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Maureen Dowd Calls For Truth Commission

By Big Tent Democrat, Section Media
Posted on Sun May 17, 2009 at 09:05:44 AM EST
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Maureen Dowd:

More and more the timeline is raising the question of why, if the torture was to prevent terrorist attacks, it seemed to happen mainly during the period when the Bush crowd was looking for what was essentially political information to justify the invasion of Iraq.

I used to agree with President Obama, that it was better to keep moving and focus on our myriad problems than wallow in the darkness of the past. But now I want a full accounting. I want to know every awful act committed in the name of self-defense and patriotism. Even if it only makes one ambitious congresswoman pay more attention in some future briefing about some future secret technique that is “uniquely” designed to protect us, it will be worth it.

(Emphasis supplied.)

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    Maureen Dowd Calls For Truth Commission | 36 comments (36 topical)

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    Shorter Maureen (5.00 / 12) (#1)
    by TeresaInSnow2 on Sun May 17, 2009 at 09:19:35 AM EST
    "At first I didn't want a truth commission. But now, a truth commission might destroy Nancy Pelosi, so now I want it. "

    I can't stand Maureen Dowd....Or Nancy Pelosi, but that is beside the point.

    Me, I want the truth, but I've wanted it from the start.  I don't think a congressional Orweillian "Truth Commission" will do it, since it will actually be a "CYA commission".

    You nailed it (5.00 / 3) (#2)
    by Spamlet on Sun May 17, 2009 at 09:36:43 AM EST
    "At first I didn't want a truth commission. But now, a truth commission might destroy Nancy Pelosi, so now I want it."


    Parent
    That was a very funny line (5.00 / 2) (#3)
    by Lil on Sun May 17, 2009 at 09:39:58 AM EST
    (But personally,I actually like Pelosi, but still, you nailed it with that opening line.

    Parent
    Who in positions of authority and allowing (none / 0) (#7)
    by Inspector Gadget on Sun May 17, 2009 at 10:15:19 AM EST
    the torture to take place (continuing beyond discovery, imprisoning the soldiers following orders) do you think should be allowed to escape responsibility for their decisions?

    Dowd is hardly worth listening to, but in this case, why shoot the messenger? If Pelosi is destroyed through exposure of the truth, so be it. I'm not open to protecting democrats who were party to the torture.

    Parent

    I dont think TeresaInSnow2... (none / 0) (#17)
    by Thanin on Sun May 17, 2009 at 12:11:14 PM EST
    is advocating for the protection of pelosi, but more pointing out how ridiculous dowd is.

    Parent
    heh (none / 0) (#9)
    by andgarden on Sun May 17, 2009 at 10:29:54 AM EST


    Parent
    Frank Rich (5.00 / 1) (#4)
    by lentinel on Sun May 17, 2009 at 09:51:19 AM EST
    also wrote what I thought was a very good column today. As with Dowd, he describes the need for a thorough airing and documentation of our government's actions.

    It also points to how mired Obama is in the thinking of the past 8 years.

    Rich writes about the religious justification given these craven acts by the early Bush administration. He says, "If these official daily collages of Crusade-like messaging and war imagery had been leaked, they would have reinforced the Muslim world's apocalyptic fear that America was waging a religious war."

    It is not only the Muslim world that would have viewed this as a religious war. It would have also been seen as such by the American people. One religious minority, the evangelicals, took over the White House. Plain old-fashioned greed played its' ugly part as well, but a religious fervor provided the fuel.

    The public declarations of religious beliefs, mostly a distortion of Christianity, became a daily and annoying fact of life during the Bush years.

    Obama has clung to this behavior as well.

    If Obama is unwilling, or unable, to unload these relics of the Bush era, he will lose whatever popularity he now has. He will find that no one will be tuning in to hear the same recycled pronouncements about why we can't leave Iraq, or why we must win in Afghanistan.

    We read that our bombings in Afghanistan in the 90's is what emboldened Bin Laden to begin to conceive of attacking us. So what does Obama do? More of the same. And expecting a different result? Isn't that the definition of idiocy?

