USA Must Be Born Again

"It took us three-and-a-half years to be corrupted by the power."

So said John Ehrlichman, the man most directly responsible for Nixon's downfall, when Pete McCloskey visited him in a federal penitentiary.

There are a lot of parrallels between the Rove-Plame scandal and Watergate, or between the current Bush Administration and Nixon's team. In fact, Cheney, Rumsfeld and others were part of Nixon's team, as I've said before.

But what kept me awake last night was the thought that the Church Commision never really cleaned up the Watergate mess. Embarrassing issues like MK-ULTRA were swept under the carpet, with a general (i.e. bipartisan political) agreement that it would be "bad for America" if too much was told to the public.

And so now we have the same self-rightreous Cold War warriors, still clinging to power, still creating wars of convenience for their business contacts in the military-industrial complex.

Can Americans "handle the truth"? Is the USA capable of the massive criminal investigation that will be required to cleanse its hypothetical soul of the stain left by these immoral vermin?

The Rove-Plame scandal presents a good opportunity to make a start. Indeed, some speculate that the almighty GOP may be set set to implode under the building internal pressures, with over 50% of GOP voters now thinking the Bush team is covering up a scandal. This from Ted Rall:

"Republicans have become so obsessed with personal loyalty that they've forgotten that their first duty is to country, not party or friend. Unless they wake up soon and dump Bush, Republicans could be permanently discredited."

Nice dream?