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Josh:
Judged by the standards of our history, a recess appointment to replace Alberto Gonzales sounds like an incredible proposition. But don’t be so sure. Just as we saw with the ‘pardon scooter’ movement, the word seems already to have gone out to the folks on the right to start preparing the ground for just such a move by the president. I’ve already heard a few just this morning saying it would be the right thing for the president to do. Watch for it.
Harry Reid has a deal with Bush — no recess appointments. Any abrogation of that deal should be dealt with swiftly and harshly. And for the record, leaving Clement in indefinitely and nominating no one qualifies as de-facto breaking of that deal.
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Jane!
Fitz!
bye, ABU
-S
BADA BING!
so close.
gone!!
Also, read Glenn’s update on this at Salon…
Well, we did reach to the 27th Aug so far with no recess appointments. When does Congress reconvene?
Leaving to inform basement of new thread.
It’s difficult to imagine Reid doing anything swiftly and harshly based on his performance so far. I hope I’m wrong.
Meanwhile, Chris Dodd’s office burglarized Saturday night. Why??
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08…..mp;emc=rss
Bush had his fingers crossed behind his back.
ok pups you know chimpy is NOT about to put FITZ in as AG…. he blew his chances by getting 1 of their boys convicted….and he is truly independent!! a real no-no in bushco world sad to say
AZ Matt @ 12
Like anyone should trust that two faced, weaselin’ waste of DNA.
How can he do a recess if the resignation is effective 9/17 and congress returns next week?
From EPU land:
IMO, there won’t be a recess appointment.
IMO, the plan is to keep the focus on the AG slot for another month (or longer) and away from the upcoming Iraq report and testimony.
All part of a master plan to run out the clock and leave Hillary holding the bag.
Oh well. I like this spin from AP:
My bold.
Senate reconvenes Sept. 4, presumably for a pro forma day.
Bush flies to Australia around that time, for most of the week. And he didn’t look in the mood to give up his vacay and nominate someone before then. Though he may invite someone down to the pig-farm to do it.
Oh, all the people who paid top dollar in Seattle are going to have a Very Special Audience with a Very Sulky Chimp today.
Jane: The doctrine that executive branch employees are “emanations of the President” is core to Federalist ideology and is about as hostile to constitutional law as it is possible to get. It would be nice to get some PR on what a foreign doctrine this is.
A bad day playing Attorney General is better than a good day being his dad.
Agree- I know of no reason why Chertoff wouldn’t be confirmed. I would imagine that Bush made the deal with Reid about recess appointments cause if he hadn’t, Reid threatened to not have the recess and to keep the whole fuckin senate hostage- including the goopers who had fundraising obligations.
Can Bush/Cheney be impeached for executing policies that have us teetering on World War?
http://rawstory.com//news/2007….._0827.html
I mentioned this earlier on one of Christy’s posts but even if a recess appointment were to come down on this, I believe it would go a long way towards p*ssing off the Republic senators who will still be around after ‘08.
These a**wipes are still jealous of their senatorial prerogatives and they would not be happy to be disrespected in such a blatant and “in your face” way. My belief is that such an act would pretty much destroy any willingness of the Rs (and Ds) to give him any benefit of the doubt.
rwcole @ 22
I’d say Katrina would be the biggest reason Chertoff’s not a good idea? I mean, they really don’t want people thinking about that again, do they? Hrm.
@ 15
He can do a recess appointment anytime from now on…
Bush and Cheney can be impeached and removed from office for any reason that a supermajority of the senate deems appropriate–but they won’t be.
They’re gonna serve out the balance of their sentences.
LS @ 11
Dodd is the chair of the committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Senior member on the committee of health, Education, Labor & pensions as well as Foreign relations. He’s a member of the Committee on Rules & Administration.
Lots to look into. Maybe banking issues or how about labor, esp. regards to mining?
Okay, puffery here. I asked repeatedly in July what would happen when Gonzales resigns in August, and folks pretty much ignored my inquiry, chalking it up to naivete. But my gut was sayin’ that’s what was in the wind. Me and Chertoff. Woo hoo!!
Bush could drag out time with Clement until the next recess, then appoint Chertoff. That would be Thanksgiving, I think.
Swiftly and harshly how?
yup – I think Katrina and the 22.3 BILLION bucks that are missing from DHS might be questioned for an hour or so…
PB (peanut butter) @ 25
How can they keep the Katrina can of worms closed with Chertoff??
another rat
jumps ship
recess appointment
I dare you
heh…
Fitzgerald should be the new AG !
