Comments (51)

Passing Shot wrote on May 15, 2007 3:36 PM:

Apparently, having to deal with a serious illness does not preclude one from being a dick.

EdNSted wrote on May 15, 2007 3:38 PM:

The subpoena deadline of 2pm today has now passed. What happens next?

Jane wrote on May 15, 2007 3:40 PM:

Dear Tony:

I have seen my father in the ICU many times. I have seen him use immense effort to pull together to meet a job challenge. It can be done -- Ashcroft's brain did work -- he told Gonzales no -- but it costs.

Hope you remember this next time you are in the ICU.

God wrote on May 15, 2007 3:41 PM:

"Because he had an appendectomy, his brain didn't work?"

Spoken like a true "Loyal Bushie".

Had Ashcroft been dead at the time, Loyal Bushies would have had his corpse rigged and modified in order to make him appear to sign the documents, smile and wave to the cameras, and then sing one final rendition of the Let the Eagle Soar.

God Save America from Loyal Bushies!!

hwc wrote on May 15, 2007 4:06 PM:

How can Snow stand there with a straight face and say there were "strong protections"?

We already know that the Inspector General found massive problems with the oversight of these wiretap cases at the FBI.

Or, is Snow suggesting that Gonazales, Sampson, and Goodling were providing the strong oversight?

jane wrote on May 15, 2007 4:24 PM:

How could Snow belittle Ashcroft's illness?? My sympathy for what he's going through with his battle with cancer just shrunk to near zero.

df wrote on May 15, 2007 4:26 PM:

Re: going behind Comey's back, let's not forget Gonzo's testimony:

GONZALES: No question about. I had charged Mr. Sampson with organizing and coordinating the effort to gathering information and present to me recommendations. Ms. Goodling assisted Mr. Sampson in the discharge or a wide variety of responsibilities, and if you look at...

JOHNSON: And you don't know of anyone else who assisted them?

GONZALES: Well, if you look at the e-mail traffic, and from what I understand, from public testimony, obviously there were people who provided input and information.

JOHNSON: Who would that have been?

GONZALES: Well, I think, again, based upon looking at the documents, obviously, issues relating to Ms. Lam were raised with me, and I believe that was done by Mr. Mercer -- by Mr. Bill Mercer. My understanding is, is that in fact Mr. Comey was in fact consulted about his views about U.S. attorneys.

And so, I mean, if you look at the public testimony and if you look at the documentation, there were people that were being consulted. They may not have known that they were providing information which would then form the basis of some kind of list.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/content/article/2007/05/10/gonzales_testimony_051007.html

mbbsdphil wrote on May 15, 2007 4:27 PM:

Who's brain isn't working, Tony? I forgot; that propaganda you spread like a farmer is carefully strategized and focus-grouped. Pity, it bears no relationship to the facts or basic humanity.

For someone who's dealt more than once with an active cancer, you seem as intensely hypocritical as your boss. You shouldn't be surprised if the decency you expect to receive for your own health concerns drops to the level you show to others, that is, if anyone else could get down that low.

Dogfan wrote on May 15, 2007 4:28 PM:

I've been in the ICU, recovering from the drugs the doctors used for surgery, for a week. Brain doesn't work very well. Although Ashcroft might have been able to squawk "Eagles Fly" around his tubes.
Another thought:
Tony Snow has gone from a FOX News newsreader to an arrogant, laughable lapdog of the bushies. There used to be honorable people in his job.
How times have changed!

TheraP wrote on May 15, 2007 4:42 PM:

Surgeons insist - that a person "sign no important papers" following surgery and while on pain meds.

Then again, that's the "reality based" world, isn't it?

Richard L. Adlof wrote on May 15, 2007 4:42 PM:

God @ May 15, 2007 03:41 PM,

The Administration would not have waited for for the steam to leave Ashcroft's corpse before turning him into a puppet for a photo-op . . . It appears to be fairly widely known that Cheney just sticks his hand up Georgey' backside and makes him bark when needed and the rest of the time the boy king romes about the whitehouse grounds clearing brush . . . .

Mary wrote on May 15, 2007 4:43 PM:

"After all," Snow continued "everyone is this Administration is drugged up most of the time and we've all made great decisions. I mean, yeah, there was that day we were all looking at the little sparkly things that shoot from your fingers when you're dropping acid and no one could find Louisiana on a map, but then Fred remembered his first grade school crush was on Miss Louise and then the crew from Treasury stopped by and they'd been in smoke filled rooms all day and had the munchies and one of them brought cheetos and then, while NOLA drowned, we all watched to see what happened with the sparks from your fingers when they are covered with that yellow stuff from Cheetos and then ...

