Does anyone think the public REALLY cares about

[Laura PourMeADrink]

Attorney-gate? I don't. It seems like congress and the media are hot on the case - like it is the crime of the century. I am NOT saying it's not despicable, but giving it priority is what makes me angry.

The crime of the century was Bush, et al lying us into the Iraqi invasion/occupation. I am 100% convinced they were behind the Niger forgeries somehow.

Hmmm, a president making up a war, thousands dying on both sides, this is what every single person should be screaming about. I am sick and tired of updating my signature line every freakin day !!!

[blogslut]

1. Define "The Public"

Go ahead. I dare ya. ;)

[Laura PourMeADrink]

2. yikes - you're making me nervous. public - people who watch

the news and read newspapers and listen to the radio?

[blogslut]

17. Did you know

...that when those five men broke into the Democratic Headquarters at the Watergate, everybody in DC thought it was funny? Did you know that people thought the Washington Post was crazy for letting two green reporters get them into a PR war with Nixon's White House? Did you know many Americans still have little understanding of what exactly happened in Nixon's White House?

Is it true that most Americans pay scant attention to the news or newspapers? Yes. Is it true that most Americans probably have no idea who Kyle Sampson or Carol Lam are? Absolutely.

Here's what is also true. There is a war going on and it looks like we're losing. Meanwhile, jobs are disappearing, housing is a mess, wages are not increasing and that boy down the street just died in Iraq...

When Joe or Jane Doe come home from a hard day at work and switch on the teevee, we're lucky if they actually take the time to catch up on local news, much less national or international. Just the same, these average people are not so far removed from reality that they don't pick up on the overall. Yes, many many many Americans know Alberto Gonzales is in trouble for firing a bunch of Attorney's. They know that those promises made by Bush have not come true. They know things are not better.

The more this AG/USA scandal heats up, the more will be aware. When they are made aware, they will care.

[rfranklin]

3. You have to start somewhere....

I think the Democrats believe that an all-out assault on Bush for lying about the war would be a minefield they don't want to negotiate. They are, after all, politicians.

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

4. I'll take anything I can get

If this is what it takes to take down the * administration, so be it.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

9. So how will it take him down? Do you think an actual crime

was committed? Or will the outcome be grounds for impeachment? I am not being a smart ass, just asking.

You can not really charge a sitting prez of a crime until they
are out of office, right?? And I heard Nadler say the other day that they wouldn't pursue impeachment because there is not enough time - by the time it got rolling everyone would be in the middle of campaigning for 08.

BUT - I am ALL for making him look bad - just pile it on the list. If anything, the more shit we find, the better off we'll be in 08.

[cali]

15. Hard to know what will come of this

but Gonzales has already lied under oath, and it looks like the admin was systematically using the Justice Department to try and go after dems. That is big stuff. I don't know if they can hang him on this, but I sure don't mind them trying.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

19. yep. But there's a gap in the emails - right after Miers mentions

presidential approval. Makes me sick that bush is never tied
in. And then he gets up after a scandal and acts like he is
so far removed and had no control over the situation. Man, an
impeachment hearing sure would be great - even if they didn't kick his ass out - at least all the shit would be on the record...

[Redbear]

5. Watergate was a third-rate burglary that nobody cared about

There was a horrible war then as well.

Plus, the US ATTY scandal and the war all lead to the same conclusion. The Bush admin functions to look after it's own and the country be damned.

[TwilightGardener]

6. I agree that the worst crime is the manufactured intel that took us into

Iraq--I am still stunned that there isn't total outrage and impeachment going on. But using the justice dept. for political purposes is pretty damn bad, too. I certainly care about it.

[Dhalgren]

7. I remember Watergate and it took quite a while for the "public" to catch

up with the congress and the press. But back then congress actually took its job seriously and both Democrats and Republicans would actually look at evidence and testimony in a straight-up, reality-based way. So once this thing really starts rolling, there is no telling where it will go or how far it will travel. That is why so many Republicans are becoming so nervous about this, it isn't just the "Attorney-gate" part, it is the unraveling of the whole ball of twine that is this corrupt administration. All these activities and actors are connected by gooey strains of offal in this pig's sty of filth - that is what they are nervous about...

[napi21]

8. Actually, I think LOTS of people care about Attorneygate!

It COULD be the scandal that brings this admin DOWN!

As far as the war goes, you should have listened to Lynn Cullen today. (WPTT radio Pgh. Pa.)

There was a well publicized march this past Sat. in Pgh. and apparently the turnout was rather dismal. On her show today, she asked her listeners why they believed the turnout was so small when everyone she talks to is against the war. Some of the responses were appalling. Her own son didn't go, and when she asked him why, he said "It's an all volunteer army, and I sure don't intend to volunteer, so why should I protest?" Several others said "I don't have a dog in this fight!"

