This morning, while returning after dropping Aidan at school, I was treated to the following op-ed on Vermont Public Radio:
(HOST) President Obama is setting a new agenda for the nation, and veteran ABC News correspondent and commentator Bill Seamans is wondering if one particular item of old business will be included.
(SEAMANS) It was an inauguration that will stand above most of the others since 1789, when George Washington was sworn-in as our first President. And now our 44th President, Barack Hussein Obama, must make good his promise to repair the damage ascribed to the Bush regime.
[“Ascribed” is good; we like “ascribed.”]
Frank Rich, the noted New York Times political observer, said in his column that “after eight years of battering by Bush, the nation has been rendered half-catatonic” therefore we the people have virtually given up complaining. But some of those people emerging from their “catatonic” condition are asking “Where is the rage, the public outcry?” – will the Bush administration’s alleged wrongs be investigated and will the perpetrators be punished? A Times editorial said, “You cannot fix something before you know exactly how it was broken.”
[If by “catatonic” one means “filled with epileptic rage,” I imagine that I agree. “Alleged wrongs” is good; we like “alleged wrongs.” It would be in bad taste to side with the “perpetrators” of alleged wrongs, of course. But can you fix something before you know whether it’s been broken?”]
Meantime, a debate is growing over whether probing Bushism would be worth diverting Congressional energy from our crucial national problems. Democratic Representative Henry Waxman, known as “the scariest man in Washington” because of his tireless investigations of the abuse of power surprisingly said, “I don’t see Congress pursuing it. We’ve got to move on to other issues” – it would look too partisan. But another Democratic Representative, John Conyers argues that we should not move forward “without documenting and correcting the presidential excesses that have just occurred.”
[Waxman is actually known as the scariest man in Washington because he looks like the Phantom of the Opera. Presidential excesses? I wonder whether the Democrats will now get around to probing the troubles of Charlie Rangel and Chris Dodd. Might be a good place to start.]
President Obama, when asked his opinion said, “I don’t believe that anybody is above the law – but we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards.” Now that statement sounds like Obama is straddling the issue but I expect he’ll get a push toward investigating from Dawn Johnsen, his nominee to head the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel. Johnsen is a law professor and former Clinton official who is a passionate critic of constitutional abuses. She has said we must “resist Bush administration efforts to hide evidence of wrongdoing through demands for retroactive immunity, assertions of state privilege, and implausible claims that openness will empower terrorists – and she added – our country’s honor and our own cannot be restored without full disclosure.” Paul Krugman, the noted Nobel Prize winning New York Times pundit, summarized pro-investigation opinion when he said “If we whitewash the abuses of the past eight years, we’ll guarantee that they will happen again.”
[A former Clinton official who is a passionate critic of constitutional abuses? Well, Billy surrenders his law license and Scooter goes to jail sounds like an instructive place to start, don’t you think?]
Thus it’s evident that the question “Where is the rage, the public outcry” is simmering in the background and will bubble up more and more as President Obama settles into what has been called the most difficult job in the world.
Mr. Seamans, there was plenty that Bush’s first Congress could have investigated about the Clintons, and you would have decried it as playing politics to the detriment of the nation. Waxman doesn’t want to investigate because you’ve repeated your allegations so often that they’re believed to be true, and that’s all that really matters. Actual investigations with actual evidence would likely muddy the imaginary waters. And as for the question of where the rage is, it’s obviously been here since the first egg-pelted inauguration of the former President, and has been beautifully documented in all its grotesque ugliness by bloggers such as Zombie.
Your hatred has given meaning to your pathetic lives, so it’s no surprise that you find it so hard to let it go. Now, why don’t you tune in to Lifetime and watch The Burning Bed and get yourself some closure?
More: Michelle Malkin is racist
I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating.
Are any of these people familiar with the circumstances that lead Julius Caesar to cross the Rubicon?
Of course they aren’t. He’s just another one of those dead white guys.
