If Bush is innocent, why isn't he speaking up? His silence is damning

[linazelle]

So are his cheery smiles--he looks quite jovial these days. Laughing to keep from crying I suppose.

If he is unscathed, he would do what any leader would: step up, apologize for the wrongdoing in his administration, and pledge to nip it in the bud. But he hasn't done that. He just refuses to answer questions and smiles a lot.

[Benhurst]

1. Maybe he's trying to make a point:

In the Bush* Administration there is honor among thieves.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

2. He's innocent

Don't forget - he's not charged. He's no party to anything, so what's your point? His silence is appropriate.

Why should he speak up? What could he possibly say that would mean anything now?

what he should have done, were he an honorable man and a competent Chief Executive, was to call in his staff when this event first took place (the outing of Ms. Plame), asked who was responsible for it, and fired them.

Even Nixon canned Haldemann and Erhlichman for their antics before they were indicted.

[KittyWampus]

4. For Starters, he said he'd fire anyone involved. Libby hasn't been

proven in a court of law to be guilty of leaking or passing classified info... but then there is always the court of public opinion.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

5. You're expecting him to do what he said?

He also said he wanted to unite our nation, not divide it.

I believe he also said he'd never approve the unilateral invasion of another country.

And, parenthetically, Libby's not been charged with the crime to which Bush alluded. Libby created his very own set of charges by lying to the FBI and the grand jury. Tangential, but it keeps Fuckface in the clear as far as his promise to fire anyone involved.

That's one of those great weasel words: involved.

I just realized how much "Libby" sounds like "Liddy," and how, harking back to Watergate and even Iran-Contra, these guys with the first initial instead of the name always end up in mug shuts: G. Gordon Liddy, E. Howard Hunt, L. Oliver North, H. R. Haldemann, I. Lewis Libby.

In my real life, I don't know one person who uses an initial in lieu of his dorky first name.

[KittyWampus]

6. I'm Expecting Him Not To, Which Is Politically Damaging Hence The Need

for Democrats and grassroots to demand he DO IT! :D

[OldLeftieLawyer]

12. I'm not sure it's politically damaging,

but if I were his lawyer, I'd make damn sure he didn't say a word about any of it.

With Libby under indictment, Fuckface is a potential witness, as is Cheney and all the others, so - from a purely strategic and wise perspective - they are simply not allowed to speak of it, just so as not to jeopardize themselves or Libby.

It's the right thing to do. After all, due process is precious, as is the Fifth Amendment, and we all enjoy its protection. Even Fuckface.

[KittyWampus]

16. Bush Has A Lawyer? Has Been Told To Keep Mum? All The MORE Reason

Democrats need to demand an apology or a public accounting.

Apparently you don't grasp the concept of Opposition Politics.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

17. Apparently I don't

All I know is the Constitution and how our Federal government works. Oh, and I know a little bit about the law, too.

If you'd kept abreast of current events, you'd have known that the President retained private counsel prior to his being interviewed by Patrick Fitzgerald.

I believe Opposition Politics has been perfected by Karl Rove. If you want to wallow down there with his ilk, you're welcome to it.

[HereSince1628]

7. Uh, at this point Libby is innocent, too.

As an old jesuit trained leftie lawyer you do appreciate the presumption of innocence.

And you also know that not being charged and/or not being convicted isn't the same thing as not having perpetrated a crime.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

13. I know a few things

I also know, as I posted elsewhere in this thread, that anything uttered in public by any potential witnesses in the Libby case could be mightily prejudicial to any and all parties, so, any counsel would tell his client,even if it's Fuckface, to keep quiet.

There are layers within the layers where due process is concerned, and there are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio ...........

[HereSince1628]

18. Exactly.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

19. If you understood what I wrote,

then you might be on your way to a certain kind of enlightenment.

Check with Horatio .............

[Inland]

10. Sure, our president is presumed innocent like any street perp.

And that's the most you can say about the lying sack of traitorous shit: We can't jail him without a trial.

But Congress can nail his shoes to the floor, take away his discretionary spending, rein in his "exectutive" kingly powers, and put him on double secret probation.

Oh, wait, Congress is run by Delay and Frist, who are also the level of a street perp awaiting trial. NEVER MIND.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

14. The presumption of innocence

You might want to consider that it only attaches to people who have been charged with a crime. It's not applicable to people who are not in the system.

That's a Constitutional protection of which I hope you never have to avail yourself.

And, in case you hadn't notice, Fuckface isn't charged with anything.

He's bad enough as he is.

It might be interesting to watch Congress now, watch the rats deserting the sinking ship start to act independently of their Masters. The rebuke Fuckface got on the Davis-Bacon Act was a good start, I believe.

We'll see..........

[HereSince1628]

3. He's getting bad advice, from people who are still hiding

Minimally he needs to apologize to us for allowing a climate in his administration that could generate these allegations.

He ought to pledge to pull his administration back into the service of the nation and make changes that will extinguish the possibility of dirty campaign-like tricks from being the basis of White House policy.

But because he always has been and remains so vulnerable to personal criticism he "understands" those who fail him and the nation and protects them rather than the country with his loyalty.

[Inland]

8. No, to his supporters, if he doens't confess, he isn't guilty.

I read the conservative OPED dude in the NYT, Tierney, who went from "there's an innocent explaination" re: Plame, to the assertion that "there was no crime". That's what Bush is relying on: the presumption that as long as there remains an explanation that somebody can dream up, even if Bush himself never adopt it or says it is true, nobody can say anything bad about him. The con just presumes the best about Bush and that's that. That Bush takes the fifth shakes no part of that.

Therefore, among the kool aide drinkers, Bush knows the only way for anyone to hang anything bad on him is for him to ADMIT IT. No comment is better than a denial, in the neocon and fundie trenches.

Why do you think he couldn't think of a single thing he did wrong in Iraq?

Why do you think he wouldn't even PRETEND to be looking for the Plame leak?

He's basically writing off the sixty percent who resent having to catch and prove what HE should be doing in the first place, namely, investigating and plugging leaks, to protect his rep among the 27% that think he's god as long as he says he is.

[Vinca]

9. You answered your own question.

He's not innocent.

[demobabe]

11. WH is trying to minimize the whole mess

Why scratch at a scab? He just wants it all to go away.

[tulsakatz]

15. but to do what any leader would........

...that would require a level of maturity that Bush simply doesn't have!! He's never shown maturity, in my opinion and I doubt he will do it now.

He's living in a state of denial and will until it becomes obvious that it isn't working for him anymore. I do believe that time is coming even though it isn't here yet.

[applegrove]

20. He will never speak of it again. They will not allow "any tape" of

themselves admitting mistakes. They will not. That is why Bush said "Brownie - you are doing a heck of a job" So that there would be no tape. If there is no tape then nobody can show his voters that he has ever done anything wrong. His voters will have to rely on talking mouths for information. Or books. All the propaganda.