Could anyone be so gullible to believe that the White House had not one archivist, just one GS-15 level geek with access to the higher powers, to tell them that emails had to be saved and how to do it? Either Barney ate the email, or the Bush administration broke the law. The congressional Republicans nailed President Clinton for the very thing President Bush seems to have done. Yet they scrapped the email archiving system Clinton put in place to retain emails in favor of what by recent accounts appears to be no system at all. Now they must be held accountable.
The Washington Post explains how millions of emails may have been deleted, read that as deliberately destroyed and lost forever. No doubt many of these are mundane and only significant to doctoral candidates in history looking for an original dissertation topic. Relevance isn't for us to decide. The law says they all must be preserved.
Just as we know that the ocean is deep and the earth round, we know many of the "missing" emails document the decision making process leading to major presidential actions.
Most of what is documented is probably legal, but some emails including those sent regarding such things at the Iraq War and the firing of U.S. Prosecutors may describe illegalities and "lesser" crimes of conscience like discussions about deceiving Congress and the American people.
Whether all of these emails have been irrevocably deleted needs to be determined by experts. Let's not forget Senator Patrick Leahy's dog:
"I don't believe that," he said. "It's not a question of e-mails being lost, it's a question of e-mails you don't want to retrieve." He dismissed the notion that e-mails could be permanently deleted these days as "like saying the dog ate my homework". (Reference)
While it appears that President Bush and his underlings will avoid impeachment or prosecution, the truth mush be told. This isn't the kind of accountability many of us want. However the historical record demands an accurate account of the Bush administration. Ten, fifty, a hundred years from now this will be the accountability that counts the most.
To quote poet and philospher George Santayana, "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
30 thoughts on “Did the dog eat Bush’s homework?”
“To restate what Pollchecker said above, this column and discussion have nothing to do with Hillary Clinton. Start a blog here on CHB, or post on Reader Rant if you would like to debate the ramifications of these allegations against Senator Clinton.”
it’s not about hillary per se, just an example of being VERY caught and yet skating…no one high up in gov’t wants to open up and look to far into the thoughts of other politicos, as they don’t want that lkind of invasive eye turned towards them.
“Compare Nixon’s Watergate crimes, and what may have been on the “missing” 18 1/2 minutes of the Oval Office tapes, to what back and forth planning to deceive Congress and the public to promote an illegal war is probably on the emails.”
Hal – you KNOW what is in these missing emails…..GW giving his personal authority to lies and various illegal acts.
THEY WILL DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO PROTECT GW. It’s scary really. Kinda like a cult!
“Damn pathetic.”
On this I think everyone here will agree.
My bet is that they will find the emails after GW is long gone….maybe stashed under the dog house? (hahahahahaha)
Pollchecker,
Thanks. If the emails are really lost forever, then we can only hope there's another Alexander Butterfield
and an alternate record to be revealed of the egregious transgressions of the Bush cabal which will become public.
Compare Nixon's Watergate crimes, and what may have been on the "missing" 18 1/2 minutes of the Oval Office tapes, to what back and forth planning to deceive Congress and the public to promote an illegal war is probably on the emails.
Nixon was forced to resign rather than be removed from office because of political dirty tricks. At the end at least Nixon cried in private, and apparently felt some of the sting of his humiliation.
Bush and his gang, who marketed a war with a construct of lies, will get a pass. Damn pathetic.
Touche, Hal.
I reread your article. I will restate my original post.
What can be done about this?
Sadly, my answer is Nothing. Bush will buy his way out of this one as well. The Supreme Court will back him up.
Where this due process and mob rule stuff came from, I’m not sure. But it reminds me of the Peter and the Wolf fable.
Peter cried wolf one too many times. I cannot nor will not bother wasting time giving benefit of the doubt on this one. I know enough about backups, archives, etc to say that the story they are telling smells very VERY fishy to me. Kinda the way I would react if someone told me that their dog ate the homework (hahahahahahahahahaha)
Please stay on topic.
This column is about Bush and the "lost" emails.
Consider this for example:
“In criminal cases…Wow…how about the two Texas Border Patrol who are spending 20 years for shooting a Mexican drug dealer in the ass (literally) who was illegally coming into the U.S.?”
