Drip, drip, drip comes the evidence...barely into the year we now are confirming what many of us already knew what is really going on in congress and the past administration.
Yet, even as the evidence is making it perfectly clear that there must be accountability in our government from the dirt up and the stinking mess uncovered that has been festering without oversight from anyone except those responsible for it smacks of the ripe contradiction we are witnessing now.
How often were the words of Pelosi, Reid, Waxman and Conyer taken to heed, to only find out it was only more lip service to placate the people then to really get anything accomplished even when the truth was staring them in the face?
We are outraged. We write letters, we make phone calls, we send faxes, we protest, we sign petitions, we blog, we want to be heard yet our words are falling on deaf ears and here's why.
Bold script is my emphasis after the fold
How is it that the congress determines why or when they will or will not investigate? How many times has their investigations turned out to be nothing world changing and without any steps taken to make anyone accountable? Basically, a waste of money and time. The Justice we relish is never served up. We only get blowing bubbles.
Do we really expect anything different now especially when it comes to investigating their own?
Does it ever creep into your mind that these people, whom are our so called leaders, entrusted by us to hold up the law are really the ones who are covering their behinds and that is about as far as the bipartisan goes between the parties?
Congress is not there for you and me. They are not there for the country. They are there to make the moves that they think will placate us into believing they are doing what is right for the country but in reality most of them are corrupt criminals who write laws to suite themselves, pay themselves the big bucks, give themselves great lifetime health insurance, and lifetime pensions even after only serving the public for a measly 6 years.
That does sound inviting! I guess it would pay to keep the secrets from the civilians even if they are about the other party when they have such a sweet thing going. Easier to cover and blackmail each other than actually do what they promised to do and protect the constitution.
Should the majority of them be thrown out on subversion alone? Suspicions about what is really going on in Washington DC are confirmed in Sibel Edmunds op-ed: SIBEL EDMONDS: In Congress We Trust...Not
Sibel Edmonds is a former FBI translator and noted whistleblower who has been under a years-long "gag order", prohibiting her from discussing many details of her allegations of corruption and espionage gleaned during her time at the FBI, due to the continuing "States Secrets privilege" assertions by the Executive Branch. Her own story has been partially documented over the last several years in several different media outlets, including a lead story on CBS' 60 Minutes, a detailed feature in Vanity Fair and, over the years, in a number of exclusive articles here at The BRAD BLOG. She is the Founder and President of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition.
The author starts out with John Kerry's infamous quote:
"It's a sad day when you have members of Congress who are literally criminals go undisciplined by their colleagues. No wonder people look at Washington and know this city is broken."
Ah so true...yet, there are a few dozen who don't deserve to serve this country still there. How can that be?
Recent poll results highlight how the American people's trust in their Congress has hit rock bottom. A survey of progressive blogs easily confirms the rage rightfully directed at our Congress for abdicating its role of oversight and accountability. Activists scream about promised hearings that never took place - without explanation. They express outrage when investigations are dropped without any justification. And they genuinely wonder out loud why, especially after they helped secure a major victory for the Democrats. The same Democrats who had for years pointed fingers at their big bad Republican majority colleagues as the main impediment preventing them from fulfilling what was expected of them.
Sound familiar? And what about Ms. Harman, the one who couldn't support wiretapping enough? What is the media doing with that story?
The recent stunning but not unexpected revelations regarding Jane Harman (D-CA) by the Congressional Quarterly provide us with a little glimpse into one of the main reasons behind the steady decline in the integrity of Congress. But the story is almost dead - ready to bite the dust, thanks to our mainstream media's insistence on burying 'real' issues or stories that delve deep into the causes of our nation's continuous downward slide. In this particular case, the 'thank you' should also be extended to certain blogosphere propagandists who, blinded by their partisanship, myopic in their assessments, and ignorant in their knowledge of the inner workings of our late Congress and intelligence agencies, helped in the post-burial cremation of this case.
So surely with Harman's seemingly seamy involvement with AIPAC, they will demand an investigation?