Biodun @ 18
As I was edited a few minutes ago, I thought I would do a little of my own. (Italics mine)
LS @ 11
To plant bugs. These guys are doing everything in the Nixon playbook, after all
Been a lot of break-ins into Democratic candidates, etc., offices in the past year or two. None of Republicans, though — at least that I know of.
In the last thread, someone mentioned that at FDL this morn, no one has said anything about Iraq. Could we all be distracted just a tad? *g*
dakine01 @ 24
They should be henceforth be referred to as “Repu’ublicist senators” given how they always diss Democratic senators as “democrat senators.”
Whatever happens it won’t be the rule of law or what’s best for the country that is the main focus in selecting the new AG. It will be what is best for the Bush political dynasty that will be the primary consideration. And the prez will appoint accordingly. I should think that President Toddler will consult Babs and Poppy on this. If that is, he hasn’t already done so.
And as to Mr. Reid? Well…
chertoff hasnt been so hot as terror czar… oh that makes him perfect to be AG – D’UHHHHH
I thought the Republicans were so against Cutting & Running?
Malveaux is pretty connected, and she is saying senior WH people told her it will be Chertoff and that Clay Johnson will replace Chertoff at Homeland Security. That smacks of recess appointment.
I also wonder if Gonzo resigning was not in the works – that this was another surprise to chimpy…
I think Rove having to leave was a surprise and I’m wondering if this departure is too…
they may not have a ground game in place for this.
Oh, an unofficial DEAL! Well now I feel much better. Breaking the deal, even in a “defacto” manner would be a betrayal by the White House. We know they would NEVER do that!
Bush may be next.
Biodun @ 18
My edits in bold.
Biodun @ 26
I thought the recess appointment had to fill a vacancy. If there is no vacancy until the 17th how can he fill it?
OldCoastie @ 44
Addington.
OldCoastie @ 31
The DHS has been a cesspool of waste and inefficiency under his stewardship. Chertoff could not administrate himself out of a room with an open door.
rwcole @ 22
Huh? How about his record of incompetence at DHS?
Biodun @ 38
Was I.
FWIW, I’m inclined to think the resignation is intended to draw everyone’s attention away from Iraq pending the upcoming ‘Petraeous’ report.
Hugh @ 36:
I just love that editing. Good catch!
And for the record, leaving Clement in indefinitely and nominating no one qualifies as de-facto breaking of that deal.
Yes, but less obviously so than actually making a recess appointment. Leaving in Clement and sending undesirable nominees to the Congress would allow Bush to simultaneously have someone he wants in the office and blame Democrats for holding up the replacement.
ccmask @ 46
Only if Jeb was VP. Cheney’s not cooperating so much on that.
In my opinion, there is a “Deep Throat” in the White House. 1st Rove and now Gonzales. Somebody is spilling the beans on Bush and his thugs and they are running for the hills. All these commities that are doing these investigations are being fed some juicy dirt by someone. It hasn’t been shared yet with the public. Just my opinion.
Who said this today, Gonzales or someone else?
Hint: If a guy who admits electrocuting helpless dogs comes off sounding better than you, then you are truly having a bad day.
no Jonathan, I think the Patraeus report is 2 weeks off… that’s too big a window for being a shiny object…
I don’t think Bush was expecting this… something’s up that he has no control over…
OldCoastie @ 58
Bush has always just been along for the ride. What’s Cheney up to today?
Hi, all–
It’s been a while since I de-lurked, but wanted pile on with this…
I’m not sure this wasn’t as much about Paul Clement as it is about Gonzo. At this point, if I recall correctly, the investigation into the veracity of Gonzo’s testimony rests with the Solicitor General. Well, now who is Solicitor General? There will be an Interim SG, of course, as well, but it all plays nicely into a run-out-the-clock strategy. Clement serves as Interim AG until a new AG is appointed (my bet, btw, is on Clement himself.) The hearings on both are all “Will you investigate?” and the answers are all “For sure” and in the meantime, nothing ever gets investigated. Which is the point. IMHO.
How can they keep the Katrina can of worms closed with Chertoff??
With lots of willing helpers like Lieberman. IMHO, they’ve kept it off the radar very effectively. The ethnic cleansing of New Orleans seems to have served them well – IIRC, the LA republican candidates are leading in the polls.
Given any thought, Chertoff should not even be on deck for AG slot. He should be fired for the missing revenues at Dept. of Gestapo Security.
Biodun @ 38
It may not have been me but I did ask at the end of the last thread how the Abu resignation will play out not just with the scandals at Justice but more generally in energizing the Democrats wrt the Iraq debate in September, FISA, etc.
