If there’s any lingering doubt that the U.S. Department of Justice is in a serious state of disrepair, this video from TPM of the Attorney General’s testimony from yesterday should put that to rest.
UPDATE: This is also an open thread.
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Way off topic, but did anyone notice the article in the Seattle Times on July 5th cheering on the construction of a coal power plant in southeastern WA? There is a proposal to sequester the CO2 (that may or may not work) and as a result the developers are trying to earn all kinds of brownie points. They neglect to discuss all the other emissions (ie mercury, carbon monoxide, soot, etc).
Is anyone working to stop the construction of this plant? One of the great things about this state is hardly having any coal like they have in the South / Mid-west.
http://archives.seattletimes.n.....clean+coal
When the Publicans on the committe start calling the AG a liar, even the most right wing freak should take notice. This country is on the verge of a Constitutional crisis – and people better start paying attention. The GOP will burn the Constitution if they can get away with it. The freedom-loving patriots in the USA need to be willing to stand up to this.
The latest Washington Post-ABC News survey shows that 65 percent of Americans disapprove of Bush’s job performance, matching his all-time low. In polls conducted by The Post or Gallup going back to 1938, only once has a president exceeded that level of public animosity — and that was Richard M. Nixon, who hit 66 percent four days before he resigned.
What I want to know is what’s it going to take to convince the remaining 35%?
@1
This country is on the verge of a Constitutional crisis – and people better start paying attention.
Amen. I never thought I’d see something like this in my lifetime.
1-3 Better a constitutional crisis now than a civil war later.
You really have to admire Alberto Gonzales. In an administration full of incompetence and where lying is routine, somehow he is able to step up his game every time and rise above the rest. Just when you think he will have to be able to answer a question, or tell the truth, bam, he knocks it out of the park. He is a wonder to behold.
5 Bah humbug. There are tens of thousands of used car and life insurance salesmen who are equally adept at lying.
Gary Ridgway was quite determined and effective at what he did. Any of y’all admire him?
Humpf. Banana Republic indeed.
He says he’s staying, so my question is – what is the procedure for removing a politically-appointed but Senate-approved Cabinet-level department head from office? Is there one? I hear calls to ‘impeach’ him, but is there actually a procedure the Senate can follow for removing someone from office when the President won’t fire him?
5
Down in Texas, where the students of Texas A&M are often not held to be the brightest bulbs in the chandelier, an Aggie friend of mine once asked me, “Did you hear about the Aggie who was so mind-bogglingly dumb, the others noticed?”*
Replaced “dumb” with corrupt and “Aggie” with “Neoconservative Bushista” and you’ve got a perfect portrait of Alberto Gonzales.
*(On the other hand, several prominent Aggies tell this joke:
Q: What does a UT graduate call an Aggie ten years after they both graduate?
A: “Boss.”
And my absolute favorite is still (true story, quoted from Texas Monthly magazine): “When we asked A&M graduate Lyle Lovett what his favorite Aggie joke was, he told us he didn’t understand the question.”)
7
Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution would seem to be pretty clear on the subject:
“The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.”
My guess is that contempt of Congress and perjury in Congressional testimony would qualify as high crimes and misdemeanors.
RightEqualsStupid says:
When the Publicans on the committe start calling the AG a liar, even the most right wing freak should take notice. This country is on the verge of a Constitutional crisis – and people better start paying attention. The GOP will burn the Constitution if they can get away with it. The freedom-loving patriots in the USA need to be willing to stand up to this.
What exactly is a “Publican”? If you are referring to REpublican, then learn how to spell you illiterate child.
Support for Iraq War inches up-
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.....inches-up/
This is sure to piss off the anti-Hillary folks
The only thing that makes bush poll numbers look good are the poll numbers for the democrat led congress.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/....._Poll.html
Even the most rational of liberals/democrats now must admit that congressional democrats ran on the premise they would pull us out of the war when in reality they didn’t have any plans.
Even worse is most of the democrats are contradicting everything they said in the 15 long month rush to war.
Rave on, Rather. It will at least give YOU comfort.
However, for those who think that AG will get impeached (as would be right and proper) I make the following solemn prediction:
Having nothing personally to lose, and potentially much to gain, when things get bad enough for the Bushies, the Lieberman organism will switch parties, thus throwing the committee chairmanships to the Republicans, and halt any meaningful procedural processes in the Senate, and thus in the whole congress. He is the suicide pill.
