Teflon Vulcans

I've been scurrying around trying to make a living and the like, you know, all busied up with the things that make it far too easy and maybe even sensible to slack off on the writing. What forced me back to it is my utter disbelief at the battering the Bush Administration is taking without a noticeable effect. Let me remind you that I tend to blame the President for blunders made in any department that has representation at or near cabinet level. Unreasonable? Maybe, but they're usually quick to take credit for anything that's done well and especially at this level, so here goes.
Iraq? Disaster. Brits leaving, Cheney calls it a positive sign. His right hand man "Scooter," guilty as sin. Cheney? No comment. I digress, my faith in our jury system is revitalized.
Moving on. Inquiry into Ouster of U.S. Attorneys. The named players are already hiring lawyers. Duke Cunningham's lawyer no less. Is it me or does that seem like a bad move?
Now, the men and women who should be the most revered, the returning wounded soldiers from war are found out to be receiving poor care under deplorable conditions. At Walter Reed, it turns out, they showcase patients for Washington muckamucks and celebrities in the good part of the hospital. Just plain sinful.
Next, wouldn't you think that if nothing else, a sense of shame would make you see to it that F.E.M.A. was on it's best behavior. Not these guys. Thousands of mobile homes built for Katrina victims and never used sit in a field in Arkansas and for unexplained reasons are not available to recent tornado victims. The report alluded to Arkansas Democratic Governor as a possibility. Two nearby States did receive mobile homes and have Republican Governors. We'll never know the truth but it sure looks rotten.
Breaking news: the Justice department concludes the FBI improperly and in some cases, illegally used the Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about people in the U.S. and under reported forcing businesses to turn over customer data. I wish we could take John Ashcroft's pension away.
How about the image around the world? "Mayan priests will purify a sacred archaeological site to eliminate bad spirits after President Bush visits next week, an official with close ties with the group said Thursday." Why would he even make such a trip? Chavez 1 Bush 0. Brilliant. I caught a few pieces of his speeches on the air that he made down there and couldn't believe how much he sounded like a "Saturday Night Live" impersonator. That's supposed to work the other way around isn't it?
It really is a different world now. All the Democrats can do is appear to be taking the high road when in fact without the power of the independent council law any efforts to take on the Bush administration will go the way of the Scooter Libby trial and nothing more. No more fishing expeditions like the one that brought down President Clinton. No juicy reports back to congress to chart a course. There's just no way to get after the lower level shenanigans.
What makes it even harder is that bad behavior keeps getting redefined. You realize that the independent council law was used on Hamilton Jordan for doing a little cocaine at studio 54 back during the Carter administration. He was acquitted but it shows how far we have come.
On the media side the so inclined have become entertainment businesses who package product to target audiences. Advertisers identify who uses what they make then place the dollars where it does the most good. It's efficient but it's backwards and it's in no way conducive to good reporting. And lets face it, the straight and narrow, the ethical road, values, all of it is getting real squishy these days. Remember the discussions about relativism a few years back. That's all gone because trend setters don't have to explain themselves. They just have to get away with it. No more friction from irritants like ethics. In an article by Herb Greenberg, the financial guy, who interviewed the two convicted felon turned consultants from ZZZZ Best and Crazy Eddies, asked if there was ever any remorse, "never...we simply did not care about our victims . We simply committed crime because we could." These guys conned billions out of the pockets of very smart people so never think you can't be had.
As I've mentioned before, I think President Clinton's indiscretions and cover up were deplorable. For me it was even worse because I thought he was a capable president. That said, I do think that there are some parallels between his case and Scooter Libby's. Chris Mathews had a right wing Pundit on who said that Libby's case wasn't as bad as Clinton's because Clinton admitted that he lied and Libby didn't, even though he was convicted of it. How do you counter that way of thinking? I remember when "that's my story and I'm sticking to it" was kinda used as a joke. I guess those days are long gone.