Politics Or Crime?

Good stuff from Digby:

This idea that character assassination has become so normalized that even the outing of a CIA agent for political purposes is considered business as usual is outrageous and it explains a lot about what has gone wrong with our government. The subjects of this investigation are the most powerful people on this planet. The case involves not just politics as usual but a concerted effort to conceal information about the rationale leading up to this misbegotten war. When the administration was confronted by critics, they could have laid out the reasons why Wilson was incorrect. Instead, they chose to forcefully discredit him with a ridiculous nepotism charge and in the course of that, whether purposefully of out of carelessness, they revealed a CIA agent's cover. This was not just politics, it was a cover up using strong arm tactics. We may not have known definitively in the summer of 2003 that after all the administration's so-called proof that there were no WMD in Iraq, but we sure as hell do now. Whether they technically committed a crime under the Victoria Toensing statute, or whether they perjured themselves or obstructed justice before the grand jury to cover their political crimes, it should be prosecuted. Richard Cohen and Andrea Mitchell may think this is trivial, but I doubt that most people in this country will find it so. They understand the difference between consensual blowjobs, character assassination and national security even if the beltway doesn't. This is at its essence about a toxic political culture. The press has abdicated its reponsibility to hold the powerful accountable. A highly centralized Republican political machine observes no limits. The opposition party is purposefully rendered impotent and irrelevant. The checks and balances are no longer in place. The only institution that has the ability to cut through the spin, the lies, the strong-arm tactics is the justice system. Politics have become criminalized to be sure --- by the political criminals and their friendly helpmates in the press. The law is all we've got left. God help us.

The right says they hate this politics of personal destruction. Let's hope something happens here that can put an end to it. Unfortunately I think all we will get (as a matter of fact,
I would bet the farm on it) is that Fitz is way over the line. He's this, he's that. More personal destruction by those who PRETEND to hate it...or to put it more accurately, only hate it when they are the subject. It's never about the issue for them, it's always about the person. I'm sad for the otherwise good sheeple who have been taken in by the whole right wing cabal.

The Movies

Our featured film clip this week is here. Rated pg for mild profanity.

Coffee Table

And your little dog Toto too. HaHa Ha Ha

Iraq

Latest on Iraq. Not much reason for us to be there.

Plausable Deniability

Kinda throws that out.

Another potential issue is whether Fitzgerald determines that Rove either purposely or inadvertently lied to the president, experts say. "The president is the top law enforcement official of the executive branch," said Rory Little, a professor of law at the University of California and a former federal prosecutor and associate attorney general in the Clinton administration. "It is a crime to make a false statement to a federal agent. If the president was asking in that capacity, and the statement was purposely false, then you might have a violation of law.

The Central Pillar Is Hollow

Another reason they should listen to the people more. How many out there could have told them this a year or two ago? Raise your hands.

WASHINGTON — Senior U.S. officials have begun to question a key presumption of American strategy in Iraq: that establishing democracy there can erode and ultimately eradicate the insurgency gripping the country.The expectation that political progress would bring stability has been fundamental to the Bush administration's approach to rebuilding Iraq, as well as a central theme of White House rhetoric to convince the American public that its policy in Iraq remains on course. ...
Now, with Saturday's constitutional referendum appearing more likely to divide than unify the country, some within the administration have concluded that the quest for democracy in Iraq, at least in its current form, could actually strengthen the insurgency.The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, Army Gen. George W. Casey, has acknowledged that such a scenario is possible, .....
Despite what Bush on Thursday called "incredible political progress" in Iraq since Saddam Hussein's fall 2 1/2 years ago, the Iraqi insurgency has grown in strength and sophistication. From about 5,000 Hussein loyalists using leftover Iraqi army equipment, it has mushroomed into a disparate yet potent force of up to 20,000 equipped with explosives capable of knocking out even heavily armored military vehicles."The surface political process has stumbled forward, but the insurgency came up and kind of stayed that way," said a U.S. government analyst with access to classified intelligence........
"The democratic process as it has worked so far has certainly done nothing to undermine the insurgency," said Nathan Brown, who researches Middle East political reform at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.Robert Malley, co-author of a September report by the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit organization that deals with conflict resolution, concluded that approval of the draft constitution could make things worse. Malley called the administration's Iraq policy "a case study of pinning too much hope on an electoral process without doing so much of the other work."Success in Iraq "is not about democracy or non-democracy; it's about reaching consensus on a political pact that all parties agree to," said Malley, a former advisor to President Clinton on Arab-Israeli affairs. "If they don't agree, the political process won't help."

Wow! You mean you can't just talk about it in speeches, you actually have to do it!??? Sounds like the same thing going on here...oh ya it is.

Links!

An assortment of military blogs. It's interesting that as you read you will find as many differences in opinion as in the nation as a hole. They tend to be somewhat more supportive but considering their position I guess that is a good thing.

What vitamins and supplements are good ones?

Get your horoscope with a little philosophy thrown in.

