Bush's legacy

George Bush and his administration insiders are busy with the whitewash. His only hope, in the short term, is that he has created so much havoc that has to be dealt with that we won't have the stomach -- and the Dept. of Justice and Congressional committees won't have the time -- for investigating and sorting through the mess to expose blame. There's too much repair work to be done, and we'll just throw up our hands and say -- let's move on.

That would be a mistake. Along with repairing the damage to our economy, our standing in the world, our national spirit, the environment, and so much else, it is imperative that We the People understand how much damage has been done to our system of Constitutional government. This must be investigated and exposed in the full light of a high level commission, with supboena powers and mandate to make a full public disclosure.

Mickey Nardo's blogs yesterday and today, "memories" and "flip" are particularly good on this. He includes a video clip of the real David Frost interview of Richard Nixon, in which Nixon declares, "If the president does it, it means it's not illegal." Go to: http://1boringoldman.com/

Here's an excerpt from Mickey's blog:

I don’t think that there’s ever been an Administration like the Bush Administration, at least not in my lifetime. We’ve had a sick President [Nixon], a misguided President [LBJ - Gulf of Tonkin], a silly, senile President [Ronald Reagan], and a Philanderer [Bill Clinton]. But I don’t recall us ever having an Administration like this one. Bush and Cheney did not believe in the American system of government. And I don’t think that we’ve ever had to deal with that before. George Bush actually said it in an outburst:

"I don't give a goddamn," Bush retorted. "I'm the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way."

"Mr. President," one aide in the meeting said. "There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution."

"Stop throwing the Constitution in my face," Bush screamed back. "It's just a goddamned piece of paper."

The above exchange can't be independently verified, but it has never been denied by the White House. It was originally reported by Doug Thompson of Capital Hill Blue on Dec. 5, 2005. He attributed it to three different sources who were present in a White House meeting with Republican leaders complaining to Bush about portions of the USA Patriot Act.

Whether it is literally true, or simply a believable apocryphal story, it captures the attitude that seems to have been operating in the Bush administration -- from the politicization of the Department of Justice; to the signing statements where Bush declared that he wouldn't obey the law he had just signed into being; to the manipulation of evidence to fool Congress into giving him the power to wage war with Iraq; to the apparent destruction of email evidence and refusal to abide by Congressional subpoenas . . . and the list goes on.

We cannot let them all just ride off into the sunset. The truth must come out and, at the least, be recorded for history.

Ralph