Saturday Roundup

Musharraf lifted emergency rule in Pakistan today.

The US representative to Bali's climate talks was appropriately told that the rest of the world looked to the US to lead, but if we're not going to lead, we should get out of the way.

News sources are making a big deal out of the US delegate's turn-around to finally agree to consensus on the accord. That accord is an agreement to begin 2-year negotiations to revamp the Kyoto treaty. So, don't worry. We can still stand in the way when it matters.

[Mitch] McConnell and his fellow Republicans are playing such tight defense, blocking nearly every bill proposed by the slim Democratic majority that they are increasingly able to dictate what they want, much to the dismay of the majority leader, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, and frustrated Democrats in the House.

In fact, the Senate Republicans are so accustomed to blocking measures that when the Democrats finally agreed last week to their demands on a bill to repair the alternative minimum tax, the Republicans still objected, briefly blocking the version of the bill that they wanted before scrambling to approve it later.

  NYT

Maru at WTF reacts:

Unprincipled scumholes. Jebus Christ. And don't get me started on the Capitulation Party. Damn.

Iran absolutely, positively must not have any nuclear weapons capabilities. Libya, on the other hand, may. And Pakistan? Already done. And, hey, the US government already made available the information necessary on a military website. Arab translation gratis.

The reaction at WTF?

The Democratic "opposition" in Congress – you know, the party that represents the common people, good working folk and the most vulnerable in our society: the sick, the old, the poor, the children – have just effected yet another capitulation to Money Power, gutting an energy bill that would have required Big Oil – now reaping the most gargantuan profit margins in the entire history of human enterprise – to pay a pittance in new taxes.

[...]

These measures – displeasing to the boardroom lords and their viceroy in the White House – were dutifully stripped out by Senate Majority Leader Harry "Shaky Knees" Reid.

  Empire Burlesque

Time and time again, President Bush has run circles around what is, at least on paper, a co-equal branch of government. Sometimes he doesn't bother to ask Congress for its approval. Sometimes he demands it -- and gets it.

Amazingly enough, that didn't change when the Democrats won control of the House and Senate. They just make a bit more fuss before rolling over.

Charles Babington writes for the Associated Press: "Congressional Democrats prepared Wednesday for major concessions on Iraq war funding, children's health insurance, tax policies, general spending and energy, because they could not overcome vetoes by President Bush.

[...]

Historians looking back on the Bush presidency may well wonder if Congress actually existed.

  WaPo

By a vote of 12-7, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved contempt resolutions against Karl Rove and Joshua Bolten, White House chief of staff.

The criminal contempt resolutions now move to the Senate floor, although no action on them is expected until next year.

  Politico

I would have said that no action on them is expected, period. Maybe a little toothless verbiage.

Two major Republicans voted for the resolution which comes from the refusal of the WH to testify or turn over documents on the Attorney General purges: Arlen Spector and Iowa’s Charles Grassley.

Seattle’s Democratic Reprsentative Jim McDermott, however, showing a suicidal choice of battles, voted against a resolution”recognizing the importance of Christmas” as a protest to Bush’s power over Congress.

"While the Republicans are passing a resolution celebrating Christmas, the president was vetoing health care for children. There's a little bit of irony going on around here," McDermott said Thursday.

Earlier this year, McDermott voted in favor of resolutions honoring Ramadan and Diwali. Ramadan is an Islamic holiday, while Diwali is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and others.

  Bellingham Herald

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Disappointed

Senate Judiciary Committee sent a letter to Gonzo v.2 (AG Mukasey) asking for answers about the Justice Department's knowledge of the destruction of CIA interrogation videos, and Gv.2 sent a letter back saying nyah-nyahny-nyah-nyah. Chairman Patrick Leahy said he was "disappointed".

Like they thought Mukasey would be cooperative when they confirmed his nomination to the office, when during confirmation hearings he refused to comment on waterboarding.

Paul Kiel at TPM Muckraker says, "It is at least a contrast to Alberto Gonzales, who would ignore Congressional letters and requests for months before refusing to provide information."

Yeah, great. I wouldn't call that a contrast. I'd simply call that the tough-guy version of Gonzales' wimpy-guy "No". And, on top of that, Mukasey instructed the CIA not to cooperate.

