Quote:
Originally posted by sgtclub
Do you really believed he lied? I don't think you or any of the pols really believe that. And that is what is so infuriating about this whole thing. It is completely undermining our efforts in Iraq and around the world.
I have no problem with an honest policy debate - i.e., should we stay or should we go and if so, when. But the Dems and some GOPs are conflating the question of whether we should have gone in the first place with should we be there now. They are clearly two different questions and the ramifications of not distinguishing between the two, IMO, will be ugly.
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I believe that Cheney decided to attack Iraq and Bush followed his lead. I think that they took some incredible liberties with the intelligence data. Whether they engaged in deliberate misrepresentation or read the gaps in the data in a way that served their desired outcome, I don't know.
I know for a fact that the Administration presented the sketchy knowledge they had to the public as being far more definitive and certain than it was. Is that dishonest? Yes, clearly. Is it lying? Minds could differ.
However, my comment was directed to Hank, who suggested that the fact that Fitzgerald didn't indict Scooter and Turd Blossom for knowingly outing a covert CIA operative means that they did nothing wrong. Implied in Hank's post was the dismissaal of their lying to a grand jury as unimportant, or just a technicality.
My reply just pointed out a parallel with Bill Clinton. He wasn't charged with any real crime, other than lying under oath. And the Senate acquitted him of that charge.
All that aside for the moment, what really offends me is the notion that a criticism of the Bush Administration is somehow unpatriotic, and that the exercise of my First Amendment rights is undermining America.
I submit that Cheney, Bush, and Karl Rove, in adopting an "our President, right or wrong" attitude are what undermines American effectiveness and credibility. The existence of secret prisons undermines our global effectiveness and credibility.
And what's more, in the present circumstances, the Republican majority in the House, with their one-sentence resolution, is trying to destroy the ability of the House to honestly debate whether or not we should remain in Iraq, as proposed by Rep. Murtha. That's what is undermining Congress's credibility at home and undermining our ability to determine the proper course of action.
