Fails any common sense interpretation of events.

Code word "school" as in "back to..."

"Hey, I went on spring break and only got one STD, not all 3. Quite successful, I believe"

--From AG's college diary

On the upside, the NYTimes kicked his ass. For them, the panel is way, way empty. Hee.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/20/us/20capital.html

Really, what do you guys expect of this administration? This is just par for the course. Of course, a par for them is a triple bogey for the rest of the world.

One Republican said it was like watching the clubbing of a baby seal. I don't often agree with Republicans, but this one was right. Gonzales spent all day saying "I don't recall" when he wasn't saying "it was my plan, but I don't remember any of the discussions or details" or "I don't know why some of the U.S. Attorneys were picked, but I can assure you that they weren't picked for bad reasons." After his performance a lot of Americans now believe him to be so mentally deficient that he probably doesn't recall any of the details or even have a clue what is expected of him when he goes to his office.

Gonzales is America's top law enforcement officer. He is a graduate of Harvard law. He is a former Texas Supreme Court Judge. If he can convince most Americans that he is too stupid for his job, Frodo has done a "heckofa job."

Unbelieveable. Please remind people that we still do not know:

1. Who hatched the plan to remove the US Attorneys?
2. Who placed the names on the list?
3. Who planned to bypass the Senate and slip the provision into the Patriot Act?
4. Who reviewed the "performance issues" to make the list.

If the AG can't answer these questions, he should be fired for incompetence. If you have any doubt that Karl Rove is, in fact, running our country you should look no further than the testimony yesterday. They will protect him at all costs - including a fake history of their own making, whether anyone believes it or not.

sec. code: attack - the time is now. Do not let this leave the front page.

The panel is half full, you could say.

You have to admire them though. They are political animals to the bitter end.

Mark said: "Really, what do you guys expect of this administration? This is just par for the course. Of course, a par for them is a triple bogey for the rest of the world."

To continue the golf analogy, they already took their mulligan with Ashcroft. They're shooting 8 on a par three, and they're still in the greenside bunker.

CW: Rice. Where is Condi these days?

The administration’s stone wall surrounding the investigation will eventually cause the Democrats to either give up or impeach. The White House doesn’t care which.

If the Democrats move to impeach Gonzo, the Republicans will rally; it’s their nature to stand behind the vilest of criminals if they have an R behind their name. The administration desperately needs a cause to get the rank and file back in line, this could be what it takes. There aren’t enough real Democrats out there for impeachment to fly anyway, so that avenue is DOA.

The other advantage for the Republicans should the Democrats play the impeachment card, is that it would violate some anti-impeachment agreement which presumably took place between the parties. The agreement must have been made around the time ethics enforcement became a four letter word. “Violation” of the it would give the Republicans license to begin impeachment proceedings against the next Democratic president before Inauguration Day, as if they won’t anyway, but Democrats never learn.

So keeping Gonzo is a win-win for the administration. Yesterday was enlightening in that it showed Gonzales really doesn’t have any idea what the true managers of his department do. Where could they find greater stooge than Gonzo who could also get confirmation? Even Hatch would know the day of the week.

There isn’t a good maneuver left for the Democrats at this juncture, unless one of the “Christians” in the administration grows a conscience.

Cardin from Maryland made the point that Gonzales doesn't seem to understand how serious the damage is he's done to the Department of Justice and to the credibility of United States Attorneys. There is no equality under the law when our country's legal representatives are selected and excluded and or hired and fired based on political partisonship, membership elitism and or legal malleability. Not to mention that the Attorney General of the United States, his personal aide and the Assistant Attorney General of the United States have all knowingly lied to Congress through commission and omission to cover-up the lying/criminal actions of Karl Rove, Harriet Miers and George W. Bush. The United States Attorneys judged unworthy for their short-comings are morally, ethically and professionally superior to Gonzales, Rove, Miers and Bush. Based on their own performance standards, the four of them should also be "pushed out" too! And if anyone asks, I'll be happy to testify that I was one of many who first suggested their names.

Someone posted the question of why there was so "Little emphasis on the voter fraud hoax, little mention of the coincidence of these actions happening in battleground states, little mention of the potential ramifications of disruption of high-level investigations."

I do believe that is what they have been digging into documents for and have combed through everything but the Emails on the Rep Party server (used as std procedure since ruling during Clinton administration)

If, after going through the documents, they cannot come up with much of anything to accuse him of, or questions on "specific activities", chances are they may have found nothing.

