Ya know, Mike, it doesn’t do any good to answer people like this Marshall. If they haven’t gotten a clue by now, they never will. What they enjoy is posing questions to sensible people, hoping to enrage them or just make them waste time replying to their idiotic queries.

It’s like what a 3-year-old does when they ask “Why?” after everything their parent says. When my daughter was young, I’d answer, because she was learning and I knew her mind could expand. But people who still don’t glom the evil of the Bush Crime Family, there’s no hope for them because they’re willfully ignorant members of a cult. So I either snark at them or just wish they’d STFU. Not worth the time.

BTW, I checked out your blog. Nice to see a jarhead who’s on the left!

“#71359 by Marshall on 5/21 at 4:43 am
(Unregistered commenter)

“To Bukko in Australia,

““He fired fderal prosecutors because they were prosecuting corrupt Republicans.  He also pushed Republican prosecutors to cook up bogus election fraud cases against Democrats. These wrong things are called “obstruction of justice.” They are crimes.”

“No, these are called “accusations”, which means they are “unproven”.  “Doing something wrong” is when you’re convicted (or hell, I’d even settle for “indicted”).  In our legal system, people are not guilty because someone accuses them of being so.  If that were the case, everyone in Washington would be out of a job and in jail.”

The evidence is sufficient to at minimum make the charge. 

““Gonzales lied to Congress. That wrong thing is called “perjury.” It is also a crime.”

“a) please show me the perjury indictment - I can’t seem to find it.  b) this accusation happened AFTER the original ones above… I’m trying to find out what he did wrong to begin with.  So far, nothing.”

The evidence is sufficent to at minimum make the charge. 

““Gonzales authorised torturing prisoners of war. He authorised wiretapping of U.S. citizens without warrants….blah blah blah…”

“NONE of these broke the law (you’ll notice again, no indictments).”

Torture is defined in and prohibited by law as being a war crime.  When the US adopts a treaty, such as Geneva, it becomes part of the law of the land.  The law of the land is the Constitution.

Neither Congress, nor the Executive, nor even both together with the approval of the Judiciary, can alter the Constitution.  That means, despite the efforts by the prior, Republican-controlled Congress to give torture the appearance of legality, it remains illegal.  And that Congress’ effort to make legal the torture which was illegal at the time it was imposed is not only of no effect—unconstitutional—becaue contrary to the Constitution, but also because the Constitution prohibits _ex post facto_ laws.

Nor can the US unilaterally alter either treaties or other international instruments which define and prohibit the war crime of torture.

Torture is a war crime; it is the _act_ of torture which is prohibited, regardless the euphemizations of it by those engaged in that war crime.

“In fact, the wiretapping has since been ruled constitutional and has been vindicated (and continues).”

Substantiate that the court (1) had all the facts, and (2) was ruling upon the wiretapping programs not yet disclosed.  Note that, as per Comey’s unrebuted and unrefuted testimony, one of those who threatened to resign was FBI Director Meuller.  Why would the FBI Director threaten to resign over a program not in the FBI?

“Torture guidelines, as I recall, have been revised.”

See above: neither Congress, nor Executive, nor even both with the approval of the Judiciary, can alter the Constitution.  Nor can the US unilaterally alter international instruments to which it is only one signatory.

“So once again I ask those out there: What did Gonzales do wrong?”

Lying to Congress is at minimum two felonies—both perjury, and obstruction of justice.  There is no question that he repeatedly lied to Congress—and otherwise.  One among many: he first asserted that McNulty had nothing to do with the firings; then he said McNulty had everything to do with it.  We also have the unprecedented, extraordinary fact of a high level employee of the nation’s highest law enforcement agency invoking her Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate herself.  I’ll take her admission over your anti-Constitutional speciosities.

You’re going to lose on this one, Mr. FOX’s Fake “News”,” exactly as your stubbornly anti-American parents did on Agnew and Nixon.  Regardless how arrogantly and glibly you try to parse what the meaning of “is” is.

“#71202 by Bukko in Australia on 5/20 at 10:18 am
(29 comments total)

“Thanks for the compliment about knowledge of American history, Nagarya, but I come by it naturally, being an American citizen. I live in Australia now because my wife and I were so conscience-stricken by what President Cheney and his chimp have done, and may do in the future, that we actually moved out of the country because of it.”

I’ve thought of doing the same.  But don’t know that the reach can be got beyond.

“We also know a bit about German history, and we see many similarities between 2001-2007 and 1931-1937.”

Agreed.

“Like you, I’d love to see everyone in the Bush Crime Family hung out to twist slowly in the wind until November 2008. That would truly return them to the Herbert Hoover status they deserve for another 40 years. The trouble is, what might they do when they know their reign is all falling apart? A rat will run while it can, but when you finally have it trapped in a corner, that’s when it leaps for your face.”

I have the same worry.  And have had it since 12/12/2000. 