OldCoastie @ 44
I’m wondering about this, too. Earlier I had thought that Leahy had successfully cut at deal with the WH, but Chimpy’s stamping his feet at the presser makes me wonder if Gonzo’s resignation was not part of Chimpy’s game plan…
OldCoastie @ 32
You know what? If Dems went into a long diatribe about Katrina, there would be a lot of questions asked about why this is being brought up NOW. Dems were too quiet, for too long, to make a big deal of this at this late date.
I don’t understand- gonzo said September 17. Right? Congress back September 6? Where is the recess appointment?
Just thinking of all the books being written on the Bush dynasty at this moment in time. Bush is a uniter librarily. Worst President Ever!!
I’m almost thinking Leahy has something to do with this – all of the shrub’s grumpiness this morning was about abu being dragged thru the mud for partisan purposes…
Leahy may have something that is really leveraging the situation.
LS @ 43:
She’s pretty connected all right. Chimpy would agree with you there.
anne @ 54
And has the familiar ring of Dems being out-foxed again.
There is the possibility that Chertoff is being floated to throw those that matter off. At the same time, Chertoff being named wouldn’t be a surprise.
OldCoastie @ 67
Is Leahy still at work while on recess?
There is still a cloud over the office of Vice President.
Eyes on the ball.
Abu was just an enabler.
Dems would ask a lot of Katrina questions and Chertoff would squirm a little- but no one watches these fuckin hearings except a few junkies- and at the end of the day Chertoff would be approved.
rwcole @ 73
A’yup. That’s right.
Libby
Wolfowitz
Bolton
Rumsfeld
Card
Miers
Bartlett
Rove
Gonzales
ccmask @ 66
Librarily. Vocabulary word of the day! :)
newtonusr @ 49
A few weeks ago, I thought Addington would be the obvious recess appointment to replace Gonzo. He’s Cheney’s right hand man, he’s on board with torture and the gutting of the Constitution, the unitary executive, the whole shebang. But, it really depends if Bush has the cajones to flip the Senate the middle finger salute. If Bush follows through with Senate confirmation, Addington is a non-starter.
Put all the names you can think of together that Bush might appoint. Do you think we’ll end up with better law?
OldCoastie @ 58
I think your are right. The “Party” told Bush that play time is over. They are going to try to salvage as much as possible over the next 14 months. The fiction that Bush is in charge and the “decider” just got smacked down and the little psychopath doesn’t like it. He still has his military toys to play with..so watch out.
What really chaps me about this whole thing is that it has dragged on far too long. Wasted time and money, when anyone with two brain cells to rub together knew Fredo was lying under oath. If the Congress had any sort of spine at all, that should ahve been the end. But no, numerous opprotunities to “clarify” testimony. Snort! Any takers on a bet that if any one of us testified and lied there would be no second or third chances to “clarify”???
If Harry Reid thinks for one second that Bush is going to abide by any deal he is indeed gone round the twist. What is it going to take for the Dem leadership to understand that these are not people to be reasoned with? They lie when the truth would serve them better, they will break promises without compunction, and will use any consession as a club with which to beat you.
Biodun @ 68
But what would she look like if she were disconnected?
Steve-AR @ 79
He does call himself the “Commander Guy”.
as september approaches bushco’s pulling out all the stops – it tells me that iraqi report is going to be a DOOZY….ergo more distractions to come… wonder what will hit the fan next????
I don’t believe this has anything to do with Leahy’s threats. I’m thinking Snarlin Arlen may have whispered in Dubya’s ear a few weeks back during his AF1 plane ride. That, or he finally confronted Abu with the fact that the time had come to quit or get impeached.
phred @ 77
Ah, but Dick’s gang doesn’t work in public view.
The hearings are gonna be a little painful no matter who the nominee is:
“Do you believe in the unitary executive theory?”
“Do you approve of lyin ta congress”
“Will you enforce subpeonas issued lawfully by congress?”
“What is your interpretation of the Hatch act and does it allow the political arm of the White House to direct members of the justice dept to take election year actions that benefit the executive?”
etc.
ccmask @ 75
Libby leads off, followed by Wolfowitz snd Boston.
Gonzales is on the mound.
This is a killer lineup.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 40
I don’t think consulting Poppy is a bad thing at all. In fact, I wish he’d done so more often. Whatever else Bush Sr was, he wasn’t a complete idiot. Toddler’s been consulting an entirely different set of people (Cheney, Rove, Gonzo, etc) which is the problem. Assuming he’s even running anything anymore which I rather doubt.
KOS:
Well, Rove got his guy in Louisiana. Formerly Democratic state Treasurer John Kennedy has switched to the GOP, likely in anticipation to a Senate bid against Mary Landrieu.
