Once upon a time, Republican moral high-grounders turned a blowjob and land deal-gone-wrong into the end of the world. If you didn’t buy those arguments at the time, you’re probably fairly annoyed at how things have gone with the current administration. If you were convinced that the Clinton “scandals” merited special prosecutors and articles of impeachment, then I imagine you’re just about beside yourself with shame over the job your boys have done since taking office.
Since I don’t see these things catalogued and bullet-pointed as often as I feel like I should, I want to pause and take stock:
- Iraq: It was about 9/11 and al Qaeda up until it was proven conclusively that Saddam had nothing to do with any of it. And even after the White House admitted as much, you still had to keep an eye on the Vice President, because if he thought nobody was paying attention he’d trot out the faux connection again. Then it was about Weapons of Mass Destruction, except that weren’t any and the conclusive evidence that there was turned out to be fiction (and the only way to not know this was to ignore the counsel of your own intelligence people). It’s also about bringing democracy to the region. Of course, the only thing that’s been brought to the region so far is a strong and compelling case for all Arabs to unite against our occupation. (See also: “hillbilly armor” and “Mission Accomplished.”)
- Katrina and Rita: You’re doing a heckuva job, Brownie (and by the way, give us our money back).
- Homeland Insecurity: Whereby an alleged felon is nominated to head up the task of protecting the country.
- Memogate: “From 2001 to 2003, Republican staffers on the Senate Judiciary Committee illicitly accessed nearly 5,000 computer files containing confidential Democratic strategy memos about President Bush’s judicial nominees. The GOP used the memos to shape their own plans and leaked some to the media.” (Salon)
- Plamegate: Administration thugs commit … treason? … by outing an active CIA operative to exact political revenge against someone who had the audacity to point out that they were lying about the Iraq WMD evidence.
- E-mail Gate: Oops – I accidentally hit the delete key. 5 million times.
- Walter Reed: Injured veterans re-up for extended tours of Iraq so they won’t have to suffer further as Bush demonstrates his support for the troops.
- Gonzogate: Attorney General cans eight Federal attorneys for – as best anybody can tell – investigating GOP corruption. He screws up so badly the Republicans are on him like his name was Clinton.
- Wolfiegate: Presidential ally and neo-con architect is in all sorts of hot water for inappropriately helping his girlfriend up the ladder at the World Bank.
- No bid? No problemgate: “Unprecedented” five-year no-bid love for Vice President’s former company. Good old American know-who at its best….
- Iraniburton: By the way, was Halliburton doing business with Iran – Iran?!! – while Cheney was CEO?
- Abramoffgate: Influence peddling debacle that Federal authorities are still working on.
- Tom DeLay: ’nuff said.
- The best independent source money can buy: Armstrong Williams got paid pretty well for unbiased expertise.
- Bird-hunting: This wasn’t a scandal, exactly, although it’s clear that they weren’t going to tell anybody VP Cheney went all Soprano on a hunting buddy unless they absolutely had to. Episode wasn’t a real trust-builder with the American public, although it was a bonanza for late-night comics.
- Abu Ghraib: A picture is worth a thousand words. And nobody’s fighting to get into Gitmo, either.
- Jessica Lynch: What if she wasn’t a real hero, but it would make America love the war if they thought she was?
Did I forget anything? Probably, but I don’t have time to cover all of it. Do review the Salon profile when you have time.
Categories: Crime/Corruption, Politics/Law/Government
Progressive Culture | Scholars & Rogues 
You include Jessica Lynch but forgot Tillman. Can’t miss out on those, can we?
Let’s file him under Iraq along with hillbilly armor and Mission Accomplished.
Tsk tsk. He was in Afghanistan.
Sumbitch – you’re right. I keep forgetting Afghanistan. Kinda like Bush, I guess.
I might be repeating Salon, I skimmed…
Iraq:
Missing billions that were to go to rebuilding Iraqi infrastructure but went “poof” instead.
Unguarded ammo dumps.
General ME
Afghani heroin export at record high, oh and the Taliban is back.
Why are we buddies with the Saudi’s again? Where’s OBL? WMD?
Da Vote
Diebold CEO’s promise… and follow-though (?) in Ohio
Florida recount creepiness
Fabulous Friends
Enron
Great list! But you didn’t include the foundation stone, the way they got into power:
1. 2000 election: Florida vote-stealing, coup d’
You know, as much as one can despise GWB and cronies, I’ll say this: you have no doubts that, when his time is up, he’ll go into retirement. You’re not really a police state; an incompetency, maybe – but not a police state. If you were you’d never have had the dramatic turn-around on the senate just recently.
Now, if only I could say the same thing for my government.
How about “Jeff Gannon”? If he had appeared during the Clinton years, we’d never have heard the end of it. Instead, we heard very little about it.
Ah yes, Mr. Guckert. Conservative gay “escort” and credentialed softball tosser. I knew I was forgetting one, and the damnedest irony about it is that my blog, Lullaby Pit, was the first to report on this. A colleague of mine (the Pulitzer winning John Hanchette, who was working with an indie pub in Niagara Falls that uncovered the story) handed it to me, and since that’s the closest I’ve ever come to scooping the whole world you’d think I’d remember his tight little buns, wouldn’t you?
Thanks for adding yet another hit to the list.
How about “Blackwatergate”? All the private mercenary “security” companies running rampant around Iraq shooting up innocent people on the streets and acting all “Billy The Kid”-like, supposedly protecting contractors yet operating (Rules of Engagement) contrary to the Geneva Conventions, and charging the government fortunes to do it ?
Selling our ports to Dubai
Gavin,
Yeah I’m now starting to think he’ll actually leave office when his term is up. For a while there I wasn’t so sure. You start a war, then one of your re-election arguments is that you shouldn’t be changing leaders in the middle of a war, and you show no signs of moving to end the war and you operate with a view of how the Constitution works that’s problematic at best.
If you’re even a little paranoid, this gets in your head….
Has anyone mentioned using white phosphorous as a weapon? That’s a war crime, I believe (another one……)
Do not forget Foley and the pages….secret energy meeting by cheyney with Ken Lay and Jeff skilling as VIPs. We still don’t know what happened at this Public Energy policy meeting.
Letting Bin Laden escape from Tora Bora.
Having people forcibly removed from a PUBLIC meeting on Social Security in colorado because they had shirts that said Bush Lied on them.
His first action after being informed of the Destruction of WTC was to fly Bin Ladens family out of the US.
proposed the so called “Patriot Act” and military commissins act which both take away Constitutional rights and the Freedom of the American people.
Commited a Felony by Illegally spying on Americans through unauthorized wire taps in violation of FISA.
Had the FBI and NSA infiltrate ,arrest and question members of peace groups.
Had the CIA capture citizens of other countries and tortured outside the US…another Federal offense.
appointed Sam Fox,the money behind the Swift boat group , when Congress went into recess after withdrwing his name because Congress wouldn’t have approved him in violation of Constitution.
Denied global climate change and still denies mankinds role in it
Gave tens of millionsof Americans Tax dollars to Pat Robertson and destroyed seperation of church and state with his “Faith Based Inititive” ( only christian extremists got any of this money
continued to exist
And who could forget Camp Pendleton’s finest: Jeff Gannon. http://www.unconfirmedsources.com/?itemid=1666
you had me suicidal, suicida. Zaid Bethanie.