Who won? The drug dealer! Why? Because he had more money to spend.
“What about all of the places in the world where the police can imprison people for years without even a trial? ”
You mean like the United States of America? I remember an article recently last year about how the US govt falsely imprisoned a Canadian.
“What about all of the countries in the world who, on a daily basis… have mass killing and torture by the millions going on”
You mean like we are doing in Iraq? How many thousands of Iraqi’s have died since we invaded Iraq? More Americans have died in Bush’s war than on 911.
“Nothing will change…EVER…unless we the citizens, the voters stand up and make something happen. Period.”
On this, you are TOTALLY CORRECT! I couldn’t agree with you more.
Maybe we had a great system but today that great system is just an ideal that in reality doesn’t exist. And strutting around and boasting “that we have the greatest system” serves no useful purpose than to delude ourselves into some false sense of superiority over other countries.
Yes delude ourselves into thinking that America really is a place with Liberty and Justice for all. It is Liberty and Justice for those who have enough money to pay for it. This is reality.
There is an old saying..”fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me.” What does it say when they fool you over and over and over again?
Isn’t there some definition of insanity that is about performing the same action repeatedly expecting a different result?
I wonder if you would take the same stand if this was 1775? Would you be one of those saying that we should wait for “due process” under the rule of King George like many did?
Pollchecker…with all due respect
Being a human being anywhere on the planet…hmmmm, my best bet would be that life just ain’t fair. Some places are more fair than others, some people escape the unfairness of life with a greater degree than others.
BUT…I can agree with you “100 billion percent” that, in civil cases, the person who has the most money and lies the best…most likely will win.
In criminal cases…Wow…how about the two Texas Border Patrol who are spending 20 years for shooting a Mexican drug dealer in the ass (literally) who was illegally coming into the U.S.?
We can cite thousands of injustices done in our court system. Absolutely we can, no doubt about it! Can it be better…bet your bippy it could.
On the other hand…what court system in the world is any better? What about all of the places in the world where the police can imprison people for years without even a trial? What about all of the countries in the world who, on a daily basis… have mass killing and torture by the millions going on, like in Kenya, the Congo, etc. Ask those people about injustice.
If we want to place blame for this mess that the country is in…good, I’ll go for that. How about US…you and me and about 300 million other citizens who have shut the door on reality for decades, surrendered our rights in so many ways and …yes, even our legal system to untold numbers of dishonest folks.
Sheriffs, district attorneys, judges all across this country are elected…by whom? For those can appoint, they do…their buds, relatives etc., but whose fault is that? Can’t the citizens of various cities and communities standup and band together to mandate that laws are to be enforced, or enacted to prevent underhanded practices involving the exploiting of the voters?
Nothing will change…EVER…unless we the citizens, the voters stand up and make something happen. Period.
ABSOLUTELY nothing will change for the better if there is MOB RULE in this country. Due process in our best chance of changing things…on all fronts and sides. When “We the People” accept responsibility for what has happened to our country…then we’ll have much fairer due process.
To restate what Pollchecker said above, this column and discussion have nothing to do with Hillary Clinton. Start a blog here on CHB, or post on Reader Rant if you would like to debate the ramifications of these allegations against Senator Clinton.
I watched both parts one and two of this and will only say that even if the attack dogs of Fox News who didn't think there was a case against her are wrong, and she is 100% guilty, the crimes to not nearly rise to the level of those I believe were committed by President Bush.
This is what it comes down to, isn’t it? One side pointing fingers at the other like a bunch of school yard kids.
At no point on this thread or anywhere else have I mentioned Hillary or any other person. So why do we always have to go there? Is it to take us off subject perhaps?
How many times in the past 7 years has due process in a Bushie wrong doing resulted in some poor underling receving the brunt of your so-called due process while the big fish got away.
Here’s one for you. If our elected officials don’t have to obey the law, then why do I have to obey the law?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq8aopATYyw
check out both parts….they got hillary on tape breaking the law and nothing happened, and you want to complain about missing emails?
