Has Bush’s Day of Reckoning Finally Arrived?

It has been yet another bad week for the Bush administration. Libby’s conviction, public hearings on the disgraceful treatment of wounded soldiers at Walter Reed, and revelations of strong arming and terminating US attorneys for political purposes. Is anyone really surprised by all of this? I have been saying for years that Bush’s day of reckoning would come, and when it did it would be bad....really bad.

So now what?

Scooter Libby’s trial painted an alarming picture of a White House who will stop at nothing to discredit and destroy anyone who acts in opposition to the (Vice) President’s policies. In the wake of these disclosures the public must demand full disclosure on exactly what happened behind the scene at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the lead up to the war. I am not calling for yet another presidentially appointed “independent” counsel, I am talking about subpoena’s from Congress, and public hearings under oath. The Democrats promised to do this during the election, now it is time for them to keep their promise.

Walter Reed is a tragic, and utterly disgraceful example of how much Bush, who despite his rhetoric, really couldn't care less about the troops. In public Bush accuses Democrats of not supporting them, yet privately he cuts the budget for veterans benefits. Regardless, everyone shares some of the blame here, not just Republicans. For all of their hawkish talk about their admiration of our service men, where were John McCain and John Murtha (just to name a few) through all of this? If they were truly as involved as they claim to be in the welfare of our soldiers shouldn't they have been concerned about conditions at our country's “premier” veterans hospital long ago? This problem needs to be remedied immediately in a bipartisan manner, and with the appropriate funding.

Gonzales’ justice department has been an institution of deplorable jurisprudence which rarely if ever challenges Bush’s policies. Waterboarding, Guantanamo Bay, and now the ousting of 8 US Attorneys are just the tip of the iceberg for how far Gonzales is willing to go to help Bush, and presumably secure himself a seat on the Supreme Court. Gonzales must testify at the very least about any political pressure that was applied to those attorneys who were released during the election, and he must do so under oath.

So will any of these things ever actually happen? It’s in Pelosi’s court right now. But I suggest that she and the Democrats act now, and work on growing one of these.