I dunno Henrik, but I reckon this administration is rotten to the core. Innocent until proven guilty, hmmmm, maybe this lot are the exception to the rule.
As Confucius once said "If it waddles and quacks, it ain't a camel."
....unless it lives close to a nuclear re-processing plant.
I agree. Innocent until proven gulty. But this particular politician is a sanctimonious and dangerous human being who set himself up as better than everyone else. He was one of the people who led and pushed the impeachment of Mr. Clinton. He shoves "faith" and "morality" down our throats on a daily basis, vows to "Bring God back into the classroom" and attacks the separation of church and state. He has used his "faith" to interfere in the private lives of Americans (i.e. the Terri Schiavo debacle), and he is constantly telling us how Republicans are ethical and everyone else is immoral.
Yes, I agree. Inncoent until proven guilty. But just the act of indicting this turkey knocks him down a peg and lessens his influence on American politics - and that, my good man, is a reason to rejoice!
LOL, glad to hear he was one of those who pushed for Clinton's impeachment.... only thing I've heard him say in his defence is that he's the victim of a witch-hunt by a Democrat Prosecutor. Sounds like the biter got bit. Goody goody!
Toni, I agree with much of your well written response about Delay as those bible thumping, holier than thou, conservatives really try to control our freedoms and run our lives as they see fit. This country prospered and expanded under Clinton but in the end he did lie under oath to congress and should have been impeached for that alone! "I did not have sexual relations with that woman". I could forgive him if he just would have told the truth. I'm a fiscal republican and social democrat and I do believe in individual rights and social responsibility!
Dunno whether it made any news outlets in the States.. but here's a salutary tale from the UK. Blair's Labour Party (hard to categorise in terms of left/right these days.. probably closer to the Dems than the GOP but noteworthy for the PM's slavish attitude to Bush) is holding its Annual Conference this week. Yesterday, a heckler in the hall shouted "nonsense" at a Minister's speech on Iraq and was promptly dragged out of the hall by 'stewards' and held by Police under the new Anti-Terror laws before being released.
He turned out to be 82 year old Walter Wolfgang.. a refugee from Nazi Germany who'd been a Labour Party member since 1948.
Such is the paranoia of this Government. Whether things are as bad here as over there, I couldn't say. But we, too, live in a country where news is manipulated via a notionally free press, the outcome of elections influenced by gerrymanded constituencies, croneyism in Government appointments is rife and private contractors handle £millions of taxpayers' money in unaccountable ways.
We stand 'shoulder to shoulder' with you in more ways than one.
First of all, Clinton WAS impeached and stood trial in Congress - the results were that he was not removed from office.
Second, yes he did lie, BUT it was also about an issue that in any other job in th country he would have been allowed to, and have the absolute right to, say "none of your d@mned business!"
Delay have lived and now feel the sharpness of the moral sword he has been free in swinging against others. Guilty? I don't know, and that's for the courts to decide. Pompous, sanctimonious and hypocritical? Looks that way to me.
It will be very interesting to see how Gee-Dubya behaves toward Delay as this unfolds. Obviously this is a very dangerous situation for Gee-Dubya becauswe Delay knows all about everything going on in the Bush Administration. If he doesn't get the support he thinks he is entitled to from King George, he may sing about all kinds of stuff to cut himself a better deal.
.....so when Clinton lied to Congress it really didn't count because the question couldn't have been asked by employers throughout the country? That's kind of like being a little pregnant right?
You're right Lou - Clinton lied. I would venture a guess that 99.9% of all men would have lied under similar circumstances. Doesn't excuse him, doesn't make him right - but honestly, the whole thing was a tad ludicrous, don't you think??? IF his lie in any way affected the security of our nation, I would have been happy to hang him myself - but it didn't (although our response to it did make us a laughing stock internationally). The bottom line, for me, was that no one should have had the right to ask him the question in the first place - no one except his wife and his own conscience that is.
Now, our beloved Mr, Bush - he lied about weapons of mass destruction and the reasons he launched his war in Iraq (and he still lies about it) , he lied about who would benefit from his tax cuts, he lied about the cost of his Medicare bill, he lies about the state of Social Security, he lies about his environmental record - I could go on and on. Personally, I think he's a war criminal, although I don't believe anyone will ever call him on that. But he has lied to the American people about matters of national security - and if that doesn't scream for impeachment and make Mr. Clinton's indiscretion seem pretty darned minor in comparison, I can't imagine what would. And he does all of this while proclaiming himself to be moral and a Christian. Spooks the heck out of me.
By the way, Lou - there are no more fiscal Republicans
- they became the cut and spend us into oblivion guys under this administration. Heck, I'm NOT a Republican anything, and I'm more fiscally conservative than they are. But I'm happy to hear you're a social democrat. Me? I guess I'm still a 60s radical, just tempered a bit with age.
And to akc, our nations are more alike than they are different. I believe it was Borje who took to calling us "Soviet America" - a very apt description, I'm sorry to say.
What I'm trying to say is impeaching a President for having sex with an intern is really silly. This is not my opinion alone, but the opinion of the majority of Americans and those from other countries. We were he laughingstock of the world for impeaching a President for having an affair. Really, if that was the best Clinton's enemies could do, they were really grabbing at straws.
