No, not that word. This ain't 1988.
And not that other word. This isn't pay TV.
But it is Showtime. Time to draw clear distinctions between the two parties. Time to take a stand. Time to be willing to lose for a just cause, because it won't be a loss with the people on your side.
Time to call liars, liars.
Chuck Schumer's response to the Fielding "offer" was disgraceful in its lack of moral outrage.
"It's sort of giving us the opportunity to talk to them but not giving us the opportunity to figure out what really happened here," he told reporters.
By now, you should know the score. Watergate refugee Fred Fielding graciously offers to have Miers and Rove lie to Congress off the record, in private, in exchange for dropping any subpoenas against the White House. I guess the reasoning was, "It can't hurt to ask. They've rolled over before."
By now some Democratic leaders are beginning to respond. Pat Leahy at least said that he was "tired" of "baloney." (That's still a little diplomatic, Pat, but we'll cut you some slack because at least you knew enough to be outraged.)
Here's Schumer's longwinded response, which fails to point out the moral bankruptcy of Fielding's position:
"It's sort of giving us the opportunity to talk to them but not giving us the opportunity to figure out what really happened here," he told reporters.
You know what would have been better? How about almost anything? Some alternative suggestions:
- Why would we give them a license to lie?
- You'd think they would have learned their lesson by now. They fired these people for refusing to subvert justice and then lied about it. Now they want to talk to us about it in private without a court reporter. Almost as though they want to lie some more, isn't it? They certainly don't want the American people to know the truth.
- Par for the course for these liars. Yeah, that's right. Liars. Gonzalez and Sampson lied to Congress, and now Miers and Rove want a blank check to do the same without any repercussions. Think again.
Get to it, Chuck. What are you afraid of? Mr 30% worst-president-ever even-lies-about-the-sandwiches-he-eats political toxin? "Oooh. Senator Schumer's playing politics"? Like they won't say that anyway? And in defense of Mr. would-push-old-ladies-into-traffic-to-win-an-election Turdblossom? Give me a &*#@ingbreak.