There are many things I don't understand. This story is one of them. At every turn, someone failed to prevent this. People failed to call the police. The police, off duty security guards in the housing complex, failed to stop these guys. Schools failed to engage these kids. Families failed to remove the bad influences from the lives of these children.
And because of this, three promising teenagers are dead and one wounded.
And everybody around them failed.
Chris
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Update
Here is a poll by American Research Group, Inc. on how Americans feel about Libby's Get Out of Jail Free Card. Click the Link to find more Interesting Opinions.
| Question: | |||
| Do you approve or disapprove of President George W. Bush commuting the 30-month prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby while leaving intact Mr. Libby's conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice in the CIA leak case? | |||
| 7/5/07 | Approve | Disapprove | Undecided |
| All Adults | 31% | 64% | 5% |
| Voters | 26% | 69% | 5% |
| Democrats (38%) | 13% | 76% | 11% |
| Republicans (29%) | 50% | 47% | 3% |
| Independents (33%) | 19% | 80% | 1% |
Larry C. Johnson wrote at his Blog No Quater that he believes the outing of Undercover Agent Plame was an act of Treason. Here is Mr. Johnson's Essay on Traitor Libby:
by
Larry C JohnsonAs we move inexorably to June 5, the date that Scooter Libby is scheduled to be sentenced for four counts of perjury and obstruction of justice, his supporters are stepping up their clamor for the President to do the right thing, as former Ambassador Richard Carlson (Tuckers father) recently said (which by the way is code for "Presidential pardon"). I expect that others will jump on the bandwagon in the days to come, much as Victoria Toensing and others did in trying to sway the jury during the trial with their articles in the Washington Post.
Continue reading "A CIA Agent calls Libby's Crime Treason" »
Bush just proved that does not give a Damn above the Rule of Law. Bush only believes in one thing and that is the Abuse of Power. I found list of statements from the Presidential Candidates at Daily Kos. All you who said Paris had to serve her sentence, I expect you to say the same about Libby.
Just because Clinton made some bad pardons, it does not justify commuting a sentence of a traitor and I mean Traitor. What else do you call someone who leaked the Name of Undercover CIA Agent Plame for Bush's Political gain?
Well how about it where do stand on Bush's Cover Up? - HC
Chris Dodd (by e-mail):
"By commuting Scooter Libby's sentence, the President continues to abdicate responsibility for the actions of his Administration. The only ones paying the price for this Administration's actions are the American people."
"Only a president clinically incapable of understanding that mistakes have consequences could take the action he did today. President Bush has just sent exactly the wrong signal to the country and the world. In George Bush's America, it is apparently okay to misuse intelligence for political gain, mislead prosecutors and lie to the FBI. George Bush and his cronies think they are above the law and the rest of us live with the consequences. The cause of equal justice in America took a serious blow today."
"This decision to commute the sentence of a man who compromised our national security cements the legacy of an Administration characterized by a politics of cynicism and division, one that has consistently placed itself and its ideology above the law. This is exactly the kind of politics we must change so we can begin restoring the American people’s faith in a government that puts the country’s progress ahead of the bitter partisanship of recent years."
Contrast that with Mr. Law and Order Fred Thompson: "I am very happy for Scooter Libby. I know that this is a great relief to him, his wife and children."
The Hazards of Regarding Lying as a Solution
by Fred on Everything
warning: tough talk, bad words and graphic sexual content
"I spent over six years as a police reporter, riding at least weekly in a variety of cities, usually in black sections because that’s where the crime was. There’s a saying that you can bullsh*t the fans but you can’t bullsh*t the players. I know what is out there. So does every cop, every prosecutor and most urban reporters, unless they cover runway fashion. None will say it. To tell the truth is a firing offense. It's another world downtown, troops, nothing like anything most people have ever imagined."
The media suppressed these stories.
SSG Rob
It is obviously the topic of conversation everywhere. Couple things come to mind.
The world was very quick to decide that the school had screwed up and not shut down the campus. I'm not sure, but I don't think that we should be focusing on who can be sued right this second. There will, undoubtedly, be more than enough time for that.
What blows my mind is that all over the Internet and in some of the more mainstream press this incident has been adopted to support causes. The bodies aren't even cold yet and already they are props in political causes.
Some are saying that this is why we need more gun control laws. While I am in favor of gun control, I'm pretty sure that no matter what laws exist someone determined to do something like this would be able to find a gun.
Others are saying that this is why students should be allowed to carry concealed on college campuses. Sorry, but I just can't get behind it. What every frat party needs is a bunch of kids with loaded weapons.
And while I am sure that the conservative community had hoped for the shooter to be Arab, he turns out to be Asian. The next best thing though, for them, is that he was here on a visa.
The Internet is scurrying around, acting like reporters, and taking themselves very seriously. Apparently, they identified the shooter--except that it wasn't really the shooter.
No matter where you live or what you believe 33, at last count, people are dead. Seems like we could have had enough respect to wait a day off before we started beating each other over the head with the bodies. But as I said yesterday, we have lost something--some kind of decency we used to have. So, let the politics and lawsuits begin.
Chris
The other thing that sticks in my head is that there is nothing to tell my kids. Usually, when bad things happen we talk about them and we talk about what they can do in situations like the one that we are talking about. There is nothing to do different. There is no way to prepare for this. There is nothing to say other than it doesn't happen very often and that sucks.
..and yes, for those of you playing the home game, I used OH MY GOD as an expression, a figure of speech if you will. We really don't need to revisit God's particular role in this incident.
I want to be a judge. Just one time. In this case. For the record, I am not anti-death penalty. :O)
Chris
Kenneth Lay dies of a heart attack...
Is this justice for those who lost their life's savings?
You tell me.
Lisa
When you commit a crime and go to prison, you surrender some of your rights. When you are released and on probation, you surrender some of your rights. The state can tell you where you can go and who you can associate with. It can require you to check in periodically and submit to drug tests. It can also prevent you from voting.
My state is reconsidering allowing felons to vote.
My question is: where is the concern for the large number of African-Americans before they go to jail? Isn't this concern about their voting rights too little, too late?
Chris
Gotta say, with all due respect to BlackFive, that this is crap. Let's wait until the military finishes their investigation is the battle cry of those who take enjoyment out of ripping apart Congressman Murtha. Where were all of these no rush to judgment people when Clinton was being investigated? Where are they on the accusations of Rep. William Jefferson? or any other Democrat? Seems to me there is a lot of casting a wide net to combat the "culture of corruption" mantra...how many times have I read lists of Democrats the Republicans believe are tied to this or that scandal? Umm...plenty.
This is total crap. The investigation would not have gone forward if someone hadn't spoken up. The military was not policing itself it was covering it's ass. Officers, who were more concerned with their careers than they were with their soldiers and their country, mishandled this whole thing from the minute it happened. We know at least this because wrongful death penalty money was paid to the victims families. We know at least this because the military, when first questioned by Time Magazine, said that there was no need for an investigation--until they saw the video. The Marines didn't willingly hand over the pictures taken by the Marines who were sent in to clean up this mess.
We know enough to not play the wait until the investigation is closed game. Hearts and minds are not won by covering up bad things. They are won by being open and transparent about them, condemning them and insuring that everything is done so that it doesn't happen again.
Michelle Malkin is also playing the "no rush to judgment tune."
Context setting...umm OK...for the alleged incident is here
Read the comments on these sites to see just how far we will go to justify this stuff
This is from today's paper
