General Discussion

JHB

(38,242 posts)

95. Go to the Foreign Policy piece GG is commenting on

Mon Sep 16, 2013, 08:37 AM

Sep 2013

Far more important than the decor is what follows:

Alexander wowed members of Congress with his eye-popping command center. And he took time to sit with them in their offices and explain the intricacies of modern technology in simple, plain-spoken language. He demonstrated a command of the subject without intimidating those who had none.

"Alexander is 10 times the political general as David Petraeus," says the former administration official, comparing the NSA director to a man who was once considered a White House contender. "He could charm the paint off a wall."

I'm more concerned that he knows to have a flashy set piece to show off to congressmen and other VIPs -- to lobby without looking like he's lobbying -- than what it looks like.

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O... M... G... [View all] WillyT Sep 2013 OP

Jean-Luc Picard would never sit in THAT chair. arcane1 Sep 2013 #1

True. The Federation is as far removed in policy from the NSA Cleita Sep 2013 #4

You obviously have never heard of Section 31. PragmaticLiberal Sep 2013 #15

Supposedly it works outside the govt. and Star Fleet command. Cleita Sep 2013 #22

Good point. PragmaticLiberal Sep 2013 #43

Well, the Federation was about gathering information Art_from_Ark Sep 2013 #139

Really? You got that from Star Trek? Cleita Sep 2013 #140

Yep, I got that from (the original) Star Trek Art_from_Ark Sep 2013 #141

Yep. He missed the whole point. n/t OneGrassRoot Sep 2013 #5

Maybe It's Time For An Adult Female In That Job... WillyT Sep 2013 #8

I'd settle for a real adult. RC Sep 2013 #63

Condi Rice? nm rhett o rick Sep 2013 #129

+1000 Liberal_in_LA Sep 2013 #25

Nor would an honourable Klingon Warrior DissidentVoice Sep 2013 #32

dang you're right! Riverman100 Sep 2013 #49

lots and lots RC Sep 2013 #66

I am a near-lifelong Trekker DissidentVoice Sep 2013 #105

From the TNG episdode "The Hunted" Maedhros Sep 2013 #51

The Roca Danar character from that episode had the COOLEST. HAIR. EVER. TheDebbieDee Sep 2013 #77

It's Roga Danar and here is his picture. TexasTowelie Sep 2013 #79

Here's one. n/t Egalitarian Thug Sep 2013 #81

Who decided that making a megalomaniacal whack job head of the NSA was a good idea? truebluegreen Sep 2013 #2

Megalomaniac is right. Th1onein Sep 2013 #13

He's Rumsfeld's protoge. nt grasswire Sep 2013 #60

Well, that explains it. truebluegreen Sep 2013 #64

Why, it had to be Dick Cheney. Enthusiast Sep 2013 #87

My guess is that it's the Carlyle Group. Who do you think put him in power? rhett o rick Sep 2013 #127

Even I, not a big Obama fan, didn't think for a moment truebluegreen Sep 2013 #131

Hah! I *TOLD* you all! Pholus Sep 2013 #3

"needless crap"? You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding! 99th_Monkey Sep 2013 #62

I can just see the sales presentation... Pholus Sep 2013 #68

This character comes to mind for some reason 99th_Monkey Sep 2013 #73

This is absolutely needed! didact Sep 2013 #110

Lol.. That movie still cracks me up! glowing Sep 2013 #117

Whatever are you saying? Are you trying to tell us truedelphi Sep 2013 #123

Yikes! gopiscrap Sep 2013 #6

Gee, I wonder who paid for it. xfundy Sep 2013 #7

great minds think alike barbtries Sep 2013 #10

Several thousand teachers, particularly. Marr Sep 2013 #55

And kill people Hydra Sep 2013 #109

paid for by... barbtries Sep 2013 #9

I just have to echo your O.M.G.!! Unbelievable. riderinthestorm Sep 2013 #11

What? No cone of silence? L0oniX Sep 2013 #12

No, Loonix. Plenty of agents around, though, to look through your gmails. Th1onein Sep 2013 #14

I'm betting that man has a real complex. Autumn Sep 2013 #16

LOL !!! WillyT Sep 2013 #17

Alexander seems Too Good to Be True! He captured a Young President with "Star Wars!" KoKo Sep 2013 #18

Exactly !!! WillyT Sep 2013 #19

Wow,,,,, Government Agancy builds new HQ Cryptoad Sep 2013 #20

Why is it Caretha Sep 2013 #26

Truth burrs the ass of Many!,,,,,,,, Cryptoad Sep 2013 #30

Since I have your permisssion Caretha Sep 2013 #36

Thank you Cryptoad Sep 2013 #42

Mine does the same. Enthusiast Sep 2013 #88

Be careful. I think that one's the kind that secretes poison. LuvNewcastle Sep 2013 #91

Hey Obviousman hootinholler Sep 2013 #31

+ 1,000,000,000... What You Said !!! WillyT Sep 2013 #40

> morningfog Sep 2013 #67

PLUS A BRAZILLION! nt Enthusiast Sep 2013 #89

We probably need to blue links and WooWoo to explain how this is great Doctor_J Sep 2013 #99

Love the post - but hueymahl Sep 2013 #115

Funny, I Read the Same Rant over at Cryptoad Sep 2013 #122

20 some hours later and that's all ya got? hootinholler Sep 2013 #135

I bet yoiu did! Cryptoad Sep 2013 #137

red state was complaining about meals on wheels cuts? Doctor_J Sep 2013 #136

Probably many things,,,,,, Cryptoad Sep 2013 #138

Can you point me to any other govt office with a captains chair riderinthestorm Sep 2013 #35

My feelings are the money would have been Much better spent in hiring federal employees adirondacker Sep 2013 #52

