How criminals operate
Thanks to the Daily Show the other night, I was reminded of a Bush quote from last year:
But Mr. Bush is no fan of e-mail. “I don’t e-mail, because of the different record requests that can happen to a president,” he said.
We recently watched the classic mob movie “Goodfellas”, and in it, you see the head of the family getting all his news relayed to him by mouth- no phones, because you’re never sure who’s listening in. This is how criminals operate.
So when we’re confronted with the headlines that Karl Rove and up to 50 other White House staffers used RNC email accounts for government business (against the law), and that possibly 5 million of these emails have been deleted (again, against the law), you understand completely why they did it. It was because they considered communications outside the WH email system to be safe from subpoena, and their discussions of matters concerning say, Jack Abramoff and his money-laundering or how to remove federal attorneys who won’t play ball with GOP congressmen? Safely hidden away.
Watching White House spokesperson Dana Perino attempting to answer questions from the press as to the “technical problems” that caused the loss of the emails, she had a stunned, deer in the headlights look. One can only imagine what was going thru her head as she babbled lie after unbelievable lie at the behest of criminals.
What is so maddening about this entire episode is the artificial politeness of the discussion. At the first mention of an alternative email system, Karl Rove and all other staffers should have had their communication devices confiscated, their security clearances revoked, and criminal charges brought. But instead the spineless dems debate over the wisdom of putting these crooks under oath, declare impeachment “off the table”, and continually refuse to say what is so blatantly apparent to everyone else- these people are criminals. They break the law constantly. They lie about it, and then lie about the lies.
When Bush spoke that he didn’t use email because of a fear of records request, the FBI or Federal Marshalls should have stepped out of the wings, clapped the handcuffs on him, and lead him away. Everything the president and his staff do- EVERYTHING- is done as employees of the citizens of the United States. ALL the citizens. Not just the rich ones. Or just the Republican ones, or the ones with the most connections to your daddy, but all citizens. The moment you hide your actions, resist oversight and concoct elaborate systems of technology to elude the rule of law, you are no longer doing the business of the people who pay you.
Now this is such a fundamental, easy to grasp truth that it hardly needs to be stated, but seemingly it does. Go to the popular “conservative” website redstate.com and you’ll find nary a peep about this entire situation. Plenty of hot air about Imus and how those socialist dems are going to raise your taxes, but nothing about how they are cheerleaders for criminals.
The Democratic party is weak, inept, in bed with big money and generally more interested in getting elected than governing, but they aren’t evil. Unlike their cohorts across the aisle, they didn’t start optional wars (although they did vote for them, based on the lies of an administration bent on war), they didn’t ignore the threats leading up to 9/11 (or worse), they didn’t attempt to manipulate the judicial system to remove judges who didn’t file phony charges against democrats, they didn’t out a CIA agent, and the list goes on and on.
They might be craven, bought and stupid, all of these things, but they aren’t evil. They haven’t attempted to run our system of government into the ground for personal gain. They haven’t attempted to create a theocracy/monarchy in place of a government founded on and sustained by a rule of law. Until the debate in this country correctly speaks in realistic terms- that our president and his administration are criminals- there is no hope for our nation. Daily we the people of the United States and the rest of the world are asked to swallow complete nonsense from King George and his henchmen, are expected to honor and respect people who hold us, their “subjects” in utter and complete contempt. Our intelligence, common sense, and patriotism are constantly mocked or ignored by these people who are no better than the lowest wiseguy in a mob movie.
These people aren’t “good people”. They aren’t just “playing politics”. They are criminals. They are dedicated to the complete and utter destruction of everything that makes America what it is.
They deserve the same fate as this guy. And soon.
