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Republicans Play Softball With Scandal

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Posted on May 25, 2007

By Eugene Robinson

WASHINGTON—Still think the U.S. attorneys scandal is just partisan froth whipped up by disingenuous Democrats? Still think Alberto Gonzales is in any way, shape or form qualified to serve as attorney general? Still think the name Monica brings to mind a stain (so to speak) on the Democratic Party but suggests nothing about Republican malfeasance and hubris? Then you must be a Republican member of the House of Representatives.

    Everyone else who was listening Wednesday had to be flabbergasted as Republican members of the House Judiciary Committee—apparently having been struck deaf and blind—lobbed softball after softball at witness Monica Goodling. This was after Goodling had already fessed up to applying a political litmus test for career Justice employees. I repeat: career employees, not political appointees. Only loyal Republicans should bother to apply.

    The deaf and blind Republicans on the committee apparently missed that part of her opening statement. They also missed the part when she accused Gonzales’ former deputy, Paul McNulty, of telling untruths to Congress—and, in the process, hanging Goodling out to dry. Those dogged GOP interrogators did, however, manage to elicit from Goodling the startling disclosure that she believes she is a good person, and also the revelation that while she might have broken a few laws, she didn’t set out to do anything illegal.

    All she did, in the influential Justice position that was inexplicably given her, was what Alberto Gonzales and George W. Bush wanted her to do—place loyalty to the president above all else in decisions on hiring and firing.

    You’re right that this is not exactly news. What other motivation could there possibly be for putting someone like Michael Brown in charge of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which then proceeded to compound the tragedy of the worst natural disaster the nation has ever faced?

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    Doesn’t every White House try to impose its priorities on the career federal bureaucracy? Yes, but not every White House has the Bush crowd’s contempt for the very idea of professional government. To them, it’s just one vast bowl of alphabet soup. What difference does it make if an unqualified hack is put in charge of something called FEMA?

    The Justice Department is special, though, because it can be such a powerful tool for rewarding friends and punishing enemies. Decisions about which alleged crimes and alleged criminals should be prosecuted are among the most sensitive any government can make.

    Now that a Democratically controlled Congress is back in the business of oversight, we have learned that Bush’s first attorney general, John Ashcroft, could be prickly in his dealings with the White House. Sometimes when the White House pushed, he pushed back. Ashcroft felt loyal not just to Bush but also to the Constitution and basic principles of justice. Apparently, no such conflict perturbs the dreams of Ashcroft’s hapless successor.

    Did all this fly over the heads of the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee? Of course not. But House Republicans evidently have made the cynical political calculation that to acknowledge reality would be to grant the Democrats some sort of victory. This, apparently, must be avoided at all costs.

    So Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., asked Goodling: Why all the fuss about the eight U.S. attorneys whose dismissals sparked this entire probe? His probing follow-up: “Isn’t this an exercise of legitimate executive power which practically every president up to including the current one exercises all the time with officials within the executive branch subject to his appointment?”

    Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., was equally incisive in his questioning of Goodling: “Analogously, doesn’t a president have a right when he appoints an attorney general to expect him and the people in the Justice Department including civil servants to use the emphases that the president wants—to make the decisions in terms of priorities that the president wants? And isn’t that an appropriate thing, and is that the kind of thing that you did while you were in the department?”

    Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., ventured that the whole investigation “seems to be about the attempted criminalization of things that are vital to our constitutional system of government, namely the taking into consideration of politics in the appointment of political officials within the government. ... Is there anything illegal about the president being served at his pleasure by the people he believes would be best?”

    The service of justice went unmentioned.

    How long will congressional Republicans close their eyes, cover their ears and try to pretend that it’s the Democrats who are being shamelessly partisan?   

    Eugene Robinson’s e-mail address is eugenerobinson(at symbol)washpost.com.   

