Comments (35)

tbh wrote on March 15, 2007 4:22 PM:

He looks like Tommy Lee Jones.

cleve wrote on March 15, 2007 4:28 PM:

He does!

hmbnancy wrote on March 15, 2007 4:28 PM:

This is rapidly taking on the appearance of a massive coverup.

vox clamantis in red state wrote on March 15, 2007 4:29 PM:

Oh the shark has such teeth,
And he shows them..pearly white
And the line forms at the right..

correctnotright wrote on March 15, 2007 4:30 PM:

I heard him today - What a straightforward and ethical guy! No wonder they fired him - He is a republican who actually believes Justice should be impartial and he was insulted when the former head of the "ethics" committee chief of staff and the Republican State chairman called him to attempt to influence his decision. There wasn't any evidence of voter fraud - that's what these people were missing - that you actually need evidence to convene a grand jury.
Now I am truly frightened by all the USA NOT fired becaue they probably caved in to politiacl pressure and decided that they didn't have to uphold their oath of office and actually carry out the law.

Tug wrote on March 15, 2007 4:32 PM:

Everybody keep digging. We are close to the parallel moment in which John Mitchell stepped down.

frank logan wrote on March 15, 2007 4:36 PM:

We should also make sure the investigations and prosecutions in Southern California aren't obstructed by the Justice Department. It's another place we need a special prosecutor.

Tug wrote on March 15, 2007 4:36 PM:

Correctnotright - I hear you. It was probably a matter of re-prioritizing, which is awful, and bad enough with this bunch as it meant the Attorneys were pressured to look the other way.

We are where we are today in this scandal because the Bush Idiots violated the rule of swine - pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered. They went too far in pushing for these guys to prosecute what was not there as opposed to looking the other way.

God bless Bush and his stupidity - you knew it would get him in the end. The tragedy, naturally, is how many people have to die to prove what anybody with any sense who has met Bush would have figured out immediately.

TOmmy Lee Jones = Capt Woodrow Call. We need that guy to whoop some ass.

gcs wrote on March 15, 2007 4:38 PM:

At what point do the obedient Right Wing bobbleheads - O'Reilly and Limbaugh and the rest - start bleating that a Congressional investigation will undermine American's confidence in the legal system? I give it one more day.

Carl Nyberg wrote on March 15, 2007 4:38 PM:

The RNC, Bush administration and some Congressional Republicans are part of an organization engaged in ongoing criminal activity. The RICO Act should be invoked and they should all be prosecuted.

TheraP wrote on March 15, 2007 4:53 PM:

It is impossible for the administration to keep on top of this now. They are waging battles on too many fronts.

And all the delegating they do. Many of the underlings are making mistakes in the cover-up!

CatStaff wrote on March 15, 2007 4:56 PM:

Let's see now . . . Patrick Fitzgerald's just about freed up now, isn't he?

/security code to post comment was "fear."

Ha!

DTK wrote on March 15, 2007 4:59 PM:

This guy is the perfect rebuttal to the winger argument that the whole thing is normal practice. Why in the world would a bunch of former US Attornies risk the cushy big firm jobs awaiting them if all that occurred was a customary process. These were all Republicans loyal enough to get appointed by Bush in the first place. If it were business as usual they'd shut up and go away.

obsessed wrote on March 15, 2007 4:59 PM:

way worse than watergate

Beth wrote on March 15, 2007 5:04 PM:

I am eagerly awaiting Harriet Miers under oath, about McKay's "mishandling" of the vote count in the governor's race. That should be fun. But can you imagine the hell she'd be in now if she actually got a seat on the Supremes?

Jimmmm wrote on March 15, 2007 5:08 PM:

No, he looks like WWE wrestling empressario, Vince McMahon.

anon wrote on March 15, 2007 5:10 PM:

...It is impossible for the administration to keep on top of this now....

Well, they might start running out of fall guys or something but I wouldn't underestimate their skill at getting out from under the falling piano. I'm sure they are worried--at some level--but I also suspect they are thinking way ahead at the same time. If, for example, they can keep the investigations on the Scooter Libby perjury charges level--and out of Cheney's hair and far away from the big stuff like the NSA and the defense budgets, etc.--and generally slow everything down and gum up the works while continuing to stack the deck then they have to count that as success. Messy, yes, but in the long run successful. Ending the Bush administration with a bunch of pardons but a completely stacked and scrubbed judicary/bureaucracy and a bunch of trap doors on domestic intelligence will cause enough trouble for the Dems that Rove might be back in '12 as the Attorney General in Jeb's administration.