... uh, where was I? Oh yeah - nothing like a morphine drip to get your brain pumping."

jolly ranchero wrote on May 15, 2007 4:43 PM:

"Apparently, having to deal with a serious illness does not preclude one from being a dick."

That's it. I'm tired of "everyone be nice to Snow cuz he has cancer" shit. The guy just belittled another man's health; my eyes will be dry as a bone should Snow end up in the hospital again. This is about as low as one man can snoop--now they're trashing Ashcroft? Wow.

j swift wrote on May 15, 2007 4:47 PM:

My, my who knew Toadie Snowjob was a catastrophic illness snob.

security code: pussy (as in if you ain't had cancer like Toadie you are just a whiner).

Jim Burke wrote on May 15, 2007 4:48 PM:

I have suffered from Gal Bladder Induced Pancreatitis. The first thing they do once you are diagnosed is pump you full of morphine to kill the incredible pain.
Should someone full of morphine be making critical public policy decisions?

Jet wrote on May 15, 2007 4:48 PM:

Hey Tony, next time you gotta go in for chemo why don't we just hold the pressers at your bedside? Your mouth will still be able to spewing bullshit then too won't it?

On the Clock wrote on May 15, 2007 4:57 PM:

Let's not get sidetracked by Snow's fumbling insensitivity.

Comey provided an Alexander Butterfield moment today.

"COMEY: (John Ashcroft' chief of staff, David Ayers,) had gotten a call from Mrs. Ashcroft from the hospital. She had banned all visitors and all phone calls. So I hadn’t seen him or talked to him because he was very ill.

And Mrs. Ashcroft reported that a call had come through, and that as a result of that call Mr. Card and Mr. Gonzales were on their way to the hospital to see Mr. Ashcroft.

SCHUMER: Do you have any idea who that call was from?

COMEY: **** I have some recollection that the call was from the president himself,**** but I don’t know that for sure. It came from the White House. And it came through and the call was taken in the hospital."

Who else but President Bush himself could have prevailed on Mrs. Ashcroft (and her husband's physicians) to allow Bush's chief of staff and Bush's personal lawyer to visit John Ashcroft's sickbed, for the specific purpose of securing a signature from him (even though he'd surrendered authority to Comey) to extend an unconstitutional authority??

Only Dick Cheney had a higher constitutional station than Ashcroft, and Comey says the call came "from the White House", not from the OVP. John Ashcroft didn't serve at the pleasure of the vice president, or Karl Rove, or Andy Card, or anyone else but the President.

George W. Bush provoked a constitutional crisis by calling Mrs. Ashcroft and essentially ordering that her husband receive visitation against her wishes to conduct illegal business.

Codeword "Tail", folks: as in, pinning the tail of an illegal act on President Bush's own behind.

Weasel Poots wrote on May 15, 2007 5:02 PM:

Hey, Snow is an expert on sick. I don't think we should question him.

Scott L wrote on May 15, 2007 5:06 PM:

If Ashcroft wouldn't sign off on it thats saying a lot. Ashcroft is a true blue monster.

Scott L wrote on May 15, 2007 5:06 PM:

If Ashcroft wouldn't sign off on it thats saying a lot. Ashcroft is a true blue monster.

GM wrote on May 15, 2007 5:07 PM:

Let's keep in mind that John Ashcroft had acute pancreatitis, a painful and serious condition that would typically require strong analgesic medications like morphine. In this context, a patient often is considered not mentally competent because of medication effects. To get informed consent for medical or surgical procedures, a doctor would often go to the next of kin, not the patient himself or herself.

It seems to me that taking a paper to him for signature was a desperate attempt intended to take advantage of Ashcroft's temporarily impaired mental state.

Scott L wrote on May 15, 2007 5:07 PM:

If Ashcroft wouldn't sign off on it thats saying a lot. Ashcroft is a true blue monster.

jolie wrote on May 15, 2007 5:14 PM:

oh yay for you snowjob. what a man.

it's so fun and easy to ridicule somebody who's sick and in hospital. but of course, expect to bask in the commiserations and sympathies of all and sundry when you talk about your stupid, silly cancer.

I mean, it's not like your brain isn't working, is it?

Pompano Pete Jr wrote on May 15, 2007 5:37 PM:

Let's hope Tony's colon cancer comes to be described by some future GOP hack as nothing more than a bit of constipation. These people are incredible!

