Chepooka.com

I have a question

I have a question about this whole Scooter Libby thing.  He is guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice, right?  I’m trying to understand how Americans can tolerate and justify his get out of jail free card. 

I really couldn’t bring myself to celebrate the holiday yesterday, and I usually do.  I normally pause to give thanks for all that is good in this country and for the freedoms I’ve been blessed with.  I side-skirted it yesterday—did a bit of work, cleaned the house, watched Big Love on my DVR.  I grow more and more disappointed in the corruption of our country and I just didn’t feel like celebrating much. 

Consider if you will the following quotes from republican senators, swiped from great read over on Huffington today. 

Sam Brownback (R-KS):

We have lost many things over the past few months: trust in public officials, respect for the rule of law, confidence in the truth of the White House’s public statements. But perhaps the most tragic loss has been the steady erosion of our societal standards.

Wayne Allard (R-CO):

“The Constitution is what preserves the rule of law, and guarantees that we remain a nation of laws, not of men.

“I hold the President to a higher standard because he is the chief law enforcement official of the nation. If he is above the law, then we have a double standard; one for the powerful, and one for the rest.

“The sworn oath is central not only to our Constitution, but also to the administration of justice. Our legal system would not function without it.”

John McCain (R-AZ):

“All of my life, I have been instructed never to swear an oath to my country in vain. In my former profession, those who violated their sworn oath were punished severely and considered outcasts from our society. I do not hold the President to the same standard that I hold military officers to. I hold him to a higher standard.”

Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX):

“I was reminded as well, however, that the laws of our Country are applicable to us all, including the President, and they must be obeyed. The concept of equal justice under law and the importance of absolute truth in legal proceedings is the foundation of our justice system in the courts.

“A hundred years from now, when history looks back to this moment, we can hope for a conclusion that our Constitution has been applied fairly and survives, that we have come to principled judgments about matters of national importance, and that the rule of law in American has been sustained.”

All of these quotes were made in 1999 during Bill Clinton’s impeachment.  Yet the right is for the most part, silent on this matter.  If they’re saying anything, it’s to draw parallels to the Clinton pardons he granted when he left office.  (Remember though guys, you were really steamed about that at the time. Didn’t your mama teach you two wrongs don’t make a right?) Hey, I think pardons are bullshit too.  Right is right, wrong is wrong, and the president shouldn’t put himself ABOVE THE LAW.

At the core of this, though, is not punishing perjury or obstruction of justice - as in Nixon and Clinton’s cases in recent history.  It’s about a matter of NATIONAL FUCKING SECURITY.  Not blow jobs. 

I thought republicans (the ones that feel that justice has been served here, I suspect or at least hope most of them are as outraged as the rest of us) had big old boners for national security.  And, that the white house should be held to some sort of standard for the good of the people.  No?  Not so much guys? 

Why are we, as a nation, putting up with this crap?

That is my question.  Please leave answers in comments, thank you.

Posted by chepooka on 07/05 at 08:45 AM

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