Where’s the Outrage?

From Washington Post - Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.) resigned from Congress yesterday after tearfully confessing to evading taxes and conspiring to pocket $2.4 million in bribes, including a Rolls-Royce, a yacht and a 19th-century Louis-Philippe commode.

The decorated Vietnam War-era fighter pilot, 63, entered his guilty plea at a federal courthouse in San Diego and then choked up as he proclaimed: “In my life, I have known great joy and great sorrow. And now I know great shame.”
—–
So, what is this guy ashamed of? Did he not know what he was doing was wrong? Did he think that he was so smart that he would never get caught? I don’t get it. If you sell your house for $750,000 more that it is worth you didn’t think that someone would notice? In California, southern California no less, he could have easily sold his house for $50,000 - $100,000 more than it was worth and no one would have been the wiser. Houses commonly spring up in value like that in California. But that wasn’t enough money for him. If you were rollin’ a Chevy Malibu one day and the next you’re rollin’ the Rolls, I’m thinkin’ folks are going to ask questions.

I’m not saying that all Republicans are crooks but there seems to be a list of Republicans walking into the courthouse these days. It wasn’t that long ago Newt stood on the Capitol steps and proclaimed a Contract with America. The Republicans were going to be the moron…oops, I meant to type, moral …yes, moral party.

The contract said, “This year’s election offers the chance, after four decades of one-party control, to bring to the House a new majority that will transform the way Congress works. That historic change would be the end of government that is too big, too intrusive, and too easy with the public’s money. It can be the beginning of a Congress that respects the values and shares the faith of the American family.”

I guess that contract expired a couple of years ago.

Tags: House of Representatives by ecthompson
Comments Off

From CNN.com - LONDON, England (AP) — A former senior U.S. State Department official says he has come to doubt whether President George W. Bush’s administration presented an honest intelligence case for the war in Iraq.

“You begin to speculate, you begin to wonder — Was this intelligence spun? Was it politicized? Was it cherry-picked? Did in fact the American people get fooled? I’m beginning to have my concerns,” Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff for former Secretary of State Colin Powell, said in an interview broadcast Tuesday.

———–

He is beginning to wonder? Where has he been? What world has he been livin’ in? Of course, the intelligence was spun. Cheney more than any other figure in the White House saw the raw data. He was the one who picked out the most crazy, the most scary stuff to present to the American public. Congress never saw the raw data only the data that was put together by the administration (CIA).

Tags: Iraq, Mess O'Potamia (Iraq/Iran/Israel/Palestine), National Intelligence by ecthompson
Comments Off

I’m thankful to live in a country that gives me an opportunity to be successful. So what are you thankful for?

Tags: Civil Liberty, Civil Rights, Other Political Thoughts by ecthompson
Comments Off

I’m confused. Aren’t we the land of the free? How can the land of the free, the home of democracy support torture? How can we expect anyone to take us seriously if we torture prisoners? Isn’t there a low bar that we can’t or won’t ethically cross? I guess not for Vice President Cheney and company. I simply do not understand. The doomsday scenario (a terrorist is captured and has information about a plot which will devastate America. There are 24 hours before the bombs go off. Do you torture to get the information?) is not a reason to throw our principles down the drain.

Tags: Mess O'Potamia (Iraq/Iran/Israel/Palestine), Terrorism, Torture by ecthompson
Comments Off

So, President Bush has us playing kids games. Standing up - what he would like the Iraqi’s to do. Stand down - is what we will do when the Iraqi’s stand up. Really? Like he hasn’t said that before. How about saying something we haven’t heard like…a plan to train the Iraqi’s before they get blown up? How about a plan to stop the violence? How about a little leadership?

Tags: Iraq, Mess O'Potamia (Iraq/Iran/Israel/Palestine) by ecthompson
Comments Off

Bush started the blitz on Friday with a speech on Veterans Day. “While it’s perfectly legitimate to criticize my decision or the conduct of the war, it is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began,” Bush said. Today Steve Hadley, national security advisor, who really hasn’t said much during his 4 years in the Bush White House, held a press conference on Thursday. Now, I really don’t know how many press conferences Hadley has held but I don’t think that it has been that many. He supported the president and stated that Democrats are revising history. Everyone had seen the same intelligence and EVERYONE came to the same conclusion - Saddam had weapons of mass destruction. NOT!! There are several examples of how the intelligence was spun for Congress. Both congress and the president get daily intelligence reports. The President’s famous August 6th PDB had more pointed information including that Al Qaeda had planned to hijack planes. The Congressional version was missing this line. The National Intelligence Estimate which was developed by the CIA did not come up with the conclusion that Saddam was a threat to America. They stated that Saddam would only use WMD if attacked. The Bush Administration is spinning their previous spin. This is great!

 

 Media matters - WMD clip [1:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: WMD by ecthompson
2 Comments »

Governorships in Virginia (a conservative state) and New Jersey went for the Democrats. Bush did some last minute stumping for Jerry Kilgore the Republican candidate in Va. In 2002 President Bush helped many local candidates get over the hump. With his approval ratings at an all time low, he didn’t appear to help. Even more important, The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who pushed and pushed to get a conservative adgenda through the California legislature, took his ideas to the voters. He was defeated in both initiatives. Has the Republican tide turned?

Tags: Other Political Thoughts, Party Politics, State and Local Politics by ecthompson
2 Comments »

In a hilarious but true article on CNN.com, Bush is requiring his staff to take a refresher course on ethics. (No, not ethnics. They could use that too.)  Isn’t this like requiring your staff to learn how to lock the barn after your prized horse gets out?

Tags: Ethics by ecthompson
Comments Off

Tonight the Democrats have used rule 21 to investigate the Senate Intelligence committee. This is the committee who was supposed to be investigating the use or misuse of intelligence in the lead up to the war. Could this be a political stunt? Or are the democrats finally sensing weakness in the White House?

A few things are clear. The Senate Intelligence Committee could have investigated how information was used in less than a year and a half. They are foot dragging until after the mid-term elections. Then Bush is a lame duck. Republicans could easily blame Bush and his adminstration for failures since they are leaving office. Also, the Democrats are trying to fire up their base. If Alito is going to blocked they are going to need a ton a support from left and from all moderates. Interesting times are they?

Tags: Domestic Issues, Senate by ecthompson
5 Comments »

Out with the president’s personal lawyer and run straight to your base. Judge Alito is clearly 2 - 3 stardard deviations to the Right of everyone else. He has stood out on the 3rd Circuit court of appeals as Judge conservative. He has written “scholarly” opinions. He will please the neo-cons but liberals and moderates of all flavors and stripes will be able to fight over this one. My prediction - if he gets out of committee (and I think that he will but the hearings will be bruising), he will not get a vote in the Senate unless something amazing happens. Democrats will have to filibuster this guy or turn in their free speech cards.

Addendum:  Boy was I wrong.  The Democrats didn’t want to fight of this one. 

Tags: Supreme court by ecthompson
Comments Off