Ironically but understandably, the Harman case has become one of rare unequivocal bipartisanship, when no one from either side of the partisan aisle utters a word. How many House or Senate Republicans have you heard screaming, or even better, calling for an investigation? The right wing remains silent. Some may have their hand, directly or indirectly, in the same AIPAC cookie jar. Others may still feel the heavy baggage of their own party's tainted colleagues;
Huh? Wait a second!
after all, they have had their share of Abramoffs, Hasterts and the like, silently lurking in the background, albeit dimmer every day. Some on the left, after an initial silence that easily could have been mistaken for shock, are jumping from one foot to the other, like a cat on a hot tin roof, making one excuse after another; playing the 'victims of Executive Branch eavesdropping' card, the same very 'evil doing' they happened to support vehemently. Some have been dialing their trusted guardian angels within the mainstream media and certain fairly visible alternative outlets. They need no longer worry, since these guardian angels seem to have blacked out the story, and have done so without the apparent need for much arm twisting...
All of it is worth reading, especially what she points out about Hastert.
That seems to be the current arrangement for those serving foreign interests while on the job in Congress --- to be paid at a later date, collecting on their IOU's when they secure their positions with 'the foreign lobby.'
In a recent article for American Conservative Magazine, Philip Giraldi, former CIA officer stationed in Turkey, made the following point: "Edmonds's claims have never been pursued, presumably because there are so many skeletons in both parties' closets. She has been served with a state-secrets gag order to make sure that what she knows is never revealed, a restriction that the new regime in Washington has not lifted."
And then, he hits the nail on its head: "In Hastert's case, it certainly should be a matter of public concern that a senior elected representative who may have received money from a foreign country is now officially lobbying on its behalf. How many other congressmen might have similar relationships with foreign countries and lobbying groups, providing them with golden parachutes for their retirement?"
It is bone chilling. All of it.
How does it work? How do these people escape the consequences of accountability? Are we talking about the possible use of blackmail by the Executive Branch against Congressional representatives, as if the days of J. Edgar Hoover were never over? Cases such as NSA illegal eavesdropping come to mind, when Congressional members were briefed long before it became public, yet none took any action or even uttered a word; members of both parties. Or is it more likely to be a case of secondhand blackmail, where members of Congress watch out for each other? Or, is it a combination of the above? Regardless, we see this 'all for one, one for all' kind of solidarity in Congress when it comes to criminal conduct and scandals such as those of Hastert and Harman.
The picture is becoming clearer and makes more sense...eureka, epiphany and all of that...finally, there has been a reason for the country's distrust of congress, and the awful truth has to be exposed. We might as well get all the painful parts out into the open and get our lives, country and government cleaned up.
Sibel goes into depth in her own dealings with Waxman and congress on issues she was sure would be thoroughly investigated only to be ignored in the nicest way of course.
And the victims remain the same: The American people who have entrusted their Congress with the role of ensuring oversight and accountability.
Yes, the American's certainly have taken it in the shorts. This crew of paltry government personnel has made the bankers and corporations lives sweeter and plumper. Defense contracts doled out to their family members and friends, keep letting the insurance companies rip off Americans, well, they've just done an all around swell job f**king us over.
So the utter truth is public officials have more loyalty to each other than their constituents? That is one area they do agree?
This kind of infestation touches everyone in Congress; one need not have a skeleton of his own to get sucked into the swamp of those infested. Does Waxman have to be a sinner to take part in the sin committed by the Hasterts and Harmans of Congress? Certainly not. On the other hand, he and others like him will abide by the un-pledged oath of 'solidarity with your party members' and 'loyalty to your dear colleagues.'
Shall we start punching the air now!?!
Those who have been elected to represent the people and their interests cannot pursue their own greed and ambitions by engaging in criminal or unethical activities against the interests of the same people they've sworn to represent, and then be given a pass.
Could not have said it better. Priceless.
I, like many others, believed that changing the Congressional majority in 2006 was going to bring about some of the needed changes; the pursuit of accountability being one. We were proven wrong. In 2008, many genuinely bought in to the promise of change, and thus far, they've been let down.
So true, we all believed our voting in the democrats would demonstrate our desire for change however we are finding out what we should have known long ago about these politicians. Myopic to the bone.
Sibel uses another strong quote to emphasize the outrage that others have expressed in their frustration with our government.
"If we have Senators and Congressmen there that can't protect themselves against the evil temptations of lobbyists, we don't need to change our lobbies, we need to change our representatives." - Will Rogers
There is loads more in her op-ed and is well worth reading.
I just think it's important that we start calling to task those that allegedly represent us as I do not see life evolving in a positive way for the average American as it should be. Rather I see some people with too much power, using it recklessly against Americans to benefit themselves.
Change is only as good as the people who participate.