By now, unless the only place you get your news is from ABC, CBS, or NBC, you know what “Climategate” is all about. The hacking and dissemination of more than a thousand emails from the influential Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, revealed wholesale deception and data manipulation to support global-warming trends that don’t exist. Curious minds want to know, what impact will it have?

Considerable impact; more I suspect, than most people believe, not only on the climate-change establishment, but on the scientific community in general, the alternative energy industry, the so called mainstream media (MSM), and Democrats. The emails themselves were explosive enough; however, their full effect will take time to play out.

Read the full column at http://ewross.com/Climategate.htm

The Democrat’s second attempt to nationalize healthcare in the United States is on life support. The patient’s vital signs are weak, and the death panel is about to pull the plug.

President Obama's criticism of Cambridge police officer Sgt. James Crowley temporarily eclipsed healthcare reform as the top news story. Next week, as legislators return home to their states and districts for Congress' August recess, healthcare reform will be back on top.

Democrats will continue their efforts to convince their constituents that we need a wholesale replacement of the current system with a new one run by the federal government. That system, they will argue, will guarantee healthcare to everyone, pay for itself, and lower costs to American families. They will play down the tradeoffs--bureaucrats involved in the relationship between patients and doctors, inefficiency, and rationing.

Republicans will point out the negative aspects of the Democrats' plan, and they will argue that it will only further swell the deficits and hasten bankrupting the country. They will point out that the overwhelming majority of Americans are happy with the healthcare they receive and the insurance plans that cover them. It's not necessary to swap the current system for a worse one, only target what needs fixed in the current system.

It should come as no surprise that I side with the Republicans on healthcare. You don't trade in a Cadillac for a gas-guzzling Suburban when the Cadillac is cheaper to own and operate and all it needs is a tune up and a new set of tires.

Read my weekly columns and my current daily comment at http://ewross.com 

Previous EWRoss Dailies http://ewross.com/EWRoss_Daily.htm

Previous EWRoss weekly columns http://ewross.com/archive.htm

For a while it appeared that Democrats would resist the overwhelming desire of those on the far left of their party to investigate members of the George W. Bush administration, including the president, the vice president, and the CIA. President Obama quickly realized what a bad idea that was when he saw the reaction to his release of top secret Bush administration memos on CIA interrogation techniques. He said he wanted to look forward, not backward.

Apparently, however, the temptation has proven too great. Now, Democrats want to investigate Cheney and the CIA over a statement by current CIA Director Leon Panetta that Cheney directed the CIA not to brief Congress on a program to assassinate al-Qaeda leaders after 9/11 that credible sources say was never operationalized. At the same time, Attorney General Eric Holder is seriously considering appointing a special prosecutor to investigate CIA personnel who may have gone “too far” in their interrogations of terrorist detainees. Like all special prosecutors, once empowered, he won’t stop there.

Wise heads in both the Democratic and Republican parties understand that pursuing these investigations might satisfy those who believe Bush, Cheney, and many people in their administration are war criminals, but it will do more damage to Democrats than to Republicans. Those who suffer from Bush/Cheney-derangement syndrome already think that way. They don’t need an investigation to confirm what they believe.

Fair-minded Americans, however, don’t what to see any US presidential administration prosecute its predecessor for what amounts to policy and political differences. President Obama is already losing airspeed and altitude with his out-of-control spending that isn’t curbing unemployment. Investigations of Bush, Cheney, and the CIA will only drive his approval numbers lower and lose more seats for Democrats in the House and Senate in 2010.

Read my weekly columns and my current daily comment at http://ewross.com 

Previous EWRoss Dailies http://ewross.com/EWRoss_Daily.htm

Previous EWRoss weekly columns http://ewross.com/archive.htm

According to Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, Director Leon Panetta, in a classified briefing, told them he had terminated an eight-year-old program not previously briefed to them because former Vice President Cheney directed the CIA not to. They immediately demanded an investigation into the program and Cheney's role, making accusations they could not back up with out revealing classified information.

Former CIA Director Michael Hayden reacted angrily. He said that he personally kept "top members" of Congress well-informed during his tenure. House Republicans charged that all House Democrats were doing was trying to give Speaker Nancy Pelosi political cover for her accusations that the CIA routinely lied to Congress after she denied receiving a CIA briefing on waterboarding.

Also we learned that Attorney General Eric Holder is considering appointing a special prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's CIA interrogation practices, in contradiction to President Obama's stated desires.

Because we don't know the details of the program Panetta briefed to Congress and we don't know if CIA interrogators broke any laws, it's appropriate for a bi-partisan group of investigators reporting to the House and Senate Intelligence committees to conduct a classified look into these matters. According to Senator Diane Feinstein on Fox News Sunday, they are. If they discover any wrongdoing they can refer it to the Justice Department.

Democrats are taking big risks at the CIA's and the nation's expense if they continue to make this a public political issue and if Holder appoints a special prosecutor. Americans want their CIA to protect them from terrorist attacks, not constantly deterred from doing their job for fear of recrimination. They also expect the CIA to conduct its activities within the law, but they don't want to see it handcuffed and fog-marched in public before it's convicted.

Read my weekly columns and my current daily comment at http://ewross.com