It's called 'estalishing a pattern of behavior'

Ah so. The way you kept you head in the sand in the face of year after year of GOP corruption?

So is this the best you can do in terms of walking back your claim of a pattern of "outright criminality" in the Obama administration?

Hardly walking it back. It's called 'estalishing a pattern of behavior'.

Nor Geithner in the same situation. Still, these two are hardly unique among Democrats anymore.

So is this the best you can do in terms of walking back your claim of a pattern of "outright criminality" in the Obama administration?

Where is your outrage over Bob Ney? Guess its only wrong to be wrong if you are a Democrat. A senior Bush administration official is convicted for acts committed during his tenure, and you make excuses. News flash, that is "criminality".

See, this is exactly the head-buried-in-the-sand thinking that gets you into trouble all the time, Bitsy. As you have liked to say in many other threads before when you can't come up with an adequate defense and pass on addressing the argument at hand, there is ample evidence freely and widely available on the Internet for you to Google about Bush admin Republican criminality.

Oh, I'll grant there are years of talking points offered by leftists that such things exist. But actaul criminality seems to elude them. About the best you got was Scooter Libby, as I recall.. and that was to say the least questionable.

It is also noteworthy that Daschel is not, as we speak, part of the Obama administration,

Nor Geithner in the same situation. Still, these two are hardly unique among Democrats anymore.

And Chuck; Careful.. Remember what happened to Trent Lott when he said nice and polite things about another Senator.

Of course it is complex, too complex. But we all know the reasons for that.

That said, and perhaps I've missed a nuance, but I haven't seen one issue either of them faced that was particularly esoteric. I meet with my accountant 2-3 times a year to discuss issues and set appropriate quarterly estimates. I've dealt with a number of things these guys did. Its not terribly complex, and a reasonably experienced accountant will competently advise. Are we to believe these guys are amazingly talented public servants worthy of our trust......, um,except for these narrow issues?

Which leads me to the only, IMHO, reasonable conclusion. They got caught with their hands in the cookie jar...........and people want to give them - as politicos - a break the Everyday Joe doesn't get. Privileges of royalty, you know.

Same as it ever was.

Oh, wait a sec....

"The one thing I feel certain about is Senator Daschle's honesty and integrity.... I read the record about the tax issues raised, and while mistakes were made they were innocent ones which have been corrected primarily by Senator Daschle himself."

-Bob Dole

Perhaps pointing at some actual criminality within the Bush administration would be helpful.

Well, we could start with Scooter Libby.

It is also noteworthy that Daschel is not, as we speak, part of the Obama administration, and there was no such administration when the tax issues in question took place. It also appears that Daschel was not forthcoming during the vetting process.

Really bit, try a little harder...

BTW, I am not giving Daschel a pass. Based on what I know at this point, he should withdraw himself from consideration. Howard Dean would do quite well in that position...

And yet your ire doesn't seem to include the money being dumped into the 'bailout' and vanishing... money the size of which dwarfs the entire cost of the Iraq war. I find your annoyence amusingly targeted.

I am not talking about money actually spent on the Iraq war, I am talking about billions of dollars in cash vanishing into think air. No one know where it went. I think "stolen" is the correct term.

As for the bailout, are you referring to the Bush bailout? You know, the one where no one knows how the money was spent?

And yet your ire doesn't seem to include the money being dumped into the 'bailout' and vanishing... money the size of which dwarfs the entire cost of the Iraq war.

Most estimates have the financial cost of the Iraq War somewhere around 600 billion dollars. While the bailout is more than that (trillion and a half, etc), It hardly "dwarfs" the cost of the war. And of course, when you factor in having lost our moral standing, diplomatic power, and all that other stuff, the "cost" of the Iraq War may be as significant as the economic bailout.