What's Really Important Reply to "The Big Lie"
This is in response to Steven Foppiano's recent blog post entitled "The Big Lie." I'm posting it here because there have been some problems with the posting of comments on views on the ridge blog sites for over a month now. The owners are not getting the emails from those posting comments for their approval. I apologize to any who may have commented and not yet been published, and to those I never responded to, not knowing you had commented. I'm hoping the Post will have this error corrected soon, so we can continue the dialogue here with more efficiency.
There is a link to Mr. Foppiano's blog, as well as some other fine blogs at the Paradise Post's blog site. The text of my comment to "The Big Lie" follows.
I’d agree with you as far as saying there are no “statesmen” still around, and politicians are a very sorry second, but saying that Bush has “failed to provide the leadership against his political enemies” hardly even begins to describe his failures. Bush considers anyone that disagrees with him as an enemy, and that includes you and me. Is that the way you are defining it?
In my opinion, his failures are legion, from an ill thought out war in Iraq up to the present refusal to allow some of his staff to testify in Congress under oath. There is serious suspicion of obstruction of justice concerning allegations of the Judiciary being manipulated for political reasons. Do you really want the executive branch deciding who does and who doesn’t get prosecuted in this nation?
I find it curious you believe there was no wrongdoing by Libby, considering he did lie under oath, and more than once, concerning a very serious issue of outing a covert CIA agent. I do recall the House considering Clinton lying under oath about having an affair “high crimes and misdemeanors.” This is quite a double standard don’t you think?
It has been said that Libby has a sharp mind and keen memory. I find it interesting that in a circumstance as important as the one mentioned he not only could not remember much of anything, but he did recall a conversation he never had with Tim Russert. And, the original statement from the white house a couple years before the Libby trial even began was that no one from that office had leaked any information. Did Libby forget then as well? Lying to grand juries and to the FBI are considered crimes. At least the judiciary and jury seemed to think so.
As for this Administration being not being corrupt, it is telling that John Dean, former attorney to the Nixon regime, continually says they make the Nixon administration seem clean by comparison. I don’t believe this administration has in any way failed politically, since politics are basically their only strength. I believe they have failed to do the job of governing the nation with competence and respect for the American people.
Comments
Well, Stephen, the right wingers have an interesting double standard about lying. It's called forgetting when their guys do it, but it's perjury when Clinton didn't want to confess his sexual indiscretion. The party line from them comes directly from headquarters when it comes to the Plame case--she wasn't really covert, she was giving her husband a nice little junket to a desireable 3rd world pleasure spot, the VPs office had nothing to do with outing her, that was Armitage, and besides, Libby didn't lie about the thing he didn't do, anyway, he just forgot. These people are so disingenous that it's impossible to carry on a dialogue with them.
Posted by: Jaime O'Neill | March 24, 2007 12:13 PM
Hell yes the Bush administration has FAILED in the job of governing this nation. They have failed horribly and lied about it. They're still lying. I know they intended to screw this nation before they took office, but the degree to which they've done it, and the unconscionable burden they've left for us to bear, for their mistakes and lies, is just way beyond belief. These people should be impeached, and yet they continue to operate with arrogant disdane for law, the Constitution and the will of the people.
We need to keep Congress focused on three things: fix Iraq, fix global warming and get bush out of there. Do the necessary things to keep the government running, but if it doesn't fit one of those 3 things, then let it wait until 2009. We can't let Bush continue to do this to us. We need friends and good will and an intelligent approach to existing in some kind of harmony with the rest of the world. At the VERY least, make him ask us if we want to be screwed and be on record as not wanting this.
-dougt
Posted by: dougt | March 25, 2007 06:05 PM
Stephen,
I apologize for not having read Stephen Foppiano's post before reading and replying to your response.
In any case, I cannot image anyone having their head so deeply embedded in their arse as Fr. Foppiano. To this discussion, I urge readers to read the Foppiano post, and also, this comment I made to his blog:
"What planet do you come from? What universe do you come from. This is the most perposterous bunch of crap I've seen in months. Of course, I haven't really been looking for this kind of BS ever since a majority of Americans expressed their views on this administration last November. Dude, wake thine self from slumber and join the human race!"
~dougt
Posted by: dougt | March 25, 2007 07:02 PM
Stephen,
This administration is the most corrupt, most dangerous, and most secretive administration in our history. There is the constant conception by the Bush administration that if you disagree with their ideas or initiatives then you're not a "Team Player" and that's a qoute! Bush has failed as a president to this great nation and the fact that people still try to defend this administration still amazes me. Let's not play partisan ball for a minute and just really think about ALL the infractions this administration is guilty of! The list is far too numerous to list here, but any google search will bring up page after page. A week does not go by when Bush hasn't had a scandal! When will the "other" americans finally realize that Bush/Cheney is bad for them, bad for America, and bad for the rest of the world!!
Posted by: Katerina | March 26, 2007 01:02 PM
Good news. I've been told how to access the comments so that I can publish them without getting the emails directly. I give thanks to my wonderful source and mentor at the Post, Tom Kelley, for showing me how!
Thanks also to all those who have posted comments. This is a convenient and potentially important venue for allowing the expression of opinions and creating a working dialogue on issues that are so important to us at this time.
My next blog, soon to follow, will emphacize the need for more people to express themselves in the public forum.
Posted by: Stephen | March 27, 2007 10:01 AM
i am mad as hell and I'm sick of sitting on my butt complaining about this administration. It's not a joke as some would say, but a very sick, one sided, dangerous group of people who are only in this for their our good and power. To think that a president wouldn't even consider doing what most of the country wants, that is a swift withdrawal from Iraq. we watch a civil war going on there everyday on television, which we are responsible for creating, and here we sit. How many more lives and lies have to go down before we as a group get together and do something. I would like to see Bush impeached. He is more frightening than Nixon and much more corrupt. I would like to see where this exchange of comments will take us.
Posted by: kathy kelly | May 30, 2007 04:49 PM