The end of last week saw a lot of outrage on the left. It was primarily directed towards the House Republican racism and xenophobia on display Thursday and Friday. Even left-wing rags like the NY Times and Wall Street Journal were outraged. There was less left-wing outrage directed towards President Obama's horrifying defense of CIA criminal John Brennan, a defense that will dog Obama's legacy for all time.
I've always been a law-and-order kind of guy. And yesterday I was horrified-- though not surprised-- when CIA Director John Brennan admitted the CIA had hacked Senate computers. Government officials do these kinds of things with alacrity because they know that even in the unlikely chance that they get caught, nothing happens to them anyway. Has Brennan been fired? Indicted? Jailed?
"These Phone Cops play hardball!" exclaimed Dr. Johnny Fever, who knew what there was to fear from those hordes of (gasp) Phone Cops. Who's to say the Phone Cops of the '70s and '80s haven't been given way to Twitter Cops?by KenFor some reason I didn't just delete an e-mail I got the other day, instructing me, by name: "Complete your Twitter profile today!"It was that exclamation point that got me -- an exclamation point, it should be noted, that wasn't present on the inside of the e-mail.
"When People Cheat, You Cannot As A Regulator Continue Business As Usual"You probably know by now that a great deal of Elizabeth Warren's new book, A Fighting Chance, deals with creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "I had no doubt-- zero-- that the banks should be held accountable for breaking the law," she wrote.
Plus update: At Mozilla, Prop 8 supporter is out"From now on, will there be more healthy skepticism about conservative claims against the ACA? Given how many times the law's enemies have said the sky was falling when it wasn't, will there be tougher interrogation of their next round of apocalyptic predictions?"-- E. J.
Look, I'm all for holding politicians accountable for their criminal behavior and abuse of power. After reading Barton Gellman's brilliant book on Cheney, Angler, I'm more convinced than ever that Cheney should be rotting in a prison for the rest of his short miserable life, along with David Addington, his chief hatchet man. During the first Bush-Cheney term, Cheney had his way on everything.
Last week I was stunned when I heard Rachel Maddow's first report on how Chris Christie took revenge on a mayor for partisan differences by essentially shutting down the traffic on the country's busiest bridge for a few days. Turns out, it's the world's busiest bridge-- and Friday, Maddow did a little update (above). The words "dangerous sociopath" come immediately to mind. I wonder how many voters will see this as the ultimate example of why a self-entitled bully like Christie must be kept as far away from lethal power as possible.
I'm a big fan of accountability-- especially for people who society rewards with positions of trust, honor and generous livings. Cheney, for example, committed treason against the U.S. Constitution, but his crimes were taken "off the table" and there was never a trial or justice. That encourages others to repeat his behavior. Not so in North Korea, an odd place to hold up as a paragon of… anything.Jang Song Thaek was the Cheney of North Korea. He was the top advisor to the relatively young North Korean hereditary ruler.
Fat Leonard (in the middle) is in jail in San Diego awaiting trialYesterday we lamented at the lack of accountability in high places for high crimes. Grayson talked about how Wall Street is still ignoring the law today because no one was punched for their criminal behavior leading up to the 2008 crash and Recession. And we pointed out how the Cheney gang had gotten away with all their depraved activities in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
