Letters to the Editor
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Resignation time
The Olbermann rant was long overdue, well thought out, if a bit over the top. and certainly worth the attention of anyone who cares about what is happening to this country. As to the diatribes of "Hornet Driver', someone really needs to get a life. And while he's at it, check into just who Marc Rich's lawyer was. Very interesting.
I think most of us have a pretty good idea why Mr. Scooter (thanks M. Matalin) won't be going to the slammer thanks to the commutation.
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NaNa Nanana...
"Clinton did it too."
This is such a childish defense and the most serious result of such an argument, if it were actually applied as a measurement for any sane judgment, is that it absolutely disallows learning and growth.
Even if there were similarities between what Clinton did, are we not permitted to learn from the past actions of a President and apply a new standard?
I'm not saying there actually were similarities, just that the screeching of Bush defenders is more insipid than usual.
Lastly, it's amazing how much power Bushies give Clinton whenever they F-up.
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Great job, Mr. Olbermann
Too bad Bush will never hear it. His handlers will make sure it never reaches his ears. And the majority of U.S. citizens won't hear it either, even though it should be required listening/watching/reading. Instead it will get no airplay on conservative-dominated radio, no traction or replay on conservative-dominated cable news, and barely a reference in conservative-dominated newspaper editorials.
Bush commuted Libby's sentence on Monday, July 2. As of Wednesday, July 4, you couldn't find a single headline referencing his cronyist misdeed anywhere. The Drudge Report scrubbed it from his headlines even though on Monday he'd linked to dozens of stories, and even though other articles about "weird news" had lingered just as long. Even most major newspapers stopped running stories and editorials on it. By July 4th it's as if the collective unconscious was wiped clean of Bush ever having commuted Libby's prison sentence.
That's how it works: Release bad news while people are on vacation, or just before a holiday, or at the last minute before the weekend, or whatever it takes to minimize the ripple effect. Bush and company have been honing their media-manipulation skills for years. Here they're up to their old tricks yet again. Do you think anybody heard you, Mr. Olbermann? Everybody was at the beach or in the pool when you gave your eloquent speech. Your megaphone does not reach far enough.
And you forgot one important thing. Unlike Nixon, Bush does not have any mind of his own. He does not have any shame. Bush has accomplished the remarkable task of making Richard Nixon look like an honorable man by comparison.
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Oh yeah, and treason, too
I think that to expose a working spy is considered treason. I think that's one of the things that Pres's can be impeached for. I think the buck for what the administration does stops with Bush. I think it's time to remove him from office. But I fear it's all wishful thinking.....
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Pre-dispossed
I don't know that Bush actually lied. I think he was pre-dispossed to didlike Sadam Husain (sp?) and if you have ever been pre-dispossed to think something you know that if you get conflicting reports you will give credance to the ones that support your point of view. He beleived evidence that backed up his world view. Thats different from lying.
I think this issue of the pardon is ammazing, this white house has broken the law twisted the constitution, but the last straw may in fact be something they actually have the authority to do.
By the way Keith, love your show.
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By the way, Hornet Crasher lost the debate
Hornet Driver drops in here, throws a "b-b-b-but Clinton!" bomb, runs away, then comes back, insults a few people, and leaves.
Sorry, Hornet, but you lose.
(1) The "b-b-but Clinton!" defense is pointless. First, you don't know for certain that people who are against Bush's actions were NOT against Clinton's actions. (I, for one, was no fan of Clinton and found his pardons questionable.) Secondly, and most importantly, if it was wrong for Clinton to do it, then it is wrong for Bush to do it. So are you claiming it was right for Clinton and right for Bush? Or wrong for both of them? You don't have the balls to explicitly state your own stance on the issue. You're more interested in weighing and comparing different people's moral judgments based on what "side" they're on than you are in the much more important question of whether the judgment itself makes sense.
(2) The fact that different people of different stripes distrusted Saddam Hussein and even considered him a threat is immaterial. These same people did not actually call for us to go to war with Saddam. Some of them granted Bush the authority to go to war under a specific set of circumstances (a move I found questionable at the time and now find even more questionable). But many of them were simply calling for more pressure on Saddam, a continuation of the U.S.'s containment policy, and a vigilant inspection process. *ONLY* Bush actually pushed for and instigated full-scale war and invasion. The responsibility rests on him and his administration; otherwise he wouldn't be Commander-in-Chief. This is something you'd think you'd comprehend. Also, as we now know, the Bush administration cooked the intelligence in Iraq, with Cheney specifically pressuring the Pentagon and intelligence services to downplay negative evidence and cherry-pick anything that would support the case for war. This is all in the public record -- why don't you go look it up?
(3) Military service gives you no authority or resepct level above anyone else in these debates. Sorry. You're just abusing your military status by coming in here swinging your tiny penis around. I have great admiration for people who serve in the military in a respectful, humble, and intelligent manner. You qualify as none of the above. You have allowed yourself to become mired in partisan politics in a way that debases your military status and insults your own intelligence. You are acting like a brainwashed tool. It is a pathetic sight. It's exactly your type of behavior that takes America into the toilet. The sad irony is that you believe yourself to be a patriot. Instead you are the worst kind of mental wuss -- you respond the cognitive dissonance of your situation (fighting for a cause that has lost the moral high ground) by withdrawing farther and farther into rationalization and denial. Your arguments are proof of this (especially the whole "b-b-b-but Clinton! That makes you all hypocrites!" dodge). Go spend a few hours, days, or better yet months staring HARD in the mirror at how your desire to feel justified has led you down a path of ugliness and resentment.