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Via Crooks and Liars, I hear that the the Senate Judiciary Committee has postponed the hearing with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales originally scheduled for tomorrow due to the tragic shootings at Virginia Tech. There are any number of law enforcement issue that may arise in the next few days, and I'm certain that Sen. Leahy had that in mind with this postponement. CNN is also reporting that the hearing has been postponed.
Continued thoughts and prayers to the folks who have family and friends at Virginia Tech. Guess we'll just have to wait to get answers from the Attorney General another day.
UPDATE: According to the Senate Judiciary Committee website, the hearing has been postponed until Thursday, April 19th at 9:30 am ET.
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The respectful thing to do on Leahy’s part.
All Love and Blessings to the families, friends and staff at VaTech.
It has been a damn long day with the shooting. I appreciate the folks on this site for the work they have done this day. Not easy on anyone.
The money quote via Think Progress:
surreal
Amazing! A politician who knows what is right and proper. Will wonders never cease…
RevDeb @ 3
I suspect boning up for the hearings will take a backseat for the moment.
Marcy has a new post up. Apparently Leahy is getting unhappy with the DOJ not turning over all the docs that have been requested.
From the Office of the Speaker:
It gives Gonzales another 48 hours to, in the words of an earlier scandal,” twist slowly in the wind.”
Boy, I do feel for the facility folks at VT who will be needing to clean and repair the facilities. That will be a horrible job.
There has to be a fear of copycat issues at this point, and any number of other law enforcement issues that need to be dealt with in this. They don’t need divided attention — Sen. Leahy was absolutely right to postpone. What a nightmare for the folks in Blacksburg. Just awful.
Interesting article on the inner workings of the GonzoJusticeDept:here, worth a minute or two to read.
Sort of says it all about the “Robertson 150″, doesn’t it?
It’s okay. Gonzo still won’t have his script memorized, beyond “I don’t recall…”
What a day. Gonna go hug the kids now.
Christy Hardin Smith @
10
I wait with bated breath for the first bitching about the postponement from BushCo.
P J Evans @ 7
In AGAG’s prepared testimony, if I recall correctly, he ends by talking about the mountain of requests that Congress has made for DOJ witnesses, papers, and replies in writing, especially when compared with earlier years. It was almost as if he were trying to blame Congress that he can’t run his department due to all these pesky requests.
BTW, I forgot the [snark] tag on my comment @ 5. But in line, I’m wondering if any of the Republics would have the decency to postpone a hearing of a dem on the hot seat after a tragedy like today. Just wondering is all.
Don’t know if this has been mentioned, but an MSNBC link to a story on Salon about all the president’s missing documents is blank. Curious.
It is with a deep sense of irony that I reflect that it takes a day like today to bring this country together in grief, and to come to the realization that with all our divisions and antagonisms, when something like this happens, we are together as one in feeling compassion for the families affected by this tragedy.
I myself have a college-age son, and I feel deep sympathy for the parents of the young men and women whose careers as scholars were rudely and permanently cut short today. Their pain must be beyond measuring.
It is right that the Senate set aside tomorrow as a day of grieving.
I agree, it’s the right thing for Leahy to do. We can hear from Gonzales another time. My thoughts and prayers go out to the poor people in Blacksburg.
hoo boy, I just posted this downstairs and didn’t realize how on topic it would be for the next post;
I had an epiphany and must share…I am positive I am right
man, I have abu torture down cold…remember when he testified “no American is under surveillance with this nsa program”?
I told everyone then that what he was saying was that there were other programs…he admitted it with that statement…I had an epiphany back then which turned out to be correct
I had another one right now
abu torture;
since according to this fascist the usa’s work “at the pleasure of the president” THERE IS NO IMPROPER REASON.
that’s right, according to their claims, all reasons are proper
there, done, that’s what he’s doing and that’s how he thinks he can claim he didn’t lie to congress
Christy Hardin Smith @ 10
Very well said, Christy.
I’m sure every university is going to be very jittery for the next few days. Certainly, there is no good reason to have any high-profile events in DC for a couple of days.
Well, there’s a big f’ing surprise!
Peterr @ 8
Guess you don’t think 48 hours more practice will make Gonzo sound more credible.
perris @ 19
Plus, he had his fingers crossed behind his back when he said it.
http://thenewshole.msnbc.msn.c…..52326.aspx
spurious – just a broken link. MSNBC didn’t enter the URL in the hyperlink. You can find the story on Salon here: http://www.salon.com/opinion/g…..index.html
spurious 16, The link worked for me.