From a historical perspective, this was even more laughable. Do you realize how many of our Presidents have had affairs while in office? Do you know how many lied to cover up those affairs? Do you know how many Presidents have lied to Congress about far worse issues than having sex with an intern? I couldn't begin to list all of the examples here - it would take several volumes, not pages. I teach US History, for a living - this is perhaps the biggest mountain ever made out of a political molehill in the long, sordid history of American politics.
I believe the Prez told a lie, but he was tried by Congress and was exonerated. Impeachment took place, and the procedures set forth by the Constitution were followed. If, in your opinion, Clinton deserved to be removed from office, your complaint is with Congress for not reaching the verdict you think appropriate. But he verdict stands.
Kinda pregnant? No, not really. Legally exonerated. And, I might add, innocent until convicted, especially after the jury (congress) declined to convict. None of us, even those who think they are the sole guardians of the truth, have the right set themselves above the law and decide innocence or guilt outside of the law of the land.
My real point is that many of our leaders lie to us whether it's Clinton or Bush. The game of politics at any level is to discredit your enemy any way you can. All of our laws are reached by compromise between our elected officials and then interpreted by our appointed Supreme Court. You win some and you lose some and self interest plays a part in all of it. In the immortal words of Rodney King "Why can't we all just get along"? My own immortal phrase is "Why can't Alvin Lee tour in America soon"?
LOU YOU NEED TO GET PAST UNCLE BILL , WHAT WENT ON UNDER THAT DESK IS HIS BUSSINESS
BESIDES I,LL TAKE THE GAS PRICES , AND INTREST RATES , ALONG WITH HIS ECONOMY ANY DAY OVER THE DISASTER THE MORON IN CHARGE NOW HAS CREATED
YOU GUYS MUST LIKE PAYING ALMOST $3.00 DOLLARS A GALLON FOR GAS HUH
GO FIGURE........PEACE PAUL
P.S LIKE TONI TOLD YOU LOU WHAT ABOUT THE MORONS LIES, I GUESS THEY DON,T COUNT HUH
Paul, do some research on "situational ethics" and you'll find lot's of pictures of Slick Willie! I did like the thriving economy under the Clinton administration but understand that congress makes laws and private enterprise creates real jobs that drive a capitalist econonmy. I agree it's not always pretty but Bush and all republicans are not devils. Regarding the "moron" label you place on Bush it's true he's not a great speaker a la "Slick Willie" (remember Clinton's repeated lies to congress "it depends on what your definition of is....is")Bush does speak slowly but must think quickly enough to get the top job in the country twice! Now, I just wish we could get him to as Alvin Lee to do a free concert at the White House!
I will take the Clinton experience complete w/the Monica affair, anytime. Bush has been a disaster domestically, with the I.O.U's being held by the next generation via the heavy deficits his budget is running. Internationally--it's a good thing the administration doesn't care what other countries think--our misguided (a gentle euphemism here) policies around the world have produced little positive result.
At the top of the list, a shining light for all to see--is our war in Iraq. An often used phrase--predicated on lies and waged with incompetence fits. Clinton qualified for impeachment for his lie and Bush doesn't??!! The creative language the admin. has used to answer the "lie" question makes "what the meaning of 'is' is" pale in comparison, IMO.
Oh, I don't what to forget..we have another three years left w/ an administration where the corruption is becoming increasingly transparent.
Lou, Lou, Lou. I DO agree that sleeze is present in all politicians - Dems, Reps, independents etc. But Bush got the top job in this country twice because once he stole it and the 2nd time he used the war he started for absolutely no good reason at all to scare people into voting for him. Frankly, in terms of what he has done for this nation and it's standing in the world, he's the worst president in modern history and will probably go down as one of the worst in the history of the republic. One of the funniest lines I ever read was by columnist Richard Cohen who said that Bush was his 43rd favorite president - and sinking fast.
Alvin play for Bush????? God I hope not; I think I would lose all respect for him.
HEY A.K.C. WHEN (ADOLPH) OOPS I MEAN GEORGIE WAS RUNNING, IF YOU WERE AT A RALLY OR MEETING OF ANY KIND AND YOU HAD A KERRY BUMPER STICKER ON YOU,RE CAR YOU WERE,REMOVED END OF STORY
AND MOST IF NOT ALL OF THE MAJOR T.V. NETWORKS HERE ARE CONSTANTLY BLOWING SUNSHINE UP OUR AS.ES WHEN IT COMES TO BUSH, AND SADLY THERES A LARGE GROUP OF MORONS WHO LAP IT UP AS QUICK AS THEY DISH IT OUT
SADLY GUYS WHEN IT COMES TO DELAY,I THINK THIS WILL ONLY HELP HIM, AS THEY ARE ALL READY PLAYING UP THE (I,AM A VICTIM DAM. IT)HORSE SHI.
I HOPE NOT BUT IT,S PROBABLY ONLY A MINOR SET BACK FOR THAT LOSER
WERE ALL DOOMED.........PEACE PAUL