Also “led”. Grrr.
Yeah. Look what happens when you cross the Condi rubes.
“…after eight years of battering by Bush, the nation has been rendered half-catatonic†therefore we the people have virtually given up complaining.
Yeah. Right. I noticed that myself.
Nice to see you, Mike.
There’s a “good” picture of Waxy here.
I predict that lefteous rage will increase proportionally to the length of time that Himself does not deliver on teh unicornz of Hope! that He promised. Those so enraged will, for a time, be unable to ascribe (like that?) it to The One so it will naturally fall on that most convenient target, Dubya and the past administration and anyone who in any way supported any portion thereof.
“Waxman doesn’t want to investigate because you’ve repeated your allegations so often that they’re believed to be true, and that’s all that really matters. Actual investigations with actual evidence would likely muddy the imaginary waters.”
Exactly Dan…They’re not gonna investigate any of the alleged Booooooosh! crimes for this reason. Because when the shit hit’s the fan over something done by O!&Co., then they’re gonna need to dust of all of the fables from the good ol’ BDS days in order to re-galvanize the left and distract attention from thier own shortcoming…
The whole BDS mythology, that new leftist epistle, has been the greatest boon, the most successful tool of unity, that the Democrats have enjoyed since Watergate. They’re not about to wreck it all by having the inconvenient truth about all of it’s talking points showcased for national attention; regardless of how valiantly Chris Tingle, Keefy, Bill Moyers, and Tavis Smiley will spin it for them…
“Democratic Representative Henry Waxman, known as “the scariest man in Washington†because of his
tireless investigations of the abuse of power…” grotesque visage and steadfast belief in his own particular twisted ideology…Doesn’t he travel by private jet or something..?
“I wonder whether the Democrats will now get around to probing the troubles of Charlie Rangel and Chris Dodd.”
Oh, I’d say at around a quarter to never; don’t hold your breath on this one…
As God is my witness, if Congress attempts to prosecute Bush, I will join any protest organized in Washington against it. And I will double the ammunition I presently have on hand.
Show trials of previous governments will spell the end of the first United States Republic.
You’re more optimistic than I am, Salt Lick.
The Roman Republic was never restored.
s God is my witness, if Congress attempts to prosecute Bush, I will join any protest organized in Washington against it. And I will double the ammunition I presently have on hand.
OOOH, and I’ll make the oversized papeir-mache puppets!
“Waxman is actually known as the scariest man in Washington because he looks like the Phantom of the Opera.”
Actually, he looks more like that tall scary dude in Phantasm, you know the one that comes through the mirror in the end
WTF? Playing a vice cop on TV twenty years ago is NOT qualification for federal office!
Waxulon-6
Sweet jeebus on a pogo stick, what a litany of reactionary leftist moonbats.
You know what really has me worried? I’m pretty (98%) sure that Bush and Co. are clean in the big regards.
You know why? Because there are literally THOUSANDS of individuals who would have gladly sold their firstborn for evidence/proof of high crimes etc.. Every liberal college professor railed about our new Reich-Wing Chimperial Overlords and sent forth at least 7 graduating classes of J-School to overturn every rock, every corner of every bookcase looking for something, ANYTHING they could try to nail Bush or Cheney or Rice or Ashcroft to the wall with. Think back to all those “anonymous administration sources” that the WaPo or the NYTimes kept running about State Dept. brushups or CIA protocols or DoD memos. Do any Leftists honestly think that if Bush (who basically fought his entire Presidency with his State Dept., and maybe to a lesser extent the Intelligence community) put down orders to steal oil, abuse prisoners, lie about evidences, and the like, it wouldn’t have been on the front page of the NYTimes that Sunday?
The entire Executive Branch leaked like a sieve during the two terms, but the heinous, Constitution-shredding crimes are the ones that get kept hush-hush for 8 years?
