(Photo via L-ines.)
Buried at the end of David Johnston's piece for the NYTimes is this nugget:
In another development, a federal watchdog agency that investigates violations of employment laws has opened a preliminary inquiry into last year’s dismissal of David C. Iglesias, the former United States attorney in New Mexico, an agency spokesman said.
Mr. Iglesias has been interviewed by investigators from the Office of Special Counsel, an executive branch agency that investigates accusations of employment abuses under laws including those that protect the rights of military reservists like Mr. Iglesias, who is a Navy lawyer.
Loren Smith, a spokesman for the agency, said Mr. Iglesias had filed a complaint.
Under the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act, employees may not be demoted or dismissed because of absences for military service. Some Justice Department officials said Mr. Iglesias was removed in part because he had been absent and had left an assistant in charge.
If the office determined that Mr. Iglesias had a valid claim, it could seek remedies like back pay or reinstatement in administrative proceedings. Mr. Iglesias has said he does not want to return to office. The office does not have authority to conduct criminal investigations.
Mr. Iglesias said that he was gone from his office 36 to 45 days a year for required military service and that he had notified the Justice Department each time he left for duty.
Apparently, for the Bush Administration, the laws need not apply. Unfortunately for the would-be boy king, karma doesn't care about his pet unilateral executive theory — and neither should anyone else who respects the rule of law. Will the Bush Administration get its comeuppance based on their trumped up, faux public rationale — paraded all over New Mexico by willing, deep-pocket stooges doing Rove's dirty smear work? Now that would be worth a parade.
And I do not not want to hear a word — not one word — about how the Bush Administration supports the troops. Iglesias was serving his nation, in uniform, and the Bush Administration tried to use that service as a public swipe against him. That is beyond shameful. This sort of disrespect and disregard for the truth — even with regard to service to one's nation in uniform — might explain the recent spate of underwhelming welcomes that President Bush has been getting at military bases.
Karma — just doesn't play around, does she?
UPDATE: AP and the NYTimes just picked up the Minnesota USAtty resignation story.
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Christy!!!
Bears repeating from below:
File this under one more suspicious politically motivated prosecution by a US Attorney who KEPT his job here in Wisconsin:
wsj link
[Link corrected by moderator]
The 7th Cir CtAppeals yesterday ruled from the bench that there was no evidence to convict and ordered the immediate release from federal prison of a staffer for Dem Gov Doyle who was convicted of fraud for allegedly steering a travel agency contract to a big Doyle campaign donor. There was not a shred of evidence that she knew of the campaign donation or that she was directed to do so. This prosecution was heavily used by Doyle’s Republican opponent in last year’s election.
The Bushies are losing the troops. I think that the 12,000 National Gaurd troops about to mobilized for Iraq are really looking forward to travel to the Middle East.
noblejoanie at 2 — Yep, hit that in my first piece of the day. Lots going on with the USAtty mess today.
Oh goody. I thought this Friday might be boring. So, if this goes somewhere, I wonder what other kinds of documentation might come to light.
LS at 5 — You have to wonder about the political idiocy behind firing a USAttorney whose meritorious action in defending military personnel against bogus charges wound up being the inspiration for “A Few Good Men,” don’t you? The Tom Cruise character was modeled after Iglesias. Tin ear does not begin to describe the level of hubris involved with these people.
Sorry I missed your eloquent coverage earlier, Christy!
This is huge, the kind of evidence we all suspected governed which US Atty got fired and which ones played along.
Oh! I see the Roots Project thermometer just went up! Cool and Hot!
The Mini Monarch and his Devious Bastard Vice Pres. have both been getting the cold shoulder lately, throw in the farewell given to KKKarl the other night and you begin to see a pattern.
Forget impeachment – put abdication on the table, maybe that’ll work ;}
noblejoanie at 7 — Absolutely, and I keep waiting to find out where the next one…and the next one…and so on will be. You just know there is more, it is a matter of where and when we’ll find out about them.
Should Mr. Iglesias prevail in his complaint, could the courts order those who dismissed him to serve in Iraq as military lawyers?
I’m all for punishments that fit the crime.
Somewhere, on a recent comment thread (maybe at TPM?) an attorney related the following story about a deposition in a employment discrimination lawsuit. At some point, the question was asked of the employer: “Isn’t it true that you fired Ms Jones because she is black?” To which the employer answered, “no, I didn’t, I fired her because she was old.”
Which is exactly what the hacks in the DOJ have done. They don’t even know about (or care to know) the laws which they are bound to uphold and enforce.
Good for Iglesias. I doubt that I would agree with him on many matters, but I have grown to like him as an upstanding human being.
There must be a huge chart at DoJ up on a wall just to help them to keep track of who is investigating them for what. What committees want what documents and who needs to be where to testify and about what.
Hoo boy!! The gloves are coming off. Makes me want to cancel my WSJ subscription when I read stuff like this.
http://opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110009908
And at last, have they no shame?
Don’t hold your breath, Redd. Office of Special Counsel is run by ueber-hack Scott J. Bloch.
If it is a military issue, can’t the Commander in thief face courts martial if he ordered the firing based on this?
me at 16 — I never hold my breath with these folks — but I do like to make certain that their malignant hackery gets some sunshine.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 11
Rarely will it be so clear as this one, I suspect. When was the last time you heard of an appellate court ruling at the close of oral arguments to acquit and to release a prisoner? That’s the judicial equivalent of a scream! If the US Atty presented no evidence at the end of the trial, there was no evidence going in to support the prosecution.
