Comments (134)

Anonymous wrote on May 7, 2007 5:40 PM:

A true believer. She will go down with the ship.

Anonymous wrote on May 7, 2007 5:41 PM:

After reading this, I'd REALLY like to learn that the very unlikely possibility of an affair between Ashcroft and Goodling is true.

Run Up The Score wrote on May 7, 2007 5:42 PM:

Ugh. That's about right.

meese is a pig wrote on May 7, 2007 5:45 PM:

are those the same statues ed meese had covered too?

code phrase: most suspects are guilty

Cinderella Ferret wrote on May 7, 2007 5:45 PM:

I just cannot help myself.

A true believer. She will go down with the ship.
Posted by:
Date: May 7, 2007 05:40 PM

Naaaaahhh. I won't say it.

Vulture Breath wrote on May 7, 2007 5:48 PM:

Can the taxpayers get our money back?

"The department spent $8,000 on blue drapes that hide the two giant, aluminum art deco statues, said spokesman Shane Hix. For aesthetic reasons, he said, the drapes were occasionally hung in front of the statues before formal events. The department used to rent the drapes, but has now purchased them and left them hanging.....

Hix said the Justice Department bought the drapes to avoid having to rent them every time the agency had a formal event. The drapes cost about $2,000 to rent.

He also said Ashcroft was not involved in the decision.

"The attorney general was not even aware of the situation," he said. "Obviously, he has more important things to do."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/01/29/statues.htm

XL wrote on May 7, 2007 5:48 PM:

The symbology between Truth and Falsehood of the Bush's DOJ and its Justice statute brings Joel Mabus's lyrics about the Naked Truth to mind. http://www.joelmabus.com/288_lyrics.htm#truth

. . .
'Cause a pretty little dress can cover up a lie,
But Truth goes naked - she's got nothin' to hide.
. . .

It looks like Goodling and Gonzalez Gang had plenty to hide.

Punchy wrote on May 7, 2007 5:49 PM:

Well, you were pretty certain isn't wasn't a man that issues with the bronze boobies....

mark wrote on May 7, 2007 5:50 PM:

I want to say it too, but....

Anonymous wrote on May 7, 2007 5:51 PM:

And, pray tell, who were they renting the drapes from at $2,000 a pop of taxpayer money? Which GOP events company in DC got that bid?

Dennis wrote on May 7, 2007 5:51 PM:

Will she go down with the ship because she's a true believe, or she doesn't know any better, or both?

You don't have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.

Vulture Breath wrote on May 7, 2007 5:53 PM:

Oh yeah, fact check for National Journal: the bosoms really are not that ample. They're actually pretty dainty. See the photo from USA Today.

other mark wrote on May 7, 2007 5:55 PM:

There's a lot I didn't like about Ashcroft but he looks better all the time by comparison. So now it turns out he wasn't the prude either...

cookie jill wrote on May 7, 2007 5:57 PM:

someone needs to "get some action"

Vulture Breath wrote on May 7, 2007 6:00 PM:

Good God, think what these people are accomplishing. They're actually making ASHCROFT look good. Maybe they deserve all their medals after all.

jandrewmorrison wrote on May 7, 2007 6:02 PM:

Sorry, way off topic here, but seriously, can you get an underwear model that looks less like Dana Perino for the ad that runs in the middle of the page. That just creeps me out.

Mrs Panstreppon wrote on May 7, 2007 6:06 PM:

@May 7, 2007 05:48 PM

"The department spent $8,000 on blue drapes that hide the two giant, aluminum art deco statues, said spokesman Shane Hix.."

Bit of trivia, Shane Hix, a Georgia Tech grad, now works for Gov. Sonny Perdue:

"Shane Hix, IM 00, is deputy press secretary. Hix joined the staff during Perdue’s transition from governor-elect to Georgia’s leader in January. After graduating from Tech, Hix joined the Bush administration as a press assistant at the Department of Justice and moved to the Republican National Committee last May as assistant press secretary. At Tech, he was a member of the College Republicans and chaired the organization in 2000."

algebrateacher wrote on May 7, 2007 6:08 PM:

Monica L. and Monica G.
Blue dress. Blue drapes.
Both at the center of a presidential controversy.

Coincidence? I think not.

mrd in nyc wrote on May 7, 2007 6:10 PM:

Let the might bosoms soar!
BTW, does anyone really think Goodling will tell the truth whether she has immunity or not? Goodling's one of the truest of the true believers. (Which means that everything she says is probably false.)

bawbie wrote on May 7, 2007 6:15 PM:

Something doesn't add up here for me. Didn't Ashcroft cover up the "bosoms" back in 2001 or 2002? Wasn't Ms. Monica still in law school, or at least doing her stint in oppo research at the RNC then?

Maybe I have my time line off.

United, I stand alone against collectivism wrote on May 7, 2007 6:16 PM:

I wonder if she keeps her own dainty bosom covered always. Methinks not. I'll bet the little harlot loves to drop them like hanged men in from of the "Let the eagles fly guy".

Vulture Breath wrote on May 7, 2007 6:17 PM:

Apparently she got her J.D. in 1999.

RandyR wrote on May 7, 2007 6:18 PM:

Why is it that people that are obsessed with religion are so very concerned with breasts. It's not as though they are that unusual, everyone has them and I agree those on women are more attractive but not obscene.

Rep Cleaver from Mo. in a short speech said, "My Grandma said, God don't make no junk." I guess that Monica was just ashamed what her God had made.

