It's especially galling to me because I know of someone who was away from defense contracting for a while, did some heavy imbibing in substances, and then totally cleaned himself up without a rehab program. Upon returning to defense work, he encountered a questionnaire that asked if he did anything in the past seven years. All set to say yes, he noticed that saying yes also meant saying when, where and how many times. Unfortunately, it was not enough for him to simply say, "Yes, I did these things, but it's been 3, 4, 5 years since I did." Worse yet, ironically, he did it on his own so there was nothing he could offer as proof as no longer being where he was. In any event, he would have had to expose himself and his family and friends to a whole bunch of scrutiny and, certainly, a raft of questions on this particular subject. In the end, he decided it wasn't worth it and there went a potentially good career in defense.
Now before anyone piles on and says, "Hey, do stuff like that, get what you deserve," keep in mind that this guy was fine with those consequences because he brought it on himself. However, to see Sandy Berger brazenly destroy Presidential level classified material and not only get a slap on the wrist, but be allowed to get access again in three years is beyond infuriating.
It's a disgrace that regular people cannot make mistakes, but clymers like Berger can get away with crimes of the highest order. And there isn't a Republican with the stones to even mention it. Sickening.
The Sandy Burglar incident has really gotten under my skin. I was sure he was going to be punished.
But, as brought forth there were alot of ploys that could be used to thwart any serious prosecution.
One is the Great Right Wing Conspiracy. Clintonistas were ready to accuse Republicans of 'crucifixtion'.