I think this aspect of the Iglesias case will play very well against Gonzo & W when it gets more press. Just too many American families who have probably experienced the same fir it not to become another major stink.
In covering this, another site characterized it as something like: even their scandals have scandals.
You guys can be smug about this but karma would be Bush being impeached for being the most corrupt criminal politician since William S. Tweed. From where I’m sitting, him, Cheney, and Rove are laughing all the way to the bank.
Iglesias will win this one and collect lost wages/damages. We will pay. Gonzales and the rest of the pirate crew won’t. Is this a great country or what?
We know the preznint supports the troops. He tells us every time he gets in front of a microphone. What he doesn’t tell us is that he ONLY supports the troops when he’s in front of a microphone. As soon as he walks away from the mic, “poof” the support is gone!
There must me some kind of special troop supporty magic-y substance in microphones. I volunteer to go to Radio Shack and buy a portable microphone that he can wear in his pocket 24/7 if it means he will support the troops all day-every day.
Bring them home to their families now; safe and alive. Provide the same level of medical/mental health care as he would provide for a big money donor. They’ve given something infinitely more valuable than a political donation.
LS @ 10
I believe when Nixon did it, it was called resignation. That would do, but W is no Richard Nixon, so I doubt it will happen.
John W at 21 — Yes, clearly for me it was all about the smug. (/snark)
John W.
Things aren’t exactly ducky for this crowd.
They are under extreme pressure and the growing contempt for most of them by the American people knows no bounds.
If the US military has begun to give Chimpy the cold shoulder, things are tough all over.
-GSD
eCAHNomics @ 24
But, but, but – W doesn’t know that word.
It is tragic, but good for the progressive movement, that there is no room in the Republican party for people like Mr. Iglesias.
John W @ 21
They were about 6 mos ago. Now they are just trying to remain employed for the next 2 years. They don’t have any time to dream up and launch new schemes–as there are only so many hours in a day to try to cover up your tracks from the last ones.
And I think they also made the fatal mistake of thinking that the new Dem Congress would be all Iraq, all the time, and not bother to look into more ’subtle’ abuses of power, like those we have seen at the GSA. Fatal error on their parts.
me @ 16
I know such a tiny amount about the legal system, but don’t you think the intense white hot spotlight on this will force them to begrudgingly comply?
Zee at 30 — That’s only if we can keep an intense white hot spolight going on this. Which is why I spent my whole morning this morning digging through the Friday news dump for all the nuggets they were trying to bury in the Good Friday Spring Break bonanza travel day.
Unilateral Executive…
Unitary Executive…
Sanitary Executive.
“Iglesias was serving his nation, in uniform, and the Bush Administration tried to use that service as a public swipe against him. That is beyond shameful.”
Classic Rove hit-job. Attack your opponent’s strength.
I’m amazed that Rove has been able to get away with this shit for so long. He figures no one will pick up on the hypocrisy of it-Rove’s protector ran away from his own military service to snort coke, drink incessantly, and ultimately pretend to go to college.
Maybe it’s time to break out those military records from Alabama again.
Is this a win win situation for Iglesias?
I think so.
If they try to fight his claim they have to come up with a plausible reason. One we already know they don’t have.
This should dovetail nicely into Mr. Waxmans hearings.
The DoJ excuse just mirrors our dear leader in his approach to military service in the Texas Air National Guard. Show up when you want & don’t worry about ramifications. This DoJ possibly thinks reserve duty time is optional.
Talked to the father of an ex-student at an opera rehearsal break last night. His son is at Bagram, on fourth deployment!
Goddammit – I hate these wars!!!
Apropos of the underwhelming receptions for Bush at military bases . . . my comment at Froomkin yesterday:
Bush, speaking to troops at Fort Irwin in California on Wednesday:
As is frequently the case, it is not clear what Bush is saying — or trying to say. But it’s significant and more than a little cause for concern if he sees his job as “securing this country” if the country he is referring to is the United States.
Securing the country implies internal operations (most often of a military nature; always of a coercive nature) to impose order.
I only hope Bush mispoke, and meant “make this country secure.” But I fear he said it exactly as he perceives it.
She does wear a scarf and visits Syria though.
where is that tipping point?
Christy Hardin Smith @ 18
It does help to hold your nose, however, because it seems that all too often, there’s something rotten and festering about that malignant hackery.
oregondave @ 37
As is frequently the case, it is not clear what Bush is saying — or trying to say. But it’s significant and more than a little cause for concern if he sees his job as “securing this country” if the country he is referring to is the United States.
Securing the country implies internal operations (most often of a military nature; always of a coercive nature) to impose order.
I only hope Bush mispoke, and meant “make this country secure.” But I fear he said it exactly as he perceives it.
I think it’s deliberate, or at best a Freudianism. There is no doubt that is his goal, as written. Good catch.
CHS – Thank God you did…and that you continue to.
AP and the NYTimes just picked up the Minnesota USAtty resignation story.
katherine graham cracker @ 39
You have to rely on your inner ear to determine this. I feel a little tilting to the left going on and a small sensation of acceleration.
We saw this one coming. Sampson’s testimony on his “not a file, per se” tripped all of the red flags on federal employment regulations, laws, etc.. You can’t fire a mayo man at a Subway shop without a file (per se).
But here’s what I’m beginning to wonder: what is the REAL story here? This is getting too big, and it’s being defended too greatly by Bush & Co.
Is it simply Gonzales gone wild, having been given free reign to cover his sins & save his arsh? Is it the WH fighting every battle as if it’s their last? Is it the proverbial “third rate burglary”?