Charlie Savage bags a Pulitzer Prize.
He now has something in common with Bill O’Reilly!
-GSD
New ABC/WaPo poll:
Badwater @
22
Not only that, but Gonzo is actually going to have to at least pretend to do his job in the light of the horrid events in VA.
-GSD
Republics in VA made it so easy to get and carry guns there. Don’t let them forget that.
My sympathies to the faculty, students and parents of VT.
I don’t know how to link another blog here,but advise everyone to read Larry Johnson’s blog today regarding this subject…”Now do you understand?”
http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/
It really makes you think……………
I have to say that, at this moment, I don’t care about politics or Gonzalez.
My dearest sister’s son just graduated from Tech in December, and the woman who sits next to me at work has a freshman son there. It was pretty horrible this morning while she waited to hear from her son (which she ultimately did, thank the powers that be).
I keep thinking about those frightened children and the anguish that the parents were feeling before they got that precious phone call or IM or email saying, “Mom, Dad, I’m OK.”
I’m sure tomorrow I’ll want to start kicking Gonzalez in the goolies again, but right now, I can’t do anything but mourn these young people.
Badwater at 30 — You know, I have had just about all I can stomach today without everyone getting into yet another gun control discussion. Am still waiting to hear if a friend of ours has heard from his daughter at VTech. So you’ll forgive me if I don’t want to dance around and make policy points on someone else’s grief today. And I’m certain that wasn’t what you intended, but I’m just really not in the mood for it at the moment.
landofthefree @ 25
Thanks, I found the article. Just a tinfoil moment, thinking that ’someone’ had neutered the link. /tinfoil
Senator Rockefeller is about to throw a fit on cspan 2…FYI
OT-Rockefeller on cspan2, and he’s pissed. They just voted on the Intelligence Budget, but I’m not sure what happened. I think it wasn’t approved because of R’s.
I can only imagine how the Iraqi’s feel going through this scene every hour since 2003. How do they deal with it? Friends and family getting shot, guns going off all day and blackness at night, car bombs….The MSM just doesn’t get it! Doesn’t it bother them that this is has been going on all around Americans everyday since Bush invaded Afghanistan & Iraq? They act like it’s a new news item….
Christy Hardin Smith @ 33
I understand completely and hope you hear only good news from your friend.
RevDeb @ 4
don’t worry, he delgates
And Bush is horrified by VT, but he wants Congress to allow soldiers to continue going through the same thing without a withdrawal date? Geez….
Wow.
68% of Hillary’s donors are maxed out and can give no more, if I read this chart correctly.
(Pls pardon OT… EPU’d)
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Feeling adventuresome? Interested in who else is in the FDL community, and where they are? Maybe get in touch with them via anonymous message?
Hope to see you on our unofficial FirePup map.
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OBTW, too many map pins say “Independent.” I’ve a mind to delete them all. Watch the legend beneath the map.
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Makes sense to postpone. Prayers for all of those effected at Virginia Tech!
TeddySanFran @ 41
I really wish she’d just decide to stay and be a great Senator. She energizes the Republic voters and we really need to be rid of Republics in government.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 33
Christy,
Prayers for your friend and his daughter. And {{{{{{hugs}}}}}} to all.
Well, it was the right thing to do, but dang! I just got finished arranging to be sick tomorrow! (and unfortunately, I didn’t have to make it up!)
Of course, the postponement is predicated on the assumption that there is some vestige of competency remaining in the DOJ, which seems to be a rare commodity there, as we have been discovering lately.
Bob in HI
Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky on Democracy Now.
Im watching because this was taped pre-massacre.
spurious @ 34
After I posted the link, I thought you might be making a funny about how an article criticizing the Prez on missing documents has a missing link ;)
dakine01 @ 45
I’m about to call friends who have a kid there. Not sure I can..right now.
This tragedy brings me to Iraq where people are dealing with this every minute of every day all because of our invasion. Everything I do or think seems to bring me to the suffering of the people in Iraq…..Suffering buckets
What are we fighting for?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=YbOVtcSUVjI
Check out this photo-collage done to Costello’s “(What’s so funny about) Peace, Love and Understanding.”
“You go to trial with the evidence you have…not the evdence you want.”