    © 2007, Washington Post Writers Group


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By national-security-4-us, May 28, 2007 at 11:54 pm Link to this comment

https://www.kintera.org/site/apps/ka/ct/contactcustom.asp?c=feIJKQMEF&b=2577333&kntaw3935=F1C4ABD755094133ACBB51595075054E

GO HERE & SIGN THE PETITION - MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD TELL OUR HEAR/SEE/DO NO EVIL ELECTED OFFICIALS THAT
GONZO MUST GO———- NOW….....

REMEMBER THE NEXT CYCLE CAN REMOVE 435 HOUSE REPS. &
ABOUT 1/3 OF THE SENATORS = 33 TO 40 - IF ONLY THE
DEAF/DUMB & BLIND VOTERS WOULD CHOOSE REPRESENTATIVES
WITH MORAL CHARACTER/CONVICTIONS & A BELIEF SYSTEM 4 THE PEOPLE & NOT ONE OF PERSONAL GREED 4 ONESELF OR
SIMPLY BY NAME RECOGZITION…

WHERE IS THE TERM LIMIT DEBATE—SOME OF THESE BRAIN
DEAD ASSHOLES HAVE BEEN IN OFFICE LONGER THEN I HAVE BEEN ALIVE—- THIS POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT MUST END…

AMERICA IS NOT A NEPOTISM NATION STRICTLY 4 THE HIGH & MIGHTY OR THE RICH & FAMOUS OR THE UPPER ECHELON…

SOMEBODY PLEASE DESIGN THIS WEBSITE FOR 2008 A ONLINE
PETITION CANDADACY = STRICTLY INDEPENDENT PARTY 4 THE
REMOVAL OF THE 2 CAREER CRIMINALLY INSANE ONES WE ARE
STUCK WITH NOW…

THEPEOPLES’PARTY@WETHEPEOPLE.COM——- .COM/GOV

2000/2004 AT LEAST 80 TO 100 MILLION VOTERS DID NOT VOTE IN BOTH ELECTIONS—WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN PLACE——WE THE PEOPLE JOINED AS A UNIT CAN FINALLY
REMOVE THESE LAZY-LEGAL-LOSERS ONCE & 4 ALL…

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By JNagarya, May 28, 2007 at 10:51 pm Link to this comment

Steve Hammons—

“During the days of the American Revolution, American patriots had a vision of a nation that was ruled by the people, through ideals and methods that included those of a democracy and a republic.

“Winds of change were blowing. People were coming to a new awareness about citizenship and government, about God-given rights and liberties.”

False.  Thee was a “revolution” in the colonies during the 1680s which overthrew and arrested, then shipped back to England, “Dominion” Governor Edmund Andros.

As well, the idea that the colonies, until the “American” “Revolution,” was obediant to the Crown is false.  Circa 1684, Massachusetts-Bay’s charter was revoked because the colony had persisted in making laws “repugnant” to the charter and laws of England.

All the colonies, at minimum by dint of the fact that they had to deal with local realities which were not realities in England, developed their own systems of laws, and gov’t, before the “American” “Revolution,” which is why the colonies (actually “Provinces” beginning in 1691/2) had a cultural attitude which resulted in the “revolution”.

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By JNagarya, May 28, 2007 at 10:41 pm Link to this comment

“#72653 by KISS on 5/25 at 1:38 pm
(12 comments total)

“Under Clinton, Janet Reno also served not the constitution but to the whims of Clinton. Was Reno more fair? Who knows?”

The first statement is unsubstantiated,  And the second two do not follow from the first.

“The Justice dept has never been a bi-partisan agency in my lifetime.Should it be? Hell Yes. The whole concept of the justice dept must be over-hauled and held to a greater standard.”

It isn’t intended to be bi-partisan.  It is to be neutral—as said Republican James Comey.  One of its purposes is to prosecute crime; the politics of the defendant/s is irrelevant.

“Anyone remember Meese? A slime-ball of AG if ever there was one.”

Yes, on both counts.  And I remember Nixon’s AG John Mitchell.  Mitchel did prison-time.

“All trough history AG’s haven’t been much, this may be the worst ever, but than I’m no historian.”