    Like Maureen Dowd, (none / 0) (#11)
    by KeysDan on Sun May 17, 2009 at 11:04:06 AM EST
    Frank Rich endorses a "blue ribbon commission", albeit in his case, somewhat reluctantly given the likelihood of political compromises trumping truth. Rich also would like to see such a commission backed-up by serious law enforcement, whatever he means by that.  Motivations aside, both the Dowd and Rich articles offer needed legs to the story.  Public discovery of the Bush/Cheney outrages is required to fuel necessary legislative changes, including the easily co-opted or manipulated one-on-one type intelligence briefings on behalf of Congress as a whole. Moreover, when the Speaker of the House and the CIA are at fundamental odds on a key matter related to congressional oversight, the situation behooves judgment.  While my bets are on the Speaker over the slam dunk/yellow cake crowd, we need to go back so that we can go forward.  

    Parent
    Of course it would be (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by Jjc2008 on Sun May 17, 2009 at 09:56:20 AM EST
    even better if the "truth commission" could reveal that it was Nancy Pelosi AND HILLARY Clinton who together knew all about it, and kept silent and then the truth commission would destroy both Nancy and Hillary.  Oh how happy MoDo would be.......
    and if then, they implicated Al Gore......Ms Dowd would be having multiple .....

    well you know what I mean.

    I don't know .... (5.00 / 3) (#18)
    by Yman on Sun May 17, 2009 at 12:14:33 PM EST
    Just one more thing she'd have to fake.

    Parent
    Good one... (none / 0) (#31)
    by Jjc2008 on Sun May 17, 2009 at 04:37:48 PM EST
    8)

    Parent
    who is maureen dowd? (5.00 / 3) (#6)
    by sancho on Sun May 17, 2009 at 10:05:23 AM EST


    I don't know. (5.00 / 5) (#8)
    by Fabian on Sun May 17, 2009 at 10:18:06 AM EST
    I know who she thinks she is, though.

    Parent
    Typical Village Idiot (5.00 / 1) (#25)
    by cal1942 on Sun May 17, 2009 at 01:20:35 PM EST
    with a column in the New York Times

    Parent
    whoa! (5.00 / 1) (#10)
    by Turkana on Sun May 17, 2009 at 10:29:58 AM EST
    modo wakes up on the wrong side of the bed and discovers a conscience?

    Modo finds a way to attack another Big Dem, this (5.00 / 3) (#22)
    by jawbone on Sun May 17, 2009 at 12:58:07 PM EST
    time Nancy Pelosi.

    The Villagers seem to have decided to the use the torture revelations in a "shock doctrine" way to get rid of more liberal leaders.

    Never let a good crisis go to waste. Find some way to use it.

    Repubs excel at projection and blaming others for what they have done. Modo excels at streaming Repub attacks.

    Parent

    Is it another big Dem (5.00 / 1) (#26)
    by BackFromOhio on Sun May 17, 2009 at 02:06:51 PM EST
    or another big Dem female that she's attacking?

    Parent
    Come on, Turk (none / 0) (#35)
    by joanneleon on Mon May 18, 2009 at 09:06:44 AM EST
    You know better than that.

    She's been totally wrong on the torture story and completely incompetent for the last however many years in reporting on the Bush/Cheney administration.

    She's clearly out of the loop in the District (except for the lying cocktail party sources) and this is shown by the fact that it looks like her entire column is sourced from blogs -- so much so that some of it is even plagiarized!  

    So she had to grudgingly admit she was wrong, in one paragraph, so she wrapped it in a signature mean spirited, snide take down of Nancy Pelosi.

    Parent

    I don't care who is calling for the truth, (5.00 / 7) (#19)
    by Anne on Sun May 17, 2009 at 12:17:28 PM EST
    or what his or her ulterior motives are, as long as more voices join the chorus asking for truth and accountability.

    If Dowd's reason for calling for a commission is to bring Pelosi down - someone who was not the President, not the VP, not in charge of policy, didn't order memos, didn't order waterboarding, didn't conduct torture, didn't destroy the torture tapes or order them destroyed - it only proves that Dowd is as shallow as we thought she was.  But, so what?  She is moving off the path of total agreement with Obama, which is huge.

