• Digging deeper into Scooter Libby case • Accusations are hypocritical • Every child deserves a quality education Digging deeper into Scooter Libby case A recent letter to this paper regarding the Scooter Libby case extolling his virtues and suggesting
• Digging deeper into Scooter Libby case
• Accusations are hypocritical
• Every child deserves a quality education
Digging deeper into Scooter Libby case
A recent letter to this paper regarding the Scooter Libby case extolling his virtues and suggesting the prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald be jailed instead was one of the more enlightening we’ve had in a while. Not because of the content, but because of the window it opened into the minds of the hard-core Republican partisans who still believe in Bush and his corrupt administration.
What happened to perjury being a heinous crime as we heard from this crowd 10 years ago? What about the children and the lessons they’ll learn? Is it any wonder the Republican party is making us Independents into straight-ticket Democrats with this double standard approach? So much for a return to strict law and order and ending moral relativism.
The reason we swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth in our legal proceedings is clear. Outright lies and partial truth are the enemies of justice. The writer provides a perfect example. It is certainly true that Richard Armitage leaked Valeria Plame’s identity to Bob Novak first. The Republican Party’s house organ (Fox News) and right wing infotainment sources like Rush Limbaugh seize on that fact in isolation while ignoring all others to absolve Mr. Libby. Partial truth is a very convincing way to spin the truth if not lie outright.
Anyone reading the accounts of his trial will know that the Bush power players, Cheney and Rove, were desperate to destroy the credibility of former Ambassador Joe Wilson (a former Republican) who had prominently pointed out the overselling if not untruth of the case made for the Iraq war, something we all can see now 3+ years later. Administration member after member testified that Mr. Libby repeatedly talked about Ms. Plame’s identity during the scramble to shoot down Joe Wilson’s story via an attack on his character.
Yet, when asked, Mr. Libby told the FBI he learned of her identity from reporters weeks later than those conversations. The reporter’s testimony made it clear that Mssrs. Libby and Rove gave them Plame’s identity not the other way around.
The CIA requested the Justice Department investigate who outed a covert agent, an act the more honorable if equally ineffective President Bush (41) described as treasonous in years past. The Justice Department appointed a conservative Catholic, Republican, U.S. attorney of the highest reputation for fairness and honesty to investigate the situation. While the Armitage leak was known, the extent of the undercurrent of leaking was not nor was it clear whether or not laws had been broken.
In the course of his investigation, Mr. Fitzgerald was stymied by the outright lies from Mr. Libby. He states that a “cloud hangs over the office of the Vice President” yet due to the willingness of Mr. Libby to kick sand in the eyes of the umpire. Unlike Mr. Armitage (another Republican working for Colin Powell at the time) Mr. Libby did not admit his mistakes. He lied again and again to cover up the wrong doings of his bosses. Even if there was no proven underlying crime, outing a covert agent was a despicable act of retribution and lying to obstruct a grand jury investigating the issue is indeed a crime.
Mr. Fitzgerald presented a convincing case to a jury of 12 citizens under the supervision of a Republican-appointed federal judge. A jury found Mr. Libby guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice without any great difficulty. An appeals court dominated by Republican appointees upheld the convictions.
Our current president has chosen to undo the work of the justice system and let Mr. Libby off the hook for the most part. In doing so he has added to his sobriquets. He’s no longer merely as incompetent as Carter and as contemptuous of the Constitution as Nixon. Now he’s as morally bankrupt as Clinton as well. And we still have 18 months of these crooks to wait out.
Dave Camp
Anahola
Accusations are hypocritical
The clamor over President Bush’s pardoning of Libby is rather humorous. While this occurred several years before I became interested in our intriguing political world, I vaguely remember a president named Clinton.
In his eight years of rule, he handed out pardons like candy. Four hundred pieces of cutely wrapped candy.
What isn’t so cute is what he was pardoning. Let’s see … his half brother, Roger, a cocaine drug dealer; 16 violent Puerto Rican activists; a CIA director who broke security laws; and a CIA director who violated security laws.
The biggest piece of candy was to fugitive Marc Rich, who failed to pay $48 million in tax money and — here’s the killer — was accused of conducting illegal oil transactions during a hostage crisis with a certain Middle Eastern country (Iran). After the pardon, Rich’s wife became a huge financial supporter of the Democratic Party.
Looks like the Right is merely following the Left’s leading. Both sides are driving themselves silly with hypocritical accusations. Will people ever learn? Next time, kids, vote for the Communist party.
Joshua Duvauchelle
Honolulu
Every child deserves a quality education
Take it from someone who’s been on both sides of the fence (Lessons from KIUC, Letters, July 5), I attended a private school in Hilo, with tuition paid for by my parents. After my parents divorced, I came to live with my dad and attended Kaua‘i High School in the middle of the 10th grade.
What a joke! The school work the students were doing in the 10th grade was the same work that I had already completed in the 6th grade.
Sitting through that each day was just plain boring and I’d usually find other ways to occupy my time. I did graduate in my senior year with the rest of my class. However, I’d estimate that in my senior year, I probably attended classes two months out of the entire school year.
My nephews attended public school, with their teachers calling home constantly to say they either had emotional or attention problems.
After consulting with a couple of psychiatrists, as the teachers suggested; it was found that they were just bored with the curriculum. The work was too slow for their intelligence level. They are both in college now after being home-schooled and doing very well.
With my son’s preschool years ending in another year, I am faced with the choice of public or private school. Checking in to the tuition costs for private schools, public school seems to be my only option. Unless, of course, I’m able to enroll him in a private school that offers financial assistance.
I’m sure the public school teachers are doing the best they can with what little resources they have.
I believe every child deserves a quality education and with the state having such a large surplus; I don’t quite understand why more money is not being funneled in to the education system.
Francine M. Grace
Kalaheo
