Let's Bang Some Gavels
Sorry I'm late, but I'm ready to start Dancing with Mr. D.
I'd like to addresss Yancy's concern about the lack of outrage on this wiretapping business. I think many people are not neccessarily opposed to domestic spying during a pseudo wartime, and I doubt that most Americans are conversant in the FISA laws that Bush seems to have ignored.
Ultimately, what keeps any one scandal from captivating the public is the fact that there are so damn many of them. This has been the case since at least 2004, when we found out about Abu Ghraib, the leak scandal was progressing, and it was clear that the Iraq fiasco was not going as advertised.
On vanityfair.com, Carl Bernstein (a man who knows from wiretaps and executive overreach) makes the case for Senate hearings on all of the above.
"There are huge differences between the Nixon presidency and this one, of course, but surprisingly few would appear to redound to this administration's benefit, including even the fundamental question of the competence of the president." -Carl Bernstein
The negative news cycle continues for the White House, each new horror distracting us from the last: new details that implicate Bush and Cheney in the leak case are bumped from the headlines because of Sy Hersh's scoop on the plan to use 'nukes on Iran and the ex-generals going public with their Rummy Diaries.
So why not have Senate hearings on all of this mess? See what holds up (policy wise and politically) and see what connects.
posted by Christopher @ 1:34 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I'm not outraged by domestic wiretapping per se, if it can impede terrorists. It's the "warrantless" part that's so outrageous. Same problem with the PATRIOT Act.
Great post; not only do I agree with the sentiment, but I'm flattered by the song.
DGL makes an excellent point about the wiretaps; it's really the disregard for the rule of law that rankles. Whether one understands the law or not, the clear fact that the administration doesn't see violating a law (no matter the particular law) as a problem outrages me. If nothing else is fundamental to the US, the notion that we must be a society governed by law is fundamental. Indeed, (not to go founding fathers on y'all) it is the single most striking feature that was to distinguish rule by the British from rule by the US: laws, not individuals, are sovereign in the US.
To reject that fundamental belief, as apparently this administration does, is to reject the foundation of our state: it's down-right un-American!
a moment for health, and a letter to write
(my apologies for the length of this comment--just kidding, I ain't sorry)
Chris makes an excellent point about the distraction caused by the plenitude of scandal and offense. A great illustration of this point, I think, is found in the New Yorker of 17 April: the shock of Seymour Hersh's piece on the plan to attack Iran got so much attention, I only today noticed Hendrik Hertzberg's piece on the Bush health care talk of late.
A brief sample, referring to Allan B. Hubbard's recent Op-Ed piece in the Times:
“What is driving this unsustainable run-up in health insurance costs,” Hubbard asks, “and how can we make things better?” Then comes what bloggers call the money quote:
Health care is expensive because the vast majority of Americans consume it as if it were free. Health insurance policies with low deductibles insulate people from the cost of the medical care they use—so much so that they often do not even ask for prices.
Can this really be the Administration’s view of the health-care crisis? That its root cause is that Americans are (a) malingerers and (b) freeloaders who perversely refuse to go comparison shopping when illness strikes? That we’re overinsured?
It's crazy that such shocking policy goes unnoticed; except when compared to a nuclear strike of Iran it seems unremarkable. . . . Hertzberg goes on to claim that 'there has long been popular support here for universal, government-run health care': I say let's do it!
Full article is here.
Lastly, to tie health care and hearings together, I suggest we go old-school on them and start writing our Senators and demanding some hearings and some health care. This site has a handy tool to write congressmen. Worth a shot, no?
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