Scott Horton at Harpers has some new details on the twisted tale of an Alabama USAtty, DOJ politicization questions, and one Karl Rove:
…They proceed to cite a series of unmistakable connections between Goff’s suit raising corruption allegations against Riley, Windom and others, and the criminal counterpunch launched by Mrs. Canary. It appears that Mrs. Canary entrusted the case to Steven Feaga, the same assistant U.S. attorney whom she assigned to handle the highly controversial prosecution of Siegelman. It was recently disclosed that the two most senior career prosecutors assigned to the Siegelman case had concluded that the facts did not justify the pursuit of a criminal case against the former governor.
The Goff litigation concerns allegations involving Karl Rove, Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon in campaign fundraising for Governor Riley, apparently from Indian casino gambling sources. Karl Rove, a close friend of Mrs. Canary and her husband, resigned earlier this year from a position as President Bush’s senior political advisor. Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon (Riley’s former legislative assistant) sit at the center of a major political corruption investigation. Abramoff has been convicted, sentenced and is currently serving in a penitentiary. Scanlon pleaded guilty on November 21, 2005 on corruption counts and is currently free as he cooperates with criminal investigators. Abramoff and Scanlon are accused of having funneled substantial sums of money from their casino gambling clients into Bob Riley’s gubernatorial campaign. It is alleged that the Indian gambling money was funnelled into Riley’s campaign accounts in exchange for a pledge from Riley to block potentially competing Indian gaming interests. Riley in fact took several steps to block Alabama-based Indian gaming interests. In one such move, he appointed Mrs. Canary to a commission charged with reviewing a license, with the apparent expectation that it would be denied….
The more you dig into this crap, the more you realize that it is a manure pile without end. And that’s it’s all connected somehow into funneling money into GOP campaign coffers. Convenient, that.
On Sunday the 25th of November at 5 pm ET/2 pm PT, we have a great piece of digging on the “Texas mafia” and their K Street cronies. John Anderson, the former deputy editor of the American Lawyer, will be here to discuss his fantastic book “Follow the Money.” I do hope that everyone will be able to join us for what promises to be an eye-opening and snarky discussion about the state of ethics and smarmery in and out of the Beltway.
(Photo via dcfox.)
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Zed?
epu’d from downstairs: We are going to have to drop the expat nomenclature, I guess. I thought I was going to be in the States for a year, until my son graduates from high school and heads off to college.
But the husband has accepted a job in Montana, so that will apparently be my next stop. However, we will still have residency down in NZ and we have friends who want my son if there is ever a draft. I spent some winter time in Minnesota and Fairbanks, so I guess I’ll survive winter in Montana. And start my hidden hole for money to spend Januarys in NZ!
More corruption, dodging out of town on Wednesday before Thanksgiving, a high HUD official.
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004760.php
elliot, (if you’re still here) it’s oh so true. I should have provided the link.
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/
Happy Turkey Day Redd! I finally got a day off! Tom is in the oven. The parade is on tv. The kids are mostly still sleeping (teenagers). Looking forward to a long sleepy day to catch up on all my FDL reading (lol).
Miss you guys.
solai @ 4
oh thanks!
and Christy, those candles take me wayyyy back. It wasn’t Thanksgiving without them. We loved watching their heads melt away as they burned down.
It seems that getting a plum job inside gov means you pass out bennies and perks to your buds and grease the way for when you depart right over there for some cushy job.
The nepotism and crony capitalism associated with government these days is beyond appalling.
The reukes have proved how fucked up gov is by abusing their positions IN government. See how fucked up gov is? All they do is lie, cheat, steal blah blah blah.
They do!
How many billions have been stolen from the commons in the last 7 years? I’ll bet dems do it too.
TiredFed @ 5
good to see you TiredFed! Happy Thanksgiving.
I’m thinking that any discussion of Beltway ethics would have to be snarky by definition. I mean, when you start a conversation with an oxymoron, how could it not be?
Happy Thanksgiving to all you turkeys!! *g*
I hope you all are in a warm place with family!
