conyers gives her too much credit.

I have no doubt she and all the other bozos they've called up did, in fact, take an oath to the president. (and still take that oath very seriously.)

This is hilarious. Keep up the good work guys.

Why are they reassuring her so much throughout the inquiry that she's doing such a great job and that they are not upset with her? I would have thought that this is very serious for her, and that she does not get a free pass. She needs to take some responsibility here. Can somebody explain why the hell they are coddling Rove's underling?

You took an oath to tell the truth and uphold the law when you became a public official, Sara. Not to obstruct justice and corrupt the justice system with political schemes.

They're trying really hard not to put her on the defensive.

They want to "gentle" her, not "break" her, in this testimony. They know that she's more likely to let her guard down a little if she doesn't feel threatened, and that they are much more likely to get information from a person who is relaxed and comfortable.

joe@1:13

The "coddling" as you call it is being done by her and Bush's apologist, Senator Specter.

Other senators such as Schumer, Whitehouse and Leahy are just have a civil discourse, asking questions that point out the absurdity of the executive privilege claim. I believe the strongest case was put out by Whitehouse when he pointed out that Taylor wouldn't even comment on an email that she wrote, that is aleady in the public domain.

I would say that a contempt citation is in Sara's future and the courts would definitely uphold it. Although I believe the White House will cave in to pressure before it goes to the courts.

she does not work for the govt. anymore, so doesn't that release her from exec. privilege or any such umbrella?

didn't she resign from her job? can the senate then hold her for contempt as with any private citizen who refuses to respond.

this crazy lady should go to jail if she doesn't say where the beans are.

yes, bush will pardon her, but at least she will smell the jail cell for a few minutes, in her fantasy-brain.

the oath public servants take is to the godhead, not the profane US constitution. don't you guys know anything about america? [/jake]

code word: blood, as in "in the water"

Jake, here is the oath:

"I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

This is the same oath all apointed and elected government officials take.

There is no paperwork. It is simple. It is direct. All government employees and patriotic Americans understand this oath and what it means.

That you (and Sarah Taylor) do not understand it speaks volumes about your misunderstanding of what the United States of America is about.

Further to Winston Smith's response to Jake: The language for that oath can be found at 5 U.S.C. § 3331, as well as in the FAQs for most federal departments. The Constitution itself, in article VI, says,

"all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution".

Nothing there about supporting or pledging allegiance to the president. And, yes, high-ranking officials on the White House staff are considered to be executive officers of the U.S.

She also took an oath to defend the constitution of the United States like all other governmental employees.

Tom Gerosolina

"Some of you Bush haters probably think it's funny to beat up little girls and puppies too"

poor Jake, comparing himself to a little girl or puppy

Really, what is so difficult about this? As a member of our government, her first and only loyalty should be to the laws (including Constitution) she has sworn to uphold. That is why she has a job to begin with. All work of the government stems from, and is beholden to, the Constitution

Finally we are getting a public picture. The oath she kept referring to in her Freudian manner is no the 5 U.S.C. § 3331 it is a secret oath, that was taken not in a public ceremony but a private one, personal and absolute loyalty, for this group knew what they were up to in the beginning. Wilkerson did not call it a cabal for a metaphor it was a real cabal. O'Neil didn't call it for what is was because of an axe, it was real.

She took an oath to the Presidency, an unlawful one, the Woo memo states in the course of national security the Presidency can break any law, that means the Constitution, that there is no check or balance, in their minds national security is always at risk, so they are doing what they want to do, take over.

This clock thing is two-fold, they now know they don't have enough support to overthrow as they wanted, so they are attempting to run out for legal bills and hope the President then pardons them all in the name of national security.

Does a pardon circumvent treason? For that is what this is. Treason to the Constitution.

Perhaps she did take a loyalty oath to the President. Leahy assumed she meant her oath of office, but did not ask her if she took an additional pledge. Did these freaks do some sort of blood ceremony with the big pervert himself? What did they do?

Just to jump the shark:
When Hitler assumed power in Germany, he required that oaths be sworn to him, personally, rather than to the country and the constitution.

Many persons of honor later had great inner turmoil when faced between honoring their sacred oath, and carrying out the orders of a demented megalomaniac intent on utterly destroying the country. Many found their duty and honor so constraining that they carried out orders that were self destructive, contrary to the law and the interests of the nation. To the regret of all.

