President Bush made it clear Monday that he’s not going to fire embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, despite a lack of support among even some top Republicans after Gonzales’ conflicting statements about the fired eight U.S. attorneys and his weak testimony last week before a Senate committee. "As the hearings went forward, it was clear the attorney general broke no law, there’s no wrongdoing," Bush said.
No laws broken? That’s not a very high ethical standard, is it, for the nation’s top law enforcement official?
It’s yet another indication of Bush’s cronyism and willingness to tolerate mediocrity and poor performance at the expense of his own party.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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65 Comments
Look at Bush.
He’s got his “I’m-peeved-to-even-be-talking-about-this” face on.
He forgot that when he took the job, WE became his boss.
“No laws were broken.”
Yeah, real nice.
So if I hire a couple of prostitutes in Vegas, smoke grass in Holland, or “marry” a couple of pre-teens in Somalia, I can be Attorney General of the United States because “no laws were broken.”
Remember when Bush said that if anyone who leaked Valerie Plame’s name would be fired.
Until a few months later when it turned into “anyone who committed a crime leaking Valerie Plame’s name” would be fired.
Which makes me wonder, is Scooter Innocent-until-proven-Guilty Libby still on the gov’t payroll?
I’m guessing yes.
I think scooter is off the gummit dole, but his “free scooter defense fund” is thriving from what I hear. What else to expect when mary “I heart cheney” matalin is your fundraiser in chief?
Bushco setting the bar at an all time low for DOJ? Justice for sale? Say it isnt so…
Hell, these guys just give voters scandal fatigue. No wonder voter apathy abounds.
Parsing the President’s comments, as I am prone to do, it appears his “no laws were broken” statement is limited to what was/was not done by the Attorney General. Nothing more, nothing less.
Shrub Can’t Fire Gonzo
It’s not like “Fredo” (Bush’s nickname for Gonzales) is going to write a tell-all expose. Here’s a guy who’s “memoirs” would have to be titled “I Don’t Recall,” f’r cryin’ out loud!
No, here’s the problem: If Gonzo goes, Dumbya has to appoint a new Attorney General and that nominee must be confirmed by the Senate. No one acceptable to Karl Rove will pass Senate muster. A Republican of integrity (it’s possible, perhaps) would be honor-bound to continue investigations in to the corruption and lies of Shrub’s presidency.
Like that’s gonna happen.
Uh oh.
Looks like Bush is standing by his man like a QB stands behind the center when the Oakland Defense is blitzing.
Check it out from “Scoop”:
Heather Wilson (R-NM) was going down in flames for Congress in 2006. Only a Democratic scandle could win it for her.
She, Pete Domenici, and Gonzo put pressure on AG Iglesis to indict the Dem.
Iglesis refused for the simple reason that no evidence existed to warrent an indictment.
QUOTE
It’s simple. Wilson needed help. Both Wilson and Domenici called Iglesias. No deal, Iglesias said. Then Domenici made the call to Gonzales who said, no way without a nod by from Bush. Iglesias was fired. Therefore, Bush is tagged for giving the order, Get rid of him. Gonzales passed the word and the deed was done.
That sequence of events points directly to Bush as the final decider. He’s told us “I’m the decider” in public. Gonzales said as much to Domenici, no way unless the boss says so.
The problem is not only political but legal. Pressuring a U.S. Attorney into a bogus indictment is a federal crime. Domenici lawyered up after Iglesias described his conversation with the senator. Gonzales and Simpson both denied initiating the call on the firing. So it’s Bush, and only Bush, as the author of a punishment delivered to a U.S. Attorney who failed to indict a citizen for purely political purposes.
Now that’s what you call a high crime. Actually, it’s called election fraud, which is defined as “corruption of the electoral process … (by) elected or election officials, candidates, party organizations, advocacy groups or campaign workers.” Here we have politicians actively planning improper and illegal acts to influence an election through a contrived prosecution. It’s not that complicated.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0704/S00350.htm
LTP, that is exactly right on. Part of the ongoing efforts of bushco to run out the clock not just on the war, but every aspect of government.
They dont even TRY to accomplish anything. They’d be happy just to get out of office without impeachment or indictment.
ICI. Indict, convict, impeach.
Like THAT’s going to happen…
TEST
“NO CONTROLLING LEGAL AUTHORITY”
Who said that?
“I don’t recall”
Who said that DOZENS of times in a Congressional hearing? (Hint, this was prior to HER election to the Senate.)
Bush should stiff arm the media and NEVER back down, unless he truly believes HE made a mistake.
