This is rich. From Digby:
David Gregory says that he had been under the impression all day that the president was going to handle this press conference by saying that he knew mistakes had been made but that he was hopeful that the Democrats would work with the white house in good faith, blah, blah blah.
Apparently, however, the Republicans had a meeting today that showed a split in the GOP with half the members saying that Bush should dump Abu G, while others, notably the Box Turtle Cornyn (and Tom Delay on TV this morning) told Bush there was no margin in being accommodating and that Bush should "fight" which I'm sure sounded like music to his puerile little ears. It makes him feel like a man.
Scarecrow and Kagro X have noted that the White House may be anxious to have a showdown over the firing of the US attorneys because they know there's going to be a battle over something and there are other matters they are even less anxious to have probed by Congress. I may disagree. The Carol Lam firing has the potential to be an endless rabbit hole that could lead to both Cornyn and DeLay, and it's no surprise that both are openly encouraging the petulant Boy King to be obstreperous, obstructionist and bellicose when it comes to dealing with Congressional subpoenas. The GOP might be able to skate on the other firings, but Lam's investigations threatened the very heart of their six year scheme to bust out the US Treasury.
In the Nov. 30, 2001, e-mail, Reed told Abramoff that 50 pastors led by Ed Young of Second Baptist Church in Houston would meet with Cornyn to urge him to shut down the Alabama-Coushatta tribe’s casino near Livingston. He said Young would back up the request in writing. “We have also choreographed Cornyn’s response. The AG will state that the law is clear, talk about how much he wants to avoid repetition of El Paso and pledge to take swift action to enforce the law,” Reed wrote. “He will also personally hand Ed Young a letter that commits him to take action in Livingston.”
Ah memories. And who has enough column inches to devote to the coziness between Hot Tub Tom and Casino Jack? Lam already had Duke Cunningham, Jerry Lewis, Dusty Foggo and Mitchell Wade in her sights. And things were spreading quickly. Wade, who pled guilty to giving $1 million in bribes to Duke Cunningham, received his first federal contract for $140,000 to provide office furniture and computers to Dick Cheney:
Two weeks later, on August 30, 2002, Wade purchased a yacht for $140,000 for Duke Cunningham. The boat’s name was later changed to the “Duke-Stir.” Said one party to the sale: “I knew then that somebody was going to go to jail for that…Duke looked at the boat, and Wade bought it — all in one day. Then they got on the boat and floated away.”
According to Cunningham’s sentencing memorandum, the purchase price of the boat had been negotiated through a third-party earlier that summer, around the same time the White House contract was signed.
I frankly don't think they fear anything more than this, and it's probably why we've seen so much of the Bugman and his bid to become the omnipresent Jeffrey Skilling of the story (well, aside from the fact that that guy just looooves a camera).
Stuff like this is going to continue to make them extremely nervous.
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Dick Cheney Controls Tim Russert.
Jane and FDL rawk!
Subpoenas!
Hi, Jane!
The most useful thing you can do for your country right now with the resources you have is to paint a sign that says “Impeach” and put it up in public.
http://freewayblogger.blogspot…..board.html
Cardboard, paint and something to say… that’s all it takes.
Subpoenas! No compromise! The line must be drawn here! This far, no farther! Etc!
Hey – is that Pombo in the picture behind Delay?
Finally, some mention of Mr Cheney, the person long considered to be the acting President.
Are we expected to believe that Mr Bush is acting on his own in present circumstances?
When will the attention more properly focus on the most likely coordinator of the entire scenario?
Bugman has been way too visible lately. Why isn’t he in prison?
2 quick points:
1 — don’t believe gregory. His balls are kept in a snow jar!
2- It is put up or shut up time for the democratic party!
hi jane, great post (as always)
You do wonder how many members of the GOP are actually uncorrupted at this point. Maybe the GOoPers need the same anti-corruption treatment the teamsters got, although Ghu knows who would be running it – there are few enough DoJ people who are trustworthy.
Small spelling nitpick: ‘in her sights’, not ‘in her sites’ – as in aiming at them.
*xyz @ 7
Cornyn is on the right, and I think that’s Satan there on the left. Could be wrong though.
Last night Tweety said that the Bugman would be on Harbaugh tonight.
Jeebus, won’t somebody haul DeLay’s ass to prison already?
It’s interesting that the White House is taking policy advice from DeLay, who is under indictment…
Carol Lam for Governor of California!…but I’ll take Senator from California.
*xyz @ 7
sure looks like him.
Ladies……
Is there a smokescreen going on? Are the neocons/PNAC/Cheney going to end-run us all. Pelosi has still not restored the No Assault On Iran clause, and other sites suggest the Dems are so disorganized that the Give The President The Free Hand Money For Iraq Bill will pass.
IMO this and Plame/Niger are the two most important foci. The DOJ/USAs has a life of its own now, and it has the wonderful Josh keeping them dancing!
OT – The transcript of Snow’s press conference from this morning is up.
It’s interesting that the White House is taking policy advice from DeLay, who is under indictment…
And he gets to be on talk shows. What’s the status of his trial anyway?
Seems to me there are a couple of problems with the theory (or if it is right, then the strategy) of picking this issue to have the showdown with the Dems:
1. The claim of executive priviledge here seems pretty dubious as opposed to, say, NSA wiretapping where they could credibly invoke national security (and it just got a lot more dubious when Snow blurted out that the preznit had no recollection of being briefed on the issue).