Louisiana is trending Red, and for a nakedly ambitious person like John Kennedy, this was apparently the easiest path to the Senate. I’ve included his letter announcing the switch below the fold, but apparently he switched because (no joke) his beliefs in ethics, science, technology, and faith are better represented by the corrupt, anti-science, flat-earth luddites and philanderers in the GOP
phred @ 77
Sorry – I meant that Addington was behind the legal strategy. They find themselves boxed and decide that there are 2 bad choices (stay or go) and choose the better of the 2. Whichever serves the Executive branch.
Diane @ 84
All bark no bite Arlen? That one?
If it’s a recess appointment, why stop with Addington or Cherthoff…how about Woo, the author of the unitary Executive theory? Now THAT would take everyone’s mind off Iraq for a few days.
juslin @ 83
Can’t we all just get along and start planning a wonderful Whitehouse wedding for Jenna? They could send wedding photos to everyone serving in Iraq.
pseudonymous in nc @ 85
Indeed, and at the time I suggested it, several people pointed out to me that Cheney would never be willing to give up his chief of staff — entirely too useful right where he is…
Jonathan @ 52
Given the amount of time the “I don’t recall” AG has taken AWAY from Congress’ ability to deal with Iraq, as well as a hundred other domestic issues, I think taking a few hours to digest the news that Abu has resigned (been pushed) is pretty appropriate. It’s only 1pm ET, plenty of time for transitions to other topics. I doubt Chimpy wanted to have this “distraction” at all, seeing how cranky it made him so I doubt nefarious intent there.
from Muckraker:
hmm… so Chertoff is being reconsidered?
PB, yep much as Arlen is a paper tiger, I believe he still has clout within the WH.
Diane @ 84
Snarlin Arlen actually doing something? Isn’t that a contradiction in terms?
From text of Chimpy’s statement:
Yep. Stellar accomplishments indeed.
newtonusr @ 90
Ah, now i see what you were getting at. Yep, I agree completely.
PB (peanut butter) @ 88
I read somewhere in the last couple of weeks that Poppy and Geo Jr. have been consulting a lot more over the last several years than we have been led to believe. ;0)
Cornyn might get the nod. Though he’s dumb and a hack, he most likely gets the Comity Free Pass from the Senate.
Goodhair Perry gets to nominate the replacement, and from what I can tell, there has to be a special election to cover the time between now and 2008, when Cornyn’s due up. Either the Dem competes now, and blows the election coffers, or waits until 2008 and has to compete with a one-year incumbent.
billjpa @ 65
I have to wonder, too… I guess that Bush could get someone lined up and go ahead and tell AGAG that he has his replacement and just do it all in one slick move.
But I also wonder, as some of the others have noted, if this is another shoe dropping before something really BIG comes down. I have been pretty harsh about Senator Leahy and others, but maybe they do have the goods on these imbeciles, and it is going to become public knowledge very quickly.
We can only pray…
juslin @ 83
But…but….the Iraq report will be written by the WH, so it can be de-doozied before we see it.
A male anchor on CNN talked about the “Democrats beating up on Gonzales.” A real news organization would fire the twirp.
I admit that I haven’t seen the Bush presser, which so many of you have described as displaying Bush at his pissiest. However, I think he is a pretty good actor, or to put it another way, I don’t trust a thing he does. My guess is that he is trying to hide the fact that he shit-canned Gonzo. After all, what is this bullshit about Gonzo submitted his resignation on Friday, and the President didn’t accept it until today. That sounds like total bullshit to me.
phred @ 94
I don’t know. He gave up Libby quite easily. I’m sure Cheney could find another enabler/CoS just as corrupt as Addington and without Addington’s name/baggage.
Jonathan: “All part of the master plan to run out the clock and leave Hillary holding the bag…”
A provocative thought. With Hillary still unwilling to call either her authorization vote, or the war itself, a mistake, and with her substantially “on board”, and calling for a new government in Iraq, JUST LIKE THE BUSHTURDS, there’s a certain Kharmic symmetry to dumping the misery in HER lap.
Of course, the problem is, that pretty much gurantees that it’ll go on for a few more years.
AND, if she’s elected (I still don’t think that’s possible) it means with near certainty, that when the collapse somes, with all it’s unpleasant and unspinnable reality, the republicans will ecstatically be pointing out that EVERYTHING is the democrats fault.
It’s now an either-or situation. If the dems let bush and the GOP off the hook it will mean they have willingly impaled themselves on it. Let’s see if they’re willing to do that.