If you’re “no historian,” then how can you honestly assert that “All trough [sic] history AG’s [sic] haven’t been much”?

“But it ain’t gonna happen. The repugs and Dimmos want to use this dept for their own self-interest.”

Substantiate.

I knew you couldn’t.

Clue: the warrant was not for the arrest of Koresh.  It was for search of the compound based upon credible reports of multiple statutory rapes by him.  The lawful place to challenge the warrant was court.  Instead, Koresh chose to commit murder.

Thereafter, he held the children hostage because he knew that otherwise he was going to jail.  And then he and or his cult members set the place on fire from three separate locations.

None of that was the action, therefore responsibility, of Reno, or of the Federal gov’t.

“This story seemed to associate Ashcroft with dignity, now that’s a stretch.”

I’m shocked about that too.

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By JNagarya, May 28, 2007 at 10:31 pm Link to this comment

“#72896 by THOMAS BILLIS on 5/26 at 5:22 am
(Unregistered commenter)

“Mr Robinson have you been in America the last six years.These are the same republicans who have been rubber stamping every moronic move this administration has been making for the last six years.Now you expect them to jump up and say oh yeah I am an American also not just a member of the republican party.Welcome back to the America the rest of us have been living in for the last six years.”

Mr. Robinson is one of the best columnists we have.  This must be the first time you’ve read him, as he has been engaging in the same critiques since at latest the 2000 election and its outcome.  He is clearly and definitely not one of the problems at the Wasshington Post.

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By FrostedFlakes, May 27, 2007 at 6:08 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

I am in total agreement with #72753( gontotin ganglion). However, the bigger question to me is why is there nothing being done to halt this tragedy? Shakespeare could not have come up with a bigger tragedy than what is now American politics. It’s simply mindblowing!! And who are these people that are listening to the O’Reillys, Becks, Hannities, and the rest of the demagogic, vitrolic, right wing propagandist? They are the main ones getting screwed over. But the ignorance of America is a whole more spectacularly sad story itself. Anyways, nothing is going to get better as long as this cabal remains in power. Truthfully, it’s only going to get worse, and that’s what scares the crap out of me!!!

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By Dawn, May 27, 2007 at 10:02 am Link to this comment

The attorney scandal is about rigging elections for the next 30 years. These are career appointments to the justice department. These are the people that uphold the Constitution especially in the case of ensuring fair election protocols.

These are people that would be in a position to bring false cases of election fraud against Democrats up for office. We need to take a look at the attorneys who didn’t get fired. What exactly have they agreed to do in the future that has assured them their jobs?

And Republicans think it is OK to put “loyal Bushies” in these powerful positions. This is just one more chink in the chain of fascist agenda moves.

If the trip to visit Ashcroft in intensive care to get him to sign “something” (who knows what was really on that paper) doesn’t convince people that Gonzalez is unfit for his position, I don’t know what will. What does a guy have to do around here to get impeached? That goes for Gonzalez, Bush and Cheney. Throw the bums out of office and stop giving them one iota of respect which they don’t deserve. The emperors have no clothes. And they do plan on being emperors. So for everyone’s sake, can we get back to the real important story at hand—HR333—impeachment of Dick Cheney?

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By Lily Maskew, May 26, 2007 at 9:18 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

It amazed me to watch the Republicand question Monica.  Softball questions? - try T-Ball.  I don’t understand if they have underdeveloped consciences, or maybe they don’t “do nuance.”  The bible never said explicity “Thou shalt not use the United States Justice System at an arm of the Republican party,” so it must be unclear in their minds.  Guys, the Dept. of Justice is for EVERYONE.

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By DennisD, May 26, 2007 at 7:28 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

The only thing the Republicans coming up for reelection fear is the GOP money machine cutting off funds. Going along to get along has always been a politicians mantra. Few if any have the guts to put their country ahead of their party. Courage and conscience have long ago stopped being a requirement to hold any office in this country. We pay the price everyday for our poor choices.

