Posted on 09/09/2005 2:37:36 PM PDT by Carl/NewsMax
If President Bush is upset that former national security advisor Sandy Berger destroyed top secret terrorism documents in a bid to obstruct the 9/11 Commission investigation, he sure has a strange way of showing it.
In June, two months after Berger pled guilty to what some say is the most serious crime ever committed by a senior White House official - Bush invited him to the White House, where, according to the Associated Press, the disgraced former Clinton advisor was trotted out to voice support for CAFTA legislation.
Yesterday D.C. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson rejected a plea worked out for Berger by the Bush Justice Department, saying the $10,000 fine and 3-year security suspension arranged by Public Integrity Section chief Noel Hillman was way too lenient.
Robinson quintupled the fine and sentenced Berger to 100 hours of community service, saying that Hillman's recommendation didn't "sufficiently reflect the seriousness of the offense."
President Bush, however, apparently didn't agree. Two months after Mr. Hillman filed the ridiculously light plea bargain, Bush rewarded him with an appointment to the federal bench.
Good thing Judge Robinson's sentence left Mr. Berger's security suspension in place. Otherwise he might be on the short list for FEMA director.
The key qualifier: "in public". Who knows what concessions he may be extracting privately?
Ben Franklin is a beloved figure today partly because he behaved the same way Bush does - he never directly contradicted anyone in public, and didn't participate in the nasty rhetoric of the times. Maybe Bush is just looking forward to the judgment of history.
I think that Sandy Burglar should do hard time myself. But I'm not sure your claim is entirely fair. Remember that Oliver North destroyed classified documents, and worse (IMHO) removed them from a secure location, then illegally modified and returned them. That was (literally) Orwellian, and he wasn't even charged with a crime, let alone given a soft plea bargain.
(Sorry, this is a soapbox issue for me. Documents aside it irritated me at the time most that Ollie was treated as a hero when in fact he was, on multiple grounds, a f.u. who was among the most responsible for screwing up the whole operation, for its most nonsensical aspects, and for making it vulnerable to exposure. The fact that he clearly thought of himself as a competent manager of confidential operations was more infuriating, or comical, still. Anyway he's in a harmless position now so I suppose I shouldn't rant.)
Well, only if you had authority over the Justice Department (is that a misnomer or what?).
We have a government that is no longer accountable to the people. They do what they want, and "We the People" and the Constitution be damned.
This comment and attitude proves you are not afflicted with the decency gene.
If it were that he only did not say anything bad about anyone, then I may not have a beef; but the fact is that he patronizes (sucks up to) some of the worst offenders!
Bush is not a historian, he is President of the United States. With that title comes moral leadership whether he likes it or not. It is moral and right to speak up and say something is wrong when it's wrong. Bush says he is a Christian, and part of being a Christian is to be "salt and light." I don't see much of it.
He swore a solemn oath to uphold and protect the Republic and the Constitution.
This makes him a damned liar.
You're right ..... or to the bottom of anything else.
I'm still awaiting for another lame Warren Report.
;-)
LOL. And what are "we the people" going to do about it? Answer -- nothing.
Think of something -- remember when the anti-war protesters got together in great numbers back about 40 years ago. When do you think there will be a massive protest today against anything that you care about.
When the abominable CFR was passed there was no real protest at all. It was amazing -- same with the Supreme Court's sick decision on eminent domain. There never is real protest or action by "we the people". The people (we the people) are fat, dumb, and somnambulant! There will be NO protest.
"We the people" will take all the "crap" the government spews out. The good times are over for this nation unless there is a major change in the CHARACTER of "we the people", and that's nowhere in the near future!
Just as you saw the degraded character of the welfare/dependency class in New Orleans this past week, on a different level, a great many other Americans all over the country are short of character also, and are incapable of "stepping up". Just as the children have been dumbed down" by the schools, character has been "dumbed down" by the media and the entertainment businesses, and it's been done consciously.
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To sum up......... the people will take all the crap that comes their way from their government........... they lost their backbone a while back.
I like Newsmax, but their headlines are often very misleading and outrightly FALSE!
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Fix that, Newsmax. It makes you look bad!
Related too.
A more experienced judge probably would have cut his fine in half and suspended the "community service."
The Ruling Class always protects them selves.
As I said, this judge is at the top of her career ladder.
IMHO, Bush-and Cheney, BTW, own Burger.
Yeah, and damn justice and the truth...
NWO Elitists covering for other NWO elitists -- so what else is new?
Yeah ... Bush oftentimes doesn't quite seem to grasp certain issues. He awards former Director of the CIA Tenet the Presidential Medal of Freedom ... Tenet a Clinton era hold over was probably the poorest excuse for CIA Director in its history.
I wish that were the case but I have yet to see anything done by the government that the citizens will not eventually just shut up and take it.
To ALL: What would be the final straw for you? I suspect there won't be many responses to that question.
"...and 3-year security suspension arranged by Public Integrity Section chief Noel Hillman was way too lenient."
He should completely lose his clearence and never be allowed to hold even an FOUO again.
I think you are right, President Bush is nice but it would please me to see him kick a$$ from time to time. Sandy the Burglar is one time.
Thank you.
Cogent is my middle name. 'Always' is my first.
;-)
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