The long-term (eg 2008 season) fallout may negate any gains for the administration, but it will provide a very nasty period of frustration for us civilized folk
Do you mean the Lieberman that daily “screw them” kos tried his best to get rid of?
Funny how the democrats throw their own (Lieberman, Cindy Sheehan, etc.) under the bus when they no longer need them.
@15
You’re an endangered species, and the present administration tries its best to get rid of those, so what’re you carping about?
Wingnut @ 12
Ummm….if you look at the most a recent poll with party-specific crosstabs…
5. Do you approve or disapprove of the way (ITEM) are doing their job?
7/21/07 Summary Table
ITEM……………………………Approve Disapprove
Republicans in Congress … 34 …… 64
Democrats in Congress …. 46 ….. 51
Clearly, opinion about the Republicans in Congress is dragging down the overall approval of 37%
For comparison, Bush gets a 33% approval overall in the same poll.
But…nice try at the bullshit.
10 Mark, you must be even dumber than any of the rest of us imagined.
You don’t like our little nickname for your buddies?
How about something like “liars”, or “criminals”?
Maybe “murderers”.
Personally, I’m partial to “traitors”.
I’d especially like to see the day when we can refer to a great many from the present administration as “jailbirds”.
Troll @ 15
“Funny how the democrats throw their own (Lieberman, Cindy Sheehan, etc.) under the bus when they no longer need them.”
Actually…Lieberman threw himself under the bus. After losing the Democratic primary, he formed and ran as Lieberman for Connecticut Party candidate against the Democratic candidate.
Asslicking Mark – I do know how to spell – I am just giving your party the respect it deserves. When you can get your dick-licking pals on right wing hate radio to start talking about the DemocratIC party, I’ll start writing about the RepublicAN party. In the mean time, fuck off and die bitch.
Bullshitter @ 13
“Even the most rational of liberals/democrats now must admit that congressional democrats ran on the premise they would pull us out of the war when in reality they didn’t have any plans.”
Really? How many candidates promised we would be out of Iraq within 7 months of the new session?
Clearly you haven’t been paying attention to the going-ons in D.C. (or you misunderstand how each chamber of Congress works).
“Even worse is most of the democrats are contradicting everything they said in the 15 long month rush to war.”
“Contradicting everything they said” is a big claim. And, of course, complete bullshit.
ArtFart
I’d especially like to see the day when we can refer to a great many from the present administration as “jailbirds”.
Indeed! Right after being called “convicted war criminals.”
@10,
There should be a comma after”…spell…”.
In your case, your continuing coma will have to suffice.
Hey folks, I turned off my caps lock key. Click through to my blog when you have a chance and join the party I’m starting. You’re all invited.
That’s a capital offense, for you, the promoter of offensive capitals.
Welcome back to the (snort) civilized world.
Too quiet an afternoon……
It is as he says, click on his name, and partake.
Darryl: I previously posted the WAPo is left leaning like the latest Rasmussen Poll finding:
“Associated Press, MSNBC and CNBC Seen as Having Liberal Bias”
So before throwing “numbers” on the blog I want to see how the question was asked! In Rasmussen I trust!
“Just 16% of American voters now say that Congress is doing a Good (14%) or an Excellent (2%) job. That’s down from 19% in mid-June and from 26% at the end of May. Today, 35% say Congress is doing a Fair job while 46% say Poor.
The current ratings for Congress are just a single point above the ratings for the Republican controlled Congress heading into Election 2006.
Among Democratic voters, 26% now say Congress is doing a good or an excellent job. That’s down from 35% a month ago. Thirty-seven percent (37%) of Democrats say their team is doing a fair job while 32% say poor. Only 13% of Republicans say Congress is doing a good or excellent job and just 9% of unaffiliated voters share that assessment. ”
Puddy Commentary – What would a Republican say about a Scary Reid/Stretch Pelosi led Congress?
Cluelessman: Wow, what epiphany caused you to type normally? So a fool can change!
Not ALL fools, evidently.
@30
Not ALL fools, evidently.
Hahahaha. Well said.
chadt @ 30
I echo Lee’s sentiment. Well done.
Puddybud @ 29
Stick around here PB and see what I have in store for you!
Awww… Poor Cluelessman@33: Reverting to threats again. What happened? Lose your Cojones again?