2. This would seem to be the issue that has the least amount of support from the congressional GOP. They’re pissed at Gonzales. And are they really going to back up what will be an extremely broad assertion of the executive priviledge over this issue? I mean someday they may want to subpeona someone from President Obama’s staff. If they back Bush, they will give up that right forever.
Doesn’t seem that smart to me, but what do I know?
The tide must be rolling out to expose all this slime…
Delay…ugh, he breathes my air
Keep on rockin’ in a free world!
cleter @ 13
“Is that your little friend? I think you know who I’m talking about. Oooh, I don’t know…maybe it’s…SATAN.”
Apologies to Dana Carvey.
spinoza @ 21
DeLay did a lot of favors for a lot of people in D.C., in the media and in government. They’re going to be repaying him for a long time to come.
spinoza @ 21
I’ve been trin to find anythin on the interest for the last few days, no luck so far.
Does anyone know what county the indictments were handed down in?
Thanks Jane, another great post!
Got my hair cut today and I sent the ponytail off to Locks of Love in your honor. Locks of Love
I just love having someone else wash my hair *sigh*
Bug Man = Malathion Man He is toxic to Democracy.
Will Tweety use Malathion Mans mug shot today? Call me a doubting thomas…
Tom @ 15
His trial is later this year. In the meantime, takes one to know one.
( For those with better things to do than subscribe to the Austin Statesman, the headline is
” ‘DeLay blasts GOP colleagues, ‘criminalization of politics’ “. )
Wil @ 26
The Smoking Gun has the indictment.
I would like to see darkblack, or somebody else, take the picture above of DeLay, attach strings hanbing from his fingers and attach the other ends of the strings to a little puppet George W. Bush.
One has to wonder what it is about Attorneygate that the Bugman is so eager for Bush not to disclose…
Nothing strikes fear in a strawman more than when the Fire Lady of the Lake says, “I may disagree.” So far, of the four occasions I can recall in which we disagreed, the score is:
Jane = 4
Scarecrow = 0
But there’s always next year.
So much good stuff in Purgegate–R party corruption, permanent majority, and all the rest of the iceberg that’s still below the water.
Best justification I heard about W’s cocktail-hour rant yesterday came from Tweety. He said something like, with the President at 30%, he has to play it to makes sure he keeps hold of all those. Yep. That’s what he said.
Now if I did as bad a job as W and had a job approval rating of 30%, I’d conclude that I could have sex with Rice on the House floor and they’d still love me. So I’d forget about them and start working on regaining some of the 70%.
Oh drat, there I go again, living in the reality based world.
Wil @ 26
I believe I heard that the indictments were handed down in whatever county Austin is in. It seems like there was talk of DeLay wanting to get the case moved to another county that wasn’t so liberal.
I agree. This is where the battle with the chimperial presidency needs to be fought.
If we the battle were to be over the war, we would end up being red-white-and blued over the troops and terrorism.
Gonzales is a soft target. The legal landscape on executive privilege, where national security is not involved, is friendly. Leahy and Conyers are more aggressive than Levin and Skelton.
This is where we should make our stand.
I agree with Jane — I think the rabbit hole is damn deep! And we have one too may crooks on the loose out there.
On with the subpeonas and the fight!
DP @ 22
Someone commented earlier today that the whole lot should be rolled into one big investigation, since the behavior is pretty much of a piece:
Break or ignore the law, deny, stall, obfuscate, blame Clinton, rinse, and repeat from the top.
test – is this thing working? having problems with submitting a comment.
Lots of good stuff here:
http://www.campaignmoney.org/b…..na-islands
DP @ 22
This is assuming that any rules/laws are consistently applied to both political parties. That doesn’t compute in the GOP thinktank.
Once more: the cry for transparency and sunlight!
…And now another episode of “Desperate Politicians of the DC…” It’s so interesting that Delay is showing up, after all, no re-electable Repuke really wants to step up to the podium right now, do they? So if one figures that Delay has had his electable parts removed, he is the go-to guy to flog the press??? With Rove & co. it’s not the principles, it’s the game.
Jane
Thanks for this post. I can’t stand DeLay nor Cronyn (luv ‘Box Turtle’ – LOL). I’ve come to realize as I’ve matured politically and intellectually, it’s always about the $$$$. The power is merely a byproduct of the control of the $$$$. (I mean just look at DeLay for chrissakes)I totally agree with you (and with Scarecrow in one of the threads from yesterday) that Pandora’s box will be opened if even just a little of the truth is put in the public domain. I think that was proven with the so-called doc dump. I was fairly certain that there wouldn’t be 3000 pages and whatever was dumped would be suspect. I think there is so so so much more under the rug. And, I think it could be fatal to BushCo.
This was pretty interesting. From Al Kamen’s WaPo column today:
As I awkwardly mentioned earlier today, someone from CNN put it much more clearly:
If it’s not a presidential conversation, then how can the prez claim executive privelege?
scarecrow @
32
LOL! Hang in there Sensei Scarecrow.
The Smoking Gun has the indictment.
I’m a dumb ass, sould have thought of that. The county doesn’t post and of the dockets, except today’s civil docket
DeLay has been all over the NBC networks — “Meet the Press” “Today” and now “Hardball”
I know this indicted criminal has a book to push, but must the nets give him the aura of legitimacy to do it?
