Saturday, May 06, 2006
CIA - The Truth Is Out There
The "Fix-It Man" Quits * San Diego Loses in Court - The Cross on the Hilltop
Porter Goss leaves in a cloud of mystery. Less than two years after President Bush announced the appointment of Porter Goss as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, yesterday Mr. Goss abruptly submitted his resignation. Speculations are rife about why he left. Turf battle--after John Negroponte became his boss as national intelligence director--could very well be the real reason. The Post reports: "The likely successor to Goss is Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the former director of the National Security Agency and now deputy to Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte, senior administration officials said. He could be named as soon as Monday." Expect contentious confirmation hearings in the Senate.
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The order by District Judge Gordon Thompson in San Diego is going to make many people apoplectic. "After a 17-year legal battle between the city and a self-described atheist, a judge has ordered San Diego officials to remove a giant cross from a hilltop park or start paying $5,000 a day in fines. Defying the order is something cash-strapped San Diego can ill afford. Its pension fund is more than $1 billion in debt, the federal government is investigating, and there's been talk of bankruptcy."
I have mixed feelings about this. In this particular case I have no objection to letting the cross stay. The problem is where does one draw the line. Allowing it to remain could encourage zealots to go on a spree of putting up such symbols on public lands all over the country.
