Rahm Emanuel is preparing to give a speech in the next two weeks that is sure to stand among the most devastating political poundings of the Bush Administration since 01/2001:
The latest Evans-Novak Political Report says Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) "plans a major speech in the next two weeks to be delivered at a nonpartisan site that will depict the controversy over President Bush's dismissal of U.S. attorneys as a part of a broader pattern of corruption. Emanuel plans to say that the U.S. attorneys issue, in the public mind, 'will be to corruption what Katrina was to incompetence.' He will delineate a pattern of Bush Administration abuses that include the Interior Department, General Services Administration, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Department of Education on student loans."
"If delivered on the House floor, such an attack could be lost in harsh, partisan oratory, and so Emanuel has been searching for a nongovernmental site, such as the National Press Club or the Brookings Institution."
This should be interesting to hear (and see reactions to and press on), to say the least. As we all saw with Katrina, the Bush Administration was inexorably connected to a terrible tragedy - and rightly so. If there was a silver lining to one of the most devastating events in the nation's history, it was the fact that the gig was up for Bush. For the first time in his presidency, the majority of Americans were very angry at George W Bush.
The opportunity we have now is to take the increasing lawlessness of the Administration - audacious lawlessness that has resulted in disturbing and blatant partisan moves within the heart of the Department of Justice and other federal agencies - and use it for good. Combining corruption with creeping authoritarianism is sure to have a powerful effect - exposing the President and co. as dangerous criminals to a majority of Americans.
After Katrina, most Americans get that Bush was a mistake. Let's use this speech to press the case his rule is a string of crimes. It's sure to help make for a silver lining to the disaster that is the Bush presidency.