50 Character traits including this one:
VISIONARY: Dreaming not inhibited by the unknown. Looking beyond problems by creating successful solutions.

Some of this I can't go for but there is a lot here I like...whatever they name it.

A Week Of Comments

Democat said...
To: The GameRe: conservatives pleasing Liberals, once again you are confusing all Liberals with the radical far left that scares even us. You are also confusing traditional conservatives with neo-cons/corporate globalists. If you can not grasp the true meaning of Liberal and the fact that Liberals can have so called conservative views you will never understand that Liberals can support conservatives on some issues. Tom Delay. Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, etc. do not count as traditional conservatives. They are liars and crooks and it has been proven over and over. Why do you continue to support the Ameri-fascists? Help take your party back from them and hopefully the country will become UNITED again.

Anonymous said...
About a week ago Sen. Kay Baily Hutcheson (TX) was on cable t.v. stating that we had to cut the budget to find the money for the Gulf Coast rebuilding. Of course, no funds could be cut to Haliburton, er that is, the Iraqi War or Freedom or whatever. She actually suggested that we cut funding to "infrastructure". Now, she did not mention "transportation pork" and did not specify, but a good part of what caused the problem in New Orleans were cuts in infrastructure (the levees and/or building up the area) and now we should pay for it with more cuts in infrastructure!

Dedanna said...
Ron:Re: Delay,10 Mind-Numbingly Stupid Quotes by Tom DeLay1) "I AM the federal government." --Tom DeLay, to the owner of Ruth's Chris Steak House, after being told to put out his cigar because of federal government regulations banning smoking in the building, May 14, 2003 (Source)2) "So many minority youths had volunteered, that there was literally no room for patriotic folks like myself." --Tom DeLay, explaining at the 1988 GOP convention why he and vice presidential nominee Dan Quayle did not fight in the Vietnam War (Source)3) "Now tell me the truth boys, is this kind of fun?" --Tom Delay, to three young hurricane evacuees from New Orleans at the Astrodome in Houston, Sept. 9, 2005 (Source)4) "We're no longer a superpower. We're a super-duper power." --Tom DeLay, explaining why America must topple Saddam Hussein in 2002 interview with Fox News (Source)5) "Nothing is more important in the face of a war than cutting taxes." --Tom DeLay, March 12, 2003 (Source)6) "Guns have little or nothing to do with juvenile violence. The causes of youth violence are working parents who put their kids into daycare, the teaching of evolution in the schools, and working mothers who take birth control pills." --Tom DeLay, on causes of the Columbine High School massacre, 1999 (Source)7) "A woman can take care of the family. It takes a man to provide structure. To provide stability. Not that a woman can't provide stability, I'm not saying that... It does take a father, though." --Tom DeLay, in a radio interview, Feb. 10, 2004 (Source)8) "I don't believe there is a separation of church and state. I think the Constitution is very clear. The only separation is that there will not be a government church." --Tom DeLay (Source)9) "Emotional appeals about working families trying to get by on $4.25 an hour [the minimum wage in 1996] are hard to resist. Fortunately, such families do not exist." --Tom DeLay, during a debate in Congress on increasing the minimum wage, April 23, 1996 (Source)10) "I am not a federal employee. I am a constitutional officer. My job is the Constitution of the United States, I am not a government employee. I am in the Constitution." --Tom DeLay, in a CNN interview, Dec. 19, 1995 (Source)

The Game said...
Ron,To be honest...who knows what Delay did? I just know that the prosecutor and many of the people on the grand jury are dem's out to get Delay...he still might have broken the law...but based on the lack of integrity from the prosecutor, I will guess he did not break any laws..Second, when people like Pelosi come out and talk trash when she does many of the same practices (the free trips) and doesn't report them...she can just sit there and keep her mouth shut unless she wants to properly fill out paperwork on all her illegal trips...It’s just a joke to call made up charges a culture of corruption...

Ron said...
Game, Who knows what Tom Delay did??Pretty much everybody in Washington and if you think he's anywhere near clean you are quite deluded.Notice how many Clinton people were indicted, tried and convicted. That is all we are asking. Get the crooks out of government. If it's up to you guys to keep us honest then I guess it is our job to keep the repubs honest.

The Donkey said...
We may congratulate ourselves that this cruel war is nearing its end. It has cost a vast amount of treasure and blood ... It has indeed been a trying hour for the Republic; but I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless."President Abraham Lincoln

The Donkey said...
"We're looking for fresh, new ideas for a better America. Do you have a common-sense idea that will improve the day-to-day lives of everyday Americans? Or an opinion on how working families can succeed in the new global economy?You have until December 5, 2005, to submit your idea and to weigh in. A panel of judges will select the top 21 ideas. All of America will be able to vote on the finalists, and on February 1, one person will win $100,000—runners up receive $50,000 each.Ordinary Americans can help determine the future, so join this important national conversation right now. More »"The Donkey knows the game will not win this one