Started to laugh my ass off this morning when I saw this on the famous "internets" -
Bush orders staff to attend ethics briefings This lesson in ethics is being given by the Whitehouse Counsel's Office. Yes that same Whitehouse Counsel's Office that wrote torture memos. The same Whitehouse Counsel's Office that by some accounts has been involved in the Whitehouse Iraq Group and their effort that "lied us" into a war in the middle east. It gives such confidense that Whitehouse Counsel's Office is going to be teaching ethics. Like the old saying - if you cannot do, TEACH...
The Reuters article tells us:
White House officials will be required to attend briefings next week on ethics and the handling of classified information after the indictment last week of a senior official in the CIA leak probe, according to a memo released on Saturday.
The White House counsel's office will conduct a series of presentations on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for those aides with security clearances.
"Your attendance at one of these sessions is mandatory," said a memo to White House staff from White House counsel Harriet Miers.
The memo was released in Mar del Plata, where President George W. Bush was attending a 34-nation Summit of the Americas.
The briefings will provide a refresher course on general ethics rules, including "the rules governing the protection of classified information," the memo said.
Now it strikes me that this lesson is a little late. Could they have thought of this before they decided that it was okay to out a CIA NOC and the multi-million dollar CIA cover business? Could they have considered this lesson before the their chief GAO procurement officer got arrested?
I have worked in Human Resources for two decades and this type of training is implemented on a mandatiry staff basis once there is an internal acknowlegdement that there is a problem. Do you think that the Chimp in Chief has concluded that he has a problem? To me this is an obvious admission of the lax attitudes about ethical and honest government by this tragic administration.
Will the Dark Lord Cheney be required to attend? If not then what is the point. Cheney's fifth column effort to enrich himself and his business allies is still operational in the Whitehouse. Does anyone seriously think that Cheney or his staff can tke seriously any ethics lecture orignating from Harriet Miers or her staff? If nothing else the laugh value of this masquerade is just too much.
What about Rove?
The ethics briefings come amid pressure from congressional Democrats to fire top White House aide Karl Rove or strip his security clearance.
Rove remains under investigation because of his reported conversations with reporters about Plame, the wife of Iraq war critic Joseph Wilson.
Bush on Friday dodged questions about Rove and other aspects of the CIA leak, saying the case was still under investigation.
The briefings were scheduled for staffers according to the first letter of their last name. If that practice is followed, Rove would be expected at a session at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.
Maybe Rove should forgo the lesson, recognizing that on this subject he is unteachable and just resign.