Political Bloviation

then this should really piss you off. Read the whole thing. It’s a view of the lawlessness that the Bush administration has dragged this nation to. These are not the principles that America was founded on. It shames and demeans us as a people. These people are guilty of numerous crimes and should, but probably [...]

As Jefferson Ruling Stands, Prosecutors Feel Stymied - washingtonpost.com
The Supreme Court announced yesterday that it will not review a lower court’s decision that an FBI raid on Rep. William J. Jefferson’s congressional office violated the Constitution, a ruling that federal prosecutors had said could make lawmakers’ offices a “sanctuary for crime.”
And how is this different? [...]

TPMmuckraker | Talking Points Memo | Mukasey Tongue-Tied on Administration Law Breaking
MUKASEY: Torture, as you know, is now unlawful under American law. I can’t contemplate any situation in which this president would assert Article II authority to do something that the law forbids.
SPECTER: Well, he did just that in violating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. [...]

Can’t he just say something like, “It’s wrong, illegal and diametrically opposed to American values” and be done with it?
Mukasey Demurs on Waterboarding - New York Times
“Given that waterboarding is not part of the current program and may never be added to the current program, I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to [...]

White House hints, but won’t say, that waterboarding is legal - The Carpetbagger Report

A CIA employee says they used waterboarding on a prisoner.
The US uses only legal methods of interrogation.
Therefore waterboarding is legal.

Seems pretty straight forward, but the White House spokesperson Dana Perino refuses to say if it’s legal or not. Why might that [...]

CIA still peddling the lie that low-level crazy man proves waterboarding is a good thing - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth
So we tortured the al-Qaeda village idiot, then claimed a great victory against a high level operative. Despite being briefed about the real value of the poor fool by the CIA, Bush went [...]

Reid may hold pro forma Senate sessions to block Bush recess appointments - AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth
From Roll Call by way of Americablog, senate majority leader Harry Reid is going to block Bush recess appointments by not going into recess. He also calls into question the Chuck Schumer’s contention that he *had* [...]

Keith on the significance of the Daniel Levin story. It was revealed that Levin, an Assistant Attorney General had himself water boarded to determine that it was ethically, legally and morally torture:
The presidency of George W. Bush is a criminal conspiracy to cover the ass of George W. Bush.
Levin was fired for daring to not [...]

ABC News: White House Blocked Waterboarding Critic
A senior Justice Department official, charged with reworking the administration’s legal position on torture in 2004 became so concerned about the controversial interrogation technique of waterboarding that he decided to experience it firsthand, sources told ABC News.
Daniel Levin, then acting assistant attorney general, went to a military base near [...]

McClatchy Washington Bureau | 10/30/2007 | Mukasey calls waterboarding repugnant but declines to say it’s illegal
Looks like another pol selected for their ability to agree.

Senators Clash With Nominee About Torture - New York Times
From what I read it looks like Mukasey is far too willing to support torture and an expansive view of Presidential authority to wiretap without warrants. His only saving grace is relative independance from the political interference in DOJ activities. Is that enough to make him [...]

The Daily Dish-Chenney vs Mukasey
OK, we all oppose torture, Dubya and Chenney included. The rub is exactly how does the AG nominee define torture? Does he have an expansive view that encompassing the same methods used by the Nazi’s during WWII and the KGB during the Cold War?

Gonzales Faces Inquiry Into Veracity of His Testimony - New York Times
About damned time. All roads lead to the White House…

Here’s a round-up of local and national editorials about the unlamented exit of Gonzo. The Washington Times is the only one I saw that talked about his “accomplishments” and believes that he was unfairly treated by Congressional Democrats. Par for the course for big fans of warrantless wire tapping, eliminating habeus corpus and torture. More [...]

I’m watching the CNN coverage of the Prez’s comment regarding the AG’s resignation. Poor Gonzo’s name was dragged through the mud for purely partisan reasons. Paul Clement will the interum political hack AG.
Bush named the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act and pursuit of political corruption has bearing the mark of Gonzo. I find it [...]

Finally Bush tosses Gonzo under the bus. The only question is who will the replacement be? This may lend credence to the US News (h/t via ThinkProgress) rumor about Chertoff replacing Gonzo. After all they need another loyalist to stonewall investigations and protect senior administration officials until Jan. 2009. Chertoff actually has more experience [...]

Am I the only one who’s head pounds when I see a quote like “a little-noticed provision in last year’s reauthorization of the Patriot Act”? Did Congress intend to give a serial liar sweeping new powers? Did they even notice this provision? Do any so-called conservatives have a problem with the federalization of death row [...]

Josh Marshall on why Bush never asked for Gonzo’s resignation:
Talking Points Memo | NYT: Impeach Gonzales
…in almost 220 years of history under the constitution, the impeachment power has never been used to remove a cabinet secretary from office. Not once. And that’s really saying something. But the reason isn’t that hard to figure given the [...]

So what took so long to begin impeachment hearings against the administration’s serial perjurer?
First Read : Impeach Gonzales?
RESOLUTION
Directing the Committee on the Judiciary to investigate whether Alberto R. Gonzales, Attorney General of the United States, should be impeached for high crimes and
misdemeanors.
1 Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary shall
2 investigate fully whether sufficient [...]

Mr. Gonzales’s Never-Ending Story - New York Times
The Times opines that if the Solicitor General’s office does not appoint a special prosecutor, then Congress should remove the Attorney General.  I don’t think the “Decider” will decide to cooperate. They need Gonzo to continue his very real and public obstruction of Congressional oversight to prevent others [...]