:o)
Sally @ 105
And no cabinet secretary ever deserved his beating so richly. Well, okay, there are some ties.
PB (peanut butter) @ 25
Good point. We’d get to hear “Brownie” testify again.
Diane @ 97
He certainly has paid for it with great loyalty to them.
Mitch
Yep!
Last thing he wants to do is to admit that he caved in to pressure from dems- that’s DEATH to this Clusterfucker- all he’s got left is his irrational stubborness.
Outsourcing intelligence by James Carroll in the Boston Globe today.
snip
THE WAYS in which the Bush war has degraded the structures and culture of Iraq are obvious. Less so are its insidious effects on the United States, but President Bush is similarly destroying something essential to our own democracy. A signal of that was sounded last week when The Washington Post reported that the Defense Intelligence Agency is transferring “core intelligence tasks of analysis and collection” to private contractors — up to a billion dollars worth. This raises the prospect that hired guns, instead of sworn officials, will be conducting covert operations, spying missions, interrogations, “renditions,” surveillance — the whole dangerous complex of shadow activity that began as the government’s most sensitive responsibility.
snip
Zen at 95
Was just wondering aloud whether the resignation, coupled with the naming of a successor, is intended (by whoever is really pulling the strings) to distract the attention of the people and especially MSM away from Iraq.
pseudonymous in nc @ 103
That could explain why they sent Rove back to Texas – he’s flipping everybody around in different states to make sure his math works.
pseudonymous in nc @ 102
Or, along those same lines, go for Orrin Hatch– a guy with a safe seat who has always wanted the job.
Well whoever the new AG is- he might want to take up the coronet- so he can be on deck playin “Nearer My God To Thee” as the ship of state slips into the cold inky black waters of historical infamy below his or her feet.
ccmask @ 89:
As Howie Klein has said, Landrieu is actually Repug-lite. He said let her go down.
OT Kucinich on msnbc just blowing me away with his understanding and proposed solutions health care..
The man wins my vote on every topic he discusses.
Jonathan @ 113
At this point, it seems like practically everything that happens gets used as a distraction from something else. Thus always to failed administrations.
dakine01 @ 107
Gave up Libby? Libby didn’t leave till he was indicted.
Re: Iraq- I found these photos compelling- a purple Heart/postage stamp unveiling ??? honor vs photo op
http://www.nocaptionneeded.com/?p=162
And re: Katrina from NYT Mag this week-
someone hasn’t forgotten. there was also a radiojournal on npr reporting on the trailer cities and the rates of suicide, crime and diminished quality of life they have created. I’ll link if I can find it.
http://bagnewsnotes.typepad.com/bagnews/
1,580 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND..
Citizen Hamsher and the Firepup Patriots:
Thank you for the heads-up about the possibility of holdin’ off on a nomination and lettin’ Clement sit for the duration. I think that that is, in fact what the Bush Cowboy faction has in mind…look for the Yankee Murdock-Rockefeller faction to pull the plug on that one before October, however, unless drawin out the controversy keeps attention away from the Iraq report.
KEEP THE FAITH AND REMEMBER YOU DON’T NEGOTIATE WITH FASCISTS!!
dakine01 @ 107
I don’t think Cheney “gave up” Libby at all. Libby played his new assignment to perfection. He was Cheney’s firewall against prosecution for outing Valeri Plame Wilson. That said, your point is well taken. Cheney seems to have henchmen everywhere. If pressed he could replace Addington.
Who can fill Gonzo’s shoes? Its got to be a toady who will respect Gonzo’s dismantlement of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. All the tricky stuff needs to be maintained quietly. No one can question or change anything to the detriment of Bushco’s 9ll police state.
Acquiescence, first and foremost, is the requirement of the new AG. Chertoff would do it.
Anyone heard responses from Leahy or Conyers yet?
Oh, Suzanne, Suzanne, with her WH “connections”…
froggermarch @ 115
Orrin Hatch wants to be a supreme court justice. He wouldn’t give up a seat in the Senate for a 17 month gig.
ccmask @ 89
Maybe he would be a red dog.
ccmask @ 89, no link but there was a report that Rove’s biggest accomplishment will have been turning Louisiana into a red state after the Katrina inaction and thus giving the Republics a solid south.
If the odious Cornyn replaces AG, his twin ex-Rep Bonilla may be Bush’s next best buddy in the Senate.
BigMitch @ 106
you can watch it here, if you like:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/n….._on_al.php
ccmask@112
the gov’t has used hired guns to escape scrutiny by congress for years i believe.. deeply hidden in budgets that congress cant see – i cant recall the agencies involved…
PB (peanut butter) @ 88
He was a cunning idiot, but he was an idiot nonetheless. It’s in the Bush gene pool by this time.
