CHENEY'S SHOOTING SPREE A CONVENIENT DIVERSION FOR A WHITE HOUSE IN SHAMBLES

One would have to be irrational to conclude that Cheney coldly took out his shotgun and purposely let loose on poor old Harry Whittington to divert the easily divertable-- and inordinately short-- public attention span away from the far more serious matters he and Bush are having troubles with. But one would have to be incredibly naive to have not allowed it to cross one's mind.

Today's WASHINGTON POST goes into some detail about how last week's much ballyhooed congressional investigation into the Bush Regime's illegal spying scandal is losing steam inside the Beltway-- though not among actual Americans. (You remember that one, right? The real serious one that made everyone start talking about impeachment and made Karl Rove threaten the prostrate ass-lickers who make up the Republican Senate Caucus, particularly McCain, DeWine, Snowe, Hagel and a small gaggle of other fake moderates, with imperial displeasure and excommunication? Think, think... it was before Cheney shot Whittington in the face, neck and chest and left him to die for 2 hours before calling for medical help. The one where the pathetic, senile, old chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Pat Roberts (R-What's-Wrong-With-Kansas), pretty much said whatever Bush does is by definition legal...

"The Senate intelligence committee is scheduled to vote tomorrow on a Democratic-sponsored motion to start an inquiry into the recently revealed program in which the National Security Agency eavesdrops on an undisclosed number of phone calls and e-mails involving U.S. residents without obtaining warrants from a secret court. Two committee Democrats said the panel -- made up of eight Republicans and seven Democrats -- was clearly leaning in favor of the motion last week but now is closely divided and possibly inclined against it." Everyone insisted on anonymity, of course, but both Democrats and Republicans admit that pressure from the White House, particularly from Rove and Cheney, has been "intense" and, according to Jay Rockefeller, the ranking Dem on the committee, "heavy-handed." (In fact, yesterday Cheney chose to make his point, fresh from his hunt, at a secret, Republicans-only meeting on Capitol Hill.)

"Lawmakers cite senators such as Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) to illustrate the administration's success in cooling congressional zeal for an investigation. On Dec. 20, she was among two Republicans and two Democrats who signed a letter expressing 'our profound concern about recent revelations that the United States Government may have engaged in domestic electronic surveillance without appropriate legal authority.' The letter urged the Senate's intelligence and judiciary committees to 'jointly undertake an inquiry into the facts and law surrounding these allegations.' In an interview yesterday, Snowe said, 'I'm not sure it's going to be essential or necessary'..."

Combine this with the cascading and deepening financial and bribery scandals, more scary details of the Cheney-Libby-Gonzales-Rove conspiracy and cover-up of the outing of Valerie Plame as an undercover CIA agent and you will see plenty of reasons why the Regime would be kind of desperate to re-focus the public's attention on some kind of dead-end soap opera. As usual, no one sums it all up better than Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold who asks "If Democrats won't stand up to an executive who doesn't worry about trampling the rights of innocent Americans, what do we stand for?" Hmmmm... I was wondering about that last night too.

"It took a long time for Democrats to step up and challenge the administration's baseless assertions that the Patriot Act could not be changed without threatening the security of the American people. When we finally did so, when we decided to make the case that we can fight terrorism and protect our American principles at the same time, it looked like Democrats were finally ready to stand on principle and offer strong leadership. Instead, too many Democrats have folded, and momentum for critical changes to the Patriot Act to protect our freedoms has been squandered. Some Democrats may be breathing sighs of relief that the president can't use this issue to paint them as "soft" on terrorism. But we're not doing the party or the country any favors by refusing to challenge an administration that views our freedoms as collateral damage in the war on terrorism. If Democrats aren't going to stand up to an executive who disdains the other branches of government and doesn't worry about trampling on the rights of innocent Americans, what do we stand for? Expect Democrats and some Republicans to insist that they have won some significant improvements to the Patriot Act. Don't believe it. The few minor concessions they got from the White House are a fig leaf to disguise a complete about-face. Thanks to this deal, the White House will be emboldened in its fear-mongering, Democrats will be perceived as timid, and the American people will still face the prospect of government intrusion into their private affairs. Some deal."


WEDNESDAY 2PM UPDATE: BUSH SPYING SCANDAL GETS WORSE-- MUCH WORSE

UPI is reporting that a NSA whistleblower has told the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security that there is another ongoing top-secret surveillance program that might have violated millions of Americans' Constitutional rights. Russell Tice claims this program is "far more wide-ranging than the warrentless wiretapping recently exposed by the New York Times but he is forbidden from discussing the program with Congress." I think Cheney may have to start shooting actual members of Congress to make this one go away!


WEEKEND ENTERTAINMENT UPDATE: AEROSMITH MEETS DICK CHENEY

Such a nice song: "Cheney's Got A Gun," and no download necessary.


WEDNESDAY MORNING UPDATE: STILL WANT MORE ON THE CHENEY SHOOTING SPREE?

I now realize that the story of this soap opera is more than the just the ridiculous diversion from the real crimes of the Bush Regime I originally thought it was. The other day my youngest sister, Fern, called from New York to wish me a happy birthday and almost immediately asked me what I think about the Cheney shooting. I mentioned that I thought Bush's give-away of 6 of our most important ports, including the one in NYC near where she and her family live, is far more important-- as are Bush's Constitution shredding and law-breaking activities involved with domestic spying. I lost her. Her interest in the deprecations of the Bush Regime, like so many, many citizens, gets lost in the haze. The Cheney shooting spree is easy and fun-- and just like a TV reality show! I'm rolling with it now. Everybody who's into it should read Tom Engelhardt's wonderful story at AntiWar.com today , "A Quailhawk's Cakewalk".