Some of the many Bush -Gates

[ck4829]

1. Memogate

The scandal: From 2001 to 2003, Republican staffers on the Senate Judiciary Committee illicitly accessed nearly 5,000 computer files containing confidential Democratic strategy memos about President Bush's judicial nominees. The GOP used the memos to shape their own plans and leaked some to the media.

2. Terrorgate

The scandal: The Department of Justice completely botched the nation's first post-9/11 terrorism trial, as seen when the convictions of three Detroit men allegedly linked to al-Qaida were overturned in September 2004. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft had claimed their June 2003 sentencing sent "a clear message" that the government would "detect, disrupt and dismantle the activities of terrorist cells." The convictions were later overturned.

3. Energygate

The scandal: A lawsuit has claimed it is illegal for Dick Cheney to keep the composition of his 2001 energy-policy task force secret. What's the big deal? The New Yorker's Jane Mayer has suggested an explosive aspect of the story, citing a National Security Council memo from February 2001, which "directed the N.S.C. staff to cooperate fully with the Energy Task Force as it considered the 'melding' of ... 'operational policies towards rogue states,' such as Iraq, and 'actions regarding the capture of new and existing oil and gas fields.'" In short, the task force's activities could shed light on the administration's pre-9/11 Iraq aims.

4. Casinogate

The scandal: Potential influence peddling to the tune of $82 million, for starters. Jack Abramoff, a GOP lobbyist and major Bush fundraiser, and Michael Scanlon, a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), received that amount from several Indian tribes, while offering access to lawmakers. For instance, Texas' Tigua tribe, which wanted its closed El Paso casino reopened, gave millions to the pair and $33,000 to Rep. Robert Ney (R-Ohio) in hopes of favorable legislation (Ney came up empty). And get this: The Tiguas were unaware that Abramoff, Scanlon and conservative activist Ralph Reed had earned millions lobbying to have the same casino shut in 2002.

5. Halliburtongate I

The scandal: In February 2003, Halliburton received a five-year, $7 billion no-bid contract for services in Iraq.

6. Halliburtongate II

The scandal: In 2003, Halliburton overcharged the army for fuel in Iraq. Specifically, Halliburton's subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root hired a Kuwaiti company, Altanmia, to supply fuel at about twice the going rate, then added a markup, for an overcharge of at least $61 million, according to a December 2003 Pentagon audit.

7. Halliburtongate III

The scandal: In mid-2004, Pentagon auditors determined that $1.8 billion of Halliburton's charges to the government, about 40 percent of the total, had not been adequately documented.

8. Halliburtongate IV

The scandal: This may not surprise you, but an international consortium of companies, including Halliburton, is alleged to have paid more than $100 million in bribes to Nigerian officials, from 1995 to 2002, to facilitate a natural-gas-plant deal. (Cheney was Halliburton's CEO from 1995 to 2000.)

9. Halliburtongate V

The scandal: In 1998 and 1999, Halliburton counted money recovered from project overruns as revenue, before settling the charges with clients.

10. Halliburtongate VI

The scandal: Halliburton may have been doing business with Iran while Cheney was CEO.

11. The 700 Million Dollar Scandal

The scandal: According to Bob Woodward's "Plan of Attack," the Bush administration diverted $700 million in funds from the war in Afghanistan, among other places, to prepare for the Iraq invasion.

http://www.truthout.org/fyi/

[OldLeftieLawyer]

1. I'm so sick of that "gate" bullshit

Surely someone can be clever enough - after thirty years - to come up with a new name for politicals scandals?

[ck4829]

2. Vengeance for Troopergate, Travelgate, Filegate, etc.

Going after Clinton because of those were truly stupid.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

3. It's the suffix that's stupid

It makes no sense anymore. The Watergate was where the burglary took place. After that, it referred to the scandal and fuckups surrounding the cover-up.

So it's of absolutely no relevance now, except, I think, to numb and to bore and to minimize the significance of some of the scandals that are current.

If the Watergate had been called The Butler's Trousers Apartment Building, would people still be referring "Filetrousers" and "Troopertrousers" and "Traveltrousers"?

Why not call the scandals by what they are - by describing them and keeping the details public - instead of reducing them to a password which is no longer relevant and allows the perpetrators to skip?

I think "Iran-Contra" did all right. No suffix was needed, and we all knew what it meant.