Just seems like it’s growing out of proportion.
Human rights blah blah on C-SPAN.
noblejoanie @
2
There seems to be a problem with the link above. Mod can fix it or folks can use this one:
Good link
[Modnote: we replaced the bad link with your good one, thanks]
Gunga Djinn @ 45
The story is turning the whole DOJ over to act as a R political machine. And look how far they got before anyone noticed!
Noron is on MSNBC interviewing Col. Jack Jacobs who (surprise,surprise) is most disappointed in the British soldiers for their behavior in the hostage situation. Never mind they returned home in one piece and avoided a major military confrontation.
Now would be a good time for some insurrection in the ranks. If even 50 of those 12,000 guard troops refused to go, that would focus the MSM’s attention. If 500 did, the occupation would swiftly end (hint, hint, troops).
The big push for the nuclear option for the judical appointment is getting a whole lot clearer for me now.
I thought it was just about power and the right wing “family values” crap, now that I see how it ties into the Rovian plan for the DOJ to be a hostile force against Democrats.
Veritas78 at 50 — Perhaps it’s just me, but that is not the place of soliders to do so, and they would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the UCMJ if they did. Better is for those of us who do have the authority to put pressure on our political leadership to stand up and be counted — for their sakes. This is a political problem — and it is up to the citzens of this nation to demand it be resolved.
Speaking of semi-holiday Fridays, do you suppose that DOJ would release more docs tonight? Haven’t seen any speculation on this, so I’m just wondering. I suspect unrealeased docs are too incendiary & will be withheld til the final final.
Veritas at (#50):
better you didn’t go there.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 52
Yeah, pretty meaningless sacrifice for grunts to make. Even when generals speak out, it comes & goes in a news cycle. Bless the ones who do it, but easy to understand why no one does.
The NYT story pussyfoots:
“Democrats and Republicans alike have called on Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign for the botched way the firings were handled and described to Congress”.
That’s why Democrats are calling on him to resign, huh?
NYT on April 3rd had an interview with Philip G. Zimbardo, the social psychologist who ran the famous Stanford Prison Experiment, which found that extreme sociopathic behavior incubates behind anonymity (such as Rove’s fingerprints on all sorts of dirty tricks and skullduggery) and impunity.
Or the bowels of the Office of the POTUS . . .
Christy Hardin Smith @ 43
And of course the WAPO is still flogging Nancy and her many scarves with a front page picture.
Blergh.
Millineryman at 51 The big push for the nuclear option for the judical appointment is getting a whole lot clearer for me now.
And the strangled cries of the federal judiciary in Bush’s first term. We heard whispers in the newspapers that many judges were hinting something very wrong was happening, but they are forbidden to speak openly and we didn’t get the clues.
I think this was all out yesterday….. somewhere else. Iglesias is joining Cheney: he is shooting ducks in a barrel. Wonderful.
Gunga Djinn
It is an enormous reaction, isn’t it! A common suggestion is that GWB is not a sane man as well as having the mental age of ??6, ??10. Thus just his being thwarted might be enough for the over-reaction. The difficulty is that despite what shrinks say, nutjobs are never predictable, so imputing logic gets one nowhere.
Sttp @ 49….. Fascinating! The good colonel was there, obviously. He is, no doubt, one of those who thinks guys in rubber boats under the guns of patrol boats should open fire, have their boats sunk and swim the ?? miles ashore in the dark. Despite the cry of being in Iraqi (never formally agreed) waters it is v likely the rubber boat guys were collecting intelligence this night too!
Last —- Brendan, from the other thread….
You told us yesterday that N Pelosi was booed at the A*PAC Conf, yet she had done their bidding by lifting the “Thou Shalt Not Attack Iran” clause. She has had a lot of their pieces of silver…..
So perhaps the cracks we wished-for — (”devoutly-hoped”, it IS Holy/Maundy Thursday!), are appearing. I was intrigued to see Ms Pelosi cross herself outside the Ommayed Mosque in Damas. Outside the door are the tombs of Salah ed Din, the first man of chivalry, and John the Baptist.
We were EPUd yesterday — did you ever post an answer to the question as whether you did actually lunch with the Unfragrant?
eCAHNomics at 55 – There is a very good reason that chain of command needs to be followed in a military context, and not just for safety reasons. The last thing we would ever want to become is one of thosenations where military coup after military coup decides leadership. No thanks.
But it has been the laziness of the American electorate and our failure to require that elected representatives do their jobs that has allowed this Administration way too much latitude the last few years. I can feel things swinging back in a corrective action — on so many different areas it almost makes your head spin — but I keep wondering if this is in time? And how long it will take?
eCAHNomics @ 55
and the thing is, they’re under far too much pressure as it is. if one of us want to do civil disobedience, fine, but to encourage somebody else who is under military law to do so is not right. in my opinion.
umm – about that AP story in the times..
talk about burying the lede – the issue of bad management does not ever surface until the very last few paragraphs. the impression the article gives is one that the downplays the significance of this action greatly.
From the Annals of Winning Hearts and Minds:
Re: UPDATE: AP and the NYTimes just picked up the Minnesota USAtty resignation story.
Money quote…
‘We wonder in how many other offices the same lack of confidence is taking its toll,” Schumer said.
I imagine we’ll see a lot more of this
sedrunsic at 62 — Pretty much. But I thought the crux of the problem deserved to hit the highlight reel. *g*
Bingo!
The pieces of the puzzle just keep on a coming.
Just think, all they needed was one more Supreme Court Justice to make everything happen for KKKarl’s plan.