At least Viera asked some tough questions; we’ll see if Matthews gives him softballs or hard….
give that bugman a steaming bowl of warfarin and put him to bed on a on a cozy human size glue trap.
lying ass on hardball…blech
Tom Delay hearts Denny Hastert.
ahahahaha!
Bugman to Tweety-It’s George Sorros doing! Clinton fired 20 or 30 USas. Lucky I’m hard of hearing and only watch the subtitles.
Elliott @
27
Very cool. I did the same right before I lost all mine to chemo. Every time I’d go to the hospital and see these 5 year olds in the middle of chemo–and see how strong and generally postive they were–it inspired me. Those kids are tough and they can have my hair anytime.
Quzi @ 36
Josh Marshall is basically hinting that there is a hell of a lot of broad-scale scandals down the Lam rabbit hole.
I actually shouldn’t call them ‘hints’ because it isn’t accurate. Josh isn’t hinting, he’s literally saying “there is much more to this particular story”.
I look forward to watching the journey down the rabbit hole. And I wanted to share with you a brief, relevant, literary excerpt:
———–
Either the well was very deep, or she fell very slowly, for she had plenty of time as she went down to look about her, and to wonder what was going to happen next. First, she tried to look down and make out what she was coming to, but it was too dark to see anything: then she looked at the sides of the well, and noticed that they were filled with cupboards and book-shelves: here and there she saw maps and pictures hung upon pegs. She took down ajar from one of the shelves as she passed: it was labeled “ORANGE MARMALADE” but to her great disappointment it was empty: she did not like to drop the jar, for fear of killing somebody underneath, so managed to put it into one of the cupboards as she fell past it.
———-
Oh I bet KO is going to have a hot show tonight! *goody, goody*.
BTW. Why on earth did he have Andrew Sullivan on last night. Blech!
Oh dear —- I thought WE were about the National Interest, and not like the other lot, just party politics……
mui @ 53
Because AS is regarded (by some) as a bona fide “conservative,” so KO is using a “true” conservative to bash the faux conservative Bush.
With everything the RNC has done, why couldn’t there be a RICO investigation?
http://www.consortiumnews.com/…..2007a.html
Just found out about the not so ironic 18 day gap.
My, my, my.
-GSD
scarecrow @ 55
I know you must be right, but pardon my chinese, HYUCK!
C’mon. Fair is fair. Cheney’s $140,000 bribe transformed into a pleasure yacht, entertaining any and all manner of undesirables engaged in decidedly un-family friendly activities, pales in comparison to Obama’s Whitewater II deal, where he lost money. I mean which is a greater threat to the Republic? A black person invested in the stock market for Jesus’ sake!
I’m sure Dick has a very plausible explanation and will be only too happy to share his findings in private, off the record, with handpicked obeisant Senators.
scarecrow @
32
You may still be right, Scarecrow. Kagro X is a powerful ally.
I agree with Jane — I think the rabbit hole is damn deep! And we have one too many crooks on the loose out there.
On with the subpeonas and the fight!
But.. what about eRiposte and WMDs or Sibel Edmonds, ATC, or Plame, etc.
What happens if this AG scandal fails to expose the “wide pattern” that so desperately needs to be pursued?
Rabbit hole, yes, but what about the snakes and rodents?
P.S. Marcy, Please consider a post here on Sibel someday..) (Sorry if you have and I missed it.)
from tpm muckracker comments
And don’t forget the USA in Guam, who was canned right after he went after Abramoff. Here’s the top of the LAT story, 8/8/2005:
WASHINGTON — A US grand jury in Guam opened an investigation of controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff more than two years ago, but President Bush removed the supervising federal prosecutor, and the probe ended soon after.
The previously undisclosed Guam inquiry is separate from a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia that is investigating allegations that Abramoff bilked Indian tribes out of millions of dollars.
In Guam, a US territory in the Pacific, investigators were looking into Abramoff’s secret arrangement with Superior Court officials to lobby against a court reform bill then pending in Congress. The legislation, since approved, gave the Guam Supreme Court authority over the Superior Court.
In 2002, Abramoff was retained by the Superior Court in what was an unusual arrangement for a public agency.
The Los Angeles Times reported in May that Abramoff was paid with a series of $9,000 checks funneled through a Laguna Beach, Calif., lawyer to disguise the lobbyist’s role working for the Guam court. No separate contract was authorized for Abramoff’s work.
ok i’m no mathematician by any means but , by my calculations, the 18 day gap is 1,440 times worse than rosemary woods’ measly 18 minutes.
Hypothesis: Is it good for us to have Delay so visible? Reason: He’s such a s**t and a crook, and his resurrection in the R party just makes the R-D distinction all the more favorable. He argued on Hardball that there were no prez candidates suitable for the wingnuts.
LoudounLib @ 9
Is he ever going to trial? WTF is taking so long?
GSD @ 57
We have to be fair, the ONE email that ha been found is the ONLY one sent in those 18 days. Bushco would never lie to us, would they?
/sarcasm
(Weeps into large tumbler of Jack Daniels)
eCAHNomics @ 64
I submit that it is GREAT for us to have Delay so visible. It’s always great when the slimeballs are hogging the daylight and professing to speak for their party. He’s such a lovely image that the rethugs want to be presenting right about now…
Breaking News: Tom Delay reports that his nuts are nice and warm and malleable after the long, slow massage given to them by Chris Matthews.