Security Code: lock And throw away the key

goldberry wrote on May 7, 2007 6:19 PM:

Monica, Monica, Monica. *sigh* I'm sure she meant well.
Monica might have once been a true believer but I think getting burned by Rove may have changed all that. It could happen.

Robert wrote on May 7, 2007 6:20 PM:

Monica, have you ever had sex-u-al relations with another person?

United, I stand alone against collectivism wrote on May 7, 2007 6:20 PM:

front

Beavis wrote on May 7, 2007 6:20 PM:

Uh-huh-huh. Ashcroft said, "boobies."

Goodling said, "whose?"

Uh-huh-huh-huh.

wtf wrote on May 7, 2007 6:20 PM:

meese is a pig:

yes, exactly

When former Attorney General Edwin Meese released a report on pornography in the 1980s, photographers dived to the floor to capture the image of him raising the report in the air, with the partially nude female statue behind him.

Vulture Breath wrote on May 7, 2007 6:22 PM:

She started working at DOJ around 2002....

http://www.prospect.org/weblog/2007/03/post_3268.html

I can't find her Regent U website. Maybe she took it down. I think her resume was on there.

Circa 1997 wrote on May 7, 2007 6:23 PM:

MONICA M. GOODLING
Regent University, 1000 Regent University Drive, Virginia Beach, VA 23464-5041

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDUCATION

1997 - REGENT UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL(S) OF LAW AND GOVERNMENT
Joint Degree Candidate for Juris Doctor and a Masters of Public Policy

1996 - UNIVERSITY OF PARIS/ UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO SCHOOL OF LAW
Completed the Institute of International and Comparative Law in Paris, France

1996 - AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON COLLEGE OF LAW
Completed the first year of a Juris Doctor program in the top 20% of the class

1995 - MESSIAH COLLEGE
Graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communications
Minors: Political Science & Chemistry

1988 - DALE CARNEGIE & ASSOCIATES
Graduated from the Dale Carnegie Course in Effective Speaking and Human Relations

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LEADERSHIP & WORK EXPERIENCE

1994-1995 - PRESIDENT, MESSIAH COLLEGE STUDENT ASSOCIATION
Served as the chief executive officer of the student government association, which entailed organizing and overseeing 80 clubs, organizations, and groups; helping develop and execute the $250,000 budget; and representing students before the board of trustees, administration, faculty, and staff.

1992-1994 - EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, MESSIAH COLLEGE YEARBOOK
Served as editor for two years, developing leadership and managerial abilities through the development and supervision of a 320 page publication and $54,000 budget; negotiations with publishing and photography companies; and recruitment, training and directing a fifty person staff.

1991-1997 - SELECTED COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIPS AT VARIOUS SCHOOLS

Institutional Planning
Finance
President's Cabinet
President's Inauguration (Chair of two committees, member of a third)
Student Association Executive Cabinet and Council (Chair of both)
Senator and Class officer
Homecoming Registration & Hospitality (Cochair), Parade (Chair), and Court (Chair)
Family Weekend Planning Committee and Staff
Fall Welcome Weekend
Dorm Council
Special Olympics
Spring Break Service Projects (Treasurer)
Representative three years, National Student Leadership Conference on Faith & Values (Wash., D.C.)
Representative two years, National Student Leadership Conference at Taylor University (Indiana)
Representative, Conservative Leadership Conference (Wash., D.C.)
American Bar Association Volunteer Work a Day
Political Foundation

1995 SUMMER - HARRISBURG HOLIDAY INN CONFERENCE CENTER AND HOTEL
Worked in Guest Services at the Front Desk.

1995, 1994, 1993 SUMMERS - WEST SHORE COUNTRY CLUB
Organized and coached a 110 person swimming team of children ranging in ages from four to seventeen, while also teaching private lessons and lifeguarding.

C 92 wrote on May 7, 2007 6:25 PM:

Here's a better picture of Ms. Goodling other than the homely one on the Regent website:

http://www.law.com/jsp/dc/PubArticleDC.jsp?id=1174912588726

AnneW wrote on May 7, 2007 6:26 PM:

I wouldn't bet that Ashcroft wasn't involved, even if Monica gets the credit.

There was quite a game of trying to catch people (not just Ashcroft) speaking in front of the statues, especially if it looked like they were "groping". I've seen a number of them with Ashcroft that are kind of funny...in a childish way, tee hee.

But the over reaction speaks loudly and the symbolism of covering up justice was priceless.

Frankly, I don't know why the statues would have to be covered up during formal functions either. Can you imagine going to Italy and asking for statues and paintings that showed breasts to be covered up...even the Pope doesn't seem to be offended. Some people need to grow up.

goldberry wrote on May 7, 2007 6:28 PM:

mrd in nyc: Maybe we've already had this conversation. There are two possibilities. 1.) She's still a true believer and she doesn't recognize the authority of the state. Still even true believers don't like to lie. I think her conscience would really bother her and she is intelligent enough to know the penaties for perjury. If the Judiciary committee can convince her to recognize its authority, I think she will tell the truth, albeit reluctantly.
2.) She's been personally betrayed, her life and career are currently in shambles. If she can work it out with the Judiciary committee and her lawyer that she can tell the truth, in private, away from the media spotlight and get the hell out of Dodge, I think she'll take this option.
So, yes, in the end, I think she will be straight with the committee and tell the truth.

Vulture Breath wrote on May 7, 2007 6:29 PM:

Why is she taking the Fifth when she has that Dale Carnegie course under her belt?? Speak, Monica, speak!

goldberry wrote on May 7, 2007 6:31 PM:

United, I stand alone against collectivism: Lust and desire are not limited to the secular. The religious get horny too. It's just that they are like feast or famine. Too mch denial causes them to gorge, then they feel awful about it.
Being a fundamentalist winger is no picnic.

holy cow wrote on May 7, 2007 6:32 PM:

that's quite a resume

dale carnegie!
student government!
lifeguard!

even with the jd degree, that's worth about, oh, 60k as a front desk manager at a holiday inn, imho

affirmative action for white xian dimbulbs: the bush doj

Steve wrote on May 7, 2007 6:32 PM:

What an utter goddam embarassment to the nation. You can't make this shit up.

Keyword:Crime

Rot in a cell, Monica.

Anna wrote on May 7, 2007 6:34 PM:

Graduating from a Dale Carnegie course in a resume? how about Evelyn Woods speed reading?

Alan wrote on May 7, 2007 6:39 PM:

When breasts are outlawed, only outlaws will have breasts.

Rich wrote on May 7, 2007 6:49 PM:

Every sexually repressed women is really a tigress waiting to burst out.

goldberry wrote on May 7, 2007 6:51 PM:

Ira Glass had an episode of This American Life featuring "Cringe Stories". We all have them. At some point in our lives, we have done things that are so ridiculous and embarrassing, to us personally, that thinking back on them makes us cringe. You know, like falling in love with a squatter guy who becomes a Hare Krishna and ironing his dhoti(sp) while you're in law school because you want him to look nice for temple?
I think Monica is going to look back on the last 6 years of her life as one continuous cringe story. She was so caught up in the zeal and success of the evangelical movement that she completely lost her bearings and did things that will seem incredibly cringeworthy in future decades. It's almost as bad as giving the president a blow-job. She will never live this down. And when she finally comes around, she will want to crawl under a rock.
Fundamentalists are self-righteous and smug. They do bad things for what they think are good reasons. But they are still human.

Michael C wrote on May 7, 2007 6:54 PM:

The "Original Cover-Up" involved cloaking the scales of Justice, sort of like Diebold electronic voting. Now you see it; now you don't and you're screwed.

SqueakyRat wrote on May 7, 2007 6:55 PM:

A prude? She looks like she could such the cowcatcher off a locomotive.

what a long strange trip it is... wrote on May 7, 2007 6:57 PM:

Messiah College: the only college for which you just can't come up with a mascot.

SqueakyRat wrote on May 7, 2007 6:58 PM:

A prude? She looks like she could *suck* the cowcatcher off a locomotive.

Just can't type no more.

Drits'nDravy wrote on May 7, 2007 7:01 PM:

I'm scared that Monica attended a "Purity Ball" with her Dad.

This chick is like a kitsch collision between Up With People and Triumph of the Will.

syvanen wrote on May 7, 2007 7:05 PM:

Goldberry thinks this is an option:

"If she can work it out with the Judiciary committee and her lawyer that she can tell the truth, in private, away from the media spotlight and get the hell out of Dodge, I think she'll take this option."

But why should we. We deserve the entertainment of watching them squirm after submitting us to this hell for six years. The fact that she is just a witting dupe doesn't detract from the excitement that comes from witnessing her disgrace.

OxyCon wrote on May 7, 2007 7:11 PM:

Maybe after the Congrssional hearings, Goodling can pose for Playboy.

Larry Roberts wrote on May 7, 2007 7:18 PM:

"Psst! Sources tell us that none other than Monica Goodling, former aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, was responsible for draping over the ample bosoms..."

What does this even mean? That the idea to conceal the statues originated with Goodling? Now that you've spread this gossip are you going to try to confirm it and report back to your readers?

goldberry wrote on May 7, 2007 7:24 PM:

Drits'nDravy: I understand what you want. You want a moment of catharsis. You want to get back at the self-righteous blowhards that bullied the country into making reckless decisions in the name of patriotism and morality.
But I have family members who are just as unhinged as Monica. My brother could give Monica a run for the money (though he hasn't done anything illegal as far as I know). I don't speak to my mother or my siblings because their behavior and treatment of me has been condescending and exclusive.
But I wouldn't wish the kind of attention you are seeking on any of my family. I think of them as conditioned to fearfulness, repressed, gullible and naive. They honestly don't realize they're doing evil.
If Monica were Ralph Reed, that would be a different story. But the news that she was responsible for the draping of the statue indicates to me that she started out, at least, as a true believer, misguided and mislead. She's lead a very sheltered life. Her kind of upbringing did not prepare her for the environment of Washington.
Yes, I would like the fundamentalists to get what's coming to them. But unlike you, I know that the greatest punishment they will face will not be ridicule and derision at the hands of a righteously indignant public. Their punishment will happen when they descend into disorder with the rest of us as a result of their actions to undermine government - and the Rapture doesn't come. Then they will realize that they have followed false prophets and the lives they gave up for their dream of paradise, their youth and vitality, the sensuality and love they spurned, the friends and family they rejected, are gone and may never be recovered.
That judgement day is coming and it will be a very rude awakening indeed. Then, you will have justice.

SenilityNow wrote on May 7, 2007 7:25 PM:

The BushCo JustUs Department has always been obsessed with covering up its inadequate boobs.

JOHN KERRY wrote on May 7, 2007 7:25 PM:

I JUST MOVED MY BOWELS IN MY PANTS....

mini mum wrote on May 7, 2007 7:35 PM:

Bwa-ha-ha. My spouse worked in the Facilities area of DOJ when the order for the drapes came in. I couldn't believe it when he told me what they were for. Originally, during the renovation of the main Justice building, someone (Monica?) wanted the female statue moved into the ladies' room because Ashcroft thought the statue was pornographic.

mo2 wrote on May 7, 2007 7:37 PM:

Keeper quotes:

"Monica Goodling is devoutly religious, which is to say she cannot tell right from wrong."
-nofltwlt, May 7, 2007 03:10 PM

"They honestly don't realize they're doing evil."
-goldberry, May 7, 2007 07:24 PM

AnneW wrote on May 7, 2007 7:39 PM:

I think Monica will soon become the fall guy/gal for every stupid thing that has been said or done in the last 6 years.

Pretty soon we'll find out she helped Ashcroft write "Let the Eagle Soar".

If Monica was behind this idea, it was because Ashcroft was offended.

Lolly wrote on May 7, 2007 7:41 PM:

Wow! Quite an impressive resume.

I can't believe, however, that she left out the "Laff-a-lot Traffic School" course she attended at 16 after her first traffic ticket.

Or the "Microwave Your Way to Good Cooking" class she got free when she bought a new oven range for her first apartment.

brianm0122 wrote on May 7, 2007 7:58 PM:

Maybe she was jealous of the "ample bosoms"

Did anyone clue her in on the symbolism of "covering up Justice?" Maybe we could have been spared this episode....

code word = fact

not with this administration...only lies, spin and pleas (both fifth and guilty)

jerry wrote on May 7, 2007 8:19 PM:

Someone should let Garance Franke-Ruta and Amanda Marcotte know about this.

TexasDemocrat wrote on May 7, 2007 8:33 PM:

Another scandal, another Monica.

TheraP wrote on May 7, 2007 8:50 PM:

Truly this thread was great therapy!

Steve, you found how easy it is to feel obliged to use the "code word."

goldberry, you outdid yourself in understanding and compassion for people like monica - and her plight.

And so many posters provided levity along with insight into the foibles of fundamentalist prudes who advertise what they fear by covering it up in public!

The word is "degree" and I don't now whether posters have earned degrees or set out degrees of humor, but thank you one and all!

dkm wrote on May 7, 2007 9:19 PM:

She's from York, PA, which is in the middle of some of the most right wing religious communities imaginable. This is an area so similar to the Bible Belt that it makes no difference. It is near where the creationists got stomped on in Dover, PA. She went to Messiah College which is very fundamentalist. She has been formed by her environment, but she is smart enough to realize that her environment is just plain wrong.

Sam Sara wrote on May 7, 2007 9:35 PM:

Lolly
LMAO...Thanks

Austin Cooper wrote on May 7, 2007 9:39 PM:

"She will go down with the ship."

I believe you're right.

Not to be tongue in cheek, while Goodling may believe her position is as a missionary, she may be fingered by someone.

No one could say she picked up the gauntlet which fell, ate the poisoned apple of distrust in Gonzales (as a man, her master), debated herself over what to do ... and then spread herself -- too far to be helpful to him.

As for testifying. The Senate Judiciary Committee will make sure she comes, and before it's all over we may be treated to Goodling, indeed going down.

Or have I overstated?

stephen wrote on May 7, 2007 9:54 PM:

I'm not sure but what is the problem with keeping abreast of the situation?

stephen wrote on May 7, 2007 9:57 PM:

Which Lawyer did she hire from Regent University to defend her? She does have a lawyer and her lawyer is a Christian fundie who is surely telling her to tell the truth for as you know it is a sin to lie even if it is to a Senate Judiciary Committee! She does know that doesn't she? I mean they must have taught her that in that good Christian University...Truth above all or is that just a talking point!

donnaquixote wrote on May 7, 2007 10:18 PM:

I'm not sure but what is the problem with keeping abreast of the situation?

Posted by: stephen

Now that is the keeper quote.

nv wrote on May 7, 2007 10:19 PM:

Frankly, I don't know why the statues would have to be covered up during formal functions either. Can you imagine going to Italy and asking for statues and paintings that showed breasts to be covered up...even the Pope doesn't seem to be offended. Some people need to grow up.

Actually, recent popes have been on the right side of the issue, but this has not always been the case.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sistine_Chapel

Anonymous wrote on May 7, 2007 10:24 PM:

Goes to Paris. Then on to Regents and covering statues. Frying freedom to make freedom fries. Must have hated the France ...

security code: cloth. Cannot cover shamelessness

Anonymous wrote on May 7, 2007 10:25 PM:

err the French, not the France.

code roll: as in I'm not on one

KestrelBrighteyes wrote on May 7, 2007 10:48 PM:

IF this is true...

Okay, maybe I'm the only one who feels almost betrayed to consider that a WOMAN might be part of covering up a statue's breast.

It's just that everything that revolves around motherhood and womanhood in general is so sacred..so beautiful...and to have someone be so ashamed of it that they'd try to cover it..just breaks my heart.

Reminds me of the idiots at the mall who kicked a woman out for breastfeeding in public, when there are ads in windows at Victoria's secret and Fredericks of Hollywood that show FAR more than the mom did.

Oh for goodness' sake just GROW UP!

dean moriarity wrote on May 7, 2007 10:57 PM:

yeah- i love those ads

Mooser wrote on May 7, 2007 11:13 PM:

Monica, thanks for the mammaries!

Who are Obama's associates? Who does he listen to, take advice from? I hear some of them are 'black'

lollylumplump wrote on May 7, 2007 11:18 PM:

I slap my knee and fall out of my chair every time I hear Ashcroft belt out his soaring eagles ditty in that geezer falsetto. And he's my homie, God love him!

Dr. Wu wrote on May 7, 2007 11:23 PM:

Things just get better and better for little Jesus Camper Monica.

Pissed Off American wrote on May 7, 2007 11:36 PM:

WOW!!!! She worked at a Holiday Inn? Cripes, the woman is WAAAAAY overqualified for a position in the Bush Administration.

Pissed Off American wrote on May 7, 2007 11:51 PM:

And while we are on the subject of work experience, it appears as though this pathetic weasel, Gonzales, has never tried one single case. In fact, he appears to be a construct of GWB....

"Gonzales, 51, has never tried a case, according to biographical information he provided to the Senate in 2005. Before becoming attorney general, Gonzales spent four years as White House counsel, less than two years as a justice on the Texas Supreme Court, a year as Texas secretary of state, and nearly three years as a lawyer for then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush. From 1982 to 1995, Gonzales was a corporate lawyer at Vinson & Elkins, where he advised real-estate developers and corporations on business contracts."

http://tinyurl.com/3by76x

Bruce wrote on May 8, 2007 12:00 AM:

I bet she's never touched her naughty parts without gloves.

heh wrote on May 8, 2007 12:27 AM:

does Monica even have a boyfriend?

Maybe she's a virgin still. Its possible so its why she reacted to the nekkid statues.

wow, she had that much pull over at DOJ a snot nosed fresh outta college attorney? Come on.....

Chabuka wrote on May 8, 2007 12:51 AM:

Just please tell me that the reign of terror brought onto us by these religious extremists (not one bit different than any other cult of religious zealots operating in any other country..whether its our own country or Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia..same principles, just a different "God" and language) and moonbats ..is finally coming to an end

zippidy wrote on May 8, 2007 1:27 AM:

It appears she's still covering (for) boobs in the DOJ.

littlefoot wrote on May 8, 2007 1:54 AM:

Thanks TPM for keeping us "abreast" of these events.

skyreader7 wrote on May 8, 2007 1:59 AM:

So women's breasts are now unAmerican with the religious right. Perhaps the next program coming out of Homeland Security will be the subsidizing of breast removals. That will make identifying women's political beliefs so much easier. Women with flat chests will be conservatives; women with small, medium, and large breasts will be liberals. Then, at the polling places the conservatives will know which women to intimidate from voting.

sisyphus wrote on May 8, 2007 6:37 AM:

Monica is saving herself for marriage so quit mocking this chick. When she marries a Good Christian Boy she will give herself to him and to Jesus contemporaneously.

Her role model is Aimee Semple MacPherson (sp?).

Rob wrote on May 8, 2007 8:27 AM:

People like Monica Goodling make me happy I got laid a lot in college. I might have been really messed up otherwise.

Code: Cloth (as in bedsheets...)

lmwilker wrote on May 8, 2007 8:36 AM:

Monica Goodling is the Linde Englund of the Bush Attorney Gerneral's Office.

Beth wrote on May 8, 2007 9:28 AM:

The "boob shot" is something that all AGs have to endure. Photographers eventually outgrow this sort of juvenile behavior. Janet Reno did not get all twisted up about it, nor did Thornberg or Barr. And the statues were NEVER covered up with rented drapes for special occasions. And if Monica had anything to do with the $8000 draperies, let's take it out on her in legal fees and being humiliated on national television.

Mrs. Tarquin Biscuitbarrel wrote on May 8, 2007 9:53 AM:

Monica's lawyer didn't graduate from Regent, stephen. She hired a *real* lawyer from the D.C. office of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, which is just as big-potatoes as it sounds.

Elisabet wrote on May 8, 2007 10:08 AM:

Does the National Journal "article" have anything more about this? Because the way this is written, saying that MG "was responsible for" the drapes, is somewhat ambiguous. It could mean that the drapes were her idea, based on her own squeamishness, as most commenters here prefer to assume, but it could just as easily mean that she was responsible for making it happen on Ashcroft's orders. It could also mean she took the initiative to address the issue after Ashcroft complained about them.

(Some news reports at the time said that the drapes were installed on Ashcroft's orders, but a DOJ spokesman denied that he had anything to do with it.)

Even if it were her idea, it could just as likely have been a political calculation - according news accounts at the time the drapes were installed, photographers had made a sport of capturing the AG with the nude statue in the background. She may simply have decided to put a stop to that silliness with the drapes.

The drapes, by the way, were not over the breasts, they were full length backdrop curtains that hid *both* statues. If the AG didn't want to have a breast in the background of every photo, as far as I'm concerned, so what, let him have his way. We already knew he was a prude. What makes this news is the (presumably) inadvertent symbolism of hiding, in disgrace, the symbol of *Justice*.

For some reason, no one is talking about the other statue, also hidden behind those blue drapes, the scantily clad male statue, representing "the Majesty of Law".

Given what we know now about the administration's proclivity for signing statements, secret exceptions to written policies, slipping provisions into the Patriot Act without the knowledege of even the lawmaker whose staff did the deed, well, maybe we should be thinking about that other statue too.

(Anyone know what happened to Paul Corts, who in 2005 recommended that the drapes be removed? Did the Buzzsaw retaliate?)

John wrote on May 8, 2007 10:12 AM:

Hey -- there's a bit of a creepy strain of sexism in some of this discussion. I'm hearing a lot of remarks that I don't think I'd be hearing if it was "Max Goodling" instead of Monica. Can I suggest that we leave speculation of her own sexual proclivities out of it, and focus on the rampant criminality and abuse of office? Let's make sure that this doesn't degenerate into a Freeper-style mudfest.

Thanks.

Elisabet wrote on May 8, 2007 10:36 AM:

To answer my own question above: Paul Corts, the assistant Attorney General for Administration in 2005, who made the recommendation to remove the drapes - was last year appointed president of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.

So, here's at least one person with convincing fundamentalist Christian credentials who didn't think it was necessary to hide that naked breast from public view.

On the other hand, he is no longer with the DOJ, so maybe he did cross the Buzzsaw with that decision. ;-)

TSop wrote on May 8, 2007 11:02 AM:

Any chance a tape of Monica DoGoodling and Jeff Rove Boy Gannon doing the nasty turns up?

r€nato wrote on May 8, 2007 11:45 AM:

fucking prudes. Jesus. This nation has such a stick up its ass.

Clavis wrote on May 8, 2007 11:59 AM:

"And, pray tell, who were they renting the drapes from at $2,000 a pop of taxpayer money? Which GOP events company in DC got that bid?"

Hallicurton, obviously...

bordersmuggler wrote on May 8, 2007 12:07 PM:

AnneW wrote:

"If Monica was behind this idea, it was because Ashcroft was offended."

What made Monica feel obligated to cater to Johnny's whims? Was something going on between them?

Sara wrote on May 8, 2007 12:53 PM:

Now back in the early days of Ashcroft's reign over Justice, this issue was one of my hobby horses. Do people realize that covering up those statues was, as a matter of law, a minor crime?

Here is how it goes down. The Department of Justice was built, for the most part, in the last days of Herbert Hoover. Building the Federal Triangle was Hoover's version of a relief project. The appropriation for the building included about 2% of the cost for artistic embellishment of the structure. All art in the building has to be approved by two commissions, and this has been the law since 1907. Before the end of Hoover's administration, the only art approved was the wood paneling in the AG's area, the decoration of what was to be J. Edgar Hoover's digs, and the large Italian marble fireplace commissioned from Italy, for the AG's office.

FDR had a very different approach to art in public buildings. He was something of a social realist, and believed the art ought not reflect the high status of government officers, but instead reflect the function of the facility in terms of the people served. Thus, in the first months of the New Deal, the whole plan for decorating the interior of all the Federal Triangle buildings changed. New guidelines for commissions were created, approved by the Fine Arts Commission, and new juries created to select the artists and their works to be commissioned. Once the various juries made their recommendations and the Fine Arts Commission approved them, then there is a Congressional Committee that reviews the process, and gives final approval plus approves the appropriations for the art or monument of what not. This is the process used for the Vietnam Memorial, the WWII memorial, and it is exactly the same process used for decorating the Department of Justice during the early New Deal. If you want to change anything, you have to go through the same process -- a jury, approval by the Fine Arts Commission, and eventually Congressional action. I don't think Monica or Ashcroft followed the legal process (now exactly 100 years on the books) and I think some bright lawyer ought to get involved, and make trouble for them on this score. Clearly the Fine Arts Commission was not asked to approve drapes over the art.

OK -- the two statues in question in the Great Hall of the Department of Justice represent the two faces of law -- the female figure is Nurture, as in nurture of civilization through the rule of law, and the male figure is Punishment and Vengence, as in taking out the bad evil doers for the protection of the law abiding. This is, in iconic terms, a statement of mission of the Department of Justice. Temporary occupants of the Department (Monica Goodling and John Ashcroft) do not have the authority to change the icons unless they follow the proper proceedure. Drapes may well represent what they intended to do to the rule of law -- but that simply is not their decision. It is not exactly a hanging crime -- but it is an offense against due process.

Now Republicans know all about this, because during the Reagan Administration, Ed Meese wanted to whitewash over some of the murals in the building, murals that are profoundly social realism of the sort we put in all our post offices during the 1930's. Meese got slapped down fast by the Fine Arts Commission when he voiced this idea. Meese in particular disliked one mural that shows people of virtually all nationalities and ethnic types sitting around an outdoor banquet table loaded with the fruit of a harvest, in the midst of a ripe wheat field, singing the praise of rule of law as a basis for human well-being. The people are about to consume a roast pig, but every sort of fish and vegetable and sweet is loaded on to the table. My point is that all that New Deal art is about the mission of DOJ -- and human well-being is at the root of it. To argue for these icons is to argue for this view of law. Republican ideas of art (if they have any) have to do with celebration of status and elites.

The best "redecorator" ever in the Department was probably Robert Kennedy. He used scotch tape to hang his kids art work all over the Italian Marble Fireplace, much as many moms and dads do the fridge door. That Fireplace is one of the few "republican" icons in the place.

Anyhow -- I think Monica and Ashcroft ought to be brought up on charges before the Fine Arts Commission (at the least) -- they need to be made a bad example for future occupants.

In addition, someone needs to get into DOJ and get really good photographs of all this stuff, and put up a web page with all the textual interpretation, particularly the language of the commissions for the art. The Ceiling in the Law Library is a comprehensive history of the rule of law -- I've used it in teaching several times in American Studies courses, even though all I had was black and white pictures.

Elisabet wrote on May 8, 2007 12:53 PM:

Bordersmuggler wrote:

"What made Monica feel obligated to cater to Johnny's whims? Was something going on between them?"

Um, maybe because that was her *job*? As in assistant to Ashcroft's spokesperson? As in press operations? If Ashcroft wanted drapes behind him instead of a breast, exactly who else do you think should have been making that happen?

You know, as much fun as everyone has had with Monica Goodling's just-out-of-college resume, one look at it and you can see that is exactly the kind of thing she was good at. Organizing proms and parades and swim teams and whatever, which means making sure that all those sorts of details are seen to. She's a make-it-happen person, whether it for something silly like the drapes or something criminal like the saturation of the Justice Department with political hacks.

The idea that it would require an affair with the AG to motivate this woman to do her job (or to get it in the first place) is patently ridiculous.

Elisabet wrote on May 8, 2007 1:30 PM:

Sara, fascinating post.

I notice you give different names for the statues in question than the news accounts I've seen - "Nurture" and "Punishment and Vengence" vs. "Majesty of Law" and "Spirit of Justice".

As stupid as putting those curtains up was, I don't think that it even approaches the level of whitewashing a mural or otherwise permanently altering or destroying public art. The curtains were removeable, and no real lasting harm done except to make Ashcroft (and now Goodling) the subject of ridicule.

Interesting how in both the Statue incident and the Attorney Purge it was their attempts to avoid a certain kind of attention that called attention to the very thing they were trying to cover up. I'm not saying "it isn't the crime, it's the cover up" because it really *is* the crime that is important - not just the politicalization of the DOJ but what that politicalization was supposed to facilitate.

Kelly wrote on May 8, 2007 1:41 PM:

I worked at the DOJ at the time and I can say with 100% certainty that it was NOT Monica Goodling. The staffer in question is Lani Miller - get your facts straight.

Alcibiades Mystery wrote on May 8, 2007 1:42 PM:

"I'm not a trained litigator, but I did work at a Holiday Inn Express last year..." - Monica Goodling

TheraP wrote on May 8, 2007 1:45 PM:

Sara

Fascinating stuff.

Now, Fine Arts Commission.... how could it be that the bushmafia has not also installed its own "experts" in this area as well.... people who would stall any attempts to do sensible, logical, law-abiding things?

To follow your advice, we really need to clean house here. Because likely even the arts have been corrupted. You might say they are now the "dark arts."

I should know wrote on May 8, 2007 1:47 PM:

Monica Goodling had nothing to do with the ordering of the drapes. Paul Corts had nothing to do with their removal.

aaronsmiles wrote on May 8, 2007 1:52 PM:

I find it kind of fitting that the title of this should be about lady justice, and the fact that her blindness wasn't the concern, but rather than it be covered up. Justice being covered up. Sounds like a good description of her entire work in the DOJ.

Charlie B wrote on May 8, 2007 3:51 PM:

Agree some of are getting sexist, but damned it's hard not to get a major schadenfreude fix out of this scandal and some others brewing.
And there's nothing tragic about it. For it to be tradedy the players would have to have aspects of honor or nobility in their characters, but they don't. They give mediocrity a bad name and are cut from the same cloth as Soviet apparatchiks. They'll do anything to please their bosses and advance their careers by advancing the agendas of those bosses. They're creeps who have convinced themselves that they're doing God's work and that our nation was meant to be a theocracy.
I personally can't dredge up an ounce of sympathy for these SOBs.

Sara wrote on May 8, 2007 4:36 PM:

Elizabet -- yea my titles are probably all different, largely because what I know about the interior decoration of DOJ is a result of spending time at the FDR Library reading through the minutes of meetings where the commissions were hotly debated and agreed upon in the early New Deal months. FDR was hot to get them approved, as he thought highly of passing out paid commissions to starving artists. In the process of teaching an American Studies Course covering the New Deal, I always found students fascinated with class sessions where you could interpret art and architecture as iconic representations of what the New Deal was about, at least in part -- which is why DOJ has always interested me. You can do the same thing with the Departments of Labor and Commerce which were decorated at the same time, but with different commissions.

There is yet one additional bit of irony to this whole story, The Chair of the Jury Group in 1933 was Thomas Hart Benton -- Painter, native of Missouri, and decendent of the first Senator from Missouri, who was the author of the pre-Civil War Missouri Compromise. Benton became the chair primarily because he didn't want any commissions himself, he feared Government oversight of the artistic process -- and as he was then perhaps the most famous American Artist, his service as a Jury foreman was most welcome. What then adds to the Irony is that while a Senator, John Ashcroft worked hard to get funds for a Missouri Museum of Thomas Hart Benton's work -- just a little bitty earmark I think -- but when Ashcroft got to DOJ it seems the influence of Benton just flew right past him. Back when the statutes first got draped, I thought rubbing Ashcroft's nose in the connection to Thomas Hart Benton, that great son of Missouri, might shake him a bit. Didn't phase him.

xyz@youhoo.com wrote on May 8, 2007 6:09 PM:

From here the last few bits of info on MS. Goodling appear to be in the same vein.
Are these titillating tidbits designed to describe her as a ditzy, prudish, zealot ?
They seem to follow the typical pattern that we have seen so often out of DC.
Please let's print the facts not some tidbit from an anyonomus source designed to smear someone.
I hate to be in the position of defending Ms. Goodling but this is vintage DC smear stuff.