That, and a lot of submissive U.S. Attorneys.
Good catch.
I hear what you’re saying, but it’s in their self-interest. How many of those under-trained, ill-equipped guards will come home dead? I’ll bet that 100 do. Dead or 10 years in the brig? Hmm…
Okay, I’ll stop.
Apple Canyon 2 @ 66
Bingo? I thought they were playing Battleship!
Veritas78 @ 67
Probably of dying or being maimed less than 1.0. Probabilty of being imprisoned=1.0.
In the articles about the MN attorneys giving up their admin jobs to go back to prosecuting, it says someone from the DoJ in DC went to MN to apparently try to talk them out of it. As I recall from some of the congressional testimony, the reason given for getting rid of one of the fired US Attorneys was something to the effect that they were not a good manager and people in their office complained. The person (Sampson, I think) was asked if anyone from DoJ had talked to the U S Atty about the problem, and I think the answer was no.
Interesting how they sent someone to MN to talk to the unhappy employees in the MN office when they realized this shit was going to hit the public fan.
Veritas — It is awfully easy to be glib about someone else’s jail sentence. Having spent a lot of my professional career in and around such facilities — either defending clients or putting people into them as a prosecutor, it is nothing to be the least bit glib about. Trust me on that one. And for a military person to be found guilty under the UCMJ for insubordination means a dishonorable discharge and time in the brig, and a very black mark with most employers for the rest of that soldier’s life, and that is just for starters.
Here’s Laura Bush wearing a headscarf. They’ve been posting Pelosi all over the place with a headscarf. I’m looking for one with Condi, who apparently did it too.
http://focusonjerusalem.com/052305.jpg
Queue the might wurlitzer cranking up to blame the congressional investigation for demoralizing DOJ and driving them stepping down.
noblejoanie @ 2
I agree this is an important story and should go national. However I must correct one statement. Georgia Thompson was not a staffer for Governor Doyle, she didn’t even know him. In fact she was a career civil servant who was hired during the term of the previous Republican Governor Scott McCallum. There was never any connection between her and Doyle shown during the trial. She was just the patsy for the Republican smear machine.
Goergesimian — Barbara at Mahablog had several great Bush Administration photos, including one of Condi and one of Laura. You might try there…she also had a fantastic compilation on the story.
Georgesimian @ 72
One of the minor fun things I did day before yesterday was post that photo in the comments section of a wingnut blog that was bloviating about P’s scarves, with a note that I thought P’s scarf was more fashionable. BTW, P wore it around her neck during the rest of the day. Very smart to anticipate the need and include it inwardrobe planning, but we’d expect no less from Nancy.
Did I understand that correctly that this man was dismissed because he was serving in the military ???? Did they not know he was in the reserves when they hired him? This excuse far is worse to me than just firing someone for no reason at all.
Veritas78 @ 67
In these United States the military follows civilian leadership. I agree that the NG refusing to go would get attention, but it is not fair to ask them to mutiny and take the consequences for that when it is *our* job to see that they are employed, trained and lead properly. We should not be asking them to do *our* job. Support the troops, impeach the Chimp-in-chief.
Ahem, to the Mods – as opposed to Rockers — if one “is being moderated” and one’s post is therefore held up for a time, could it not appear at the end, when it is cleared, after all the other fevered posters, rather than way back, at the point when it went into moderation?
maunga @ 79
Point of information: Could some one explain how mod works, or where I can read about how it works?
brendan @
56
Among other reasons!
TexasBetsy
I don’t think that’s why he was fired, but when this became public, it’s likely someone started combing their files for anything that might be construed as a reason. I’m guessing someone saw he had been absent 30-45 days a year and latched onto that without looking at the reason.
TexasBetsy @ 77
Of course they knew. I have read his resume, it was in the DOJ document dump, and his NCI work and reserve status figure prominently. It wasn’t a *reason*, his being absent was an *excuse* for firing him.
eCAHNomics @ 80
A mod is a person and not an IT. A moderator.
maunga at 79 — The mods get to posts as quickly as they possibly can and cannot move them around because that isn’t the way Wordpress works. Sorry. If you have something that has gotten stuck, and it gets posted, feel free t do a “I had a post stuck, and it has been freed at #_____ in case anyone wants to take a peek” if you think it’s something folks will want to discuss. Since it generally takes only a minute or two for comments to get freed, and people aren’t generally refreshing every coupla of seconds, most of the time the only person who notices that a comment is stuck is the person who was trying to make the comment — everyone else just sees it when they refresh.
eCAHNomics @ 63
Why on earth would anyone allow this jackass to speak for us anymore? Talk about being out of bounds. Didn’t we get rid of him??? Put a sock in it, AEI Bolton.
fwiw– some translations say that the King said “illegal” others say “illegitimate”. *sigh*
Emma @ 82
Right, the incompetency of these people continues to astound. I am already used to the evil.
eCHAN — there is no explanation on how moderation works because, in doing so, it would enable spammers, scroll trolls, and others who try to disrupt threads to work around it. But we have several wonderful volunteers who work to keep things humming along and as spam and nasty free as possible for everyone’s reading pleasure. Thank you very much, lovely mod volunteers!
Emma @ 82
IIRC this was already in his file at an early date. Somehow want to say it predates firing scandal, but am not sure. Whichever, it certainly does underscore just how dense they are.
I was talking about the moderation process, not the moderator person.
CHS thank you —- that makes a lot of sense.