It's worrisome that they might go down on fairly small charges and on their own terms because it means they'll be back.

pi wrote on March 15, 2007 5:20 PM:

You're looking at the face of the future Republican party right there, folks. Those who clean the stables get to ride the horses.

And we (all of us) could do worse. A lot worse.

/security code = soap!

Diane wrote on March 15, 2007 5:32 PM:

So if MacKay was pushed out because he didn't "find" evidence of Democratic voter fraud in the WA govenor's election....what or who is the responsible USA in Ohio and Florida, two areas of the questionable Republican voter fraud? Is that why no evidence or indictments have resulted from those disputed elections??? hmmmm.....so who are the Ohio and Florida USA's ??

rube wrote on March 15, 2007 5:33 PM:

They just need to stay on top of things until the next terror attack.

If it happens anytime soon, maybe people will be smart enough to question what the neocons say in the aftermath. Maybe. But probably not.

dude wrote on March 15, 2007 5:41 PM:

Look over there... its Khalid Shiek Mohhamed.. Terrorist! Terrorist! Terrorist! He cuts off heads... pay no attention to the men behind the curtain... I am the Great and Powerful Rove!

johnnydoughey wrote on March 15, 2007 5:58 PM:

I have to admit to ignorance concerning the way UA attorneys are hired and fired. Until the last few months, I assumed they were beyond party politics and were there to find corruption and illegal activities where ever they were found. I guess this is just one more area where the people in Washington have convoluted our democracy and rule of law.
So now we can have more investigations, not so much to solve the basic problem, but to appease the peons down here at the bottom. No one will go to jail for lying to congress. At the most, they will resign and become consultants (after diverting money and effort from other issues).
Next month, we can do the same thing over again in a different area, because there really is no accountability in Washington, and consequences are only paid by the american public... and the further degading of a democracy which, at one time, was looked upon by the world with envy.

Pilates Pilate wrote on March 15, 2007 6:00 PM:

>>> At what point do the obedient Right Wing bobbleheads - O'Reilly and Limbaugh and the rest - start bleating that a Congressional investigation will undermine American's confidence in the legal system? I give it one more day.

You omitted, "...and waste huge amounts of Taxpayer money."

mbbsdphil wrote on March 15, 2007 6:13 PM:

Gonzales should be out of office no later than Friday at 5.00 pm. Texas State Bar proceedings to review his license to practice law ought to begin shortly thereafter.

My guess is that Mr. Gonzales, Rove, Miers and others discussed the political use of US Attorneys since at least their 2004 "win", if not before. These top advisers to the Prez probably deemed that their extended discussions over a considerable period of time were not a single "discussion", but separate ones that formed "no part" of an overall "plan".

(We all remember when Mr. Bush said that he did not have a "plan" on his desk to invade Iraq - shortly before he invaded Iraq - it was in the hands of the guy next to him.)

Perhaps with that Rovian misdescription of their policy process in mind, Mr. Gonzales told Congress how little he knew, and how recently he had been involved - or not at all informed - of these "discussions".

Mr. Gonzales will have much time to rethink that choice after he moves back to Texas, and begins to rebuild his life after the Texas State Bar has his license to practice suspended or revoked. Sad end to an American dream, but he walked into that smoke-filled room on his own feet. Perhaps the AEI will find room for a non-legal consultant.

Richard Pope wrote on March 15, 2007 6:20 PM:

Former U.S. Congressman Richard Alan "Rick" White (R-WA-1st), WSBA # 13683, is one of the top three candidates that U.S. Congressman Dave Reichert (R-WA-8th) and King County Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng are reportedly recommending for President Bush to replace John McKay, who was recently released from service as U.S. Attorney in Western Washington:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003618827_mckay15m.html

Problem is that Rick White is currently ineligible to lawfully serve in this position, and has a rather checkered record as an attorney in the state of Washington.

On August 12, 2003, Rick White was suspended from the practice of law by the Supreme Court of Washington, Disciplinary Case No. 200-031.2. The suspension order was effective on August 19, 2003.

Rick White was not released from this suspension until a subsequent order of the Supreme Court of Washington was entered in this same case nearly three years later on July 25, 2006. However, White was only restored to "Inactive" status, which does not allow him to practice law in the state of Washington.

In order for Rick White to become an "Active" member of the Bar and eligible to practice law again, he would have to apply to the Board of Governors of the Washington State Bar Association for restoration to "Active" status, and demonstrate competence, character, fitness, and completion of all continuing legal education he would have been required to take if he had been an "Active" member all along. Depending upon how long White has been "Inactive" or "Suspended", he could be required to retake the Bar Examination no matter what, or may be asked to do so even if the time periods of inactivity are not met and the WSBA has questions about his competence and proficiency in the law.

