Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Scott McClellan Squeals: Is it enough to take down a President?

Mikaela says:
Oh, my. Have I been waiting for this! Scott McClellan's tell-all about his years as Bush administration mouthpiece is being released in drips and drabs. (See Froomkin's bit toward the bottom of this page.)

The latest is his unequivocal implication of the VP & our hero President in the criminal leaking of an undercover CIA agent's identity, blowing her cover, erasing years of contacts, and endangering the lives of all her contacts.

What I haven't seen yet is the lawyerly assessment of what should be done to said administration officials who broke the federal law that I believe was instituted by Bush Sr. Libby got the axe for lying to federal investigators, not for leaking in the first place.

Could leaking be an impeachable offense? Could it warrant immediate criminal charges? Immediate removal of Bush & Co.?

Any legal eagles out there? What's the fallout?

I am so tired of there being no consequences for the illegal activities of our government, when they've sent 8 times more "little people" to jail in the years since 1970.

Break the law; lose your elected position. Shouldn't that be part of our democracy, too?


Ex-Press Aide Links Bush, Cheney to Plame Outing
Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has implicated President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney in misleading the public on the outing of ex-CIA agent Valerie Plame. As White House spokesperson, McClellan repeatedly claimed senior aides Karl Rove and Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby were not involved in revealing Plame’s identity. But in a forthcoming memoir, McClellan writes: “I had unknowingly passed along false information. And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president’s chief of staff, and the president himself.”

U.S. Prison Population Rises Eight-Fold Since 1970
A new report on the U.S. prison system has found the number of Americans in prison has risen eight-fold since 1970, with little impact on crime but at great cost to taxpayers and society. The report issued by the JFA Institute recommends shorter sentences and parole terms, alternative punishments, more help for released inmates and decriminalizing recreational drugs as steps that would cut the prison population in half. The report concluded that putting more people in prison is financially wasteful, disproportionately burdens the poor and minorities, and has limited impact on recidivism and crime rates. Approximately 2.2 million people are now in American jails or prisons.