Letters to the Editor
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If only...
If only the Republicans were as good at running the government as they are at covering their asses.
If only the Republicans considered running the government well was as important as covering their asses.
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Repubs believed that government was the problem ...
Repub leaders believed that government was the problem, not the solution. That is to say, the government got in the way of their being able to adequately cover their asses -- and the asses of their corporatist buddies. So they decided to do a hostile take-over of the government and -- viola -- problem solved.
Unfortunately, a few (tens of millions of) troublemakers had quaint ideas about what government was really for, and even quainter ideas about democracy and participatory government. So now the corrupt CEO and what's left of his staff are besieged by a majority of the new board of directors. But they're obviously hoping they can hang in there until an opportune moment to clean out their slush funds and take an extended vacation in Paraguay.
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I've been wondering about the converse
I've been wondering if the congressional investigations could piggyback onto the DOJ ones. I mean, could the Senate committee simply subpoena the DOJ investigators' papers, etc. as they were generated?
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Congress can tell Justice to go fuck themselves.
In Iran Contra, Ollie's conviction for perjury was overturned because allegedly the Special Prosecutor failed to adequately insulate his investigation from contaminating information garnered thru the Iran Contra Congressional Hearings.
It's up to Justice to adequate create a firewall between the two disparate sets of data, and is only meaningful if there is an intent to prosecute Goodling. As attractive as that might be - I don't believe that Justice has the ability to stop the Judiciary Committee from granting Goodling limited immunity and compelling her testimony.
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Loyalty
So this is what Gonzales does to his loyal pawn Goodling. Not surprising to me, but I'm sure she's very surprised... poor little Christian cheerleader.
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Loyality begets profit.
Every lemming pushed, cajoled,or has outright resigned from this six year circus has profited by book deals and TV circuit bleating. Immunity shamunity. She'll make a couple of hundred thousand dollars for being a lying stonewalling party ideologue. K Street here comes another...
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I can hear the conversation
"Monica, listen, you take the fall, let us "investigate" you just long enough to dodge this other thing, then we'll find you innocent and there's a nice job at a big prestigious national law firm waiting for you when it's all over."
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DOJ Prosecution?
And what exactly is the "criminal penalty" for unfair hiring practices? Is political affiliation a protected class under equal hiring provisions?
Goodling's testimony would seem more relevant to Congress than to the DOJ, especially since she has already resigned. Her testimony could provide Congress, however, with the evidence necessary to remove members of the administration from their positions and potentially lead to other more serious charges.
As someone else pointed out it may be moot if the DOJ properly maintains "independence" in their own evidentiary gathering.
This smells badly of another attempt by the administration to obstruct Congress in their constitutional oversight role. Wow...if Congress could only prove that.
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The Fall Girl
Poor Monica Goodling! Look like she'll be the one who takes the fall for sleazy Alberto. One more body in the pile of people who must be sacrificed for the madness and idiocy of King George.
What is it with women named "Monica" getting screwed by the President?
I don't have much sympathy for Goodling. She willingly put on her Presidential kneepads and bowed before the altar of Bush. If she gets the shaft over this, it's justice served.
Of course, the Democratic cowards in Congress will willingly take her as a sacrifice, and drop their pursuit of Gonzales. Monica will no doubt go on with her life, land a cushy work-free job at some GOP-fed institute, then find herself back at the White House is a few years, as Special Adviser to President Jeb Bush.
AIN'T AMERICA GREAT?!?!?!
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Goodling
will take the 5th regardless of who is investigating.
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Temporary Measures
The Republican's desperately trying to stop investigations from going forward seem to be under the illusion that they will be running the department of justice forever, when all they are doing is adding to the list of crimes they will be under investigation for in two years when the Democrats will almost certainly take the Whitehouse. Of course the ones at the top will likely have their pardons by that time, but none of this could happen without a whole lot of unimportant enablers who won't be beyond the reach of the law. The mind boggles at the amount of clueless idiots that now fill the halls of the JD.
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She can't take the 5th if she's granted immunity.
Once granted immunity, her choices are testify or pack a toothbrush and head for Club Fed. As I recall, Susan McDougall was willing to do 18 months for refusing to testify in Whitewater. My guess is Monica Goodling doesn't have the cojones McDougall did.
Ah - Whitewater. America was a simpler kinder place then; I'm nostalgic for quaint scandals involving double-wides and mixing oral sex and pizza. In retrospect, the Clinton presidency has the air of a slightly-naughty PJ party; Bush's presidency is more like Nightmare on Elm Street.
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The Blame Game
Watch out Monica,you will ultimately be held responsible not only for the Attorneys affair, but also for the appointment of Gonzo the lapdog and heaven help you eventually even for the initiation of the Iraq disaster. Uncle Pat wont be much help here so you will have to do the praying yourself as well as quoting the 5th. Good luck, could not have happened to a nicer person.
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Susan McDougall
I thought that Susan was confined because she refused to lie . Is that not the case ? Did she commit a crime ? wasn't her confinement for contempt ? I forgot and I am recalling that I felt Susan McDougall was entitled to a grudging if not indeed a wide and gracious respect for her principles .
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Connect the Dots! It's Fun and Easy!
First a question: why doesn't Salon allow anchor tags for the insertion of embedded links to examples and explanatory material? They allow other HTML code, why not that one?
To my point:
Read this Tim Grieve story, as you've obviously done if you've gotten this far.
Then read this story about Scott Bloch's and the Office of Special Counsel's "investigation" of three separate WH scandals:
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/CREW_OSC_wrong_choice_for_Bush_0424.html
Then read THIS story about the investigation by a WH "panel", whatever that means, into allegations of wrongdoing by Stuart W. Bowen Jr., the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction (you have to add the http etc at the front of the link because we can't embed anchored links.)
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/02/AR2007050202714.html
They're not very difficult dots to connect, really. Every one of the above, and certainly more besides that are going on under the radar (so far), are attempts by this corrupt administration to appear to be doing something to address serious issues and allegations, while in reality - remember reality? - doing all in their power to shield the guilty parties, especially those in the top levels of government, almost certainly including those in the White House and Bush himself.
How much of this filth must we take? I mean really, how long will we be lied to, and OBVIOUSLY lied to, before people take to the streets and scream, finally, loudly and long enough to be heard?
Our government is LYING TO US DAILY about stuff that really matters, not just the piddling crap that all governments lie about, but real, honest to god life and death stuff. Why are we allowing it still?