Andy K wrote on May 8, 2007 6:23 PM:

Gee whizz, they coulda recouped the cost by offerin' peeps behind the drapes for a buck a shot.

Adults only. Valid i.d. with proof of age required. Of course...

frankhackett wrote on May 8, 2007 9:37 PM:

Maybe those christian fundies,whos parents hid the national geographic complained about the nudity on television.Protecting their kids from artistic porn is big in the bible belt.

ham on rye wrote on May 8, 2007 11:21 PM:

Monica Goodling = Reese Witherspoon's character in Election?

Herb wrote on May 9, 2007 1:22 AM:

The symbolism behind the scantily-clad or nude justice staue(s) is that THE JUSTICE SYSTEM HAS NOTHING TO HIDE!!! So it was actually appropriate for the BUSH JUSTICE DEPT. TO HIDE HER BREASTS! She should lose her blindfold and be holding a scale tipped-over too...
That's all I got, Herbert Walker.

http://thisjuncture.blogspot.com

K. Ron Silkwood wrote on May 9, 2007 2:47 AM:

Monica has nice boobies. Why should she be jealous?

Elisabet wrote on May 9, 2007 12:24 PM:

Hmph.

Who needs curtains? I can't find *any* pictures of either statue, other than ones of one or another AG with a big metal breast in the background.

Sara, I did find another set of statues named "Spirit of Justice" and "Majesty of Law", stone not aluminum, and located outside the Senate Office Building, but also attributed to Jennewein. Did the AP story perhaps get those mixed up with the ones in the DOJ? Or did the statues get renamed at some point?

It's weird that it is so hard to find information or pictures of these statues, as much as they have been in the news. (Sara, perhaps you could do a wikipedia article?)

Sluggo wrote on May 9, 2007 12:28 PM:

Why costly drapes to hide an entire statue when it's only the mammaries that offend?? There are innovative and inexpensive alternatives that Jesus would certainly approve of. Ashcroft never had an ounce of imagination.
http://english.pravda.ru/photo/report/bush-1528/3/

BTW: Read the caption, then find the sugar cane. I keep looking and looking and looking ....

Levon wrote on May 9, 2007 2:06 PM:

Psych profile of right wing nutjobs.

They are highly submissive
to established authority, aggressive in the name of that authority, and conventional to
the point of insisting everyone should behave as their authorities decide. They are
fearful and self-righteous and have a lot of hostility in them that they readily direct
toward various out-groups. They are easily incited, easily led, rather un-inclined to
think for themselves, largely impervious to facts and reason, and rely instead on social
support to maintain their beliefs. They bring strong loyalty to their in-groups, have
thick-walled, highly compartmentalized minds, use a lot of double standards in their
judgments, are surprisingly unprincipled at times, and are often hypocrites.
But they are also Teflon-coated when it comes to guilt. They are blind to
themselves, ethnocentric and prejudiced, and as closed-minded as they are narrowminded.
They can be woefully uninformed about things they oppose, but they prefer
ignorance and want to make others become as ignorant as they. They are also
surprisingly uninformed about the things they say they believe in, and deep, deep,
deep down inside many of them have secret doubts about their core belief. But they
are very happy, highly giving, and quite zealous. In fact, they are about the only
zealous people around nowadays in North America, which explains a lot of their
success in their endless (and necessary) pursuit of converts.

Jamie wrote on May 9, 2007 2:30 PM:

Who's skewering her for DrapeGate? Lest we forget she was the liaison between DOJ and the WH in the insidious plot to oust US attorneys who weren't "Loyal Bushies."

If she is a "trained litigator" (let alone is in possession of a JD), she ought to know when laws and/or ethics are being breached.

Haul her ass in.

Pat Williams wrote on May 9, 2007 3:35 PM:

I should point out that the area in Pennsylvania where Monica Goodling comes from is the same area where many pacifists including the Society of Friends (Quakers), Mennonites, etc. hail who are liberals and activists due to their religious beliefs. Our social justice and peace roots run deep. Some religious leaders recently visited Iran to discuss peace. Bush was not pleased.

Sam L wrote on May 9, 2007 6:10 PM:

Quote from above replies: Monica L. and Monica G.
Blue dress. Blue drapes.
Both at the center of a presidential controversy.

Coincidence? I think not.
Posted by: algebrateacher
Date: May 7, 2007 06:08 PM

END Quotes.
Is there a stain on the drapes, so they had to buy them from the rental agency?

Sam L. wrote on May 10, 2007 2:48 AM:

Hey Levon, thay also spend their time denying the very fact of the human mammal. This is the driving force behind the mandated coverup in public of lifes first nutrition source for every human that ever lived.

warren l wrote on May 15, 2007 2:31 PM:

monica goodling im down on my knees
you're taking the fifth but you're still:
my main squeeze
monica don't let those awful liberals, please
take over the country and save all those trees
monica, call pat.. whose a preacher and true
thinks the jews are coming to get me and you
oh monicas''' the justice departments number three
and bush is the leader: hey--where are we?
you mean this is the u.s. of a.
its absurdistan--courtesy of tom de lay

Tom wrote on May 20, 2007 8:25 PM:

Levon,

Thanks for the profile - well said. See Chris Hedges' book "American Fascists." Really frightening ... how close we came to a fascist theocracy ... see also "The Theocons" by Damon Linker.

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