And he is a complete tool of right-wing fanatics in addition to being a long time CIA asset if not an outright officer.
Just ask him how beholden he is to that raving theocrat, the next messiah, the convicted felon, Korean CIA officer, Reverend Sun Myung Moon.
Rove and Gonzales have been removed. Someone is playing Chess and deftly captured Bush’s Bishops. I use to think it was Cheney, but the VP has more to lose if the King (Bush) is checkmated. I think Cheney is the Queen and Rice is a pawn wandering aimlessly on the board. So, who’s Bush’s opponent? Tinfoil hat on, thinking, thinking, I’m thinking maybe Larry Flynt has the goods on the resigning rat perverts. Whaddya think?
Jonathan @ 87
You mean a lineup of killers?
A recess appointment? The view here is nothing is beyond the scope of this administration. Including an attack on Iran.
Apparently, a 2005 memo said that only 2 firefighters should go into the building and instaed, 100 rushed in the Deutsch Bldg.
snip
The Fire Department on Monday demoted three fire officials and ordered more intensive inspections at buildings being demolished following the blaze at a vacant Ground Zero skyscraper that killed two firefighters.
John Yoo for a recess appointment?
;)
SusanUnPC over at No Quarterhas some interesting history on Clay Johnson.
iHeartFoulMouthedFemBloggers @ 137
Can we have a recess impeachment, too?
if i wanna see a temper tantrum i will watch my granddaughter not an idiot posing as POTUS…
hey why isn’t laura going on trip?
Oklahoma kiddo @ 78
Since the Justice Department doesn’t make the laws, possibly.
Congress makes the laws. DOJ investigates, arrests, and prosecutes, but it does not make the law, and the Federal judges are yet another branch of the government.
Kucinich wants to reverse the bankruptcy bill.
Diane @ 125
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/n…..signat.php
OOOOOOhhhh…Paula Zahn:
Ex-CNN anchor Paula Zahn’s steamy diary, which allegedly details her affair with a tycoon, was discovered by her husband and daughter, sources say.
Paula Zahn’s words of love are coming back to haunt her now that the newswoman’s estranged husband has his hands on a diary that lays bare her secret affair with another tycoon. “It’s Paula’s love book,” a source tells us. “It documents her tryst” with married ContiGroup CEO Paul Fribourg.
With all due respect, when has Harry Reid reacted strongly and swiftly to anything? He is an object lesson in political emasculation.
Doesn’t his nose just get longer and longer?
Here’s what Trapper John says about the replacement AG
worth reading to help shore up some Democratic backbones.
ruffian @ 141
Is Condi going on the trip? That wouldn’t surprise me one bit…
My theory is that Poppy Bush, James Baker and other members of the senior crew of the GOP finally totalled up all the messes and decided that they’d been sold a bill of goods by Cheney in terms of “keeping a steady hand on the tiller” with Cheney and his old crowd. I think Poppy called up Junior and whupped him good – told him to sacrifice Rover and Gonzalez and try to move on. My two cents.
iHeartFoulMouthedFemBloggers @ 138
My guess is Ted Olson. A Bush loyalist and the fact that his wife died on 9/11 makes any opposition problematic.
“I think he’s a first-rate prospect.” — Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn., asked whether Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff would be a good candidate for attorney general.
heh…
Lindy @ 139
On Clay Johnson to head DHS: Might as well name a hurricane to head FEMA.
LOL
if chimpy names an independent AG it’ll be when hell freezes…person named must adhere to the cheeny – rove rules..support whatever cheeny wants ;o}…
zennurse @ 131
I stand by my original assessment.
I fear cheney is putting all his pieces in play. Darth obviously wants to go after Iran, and doing the worst possible damage in the middle-east. The man is only interested in a state of continual war.
Could it be that he’s leaking a few documents so that Rove and Abu had no choice but to leave, and that he’s working on getting Bush in the same situation.
Darth gets to be Pres, and declares Martial Law, and there goes the 08 elections????
Just asking!
ccmask @ 145:
That’s a rich one. I could do with some that juice today… Trust the NYDaily News to come up with some steamy stuff.
RockPaperScizzors @ 133
Flynt’s a good guess, but I’m thinking it is someone much larger than that… but I don’t know who – I like your chess analogy.
BigMitch @ 106
The timing is very odd, isn’t it? Why put the resignation at the beginning of the weekly news cycle instead of trying to bury it in the Friday news dump? I mean they already put it during the dog days of the August recess. Why increase its prominence during a down time?
