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Jeri A. Logan of Denver writes:

Hearing Tony Snow saying “that members of Congress are trying to create controversies about highly classified matters, some of which cannot, should not and must not be discussed publicly...” is a bit hard to swallow. I don’t like any government worker saying that government work, paid for by tax payers, shouldn’t be discussed by said tax payers. But maybe he has a legitimate reason, like the intelligence gathering, that is working everyday to thwart America’s enemies and subverting imminent terrorist attacks from those freedom hating foes, shouldn’t be discussed in order to maintain its functionality. Or maybe it is because Tony and those he fronts do not want their dirty laundry aired out for all law-abiding American citizens to see.
I have an idea. Let us appoint an independent investigator who can look into whether or not some confusing talking points were bandied about, under oath, regarding the NSA spying program and the Terrorist Surveillance Program. Seems like an innocent enough mistake, so let’s clear this matter up. Oh but wait, those fellows do not want someone who hasn’t sipped the cool-aid snooping into these matters. I guess Americans shouldn’t know whether or not the Attorney General of the United States Justice Department is a liar.

This letter has not been edited.

READER COMMENTS

Agreed. The whole "Trust us. We're the government" line is getting old. The current administration seems not to understand the concept of credibility, that if it's abused it diminishes. It's like the old saying, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice..."

Americans DO know that the Attorney General of the United States Justice Department is a liar. A six year old could tell you Al's lying. A six year old could also tell you "I don't remember" doesn't work very well when your parents ask you how the cookie jar got smashed.

What's infuriating is how far removed the entire process is from our antiquated notions of "democracy," and how little the will of the people being governed actually matters. Poll after poll shows that Americans have no faith in Alberto Gonzales, poll after poll shows that Americans want answers about what this administration is doing, and yet the Bush administration's continued response amounts to Tony Snow delivering the metaphorical finger to anybody asking questions.

A thought to consider: Bush is polling as the second worst president in our country's history (one percentage point behind Nixon), and we don't even know a quarter of what he's actually been doing. If the stuff he's letting out of the bag is revolting to 71% of the population, how bad must the secrets be?

hey lets use the same system in place years ago with bill and algore. everyone knew what was going on back then, or did they?

Jeri can you give us all an education on all past presidents who have allowed classified information to be broadcast to the American people, tax payers? I have been thinking on this and can not come up with one.
as for all the poll stuff who cares as I have never in my 50+ years ever been asked for a response on a poll but then I dont live in a big democrat area.

2:39pm Why is it that every little thing that is brought up about Bush and his cronies the only way you can respond is bringing up Clinton. But when you have no defence for this crook I guess you have to say something.

I honestly don't know how anybody can defend anything Bush & Co. do. They are the most secretive, corporate owned administration in history. When was the last time anybody in this administration had an actual open press conference? They will not let anyone ask questions directly that is not pre-screened or approved, now to me that is a big red flag for secrets they don't want anybody to know. I think we will still be findin things out years down the road..

It's not hard for Republiscum to swallow, they've been slurping down chimp offal for years and loving it.

Former JCS Chief, General Tommy Frank, allowed his wife to sit-in on a sensitive national security briefing. Rummy's response, "not a problem".

Heeeyyyy Koolaiiiiaaaaddddd!!!!!!!!
We ARE AT WAR!!!
But then,you aholes WANTus to lose!!!

I personally would like to put every politician under oath and then ask them about corruption, lies, and bribes (illegal donations) that they might have been involved in, told, and received. After which we could appoint an "independent investigator" to further investigate them. Anyone who lied or distorted the truth should be charged with perjury.

Want to guess how many of the them would still be in Congress and how many would be in prison? Most of our politicians are just as crooked as the ones they are going after. When are you people finally going to come to the conclusion they are all liars and don't give a damn about the citizens

grog,the reason you don't what Bush is doing is because you are watching and reading liberal propaganda instead of finding a reliable news source.The reason people like yourself,drew,truth,sharon b.,old grouch,etc didn't know about Al Qaeda before 9/11 was because had his freinds in the media block news,just like all of his impeachable offenses.You are un-informed because you are lazy.I guess it's easier hanging out with a bunch of losers.

Sorry,I left out billy bob clinton.

While there are legitimate reasons for not publicly disclosing intelligence operations the conduct of this administration from day one has been to be overly secretive about many things that were not that important where transparency would have served them much better. It became standard operating procedure.

Therefore, any time they come under scrutiny and refuse to divulge any details it naturally causes suspicion. They are their own worst enemies. On some of these issues, I'm sure there was some wrongdoing. Show me an administration in our history where everything was squeaky clean. Doubtful that you can find one. It's just that Bush and his cronies have a culture of secrecy. They don't know any other way.

I kind of feel sorry for Tony Snow, somebody I used to respect. How he can sleep at night, having to cover for these clowns daily, I just can't imagine. I'll bet he regrets having accepted the position of press secretary as he will now be joined at the hip with this administration.

The time is getting short for this group, thankfully. Let's wait them out, clean house and hope that the other party has more to offer this country than endless investigations. So far, judging by the majority leadership in congress I have seen no evidence that they do. Criticism is easy, same as instigating investigations. What is more difficult is to lead through good legislation that benefits the country, and does not just perpetuate the partisan infighting and culture of corruption. Didn't they tell us that they were going to change things in Washington?

I'm not holding my breath. Politicians are politicians, no matter which side of the aisle they come from.

The Bush adm. has to keep operations secret because the dems will leak it to our enemies.Just think if D-day was leaked to the n.y.times in that point of history.I believe there be no n.y.times today.

The Bush adm. has to keep operations secret because the dems will leak it to our enemies.Just think if D-day was leaked to the n.y.times in that point of history.I believe there be no n.y.times today.

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