    Let it all come out, every ugly little bit, regardless of party affiliation.  We have much to learn, lines that need to be drawn, and a better and more principled course that needs to be set; none of that will happen as long as the same forces that conducted all of this in secret are aided and abetted by those currently in power.

    He was speaking (5.00 / 1) (#24)
    by lentinel on Sun May 17, 2009 at 01:11:55 PM EST
    about the repression of black people, but Malcolm X made the point that it was the government that perpetrated this evil. Republicans and Democrats. Working together.

    It is still true.

    In this instance it is our government that has failed us once again.

    Led by a true nut, the democrats gladly got hysterical and OKed everything. So did the press.

    I will never get over that correspondents dinner where Bush did a little turn looking for WMD. The press, ever eager to be entertained, laughed and laughed. Democrats laughed as well as Republicans.
    If Kerry had replayed this disgraceful display and had been able to express the kind of anger that you think he would have been capable of feeling - his having once been a soldier in combat - he would have won the election hands down.

    But he did nothing and said nothing.
    Democrats and Republicans.

    And now we have Obama. Looking to turn the page. Sweep under the rug is a more apt description.
    I'm glad that Rich is comparing this to the Nazi era.
    The nature of the evil is truly reminiscent of that epoch.

    Parent

    Amen (none / 0) (#20)
    by gyrfalcon on Sun May 17, 2009 at 12:33:37 PM EST


    Parent
    There will be no Truth Commission (none / 0) (#27)
    by ChiTownMike on Sun May 17, 2009 at 02:10:04 PM EST
    I don't understand why people here don't understand that.

    Obama will never call for one. Bush & Cheney will never participate. The CIA will never participate. The Military will never participate. The contractors will never participate.

    Without participation from the perpetrators a Truth Commission is IMPOSSIBLE!

    What is possible though is High Blood Pressure by hoping against hope. The family doctor just loves that. The health insurance companies, not so much.

    Such a beautiful day out and instead of peace and joy peoples veins are popping out. By choice!

    Parent

    Yeah (none / 0) (#32)
    by Ga6thDem on Sun May 17, 2009 at 04:59:47 PM EST
    I don't know why people don't realize this. Obama is too timid and scared to handle this problem. It might upset the GOP and we can't do that can we!! It's really sad when you see a broken and defeated party continually legitimized by a Dem president.

    Parent
    You don't have to listen to me (none / 0) (#36)
    by ChiTownMike on Mon May 18, 2009 at 01:06:19 PM EST
    Listen to Obama; Bush & Cheney; The CIA; The Military; The Contractors.

    Are you tone deaf?

    Do you really think your post on this blog is going to even catch their ear? Do you really think that what a few people on blog think is going to convince them to do what you want and which is not in their best interest? You gottta be kidding.

    Parent

    A little disconcerting (5.00 / 3) (#23)
    by oldpro on Sun May 17, 2009 at 01:02:30 PM EST
    to see the words Maureen Dowd and truth in the same headline.

    Talk about a grabber...

    i have no interest in a (5.00 / 0) (#30)
    by cpinva on Sun May 17, 2009 at 04:25:31 PM EST
    "truth commission", i want an independent prosecutor, the gathering of relevant evidence, and prosecutions where warranted.

    frankly, this is far more important than lying about a bj in the oval office, by another consenting adult.