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By R.T.Thaddeus, May 26, 2007 at 3:54 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Mr. Robinson:  Keep up the good work.  If more columnists on the Washington Post were as diligent as you, we wouldn’t be stuck with this criminal cabal called the Bush Administration.  It is the MSM press that should lead on this.  Fortunately for the nation however, it was a blogger, Josh Marshall, who dug it up from its fetid hole. Few of your august colleagues on the Post have expressed the appropriate outrage.  For instance, where is SourKrauthammer on this?  He seems to be missing in action.  Anyway, go gettum Gene.  You may win a Pulizer.

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Leefeller's avatar

By Leefeller, May 26, 2007 at 3:27 pm Link to this comment

Lefty,  We seem to agree on all points and opinions, I make a request that it would be more appropriate to call the Republican Congressmen “fascist/corporate/”Ass holes instead of whores.  Simply put, ladies of the night are much more respectable.

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By republicanSScareme, May 26, 2007 at 3:14 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

I’m shocked, absolutely shocked, to hear that the Republican Party is a criminal organization.

Next question:  Isn’t is weird that so many of these thugs are lawyers…those intellectual giants dedicated to the rule of law and pursuit of justice?

Yes, Virginia, it is weird, and you have every right to be shocked.

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By Dale Headley, May 26, 2007 at 11:53 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Bottom line?  Most Republicans, in their hearts, believe fervently that the Department of Justice has the solemn duty to use every power it has to assure Republican domination; and they don’t understand why that obligation should be hindered by such irritating distractions as investigations into whether the DOJ is obeying the law.  Law be damned!  Many Republicans believe they are ordained by a higher power than the Constitution to rule the United States in perpetuity.  That is why they so furiously and angrily defend lawbreakers such as Goodling, Sampson, and Gonzales by asserting that prosecutors serve “at the pleasure of the President”, which, of course implies that political loyalty is a legitimate - perhaps the ONLY legitimate - criterion upon which to judge qualification to serve.  In the Bush Administration, politics takes precedence over competence.  When will the American people make the connection?  That’s why everything the government has touched for the last six years has turned sour;

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By Chaseme, May 26, 2007 at 10:25 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

One thing that I have come to realize when reading about these hearings; this is a time they identify their gods, as well as those who may worship the same god.

Some people may think certain sins are “deadly” as in the “Seven Deadly Sins”, but others refer to the same sins as “Capital Vices” as explained on the Wiki site.

However, these “softball players” don’t think either way about “deadly sins” or “capital vices”, these are the gods they worship (Luxuria (extravagance, later lust), Gula (gluttony), Avaritia (greed), Acedia (sloth), Ira (wrath), Invidia (envy), and Superbia (pride).

Therefore, they are looking to identify others who worship the same way. They need to know if you are “with them” or if you are “against them.” In that way, their fate becomes a lot clearer.

Monica Goodling scares them because she spoke of her belief that she is a good person and that is certainly not one of the gods they worship.

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By THOMAS BILLIS, May 26, 2007 at 6:22 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Mr Robinson have you been in America the last six years.These are the same republicans who have been rubber stamping every moronic move this administration has been making for the last six years.Now you expect them to jump up and say oh yeah I am an American also not just a member of the republican party.Welcome back to the America the rest of us have been living in for the last six years.

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By titchaba, May 26, 2007 at 2:21 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

The Dems failed us this time, but we can not really hold this against them.  Had they stood their ground they would have lost ground in the coming election.

  Bush was going to get his way, this was a given.

  We got minimum wage moved for the first time in a decade. 

  We take our victories where we can, and look for our next opportunity.

  This will be the coming election.

  Let this serve as a personal plea to Al Gore…..Pleae run….democracy hangs in the balance and you are the only one with the power to defend this most precious thing.

  Please Al, for us.

  Please.