-GSD
Eureka Springs, AR @ 62
Me too! eRiposte was a really clear string!
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/…..nancy-doj/
“THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph…” said Thomas Paine in The Crisis dated December 23, 1776
“We the people…” need to be a real pain to the ReThuglican cabal
“…follow the money…” – Deep Throat
I’ve got a little Carol Lam/corruption investigation/atty firing timeline going (most of it based on TPM’s). Cbl mentioned Bajagua a while ago, and I just can’t stop thinking about it. Sorry for the long post. Jane, you rock!
November 28, 2005 Duke Cunningham pleads guilty, is expected to squeal
December 14, 2005 USA Patriot Improvement Act has atty amendment added in committee
December 19, 2005 deadline to sign Bajagua/IBWC contract, NOT MET
December 20, 2005 POGO sends letter to IBWC re Bajagua contract corruption issues
January 9, 2006, Sampson emails Miers list of USA’s to be fired, includes Lam
Feb. 16, 2006 Bajagua signed contract with IBWC
March 2, 2006 USA Patriot Improvement Act passes Senate
March 2, 2006 request for investigation of Bajagua project sent to Lam
March 9, 2006 Bush signs USA Patriot Improvement Act
May 5, 2006 Goss resigns
May 8, 2006 Foggo resigns
May 10, 2006 Lam informs DOJ that Foggo to be served with search warrants
May 11, 2006 LA Times reports that Lam to investigate Jerry Lewis
May 11, 2006 Sampson writes “problem with Lam” email
May 12, 2006 Foggo search warrants executed
June ??, 2006 Bilbray elected to fill Cunningham’s seat in CA primary, DISPUTED
November ??, 2006 Date that Lam’s term expires
December 7, 2006, Battle calls Lam to fire
December 19, 2006 Samspon emails that should use USA Patriot Improvement amend.
DP @
22
Dunno if that’s true about giving up the right forever. They have a teeny tiny short term memory when it comes to the rules. Even when DP @
22
But apparently the rules are different when the GOoPers are in the WH than when a Dem is prez. Yeesh, they don’t have a drop of credibility.
Jane — to be clear, I think the best public meme is that the Bushies obstructed the entire justice system, and the US Atty cases are examples of how they did it to destroy the opposition and maintain power. If that theme catches on with the public — and the media reports are helping quite nicely, thank you — then that goes a long way. My concern was the strength of the case before a very suspect Supreme Court — if the Lam case develops further, that problem goes away; it if doesn’t, then I’d want other things influencing the justices.
GSD @ 67
aah. you’re making this squirrel consider giving up nuts forever.
NBC News loves the Bugman! Meet the Press, the Today Show, what next? A sit-com?
By the way, why is it still called Meet the Press when the host is not of the Press? Shouldn’t it be called Meet the Political Operative?
I agree. This is where the battle with the chimperial presidency needs to be joined.
Yes, the war is more important, but if we make our initial stand on the war, they will red, white and blue us over the troops and terrorism.
Gonzales is a soft target. The legal landscape on executive privilege, where national security is not involved, is friendly. Leahy and Conyers are more aggressive than Levin and Skelton.
This is where we should make our stand.
But apparently the rules are different when the GOoPers are in the WH than when a Dem is prez. Yeesh, they don’t have a drop of credibility.
Exactly, because President Clinton was not able to claim Executive Priviledge with success. His administration officials were made to testify before cameras with an oath.
squirrel hiller @ 64
A mathematician would probably say, The 18 day gap is approximately three orders of magnitude greater than rosemary wood’ 18 minutes.
The right is split. They’ve lost the Reagan Republicans. Here’s a link to The American Freedom Agenda mission statement.
It’s principals are:
Bruce Fein (associate deputy attorney general during the Reagan administration)
David Keene (Chairman of the American Conservative Union)
Richard Viguerie (direct mailer and one of the Washington Times 13 “Conservatives of the Century”)
and Bob Barr (former USA and Georgia Republican congressman)
In short they want to:
Prohibit military commissions
Prohibit secret evidence and torture
Prohibit the detention of American citizens as unlawful enemy combatants
Restore habeas corpus
Prohibit warrantless interception of e-communications
Prohibit signing statements
Prohibit executive privilege as excuse to avoid giving testimony
Prohibit extraordinary rendition
Permit journalists to report on classified national security matters without fear of prosecution; and;
Prohibit the listing of individuals or organizations with a presence in the United States as global terrorists or global terrorist organizations based on secret evidence.
It’s a good list.
Slothrop @ 77
Meet Dick Cheney’s Bitch
emptywheel @
51
Locks of Love got mine on Valentine’s Day last year. It’s just about long enough again, so in a couple months I’ll have short hair.
They need to subpoena Cheney.
yellowsnapdragon @ 71
Thank you!
I want to see the emails between November 28, 2005 and December 14, 2005
GSD @ 68
damn you, I’ll have nightmares for weeks over the visual that popped in my head over that
Slothrop @ 75
Looks like NBC owes the Bugman some favors, eh?
ptrig @ 80
It is a good list….. If the Democratic Party was not The NEW Best Congress Money Can Buy (by AIPAC/PNAC) it might too have produced the same list.
Elliott @ 85
Just want a change to get this in where it’ll be read:
when you phone, fax, and email, ALSO EMAIL THE WHITE HOUSE.
I know it’s useless, but they should feel the flood too.