“I would not put it past Cheney to stage a first strike nuclear attack on Iran just to cause such international turmoil that their present crimes would be lost in the worldwide catastrophe that would follow. It’s like setting the house on fire to cover the fact that you’ve been crapping in the living room for six years because you’ve been too lazy to walk to the toilet. Not what you or I would do, but them…?”

Agreed.  I said in response to another that I’m terrified.  Have had a sense of dread, not always subterranean, since 12/12/2000.

“So I’d much prefer to see their own faction force them from office. Less schadenfreudic satisfaction, but less megadeath too.”

Agreed.  It didn’t come out till years later, but it was Republicans who went to Nixon and said: “It’s all over.”

Perhaps we see the signs of that: the 11 Republican Congresspersons who told Bush to his face that he’s destroying the party.  (Then they voted along party lines against the latest Democratic appropriations bill.)  I’ve been wondering what it’s going to take for some Republican Senators to go to the White House, sit Bushit down, and tell him to his face that he’s a punk, a loser, a vindictive little prick who—as predictable—destroys everything he touches.  But that it’s over.

If that is to happen, it’ll be a bit longer—perhaps August-September.  Perhaps after McNulty leaves at end of June. 

One positive sign is that some of the 8 prosecutors who were fired are not taking it sitting down.  And they are lawyers—competent, unlike Gonzales.  McKay, of WA, said there are going to be criminal indictments out of this.  If anyone would have an accurate prognostication on that point, it would be a career prosecutor.

I wonder if Gonzo was affected by the newspaper ad, unamimous, published by his Harvard Law School classmates taking him down.

Thanks for the compliment about knowledge of American history, Nagarya, but I come by it naturally, being an American citizen. I live in Australia now because my wife and I were so conscience-stricken by what President Cheney and his chimp have done, and may do in the future, that we actually moved out of the country because of it. We also know a bit about German history, and we see many similarities between 2001-2007 and 1931-1937.

Like you, I’d love to see everyone in the Bush Crime Family hung out to twist slowly in the wind until November 2008. That would truly return them to the Herbert Hoover status they deserve for another 40 years. The trouble is, what might they do when they know their reign is all falling apart? A rat will run while it can, but when you finally have it trapped in a corner, that’s when it leaps for your face.

I would not put it past Cheney to stage a first strike nuclear attack on Iran just to cause such international turmoil that their present crimes would be lost in the worldwide catastrophe that would follow. It’s like setting the house on fire to cover the fact that you’ve been crapping in the living room for six years because you’ve been too lazy to walk to the toilet. Not what you or I would do, but them…?

So I’d much prefer to see their own faction force them from office. Less schadenfreudic satisfaction, but less megadeath too.

“#70993 by Bukko in Australia on 5/19 at 5:23 am
(26 comments total)

“Bush needs to keep Gonzo front and centre as long as he can—as a target! Because when Gonzo goes, that will be one less person to stand in the line of fire before people start going after Chimpy himself.”

Yep.  Bushit wouldn’t know what to do with his #1 homey.

But I have mixed feelings that clash: Should he stay, or should he go?  As long as Gonzo stays, he continues to keep the issues alive, and continues to inflict damage on Bushit, et al.  Thus the steadily increasing likelihood he’ll take Bushit, et al., down with him.

But if he eventually leaves, there is then nothing between Congress and Bushit.  Except perhaps Rove.

Nah: Rove will hide behind Bushit for as long as he can.  And Bushit will then battle with Rove in effort to hide behind him.

Circling jerks.

“The solution is for Bush and Cheney to both resign.”

They won’t: Bushit has always been a loser; this is his one and last chance to be a “winer”.  Resigning (unless he can take the office safe with him) would be yet another instance of losing.

“They will be the kiss of electoral death for the Repiglican Party if they’re still in office come November 2008.”

Let’s hope, also, between now and 2008 we all can expose and eliminate the Rove’s election fraud infrastructure.

“The Rethugs will be reduced to a rump political faction in the unreconstructed South if they’re there to drag GOP congressional candidates down.”

You have a greater knowledge of US history, and a better grasp of US politics, then many US citizens, most of those being Republican’ts (who) can’t tell their shoelaces from snakes.

“But if Nancy Pelosi is interim president, the GOP losers will have someone to blame for the economic and military disasters that will have unfolded by then.”

They’ll make the effort.  But the Republicans have shown, again and again since the Civil War, that they take power, blow it, and then are the minority party for the next forty years—until the next generatition of history-illiterates get suckered by their pie-in-the-sky pickpocketing.

“I predict that by the end of summer, the same Repukes who are timidly suggesting that Gonzales get out will be saying the same thing about President Cheney and his monkey puppet. They’d better do it soon, though, or the stink will be on them so badly there will not be time to wash it away.”

If Gonzo is still there through August—September is when Gen. Betrayus will announce the already obvious: that the surge met a greater in-surge-ency, thus failed—the Republican’ts had better be the first to the microphone proposing impeachment.  It’s one thing for them to turn their backs on Bushit and pretend he no longer exists.  But We the people won’t join them in the denial and forgetting.

