Crippled?
for release 10-29-05
Washington D.C.
The poop finally hit the propellor in Washington yesterday with the indictment of Scooter Libby on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. It was the moral equivalent of finding termites in the foundation of the White House.
Enter Elliot Ness, the squeaky clean prosecutor who has no party ties and is relentless in his pursuit of wrongdoing. Patrick Fitzgerald is Dudley DoRight. Without blemish. The lamb of god. So the smearmeisters who are running our government are going to have a tough time getting the dirt on this guy. They can't say he has a partisan agenda or that he is a sexual deviant or is taking money under the table. This guy doesn't have any skeletons or a closet to keep them in. About the only thing they can say is that, like Caesar, he was ambitious.
Right-wing talkers are already trying to trivialize the charges against Libby. They are saying that there was no original crime committed because Plame wasn't really undercover and that Fitzgerald is overzealous in his prosecution because the obstruction and perjury charges are 'derivative of the investigation.' This is a completely spurious argument of course. Perjury and obstruction of justice are serious crimes, no matter if what is being investigated is who stole a piece of bubble-gum. Our system of justice depends on people under oath telling the truth. It won't work otherwise.
But telling the truth is not part of the by-laws at BushCo. Why should it be when lies work so well? From the fictional 'war on terror' to the Patriot Act to the juicy tax cuts for the rich to the prescription drug bait and switch that benefitted mainly the big drug companies to the lie that drilling for oil in the Alaskan wildlife refuge will be great for the caribou--all these policies and programs have been based on lies. It's a culture of 'say whatever works.'
I just don't get it. If they are going to be scoundrels, why not go all the way? Here's what BushCo should have done when faced with the impending scandals concerning Libby and Rove. They should have simply had them resign and then re-hired them as independent contractors, just outsource the policy making. Simple. They could set up a little consulting firm in Waco (not too far from Crawford) and call it L&R Associates and voila', business as usual. Tom DeLay and Bill Frist could handle the payroll.
But instead we will have to endure a long, drawn-out process that will resemble the O.J. trial. Patrick Fitzgerald has a great sense of drama. Libby is indicted on the last day of the grand jury session and Rove still remains 'under investigation.' It's suspense; it's reality TV. Dick Cheney is watching from a secure undisclosed location.
The Poet's Eye expects to see Scooter Libby falling on his sword in order to avoid the embarrassing questions that a trial would provoke. The last thing this cabal wants is for there to be a protracted trial, day after day for months, in which the fictions, nay the lies that were told to the American people in order to con them into an imperial war in Iraq, are exposed in gory detail.
"All alone the captain stands
Hasn't heard from his deck hands.
The gambler tips his hat and walks towards the door.
It's the second half of the cruise.
And you know he hates to lose."
---Neil Young, Cripple Creek Ferry
