Letters to the Editor
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Pathological ignorance
For anyone to suggest that Bush's actions are excused due to his role as "Commander and Chief" during "a time of war" has got to be pathologically ignorant, or hopelessly delusional.
Bush, Cheney, Rove, etc have made it quite clear since 9/11 that anyone not on board with their program is in league with the enemy. "You're either with us or against us." By this argument, anyone in Congress--let's take Russ Feingold for example--who regularly votes against the President's wishes, is "the enemy" in the eyes of this administration. Ditto for DNC Chair Howard Dean, and Terry McCauliff before him, since they were leading the effort to electorally unseat Bush. Under this rationale the Bush administration has put forth for their spying activities, it is within their rights to spy on them, wire-tap their phones, etc. In other words, we are not living in a free society anymore. This is not how Democracy works. This is how banana republics and fascist regimes behave.
George Bush has a lot of nerve to call out bin Laden and al Qaida for "hating our freedom." With "friends" like Bush, who needs the terrorists?
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Generational Difference
George H.W. Bush "A thousand points of light."
George W. Bush "A thousand pointed lightsticks."
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Laugh-In looks at the "News"
Gaza's melting down, the U.S. effort in Iraq is slowly crumbling, and even the local troller, Jake the Double-Naught Spy, seems to agree that Bush-Cheney broke the law and should be impeached (though he thanks them for it). So what are America's ace 'Action McNews' teams reporting on today if not the overthrow of the American Republic by Bush-Cheney?
CNN Headline News: The celebrity legal troubles of Paris Hilton and Phil Spector
MSGOP: Gas prices in the U.S., and Prince Harry not in Iraq
Faux News: Hey look! A mama bear and cub are loose in L.A.!
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Who cares what Gonzales says?
From the article:
Gonzales was emphasizing there that the objections from Ashcroft, Comey and others were directed toward an eavesdropping program different than the one in place in 2006, which strongly suggests that the program itself was changed operationally to satisfy the DOJ
Big deal. His testimony in the USAs scandal strongly suggests he has Alzheimer's disease.
He's a liar, he'll say anything, and I have no confidence in any testimony from him, even if it involves what he had for breakfast.
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Litmus Test
How this plays out in the MSM will tell you who is winning this war of ours...
There has been little as clear as to the intentional lawlessness of the administration as Comey's testimony.
Names are being named...
...as noted there has not been one wince in anything on CNN or the networks regarding what is occurring with the Comey thing.
If it stays that way--they win. Whoever the hell 'they' are...
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When Is The Constitution a Story?
Glenn asks:
Why is this only a one-day story that will focus on the hospital drama but not on what it reveals about the bulging and unparalleled corruption of this administration and the complete erosion of the rule of law in our country?
and the potential answer is perhaps as ghastly as the plain facts described by Mr. Comey during his testimony yesterday. It is quite safe to assert that those of us who read Glenn regularly are atypical in our interests. In fact, it is not clear to me that it's really a new phenomenon when most Americans regard stories such as this as "just politics" and go on living their lives with perpetually shrugged shoulders. The reality is that most human interaction is built around how and when we tell each other stories. Ordinarily, the stories we tell have to be completely personal ("This is what happened to me today.") or they need to contain details that we can relate to our elemental emotional states ("Can you imagine what that would have been like?") or they need to allow the person to be a dramatist ("Did you hear about what happened?"). For most people, the "local" in Speaker Tip O'Neill's observation that "all politics are local" means the family and coworkers we routinely exchange such stories with.
Can the average American tell a story about the Constitution? Knowing that most Americans are ignorant of the basic information contained in high school civics texts, the temptation for every form and manner of political true-believer is to become a cynic and view the electorate as something to be prodded and managed. The far greater challenge is to tell a compelling story about a nation that has struggled to expand upon the idea that the effort of governance can be spread out among the governed and not concentrated in the hands of a few or only one.
Where I work as a police officer, we routinely weigh questions about whether or not we can justify the requirements for warrants issued by judges contained in the constitutions of the United States and the State of Texas. Such considerations are intimately woven into the daily fabric of our working lives. However, at the same time, I can identify individual coworkers of mine whom I would fully expect to defend the conscious actions of the President in ignoring those same considerations. Why? Perhaps it is because we can tell stories of how bad things happen to good people and the good people need to be protected by those who "really understand".
Mr. Comey's testimony is the stuff of film stories - speeding cars - sirens - urgent orders conveyed in terse language over cellphones. I can go to work and ask, "Did you hear what happened?" However, the story I tell lacks certain dramatic elements. There was no shooting and no explosions. The only threat is to some abstract ideas contained in some old pieces of paper. How can I personalize that threat? How can I tell that story and make it connect with someone who doesn't share my passion for the subject?
We hope that the press will awaken to their responsibilities and use their talents for storytelling to make what Mr. Comey described "local." Will they do it? Perhaps. In the meantime, though, can I tell the story?