Taylor's statement shows a crucial misunderstanding of constitutional government. She clearly behaved as if we really were a nation of men and not laws.

That should be grounds enough to find her in contempt, a criminal referral at the least.

Sorry about last post being hurried, my boss was getting close!

And wouldn't a secret oath to the persident mean conspiracy?

This isn't the first time this kind of behavior has been noted among the Bush cultists:

"I want you to stand, raise your right hands," and recite "the Bush Pledge," said Florida state Sen. Ken Pruitt. The assembled mass of about 2,000 in this Treasure Coast town about an hour north of West Palm Beach dutifully rose, arms aloft, and repeated after Pruitt: "I care about freedom and liberty. I care about my family. I care about my country. Because I care, I promise to work hard to re-elect, re-elect George W. Bush as president of the United States."

Slate
One Nation Under Bush
October 29, 2004

Then they all sang a rousing chorus of "The Future Belongs to Me"

>>She will be judged by the reality based community.

Posted by: Doug
Date: July 11, 2007 3:41 PM <<

But she'll never do any time............. She'll just 'Scoot' on by.........

Good Lord that 'oath to Bush' didn't really happen!? ... Did it?

LOL- the security code word randomly generated for this post was "snake".

Unless she was talking about her initiation around a GOP campfire, she took the same oath ALL federal employees take, including the prez:

"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of _____________ the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

An oath to The president?

It doesn't start out, "Ich schwore bei Gott, diesen heiligen Eid," by any chance, does it?

Goodling also used the phrase "loyalty oaths." Did they take or did they hear of anyone taking an oath of any kind? What are these two young ladies talking about? It is odd that they would both speak of oaths, promises and loyalty.

So funny that Jake talked about making little girls cry, just like the president did today when his sarcastic response to a 13-year-old's question resulted in laughter at the youngster's expense.
Remember, the etymology of "sarcasm" is tearing of the flesh.
Heckuva job, bushie.

"I normally don't like attacking friends, but since Bud Cummins is talking to everyone - why don't we tell the deal on him?" she [Taylor] asked Sampson in a Feb. 7 e-mail.

Why did she call Cummins a friend? Had he performed a favor for Taylor, Rove, Sampson, McNulty in the past? What had he done to be called "friend."

And "why don't we tell the deal on him?" implies that she has some dirt on Cummins. Is that dirt related to why they considered him a "friend" in the past?

(I know, I know - she can't recall. Which is better than Sampson's "I don't recall ever having known.")

Did you notice a weird pattern with regards to chubby trailer-trash and the previous President?

Remember in the first days of the GWBush administration we heard about special oath taking in the Department of Justice -- it was all about Ashcroft and some sort of anointing event -- if I remember rightly Clarence Thomas was part of it, and the did it with Crisco. (which gives the product a bad name -- it is part of my secret formula including butter and lard -- for really light and flakey pie crust).

Anyhow, let's go back and find out how common these Ashcroft anointings really were. Did all the Bushies get somewhat oiled up? In fact if Thomas participated in an unlawful oath taking gig, it could eventually be grounds for his impeachment you know. Well, after 2009 that is.

So when this is all over, after the smoke has cleared. All these loyalists that took an oath to the 'president' can go live with him on the new ranch in Paraguay... They certainly express no love of country, only a love of chimp.

Taylor's gaffe of taking an oath "to the president" reveals the fundamental moral corruption that has entirely infected the Republican party. Instead of serving their country by upholding the Constitution, these political henchmen serve Bush, or their religion, or Exxon, depending on who got them their cushy government position. They devote all their time and energy to furthering the interests of their patrons instead of caring for the wellbeing of their country.

Code=sugar, as in sugar daddy.

Naomi: "...does anyone know which college Ms.TrailerTrash-cutie attended? Just another cookie-cutter xian college, maybe? You know, the ones that have bible studies instead of Ethics101, perhaps... Where they study "theocratic warfare" from Jehovah's Witnesses: Thou shall not tell the truth, even under oath, unless it is to a JW superior; all others are infidels or do not need to know."

Nope, apparently not. According to Wikipedia, she's a graduate of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa - which is said to to have the oldest law school in the country west of the Mississippi. Don't know that she studied law, however (it does seem doubtful, in the circumstances), nor how well she did in whatever she studied.

Apparently she started working for Bush in her early twenties, so probably she's not a law graduate.

Throwing darts at a photo of a Senate colleague? Does that make this guy some kind of hero to Repubs? And you gotta' love it, Jake D. comes out as a full blown wingnut by the end of this thread.

