President Bush Standing By His Man, To A Fault
And today, again, like every day since November 2004, I’m grateful for presidential term limits. It’s not because I see such promise in the field of potential future presidents, either. In fact, I find the array of choices spans the gambit from completely inappropriate to sadly unelectable.It’s just that, I don’t know about you, but I am relieved that the next presidential election can’t possibly pit Hillary Clinton against George W. Bush.
And, believe it or not, it’s not even political. I just don’t think I could stand the despicable double standard. You see, these two have one very important character trait in common, best summed up by that great 20th century philosopher Tammy Wynette.
Our president has taken “stand by your man” to a whole new level.
Did you catch the Senate Judiciary Committee’s questioning of Alberto Gonzales? I must admit, I couldn’t have listened more closely if someone had stapled my ear to the radio. And even though I caught myself drooling a time or two, in the pit of my stomach I had a deep and abiding stir.
As I listened to Arlen Specter, the senior ranking Republican on the panel, I sensed that he had the same knotting sensation growing in his gut. I leaned back as yet another thread unraveled of the synthetic fabric woven around this presidency and I realized that I felt shame.
Oh, it’s certainly not the first time this leadership has made me ashamed of our government, but I can usually spread the blame out around the entire political spectrum. Whether it’s Gov. John Baldacci serving up our National Guard, or Rep. Tom Allen voting for war funding, or Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins approving the activist Supreme Court justices who just this week allowed politics to interfere with the decisions made by women and their doctors, there’s plenty of shame to go around.
Dictionary.com defines shame as a noun, “the painful feeling arising from the consciousness of something dishonorable, improper, ridiculous,” and as a verb “to disgrace.”
There you have it. The president has disgraced us as a people. With help, as mentioned above, but also through his own self-absorbed actions and willful disregard for how his actions hurt the people and the Constitution he professes to defend.
Sen. Specter, in his closing remarks, pointed out that only two people mattered in this decision: Gonzales and Bush. The attorney general serves at the pleasure of the chief executive. And if Gonzales doesn’t quit, only the president can fire him.
No matter how difficult it is for the Justice Department to function, no matter how mortifying the spectacle at the hearings, George W. Bush will stand by Gonzales. Why?
Maybe because Gonzales is invaluable as he performs the dictates of the president without question. Maybe because he can take hour after hour of humiliating questions, responding 73 times that his Harvard-educated faculties fail him and that he can’t recall pertinent details. Maybe because for the first time in U.S. history, as detailed during the hearings and admitted to by Gonzales under oath, a White House staff member (Karl Rove) helped decide which attorneys would lose their jobs and which would stay.
Remember the Monica Lewinsky scandal? Certainly not the first time that America learned that President Clinton broke his marriage vows. How the piranhas circled Hillary. How they chastised her for not dumping Bill and making a proper example to women everywhere. Her loyalty was seen as a character flaw.
After they ridiculed Hillary, her critics turned to accusations: “They probably have a deal and she knows he cheats.” “He probably has her permission.”
Maybe the president knows Gonzales cheats; maybe the president wants him to cheat.
History is riddled with critical moments. Some societies rise to the challenge and some fall victim to their own frailties. While Bush has run amok, our country has had opportunities to stop him and we have failed.
It’s not about Bush standing by Gonzales anymore. It’s about us standing by Bush. If you want to stop sounding like a ’70s country tune, there’s a rally you might like to attend this Saturday. More information is available at MaineImpeach.org.
And remember what Tammy Wynette said: “‘Cause after all, he’s just a man.”
Pat LaMarche, a former Green candidate for governor and for vice president, can be contacted at PatLaMarche@hotmail.com.
© 2007 The Bangor Daily News
Why did Fredo say “I don’t remember” dozens of times? Because it is the one kind of perjury that cannot be challenged.
There is no way to prove that the speaker DOES remember at the moment of his answer.
Even if we could prove that he had remembered the day before, or one hour later, we could not prove that he DID remember when he said he didn’t.
His many days of preparation were well-spent. He was smooth, letter-perfect, and faked a real regret in his non-remembering.
Let’s be in no hurry to demand the removal of Alberto Gonzales. I prefer to expose and discredit and humiliate the presidents’s cronies - Rumsfeld, Libby, Rove et all - but leave them tied around the president’s neck like dead albatrosses. Maybe Bush really values loyalty or maybe he has just run out of applicants for these ignominious jobs. Either way, let him work without Teflon. This is a single batch of thieves and should not be granted the fiction that they can distance themselves from one another as soon as their ugly secrets come to light.