Ah good times.
November 22 video on JFK
from an insider’s perspective – we’re already ignoring the current admin. we can drag our feet for a year or so. I’ve been here almost 30 years. we take the long view. Not that there wont be more egregious crony stories over the next 14 months. And we all know how much trouble the Dick can cause in the next year. I’m hoping that the same attitude starts to pervade DOD, NSA, DOJ, and a few other places.
Bad news: Many, many mortar attacks in Baghdad. It’s on MSNBC
Our poor soldiers. I hate this freaking war.
Happy thanks day i guess …………… has anyone notice how fast the media, made the new news ,About plame gate disappear
Now on to aruba ……….
Today I’m giving thanks that I drew the pie-and-soup assignment, meaning that it was all done last night and today I can read FDL stress-free.
And thanks also for FDL. It would have been easy to have become fatalistically cynical over the past five years, so thanks to Christy, Jane, and the crew for keeping me engaged.
Back on topic, Josh at TPM has put together a nice little Congressional testimony video montage, mostly though not entirely focussing on DoJ. What I like is that it’s structured in a way that it uses snippets of Monica Goodling’s testimony as a guide, sort of like little chapter headings.
Just saw the graphic from the last thread. My cousin owns the Old Time Photo shop in Plymouth, Mass – the only one where you can dress up as pilgrims (which of course we just had to have). and I remember the little wax pilgrims and indians and turkeys. but of course, we never actually lit them!
big bob @ 16
did you mean Scotty’s little teaser? was that really news? It went by so fast I’m not even sure.
SanderO @ 7
They warned us, starting with Reagan, that government was the enemy and their purpose was to destroy it.
As for the Democrats, during their 40-year control of congress, there were scattered issues I can remember. There were some cases, but the big one which lost control of Congress in ‘94, the “House Banking Scandal,” was a farce. The bank was like an honor system coffee fund, strictly among the members. Many (as many Repubs as Dems) had overdrawn and not paid back as they should have. Between the Repubs and the press, it was somehow portrayed as a Democratic scandal and misuse of the public trust.
TiredFed! So great to see you!
TiredFed @ 18
we burned them with little kid relish!
and I also vaguely remember wax coated chocolate figures, too
NH AG is investigating the Mitt calls as well.
Recall NH also had the phone jamming conviction practically on the RNC (or should have been on them and not a “few bad apples”) – for jamming the lines of get-out-the-vote and special needs/alternate transportation that should have been a call away. That was 2000 and not 2004 I am pretty sure.
Happy Thanksgiving. Watch out for Turkeys and Pumpkins.
TiredFed @ 19
glad you noticed
Now my wish ,,,,,, jon steward writers would come off strike for a week…. he may be the only one to keep it alive ! sad huh
Elliott @6
and Christy, those candles take me wayyyy back. It wasn’t Thanksgiving without them. We loved watching their heads melt away as they burned down.
Me too, back to the ’40s! ‘cept we weren’t allowed to burn em (oh how we wanted to). They are still kicking around in the family, much the worse for wear.
egregious @ 21
haha! you notice I used your handle. well chosen. did you hear that I put in for a State job in London?
SunnyNobility @ 25
I will just bet my mom still has one or 2 of them in a drawer somewhere. will have to ask her later.
Elliott @ 22
I’ve never had burned little kid relish, is it good on hotdogs?
redx @ 23
It was 2002.
-GSD
twolf1 @ 28
ouch
Happy Thanksgiving to one and all. Enjoy family, friends and food.
-GSDF
pma @ 20
Likely because the party in power had allowed the chamber to become a market.
SunnyNobility @ 25
And to totally belabor the point, I got to play with them because I always set the table.
redx @ 23
The phone jamming is still open. It occurred in 2002 Senate race between Jeanne Shaheen and John Sununu. The state Repubs settled and have to pay something like $25k per year to the state Dem party for a few more years. There are still some criminal charges open.
