Man, what kind of wood is that gavel made out of? I thought Waxman was gonna drive it straight thru the desk when he pulled Issa's chain up short on him.

I watched it, knowing that today might be the day where Waxman finally loses it. I was actually expecting him to reach across the dias and grab Johnson by the throat.

Good theatre. Now let's see Waxman follow through with some action.

Watching this hack testify versus Waxman is pretty sad. Add in the fact that he's got that half arse grin going the entire time he speaks and he looks like the "auto pilot" from the Airplane movies, and it irks me off even more.

Hey Issa,.....you wanna meet my little friend? Here's the rule, right here on the gavel,...do you see it? Do ya? Well, let me show it to you again! Of course, Issa wasn't concerned about politicizing the EPA rulings,....Why don't you show the American people the rule where it says the government has a right and obligation to poison its citizens. Show me that rule,...you little tool!

What a shame. I really wanted to see Issa get "physically removed" from the hearing. Indeed, it seemed like the perfect occasion to use excessive force - maybe involving a taser, some attack dogs, and good, old-fashioned billy-clubs.

Bottom line: Johnson and the Bush administration flipped off Congress - AGAIN - and all Waxman could do was bang his gavel.

I like Waxman - he's one of the few Democrats with the brains and the balls to get to the bottom of this Administration's illegal crap - but he's surrounded by spineless, powerless jellyfish.

And at the end of the day, what do we have? Nothing. The Girlycrats will wring their soft little hands, complain and make bold harumphing noises.

End of story.

This only reinforces my resolve to donate to Democratic candidates and their causes.

I can't wait for November.

Stephen Johnson is a walking, talking advertisement for the use of enhanced interrogation techniques.

It would be typical of Bushco Environmentalism if he peed on his feet in the shower. Or a page's head.

BRAVO!

Daryl Issa has been long overdue for a spanking. I have seen him repeatedly try to bully and filibuster using points of order questions as a stalling and dilatory tactic. It would have been nice to have seen him physically dragged from the chamber.

Way to go Mr. Waxman.

Issa was the one who orchestrated the recall of Gov. GreyDavis and now CA has Ahnold for gov.

He did it because HE wanted to be gov. but got beat by the famous movie star.
After securing 1.6 million signatures on the recall petition, thus forcing the special election, Issa tearfully withdrew his candidacy on 7 August 2003, when it became obvious that he lacked the winning charisma to strippers and movie stars.

He's small time crook afaic.

In 1973, Issa pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered firearm, which he tended to brandish at his employees, purportedly in jest. He was arrested twice for grand theft auto. In his unsuccessful 1998 run for the Senate, he claimed that he had been a member of Nixon’s security detail during the 1971 World Series. Nixon did not attend the 1971 World Series. After a 2001 trip to the Middle East, Issa, an Arab-American, announced that Hezbollah is not a terrorist organisation.

of bil

Issa's the same asshole who said this:

In April 2008, Issa said that the federal government "just threw" buckets of cash at New York for the September 11 2001 attack "that had no dirty bomb in it, it had no chemical munitions in it." He went on: "I have to ask ... why the firefighters who went there and everybody in the city of New York needs to come to the federal government for the dollars versus this being primarily a state consideration."

Henry Waxman spits hot fire.

Maybe, just maybe, Johnson's slience has something to do with this Rove intervention from 2006?

EPA Rule Loosened After Oil Chief's Letter to Rove The White House says the executive's appeal had no role in changing a measure to protect groundwater. Critics call it a political payoff. by Tom Hamburger and Peter Wallsten WASHINGTON — A rule designed by the Environmental Protection Agency to keep groundwater clean near oil drilling sites and other construction zones was loosened after White House officials rejected it amid complaints by energy companies that it was too restrictive and after a well-connected Texas oil executive appealed to White House senior advisor Karl Rove.

The new rule, which took effect Monday, came after years of intense industry pressure, including court battles and behind-the-scenes agency lobbying. But environmentalists vowed Monday that the fight was not over, distributing internal White House documents that they said portrayed the new rule as a political payoff to an industry long aligned with the Republican Party and President Bush.

In 2002, a Texas oilman and longtime Republican activist, Ernest Angelo, wrote a letter to Rove complaining that an early version of the rule was causing many in the oil industry to "openly express doubt as to the merit of electing Republicans when we wind up with this type of stupidity."

Rove responded by forwarding the letter to top White House environmental advisors and scrawling a handwritten note directing an aide to talk to those advisors and "get a response ASAP."

Rove later wrote to Angelo, assuring him that there was a "keen awareness" within the administration of addressing not only environmental issues but also the "economic, energy and small business impacts" of the rule.

Original LA Times article here - http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0613-07.htm

What do YOU call it?

Here's a link to the letters:

http://web.archive.org/web/20060925145642/http://jeffords.senate.gov/Letter_to_EPA_NPDES_Att_B.pdf

Judge for yourself!

WOW! Waxman sure shut that blank blank Issa up. Johnson is in hot do do and knows it. His lawyers told him to repeat that verbatim or his blank is up the river. We have not heard the last of Johnson. Waxman is not letting this blankity blank slide. I bet a bunch of squirrels are shimming an anvil up a tree right now ala Wiley Coyote, waiting for Johnson to pass under their tree.

I'm imagining a general 60-second anti-Republican ad that could play in support of candidates up and down the Democratic ticket and in any region of the country: Splice together a staccato series of Greatest Hits Weasels during their worst moments of oversight testimony. A rapid-fire drumbeat of faces and soundbites of smugness, arrogance, evasion, and contempt from Gonzales and his DOJ crew, Brownie, the clown in this clip, the State Department's greasy IG tool during Blackwater, Wolfowitz on the war cost, the whole flippin' rogues gallery.

Maybe stutter-cut the most egregious moments; maybe include off-camera audio slices of disgusted committee members openly displaying disbelief of the "testimony" or "forgetfulness" [keeping the visuals squarely on witness reactions]. Pound away with the most notorious Hearings moments during eight years of Bush's reign. Then finish with a dark screen, simple text fade-ins / fade-outs:

Oversight from Congress is important. Now voter oversight is vital. Use your power. Vote for change.

I'm not an advertising person. But I think there is seed of an idea here that could be developed by any number of organizations--it's not an open advocacy piece for any candidate or party. It's got some versatility--it could support down-ticket races for the House and Senate. Production costs would be low--mostly incurred in the editing suite. It could easily be edited in 30-second and 20-second versions.

Johnson's smug "there's-nothing-you-can-do" attitude is infuriating. (A lot of people have been infuriated by similar performances over the last eight years.) Let's wipe off the smirks off these assholes by showcasing them big-time. Let's shove eight years of these performances right down their lying throats.

Sorry for my over-the-top tone, folks I'm one very furious dude right now. (Waxman showed much more pose and self-restraint than I would have exhibited in those circumstances....)

Just gave some money to District 49's Congressperson-Elect, Robert Hamilton.

Please beat Issa!

I think that's an excellent idea for a series of ads. I'm sure that many of them could be tailored for particular representatives that have shown themselves to be doing their jobs.

And I love the idea of a general ad that could simply be a condemnation anyone who'd decide to vote for a Republican could do so in light of the dreadful performance of both representatives and senators, and the depths to which the administration's toadies made a mockery of Congress and the Constitution.

I think if Issa had given him any more lip, Henry would've dropped that gavel right down on his sneaky little head...

"Please step away from the gavel..."