So, as I was driving home yesterday I happened to tune my XM over to a station where the "President" was speaking. Apparently he is just now learning of this scandal within his "Justice" Department and decided to make a few comments (I am being sarcastic here of course. The truth is, the scandal is getting so big that he HAD to finally say SOMETHING about it!). Now, I am generally a mellow kind of guy, never too up and never too down. It takes a lot for me to get worked up. With that said, by the end of the "President's" speech I was yelling, cursing and making angry gestures at my XM player (Dear XM player: My apologies if I scared you!). I am sure I seemed as silly to the passers-by as I felt. I just could not contain the rage fueled by his words yesterday. Now that I have calmed down a bit (Not to worry, I will not curse at you Mr. Dell computer screen), please allow me a moment to explain and justify the reasons for my anger on this issue.

As any loyal reader to this blog would know, I have been on this Gonzales topic for about a week now (here and here). If I were better about blogging everyday (and if I always had the time!), there would have undoubtedly been even more on the subject. I, personally, just really feel this scandal, when you break it down and examine all the little pieces it contains, gets to the core of all the things wrong with these immature, petty and dangerous "men" who are running our country at the moment. This scandal is about the politization and polarization of EVERYTHING and EVERYONE in this country, even those who shouldn't be (judges, teachers, scientists, etc). This scandal is about thuggish mafia type tactics used to force everyone to fall in line and not question "daddy" (read: "President"). This scandal (which happened 2 years ago by the way) is about how bad things can become and how far an administration will reach when there is no accountability, no check or balance coming from the other branches of government. And finally, this scandal, once revealed, yet again displays the administration's reluctance to come clean and be held accountable for their actions. (For further examples of non-accountability, read: 9/11, Valerie Plame, Katrina, John Bolton, Downing Street Memo)

Ok? So what? This scandal, just like all the others, again shows how evil these people are and with what contempt that they hold the American people and our Democratic form of government. Ho hum. Move on. Nothing new here. Why so angry? Well...There was just something in the "President's" tone yesterday, something about the vile nature of the accusations leveled at Congressional Democrats, and something about the talking points that sent me over the proverbial edge. (By the way, the talking points are being repeated ad nausea today. For a fun drinking game listen for them and take a shot: "scoring political points", "partisan fishing expedition", "show trials", "serve at the pleasure of the President", "Clinton did it too") That stuff set the scene. But, I think it was his nerve to suggest that what he is offering as "help" in this investigation should be taken seriously that I think made me yell.

If you missed the speech or if you haven't read there text, here is a quick synopsis: Congress wants - hearings where involved individuals (Rove, Miers, Gonzales, etc) testify under oath and on the record. Bush offers - closed door, not under oath and off the record chats with said individuals. He also says that any attempts by Congress to get anything more than he is offering will be met with great resistance from him. That is his "olive branch" offer in a nutshell. How dare he offer something like that?! And how dare he say that if the Democrats don't accept this B.S. offer then they are just playing "partisan politics"! GRR! See, now I am getting all angry again (and Mr. Dell is starting to get nervous), so I should probably end this here for now.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the next few days and weeks, especially given this latest piece of breaking news: House panel defies Bush, votes for subpoenas. Go them! THAT is why we elected them this past November; to get this country back on track and to hold this administration's wrong doings of the past 6 years up for public scrutiny. Now, let's sit back and enjoy the show!

Thanks for reading...