UNBELIEVABLE – AT 9:34 P.M. ET:  Remember that, while we're focused on Massachusetts, other things are happening, many of them exposing once more the sheer incompetence and even silliness of the current and temporary administration in Washington. 

We're learning more every day about the Christmas airline bomber and our government's reaction to him.  It's hard to keep a straight face about this:

Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair told the Senate Homeland Security Committee that he was not consulted on whether (Umar Farouk) Abdulmutallab should be questioned by the recently created High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, or HIG.

"That unit was created exactly for this purpose," Blair said. "We did not invoke the HIG in this case. We should have."

Under questioning by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Blair and Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said they were not consulted before the decision was made to not use the high-value detainee interrogation group. Also, Michael Leiter, chief of the National Counter Terrorism Center, said he was not consulted.

"That is very troubling," Collins said.

Troubling, but not surprising.  Our anti-terror policy is under the control of Attorney General Eric "try Al Qaeda in New York" Holder and his band of liberal lawyers in the Justice Department, some of them recruited from the same firms that enthusiastically defended the Gitmo vacationers. 

Meanwhile, FBI Director Robert Mueller told lawmakers that al-Qaida and its offshoots are spreading and rebuilding in Pakistan, Yemen, and the Horn of Africa.

That's good to know.  It's been reported by responsible media for years.

You should sleep more soundly tonight knowing that this crew is in charge of your safety.  That is not a serious statement.

January 20, 2009