The only bit that isn’t usual blether back at #60 is my plaintive repeated RFI of Brendan as to whether he asked the Unfragrant out to lunch out of earshot of the wee lad, and if so, please tell all!
eCAHNomics @ 90
my apologies
eCAHN
You’re right of course….I just think they were skimming for info and didn’t bother to look at anything else when they saw the absences. I think he had been commended for his service, in fact.
HotFlash @ 83
see my 33
Emma at 93 — I believe that is correct — and that he received some sort of DoJ commendation for his service a few years ago.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 88
Thanks. Good enough.
Georgesimian @ 72
I honestly don’t see the point they’re trying to make. OF COURSE they’re going to wear a scarf! Its an issue of cultural sensitivity. It should be newsworthy if any American woman there didn’t wear a scarf. Am I missing something here?
mc @
33
ah yes! excellent idea!
eCAHNomics @ 90
Certain words trigger it, esp trade names of drugs or games of ch*ance, also long posts or post with only or too many links. Stuff that would look like spam to a machine, which is what traps ‘em, and then the mods give it the old human eyeball to see if it’s good or not. Our beloved mods are what keep The Lake clean and safe for swimming. All praise to the Ladies of the Lake for this very friendly but labor-intensive method. All honor and glory to our devoted mods!
[Modnote: we live to serve.]
eCAHNomics @ 48
don’t get me wrong, I realize it’s a big deal. It can fairly be seen as an undermining of the entire damn system, the nation’s foundation. But there’s something that doesn’t jibe here. The Bush & Co. M.O. is to ignore the flack and move on to the next crime. But in this case, they’ve decided to stand & fight. Maybe it’s just a gut feeling, but something seems different this time.
p.s. Iglesias employment rights issue also seems like small potatoes, compared to Lam/Cunningingham/etc. scandal and any potential GOP/Judiciary co-opting of the vote. Is someone tossing out a red herring here?
Zee @ 68,
Bingo, puzzles, battleship.
Karl was just gaming the system and got caught before he could finish the plan. *g*
TexasBetsy @ 77
They knew, they glossed over that in their “searching for a reason for having fired him” hoping no one would notice. People make mistakes under pressure. Now David’s gone and made sure everyone’s going to know about it. Nice move on his part.
OT – Does this mean Rove expects plenty of vote fraud legal decision making to need to be made and is planning ahead in those voting areas?
I think Iglesias is forcing their hand…putting them in a Catch 22 position. Either they admit to firing him for serving in the military (in violation of law) or they have to admit that it really wasn’t the reason they fired him. Seems like a brilliant strategy to me, and one that helps unravel the much larger scandal.
Hotflash@99
Thanks to you too. I had a general knowledge of what probably occurred & why, but as we all know, more specific knowledge is always better. I am not a computer savant, so gives me some details into another world also. I’ve not experienced any delay in my comments getting posted, but didn’t want to inadvertantly fall into computer limbo if I could help it.
Gunga Djinn @ 101
I got moderated and delayed but was responding @ 60 to your interest in the massive over-reaction….. but as far as Iglesias is concerned it seems he has them cold: they have stated as a reason on the record that he was absent, and so far the only ‘absences’ we know about are his naval service: Boom! Boom!
Gunga Djinn@100
What’s different is that Congress is standing up to the bullies for the first time, n’est pas? Meaning too that the Admin has no practice on how to respond. So first try includes every trick they can think of: stonewalling, obfuscating, multiple story lines, etc. Running all up the flag pole to see if anyone salutes. But their flag now seems to be the skull & bones.
Zee @ 97
They’re trying to paint her as one of the terrorists so a picture like that is gold to them. Why else put in the editorial of the WSJ when they never put pics in it. They are racist and disgusting but that’s who they are. In their minds, anyone with a headscarf is a terrorist and Kerry looks French because they think that a racist campaign policy is a good thing.
Redd, Andrew Cohen (WaPo.com edition) has some words about AG practicing his testimony.
Here’s a nugget. But he’s quite livid throughout.
(laws need not apply) lnna mmm… thats like the 19th century newspaper job classifieds inna (Irish need not apply)… bet they wish that were true when they hired Fitz.
Zee @ 97
They’re not trying to make a point, they’re trying to create an impression. (Once again, let me urge everyone to read Harry Frankfurt’s “On Bullshit” if you haven’t, it really helps in understanding these tactics.) In this case, the ringleaders probably know what they’re saying isn’t true, but in most cases, they don’t care whether it’s true, because they’re not trying to prove a truth, they’re trying to create or reinforce an impression.
In this case, that impression is the wingnut talking point “the Democrats are in league with the Islamofascists!” The tactic is “Pelosi is wearing a head scarf, and only jihadi women wear head scarfs, therefore she’s one of them!“
Yes, it’s insane, and will only resonate with people who believe the insane talking point in the first place. Pointing to pictures of Laura, Condi, etc., is worthwhile because it may help prevent people on the edge (if they exist any more) from falling into the insanity, but it’s not going to win the argument, because there isn’t one.
A mod is a person and not an IT.
A mod’s Vespa is an IT!
[oh, lighten up…it’s a JOKE!]
:P
Libraries & National security letters on C-SPAN.
This is the fahrender @ 61
We need to stop being so deferential to the militarists that promote thier wars and perpetuate this culture of violence.
Why can’t a large group of soldiers refuse to participate? Why should they obey ilegal orders?
And as to the “black mark” of a dishonorable discharge, There will come a time that standing up for what is right will be seen as quite honorable under the circumstances. Yes, there will be businesses that will always defer to the militarists, but there will be an increasing number that will not buy into the jingoistic nationalism that fuels the “be all you can be” militarist culture.