    white wash (none / 0) (#12)
    by fly on Sun May 17, 2009 at 11:07:06 AM EST
    As a Flight Crew for one of the airlines involved on 9/11 I will tell you , that commission was nothing but a pathetic White Wash.
    I myself did a round Table at a Big University with Bob Kerrey, 15 people were premitted to ask questions , and my husband and I were 2, i trained my husband to ask the appropriate questions, as i knew I would not get all my questions answered. I was less than two feet from Mr Kerrey, and i asked questions that no one asked during the 9/11 fraud commission. I asked questions a flight crew could and would ask , but were never allowed to ask at the commission.Mr Kerrey sweat like a pig when i was asking him questions , and he stuttered and would not answer one of my questions nor the questions my husband asked..he couldn't because he knew it would expose the commission as nothing but liars and complicit in the lies of 9/11.
    I was a flight crew for 33 years with my airline and in 2001 i was Flight attendent of the year for the NY base ( JFK, LGA & EWR) of my airline.. and nothing to this day makes a dang bit of sense to me about what was done with the 9/11 commission. The only thing that makes sense to me of any of the evidence is there was a huge conspiracy to cover up the truth...and the American people fell for that pile of garbage CALLED COMMISSION!

    I will tell you, you fall for a commission at your own and your families peril.

    You can get any results you want with a commission, by deliberately asking the wrong questions. And that was done with the 9/11 commission.

    To go this route again..is nothing more than a deliberate attempt of white wash and I have no doubt the same cast of characters are pulling the same crap in the media to make darn sure we get a white wash..just as they did with the 9/11 commission.

    What a joke that we would go down this path again and so many can be so easily fooled ..again..with this type of fraud.

    I sit here shaking my head because all the dems on the morning Sunday shows had the same freaking talking point!..

    We will never have truth with a commission..ever!!

    WE need and Independent Special prosecutor.Anything less is a full on attack at truth!

    Yes, a special prosecutor. (5.00 / 2) (#14)
    by KeysDan on Sun May 17, 2009 at 11:45:01 AM EST
    The 9/ll Commission permitted Bush and Cheney to appear together, no records to be kept, and not under oath.  That should be enough right there to cause pause.  

    Parent
    Agree with need for legal remedy (none / 0) (#13)
    by MO Blue on Sun May 17, 2009 at 11:12:56 AM EST
    Special prosecutor is the way to go.

    Parent
    Terrific title. (none / 0) (#15)
    by oculus on Sun May 17, 2009 at 11:49:41 AM EST


    Alternatively (5.00 / 1) (#21)
    by lilburro on Sun May 17, 2009 at 12:51:17 PM EST
    "Stylish Grandmother Calls for Truth Commission."

    Parent
    I prefer a Special Prosector, ... (none / 0) (#16)
    by Yman on Sun May 17, 2009 at 12:02:09 PM EST
    ... although a truth commission would be a weak (albeit potentially debilitating) step in the right direction.

    OTOH, if Maureen Dowd was in favor of rescuing starving orphans holding wide-eyed puppies, I'd have to think about it ...

    Lets start with a "truth commission" (none / 0) (#28)
    by jondee on Sun May 17, 2009 at 02:49:42 PM EST
    that takes a good long look beneath the surface of the NYT editorial board's decision to make the paper of an organ of the wmd clear-and-present-danger scam
    and then work from there.

    Parent
    a TRUTH COMMISSION FOR THE LIES (none / 0) (#29)
    by fly on Sun May 17, 2009 at 04:01:00 PM EST
    OF THE NYT  claims of WMD is the only truth commission i would be willing to accept!

    Parent
    Dowd ADMITS plagiarism...from Josh Marshall (none / 0) (#34)
    by fly on Sun May 17, 2009 at 08:01:32 PM EST
    Maureen Dowd Admits Inadvertently Lifting Line From TPM's Josh Marshall

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/17/maureen-dowd-admits-inadv_n_204418.html

    Hold ALL officials accountable (none / 0) (#37)
    by wevotedforyou on Mon May 18, 2009 at 03:29:41 PM EST
    I keep reading how the right believes that Dem's will back down from a Truth Commission or other independent investigation as some believing that non-repubs will be caught up in the net. I say, as so ignorantly said previously "Bring it on". If democrats (or independents for that matter) or any other governmental body knew of, approved or in any way were co-conspirators in this illegal activity, they too should be brought to accountability. I think it's a ridiculous presumption one would ignore the misdeeds of the past years in order to preserve a few people for partisan reasons. It really is time to remind the politicians that wevotedforyou!!!

    Maureen Dowd Calls For Truth Commission | 36 comments (36 topical)

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