March 27, 2007
Speaking of Slimey
We keep hearing that one of the primary reasons that the Department of Justice fired federal prosecutors was their failure to prosecute Democratic voter fraud promptly. Excuse me, what Democratic voter fraud? Weren't the dysfunctional voting machines all Diebold? Isn't Diebold a Republican bastion? Weren't all those nifty voter suppression measures instituted by Republicans?
A clear case of political projection -- in psychology this occurs if one has an unpleasant feeling, and one projects it onto others in order to avoid feeling it oneself, thus disclosing one's unconscious intentions. In political projection the Republicans project their next nasty scheme onto the Democrats, thus disclosing to all what they have up their slimy little sleeves.
Dan Froomkin, of washingtonpost.com, one of our favorite truth telling journalists, has figured it out:
In fact, if you believe that the whole purge was Karl Rove's idea (see my Friday column) then the McClatchy team exposes what could be his central motivation: "Last April, while the Justice Department and the White House were planning the firings, Rove gave a speech in Washington to the Republican National Lawyers Association. He ticked off 11 states that he said could be pivotal in the 2008 elections. Bush has appointed new U.S. attorneys in nine of them since 2005: Florida, Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Arkansas, Michigan, Nevada and New Mexico. U.S. attorneys in the latter four were among those fired."Rove thanked the audience for 'all that you are doing in those hot spots around the country to ensure that the integrity of the ballot is protected.' He added, 'A lot in American politics is up for grabs.'"
Blogger Hilzoy proposes another possible 2008-related Rove motivation: "It's not surprising, at the beginning of a Presidential campaign season, for the Republican party to send its chief opposition researcher -- the guy responsible for digging up dirt on political opponents -- to the very state where Hillary Clinton, one of the frontrunners for the Democratic nomination, spent most of her adult life. But it's completely out of line for them to send their chief opposition researcher to Arkansas as a US Attorney with subpoena power."
They may be down, but they're not out. Take a peek at the debate on Holt's Election Reform Bill
So far the lizards are still operating in full force, they've just slipped under a rock temporairily. Nothing stops this kind of criminal activity like a jail term.
In the fine book "The Sociopath Next Door" psychologist Martha Stout explains why sociopaths rise to the top so easily -- they have no conscience. They are willing to do anything to "win" --lie, cheat, steal, the works. Let's let them do it in jail for cigarettes with the rest of their cohorts, rather than in our democracy.
Photo note: American flag, fragmented, pointing backward, downward, but still flying
Posted by Dakota at March 27, 2007 05:58 AM