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Griffin: Public Service "Not Worth It"

Your friends in the administration try to set you up as a U.S. attorney for a couple years, even plotting to lie to senators who might make trouble for you, but then it all blows up and goes wrong and you have to step down. Can you blame Tim Griffin for souring on public service?

From the AP:

Former interim U.S. Attorney Tim Griffin tearily announced Thursday that public service is, "not worth it."

Griffin was named to replace Bud Cummins after Cummins was fired by the Bush administration along with seven other U.S. Attorneys.

Griffin addressed a lunchtime audience at the Clinton School of Public service Thursday, sometimes crying as he said he had no plans to return to politics.

Via ThinkProgress.


113 Comments

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Quick, somebody call the waaaahbulance!

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That jackass wasn't serving the public anyway. He never has and the public is better off for it.

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Wow, I feel so sorry for him. Not.

...now watch him become a lobbyist...

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Griffin NEVER served the public. The only thing he knows is to take a paycheck from the government without doing anything "legal" to earn it. You can't blame public service when Mr. Griffin really did everything he could to stop people from voting. And this is public service?? NOT

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is he or is he not going to work for fred thompson... i suppose that has to wait until fred officially announces his candidacy... maybe he could take gillespie's place in virginia... hey, he's gotta pay his mortgage, right...?

http://takeitpersonally.blogspot.com/

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Does anyone else see the irony of Griffin speaking at the Clinton School of Public Service?

Wasn't his work in "public service", after all, just a cover for his real job of undermining Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign? Now he's speaking (and getting all weepy) at a school named after her husband.

This guy's a real loser.

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The legal profession baby lawyers can join NASA general counsel Michael Wholley: Lawyers have been targeted for indictments, prosecutions, and severe legal consequences.

Stop whining, Griffin-lawyer! You had a duty to enforce the law, and are saying only now -- after being caught -- that public service "isn't worth" it.
Get real: Sure it's worth it -- all that money, power, and self-appointed discretion to ignore the law, and hide evidence. Griffin is only whining because he got caught, not that he's upset with the abuse of power he and his ilk in the legal profession helped perpetuate since 2001.

Griffin should be prosecuted simply because he's a lawyer in DoJ and whining. US legal profession has shown its true colors: Populated by lazy, reckless people who refuse to timely assert their oath; and make excuses not to fully coordinate their duties to defend the Constitution. The legal profession proves it must be closely monitored, not to be trusted, and subject to eternal no notice audits.

Griffin and his legal profession can go Cheney themselves: They have betrayed their oaths, defied their duties, not done their jobs, and are trying to find someone else to blame. Wrong answer, lawyers, This problem is for you and your ilk in the legal profession to clean up. What happened to the DC Bar and their disciplinary board? Apparently, they don't take their oaths of office seriously either. America's legal profession is a cess pool, and their lawyers have shown themselves to be incapable of ensuring their professional are meeting their legal obligations regardless their political party. Utterly contempt able of the American lawyers. Shame!

All this illegal warfare, Geneva violations, illegal Presidential activity, and the legal community would have us believe that this was needed. Ha! Time to get the lawyers to clearly stated which unlawful contracts, memoranda, and agreements they have written; how many NSLs they 've issued to hidden evidence of crimes; and how many investigations they've started not to enforce the law but to intimidate Americans to be silent bout this reckless abuse of power by the American legal profession. They might have been trusted, but they have let down their families, their peers, and those who follow in their footsteps with this utterly reprehensible reckless performance. Clear statutes and standards of conduct, but they did not fully meet them even when they were supervised. Now the circle of culpability widens: What happened to the senior partners; why no i investigations; what does this say about their training; what really goes on at the ABA conferences; what is the lawyer's plan to ensure this does not happen again? All they appear to want to do is hide evidence, blame others, and pretend this is someone else's problem.

No, we the people can find other lawyers -- in other jurisdictions -- who marginally show some interest in the law, and can be trusted to fully do what they're supposed to do _without_ constant oversight, monitoring, questioning, and fact checking. WHO needs an American lawyer when you have to go through the entire line of case law they've cited to see which they've missed, misquoted, or is inapposite?

I wouldn't trust a lawyer as far as I could throw them. what a waste of time: Having to double check their work; hire malpractice lawyers; and then a second crew of legal oversight just to manage the legal-oversight problem. What a waste of money America's lawyers are giving We the People with this abysmal service. And they want to get paid how much per hour for this non-sense? They might as well be grocery store baggers earning minimum wage before I'd take them seriously. they're buffoons: Look at this mess that they have permitted, not stopped, allowed to continue, and would have us believe "nothing can be done." Fine: Then get the lawyers off the political stage, and let's find a crew that will take responsibility, will lead, and will enforce the law. Not the lawyers.

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You mean *your* brand of "public service"? No. Certainly not worth it. Clearly whatever the hell you were doing didn't pan out well. Perhaps it's a sad testament to incompetence: even the crimes and political manipulations could not be carried out and - you were in charge! Amazing.

A friend of mine related the story of being fired once from a lousy restaurant kitchen job as a teen. As he was heading out the door, the idiot running the place yelled "Get the hell out of here and don't come back"

Fitting parting advice for yet another mal-administration partisan hack.

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http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/

utube of some of it, what a shit.

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Wow, who knew that the RNC constituted the entire public.

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Nice screed on lawyers. I'd say it's worth about .4 billable hours.

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NO, not Tim 'the cager' Griffin! Jeebus but we're gonna miss you, ya old lunk. Aw c'mon now dry up those pretty little peepers, there's an election coming up and we know just the thing that'll put a big smile in between those adorable cheeks. Love ya, mean it.

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By "not worth it," I assume he means that his RNC kickback wasn't as much as he expected...

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Griffin's problem is that he is is not worthy of a public service job. But he sure doesn't want to admit that, does he?

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I'd pay real money for the video of this incompetent crybaby's speech.

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Wow. Public service is not worth it.

This coming from Karl Rove's opposition researcher.

Mr. Pot, meet kettle.

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The guy looks and sounds like Frank Burns from the old shoe M.A.S.H.

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I contend a major problem with our country is rot at the top. The bosses know the problems but they won't fix it and their buddy, the other boss, won't fix it either. Our airline pilots are forced to fly hazardous material over populated areas when it's against the law. Their boss says do it or you're fired.

Go into any courtroom in the country and you can listen to the lawyers disregard the record, but it's okay, it's the lawyers' club.

Look at how many times the bush admin. ignores the law, deceives us, spies on us, and no one says a word. They have the lawyers to explain it away.

