Democrats have been crying ‘SCANDAL’ for over a year now. And trying very hard to scare up a scandal, but with very little success to date. Despite what the NY Times might intimate, all of the so-called scandals Democrats are pinning their 2006 hopes on are on the verge of desolving into nothing - which is all they were in the first place… Nothing!

Here they are at a glance:

PLAMEGATE - Did Rove, Cheney, or a white house staffer out an undercover CIA agent?

Democrats have been salivating at the thought of an indictment against one of Bush’s inner circle. But its far from clear that any laws were ever even broken, as even the NY Times has admitted. Plame was not technically undercover, and the law that Democrats have been trying to use against Rove, et. al., really does not fit into the Plame scenario. And now it is clear that Judy Miller went to jail, not because she wanted to protect her White House source, but because she did not want to answer Fitzpatrick’s questions regarding a completely seperate case having to do with a tipoff she gave to some Islamic fundamentalists that a raid was about to take place on their Mosque. When Fitzpatrick finally agreed to confine the questioning to the Plame case, Ms. Miller admitted that she was not sure if Scooter Libby was the first person who had mentioned Plame to her! That certainly does not bolster the case against Libby, or anyone else in the Bush Administration, that Judith Miller does not really know where she first got Plame’s name!

Did I call this story “Plamegate?” Sounds more like “Lamegate” to me.

RONNIE EARL VS. TOM DELAY - Did Tom Delay illegally use campaign funds?
Ronnie Earl, the Democrat who loves to indict on a wing and a prayer has really pushed himself into the spotlight this year with his indictment of Tom Delay, first on a charge of conspiracy, which, upon being challenged by Delay’s lawyer’s, turned out to be a false indictment because the law Earle was trying to use did not apply at the time in which he accuses Delay of wrongdoing. After Earle realized his case was about to disintegrate, he went grand jury shopping to try and get an indictment for money laundering on the basis of some mysterious “list” that Earle’s team had in their possession which could prove their case.

Unfortunately for Earle, the first grand jury he went to refused to indict, so he went to another grand jury, one that had just convened that day and had only recently been sworn in, and managed to convince them to indict. Now, of course, we find out that the “evidence” Earle claimed to have, he does not really have. The list they have is actually, in their own words, a “similar” list, not the actual list. Maybe Earle’s dog ate his homework?

So much for that case. It will likely crumble before long. And so might Earle’s career. They guy has a history of using his office to harass political enemies. Let’s hope that his corrupt ways finally send him into retirement.

FRIST AND HIS HCA STOCKS - This story is proof that no good deed goes unpunished.

So, Frist’s family owns a company, which means that it’s very natural for Senator Frist to own stocks, some of which are restricted. Finally, after years of holding on to his family’s company stocks, he decides to divest himself completely before his 2008 presidential bid.

So, Senator Frist asks his staff to look into the best way to do this. Meanwhile, he contacts the proper groups within Congress to let him know of his intent and to inquire as to whether or not there might be any legal concerns with this move. All lights are green, no legal concerns, no worries regarding impropriety, and he orders the sale of the stock.

Unfortunately, soon after, the stocks price plummets, and suddenly the very people who knew in advance he wanted to sell are pointing the finger at him and accusing him of insider trading. Do these doofs even know what insider trading is? Apparently not.

So now, because of the politics involved, the SEC is doing it’s due diligence, so that they can’t be accused of showing partisan favor, and looking into the whole transaction. They’ll spend a couple million perhaps on the investigation, produce an impressive report, and close the case. There’ll be no indictment because Senator Frist followed all the rules.

WHAT THEN ARE WE TO SAY?
That Democrats are desperate? I think that, based on their behaviour, this is a pretty fair thing to say.

And the very interesting thing here is that, even though President Bush and Republicans in Washington have suffered in the polls, Democrats have not gained even one point overall in the polls. People might be unhappy right now at Republicans in Washington, but they are not any more confident that Democrats can do better.

And the 2006 elections are a year away. Plenty of time for all this silliness to blow over.

Which is exactly what will happen.

David Flanagan
Viewpointjournal.com