THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VIII, Issue # 4, January 5, 2006
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
REPUBLICAN CULPABILITY FOR REPUBLICAN WOES
By Christopher G. Adamo
PRESIDENTIAL & CONGRESSIONAL POLITICS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.: EXISTENCE OF A WASHINGTON POLITICAL
ESTABLISHMENT THAT PLACES ITSELF ABOVE THE LAW -- FAILURE OF THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION & THE REPUBLICAN
MAJORITY IN CONGRESS TO HOLD THE DEMOCRATS IN THE CLINTON PRESIDENCY ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE ABUSES OF
POWER & OTHER CRIMES THEY COMMITTED WHILE HOLDING FEDERAL OFFICE -- MORALLY BANKRUPT REPUBLICANS
ABETTING DEMOCRATS IN SUPPRESSING THE BARRETT REPORT, WHICH WOULD EXPOSE MAJOR MALFEASANCE WITHIN
THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION
FULL STORY:
A mindset of “acceptable risk” is spreading throughout the U.S. national
government with regards to the War on Terror. The most recent example of
this dangerous behavior involves the USA Patriot Act, which appears to be in its
death throes, if not already defunct.
Granted, the Patriot Act has its flaws, and could stand some revision. But
could the U.S. Congress actually contemplate a resurrection of the
abominable security roadblocks that left the country vulnerable to 9-11? At
this point, it seems this possibility is something that our heroic “leaders”
in Washington are at least willing to ponder.
Unfortunately, the Patriot Act suffers from a widespread and undeserved
reputation as a dire threat to the civil liberties of law-abiding Americans.
Yet, the worst aspect of the present quandary is that, once again, the
ability to implement and uphold such a statute rests solely in the hands of
the White House and Congressional Republicans. And once again, their past
compromises and capitulation are coming back to haunt them.
The public harbors a justifiable distrust for the national government, in
particular, as regards its reluctance to abide by constitutional limits to its scope and
authority. It is altogether undeniable that it has exceeded its bounds many
times with impunity, particularly during the Clinton years. Much could have
been done to rectify past wrongs and rein it in during the early days of the
Bush administration. But sadly, this did not happen.
Were any average American touring the White House to scratch his or her
name onto the walls or furniture, a quick arrest and prosecution would
quickly and properly ensue. Yet, when Clinton staffers extensively vandalized
White House office assets while vacating the premises in the final days
before President Bush’s inauguration, absolutely no attempt was made to hold
them accountable. And things only got worse from there.
From “Pardon Gate” to the Jamie Gorelick scandal to the gross abuses of
government power exerted by Attorney General Janet Reno, a host of criminal
activities were committed during the Clinton years for which no retribution
was ever dispensed. These were not merely political rivalries, but crimes
against America.
President Bush apparently sought to heal wounds and mend fences, but, in his
misbegotten effort to institute a “new tone” in Washington, he ultimately
allowed such criminal activity, which adversely affected the entire country,
to set a precedent for future Democratic administrations.
So, if he is sufficiently comfortable with such actions to overlook them,
should anyone believe that he could be entrusted with the fearsome power of
the Patriot Act without posing a risk to the liberties and rights of the
American people?
In truth, few if any Americans seriously believe that President Bush sought
to continue in the footsteps of his predecessor. Yet neither did he appear
intent on holding anyone accountable for the vast malfeasance inflicted upon
America during the Clinton years.
Worse yet, having never been made to face the consequences for their
collaboration with rampant corruption of the Clinton White House,
Democrats in Congress are, not surprisingly, shameless enough to presume
the “moral high ground” and condemn Republicans as hopelessly corrupt. In a
sense, those partisan Democrats have a point.
Consider the inexcusable suppression of a volatile piece of information
known as the “Barrett Report.” Independent Counsel David Barrett has been
investigating major malfeasance within the Clinton administration since the
late 1990s. But, now that Barrett’s investigation is essentially complete,
prominent Senate Democrats are diligently working to prohibit its
publication.
This suppression of information is itself a crime in the worst traditions of
the Clinton Presidency. Unfortunately, those Democrats seeking to censor it
are, once again, abetted by morally bankrupt Republicans, in particular,
Senator Kit Bond of Missouri and Michigan Congressman Joe Knollenberg.
Thus is the public confronted with the disturbing reality that the enemy of
liberty and freedom does not reside in one political party or another, but
in a Washington establishment that places itself above the law.
Soft peddling or ignoring past violations does not elevate the GOP above
those who committed such criminal acts. Instead, it makes the present
administration and the Congress into passive collaborators in their crimes.
In the end, President Bush’s ability to exercise legitimate executive power
would be greatly enhanced if Americans were treated to the spectacle of a
significant percentage of the people in the previous administration being marched off to
Leavenworth for having so flagrantly abused the power of the executive branch of the national government.
America deserves access to the Barrett Report. True Justice demands it.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Politics & Political Competition
American Government & the U.S. Presidency
American Government & the U.S. Congress
The American Political System:
Politics & Government in the U.S.A.
Christopher G. Adamo is a freelance writer who lives in southeastern Wyoming and works in the field of industrial instrumentation.
He is actively involved in Wyoming's political process, serving as a delegate to successive Wyoming State Republican Conventions
and as a member of the Wyoming State Republican Central Committee. He has assisted Republican candidates for local and state
legislatures and for the United States Congress. His articles, which appear regularly in The Progressive Conservative, U.S.A.,
and on a number of other websites, reflect a major concern with the damage being done to Conservatism and Conservative causes by
the Liberal Leftist faction in the Republican Party as well as by the much larger and more powerful Liberal Leftist faction in the
Democratic Party. During the early and middle 1990s, Adamo was Editor of the Wyoming Christian Coalition's official news organ,
The Wyoming Christian.
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