To the dictator go the spoils...

I'm going out on a limb here, but I see some strange similarities between the Bush administration and an evil dictatorship...or at least the now defunct Soviet Union.

I keep thinking of the Mikhail Baryshnikov/Gregory Hines (RIP) vehicle, "White Nights", for some reason...did you ever see that one? It's a classic. Male dancers, one American (an expatriate living in the C.C.C.P.) and a Russian (looking to flee Communist rule) who get tangled in a web of U.S vs. U.S.S.R. intrigue: all of this set upon Phil Collins and Lionel Richie theme songs. The movie basically depicted how the Cold War impacted these two people, with a common passion, but with divergent political views. The movie illustrated how wonderful the U.S. was, and how evil and oppressive the Soviet Union was. You felt good at the end when one of the dancers, who was held captive by the Soviets after the other successfully escaped, was eventually traded back to the U.S. in exchange for some KGB-type. You felt good about it: the U.S. seemed like a moral, thoughtful, courageous, and responsible nation.

Fast forward to the the 21st century and smell the stink rising from the swamp in D.C. The Rove-Cheney Death Star duo out undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame because her husband, a U.S. Ambassador, makes critical [and valid] remarks of the Bush administration, and eventually the heat falls on Scooter Libby, who takes the fall, who gets sentenced, then gets his sentenced commuted by Dubya because he feels that the punishment was excessive...

(note that during this process Dubya is a complete tofu-brained, spineless puppet with two pairs of hands up his ass moving his mouth and helping sound out those big two-syllable words)

Excessive? Didn't anyone see "Mission Impossible" with my most favorite actor Tom Cruise, whom I totally heart in all his Scientologist goodness? Remember the severity of having the potential sale of a list of all undercover agents fall to the highest bidder? Wasn't that threatening to think that all these faceless people doing black-ops, off-the-books, counter-intel, mole-type activities on the behalf of the United States government were about to have their covert and given names made available to folks like Al-Queda? Hyperbole aside, well...there's really not much to hyperbolize when you see this administration's track record. Didn't Bush once pride himself in being a believer in rough justice? I guess it only counts if you're poor or otherwise marginalized.

Apparently if you're part of the internal U.S. power structure, you're exempt from such phony-baloney nonsense, and can out a CIA operative who's married to someone who says something portraying the government in a less than popular light and who's invested more in this country's security than some spoiled, brainless, tool. Honestly, I could care less about Libby...I'd like to see Turd-Blossom, ol' no-soul Cheney, and tool shed extraordinaire Dubya: the Unholy Trinity: see some justice for this act.

I'm rendered utterly flabbergasted and discombobulated. The sheer hypocrisy and evil empire undertones permeate every statement I could contemplate. Is this "justice" or "just us": meaning, if you're not of the inner circle, then you're common cannon fodder?

I'm astounded when I think of the energy and time it will take us as a nation to mend the wounds this single administration has inflicted upon the world, and as an American, upon my country. They're making the American soldier and civilian look like a bunch of worthless blood-soaked tools eternally stained with their lies and insanity.

If you're a devout conservative and could give a isht about my "liberal" ramblings, just think about how many taxpayers dollars went into the toilet so that this scapegoat could be exonerated, when the real evil-doers go free. For all we know, maybe the cost of this nonsense could've translated into a few thousand more Kevlar vests or adequate armor, or ammunition, or food and medical supplies...but I guess it's more important to have lying, killing, and general evil dictatorship-type behavior cemented into the American fabric because it's this administration's final legacy laid upon the altar of time. Amen.

And none of the irony of this farce falling so close to our Independence Day is lost on me. Not even Roland Emmerich could make this administration look good. I'd be completely happy with Bill Pullman for President, though.

The felony bullet just missed Rove's hearty jowls

While "Scooter" Libby, former Head of Staff for Vice President "Blood-thinner" Cheney, was found guilty today of obstruction of justice, perjury, and making false statements, the person who actually let slip the leak about Ms. Valerie Plame goes free. Even though we know that ol Turdblossom himself helped confirm some information to a NY Times reporter about Ms. Plame, it seems that some folks think they're above the law, and can use a scapegoat to shift attention and blame.

Blame for what you ask? Well...it's a long story, and here's my attempt at quickly summarizing: Ms. Plame (an undercover CIA agent) was co-incidentally outed by an unknown source after her husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV a former U.S. ambassador and harsh critic of President Bush’s Iraq policy, made comments that didn't support the Bush administration's claim that Saddam Hussein acquired uranium from some African nations. In an Op-Ed article in The New York Times on July 6, 2003, he wrote that those claims were “highly doubtful.”

Does anyone find it shocking and/or infuriating that a CI-frickin'-A UNDERCOVER agent was outed in order to dissuade comments made by a private citizen? Do we live in the Soviet Union? Aren't those agents supposed to be in place in order to provide for the general defense of this country?

It's not quite clear where the leak came from, but it's been suggested that Cheney and Rove had initiated it in order to punish/intimidate Ms. Plame and Mr. Wilson. Needless to say, someone got caught and had to face the music...enter fall guy Libby.

It's happened before: remember Lt. Col. Oliver North and Pres. Reagan? Iran-Contra arms scandal? Yeah. Well, ol' Ollie got to get the shaft on that one. People thought he was a hero because he was a good soldier and followed orders and didn't shame his Commander-in-Chief. Maybe he was. In either case, they both broke the law on someone else's initiative.

In any case, we, Americans, let this administration know that they could behave like this. We enabled this, dare I say, "regime" in the respect that in post-911 life, some personal liberties and freedoms could be forsaken for the greater good. The Bush administration took that flexibility we gave them, and used it to fortify the the neo-con, dare I say, fascist, bloc we have in Washington.

Regardless, we've just wasted millions of tax dollars on a court case to try a high-ranking former White House official who's protecting the real culprits who just happen to be some of the most influential and powerful leaders of the United States of America. Good use of tax dollars , you frickin' douchebags: read Cheney, Rove, and Dubya. Each of you should try to be a man of integrity for once, and admit some wrong-doing and culpability. If that means political seppeku, then so be it. You're all part of a lame-duck administration anyway. Don't make me pay for anymore of your legal costs.

And speaking of costs...do you know how much it costs to get the security clearance that Ms. Plame probably had? From my sources, I'm estimating somewhere between $300k-$700k, just for the funds on the books. That's all washed now unless she goes to work in the private sector. Hey! I hear Halliburton is hiring!