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John Dean, repentent and reformed member of the Nixon political team that so badly disgraced their offices and our government, has written a book entitled "Worse Than Watergate". Dean suggests that the crimes perpetrated, and the harm inflicted on the nation, by the Bush/Cheney administration will be ajudged to be far worse than Watergate and other Nixonian criminal activity.
Dean is right, of course. Considering only those cimes committed by the Bush/Cheney administration known to date, their magnitude and resulting harm far exceed anything Nixon and his gang of thugs dealt the nation. What's worse, we don't have to read Mr. Shorrock's excellent piece to know in our collective gut that there is more to be uncovered, and that it will likley be shocking.
One need only consider the past conduct of Bush and Cheney, the nature of the people they've empowered, and the policies they've imposed, to know that there are far worse surprises yet to be uncovered. Considering the personalities and political philosophies of these individuals, you can know this with virtual certainty. It's a simple but inevitable formula. They have had the power, therefore they have abused it. It's what people like them do.
The kind of investigation into the abuses perpetrated by the Bush/Cheney administration described by Mr. Shorrock is absolutely necessary to the current and future legitimacy of this republic; however, as he points out, the complicity of Democrats in Congress, most notably perhaps, Rockefeller, Harman and Pelosi, does not bode well for the publication of these abuses, let alone for accountability.
While it may correctly be said that the Republicans are primarily responsible for the post 9/11 attack on the Constitution, the Democrats have earned their own brand of shame, either actively joining in the endeavor or meekly acquiescing. Unless there is strong and relentless public pressure applied to Congress and the post Bush White House for the conduct of just such an investigation, we may never know the extent of the criminal activity engaged in by the Bush/Cheney adminstration, or the extent to which the privacy and liberties of the American people have been and are being compromised.