Puddy,
“I previously posted the WAPo is left leaning like the latest Rasmussen Poll finding:
“Associated Press, MSNBC and CNBC Seen as Having Liberal Bias””
This would not be relevant to the poll coming from media sources. Polls can be biased upward or downward a bit, but that numerical shift (caused by sampling methods, method of contact, and how questions are asked) is entirely unrelated to perceptions of “media bias” that the Rasmussen poll asked about.
Polls may yield biased results (compared to some gold standard), but it is likely unrelated to the “media bias” of the sponsoring media organization.
For example, presidential job approval polls yield some surprising “biases” (taking the average of all polls as being “truth” since we don’t have a gold standard):
Time/SRBI and NBC/WSJ polls are unbiased and have high precision (i.e. low variability). USA Today/Gallup and Fox/Opinion Dynamics also tend to have unbiased results, but they have low precision (they are “noisy”).
The LA Times and Diageo/Hotline polls are biased in Bush’s favor, but with good precision. The WP/ABC poll is very slightly biased in favor of Bush with good precision.
Newsweek and AP/IPSOS are biased slightly downward with good precision. CBS/NYT poll is also biased downward but has low precision.
“So before throwing “numbers” on the blog I want to see how the question was asked!”
I linked to the poll results that included the precise wording of the question.
“In Rasmussen I trust!”
Trust? That is a naive approach to polls. As it happens, Rasmussen’s daily presidential approval poll is biased upward (by more than most upward-biased polls), but Rasmussen has excellent precision. Rather than “trusting” or “distrusting” major polling firms, you should study the numerical bias and precision of the poll over time. Even though Rasmussen’s presidential approvals are shifted upward, I find that particular poll very useful and examine their results daily.
“Just 16% of American voters now say that Congress is doing a Good (14%) or an Excellent (2%) job. That’s down from 19% in mid-June and from 26% at the end of May. Today, 35% say Congress is doing a Fair job while 46% say Poor.
Perhaps you missed the point. Some polls ask about the job performance of congress. But only a few polls ask separately about the Democrats in congress and the Republicans in congress. I cited the figures from the most recent poll to do the party-specific approvals.
“The current ratings for Congress are just a single point above the ratings for the Republican controlled Congress heading into Election 2006.”
Uh-huh. But, most people rate the job performance of the Democrats in congress higher than they rate the job performance of the Republicans. That was the point. When you look at the average job performance for the whole congress it is dragged down by the Rs.
@2 Liberals must arm! Neocons will stop at nothing, including killing liberals. Their leading spokesperson, Ann Coulter, has even TOLD us they want to put liberals in concentration camps and execute liberals! How much warning does it take before liberals take the Republinazis seriously? I repeat: LIBERALS MUST ARM!!!
chadt@15
Even if Liebermann gave up his Connecticut for ME!! dodge and flipped to the Republicans tomorrow nothing would change with regard to committee chairmanships. They were set at the beginning of the 110th Congress and remain in effect until the 111th Congress convenes and elects its leaders.
Actually, considering that if you look in the dictionary under DINO you see Lieberman’s picture, arguably nothing at all would change.
Yer Killing Me: Not true.
When Jumpin Jim Jeffords went from Republican to Independent the Turds Oops… Moonbat!s got control of the Senate. After he left the Republican Party in 2001 to become an independent Senate control shifted to the Moonbat!s
Of Course being a Moonbat! you forget these facts.
Yer Factlessness is Killing Me!
38
Not true yerself. According to someone who is smarter than you and me put together is — that is to say, someone smarter than me — the committee chairmanships were set in stone at the beginning of the 110th and even if LIEberman comes out of the Republican closet, it would take 60 votes to change them.
If you can send me a link that shows that I’m wrong for THIS CONGRESS, I’ll be happy to forward it to him. But until then, you’ll forgive me if I believe him rather than you, since he’s been right more often about more things than you have.
He has better grammar, too. “is smarter than you and me put together is”. Pfeh.
Yer Killing Me @ 37 and 39 is correct. The Senate is governed by the organizating resolution of THIS Senate, and this Senate explicitly wrote the rules to prevent a Jeffords-like switch from changing control of the Senate.
http://politicalinsider.com/20....._flip.html
People who don’t know what they’re talking about, yet insist on insulting people who do, define the qualities one expects in village idiots.
41
Thanks ATJ. I was pretty sure I was on solid ground but I didn’t know the history of the Jeffords episode.
YKM, think nothing of it. Making him look bad is easy; he does a lot of the leg-work.
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