I always imagined working for the C.I.A. was a bit like being a cook for a monster. You never know when you might end up on the menu yourself.

And Cheney will never face a modicum of accountability for smearing Valerie Plame. So frustrating.

@2
Exactly what I was going to post. He didn't smear her - he outed her as an operative while she was in place on duty. He didn't even have the excuse that he thought she had retired.

And of course, Obama didn't end torture; he merely outsourced it to Afghanistan.

Not to mention Obama's set things up so that not only the programs under which he's killing people, including American citizens, is secret, the American people can't even know what the law (or legal interpretation) is he's using to justify it is.

Secret laws that only the government knows. I like Obama in a lot of areas, but on this count he's an oathbreaker shredding the Constitution.

And more people ought to be reading Glenn Greenwald and Conor Friedersdorf on this issue. And then screaming bloody murder to their representatives about it.

So here I am in Puerto Villarta all this week.

I've been noticing a trend when I visit restaurants. The Free Shot of Tequila. The owner comes out with a big flourish, slams the bottle down with a couple of glasses and says "I am going to give you a free shot of tequila". Wow..this is the Old Country right. Except the "tequila" barely tastes more alcoholic than water. Want another shot of tequila...completely free? Why..so I can feel even less drunk that I am now?

Only question is whether the Free Shot of Tequila is a tourist thing or a practical joke. They love that here.

@6, The Stranger used to quote Glenn Greenwald quite a bit....until January 2009 that is

Speaking of the War On Whistleblowers, I'm trying to remember where I came across this:

29C3 Panel: Jesselyn Radack, Thomas Drake, William Binney on whistleblowing and surveillance - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDM3MqHln…

Enemies of the State: What Happens When Telling the Truth about Secret US Government Power Becomes a Crime -- Blowing the Whistle on Spying, Lying & Illegalities in the Digital Era

Panel presented at 29C3 (29th Chaos Communication Congress), 27 December 2012.... Q&A afterward is not included in this video.