "So who do you think is in that 18%?"
Multiple people at once: "Their families!"

++++++

And of my all-time favorites, from 2008:

At Safeway:

A couple, both wearing "Palin for President AND Vice President 2008" shirts, are buying a 12 pack of Budweiser.

The clerk tells them it's $9.50. The couple then starts complaining that they're gouging people in town for the rallies, demands to speak to the manager, and that it's un-American.

Cashier: "No sir, that is capitalism."