You sharks will only smell blood in the water if he ever reacts to your ridiculous demands!
TEST
“NO CONTROLLING LEGAL AUTHORITY”
Who said that?
“I don’t recall”
Who said that DOZENS of times in a Congressional hearing? (Hint, this was prior to HER election to the Senate.)
Bush should stiff arm the media and NEVER back down, unless he truly believes HE made a mistake.
You sharks will only smell blood in the water if he ever reacts to your ridiculous demands!
Web Hubble set the bar very low a long time ago, didnt he?
Janet Reno didnt set the bar very high, either!
http://www.sternfannetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=228430
Gee Paul, I didn’t know Reno appointed Hubble to be a US Attorney!
Hubble was the first choice of the Billary team.
Paulie, heheh, I’m laughing so hard now…
You are just as predictable as raptor. No matter what, your first response is always CLINTON (pick one) DID IT TOO!!!!!
Dont you ever get tired of being laughed at for that tired old canard? When in the HELL has that ever been a credible defense?
And now you are adding Gore to the “he did it too” list?
Good GOD paulie, have some self respect man!
Do you let your kids get away with “everyone else is doing it”?
Was he nominated Paul?
Paulie and germie BOTH sure like the CLINTON DID IT meme. I just cant stop laughing.
But on a serious note?
“Bush should stiff arm the media and NEVER back down, unless he truly believes HE made a mistake.”
OMG, given how bush never admits HE made a mistake, that is a really scary thought from the republican party.
If you have EVER considered voting republican, you should really consider that paulie and germie and little miss hissy fit represent their party well.
A vote for republicans is a vote for THAT kind of logic…
Well put, KFG. I remember my grade school teachers asking, “Well, if he jumped out of the top floor of a building, would you do it, too?” – [this should be said in a high-pitched nasally voice - and picture a Gary Larson bee-hive hairdo with those crazy glasses].
Democrats are just mad because ther impotent. Constantly whining about some injustice done to U.S. Attorneys that was done perfectly legal.
They’re mad cause they can’t get it up. :)
Logic? Repubs exhibit logic?
farm girl
Billary is running again.
Bush is NOT running again.
Who is more relevant/irrelevant, when it comes to mistakes made?
Randy raises the most salient point. Aren’t our law enforcement professionals supposed to be above suspicion of wrong doing, and not just free of criminal liability?
Another low bar set, by the lowest of all bars president.
Legal? May be, but why has gonzoboy obfuscated his view of the facts until even his own party doesn’t believe him?
Which leads me to the redundant statement again, “Logic? Repubs exhibit logic?”
Hubble was White House Chief Counsel under Billary.
He was convicted and went to jail.
The bar for White House legal advice is higher now, under Bush.
“Another low bar set, by the lowest of all bars president.”
Ya think he sets it so low because thats where the powder is?
The goofy “decider” strikes again.
Now over 4 million Iraqis are refugees, thanks to the goofy “decider” making Iraq unlivable.
Shame on Reid if he lets goofy off the hook.
Paulie, STOP yer killin’ me with laughter…
Uh, Bill Clinton isnt running for office. Just like the shrubster.
But please, maintain that hillary is the reason the bushco DOJ is such a joke.
You love to blame Clinton (pick one). But you just never seem to see ANY wrongdoing by buchco.
hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee
Oh man paulie, please continue to post that crap. Every time you post, another democrat in Kansas comes closer to winning…
heheheheh Walker, probably not.
He doesnt need to go low to get to the blow. I think he has servants who can raise the mirror…
ah heheheheeh!
I’m still laughing. Uh, paulie?
Since we still have to suffer through TWO more years of bushco, wouldnt a TRUE patriot be concerning himself with CURRENT corruption before he whined about past allegations?
Or any imagined future potential problems? There are CURRENT problems with the DOJ. Mind addressing them instead of letting your vivid imagination work on that future you fear?
this guy is even smart enough to be a practicing attorney of anything?
He looked totally incompetent. NO wonder he can interpret the constitution so loosely. I doubt he’s even read it.
Uh, the White House Counsel’s office gives legal advice to the President, not the Attorney General. Perhaps Mr. Gonzalez need to recall he is no longer the White House Counsel.
P_Mom, I think Mr. Gonzalez likely is a competent attorney; he just seems not competent in his position of Attorney General, IMHO.
A big difference between the WH Counsel and the AG: The Counsel is the President’s attorney; the AG is the COUNTRY’s attorney. Gonzalez refused to make that distinction.