Now, Obama basically has the press in his front pocket. Why shouldn’t he? They worked tirelessly for his election, so I guess it’s natural. Democrats control both houses of Congress, so just by natural inertia alone, they aren’t going to be holding many oversight committees or hearings on the Obama-led Executive.
So, if Congress currently isn’t inclined to do it, and the Press refuses to do it, who/what is going to be holding the Obama Administration accountable for at least the next 2 years? Who’s going to overturn those rocks in their metaphorical backyard?
Oh, yeah? Cause that Guinness guy was 99.9% sure that there was no mortar fire from that UN school, despite what the neighbors said.
It’s gonna have to be the bloggers.
But, of course, bloggers won’t be allowed to the press conferences, or given off-the-record interviews. Or fed leaks. Or given classified documents.
So, I guess, the answer is “no one”.
They made a mistake. It should read: after eight years of battering Bush…
Yes, I’m fed up. If Al Qaeda gets lucky and takes out the Capitol, my first reaction will be to cheer. We’re in a war and our economy is in trouble and these idiots want to play political games. Their faith in the power of the government to fix the problems it created is astounding.
They can’t be very bright if they complain that president Bush the moron ran circles around them for eight years. I’d not be drawing attention to my incompetence like that, but then I’m not a politician.
Please don’t cheer, I have relatives living in Kensington, MD.
On the video in the update, is that now the Shroud of Obama?
I don’t think “catatonic” means what he thinks it means.
Hey kids! Just dropping in to say hello. Where is the Perfesser? Give him (and the rest of the gang) my regards.
— Comrade S.T.
Comrade S.T.
Hello to you in Baltimore…Where’ve you been hiding..?
Best Wishes
Hi, Lisa. We were wondering where you were a couple of nights ago. Hope all is well.
SUGARTITS!!!!!!!!!!
My guess is that Komrade Sugartits is still drunk from Teh Coronation.
there was plenty that Bush’s first Congress could have investigated about the Clintons, and you would have decried it as playing politics to the detriment of the nation
What a laugh.
Let’s use Whitewater as the model on how to run the Congressional investigations into the Bush admin. antics.
And let’s use the spiffy new FISA powers to monitor Bush admin. communications 24/7 as well.
“We just can’t quit you, George!”
Hate takes time and effort. Leftards have been carefully feeding and nuturing their blind Bush-hate for so long, it’s all they know. Now, they will refuse to let go. It will distract and consume them. Woe to the Obamites that suggest they move forward; that hate could be turned on them, too.
Aint it fun to watch? More popcorn!
sniffles does not know or understand the difference between investigations while one is a sitting President, and an attempt to criminalize behavior after one has left Office.
There’s never been any doubt that torture is against the laws of America, JD.
Woe to the Obamites that suggest they move forward…
Is MoveForward.org available? Will Mr. Soros buy it for me?
STFU, sniffles/turnip/alphtard.
The more that I think about this (Bush administration political revenge trials), the better I like it. An incoming administration has limited time and limited political capital to get major changes through congress. I would much rather have all the time and attention spent on show trials instead of the socialization of American institutions. These ‘trials’ will be televised, blogged, and reported 24/7. Reasonable moderates and squishy independents who broke for the dems in 2008 due to the economy will be appalled that all this fiddling is going on while Rome burns.
Yes, yes, leftards! Do it, do it! I see major losses in for you in 2010.
“There’s never been any doubt that torture is against the laws of America,”
So you’ll quit posting here then?
Remember back when the Republicans were the Law & Order party?
Remember when parsnip previously went by the names of alphie and sniffles, and was banned?
Johnsen is a law professor and former Clinton official who is a passionate critic of constitutional abuses.
Like the abuse of the Tenth Amendment, I presume?
NOT!
[…] Where is the rage You said you’d give to mesoon as you were free will it ever be Where is the rage? […]
My guess is that Komrade Sugartits is still drunk from Teh Coronation.
That would be an accurate description of my current state.
Actually, I am just tired and still thawing out.