Pompano Pete Jr wrote on May 15, 2007 5:38 PM:

Let's hope Tony's colon cancer comes to be described by some future GOP hack as nothing more than a bit of constipation. These people are incredible!

Long Memory wrote on May 15, 2007 6:10 PM:

Congratulations to Jet for hitting the nail on the head. We don't need Dana Perino, although she is kinda cute. You can just turn down the sound when she's talking and ... well, I digress.

The point is: Next time Tony's in there for cancer treatment, he should still be the talking head. No more coddling him. Or anyone else in this stinkhole of an administration.

Dr. NO NO NO wrote on May 15, 2007 6:23 PM:

Good to see Tony Snow is recovering from his lobotomy nicely.

SteveW wrote on May 15, 2007 6:31 PM:

Oh, and Tony knows sick...or at least that's his story and he's sticking to it...yes, Tony is sick and I'm not just pointing to his "cancer".

Seriously, I'd never doubted anyone who claimed to have cancer before in my life (even though I do remember Jon Lovitz pulling it off on Seinfeld:), though now I for one am not buying Tony is sick. Knowing this crowd in the Bush Administration/Rove, they will do anything to garner some sympathy from the already malleable press corps. I'm just sayin....

As for Snow the professional propagandist (who wasn't even taken seriously at Fox News and ultimately forced out, where they all take themselves very seriously), this guy is a clown.

Has anyone been catching his act of late other than the post above? If so, then you know what I'm talking about here...what with all the exaggerated body language, jokes that aren't funny, and just plain crazy shit that comes out of his mouth, and all the while our intrepid D.C. press corps just play along.

Donald from Hawaii wrote on May 15, 2007 6:33 PM:

If John Ashcroft was in fact clear-headed when he refused to sign the reauthorization order, then thank God for small miracles, i.e., his sporadic bouts of lucidity and enlightenment.

Maybe that refusal also explains Ashcroft's own 2005 departure from DOJ "in order to spend more time with his family."

mayan wrote on May 15, 2007 6:44 PM:

What an asshole...just because he has cancer does that mean his conscience doesn't work? Prick!

Anonymous wrote on May 15, 2007 6:45 PM:

I just read what Comey had to say- CRAZY SHIT! Gonzo showing up and trying to take advantage of a guy who was barely conscious- LOL! What a ridiculous bootlicker. These folks have screwed up "Justice" beyond belief. Not just the political appointees- we've gonna have to have a purge of the career employees (who were not supposed to be hired based on political concerns) as well. Let's hope we get a Dem president who is willing to do it.

Pissed Off American wrote on May 15, 2007 6:53 PM:

Any "White House Spokesman", right or left, should be required to wear a red head piece with horns. These people are overpaid liars, and, whats more, they sign on to be overpaid liars. In other words, they take a job that requires throwing all honesty and integrity out the window. Only scum would sign on for such a task.

funnyman wrote on May 15, 2007 7:29 PM:

ah this is the crocodile dundee moment for Tony Snow: You call that a knife. this is a knife!

funnman wrote on May 15, 2007 7:32 PM:

again, here is Mr. Dundee himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pWDJp7l6Ww

Sam Sara wrote on May 15, 2007 8:14 PM:

Time to charge up the fembot, Tony is losing it.

Mark Richards wrote on May 15, 2007 8:53 PM:

Because he has cancer he can't stand up and make excuses and deliver lies anymore?

What's all that about!

Sara wrote on May 15, 2007 9:32 PM:

Well, if we are to take the Bush defination of torture seriously, it is the pain of acute organ failure, which was, as I understand it, why Ashcroft had to have his gallblatter surgically removed.

Thus it follows -- the attempt to get him to sign the papers was ipso facto, under torture.

Someone ought to ask Snow to account for the difference between natural organ failure and organ failure under torture -- and whether the intent of making such a demand of a sick man wasn't about the same.

pfonke wrote on May 15, 2007 10:21 PM:

I seem to remember the press playing up how serious Ashcroft's illness was at the time -- and the change in his appearance was striking. I wonder what Tony-Snow-the-media-personality had to say then?

Meanwhile, back when Ashcroft went into the hospital on March 6, Bush himself described Ashscroft as "groggy":

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/03/20040306-3.html#

(text, audio and video. It's the last thing Bush says, so scroll down, or go to minute 31 or 31:10.)

Jack wrote on May 15, 2007 10:33 PM:

Gallup poll 5/10-5/13
President Bush's Overall Job rating
33% approve 62% disapprove 5% unsure

Tony Snowjob isn't fooling anyone except the people who will be voting for the loser of the 2008 election.

