Pssst. There's a Covert . . . Why Congressional intelligence is an oxymoron.

At The WSJ

…The President will now be obliged to inform all Members of the Senate and House intelligence committees about all covert actions. However, the President can still decide to limit disclosure of the details of a covert action to the Gang of Eight—the chairmen and ranking members on the committees, as well as senior party leaders in both chambers—if he deems that to be essential to national security. In those cases, the White House can give the committee backbenchers merely a "general description" of the covert operation.

This is still an unfortunate diminution of Presidential power. The mere fact of a covert action will pique Member interest and spread the word to a wider circle, increasing the likelihood of leaks. It also sets a precedent that future Congresses will attempt to expand upon. As for the Speaker, she was able to claim a great victory against the forces of evil U.S. intelligence, crowing on Tuesday that the bill "expands and improves the Congressional notification process for covert action."

We wish Mr. Obama had stopped this charade by maintaining a veto threat, and we wish Republicans had refused to abet this attempt at vindicating Mrs. Pelosi's oversight cynicism. The damage to national security could have been worse, but the main result will be more leaks and less accountability. Read it all …

[ Once again we are seeing the height of stupidity from our misrepresentatives. Pelosi’s cynical crowing that this action will protect rather than endanger our intelligence community should make the Wikileaks traitors proud. This idiocy will not only result in security breeches but, more importantly, American warrior deaths. How long can we continue to put up with a political class that not only robs but also makes it easier to kill our sons and daughters?– JS ]

Representative cartoons: