Magpie

Thursday, April 19, 2007

How Gonzales works is finally making sense to me.

At today's Senate hearing into the US attorney scandal, Alberto Gonzales' most common answer to senators' questions about his involvement in the evaluation of US attorneys was that he couldn't remember. He used this answer at least 45 times, according to the AP.

Gonzales' testimony today makes some of his other activities more understandable, like when he advised Dubya on how to torture prisoners, or when he told the prez that wholesale wiretapping of citizens' phone calls and internet messages was legal. He obviously just 'didn't recall' that the US has a Constitution that makes that stuff illegal.

See? Everything makes perfect sense once you understand how Gonzales operates.

Labels: Al Gonzales, Attorneygate, Scandals

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:12 PM | Get permalink

Another reason why the US attorneys scandal matters.

Let's not even worry about whether it's appropriate to turn the nation's federal law enforcement apparatus into a hotbed of partisan political action. I think we can all agree that this is a bad idea.

What matters at least as once is what Dubya's administration wanted to do once it had the US attorneys' offices under firm control:

For six years, the Bush administration, aided by Justice Department political appointees, has pursued an aggressive legal effort to restrict voter turnout in key battleground states in ways that favor Republican political candidates.

The administration intensified its efforts last year as President Bush's popularity and Republican support eroded heading into a midterm battle for control of Congress, which the Democrats won.

Facing nationwide voter registration drives by Democratic-leaning groups, the administration alleged widespread election fraud and endorsed proposals for tougher state and federal voter identification laws. Presidential political adviser Karl Rove alluded to the strategy in April 2006 when he railed about voter fraud in a speech to the Republican National Lawyers Association.

Questions about the administration's campaign against alleged voter fraud have helped fuel the political tempest over the firings last year of eight U.S. attorneys, several of whom were ousted in part because they failed to bring voter fraud cases important to Republican politicians. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales could shed more light on the reasons for those firings when he appears Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Civil rights advocates charge that the administration's policies were intended to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of poor and minority voters who tend to support Democrats, and by filing state and federal lawsuits, civil rights groups have won court rulings blocking some of its actions.

That's just the beginning of an excellent story by McClatchy's Greg Gordon, in which he details the specifics of the GOP's assault on the electoral process and the right to vote.

Via McClatchy Washington Bureau.

Labels: Al Gonzales, Elections, Scandals, US attorneys

| | Posted by Magpie at 11:51 AM | Get permalink

Monday, April 16, 2007

Oh, that Alberto Gonzales!

Our memory-impaired US attorney general says that he has 'nothing to hide' in how he handled the firing of eight US attorneys.

I don't know about you, but Gonzales' comment reminds this magpie of when Richard Nixon told the nation that 'Your president is not a crook.' We all know, of course, how honest Tricky Dick was being when he made that remark.

What do you bet that our dear Mr. Gonzales is being just as honest?

Via McClatchy Washington Bureau.

Labels: Al Gonzales, Attorneygate, Investigations, Not A Crook, Scandals

| | Posted by Magpie at 9:34 AM | Get permalink

Friday, April 13, 2007

Gee, who could have predicted this?

Four years of Karl Rove's email messages are missing, says a lawyer for the Republican National Committee.

Via Washington Post.

Labels: Emails, Investigations, Iran, Karl Rove, Scandals

| | Posted by Magpie at 10:54 AM | Get permalink

Thursday, April 12, 2007

About those 'missing' White House emails.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington says that five million emails were 'lost' over a two-year period.

So Dubya has five million missing messages, versus Nixon's 18 minute tape gap. Like I said, the prez only believes in doing stuff wholesale.

Labels: Dubya, Emails, Scandals, White House

| | Posted by Magpie at 12:00 PM | Get permalink

The current White House scandals aren't a repetition of Watergate.

As much as what Nixon and his henchmen did back in the 1970s threatened the Constitution, they were merely engaging in retail-level criminality.

Dubya and his minions, however, don't do anything unless it's wholesale.

Think about it.

Labels: Dubya, Politics, Scandals

| | Posted by Magpie at 9:37 AM | Get permalink

Monday, April 9, 2007

Attorney General Gonzales is having memory problems.

Check this out:

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has virtually wiped his public schedule clean to bone up for his long-awaited April 17 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee—a session widely seen as a crucial test as to whether he will survive the U.S. attorney mess. But even his own closest advisers are nervous about whether he is up to the task. At a recent "prep" for a prospective Sunday talk-show interview, Gonzales's performance was so poor that top aides scrapped any live appearances. During the March 23 session in the A.G.'s conference room, Gonzales was grilled by a team of top aides and advisers—including former Republican National Committee chair Ed Gillespie and former White House lawyer Tim Flanigan—about what he knew about the plan to fire seven U.S. attorneys last fall. But Gonzales kept contradicting himself and "getting his timeline confused," said one participant who asked not to be identified talking about a private meeting. His advisers finally got "exasperated" with him, the source added. "He's not ready," Tasia Scolinos, Gonzales's public-affairs chief, told the A.G.'s top aides after the session was over, said the source....

Perhaps Gonzales would be having an easier time if he tried telling the truth.

Via Newsweek.

Labels: Al Gonzales, Attorneygate, Politics, Scandals

| | Posted by Magpie at 9:03 AM | Get permalink

Monday, April 2, 2007

Send lawyers, ~~guns, and money~~ and more lawyers.

Take a look at this:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Attorney Gen. Alberto Gonzales will begin prep sessions this week for his much-anticipated testimony later this month on the fired U.S. attorneys controversy, Justice officials tell CNN.

Gonzales is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on April 17 in what is viewed by many in Washington as a make-or-break appearance for the embattled Attorney General.

Justice officials confirm that a substantial preparation effort will take place.

"We'll bring in the appropriate individuals to participate, which could include outside lawyers," a Justice Department official said.

No names were provided.

I know that (at least to this point) people in the US are presumed innocent, but ... if Gonzales' innocence is so clear, how come he needs all that preparation? And all those lawyers?

Labels: Al Gonzales, Scandals, US attorneys

| | Posted by Magpie at 1:21 PM | Get permalink