Sunday, March 18, 2007

Gravity Attracts

Bodies are falling.

Not just the bodies of those poor soldiers who, unable to find a job then join the army and get blown up by poor little sisters who were sold into explosive self-immolation by families too poor to feed them. Not just those bodies.

The bodies falling now include the bodies of those who sent them.

Rumsfeld. Wearing sunglasses like World War II's General McArthur, Rumsfeld never understood that you can't run a system at peak performance levels forever. By sending soldiers who had served their term back into duty again and again, he made a military career unattractive for years to come. Equipment is shot. He burned out the war machine.

Cheney. Soon to come. Vice President Cheney was generally authorized by the President to declassify anything. He used that power to selectively declassify an intelligence estimate, hoping to discredit a whistle-blower by destroying the CIA career of his wife. Unfortunately, the CIA took this misuse of power rather seriously, their agent Valerie Plame, whose career was ruined is suing, and Mr. Cheney's use of executive power to maintain the lies that led us into war will continue to be in the news. Mr. Cheney is dead weight.

Gonzales. Feline, but not a tiger. Rolls over so you can pet his tummy. Our Attorney General works, as he repeats endlessly, "at the pleasure of the President". Absolutely refuses to consider resigning. That's for the President to decide. He's the decider. Gonzales is the kitten.

Unfortunately the kitten and his assistant, Kyle Sampson, a button-nosed, youthful Karl Rove replica, tried to turn the U.S. Attorneys General into Republican Guards and failed. Midway in the term, as USA Carol Lam began to explore the possible corruption of representative Jerry Lewis, she was fired with a small group of other US Attorneys who had failed to demonstrate that they were "loyal Bushies".

Unfortunately for those at the top, the firings were so unusual as to attract attention, and the more people saw of it, the more thrilling it got. And it's just started.

From an article by Kenneth Anderson on Op-Ed News:

"Lam's investigation also pointed towards the CIA, where, just two days before her forced resignation, her Grand Jury brought indictments against the CIA's former Executive Director, Kyle Foggo, and another GOP "donor," graft and corruption specialist Brett Wilkes, a partner of the already convicted Wade. "Hookergate" swirled around these four shady GOP horsemen and is likely what led to the abrupt departure of Porter Goss after less than two years as CIA Director. Though no one really notice at the time, unaware of its potential significance, Goss had inexplicably bumped Foggo to the number three spot at the agency, Executive Director, but Bush's own Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board had grown concerned about
a widening FBI sex and cronyism investigation that's targeted Kyle (Dusty) Foggo, the No. 3 official at the CIA, and also touched on Goss himself.
Clearly, things were getting entirely out of hand and the only real way to bring this to an end was to can the prosecutors. Both Lam and Debra Wong Yang, a US Attorney in LA who began the investigation of GOP Rep. Jerry Lewis, are now gone; Lam having been fired and Yang suddenly retiring just after the election. It is now expected that none of these investigations will proceed any further."


There's an iceberg under there.

As of Saint Patrick's Day, 2007, Gonzales' assistant Sampson has left his job, although he remains on the payroll. Since interfering with a federal prosecutor in the performance of his duties would seem to violate the law, he may be singing to a U.S. Attorney. His boss, Gonzales, may similarly be in the line of fire for guiding these endeavors.

Gonzales is at the heart of another scandal, though, and this may lead him to resign. A review of how the Justice Department used the ability to spy on Americans given to them under the Patriot act was squelched, a review that it is said would have pointed to Gonzales as egregiously misusing that power.

Will the review now be held? Will the President choose to ask Gonzales to resign before or after the review?

Another heavy anchor weighs on the President.

Finally, a third weight - his own man Rove, his chief advisor, may be losing his security clearance. He has been identified as a conspirator in both the Valerie Plame exposure and the U.S. Attorney firings. Bush has said that he would fire whoever leaked Plame's name to the press. But the Director of the Office of Security at the White House said in a committee hearing that no investigation of the leak was ever made. The committee chair, Henry Waxman, has just sent a letter to the White House Chief of Staff asking for any details of any investigation into the leak, or for reasons none was carried out.

Here is the Brad Blog's quote from the letter:

"Taken as a whole, the testimony at today's hearing described breach after breach of national security requirements at the White House," the letter reads. "The first breach was the disclosure of Ms. Wilson's identity. Other breaches included the failure of Mr. Rove and other officials to report their disclosures as required by law, the failure of the White House to initiate the prompt investigation required by the executive order, and the failure of the White House to suspend the security clearances of the implicated officials."

Will Bush fire Rove? Will Rove bow his head and scurry away? And himself turn State's Evidence in an attempt to avoid the encircling doom? Lead Thou me on!

As each head falls, it drags those with whom it has been connected ever closer to the brink. Job opportunities could be opening up soon for U.S. Attorneys who are willing to indict Republicans.

Mr. Bush is boxed. If he supports his wayward associates, he becomes one with them. If he lets them go to the dogs, they will tell all. The news remains focused on the decline and fall of Mr. Bush's Roman Empire.

The box shrinks. Movement becomes restricted. Options disappear ad infinitum.

Round is the world, and its memory is long.

For those of us who pray, there is much thanks to be given. Yet we must remember that each of these men has a soul, for which we can pray that it forgo its attachment to illusion and unite once again with that which is all.

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