GSD @ 29
Thanks GSD- Right when I hit the Granite State, twaz almost before my time. Made the 2004 all the bitter and 2006 all the better (relativly speaking of course).
dakine01 @ 34
Whose the guy that was convicted, I had thought someone was convicted not long ago. Some sort tall guy with black hair?
Elliott @ 33
I bet you set a nice table now. good thing to teach the kids. mine cant seem to figure out which side the fork goes on.
solai @ 14
Maybe they thought Bush, Cheney or Gates would make an “unannounced visit”. Wasn’t it reported, though, that several Congress Critters were going over?
cinnamonape @ 38
I don’t know…yikes
cinnamonape @ 38
Attacks were on Green Zone, apparently. No injuries reported.
Isn’t McCain in Iraq?
redx @ 36
Don’t know what he looks like but I believe James Tobin is the name of the person convicted
Give thanks.
Give thanks for almost seven years of misrule by the Bush crime family… Give thanks for those loyal Republicans, Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Secretary of State Katherine Harris, who illegally removed some fifty thousand black voters from the voting rolls in 2000 because their names resembled those of Texas felons, and our corporate media who happy covered up this Bit o’ Treason…
Give thanks for the corporate media who continually smeared President Bill Clinton, since Newt Gingrich let his Contract on America loose back in 1994… Give thanks for the corporate media’s smearing of VP Al Gore during the 2000 Presidential campaign… Give thanks for the corporate media’s going very lightly on the Royal Bush during the 2000 Presidential campaign…
Give thanks for five Supreme Idiots on our highest Court how managed to stop our 220-year-old Democracy dead in its tracks, stop the counting of the votes in the Florida Presidential Election and hand the election on a silver platter to the very sore loser Royal Bush in December 2000.
Give thanks for the veritable cornucopia of Bush/Cheney lies, greed, Diebolded-elections, torture, war-mongering, murder, fascism, war crimes, arrogance, stupidity, bullying, cronyism, corruption, smearing, sliming, and treason since that terrible day in December 2000.
I’m with you james k. sayre. Somehow it just doesn’t seem like such a great time to be thankful.
eCAHNomics @ 40
I recall that Webb was going over to spend T’day with his son, or something. This isn’t good. Let’s hope that none of them get hurt and that the troops and others escape unharmed. At the same time I hope that this erases the veneer that Baghdad has been “controlled”, or that this could ever be the case with sectarian Iraqi militias.
And just for an Iraq related item…guess where most of the foreign insurgents derive from?
a) Iran b) Syria c) the West Bank and Gaza (Hamas) d) Lebanon (Hezbollah)
e) none of the above
The correct answer is e) and f)our ostensible allies in the Arab world
The three greatest contributors of “foreign fighters” in Iraq (other than the coalition of the Swilling and Blackwater, that is) are Saudi Arabia (41%), Libya (18%), and Yemen. Syria came in a distant fourth, with 8%.
Would have neglected the Horton piece today, Christy, if not for you. Thanks.
Being a racketeering organization, the junta has pulled scams like the ones in AL not once but multiple times. I am certain we will see the same M.O. in other states if we look more closely…think emptywheel is working on one in our backyard.
Thankful today for you folks, for a first-time quiet T-Day at home for just the four of us, for minimal leftovers, for the excitement the first snowfall today brought my son.
cinnamonape @ 44
If Webb is spending T’giving with his son, it is most likely stateside as he is the one who is doing the pro forma Senate sessions to keep Little Boots from making recess appointments.
OT…
HONOLULU – More than 18,000 feet above the mountains on Hawaii’s biggest island, two B-2 stealth bombers drop six 2,000-pound inert bombs on a training range below.
(snip)
The planes have been flying test runs over Hawaii and Alaska since the Pentagon began rotating bombers through Guam in 2004. But they only started dropping inert bombs on the Big Island’s Pohakuloa Training Area last month.
In the past, pilots only simulated dropping weapons over the islands. Now, they can see whether the bombs they release land where they are supposed to.
(snip)
link
Hmmmmm..I wonder why B-2 bomber crews have started a new training program??