She continued to say she wasn't criticizing anyone, but rather trying to find out if marching protests just don't interest anyone anymore, and what might work in 2007.

After listening to all the callers, it seems what I've been saying for a long time is true. Unless something DIRECTLY AFFECTS YOU people just don't care. They're living in their own little world and they like it that way. Kinda likethe economy is great, until it's YOU who is laid off!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

16. Interesting and sad. Just goes to show you how if you are going to

pull off a unpopular war - you first must gain control of the
media. Bush has that order that you can not publicize the
funerals of soldiers. Maybe if people saw that on the news every
single day they might care. Bush has successfully made this
a thing that is happening far away from us and we don't even have to
know it's happening...he is truly capitalizing on the soundbite
cable news trend too.

But, again, how will attorneygate bring bush down? do you really
think they would impeach this close to 08?

[napi21]

20. I see cracks already in the Shrub shell, and I find it VERY

INTERESTING that Samson (Gonzo's COS) is WILLING to testify to Congress on Thursday. I've also heard he's not a happy camper that Gonzo is blaming everything on HIM!

Remember, it tool less than 3 months AFTER ONE GUY TOLD CONGRESS ABOUT THE TAPES toget rid of Nixon.

Each time someone else from inside this admin testifies, there's another possibility for "severly damaging inside info" to come out, and as more and more people on the inside get angry and upset with this admin, the stronger the likelihood someone will spill the provable criminal misconduct.

Libby was the first visable crack, and Attorneygate is widening that crack. Also remember Schumer said "Even IF the WH won't let Rove& Miers testify under oath, there are a lot of unhappy people in the Justice Dept. who are willing to talk. One way or the other, we'll get the information!"

[cyberpj]

10. Media has to do a better job of defining WHY ITS A CRIME. They're not. nt

[wiggs]

23. Agree and would add that opposition party has to do a better job of summarizing

how this fits a 6 year pattern of secrecy, lies, abuse of power, corruption across all policy areas. This is not an isolated event, but dc dems tend to treat each misdeed that way before moving onto the next. USA firings are related to how these guys do business

I want to hear how regulatory agencies have been packed with industry cronies and that they're doing the same thing with justice.

I want to hear how they purged the CIA of non-believers in 2004

I want to hear how military generals have been removed/ retired if they offer non-conforming opinion

I want to hear more about what the "loyal bushies" still employed have done to keep their jobs

I want to hear someone say that this is the most secretive administration ever and describe in detail all the steps taken to keep the public misinformed...include a discussion on the cheney energy task force and the stoppage of M-1 reporting (so that no one can know how much money we're printing)

This is related to FEMA/Homeland security and Brownie/Chertoff...Katrina cronies. Let's hear about it.

Bring up the gagging of whistleblowers like Sibel...more secrecy.

I would really like for someone to remind the public that Secretary Paul O'Neill wrote an insider book two years into the first WH term, talking about emphasis on loyalty, lack of thought process, dysfunctional thinking, and ideology. O'Neill, a top-flight credible source wealthy in his own right, was pilloried because it was said he was bitter and just wanted to sell books. The public is ready to hear what he has to say now.


For God's sake, literally, these misdeeds (and dozens of others) need to be described in public in the context of the big unified picture of administration failure, corruption, abuse of power, consolidation of power and money, ideology, secrecy, misinformation, and extreme corporatism. What I want to hear from a congressman, either in prime time or as a full page ad in national periodical: "Yes, I believe the administration has committed misdeeds worthy of investigaion and possible impeachment. But overshadowing even these illegal actions are the hundreds of poor, immoral, misguided, disastrous decisions this administration has made that leaves us a dysfunctional, weaker country playing dangerous games in a hostile world that is changing policitically, economically, and environmentally every day. We need the best leaders possilbe at this time, not the worst, and for this reason I suggest immediate impeachment. We can't wait two years for competent leadership."

[cyberpj]

27. You are SO RIGHT! And in the book Imperial Life in the Emerald City

The facts were well laid out about the imcompetent "loyals" that got amazingly high level jobs with no experience whatsoever, just because they answere the political questions correctly (ie, Heil Bush) when interviewed.

Dems are playing Rove's game when they play whack-a-mole running back and forth and trying to smack down what appear to be individual problems as they raise their head above the hole that is this White House. It is definitely time to bring it all together and drive it home to the people! Too bad we don't have a really charismatic and dynamic person available in the entire party to do such a thing.

So have you read this one?

Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone (Hardcover)
by Rajiv Chandrasekaran

From The New Yorker
This revealing account of the postwar administration of Iraq, by a former Baghdad bureau chief for the Washington Post, focusses on life in the Green Zone, the American enclave in central Baghdad. There the Halliburton-run (and Muslim-staffed) cafeteria served pork at every meal—a cultural misstep typical of the Coalition Provisional Authority, which had sidelined old Arab hands in favor of Bush loyalists. Not only did many of them have no previous exposure to the Middle East; more than half had never before applied for a passport. While Baghdad burned, American officials revamped the Iraqi tax code and mounted an anti-smoking campaign. Chandrasekaran's portrait of blinkered idealism is evenhanded, chronicling the disillusionment of conservatives who were sent to a war zone without the resources to achieve lasting change.

[Jade Fox]

11. It's an unfortunate thing....

that people can relate (and respond) to smaller scandals better than they can to larger ones. Complicated, big scandals strain their cognitive abilities, and their ability to clearly see the wrong-doing. And the Media isn't much better.

The Watergate break-in was only a small act of corruption by the Nixon Administration, which lead to the exposure of much more far-reaching corruption. But the break-in hooked people's attention.

Also, the whole Attorney-gate thing is a Republican on Republican scandal with no collusion by the Democrats (like, say, the Invasion of Iraq), so it is cleaner.

[yardwork]

12. I agree with your outrage about the lack of concern over bigger issues, HOWEVER

this attorney thing is actually pretty big. It's a key example of the White House and Republicans in Congress and individual states interfering with the Judicial branch. Bushco is all about an attack on democracy in the United States. They have essentially taken over the U.S. and are trying to replace our system of government with a totalitarian fascist government in which wars are waged ceaselessly and nobody has the right to complain and the media is wholly controlled by a single government-corporate entity.

In this case, the White House conspired with Republicans in Congress and in individual states to shut down criminal cases against Republicans. Also, very notably, U.S. Attorneys who agreed to pursue trumped-up charges against Democrats were apparently rewarded. It's rotten to the core.

[Lil Missy]

13. I care about it.

Because it means they are stacking the cards to ignore illegal activities of Republicans, and make a federal case out of smaller indiscretions with Democratic backgrounds, if not make shit up out of whole cloth. They are looking for "loyal bushies".

It may not be their most egregious grab for power and control, but there are so many bad things inherent in this administration that it is hard to pick out one worst one.

I, for one, would like to see them attacked on several fronts.

[emilyg]

21. I care

good post.

[annabanana]

14. Imagine your neighbor drove his car thorough your livingroom. . .

DELIBERATELY!

You call the cops, the Desk Sargent answers the phone "Sargent Willy, how can I help you"

"My neighbor said he didn't like the way I looked at him and he drove his car into my livingroom! I want him arrested!!




". . . well. . . Are you a Democrat or a Republican?..."


People BETTER be concerned.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

18. You read me wrong. I agree - what they did was horrible.

My analogy is: A murderer crosses the street to enter a store and kills everyone in the place but the only thing on the news is that he got ticketed for jaywalking....

[ieoeja]

30. A better analogy would be...

Chicago mobster kills a number of people at his own hands, orders the killings of scores more, launches an armed assault on police headquarters killing dozens of police officers, but the only thing he goes to jail for is tax evasion.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

22. "All politics is local" - Tip O'neil

Except for the "drip..drip...drip.." effect, I doubt the majority of the public pays only enough attention to switch channels when it's reported.

[Robbien]

24. These attornies just dropped all charges on Tom Delay and dropped

charges on the phone jammer
and dropped charges on . . .

and made sure to bury any suit brought up for electronic voting.

These attornies made it okay for the government not to hire any Democratic worker and these atttornies made it okay to hold government department meetings to have government employees work for Republican campaigns.

These attornies are being used as an enforcement arm by Rove to make this country a one party country.

Without these attornies, there would be no BushCo.

And you want this story to go away and instead everyone just walk around screaming Bush Lied.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

25. nope, don't want this story to go away. I just think that his

manufacturing of a war is a "death penalty" case and the proof is in the Niger forgery. Attorneygate is a "life in prison" case. But thanks for convincing me - before this post I thought Attorneygate was a "20 years in jail" case.

[Robbien]

26. Well there is no one to give your death penalty verdict

There is no one to try your war crimes case. Congress cannot get rid of a president, you need attornies. Congress can impeach, but that doesn't mean the president loses his job. You need the judicial system to put the criminal label on Bush.

But there is none. For the last six years no attorney has been hired who would not take a loyalty oath to the GOP.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

28. I know. It was just a metaphor.

[WinkyDink]

29. It's the linch-pin of Republican election corruption. The public WILL care.