Some libraries somewhere? truedelphi Sep 2013 #125

Yes! The list is endless at present. Instead we're given more privitazation of Public interests adirondacker Sep 2013 #126

With railings! sibelian Sep 2013 #116

wow Chaco Dundee Sep 2013 #21

ROFL Oilwellian Sep 2013 #39

What is it they say? Iwillnevergiveup Sep 2013 #23

I'm going to have to steal that line! Silent3 Sep 2013 #58

Perfect for a swaggering, overbearing, tin-plated dictator with delusions of godhood.... Spitfire of ATJ Sep 2013 #24

It's insane Oilwellian Sep 2013 #29

The document you link to says 1999 build date. hootinholler Sep 2013 #38

I think so Oilwellian Sep 2013 #41

It seems like it is the HQ of the command he had at the time hootinholler Sep 2013 #45

Ah, indeed Oilwellian Sep 2013 #54

Could just be a reflection of a light on a non-flat surface. Spitfire of ATJ Sep 2013 #57

And it comes with choice of musical openings! DeSwiss Sep 2013 #27

Screw a bunch of food stamps and day care centers . . . another_liberal Sep 2013 #28

I keep re-reading this, thinking it's going to turn out to be a joke. Marr Sep 2013 #33

Word !!! WillyT Sep 2013 #44

Precisely. Enthusiast Sep 2013 #90

It's more like the parallel "Mirror Mirror" universe DissidentVoice Sep 2013 #34

Wonder if he went for it and had an agony booth built sarge43 Sep 2013 #47

"Your agoniser, PLEASE!" n/t DissidentVoice Sep 2013 #106

Photo of the outside of the complex here JBoy Sep 2013 #37

Set phasers on "defund," Mr. Spock... nt Buns_of_Fire Sep 2013 #46

ROFLMAO !!! WillyT Sep 2013 #48

Unfortunately, the budget has a cloaking device. nt Warren DeMontague Sep 2013 #53

lol pa28 Sep 2013 #56

Hmmm... "Completion: July 1999" JHB Sep 2013 #50

1999? Why is this a story 14 years later? anneboleyn Sep 2013 #75

Because actual reasons for opposing Alexander are dull and detailed. Easier to get page hits... JHB Sep 2013 #94

Yes it's an Information command HQ hootinholler Sep 2013 #104

No handwave at all. That's EXACTLY what it's for. JHB Sep 2013 #108

Well I'm glad we agree that it's a felatio station hootinholler Sep 2013 #111

Once again, Alexander is Rumsfeld's protege LondonReign2 Sep 2013 #59

LOL !!! - We Are Such Nerds Here !!! WillyT Sep 2013 #61

Sorry, but this isn't registering on my Outrageometer at all. DRoseDARs Sep 2013 #65

You said it perfectly. randome Sep 2013 #69

Yeah... And Junior Air Marshall Alexander Can Use His Decoder Ring To Get Dates.. WillyT Sep 2013 #71

The design of that room is symptomatic of the problems of the NSA that Snowden exposed. RC Sep 2013 #72

Snowden, I'm afraid, was part of the problem. nt AverageJoe90 Sep 2013 #120

Snowden exposed the problems RC Sep 2013 #121

Snowden didn't expose SHIT. This stuff covering the NSA was available years ago. AverageJoe90 Sep 2013 #124

The why didn't anyone know about the excesses and unconstitutional spying the NSA was doing? RC Sep 2013 #130

Because nobody in the media bothered to talk about it much, when Bush was in office. AverageJoe90 Sep 2013 #132

What ever... RC Sep 2013 #133

".....so as to not be put in prison and possibly tortured as Manning was." Bullshit. AverageJoe90 Sep 2013 #134

I know this one!!! We slipped into a parallel universe felix_numinous Sep 2013 #70

At least we know where those IRS videos were filmed now... Pholus Sep 2013 #74

What does Alexander need to do to lose his job? MannyGoldstein Sep 2013 #76

First you must understand who he is accountable to. It isnt to the President. rhett o rick Sep 2013 #128

Think of what NASA might have been able to do with all that money. nt Jasana Sep 2013 #78

NASA's had one of these for years before Star Trek existed JHB Sep 2013 #93

Wouldn't a nice room with padded walls be more apropos for this guy? Tierra_y_Libertad Sep 2013 #80

why haven't we seen the comics mocking this screwball? grasswire Sep 2013 #82

Here's the view from behind the "Captain's Chair" toward the main screen... hunter Sep 2013 #83

This looks so much like the lab in Dr. Strangelove. Too bad George C. Scott isn't around Doctor_J Sep 2013 #100

Look at all that money they shit down the tubes. AtheistCrusader Sep 2013 #112

Absolutely. hunter Sep 2013 #114

... Rex Sep 2013 #84

It's got railings! sibelian Sep 2013 #85

LOL! LuvNewcastle Sep 2013 #92

No money for food stamps but........ Enthusiast Sep 2013 #86

Go to the Foreign Policy piece GG is commenting on JHB Sep 2013 #95

there's no words. nashville_brook Sep 2013 #96

Our tax dollars at work. (nt) Paladin Sep 2013 #97

Meanwhile most Public School Teachers, also public employees, have to buy their own Doctor_J Sep 2013 #98

Where's the Cone of Silence? CanonRay Sep 2013 #101

We ALL want you in the cone of silence. randome Sep 2013 #103

"Information Dominance Center" marions ghost Sep 2013 #102

Unless he's singing "Let the Eagle Soar"... Blanks Sep 2013 #107

Fantasies of power and magic. DirkGently Sep 2013 #113

nerd alert... Blue_Tires Sep 2013 #118

Crazy....though I don't think he understood the whole point of Star Trek in the first place.......nt AverageJoe90 Sep 2013 #119