Carl Bernstein: Bush Administraton Has Done 'Far Greater Damage' Than Nixon

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003537212

In an online chat at washingtonpost.com this afternoon, Carl Bernstein, the famed Watergate reporter at that paper and now writing articles for Vanity Fair, took several hard shots at the current Bush administration -- almost every time he was asked about the Nixon era. It came just as news of the death of former Watergate ringleader E. Howard Hunt was circulating widely.

<snip>

"In the case George W. Bush, the American system has obviously failed -- tragically -- about which we can talk more in a minute. But imagine the difference in our worldview today, had the institutions -- particularly of government -- done their job to insure that a mendacious and dangerous president (as has since been proven many times over-beyond mere assertion) be restrained in a war that has killed thousands of American soldiers, brought turmoil to the lives of millions, and constrained the goodwill towards the United States in much of the world."

<snip>

"In terms of small-bore (but dangerous) characters like Howard Hunt and Gordon Liddy with their schemes, I doubt that any presidency approaches the criminality of the Nixon White House. But the Watergate conspiracy--to undermine the constitution and use illegal methods to hurt Nixon's political opponents and even undermine the electoral system--was supervised by those at the very top.

"In the current administration we have seen from the President down--especially Vice President Cheney, Attorney General Gonzales, Condoleeza Rice, donald Rumsfeld--a willingness to ignore the great constitutional history of the United States -- to suspend, really, the many of the constitutional guarantees that have made us a nation apart, with real freedoms unknown elsewhere, unrestricted by short-term political objectives of our leaders.

"Then there are th Geneva conventions: Who would have dreamed that, in our lifetime, our leaders would permit their flagrant abuse, would authorize torture, 'renditions' to foreign-torture chambers, suspension of habeus corpus, illegal surveillance of our own citizens....

[oldpolicy]

1. Says it all.

[MasonJar]

2. He has obviously matured better than his pal. Way to go, Carl

[tom_paine]

3. Stating the obvious, but OK.

Little Boots Bushler had already damaged America worse than Nixon ever did BEFORE 9/11 (and that's ignoring the fact that Little Boots may have let it, helped it, or MADE IT happen on purpose).

By now the damage Bushler has done is to the damage Nixon is done:

a) The Aircraft Carrier to the Wooden Dinghy
b) The Whale to the Minnow
c) The Moon to a Brick of 'Merikan Cheese
d) All of the Above

[Demeter]

4. Bush Built on the Reagan Legacy

If destruction of America can be thought of as a perverse sort of building....

[Uncle Joe]

5. Carl makes good points

Thanks for the thread Ramboliberal

Kicked and recommended

[Vidar]

6. K&R.

[Virginia Dare]

7. So why is he still in office?

are we gluttons for punishment or what? :grr:

[BigBadJohnny]

8. The Bush family has a vile history...

The Bush family has a shocking past that makes it seem to me unlikely that they ever would have achieved election. Prescott Bush, the Presidential father, and grandfather, and VP Cheney have a lifetime of links to Halliburton industries, the company selected to clean-up after the bombing and artillary barrages in Iraq. Halliburton is building detention fascilities, similiar to the facility in Guantanammo Bay, Cuba. Halliburton receives $2.00 for every meal a service-man in Iraq eats.

VP Cheney is trying to reduce accountablitiy for various expenditures associated with the war in iraq.
Government Accountability Office investigations of the Department of Defense
Major investigations
Operation Iraqi Freedom
The investigation uncovered questionable procurement arrangements with Halliburton. According to a United Press International article published in The Washington Times, the Kuwaiti-owned Timimmi Company had been serving hot meals to troops stationed in Iraq for $3 a meal. The contract was later reassigned to Halliburton, which raised the price to $5 a meal, subcontracted the meal services back out to Timimmi, and kept the 40% difference. GAO Analyst Neil Curtain exposed the problem in a Congressional hearing, noting, "Certainly that’s unfair to the taxpayer"
As the investigation into Iraqi Freedom progressed, it began turning up worse and worse procurement problems. GAO auditors caught the Department selling new chemical and biological protective garments on the Internet for $3 each. At the same time, the Pentagon was buying identical garments elsewhere for more than $200 apiece. Other accounting snafus resulted in the Army losing track of 56 airplanes, 32 tanks, and 36 Javelin missile command launch-units
The GAO found that the waste encountered in Iraq is symptomatic of a wider inventory-control problem. More than 200 inventory-control systems at the Defense Department still are not integrated. The GAO notes, "Poor communication between services within the Department of Defense and improper accounting results in the disposal of needed spare parts and the purchase of duplicative parts worth millions of dollars"

Prescott Bush's vile history extends far before Halliburton.

To read my entire article, which is important, go to:

click for the link