In that case, Indecisiveness is not a crime

Time will tell

Meanwhile, Thursday, DOJ asks Supremes to dismiss all challenges to the indefinite suspension of detainees in Gitmo. See if you can find that on the front page at nytimes, post or anywhere.

Abu Gonzo is taking the sound and fury, but meanwhile who knows what is going on. The admin will help him twist in the wind forever and under his cover, will continue perpetrating abuses. Gitmo, the NSA wiretapping and whatever else they can pull off. Then they will pardon him.

Of course the White House is pleased by Gonzo's performance. And to be fair to the WAPO (not it's editorial page) they are just repeating (reporting?) what the WH wants the public to hear. Gonzales was successful at the hearing because he said nothing that would implicate turdblossom or Dubya. That is the WH test of the AG's loyalty, which is the one and only criterion on which he was appointed AG in the first place. He blew smoke, lied, unrecollected, fabricated, bamboozled, and otherwise obfuscated in what everyone should have known going in was going to be a totally non-informative session. The only thing remaining is for Bush to award him the presidential medal of freedom for service to his country (aka Bush and Rove). Can't wait for the ceremony.

What did you expect from a lawyer, a lawyer mind you, who when asked, doesn't know whether his grandparents were illegal immigrants..Or is just another "I don't recall" kind of thing?

Since the DOJ has no authority to fire any US Attorney - that resides solely in the president - you can take the DOJ out of that equation. And since Bush has shown himself time and again to make in-your-face moves, don't be too shocked if he fires another US Attorney or two, just to remind everyone of his power.

From osage's comments forward, you guys have nailed it!

I'm not that anxious for Gonzo to resign, frankly, since I'm of the belief that Orrin Hatch would get the nod to replace him, g_d forbid.

As long as he's still twisting in the wind, the mischief makers at Justice will have to keep a low profile and every move made at the Department will receive its fair share of outside scrutiny and scepticism (one hopes).

I think Gonzales will stay as long as he can be used to delay and take the hits to prevent Congress from getting to Miers, Rove and Bush. If I were the Democratic Senators on the committee, I'd be keeping Gonzales in place to benefit the Party in 2008 and going after Miers and Rove as quickly and forcefully as possible. Gonzales can be used as political cover for the Democrats as well as the Bush administration. I don't believe the Democrats will be in a hurry to oust Gonzales. He's a perfect whipping boy and diversion from their real agenda; Bush's impeachment.

Why did the Washington Post agree to let someone defend him anonymously like that?

Seems to me that the Post's own guidelines an when to allow anonymous quotes don't count, "We want to give you our partisan spin, but we know it's such a crock that we don't want our name associated with it."

Someone correct me if I'm wrong or if they know why this would be allowed?

I agree with kentuck - it is pretty clear to me what happened, at least with Iglesias. Bush got one too many calls from Domenici, and threw one of his hissy fits, in vague enough language that he can say he did not discuss specific cases. Sure he didn't. He just said something to the effect of 'that sob in New Mexico has to go'. They won't admit it because the details of the hissy fit would be embarrassing.

I haven't seen anyone comment on a new tack Gonzales took. At least it was new to me: he said Carol Lam was in trouble for not pursuing gun cases. Was this thrown in just for this week in the wake of the Virinia Tech shooting? If so, besides being incredibly cynical and manipulative (no surprise) it is a trademark Bushie case of attacking the other guy for your own weaknesses. Get ready to hear about how many Bush appointees who did NOT get fired ignored illegal firearms sales in Virginia.

The problem is this: Erosion is a force upon itself, that goes with credibility in the human existence. Already there is erosion among staffers in various offices throughout, I think the template comes from Minnesota where senior staffers took a voluntary demotion keeping their jobs. I am also certain that headhunters (being one in another field) are calling offices throughout seeking professional litigators, a flood always starts as a trickle.

If Gonzales does not resign their ability to litigate will be compromised, astute defense attorney's with a hint of projecting political intent will seize upon this as will judges, it is in the public domain and legitimate.

This would be an unexpected outcome and force the AG out and cause even more damage.

I think you mean, "They're a 'half-panel-full' kinda group."

If he won't go, and if the President won't fire him, he should be impeached.

And that might be better, actually, since more evidence and a fuller picture of what actually happened here might finally be forthcoming.

Steve wrote:

"...he is incapable of such a challenge. I am embarrassed, as an American, to have such a fool in such a high place."

Substitute Bush for AGAG and you know how many of us have felt for 6 years now.

There is only way that Alberto is going: if he is charged with a crime, such as perjury or lying to Congress. And as fun as yesterday was to watch, there was still way too much speech-a-fying from Dems and not nearly enough cross examination. I mean, guys like Herb Kohl get up there, ask a couple of semi-tough questions, then conclude with a long, stupid, completely pointless speech about Gonzo being a disgrace to his office. Lame.