Arlen Spector is a Bushie hired to play the part of “tough critic,” but always votes the party line. I think he is there to allay suspicions that the Repugnican Party is nothing but a bunch of mndless goosesteppers marching to the tune of “Der Bushenfuehrer UBer Alles.”
Last week I thought it was typical Spector posturing until I got the feeling that he was really disgusted at Gonzales’ utter failure to provide any coherence to his string of deceptions and inconsistent statements. Gonzales looked about as worried as Alfred E. Newman.
Vox, I must disagree with you. Gonzales could still do a lot of damage over the next two years. Although the next puppet may not be much better, at this point damage control is about all we can hope for. Or am I just a pie-eyed optimist?
Everyone Bush supports have dishonorably resigned. this one will not be any different. Let the Mexican rat scurry back to texas.
jp I share your assessment of Spector. Always the first one out there on the right to harness (and then diffuse)populist outrage. But then you must look at his votes - straight down the party line and then some. He’s got a lot of people fooled, even those who should know better by now. Spector is a Bush enabler and serves a critical role in sustaining the do-nothing Senate.
“Hey Berto Buddy! How can I disappear the survivors of the afghan container massacre log enough for us to torture them into confessing to crimes that will let us throw away the key and hide them forever? Heh heh heh.”
http://www.projectcensored.org/publications/2004/11.html
The Gonzo testimony was a hoot. Code Pink was there. One of thier banners commented that Gonzo had nothing to hide but the truth. A man held up a notebook in which he kept a tally of the number of times Gonzo said he didn’t recall. There was even a rumor that Bush’s statement about how well Gonzo had testified had actually been released before the testimony.
No different than any other big crime family (except less Italians).
Opeluboy: Yep. That’s how I see it, too. Remember the line, “He knows too much.” Gonzales as consigliere knows all Bush’s secrets, and they are PLENTIFUL. He is the one who orchestrates the means to circumvent the TRUTH and SPIRIT of the law to leave behind some empty “letter of” its content. The torture thing is enough to make every American turn in their citizenship. There is a divinity that shapes our ends… eventually the dark deeds come full circle; and yet the magnitude of heinous folly as practiced by this coterie of amoral empty souls is such that it will take LIFETIMES to repair. Ironic, given the climate instability, that what used to be a certain ease and availability of re-entering the mortal sphere will grossly lessen. Recent articles on global warming link to two parallel phenomena: population growth, and more important, patterns (advertising induced in many instances, as these are not real needs, they are implanted wants) of consumerism and GROSS materiality. Mankind is at a cusp, a turning point that will define much about future habitability and QUALITY of life on this planet. The US being led by Bush is the equivalent of a Monty Python skit where the leader uses his “charisma” to guide troop after troop OFF the roof to his demise. What a guy… AS if this dark duo gets a karmic free pass.
How can the people fight the power when it is in the hands of corrupted politicians from both parties? Give power to the grassroots. Join the Green Party.
Great comments, all.
Patience, ezeflyer. Let’s join the Greens (or rejoin) after the primaries. Even if Dennis doesn’t get the nomination, the larger the showing for Dennis, the more impact the message to the Dems. Although I suspect you’ve written them off permanently as in DELETE. But consider this aspect. He will be a de facto voice for the Greens in the debates, the only one to espouse their platform. So give him that much.
Do I remember correctly? Did the New York Times - The New York Times! - have an article recently about the origin of George W’s loyalty to Alberto going way back to when Albert talked to the judge on a case where Dubya was going to be a member of a jury. Trouble was, each jury member would be required to state his criminal record, if any. Georgie was about to run for governer and he would have to list his drunken driving problem in some New England state. It might get out to the citizens of Texas that Georgie had a drunken driving conviction just before running for governor. Alberto somehow put the fix in and George was excused from jury duty.(Deadeye Dick is supposed to have three DWI convictions or am I thinking of draft deferments during the Vietnam unpleasantness). Maybe Alberto has the goods on George. And why was George’s DWI never mentioned during either the Gore or Kerry campaigns The small town news reporter who broke the story was pilloried in the town square and never heard from again. Any thoughts on this - contact me at WhyDontThey@webtv.net. Also what about the year George spent early on in Juneau, Alaska (another New York Times story years ago) No nose candy merchant on every street corner in Juneau!
I’ve heard that story, but it was some time ago, and not the NYT. Never heard about Alaska. Dad mmust have been trying to keep George out of trouble.
kathyodat:
Kucinich will be in the debates regardless. We can’t wait for Democrats to change any longer. But we can force them to by injecting some competition to their monopoly by joining the Greens.