From Tom Dispatch:
Tomgram: Swanson and Schwarz, The New Investigation Season
At the moment, the spectacle of the I. Lewis Libby trial, of the den of thieves falling out, of the unraveling of old administration war stories, and of the possibility that, in the near future, the Vice President might appear in the witness stand for a grilling all occupy Washington's center stage along with a restless Congress, filled with unnerved representatives of the President's own Party, increasing numbers of whom are, by now, painfully aware that they are dealing with the delusional over the disastrous -- and have little idea what, exactly, to do about it.
In just the last week, Vice President Cheney has termed administration policy in Iraq a shining light in the firmament of war and peace-making ("Bottom line is that we've had enormous successes, and we will continue to have enormous successes…"); the President has praised some of the best units in Iraqi Army for "beginning to show me something" -- as it turns out, how to muff a military operation; various members of the administration and top military figures have been issuing threats of increasing intensity against Iran while the situation in the Middle East goes from! worse to worse yet; and, on the bright side, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, one of our commanders in Afghanistan, managed to hail the new year of 2007 in that embattled land this way: "I'd also like to say that this year's going to be a great year, as last year was, for detention operations in [sic] the United States."
And just imagine, the Congressional investigatory season hasn't even begun to gear up yet. It's in this spirit that I asked David Swanson, the ever energetic fellow who presides over Afterdowningstreet.org, among a small empire of oppositional organizations, and writes regularly for Tomdispatch.com, and Jonathan Schwarz to take a look ahead at what's in store for the American people in the coming months from their newly elected (or reelected) representatives -- what's likely to be investigated, what's not; what matters and why.
Tom
Beyond Oral Sex
The Bush Investigations
By David Swanson and Jonathan Schwarz
The last time Congress was controlled by the party in opposition to the White House, we all learned more than we cared to know about the uses of cigars. This time the need for investigations is much more serious. The Democrats are talking fast and furious about doing them, but they're not talking about doing the right ones -- and a month into their tenure, they've barely discovered where the bathrooms are.
As humorist Bob Harris enjoys saying about the Bush administration, "It's like a new Watergate every day with these people." Congress could probably spend three decades profitably examining the last six years of the Bush administration. Unfortunately, they'll have to do severe triage to select the areas of malfeasance where investigations will most benefit the country.
A recent ABC/Washington Post poll showed that the public (despite very little help from ABC News or the Washington Post) has it right. A majority picked the "should" option in response to both of these questions:
Click here to read more of this dispatch.
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