An apology? Not good enough!
Do you think this public apology thing may have gotten just a wee bit out of hand as redress for every possible error, including those not made by the one asked to do the apologizing? I do.
But Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid doesn’t agree with me. Au contraire. In fact, Reid has called on both Bush and Cheney to offer the American people a public apology for the possible perjury of Cheney’s aide Lewis Libby:
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said Sunday that President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney should apologize for the actions of their aides in the CIA leak case…There has not been an apology to the American people for this obvious problem in the White House,” Reid said. He said Bush and Cheney “should come clean with the American public.”
Well, I think apologies are not going to be good enough–after all, an aide to the Vice-President has been indicted (although not convicted) for perjury in a grand jury hearing based on a case that doesn’t seem so far to have any legs. Quelle horreur! (And yes, yes, yes, perjury is a serious offense, but one that resides so far only in the innocent-till-proven-guilty person of one Lewis Libby).
I think the proper course of action, and one that the American people would probably appreciate far more than mere apologies, would be a stint in the stocks for Bush and Cheney. It would be especially apropos for some time around Thanksgiving, recalling one of the more quaint and endearing customs of our Pilgrim forefathers/foremothers.
Harry Reid requires more even more of Rove than of Bush and Cheney. An apology simply won’t do in his case:
Reid also said that Karl Rove, the president’s closest political adviser, should step down. Rove has not been charged with a crime.
As far as Rove goes, Reid might want to look into pillory in addition to the resignation. Or Reid might perhaps want to “roll out the barrel”–as in barrel pillory (boy, Wikipedia is edifying!), to wit:
There even was a variant (rather of the stocks type, in fact), called barrel pillory, or Spanish mantle, to punish drunks. It fitted over the entire body, with the head sticking out from a hole in the top. The criminal is put in either an enclosed barrel, forcing him to kneel in his own filth, or an open barrel, leaving him to roam about town and be ridiculed and scorned.
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RickJ
Yeah, Bush is a sweetie, all right. Good thing he’s a uniter, not a divider.
tequilamockingbird
As you can see, if Bush wasn’t as sweet as I portray him as, he would be a lot better at countering propaganda like Tequila’s.
But Bush can’t even get out the gate in this respect.
And that’s a bad thing for the War on Terror, it means more people will die and the war will be longer. Maybe as long as Vietnam, with a final victory at the end of the decade.
It is a good thing that the basic strategy doesn’t require Bush to do much… but that’s a secret, don’t tell the Democrats that.
I’ve read several suggestions lately from both sides of the divide as to how Bush can re-energize his second term the way Ronald Reagan did. Perhaps one thing that would help would be a statement something like “I’ve been telling the American people that no one in my administration was involved in illegally disclosing the identity of a CIA operative. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that’s true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not.”
tequilamockingbird
I suppose they could always use one of Saddam’s iron maidens.
Maybe that would suffice.
You should have forwarded this form letter apology to the Whitehouse to lighten its load:
http://www.karmafarm.com/formletter.html
Ymarsakar: I’m not so sure Bush is as sweet as you fear, and, in any case, the cabal came in to the office as usual this morning so I think we’re in pretty good hands vis a vis the war.
As for Reid, he and Dodd are really out of control. Since Fitzgerald didn’t give them what they wanted in the investigation, they go on the Sunday talk shows and demand the Republicans just hand them Cheney and Rove. It’s pathetic.
So, the Democrat Party is doing all it can to cover Joe Wilson’s rotting lies? Covering Berger’s National Security theft? Defending Sowcrofts insane poicy of ‘stability’? What’s next an appology for not hiding our pigs, our women, our Christians/Jews/Hindus/Atheists?
I will NEVER forget the Democrat Party’s treason.
Sorry is, as sorry does…
At this very moment, only a few people like myself clearly see the obvious absurdity of a trial. The consensus view will soon be that a prosecutor will not be able to convict Scooter Libby. No jury will unanimously find him guilty. I suspect that all this nonsense should cease in a few weeks. Does anyone disagree? If so, please explain why.
This is just an attempt to turn “Fitzmas” into a Boxing Day donation bonanza. This was supposed to be Watergate, where the Evil Insiders get caught, the glorious left brings down a President and ends a war.
Instead, “Fitzmas” turned out to be a bad Halloween party: the dreaded conviction is a Big Nothing, and it could backfire as it’s dragging Joe Wilson’s lies back into the MSM.
Scooter Libby will probably not even have his day in court. The prosecutor’s case is extremely weak. It borders on complete lunacy. Libby is rumored to have earned millions of dollars before entering the White House. He is not a moron. Libby knew that no law was initially broken. He had no reason to lie. We can therefore logically conclude that his memory is playing tricks on him. No group of twelve jurors will ever unanimously vote to convict.
The planted axiom behind such calls for apologies, or, during the election for any example of a mistake, is that the other side won’t use it to beat your head in.
Dealing with democrats, it’s not a good idea to presume good faith.
Remember the old adage, ” Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Will Rogers said that we have the best politicians that money can buy and he had a point. GWB is so insulted (plausible deniabilty priciple in effect here ) that one wonders if he knows what is really going on. And I voted for him !
Ried, Biden, Kennedy and Leahy could be the turkeys gazing up at the stocks.
It could be worse ymarsaker. The troops could have specifically request armor, (in the form of M1A1 Abrams tanks, something that had existed in large numbers), and have that request turned down as had done by Clintons Sec. Def. While we were in Somalia.
I dont recall the outrage then.
Reid is fast becoming the SNL Church Lady of politics.
A lot more people would love Bush if he only told a couple of lies, (propaganda) that man is too honest and not fond of the quick reparte.
I don’t even approve of his job conduct anymore, and that’s saying something.
Roosevelt was not a very nice man, but one thing you could not call him was a bad or weak leader.
Bush is a very nice man, but most of America don’t really want a nice man in charge of the War on Terror, they want a killer, some dude with coldly calculating eyes bent on vengeance, mayhem, death and destruction.
In times of savagery, lies and distortions, propaganda and death, I would feel very safe to have people who are masters in deception, death, and manipulation on my side.
Oh well, fight a war with the army you got, not the one you would wish for.
Apology, eh? I think not.
And now for something entirely different –
“The Reverse of The Medal” by Patrick O’Brian contains a tremendous pillory scene. Good stuff. Great stuff, actually.
Well said. I had something about a pound of flesh and Sandy Berger, but it wasn’t very appetizing.
I got an apology for them.
Bush should say on national tv,
“I am sorry that the leaking of national documents pertaining to the security of the United States have gotten so bad even the Democrats are worrying about it”
I promise to do my best to bring the situation back to a more acceptable venue, where the leaks only harmed American prestige, my Administration, and mundane matters concerning troop casualties, lack of armor, and low morale.