Dems just mad cause they can’t find anything on him.
Millions of dollars wasted on yet another Democratic tantrum.
$75 million wasted on a “Whitewater” investigation that went nowhere.
“So if I hire a couple of prostitutes in Vegas, smoke grass in Holland, or “marry” a couple of pre-teens in Somalia, I can be Attorney General of the United States because “no laws were broken.”
Sorry to bust your vacation plans but prostitution is now and always has been illegal in Las Vegas and Clark County Nevada.
SoDo you REALLY think that Hubble never talked to Clinton(s) about firing ALL US Attorneys?
OMG Paulie, you just shamelessly make stuff up and then casually post it as the truth.
Debate 101, you cant prove a negative.
You stated Hubble was their first choice. On what basis? As Ben pointed out, he was never nominated, so I guess you just made that up?
And Hubble wanted to fire all USA’s? At the begining of the administration or six years in like bushco? Got any proof of ANY of this innuendo.
Ya know paulie, when you run out of real ammunition, you can still point your finger and say “bang bang” but no one is falling over dead.
But thanks once again for clearly exhibiting real republican regard for the truth!
OMG Paulie, you just shamelessly make stuff up and then casually post it as the truth.
Debate 101, you cant prove a negative. I think you have the positive burden of proof here.
You stated Hubble was their first choice. On what basis? As Ben pointed out, he was never nominated, so I guess you just made that up?
And Hubble wanted to fire all USA’s? Got any proof of that? Were any conversations held in the begining of the administration, like bushco? Or six years in, like bushco? Got any proof of ANY of this innuendo?
Ya know paulie, when you run out of real ammunition, you can still point your finger and say “bang bang” but no one is falling over dead. It just makes YOU feel like you are still in the game, even if yer shootin’ blanks.
But thanks once again for clearly exhibiting real republican regard for the truth!
oops, sorry for the double post.
Capn:
“So if I hire a couple of prostitutes in Vegas, smoke grass in Holland, or “marry” a couple of pre-teens in Somalia, I can be Attorney General of the United States because “no laws were broken.”
I’d vote for you to be the AG’s boss — how much different would that be than most of the clowns we already elect
No — I’m not calling you a clown — in your corner on that statement
ksfarmgrrl,”He doesnt need to go low to get to the blow. I think he has servants who can raise the mirror…”
. . . and here i always thought he was snorting off the south end of a north facing rove. My bad . . . hahahahaha
Seriously, though ( if one can get serious in this thread, considering the subject), No repubs seem to be answering the main point, which is: If gonzoboy did nothing wrong, why has he changed his story every time he’s questioned? Why are his own party members calling for his firing? Why does bush refuse to fire him?
Let me give you my answers:1. gonzoboy DID do something wrong, and did it at the behest fo the bush administration.
2. his own party members KNOW what he did was wqrong, and want this cleared up asap, as it is the justice dept that is getting a black eye.
3. bush is afraid that if he fires gonzoboy, gonzoboy will spill the beans on exactly what happened, and bushco will be looking for a new job prior to 2008.
Hey repubs; got any better answers? Please, feel free to NOT beat around the bush (humor intended)
hee hee hee Walker.
Eeewwwww. That was an image I could have lived without!
“If gonzoboy did nothing wrong, why has he changed his story every time he’s questioned? Why are his own party members calling for his firing? Why does bush refuse to fire him?”
J M Let me try this one. I think I can do it.
He is forgetful like the rest of us. Imagine Farmie thought I worked for the state of Kansas when I actually moved here from Oklahoma and not that long ago. If she could remember something wrong the AG should also get that privilege.
Tom Coburn is a repub from Oklahoma and that explains it. I used to be a democrat in Oklahoma and am now a repub. He is just confused. Some Okies get that way sometimes especially if they are a politician up for reelection soon.
Bush won’t fire him because he has done nothing wrong. Why would you advocate fireing a man for doing what you hired him to do?
How did I do? I realize some here will disagree with me J M but isn’t it great that we live in a country that allows just that?
And Foley was a Democrat before he was a Republican or wait! He was really a Republican but he wanted to be a Democrat but they wouldn’t have him but wait! He was really an undercover Democrat or wait! He was really a double agent Republican that wanted to be a double agent counter intelligence agent double for a Republican that was a Democrat that could have been a Republican except that he was a Republican.
“Why would you advocate fireing a man for doing what you hired him to do?”
I think truer words were never spoken. Gonzo does what he is told. It is his greatest value to the BFEE.
“If she could remember something wrong the AG should also get that privilege.”
