The DOJ scandal - business as usual, with TWO exceptions

glenn makes an incredibly important point... here's the wind-up...

It is so inescapably clear that Alberto Gonzales repeatedly lied about what occurred with the U.S. attorney firings that the national media and even many Bush supporters are clearly acknowledging that fact. But what needs to be constantly emphasized is that there is nothing aberrational in any way about Gonazles' behavior in this case.

There is one thing and one thing only distinguishing this U.S. attorneys scandal from all of the others over the past six years: namely, because Democrats now have subpoena power and seem willing to use it, the administration is forced to disclose actual evidence and documents -- rather than simply issue unscrutinized and uninvestigated denials of wrongdoing -- and that evidence demonstrates that their claims are false. In the past, this is how every scandal transpired:

1. Questions about administration conduct are raised.

2. Administration denies wrongdoing.

3. Administration officials selectively and voluntarily disclose exculpatory documents, appear before Congress, assure everyone that safeguards are in place, deny wrongdoing, and claim the conduct in question is used only for proper purposes (e.g., protecting country again terrorism).

4. Administration followers -- led by those controlling Congress -- insist that no investigation is needed because Official X made clear that there are safeguards in place protecting us and everything is being done for proper purposes.

5. Congressional Republicans block Congressional investigations, compel no disclosure of evidence, do nothing to investigate administration claims.

6. Scandal ends, unresolved.

That pattern has repeated itself over and over and over for six years now -- from controversies over secret and illegal surveillance programs to torture, black sites and rendition. In the U.S. attorneys case, everything proceeded according to script -- Alberto Gonazles did what he and other Bush officials always do: namely, issue false statements about what they did in order to conceal their wrongdoing and mislead everyone about what our Government is doing.

and HERE'S the pitch...

The only thing that changed is that there is now some minimal amount of oversight -- and already, within a mere three months of that oversight finally being exercised, our country's Attorney General stands revealed as a serial liar on a matter of obvious significance.

That is why oversight is so critical -- because as a country we simply do not trust, and never have trusted, our government officials to act properly when they can act in secret and with no checks. The most staggering fact, as always, is that this principle -- what used to be the very bedrock of our country's political framework, what defined "America" as a country -- is really no longer a principle which so many of our elite opinion-makers embrace.

ok, look, glenn... your point is powerful and hits home in so many ways, however, congressional oversight was NOT the ONLY thing that changed... in the entire article, you neglect to mention the role that non-traditional media - namely, TPMmuckraker - played in bringing this oversight to bear... had it not been for the hue and cry raised in the blogosphere, the congressional dems might very well still be sitting there with their thumbs up their butts... it was the potent COMBO of a dem congress AND a hyper-vigilant blogosphere that caused the oversight to happen...

(thanks to lukery at wot is it good 4...)

Submit To Propeller
Tweet