Good to see you all though! I have been so busy with work that I have not been able to fulfill my duties as your Resident Liberal Troll. I apologize and hope that someone else is picking up the slack.
Hope to shoot the breeze with you all soon! Love you JD (but don’t tell your gorgeous-wife-who-probably-knows-karate!!).
Comrade S.T.
I wonder what it would take to get it through alphie’s thick skull that NO ONE WAS TORTURED! Wrapping your head in panties, or not letting you sleep when you want to, slapping you on the tummy, or even waterboarding, is not TORTURE.
Now, if someone shoves a red hot poker up your ass, or trusses you up with wire, zaps your junk with electricity, beats the living shit out of you (all techniques favored by Lefties, BTW), etc, now THAT’S torture.
That, and seeing your mindless drivel posted here…
I hope Comrade Sugartits is able to return to the fold. She may be a lib, but by God at least she has more than two brain cells to rub together, which is more than can be said about the rest of the liberal/lefties around here…:)
“Actually, I am just tired and still thawing out.”
You’re obviously lying. Al Gore says so, and the debate is over and the science settled.
Cave Bear,
Despite what the moronic far right extremists fantasies say, detainees were murdered at places like Abu Ghraib:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AbuGhraibScandalGraner55.jpg
Defending crap like that is what the Republican party has sunk to.
Kudos.
“detainees were murdered at places like Abu Ghraib:”
By Saddam Hussein
And also by America’s Heroes! lappie:
Sometimes, the torment seems to have been driven by little more than boredom or cruelty, or both.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/20/international/asia/20abuse.html
Nice to have you back Lisa. I try to avoid large crowd events no matter how good the weather, but if I gotta go, there really is nothing like finally getting home, taking a warm shower, and then snuggling down on the couch with a piece of light fiction or a light movie to make it all better.
so, we didn’t run her off like assclown insisted?
Crap, Maggie. Don’t say his name! If he comes back, it’s on you.
but then, how else will he know how wrong he was?
RTO was confused when I yelled, “LISA’S BACK! Yay! we’re not racist anymore!”
Hey, Spies, while noting the Roman Republic was never restored, you seem to neglect to mention that Cato and Cicero were right: Caesar broke the law.
Is your comparison a tacit admission that Bush broke the law, but we shouldn’t investigate it, because that failed 2000 years ago?
To practice what you are saying is to basically say we elect a sovereign king every four years and he can make the rules as he sees fit. The fear he would be held accountable for his crimes is what caused Caesar to cross the Rubicon. Saying the lawful actions of his political enemies caused him to destroy the Republic is akin to alleging they made him break the law to begin with! Quit blaming enforcement of the law for further law breaking.
But, because threads like this exist and the right wing holds people hostage with threats to “double my ammunition,” my bet is you’ll see more of a Truth Commission without much criminal teeth. Should make the libs happy and keep gun owners from threatening public peace.
Cato and Cicero were right: Caesar broke the law.
Maybe. Or maybe they were trying to grab power themselves. Irrelevant in any case. What they tried to do didn’t work out quite the way they’d planned.
Is your comparison a tacit admission that Bush broke the law
Right.
Don’t give yourself a hernia setting up those straw men, child.
Pointing out that going on legal fishing expeditions to prosecute those who leave office tends to be non-conducive to the maintenance of a republican form of government is neither a “tacit admission that Bush broke the law” nor saying that “we elect a sovereign king”.
Hint: the Constitution provides for the impeachment and prosecution of those who abuse power. You’ve had eight years to impeach Bush. You haven’t done it.
But, because threads like this exist
Damn that pesky First Amendment! Oh, well. We’ll have to do something about that “flawed document”, won’t we?
the right wing holds people hostage
Oh, please. You don’t even believe that bullshit yourself.
josh, if the Congress actually believed that Bush broke the law, they should have impeached him in 2006. They had the votes to do that. Buh-bye.