First off, your comment about media treatment is a little naive. I don't think he IS getting a break from the media. I think the media is allowing a great deal of capital to be generated by releasing it just days before the DNC convetnion and the 9/11 report. Also, the more apocryphal parts (smuggling stuff in socks in an attempt to hide failures or shift blame ) is NOT being followed up on. Fox is saying it comes from berger and his lawyers admissions, without a quote- while other media outlets are attributing it to un-named sources in the DOJ. Still other media (interestingly, not Fox) are quoting both Berger and his lawyer as saying that the socks allegation is fraudulent.

The point is that this is exactly the same callibre of reporting that we saw during the run up to war- confused, unsourced, conflicting and boiling down to allegations. In otherwords: very likely to not be true.

You don't become NSA for being dumb. And its down-right dumb for anyone to think they can smuggle shit out of a classified materials reading room, in your socks and with the intent to hide information and either be effective ort get away with it. I think Rice is wrong on a few thousand ideological points, but I don't doubt for a second she is brilliant. NSAs are vetted. Come on- lets try to be reasonable here.

Berger is at best a sloppy retired old man who took notes, left in a hurry, and ended up doing something he shouldn't have. At worst he thinks the rules regarding classified materials don't apply to him. I seriously doubt he is stupid enough to think he can smuggle materials out in his socks and think that what he was smuggling out wouldn't be missed, wouldn't have copies, and he wouldn't be caught.

As I said, I find the whole thing apocryphal and just too conviniently timed. That doesn't mean its not true, but it certainly gives reason for skepticism even above and beyond that that should be exercised with this type of reporting.

Davin L.