character assassination

some quotes:

"he's a vile, detestable, moralistic person with no heart and no conscience who believes he's been tapped by god to do very important things."

"perjury and obstruction of justice are high crimes and misdemeanors"

"perjury and obstruction of justice are crimes against the state"

some republicans have suggested that special prosecutor patrick fitzgerald "doesn't know the difference between a legal techincality such as perjury and a real crime".

any guesses on who said what?

well, the last is from lexington's column in this week's economist, as are the other quotes. an anonymous "white house ally" said the first one, while senator bill frist made the second comment and senator sam brownback made the third. things change when the scandal is in your own party, don't they? i find it hypocritical, or at least outrageously naive, for a republican to accuse fitzgerald of being in any way partisan or politically motivated. these the same people who championed kenneth starr's partisanship (monica lewinsky was far far far from his original mandate to investigate shady real estate dealings bill clinton and his wife may have made while still in arkansas). fitzgerald has made no attempt to turn his subject personal.

get your heads out of your asses, republicans.

and you, democrats, do the same. figure out how to lead. we, the american people, need you.