Stuffing and sweet potatoes in the oven, and potatoes are boiling on the stove. For once, my schedule seems to be staying on track. It’s a miracle…
(And I probably just jinxed it. LOL)
Christy Hardin Smith @ 48
Great job! My money’s on ya to nail it.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 48
congrats, Redd – its all in the timing!
Agree with Dakine01 @ 46
And it looks like Little Boots had plans for just that. Per the NY Times:
“The administration and Congressional Republicans were not amused by the Democratic tactic, with the White House noting that 190 nominations were pending in the Senate. “Unfortunately, Congress has once again failed to complete important work that will help the American people,” said Emily A. Lawrimore, a White House spokeswoman.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11…..00-rMmQfHx C5PY0EvJ9yWGMw
Christy Hardin Smith @ 48
So Christy, do you mash or whip the potatos? (I come from a family where the mix master was used to make smooth creamy whipped potatos)
From The Hill, a K Street stylist pines to be a red head: “Heather Finkel, a redhead specialist at Salon One80 on K Street, has been a redhead, a blonde and various shades of brunette. “You get major compliments from men of all ages when you have red hair,” she says. . . “
dakine — We’re a mashed potato family. I like mine with lumps. *g* Today, I’m adding a bit of sour cream, some boursin cheese, and some freshly snipped chives. Nummy!
Millineryman @ 49
And Peanut to eat lots of turkey! And pumpkin pie too!
pdaly @ 51
He can blame one of his nominees for it if he wants. James Holsinger, the nominee for Surgeon General resigned from the board of Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky and stated in the resignation letter that he anticipated receiving a recess appointment. Oops.
Oops.
I’m thankful for the mods at FDL. Especially after comments like mine at 53 get stuck.
Sorry about that. Speci*list is not a word to be used . . .
dakine01 @ 56
Yeah, I wonder why Holsinger jumped the gun. Pretty stoopid.
Christy Hardin Smith @ 53
Well, you can leave a few small lumps even with the mix master. I think it’s all mainly driven but what we knew as kids. I like mine creamy with butter and milk (although my aunts used to use real cream).
Mmm…boursin and real cream…
[texting hubby the new grocery list…]
LOL, dakine-1.
Poor James Holsinger.
For 190 recess appointments that will NOT occur this Thanksgiving holiday: let us give Thanks.
Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone.
Off to dinner…
Christy, I don’t think you were around last nite Late, so let me just tell you that you and the rest at FDL and the larger community give me reasons to hope everyday, and among the things I’m grateful for, you all have a prominent place. The Happiest of all possible Thanksgivings to you and yours! :)
RonD at 61 — Awww, thanks. Same to you — hope your day is a wonderful, relaxing one. :)
Rayne @ 59
Ahhh, the power of suggestion once again…
dakine01 @ 59
Boil the potatoes whole with the skins on to protect the starch from water..peel then mash or whip with melted butter first to coat the starch molecules and finally 1/2 & 1/2 for the creamy texture.
I wanted to try whipped sweet potatoes with goat cheese and truffle oil…but the GF said yaaak! maybe some other time.
Steve-AR @ 64
We like yams, boiled, mashed with butter and bourbon and nutmeg, then baked with ‘mallows on top.
Whip your potatoes unmercifully until they surrender—add sour cream and at least a cube of butter-they should become quite thin during the punishment- but relax- they’ll thicken up a bit as they cool.
Steve
Add a little Yak butter- MMMM
Steve-AR @ 64
I put a little olive oil in the water before bringing it to boil to help the already peeled and chopped potatos.
Steve-AR @ 66
you can always make a little on the side (shhhhh)
Sayre and eCAHN,
Yes. Terrible things have happened, that could havr been avoided. We are in a fight for the soulf of our nation, and victory is NOT assured.
Yet, there are many things for which to be thankful. I would urge you to look afresh, and realize how good we have it…think about how it could ALL end like that (snap), and …there’s a MillION things to be thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving, all. Check in later.
We can be grateful that the evil olagarks over played their hand with the lill would-be-King of the USA.