“Gonzales lied to Congress. That wrong thing is called “perjury.” It is also a crime.”

There are two categories of crime: misdemeanor, and felony.

Perjury—a felony—actually includes two other crimes—one of those being obstruction of justice—another felony.

A felony is, not being a misdemeanor, a High Crime.

“Gonzales authorised torturing prisoners of war.”

And torture is a war crime, one penalty for which under US Federal law is execution.  That penalty doesn’t attach to misdemoeanors. It does attach to felony.  And to treason.  Both of the latter are High Crimes.

“He authorised wiretapping of U.S. citizens without warrants.”

A felony.  A High Crime.

“He snuck into the room of a sick man who was doped up on morphine to try to get him to sign legal papers.”

It would take too many paragraphs to detail out the number of crimes wrapped up in that bundle.  Let’s just leave it for the moment at despicable, and verging on the moral depravity that is torture.

“But these things happened when he was consigliere to the Bush Crime Family, so he cannot be impeached from his post as Attorney General because of them.”

But he can be otherwise charged for knowingly attempting to give the false appearance of legality to that he knew was illegal.  Applying the word _criminal_ will do.

Marshall on 5/19 at 9:31 pm
Hey - can someone tell me what Gonzales actually did wrong?

Marshall, here are a few things Gonzales did wrong: He fired fderal prosecutors because they were prosecuting corrupt Republicans. He also pushed Republican prosecutors to cook up bogus election fraud cases against Democrats. These wrong things are called “obstruction of justice.” They are crimes.

Gonzales lied to Congress. That wrong thing is called “perjury.” It is also a crime.

Gonzales authorised torturing prisoners of war. He authorised wiretapping of U.S. citizens without warrants. He snuck into the room of a sick man who was doped up on morphine to try to get him to sign legal papers. But these things happened when he was consigliere to the Bush Crime Family, so he cannot be impeached from his post as Attorney General because of them.

I could go on at length about what Gonzales has done wrong. But anyone who asks that question at this point is either woefully ill-informed or a Rethuglican provocateur posing a silly question to rile up people who know what’s really going on. I’ll be charitable and assume you’re in the former category. Because if you’re in the latter, it’s not worth the time it takes me to type this reply.

I don’t think that having Bush on your side is a very good move.

Jeez, folks….we don’t want to see Gonzo resign.  After all he has provided much in the way of fodder for us of late! 

I’m tired of multiple crimes being discovered almost daily regarding the current junta in the White House.  I really can’t keep up.  With Gonzo gone the White House would be, more or less, wide open and I don’t think I could handle one more article of the administration’s insanity!

My fingers hurt from typing.  My daughter’s laptop is overheating.  My eyes are sore from the strain of reading.  This is clearly too much for me.

The problem with all of this is that we are using, what we consider to be, logic when debating gonzales and everything else that the monster-in-chief has done.

I believe none of this is incompetence on their part, but was the plan all along. To make it look like incompetence in order to get away with it both legally and politically. The chimp is just playing the part of the village idiot.

The bush crime family functions in their own universe, in their own bizarro world.

They have accomplished all their goals masterfully. We just wrongly assumed their goals were the good of this country.

They weren’t and aren’t.

Google videos: 9/11 Press for Truth, Loose Change 2nd Edition

Bush needs to keep Gonzo front and centre as long as he can—as a target! Because when Gonzo goes, that will be one less person to stand in the line of fire before people start going after Chimpy himself.

The solution is for Bush and Cheney to both resign. They will be the kiss of electoral death for the Repiglican Party if they’re still in office come November 2008. The Rethugs will be reduced to a rump political faction in the unreconstructed South if they’re there to drag GOP congressional candidates down. But if Nancy Pelosi is interim president, the GOP losers will have someone to blame for the economic and military disasters that will have unfolded by then.

I predict that by the end of summer, the same Repukes who are timidly suggesting that Gonzales get out will be saying the same thing about President Cheney and his monkey puppet. They’d better do it soon, though, or the stink will be on them so badly there will not be time to wash it away.

Gonzo is Bush’s most important homey.  If he goes, Bush is totally exposed to investigation, and is finished.  If he doesn’t go, he’ll take Bush down with him.

I say leave him there for now: it keeps the issue alive.  And reminds how despicable, how morally depraved, is the entire Bush gang.

No surprise at all ! Bush has “full confidence” in Gonzales because he still needs Alberto to masturbate him. If someones can do it better than Gonzales he’ll kick him out.

The Bush Administration will not give up its rubber stamps easily…they must be pried away by force, like the Republican Congress was last election.

Well, Bush certainly convinced me that Gonzo is better than I thought. Our President does not make pronouncements like this every day, and to hear a confidence man like Bush express his confidence in his"capo de tutti frutti” so confidently gives me confidence to change my impression of the AG. I’ll be more careful about believing my lyin’ eyes in the future.

Endorsed by GWB. That’s the KISS OF DEATH! Bet he “resigns” within a month.