Which Moral Values did you think we meant?
Just a week before Thanksgiving. And I'm reminding myself there's still much to be thankful for. My children for example- all of 'em...Mary. Well anyway that's not what I had a burning urge to record at this moment.
I listened with stupified wonder yesterday to the reports that the Republican led House changed its rules with a straight face to say that it was okay for people in leadership positions to continue to serve while under indictment because "we believe in the principle of innocent until proven guilty" and any crackpot district attorney in the country with a political axe to grind could file an indictment as political shenanigans (I didn't put that part in quotes because it's not exact, but the sense of what was said is there). Why is this even an issue? Because Republican House leader DeLay is under indictment in Texas for political corruption and the existing rule would have stripped him of his position. Well who would have put a stupid rule like that in place? Back in 1993, it was pushed through by.....wait for it.....the Republicans when a Democratic House leader was indicted. Consistency.....that's what I like. Particularly on moral issues. My only guess is that there must be more crackpot district attorneys out in the country these days.
On a parallel note I was struck by the story about the security contracting firm Custer Battles (can you believe the name? And it's because those are the last names of the two principals). Whistleblowers have been revealing stories and allegations about the firm engaging in shady practices in providing services in Iraq to the Provisional Authority. The reports include things like dragging Iraq Air forklifts off of the Baghdad Airport site, repainting them, and selling them back to the Provisional Authority...nice markup! Or creating a subsidiary in Lebanon which acted as a supplier, and then entering into 'cost plus' contracts with the PA to provide stuff at their cost plus a fixed plus or profit margin. Well, the Lebanese subsidiary just marked the cost part up so that there was profit on profit. But wait, our moral Justice Dept has ruled that the PA isn't a government agency and so shady deals with it in Iraq don't fall under any of the American statutes. As a result, the Justice Dept has said it won't pursue any of the allegations. Why do I suspect this applies to Halliburton too?
I'm not sure, but I thought that there were ten commandments- not to mention centuries of traditional admonitions- about moral behavior.
We've got moral leadership alright. The moral is 'I can do whatever I want as long as it doesn't involve sex or reproductive issues.'
I listened with stupified wonder yesterday to the reports that the Republican led House changed its rules with a straight face to say that it was okay for people in leadership positions to continue to serve while under indictment because "we believe in the principle of innocent until proven guilty" and any crackpot district attorney in the country with a political axe to grind could file an indictment as political shenanigans (I didn't put that part in quotes because it's not exact, but the sense of what was said is there). Why is this even an issue? Because Republican House leader DeLay is under indictment in Texas for political corruption and the existing rule would have stripped him of his position. Well who would have put a stupid rule like that in place? Back in 1993, it was pushed through by.....wait for it.....the Republicans when a Democratic House leader was indicted. Consistency.....that's what I like. Particularly on moral issues. My only guess is that there must be more crackpot district attorneys out in the country these days.
On a parallel note I was struck by the story about the security contracting firm Custer Battles (can you believe the name? And it's because those are the last names of the two principals). Whistleblowers have been revealing stories and allegations about the firm engaging in shady practices in providing services in Iraq to the Provisional Authority. The reports include things like dragging Iraq Air forklifts off of the Baghdad Airport site, repainting them, and selling them back to the Provisional Authority...nice markup! Or creating a subsidiary in Lebanon which acted as a supplier, and then entering into 'cost plus' contracts with the PA to provide stuff at their cost plus a fixed plus or profit margin. Well, the Lebanese subsidiary just marked the cost part up so that there was profit on profit. But wait, our moral Justice Dept has ruled that the PA isn't a government agency and so shady deals with it in Iraq don't fall under any of the American statutes. As a result, the Justice Dept has said it won't pursue any of the allegations. Why do I suspect this applies to Halliburton too?
I'm not sure, but I thought that there were ten commandments- not to mention centuries of traditional admonitions- about moral behavior.
We've got moral leadership alright. The moral is 'I can do whatever I want as long as it doesn't involve sex or reproductive issues.'
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