Seems that only those that don’t want to know the truth are remaining ignorant of what has happened to our country.
My hope for 08, is that progressives take a flying leap forward in the elections. And who ever becomes President puts a bulldog into the AG office and funds our nation’s AG to go after the money that has been taken out of the treasury.
I’d like to see profiteers and scoundrels taken down and their ill gotten gains taken back, and have these people exiled or put into prison,as a signal for future thieves to beware.
dakine01–
More importantly, the power of “Crackberry”…the addict never leaves home without it, I can text him anywhere.
Of course, there are drawbacks. Last week when he was bored while sitting in his deer blind in the woods while hunting, he text the hell out of me while I was trying to work.
SteveAR —
I like my sweet potatoes a la Emeril’s NOLA restaurant. They mash russets and sweet potatoes together with garlic and butter. Served alongside wood-fired oven-roasted duck breast, they are to die for. Mmm.
Growing up we used a ricer to make the mashed potatoes. Since that was the technique for making gnocchi so light, my mom used it for mashed potatoes.
I tend to like lumpy potatoes myself. I have an early ’60s Good Housekeeping Cookbook that touts the benefit of the newly introduced instant potatoes.
I’ll pass on them.
If your family’s healthy- if you have people you care about around you, if your house is not being repossed, if you have enough food to make a celebration with- then there is plenty of reason to be thankful….
Christy Hardin Smith @ 54
Being diabetic, mashed taters are no longer an option for me. We discovered, recently, that you can create something very similar, though, using cauliflower. It’s really quite good; the texture is slightly different but the taste is quite similar, especially when gravy is involved :)
RonD @ 72
This place, for one.
Rayne @ 74
Wouldn’t that tend to make some noise in the woods and scare off the deer? If so, it would go a long way to refuting the hunter aspect of things (Be vewy vewy quiet, we’re hunting wabbit…)
Hey I’ve got a “ricer”. Think I’ll use it today. Thanks for the reminder. I’m in charge of stuffing and burning the bird and whipping holy hell out of the potatoes.
Millineryman! how are you? I use a ricer on my potatoes, too, both for mashed potatoes and for gnocchi. The texture is nicely consistent, leaving bits that aren’t too big but not too smooth. And it’s one heckuva lot faster than peeling/boiling — let alone that I can get people to help with ricing who won’t help with peeling.
SteveAR — just had a thought for you about the truffle oil. Try stewing down some cauliflower until very tender in broth, then mash as for potatoes, using the broth to thin as desired. Season lightly with salt and pepper, then serve with a drizzle of truffle oil as a garnish. Delectable.
Millineryman @ 75
I realize that this is heresy, but when I’m being lazy the last couple of years, I have made some of the instant potatos. They’ve actually become edible nowadays with some varying flavors. But I do still prefer the real thing.
rwcole @ 80
Those sound like euphemisms to me. What are you really trying to say?
Christy!
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
It is truly awesome to be able to read the writings and comments of someone with great integrity, like yourself, who really cares about doing the right things!
When our Governmental Leadership failed US, you were there!
Hey Rayne_ I’m doing good, very grateful for the blessings in my life. I’m very fortunate. How have you been? It’s great to see you popping back in the threads again.
dakine 01- I haven’t tried them in the last decade or so, so maybe I shouldn’t dismiss them so readily.
rwcole_go for it with the ricer. Great texture I think.
SunnyNobility @ 25
Me too – Christy, I laughed aloud for joy when I saw your graphic.
Tonight I’ll be joining my parents and brother for Thanksgiving in the home I grew up – and we’ll be taking out the Pilgrim candles (and the turkey candle) from their home to join us at the table.
Christy, bless you for this pic and your work.
Happy Thanksgiving to all – I hope this is a joyous day for all on the Lake.
rwcole @ 68
Shouldn’t it be, “…they relax and thicken during afterglow” ?
CHS from up top:
“The more you dig into this crap, the more you realize that it is a manure pile without end.”
This is sooooo on point for literally countless of situations over the past seven years.
