SCANDAL FATIGUE, CATNIP & THE 'ANGRY' LEFT: A few months ago, Steve Benen, Carpetbagger and DR guest-poster, wrote a fascinating blog entry that chronicled a series of Bush-related scandals .... all of which had occurred in the space of a week. In that regard, glance around this site today. You'll find an over-abundance of stories that undermine the credibility and integrity of our current administration and of the party in power. This coincides with a recent wave of references to the "angry" left, as though anger at the apathy of the media, the political establishment and much of the public in the face of this cavalcade of scandals is somehow in bad taste.
Take a look:
Ex-CIA Official Faults Use of Data on Iraq
Paper: White House Knew About Levees Early
McClellan Confronted With Abramoff Emails
Waas's New Scoop: Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information
Chief FISA judge warned about misuse of NSA spy data
House majority leader's landlord is a lobbyist
Republican Who Oversees N.S.A. Calls for Wiretap Inquiry
Bush's Budget Tricks
John Dickerson Speaks...And Drops Some Plamegate Bombshells
Bush's Social Security Sleight of Hand
Tom DeLay to Oversee Justice DepartmentEach of these stories constitutes a full-blown crisis that would have caused a massive firestorm for any other administration. But a cursory glance at the online editions of national papers and news outlets as well as a scan of the major cable news nets would lead you to believe that the most important piece of news today is that a British man accused of killing his wife and child will return to the US to face trial.
Bush's political opponents are unwitting partners in a macabre dance with this administration, where the U.S. Constitution dies a slow death as hundreds of egregious stories like those listed above are chased and flagged and highlighted by a relatively small segment of the population, only to fade weeks later, and while the political leaders who ought to be putting a stop to the madness are frozen in focus-grouped fear. To top it off, rank and file supporters of the powers that be, happy frogs in a pot of slow-boiling water, smile gleefully at the opposition’s alarm.
http://daoureport.salon.com/synopsis.aspx?synopsisId=e3466497-752a-490e-aff4-f2e0b3bc7765