I believe Ms. Taylor was a Finance major at Drake.

"He swore to protect the constitution."

Unless I'm greatly mistaken all federal employees (at least in the executive branch) also take such an oath.

David in NYC:

I don't believe Ms. Taylot is referring to that first oath -- in the second oath, I already noted that "faithfully execut[ing] the Office" includes protecting America lives -- see Art. II and Preamble. Let me know if that does not explain to you at least how the fact that there are two (perhaps three, according to Ms. Taylor) different oaths makes a difference in these postings.

As for the "Socratic method" I graduated from Stanford Law School -- I'm not sure if that makes me an "expert" in the method -- at least I'm a survivor of the method ; )

David in NYC:

I was finally able to review the transcript of Ms. Taylor's testimony and it is clear (to me at least) she misspoke and was not referring to any THIRD oath -- her oath to the Constitution, however, include abiding by the Executive Privilege asserted by the President -- I'm glad I was able to clear that up.

You are all missing the point: ask yourself WHAT ELSE besides vote fraud were the several State DOJ attorneys fired for. The answer is Texas billion dollar companies that were being investigated. Try El Paso gas corp (gas market manipulation) and Tenet Health Care (medicare billion fraud PER STATE).

Both the Senate and House Judicial nominating counsel have received documents showing that Gonzales had meetings with two states' representitives about tenet Health Care and Novation subsidiary. It seems PRESIDENT BUSH'S FIRST COUSIN- Jonathan Bush (Athenia Corp) wrote the multi million dollar software program that allowed Tenet et all billions in overcharging.

In Texas, two brave women DOJ attys filed complaints and subspoened top echelon Tenet executives, and the night before TESTIFYING about Medicare fraud in DC, they ACCIDENTLY DROWNED in their swimming pools. The other three DOJ MEN were consequently fired BY GONZALES 35 DAYS LATER.

It is interesting to note, even in Florida, a billion dollar several year Medicare fraud investigation initiated by Butterworth, and filed in 2003 , was settled for $7 MILLION in 2005. This is within 120 days of Gonzales having a new DOJ position and all five states SETTLED for $7-$22 million in less than 90 days. PENNIES to the dollar....

Jeb Bush is on the Tenet Healthcare board now, and he received four TIMES in stocks then any board member two months ago....

Well, Michael Shelby being fored as he initiated the DOJ Arthur Anderson, Enron and El Paso gas trading lawsuits was not unusual for Gonzales. Interesting he "shot HIMSELF in the chest" before the trial he was removed from. The DOJ attys were pitiful at trial, and said causing the price of gas to TRIPLE with no increase in demand or supply was wrothy of probation. God bless consumers....

You are all missing the point: ask yourself WHAT ELSE besides vote fraud were the several State DOJ attorneys fired for. The answer is Texas billion dollar companies that were being investigated. Try El Paso gas corp (gas market manipulation) and Tenet Health Care (medicare billion fraud PER STATE).

Both the Senate and House Judicial nominating counsel have received documents showing that Gonzales had meetings with two states' representitives about tenet Health Care and Novation subsidiary. It seems PRESIDENT BUSH'S FIRST COUSIN- Jonathan Bush (Athenia Corp) wrote the multi million dollar software program that allowed Tenet et all billions in overcharging.

In Texas, two brave women DOJ attys filed complaints and subspoened top echelon Tenet executives, and the night before TESTIFYING about Medicare fraud in DC, they ACCIDENTLY DROWNED in their swimming pools. The other three DOJ MEN were consequently fired BY GONZALES 35 DAYS LATER.

It is interesting to note, even in Florida, a billion dollar several year Medicare fraud investigation initiated by Butterworth, and filed in 2003 , was settled for $7 MILLION in 2005. This is within 120 days of Gonzales having a new DOJ position and all five states SETTLED for $7-$22 million in less than 90 days. PENNIES to the dollar....

Jeb Bush is on the Tenet Healthcare board now, and he received four TIMES in stocks then any board member two months ago....

Well, Michael Shelby being fored as he initiated the DOJ Arthur Anderson, Enron and El Paso gas trading lawsuits was not unusual for Gonzales. Interesting he "shot HIMSELF in the chest" before the trial he was removed from. The DOJ attys were pitiful at trial, and said causing the price of gas to TRIPLE with no increase in demand or supply was worthy of probation. God bless consumers....