Attorneygate Week Two

Week Two begins with a bang as Senator Patrick Leahy continues to be beautifully pissy and fed up with all the bullshit. Though Republicans saying that Karl Rove and Harriet Miers (and anyone else to whom the Senate Judiciary Committee wants to speak) should be allowed to testify privately, not under oath, Leahy is having none of it.

He said his committee would vote Thursday on whether to issue subpoenas for Mr. Rove as well as Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel, and William K. Kelley, the deputy White House counsel.

"I do not believe in this 'We'll have a private briefing for you where we'll tell you everything,' and they don't," Mr. Leahy said on "This Week" on ABC, adding: "I want testimony under oath. I am sick and tired of getting half-truths on this."

Right on.

Naturally, because he actually wants to get to the bottom of what really happened with the prosecutor purge (which, as Adam Cohen in the NYT points out, may have been against the law), Republicans are trying to dismiss the whole thing as partisan game-playing, with Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) going as far as to call it a "political witch hunt." If I didn't know the Republicans as I do, I'd think surely he had to be joking, considering that the administration is essentially using as their defense in this matter that they were just on a good, old-fashioned political witch hunt—as it's preferable to the criminal obstruction of justice the dismissals increasingly appear to be.

The U.S. attorney in San Diego notified the Justice Department of search warrants in a Republican bribery scandal last May 10, one day before the attorney general's chief of staff warned the White House of a "real problem" with her, a Democratic senator said yesterday.

The prosecutor, Carol S. Lam, was dismissed seven months later as part of an effort by the Justice Department and the White House to fire eight U.S. attorneys.

…Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said in a television appearance yesterday that Lam "sent a notice to the Justice Department saying that there would be two search warrants" in a criminal investigation of defense contractor Brent R. Wilkes and Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, who had just quit as the CIA's top administrator amid questions about his ties to disgraced former GOP congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham.

The next day, May 11, D. Kyle Sampson, then chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, sent an e-mail message to William Kelley in the White House counsel's office saying that Lam should be removed as quickly as possible, according to documents turned over to Congress last week.

Ouch. The Justice Department continues to insist that she was forced out because of complaints about her prosecution of immigration cases and that "there was no connection between Lam's firing and her public corruption investigations." Uh-huh. That sounds totally likely. Yes indeedy.

Meanwhile, Senator Chuck Schumer says on Meet the Press that there's evidence Gonzales lied under oath when he claimed "I would never, ever make a change in a United States attorney position for political reasons or if it would, in any way, jeopardize an ongoing serious investigation. I just would not do it." That certainly does seem to be what in legal parlance I believe is referred to as a big fat fucking lie.

And where is Bush in all this? Camp David.

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Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime

Beauty and the Beast

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Hey, you kids!

Shorter St. Louis Post-Dispatch commentary on blogs:

Hey, you kids! Get off my lawn! (harrumphs, shuffles back to rocker)

Coming next in the P-D: A daring commentary on the evils of the horseless carriage and a nostalgic look back at the buggy whip industry.

While waiting for the unlikely appearance of a pro-blogging piece in the Post-Dispatch, we can consider things that journalists can learn from bloggers, and vice versa.

Addendum: Commenter TJ points to a balanced refutation of the Luddite mentality of the Post-Dispatch commentary, courtesy of the L.A. Times.

It's bound to be picked up by the P-D. Oh, yeah. Any day now.

(Cross-posted.)

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Project Shaker Mosaic: Update

Isn't that mosaic beautiful? Imagine how crappy it would look if it only had about 20 pieces in it! That's how many photos Shakes has received since the project got underway, and that is simply NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

I know there are a lot more Shakers out there. By "Shaker", I mean anyone and everyone who has ever set foot in this establishment. I don't care if:

• You're here and hit Refresh all day
• You're a monthly visitor
• You're a lurker
• You're someone who's just passing through

Shakes will be collecting pics throughout the weekend. So, fire up the e-mail (unless you're concerned about records and subpoenas and shit) and send in those photos. Then, we'll have one ass-kicking-karate-chicken mosaic of the coolest bloggers this side of Pluto!

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Pet food recall

Anyone else find it obfuscatory and generally unhelpful that the canned pet food recall information at the Menu Foods site is available only in PDFs and cryptic Excel spreadsheets?

We do all our pet supply shopping at PetSmart, a company which I figured would be more forthcoming and savvier overall than Menu Foods has been on the Web. This has turned out to be true. Even better, none of the suspect foods are in our pantry.

(Cross-posted.)

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The Virtual Pub Is Open

TFIF, Shakers! What's your poison?

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Q: What passes for "accountability" in the Bush administration?

A: A new job.

Like the disgraced Rumsfeld, who resigned only to set up shop in "a government-provided transition office in Arlington" with "seven Pentagon-paid staffers working for him," under the auspices of the Defense Department as its "nonpaid consultant," Gonzo's former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, who resigned Monday, nearly landed on his feet in a position with the Justice Department’s environment division.

Gonzales on Tuesday made vague remarks during his press conference indicating that Sampson was still on the department payroll. "His transition—as a technical matter, he is at the Department as he transitions out and looks for another employment."

In fact, Gonzales "started to set up a new office for Sampson" in the Justice Department, and Sampson only resigned on Tuesday when "the scandal surrounding eight fired U.S. Attorneys continued to grow." A Justice official told NPR that "there were discussions about whether or not he would be detailed elsewhere as he was transitioning out and ultimately it was decided not to go that direction."

Honestly. These people are unbelievable. Without massive external pressure, Sampson would have happily continued on at the Justice Department with barely a hiccup.

Here's hoping he can get a job at Brownie's disaster planning consultancy firm.

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McCain and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

First, McCain endears himself to people of color everywhere by using the phrase 'tar baby'.

A questioner [at McCain's mid-day town hall meeting in Cedar Falls, Iowa earlier today] asked McCain whether as president he "would be bold enough to address the issue of equal access to children for fathers that have gone through divorce."

The Republican presidential candidate responded, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, I am not going to overturn divorce court decisions. …[F]or me to stand here before all these people and say that I'm going declare divorces invalid because someone feels that they weren't treated fairly in court, we are getting into a, uh, uh, tar baby of enormous proportions. "

Later at a press conference, CNN's Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley asked McCain about his use of the phrase "tar baby," viewed by some as having racist overtones.

"I hope that it's not viewed that way," McCain said. "It was a situation where if I kept going on that I would then be overturning court decisions. I don't think I should have used that word and it was wrong to do so."

Hey, asshole—ask Tony Snow and Mitt Romney if they think it will be viewed that way.

Then he got tripped up by his own wandering position on abortion.

[S]omeone asked about public funding for contraception in Africa to prevent the spread of AIDS. "I'm sure I've taken a position on it in the past," he stammered as he looked to his communications director. "I'm sure I'm opposed to government funding."

Sensing a vulnerable moment, reporters kept the questions coming. What about sex education in the schools? Should it mention contraceptives? Or only abstinence, like President Bush wants? "I think I support the president's present policy," he said, tentatively.

More questions: Do condoms stop sexually transmitted disease? A long pause. A stern look. "I've never gotten into these issues or thought much about them," he said, almost crying uncle. "Obviously, we all want to stop the spread of AIDS. Everybody wants to do that. What's the most viable way of doing that?"

…In a last ditch attempt to rescue himself, McCain told an aide to go get a briefing paper prepared by Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, a doctor, who he said has been advising him on "these issues." But the aide couldn't find the briefing paper. "We've lost it," McCain mumbled.

"Whether I support government funding for them or not, I don't know," McCain said about contraceptives. He then said he'd look into it for the reporters, who finally let him off the hook and moved onto other subjects again.

Jebus, what a disaster this guy is. Here's a clue, McCain—why don't you do what you actually believe and then it won't be so hard to keep track of what your fucking policy positions are. Integrity makes your organizational efforts a hell of a lot easier than "Me Too"-ing everything, which naturally requires trying to keep track of who Jerry Falwell and Friends are hating this week.

Jackass.

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Your Moment of Zen

Japanese game shows are humankind's greatest invention.

Domo arigato, Nihon.

Via Recon, natch.

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Friday Cat Blogging

"Seriously—please don't throw out my pizza box!"



"OMGOMGOMGOMG! There's a fucking bird out there! ROCK!"



Matilda brings her favorite toy, "The Brain," to me to throw for her. It's
fitting her eyes make her look zombiefied—and, yes, her tongue is hanging out.



Olivia rushes frantically from one side of the window to the other, as a
sparrow hops back and forth across the front porch railing, taunting her.

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That's the Way to Do It

I've soured on my support for John Edwards recently for a few reasons. *ahem* But, I really do have to say, if he keeps making proposals like this one, he just might win back my vote:

Edwards Calls for New Cabinet Post to Fight Poverty

MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) -- Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards on Thursday outlined his plan to tackle global poverty that calls for educating 23 million children in poor countries and creating a Cabinet-level position to oversee other initiatives.

Seeking to link poverty in other countries to U.S. national security, Edwards argued that militant extremists in nations torn apart by poverty and civil war have replaced government educational systems and are teaching young people to hate the United States.

"When you understand that, it suddenly becomes clear: global poverty is not just a moral issue for the United States -- it is a national security issue for the United States," he said at Saint Anselm College.

"If we tackle it, we have the chance to change a generation of potential extremists and enemies into a generation of friends," Edwards said.

HELL YES. Just think of that. A Cabinet post that specifically works on poverty issues.

And another thing... why the hell don't we have one already?

I'm loving that this is being framed as a national security issue. Because, well, it is a national security issue. Poverty and desperation lead to terrorism; not simple George Bush bullshit like "hating freedom." As Michael Moore once said, "Will we ever get to the point that we realize we will be more secure when the rest of the world isn’t living in poverty so we can have nice running shoes?"

Now, I hope that the person that holds this post will not be concentrating solely on global poverty. Great idea, but we have plenty of people suffering from poverty right here at home. Still, seeing a Presidential candidate give this much attention to a difficult, unpopular issue like poverty is heartening. I say, if Edwards doesn't get the nomination, we demand that any Dem running for President makes this plan part of their platform.

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King of the Internets

Yesterday, at the end of this post, I briefly mentioned that CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington) was wondering whether emails sent to and from White House staffers using unofficial email addresses indicated a violation of the Presidential Records Act. I want to follow up a bit on that, because it's kind of a big deal. (One among many, I know. Shaker Mosiac, take me away!)

CREW is calling for an investigation into the use of the emails, which, as they note, mimics Karl Rove’s former assistant Susan Ralston's habit of communicating with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff using outside domains—"rnchq.com (used for the headquarters of the Republican National Committee), georgebush.com and aol.com. In many of these emails Ms. Ralston is communicating inside White House information to Mr. Abramoff in response to Mr. Abramoff’s efforts to broker deals for his clients and place specified individuals in positions within the administration."

One email, sent to Justice Department Chief of Staff D. Kyle Sampson from J. Scott Jennings, White House Deputy Political Director, uses an email account, SJennings@gwb43.com, on a server owned by the Republican National Committee. This raises serious questions about whether the White House was trying to deliberately evade its responsibilities under the PRA, which directs the president to take all necessary steps to maintain presidential records to provide a full accounting of all activities during his tenure.

…CREW has learned that to fulfill its statutory obligations under the PRA, the White House email system automatically copies all messages created by staff and sends them to the White House Office of Records Management for archiving. It appears that the White House deliberately bypassed the automatic archiving function of its own email system that was designed to ensure compliance with the PRA.

It does indeed appear that way.

Steve Benen's got a great post in which he sums up the basic issue precisely:

I know from experience that White House officials routinely set up separate accounts to deal with political issues, so that there’s a distinction with official government business.

But therein lies the point (or at least part of it). Rove’s deputy at the White House was communicating with the Justice Department, working on naming a new U.S. Attorney. This is government business. Why, then, use a Republican National Committee email address?

This may come as a surprise, but these details start to suggest that at the Bush White House, there’s no substantive difference between policy and politics. Shocking, I know.

More importantly, it might also suggest an effort on the part of staffers to cover their tracks.

It may indeed suggest that.

Dan Froomkin's all over this, too—detailing the issue of the outside email domains and listing a series of questions that he submitted to the White House (to no response, natch). His post is titled "A Culture of Deniability," which is a perfect lead-in to my thought about from whence this culture comes.

It comes straight from the top.

Last October, I posted this clip with the following note: "I just found this extended clip of Bush talking about how he uses the Google, and, in all the hilarity about his idiotic nomenclature for one of the most oft-used search engines in the fucking world, the bit that follows it kind of got ignored. Check it out: He goes on about how he doesn’t use email “because of the different record requests that could happen to a president.” (Fuck you, FOIA.) Not particularly surprising, considering his administration’s reputation for secrecy, but it’s fairly astonishing to see him just admit it so bluntly."


The full text of what he says about not using email at all is: "I tend not to email—not only tend not to email, I don't email, uh, because of, uh, the different record requests that could happen to a president. I don't want to receive emails, 'cause, you know, there's no telling what somebody would email me and it would show up as, uh, you know, part of some kind of a story that—and I wouldn't be able to say, 'Well, I didn't read the email'—'But I sent it your address; how can you say you didn't?' So, in other words, I'm very cautious about emailing."

Not only has the president himself spoken about not using email (and why); his parents have also spoken about their son's aversion to using email—and how terrible it is that emails could be used against him:

H.W. BUSH: …I think it’s too bad in a way that email will detract from the historical record of presidents. I don’t think that the President Bush uses email.

BARBARA BUSH: He doesn’t.

H.W. BUSH: You worry about it. People are going to subpoena the email records and we are going to, you know, you’ve gotta prove that you were telling the truth and all this stuff. I mean, it’s gotten so adversarial that it’s ugly.

Yeah. I can see why having to "prove that you were telling the truth and all this stuff" might make a liar "very cautious about emailing."

The president's "caution" about emailing seems to have woven its way right into the very fabric of his administration. After such a frank admission that he is paranoid about email usage, combined with evidence that his staff is using outside domains, might it be possible to question his precious ass about this bullshit?

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The Rancid Stink of Partisanship

Valerie Plame just finished testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, marking the first time she has publicly answered questions about her 2003 outing as a covert CIA operative by White House operatives. Notably, Plame cited the "terrible irony that administration officials were the ones who destroyed my cover" and suggested that others may think twice about working for and with the CIA "if our government cannot even protect my identity."

At the beginning of the hearing, Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) explained that it was not Congress' job "to determine criminal culpability, but it is out job to determine what went wrong and insist on accountability." By the end of the session, he was grumbling, "Facts are not Republican or Democratic."

His consternation followed a shocking display of partisanship, as Republicans questioned at length whether Plame was even covert. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) was a particular disgrace, demanding to know whether Plame was a Democrat or a Republican, to which Plame responded, "I am a Democrat." The hypocrisy of Westmoreland accusing Plame (and her husband) of being partisan hacks during that session would have been laughable if it weren’t so profoundly infuriating.

Tom Davis (R-VA) dismissed the entire thing as "more like a CIA problem than a White House problem." Plame nonetheless pointed out that it was senior officials at the White House and State Department who "carelessly and recklessly" outed her, that the president promised to remove anyone associated with the leak, but that Karl Rove is still there. Oof.

(Crossposted at AlterNet PEEK.)

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We're All Gonna Live Forever

Hey there, fellow Shakers. SpaceCowboy here, with the announcement of a Shaker Group Project!

The idea came to me yesterday, after a couple of events. First, was a conversation I'd had with Shakes about the need—my need, her need, and probably a need lots of you have, too—to balance the heavy, hardcore political stuff, especially as it relates to the Bush administration, with more humorous topics (like a true moment of zen, a muffin joke, or a crotch-watch).

For me, it has been difficult to hold onto that negativity for such a long time. Believe me, we've had plenty of reasons to be pissed off. I mean, what number scandal-without-a-consequence are we on right now? I lost count. Between that, everything W, and a vicious attack on our own Shakes, it's been pretty rough for us as a community. Hence the need to laugh and refuel ourselves.

Then, yesterday, when Shakes posted about a study pointing to humor as a longevity booster, accompanied by some visual proof that Shakes is an evil mad scientist, it got me thinking... thinking that I would've gotten away with it if it hadn't been for those.. never mind. I thought it would be cool if all of us Shakers were to submit our own smiling/grinning/laughing photos to create something of a Shaker Mosaic. Something positive we could all share and help us refuel, not to mention show off who's gonna live longer than anyone else, bitchez.

All you have to do is e-mail a happy photo to Shakes, and she'll quilt them all together into a masterpiece. She won't label who's who in the pictures, so your anonymity will be protected. When the mosaic is posted, people who want to identify themselves can, and the rest of us will have fun guessing who's who.

So, start sending in those photos. It's time we see who all of our smiling Shakers are!

We're gonna live forever

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Plame Testimony

If you can't get to a TV, you can watch it at C-Span.org. She's just finished her statement and is now taking questions.

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Pass the Popcorn

Because nothing more perfectly hits the spot when you're watching the GOP devour their own! Novakula reporting on DeLay hatin' on the Newtmeister:

Newt Gingrich's attempted phoenix-like rise from his own political ashes to a presidential candidacy will run next week into a harsh assessment by his former House Republican colleague Tom DeLay. The former majority leader's forthcoming memoir assails Gingrich as an "ineffective" House speaker with a flawed moral compass.

…In describing Gingrich as an "ineffective Speaker," DeLay writes: "He knew nothing about running meetings and nothing about driving an agenda." He adds: "Nearly every other day he had a new agenda, a new direction he wanted us to take. It was impossible to follow him."

DeLay also declares that "our leadership was in no moral shape to press" for the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Writing well before Gingrich's admission for the first time last week, DeLay asserts: "It is now public knowledge that Newt Gingrich was having an affair with a staffer during the entire impeachment crisis. Clearly, men with such secrets are not likely to sound a high moral tone at a moment of national crisis."

Oh god. That's the best movie I've seen in years! Anyone got a cold soda?

[H/T C&L.]

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Out, Damn Rove!

NYT: Rove Is Linked to Early Query Over Dismissals / WaPo (AP): E-Mail Indicates Rove Role in Firings / Chicago Tribune: E-mails: Rove knew of mass firings plan / LA Times: Rove may have had role in firings / USA Today: Rove e-mails on attorneys raise questions / Financial Times: E-mails 'implicate Rove' in sackings / Bloomberg: Rove Tied More Closely to Firings as Gonzales Support Fades / CNN: Rove, Gonzales discussed firings, e-mails show / ABC: E-Mails Show Rove's Role in U.S. Attorney Firings / NBC Nightly News: The prosecutor purge: Did the idea of firing all U.S. Attorneys start with inner circle adviser Karl Rove? (asked on last night's broadcast) / CBS: E-Mails Highlight Rove's Role In Firings / Fox: E-Mails Discuss Karl Rove's Role in U.S. Attorney Firings

Et cetera…et cetera…et cetera. And I don't suppose I need to remind anyone that his dirty little paw prints have been all over every scandal to emanate from this scandal-plagued White House for the last six years.

And yet still no one calls for Rove's resignation. Still no one demands that Bush fire him. Gonzales, yes. Rove, no.

According to Chuck Schumer, there is "an active and avid discussion in the White House whether [Gonzales] should stay or not," which is good—but when are the Dems, the media, and the rest of us going to start raising hell about Karl Rove's continued employment? I don't know about you, but I'm sick to the teeth of that lump of shit getting paid with my tax dollars to break the law.

PASS IT ON.
(Thanks to Shaker Amish451 for the first image.)

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Two-Minute Nostalgia Sublime

Dynasty

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Question of the Day

What's the most overrated television show of all time? Remember, if you say Lost, it will make the Baby Jebus cry. And Tart. And me.

And if you say Twin Peaks, it gets you banned.*

There have been tons of shows that I could pass up in spite of seemingly everyone else I knew raving about them, but for the ultimate overrated show, which I'm judging by way of hype v. quality, I've got to go with Survivor. I'd never seen an episode of it until a month or so ago, and I couldn't believe how boring it was. I'm not a huge fan of reality shows, but I don't have a knee-jerk hatred of all of them, either; I mean, The Amazing Race is pretty good, although I've only watched one season. I never watched Survivor because it just didn't sound all that interesting, and when I finally saw an episode (because I was too lazy to get my fat arse off the couch to get the remote one night), I couldn't believe how extensive the dullery actually was, nor could I comprehend how or why it had lasted like 10 seasons or wev. I've known people who rearrange their entire lives to make sure they don't miss Survivor, which was inexplicable to me to begin with, being the sort of terrible, TiVo-less telly watcher who still has to be reminded by her husband every Wednesday that the one show she loves is on, but after finally seeing an episode, I was truly gobsmacked.

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* Not really. I'd just cry some more.

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Harriet Miers Can't Do Anything Right!

Including being a competent scapegoat!

New unreleased e-mails from top administration officials show that the idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys was raised by White House adviser Karl Rove in early January 2005, indicating Rove was more involved in the plan than the White House previously acknowledged.

The e-mails also show that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales discussed the idea of firing the attorneys en masse weeks before he was confirmed as attorney general.

The e-mails directly contradict White House assertions that the notion originated with recently departed White House counsel Harriet Miers, and was her idea alone.

Dammit, Harriet!

Think Progress notes this also contradicts previous statements made by Alberto Gonzales, White House spokesperson Dana Perino, and White House Press Secretary Tony Snow.

Meanwhile, Senator Leahy isn't taking any shit, Sidney Blumenthal says all roads lead to Rove, and CREW wonders whether external email usage indicates a violation of the Presidential Records Act.

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