Congratulations on your new blog, Joan. I was one of the few dozen people in the country that thought this whole business in Iraq was the worst idea in the history of bad ideas. I had friends who decided to side with Bush based on his lies about WMD and I had to wonder within myself how so many smart, educated people could get this so wrong. Then they nabbed Saddam and I thought, "Well, George Bush just got re-elected. Swell." I was happy to see Saddam go, make no mistake. But I had this queasy feeling that the worst was yet to come when the president stood on that aircraft carrier and said "Mission Accomplished!" And now, the worst has come again and again, and the worst than worst should be along anytime now. Followed swiftly by the very most awful than the worst of the worst. My God what a mess we'll have to clean up when Bush leaves! He's like that no longer cute puppy that just piddles and dumps all over everything at the party, AND YOU CAN'T GET THE OWNERS TO LEAVE AND TAKE THE MONGREL WITH THEM! And just for the record, the so-called Authorization to Use Force was something I never thought was right and I scorned Democrats (Hilary and John Kerry included) for being lapdogs and voting for it. It was opening the door to disaster. I know it then and we all see it now. I agree with you, Joan. This is one thing I desperately wanted to be wrong about. It was also one of the many things I thought Democrats in Congress should have filibustered till hell freezes over. Don't let's run down THAT list.

Nice to see Chairman Leahy (that has a nice ring to it) and the Democrats showing some spine on this issue. If this goes to court, Bush has no guarantee that one of his hand-picked "strict constructionist" judges will see things his way. You may remember the Intelligent Design case that was argued over down in Middle-of-Nowhere, PA a few years back. The judge in that case, in an eloquent opinion, decided the case in favor of common sense and the separation of church and state. In short, the judge, a Bush 2 appointee, upheld the Constitution and not Bush's political agenda. And Bush, if memory serves was still enjoying approval ratings in the 50s. Now, with more than two-thirds of the nation DISapproving of this pretender to the throne that does not exist, he wants to use the courts for his own purposes to quash a scandal that will futher expose his tenure for the ugly, amoral, and despicable power grab that it is and has been. And EVERYONE is paying attention to the man behind the curtain, Karl Rove. John Conyers must be licking his chops right now. He's wanted to have these vermin before his committee for ages. He and Patrick Leahy may well get their wish, now that they're the Chairmen, not just the "ranking members." Did I hear anyone say, "Impeachment"?

Why, in fact, I did. In this month's Esquire magazine, Sen. Chuck Hagel from Nebraska said the "I" word. You know, of course, Hagel's a Republican.

Oh dear.

And, correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it like, a felony to refuse to testify after a Congressional subpoena? Don't you like, go to prison for that? Anyway, watching Karl Rove's pig face break into a sweat on C-SPAN would be a beautiful thing. We can only pray that this time it really happens.

Thank God oversight is back and this Congress has the spine to exercise it. Thank God the House of Reps. voted to order an end to the war. Even if President Bush vetoes the bill, which I fully expect, the message will have been sent.

Thank God that the will of the people, finally is being done! Thank God that this rogue presidency is finally being put on notice and that our elected leaders are putting country above politics. Can I get an "Amen" from the Salon?

Note this paragraph:

"We all understand that politics and the law aren't two hermetically sealed domains. And we understand that partisanship may come into play at the margins. But we expect it to be the exception to the rule and a rare one. But here it appears to have become the rule rather than the exception, a systematic effort at the highest levels to hijack the Justice Department and use it to advance the interest of one party over the other by use of selective prosecution."

This is the way I always thought about our political process. Until Bush 2. This scandal (my God, if it were only that!) more than any other really exposes what the Bush crew wants and has always wanted: power with no accountability, as well as the power to destroy anyone who dares to disagree, let alone challenge. If even Republicans can see this, how long do you think it will be before even Republicans are calling for not only AG Gonzalez' resignation, but the impeachment of the rogue President and Vice President, at whose pleasure he serves. As before the elections last November, the corruption in this administration rose like a stench to heaven and had reached a critical mass. At that time, we the people spoke. We're getting there again. Now our leaders must regain their conscience and speak. With the votes to authorize subpoenas, and the vote to order an end to this ghastly war, it looks like they're beginning to connect the dots and listen to us. Thank God.