Ok, I will give you an example. Perhaps you have heard about this in the news…
A grand jury indicted a State Supremem Court Justice regarding a fire in his home. What did the district attorney do? Drop the indictment.
Do you really think that would have happened if that man did not have the words Supreme Court Justice was not in front of his name?
Please! If that were you and me we would spend thousands of dollars not to mention the hundreds of hours of time defending ourselves.
Did “Due Process” get justice for Valerie Plame? Due Process has always been for sale. The Bushies have just proven that there is no limit to the justice that money will purchase in our country.
Pollchecker…Cool…lets end Due Process!
Okay, so…lets just mob Washington and hang the bastards? Who gets to be the hangman?
Eventually, somebody will rise to power who will decide it’s time for America to lower itself to commit genicide on some segment of our own society.
“Unfortunately, this president has made a mockery of the position of president. From here on out it will be difficult to believe the sincerity of any president. We will always wonder if they have our country’s best interest in mind or if they just want to push through there own corrupt and immoral agenda.”
you should have stopped trusting them after President Lincoln suspended habeas corpus… what about Kennedy lying about the Vietnam War? What about the Bay of Pigs? Same for LBJ… What about Nixon?
Are you serious? Our political leaders are just men, you can hold them to a higher standard, they should aspire to a higher standard, but in the end, they do what men do. The questions to ask are first, however misguided, are they acting in what they believe to be the country’s best interest. Second, are they obviously breaking the law, or just skirting it. Think of it from a prosecutor’s point of view, don’t let your own antagonistic viewpoint towards one particular leader misguide you in determining whether or not something is blatantly illegal, and ultimately prosecutable with the potential for winning. Third, if said political leader is just misguided and perhaps not so blatantly criminal, what can you do?
I voted for Bush the first time, but not the second, I grew so disillusioned with the Republicans vis-à-vis their spending proclivities that I switched parties… how I long for a third choice, a viable one.
As for criminal misconduct, I don’t suspect that they’re going to leave evidence lying around, as for Congress, they’d likely only act if they had a prosecutorial slamdunk. It’s doubtful that what we’re talking about here, with these missing e-mails and all, is much of the slamdunk.
” If we are to continue to be recognized as a civilized nation, we have the guidance of “Due Process” to deal with these types of legal breaches, regardless of who commits them.”
That is hogwash! There is no justice in this country unless you have money. The more money the more due process. That is reality even for the dog!
“A lot of people care about what the president does, because he holds the most powerful position in the world and is held to a higher standard than the average Joe off the street. ”
Didn’t this country go through several years of proceedings trying to impeach Bill Clinton because they said the President was and is held to a higher standard?
Or was that all an hallucination?
I think you have answered my question from another post though regarding when we started accepting lies from our leaders. Thanks.
Hal,
It’s true what you say about Google. I actually discovered CHB from either Google or a Yahoo link that featured a rant or blog, not sure which, but I’ve been a registered member since Oct. 2006. I really dig this site. Consequently, I’ve had the priviledge of squabbling untold numbers of issues with some of the best critical thinkers and informed individuals on the net. It’s always nice to learn from people who you come to trust and respect.
Great article, by the way. It’s obvious to me, at least, that “mob rule” thinking, isn’t congruent to getting resolution to serious allegations about the executive branch (or any branch or idividual), and in particular the presidental office…including some of the ones mentioned in the content of your posting. If we are to continue to be recognized as a civilized nation, we have the guidance of “Due Process” to deal with these types of legal breaches, regardless of who commits them. EVEN WITH THE DOG…
I’m not exempt from wanting a reactionary lynching of our public officials from time-to-time, but I hope in the end that I’m calmed by the acquired civility that I’ve managed to pick up from being the recipient of our culture, and morals, and living in America, and the reality of what it means to have “Due Process”.
I agree with Pollchecker. A lot of people care about what the president does, because he holds the most powerful position in the world and is held to a higher standard than the average Joe off the street.
Unfortunately, this president has made a mockery of the position of president. From here on out it will be difficult to believe the sincerity of any president. We will always wonder if they have our country’s best interest in mind or if they just want to push through there own corrupt and immoral agenda.
jyak
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