....but hey, call it what you want....you will anyway.

More Investigations

The Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR), which is responsible for investigating contractors on issues of fraud, waste and financial mismanagement, is under investigation. Way under. Issues range from retaliatory firing practices to financial mismanagement. Imagine that.

When Hell Freezes Over

Apparently, we're going to need a new phrase. As we've just seen (post below), Hell has frozen over. And yet, the White House still will not cooperate.

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted Thursday to hold two top aides to President Bush in contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate in its probe of fired federal prosecutors.

On a largely party-line vote of 11-7, the Democratic-led panel sent contempt citations against White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove to the full Senate for consideration.

   TPM

The final vote tally was 12-7, with two Republicans, Sens. Arlen Specter (R-PA) Chuck Grassley (R-IA) crossing over.

Now, it's up to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) as to when (or whether) he'll scheduled a vote on the Senate floor. When we asked a Reid aide last week about it, we were told the Reid would consult with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) about it when the time came.

Meanwhile, the House Judiciary Committee's contempt citations against Harriet Miers and Bolten have been sitting on Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) desk since July.

  TPM Muckraker

Maybe Nancy Pelosi is the one who should be held in contempt.

Oh, she is.

The White House asserts that the Justice Department will not prosecute a contempt of Congress referral--against White House officials. (Video at TPM)

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

They Pretend to Investigate

We pretend to believe them.

Previously I posted on the appointment of Scott Bloch to investigate Karl Rove for political misdeeds. Here's an excerpt of the post I called The Fox Appointed to Guard the Hen House :

The decision to have the Office of Special Counsel investigate Karl Rove has Karl Rove's fingerprints all over it.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Scott Bloch, who will be investigating Karl Rove, is not exactly a paragon of virtue. He is a Bush appointee to take the place of the openly gay Clinton appointee Elaine Kaplan. The facts that the Office of Special Counsel doesn't normally handle this type of investigation (the news folks have been referring to this as "a little known" agency in the government), and that Bloch is who he is, make me greatly suspicious that Karl himself ordered this particular investigation to avoid having the Democrats inevitably demand an independent counsel investigation into his activities.

And here's an excerpt from Turdblossom Gets His Own Investigation:

This isn't a Democratic party initiated investigation from Congress. It comes from within the executive branch - "The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency." Therefore, I'm thinking the investigation is a ploy to "exonerate" Rove on all counts.

Well, surprise, surprise. Bloch has run out of money, and can't continue the investigation. Who would have imagined anything could have gone wrong?

You may remember Scott Bloch as Bush's associate director of the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives before his appointment to the OSC. He's the guy who scrubbed protections for gays against discrimination in the workplace. And, just to put old political jokes into perspective, Bloch is himself under investigation. (Cue Bush's White House Correspondents' Dinner Stooge video searching for WMD in his office.)

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Leahy Gives WH One Last Chance

Leahy says he really means it this time. The WH better turn over those documents pertaining to the warrantless wiretap program. I bet they're just scared enough now to do it, too.

In the immortal words of Mike "Wayne Campbell" Myers, "And monkeys might fly out of my butt."

If His Lips Are Moving, He's Lying

Gonzo is nothing if not consistent in his willingness to lie under oath. He recently said DoJ officials did not attend any of the GOP political speeches given by Karl Rove, et al, in violation of the Hatch Act. But newly released documents say they attended "at least a dozen" such meetings.

Of course, true to this administration's weasel form under questioning, what he actually said was that he wasn't aware of it; he didn't believe so.

Will Fredo Go Fishing?

Congressman Jay Inslee is instigating impeachment proceedings against Gonzo.

Was it really Cheney who sent Gonzo and Andrew Card to Ashcroft's hospital bedside? As I posted earlier, I assumed he was simply admitting that he did when he answered Larry King's question by saying he couldn't remember if it was him. Well, of course that's utter bullshit. That's not something one would forget.

But, there's this article from Dan Froomkin asking another question...Why on earth would Cheney be sending two of the president's staff (Gonzo was counsel a the time) anywhere? They don't work for the V.P. They work for the president.

