10-5-3
When you think I don't have a clue
Baby you're crazy
If you think that you can fool me
Because I've seen that movie too
The one where the players are acting surprised
Between forcing smiles, with the knives in their eyes
Well their actions become so absurd
-- "I've Seen That Movie, Too" - John/Taupin
Well, there it was, plain as day. They have finally become so cocky that they don't mind you knowing what they're doing. I have to admit that although I wasn't surprised, I was appalled by their candor. Check this out:
"It's slime and defend," said one Republican aide on Capitol Hill, describing the White House's effort to raise questions about Mr. Wilson's motivations and its simultaneous effort to shore up support in the Republican ranks.
"So far so good," the aide said. "There's nervousness on the part of the party leadership, but no defections in the sense of calling for an independent counsel."
-New York Times 10/2/03
Can you believe this? The gang that promised to restore honesty and integrity to the White House is, once again, going to "slime" the opposition for shedding light on the corruption which has bloomed and flourished under George W. Bush. There will be no apologies and no explanation because, after all, why should this little problem be any different from all the others? That is why I refuse to get my hopes up this time.
So I hear there's going to be an "investigation." Big hairy deal. So what? Two "senior White House officials" name a CIA operative in response to her husband's NY Times editorial on the subject of another Bush lie. That particular lie has cost us billions of dollars (and the meter is still running), hundreds of American lives and uncounted thousands of innocent Iraqi lives. That meter is still running as well.
The Bushies and their supporters obviously don't care that a federal law was broken within their camp. They have compromised not only our national security, but the well-being of an actual patriot, Valerie Plame. This is almost beyond comprehension. If the consequences were not so serious, the behavior of the White House would be hysterical. I don't believe I've ever seen the Bush Spin Machine change gears so many times - it's hard to keep up with them.
One of the interesting facts concerning this little escapade is that the Bush gang knew about this breach of security back in mid July - and said nothing. They sat back and hoped nobody would notice and based upon the media's track record over the last few years, who could blame them?
However, once again, they underestimated the power of the Internet and other news sources. Writers such as David Corn, Knut Royce and Tim Phelps kept the fires burning. This pathetic, cowardly and unpatriotic act was kept alive by the efforts of these writers and has finally entered the mainstream media. Now the spin has hit the fan.
Granted, this one's a "toughie" but there is the comfort that it will be the Ashcroft Department of Justice conducting the so-called investigation. Besides, the Bush Gang has been through these tough times before and with the help of a compliant media they always come away unscathed for the most part. Even though there's already the stench of cover up as they try out various explanations as to why this should be no big deal, the stories on the news are already getting shorter and further into the program.
You can almost hear them plotting behind closed doors. First, they said that Ms. Plame was "only an analyst" instead of a covert operative until it was revealed that she'd been undercover for over three decades. Besides, if her position wasn't dangerously compromised by the leaks then why was George Tenet adamant about the need for an investigation?
Oops!
Okay, then they figure let's go after her husband, former U.S. ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, because after all he did expose the Gang for "b.s.-ing" the public during the 2003 State of the Union speech. Let's see, what do we got on him? Well, he is a "maxed out" contributor to Democratic presidential candidate, John Kerry and he did contribute money to Al Gore in 2000. Aha! He's nothing more than a partisan troublemaker trying to derail the war on terrorism!
Uh-oh...wait a minute. He also gave money to George W. Bush in 2000 as well. Crap! That's not going to work either. Okay, now what do we do?
So they trudge out RNC chairman, Ed "Chin-less" Gillespie to attack the "opportunist" Democrats for making such a big deal out of a federal crime only to have him say on MSNBC's "Hardball" that this situation would be "worse than Watergate" if the allegations prove true. Alright, who's responsible for Ed getting in front of the cameras? Who said he could say that? Where the hell is Karen Hughes? The hell with spending time with the family, get her backside out of Texas because we got trouble up to our necks!
I know that watching these people utilizing the tired old Texas two-step as they've done in the past is a little more entertaining this time around, but I really don't think much will come of all this...again. These criminals have too much at stake and they don't take to losing very well so the stops - or slime - are coming out and it's going to get ugly or, worse, glossed over and forgotten by the media and everybody else.
There were eleven crucial hours between the time that the DOJ informed the White House of the impending investigation and the memo to White House employees to preserve all relevant documents pertaining to the case. That's eleven hours for the Bush Gang to whip out their black magic markers and start editing evidence, ala Cheney's Energy Commission papers. And even if Ashcroft "recuses" himself, I just don't trust him. Why should I? Why should anybody?
One of the central figures in this debacle is Karl Rove. Everybody inside and outside the Beltway knows that nothing happens in that White House without his knowledge as well as his approval. His history with John Ashcroft is almost as long as his history as the King of Slime. Rove plays to win and he plays dirty and for the first time it's his butt in the crosshairs. His supporters in the White House, including George W., claim that the accusations against him are "ridiculous."
Bull.
Rove is quite capable of leaking information as an act of revenge - and he's been punished in the past for such crimes. For instance, in 1992, Rove was dumped from George H.W. Bush's presidential campaign for leaking a disparaging story about campaign operations. Rove was accused of lying simply to gain revenge on campaign chairman Rob Mosbacher, Jr., someone Rove had on his "hit list." Rove was also instrumental in "sliming" John McCain during the South Carolina primaries utilizing and instigating some of the most disgusting and inaccurate campaign commercials and public outreach shenanigans ever waged against a true American war hero. Karl Rove has proven over and over that it is his definition of patriot that matters and what defines right and wrong is entirely up to him. To put it simply, Rove makes Lee Atwater look like a rank amateur.
Let's face it, kids. This "investigation" is not to determine whether or not a crime was committed. This Ashcroft-led, going-through-the-motions "look see" is to determine exactly who committed the crime. And the higher up the culprit is in the administration, the less confident I feel that anything will come of all this. Unless one of the leakers comes forward, we will see a low level White House operative be offered as a sacrifice. We may even see Bob Novak sit in jail for a few days for failing to divulge his sources - if we're lucky. But that's about it. We've seen it all before. Why should the fact that someone in the Bush White House broke a federal law and risked our national security-not to mention the lives of those tied to Valerie Plame make any difference?
As much as I hope and pray I'm wrong - I bet they get away with this one, too. It'll be the worst thing to ever happen to this country, especially if not enough people care. But it's happened before - over and over.
I've seen this movie. And the ending sucks.
http://wdjiii.tripod.com/wdjiii3/id1.html
