Canaries In The Coal Mine
The war on US liberals appears to be getting more intense. There’re nasty goings-on in Congress where a Republican congressman has admitted having had a Democrat suspended from Intelligence Commitee work out of spite:
“Larry Hanauer, the Democratic staffer on the House Intelligence Committee whose access to classified information was suspended last week by panel Chairman Pete Hoekstra (R-Mich.),” writes John Bresnahan, “is mounting a public-relations offensive declaring that he did not leak a classified intelligence document on Iraq to the media.”
Through his lawyer, Hanauer has written to The New York Times, “asking the newspaper?s editors to publicly declare that he was not a source for a Sept. 24 article concerning a National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq,” the article reports.
The Republican chairman of the committee, “at the request of Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.),” severed Hanauaer’s clearance due to his request of a copy of an Iraq National Intelligence Estimate days before the Times story broke. “LaHood speculated that Hanauer may have given a copy of the report to the newspaper,” writes Bresnahan, “although he has acknowledged that he had no proof such an exchange occurred.” [My emphasis]
Hanauer?s lawyer, Jonathan Turley, wrote to Hoekstra and Harman on Friday to declare his client?s innocence, and he repeated the assertion in another letter and a sworn affidavit by Hanauer sent to the two lawmakers on Monday.
So far, so typically Republican, smearing someone for political gain without regard to what that person may suffer:
Turley said in the Oct. 23 letter that Hanauer has been the subject of personal attacks since his name was publicly disclosed by Fox News, including “commentators calling him a ‘traitor, calling for the use of [a] ‘firing squad,’ and suggesting that Mr. Hanauer ‘be shot in the f*ing head in front of every U.S. government official as a message.”
Now now, Ms. Noonan. Calm down, dear.
Whats unusual in this latest instance of Republican misdoings, though, is that normally when they do this kind of thing it’s with an air of injured innocence – Who, me? – so as not to shock the church ladies when they actually slip the shiv in. Everyone knows what’s happening but no-one says so. Who, us? Naaah. It ‘s just those mean old Democrats being bitterly partisan and we, of course are patriots.
But not this time. This time they’re bragging. Peoria Pundit:
…most Peorians won?t learn about this news development unless thay happen to have been watching FOXNews at the exact time they had U.S. Rep. RayLaHood (R-18th) on the phone. Basically, LaHood admitted he had a Congressional staffer suspended and and subjected to a possible criminal investigation more out of spite and political payback than because there?s any real evidence the staffer leaked a classified National Intelligence Estimate to the New York Times.
Today on Fox News, LaHood said, ?I?ll tell you why I did it. The reason I did it was because Jane Harman released the Duke Cunningham ? who sat on our Intelligence committee ? report.? That report, which detailed the misconduct of Cunningham, who is now serving a jail term, was not classified.
A Fox anchor asked, ?So, it?s payback?? LaHood responded, ?There are some of us on the other side who can equally play politics, and I?m not afraid to do it.?
My two cents: If LaHood is wondering why his friend, Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, didn?t want LaHood to serve as chairman of House Intelligence Committee, it may be because of stuff like this. It?s one thing to be unwise enough to play politics with the operations of a committee that has access to sensitive national security information. It?s a whole ?nother kind of unwise to go on national television and brag about it.
Well, quite.
Confirmation that this was a deliberate unfounded smear is no comfort to someone having to fight to publicly clear their name of the accusation of treason, with their former career in ruins and under orchestrated personal threat from the wingnut hateosphere. The Republican congress may be cornered rats but they still have nasty poisoned teeth and they also have the advantage that they just don’t care at this point.
Embattled on all sides the Republican Congress is staring ruin in the face. They can’t quite bring themselves to believe Bush’s assurances that the elections are a shoo-in (nod nod, wink wink). After all, he said Iraq would be a cakewalk and look at that mess.
So for many congresscreatures this campaign is all or nothing, scorched-earth all the way to November. Witness the lies, the sexual innuendo, the rolling out of blatantly racist tv ads in a number of states, and the attacks, some of them threatening violence, on disabled veteran Democratic candidates. But these are small potatoes compared to what may be coming down the pike.
The WH is already firing up talk-radio in anticipation. Cheney’ll be out there, all week, rileing up the base. Limbaugh’s preaching cultural warfare and Bush’s shaking his hand.
The Right are only flexing their neofascist muscles at this point. But with the media in the administration’s pocket and their new shiny dictatorial powers, the WH and the RNC willl make certain sure the US political atmosphere gets nastier and even more fascistic pre and post-election, in light of the likelihood of their being detected in committing vote fraud.
Once the Democrats start challenging ballot results there’ll likely be actual violence. With another two years to go before we see the end of the Bush regime – if we ever do – this is just the beginning of how unpleasant US politics is going to get.
Read more: US Politics, Republican dirty tricks, Ray LaHood, National Intelligence Estimate, House Intelligence Committee , Congressional elections
