Roadkill Journal

Buried in a blog over at Huffington Post I found this little gem by Doug Thompson of Capitol Hill Blue:

"Bush on the Constitution: 'It's just a goddamned piece of paper'"

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7779.shtml

Before Bush's Buddies start drawing their knives, I want to emphasize I'm not vouching for this. I have read the page before - Robert Novak occasionally quotes it - but I know absolutely nothing else.

I just have a few questions...

Quoting those nefarious "un-named sources," Thompson writes:

"Last month, Republican Congressional leaders filed into the Oval Office to meet with President George W. Bush and talk about renewing the controversial USA Patriot Act...GOP leaders told Bush that his hardcore push to renew the more onerous provisions of the act could further alienate conservatives..."

Thompson then goes on to relate the following exchange:

"“I don’t give a goddamn,” Bush retorted. “I’m the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way.”

“Mr. President,” one aide in the meeting said. “There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution.”

“Stop throwing the Constitution in my face,” Bush screamed back. “It’s just a goddamned piece of paper!”"

Those questions:

Let's assume this report is crap. Why hasn't it been denounced? If the mainstream media has a secret "liberal agenda," why haven't they seized the opportunity to criticize this over the top accusation, thereby appearing to be "fair and balanced," to borrow a phrase...

And speaking of "fair and balanced," where is FowNews, Drudge, NewsMax, and the rest of GWB's cheerleading staff? This is perfect cannon fodder for the argument often made by neoconservatives that "the left" is out to get GWB...

If its crap, that is...

And if it is the truth, why hasn't the "liberal press" trumpeted it to the heavens? GWB swore an oath to protect and defend that "goddamned piece of paper." This could be construed as a damning lack of respect for the Constitution, the oath, and the office of President itself.

Why not make GWB eat his words?

When Howard Dean suggested during a radio interview recently that history was against us in Iraq, the statement was clipped and parsed by all comers and touted by right-wing commentators as evidence the Democratic Party is rife with treasonous defeatism. Even Dean's supporters in the "liberal" press gave life to the story by repeating and analyzing it.

So why the deafening silence from the mainstream media? Why isn't this blood in the water to the sharks of the "liberal" press?

Because the mainstream media isn't liberal. Sure, most of the people who work for the big news outlets vote Democratic. Yes, most reporters manage to get their two-cents worth of spin in on anything they report. And few of them are above rocking the boat, especially if it advances them personally.

But this sort of comment doesn't rock the boat - it torpedos it. And much though conservatives argue otherwise, the press doesn't want to "get" GWB. There is no election to win right now, and chasing this might lead places nobody wants to go.

It just might lead to the discovery that a lot of people agree the Constitution is just a goddamned piece of paper. People in both parties.

And people in the press...

After all, if the people in flyover country learn this is a popular attitude, the game just might be over.