carnage and corruption, a day in the life of the republican party
Even by recent standards, Wednesday wasn't a great day for the not-so-Grand Old Party. Alberto Gonzales is apparently prepared to "admit mistakes" in the Great US Attorney Massacre scandal. Ooooh, "mistakes." Not quite ready to admit to a felony, or obstruction of justice, or finagling with prosecutions for partisan reasons and to subvert elections, but that's progress. Hang in there Alberto -- with enough of these baby steps, I'm sure you can get to the point of admitting crimes soon.
And speaking of crimes, the FBI raided another place of somebody connected to everybody's favorite orthodox Republican lobbyist and corruptor, Jack Abramoff. This time, it was the Oakton, Virginia consulting business of Julie Doolittle, wife of California Republican Congressman John Doolittle. Seems old Jack hired Julie to do a little fundraising for some Abramoff charity -- probably the Abramoff Fund for Micronesian Sweatshop Owners. Anyway, all involved swear there were no improprieties. They aren't admitting mistakes yet, let alone admitting crimes.
A little farther north in Washington, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, neocon Republican architect of the Triumphant American Imposition of Democracy and Peace and Capitalism Throughout the Middle East, has an idea. His idea is to offer to make changes in how he runs the Bank. I think by "make changes," he means "begin to obey the rules and regulations of the World Bank that are supposed to defend against cronyism and nepotism, to say nothing of giving big fat raises to the boss's little sweetums." Let's see. If I've been making illegal drugs in my basement and get caught, and I tell the cops that I would now like to offer to stop breaking the law and start behaving, will they let me go with a chuckle and a warning? Probably not. Wolfowitz has been hard on corruption in developing countries. Why should the Bank go any easier on him?
And finally, the carnage. Over 230 people were killed violently in Iraq yesterday, around 160 in one bombing in Baghdad alone. Wolfowitz should be fired for his corruption at the Bank, but his corrupt manipulation of the intelligence and lies and exaggerations about the "threat" posed by Saddam and his alleged (non-existent) ties to Al Qaeda (in which he was joined by many senior Republicans) are much more serious. For those acts, being tied to a suicide bomber and never knowing when the guy will pop the trigger might be a more karmically appropriate fate.
And speaking of crimes, the FBI raided another place of somebody connected to everybody's favorite orthodox Republican lobbyist and corruptor, Jack Abramoff. This time, it was the Oakton, Virginia consulting business of Julie Doolittle, wife of California Republican Congressman John Doolittle. Seems old Jack hired Julie to do a little fundraising for some Abramoff charity -- probably the Abramoff Fund for Micronesian Sweatshop Owners. Anyway, all involved swear there were no improprieties. They aren't admitting mistakes yet, let alone admitting crimes.
A little farther north in Washington, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz, neocon Republican architect of the Triumphant American Imposition of Democracy and Peace and Capitalism Throughout the Middle East, has an idea. His idea is to offer to make changes in how he runs the Bank. I think by "make changes," he means "begin to obey the rules and regulations of the World Bank that are supposed to defend against cronyism and nepotism, to say nothing of giving big fat raises to the boss's little sweetums." Let's see. If I've been making illegal drugs in my basement and get caught, and I tell the cops that I would now like to offer to stop breaking the law and start behaving, will they let me go with a chuckle and a warning? Probably not. Wolfowitz has been hard on corruption in developing countries. Why should the Bank go any easier on him?
And finally, the carnage. Over 230 people were killed violently in Iraq yesterday, around 160 in one bombing in Baghdad alone. Wolfowitz should be fired for his corruption at the Bank, but his corrupt manipulation of the intelligence and lies and exaggerations about the "threat" posed by Saddam and his alleged (non-existent) ties to Al Qaeda (in which he was joined by many senior Republicans) are much more serious. For those acts, being tied to a suicide bomber and never knowing when the guy will pop the trigger might be a more karmically appropriate fate.
Labels: politics
posted by Don Q Blogger at 6:29 AM
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