It's been quite some time since I've done a diary, but I couldn't pass this issue up.
Juan Cole has made a call to the blogsphere and it's time for us to help him take up the torch!
Can Kos help? Eschaton? Talkingpointsmemo?
I say yes, we can...
Juan Cole has been a major source for all of the major blogs. His insight has always been keen and universally respected. This is the first time I've ever seen him ask for help. It's time we give it to him!
But more importantly, it's time we help our country once again!
First, read this comment in it's entirety.
For the sake of emphasis, lets focus on this:
That does it. Elliot Abrams must go. Elliot Abrams is a felon. He was involved in stealing Pentagon weapons from US stockpiles, selling them to the Ayatollah Khomeini, and then stealing the Iranian funds so garnered to give to far-right Central American death squads, and then lying about all this to Congress. The Congress in the Constitution controls the budget. The Congress had cut off money to the rightwing death squads supported by Reagan and henchmen like Abrams. This elaborate criminal conspiracy inside the White House was the Right's response. They shredded the Constitution (and ever since have been calling their critics "unpatriotic.")
In 1991, Abrams pled guilty to two misdemeanor counts of lying to Congress under oath. Without the plea deal, he was facing felony charges, since what he did was in fact a felony.
Congress pledged that Abrams would never work at a high level in government again. But by the time the Neoconservative cabal in the Bush administration got Bush to appoint him to the National Security Council, there had been so much turn-over in Congress that, one member told me, "no one remembered who Abrams was."
I'm serious about this, everyone. The bloggers are touted as influential, but their influence is hard to measure or prove. Let's make this a test case.
Can Kos help? Eschaton? Talkingpointsmemo? And, it needn't be only one side of the aisle. A lot of principled persons on the right are deeply troubled by the criminality of this administration.
Please write your congressional representative and your senators and demand that they hold hearings on why Elliot Abrams is in charge of Middle East policy in the Bush White House.
Enough of being ruled by criminals and liars and warmongers. Enough of censorship and attacks on our Constitution. Elliot Abrams must go.
We've already got a detailed diary about the NYTimes op-ed issue here thanks to Craig Burnham.
Lets take a little deeper look at Elliot Abrams and his influence on the White House:
Elliott Abrams, a well-known figure from the Reagan era who was convicted (and later pardoned) on charges related to the Iran-Contra scandal, is the deputy national security adviser for global democracy strategy. A central player in shaping and implementing U.S. Mideast policy, Abrams is one of the few remaining core neoconservatives in the administration, after the departures of Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith, and I. Lewis Libby. Abrams' portfolio, which also carries the title of deputy assistant to the president, includes serving as the point person for policies related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
A little more:
Working inside government during the Reagan and Bush II administrations, Abrams has proved adept at advancing his own radical policy agendas through key departments of the executive branch. With his own neoconservative, pro-Israel credentials well-established, Abrams has focused on the pragmatic implementation of policy agendas rather than holding fast to ideological positions. It is this knack—being able to flaunt exceptional neoconservative credentials while pushing for policies that might not be doctrinaire—that has served Rice and the administration. According to the New York Times: "State Department officials say that Mr. Abrams serves as a buffer for Ms. Rice with some neoconservatives who are critical of her policies. ‘The genius of Elliott Abrams is that he's Elliott Abrams,' one senior administration official said. ‘How can he be accused of not sufficiently supporting Israel?'" (August 10, 2006).
This is a call to action for the blogsphere coming from one of it's most respected members. It's time to fire up the engine and get this issue addressed!
Elliot Abrams must go!!!
Edit: Thanks for getting this up on the rec list so quickly! I thought most would agree that when Juan Cole speaks, we need to listen.