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By national-security-4-us, May 25, 2007 at 9:42 pm Link to this comment

bush IS CAREER CRIMINAL BEYOND BELIEF & CONGRESS IS FOLLOWING SUIT - YOU KNOW THE DEAF/DUMB & BLIND - SEE
NO EVIL/HEAR NO EVIL /SPEAK NO EVIL & ALL THOSE WHO
JOIN IN & SIGN-UP TO HIS WILLFUL & DELIBERATE ACTS OF
VIOLATING THE LAWS OF THE LAND - THAT HE BELIEVES & VIEWS AS “A GOD-D@%N PIECE OF PAPER” IS CRIMINAL AT
BEST & FROM MY STANDPOINT COULD NOT GET ANY WORSE - I
CAN CHOOSE 2 USE MUCH MORE DESCRIPTED ADJECTIVES 2 DESCRIBE HIM & HIS CHARACTER OR PERSONALITY…

HE’S A “COUNTERFEIT CHRISTIAN” - HE HAS “NO MORALS” -
HE HAS “NO HEART” - HE HAS “NO COMPASSION” - HE HAS
“NO SYMPATHY” - HE HAS “NO HEART” & HE HAS “NO SOUL”

HUGO CHAVEZ BEST DESRIBED HIM 4 WHAT HE REALLY IS & I
AM SURE HE REALLY WAS STILL SMELLING “THE SULFAR” THAT WAS STILL PERMEATING THE AIR…

NOW DON’T GET ME WRONG CHAVEZ IS NO BETTER THEN bush
SINCE CHAVEZ HAS ALREADY CLAIM HIS DICTORIAL POWERS
FROM HIS BUNCH OF SHEEPLE PEOPLE…

LIKE THE SONG GOES-“EVERYBODY WANTS 2 RULE THE WORLD”
WITH THAT CONCEPT IN MIND - NO WORLD LEADER IS GOING 2 BEND OVER BACKWARDS & LET ONE MAN RULE THE WORLD -
IT IS NO GOING TO HAPPEN—A NUCLEAR DETONATION WILL
OCCUR FIRST B-4 SOME OF THESE MOST DISGUSTING WORLD LEADERS/TYRANTS/DICTATORS/KINGS/QUEEN/CRIMINALS WILL GIVE IN 2 ANOTHER 1 PERSON RULING OVER THEM OR THEIR
PEOPLE - I MEAN SLAVES/PEONS OR SUBORDINATES…

NOW IN AMERICAN POLITICS IT SEEMS MANY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS IN BOTH PARTIES HAVE ALREADY SOLD THEIR SOUL
2 THE EVIL ONE/DEVIL/DIABLO/ANTI-CHRIST & EVEN IN THE
END WHEN IT’S ALL SAID & DONE - THEIR REWARD 4 THEIR LOYALTY WILL STILL BE THROWN-OUT LIKE YESTERDAYS’ GARBAGE - IT IS A NO-WIN SITUATION 4 THEM & THEY ARE
STUPID ENOUGH 2 NOT EVEN COMPREHEND IT…

WOE IS THEM - WHO ARE OUR SO-CALLED ELITE THINKERS…

ALMOST ALL 535 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ARE PUT ON THE SAME PEDESTAL AS bush - IT IS NO SECRET ABOUT bush & THE bush CLAN - “GRAND SCAM” IT IS ALL IN THE LIBRARY
OF CONGRESS AS PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE - OBVIOUSLY MEMBERS OF CONGRESS HAVE NOT DONE THEIR RESEARCH ON THIS OR HAVE SIMPLY FORGOT OR REALLY FEAR “the big-bad bush”
THAT MUCH…

I FIND IT AMAZING THAT SO MANY PEOPLE CAN FEAR SO FEW
A PEOPLE - WHOSE ENTIRE LIFES’ HISTORY HAS IS KNOWN 2
HAVE CAUSED OR CREATED CRIMES THAT ARE PUNISHABLE BY DEATH & THEY ARE SURELY WORTY OF IT…

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By SadButTrue, May 25, 2007 at 7:53 pm Link to this comment

These Representatives, Sensenbrenner, Lundgren and Pence, are ignoring their oaths of office, which requires that they defend the Constitution against “all enemies foreign and domestic.” This should be treason, but is not so defined by that same constitution.

