Long Live the Czar ; More Bureaucracy at Intelligence Agencies

Summary

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So it is to be a Czar of all the Intelligence Services. As I predicted in last week's column, all the president's men have engulfed the remaining opposition to the intelligence reform bill and (as I write on Tuesday) the House of Representatives will imminently pass the bill with strong bipartisan support. Like its namesake, The Czar of all the Russias, our new czar is likely to begin what will become a very mixed record.

(Note: Beware of large bipartisan majorities. They usually form around either trivial issues or headline driven, rushed proposals.)

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Long Live the Czar ; More Bureaucracy at Intelligence Agencies

Perhaps our first czar will be up to the standards of Russia's first Czar, Ivan the Terrible. Ivan, a mere lad of 17 on being crowned, quickly got married, after choosing a bride through a national virgin competition, and then wen...

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