Steve, your Valerie Plame link needs an http:// before the www -- otherwise, it's trying to find that site on thewashingtonnote.com

Sad is the day when you have to look back wistfully at the time of the Watergate prosecutions, when there were people around like Archibald Cox, Leon Jaworski, Elliot Richardson and William Ruckleshaus. When people like Colin Powell can't or won't stand up, but do the President's bidding, even when it involves lying to the world, we will continue to slip in world opinion. Someone should have told Colin that the Secretary of State is not just another good soldier following the orders of his Commander-in-Chief. Even old Bob Woodward is not the man he used to be. Instead of doing the hard work of hitting the bricks to dig out pertinent information, writing it up with dynamic investigative reporting, publishing it on a timely basis in the newspaper, and then writing the book about their investigation and how it changed the world, he is now only interested in book sales. When he finds himself privy to a piece of actionable, newsworthy information, he sits on it until the honor of being the first reporter to whom that information was imparted, is attributed to someone else. Then, of course, he has to come forward to claim the glory, even though he was a) only at the right place at the right time while doing completely different research for another presumably more lucrative project, b) it's unclear whether he even recognized the information he had was newsworthy and c) it seems likely he didn't want to get involved with the investigation until he thought there was something in it for him. Our Constitution is being used as toilet paper by those who are supposed to enforce it. Our Bill of Rights is being shredded before our eyes and we appear to be powerless to do anything about it because our representative government is too busy tending to corporate interests and its own financial ends to deal with the necessary hearings and investigations to resolve the problems. The Supreme Court has gone from appointing the first US President ever to having to slap him upside the head to get his attention so they can tell him his job is not just to execute the law, he must also obey it. We find ourselves in a war that was misrepresented to us going in and was apparently so mismanaged that we can't even supply security, much less rehabilitate the country we've occupied for the last three plus years. Now we have a Special Prosecutor whose purview is apparently so restrictive that he can't make a case for conspiracy even though it seems obvious that the President and many of his top aides conspired to abuse the power of their offices to thwart a whistleblower. While I appreciate the fact that Patrick Fitzgerald is no Ken Starr, who exhibited partisan behavior with his very unsubtle attempt to try the President in the press, he certainly seems impotent compared to Archibald Cox and Leon Jaworski.

We do have some people with the courage to come forward and speak truth to power. People like Joe Wilson, Paul O'Neill, Richard Clarke, several CIA people, the six or seven generals who have spoken out, and others too numerous to mention, but I'm not sure if the majority of the citizenry is listening above the din of corruption and incompetence, much less paying attention. This year is an extremely important election year, which will give us the opportunity to start to turn things around. But I can't help being reminded of the old saying, "What if they gave a war and nobody came?" and how changing one word would affect us. "What if they gave an election and nobody came?"

Ann....totally agree.

"but I'm not sure if the majority of the citizenry is listening above the din of corruption and incompetence, much less paying attention. This year is an extremely important election year, which will give us the opportunity to start to turn things around. But I can't help being reminded of the old saying, "What if they gave a war and nobody came?" and how changing one word would affect us. "What if they gave an election and nobody came?"

Especially about the "paying attention". I don't know the stats but I would guess about a third of the public is actually informed or has any real facts because let's face it, there are few free or unslanted MSM outlets. Probably only those of us who read the overseas papers and stick to relatively objective sites like this and do some research homework on our own have any idea what is really happening.

But I do think the vast majority of people, conservative and liberal, do have a sense something has gone very very wrong with America even if they haven't followed the bread crumb trail well enough to know the whole story.

Listening today for instance to the orwellian spin in the US media about the Israeli actions I could only think of the old Ministry of Propaganda in Germany.

Grumble,grumble...o.k. I will donate the cost of my lobster cookout this weekend...I am rapidly going broke putting my money where my big mouth is...but this is too delicious to past up.

I donated to the End the Occupation yesterday and to the CNI several weeks ago for their NYT ad on AIPAC..maybe I can recoup all my cost when I do a book about how my vacation was ruined when I landed on the goverment's no fly list for donating to terrorist organizations.

I met Amb. Wilson at YearlyKos. He's as hot, articulate, smart and sweet as he looks.

Ok, I'm smitten but ya gotta believe me.

Geez Vachon me thinks you doth gush too much.

~~~but I'm not sure if the majority of the citizenry is listening above the din of corruption and incompetence, much less paying attention. This year is an extremely important election year, which will give us the opportunity to start to turn things around. But I can't help being reminded of the old saying, "What if they gave a war and nobody came?"~~~

Yep and what really frustrates the hell out of me is when I try as I might to point out factual content in the news people just get a blank look on their face and I see them tuning me out. If this is the electorate we are in big trouble.

excellent discussion

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