TeddySanFran @ 41
There is a full court press to pressure Dem women in NY to commit to her at this early stage
Matt Cooper has written his perspective on the Plame Case. My first time doing links, hope it works.
http://www.portfolio.com/news-…..ter-and-MePortfolio
S.O.S. in MA – what’s wrong with declaring yourself an independent? A large chunk of our population calls themselves independents, even though they pretty consistently vote for the same party (if I remember correctly, almost 2/3 of people call themselves “independents”, and about 1/3 of those people almost exclusively vote D and almost 1/3 vote exclusively R). A lot of people think of themselves as independent thinkers, and don’t like to say they are a member of a particular political party. Personally, I think it’s pretty cool that a bunch of people who consider themselves to be independent thinkers are regular FDL readers (and are willing to post their city on frappr!).
Seriously? The AG has a role to play in the aftermath of a mass shooting?
I was hoping you meant law enforcement issues related to the investigation of Gonzales… a little more time to interview witnesses and review documents and prepare the questions.
The AG doesn’t need to do anything about a shooting… but sure, it’s politically astute to clear the news cycles before we focus on the AG.
ACLU Releases files on Civilian Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/…..-and-iraq/
April 16, 2007
NOTICE OF FULL COMMITTEE HEARING POSTPONEMENT TO
From Senate Judiciary Committee website. Please note the start time. Most of us are use to 10:00 am starts, this is for 9:30 am.
APRIL 19, 2007 at 9:30 a.m.
The hearing on “Department of Justice Oversight” scheduled by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary for Tuesday, April 17, 2007 has been postponed and will take place on Thursday, April 19, 2007 at 9:30 a.m.
By order of the Chairman
Badwater @ 30
But you know, if those other students had been carrying guns…well this just wouldn’t have happened.
I bet that the Republicans will say it’s because the Administration forbids guns from being carried on campus (except for law enforcement officials).
looseheadprop @ 52
She’s got all the NY Federal electeds behind her, right? Even though her Senate campaign lent little oomph to downballot races last year.
Just love that Fitz
“Is your investigation over now? Fitzgerald says that he does not expect to file any further charges. If information comes to light or if new information comes forward that warrants further investigation, we will do that. The case is now inactive. We are going back to our day jobs.”
Back to Cooper/Rove.
“At one point, the aides were asked why Mr. Cooper’s call to Mr. Rove was not entered in Mr. Rove’s office telephone logs. There was no record of the call, the person who has been briefed said, because Mr. Cooper did not call Mr. Rove directly, but was transferred to his office from a White House switchboard. The aides have worked closely with Mr. Rove, screening his calls and coordinating his activities with other White House officials. Mr. Hernandez had been an aide to President Bush since his successful campaign for governor of Texas in 1994, and Ms. Ralston is known as one of Mr. Rove’s most trusted associates.”
It’s raining frogs! Halelujah..It’s raining frogs!
mike @ 56
What could he do anyway? Call for less gun control? VA has about as little gun control as a state could have. The next level would be no control.
Sparkles the Iguana @ 55
Pretty sure the Feds are lending ATF and FBI resources to Virginia Tech and the state, where needed. These agencies report to Abu; surely he’ll want to manage their participation and assistance.
landofthefree @ 54
Let’s discuss off-FDL please; the map has its own forum… Good Q, I’ll answer there when you re-post. No offense :)
FYI, New thread
TeddySanFran @ 63
Hope he manages it better than Attorneypurge.
CatStaff @ 32
Catstaff, your comment summed it up for me.
My niece’s husband is a professor at VT. I have made and taken phone calls today from family to make sure that those that we know and love are okay. They are fine! I can only imagine what it must be like to have a child at that university, and not be able to reach them.
My heart goes out to those who will get the dreaded news that their child was among the dead, or seriously injured.
This is not a time for discussion of political issues surrounding this event. There will be time for that later.
Sadly, it is a time to bury the dead.
Respect is due, IMHO.
Not to be cynical or anything, but my first reaction to the postponement was that the Senate Committee didn’t want to go forward with the hearings at a time when they would get absolutely no coverage, b/c all media would be doing 24/hr a day coverage of the VTech shooting.
And they’re probably right to think that.
As for the need for the DOJ to focus on the shooting, I don’t see that they have that big a role to play, at least as of yet.
