Saturday, April 10, 2004
Bush Fiddles While New York Burns
0 commentsHigh Crimes and Misdemeanors
Maybe Bob Woodward should rename his forthcoming book on the White House of George W. Bush, The Final Days II.
The White House is taking on the desparate frenzy of the end of the Nixon era.
I half expect excerpts from Woodward's new book describing Bush kneeling on the floor of the Oval Office, grabbing National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice by the arm, pulling her down next to him, saying, "Pray with me, Henry. ... I mean, Condi."
The jig, as they say in the neighborhood, is about to be up.
The New York Times: Bush Was Warned of Possible Attack in U.S., Official Says
An example of extreme administration myopia:
They're spending this weekend, frantically scouring the Aug. 6, 2001 briefing memo, leaking those bits they think will make them look good and redacting (i.e., crossing out) the rest. What seems beyond them is the fact that they have played this SO badly that no one in America will believe that anything that's blacked out is for "national security purposes." Everyone is going to "know" that parts are blacked out because they make these guys look really bad.
Which will create its own new media frenzy:
WHAT'S IN THE BLACKED OUT PARTS?
It's guaranteed to become the new "(expletive deleted)" for this generation. The more that's blacked out, the more guilty the administration looks.
Whether this administration thought of terrorism as something to be pooh-poohed as part of the Clinton plague, or as something that didn't fall neatly into their New World Order, the fact now is clear that these people—entrusted with the well being of 280 million Americans—were fully warned and prepped on an impending disaster of some type, yet sat idly by until thousands of American citizens were obliterated at their jobs (remember when people had jobs?).
Now, it is years later, and we have moved through the emotionalism of the aftermath, and we're attermpting to look dispassionately at what happened. And how we can avoid its happening ever again.
We now see the response to that inquiry.
The principals involved are going waaaay beyond mere CYA (cover your ass) territory into full SYOA (save your own ass) land.
From here on in, be alert to the fact that EVERYONE—living and dead—will be guilty of the most horrible malfeasance—except, of course, for the individual speaking. They, of course, are wholely blameless, and should be considered a true patriot who tried EVERYTHING they could, and WOULD HAVE MOVED HEAVEN AND EARTH to save those poor, wretched souls had they only received a memo from Osama bin Laden with the exact flight numbers of the planes he was taking and the exact street addresses where he had decided to park them.
[Picking up the telephone or writing a strong, clear memo would obviously prove much harder than "moving heaven and earth," we now see.]
A major part of SYOA is character assassination. Basically, ANYONE is fair game when your own ass is on the line. Hence, the aged concept of there being no honor among thieves.
BUSH: Not me. I was clearing brush. My staff never told me.
CHENEY: Hey! I was in my cave, incommunicado!
RICE: No one tells me anything! No one ever said I had to DO anything.
ASHCROFT: Terrorists? Listen, fella, I was busy covering boobies in the Justice building!
BUSH, CHENEY, RICE, ASHCROFT: So, we'll all just attack anyone who challenges anything we say. Turn'em into political putty. And if that doesn't work, we'll turn on each other!
Which we see is already beginning:
Also on Friday, the White House offered evidence that the Federal Bureau of Investigation received instructions more than two months before the Sept. 11 attacks to increase its scrutiny of terrorist suspects inside the United States. But it is unclear what action, if any, the bureau took in response.
The disclosure appeared to signal an effort by the White House to distance itself from the F.B.I. in the debate over whether the Bush administration did enough in the summer of 2001 to deter a possible terrorist attack in the United States in the face of increased warnings.
The character assassination machinery is in full swing.
But they swung and missed at the high fastball that Richard A. Clarke threw past their collective ear.
OK, so let's go after the ENTIRE 9/11 COMMISSION! What a great idea! If we can't stop them, we'll make them look like assholes before they get anywhere NEAR a report!
The finger-pointing will probably increase next week when numerous current and former senior law enforcement officials, including Attorney General John Ashcroft, testify before the Sept. 11 commission. In an unusual pre-emptive strike, Mr. Ashcroft's chief spokesman on Friday accused some Democrats on the commission of having "political axes to grind" in attacking the attorney general, who oversees the F.B.I., and unfairly blaming him for law enforcement failures.
A similar accusation against the commission was also leveled by Senator Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican with ties to the White House, in a speech on the Senate floor Thursday.
More character assassination:
Another Democratic panel member, Jamie S. Gorelick, said at Thursday's hearing that Mr. Ashcroft was briefed in the summer of 2001 about terrorist threats "but there is no evidence of any activity by him."
Such criticism led Mark Corallo, Mr. Ashcroft's chief spokesman at the Justice Department, to say Friday that "some people on the commission are seeking to score political points" by unfairly attacking Mr. Ashcroft's actions before Sept. 11.
"Some have political axes to grind" against Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Corallo said in an interview, naming Ms. Gorelick, who was the deputy attorney general in the Clinton administration; Mr. [Timothy J.] Roemer, a former congressman from Indiana, and Richard Ben-Veniste, the former Watergate prosecutor.
While insisting that he was not speaking personally for Mr. Ashcroft, Mr. Corallo said he was offended by Ms. Gorelick's remarks in particular. Offering a detailed preview of Mr. Ashcroft's testimony next week, he said the attorney general was briefed repeatedly by the C.I.A. and the F.B.I. on threats posed by Al Qaeda and was told that the threats were directed at targets overseas. "He was not briefed that there was any threat to the United States," Mr. Corallo said. "He kept asking if there was any action he needed to take, and he was constantly told no, you're doing everything you need to do."
Ummmm, why is Ashcroft's STAFF telling HIM what to do, or not do?
Isn't leadership a beautiful thing?
Ashcroft will soon find that trying to pass that gall stone was downright comfortable compared to having the American public's foot up his ass.
But as all this ugliness unfolds, even a Republican stranglehold on the House of Representatives will be unable to stem the calls for Impeachment proceedings as they begin popping up around the country.
Believe me, if "The Hammer," Rep. Tom DeLay or House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert get a faint whiff that Bush has become a liability to THEIR hanging onto THEIR positions of privilege, they'll be the first ones to bring an Impeachment bill to the House floor.
For, as anyone who can read a poll number can attest, if fibbing about getting a blowjob under your desk constitutes a High Crime and Misdemeanor, just what level does being briefed about a possibly deadly, catastrophic attack on U.S. soil or in U.S. skies and doing nothing about it sit on?
Pop Quiz:
When's the last time that your representative in Congress,
or your Senator represented YOUR interests?
Get Angry! Have your say.
Write your elected officials now!
Here's the Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock!
posted by Gotham 3:48 PM
0 Comments:
