If this was a soap opera this latest saga between Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the CIA and the Republican obfuscation agenda would be called: The Lying Liars and the Lies. If you believe that Pelosi didn't know the methods of interrogation being used by the CIA and others in the government I've got a nice padded cell to recommend to you because you must be crazy! Now having said that, I am fairly certain ALL the elected officials who were in office during the Bush administration had some inkling of the shadiness that went down. It wouldn't be too far fetched to think many of them were directly involved, profited from it in some way or turned a blind eye to it just to get by.
This is why the President is not going to bring former President Bush, Vice President Cheney or the other war profiteers to justice. The Democrats are up to their eyeballs in the mud just like the Republicans. Perhaps they weren't giving the orders but collectively they did nothing to stop it either. We know the typical politician's first rule of thumb is to self-protect and Pelosi has been at this for a very long time. The art of negotiation and strategizing can be a slippery slope where hanging on may be...difficult. Trying to fight the good fight may mean doing it alone.
We can look to how Cynthia McKinney has been treated unfairly and hung out to dry as an example of someone who stuck out their neck and got nicked. Had she been cozying up to lobbyists and doing harm to her former constituents she'd still be in Congress and a member of the Democratic party. Nancy don't play that! She had some rather harsh words about how the CIA "mislead" Congress but has since adopted a more conciliatory tone.
It is no coincidence that as Pelosi is working on a comprehensive health care plan for the country this attack occurs. That's a rabbit hole we'll never emerge from! This ties into why the President wasn't volunteering to release the latest round of photos showing "terror suspects" being tortured. The big picture here is that the Bush administration and its supporters violated terms of the Geneva Convention. Far too many of the general voting public went right along with it after the drum beats of war were sounded post-9/11. Remember that nonsense about changing the name of French fries to Freedom fries?
So we are all somewhat responsible and we have to learn our lessons so we don't repeat them. We have to stop letting politicians attach a false morality to everything they do - and don't do. It would be so nice if these Republicans would spend as much time being constructive as they are at running these schemes. Some would rather see people in despair, ill, unemployed and left to fend for themselves than seek solutions to problems. From their blocking needle exchange programs in the 90's to slow the spread of AIDS to this latest bully pulpit, denial only makes things worse.
As our current President seeks to rebuild goodwill around the world and rebuild the infrastructure in this country nothing's going to change unless we work for it. We have to uphold a minimum standard and block obstructionism from members of the political parties, corporations and individuals. Pelosi will more than likely emerge from this latest non-troversy unscathed but will we?
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