Well germie, it isnt that fredo remembers it wrong, it is that he seems to remember nothing at ALL!
In fact, he said so in his testimony over 70 times.
“He is forgetful like the rest of us. Imagine Farmie thought I worked for the state of Kansas when I actually moved here from Oklahoma and not that long ago. If she could remember something wrong the AG should also get that privilege.”
I’m with the chef de’jour on that one ;
hahahahahahahahahahaha.
Did he also forget his name; who he’s married to; who he works for; what his job entails; how many fingers am I holding up?
hahahahahahahahahahahah
Let me answer all those questions you are unable to answer in words that actually mean something:
BILL CLINTON . . . BILL CLINTON . . . BILL CLINTON!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH!!!!!
I think the repubes would refuse to see the truth even if there were a smoking gun.
S**t . . . there already was one.
I’m feeling rather humorous tonight, so bare with me.hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!
Bare? Like Bobby Bare? heheheheheh
I like that better than rove bare.
Lesson for the next POTUS and AG….fire all 93 at the start of your term.Nice ethics there.
Mr Kia don’t talk seriously to them tonight. The standup comedians are out tonight. Isn’t life grand that they can go on and on about a perfectly legal act by the executive branch. They must have skipped that part of gov. class.
…. just to make sure all get the chance — save you from having to go to the open thread to read this:
EVERYONE HAS TO READ THIS OR NO COOKIE TONIGHT:
“O God, our Heavenly Father, we remember before Thee this day,those who laid down their lives in the service of their country.We remember their courage and devotion to the Sovereign and the country they served.We pray that their labours be not in vain but that their spirit may live on in us and the generations to come.We pray that liberty, truth and love may spread over all the world ’til war shall cease to be.We remember our brethren who are in sickness or distress.We remember the widows and other dependants.We dedicate ourselves to Thy service in the name of those whose memory we revere.We ask this in the name of our Lord.”"Amen”
Didn’t Bush clean house at the beginning of his second term? Or was that the beginning of his first term? Or was that both?
And just how did that “doesn’t need Senate approval” clause get in the PA? What does the AG have to do with National Security? (I’m asking to be illumated, not making smart remarks)
Has anyone checked over the PA to see who else can be appointed without approval?
wow the chatter has gone down hill since the fisters return.
all one hears is repukes, hehehehe, and other defamatory stuff…
I guess it is true, dems are the party of “no substance,” just chatter…
Yeah, the quality of the chatter was so much better when it was just YOUR blog JM, er, Republican or whatever your name is?
It was so much easier when no one challenged you on your lies, wasn’t it?
Now you have to actually make a passing resemblance to logic or you’ll be called on it, right Rep?
granny,”He is forgetful like the rest of us.”Maybe you have Convenient Onset Alzheimers (you’d have to, to be as forgetful as The Gonz) but don’t insult the rest of us.
I could get a job with the Justice department but I have a decent memory and went to a real college. Oops, over qualified.
Bob has the same email as that guy from Florida, the Zoologicial traveling circus guy, amazing…or not.
“I guess it is true, dems are the party of “no substance,” just chatter…”
Posted by repube.
I asked 3 questions of substance and this is what I got back. But from the repuke posters here, I guess that’s as good as we will get.
So while repube and his ilk think we have no substance, they, themselves, have time and again shown themselves to be a party with the inability to use either common sense, or an intelligent thought process.
While “Bob” may have the same address, repube changes his typepad so much (by the way, your latest leads to a pretty much blank page as your proflie. Kinda like the real person, what!), even he can’t remember who or what he is. Kinda like gonzoboy, the ag.
Shrub has lowered every bar he’s ever frequented!
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/washington/24gonzales.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Is this the famous surge in support right before your resignation is accepted – a la Rumsfeld?
“..and the beat goes on…”
http://thehill.com/josh-marshall/spinningin-a-wider-web-in-firings-scandal-2007-04-25.html
My what a tangled web we weave …
“..and on and on..”
http://nationaljournal.com/mercurio.htm
Related to the Hill article linked upthread.
I love the ending …
“Still, one influential Republican says Democrats are to blame. Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said Democrats set him up as a “poster boy” for corruption and will ultimately suffer for playing dirty. “It’s not good enough to defeat somebody politically or vilify him publicly,” he told the conservative Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “They’ve got to carpet-bomb you and drive you out of office, disgraced, bankrupt, your family busted up, headed to jail.”
But, the former “Hammer” quickly added, he’s not whining. “I do have to take some responsibility for this.” ”
Thanks counselor …