| Morning Jolt – November 21, 2012 By Jim Geraghty Happy Thanksgiving! The Jolt resumes Monday. Jim Who Knew the Title 'DNI' Was Short for 'Didn't Need the Information'? Well, here's a twist: CBS News has learned that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) cut specific references to "al Qaeda" and "terrorism" from the unclassified talking points given to Ambassador Susan Rice on the Benghazi consulate attack - with the agreement of the CIA and FBI. The White House or State Department did not make those changes. There has been considerable discussion about who made the changes to the talking points that Rice stuck to in her television appearances on Sept. 16 (video), five days after the attack that killed American Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, and three other U.S. nationals. Republicans have accused her of making misleading statements by referring to the assault as a "spontaneous" demonstration by extremists. Some have suggested she used the terminology she did for political reasons. However, an intelligence source tells CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan the links to al Qaeda were deemed too "tenuous" to make public, because there was not strong confidence in the person providing the intelligence. CIA Director David Petraeus, however, told Congress he agreed to release the information -- the reference to al Qaeda -- in an early draft of the talking points, which were also distributed to select lawmakers. "The intelligence community assessed from the very beginning that what happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack." DNI spokesman Shawn Turner tells CBS News. That information was shared at a classified level -- which Rice, as a member of President Obama's cabinet, would have been privy to. An intelligence source says the talking points were passed from the CIA to the DNI, where the substantive edits were made, and then to FBI, which made more edits as part of "standard procedure." The head of the DNI is James Clapper, an Obama appointee. He ultimately did review the points, before they were given to Ambassador Rice and members of the House intelligence committee on Sept. 14. They were compiled the day before. Could he be the head that rolls as a result of all this? Clap on . . . [clap, clap] . . . He's gone . . . [clap, clap] . . . Clap on, he's gone . . . The Clapper! Paul Mirengoff says this doesn't make sense: "But the DNI himself, James Clapper, has testified before Congress. Based on the comments of some of the legislators who were present at the hearing, it did not appear that Clapper changed the CIA's report or knew who did. Moreover, Gen. Petraeus reportedly testified that he had no idea who changed his report. It seems unlikely that the CIA would sign off on changes without consulting Petraeus. So there may be a disconnect here. Congress needs to find out who within the Office of the DIA made the changes and who within the CIA approved them, if in fact anyone did." Peter Kirsanow: "So Rice was privy to the classified assessment that the attack on the consulate was a terrorist attack. That's not consistent with the president's narrative that Rice was merely spouting what she was told. Yet she went on five news shows and said the matter was a spontaneous demonstration prompted by a video. Furthermore, nothing in the CBS News report indicates that the DNI's office inserted anything about a video into either the classified or unclassified versions of the talking points. Just where did that idea come from?" Thanksgiving Week Markdown: Warner as Not Running in Virginia in 2013 This was not surprising, but something of a relief to the two Republicans competing for the Virginia gubernatorial nomination in 2013, lieutenant governor Bill Bolling and Virginia attorney general Ken Cuccinelli. Sen. Mark R. Warner announced Tuesday that he would not make another run for Virginia governor, leaving the field essentially set for a much-anticipated contest next year. . . . Warner, who held the commonwealth's top job from 2002 through the start of 2006, had refused to rule out a return engagement in recent weeks, as a series of polls confirmed that he remains popular statewide and would be the instant favorite if he ran. But few Virginia Democrats expected Warner to run, and he said Tuesday that he had decided to stay put after giving the question "serious, heartfelt consideration." "I loved being Governor, but I have a different job now — and it's here, in the United States Senate," Warner said in a statement issued by his office. "I hope my value add in Congress is to continue working hard every day to not simply blame the other side, but to actually try to find common ground so we can get stuff done." But Democrats in the commonwealth do not always do as well turning out voters in non-federal election years, and Virginia also has a recent tendency to elect governors from the opposite party of the previous year's presidential winner. As of right now, only former DNC chairman Terry McAuliffe is running for the Democrats on the gubernatorial side. At this point, four Republicans are running for lieutenant governor; no Democrat has filed papers for that office yet. The University of Virginia's Larry Sabato summarizes, "To no one's surprise, Sen. Mark Warner says he's not running for Virginia Governor. Democrats still disappointed--he was a slam dunk to win." Bob McDonnell's communications guy Tucker Martin: "Breaking News: Mark Warner is NOT joining the Big 10 Athletic Conference." My Thanksgiving Thank-You List I begin this last Jolt before Thanksgiving by noting how thankful I am for you, the readers. You've heard the airline pilot