Try complaining to your boss and you're fired, or they will make so difficult you quit. We need rules and regulations to protect ourselves from each other. It's called oversight. Something sadly lacking in the GOP lexicon.

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He cried?!?!?!?! I thought Republicans were all macho men - he gets busted (likely with no real consequences to his career and livelihood) after a charmed life off the public tit and he's crying? Why are these people considered the "tough guys" and the Dems who actually fought in wars considered pussies?

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Crying now seems to be an R specialty -- other recent instances include Boehner and Libby's lawyer. Maybe it gives them cred with the Evangelicals? (I remember that Tammy Faye could just come apart when she reflected on how really fabulous Jesus was.)

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Funny, he does look like old ferret-face & just as much a shady hypocrite.

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He's just the victim of un-corrupt processes. Tried to squeeze by and circumvent but we just made it too tough on him. Name one public service you performed other than your resignation. Just took and took and took but because we didn't have enough to give that you could continue on without being reprimanded, you resign.
You're not getting off that easy pal. You've got a lot coming to you for services rendered and many of us want you to get what's coming to you.

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Typical reaction of a bully, cry when confronted.

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Ditto on the Frank Burns comparison.

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Ditto on the Frank Burns comparison.

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I don't like these victim-approaches to issues. There are other options. People could refuse and throw the non-sense back at the GOP, American leadership: "Do your job."

==================
Examples:
Posted by: Dan L.
Date: June 14, 2007 06:46 PM

"I contend a major problem with our country is rot at the top." Yes, but there must be rotton people who refuse to think who obey the rot. Rot requires other rot to keep going. Not clear why people didn't refuse. They could've said, "Look we like paying our mortgage, but we'd rather have our integrity. Either you change your ways, or we're going to quit and live in a cave."

"The bosses know the problems but they won't fix it and their buddy, the other boss, won't fix it either." Boss has a boss; or there is a complaint system; or people could find a new career in another country. Many bosses have no clue what is really going on.

"Our airline pilots are forced to fly hazardous material over populated areas when it's against the law." Maybe the FAA IG should hear more. Where's the FBI when you need it?

"Their boss says do it or you're fired." People can refuse, and become informants, and put their boss in jail.

"Go into any courtroom in the country and you can listen to the lawyers disregard the record, but it's okay, it's the lawyers' club." That's why a Judge is there to remind them. If one of the lawyers-clients doesn't like it they can appeal, file a complaint in re Judicial Cannons.

"Look at how many times the bush admin. ignores the law, deceives us, spies on us, and no one says a word." That's right: Silence, no efforts to impeach, not discussion, world silence. Nobody is standing up to Bush in Iraq. The whole world is zombies. [/snark] There's hope.

"They have the lawyers to explain it away." Right, explaining it away, private settlements, no change. Doom. [/snark] There's nope.

"Try complaining to your boss and you're fired, or they will make so difficult you quit." There is something called a suggestion; if they refuse, make it better elsewhere: New Government, better oversight, let others know your suggestions. You'd be surprised who reads this.

"We need rules and regulations to protect ourselves from each other." We need bigger legal sticks to poke the lawyers with, "Do your jobs, or find somewhere else to drool. . ."

"It's called oversight." Yes, and law enforcement, and grand jury indictments. Not just Congress, but also other options. Can talk about other solutions.

"Something sadly lacking in the GOP lexicon." Right, Political leadership in the GOP is wanting. They appare to be criminals, and not able to timely move to enforce the law, or call for outside help to clean up their mess.

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Griffin's crying: Possible because We the People put the screws on the US government November 2006.

Does the GOP want to bet this won't continue? It will continue. We the People shall be relentless.

You came after We the People in ignoring Our Constitution. Bad choice. Now, we're coming after you by fully asserting the power of We the People: Litigation, public discussion, and all lawful options to impose Our Power to defend this Constitution. We shall be relentless. GOP was stupid to believe We the People would be silent, not respond, or not figure out what was going on. They have betrayed our trust, and there is little reason to do much other than mock the GOP for their stupidity.

The GOP is learning the hard way there are personal consequences for refusing to fully assert ones oath, do ones job, and rise above the abuse of power within their party. The GOP members are learning the hard way that the leadership in their party will leave them out to dry, and stuck with the backlash.

I don't see any backlash against the DNC for this abuse. The DNC isn't crying: Lazy, buffoonery GOP legal counsel is crying. That's not a backlash, but a smack down against the GOP. Imagine what would happen as more evidence surfaces, and real pressure were imposed on the GOP leadership. More GOP leaders whining, crying, and running.

Bring it on, GOP. It's coming right back after you through the Justice system which you corrupted. It's now turning on you.

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Griffin will eventually migrate to BYU: "Enter to learn, go forth to serve".

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Yeah, right, he has "no plans" to return to politics. I guess he just signed onto Fred Thompson's campaign out of habit???

And yes indeed, the security word "lock" fits here, as in it's a "lock" that Tim Griffin wouldn't know how to tell the truth if you held a .44 Magnum to his fat little Republican belly.

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So Tim, take heart. Tell us just precisely what you were doing in the way of 'public service' and just precisely who put you up to doing it?

It might help if you knew why you were hired.

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Not so much fun as generating caging lists for the purpose of denying African Americans the vote, eh Timmy?

Lowlife.

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My thought on this nonsense is simple: you've gotta be kidding me!

Let me get this straight, you play along with this scandalous appointment with full knowledge that you are not even close to being qualified and certainly not the best choice for the position, and now you're upset that "public service" is sooooo not fair? This was an insider bro-deal from the get-go and if Mr. Griffin was not aware of that then that alone is testament that he is lacking the facilities to hold the position.

Get over yourself. This mock victim act is pathetic and insulting. And I'm even more insulted that Mr. Griffin dared to reference the term "public service". Very few politicians and almost certainly less Republicans are serving anything in Washington other than themselves and their cronies. Where and when does the public enter into the equation sir? I only wish we as a nation could gather around him right now...point...and laugh.

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Not so much fun as generating caging lists for the purpose of denying African Americans the vote, eh Timmy?

Lowlife.

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Back to private-sector opposition research consulting. My heart is broken and bleeds for him.

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As a professor teaching people to work for the public I am COMPLETELY offended. This liar belonged at the podium at a business school, not at the School of Public Service.

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Boo f-ing Hoo Timmy. Tell it to the African American soldiers who were willing to give their lives for this country but were denied the right to votes due to SCUM like you. May you rot in jail!

