Chas Freeman Jr. Backs Out as National Intelligence Chairman

I have stopped counting how many of President Obama’s picks for a position in his administration have backed out. I can’t remember so much drama surrounding potential appointees, but I was never so interested in each pick in any administration as I am this time around. Well, the latest absconder really didn’t deserve the appointment in the first place. Charles W. Freeman Jr., was being strongly considered to chair President Obama’s National Intelligence Council. Thank God he decided to walk away as the criticisms on Capitol Hill grew more acrimonious.

For those of you who care, and you should, Freeman was the former ambassador to Saudi Arabia and he had been praised by allies and by the director of national intelligence, Dennis Blair, as a brilliant, iconoclastic analyst. The problem is that critics have lambasted him as being too hard on Israel and too soft on China, and blasted him for taking funding from Saudi royals. Yep, he was in bed with the Saudis and was way too comfy.

Freeman “requested that his selection to be Chairman of the National Intelligence Council not proceed,” Blair’s office said in a statement. “Director Blair accepted Ambassador Freeman’s decision with regret.”

I guess Freeman decided to back out after Sen. Joe “Judas” Lieberman grilled Blair at a Senate Armed Service Committee hearing Tuesday. Lieberman cited his “concern” about “statements that [Freeman] has made that appear either to be inclined to lean against Israel or too much in favor of China.”

What really stuck in Lieberman’s throat was the fact that, Freeman has described “Israeli violence against Palestinians” as a key barrier to Mideast peace, and referred to violence in Tibet last year — widely seen in the U.S. as a revolt against Chinese occupation — as a “race riot.”

If the truth be told, Charles Freeman Jr. was simply not worth the headache for the Obama Administration. Folks, can we get it together? It’s high time everyone on the Obama team was on the same wavelength and pretty much in place.

Filed under: Charles W. Freeman Jr., Chinese Government, Israel, Joe Lieberman, National Intelligence Council, President Barack H. Obama, Senate Armed Service Committee, Withdrawal

Harsh Words About Obama on the Campaign Trail By Joe Lieberman, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann are Suddenly a Non-Issue

It is amazing that the whole anti-Barack Obama movement within political circles have seemed to dissipate and these same people are now singing his praises. Take Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann for example. Just a few weeks ago, she told MSNBC’s Chris Matthews that when it came to Barack Obama, ‘I’m very concerned that he may have anti-American views.” Funny, on Wednesday, after narrowly avoiding defeat in her own race because of those comments, she called Obama’s victory, which incidentally included her state, “a tremendous signal we sent.” Geez, who is we?

Then Sarah “Pitbull in Lipstick” enters the fray. Of course you will remember that she vehemently accused Mr. Obama of “palling around with terrorists.” Well, she took an entirely different position on Thursday, after John McCain was roundly trounced in the election. She said, “Let us, let us–let him–be able to kind of savor this moment, one and not let the pettiness of maybe internal workings of the campaign erode any of the recognition of this historic moment we are in. And God bless Barack Obama and his beautiful family.” Wait, did I hear right? Just the day before she was “calling him out” on his positions.

But the greatest about face came from none than Senator Joe Lieberman. He has good reason to try to make up with the winning ticket because Sen. Harry Reid is working really hard to kick him off his position as chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Lieberman was an ardent backer of Mr. McCain and he angered the Democrats, who in 2000 nominated him as their vice-presidential candidate. After losing a Democratic primary challenge in 2006 and then winning as an independent, he still continued to caucus with the Democrats.

Attending an event with Mr. McCain in York, Pa., in August, Mr. Lieberman said the race was “between one candidate, John McCain, who has always put the country first, worked across party lines to get things done, and one candidate who has not.” Yeah, but good old Joe Lieberman wasn’t finished kicking the Democrats in their face. As a speaker at the Republican National Convention, he continue and went a step further. He criticized Barack Obama for “voting to cut off funding from our troops on the ground.” The problem is that was a lie. Obama voted for bills that included plans for withdrawal from Iraq and against others that did not. So Joe “Judas” Lieberman, realizing that his gamble to support McCain had backfired, he released a statement congratulating Barack Obama for “his historic and impressive victory.” It continued, “The American people are a people of extraordinary fairness.” So now Joe Lieberman has the nerve to want to genuinely find unity and move forward behind the new president. Now he said, through his spokesman that Barack Obama is a genuine patriot and loves his country. Good Lord, I am about to throw up.

Filed under: Barack Obama, Joe Lieberman, John McCain, Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin