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A Unifying Theory
A glimpse of the supra-scandal?
The Washington Post's front page story today is about a meeting in January between the head of the General Services Administration, Lurita Doan, top agency officials, and Scott Jennings, Karl Rove's deputy. The topic: how the agency could help "our candidates."
The GSA is the government's landlord and heads up nearly $60 billion per year in government contracts. The meeting was about how to turn that buying power to Republican advantage.
The angle of the Post's story is that Doan's eagerness to join the scheme (get Republicans to take credit for the opening of federal facilities around the country, while preventing Democrats like Nancy Pelosi from doing so) seems a blatant violation of the Hatch Act, a law that prevents federal employees for using their positions for politics.
But there's another lens through which to view the story, a lens that may be helpful in understanding the purging of the U.S. attorneys . I yield the floor to a long-time TPM reader:
....on January 26, Lurita Alexis Doan, the administrator of the government's contracting agency, sent an e-mail to its top-level political appointees inviting them to attend or videoconference into a presentation by J. Scott Jennings, deputy director of the White House political office. The subject of the presentation? Why, polling data from the 2006 elections. And then, the article (and the indefatigable Rep. Waxman) alleges, the administrator solicited ideas for helping "'our' candidates in the next elections." Doan, of course, denies that such ideas were solicited. The White House explains that it was "a factual assessment of the political landscape." But just looking at what's already been admitted - that the conference call took place, and that Jennings presented polling data on the elections - offers prima facie evidence of a Hatch Act violation. Why on earth would regional administrators for the GSA need to be made aware of the political landscape? The White House isn't even claiming that there's a policy-driven reason for the presentation. The *defense* here is that Jennings gave an unabashedly political presentation to a group of government officials. Unbelievable.
The reader continues:
It also brings into sharper focus an emerging pattern of misconduct. Note the timing, and the subject of the presentation. The GOP got spanked in the midterm elections. The president lost his congressional majorities. By late fall of 2006, it was clear that the GOP was in a tailspin. The only remaining levers of power in Republican hands were held by the administration, and it had just two years left to reverse the tide. Evidently, Karl Rove decided that he had been insufficiently aggressive in using federal agencies to bolster the chances of Republican candidates. So he dispatched Jennings to convince the minions at GSA to ensure that every new federal project would have a Republican cutting the ribbon. (It's worth noting that no one has bothered suggesting that Doan invited Jennings. That's not how this works. Jennings was there because the White House sent him, and Doan went along. She's likely to take the fall here, but this came straight from the White House.)One of the puzzling aspects of the US Attorney purge is that it wasn't completed until after the 2006 elections. So far, most allegations have focused on the notion that these US Attorneys failed to do enough to help Republican candidates win in 2006, by failing to investigate enough Democrats or to pursue scurillous allegations of voter fraud. But it's looking more and more like what happened here has more to do with 2008 than with 2006. Only two USAs were asked to step down before the elections: Cummins, to make room for a specific Rove disciple, and Chiara, whose office was a mess. The plan to dismiss the rest had festered for well over a year, but it kicked into high gear immediately after the elections. Sampson sent out the formal plan on Nov. 15, marking its importance 'High'. "An associate of Rove" told the Times that Rove learned of the plan in November. And...wait for it...remember that 18 day gap? It begins on November 15.
What we're going to find, if Congress succesfully subpoenas officials or their e-mails, is that after the Republicans got routed in November of 2006 a panicked Karl Rove turned up the flame under lots of schemes that had simmered on the back burners for months or years. New orders went out - learn the lessons of the exit polling, and make sure that 2008 brings success. The White House, in its panic, abandoned caution, and got sloppy. It left its fingerprints all over the sorts of things it had generally manipulated at arms-length. And the man who headed up the effort, by all indications, was Karl Rove's right hand, J. Scott Jennings.
Comments (60)
fouro wrote on March 26, 2007 11:28 AM:Einstein should have been so lucky with his Unified Thoery. The odd thing that all these ham-fisted efforts now breaking and finally show is that these guys aren't the cagey pros from Dover. Complicit in pretty much any effort gang-Bush tried, up to now, has been a press corps willingly swallowing their stinky concontions/conflations. The only wonder is, after Jack Welch dressed-down Chris Mathews and Timmeh for their 'liberality" in the mid-90s, did he and Rupert have a mass flogging for the gang of 500 also?
FMArouet wrote on March 26, 2007 11:37 AM:Andrea at Raising Kaine today has an excellent, fact-filled expansion on another WaPo story involving Phillip J. Perry (VP Cheney's son-in-law--not described as such in the WaPo article), a Lockheed Martin contract for Coast Guard boats that cannot meet spec, and chunks of money going into the pockets of Republican candidates. Here is the link:
http://www.raisingkaine.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=7729
The whole Bushie/Rovie worm ball seems to be unraveling, day-by-day, several worms at a time--thanks more to netroots than to the MSM.
Richard L. Adlof wrote on March 26, 2007 11:37 AM:This brings into high relief that of the 300 and change bills the do-less-than-nothing 109th congress enacted almost 2/3rd's of them were naming buildings and crap.
mlv wrote on March 26, 2007 11:38 AM:Great points but I do not agree that the WH got sloppy in the aftermath of the 2006 election. The WH never really had to worry about being careful (not sloppy) when it came to misusing their government offices for the partisan good of the Republican party. Until this year, the WH never had to worry that someone might pull back the curtain on their operations.
bob wrote on March 26, 2007 11:40 AM:You know they'll never be able to follow it this closely for long enough for it to matter. I hope they do dig it all up publicly and send the lot of them to jail. Theres a reason Moschella looks like hes scared.
fred dodsworth wrote on March 26, 2007 11:50 AM:What disturbs me the most is the feeling I get that henceforth this style of corrupt governance will become the rule rather than the exception, especially if the Repugnicans get away with it.
I weep for thee, America, once so shining and bold and now but a tattered little dictatorship whose soul was bought and sold.
Mrs Panstreppon wrote on March 26, 2007 11:56 AM:Re: Lurita Doan
According to a 2/26/07 story by Daniel Pulliam atGovExec.com, Doan has engaged private counsel at her own expense and " personally obtained the services of Mark Corallo, founder and principal managing member of Corallo Media Strategies LLC, an Alexandria, Va., crisis communications media services firm."
A couple of weeks ago, I started looking into Doan's firm, New Technologies Management, Inc. (NTMI). History, contracts, execs, sale etc.
NTMI was 8(a) certified under an SBA business development program until 2003. The certificaton gave Doan's company an advantage in winning government contracts.
What I wanted to know is whether NTMI was re-certified as 8(a) in 2003 and if not, was NTMI incorrectly awarded contracts as an 8(a)after the 8(a) certification expired.
I had a lot of other questions about Doan and NTMI that I put aside when PurgeGate came up. I think I will revive my Lurita Doan research project.
Mash wrote on March 26, 2007 11:57 AM:Here's my post looking at the three BPAs MZM got (one from DITCO, two from GSA). The first BPA was the one used by the White House in August 2002 to funnel $140,000 to Duke Cunningham. The first BPA was signed in May 2002 and has yielded not just the $140,000, but over $11 million dollars. The question is, not how did MZM get a $140,000 without any experience, but how did MZM get a multi-million dollar BPA in May 2002 without any experience. The well-known $250 million DITCO BPA followed in September 2002. Another GSA BPA worth millions, for MOBIS, was doled out to MZM in 2005 while they were being investigated for corruption.
Finally, MZM continued to get millions of dollars in new work under the DITCO BPA even after the Pentagon claimed it was shutting it down. The two GSA BPAs are still being milked today by MZM's newer encarnation - Athena Innovative Solutions.
Here's the link to my post:
Harpodog wrote on March 26, 2007 11:59 AM:http://www.docstrangelove.com/2007/03/26/carol-lam-vs-the-white-house-gravy-train/
All great points, except for one needing correction: "Chiara, whose office was a mess". Isn't this a DOJ talking point for the firing of the Michigan DOJ, and a talking point that is just another WH fiction?
Robin L. Boerner wrote on March 26, 2007 11:59 AM:"The angle of the Post's story is that Doan's eagerness to join the scheme (get Republicans to take credit for the opening of federal facilities around the country, while preventing Democrats like Nancy Pelosi from doing so) seems a blatant violation of the Hatch Act, a law that prevents federal employees for using their positions for politics"
Sean Hannity's America (a scary set of words together if there ever was one) last night did a hit piece on Sen Robert Byrd and all the things named after him in West Virginia and the money he brought in. Nice Timing.
I didn't hear one word about our Republican Senator Ted Stevens up here in Alaska. The Bridge to No Where he tried to push, Ted Stevens International Airport, etc.
Bugboy wrote on March 26, 2007 12:16 PM:I agree agree about the "sloppy" aspect. These guys may be dumb, but don't be fooled, it's a calculated effect.
There's many, many more rocks to be looked under, and much more dirt to be found. We've known for a fact that EPA has been gutted. We know for a fact that Ed has been gutted. We know for a fact that Interior has been gutted. We know for a fact that Energy has been gutted. I could go on. There needs to be a structural remedy here, punitive rememdy has been in place for 200 years and that didn't stop it.
It gives new meaning to "Changing the guard", doesn't it?
Marty wrote on March 26, 2007 12:22 PM:There is no doubt that '08 is Rove’s target, but I sense that there is more to it than political victory. A motivation greater than political victory is at stake.
With a fellow Republican in the White House in '08, there is much less of a chance that federal investigators and authorities will be looking to go after Rove, Cheney, and the others who have been abusing the WH's power for what will then be eight years.
The obvious is before us: the level of public corruption which "has" been investigated and prosecuted in the last 6 years have been by fellow Republicans! Amazing, given that this in an administration so secret, and so close to the vest, that one can only imagine the remainder of the tip of this corrupt iceberg and how deeply rooted the criminality may be. The reign on power has been virtually exclusive.
Imagine that in '08 an aggressive democrat is elected, and puts in a Fitzpatrick type in charge of DOJ's criminal division or public corruption or AG. Now imagine that today, as you sit here, Karl Rove, is thinking the same thing; and Rove shares these thoughts with Bush, i.e., that the consequences of a dem victory in the '08 election will be criminal indictments of Bush, Rove, and others, etc.
Now, we know, that Bush cannot risk Rove and his ilk being placed in a position in '08 and thereafter, of going to prison, or as an alternative, handing up Bush and Cheney and the rest. Once Bush is out of office the players under him will not fall on swords for him in my humble opinion. In any event, Bush cannot risk it.
So, Bush gives Rove full authority to do what he says in necessary to prevent this awful looking future.
Given Rove’s record, anything is possible. Hatch act!? Rove laughs at such things.
Bottom line: there is much more at stake than a "political victory" in '08. Rove sees that repub ‘08 victory as the keys to the prison. His own preemptive habeas corpus, so to speak.
Anonymous wrote on March 26, 2007 12:25 PM:..."There's many, many more rocks to be looked under, and much more dirt to be found. We've known for a fact that EPA has been gutted. We know for a fact that Ed has been gutted. We know for a fact that Interior has been gutted. We know for a fact that Energy has been gutted. I could go on. There needs to be a structural remedy here, punitive rememdy has been in place for 200 years and that didn't stop it..."
The next rock to look under is the non-competitive processes [backdoor methods] that the Administration is using to replace the civil service with partisan loyalists.
Stay tuned.
rzklkng wrote on March 26, 2007 12:39 PM:What other political appointees are there? George Deutsche comes to mind at NASA. Any others?
ROGNM wrote on March 26, 2007 12:43 PM:Wasn't there a debate on removing the Hatch Act from the Law recently? Within the past year or two?
izzatxeaux wrote on March 26, 2007 12:45 PM:why stop here ??? you may wanna talk to the folks over at Wampum - seems the name of one D. Kyle Sampson comes up in another seemingly unrelated manner . . .
Wampum
izzatxeaux wrote on March 26, 2007 12:46 PM:sorry, here is working link -
http://wampum.wabanaki.net/vault/2007/03/003514.html
It can happen here wrote on March 26, 2007 12:52 PM:Is there NO agency of our govn't these GOP thugs haven't corrupted yet?
In reading about organized crime a few years ago I learned that the members are constitutionally incapable of running anything legit. If, for ex, they bought, say, a profitable burger stand, they'd dilute the burgers with sawdust or use the business for money laundering.
I see parallels here with these GOP thugs. We've got to get these guys out of office by any means legal.
Headline Junky wrote on March 26, 2007 12:54 PM:Without disputing what your source says, it seems like they have either an inside angle or an axe to grind. Either way, I'd like a little more than "a longtime reader" to help me assess their claims.
private eye wrote on March 26, 2007 1:01 PM:Excellent post by Marty above.
I, too, have had the same thought only could not have articulated so well as Marty.
With a Dem prez in 08, these thugs are going to jail.
Midwest wrote on March 26, 2007 1:02 PM:I don't think the Admin. was less sloppy or any more clever before. They haven't faced any oversight in 6 years. Their actions are finally getting scruitney.
Mrs Panstreppon wrote on March 26, 2007 1:03 PM:izzatxeaux@March 26, 2007 12:46 PM
I posted the entire comment about Sampson, Hatch, Griles etc from the Wampum website here in the TPM MR and posted a link to it a few times.
BTW, paste the url in the box marked "URL" under name and email address boxes and the link will be live as I demonstrated below.
Mojotron3000 wrote on March 26, 2007 1:03 PM:Let's not forget Alphonso Jackson of HUD and his comments from last year that if you had a problem with Bush, you wouldn't get a government contract.
http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2006/05/08/story1.html
But of course that was "purely anecdotal".
TMS wrote on March 26, 2007 1:03 PM:This is easy to figure out folks. It's the K Street Project brought to a town near you.
RWN wrote on March 26, 2007 1:13 PM:remember the overall strategy of the architect...permanent majority...they are manipulators and manipulators do what they do...this thing has "CANCER" written all over it...how fast will it unravel is the real question?
Casey wrote on March 26, 2007 1:14 PM:Yes, Junky, we need more info. I suggest Waxman start by putting J. Scott Jennings under oath. He's the guy who created the power point presentation for government department heads. He's the one tasked by Rove to be sure all political appointees of the Bush administration understand where the weak places are for the party, so that they know where "help" is needed.
Once you learn who got the presentation, you'll have an idea of where to start looking for corruption. For instance, who at Justice saw Mr. Jennings little opus? We already know that 7 of the 9 fired US attorneys were posted in districts that are dicey for the Rethugs. Is it possible that Gonzo and his minions went about the political purge of the Justice Department for real after being jacked up by Jennings' report?
izzatxeaux wrote on March 26, 2007 1:15 PM:Mrs. Panstreppon -
a big phat good on ya - just happened t/b over at Wampum this am looking for Koufax stuff and saw it
and thanks for the linky help !
The Fool wrote on March 26, 2007 1:18 PM:With a Democratic president these Republican thugs are going to jail?
You mean the way that Jimmy Carter put all those Nixon Administration folks in jail or the way that Clinton put all those Reagan and Bush folks in jail?
Jillian wrote on March 26, 2007 1:18 PM:Margaret Chiara claimed last weekend that she was told she was fired because they had an up-and-comer they wanted to have the job.
I'd say it was they needed more Republicans with a future in western Michigan, their Michigan bench being shown up as very weak in the past elections. Chiara is 63. And yes, they want to mess with '08 elections in Michigan. They were "frustrated" about Michigan, or whatever the term is for their entitlement sociopathy in action in states that are turning increasingly Democratic.
bluegrass wrote on March 26, 2007 1:20 PM:Re: Grand Unified Scandal Theory
This connection to Jennings in Rove's office finally reveals what I've long suspected -- that the politization of the personnel priorities of the executive branch (the 8 USAs, now the GSA, perhaps others) is a parallel in macrocosm of Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher's hiring scandal.
Fletcher was McConnell's man until Fletcher pardoned all his indicted aides before they were convicted. Now, McConnell is running Anne Northup against him in the primary (lib dem John yarmuth defeated northup in the louisville congressional district in 06).
Scott Jennings was an aide in McConnell's office before going to Rove's shop. How is McConnell tied into this mess?
The Grand Unified Scandal takes shape. For more on Fletcher-gate, go to bluegrassreport.org
AJ wrote on March 26, 2007 1:24 PM:As support to the unified theory I'd add a note on Rove's own theories on the "permanent majority," which was really a corrupt scheme to use the institutions of government to ensure a continured grip on power. One those levers of power came from the congress in the form of the "K Street Project" as well as pork barrell spending. With that lever gone, they would have had ample motivation to increase their exploitation of their remaining power.
As to whether their post election actions were motivated by panic, petulance, sloppiness, or a mere acceleration of business as usual, I am not sure it matters.
Argus wrote on March 26, 2007 1:26 PM:Rove's machinations are treacherous. It's obvious we've gone way beyond the notion of a "Unitary Presidency" and are well on the path to the "Unitary State" perhaps along the lines of
Kiril wrote on March 26, 2007 1:27 PM:Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer
Hey, no fair bringing in ackson at HUD. After all, they investigated it last year and found that even though Jackson tried to steer contracts to Republicans and away from Democrats, he was ineffective. Sort of. Anyway, according to WaPo, "[t]he report says the HUD Office of Inspector General plans to evaluate whether 'a more comprehensive audit of HUD contracting activities is feasible and warranted.' A spokesman for the office declined to say when that decision would be made."
See? They investigated. So we know nothing happened.
ahem wrote on March 26, 2007 1:27 PM:Scott Jennings. Mr gwb43.com.
It's past time to see how much White House business has been going on off-book, using RNC email servers.
It's definitely time for Henry Waxman to put him under oath, not least to find out if 'Karl's shop' in the White House has deliberately been evading legal archiving requirements.
Citizen 92 wrote on March 26, 2007 1:27 PM:..."Scott Jennings was an aide in McConnell's office before going to Rove's shop. How is McConnell tied into this mess?.."
Well, for starters, McConnell was a named supporter (joining Specter, Frist, DeWine and Hatch) of Brett Tolman's candidacy for the US Attorney Utah slot.
Tolman edged out the White House's boy Kyle Sampson for that position in May 2006.
This is after Tolman inserted the "Patriot II" provision that granted the Attorney General the "little known authority" to appoint US Attorneys without Congressional oversight.
Do we have a Jennings - McConnell - Tolman nexus here?
I was originally pegging Specter as the 'wet boy' since Tolman put the provision in while he was on Specter's staff.
FMArouet wrote on March 26, 2007 1:28 PM:Don't forget the connections to David H. Safavian, the former GSA Chief of Staff (i.e., equivalent to Kyle Sampson at DOJ), who was convicted last year in connection with the Jack Abramoff scandal.
bluegrass wrote on March 26, 2007 1:30 PM:This fish may rot from the head, but it is being mopped up from the tail.
@ ROGNM
Re: your question about the Hatch Act coming up in the news in the last few years.. here's a new nifty feature at google --the news timeline.
here's the link to the google news timeline for "hatch act" from 2001 to 2006:
http://news.google.com/archivesearch?q=%22hatch+act%22&btnG=Search+Archives&num=10&scoring=t&as_ldate=2001&as_hdate=2006
Not sure what's there, but thought I'd pass it along
J. Schwam wrote on March 26, 2007 1:33 PM:If hasn't been obvious for the past six years it should glaringly so now that the Bush43/Rove wing of the GOP's goal is to politicize everything, to the advantage of its political and finacial patrons of course.
The Hatch act and others is just minor impediment to their rape of the US Treasury. A strategy likely planned long ago.
There are billons gone forever. Our only change is to stop their politicized minions and this politicaly driven rape of our nation and perhaps borrow a few billion less from China next year.
MikeFriedman wrote on March 26, 2007 1:38 PM:
Marty wrote on March 26, 2007 1:43 PM:I am shocked, shocked that someone in the "bringing morality back to the White House" administration wojuld try to use the Government for political ends.
The Fool writes:
"With a Democratic president these Republican thugs are going to jail?
"You mean the way that Jimmy Carter put all those Nixon Administration folks in jail or the way that Clinton put all those Reagan and Bush folks in jail?"
By the time Carter got there, many Nixon thugs were serving their sentence. By the time Clinton got there Bush 41 had pardoned many of his thugs. But the primary point which came to mind when I read the above, Fool, is this: Rove will not plan his future, nor measure his risk, based upon what other adminstrations may or may not have done in the past. He will measure it by the hate he knows is out there for him, and by the fear he has motivating him to avoid the future threats. Rove came within a heartbeat of ending up like Scooter, and that was only one scandal he had exposure for during a Rebublican administration! He can readily imagine what it will be like out of power in a dem adminstration.
rdb wrote on March 26, 2007 1:49 PM:This is brilliant, and answers the question I had been asking myself about the actual timing of the USA firings. It becomes clear that Rove is using all he has left -- the manipulation of the executive branch, especially the DOJ -- to boost Republicans and impede Democrats. Kudos to the TPM Muckraker reader!
TheraP wrote on March 26, 2007 1:56 PM:Power.
The having of it.
The getting of it.
And the keeping of it.
By any and every means.
In every aspect of life.
Forever.
That is the unifying theory.
bp wrote on March 26, 2007 2:08 PM:Lots of good stuff in response. I think Chiara was side-lined to make way for someone who had an endangered seat. But that's moot.
If we have an group here with an organising bent it will be helpful to get a narrative which looks for a pattern of placements (of appointees) in states that can provide material for (bogus?) attacks on the Dem nominee and Dem candidates for the House.
bp wrote on March 26, 2007 2:12 PM:1)Think Rove and dirty tricks;, 2)think 2008, 3)think pre-emptive strike. The last (No 3) by TPM Human Resources Center!!! Volunteers, please.
Not to distract: I read Mike Allen's Politico screed on how Kyle Sampson was going to shrug off whole enterprise about USA. It has Karl's footprints and fingerprints all over it. The footprints, of course, on Mike's backside.
Node of Evil wrote on March 26, 2007 2:19 PM:I get the feeling we're looking at an elephant (visual pun intended) and trying to figure out what it is. I think all of these dynamics are at play:
1.) We have a government run by a bunch of people who think Big Government is bad. Or do they just use this as a line to get those folks on board?
2.) With respect to 1, they're therefore not very good at running a large bureaucracy.
3.) There are many competing interests who want to get their hands on public money. Some of these are the small-government folks who think it'll help the economy (or perhaps their economy). Some are simple patrons waiting for a handout. Some are looking out for the future of Republican political donations. And there are some who'd like to see that money go toward furthering a conservative Christian agenda.
4.) The conservative Christian agenda is a useful tool, but I don't think everyone in the Republican party is on board with it being the end result. It's an interesting thing to watch -- the meshing of true believers and those who want to use the political power of true believers for political purposes.
5.) Finally, there's the neocon/executive power side of the whole thing. I lump those together because they seem to stem from the same idealogical sources. These are the guys, like Cheney, who believe in a strong executive and who want to ensure American hegemony internationally.
I think that there are scandals-within-scandals, and that like any organization there are those who are participating for selfish motives. It is wonderous to see, however, the extent to which they've been successful at meshing these dispirate elements into something functional, although not to the benefit of the U.S. as a whole.
Liz wrote on March 26, 2007 2:29 PM:This seems strange... I just looked and the WaPo has taken this story off their front page. Huh?
rube wrote on March 26, 2007 2:52 PM:Now you guys are catching on.... this is about 2008. When you believe the unitary executive has all the power, the presidential election is all you really care about.
What happened in Florida's 13th district, sarasota county, was just a dress rehearsal for 2008. And the GOP needs their USAs in place to stop the investigation of what will come. Also, don't be surprised if Bush gets to use his new powers to call for Martial Law, if things get out of hand.
shrubsy wrote on March 26, 2007 3:22 PM:NSA Wiretap #1
All White House officials and their emails
you see the irony in Rove and others using RNC email accounts
While they snoop on everyone who voted Dem in the last 20 elections...they are using the same medium for all of their transactions....to avoid scrutiny/accountability.
Mooser wrote on March 26, 2007 3:33 PM:Krugman wrote a classic column several years ago in which he compares Republican governance to a Mafia "bust-out" operation.
foggylady wrote on March 26, 2007 3:59 PM:Mrs Panstreppon
Excellent long article on Doan here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/18/AR2007011801758.html
Besides the usual staunch Republican and big contributor quaifications for office, it tells how Doan interefered with GAS investigations into her illegal no bid contracts to her long time friend ....."she had proposed curtailing the office's contract audits and had compared its enforcement efforts to "terrorism."
hibiscus wrote on March 26, 2007 5:18 PM:The story shows this woman is clearly over her head in her job, has no clue as to why folks get upset with some of her illegal decisions, and in fact does not understand why she cannot run her office in her way, irrespective of laws and legal contraints.
