Thank you. You and the rest of the folks at firedoglake are true patriotic Americans.

In addition, while the tentacles may be as deep (within these other agencies as they are in DoJ) I suspect with two appointments at the top and the new “watchdog” at the door, BushCo has streamlined the process of managing the message AND shrinking important parts of the government.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01…..mp;ei=5070

okay — here is a specific link to
the above-promised condensed, edited,
pan-and-scan (w/graphic-cutaways)
youtube’d video/flashplayer
snippet — about 3:10 running
time, total, of sen. sheldon
whitehouse eviscerating the
attorney general over the
astonishingly inappropriate
access low-level white house
staffers (some 447 of ‘em!)
have to criminal cases and
investigations via the alberto
gonzales/george bush formulation
of DoJ — white house access policies.

whew! — take a look! — i’ve been bakin’
da’ pixels all afternoon long, on this. . .

The White House blocked security inspections of the West Wing. According to the security officers, they were prohibited from conducting unannounced inspections of West Wing offices, which undermined their ability to assess compliance and deter violations.

This is eerily similar to Saddam defying UN inspections, isn’t it?

Speaking of parallels, I love the pink slips to Rove idea, similar to the White House delivering over “3000 emails” to Congress in the name of unprecedented full disclosure. They could be delivered at one of KKKarl’s many Washington parties. maybe we can get Sheryl Crow to deliver them personally?

The State Department, one would think, would do so many things that are “fundamental governmental functions” that they should be immune from unregulated privatization. Not. State, it seems, is privatizing its fresh, new, improved visa application process. Somewhat ironic, given how frequently the administration trades on xenophobia.

According to Wayne Madsen, the process by which unknown foreigners obtain a temporary right to enter the United States is now heavily in the hands of, well, foreigners. Except for the last bit, where a typically junior embassy consular officer quickly interviews you while glancing at the paperwork submitted by outside contractors, who also process the approximately one hundred dollar charge per application.

One hundred dollars each, whether State issues the visa or not. Times 5.8 million visas issued per year. That might be another half billion dollar trail worth following.

See, waynemadsenreport.com

Nola Sue @
47

At least, in this clip, GWB further demonstrates how totally out of touch he is by saying that Abu “answered every answer he could possibly answer, honestly answer, in a way that increased my confidence in his ability to do his job.”

Rather than demonstrating how out of touch he is, this bit demonstrates (once again) the utter contempt Bush has for everybody outside his immediate circle. I’d bet that his “response” was scripted as part of the month-long AGAG prep session.

I apologize for being so chatty this morning. I guess it’s all bottled up and has to come flying out like pure unadulterated French champagne. Anyway, I wonder if the ability of the Prez et al to lie straightfaced to the TV cameras is based on their internal redefinitions of certain phrases like “ability to do his job”. This is defined by the American people as the ability to uphold the letter of the American law and remembering that “justice for all” means, well, all people. But I sense that to Bush “ability to do his job” means “doing what I need him to do to further the agenda of this President.”

Anyone still out there, or did I kill this thread?

Assuming the level of infiltration at the DOJ carries across most if not all agencies — not an unreasonable assumption, given recent history — it’s no wonder these folks are doing such a piss-poor job at actually governing. They’re far to busy interfering with the government to spend any time or effort actually, you know, governing.

I wonder if they don’t understand the distinction, or if they do and just don’t care.

Good point. Just chiming in to agree…I notice that Gonzo was so, so focused on covering his butt, he didn’t get the distinction between “improper” and “illegal”. Like, so I’m incompetent–it’s not illegal! What’s the problem? So what if the attys we fired were excellent? Is that relevant to the loyalty required to King George? Again, you need to understand, Senator, nothing improper happened here.

I wish these weirdos would stop playing “capture the flag” and actually look out for our interests. One can dream.