The designated leaker

The Messenger 06.18.12

By MICHAEL REAGAN
Glory be to the commander in chief.
Everyone in the Washington-New York Axis of Evil knows that’s why there has been a string of White House national security leaks.
Each of the leaks has been a transparent attempt to pump up President Obama as a tough warrior who deserves re-election because he’s been intimately involved in the killing of Osama bin Laden, the cyber-sabotage of Iran’s nuclear program, and choosing which specific terrorist gets blasted to heaven by a U.S. drone.
Everyone also knows the leaks have damaged our ability to operate our future military and counter-terror operations, and they put our intelligence agents and commandos at risk. And everyone but Obama press spokesman Jay Carney knows exactly where the leaks were authorized — the White House.
The only big mystery left to solve is who the happy leaker is.
The Re-Elect Obama team has two Justice Department lawyers looking into the leaks, which is a joke. Republicans in the Senate including Lindsey Graham want a special prosecutor to mount a much wider and deeper investigation, which if it happens would bring the president deserved political troubles but would most likely only catch a few little fish who work for the big fish.
The list of White House leak suspects is long. The media accounts of the president’s brave foreign-policy exploits in The New York Times and elsewhere have included quotes from Leon Panetta, Jim Jones, Gen. Doug Lute and Gen. David Petraeus.
But I don’t think those gents are up to doing such partisan press work. I have a hunch the Obama administration’s leaker is someone else. Before I say who I think he or she is, I have a little story about my father Ronald Reagan and his problem with a leaker.
When my father would hold discussions with his security advisers about possible covert military operations against the Soviet Union or Libya, there was always a certain U.S. senator in the room representing the Senate leadership. Even if everyone else agreed with a decision except the senator, the senator would often threaten to leak the plans to the press if the president authorized the operation.
It got so bad that when my father was planning to invade Grenada, he told no one in advance because he feared that the senator would blab to the media and cost American lives. That senator who caused my father so much trouble was none other than Joe Biden.
I have no proof, of course, but I think the Obama administration’s leaker is Joe Biden.
Every White House has a designated leaker who tells their friends in the media what the administration wants it to know in hopes of getting politically favorable coverage. My father’s was David Gergen.
Biden is perfect for the job of designated leaker. He wor ks in an administration that spends half its time patting itself on the back and the other half trying to get the media to do it. Plus Biden, unlike the other suspects, has a vested interest in pumping up Obama’s reputation as a strong leader because it’ll keep him in the vice president’s mansion for another four years.
One more thing. Remember when spokesman Jay Carney misspoke the other day? First he said “the Obama administration” wasn’t responsible for the leak. Then he caught himself and said “the White House” wasn’t responsible.
Though it’s only my opinion, I bet Jay was actually telling the truth. It’s not the White House that’s been leaking. But if I were doing the investigating, I’d have someone take a very strong look at the plumbing in the vice president’s house.
Michael Reagan is the son of President Ronald Reagan, a political consultant, and the author of “The New Reagan Revolution” (St. Martin’s Press, 2011). He is the founder and chairman of The Reagan Group and president of The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Visit his website at www.reagan.com, or e-mail comments to Reagan@caglecartoons.com.

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