The Political Universe 04.07.06
Posted by Jason Easley on 04.07.2006
The CIA leak case takes another interesting turn, Cynthia McKinney still hates cops, the political quote of the week, and I want your feedback on impeachment.
The leak that keeps growing
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby the former Chief of Staff for Vice President Cheney told a federal grand jury, before his indictment, that Cheney told him to leak intelligence information about Iraq. Cheney also told Libby that it was Bush who authorized the disclosure. The court papers say that, "Defendant testified that the circumstances of his conversation with reporter Miller, getting approval from the president through the vice president to discuss material that would be classified but for that approval, were unique in his recollection."
DNC Chair Howard Dean said, "The fact that the president was willing to reveal classified information for political gain and put the interests of his political party ahead of Americas security shows that he can no longer be trusted to keep America safe." Um, that is great Howard, but he has already been re-elected. You don't think the Democrats are kicking around the idea of impeachment?
"The more we hear, the more it is clear this goes way beyond Scooter Libby. At the very least, President Bush and Vice President Cheney should fully inform the American people of any role in allowing classified information to be leaked," said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY). Maybe, the Democrats are thinking about impeachment? To put it mildly, the administration now finds itself in quite a pickle.
Here is a quote from President Bush "Any sources and methods of intelligence will remain guarded in secret. My administration will not talk about how we gather intelligence, if we gather intelligence, and what the intelligence says. That's for the protection of the American people."
Here is another quote from the President on the topic of leaks. "Our nation's progress depends on the free flow of information. Nevertheless, throughout our history, the national defense has required that certain information be maintained in confidence in order to protect our citizens, our democratic institutions, our homeland security, and our interactions with foreign nations."
If I am to understand the White House's position correctly, secret domestic spying is ok, but leaking the existence of the program to those who may be being spied on is not. Outing a CIA agent whose husband wrote a commentary that disagreed with White House policy is fine, but discussing the treatment of detainees in secret camps is not. I guess any information that is politically beneficial to them is not considered a leak.
"When the classified information first seeped into the public, I called [the leadership of Congress] on the phone and said this can't stand. We can't have leaks of classified information. We're now in extraordinary times . . . and yet I see in the media that somebody feels that they should be able to talk about classified information. And that's just wrong. And the leadership understands that."
Here is my favorite Bush quote, "I felt it was important to send a clear signal to Congress that classified information must be held dear, that there's a responsibility, that if you receive a briefing of classified information, you have a responsibility. And some members did not accept that responsibility. Somebody didn't. So I took it upon myself to notify the leadership of the Congress that I intend to protect our troops. I understand there may be some heartburn on Capitol Hill. But I suggest if they want to relieve that heartburn, that they take their positions very seriously and that they take any information they've been given by our government very seriously, because this is serious business we're talking about."
Apparently, the President and Vice President have a real problem with practicing what they preach. In realistic political terms, the votes are not there in the Republican controlled Congress to make impeachment even worthy of discussion. However, the White House had better hope that the Democrats do not regain control of Congress in November, or it could be time for a little Clinton era payback.
I have one more quote for you. Let's see if you can guess who said it. "Every once in a while, there are people in the United States government who decide that they want to break federal criminal law and release classified information, and they ought to be imprisoned. And if we find out who they are, they will be imprisoned. Why people do it, I do not know." The person who said this is Defense Sec. Donald Rumsfeld. I'll bet he had no idea that he was talking about Bush and Cheney when he made that statement.
Dear readers, I want to ask you a question. Which President is/was more deserving of impeachment, Clinton George W. Bush, or neither? Send me your thoughts, and I will print as many as I can in next week's column. My opinion is that President Bush has done more to foster distrust in the presidency than Bill Clinton ever did. I think one must separate the man from the office. I would not trust Bill Clinton the man around my Mom, sister, aunts, grandmother, wife/girlfriend, daughter, or female household pets.
I don't trust George W. Bush and the way he has chosen to misuse and interpret the powers of the presidency. I have never ever thought about cheating on a girlfriend, so personally, I find what Clinton did morally abhorrent. However, Clinton did not break any laws. President Bush it appears has the broken the law, perhaps even multiple laws during his presidency. I see Bush's type of behavior as far worse than the self-destructive behaviors of Clinton. I think President Bush has come a long way from the man who promised to restore honesty and integrity back to the White House, because as it turns out, even that was too much for him to do for the American people.
Cop Hitter
As many of you may know Rep. Cynthia McKinney caused quite a stir over the past week plus after she entered a Capitol building unrecognized, refused to stop when asked to do so by a Capitol police officer, then hit him. At first McKinney claimed that she had been assaulted and had done nothing wrong. She also called the incident "racial profiling."