David wrote on May 15, 2007 11:12 PM:

Good Lord. What a tool.

regular lurker wrote on May 15, 2007 11:48 PM:

I'm surprised they didn't ask Mrs. Ashcroft to sign for her husband.

matt rose wrote on May 16, 2007 1:42 AM:

you mean to tell me that not one (1) reporter in the room when he said that asked, "So why did you take the last month an a half off?"

I can't believe this Bush clan has made me pray.
Pray for my nation.
Pray for my sanity.
Pray that I can make it just one more day without my head exploding.
While they destroy our nation they laugh that we can do nothing about the fact that they are destroying our nation.
They laugh because they know that we are decent people and because of our basic decency we can not deliver them the basic ass-whopping they so rightly deserve.

molly wrote on May 16, 2007 2:00 AM:

Wonder how many times Bushco tried to get Ashcroft to sign before he took so ill. Two people, Timmeh and Scooter going into the court room on crutches. These people send a strong message.

desmoulins wrote on May 16, 2007 2:48 AM:

Whats really interesting is that clearly Snow didn't think for a second that AShcroft will weigh in himself. Its going to look very very bad for the WH if Ashcroft, now goaded, weights in to support Comey. Just another example of how the Bushies still haven't figured out that they're isolated and have no credibility.

Lets hope they don't figure out it for the next 18 months.

bordersmuggler wrote on May 16, 2007 8:03 AM:

@May 16, 2007 01:42 AM

"they laugh that we can do nothing about the fact that they are destroying our nation"

The sad thing is we deserve this, for letting that gang of criminals steal the 2000 election, robbing voters of their choice. The criminals have been laughing ever since. The rule of law was upeneded, and they got away with it. The rest of us are also guilty, for not objecting when it occurred.

Irina wrote on May 16, 2007 8:11 AM:

Bush is so far beyond the law that it's probably going to take a show of constitutionally applied physical force to remove him.

Everyone is assuming that the R's are frightened for their political careers.

Not so. I'd guess some R's are thinking 'What if he never goes? What if I show I'm disloyal now?

What will the consequences be if I annoy the Godfather...?'

And then there's that whole 'Here's what I have on file about you' scenario.

So impeachment, or other forms of legal redress, are not a given.

They may never be a given. That's the ugly truth of what's happening here.

I'd say it's 50:50 at the moment. There's pressure on, but it's too early to tell what the WH has in reserve, and whether it can swing the game for the dictator in chief.

...And yet they still get away with this crap. They're blatant in their disrespect for the law, saying they're above the law and daring anyone to stop them.

The problem is - no one has.

So we know about this - so what? Bush will just thumb his nose at the country and basically say "I have the right to break the law - I'm the deciderer."

A law with no teeth isn't worth the paper it's written on. There must be consequences and accountability for breaking the law.

The real question is WHY is no one willing to put a stop to this lawbreaking (other than those who are no longer with the government, which is a clear indication of what happens when you try to limit the criminals at the top)? Are we truly saying that we don't care if our President obeys the law or not? Isn't that the gist of it if he gets away with this?

fuzz wrote on May 16, 2007 9:58 AM:

Just because you had cancer in your ass you couldn't come to work? All you do is talk. Oh, right, you do all of your talking out of your ass. Probably that cancer is the result of the festering lies you have backed up there. Or perhaps your god is just showing you how much he appreciates what your administration has done in his name.

Security Code: nail ('nuff said)

Stevan wrote on May 16, 2007 10:15 AM:

Let's not let Mr. Snow deflect our attention from what was really going on by getting us to wax eloquent about his insensitivity. Gonzalez and Card were actively trying to circumvent the decision of the acting Attorney General to get DOJ approval for a program with the potential for all kinds of repercussions. Something as important, destructive and illegal as warrantless domestic spying should not OK'd on the spur of the moment in the middle of the night, and it puts on clear display the reckless, cavalier attitude that this administration has towards our most basic freedoms. That's what we should be focusing on. If we allow the government to break a clearly written law and spy on our own citizens without any oversight, isn't that another feather in the terrorists' cap?

Rodney wrote on May 16, 2007 12:41 PM:

God should strike down Tony Snow a third time and finish the job.

Elliott wrote on May 17, 2007 2:39 AM:

Acute pancreatitis is not only hugely painful but the accumulated toxins can cloud the intellect and induce hallucinations which can last for days, with swings in and out of lucidity, leaving the patient very vulnerable.

epenisa wrote on January 11, 2008 12:06 AM:

Hi all!
Nice work from your side... have a nice time with yoru blog :)
G'night