Joining the issue of obstruction of justice and Darwin-Award-deserving Ds:
On MTP, Cornyn was harrassing Schumer and Schumer didn’t defend himself, just continued to talk in his own bubble. Here’s what Schumer should have said: My dear friend Senator Cornyn, you’ve now said witchhunt three times. I assume that’s the new R talking point, and that Jon Stewart will dutifully collect all of them and replay them on the Daily Show. However, that’s not helpful in figuring out whether Attorney General Gonzales obstructed justice.
You see, Schumer missed a grand opportunity to frame the issue exactly where it should be. And provide a soundbite for the evening news.
this is the story.
the profit margin. pay to play. I want cash.
the war and this administration has been dedicated to this one thing since day one.
it explains everything. they used the country to make a lot of money. they got that money from the taxpayers. they need to give it back.
scarecrow @
75
Scarecrow, I think that the Supreme is going to be suspect for a long time, infortunately.
There appears to be clear malfeasance from Gonzo…hence the stonewalling and lies and now defiance.
The Democrats won’t be able to use many of the other issues because the cries of national security still loom large.
We must hope that there is a John Dean present among the cretins that leave slug trails throughout Washington now.
Hoping that Rove has bred enough of his devious spawn to do to him what he has done to others.
-GSD
I’ve been saying from the start rove will realize they cannot let abu torture go.
the entire administration’s policies ride on abu torture maintaining some sort of credibility
once he is “resigned” EVERY depraved decision is examined under the spotlight, every one of them
“there is no guarantee in the constitution st warrantless searches” is revisited
his “re defining” torture is revisited
his “there is no guarantee against habeas corpus” is revisited
and every one of those depraved decisions will be revisited with the eye of “this came from someone so inept and so corrupt he had to be fired”
the administration has to ride this pony till it’s legs come out from underneath, president Bush is stuck with this ride
this is what I predicted, but where from here?
congress CANNOT let the president “play his hand” and take this to the bar of the supreme court, we loose on every front if that’s allowed
one, it takes too long
two, the supreme court is in his pocket and while we don’t know if Roberts will rule true to the constitution instead of the president, we know as sure as the sun will rise alito will decide according to the unitary presidency
for reason one more then reason two and therefore, we CANNOT allow the president or rove to choreograph the events that follow.
congress MUST initiate a procedure of impeachment BEFORE this goes to court, the president CANNOT be allowed to take this before the judge system Republicans have been stacking for decades
Palosi is faced now with her test, a test that will live through posterity;
“the president must submit to the rule of law, congress WILL perform our duty AS REQUIRED BY LAW, and we WILL investigate corruption in government.
If the president OBSTRUCTS congress’s sworn duty, we WILL bring articles of impeachment.
congress is prepared to give the president ALL executive privilege he is entitled, to, we will NOT question these witnesses concerning anything that is not related to THIS investigation.
if the president need our assurance, we will hold these hearing in closed session where CONGRESS will decide the items that require executive privilege.
THE PRESIDENT SERVES AT THE PLEASURE OF THE PEOPLE
THE PRESIDENT SERVES AT THE PLEASURE OF OUR CONSTITUTION
the president’s “privilege” is NOT so far reaching that he can impede or obstruct our law”
anyone want to edit that little speech I wrote for madam Nancy you are welcome to do it
Jane,
Great post… IMO, one of the best things we can do is highlight the story of the $140,000 Question.
The question is: Is it mere coincidence that the Vice President’s office contracted with a vendor for $140,000 and then that same vendor bought Duke Cunningham a yacht a few weeks later for precisely $140,000.
I think a reasonable case can be made that all 8 US Attorneys were taken out to divert our attention from the firing of Carol Lam. It was Ms. Lam after all who was pulling on that $140,000 thread.
Ms. Lam was “following the money”.
IMO, we should be using infamous FDL human wave research and alert tactics to get the MSM to acknowledge the story so that every inquiring American mind wants an answer to the $140,000 Question.
I began doing that earlier this morning with Jay Carney and Karen Tumulty at the link below. (Look for my aspTrader alias in the comments.)
http://time-blog.com/swampland…..l#comments
(And to think that I left the “Foggo” connection out of that post at the Time-Blog.)
If the MSM needs to be shamed into addressing the $140,000 question then so be it.
Imagine that the law breaking scandals of the Bush Administration are a tightly wound ball of string. The trick we citizens can help with is to identify a few protruding threads from that ball that we can pull and in pulling that string WILL GET THE ATTENTION OF THE MSM AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE that lead to the unraveling of the entire ball….
Is it really so difficult to imagine that a concerted FDL led citizen effort to get congressional and media attention on the $140,000 Question won’t turn up something to assist in unraveling the ball?
issue the subpoenas, and concentrate on:
a. CAROL LAM and her pending investigations
b. Guam and the prosecutor who was promoted right out of the investigation
c. Abu and Bush shutting down the investigation which was inching toward Gonzalez by refusing security clearances
KISS
So, Dick Cheney bought a boat for Duke Cunningham in return for a vote, right?
And that’s what Carol Lam found and that’s why the White House is going all Richard Nixon on us.
Elliott @ 87
Mighta been Monday morning, I woke up hearing Steve Inskeep interview Tom Delay. I thought I was listening to the late Mr. Rogers – Delay was so soft spoken. Inskeep gave Delay the run of the NPR house. Clinton’s fault, the Democrats let lobbyists write laws too, criminalization of politics, he gave no favors etc. Inskeep chuckled and nodded with fawning attentiveness.