As recently as Wednesday, McKinney still maintained that racism was behind the incident. It must be pointed out that members of Congress are allowed to bypass the metal detectors as long as they are wearing their Congressional pin. On the date of the incident, McKinney was not wearing her pin. According to press accounts, the Capitol police officer asked her to stop three times. The officer then placed a hand on her shoulder. She responded by hitting the officer with her cell phone. A federal grand jury has been convened to look at the possibility of criminal charges against the Georgia Representative.
None of her fellow Democrats came to her defense. This led to McKinney apologizing for the incident on Thursday. "I come before this body to personally express again my sincere regret about the encounter with the Capitol Hill police . . . ," McKinney, a Democrat from Georgia, said in a one-minute statement to her House colleagues. "There should not have been any physical contact in this incident. . . . I am sorry that this misunderstanding happened at all, and I regret its escalation and I apologize."
My friend Rebecca Spangler, formerly worked in the House, so I thought I would ask her a few questions about the incident.
Question #1: What is your opinion of this incident?
R.S.: I think it's an unfortunate incident for everyone involved. The Capitol Police work hard to protect us day in and day out and can not be expected to recognize all Members all the time. In the name of security, Members must also be willing to cooperate with the Capitol Police to ensure safety.
Question # 2: In your opinion was racism involved?
R.S.: No
Question #3: Are members regularly not recognized by the Capitol Police?
R.S.: Yes- it happened to Rick Renzi (R-AZ) about 2 days after it happened to her, and he didn't punch anyone.
Question #4: Is this a case of Rep. McKinney having a bit of an ego problem?
R.S.: Yes, and looking for press
Thanks Rebecca, for taking the time to chat with me.
Many Republicans were thanking their white Jesus that this story came along and took some of the heat off of them. "She has a long history of racism," DeLay, said on Fox News Channel. "Everything is racism with her. This is incredible arrogance that sometimes hits these members of Congress, but especially Cynthia McKinney." DeLay stopped just short of explaining to the viewing audience that reverse racism is much worse than being forced to resign from Congress because you had a hand in defrauding Native American tribes. I must also say that DeLay never referred to McKinney as "uppity", nor did he lament that she, "did not stay in her place."
If we look past the credibility issues, DeLay does have a point. It appears to me that McKinney suffers from Jesse Jackson Syndrome. The main symptom of JJS is that the infected one tends to view every event in life through the prism of race relations. JJS suffers are governed by the delusion that it is still 1960 and whitey is out to get them. My remarks are in no way an attempt to trivialize the subject of racism.
The issue itself is multifaceted. It is not just racist white people, and yes, there still are lots of racist white people, out there. It is also a mindset by some older prominent members of the African American community. I don't think America should ever forget its history, but in order to build a better future, we have to be willing at some point to move away from the past.
The political quote of the week
"We just want him to raise money. Late at night. In an undisclosed location."
-- An aide to Judy Baar Topinka (R), when asked if the Illinois gubernatorial candidate wanted President Bush to campaign for her.
Be sure to check out…
Call of the search, I found Toby Green. Read his latest, and very good column here.
Did I ever tell you Brian McLain likes to get e-mail? Boy, does he ever. Brian has not been this happy since he won that Waylon Jennings look a like contest in the 7th grade. I told you Brian was a good writer, so keep sending him e-mail. You can find the column here.
Only 1 little mention for Mark Radulich this week, Mark reviews Rome Inc. Only one Radulich mention, and no Rivett or Crow, it looks like the new guys are starting to mark their mark.
We have reached the end of our journey together for this week, my little Oompa-Loompas. Remember, to e-mail me and tell me which president you think deserved/deserves impeachment. I shall see you again on Tuesday.
"The deputy secretary for the Department of Homeland Security was arrested after he tried to seduce a 14-year-old girl online, who was actually an undercover detective. I think the terror alert has been raised to creepy. ... Homeland Security? We need home room security. ... This is the most embarrassing thing to happen to the Bush administration -- today." --Jay Leno
"This is why Republicans can't have sex scandals. They're just too creepy. The Democrats, they've got hookers, mistresses, interns -- not girl scouts!" --Jay Leno
"I'm going to miss him, too. Another classy move from a classy guy. The man who stood tall even as his staffers dropped like laundered nickels from an Indian casino slot machine. ... He's doing it right folks -- going out at the top of his game in the middle of a criminal investigation." --Stephen Colbert, on Tom DeLay
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