# Assassinations in the Bush Administration **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 21, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169 "2005-10-21T00:18:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/21 "2005-10-21T14:53:51Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > In all seriousness, when was the last presidential administration that engaged in murder? Has there ever been one? I know you are talking in the strict legal sense, but in the moral sense, I’d say any administration that ordered military action where it was all but 100 percent certain people would be killed, with known false justifications for such actions, has commited murder. I’m not saying for sure which administration, if any, did this, because I don’t know for sure who knew what when about any military action, whether it be Saddam’s WMDs or the Gulf Of Tonkin incident. But I’d bet plenty of administrations fit my personal moral definition of murderers. Maybe most of them. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/22 "2005-10-21T15:11:40Z")
I hear Cheney put out a contract for $100,00 on Libby. Trouble was, it was a no-bid contract and it went to Halliburton, so it wound up costing $3.7 million, and they thought he said “make sure he sleeps with the lushes”. So they sent him to spend the weekend with Teddy Kennedy. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/23 "2005-10-21T15:20:27Z")
> [@andros](#): > > “I know it was you, Karl. You broke my heart.” Actually, I think that if the Bush family is the Corleones then Rove is Tom Hagen, Poppy is Vito, Cheney is Luca Brasi, Jeb is Sonny and W, unfortunately, is Fredo. There is no Michael. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/24 "2005-10-21T15:30:08Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > Actually, I think that if the Bush family is the Corleones then Rove is Tom Hagen, Poppy is Vito, Cheney is Luca Brasi, Jeb is Sonny and W, unfortunately, is Fredo. > > There is no Michael. No, Neil is Fredo. Remember Neil? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/25 "2005-10-21T15:35:52Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > No, Neil is Fredo. Remember Neil? Or as the family calls him, “Neil…poor Neil.” 😉 Yes, I forgot about him. He would definitely have to be the fredo. I guess that makes W the Michael by default, just kind of a dimwitted one. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/26 "2005-10-21T17:05:50Z")
No, the Bush style is different. A bevy of high-level folks appear in public to say that there is no problem, and there never was a problem. Then the fall guy resigns “to spend more time with his family.” Three weeks later, president Bush gives him the medal of freedom, and he drops off the radar screen. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/27 "2005-10-21T20:16:17Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > No, the Bush style is different. A bevy of high-level folks appear in public to say that there is no problem, and there never was a problem. Then the fall guy resigns “to spend more time with his family.” Three weeks later, president Bush gives him the medal of freedom, and he drops off the radar screen. That doesn’t work if the person in question has been indicted and has intentions to offer up a bigger fish in order for his freedom. Erek ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/28 "2005-10-21T20:33:37Z")
Yeah, but Bush is allowed to pardon people, remember. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/29 "2005-10-21T20:45:13Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > Yeah, but Bush is allowed to pardon people, remember. Haha, yeah, fun how that works. And they say no one is above the law. God bless America, we’ve got a loophole for everything. Erek ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/30 "2005-10-22T01:35:13Z")
Hmm, I came in here thinking this was going to be about metaphorical “assassination”, i.e., the close-knit executive team showing cracks in the effort to reverse negative public opinion. Kind of like the brouhaha in the latter part of the Bush I administration, swapping Baker in for Sununu amid all kinds of squabbling. Does anybody think we might see that kind of open conflict, or will the Administration successfully stick with their “closed-ranks” strategy where anybody who has to be sacrificed is sacrificed quietly, with continued assurances of praise and trust? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/31 "2005-10-22T01:40:42Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > That would’ve made last Sunday’s _Meet the Press_ far more entertaining. > > Mr. Russert: So, you have absolutely no interest in running for President? > Sec. Rice: Look, Tim, ask me any variation on that question again and I’ll blow your f------ head off. I saw that interview, and you’re right. You’re version would be a lot more interesting. But hey, has anyone noticed Condi’s new hairdo? Not all that new, but she finally changed that crazy do she had for all those years. I give her an solid “A” on that decision, and maybe it means she really IS serious about a political career. