The blogosphere and the corporate media are all agog over the news that Hillary Clinton's chief campaign strategist, Mark Penn, has variously resigned, stepped aside, been demoted, sent to his room without dinner . . . The semantics don't really matter. He caused problems for the boss, big problems, and the Clinton campaign's reaction is the news.
I disagree. Of course. That's my job.
The background: Mark Penn, creep-in-chief and prime slime for Clinton's campaign, has held on to his day job throughout the campaign -- CEO of Burson Marsteller Worldwide, a "lobbying" firm. In this capacity, Penn recently met with the ambassador of Colombia, one of BM's clients. Colombia has hired Penn and company to lobby Washington on behalf of a proposed free trade agreement between Colombia and the US. Problem is, Clinton officially opposes the agreement, especially while she's campaigning in the free-trade-devastated state of Pennsylvania, site of the next major Demo primary.
Not very delicate timing by Penn, to be sure. Of course, Clinton's hiring of and heretofore steadfast reliance on this political thug has not evinced much delicacy on her part.
But there's another aspect to this story, also reported just today, that should be commanding the headlines.
Ecuador says CIA controls part of its intelligence
QUITO (Reuters) - Ecuador's president accused the CIA on Saturday of controlling many of his country's spy agencies, in comments that could fray ties with Washington and drag it into Ecuador's feud with neighboring Colombia.
President Rafael Correa has fired a top intelligence officer and plans to overhaul spy agencies for belatedly informing him about links between Colombian rebels and an Ecuadorian who died in Colombia's raid inside Ecuador last month that sparked a regional crisis.
"Many of our intelligence agencies have been taken over by the CIA," the leftist leader said during his weekly radio show. "Through the CIA, information found here was passed to Colombia to improve their position" in the dispute.
Correa also charged the United States with financing some officers in the Ecuadorian spy agencies.
Colombia very recently crossed its borders -- militarily and illegally --invading Ecuador to assassinate a leader of the FARC revolutionary group. The attack also killed some twenty other people. Oh, and it very nearly sparked a regional war, as Ecuador and Venezuela rapidly moved troops to their common borders with Colombia in response to the deadly trespass.
Now we learn that Washington has been aiding Colombia -- more likely leading and commanding Colombia -- in its aggressive, destabilizing tactics against its neighbor Ecuador. Not very surprising, really. But there's a reason why we are constantly reminded in the Mark Penn-related stories that Colombia is a close US ally. One of the few remaining allies the US has in Latin America, actually.
Trade agreements are important, critically important, I agree wholeheartedly. But US instigation of a possible regional war in Latin America should trump that issue.
Perhaps the candidates -- and the bloggers and the mainstream punditry -- would care to comment on this aspect of US-Latin American relations? Or must this too be subordinated to the all-important political feint of the moment?
Oh, I know the answer. It's campaign season. Issues of war and peace -- and global warming and healthcare and poverty and economic collapse -- will just have to wait.
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