Funny how polls are only relevant when they can be molded into a net plus for America's political elite.

What disturbs me about the idea of so-called truth and reconciliation for Bush-Cheney, Inc. and its habitual enablers in the U.S. Congress is how predictable it is. I've seen this coming for years, and, yet, despite the complete lack of surprise, it is absolutely infuriating to watch this ridiculous charade.

Same old bullshit to the Nth degree. There are those who govern and those who are governed, and, by God and Country, the former are intrinsically superior to the latter.

Those Who Govern use the law to steal from us directly and indirectly. They pack off men and women to kill and be killed, either to enrich themselves or purely for political expedience. Their disdain for the rule of law to which the rest of us are subjected, often in brutal and ruthless fashion, is beyond dispute. They unleash their monsters of choice however they see fit, whenever they see fit.

And they - Those Who Govern - do it all because there's always someone like Joe Conason, Et Al, to protect them from the just consequences of their crimes.

This isn't just about The Bush Administration, Joe, and you damn well know it. If Leahy or anyone else on Capitol Hill - our State Actors who, for the last eight years, have perfected the art of moral theatrics and gutlessness - care to prevent the abuses which have stained and strained this country to its breaking point, they need only confess their own failures with a full acknowledgment of COMPLICITY.

Sadly, Joe Conason, your brain - and, along with it, your sense of justice and basic human decency - is no less rotten than those of your Beltway pals. What you're advocating is not pragmatism. It's forfeiture. Some things are worth fighting for, even when the odds do not favor a painless victory - or any victory at all.

You're an abject failure as an American citizen, Conason.

As a journalist, you're about average.

Draw your own goddamn conclusions.