Screw ‘em! Just say no to war!
It’s the right thing to do.
Re the earlier discussion of the case of the Wisconsin state employee prosecuted and imprisoned by the federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Wisconsin for — I don’t know – maybe associating with Democrats?? As noted the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral argument yesterday and immediately reversed and ordered her out of jail by close of business – HIGHLY UNUSUAL. The oral argument is entertaining and fascinating, but I had trouble with the link in the earlier thread. Here is one from the Court itself. If you do not have time for the whole thing, go to Chief Judge Easterbrook’s questioning of the Assistant U.S. Attorney towards the end.
http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/tmp/210PDUEC.mp3
Mod. can you fix the link? I promise to learn how to do this soon. Thanks.
[Modnote: your link is fine, just the way you did it.]
Libraries & National Security letters on C-SPAN just showed the only one that has ever been shown publicly.
Lots of speculation going on about why in the hell the administration is going out of their way to be right wing assholes right now..
Simple- ANYTHING’S better for them than a focus on Iraq just now. They don’t mind ANY other fucked up discussion- even about the Attorney General bein a crook- even about the Attorney General gettin sacked- even about Cheney threatenin to run for president- (har har) or him sayin that Saddam was hooked up with Al Queda…ANYTHING’S better than a sober analysis of Clusterfuck’s war.
Miss P. @ 103
Yes to the second, no to the first. Rove probably knows the vote fraud accusations are, well, fraudulent, and isn’t counting on them actually going to trial. He’s just counting on them to keep the “voter fraud” talking point alive so there will be pressure/excuses for legislatures to enact restrictions making it more difficult for minorities and immigrants to vote, and interfering with voter-registration drives.
Pat_AlexVA @ 109
Well, with all that reviewin’ and practicin’, I expect he’ll be able to recall absolutely everything! I am so looking forward to his testimony.
Laura Bush amidst protesters and massive security after leaving Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem — wearing a scarf!
http://images.google.com/imgre…..n&sa=G
Best comment ever on the Bush administration- (and sadly, I can’t remember who said it) but at any rate it was:
“If yer gonna be the WAR president- you’d better win the WAR”
What’s eating Clusterfuck from the inside out is not that he lied- not that he screwed up the strategy and the tactics- and not even that as “Commander in Chief” he is has the competence of a stone–
No- what’s eating him up is that he’s FUCKIN LOSING!
Billybob@114
That time will never come. I lived through Vietnam & protests & all that. I assumed that had all been decided. U.S. lost war, protesters were working in best interests of country, etc. Now that Iraq comes up, I discover that there’s a whole alternate universe out there who believes the opposite (in the case of the war, they thought the U.S. coulda, shoulda won it). And many of them are powerful employers.
rwcole at 120 — You think the fact that he’s a loser is finally sinking in past the rose-colored glasses? Some days, I wonder, but the last coupla press conferences he has looked like someone took away his favorite bike.
57 @ 110
I am old enough that I remember reading classified newspaper ads Help Wanted in 4 sections, — white male, white female, colored male and colored female. I remember seeing advertised wages for men and women (men’s wages were higher, why do you ask?) Many of my Polish neighbours here in Toronto tell me that when the Communist regime fell a lot of the Communist laboor laws were repealed or ignored. One woman my age told me, yes, a lot of women her age were fired and replaced with young pretty ones. If everyone were good, just and competent maybe we wouldn’t need so many laws. But they aren’t, so we do. And a justice system which enforces them fairly.
Gunga Djinn @
113
I’m so old I remember that Clapton began as a Mod, for God’s sake! elle Pie island with squirrel tails on the aerials of the Lambrettas and Vespas.
eCAHNomics @ 91
I think you would like to know what many of us would like to know;
what are the triggers that cause a post to be put under moderation
damn it that’s EEL Pie island, of course.
1,478 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND..
Citizen Hardin Smith and the Firepup Patriots:
I live over here in the heartland a democracy and anus a progress in western Wisconsin, in the greater Twin Cities metro and am a native Minnesotan who grew up in an old left wing family of Democrats…I been a Minnesota chauvinist all my life and drove folks crazy when I was in the Army. I am here ta tell ya that folks in Minnesota won’t let this one go…even with the change in ownership of the Minneapolis Tribune Corp, this scandal will absolutely eviscerate the Republican Party in Minnesota and the sittin’ Governor is gunna feel like he’s a hundred years old before his term is done.
The overturning of the verdict in the Doyle administration trial in Wisconsin is gunna have legs that might take that Kotex machine Sensenbrenner down too. I think the elected leadership in the Democratic Party is playin’ all a this jest right…no impeachment, just keep the revelations percolating’ up at the state level so that investigations and charges can be brought throughout the country and the machine and the criminals will be completely purged over the course of the next several years…the machine that Rove built will self-emulate like a burnin’ dump.
KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITION…AND AIM CAREFULLY, THERE ARE GUNNA BE A LOTTA TARGETS RUNNIN’ THROUGH THE YARD ON THEIR WAY OUTTA TOWN!!!
Redd
I think he has ALWAYS known that he is a loser- he just figured that he could dance through eight years without having everyone ELSE catch on..
I think the cat’s out of the bag- and psychologically- that’s the most important issue for the next two years- is he going ta keep on fighting the obvious truth or just roll over and run out the clock? Seems that he can’t handle losing in public.
