This story is a few months old already but it seems to have some real sticking power.
The story was described in the prologue of Robert Draper’s book, “Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives,” where he tells of a meeting put together by Fox Cable News pollster Frank Luntz during the eve of Barack Obama's inauguration. The guest list that night (which was just over 15 people in total) included Republican Reps. Eric Cantor (Va.), Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), Paul Ryan (Wis.), Pete Sessions (Texas), Jeb Hensarling (Texas), Pete Hoekstra (Mich.) and Dan Lungren (Calif.), along with Republican Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.), Jon Kyl (Ariz.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), John Ensign (Nev.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.). The non-lawmakers present included Newt Gingrich and several other political operatives.
The event in the prologue is about what these Republican leaders discussed in a private dining room at an expensive Washington, D.C., steakhouse to plot their comeback. But the problem is that they weren't just plotting their own comeback as much as they were plotting to use the power of their office to deliberately undermine the country, the office of the President of the United States, and target members of the Democratic party for political gain. The revelation is that Obama, beginning with the very first day of his presidency, never had a chance to succeed with Republicans in Congress determined to see him fail.
It's one thing for political parties to work at undermining each other or defeating what they perceive as their opponents, but it's an entirely different thing when a group CONSPIRES to undermine the office of the President of the United States. I don't buy the idea at all that others have done this in the past or that this is okay. I just don't think this has been done before with this scale of planning and boldness. In my view, the president is not beyond harsh criticism or direct disagreement like George W. Bush faced during his terms. The conspiracy described in Draper's book goes way beyond public criticism or personal attacks - at least in my view.
At the end of the night, Gingrich proclaimed, “You will remember this day. You’ll remember this as the day the seeds of 2012 were sown.”
So when does mere party politics overstep the bounds of their oath to office and become an act of treason? The discussion held that night at a steakhouse did not begin or was not perhaps meant to be some sort of a dark conspiracy, but it certainly ended that way.
I totally agree with the writer of an open letter at Open Salon to all the office holding co-conspirators, Where Is The Outrage?
ADDITIONAL:
Wonkette - Idiot House Of representatives
Kansas City - Do Not Ask What Good We Do" - stranger than fiction
No comments:
Post a Comment