Zennurse, thanks for that roundup of quotes.
The Dems should hold out for a binding promise that a special prosecutor will be named, to investigate misconduct at the Justice Department in the attorney firings and in testimony to Congress about the attorney firings.
If they get that, then I don’t care if Chertoff is in charge, as long as someone who is truly independent is the investigator.
Biodun @ 158
and she wasn’t even nice to the red-tail hawks
LS @ 144
I watched him in awe! No wonder they don’t let him speak in the ‘debates’!
for fun, folks might also enjoy these videos of Abu:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/015807.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RG9APN_tyjw
laughter is the best medicine.
shrub back on in Albequerque…
Bush seems to have had too much nose candy today.
Quebecois @ 157
????
Brisingamen @ 143
I realize that. Perhaps I should have said better law ‘enforcement’. ;0)
Bluetoe @ 152
Lead counsel for Bush v. Gore in the Supreme court. GRRRRRRRRRRR. It still makes my blood boil.
Biodun @ 150
Mrs. Bush is suffering from a pinched nerve, which her doctors said would only worsen with lengthy travel.
Different scene than Rove’s departure with hugs all around — from both the prez and first lady; this time, Mr. Gonzales was alone. All alone. And the prezident was alone.
Biodun @ 158
Yeah, the news is coming at us fast & furious. There is also a great story about a woman named Helen who was told not to wear a mask during cleanup at the Deutsch Bank. Her boss yelled, ‘Helen! Take that mask off your face! You are spooking everybody, spooking the people from the medical examiner’s office!’” Rocos recalled.
snip
When she and other workers were cleaning asbestos inside the building, they couldn’t wash up sometimes because decontamination units lacked water, she said. Live power lines snaked across floors where asbestos was being removed. Simple things like working toilets could not be found.
The fight over the mask was the last straw, she said, so she quit. Days later, by the end of April, the Environmental Protection Agency had suspended the search for bone fragments because the roof was “not properly cleaned” and asbestos particles were discovered in the dust, officials said.
While y’all look into the future for a deal that was made for Gonzo, I’ll look back a few weeks:
“You give me FISA, I’ll give you Gonzo.”
Other Pat @ 171
no surprise, George Bush pinches every one of my nerves
Bush keep his word? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…
brownie
would be my
first choice for a recess
appointment
heh…
ccmask @ 146
Paula Zahn, transplanted fortuitously from FOX News to CNN just in time to cover the second Pearl Harbor and help steer CNN rightward.
Diane @ 160
my pleasure.
Gonzo won’t be gonzo until Sept 17, when the Senate will be back in session.
How can the Decider make a recess appointment when there is no vacancy yet?
But as St. Glenn reports, monkeyboy can keep Clement as acting AG until the clock runs out.
ccmask @ 75
How can we forget the batboy?
james @ 176
Well, Paula the Bush keeper is going to get hers now.
Oklahoma kiddo @168, my apologies — recently I’ve run across one too many people who don’t know that the Justice Department and the Judiciary Branch aren’t one and the same.
Heck, some of them believe Cheney’s little song and dance that he’s his own separate branch of government!
Bush will nominate a fascist–he’ll try to find a fascist that is easy to confirm- one that hasn’t gotten caught with his dick out.
brownie?
ccmask @ 179
Sounds like she’s been getting hers and some of someone else’s.
Poppy to W: Get rid of Rove, get rid of Gonzo, and maybe others…or I’m writing you out of my will – no trust funds…nothin’.
and paula zahn bombed on cnn…i couldn’t watch her at all
Brisingamen @ 180
P. T. Barnum had something to say about those people….
Meanwhile, as we wait for a new thread FDL 2007 newbies can treat themselves to this video of Jane and Keith on Coundown from the fall of 2006.
What ever happened to the story a few months ago (maybe longer) that laura was living in a DC hotel? All nonsense?
Paula couldn’t hold her knees together long enough to finish a half hour news show?
Wow! Two of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Rove & Gonzales) have departed, leaving Cheney and Bush to fend for themselves!
Reid’s statement is right that this does not relieve Gonzales of his legal responsibilities.
Bob in HI
UPDATED:
Libby
Wolfowitz
Bolton
Rumsfeld
Card
Miers
Bartlett
Rove
Gonzales
Schlozman
james @ 176
CNN like all cable news and a big chunk of the MSM already shills for this Administration on a regular basis. Will anyone really notice a difference?