Waxman already has been looking at her, article says.
Gee, that sounds familar.
hey, if democrats weren't allowed to touch the sacred earth of ground zero in 2004, then nothing is off limits...
frank wrote on March 26, 2007 7:52 PM:Why is Karl Rove a public employee? Shouldn't he be paid by the RNC? All his work is about keeping republicans in power.
bcg wrote on March 26, 2007 8:18 PM:Re: unified theory
Debojg wrote on March 26, 2007 9:32 PM:Sounds right to me; although, I don't think the best model for understanding the Bush administration is anything recent. Tammany Hall was a recurrent long term player in NYC politics for over a hundred years. It was a political machine and all aspects of city government were corrupted to serve its purposes. This seems to me to be the best analog; although, the current Republican machine is national rather than local.
Some thoughts I have derived from this model:
1. The whole organization is corrupt; so, if you look carefully at any of its offices, there will be scandal.
2. Most of the machine is outside of the government it controls. While the people who hold high office under the machine may be powerful players in it, they are not its leaders.
3. To eliminate the machine's influence, it's not enough to cut off its visible head (the current leadership in the executive branch.) All of its cronies have to be removed from government. Given the pervasiveness of corruption in such an organization, this really doesn't have to be as difficult as it may sound. Plenty of laws have actually been broken.
4. The biggest problem will be preventing the machine from returning another slate of candidates to office. Fortunately, most of these folks don't hide: they wear their beliefs on their sleeves. So, to achieve that, its underlying ideology will have to be discredited, as it was once before. In the 1930s.
Is it possible that there was coordination between ie Gonzales,
foggylady wrote on March 26, 2007 10:56 PM:Rove, and the RNC re who was fired (all attorneys in swing states) leading up to the 2008 elections. Also are attorneys like Griffen Arkansas) now required to be (re)appointed rather than slipped in via the Patriot Act.
Past of the Unified theory to me seems to fit in with the pattern of intentionally selecting US Attorneys "to give them experience for the next 2 years" to build resumes, means the next step is a judgeship.
When I started finding some of the 90% of "loyal" bushies were members of the Federalist society
( which boasts a membership of over 20,000 practicing attorneys) I made the connection between that and all this talk of "activist judges".
Check it our and see if this fits the belief system we have seen with the Neo-Cons..esp. the
"expanded powers of war time Presidents" !!!!
"Members of the society have debated the abolition of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, limiting the power of the Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies, limiting the reach of gender equity laws (Title IX) and voting rights laws, and expanded powers of war-time presidents. The organization also hosts panels discussing recent Supreme Court decisions, the constitutionality of school vouchers, and the scope of the commerce clause."
source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federalist_Society
Emily wrote on March 27, 2007 3:14 AM:There are billons gone forever. Our only change is to stop their politicized minions and this politicaly driven rape of our nation and perhaps borrow a few billion less from China next year.
Posted by: J. Schwam
But when our political criminals are dragged through the courts for their grotesqueries, perhaps what we need to know is who is benifitting, has benifited most and how do we jail them too......we assume that Bushco will eventually be prosecuted, why shouldn't the corporations that pulled those puppet strings also be hunted down and killed in their anthropomorphic sense; corporations must be brought to heel.
Ross wrote on March 27, 2007 3:51 AM:They may have become sloppy, but a bigger factor was that Democrats gained leadership of Congressional committees
Wilson Kindel Reese wrote on March 27, 2007 11:43 PM:The nightmare scenario is the Executive Branch attacking Iran, pressuring them to initiate terrorist attacks against the U.S. and allowing Bush one more shot at retaining the leadership of the Republican Party beyond 2008. There will be no Congressional hearings and prosecutions of President Bush and Company if this scenario takes place. The doomsday scenario is the Executive Branch initiates or pressures a terrorist attack on the U.S. and declares martial law, effectively nullifying all Constitutional rights and Congressional oversight. Game set and match.
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