The Character Issue

Some of y'all might remember back when the Republicans spent a lot of time bleating about how "character counts." Well, maybe it does. Sheryl McCarthy writes:

I can't remember a recent White House that was so hostile to Congress, or to any form of criticism or dissent. Ashcroft has refused to answer questions about the application of the Patriot Act, which has allowed hundreds of wartime detainees to be held incommunicado for months or years, without access to lawyers and without formal charges, contrary to the most basic principles of our Constitution. The president only had to declare that the Constitution doesn't apply to them.

Which is like saying "bleep the Constitution and the Congress that has oversight of these things."

Disdain for anyone who questions the way they do business suffuses this administration, even going so far as its supporters on the Supreme Court. To the amazement of many, Justice Antonin Scalia rebuffed all demands that he recuse himself from the energy task force case because of his social ties to the vice president.

McCarthy is of course referencing Dick Cheney's eloquence last week in the Senate Chamber. His theraputic use of language might also be comforted by friendly hands stuffing wads of cash into their pockets--my sister sent me a copy of this by email:

LONDON(AP) - Billions of dollars belonging to Iraq is not accounted for by the Coalition Provisional Authority, which was given responsibility by the United Nations for the country's finances, British lawmakers and aid activists said Monday.

Go on, Take the Money and Run

Meanwhile, the CPA handed over the keys to the new, improved Iraqi government in a secret ceremony, which pretty much sums up the entire Iraqi misadventure thus far. The ceremony was held in private so as to not provoke even more violence than the usual barrage of car bombs, mortar/rpg attacks, i.e.d.'s--and beheadings. Speaking of secret, I find it interesting that the Army is just now owning up to the fact that yet another soldier is being held hostage, having been captured back on June 21st. The fate of Keith Matthew Maupin--the other US soldier being held hostage by militants--remains unknown.

You know, I'm beginning to think Cheney might have gotten it right with respect to his language. Our Middle East policy could justifiably be named Operation Go Fuck Ourselves. In Iraq, the insurgency is growing, thanks to our cultural ignorance, criminal behavior, and inability to fix the things we broke during the invasion. In Afghanistan, the resurgent Taliban are executing people who posess voter registration cards. There is what ongoing crisis vis-a-vis Palestine and Israel, while here in the US, Bush has certainly united a number of folks to the point where they've made Fahrenheit 9/11 the highest grossing documentary of all time--after a single weekend at the box office.

Perhaps it's time we told George and Dick to go fuck THEMSELVES--and the lies they rode into Washington on.