OldCoastie @ 159
Murdoch? Can’t imagine why unless he just likes to control things.
oh reid will do his usual…. not a goddamned thing
Zennurse@187 — supposedly that is still the current state of affairs. So the “pinched nerve” thing may possibly be a convenience. I know the Queen recently supposedly told the Dutchess of Cornwall that she should develop a convenient illness to get herself out of the whole Diana Memorial Service problem.
PB – I’m thinking more like Carlyle group…
damn dems need a news station – to counter fixed news channel… just my thought
What ever happen Michael Jerkoff’s “gut feeling” that we were gonna get attacked this Summer?
Funny how all the gut feelings and alarms seemed to abuptly end as soon the FISA-elimination bill went through, isn’t it?
This ass would be just more of the same. James Comey is an acceptable choice.
ccmask @ 192
what, no Bork?
or the CIA… someone with more power than to just embarass
Scarecrow’s upstairs…
myiq2xu @ 177
AG serves at the pleasure of the President. i.e. if it pleasures Bush to have AG empty his desk on Sept 1 or Sept 10, rather than Sept 17, so be it.
New thread upstairs…
Jane, you write
But what leverage do the Dems have? It seems to me that the right-wing spin machine is already preparing the ground for a recess appointment; the leaks, and the on-again off-again mentions in Drudge and the Politico, certainly make it sound like it’s being talked about. If Bush goes ahead, Pat Leahy can strongly disapprove. What else can he do? Try to censure Bush? The Republicans would just filibuster it.
I’ll even predict what justification they will give for breaking the deal: they’ll claim that the deal is an unconstitutional constraint on the president’s power to make recess appointments!
The other thing is that they might not do it right away; they might float unacceptable names, wait for Democrats to respond with skepticism, and then use this as a justification.
It seems to me that the only real way to prevent a recess appointment is for the Senate to stay in session, at least pro forma, until Bush submits a nominee.
UPDATED:
Libby
Wolfowitz
Bolton
Rumsfeld
Card
Miers
Bartlett
Rove
Gonzales
Schlozman
Bork
ccmask @ 207
Bob Murray
(i have no idea what this list is about but it looked like a list of assholes so I added Bob)
Biodun @ 26
No, unless I’m misunderstanding snark…Bush can only do a recess appointment (one that does not require Congressional consent) until Congress returns from recess. Since the resignation doesn’t occur until 9/17 – Bush can’t fill a still occupied office. Otherwise all he would have to do is require that his appointees submit a letter of resignation upon entering office, and these could be held until convenient.
1,580 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND..
Citizen RockPaperSizzors and the Firepup Patriots:
“So, who’s Bush’s opponent?”
I been EPU’d twice on this but I’ll give ya the short version of the Norske analysis :
There has been a huge battle goin’ on in the rulin’ oligarchy between the western cowboy anti-Clinton Bush faction and the establishment Yankee pro-Clinton bankin’ faction. The Yankee faction whose axis is the Murdoch-Rockefeller institutions has won and has told the Bushes to purge the radicals, shut the fuck up and go quietly into that goodnight. The quid pro quo is “impeachment is off the table”.
The Yankees control the Democratic congressional leadership and want to clear the decks for Mrs. Clinton to ascend to the Whitehouse and bring respectability back to the fascist decision-makers.
If Mrs. Clinton is elected President look for Steny Hoyer as Speaker of the House, Rahm Emmanuel as floor leader, and Joe L**uderman to take Durbin’s place in the Senate. (Mrs. Clinton will completely rehabilitate Joementum and he’ll have his choice of committee chairs.
This is a great mornin’ for progressives to open a window for a fresh wind of democracy to blow into every living room in the country…but only if we grunts out here in the trenches force the Democratic leadership to defy the Yankee oligarchy.
KEEP THE FAITH AND REMEMBER YOU DON’T NEGOTIATE WITH FASCISTS!!
ccmask @ 146
I like the part where he kicked her out of the house and she moved into a $40,000 a month apartment on the middle East Side.
No wonder we get the news we get. Most people who watch her don’t make $40,000 a year!
PB (peanut butter) @ 195
Hmmmmmm, or maybe Richard Mellon Scaife. Here’s an article.
The man behind the mask
http://www.salon.com/news/1998/04/07news.html
A deal. And all Reid had to give him was the FISA vote and putting forth some of Bush’s appointments when they return. Dems … got a vacation. Woohoo Harry; what a deal maker.
ccmask @ 21
A sad thing to say isn’t it? It shows Gonzo and The W share the same fear of not being as good as their fathers.
sorry, got here late and I don’t know if this is aaked and answered and I don’t know how to look for the answer if it was asked
what does this mean, how can congress or the senate deal with the president harshly except to impeach?