Michael Pellegrini's Blog and Rants and Stuff

Once Crook Down…Bunches To Go...

Yesterday’s guilty verdict in the trial of Lewis “Scooter” Libby for lying to the FBI and obstruction of justice is an important victory for Americans – after six reckless years of governing with impunity, the Bush administration has finally been held accountable for its criminal actions.

Perhaps the tide of their lies has finally started to turn.

The only unfortunate thing is that Vice President Cheney and Karl Rove were not also indicted.

Although perhaps that too, will also eventually come to pass.

A Cop on Every Corner in Baghdad…

News reports suggest that President Bush’s much vaunted troop “surge’ is having an effect, quelling the violence in Baghdad. Muqtada al-Sadr and many of the other Shi’a and Sunni militants reportedly left in anticipation of the American forces arrival. And now sectarian violence in the city is at an all-time low since the invasion.
Just great!

My only question is, will this have any permanent or lasting effect?

The answer, I think, is obvious: Having all these American soldiers there will certainly have a quelling effect on violence. Their presence would intimidate the hell out of anyone. So, sure: if we place 10 American troops on each and every corner of Sadr City, or wherever, the residents will all be on their very best behavior – as long as the American troops remain.

But as soon as they leave, of course, the militants will quickly filter back and it will return to business as usual.

The controversy over the firing of the eight US Attorneys continues to percolate in Washington DC, amid new charges by President Bush of partisan politics and democrats leveraging for political “show trials.”

House and Senate Judiciary committees are now preparing subpoenas for senior Bush administration officials, including Karl Rove and Harriet Miers.

President Bush has counter offered to have Rove and Miers testify “informally” in closed door sessions with the committees, where they would not be under oath, and no transcripts would be kept.

If Bush is worried about having them testify under oath, and have a transcript kept of the testimony, there’s only one thing he could possibly be worried about: being caught in a lie – where later, Rove and Miers might face perjury charges is the truth does prevail.

That’s it, pure and simple: Bush is hedging his bets. He’ll let Rove and Miers come and tell their lies to support the current administration line. But he doesn’t want the testimony made under oath with a transcript, just in case the truth does come out, later. Bush is trying to protect them, and himself from future legal problems. Perhaps criminal legal problems.

Without a transcript, it’d be much harder to prove exactly what was said, at a later date. Impossible actually, at least in a legal sense – at best you’d have a he said, she said situation – hearsay. And if the testimony wasn’t under oath, then what the hell? They can say anything they want and not be held accountable.

The questions involved are fairly simple: were the eight US Attorneys fired for political reasons? And if so, who ordered it? There are no national security issues involved. There is no good reason at all that the top administration aides cannot testify under oath.

Except of course, that the whole thing is most embarrassing for George Bush.

This is just dead wrong.

The President and his aides are not above the law. They cannot be. This is not an Imperial Presidency. Bush and his aides must be held accountable under the law.

Well earth calling George Bush: Tough shit! Stand up and take your medicine like a man.

If Bush or his aides broke the law, they must be held accountable.