My cynicism is not intended to take away from the tragedy of the events in any way.
kathleen @ 61
I’ve been told that all calls into the WH go through the switchboard. You can imagine how many calls they get every day that are pranks, threats, or otherwise not something that should go through.
But there should be a record somewhere of those calls that were put through.
Chomsky giving McCain hell in his talk. He wasn’t a hero he said because they were bombing defenseless citizens when he was caught.
The slides of the Virinia Tech shootings at MSNBC are intense. What the hell is with these squads and the way they are carrying out these injured students. I would hate to see the way they carry people out if they didn’t like you.
Where the hell are the Amubulance cots? The way they are carrying these injured people out could do far more damage.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18138369/
S.O.S. from MA @ 42
Maybe other technically-challenged types like me couldn’t figure out how to change it. :~)
“There’s never been any suggestion that Fitzgerald had anything less than a complete record,” Luskin said.
Any e-mails Rove deleted were the type of routine deletions people make to keep their inboxes orderly, Luskin said. He said Rove had no idea the e-mails were being deleted from the server, a central computer that managed the e-mail…Luskin said Rove didn’t know that deleting e-mails from his RNC inbox also deleted them from the RNC’s server. That system was changed in 2005.
Rove voluntarily allowed investigators in the Plame case to review his laptop and copy the entire hard drive, from which investigators could have recovered even deleted e-mails, Luskin said.
As the investigation was winding down, Luskin said, prosecutors came to his office and reviewed all the documents – including e-mails – he had collected to be sure both sides a complete set.
Luskin said he has not heard from Fitzgerald’s office and said that, if Fitzgerald believed any e-mails were destroyed, he would have called. Fitzgerald’s office declined comment.”
BUT “The RNC lawyer, Rob Kelner, also said that the Republican committee has none of Rove’s e-mails on its server prior to 2005, possibly because Rove deleted them, according to House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif.
Sometime in 2005, the RNC took action solely to prevent Rove from deleting his e-mails on that server. One reason for specifying Rove, Waxman said, appears to have been pending legal action against him.”
http://bob.wjla.com/headlines/0407/414047.html
AND Fitz did tell Luskin that there were omissions in the emails. HE HAD HEARD about the problem! I guess it’s okay for lawyers to lie!
“Robert Luskin, personal attorney for senior White House aide Karl Rove, told CNN Friday that he “has no reason to doubt” an assertion last year by the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case that some White House e-mail was missing.
“You’re quite right,” Luskin said in a telephone interview. “There was a gap there.”
Luskin was referring to a January 23, 2006, letter to the defense team of former White House aid Lewis
“Scooter” Libby, in which special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald wrote: “we advise you that we have learned that not all e-mail of the Office of Vice President and the Executive Office of President for certain time periods in 2003 was preserved through the normal archiving process on the White house computer system.”… Luskin said Rove always believed the RNC e-mail was being archived and he did nothing wrong. He added it was “foolish speculation” for Democrats to suggest that the gap in White House e-mail helped Rove avoid indictment in the CIA leak case.”
http://kerryfoxlive.com/wordpress/?p=7611
Throwing sand in the eyes of the umpire!
I agree with the postponement, but darn. I scheduled the day off tomorrow to watch him squirm. Hmmmmm…do I go to work or stay home anyway.
Toast
EXCLUSIVE: Gonzales Contradicts His Own Testimony
TeddySanFran @
63
Your joking right?
Virginia gun laws
Anti-trafficking
Is there a one-handgun-per-month limit on gun sales? Yes
Assault weapons
Are there limitations on assault weapons and magazines? No
Attorney general regulations
Can the attorney general regulate guns? No.
Background check At state level
Do state police perform a background check in addition to federal NICS check? Yes
Ballistic fingerprinting
Must handguns be ballistic fingerprinted prior to sale? No
Concealed weapons limits
May police limit carrying concealed handguns? No
Child access prevention
Are gun owners held accountable for leaving guns accessible to kids? Yes
Child-safety locks
Must locking devices be sold with guns? No
Gun manufacturer accountability
Do cities have authority to hold gun makers legally liable? No
Gun show checks
Are background checks required at gun shows? No
Juvenile possession
Are minors restricted from possessing guns? Partial
Juvenile sale
Is it illegal to sell guns to kids? Partial
License or permit to purchase
Is a license/permit required to buy handguns? No
Local gun laws – preemption
May cities enact laws stronger than the state’s? No
Record keeping
May police maintain gun sale records? Partial
Registration
Are all guns registered with law enforcement? No
Safety standards
Are there consumer safety standards on guns? No
Safety training
Is safety training required for handgun buyers? No
Saturday Night Specials
Are there limitations on ‘junk’ handguns? No
School zones
Is it illegal for concealed weapons permit holders to carry guns into schools? Yes
Secondary sales
Are background checks required on “private” gun sales? No
Waiting period
Is there a waiting period on gun sales? No
Source: Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence • Print this
I’m way EPU’ed, but here’s a thought.