I think that's a good question. And the answer must be that either Dick really is running things, and even the president's staff answers to Dick, or Dick is covering for Bush by leading people to think that maybe he (Dick) did send them, because if he denies it, that leaves only Bush to have sent them. Which is more likely? I think the first, and I think that Dick probably tells Bush what he's going to do without having to worry that Bush will disagree with whatever he says. I could be wrong. But the relationship really strikes me as one of the evil vizier and the easily-led king who's not quite smart enough and too self-absorbed to mind what's being done around him.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Pat Tillman Investigation

Here's one high-ranking officer who, unlike Lt. Gen. Philip Kensinger, isn't going to pay any price for his role in the Tillman cover-up.

Just a day after approving a medal claiming former NFL player Pat Tillman had been cut down by "devastating enemy fire" in Afghanistan, a high-ranking general tried to warn President Bush that the story might not be true, according to testimony obtained by The Associated Press.

[...]

[Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal] acknowledged he had suspected several days prior to approving the Silver Star citation on April 28, 2004, that Tillman may have died by fratricide.

[...]

He said that suspicion led him to send a memo to top generals imploring "our nation's leaders," specifically "POTUS" _ the acronym for the president _ to avoid cribbing the "devastating enemy fire" explanation from the award citation for their speeches.

[...]

The P4 message did not request or suggest any action to correct the information in the award recommendation package," wrote Thomas Gimble, then the Pentagon's top investigator.

[...]

McChrystal testified in a previous investigation that he had decided not to tell the Tillman family of friendly fire "based on my thought that providing incorrect information before an initial investigation was complete was not in line with normal policies." However, Army regulations require that families be notified when such an investigation is under way - not when it is completed.

Like several other officers involved in the case, McChrystal testified that he did not know about the rule.

  TPM

That's as possible as Cheney not recalling whether he sent Gonzo to Ashcroft's hospital bedside.

The general is a liar at least twice over then in the case of Pat Tillman's death (which, as you know, shows evidence of possible murder by fellow soldiers - not just "friendly fire"). Perhaps he did indeed warn Bush about the possibility of a different scenario than the one he offered for Tillman's death. If so, it would have been to avoid the repercussions of the real story coming out later. What he didn't realize was that this administration doesn't mind a bit to get caught making up stories. They never pay any consequences for it.

I am just amazed when officers lie about not knowing something to do with military rules. Shouldn't that in itself be grounds for at least demotion? You didn't know the rules? How did you get to be an officer?

Here's the memo McChrystal sent. As you can see, three top dogs were advised. Only Kensinger has yet had to pay any consequences - a letter of censure.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Gonzo Defends Himself

Update: TPM Muckraker has snippets and video.

In his hearing today, Gonzo defended his attempt to do an end run around acting AG James Comey by visiting the seriously ill and sedated John Ashcroft in his hospital room in the middle-of-the-night:

"There are no rules governing whether or not Attorney General Ashcroft can decide 'I'm feeling well enough to make this decision.'"

A reportedly angry Arlen Specter pointed out the missing piece: that Ashcroft had already passed on the decision-making authority to Comey. There are indeed rules governing that. Do you suppose Gonzo will have to suffer any consequences?

Specter also asked Gonzales if he thought there was any threat to our Constitution by the president claiming executive privilege and then barring the DoJ from hearing charges brought by Congress. Gonzo responded that, because he was recusing himself from decision-making in the firing of attorneys general investigation, he couldn't answer that question.

That makes as much sense as the other stupid answer. He's just plain worthless. Unless you're the president of the United States.

But beyond worthless, it seems to me he's lied and sleazed his way through his whole tenure. Is the only recourse left to Congress to sputter and steam?

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

The Fox Appointed to Guard the Hen House

The decision to have the Office of Special Counsel investigate Karl Rove has Karl Rove's fingerprints all over it.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Scott Bloch, who will be investigating Karl Rove, is not exactly a paragon of virtue. He is a Bush appointee to take the place of the openly gay Clinton appointee Elaine Kaplan. The facts that the Office of Special Counsel doesn't normally handle this type of investigation (the news folks have been referring to this as "a little known" agency in the government), and that Bloch is who he is, make me greatly suspicious that Karl himself ordered this particular investigation to avoid having the Democrats inevitably demand an independent counsel investigation into his activities.

