"Scandal? That's one thing that will never happen to us"

[kurth]

How Dubya lost his swagger
BY THOMAS M. DEFRANK

WASHINGTON - Before President Bush was reelected last November, a historical analysis commissioned by senior aide Karl Rove found a common thread among troubled second terms: scandal. "That's one thing that will never happen to us," a top White House aide chirped at the time, confident in the Bush family's reputation for high ethical standards. Now, what the President's father might call the "ugly S-word" has descended on his son's administration - further damaging a presidency that was already crippled and on the verge of unraveling. "We used to have a problem with hubris," one senior Bush adviser said glumly. "Well, there ain't much swagger right now."

Patrick Fitzgerald's indictments are especially jarring because they also raise the dangerous specter of political hypocrisy: In the 2000 campaign, Bush ended every stump speech by placing his hand on an imaginary Bible and swearing to restore the honor and dignity of the Oval Office, "so help me God." "There is still time to recover, but we are in a terrible mess," a senior GOP strategist closely allied with the White House admitted.

The damage to Bush could have been far worse, however, and he and his aides breathed massive sighs of relief when Fitzgerald did not announce an indictment against Karl Rove... "The truth is, Karl is irreplaceable," a senior Bush adviser said. "We have seen what this administration looks like absent Karl these last weeks. The rest of the group is simply not up to the task." Now Rove will lead a battered White House's attempt to rebuild from the carnage, but that's a daunting mission. Only nine months into a second term, Bush's presidency stands at its lowest point. His reputation as a take-charge, in-charge leader was breached by Katrina, his moral authority punctured by Fitzgerald's findings...

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/360664p-307263c.html

[Skittles]

1. hey Rove, wipe the image of those folk in New Orleans out of my mind

CAN'T BE DONE, YOU SICK PRICK

[sellitman]

2. Rove is damaged goods ....

Remember: He still is under investigation. I cannot wait for the other shoe to drop. It still may.

[Catch22Dem]

3. "Bush family's high ethical standards"

Yeah, like dealing with the Nazi's after it was made illegal? Sure, that's perfectly ethical.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. Pardoning the Iran-Contra gang.

Running the October Surprise operaton to get St. Ronald elected.

God knows what all.

Yup. Wonderful family.

[Boo Boo]

4. The idea that Rove would have improved the admin's response to

Katrina is ridiculous. He's a propagandist. All he would've improved would be the cover up of the government's handling of Katrina, the actual response would be the same. Rove is the problem, not the solution. He doesn't know jack-shit about policy; he knows about selling policy, and I mean selling it... for cold hard cash.

God I wish Fitzgerald had popped that guy.

[Jackpine Radical]

6. Don't geve up hope.

I think your wish is very likely yet to be fulfilled.

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[wishlist]

8. "Scandal in the White House" was leading phrase on NBC Today show

Unfortunately for the Bush gang this scandal is not a difficult one for the average viewer to grasp and it goes beyond just Libby's wrongdoing because Bush and Cheney stayed silent and alleged having no knowledge about the leak during this entire investigation that has now exposed the central role played by their most powerful chief advisors.

Even those who have only casually watched the news have heard Bush and Scott McClellan first provide assurances that Rove and Libby had no involvement and that Bush wanted to get to the bottom of it and there would be repercussions for anyone involved and then their repeated refusals to comment on an ongoing investigation.

But now, after the indictments, Cheney is silent while Bush has still not expressed disapproval or regret for what his top advisers were involved in or any explanation of why he and Cheney supposedly had no knowledge of the matter when their top subordinates were directly involved.

Logical conclusion to even a casual observer is that if they didn't know what was going on, they should have know. And if they did know all along or find out during the course of the investigation, they should have taken some action to clean house or hold these people accountable rather than staying silent and enabling their staff to obstruct the investigation.