I mean, we’re so far beyond what brought Nixon down it’s ridiculous. Why are we forced to put up with these crooks and liars? (with apologies to that fine website.)
Millineryman,
I hadn’t tried them for probably 20-30 years when I was served them one night. The amount of water determines whether thick or creamy and like I say, various flavors. One packet is “4 servings.” The brand name I’ve used is Idahoan (but not the “original,” only the flavored FWIW).
Christy is Serving Slices Upstairs
pma
Yes, Much better- but you must whip them till they MOAN!
rwcole @ 80
A trick I picked up this year.if you are going to stuff the turkey..heat the stuffing in the microwave to 120-130 degrees first the stuff..it helps to avoid the problem of room temp stuffing incubating for hours inside the turkey and helps to avoid burning the outside while trying to get the inside up to temp…gradients delta T and all of that stuff….
rwcole @ 91
LOL. You’ve written menus for which restaurant?
Something very similar seems to have gone on in Delaware. The USA there, Colm Connolly and his AUSA Leonard Stark targetted several local and State Democratic officials under a widespread corruption investigation and indictments. The charges were as wide-ranging and bizarre as those that Ken Starr made against the Clintons, with additional ones added in along the way. Sexual harassment, hot tubs, lipstick, use of government employees for campaigns, etc.
Several of the individuals were running for office when the charges came down. Because all the judges in Delaware were associated with those listed in the indictment, they were asked to recuse themselves. The judge assigned in Philadelphia began to question the viability of many of the charges, which led to Connolly attempting to get him recused for “bias”.
Ultimately all the charges, except one, were thrown out by the judge as frivolous and based on weak evidence (although they are still under appeal by the gov’t, though not by Connolly or Stark, who have since been appointed to the Federal Judiciary). The one charge that stuck related to a large loan made by a millionairess to one of the defendents, Sherry Freebery, for a home. The loan was disclosed on reporting documents but one one document the description differed. The judge ultimately placed the defendant on probation and fined her $350. She also has to find the money to pay almost $2 million for her legal costs.
http://www.mercurynews.com/sea…..ck_check=1
So the Feds likely also expended many millions…and all they got was some Democrats voted out of office because of the ill-founded taint of corruption, and a $350 fine. Oh, that and a bunch of Republicans that got elected, and two Bush-appointed US Attorneys appointed to Federal Judgeships. I guess that was a good return on the tax-payers money. ;-(
If the prosecutors sound like they were involved in selective assaults to influence elections by initiating these bogus prosecutions…then this should also sound familiar. Leonard Stark was appointed the point-man to make sure that the elections were on the up-and-up in Delaware. Hmmmm!
http://baltimore.fbi.gov/dojpr…..110206.htm
Oh, and two more interesting things. Colm Connolly apparently refused to prosecute several corruption cases that relate to Mitt Romney, and Connolly ended up in some of the DOJ emails, apparently put on a list of prospective (but not actual) individuals to be fired for “errors”. But the odd thing is that this list was only developed after the scandal regarding the DOF US Attorney firings emerged. It thus seems likely that Connolly and the others were used to obscure the nature of the earlier firings. After all, if Connolly was so horrid, why appoint him to a plum Federal judgeship???
Here are a couple of cites regarding the last mentioned shenanigans in Delaware.
Colm Connolly On Bogus DOJ “Firing List” Is it an effort to raise a smokescreen to the Congressional investigators.
Why would an AUSA be on a “fire-list” when they actually went AFTER Democratic candidates up for re-election? And then get appointed to a Federal Judgeship? It couldn’t be for incompetance…by putting him on the list it would suggest that the fired AUSA’s were not the only ones listed…and the others had actually gone “after” Democrats (except it was a ploy).
Then there is the Mitt Romney Corruption Case that Connolly refused to investigate…but that it turns out that he had financial links to himself. No appointment of an independent AUSA to look into it…he just buried it.
This story may reach critical mass when “60 Minutes” weighs in:
http://stevensonblog.tuscaloos…..tem=700943