Akkam’s Razor

The twilight of the Bush Presidency provides many loose threads, with a long list of rogues who may know ‘where the bodies are buried’. I suspect that the Bush legacy will include NOT pardoning the most notorious of his merry band of thieves, such as Scooter, Rummy, and Fredo Gonazalez, in order to preserve his legacy, but also to provide ‘red meat’ for the lunatics to fight over as a Democratic Congress and President attempt to restore order.

That’s why I think Obama should pardon the operators who executed potentially un-Constitutional orders from above - the nameless and faceless non-political law enforcement officials, military personnel, and other career governmental employees. None of them deserve to be haunted with the specter of future prosecution on the grounds of political opportunism, regardless of the party that benefits. But with strings attached.

• Daily Kos: Cardinal Stafford criticizes Obama as ‘aggressive, disruptive and apocalyptic’ - Cardinal James Francis Stafford, head of the Apostolic Penitentiary of the Holy See, delivered a lecture on Thursday saying that the future under President-elect Obama will echo Jesus’ agony in Gethsemane. Criticizing Obama as "aggressive, disruptive and apocalyptic," he went on to speak about a decline in respect for human life and the need for Catholics to return to the values of marriage and human dignity.
• Bailout is not that likely… -

• Joe in the Spotlight - The Caucus Blog - NYTimes.com - Turns out that “Joe the Plumber,” as he became nationally known when Senator John McCain made him a theme at Wednesday night’s third and final presidential debate, may run a plumbing business but he is not a licensed plumber. His full name is Samuel J. Wurzelbacher. And he owes a bit in back taxes.

Dan Froomkin, writing at the Neiman Watchdog, writes about how the absence of Bush and Cheney from the White House does not mean that they are gone, covering the military, burrowed-in partisans as career government employees and the expansion of the Executive Branch’s power, the handling of Presidential pardons, the expanded role and power of the Vice-Presidency, and how the veterans (and current members) of the second Bush administration are playing a large role in securing the Presidency for John McCain.

The ambitious opening agenda of the 110th Congress seemed futile to me.  With such a thin majority (51/49), plus with the treasonous Benedict Arnold Emperor Palpatine Joe Lieberman as a faux Democrat, it seemed highly unlikely that they could hold a caucus together, and successfully pass bills, and on some of the hot button items, manage to overide a Presidential veto.

The resignation of Rumsfeld will certainly not be enough.  And I'm certain that BushCo is desperately looking for someone to hang the miserable failure that is Iraq on anyone outside the inner-sanctum, but Baker Commission notwithstanding, I don't see it happening.

Political Cortex has a diary framing the sordid mess throught the most notorious children's book in American history, My Pet Goat. 

The Bush Administration has been desperate to avoid the label of "civil war" in the Iraqi conflict, preferring the less decipherable phrase "sectarian violence" instead (perhaps it did better in the focus groups)?

Well, your damn liberal media made the jump for you, with MSNBC and NBC not going with "Civil War" (the 3,000+ non-combatant dead could be a good indicator).

Last night, I was going to write about how surprised I was that Santorum didn't cry, that Weldon didn't blame the liberal media, George Soros, and the ghost of JFK for his defeat, and most importantly how magnanimous and conciliatory they were in their concessions.

Then I stopped, and remembered how ethically bankrupt they were, socially divisive, and just plain evil.  Never mind the cowardice of using your children (and grandchildren) as human shields (again, a GOP hallmark), hoping to demonstrate how vicious that "radical left is".

If there's one thing the electorate is guilty of, it's having short memories.  The night of, or day after the election, all is forgotten, "it's just politics", and the appearance of bipartisan cooperation and "reaching across the aisle" etc., etc. begins.  But is it all really just water under the bridge?

The said that the majority wanted the terrorist to win.  That they don't support the troops.  That they want men to marry dogs.  Is all forgiven?  Should it be?  By the same token, will the missteps of Condi "What Meeting" Rice, Bill "Cut & Run" Frist, and George "Macacca" Allen be forgotten should they aspire to higher office?

The evil that men do lives after them;

The good is oft interred with their bones.

William Shakespeare

The bard certainly knew how important this lesson was.  Do we? 

We're certainly not done with Santorum.  I would LOVE to see him self-destruct on the campaign trail to the 2008 Presidential Election, though I think with proper rehab and a softening of his image, plus a few years for the memories to fade, he would make a viable candidate for Pennsylvania Governor in 2010 (although I suspect he WILL run for governor, just in a "redder" state).  I fully expect Weldon to turn up somewhere in my local (Delaware County) government, in some county or township position, perhaps in some Homeland Security role.  Must keep the pork flowing, and all, and the one-party county rule of Delco will certainly facilitate that.

But there's something else that doesn't sit well with me, namely Rumsfeld's "retirement".  First, there's the good fortune that Dubya didn't can him in the week prior to the election - you can guarantee significantly different results, especially as far as Democratic margins, if not the turnover of both houses.

The thing that gets me is that now no one is accountable for Iraq.  The administration did an outstanding job of taking the thunder away from the Democrats post election, as he is sure to be putting them on the defensive.  But I think this is an opportune time for a little history lesson from the playbook of dirty tricks.

I was born during Watergate.  I became a teen during Iran-Contra.  I entered adolescence during Desert Storm.  I was a new husband during 9/11, and a father at the start of the Iraq War.  I've always been a news junkie.  The important events of my lifetime thus far have colored my perception of the future.

When bad things happen, why do I always hear the same names over and over again, doing the same things?  And why, each time it happens, do we look at them as though it's some new, unheard of occurrence?

The College Republicans of the Nixon-Era begot the actors of various Reagan-Era black-bag operations and the ensuing cover up.  Some of these same scoundrels were pardoned (or saw "action") during #41's term, and now, some are bailing out Dubya.

Brent Scrowcroft.  John Roberts.  Dick Cheney.  Donald Rumsfeld.  Samuel Alito.  Michael Leeden.  John Kerry.  John Poindexter.  Manucher Ghorbanifar.  Elliot Abbrams.  Otto Reich.  John Negroponte.

It appears they MAY have learned from the sins of the past, learned how not to get caught, and are seeking to repeat them.

It's the Bob Gates affair, the nominee to replace Donald Rumsfeld, that's most troubling.  I suspect we are all about to get a history lesson, especially regarding what he did or did not know about the Iran-Contra affair (wikipedia) while with the CIA.  Interesting times are ahead…