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Unless you get away with it, of course. Then it's worth it...

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Wow,

I guess this a$$holes position is that if I can't get one over and ph*ck up the system then screw it!! He must have been in this just for himself and his criminal buddies; and not service to this great nation.

Ph*ck this a**hole!!

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Where did get Goodling and Griffin get this misplaces sense of entitlement? They are GOP operatives who play hardball politics yet they break down crying when things don't go their way.

How in the world did Tim Griffin get this idea that what he does is public service? Even his military service was a joke. Griffin spent less than four months in Iraq.

Good on the Clinton School of Public Service for giving us an opportunity to see for ourselves that Griffin is a whiny little immature crybaby and a terrible public speaker.

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Don't let the revolving door swat you in the rear.

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Crocodile tears.

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BushCo is standing on a foundation made of lying and deceit. A foundation built on lies and deception crumbles under the weight of the truth. They can try and outrun the truth, but eventually it will catch up with them. We all reap what we sow.

Security code: weight

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Crying??? CRYING ???????

There's no crying in politics......

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Public service not worth it?

How would he know?

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Give me a break with his whining. As a 20 year public servant, I can say that Mr. Griffin doesn't have the faintest idea what public service means. He and his mentor Mr. Rove have done nothing but destroy the idea of public service with their actions. Fuck them both to hell.

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Give me a break with his whining. As a 20 year public servant, I can say that Mr. Griffin doesn't have the faintest idea what public service means. He and his mentor Mr. Rove have done nothing but destroy the idea of public service with their actions. Fuck them both to hell.

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I keep listening to Tim on this video but can't quite understand what he is saying. Starting at 2:30 he's talking about the USA position that he knew was coming available.

I think this is revealing in itself when he says "As I mentioned, I knew there was a slot for me, but, ah.... I wanted to make sure it was something to go to.... that it was something creative. I didn't want somthing that was just sort of???

I'm not sure what his next words are, possibly created, without check??

Can anybody help with this?

He goes on to say he would be disappointed if he didn't get a job in the administration, given what he had already done for the WH and knowing how the WH has rewarded others for their good deeds.

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What a candyass faggot! And I notice they're a dime a dozen in this administration. No wonder they had to bring in James Guckert to butch things up a little.

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Sorry to get off topic, but if the Dems plan is to end the Iraq war by criticizing Generals, its time for a new plan.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0607/4490.html
If Reid thought Politico was the place to go to reach the anit-war base, then he is off base. Snow Job couldn't even wait for the questioning to rip into this one.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/06/20070614-2.html

And Fox devoted Special Report tonight to attacking Reid. Sneer master Brit Hume let loose attack dogs Barnes and Kondracke (sorry Mara, your just a liberal lapdog). The Republican organ got a hard on over this story.

Will someone please get Reid a script, stand by him while he reads it, and escort him from the building when he is done.

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Griffin never served anybody but the R juggernaught. And what about Bud Cummins Tim? Miers calls him "lazy"! Well, I suggest that didn't set well with Cummins and we might hear more from the real US Attorney from the Eastern District of Arkansas.

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>>>Can you blame Tim Griffin for souring on public service?

I know that line was sarcastic but I cant resist the obvious response:

"Um. Yes."

security code: SNAKE

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Your friends in the administration try to set you up as a U.S. attorney for a couple years, even plotting to lie to senators who might make trouble for you, but then it all blows up and goes wrong and you have to step down. Can you blame Tim Griffin for souring on public service?

Perfect paragraph Paul.

You know, sometimes I think there must be something wrong with me because I can't understand how these people even manage to look in the mirror everyday.

Simply amazing.....

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Hey Griffin, F*** YOU pally! I have been in federal public service for over 20 years, and let me tell you something, you couldn't hold a candle to what the public service people provide, put up with and just gernerally carry on every time your so called leader sneezes out another crappy executive order. All the bullshit we hear in the trenches while all the time carying out the mission of our individual agencies.
I know public servants
Public servants are my friends
Public servants are my co-workers
Public servants are my family
And you sir are NO PUBLIC SERVANT

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He goes on to say he would be disappointed if he didn't get a job in the administration, given what he had already done for the WH and knowing how the WH has rewarded others for their good deeds.

Well actually that preceded the above mentioned quote. However, in watching him read his accomplishments, he pauses, goes off script and sid he'd be hurt.

Revealing as to how these repugs knew there would be rewards for their loyalty.

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How would he know? He never tried it. He served the Repubican party, not the public.

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not worth it. sure, it's not worth it when you are exposed as a worthless crony, taking a job because you are a more loyal bushie than the guy they fired.

his sadness probably stems from his realization that he's pretty much worthless as a human being.

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This reminds me of Gordon Strachan, H.R. Haldeman's aide during the Watergate era -- he testified at the Senate Watergate hearings -- when asked about public service, he teared up and said his advice would be "Stay away." Fred Thompson would know all about this....

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This reminds me of Gordon Strachan, H.R. Haldeman's aide during the Watergate era -- he testified at the Senate Watergate hearings -- when asked about public service, he teared up and said his advice would be "Stay away." Fred Thompson would know all about this....

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This reminds me of Gordon Strachan, H.R. Haldeman's aide during the Watergate era -- he testified at the Senate Watergate hearings -- when asked about public service, he teared up and said his advice would be "Stay away." Fred Thompson would know all about this....

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This reminds me of Gordon Strachan, H.R. Haldeman's aide during the Watergate era -- he testified at the Senate Watergate hearings -- when asked about public service, he teared up and said his advice would be "Stay away." Fred Thompson would know all about this....

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How long before this self-absorbed bar-b-q eatin' southern fried baptist ends it all or finally admits that he is gay. This guy is a whimp despite any time he spent in the officers quarters. Time for deacon duty.

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This just goes to show why little Timmy's appointment needed to be "handled" by Karl.

Tim is a blowhard and someone who doesn't take criticism well.

His lack of humility landed him in hot water when he criticized Sen. Pryor where he was "glad" at what he did. Karl was wise to cut his losses.

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Funny, lots of other people say that public service is worth whatever it takes to make the country better. I guess the country isn't worth it, either. Big surprise, considering the context.

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"What had you planned to do after government service, son? You got 30 days." Wilford Brimley as USA James Welles in ABSENCE OF MALICE.

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Bullshit...its been very "Worth it" for quite a few of these guys. Deadeye Dick Cheney for example. His stock options at Halliburton have rise 3281% in the LAST YEAR!

