I Am Not A Crook: The Sequel (Or The Bastards Need a Big Time OUT)

You think Rove will squirm out of consequences for his actions once again? How about Delay? Etc. Rove actually had the gall to claim the leaked information came from the media. Yeah, right the deputy chief of staff gets his classified briefings from reporters. It is the traditional gop tactic of blaming others for the very depredations they commit, though they usually blame the so-called liberals first. It gives them blaming dibs, like a schoolyard bully. "You can't accuse us of X", they say, "because we already accused you!"

It is my observation today's conservatives revel in corruption. Partly because it irritates moderate and progressive people, but mostly for corruption's own sake. Seeing their leaders get away with blatant corruption must give them a johnson of epic proportions, in the hope they may get away with their own little dirty dealings.

It has been obvious since before the election w and his cronies are utterly corrupt, and all the conservatives can do is joke about it. The crooks in the whitehouse are proud of their abuse, and not only do they expect to be worshipped for it, they actually are. Rove didn't explicitly name Plame, Delay has only been indicted, etc. Conservatives lightly stifle their vicious little laughs behind grasping little hands.

Meanwhile our troops are dying. They are forgotten when they come home. Benefits are reduced. The occasional sycophant in uniform makes a pro-administration comment or letter to the editor and the conservatives go all orgasmic. Anyone remember the soldier who spoke out against the war, both it's justification and execution, in the early months of the war? The next day's news was about his court-martial. You can't have it both ways in a free society. I was a combatant in the Gulf War, and NONE of us were allowed to speak out about policy, pro or con. Different ethic today, or should I say lack thereof?

I and all the actual combat veterans I have talked to personally have opposed this war from the outset and the deeply entrenched and institionalized double standard invoked by this administration.
1) Soldiers may speak out on the Iraq policy, but only when it agrees with the administration.
2) Enlisted men are convicted for torture, and the instigators from the AG on down are rewarded.
3) Invoke supporting the troops, and take away veteran's benefits.
4) Invoke supporting the troops, and prohibit respectful photos indicative of the death toll.
5) Invoke supporting the troops, and give all the plum jobs to overpaid contractors.
6) Invoke supporting the troops, and give all the safe jobs to overpaid contractors.
7) Invoke supporting the troops, and extend them involuntarily over and over.
8) Invoke supporting the troops, and redeploy them with insufficient down time.
9) Invoke supporting the troops, and smear anyone who speaks on their behalf.

I pray Rove's comeuppance is only the beginning and his role in trying to obfuscate the yellow cake fantasy is the first of many threads to unravel. I also pray the poor planning, incompetent high level execution, and ridiculousness of the war will finally come to light.

We may not have the courage to examine our role in encouraging terrorists, but that cowardice need not carry to the point of destroying an entire country and creating ten times the motivation and a hundred times the number of terrorists to strike back than there were before 9/11.

The Blair Bush Project certainly has quantifiable results now.