They are also ignoring history. Among the grave offenses listed against King George in the Declaration of Independence is this;

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

That and other offenses of which the current King George is equally guilty precipitated the American Revolution. It is being disingenuous in the extreme to pretend that this is business as usual.

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By Hammo, May 25, 2007 at 5:05 pm Link to this comment

Republicans, and sometimes Democrats, are convincing many Americans to look for third-party and independent candidates.

For example, PopulistAmerica.com, the Web site of the Populist Party of America, is the second most-read political party Web site in the U.S., following the Democratic Party site.

The ten most-read commentary articles on the Web site PopulistAmerica.com for the week of May 18-May 24, 2007 are at:

http://www.populistamerica.com/most_read_commentary

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By THOMAS BILLIS, May 25, 2007 at 4:11 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

To answer a previous commenter Clinton hated Reno and visa versa.I was struck that in order to do the business that Karl Rove wants to do with the federal government to make it a wholly owned subsidary of the republican party you have to hire and place in positions of power the true believers.The Monica Goodlings.The career government people who have even a glancing knowledge of the constitution like James Comey push back the Monica Goodlings ask” what else”?

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By rage, May 25, 2007 at 3:41 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Forget the repug retticence! Let DumyaCo tell it, Repugs are born sans anuses, and therefore can’t possibly ever crap. Thus, we expect these hypocrites who can never smell their own rancid crap to maintain that it smelled like citris and flowers.

But, come on, DEMS. What’s up with the demure reluctance to rock the Chimperor’s head? How many gimmes are needed before We the People can documentthat these fainting felines have some semblance of guts? IT’S ALL GOOD TO GO AGAINST DUMYA!!!!! We now have ample proof POSITIVE that pinhead43 is NOT LEGALLY the President, based on evidence substantiating the treacherous theft of two elections. When counting his draft dodging-AWOL documentation, proof of 11SEP2001 being an insurance scam and insider trading scandal, the fact that Osama bin FORGOTTEN is still running loose, the unilateral preemptive invasion of a country that did not attack us, subsequent war crimes, the ruthless government corruption scandals, dumya’s pretty much repealing the Bill of Rights, treason, torture, domestic spying, damaging international relations, NO HABEUS CORPUS, and the Bush redaction of the US CONSTITUTION, the entire BFEE Junta can be impeached. These scaley beasts can then be brought to court, fully prosecuted, found GUILTY, and either sentenced to draconian jail time in extraordinarilly remote GITMOesgue facilities, or, where Shrek Cheney and Jackass Dumya are concerned, hung, shot, electrocuted, decapitated, staked through the heart and skull, beaten down until dead, stoned with anvils and cinder blocks, or any mandated compassionately conservative combination the aforementioned tactics. To truly botch the job, we can even reward this no-bid execution contract to hacks like Halliburton or Blackwater, because America UNDERSTANDS. Heads do tend to easily come off like that. ‘Hey, our bad, dog!’

One would think the wimpy Dims would find such a divine prospect attractive enough to handle that business with an astounding quickness, given what the pathocratic religio-fascists have done to the country. So, what’s up with this Dim hestitation to thrash that rascal? It makes me wonder what Cheney has on each and every one of them. Cautious discretion is one thing. Craven cowardice, however, is quite another.

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By kevin99999, May 25, 2007 at 3:09 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Republicans members were not expected to act differently as they are complicit in this affair. As far as I am concerned the GOP is a party scammers, liars, and worse.

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By guntotin ganglion, May 25, 2007 at 1:55 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

Basically, what this country has gotten with the Bush “Special Olympics Team”, is a group of mindless religio-political hacks, who in their own inestimably superior vision of themselves, can do no wrong. Add to this their endless withering hatred of everyone not “them”, and their total fealty to the idiot boy king (aka The Decider Guy), and their endless contempt for America and all it stands for (all the while verbally trumpeting, in their classic double-think / double speak style, the greatness of America), and you have the single greatest threat this country has ever faced.

