In this week's roundup of political happenings with NPR's Political Junkie Ken Rudin, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is in the hot seat over the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) is the first would-be president to get seriouslyYouTubed, and actor Fred Thompson considers a run for the top office himself. Have you seen the ad comparing Clinton to 1984's Big Brother? Is a bio that includes Watergate counsel, Senator, and Law & Order district attorney the right stuff for a presidential bid?
Blog of the Nation
If you got nothing to hide, testify under oath. If not step down.
I believe the 1984Hillary was unfair to be put up anonymously. Yet at the same time, for at least five years, Republicans in this very Repuplican State of Idaho have asked me, a Democrat, if I was ready to have Hillary Clinton run for President, always with the implication I had no choice. This 1984 caricature brillantly reflects the frustration many of us had that the fix was already in and Hillary was our choice whether we wanted it or not. Now, hopefully, we may have a choice, an amazing development no one could have predicted. That is what the ad was saying. It does not criticize her, it says inspite of her, we will have a choice.
If we allow our offices of law enforcement to become simply another political tool for either party, then we have all failed as a nation ??? the Congress, and the People. If the duplicitous behavior of this Administration persists, surely one of our strongest foundations ??? A nation ruled by laws and not men ??? will crumble and plunge our nation into an abyss of illegitimacy.
The damage already been sustained by our Department of Justice is staggering. How can any citizen in these United States trust this Department? How can those who have been prosecuted trust the impartiality of the system? The only way to resolve these issues is to fully understand what has taken place in the DOJ and the Bush Administration???s role in these affairs.
What the people of this country need, if they are ever again to believe in the integrity of the system, is full public disclosure or the matters under-oath and in front of Congress. No substitute will suffice, period. Karl Rove and Harriet Miers must testify publicly and under oath. If these people are in fact looking out of the citizens of this country, they should have absolutely no problem standing in front of Congress and telling them the truth about their role in this affair.
It is time someone showed us that there is still a reason to believe in our government
It's a sad day for our democracy when
public officials fear telling the truth.
What do they have to hide? I don't buy
Executive privledge.
If the administration says we have to put up with our personal info being tracked (ie phone records), why shouldn't the administration be more open. They say that if we have nothing to hide, we shouldn't worry about our personal stuff being looked at. So if they have nothing to hide, they should be perfectly ok with being more open and tell us what they do behind closed doors.
One of the adults in Washington should tell the president that he can no longer be trusted with the 'benefit of the doubt'. How many shoes have to drop for everyone to get the message that he has no credibility?
Let the subpoenas begin.
I'm surprised the word "impeachment"
is not in the public, Congress, nor NPR's
vocabulary.
It seems that you mentioned Fred Thompson's acting credits as and after-senate stint on Law and Order without mentioning his Hollywood career BEFORE his service on the hill. IMDB shows more than 20 movie credits and and at least 15 TV series, including 3 different L&O spinoffs. He's potrayed roles as president, admiral and senator as well as voicing a character in the animated movie "Racing Stripes", and on TV shows from Matlock to Roseanne to Sex and the City.
I have a question about the situation with the firings of the Attorney Generals. Whether or not this is a "witch hunt," how is it that asking the White House staffers to testify before Congress under oath compromises the separation of powers? I don't see how that's a Constitutional problem, yet the ability to appoint AGs without Congressional approval is not a violation of the check-and-balance system we've come to appreciate. Does anyone have insight into why asking Rove and Miers to testify before Congress presents a legal problem for the White House?
Could someone PLEASE answer a question which I have heard asked but not answered: How many attorneys general were fired by this administration when they first took office? The right wing talking point of late is that Clinton fired all of them. I've also heard that Bush I fired them all, which is, of course, ignored by the right wing pundits. Is there a record somewhere of what the last five Presidents have done?
The impact of YouTube on politics is discussed in the following blog post:
http://thestrangedeathofliberalamerica.com/2007/03/04/the-youtube-campaign/
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