But, But The Documents...
Remember how Republicans defended the impeachment of Clinton, despite Democratic arguments about the despicable manner in which Starr ran his investigation, the Mother of All Abuses of Prosecutorial Power? Starr's conduct didn't matter, all that mattered was what Clinton had done.
Cut to 2004, when the right-wing is all ga-ga about whether the National Guard documents used by Dan Rather and CBS were false. But what about the underlying story? It doesn't matter, we're told. And you know why they say that? Because they know (and IGNORE) the fact that the underlying story was TRUE. After the independent panel began to investigate the story, CBS hired a private investigator and former FBI agent, Erik T. Rigler, from Safir Rosetti, the corporate private investigation firm founded by former Rudy Giuliani police commissioner Howard Safir. Here's what Rigler learned:
"Likely true." Oh, and let's not forget what was said by the secretary who worked for Killian, the Lt. Col. who supposedly wrote the memos in question:In any case, Mr. Rigler went on to say that interviews with former National
Guardsmen were leading him to believe the truth of the documents, if not their
authenticity."It was so well known for years at Camp Avery about Bush and
his failure to serve in the Texas Air National Guard," he said, referring to the
base where Mr. Bush had been stationed in the early 1970s. "It was just so
very, very common. You know, he didn't even show up out there during his whole
eight-year tenure as governor and commander in chief of the Texas Air National
Guard - not once did he go to Camp Avery. So most people just sort of looked at
him as a draft dodger. They didn't hold him in very high regard at
all."
He continued: "The story - and I'm talking to some people at Camp Avery - the
story about the files, the non-service, the memos, stuff like that, had floated
around for years. For that reason, it makes you think it's likely true."
Killian's former wife, son and secretary all questioned the validity of theYou don't hear a lot about that in the right-wing blogs, do you? But you heard a lot about bogus allegations about John Kerry and his Purple Hearts.
memos, though his secretary said they did reflect his views at the time about Bush. She also said she typed a similar memo but not the one that was broadcast by CBS.
Another Filibuster in the Making?
In 1995, Republicans saw fit to successfully filbuster President Clinton's nominee for surgeon general, Dr. Henry Foster, on the ground that Dr. Foster had performed abortions in the past.
Hmm.
So what should Democrats do with a nominee to be U.N. Ambassador who has publicly stated that "there is no such thing as a United Nations" and, particularly significant after September 11, 2001, has also stated that "if the U.N. secretary building in New York lost 10 stories, it wouldn't make a bit of difference"?