No mention of Jack ‘off, Indian casinos, Georgia Boy, illegal redistricting, Saipan sweat shops (clothes made in USA) and forced abortions or any other myriad crimes.
If you listended to Inskeep’s interview, you would believe that Tom Delay is a fine Christian man who has been wrongly accused.
A boat for a vote?
Boatgate.
And, oh, look at that date of 11/18, that’s when the email gap commences.
Oh my.
yellowsnapdragon @ 73
yellowsnap, now that is enlightening. Her term exkpired right around the election — which, I maintain, Karl did not expect to lose.
do you wiki? cujo has started Gonzowiki, it is here So we aren’t reinventng the same damn wheel.
One minor quibble. Cornyn isn’t a box turtle, he’s a post turtle …
BC
And, oh, look at that date (on the memo about Lam) of 11/18, that’s when the email gap commences.
Oh my.
Slothrop @ 102
What’s the significance? Is that the date it became a certainty that the Democrats would control the Senate? Thanks.
Very interesting, Jane.
OT, but very interesting: If you’re watching Hardball (if you could stomach watching through DeLay’s massage) then you’ll note that Richard Engel is on now to promote his “War Zone Diary” program tonight. After reading this recommendation from mediabistro.com’s TV Newser, I’m going to make sure to tune in. It sounds like this is goign to be a very enlightening and realistic picture of what the war zone in Iraq is like.
http://www.mediabistro.com/tvn….._55419.asp
neurophius @ 31
(Sung to the tune of “The Knee Bone’s Connected to the Thigh Bone):
Oh, Abramoff’s connected to the Duke-stir
And the Duke-stir’s connected to the Bug-man
And the Bug-man’s connected to the Big Time
Hear the Word of the Lord!
Y’know, I *almost* feel sorry for the gonzo 8 b/c the thugs are gonna slime them six ways to Sunday. Lam is already a lost cause b/c it was brought up during the subcommittee meeting today that she had said under oath that she didn’t think she had been fired for any inappropriate reasons (paraphrased). Broken arm, much?
Naw………lie down w/fleas; don’t be surprised when you wake up w/welts.
JANE
Remember the Rubber Stamp campaign that FDL ran a while back? That slogan and that campaign with physical items delivered to congress made a big difference and brought the issue of the last congress to a lot of people’s attention.
What creative ideas do you and your team and your readers have about how to get more visibility and focus on the $140,000 Question?
physical props, items delivered to congress, staged events, etc.
We need to unravel the ball of thread that is the lawbreaking of the Bush Administration. IMO, the $140,000 Question is the best known thread to yank on to start that unraveling.
“The real problem we have with Carol Lam that leads me to conclude that we should have someone ready to be nominated on 11/18, the day her four year term expires.” — Kyle Sampson, Gonzalez’ li’l bitch.
Total coincidence that date and the date of the beginning of the email gap are the same.
That’s what I’m sayin’…
hey Jane and Firedogs,
just had a lot of difficulty getting in to comments –
yellowsnapdragon – way to go ! told ya that stuff was addictive – sure hope you’ll contribute your findings to e pluribus media
Jane Hamsher –
commented this morning that I have been wondering about Alice Fisher for some time now – all those indictments and now so very few court cases or sentences – think I’ll send the folks at Democracy 21 a note with a cc to CREW :)
$140,000 for a fat cat’s boat is pocket change. Real fat cats like these guys typically buy boats that cost $350,000 to $2,000,000. I think they thought that $140,000 was a small amount of money that would go unnoticed. Somebody noticed.
Have to drive by and share some thoughts. I don’t know much (read: anything) about Contempt of Congress, etc., but let’s assume this goes to the SCOTUS.
Seems to me that these people, being lifetime appointees, are known for being territorial. I can’t see them cottoning to the idea of the Unitary Executive. It’s one thing to install a fool and call it a one-time-only ruling; quite another to countenance him fucking with the entire justice system.
Ditto DOJ. This will get referred to them, somebody will have to recuse himself. A lot of the people there are rightfully pissed at the idea of their independence being taken away–these are career people, after all, who take that stuff seriously.
I’m not sure the Bushies are going to get a sympathetic reception here.
elliot @27
Got my hair cut today and I sent the ponytail off to Locks of Love in your honor. Locks of Love
I just love having someone else wash my hair *sigh*
((((elliot))))
Let’s not forget the re-districting fiasco where Delay used his connections in the DHS to find out where the State Legislature went off to in protest of the gerrymandering going on.
Seriously, the list goes on and on and on. We could do a reality show about it and have years of content. Come on, Hollywood, the only way we’re going to catch this train is if we play the game! (sorry for the mixed metaphor)
elliot @27
Got my hair cut today and I sent the ponytail off to Locks of Love in your honor. Locks of Love
I just love having someone else wash my hair *sigh*
((((elliot))))
aspTrader @ 93
I like what you’re saying here, but disagree. See if this makes any sense (I invented a drinking game this morning for the press gaggle)
AR (Cummins?) was pure politics, they wanted their guy to pad his resume, and there is strong suspicion that they wanted someone in place to start up the whole Hillary shit aain for 2008.
Iglesias refused to do Dominici’s (and his bitch Heather) bidding. It was a really close race and they almost lost the seat. He wasn’t on the list for resignation until after they both called him a couple of weeks before the election.
