Letters to the Editor
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What Killed Gonzalez
The dems were well prepared today. Had they been this well prepared for Alito, women in
this country wouldn't be headin' back to the back alley butchers.
This is what killed Gonzalez. He conceded that the impetus for the placement of various
USAs on the shitcan list was complaints received by republican politicians - Domenici
obviously (in the case of Iglesias) and various congressman and state GOP (in the case of
Lam and other USAs). Various dem Senators asked him variations on the following
questions: if these GOP complainers didn't have access to the evidence, how could they
second guess the decisions by the USAs to prosecute or not prosecute? (Answer: they can't).
Did Gonzalez or his people undertake any process - any at all - to determine whether or not
the USAs decisions were right on the merits, and the complaints therefor unfounded?
Gonzalez conceded he had not. GOP bitched, the USA went on the Sampson list, and they
were history a few weeks later. No attempt by Gonzo and his attacks to determine based
upon the evidence available to the USAs whether the cases were prosecutable.
Gonzo was fucked. Every assurance he'd given that politics didn't play a role was worthless. He had no idea, nor did Sampson, Goodling or any of the other Justice SS.
Then Sen. Whitehouse noted that McKay testified that Miers explained to him he was on the ropes because he'd "mishandled" a particular vote fraud case, and asked Gonzo "wouldn't Miers need to have access to the evidence in order to make that judgment, and isn't she, as WH counsel, prohibited from access to that evidence?" Again, if McKay was canned because of alleged mishandling, and Miers made the judgment without the evidence, it's political. And if she had the evidence, she's caught redhanded in possession of confidential investigation info.
The dems just hammered the shit out of this point - "you keep assuring is that politics didn't play a part, and yet you had no idea whether the complaints by the various state GOPs and by Domenici had any merit at all or were purely political." There really is no adequate
answer (other than "yes, we checked the evidence", but this argument had already been
foreclosed by Sampson's private testimony last week), but it seemed as if Gonzo and his WH
murder boards hadn't even contemplated this point.
He's dead. He kept saying he hadn't made the firing decision on improper bases, and then
admitted that he'd have no way of knowing whether the complaints were meritorious or
purely political. By early in the afternoon session it was just a bloodbath.
Miers has major problems. So do rove and bush, each of whom took calls from Domenici
and then arranged for their hispanic houseboy to can Iglesias, without anyone bothering to
determine whether Domenici's gripe had any merit at all. Domenici has a major problem, as
does Heather Wilson.
We're at about halftime on this scandal. The WH will claim exec priv to block disclosure of
these e-mails, they'll lose, and then this baby lands in the White House like an elephant turd.
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Bush and Abu Widely Exposed
Olberman, tonight, mentioned, and attributed to you, much of what you've posted in this post and another of your posts, Glenn. The 'larger megaphone' you've gained by moving to Salon is paying off. That was what was hoped for, and that was the main purpose of the move. Was it not?
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So be it
Bush's stubborn insistence on doing the exact opposite of what people demand he do, even when it is obviously the right thing to do, has and will continue to chip away at his popularity. It may even have the effect of further pulling his party into disrepute.
This is to say nothing of Bush's de facto power and known tendency to do what he pleases anyway, even in excess of his constitutional authority. But I think it's undeniable at this point that what was once considered his greatest asset -- absolute inflexibility and unilateralism -- has become his greatest liability.
Question is, are the 30-some percent of Americans who still think positively of Bush so far-gone and petulantly inflexible themselves that they will never abandon support for him or his party?
This phenomenon plays out in other quarters as well, most notably the Iraq War. As Bush continues to completely ignore public opinion, and speak in only the most absolute terms about the path ahead, he will continue to drag his presidency and even his party down into the gutter. Like I said to my doubtful friend just after the disappointing 2004 election, Bush's second term will be not only his own undoing, but the undoing of the GOP for years (if not decades) to come.
Radicalism and mindless arrogance, though it can cause a lot of damage, simply cannot sustain itself for very long.
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Instapundit, Althouse, Kaus, & Malkin
have written this, today, about today's Gonzales hearing:
" "
-- Instapundit, Althouse, Kaus, & Malkin -
One wonders
Just how badly would Gonzalez would have to do in order to lose the confidence of this administration?
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Olbermann
Olberman, tonight, mentioned, and attributed to you, much of what you've posted in this post and another of your posts, Glenn."
I knew this would happen with Olbermann. I've always noticed a significant confluence between his subject matter and the various blogs I most like to read.
Way of the future, my friends.
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Way to hit it out of the park Glenn
That was, without question, the most incise, stinging and accurate criticism of Bush's mindset I've ever read. I've been trying to put my finger on why Bush very manner irritates me so much, and this made it clear - he's like my 4 year old when he's trying to "test his boundaries". Tell him "Don't touch that", and he's sure to touch it, just to see what happens.
Would reverse psychology work? Can we get Pelosi to start *demanding* that he add 100,000 more troops to Iraq, and invade Iran and Syria tomorrow?
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Gonzales is not bright or witty
He is just a typical bushie. This is how all the stepford Bushies are. Total loyality to the supreme leader. Only talking in talking points.
And since our dear leader is kinda stupid, he doesn't like the cronies to be too bright or witty, in case he can't understand them.
No one gets fired as long as they are loyal. You have to be disloyal, or he feels you may be on the verge of spilling. Or cheney deems it.