I’m so old, I remember when Mod was a lifestyle
Donita is in a new spin upstairs.
http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..r/#respond
OK, Billy Bob, you sign up and do your basic training with the NG and then bolt when your unit gets called up. or try to persuade your unit to do it with you. just don’t, from the sidelines, tell somebody else to do it.
dick cheney got his deferments ’cause he had “more important things to do” or some such bullshite. then he’s all hot and bothered to send somebody else’s kids to die or come home torn up and wondering what they can do with the rest of their lives.
it’s not exactly a parallel but there’s a bit of it there. i don’t know about you but i’ll carry my own water and i won’t try egging on some twenty year old kid into doing something he might regret later. it’s up to him or her to make that decision, or not.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 123
There is the nasty thought amidst the frantic little digs — like cheney for Preznint, Malveaux and so on…….
What if the bombs really are going in on Iran? The whisper from Russia was the 6th!!
Hiya Norske…I’m just a lowly transplant to WI and lived in Mpls for only a year, but mr. m. (the native in the family) agrees with you completely. It’s up to the grassroots folks in both states to keep the heat on and the microscopes at the ready…
HotFlash @
124
Really sad part of history and a hundred years hence this era to will be a sad part of history.
Clusterfuck always fancied himself to be a baseball pitcher- although apparently he never won a game…
Now he’s in the big leagues and he hasn’t put anyone out yet–Here comes another fat one!!!
I can’t tell you how very very glad I’ll be when this Bush administration is gone. It’s been soooo tiring.
Of course, that doesn’t mean we get a free ride from here to the next election. We’re gonna have to work like crazy to keep Dubya at bay, to beat them down AND to try and get the best Dem candidate elected in the primaries.
It ain’t easy and if it wasn’t for the excellent pay, vacation and health care….sigh..sorry, excuse moi.
At least there’s a nice lake to look at and a dog to pet by the fireplace.
Re my 135 — the ads were in Michigan, that would be the ’50’s
eCAHNomics @ 130
I’m glad to see the only valid def. is the top one! Me, I wuz a Rocker: Mayall and the Yardbirds for me, then.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 43
I swear the NYT is watching FDL.
HotFlash @ 119
He is practicing which parts he should forget.
PROFIT OVER SAFETY?
CNN using that graphic just now in interview of an FDA spokesman [Sandlin, Sundlin?]. He says one of the things being looked at was if melamine was deliberately added to wheat gluten to artificially prop up the protein level.
PROFIT OVER SAFETY?
Wowzah…we’re a two-dog household, and that sent the hackles up on our necks bigtime. But this is the meme for Iraq, too, just waiting to be driven home. If it takes danger to pets to get thru to the people, then so be it.
Is this the tipping point?
Showed the story about the dog food issue to my puppy- she says that she will NEVER vote republican!!
bush losing support of the troops is a good thing — defends us against any move towards martial law.
gonso has to stay, else it opens up too much of a vulnerability for the rest of the administration.
neutralization and prevent harm has to be the strategy for the next 18 mos… tempting to push for impeachment, punishment, etc., but the dems won’t support it ultimately — too much distraction from the 08 elex
eCAHNomics @ 122
The “powerful employers” that profit from war will decline as the alternative ie environmental etc. businesses increase. I know it’s difficult to avoud doing business with the conglomerates.
It is a different time now. The Repigs are being exposed as the frauds that they are to an ever increasing segment of the populace.They will be out of power for 50 years after the depths of thier crimes are revealed. Yes they control the media and will always maintain that 30% who live in fear. But the rest of the country sees them for what they are: anti middle class, pro-corporation, anti science,…I won’t go on, we all know what thier agenda is.
My point is that there will be plenty of employment opportunities for the dishonorably discharged. Why would you want to work for anyone that looks down on you for doing what is right anyway? Fuck ‘em!
I support any soldiers that walk away from the military. We all should.
Prairie Sunshine @
143
That story has been developing for a day or 2 — too slowly IMO. None of my cat’s food was on the list but yesterday i tossed everything that had wheat gluten in it. Better safe than sorry.
Come on upstairs, we’ve got a fresh baked thread for everyone.
HotFlash @ 139
Even into the late 60s (and the 70s, too, IIRC) there were newspapers that separated them into ‘male’ and ‘female’ categories. Funny thing, all the good jobs were ‘male’; ‘female’ was nurses, secretaries, file clerks, and some assembly-line stuff.
maunga @ 107 Got it!
eCAHNomics @ 108
yeah, maybe. unloading chaff in a last ditch effort, no rhyme or reason. Guess we have to just wait & see.
rwcole @ 144
My cats have been life-long Democats
maunga @
134
i know me some rooskies and they lurv a good rumor. and they are right, now and then. this time, maybe not. maybe later…?
Redshift @ 119
I meant REAL vote fraud ala Florida 2000 et. al.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 6
(skipping comments – forgive me if I’m repeating – had to go do some chores! and leave the computer.lol)
Do you think anyone involved in the decision-making knew that? If Kyle Sampson is even 1/4 as ignorant and cluelass as he demonstrated in the hearing (of course most of his denials were fake, but it rang true that he didn’t know about Iglesias actually teaching other usas about voter fraud cases) – I would bet that they had no clue.
I would bet they are such nerds they don’t even watch “popular” movies. I dunno if they are forbidden to Mormons like tea and cofee and cigarettes.
BillBob at #115:
It’s an unreasonable expectation to hope for resistance to militarism from within the military, no matter how many individuals desert (6000 cases, by last count) or otherwise dissent. Even the anarchic mutiny and mass fraggings of the latter stages of the Vietnam war merely hastened our transition from a conscript army to a purely mercenary one. It would be nice to believe that men of conscience in the military would be seen as heroes by their peers and posterity, but Kerry and the “Winter Soldiers” should have already disabused you of that notion.