Not sure about the other 5, haven’t seen much press. I’m not buying the shit about not enugh obscenity charges in NV. The one thing that does keep coming up is under-prosecution of “voter fraud” (I usually read that as letting brown people vote). As Christy pointed out in her excellent post this morning, they were all in non-red or not overwhelmingly in MI’s case, states (where brown people really shouldn’t be allowed to vote). Just a thought
elliot @27
Got my hair cut today and I sent the ponytail off to Locks of Love in your honor. Locks of Love
I just love having someone else wash my hair *sigh*
((((elliot))))
LandoftheFree @ 103-
Engel & John Burns, NYT Baghdad Bureau Chief, were on the PBS NewsHour together last night. Engel showed clips from War Zone Diary & he & Burns discussed, among other things, differences between access in Baghdad for tv v. print journalists:
Engel/Burns PBS Interview
Alice Fisher is a Whitewater investigation alumna. Along with Chertoff.
aspTrader @ 107
How about we send all of those furniture ads from the supplements in the Sunday paper directly to Cheney’s office?
LOL MSNBC just ran a commercial for the rerun of Hardball, says Tweety is going to “take a hard-hitting look” at DeLay’s book.
That’s not what I saw on the early edition…
sorry about the triplicate post—kept coming back that page couldn’t/didn’t load, so i entered it again, happened three times…….
dial-up……..didn’t know that it took the post but didn’t reload the page. live and learn……….
dmac, having problems here too on broadband. Guess the toobz aren’t feeling well at the moment.
Sometimes it seems like the only thing the Bush Administration hasn’t lied about is 9/11.
Wil @ 115..The Nevada thing was the USA was getting ready to get Renzi for crooked land deals.
whoo- hoo and OT– Senator Jim Webb tomorrow at the National Press Club on cspan 3 @ 1pm speaking on:
http://inside.c-spanarchives.o…..hedule.csp
Hopefully he’ll talk about Iran and Afghanistan, too.
I’ve been working on a project involving 5th grade science today. One of the questions is about the sun, and, since I spent a fair amount of time reading statements like, “the sun is only a medium sized star”, I had The Sun Song running through my head for much of the day.
…
What other fun science-y songs do you know of?
rickie lee jones is on the world cafe with david dye tonight on npr
Following the money…
Check out this WaPo article from 2005 on the “cozy” relationship between MZM (the company that got the non-competitive contract for $140,000 for computers ‘n stuff for OVP and then bought the “Buoy-Toy” for the same amount) and the Army’s National Ground Intelligence Center (NGIC).
Maybe TPM or someone has already linked to or looked into this, but I think it’s worth a mention. The WaPo article details how it was the NGIC that got it completely wrong on Iraq’s aluminum centrifuge tubes, and it also explains how at least 15 people who worked for NGIC went on to work for MZM.
This begins to connect some pretty huge motifs: faulty war intelligence, cronyism, no-bid contracts, the OVP, the $140,000, and the Lam investigation into Cunningham, MZM, and Lewis.
waccamaw @ 106:
When Carol Lam testified, she said that because she had not been given a reason for being fired (although she’d asked for one), she was not able to answer if her dismissal was proper or improper. She went on to defend her record and to add that her dismissal was unusual, and it concerned her that it could have a chilling effect on US Attorneys. Maybe somebody in today’s hearings needed to shade her testimony a bit to score a point? A Republican, perhaps?
Here’s the Politics TV highlights from her testimony:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS1eYq4W3H4
Stuff like this is going to continue to make them extremely nervous.
Had they felt this nervousness when confronted with opportunities to commit wrongdoing in the first place, they could’ve avoided it now. Instead, at the time they operated without conscience–out of arrogance and shamelessness. I have no sympathy to offer them.
- Tom
Sparkles the Iguana,
sounds like you would know that Ms. Fisher presently heads the Criminal Div. at DOJ
just think it’s wild her name has yet to come up anywhere in all this
Fiyero, have you met Sherlock Google ?
My most recent post at the Time Magazine swampland blog is as follows below the asterisks (with link immediately below):
http://time-blog.com/swampland…..ilege.html
I’ll hammer on Time Magazine and one other major media outlet. Who is going to do MSM outlets others and what others will you do?
*****************************
Hey Karen,
Any updates on the $140,000 Questions?
You know, the $140,000 that the Office of the Vice President paid to a firm for computers and furniture.
The same firm that bought a yacht for use by Duke Cunningham for exactly $140,000 just a few weeks later…
The same Duke Cunningham who was prosecuted and convicted and is now in jail because of a US Attorney named Carol Lam.
The same Duke Cunningham that was a friend of a guy named Foggo ex-CIA official who was indicted by the same Carol Lam.
The same Carol Lam that was fired by Alberto Gonzalez.
The same Alberto Gonzalez that has an assistant named Sampson who wrote that “Lam was the real problem”.
Sheeeeshh…
Have you folks at Time Magazine spent so much time brownnosing the Bush Administration that you can’t really smell the story any more?
The details are all over the ‘net. Are you folks really going to let the angry bloggers scoop you again?
wow!
***********************************
Marie Roget @117 – thanks for the link to the PBS story. I have a feeling this documentary will be an important one to watch, even if it will be gruesome and distressing.
aspTrader @ 132
I’ll bet you just ripped through all those “connect the dots” books as a kid. Nice post.
