Laundry day for the Bush Administration

[Eki]

The Bush administration has left a lot of dirty laundry behind. I'm sure more will follow:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/24/tillman.hearing/index.html


Soldier: Army ordered me not to tell truth about Tillman
POSTED: 6:44 a.m. EDT, April 25, 2007

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The last soldier to see Army Ranger Pat Tillman alive, Spc. Bryan O'Neal, told lawmakers that he was warned by superiors not to divulge -- especially to the Tillman family -- that a fellow soldier killed Tillman.

O'Neal particularly wanted to tell fellow soldier Kevin Tillman, who was in the convoy traveling behind his brother at the time of the 2004 incident in Afghanistan.

"I wanted right off the bat to let the family know what had happened, especially Kevin, because I worked with him in a platoon and I knew that he and the family all needed to know what had happened," O'Neal testified. "I was quite appalled that when I was actually able to speak with Kevin, I was ordered not to tell him."

Asked who gave him the order, O'Neal replied that it came from his battalion commander, then-Lt. Col. Jeff Bailey.

"He basically just said ... 'Do not let Kevin know, that he's probably in a bad place knowing his brother's dead,' " O'Neal told House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman. "And he made it known I would get in trouble, sir, if I spoke with Kevin on it being fratricide."

The military instead released a "manufactured narrative" detailing how Pat Tillman died leading a courageous counterattack in an Afghan mountain pass, Kevin Tillman told the committee. (Watch Kevin Tillman accuse the military of lying Video)

Also Tuesday, former Pfc. Jessica Lynch told the House panel that the military lied about her capture.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/04/24/rove.probe/index.html


Agency investigating Rove's political operation
POSTED: 9:51 p.m. EDT, April 24, 2007

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A small federal agency responsible for safeguarding federal employees from political coercion has launched an extensive investigation into the activities of the White House's political operation and its architect, Karl Rove.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel is looking into whether Rove -- President Bush's longtime trusted political strategist -- or other White House aides violated federal law by making political presentations to government employees in the run-up to last year's midterm elections.

"We will do a thorough job. We will not leave any stone unturned," said Scott Bloch, a Kansas lawyer appointed by Bush to head the agency in 2003. "We will be fair, we will be impartial, and we will be thorough."

[Mark in Oshawa]

Eki, first off, Tilllman's death was a shame. God knows the Americans are the masters of "Friendly fire". The cover up wasn't by Bush or anyone in his office I suspect, it was by the US Army, who are image conscious and some officer somewhere should be hanging his head in shame.

As for them investigating Rove, well, just remember that there was tons of investigations of the Clintons as well, and their staff. What is more, there was lots of evidence of wrong doing with the Clinton's, but nothing that could be pinned right solid to them to get an impeachment or a charge. People dying, files missing, FBI investigations of people who were "disloyal" to the Clinton presidency......

I hate to bust your bubble Eki, but your hatred of George W Bush is nothing compared to that of the Democratic Party in the US, and they always digging up some reason to "investigate" and have been for the last 7 years. In the end, they got one suspect in "Scooter" Libby who basically was nailed for mentioning the name of a "spy" who was already not a spy, and whose name was on the lips of most of official Washington because she was married to a guy who did work for the Bush and was pissed they didn't listen to him.

IN short, what really is a scandal in the US political scene may not really be much of anything. This holds true for every US adminstration. If the Republicans are in power, the Democrats want to nail the guy and vice versa. It is their way of having a 4 year election cycle. In a 2 party system, this is the only way to get the momentum up every 4 years to take back the White House.

Tillman's death and the coverup isn't being hooked to Bush. Period. So you can forget that wet dream you have...and as for Rove being investigated, he isn't half as slimy as James Carville and some of the stunts he pulled keeping Clinton in power.....and he never got busted either. Good luck with that....

[BDunnell]

IN short, what really is a scandal in the US political scene may not really be much of anything. This holds true for every US adminstration.

This is one of the reasons why I feel we get off lightly in the UK with our politicians. In my experience, there is genuinely a low amount of corruption on the British political scene. I believe that this is because the amounts of money involved in electioneering are far lower in the UK, and the restrictions on spending are tighter. There are other factors — I believe we have a more lively, questioning media. This is of course not to say that there are not many aspects of UK politics that irritate the hell out of me, and things that deserve to be exposed.

Other nations that make me thankful that our political class is the way it is (for all its faults) include Italy and France.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Actually, the US press is more anti Republican but they do question all politicians, and it is a reason Americans generally hold them in low esteem at times. Also, for all the talk of corruption, Ameircans are less likely to be actually corrupt, for god knows they have a ton of checks and balances.

There is a level of corruption in all democratic countries, but you should never tolerate too much of it, but understand it is unavoidable...

[BDunnell]

Actually, the US press is more anti Republican but they do question all politicians, and it is a reason Americans generally hold them in low esteem at times.

I do partake in the US media from time to time, and I always feel that the US (and most other countries, come to that) are more reverential towards politicians than are the media in the UK. I prefer our approach to political coverage to that of almost every other country I know. This is a tradition that goes back a very, very long way, of course, and is a completely different discussion.