It’s necessary to be optimistic and work towards an end to the Iraq war, but in my pessimistic moments I believe that we Americans won’t correct our country’s aggressive behavior from within any more than Germans or Russians did last century.
The IPCC report on effects of climate change has been finalized. Its findings have from reports been considerably diluted. The NYT has the draft. It should be interesting to compare it to the final product. The final version is not yet up at the IPCC site.
Per the NYT, Russia, China, and Saudi Arabia pushed for weakening conclusions. As major fossil fuel users or producers, this is hardly surprising. No report of where the US stood in all this. Europe wanted a call for reducing CO2 emissions.
In brief, I agree with the Times assessment that the report is important even if it doesn’t conform completely with the best science. That’s what happens in consensus reports. It’s what happened in the February IPCC report on human causation in global warming.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04…..ref=slogin
Prairie Sunshine @ 143
I stopped eating beef a few years ago because I expected a Bush FDA to cover up a mad cow epidemic, but I didn’t expect this one. It’s sensible to assume this is in the human food supply. There are a few diaries at kos to this effect.
recovering lurker @ 116
Sorry to belabor this, folks, but this case is the smoking gun. This prosecution was heavily relied on by the Republican candidate for governor.
(Thanks for clarifiying the defendant’s government position, Greg in Madison. It makes her prosecution that much more egregious.)
Pat_AlexVA @ 110
Thanks to the link to the Andrew Cohen piece. I wondered what had happened to him. I liked his work on the Moussaoui case. If he’s at the WaPo, that’s a plus for them.
plainjane @ 141
I pray that folks at the NYT should read here more often.
recovering lurker @ 116
Link didn’t work for me, dear mod.
[Modnote: link worked for a while, they might have taken it down from heavy traffic.]
Hugh @ 156
Here’s another story on the IPCC report:
Earth faces a grim future if global warming isn’t slowed, U.N. report says
By Alan Zarembo and Thomas H. Maugh II, Times Staff Writers
10:56 AM PDT, April 6, 2007
A new global warming report issued today by the United Nations paints a near-apocalyptic vision of the Earth’s future if temperatures continue to rise unabated: more than a billion people in desperate need of water, extreme food shortages in Africa and elsewhere, a blighted landscape ravaged by fires and floods, and millions of species sentenced to extinction.
The devastating effects will strike all regions of the world and all levels of society, but it will be those without the resources to adapt to the coming changes who will suffer the greatest impact, the report said.
(snipped; later paras are also good. What was pulled from the final report apparently was mostly the timetables. But the admin is still putting it down.)
maunga @ 140
Remember Twiggy?
http://membres.lycos.fr/patric…..twiggy.jpg
Firedoglake is the blog of record in the VALERIE PLAME case.
As we know, DICK CHENEY played a big role in it. All he didn’t want known about what was going on.
That’s why all of you really MUST read this:
http://waynemadsenreport.com/
Good grief….if even ANY of this is true….
The “mods” and “rockers” were terms applied to British youth in the late 50’s and early 60’s. The rockers affected a biker-gang style, wearing black leather jackets, etc. The mods drove motor-scooters and wore suits and more sophisticated clothes. Remember the great line in a “Hard Day’s Night” when Ringo Starr is asked whether he is a “mod” or a “rocker.” His response was that he was a “mocker.” Haven’t heard those terms in years.
to get to http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/tmp/210PDUEC.mp3 – the oral argument in the Wisconsin employee case, go to:
http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/
type in name Thompson, Georgia
click on case no. 06-36-76
click on “oral argument”
brendan @
157
There’s good reason to be concerned about “mad cow” in the US.
In the US, we feed herbivores to herbivores, by grinding up dead animals and cooking the remains into animal feed.
Some of the dead animals come from road kill, and “mad cow” is present in deer and elk in the US.
So, road kill – not tested for BSE – is fed to livestock, which in turn is fed to us.
A highly efficient system for “culturing” BSE infectious agent (prions) in our industrially raised livestock, and then distributing the agent to the largest possible number of diners.
So that’s the “exposure” end.
The other evidence that worries me about “mad cow” in the US came from post-mortems (autopsies) of patients thought to have died from Alzheimer’s.
IIRC, the autopsy series showed that some patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s were found at autopsy to have brain lesions consistent with BSE / CJD (both of which are characterized by vacuoles), rather than Alzheimer’s (characterized by neurofibrillary plaques and tangles).
The clinical implication is that patients actually afflicted with BSE / CJD are accidentally diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, effectively obscuring the possible spread of BSE / CJD in US patients.
If this administration were transported back to say the early 1800’s. The lot of them would have been tarred and feathered by the inhabitants of the day. After such hard fought freedoms, zero tolerance would be an understatement. I remember the days of Nixon. Their criminality, political dirty tricks, and RNC illegal money dealing were child’s play compared to this bunch.
Ding, ding, ding… Goodling goes bye bye…
Who can demand Bush’s resingnation for his dereliction of duty by being gone so much of the time from his office?
Does w notify anyone when he flies to Texas, or put someone else in charge of the office?
If w was shipping out to fulfill his military obligation, that would be one thing..
I came across this snippet somewhere that as USAs are Preidential appointments rather than employees, they do not have the protection of Federal employment laws. Is this true? If it is, the Office of Special Counsel investigation of employment abuses re Iglesias is meaningless. Or is it just another case of outright lying?