Jamie Rubin just said: Why then did President Bush flip-flop on the NID?

[flpoljunkie]

That's the National Intelligence Director.

Way to go, Jamie! He's traveling with Kerry today; the crowd behind Jamie Rubin looks enormous--people as far as the eye can see!

Jamie Rubin is an incredibly effective national security spokesman for John Kerry.

[swag]

1. Who is Jamie Rubin

Was this on a TV channel?

Sounds like good news, whoever he is.

Thank you!

[julialnyc]

3. He's a security adviser

who used to be in Clinton's cabinet and is married to Christiane Amampour (sp?) from CNN.
He also used to be one of Wesley Clark's campaign advisers.

[flpoljunkie]

4. Former spokesman for the State Department under Clinton, Albright...

Married to Christianne Amanpour, my favorite CNN correspondent--my favorite correspondent, period!

[luaneryder]

6. Amanpour

Quite possibly the only journalist left, period.

[jean]

2. Jamie Rubin is precise, calm and relentless - all in his very civil manner

Hearing he was Kerry's choice for National Security spokesman months ago really lifted me up.

[Lefta Dissenter]

5. not to mention,

HOT But then, where are my priorities??? :shrug:

He was Clark's Foreign Policy advisor during the primaries, and I met him when he came here to speak. What a brilliant, clear-thinking, articulate man! Unfortunately, he's married to that damned other brilliant person, Christiane Amanpour (or however you spell it) with her seventeen or twenty foreign languages...

duh, edited for spelling...

[actappan]

7. So what was the president's initial objection?

Why did the administration initially reject the NID position, and why are they still hedging against it being a cabinet level post? I mean, DoHS is. They normally seem to be all for this sort of thing . . . .

[flpoljunkie]

8. Perhaps for the same reason that they are not recommending the NID

have control of the budgets of the intelligence agencies, only "coordinate" them. This would take away a lot of power from Rumsfeld at the Pentagon. Right now, they control about 80% of the intelligence money. Control of the money is crucial.

Rummy evidently holds a lot of sway with the "cowboy-in-chief."

[actappan]

9. But as a cabinet level post . . .

. . . as opposed to the proposed figurehead, wouldn't that then give he administration more direct control over the intel budgets of all the agencies (as opposed to the normal congressional oversight methods - which I assume would have to undergo so modification in this situation)?

I'm thinking of a situation more akin to the ONDCP, the "Drug Czar" . . .

[flpoljunkie]

10. Kerry says Cabinet post would assure power, leverage and accountability

I think it is the last one that Bush is concerned about. He does not want the buck to stop at his desk!

Bush did not want Tom Ridge's position to be Cabinet level, but he flip-flopped on this, too.

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF...

11. Department of Homeland Security

BUSH OPPOSES THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY..."So, creating a Cabinet office doesn't solve the problem. You still will have agencies within the federal government that have to be coordinated. So the answer is that creating a Cabinet post doesn't solve anything."

...BUSH SUPPORTS THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY "So tonight, I ask the Congress to join me in creating a single, permanent department with an overriding and urgent mission: securing the homeland of America and protecting the American people."