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Bullshit...its been very "Worth it" for quite a few of these guys. Deadeye Dick Cheney for example. His stock options at Halliburton have rise 3281% in the LAST YEAR!

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During the Watergate hearings when all the filth that the Nixon people did was out in the open and it was quite clear that the power madness in the Republican White House had gone out of control, one of the younger flunkies who had participated in all the criminal stuff was asked what he would tell the young people of America now that he had reache this point and his message was pretty much the same as Griffin's. He said he would tell young people not to go into public service. At the time, it was considered almost horrifying. Now, in a similar atmosphere of corruption and power madness in yet another Republican White House it is telling me that there is a certain personality that these people bring with them that is prone to the corrupt actions they engage in and their only real regret is getting caught. The Republican Party and certainly this administration is filled to the brim with second rate people like Bush himself, who, when they get some power go crazy and think they can do anything they please. Rove is just like Bush. A second rate mind, but highly devious and manipulative, no scruples at all. The only real rule for these people is "don't get caught". It is important that Democrats and liberals and left blogistan make very clear as all these scandals continue to unfold over the next few years that this was no abberation but the result of electing Republicans who believe no differently than the old party bosses of the 19th century that "to the victor go the spoils" and that plundering the public treasury for one's self and friends is one of the perks of power. Likewise, using every possible opportunity to treat the civil service of the federal government as a means of advancing political hacks and/or distorting laws and policies for political purposes is just what everyone does. It's important the public knows that this is just not true and that it is only "everybody" if you count the Republicans and no one else.

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Hey Grif! Don't let the door hit ya in the ass...

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This is the mostly first sorta rule in calvin ball: when the game is not going your way,even when you have changed all the rules, you must declare that: "this game is not good enough for me."
Now you are playing real calvin ball
Are there championships coming up at the dunken orgy club on the hill near russian river?

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Jailcell. Maybe Gitmo.

Cry then bitch.

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Well, there's always the lucrative career in the escort bidness in D.C. Perhaps that's where Tim's real skills lie...lay...

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My kingdom for a video of the highlights!!!

And special bonus if he says he wants to spend more time with his family.

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Please, when you post, go do something else and wait. It will show up, and don't post 3 times. Thanks.

Now, as for Mr. Griffin. He may very well be investigated, indicted and prosecuted. Election fraud (not fake voter fraud) carries a steep penalty per incident. That would be tens of thousands of valid voters denied their rights? He better be making a lot per hour to cover that fine, let alone the jail time and his lawyers fees.

Funny how these people vilify trial lawyers until they need them, isn't it?

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guess he is going to pick up his marbles and go home.

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When the going gets tough, The Timmeh gets out. You gotta hand it to these guys who will only play if it's their rules and their ball yet still find a way to lose.

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Q: What do you call 500 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?
A: A good start!

Q: What do you call Tim Griffin at the bottom of the ocean?
A: Doing the public a service.

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I happened to meet this guy in DC in 1996. There were several of us in our 20's and from Arkansas that always seemed to find one another and, regardless of political affiliation, socialize with one another on a regular basis.

Griffin wasn't part of the regular crew, but he was out one night and I remember a strange conversation I had with him. He was working for David Burnett, who was at the time the Independent Counsel investigating Henry Cisneros (then-HUD Secy.).

I simply asked him if he enjoyed his job (I was just rying to be polite and make conversation, honestly, it sounded boring to me, I mean Starr was who you wanted to be working for if your a Republican, right?) His reply was (and forgive me for paraphrasing, but it HAS been 11 years) that it was a great job. When you're a prosecutor, you just look for any reason to prosecute your target that will hold water -- you don't really have to care if their guilty or not.

EEEEWWWW. If "public service" has left a bad taste in his mouth, he has no one to blame but himself. I think his own cynicism

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I am ready for one of Karl Rove's evil followers to flip and write a book for the money. I could see Tim Griffin squealing like a pig on some of Karl's dirty and probably illegal doings. George Stephanopolis turned on the Clintons and it's about time somebody new exposes this bunch. All these Republican zombies running for president keep bringing up senile and now dead Ronald Reagan. "So you plan to bring back the Reagan's astrologer to help you chart the course of your presidency?"

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Fifteen or so years from now, when the attention span-challenged American public has forgotten the universal healthcare and peaceful diplomacy of Presidents Edwards and Obama, and the deficit reductions made by consecutive Democratic-controlled Congresses, this guy's gonna forget he said that when President-elect George P. Bush promises him a Supreme Court slot.

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Fifteen or so years from now, when the attention span-challenged American public has forgotten the universal healthcare and peaceful diplomacy of Presidents Edwards and Obama, and the deficit reductions made by consecutive Democratic-controlled Congresses, this guy's gonna forget he said that when President-elect George P. Bush promises him a Supreme Court spot.

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Lil Timmy wants to join the Bush administration so he can cash in on that executary privilegeory.

We must start working on a new dictionary of terms to describe the new reality as expressed by the BushCo gubermint.

There are so many words and phrases whose meanings have morphed beyond our usual understanding and usage.

"Congressional oversight" is a prime example. The Republican congress missed all these anomalies by BushCo during the past six years. It was an "oversight."

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I wouldn't trust a lawyer as far as I could throw them. what a waste of time: Having to double check their work; hire malpractice lawyers; and then a second crew of legal oversight just to manage the legal-oversight problem. What a waste of money America's lawyers are giving We the People with this abysmal service. And they want to get paid how much per hour for this non-sense? They might as well be grocery store baggers earning minimum wage before I'd take them seriously. they're buffoons: Look at this mess that they have permitted, not stopped, allowed to continue, and would have us believe "nothing can be done." Fine: Then get the lawyers off the political stage, and let's find a crew that will take responsibility, will lead, and will enforce the law. Not the lawyers.

Posted by:
Date: June 14, 2007 06:28 PM

Whatsamattuh? Turley didn't, in your view, put his money where his mouth is?

Ever stop to think that you don't know what you're talking about, despite your effort to impress by adopting what you believe is legalese?

And so puffed up you haven't the courage to provide your identity. And you're to be believed as being credible!?

You don't even respect the other participants here sufficiently to stay on topic. Your long-winded "I'm so ahead of the curve" pseudo-law tracts are obnoxious.

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Crying now seems to be an R specialty -- other recent instances include Boehner and Libby's lawyer. Maybe it gives them cred with the Evangelicals? (I remember that Tammy Faye could just come apart when she reflected on how really fabulous Jesus was.)

Posted by: yellowdogfox
Date: June 14, 2007 06:54 PM

Libby's lawyer cried!? What the hell for? Relief that he isn't going to jail?

