Category: Uncategorized
Trust
I’m watching the hearings on Michael Hayden to be CIA chief. He seems like a pretty decent guy and is probably well qualified for the job. And I’m sure he is a patriotic American who will do the right thing in the job.
Here’s the problem. Our intelligence services rely on the trust of the American people that things done in their name that they can’t know about are being done within the spirit and values of our country. This administration has betrayed that trust. This is a president who claims he does not have to follow the law when he believes he is protecting the national interest as he sees it. Why should we trust that he will feel any constraint whatsoever in how he conducts secret intelligence policies. And, even if we trusted Bush, there is no way in the world we can trust Cheney, who we know is the real president when it comes to intelligence matters.
These hearings are a charade that have no meaning because we cannot trust our own government. It’s sickening…literally.
Rove Indictment Less Certain
In the clip below, the Wall Street Journal reports that Karl Rove is going to speak to the American Enterprise Institute today. Not the kind of thing you would expect of someone who was informed of his own indictment on Friday.
Here’s another post, offering a blow by blow on the situation. I’m leaning toward the view that the previous speculation is untrue.
WSJ.com – Republicans Seek to Revive Their Activists: “The low poll numbers are also among reasons why votes in Congress are likely in coming months on social issues crucial to conservatives and why White House political adviser Karl Rove, in an address to the American Enterprise Institute Monday, is expected to lay the foundation for an attack on Democrats, perhaps by reminding his audience that liberal leaders and ideas would return if Republicans lose control of either house of Congress. “
Karl Rove Indicted on Charges of Perjury, Lying to Investigators
This is a fascinating blog. They guy writes like news stories, which makes them sound really credible. But it is a blog.
Here’s a blockbuster bit of news. Hasn’t been picked up by any of the other blogs, never mind the news media. It’ll be interesting to watch this unfold. Won’t it be something if this thing breaks here.
Karl Rove Indicted on Charges of Perjury, Lying to Investigators: “Karl Rove Indicted on Charges of Perjury, Lying to Investigators
By Jason Leopold
t r u t h o u t Report
Saturday 13 May 2006
Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald spent more than half a day Friday at the offices of Patton Boggs, the law firm representing Karl Rove.
During the course of that meeting, Fitzgerald served attorneys for former Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove with an indictment charging the embattled White House official with perjury and lying to investigators related to his role in the CIA leak case, and instructed one of the attorneys to tell Rove that he has 24 business hours to get his affairs in order, high level sources with direct knowledge of the meeting said Saturday morning.”
Name One Thing
As we survey the wreckage wrought by the Bush Administration, I would love to see some pollster ask the following open-ended question in a poll:
Name one thing the Bush Administration has done right in six years in office?
I am certain that the vast majority of respondents would be stumped.
We know Bush’s view. He caught a 7.5 lb. perch in his private lake. Of course, as Daily Kos points out, the largest perch ever caught was 4.3 lbs. He must have had it weighed by the CIA.
Moussaoui Gets Life
I was strangely relieved that Moussaoui got life in prison instead of death. I oppose the death penalty in all instances. I don’t believe the government should have the power to take a life.
But it was more than that. I admired the jurors for not stampeding him to the gallows to vindicate the victims of 9/11. They clearly couldn’t bring themselves to execute a man for a lie. They must have known that they will take a lot of heat for their decision. It was a courageous act.
They are doomed
I’d been hearing about this $100 gas rebate plan, vaguely out of the corner of my ear. I can’t remember where. But I had assumed that this was some lame-brained scheme by one of the crazy lefties (who I love) in the Democratic Party. I only just found out that this was proposed by the Republican Senate leadership. Predictably, their right wing has erupted in opposition. As though more proof were needed, this demonstrates that they have no principles whatsoever….none.
Sharp Reaction to G.O.P. Plan on Gas Rebate – New York Times: “WASHINGTON, April 30 � The Senate Republican plan to mail $100 checks to voters to ease the burden of high gasoline prices is eliciting more scorn than gratitude from the very people it was intended to help. “
A Must Read – United 93 Review
I do not expect to read a more powerful review of the movie, United 93, than the one by the President of the National Air Traffic Controllers Union, John Carr. A particularly powerful quote is posted below, but I urge you to click through and read it in its entirety. And then take a quiet minute to think.
The Main Bang: United 93—A Review: “When the movie ended, just like we all knew that it would, with sudden swift blackness and no audio, the only sound which filled the theatre was the mournful, heaving sobs of the family members themselves. The credits rolled but the audience sat transfixed, afraid to move, afraid to intrude on the pain and the sorrow and the suffering unfolding just a few short rows back. Those in attendance eventually filed out of the auditorium, speaking in the hushed tones of a funeral. “
Fitzmas 2006
OK, here we go again. Check out this post of a blog that I’d never heard of before. Interesting that something can seem so credible. According to the bio blurb at the bottom, the guy is a legitimate journalist and his blog reads that way. In any event, if the quotes from Rove’s attorney are accurate, it seems we may yet see a Rove indictment.
We’ve been here before. And the Libby indictment was a pretty big disappointment, given the build up. Once burned, twice shy. Yadda, yadda, yadda.
But, then again…..
David Brooks
David Brooks is the conservative columnist for the New York Times. He spoke to a group today of which I am president. We are the House Administrative Assistants Alumni Association, an organization of ex-chiefs of staff to members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Brooks is a very appealing and engaging man. His conservative credentials are unchallenged. But he comes off as almost shy. He is self-effacing and very funny. And extremely thoughtful. He spoke to us about a philosophy of government that he supports called “energetic limited government.” He claims this approach to government goes back to Alexander Hamilton and was sustained by Abraham Lincoln. It’s last advocate in the White House was Teddy Roosevelt. It’s guiding principle is that government should give people the tools to accomplish social advancement, but should not guarantee social advancement. I could live with that. Unfortunately, the policies of modern day conservatives actually retard social advancement and institutionalize the concentration of wealth.
Contrarily, Brooks discussed the growing social divide in America based on educational achievement. His compassion is clearly genuine and he obviously believes that conservatism is the correct path to a just society. It is hard, however, to reconcile his view of conservativism with actual consequences of the long term dominance of conservatism over national public policy. The results are the opposite of the values to which his aspires.
He Can’t Even Pray Right
The Onion calls Bush out on his ineffective praying.
Critics Blast Bush For Not Praying Hard Enough The Onion – America’s Finest News Source: “The OnionSearch News Archives
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Critics Blast Bush For Not Praying Hard Enough
April 5, 2006 Issue 42�14
WASHINGTON, DC�President Bush, already facing the lowest approval ratings in history, is coming under fire from former supporters over what they call his ‘ineffectual and incompetent’ use of prayer for national guidance and assistance.”
Here’s the Cheney quote:
“Half the time, I can’t even get him on the phone because he’s busy praying for the American people, the same people who are now so quick to criticize him,” Cheney said. “If something’s wrong with those prayers, I would suggest that it’s perhaps the fault of a supernatural entity. But it’s not the president’s. He is doing his duty.”
