Bush & Habbush

Once more, fearful symmetry reigns supreme in the surreal world we have been inhabiting for almost eight years. The Random House Dictionary instructs us that Hab is an abbreviation of Habbakuk, a minor prophet of the 7th century B.C. So now we have another prophet -- unintentional, we can be sure -- of the early 21st, A.D. The contemporary version, you can readily see, is a conflation of Hab and Bush (another prophet of our time).

In the Book of Habbakuk, the prophet laments the iniquity of the land and the oppression of the just by the wicked. The prophet (Book of Habbakuk, 2:2) reveals that: "And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon the tables, that he may run who readeth it." Really, you can't make this stuff up.

But who should run where? In the spirit of fellow Huffer Marty Kaplan, whose blog yesterday eloquently pointed out how the MSM has transformed alleged high crimes and misdemeanors into low politics and spin, I have a suggestion. Perhaps -- and I'm only making a modest proposal here, so don't get me wrong - perhaps the journalistic community might do something extraordinary: pursue the story!

In other words, go find Habbush! Is he still in Jordan? Or elsewhere? Either way, find him! Ask him about the letter. Ask him about the $5 million he allegedly received. Did he get that money? If so, what was it in payment for?

Another modest proposal: while the journalists are busy with that, perhaps the lawyers could do a little research of their own. If (and, certainly, "if" is the operative word) there indeed was a forgery, what statutes might have been violated? Was there a criminal conspiracy? Did such an action constitute an effort to defraud the government? Would the creation and use of such a forgery constitute a transforming piece of information in our ongoing national nightmare? Would it constitute, in the parlance of an episode long ago but not so far away, a smoking gun?

And when we have the answers to these questions, we might consider the most radical prescription of all: turning to our elected officials and asking if, finally, they have any last shred of decency and sense of responsibility. We might inquire if the president or the vice-president, or both, have committed crimes? And then -- just a thought, you realize, I'm only thinking out loud here -- we might ask precisely which consideration rules supreme in the United States: politics or the rule of law?

Comments

[demfriend]

There should be someone beating the bushes to find this guy to find out the truth about the letter and the lies.That it can be dismissed so easily is shameful and it shouldn't be done if we are to know the truth now and not later when only the history books will deal with it. We owe ourselves the truth.

[ikez78]

If you did track down Habbush and found out he was working with al Qaeda and had been all along would you finally admit Saddam's regime was linked to al Qaeda or continue denying it?

www.regimeofterror.com

[BBackSoon]

The short answer: YES and NO. But I do believe it should be investigated by competent people with no political agenda. So for now that leaves out any US government institution that is currently headed and controlled by Bushco representatives. Maybe we could get the British to investigate.

If some other dependable agency finds that there were connections between Al Qaeda and Sadam, I would be forced to believe that said link existed. But on the other hand if that same agency finds that the papers were indeed forged and that there was no link will you admit there was NO Al Qaeda/Sadam connection? Or would you keep spouting Bushco talking points?

[Ozarks]

Sounds like Pulitzer Prize winner, David Suskind, has taped interviews with relevant MI6, CIA and State operatives showing Habbush was really a tool used by Rice and Bush. Apparently, Bush and Company didn't like what Habbush was telling the British so they ignored it and maybe did fabricate the alleged forged Habbush letter. So, yes, track down Habbush and give him a shopping list of all those named sources in Suskind's book, show him the forged document, and let him either confirm their statements or try and contradict them and the alleged $5 million that apparently allows him to live in luxury in Jorden.

[johnie2xs]

What a concept, huh. The idea that the rule of law might be equitably exercised, even in pursuit of those in seats of power, is novel. Surely you must be a revolutionary. Oh yeah, I forgot, we had one of them !!
Truly, the greatest accomplishment of the Repuglican party, will someday be shown to have been the emasculation of the MSM. With this one stroke of genius, they paved the way for all else that followed.
If we were to further lose our freedoms on the internet, it'll be all over. Stay tuned.

[darthdarcy]

They can't cover this huge story of the smoking gun for a criminal illegal unnecessary war and Federal crime and grounds for Impeachment, they're busy covering Paris Hilton's video response to John McCain...

[RobinSeattle]

Unfortunately, you speak the truth darthdarcy. The MSM is too busy gearing up for the John Edwards story and dealing with the Heath Ledger-Olsen sister contretempts that what may be the signal story of the entire Iraq debacle will be allowed to fade away by the glorified stenographers that call themselves reporters.

The MSM has a chance to redeem themselves for allowing themselves to be used as Bush's echo chamber the last eight years by really digging on this story. But they obviously aren't going to take it.