From truthdig.com :
Molly Ivins: The Best Little Whorehouse in Washington
Posted on May 8, 2006
By Molly Ivins
AUSTIN, Texas—Of course I am above sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. So serious a servant of the public interest am I, I can fogey with the best: On my better days, I make David Broder look like Page Six.
I don’t care what anyone smoked 20 years ago, I approve of those who boogie ‘til they puke, and I don’t care who anyone in politics is screwing in private, as long as they’re not screwing the public.
On other hand, if you expect me to pass up a scandal involving poker, hookers and the Watergate building with crooked defense contractors and the No. 3 guy at the CIA, named Dusty Foggo (Dusty Foggo?! Be still my heart), you expect too much. Any journalist who claims Hookergate is not a legitimate scandal is dead—has been for some time and needs to be unplugged. In addition to sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, Hookergate is rife with public interest questions, misfeasance, malfeasance and non-feasance, and many splendid moral points for the children. Recommended for Sunday school use, grades seven and above.
But for starters, let us consider the unenviable record of Porter Goss at the CIA. From the beginning of his tenure, Goss has been criticized for politicizing the agency. He brought a bunch of political hacks with him for staff, one of whom turns out to be the poker player called “Nine Fingers.” And in the end, he was likely fired for not having politicized the agency sufficiently.
What is the point of politicizing an intelligence agency? So the CIA officials would get a report from some agent in Iraq saying, “Looks bad.” The first thing they’d ask was, “Is this agent a Republican or a Democrat?”
Maybe there really are conservatives who believe everything in Iraq is hunky-dory and there’s a giant media conspiracy to hide the joyous tidings. But as you may recall, the ever-nimble minds at Donny Rumsfeld’s shop have already tried paying public relations people to invent good news about Iraq and then plant it in newspapers there—it didn’t work.
In fact, it was so stupid it was humiliating. Fortunately, the Pentagon was once again able to investigate itself and determine it had done nothing illegal.
So now they’re turning the CIA over to a general who not only ran the warrantless wiretap program, but still can’t figure out that it’s unconstitutional. Why do I get the feeling this is W. and Karl again flipping the finger at some grown-up they don’t like?
Hayden had mixed reviews as director of the National Security Agency—he’s evidently not a good manager, which makes him a perfect Bushie. But is he straightforward enough to have admitted some warrantless spying has been done for political reasons? None of the usual Washington insiders seems to have a bead on this. Hayden would theoretically report to John Negroponte, Bush’s supposed intelligence czar. Negroponte is widely considered worthless. His major achievement so far seems to be organizational charts and buying furniture.
You know me, no conspiracy theories here, but the Bush administration, which doesn’t seem to be able to run much, set out to retool the CIA after 9-11 and the Iraq War. Problem is, everything that worked at the CIA—that it warned about 9-11 and said the Iraq War was a bad idea—was on the hit list. The Bushies wanted to eliminate the people who were right and promote those who were wrong. This is no way to shape up an intelligence agency, not to mention the White House spit fit over Joe Wilson’s wife.
Next, we need to contemplate sincere, old-fashioned, non-ideological greed, theft and bribery. In the beginning, there was only Duke Cunningham, the high-living, fun-loving super-patriot congressman from San Diego. His yacht was called “The Duke-Stir,” and he had nice taste in 19th century French commodes. While we are all happy to see our elected representatives enjoying themselves in Washington, that’s real people’s money. Actually, the yacht and commode were paid for by Brent Wilkes (keep an eye on that player), the crooked defense contractor. It was people’s money that paid for the defense contracts Wilkes bribed public officials into landing for his clients.
The former inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, Clark Kent Ervin—that would be the DHS equivalent of a police department’s internal affairs chief—tried to blow the whistle on shady contracts at DHS and instead was thrown overboard himself. Folks, we’ll never get government straightened out again if we don’t keep the IGs strong and independent.
If the Bush administration continues to fall apart at this clip, I think we’ll be grateful for incompetence as an excuse.
To find out more about Molly Ivins and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.
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2 comments:
Watcher...Of course there are good things that have happened in Iraq, but unfortunately they're badly outnumbered by horrendous things..like the daily killings of both Iraqis and Americans/coalition troops. When it comes to the MSM, their #1 thing is, "If it bleeds, it leads". Check your local paper and you'll see what I mean. Only other things are mostly sex scandals..especially if they involve politicians or stars of any kind.
Spoken like someone who has never seen combat and doesn't know shit
from Shinola about the world we live in. For whatever it is worth,
from someone else who has never seen combat, but can tell the
difference.
1. We are at war only in the sense of a phrase that turned
well in the midst of crisis. When the history of this time is
written, the "war on terror" will be characterized as will be the
"war on poverty," except the war on poverty worked a whole lot
better, not because we brought much to bear on the problem but
because there was, in fact, a problem.
2. There has not been another hit on our soil, not because
of anything we have done, but because it just hasn't happened yet --
unless you believe that I haven't had tigers in my yard since I put
bottles of pink liquid on the corners of my property. And if you
believe either of those, I have a stock tip for you.
3. If you have been paying attention, the species has been
in constant fear for its safety for about 50 years. And why not?
One the most powerful nations in the history of the species have the
firepower to vaporize everything that lives, save for the termites
and ants. Two, the most heavily populated people on the globe
(Chinese) can cultivate but one-fifth of its territory (China), which
means as their population grows, they will need land, and they, like
everyone else with the firepower, will ask for a good price, and if
they don't get it, they'll take what they need. Three, oh hell, must
I draw a goddamned picture?
4. "We have made real progress?" What the hell are you
reading, if anything? Do you get that crap from wordless coloring
books? Progress at what? Building schools? For whom? Hospitals?
For whom? There were schools and hospitals in 2002. The women are
better off? Really? Evidence? This is a classic case of destroying
the place in order to save it. Progress?? Not if one of the 2300
plus, and counting, and the thousands of brutally wounded, and
counting, happen to be one of your sons, daughters, fathers, mothers,
sisters, brothers. Someone said they shudder to think of what we'd
have to deal with had Al Gore been elected in 2000. Don't shudder.
There would be 2300, and counting, people who didn't have to mourn
for dead relatives and friends. Oh, and there would still be Bib
Laden at large
5. Securing a democracy? Do you know nothing at all?
Democracy isn't secured for one people by another. A free society is
taken, never given. Note the modifier: NEVER. There is a reason
for that.
6. Media propaganda? If it's propaganda, it belongs to the
people who propagandize, not the reporters.
7. We get truth, always. We just have to be smart enough to
see it. There are, in fact, three truths, always: Mine, Yours, and
the Real One. How many of us have the courage to know which is which?
That's a start.
Leif
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