Pick a crime, any crime they have committed, and you’ll find it to be only the tip of a vast subterranean iceberg of crime and corruption. In one sense, this is the greatest executive branch in history, but in another, it is the smallest, most evil, most corrupt and vile at exactly the same time. The greatness comes from their relentless attack on every American value there is, without exception…an attack that has not rested for one moment since they took the White House. It’s been as if they knew they were living on borrowed time, and they had to do as much damage as possible with every single second of time they could grab onto. They have been herculean in their activities, seen and unseen, and this is of course, the greatness of which I speak…there is nothing good in this greatness, only magnitude of evil.

And thus we find ourselves trapped in an endlessly repeating cycle of mind numbingly political hackery that defends (to no end) every idiotic, self-serving action of this administration with accusations of politics and partisanship; statements which are, once again, pure double-speak, being the exact thing they are accusing others of! To accuse partisan politicians of partisanship and politics…go figure!? It’s an incredibly stupid statement of the obvious, without bearing on anything other than the obvious! Gee, politicians are political, and partisans are partisan…duhh…gee!!!

God…when is this idiotic shit going to end!?!?!

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By anon, May 25, 2007 at 10:20 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)

A real Republican dog and pony show this was, and the cute, well-intentioned puppy was wagging the whole kennel with practiced speeches for responses to scripted questions. 

I was thinking softball too, but must go another step upon further reflection.  That kennel is complicitous in the cover up, working hard and subtlely to keep the keen hounds off the true trail.

Timeline A:

Day 1: US Dept of HHS announces they will cut off Medicare payments to Tenet Healthcare.
Day 2: Sampson e-mail about Carol Lam “problem right now”

In 2006, Tenet paid former GOP chair Gillespie’s lobbyist firm $360,000.

Timeline B:

Day 1: Carol Lam gets the ax.
A few days later: McNulty centralizes corporate fraud charging authority on his desk.

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By John C. Bonser, May 25, 2007 at 10:16 am Link to this comment

The reason for the timidity on the part of the GOP is their great fear of the Bush attack machine. Also they don’t want to be “Swift Boated.”

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By don knutsen, May 25, 2007 at 9:02 am Link to this comment

More importantly, what the republicans and democrats both failed follow up on was Goodling’s admission to the existence of caging lists. A scheme to illegally disqualify the votes of hundreds of thousands of individuals. Many of which were ironically soldiers serving oversees….check out Greg Palast’s article…This is a federal crime that would and should result in jail time for those who perpetrated it. It is ofcourse no surprise that the republicans failed to pick up on it, whats disheartening is that the democrats were no more curious, even when admitted to by Goodling right before them. The attorney scandle was more about fixing the 2008 election and removing those attorneys who were not shown to be cooperating then simple political favortism. From the lackluster performance of questioners, it would appears so far Rove has skated thru another crime.

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By KISS, May 25, 2007 at 8:08 am Link to this comment

Under Clinton, Janet Reno also served not the constitution but to the whims of Clinton. Was Reno more fair? Who knows? The Justice dept has never been a bi-partisan agency in my lifetime.Should it be? Hell Yes. The whole concept of the justice dept must be over-hauled and held to a greater standard. Anyone remember Meese? A slime-ball of AG if ever there was one.All trough history AG’s haven’t been much, this may be the worst ever, but than I’m no historian. But it ain’t gonna happen. The repugs and Dimmos want to use this dept for their own self-interest. This story seemed to associate Ashcroft with dignity, now that’s a stretch.

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By Hammo, May 25, 2007 at 6:44 am Link to this comment

Let the Republicans continue on their path of corruption and dishonor.

Americans will then vote more of them out of Congress and out of state and local offices.

Most importantly, we will get some kind of better alternative to Bush and Cheney and their corrupt administration. See:

“Winds of change again blowing across America”

PopulistAmerica.com
April 20, 2007

http://www.populistamerica.com/winds_of_change_again_blowing_across_america

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