Why is it that now suddenly these lame brains notice that the separation of powers has dissapeared? It isn't until the FBI raids an office that they notice the checks & balances of our government have been eroded. Apparently it has to hit them at work before they finally pull their heads out of the sand & look around.

That isn't where they've had their heads.

I'm astounded also at the republican reaction but at least I don't have to stop disagreeing with almost everything they do because in this case a properly processed warrant led to a legal search. If Jefferson is guilty, whatever evidence they collected should count and he should go where folks who take money that isn't properly theirs should go.

Obviously these guys have some things to hide, probably in relation to the Abramoff scandal, and that's the reason why they are all up in arms over this. They don't want the FBI searching their offices and hauling them off to the pokey.

I was glad to see some of the top Dems over the weekend saying they didn't have a problem with this since the FBI has also searched the offices of judges over the years when they were being investigated. That seems about right to me.

The Dems need to throw Jefferson overboard instead of getting behind this ridiculous whining about separation of powers. Just because you're a member of congress doesn't mean you are exempt from the law. It's about time all of these corrupt guys get their comeuppance.

That's what I'm left asking after reading this article. With all this concern over the violation of rights and grabbing of power by the executive, I think back over the last five years and I just can't think of any question more pressing than "What about me?"

That's not the "What about me?" you might hear from a kid who got left out when the candy was distributed. That's the "What about me?" that you should be hearing issuing from almost 300 million throats across this land as we Americans watch our legislators - fat, lazy and dozing while our rights have been trampled on and our government stolen - suddenly roused into indignation. I think Rep. "I really had not looked at the executive" Gohmert summarized it rather well, actually. Apparently very few in Congress have looked at the executive for quite a long time.

But of course they have looked. They've looked on with undisguised disinterest while the Bill of Rights has been chewed full of holes by the Great Silverfish in the White House. Many of them, Republicans and Democrats alike, have rolled up their sleeves and toiled long hours beside the ruling majority, feverishly delivering us up to unbridled power.

Oh, they're pissed now, though. One of their own has got caught with his hand in the cookie jar when no one had announced that they were watching, and the other 533 crumb-encrusted mouths (RIP, Duke Cunningham) are crying "Foul!" pretty goddamned loudly.

You might not recognize those loudly protesting voices, cause you probably haven't heard them before. You haven't heard them before because they didn't bother to shout when Jose Padilla was languishing in prison for three years without being charged. They were flicking idly through a magazine while the NSA was wiretapping some and obtaining private records on nearly all of their supposed bosses, the people of America. They were having their nails done while billions of dollars (yours, mine and ours) were being handed over to Halliburton and others for "rebuilding Iraq" (and you thought the contractor who gouged you to renovate your kitchen was bad).

They didn't protest then for a simple reason: they don't give a flying f#@! at a rolling doughnut what happens to our rights. Think I'm exaggerating? Find your local pack rat and read between the lines of the last five years' worth of newspapers. The deafening silence you'll hear while you're reading is the sound of the work Congress has been doing to protect our rights while the right has been destroying them.

Actually you will hear a sound, but you might not be able to place it right away. What the hell IS that?

It's the sound of 534 (oops; make that 533) pairs of jaws, busily munching on those stolen cookies.

Hungry?

If the William Jefferson story isn't the weirdest one in Washington just now, we don't know what is. As the Louisiana Democrat becomes a less and less sympathetic victim -- as the Washington Post reports today, the FBI claims that Jefferson tried to hide documents in a bag even as agents were searching his home last year -- Republicans in the House continue to amp up their rhetoric in protesting the FBI's search of Jefferson's House office.

Maybe they're looking for Jimmy Hoffa?

Remember the old Brit song of WWII F*** them all, may be the four letters should be redone to impeach'm all. They deserve it! Gonzales to lead them all for his denouncement of the Geneva Convention. Did he ever think of a GI being taken prisoner? I doubt his brain was capable of that.

It is clearly in the best interest of the GOP to keep Rep. Jefferson in the news for as long as possible. That way, every time you hear a Democrat talking about the GOP Culture of Corruption (TM), the Republicans will have something to respond with. So how to keep it in the press? Have a bunch of Republicans defend him (hey the GOP is a bunch of good guys after all!). Have the president seal the evidence for 45 days (45 days later the story gets a new set of legs). Keep in in the media at all costs.

If the Democrats were wise, they would force Jeffferson out as soon as possible in order to end the story and distance the crime and criminal from the party. Predictably, the CBC is defending Jefferson, and the party is also playing their role by not dumping him. They are just playing into Rove's hands (again).

At first blush it seems reasonable that with search warrent in hand, there should be nothing wrong with searching Jefferson's office, especially considering how guilty Jefferson appears to be. But what people are forgetting is that Jefferson's office, contains much more then possible evidence of crimes committed. Jefferson's office and especially his computer that was carted off by the FBI is stuffed full of confidential documents discussing Democrat s strategies for bills, policy and mid-term elections. The FBI is under the Executive Branch. Let's think. Is there anyone in the Executive Branch who might be interested in the contents of Jefferson's computer and files? Could it be gasp, Bush, Chenney and Rove? Is it possible that the desire to see confidential Democratic papers, be behind the first ever search of a Congressman's office? People, this is really scarry stuff! We are loosing the separation of powers in front of our eyes. The FBI has a video of Jefferson accepting the bribe, they have the money with matchng serial numbers - they have no needto go through his office. For the entire history of our nation, we have managed to convict crooks dressed up in congresional skins, without resorting to violating the principles of separation of power and in the process shredding the Constitution. Even the Republican Congress gets it