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/32 "2005-10-22T01:47:26Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > In all seriousness, when was the last presidential administration that engaged in murder? Has there ever been one?.. The Diem brothers, Viet Nam. Any number of failed attempts to assassinate Castro. (You may quibble over whether or not failed murder attempts constitute being “engaged in murder.” Salvador Allende, Chile (A CIA operation, presidential involvement is deniable) Others? Who knows? Of course, we have supported any number of brutal authoritarians… Supported with US money, arms, training. But I’m sure you mean direct, active participation in murder, not blood-drenched sock puppets. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@PatriotX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotX)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/33 "2005-10-22T03:50:12Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I hear Cheney put out a contract for $100,00 on Libby. > > Trouble was, it was a no-bid contract and it went to Halliburton, so it wound up costing $3.7 million, and they thought he said “make sure he sleeps with the lushes”. So they sent him to spend the weekend with Teddy Kennedy. > > Regards, > Shodan He was drugged and dressed in drag before being sent off ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/34 "2005-10-22T04:38:55Z")
Some of you guys just really have this…_thing_ about poor ol’ Teddy. Like he’s some big hairy ass leader of the left wing. It just Teddy, fer chrissake, the Fredo of Kennedy family. He’s like some bloated whale beached on the shoreline of American politics. But I tell once, I tell you twice, what I tell you three times is true: Teddy’s a better man drunk than GeeDubya is sober. If he were President instead, he could have downed a quart of Scotch a day and still not FUBAR’d as badly in comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Dishfunctional](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/35a633/32.png) [@Dishfunctional](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dishfunctional)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/35 "2005-10-22T05:14:40Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > I don’t think Bush will go down because he’s probably got plenty of inbuilt plausible deniability, and I doubt he takes a terribly active role in what’s going on. Maybe not by assassination, but if Fitzgerald discovers everything that led us to war was a lie, I can imagine a crushed man contemplating suicide. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/36 "2005-10-22T05:15:42Z")
> [@Dishfunctional](#): > > Maybe not by assassination, but if Fitzgerald discovers everything that led us to war was a lie, I can imagine a crushed man contemplating suicide. A man _that_ Christian? ---
**Author:** ![Dishfunctional](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/35a633/32.png) [@Dishfunctional](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dishfunctional)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/37 "2005-10-22T05:30:15Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > But I tell once, I tell you twice, what I tell you three times is true: Teddy’s a better man drunk than GeeDubya is sober. If he were President instead, he could have downed a quart of Scotch a day and still not FUBAR’d as badly in comparison. OK, so that’s one man’s humble opinion. I suppose it addresses _some_ point _somewhere_ in _some_ debate. I can’t help but wonder what Mary Jo Kopeckne’s would be, like how Kennedy reacts under pressure, f’rinstance. She would know, you know. I’d really like to hear her opinion, since that’s what we’re about now, and just _once_ would do. Just once. ---
**Author:** ![Dishfunctional](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/35a633/32.png) [@Dishfunctional](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dishfunctional)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/38 "2005-10-22T05:35:37Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > A man _that_ Christian? Well, if it turned out that **everything** was a lie, every bit of input he received from **every** advisor at **every** level. I can imagine it. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/39 "2005-10-22T05:41:43Z")
I don’t know if there’s anything Kennedy could have done to save Kopechne…probably not…but we’ve seen _exactly_ how the current Prez reacts under pressure. He sits there in an incurious daze until someone tells him to get off his fucking ass and pretend to be in charge. So when it comes to comparing grace under pressure, it’s a wash at best for W and maybe worse for him since he _could_ have done something besides sit there and Ted Kennedy was probably helpless to save Kopechne. ---
**Author:** ![Dishfunctional](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/35a633/32.png) [@Dishfunctional](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dishfunctional)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169/40 "2005-10-22T06:13:41Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > … and Ted Kennedy was probably helpless to save Kopechne. And, you’re probably right. But, when you know for sure, let me and **elucidator** know. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/assassinations-in-the-bush-administration/327169.md?page=3)