Fiyero @ 129
It all seems to be coming together. Let’s hope that we learn all about this nexus.
Fiyero @ 129
You should email this to Josh Marshall and his team, or post it over at TPM.
cbl @ 131
Not until now. Thanks for the link (and I love his/her handle!) Looks like others are way ahead of me, and that’s just fine. ;)
Yesterday afternoon I both sent an e-mail and called Sen Cornyn (I’m in San Antonio). I was reasonably polite but asked that he support putting Rove and Miers under oath in open hearings. I pointed out that I felt that he had been complicit in the lack of oversight in the past few congresses, that he’s up for re-election in less than two years and he was not doing the job for which he had been elected. I also called Rep. Lamar Smith’s office with the same message.
I then called the offices of Sens Kennedy, Durbin, Sessions, and Schumer making the same request as a former constitutient. Basically, I still have friends and acquaintances in all those states and pointed it out to them. Of course, Sessions is the only Republic who might not understand the request :})
NH
New Hamsher
Bending Reality Like a Pretzel
cbl @ 131
cbl, I saw her name on the CC line of several of the emails. Not fisher, just Alice — I had to google her to get the last name.
Speaking of MZM… This isn’t exactly following mega-money, but it does allow a visit to an old “friend.” Don’t forget Brent Wilkes (MZM) gave Katherine Harris an illegal campaign contribution of $32K.
I still think we haven’t heard the real story behind Katie and FLA 2000, and remember that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Heh. When’s that book coming out?
has this already been posted today ?
more e mails emerging
via Think Progress
More e mails emerge from 18 day gap
Salt Lake City Tribune has more
Nola Sue – and don’t forget Virgil Goode !
The president serves at the DISPLEASURE of this consitutent.
Gonzales is going to become George W. Bush’s telltale heart. Beating away under the floorboards.
-GSD
Fiyero @ 126
I’ve done some work on them in the past. And yes–there’s clearly a connection, though MZM probably isn’t the contractor who gamed the aluminum tubes–or at least not directly (the contractor in question has a longer name). But they were on teh Robb-Silberman committee, which helped wash over intell problems. So there is more than smoke there.
emptywheel @
51
When my sister went through the chemo, she’d had a party where all her friends gave her scarves and such in preparation for the outcome. Unfortunately, I’m one of those ‘natural’ chrome domes. Maybe I should give my handlebar mustache?
Isn’t it about time for that DDT DeLay drank on the House floor to kick in?
cbl–
(Sure to be EPUd, b/c I always am.) How could I forget Goode-rhymes-with-food? Seeing as he took off after my neighboring Rep Ellison? He definitely deserves any fallout from this mess.
See, part of the reason I like Katie so much is that her wingnut-successor is *my* new rep, Hot Michele Bachmann. ;-)
hamsherdam
new thread
dakine01 @ 144
LOL. My brother, the only one of three of us NEVER to lose his hair to cancer treatment, once got very drunk and raised thousands of dollars for the American Cancer Society for shaving his hair.
ptrig @ 20
at 18:07 cdt this is the transcript:
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Unfortunately for her, it could be a bit of cosmic payback. When I was a GI in Hawaii, she came to visit and her first words were, “Gee, I knew you’d have a good tan. I didn’t know you were going bald.” My response was “Thanks. I love you too!” I was 28 at the time.
I just wish I could have done more for her than give my love and moral support when she was going through the chemo but we were on opposite sides of the country.
Jane Hamsher >
This goes to the very heart of ReThuglican behavior going back to the Nixon years. It is about the use of the “black budgets” & other “off the books” financial methods to skirt oversight & responsibility.
Always remember what Deep Throat said – “…follow the money…”
The trail is there & just needs to be followed no matter where it leads.
“Politics is just high school with guns and more money” – Frank Zappa
And lets not forget about USA Debra Yang who was investigating Jerry Lewis up until Nov 10. when she abruptly resigned and took a $1.5M signing bonus to go work at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Gibson Dunn is the firm represnting Jerry Lewis.
Jane,
Howie Klein.
Perris @ 94:
Your are absolutely correct. This is where the buck has to stop, and it’s a historical moment for Pelosi. I was really pissed when she “took impeachment off the table” back in May, 2006, (IIRC). She should have said something like “If any allegations of potential misconduct come before the Congress, we will pursue the facts wherever they lead, in accord with the fundamental principle of our Constitution and legal system that people are innocent until proven guilty. However if those facts do suggest probable guilt, we will pursue the matter in full accord with our legal and Constitutional responsibilities.”
Everythingseemssoneat @
124
Harharhar.
Go, Jane! Work this vein. It’s supergene enriched ore — 99 percent pure. The Abramoff stuff is the motherlode.
Slothrop @ 109
Sampson just provided the Senate Committee the money question: ‘What exactly was her problem?’ This will unlock the can of worms. At this point he’s got nothing to lose by spilling the beans, and a lot to lose if he doesn’t and is later charged with perjury.
Oh frabjous day!
Eureka Springs, AR @
62
Yes! Please! Please! Please!
This is a matter that will help drown all these ’snakes and rodents’ if it ever comes out! Mixing my metaphors, there are an awful lot of big neocon fish that want to make sure it never comes to light.
Tom @ 15
old gold @
78
Gosh Darn Skippy, yo!
Bush should fight this to the death, and lose!