I don't think Rove cut his loses re. Griffin. Griffin is getting out before, he hopes, the investigation reaches him. Taylor and Miers are subpoenaed; the water is chest deep and rising.

Tim Griffin: His dream of a reestablished Confederacy as a white supremacist utopia is in tatters. And Herne is attempting to eliminate the toilet paper paper-trail stuck to his sole which leads to his inventing vote fraud charges against Democrats, minorities, and the poor.

He's learning that on the Internet one can run, but not hide.

And Hans von Sakovsky: another nail in the coffin bearing the inscription: "Containing the Corrupt Remains of Karl Rove and His Permanent Republican Majority Delusion".

Who's next on the list of Rove's vote fraudster agents to expose?

And Colin "Fake Hero" Powell's former aide is calling for the impeachment of Bushit himself.

All of this began with the Democrats gaining modest control of the Congress, some six months ago, and in only three months of investigation, which only begins with the DOJ. And the GSA. And the DOT. And Interior. And Abramoff-Rove.

This is not a good time to invest in scandal if one hopes for a quick payoff: there are too many on the market.

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So let's hope the rest of the Bush admin felons follow him out.

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Tim Griffin is perfect for the role of defendant in Judge Walton's court for multiple felonies for "caging" and related Federal crimes. With co-defendants von Sakovsky and Hearne.

And after that, Karl Rove, on those charges and many others, including treason.

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There will be time to track down and prosecute this criminal regime; they're all young idiots.

I'm seriously considering changing careers to become one who can put these bastards behind bars.

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>>Crying now seems to be an R specialty -- other >>recent instances include Boehner and Libby's >>lawyer.

>Libby's lawyer cried!? What the hell for? Relief >that he isn't going to jail?

Not today. At the conclusion of the trial, when he contemplated the horror of this noble man -- sob! -- being found guilty of a crime.

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This so-called American concocted and executed a scheme to disenfranchise American soldiers serving in Iraq because they were African-American and therefore presumed to be Democrats. The only "public service" this reprehensible specimen should be doing for the next twenty years is making license plates in prison. Cry me a river, Timmy Boy.

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Not today. At the conclusion of the trial, when he contemplated the horror of this noble man -- sob! -- being found guilty of a crime.

Posted by: yellowdogfox
Date: June 15, 2007 12:06 AM

Then he didn't tell the whole truth -- perhaps because all choked up: not only Libby but also his lawyer has "suffered enough".

Funny a rich white boy thinking his tears would impress a black judge who knows a few things about classism. I'd love to see Fitzpatrick investigate the Griffin-Hearne-von Sakovsky triad, and try them in Walton's court.

And to think I have long had a bias agisnt Republican-appointed "law 'n order" judges . . . gonna hafta modify that a bit, thank's to Libby.

So, thanks to Libby, the truth shall set me free -- in the stead of Libby.

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This so-called American concocted and executed a scheme to disenfranchise American soldiers serving in Iraq because they were African-American and therefore presumed to be Democrats. The only "public service" this reprehensible specimen should be doing for the next twenty years is making license plates in prison. Cry me a river, Timmy Boy.

Posted by: Dr. Wu
Date: June 15, 2007 01:07 AM

All joking aside, this is the most outrageous I've heard about this bastard's "public service". One can support the troops, or one can support Bushit. It is impossible to support both.

I hope this information comes out in the public hearings along about a year from August.

If it comes out sooner, just as well.

All of this fall out is direct result of the Democrats doing as they are doing in Congress. It should be obvious why I am fed up with the Democrat-bashing. It isn't the Democrats who perpetrated these crimes; it is the Democrats who are deliberately and deliberatively exposing this hate-cored cult for what it is, and what it has been doing.

Tonight I went to youtube and watched several lengthy clips of Gonzales being interviewed by Leahy, Kennedy, and even Specter. From seeing those I don't know if I could have watched his entire testimony without my head exploding.

SC = fear. As in, Rove's politics of fear has turned on him.

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"Not worth it?"...what, raiding the country's wealth like a personal piggybank and destroying our Democracy not good enough for him?

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There's no crying in election theft.

SC: (boys of) summer

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In the immortal words of hack-clergyman Cardinal Wolsey: "Had I but served God as diligently as I have served the King..."

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A potential USA crying???????
Is he related to Paris Hilton and did he cry MOM?>

I am glad this guy is out of here. If public service is NOT WORTH IT- why did Karl Rove want you to have this job so badly Timmy???? What were you planning to do to honest Americans?

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Driffin Say: "Shootski Mang! This aine no fun aight

I kin git away wiff alot more skullduggery in the private sector without all this oversight and attempted policy regulation. Regulations! We Doan Need No Steenking Regulations!. Regulations are for Democrat zah! I suggest no one fill these positions 'cause I'm not having a good time anymore and I think I pooped my pants. Could someone get on the public address system at customer service and see if you can locate my mommy?"

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Numerous Experts Refute Bush Cheney 9/11 Report:

A new documentary available free on Google Video entitled "Taking Back 9/11" features a wide variety of experts in technical and other fields explaining in detail hundreds of reasons why the official Bush-Cheney administration report on 9/11 does not correctly account for the series of events which caused 3 WTC buildings to collapse in NYC in 2001, killing over 3000 people, injuring many more, and causing ongoing health problems. A "process of transformation" would be difficult to implement "absent a catalyzing event such as a new Pearl Harbor", according to a report issued by Project For The New American Century, a "thinktank" which included Jeb Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, James Woolsey, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Bill Kristol, James Bolton, Zalmay M. Khalilzad, William Bennett, and Dan Quayle among others. 9/11 was then repeatedly invoked in the corporate media as a justification to launch U.S. wars which have so far claimed the lives of over 3500 of America's Best and Bravest. Including the over 3000 lives lost in New York City on 9/11, over 500,000 people have now been killed or wounded in subsequent U.S. actions. The National Debt has now risen from a 1/2 Billion Dollar Surplus left by President Clinton, to a 9 Trillion Dollar Debt overseen by Bush and Cheney.

Arizona's Jon Kyl Threatens Americas Freedom With His Actions.

