Well the calm before the storm has now been broken, and the wild first wave has rolled in. Our poor beleaguered president has been taken down a few pegs and those of us who had to sit there and take it for so many years while the right wing attacked every thing that was near and dear to us are expected to not rejoice in the streets and pop open bottles of champagne. Sadly, the fact that justice is finally being dealt to a bunch of “alleged†crooks who ran the White House with such impunity, that they would use evidence they knew to be faulty, and attack those that would expose them, just so they could go to war. This truly is nothing to celebrate.
In case you don’t follow the news at all, I. Lewis “Scooter†Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of Staff, has been indicted on 5 criminal charges and could possibly face up to 30 years in jail and over a million dollar fine (although maximum sentences are worst case scenarios) for perjury and obstruction of justice involving the outing (blowing ones cover) of a CIA agent Mrs. Valerie Plame. White House genius Karl Rove was also expected to be indicted, but the rumor I heard says that his lawyer was able to secure a last minute “stay of indictmentâ€. The investigation, from truly stellar prosecutor Fitzgerald has not been closed, so Rover is not out of the woods yet, and nobody knows who else will fall next. Maybe even our President… That’s right ol’ tricky Dick Cheney himself.
What’s worse for Bush is that this comes at a time when the news was already bad. His Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers was mired and had to withdraw, then the grim 2000 loss mark of U.S. soldiers, his Republican House Whip has posted bail on HIS indictment, his Senate Majority leader is under investigation by the S.E.C., now this. The leader of the free world is up to his eyeballs in political capital debt, and Newsweek is calling these “dark days†for the White House. Most political analysts I’ve been hearing are saying this is a worse low than Reagan’s or Clinton’s low points and I couldn’t agree with them more. Both Reagan and Clinton never dipped anywhere this low in the polls to 39%, nor did they have a protracted guerilla war on their hand that was increasingly becoming unpopular and stagnate. Nor did they have a divided political climate and a radical faction in their own party to answer to. The other day I heard David Gergen (respected old Washington guru worked in 5 White Houses) talking on the Ed Schultz show and he said that the Bush White house was “near collapseâ€. He also said that is a bad thing for the country because so much needs to get done. I am tempted to agree with him if only I know that having a strong Bush presidency has been even worse. Perhaps it is better to have him neutered and out of the way.
Well it could be impeachment if the special prosecutor continues on the path he’s going. They keep uncovering more slime every day, and if they can just keep digging into that White House, the Bush Administration may fall apart like a carefully stacked display of grapefruit. All you have to do is hit them in the right place and they will tumble to the floor. These secretive White Houses usually do more damage in the cover up than in the crime. So far Fitzgerald has played them like a fiddle. Lets see how far he can go.
“Fitzyâ€
Fitzgerald has run a 2-year ship that is nothing short of remarkable. He was brought in to investigate the Plame matter because John Ashcroft (Attorney General at the time) was too close to the issue and had to recuse himself. He has had no leaks from his office, which is very fitting considering the entire investigation is about leaking classified information. Having no leaks also helped “Scooter†Libby & Karl Rove scramble in his cover up. They’re only defense at this point is, oh you’re gonna love this… I forgot! Yeah see if a jury will buy that!
I don’t know how the hell they got Fitzy in there. Bush agreed to Fitzgerald for unknown reasons. My only guess is that someone told Bush that Fitzgerald would play ball, or Bush really is out of the loop on this, but I doubt it. I know the CIA had been pressuring him to investigate the matter (they don’t like it when they’re agents get outed) and maybe he thought Fitzgerald could be “dealt†with. The point is he’s in there now, and the heat is on.
The Dick Behind the Bush Presidency
With Cheney’s name coming up frequently, some are talking about a new grand jury to investigate Cheney’s involvement, however this is only speculative at this point. My gut tells me that any prosecutor who comes close to Cheney (if they can find his undisclosed location) will see the skeletons bursting from every concealed door, and would want to do the right thing and open the closet. Cheney is a VERY powerful man however, and taking him on is no easy task. Others have tried in the past and failed. His connections to United Defense, Halliburton, The Carlyle Group and the energy industries of the world make him more powerful than any gangster would ever dream of.
A man like Cheney usually walks, and he probably will this time quite frankly. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed however, because it would certainly be a fitting end to see him go down for all the misery he has caused in the world. I mean, isn’t it ironic that the company he used to be the CEO for is profiting so well from the war in Iraq? What a strange coincidence! I’m sure he had nothing to do with it of course. Nor did he have anything to do with the fact that energy companies are posting their largest profits in history (he didn’t head the task force on Bush’s Energy Policy, no), all in a time when supposedly prices are elevated because of supply and demand. I’m sure Bush’s one-sided foreign policy has nothing to do with him either. You know, the virtual ignoring of humanitarian disasters like AIDS in Africa or the Pakistan earthquake, or the genocide in Sudan.
They say that heads of other states when they visit the U.S. visit the Sec. of States office, the President and the Vice President’s office (separately), which is of course, where “scooter†worked. He’s easily the most powerful Vice President in history. You know it all starts to make sense after a while, doesn’t it? I wonder what else they’re going to start uncovering.
In the meantime, Bush’s great distraction and seriously scarry Supreme Court pick comes to the fold. Alito. A name my gut tells me I will grow to dislike.
The third act of this American Tragedy is finally underway. Unfortunately, the main characters, the American people, are the real victims once again.