Needless to say, it could prove to be extremely embarrassing if Reichert and Maleng have indeed included Rick White on the short list of three finalists for President Bush to choose from in order to fill the vacant position in the U.S. Attorney's Office.

bcg wrote on March 15, 2007 6:20 PM:

There may or may not be charges levelled for lying to Congress. However, if those lies can be tied a cover up of criminal activity, there'll almost certainly be charges of obstruction of justice, the charge that sends away most of the players who're sentenced in these big government conspiracy cases. After all, to really break a conspiracy, someone has to roll over.

slb wrote on March 15, 2007 6:22 PM:

>>so who are the Ohio and Florida USA's ??

Florida:
Middle District - Paul Ignatius Perez
Northern District - Gregory Robert Miller
Southern District - R. Alexander Acosta

Ohio:
Northern District - Gregory A. White
Southern District - Gregory G. Lockhart

(See http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/offices/index.html)

GI Joe wrote on March 15, 2007 6:48 PM:

A recent cartoon in The New Yorker had an executive in the boss's office holding a file in his hands.
The caption read: "Remember you said we had to break eggs to make an omelet? Well, the eggs are suing."

Before I die I'd like to see Der Rover bent over in prison garb. 'tis a consumation devout'ly to be wished. I'd throw a party. Maybe get religion.

coltergeist wrote on March 15, 2007 10:14 PM:

The other commenters are right about the other 85 or so US-A's that were not canned. What new investigations popped up about Democrats before the 2004 and 2006 elections. I know Chris Christie issued some subpoenas just before the election in 2006 here in NJ pertaining to Menendez. It never amounted to anything but a lot of bad press for Menendez just before the election. Since we know that the DOJ investigated D's by 7 to 1 over R's, I would be curious to find out how many investigations popped up just before these elections.

Mellifluous wrote on March 15, 2007 10:22 PM:

Have I missed it? Isn't it about time for the Putsch opponents to be called traitors because we are distracting the Godhead from properly prosecuting (good word) the GWOT.

Vulture Breath wrote on March 15, 2007 10:39 PM:

Can we please put the focus back on Anna Nicole? Hannity says she may have been murdered.

warbaby wrote on March 16, 2007 10:12 AM:

In unpeeling the onion, some attention to the group that intially provided the push for McKay to investigate the elections: the Building Industry Association of Washington. This is a quasi-private organization funded by brokering state industrial insurance payments. It has long served as a shadow arm of the Republican Party.

See the linked website. Ten years ago, a network of the BIAW's local officials organized front groups that included right-wing militia groups. The effort was to create new counties in Washington state that would defy state and federal authority.

The Seattle Weekly published a series of exposes on the BIAW about a decade ago. One of the writers was Nina Shapiro.

Richard L. Adlof wrote on March 16, 2007 11:58 AM:

US Atorneys of today are our future judges and Congress folk.

Political hacks tend towards continuing being political hacks.

The districts involved will be important in the 2008 election.

Polarized Republican attitudes include highly defined anti-Democratic prejudices.

The public now has reason to suspect all justice and governmental crediblity takes big hit.

Way to destroy USA guys . . . If the rest of corporate America is half as capable as these guys . . .

elrapierwit wrote on March 16, 2007 5:23 PM:

RLAdolf

You are hitting the core issue here. What we are seeing is pervasive political corruptions throughout all the departments underneath the EXECUTIVE branch of government.

The Executive branch is the head octupus which is creating tenatacles to insert throughout the system to maintain GOP corruption and power for the next seveal decades.

This is a bottomless pit of corruption. The Bushies had 8 years to dismantle our democracy and they have done it.

They politicized the military, NSA, CIA, FBI, Homeland Security and worst of all the DoJ.

The scale of what Rove and his GOP operatives have done is unbelievable.

One of the most consistent patterns is that folks who headed up the RNC in states and local campaigns have all been rewarded with plum assignments independent of their abilities.

As long as you were loyal to Rove and Dubya, you were rewarded with top positions, even Gonzales and Yoo.

I find it interesting that Lam, Yoo, Gonzales and Iglesias were all immigrants with close ties to family and relatives who are immigrants and who came to America because it was a true democracy and yet it is these individuals the GOP sought to use as predators on those very civil liberties and injustices that they sought as American citizens.

Unfrigginbelievable!
Shocking and appalling the extent to which they have been successful at destroying this democracy.

Unraveling Duke cunningham, unraveled the FBI and the CIA, along with the DoJ.

Will Rove fall this time or escape unscathed,again?

epenisa wrote on January 11, 2008 3:21 AM:

Hi
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Bye