A Republican Senator, Jon Kyl, has emerged as the chief enemy of our American Constitutionally Guaranteed Free Press with his anonymous and secret hold being placed on the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in Our National (OPEN) Government Act, a bill that would strengthen our American Public Right to Public Information guaranteed by our U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Kyl said his hold on the OPEN Government Act was prompted from objections by Alberto Gonzales. Gonzales is currently under investigation by his own department, our U.S. Department Of Justice. Kyl's position backs Gonzales' assertions that Bush's 2005 Executive Order on FOIA -- EO 13392 -- was sufficient in streamlining FOIA, when in fact Bush's order and the anti-FOIA moves of former Attorney General Ashcroft have impeded Public Access to information on various activities by our own government officials which by law all Americans do have the right to access. Currently, many U.S. agencies are not acknowledging receipt of FOIA requests as required under our U.S. Laws. The OPEN Government legislation is co-sponsored by VT Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy and by TX Republican Senator John Cornyn. Several other U.S. agencies have attempted to deny media status to various organizations in ploys to delay requests, or to make search and reproduction fees cost prohibitive, also in contravention of Americans Legal Rights under U.S. Laws. Kyl has proposed legislation which would enact a British-European type of "Official Secrets Act" on U.S. soil, a measure that President Clinton vetoed when it came to his desk. Wayne Madsen, former member of the official U.S. intelligence community, cited Kyl as a major threat to American's Freedom Of Information with respect to government activities in a 1998 report written for the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). In that report, Madsen wrote "The intelligence community and Pentagon also ensured a body of Congressional champions of information warfare advocates and supporters. Chief among them are Senator Jon Kyl, whose Subcommittee featured 'gloom and doom' witnesses" stating that an "information Pearl Harbor" threatens American's freedom and security. Like the Project For The New American Century, "New Pearl Harbors" seem to be an object of intense interest for Kyl and his supporters/followers. In the 1950's, Republican Joe McCarthy's Unamerican Activities Committee sought to persecute private American individuals for "communistic beliefs", which he and Richard Nixon accused artists, intellectuals and others of having. So is the Freedom to know what our government has done and is doing unamerican, or is Kyl the new McCarthy?

Former Rove Protege Griffin Says Public Service Not Worth It.

Tim Griffin, the former Karl Rove protege, former interim US Attorney from Arkansas, and reputed U.S. vote cager finally answered some charges in a speech yesterday in Arkansas. Apparently Griffin welled up with tears at various points in his presentation, "crying as he said he had no plans to return to politics,and that 'Public Service is not worth it'" according to reports. Griffin may have sought to prevent thousands of American voters, including American Soldiers, from exercising their American right to Vote in 2004. Any interference in Voters Rights, including vote caging, is a very serious Felony, punishable by Fine and/or Imprisonment under U.S. Law. Concerning the vote caging charges, the ones based on the pre-2004 emails he sent, with the subject line "Re: caging", which included spreadsheet attachments with the names of thousands of voters he'd apparently hoped the GOP would challenge at the polls, including American men and women in our military serving overseas, Arkansas Business reports "Griffin remarked about allegations that he participated in efforts to suppress Democratic votes, using a technique called "caging." "This is all made up of whole cloth," he said. "I didn’t cage votes." Here's how caging worked, and along with Griffin's thoughtful emails, inadvertently sent to investigative journalist Greg Palast by the Rove-Griffin team, you'll understand it all in no time: the Bush-Cheney operatives sent hundreds of thousands of letters through our U.S. Mail marked "Do not forward" to voters' homes. Any letters returned due to recipients being away were used as evidence to block these voters' right to cast a ballot on grounds that they were registered at phony addresses. Who were the phony's supposed to be? Homeless men, students on vacation and American soldiers, many of them African-American voters. Why weren't these voters home when the Republican letters arrived? The homeless men were on park benches, the students were on vacation, and the soldiers were overseas; go to Baghdad, lose your vote. Mission Accomplished.

Bush-Cheney Peace Strategy Provides More Arms For All Sides; Environmental Strategy Dumps 64 Million Tons Of Toxic Arms Into Atlantic:

Bush and Cheney, not legitimately elected by a majority of American votes either in 2000, or in 2004, have overseen the use of costly taxpayer-funded military boats loaded with 64,000,000 (Sixty-Four Million) Tons of poisonous U.S. arms, weapons, nerve gas and other cancer-causing war materials, intentionally scuttled into our Atlantic Ocean. Using our oceans and fishing grounds as a toxic waste dump for weaponry paid for by U.S. tax dollars is a U.S. and international environmental crime causing grave damage to all Americans and to all peoples health and safety. Bush and Cheney have now taken yet another step to entangle America deeper in the complex multi-sided civil war in Iraq, which is already awash in corporate-manufactured arms: the U.S. military under Bush and Cheney have now authorized our American officers in Iraq to negotiate deals to provide Sunni militias with arms. Sunnis are the same minority population that ruled Iraq under Saddam Hussein, and have been the main insurgent group, attacking American forces since the March 2003 U.S. invasion. Meanwhile, Bush and Cheney also continue to prop up another side in the conflict: the Shiites, in a country that is about 65 percent Shiite Arab, 20 percent Kurd and 15 percent Sunni Arab. Former Four-Star U.S. General and Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, American General Wesley Clark stated "Saber-rattling does nothing. In fact, it's highly irresponsible and counter-productive. This kind of rhetoric is irresponsible and only plays into the hands of those who seek an excuse for military action. What we need now is full-fledged diplomatic engagement. We should be striving to bridge the gulf of almost 30 years of hostility. Only someone who never wore the uniform or thought seriously about national security would make threats at this point. What our Soldiers need is responsible strategy, not a further escalation of tensions in the region."
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Numerous Experts Refute Bush Cheney 9/11 Report:

A new documentary available free on Google Video entitled "Taking Back 9/11" features a wide variety of experts in technical and other fields explaining in detail hundreds of reasons why the official Bush-Cheney administration report on 9/11 does not correctly account for the series of events which caused 3 WTC buildings to collapse in NYC in 2001, killing over 3000 people, injuring many more, and causing ongoing health problems. A "process of transformation" would be difficult to implement "absent a catalyzing event such as a new Pearl Harbor", according to a report issued by Project For The New American Century, a "thinktank" which included Jeb Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, James Woolsey, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Bill Kristol, James Bolton, Zalmay M. Khalilzad, William Bennett, and Dan Quayle among others. 9/11 was then repeatedly invoked in the corporate media as a justification to launch U.S. wars which have so far claimed the lives of over 3500 of America's Best and Bravest. Including the over 3000 lives lost in New York City on 9/11, over 500,000 people have now been killed or wounded in subsequent U.S. actions. The National Debt has now risen from a 1/2 Billion Dollar Surplus left by President Clinton, to a 9 Trillion Dollar Debt overseen by Bush and Cheney.

