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On Mary McCarthy and the Bush League Players
by Mark A. Goldman
The government was/is engaged in ongoing criminal behavior. It was Bush who approved the crimes and instructed others to carry them out. He then tried to hide the crimes by classifying the behavior as a secret. That's what every criminal would like to do.
Mary McCarthy, a mid level CIA agent, allegedly told the press that the CIA was running secret and illegal prisons in Eastern Europe, a story that earned one reporter a Pulitzer Prize. If the accusation is true, Mary did what she had to do--what national and international law required her to do. It was the honorable, courageous, and patriotic thing to do. What is even more exemplary is that apparently she did it only 10 days before she could have retired. She was fired.
When Mary McCarthy exposed the crimes, she was punished for ignoring the fact that the criminals had classified their crimes as secrets. Of course that's what any Mafia boss would do if one of his operatives exposed his organization's crimes. It's just not what one would expect a legitimate government to do. Since the crimes were perpetrated and initiated at the Presidential level, and since Congress was not exercising its oversight responsibilities, she had no recourse but to go outside of government to alert the citizenry. The government was/is out to lunch.
If Mary McCarthy actually did what she has been accused of doing then she is a hero. It's the mob boss who needs to lose his job. If her punishment stands, and Bush's criminal behavior goes unpunished, then we are a nation of cowards.
One other point: Bush has a long record now of criminal behavior since coming to office. The press has been focusing on whether or not recent White House shuffling of staff is cosmetic or represents some kind of real change in the Executive Branch. I would simply say that the question is really irrelevant. The crimes Bush and his Bush league players have perpetrated on so many innocent victims are among the most violent and unconscionable acts that human beings can inflict on other human beings, and no shuffling of staff, or future change in attitude or policy, can exonerate him for what has already been done in our name.