Peter the Silent

Washington is in an uproar, as it should be. Finally, people are calling for accountability. Scooter Libby has been convicted, and Patrick Fitzgerald is closing down the investigation unless any new information emerges (something a congressional investigation could help with). Attorney General Gonzalez is under the gun for explaining how the eight fired attorneys were selected for removal. Contrary to the simple statement that the attorneys serve at the discretion of the President, if it is found that they were fired while investigating something the White House did not like, as in te case of Attorney Lam in San Diego, or there was tampering as in the case of Iglesias in New Mexico, or threats were made to keep silent as in the case of Attorney Huffington, these are serious law violations. Iglesias in New Mexico, and the Attorney from Washington State were apparently let go for moving too slow on investigating reports of voter fraud that may have favored Democrats, but in Florida and Ohio, where there have been reports of voter fraud since 2000 that favor Republicans, these Attorneys kept their jobs. And then there is the shame of Walter Reed Hospital, and the pathetic outsourcing of sevices that leaves soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with poor services. (Wouldn't it be great if every person with a "Support Our Troops" magnet spent a few volunteer hours actually doing this by assisting at the local VA hospital?). And of course there's also the news that Halliburton is moving corporate offices overseas (can you say tax breaks and no accountability?)

Surely, with all of this, Rep. Roskam must be out there calling for accountability and transparency. After all, om the Library of Congress just east of the Capitol Building are Thomas Jefferson's words "Democracy will only succeed when the people are educated and informed". So, we the people need some answers, and not from behind some closed door informal meetings but actual congressional testimony.

But if you go to Rep. Roskam's government website, what's he talking about? Last week, he announced a student art contest. That's it! That's the latest! That's al lfor the week - perhaps a week that has exposed some of the biggest Constitutional issues since Watergate, and certainly the biggest since Iran-Contra. Not a peep about anything else. And still, if you peruse his website on the "Issues" links, there is nothing. So here we are, going on 4 months into a 24 month term, and we are getting an art contest. What's pathetic is that while it takes work to get issues to the floor, and floor time to make statements, many people in congress use their websites to talk about the issues to the constituents, we are getting nothing. This was true during the campaign as well, when Roskam was racking up the dollars and having the Bushes and Cheney's and McCains raise money for him while he had so little substance on his campaign material. It's time he start stepping up and letting us know where he stands on these issues of national importance that effect not only our security, but our right to a just society.