Arizona's Jon Kyl Threatens Americas Freedom With His Actions.

A Republican Senator, Jon Kyl, has emerged as the chief enemy of our American Constitutionally Guaranteed Free Press with his anonymous and secret hold being placed on the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in Our National (OPEN) Government Act, a bill that would strengthen our American Public Right to Public Information guaranteed by our U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Kyl said his hold on the OPEN Government Act was prompted from objections by Alberto Gonzales. Gonzales is currently under investigation by his own department, our U.S. Department Of Justice. Kyl's position backs Gonzales' assertions that Bush's 2005 Executive Order on FOIA -- EO 13392 -- was sufficient in streamlining FOIA, when in fact Bush's order and the anti-FOIA moves of former Attorney General Ashcroft have impeded Public Access to information on various activities by our own government officials which by law all Americans do have the right to access. Currently, many U.S. agencies are not acknowledging receipt of FOIA requests as required under our U.S. Laws. The OPEN Government legislation is co-sponsored by VT Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy and by TX Republican Senator John Cornyn. Several other U.S. agencies have attempted to deny media status to various organizations in ploys to delay requests, or to make search and reproduction fees cost prohibitive, also in contravention of Americans Legal Rights under U.S. Laws. Kyl has proposed legislation which would enact a British-European type of "Official Secrets Act" on U.S. soil, a measure that President Clinton vetoed when it came to his desk. Wayne Madsen, former member of the official U.S. intelligence community, cited Kyl as a major threat to American's Freedom Of Information with respect to government activities in a 1998 report written for the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). In that report, Madsen wrote "The intelligence community and Pentagon also ensured a body of Congressional champions of information warfare advocates and supporters. Chief among them are Senator Jon Kyl, whose Subcommittee featured 'gloom and doom' witnesses" stating that an "information Pearl Harbor" threatens American's freedom and security. Like the Project For The New American Century, "New Pearl Harbors" seem to be an object of intense interest for Kyl and his supporters/followers. In the 1950's, Republican Joe McCarthy's Unamerican Activities Committee sought to persecute private American individuals for "communistic beliefs", which he and Richard Nixon accused artists, intellectuals and others of having. So is the Freedom to know what our government has done and is doing unamerican, or is Kyl the new McCarthy?

Former Rove Protege Griffin Says Public Service Not Worth It.

Tim Griffin, the former Karl Rove protege, former interim US Attorney from Arkansas, and reputed U.S. vote cager finally answered some charges in a speech yesterday in Arkansas. Apparently Griffin welled up with tears at various points in his presentation, "crying as he said he had no plans to return to politics,and that 'Public Service is not worth it'" according to reports. Griffin may have sought to prevent thousands of American voters, including American Soldiers, from exercising their American right to Vote in 2004. Any interference in Voters Rights, including vote caging, is a very serious Felony, punishable by Fine and/or Imprisonment under U.S. Law. Concerning the vote caging charges, the ones based on the pre-2004 emails he sent, with the subject line "Re: caging", which included spreadsheet attachments with the names of thousands of voters he'd apparently hoped the GOP would challenge at the polls, including American men and women in our military serving overseas, Arkansas Business reports "Griffin remarked about allegations that he participated in efforts to suppress Democratic votes, using a technique called "caging." "This is all made up of whole cloth," he said. "I didn’t cage votes." Here's how caging worked, and along with Griffin's thoughtful emails, inadvertently sent to investigative journalist Greg Palast by the Rove-Griffin team, you'll understand it all in no time: the Bush-Cheney operatives sent hundreds of thousands of letters through our U.S. Mail marked "Do not forward" to voters' homes. Any letters returned due to recipients being away were used as evidence to block these voters' right to cast a ballot on grounds that they were registered at phony addresses. Who were the phony's supposed to be? Homeless men, students on vacation and American soldiers, many of them African-American voters. Why weren't these voters home when the Republican letters arrived? The homeless men were on park benches, the students were on vacation, and the soldiers were overseas; go to Baghdad, lose your vote. Mission Accomplished.

Bush-Cheney Peace Strategy Provides More Arms For All Sides; Environmental Strategy Dumps 64 Million Tons Of Toxic Arms Into Atlantic:

Bush and Cheney, not legitimately elected by a majority of American votes either in 2000, or in 2004, have overseen the use of costly taxpayer-funded military boats loaded with 64,000,000 (Sixty-Four Million) Tons of poisonous U.S. arms, weapons, nerve gas and other cancer-causing war materials, intentionally scuttled into our Atlantic Ocean. Using our oceans and fishing grounds as a toxic waste dump for weaponry paid for by U.S. tax dollars is a U.S. and international environmental crime causing grave damage to all Americans and to all peoples health and safety. Bush and Cheney have now taken yet another step to entangle America deeper in the complex multi-sided civil war in Iraq, which is already awash in corporate-manufactured arms: the U.S. military under Bush and Cheney have now authorized our American officers in Iraq to negotiate deals to provide Sunni militias with arms. Sunnis are the same minority population that ruled Iraq under Saddam Hussein, and have been the main insurgent group, attacking American forces since the March 2003 U.S. invasion. Meanwhile, Bush and Cheney also continue to prop up another side in the conflict: the Shiites, in a country that is about 65 percent Shiite Arab, 20 percent Kurd and 15 percent Sunni Arab. Former Four-Star U.S. General and Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, American General Wesley Clark stated "Saber-rattling does nothing. In fact, it's highly irresponsible and counter-productive. This kind of rhetoric is irresponsible and only plays into the hands of those who seek an excuse for military action. What we need now is full-fledged diplomatic engagement. We should be striving to bridge the gulf of almost 30 years of hostility. Only someone who never wore the uniform or thought seriously about national security would make threats at this point. What our Soldiers need is responsible strategy, not a further escalation of tensions in the region."
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what does this say about the state of education when they would allow this sniveling cry baby to address this outlet of academia in this way? That's what we want to tell students and others interested in education and social progress? The only thing I can think of that would add an element of "worser" to this scenario woould be to find out they PAID the son-of-a-bitch to speak. pathetic and shameful.

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Criminal proceedings should be launched against him now for his caging activities. Knowing that he can squeal like a pig, part of any plea bargain should be the stipulation that he provide any information he has of wrongdoing by others.

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Poor connected, highly educated white-guy. What a cruel world...

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I guess he should form a support group with Valerie Plame.

