Sunday, December 07, 2003

What's better than Teflon? The Memory Hole.

Reagan, the "Teflon President," managed to remain unblemished through scores of scandals, including Iran-Contra, the S&L collapse, and proven conflict-of-interest charges against members of his cabinet and staff. But at least some of these transgressions were aired in public forums: the Senate Intelligence Committee, the House Finance Committee, the courts; and a few people (Keating, North, Poindexter, Abrahms, others) were made to face the music.

Not so with Bush. To name just this year's litany (so far), not including the items that haven't been inquired into at all, like Halliburton and Bechtel:
(1) The 9/11 investigation? Stonewalled, heading toward oblivion.
(2) The WMD--not their existence in Iraq, which slid below the radar months ago--the prewar intelligence (and its misuse) by the spooks, the neocons and the administration. Gone.
Vanished.
(3) Cheney's Energy Task Force. Disappeared.
(4) The Valerie Plame leak. Who's she?
(5) Kenny Boy. Ditto.

At some point, I believe (because I must believe it in order to retain my sanity) the mainstream press will awaken and inquire and persist, like they did during the Nixon years, the latter Johnson years and--with inordinate ferocity--the Clinton years.

I believe it, but so far see little evidence of it.



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