Another Security Lapse for President Training Wheels

Writing at Hot Air's Green Room, Cold Warrior explains why this particular photo -- first noted by Ben Smith at Politico -- is a critical indicator of just how sloppy things have gotten at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: the White House posted a CIA fax transmittal sheet and attached document on the White House Flickr feed.

Sort of a casual treatment of our National Security information by any standard, ya think?

No, you can’t read anything of substance in the photo, later removed from the White House feed, but the casual treatment of a document marked “CIA” and “Secret” seems indicative of the attitude of this White House...

And it is yet another misstep in this Administration’s utter disregard for national security.

Somewhere, some place, in a government office or in the living room of a foreign official’s home there is one very worried individual, In this war on Islamist jihad, or a resurrection of the Russian menace, or China’s intrigues, in our efforts to stem many threats to our Nation from abroad, we rely on individuals who take risks, grave risks, often deadly risks, to provide vital information to Agency officers who in turn pass that information to our National leadership…with the clear understanding that such information will remain secret... and will not be plastered about in a White House publicity photo feed.

It is not about a fax cover sheet... it is about the casual treatment of information that could easily result in the death, or at a minimum the imprisonment of, a foreign official who literally staked his life on our being able to keep a secret.

As a commenter at Politico noted, "Ted Mack's Amateur Hour is playing at the White House."

Not to worry, though. Joe Biden is in charge of selecting and uploading photos to the White House Flickr feed. Plus, he's safeguarding the nuclear launch codes.

President Training Wheels is likely to get a lot of Americans killed one day.

And it's safe to say that the Democrats' usual playbook -- eh, blame Bush! -- won't even begin to assuage the anger of the American people.