I wonder.
Given that Justice Department lawyers are now stoutly defending warrantless internal surveillance, will some of them in later years -- perhaps, when they are being nominated for the Supreme Court -- say that while they may have defended the program, they didn't really mean it, they had their fingers crossed, and besides, they were just doing their job?
In other words, can you believe anyone will, in later years, stand by what they say?
2 comments:
It boggles me completely how true conservatives go along with this Administration. How do they stomach all this? Why hasn't there been some kind of outrage within their own party?
I don't think they will stand by what they are saying now, but I do think they will not be able to wiggle out from under the colossal mistake they are making, should they ever come up for an appointment in the future.
Or, maybe they'll just blame it on 9-11, that seems to be the get-out-of-responsiblity-free card for pretty much anything this Administration feels like doing.
At what point does this Administration become the very thing we are fighting against?
You make several good points.
Not being a conservative, I can't speak with authority to their motivation, but if I were to guess, I'd say that they can go along with the administration because either a) they believe that while incidents might trouble them, the overall thrust of the administration is still desirable, or b) they don't like what the administration is doing, but feel that they need to 'support the President'. My president, no matter what, in other words.I don't think that all conservatives support what Bush & Co are doing. Most seem to, though.
As for wiggling out (I really like that image; makes me think of snakes and other wiggly things that show up when rocks are turned over), I would bet serious money that when they are being nominated, they will with a straight face say that what they said was a reflection of their official position and that of the organization that employed them, not of their personal position. In other words, you can't judge me by what I said because in my heart my thoughts were different. It says that they feel they can never be judged by what they said and did unless they said and did it while private citizens.I think its sly, devious, and wrong.
Have I done it in my own job? Yes. Does that make it right for them or me? No. But as Will Rogers said in another context, when I do it, its undesirable; when they do it, its law.
As for when does this administration become what we're fighting against -- I think we're on the way. In high school, I read a novel called None Dare Call It Treason. In retrospect, its as good a guide to the political process as, say, Wild in the Streets -- but the image of a paranoid, fascist, iron-fisted US Government still sticks with me. And seems marginally more possible here, every day.
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