Overlooking Oversight

The stumbling Republicans can't seem to get anything right these days. Every time they open their mouths, they sound like petulant adolescents:

• Oily Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma scorns the science of global warming, and at a Senate hearing he repeatedly interrupted Al Gore to keep him from explaining the facts.
• Attorney General Alberto Gonzales peevishly complained to a group of senators that he doesn't have to explain his political personnel games with disloyal US attorneys. He sneered, "Why do I have to prove anything to you?"
• Spokesbot Tony Snow charged that Democrats' plan to wind down the Iraq War was "a recipe for defeat," but when CNN reporter Ed Henry asked what the administration's "recipe for success" might be, Snow snapped "Zip it!"
• When a reporter, doing his job, asked Karl Rove (Bush's substitute brain) about Gonzales's likely successor, Rove pointed to the media pool and growled, "How about you go over there and do your job?"

The leader of the pack, however, is still George Bush, who jabbed, grinned, pouted, threatened, and lied his way through a press conference on Tuesday. He blamed Democrats for playing politics when they pointed out why the eight US attorneys were fired—because the attorneys refused to play politics with their nonpolitical jobs, even though Bush and Gonzales wanted them to play politics (rather than going over there and doing their legal, nonpartisan jobs).

The New York Times characterized the press conference as "nasty and bumbling," and it was the second time this week that Bush placed himself in front of a shelf of books and a president's portrait to justify his lies. The books were meant to indicate that this is the sort of object he spends his time with, thinking deep thoughts and weighing with careful logic the wide variety of advice he receives. The portrait of Teddy Roosevelt on Monday was meant to imply that the worsening maelstrom of Iraq is really being transformed into a quick, victorious ride up San Juan Hill. The portrait of George Washington on Tuesday was meant to invoke the sacred power of the president to do as he wishes, since he will never tell a lie, neither about a cherry tree nor about attorneys' legal and moral duties.

But no one believes a word of it, and that is what has changed. Bush, Rove, Gonzales—weren't these the people who were on the verge of wiping out the Democratic Party? Weren't these the political geniuses who never misstepped and always covered their tracks? Not any more—and the reason they now look like Keystone Kops Meets Three Stooges is that they began to feel invulnerable and so became careless. For six years, a friendly Republican Congress enabled their crimes and lies, allowed them to ignore morality and legality, to feel themselves all-powerful and all-clever. They could do whatever they wanted, certain it would be overlooked.

No longer. Now the word is oversight. Democrats hold the gavels, and they are taking names and drawing up subpoenas.  By the way, that's Latin for "under pain."

Comments

[Simon P. Canard]

Scumbags and skalawags come and go, but hubris is forever. Gotta love it and keep hoping it notices the blood on our doorposts, eh.

Guess you heard why Bush taped his skulduggery in front of the White House bookshelves. He had already had a truck come and haul his personal library off to the new Presidential Library site in Austin. Sadly, the truck caught fire and destroyed both of his books. Worse yet, he hadn't even coloured one of them.