In other words, Dems didn't focus enough on the record. They didn't force Gonzo into enough lies. They didn't question him like, well, lawyers. They didn't ask tough questions designed to elicit untruthful testimony for the purpose of charging Gonzo with a crime.

So Gonzo will stay. Which is a very bad thing, since a new AG would, almost by definition, be far more independent. Gonzo's role for the next 24 months will be to obstruct and interfere with any and all investigations of the White House. Like Rummy and George Tenet, he will be rewarded for his incompetence by the White House. The more bullets he's willing to take, the more valuable he is to the president. The notion that Gonzo being "damaged goods" will somehow make him ineffective completely misses the point about his current role vis a vi the White House. Gonzo's job is not to be an "effective AG." His role is to protect the White House and take orders directly from Karl Rove. The more compromised he is by scandal the more beholden to the White House he becomes (if that's even possible).

Letting him stay is a huge mistake. And the Dems are going to do just that. Again, they don't need to impeach him...I think there would be enough political pressure to force him to step down if he were charged with a crime. But I don't think that's gonna happen.

The last throes of Freddoes problems. I'm surprised Cheney didn't assess the situation that way.

Is it possible that the AG goes into a Senate "re-confirmation" hearing without the benefit of knowing the substance of the interviews with his senior staff? Three weeks of preparation?

I don't think this posting is very fair, quite frankly, especially to Dan Eggen of the WaPo. It seems to imply that the Washington Post is carrying water for Gonzalez.

While the WaPo has been weak at best on keeping the light shining on the Bush regime, when it comes to the USA firing scandal Dan Eggen has been the very definition on an investigative reporter since January of this year.

Take a look at the history of the articles he has written on this subject.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2007/03/05/LI2007030500666.html

Given that the WaPo has a substantial track record of abusing the public forum to provide undeserved cover for the outrageous behavior of the Bush Administration, it's great that bloggers and citizen journalists continue to scrutinize members of the traditional media.

However, this country is turning a corner after six years of Republican rule, and it is now equally important to give credit where credit is due. Dan Eggen has done a bang-up job of investigating, and keeping the public aware of, many of the details in this complex issue.

We should go out of our way to give props to those in the press who are trying to do more than transcribe White House talking points. Eggen clearly qualifies for those props.

I reckon Gonzo will be left twisting in the wind until late summer when (a) he can be fixed up with a face saving sinecure and (b) he can make a 'graceful' exit from the AG's office and (c) the GOP members on the oversight committee will be able to tell the Dem members you have got your pound of flesh, forget about Rove.

Everbody will be happy.

Gonzo has spent his entire career as a flunky for Bushco and he is not going anywhere as long as continues to serve his masters. His job is to keep spouting inane non-sequitors (is he really that dumb?) until this administration skulks out of town in a couple a years. If he can keep DOJ in turmoil, then corrupt Republican congressmen can't be prosecuted. If the country gets obsessed with the "should he stay - should he go" nonsense, then Iraq (surge my ass!), Walter Reed, Katrina, and the continuing rape of America by big corporations stays off of page 1. It's actually a brilliant strategy - and it is working so far.

Comments by all the Republicans remind me of the conclusion of the movie "Colonel Redl."
Disgraced Oberst Redl (Klaus Maria Brandauer) is taken by his colleagues to a hotel room where a loaded revolver awaits him. He is expected to "do the right thing" and save the rest of the officer corps from scandal.
Unlike Redl, Gonzo doesn't seem to take hints.

code: "offer"

Makes you appreciate how they can also believe that history will look favorably upon them and the war in Iraq as well...

Nothing new, but the code I drew is "shame," which none of this Admin is capable of.

Whoa there!

Jeebus, I know this crowd understands the nature and depth of the criminal conspiracy which is the Bush administration. But the public doesn't. And they must be educated and exposed to all the information we, as TPM junkies, know to be true. That's going to take a while, but we're off to a very good start. The AG has been shown to be unable to perform is job at any reasonable level, and that it's very possible that he has committed serious crimes.

But, keep in mind that getting rid of Gonzo is not the successful end of this process. It's only Stage 1. In the hands of intelligent, and very pissed off, lawmakers and their staff, along with aroused citizens like the ones here, a civics lesson on the role of each branch of government, and the punishment for those who harm the Constitution is going to unfold over the next few months.

And I am amazed that most of you don't understand the process, or the purpose of what is taking place.