As a nation, we have great sympathy and compassion. This awful event has us thinking of the pain of these families and our hearts go out to them. We’ll cry at their funerals, we’ll set up scholarships in their honor, and we’ll know what a loss this is.
Why can’t we project this abroad? The pain of Iraqi families comes to mind, but we have a long history of inflicting this kind of pain, yet to bring it up is somehow unpatriotic. The pain that our guy, the Shah, inflicted on Iranian families through the CIA-trained SAVAK? The pain that Abrams, Poindexter, and Negroponte inflicted on central America? The pain that Kissinger inflicted on Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia? Any less?
Even on these progressive threads, to bring this up is to politicize this particular massacre. And yet, this was likely the product of a single, deranged human. Is that more horrific than those other crimes, which were entirely predictable results of policies established and planned out? I’d say, No.
Evil can’t be weighed, but we can’t claim any special pain–yet we will. There is a shocking egotism to American culture that sees our pain as more searing than anyone else’s. I was castigated today for noting that an event like this Virginia Tech tragedy happens three times a day in Baghdad, but it does. Convince me that going to school at Virginia Tech is worse than living in Baghdad every single goddamn day.
While I’m happy the hearings have been postponed fro Tuesday, when I work, ’til Thurs, when I will be able to watch them, I am stunned at the event that postponed them. I used to live not too far from VPI. I have friends with kids there. Oh, the humanity…
Veritas78 @78
I guess I didn’t realize that you were castigated earlier today. When I read your(early) post, I said “amen”. But I suppose if I had posted it, you might have felt supported. Sorry.
Thanks, Leslie. “Castigated” was too harsh a word, in retrospect.
This evening CBS (Ms. Couric) noted that April is a big month for massacres of the type we experienced today, using Waco and OKC as examples from past Aprils.
Certainly CBS is as aware as anyone that both of those previous incidents were planned/managed by the US government. The inference is spooky to me, especially as this mass murder occurred on the day before AG’s testimony, during which he is expected to flounder.
To you who respond to this suggestion by pointing out that this shooter “wasjust a random freak”, I’d remind you that the CIA has a black ops program, quite well documented, which is devoted to programming individuals for jobs such as this one. More fear has been implanted with media’s full-blast support, and the threatening Gonzalez hearing has been postponed. 33 plus lives lost has no meaning to these beings. (I refuse to consider them human)
AZ Matt @
9
Lord, I hadn’t even thought about that. Truly the stuff of nightmares.
i am just returning online,
having decided to spend the
day in the sunshine, savoring
how precious, and fragile, and
truly wonderful, our short time
on the planet, here, truly is. . .
each sunrise, and each sunset, a gift. . .
my chakra-chant is for the tech
families and victims and friends. . .
but my head has now returned
to justice, politics and the law:
i actually think this is a bad
development, from gonzales’ per-
spective. . . that is so, because
whatever impact the pre-
release of his opening
statement might have had on
the news-cylce, it will be
LONG gone by thursday, especially
in light of today’s senseless tragedy. . .
and, that’s two more days for
committee staff to tick-and-tie
all sampson (and other staffers)
have averred — vs. contradictions
gonzales is already wedded-to
by virtue of the pre-release
of his opening. . . i’ll note
especially here that sen. leahy
has begun to release the details
of what kyle sampson said in
his unprecedented-sunday interview
with the judiciary committee to
the new york times, tonight. . .
[i may wirte more on this later
tonight or in the morning. . . dunno.]
me? i’m buying MORE popcorn, not less. . .
btw, woo-hoo! this makes my ben-n-jerry’s for
a year bet for friday at 5:30 pm as gonzo-gone
time, look even better!
I just hope the wait the extra couple of days is “sheer torture” for him.
abunocchio sitting on a fence
abunocchio moving hither and hence
and all the bush crony and cheneyfied best
could never put abunocchio to rest