MSNBC's Hubris - About the LIES that got us into Iraq

Bush & Cheney Were Behind The CIA Leak

Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClennon drops a bombshell in his forthcoming book- He admits that Bush and Cheney were in fact involved in the leaking of Classified information for political purposes. In the process, they not only ruined the career of a CIA officer, but they put her safety at risk, as well as the safety of her foreign contacts. They also damaged national security, since the ability of the CIA to continue using the sources that Mrs. Plame developed had been destroyed by her outing.

Both Scooter Libby & the White House have already admitted that there was involvement at higher levels of government. But Bush & Co. would never respond to detailed questioning. McClennon's statement provides further confirmation and the first good look at what was happening from the perspective of someone who was on the inside. He admits that they used him to spin the Plame story in order to take the heat off. He now says that his claims of no White House involvement were all lies.

Congress should have pursued this matter much more aggressively. Instead, it has been swept under the rug....like so many other crimes by Bush & Co.

These are in fact impeachable offenses, even though a President can declassify just about whatever he wants. However, political leaders cannot use sensitive information in such a malicious, threatening, bullying and irresponsible way, for political purposes.

I am disappointed with Patrick Fitzgerald for not being more aggressive. I guess he just didn't have the courage. But this highlights another problem. The fact that Federal Prosecutors are political appointees, is one of the fundamental problems with Washington D.C. The same goes for the Attorney General being chosen by politicians. The Federal justice system is not independent, and can never be independent, until this is changed (which will never happen). Because of this fundamental flaw in the U.S. system, Washington D.C. has been allowed to become a cesspool, full of corruption.

I have mentioned before that the Attorney General should be an elected position, protected from the influence of the White House, or Congress. Anyone running for the position must be independent.... not affiliated with any political party. In fact, political affiliation of a candidate should be disqualifying. Attorney Generals should be elected every 4-6 years in a national election (just like the election for President). U.S. Attorneys should be appointed by the elected Attorney General.

The Attorney General and Justice Department should be overseen by a special panel of Federal Judges, by the Supreme Court, and by the U.S. Congress. It should be an independent organization, rather than the inherently political one that it is today.

This political conflict of interest likely made Fitzgerald back down, although he knew he had a huge conspiracy case against the White House (in fact he hinted at that several times). In the end, he knew that he could only take it so far due to political considerations.

This should also help to vindicate Valerie Plame, who was branded a liar, traitor, unpatriotic and all sorts of other nonsense by the Right Wing Republican commentators.

Related Posts

Valerie Plame Comes Out Swinging With New Book

Dick Cheney Implicated in CIA Leak

Libby points to Bush & Cheney

Libby sentenced to 30 months in Prison

Plame makes first official comments since the outing

New Documentary - Cheney's Law

Deal on SCHIP Forces Bush's Hand on Veto

Hat tip: Politico.com:

Deal on children's health bill sets up veto showdown


Despite a clear veto threat from President Bush, Democratic and Republican negotiators on Friday announced a breakthrough deal on the children's health insurance program, agreeing to expand the initiative by $35 billion in an attempt to provide health care to million more uninsured children.

The agreement sets up a major showdown with the White House over a key domestic policy initiative backed by Democrats as well as a growing number of GOP moderates. The House will vote on the bill Tuesday and the Senate could vote as early as Wednesday. President Bush has promised to veto the legislation, and even though the Senate has the votes to override Bush's veto, the House does not yet have the votes for an override. It takes a two-thirds vote in both chambers to override a presidential veto.

The expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) will be funded by a 61 cent increase per pack of cigarettes. While conservative Republicans, along with President Bush, have said they will never support any tax increase, plenty of Republicans in both chambers seem to find a tobacco tax increase more palatable than virtually any other potential tax hike.



Under a deal announced Friday afternoon, dental coverage, along with mental health benefits, will be provided to all children eligible for the SCHIP program. Pregnant women will also receive expanded coverage under the deal. The program, which currently covers 6.6 million uninsured children, could provide benefits to up to four million more children.

The joint announcement by Senate and House leaders released Friday also pointed out that children of higher income families will not receive the SCHIP benefits. President Bush, in his press conference yesterday, complained that congressional negotiators wanted to provide the health benefits to children in families making about $80,000, but several lawmakers pointed out that there is no such provision in the legislation.

Moderate Republicans like Ray LaHood of Illinois are hoping Bush doesn't veto the bill.

"This is a good bipartisan compromise to help the millions of uninsured children in our country," LaHood said. "Whatever financial strains a family may endure, it should have no impact on the type and quality of care their child receives for health related matters. I support this bill and will encourage my Republican colleagues to do the same."

Of course Bush is going to veto it. Can't have children being covered by insurance. Oh, there's money for his War Profiteering buddies in Iraq, but making sure that children have health insurance, well we can't have that, can we? We can spend 400 Billion in Iraq, and Billions of that has been wasted,if not out and out stolen and just looted by his friends, but 35 Billion to make sure that children are healthy - can't have that. Suddenly he become a fiscal conservative. Wouldn't want those children to be healthy. If they weren't born to a well-off family, then why do they deserve health care? Where are the pro-lifers on this? Where are they on the health of children already here?

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Previous Post Regarding Bush's Schip Veto Threat

The Bush Iraq Plan

Bush Makes Joke of The Sacrifice of Troops And Finding No WMD

Bush Makes Joke of The Sacrifice of Troops In Iraq

Even some Democrats are seen laughing.

These rich folks are pretty much the same to me.... I suspect that there is not much difference between folks (in terms of their arrogance) once they reach a certain tax bracket.

I posted this video last year...but I can't find the link... so I am posting it again. On this day of reflection, it is important for Americans to really see the kind of people who are running this Country. It is important to look back and to see how Bush really feels about the sacrifice of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. He always talks about the bravery of the soldiers and expresses his admiration for them in his photo ops, but would a man who really admires the troops do something like this?

This joke incident happened a couple of years ago but never received any significant news coverage.... the corporate news networks were too busy covering Britney Spears, or studying the size of Anna Nicole Smith's chest.

Bush Says: U.S. Kicking Ass In Iraq

Bush has had yet another delusional moment- this time while at the APEC Summit in Australia over the weekend. When asked about progress in Iraq, he replied "The U.S. Is Kicking Ass....".

Read more here... Also read about how Bush & Company uses fuzzy math to calculate civilian deaths in Iraq.... and therefore how they are able to create positive spin on how well the Troop "Surge" is going. This is why the report from General David Petraeus, which we are about to hear, will be hard to trust.

Political analyst Jack Beatty also talks about this fuzzy math policy in this Public radio discussion. Or go directly to page here. (choose audio option at top).