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The funny thing about Tim Griffin is... he sent an email to monica goodling talking about the "caging lists" and gave his side of the story about it. In giving his side of the story he refers to himself in the 3rd person. it's so weird to see. but whatever, i have a feeling he just clipped a news article and sent that to her, as his explanation for why he was in trouble for caging lists. I don't think she was aware of that plan until they tried to put him as USAttorney. I've taken all the PDFs and ripped out all the email elements, and text elements, i've created a parser that parses through the documents and has them completely searchable by email element, or text on one of my sites, http://doj.dontpatronize.us/ the site is 100% free, i pay for all aspects of it, and there are 0 advertisements. I'm not trying to profit off of this story, i'm trying to inform. I don't know who i should tell about the search index, but i had to do something after watching him. I've emailed the tpmmuckraker staff, but haven't heard anything yet. /shrug.

this is the same site a couple of bloggers, journalists, and authors have used to obtain information for the public. One Author I won't name contacted me the day before Griffin resigned about a story he found inside the DB and was going public with it. The next day Griffin resigned, how odd.

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...so when is service actually disservice?

When a republican is performing it!

How many Republicans does it take to tell a lie?

At least four; one to actually lie, and three more to cover it up!

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Nice to see the compassionate liberals on this blog have such sympathy for someone with whom they obviously disagree. you're a bunch of hypocrites. Whether you agree with the guy or not, can't you at least have the decency to acknowledge he's been put through the public wringer? Bunch of jerks.

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We're supposed to be moved to tears when people who attempt to turn federal law enforcement into a partisan spoils system are "put through the public wringer?"

Wring away, baby. Wring away.

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"Nice to see the compassionate liberals on this blog have such sympathy for someone with whom they obviously disagree. you're a bunch of hypocrites. Whether you agree with the guy or not, can't you at least have the decency to acknowledge he's been put through the public wringer? Bunch of jerks. "

Thanks for the best laugh of the day. The guy isn’t an innocent; he is complicit in the undermining of the democracy itself. Then he whines like the sniveling coward he is because his corruption is exposed. Had he led an exemplary life, sympathy would be in order. Look at it this way, if this were a nation of laws, he’d be facing much worse than a job search, he should count himself lucky.

FYI, about that hypocrisy, for the most part, liberals don’t care very much about the suffering one endures because his criminal efforts to destroy us are exposed. We’re funny that way.

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Posted by: JNagarya
Date: June 14, 2007 11:06 PM

You're not consistent. You suggest we should trust Congress; then you say that there are things that people can't possibly know; then you suggest that things are speculation; then you missquote what people are saying; then you fail to ensure your comments re linked with the points.

You're the one who's put their legal education on the table.

Turley: 5 USC 3331 proecutions for legal counsel who talk about the issue of prosecutions; but then when Griffing whines about it, what is the legal community doing?

Zip, just whining, crying, "Don't be so ean." DC Bar rules 1.16 and 1.6: Mandatory duty to withdraw, Paul Revere.

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Wow. I just watched the speech on Cspan and he pretty much cried and sniffled his way through it. Every time he mentioned his wife, he began to choke up. Plus, the ENTIRE speech was one big whine about the demands that were being made on him - to be apart from his wife for a couple months; to take a White House job; to be sent to Fort Campbell KY; to be sent to Iraq; on and on and on. I was kind of astounded he got any applause at all. I guess the applause was because people were just relieved all the whining and sniffling was over.

Then in the Q&A he claimed "caging is a new term to me. I had to look it up." (Implying he just looked it up recently.) Then explain your receipt of spreadsheets entitled "caging.xls", Mr. Griffin.

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I, too, watched the Tim Griffin speech and quite frankly my impression was that we may have judged him a bit harshly. We automatically think just because he had a limited relationship with Rove that he is a full participant in the fourth Reich. The impression I got from reading Josh's posts about Griffin as the US attorney scandal unfolded was that his appointment to the position in Arkansas was part of a sinister plot to use the USA's office as a political tool to undo Hillary's bid for the presidency. But, Griffin says, the truth was that he was born in Arkansas and had sought the position before he had ever met Rove.

The fact that he was an ambitious, albeit misguided, political animal does not make him a monster. I'd be interested to hear Josh's thoughts after his viewing of Griffin's speech. TPM has become a influential news source, at least in the blogosphere, and I would like to think that if there was a rush to judgment about Griffin, Josh would make some attempt to clarify the record, or at least make some attempt mitigate any unfair harm done.

I am really not an expert on Griffin's story, but his version struck me as plausible. While the rest of the US attorney scandal reporting may well be on target, it is possible that Griffin's case was really not part of the same. I don't know you tell me.

A compassionate liberal

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Citizen DeWayne, wake up!

We are lucky that he did not have the opportunity to "clean up" any situations in Arkansas.

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Plausible? Shoot, if she has any sense, not even his mother would buy that sob story. His nondenial denial was Rovian genius. He didn’t deny engagement in the enterprise which has been called caging, there is waaay too much evidence that he led that activity, he simply said he’d never heard the word. So, he called the disenfranchisement of minority military voters something other than caging, assuming he was truthful in his Clinton speech, but that’s a giant leap as well.

As for his desire to return to Arkansas, it is in no way inconsistent with a plan to undermine emerging Democratic leaders through the misuse of his position for political purposes. His knowledge of the area makes him quite suitable for that mission.

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I watched Mr. Griffin give his speech. At first blush it would seem that his only guilt is that of ambition and industry. I was surprised to find him less than the lightning rod I supposed he would be.

But upon greater reflection, what I find intersting is that these people do not seem to hold themselves accountable for anything. Someone else did the dirty work. He was not a political hack because he didn't want to get involved in politics in the first place, he just wanted to be a good lawyer. He's still pretty mad that Hillary sat in on his Rhodes Scholar interview (the one thing I agree with him on). He was a Democrat until he visited a democratic gathering at college and realized that nobody there shared his values, aka, nobody looked like him. Having a child on the way I wonder if he will have a miraculous conversion if his health care plan doesn't cover maternity? And, his lengthy rendition of his fathers' commitment to racial justice does him no favor if his actions were any less commendable. He certainly enjoyed prosecuting what were probably a majority of brown people.

Mr. Griffin, I watched you and could not help but see the correlation between our lives. Like yourself, for better or worse, I am a Reagan Democrat. Can't seem to shake the habit. But there had to come a time in your life, travels or dinners that you realized what you were doing was not for the greater good. You eiter chose to ignore that little voice or you rationalized your actions as following orders, I don't know. What I do know is that one day you will have to look into your daughter's eyes and tell her whether or not your actions helped the country she will be born into. I hope that you can live with your answer.

Best regards.

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