say, "We know you have your choice when flying, and we thank you for flying with us"; I tend to roll my eyes a bit, knowing that, while I have a choice in flights, I didn't have much of a choice in this route at this time at this price. However, you do have a choice in political newsletters; just about every publication puts one out and almost all of them are free. I hope that most mornings, this one reads completely differently from all the rest; one of my favorite things written about the Jolt is when someone wrote that "it reads like a letter from a friend about politics rather than a newsletter." (Of course, someone also recently said, "my letters from friends don't come with ads in the middle." A necessary conciliation to fiscal realities, I'm afraid. The Jolt is free to you, but not meant to never generate any revenue.) Yes, I'm providing something to you guys, but every morning I'm asking for something from you, too: time and attention. Tens of thousands of you have graciously given me that, and so once again, thank you. I'm thankful to Mrs. Campaignspot, who puts up with a lot even in the best of times. Campaign season in this job is like tax season for an accountant, and I've noticed that, year by year, the slow parts of the campaign grow briefer and briefer. There are conferences and conventions and television appearances, all taking me away from home and domestic duties, and she adapts to the unpredictable schedule with a patience and grace I truly don't deserve. She remains anonymous in my writing because she wants no part of the sometimes-insane spotlight of the political world, and I can't blame her much; but sometimes I wonder if she'll ever write or opine for the public about her considerable realms of expertise. If she does, some will respond, "oh, so that's why Jim sounded so good all those years, he had her as a sounding board." I'm thankful for my boys; I practice the unfortunate precaution of never mentioning their names in print. But as every parent reading this knows, nothing impacts your life, or your outlook on life, like children. They, too, are patient about their father's unpredictable schedule and I hope, when all is said and done, what I do is something they'll look up to someday. I'm thankful to work for a publication with the prestige, history, reliability, and well-earned reputation of National Review. I'm thankful to have an editor like Rich Lowry and a publisher like Jack Fowler trying to keep the ship sailing among turbulent seas (pardon the nautical references, I spent last week on a cruise ship). I'm thankful for colleagues like Jonah Goldberg, a man who revolutionized the hybrid humor-and-serious-points style; Bob Costa and Katrina Trinko for the arduous legwork of from-the-trail campaign coverage; Dan Foster for keeping the web site up and running up there in New York; Ramesh Ponnuru for conveying the smartest, and sometimes dourest, assessment with a wit drier than most martinis; and Kevin Williamson for his insight, often coming from the most unexpected directions. The cruise was a good reminder of what a special crew (no pun intended) we've assembled here: Michael Walsh's combination of impassioned combativeness and good humor; John Fund's knowing so much about so many topics; Victor Davis Hanson's even-toned, seemingly effortless ability to tie modern political events to ancient historyl Kathryn Lopez's seemingly limitless good cheer and grace even when the news is bad; Peter Robinson's ability to make probing interviewing look casual and easy; and the seemingly endless laughs generated by James Lileks, Rob Long, and Roman Genn. Two names you don't see on this e-mail are Katherine Connell and Patrick Brennan, and yet without their willingness to work early in the morning and a bunch of others up at National Review headquarters in New York, the distribution system for this newsletter would consist of the range of a paper airplane from my home office. Matt Barber is the guy running the new distribution system and I'm thankful for his seemingly infinite patience as I tell him "hey, this reader says they're not getting the Jolt anymore, can you look into it?" and quick work on resolving the snafus. Finally . . . okay, this year's election results were like stubbing your toe after stepping on a Lego barefoot in the middle of the night, but it's not like we would trade places with many other folks living in many other parts of the world. We're still very, very lucky to live in America (or Canada, or wherever you are living, and presumably free to read this e-mail without interference from any regime), protected by the finest armed forces in the world, protected by police and firemen here at home. So, thanks for the United States of America. ADDENDUM: "We were honest about our concerns about [Jon] Huntsman," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said at a Politico breakfast event Tuesday. "I think Huntsman would have been a very tough candidate." After that news, I don't want anyone telling me that the people around Obama are good at assessing threats. To read more, visit www.nationalreview.com Save 75% . . . Subscribe to National Review magazine today and get 75% off the newsstand price. Click here for print-edition information. Click here for digital-edition information. And National Review makes a great gift. Click here to send a full-year gift to NR Digital, and here to send a full-year subscription to the print edition. Conservatives – stay healthy! Get plenty of Vitamin Sea on the next National Review cruise. Visit www.nrcruise.com for complete information about our next trip. National Review, Inc. | 
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