Mixed Emotions
I should feel better than I do right now. Our new Congress is finally doing its job of oversight by conducting hearings into how the Republicans in Congress and in the White House interfered with US Attorneys trying to do their jobs, and into the deplorable conditions in the medical facilities which are supposed to be addressing the medical needs of veterans of the current and past wars. In the biggest news of yesterday, I. Lewis Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, was convicted of several charges of perjury and obstruction of justice in the Plame matter. Our system appears to be sputtering back into action. I should be giddy. Instead, this morning I feel inexplicably sad.
This article by Sheryl Gay Stolberg in today's NY Times certainly didn't help my mood.
Mr. Cheney was not charged in the case, cooperated with the investigation and expressed a willingness to testify if called, though he never was. Yet he was a central figure throughout, fighting back against suggestions that he and President Bush had taken the country to war on the basis of flawed intelligence, showing himself to be keenly sensitive to how he was portrayed in the news media and backing Mr. Libby to the end. ...
“The trial has been death by 1,000 cuts for Cheney,” said Scott Reed, a Republican strategist. “It’s hurt him inside the administration. It’s hurt him with the Congress, and it’s hurt his stature around the world because it has shown a lot of the inner workings of the White House. It peeled the bark right off the way they operate.” ...
Mr. Cheney is arguably the most powerful vice president in American history, and perhaps the most secretive. The trial painted a portrait of a man immersed in the kind of political pushback that is common to all White Houses, yet often presumed to be the province of low-level political operatives, not the vice president of the United States. [Emphasis added]
The Libby trial did indeed open the door a crack to provide a glimpse of how the Vice President of the United States operated, how the entire White House operated this past six years. The administration thrives on secrecy, manipulation of the press, vindictive retribution against anyone who dares cross it. The results of this way of "doing business" include hundreds of thousands of dead and maimed in an unjust and unnecessary war, a looted treasury, an economy that is in shambles for all but the richest 2%, an almost total loss of respect and trust of this nation in the world. Six+ years wasted.
Yes, we in the liberal community were right all along, but that is a hollow victory.
Schadenfreude is not all it's cracked up to be.
This article by Sheryl Gay Stolberg in today's NY Times certainly didn't help my mood.
Mr. Cheney was not charged in the case, cooperated with the investigation and expressed a willingness to testify if called, though he never was. Yet he was a central figure throughout, fighting back against suggestions that he and President Bush had taken the country to war on the basis of flawed intelligence, showing himself to be keenly sensitive to how he was portrayed in the news media and backing Mr. Libby to the end. ...
“The trial has been death by 1,000 cuts for Cheney,” said Scott Reed, a Republican strategist. “It’s hurt him inside the administration. It’s hurt him with the Congress, and it’s hurt his stature around the world because it has shown a lot of the inner workings of the White House. It peeled the bark right off the way they operate.” ...
Mr. Cheney is arguably the most powerful vice president in American history, and perhaps the most secretive. The trial painted a portrait of a man immersed in the kind of political pushback that is common to all White Houses, yet often presumed to be the province of low-level political operatives, not the vice president of the United States. [Emphasis added]
The Libby trial did indeed open the door a crack to provide a glimpse of how the Vice President of the United States operated, how the entire White House operated this past six years. The administration thrives on secrecy, manipulation of the press, vindictive retribution against anyone who dares cross it. The results of this way of "doing business" include hundreds of thousands of dead and maimed in an unjust and unnecessary war, a looted treasury, an economy that is in shambles for all but the richest 2%, an almost total loss of respect and trust of this nation in the world. Six+ years wasted.
Yes, we in the liberal community were right all along, but that is a hollow victory.
Schadenfreude is not all it's cracked up to be.
Labels: Oversight
posted by Diane at 3:47 AM
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