Bloch's appointment wasn't popular with the Log Cabin Republicans (a gay organization - and how any gay could be a Republican is beyond me, but...) nor other people concerned with civil liberties. But it was in fact a typical Bush choice.

Yesterday, in testimony before the United States Senate, Bloch said that he did not believe current law protects federal employees from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

[...]

"Scott Bloch has made it clear that he is not enforcing the law and is openly defying the President, accordingly he should resign immediately," said Log Cabin Political Director Chris Barron.

  SourceWatch 2005 article

I have to say here that, although the President may avoid officially enacting gay discriminatory laws, one would not actually be defying him by practicing discrimination. He wouldn't have appointed this particular man to a whistle-blower protection agency if he were really concerned about gay rights.

Scott Bloch, is decimating the ability of government employees to turn in their bosses for wrongdoing -- which is apparently the way George W. Bush wants it. After all, Bush has spent five years replacing the government's inspectors general -- each agency's watchdog for investigating whistleblower complaints -- with partisan hacks.

[...]

The Office of Special Counsel exists to protect federal workers from job discrimination and whistle-blowing retaliation. Here's how Scott Bloch turned it into a haven for gay-bashing and partisan politics.

  Alternet article

Bloch, from Kansas, was appointed to the OSC in 2003 after serving in Bush's Office of Faith Based Initiatives.

WaPo photo

Turdblossom Gets His Own Investigation

[T]the Office of Special Counsel is preparing to jump into one of the most sensitive and potentially explosive issues in Washington, launching a broad investigation into key elements of the White House political operations that for more than six years have been headed by chief strategist Karl Rove.

  LA Times article

More explanation for Karl's recent testiness.

The list of the Rove investigation topics includes the missing emails, US Attorney firings, and use of government agencies to promote party politics scandals.

This isn't a Democratic party initiated investigation from Congress. It comes from within the executive branch - "The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is an independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency." Therefore, I'm thinking the investigation is a ploy to "exonerate" Rove on all counts. Either that, or like I mentioned in an earlier post, an effort to protect the Boy Who Would Be King by sacrificing the guy next to him.

Update :

No sooner penned....

The guy heading up the OSC's investigation of Rove is under investigation himself:

The Office of Personnel Management's inspector general has been investigating allegations by current and former OSC employees that Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch retaliated against underlings who disagreed with his policies -- by, among other means, transferring them out of state -- and tossed out legitimate whistle-blower cases to reduce the office backlog.

[...]

The probe is the most serious of many problems at the agency since Bloch, a Kansas lawyer who served at the Justice Department's Task Force for Faith-based and Community Initiatives, was appointed by President Bush three years ago. Since he took the helm in 2004, staffers at the OSC, a small agency of about 100 lawyers and investigators, have accused him of a range of offenses, from having an anti-gay bias to criticizing employees for wearing short skirts and tight pants to work.

  WaPo article

The employees are complaining that Bloch has been steadily obstructing the investigation.

I don't know about you, but I'm thinking my first thought about the Rove investigation was probably the correct one.

AssKKKroft back on the hook

Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) and Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) will be issuing a formal request for an immediate investigation with the US Inspector General's office into John Ashcroft - former US Attorney General, Raw Story has learned.

The request - released to Raw Story - cites conflict of interest on the part of Ashcroft in his failure to promptly recuse himself during the initial investigation into the outing of CIA agent Valerie Wilson. Ashcroft was US Attorney General at the time.

  Raw Story article

It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

The pressure was just too great

They hoped for the London attacks to divert attention, and even stepped up the announcement of the Supreme Court justice nominee, hoping it would go away. They tried defending old Turdblossom - even tried painting him as the whistleblower and the wronged man. But nothing worked. So Congress will now do some investigating.

They'll investigate the investigator and the use of undercover operators!

Congress will conduct a series of hearings on national security and espionage issues raised by the CIA-leak controversy surrounding senior Bush adviser Karl Rove, officials said on Monday

[...]

Democrats, who have urged Bush to fire Rove or revoke his classified clearance, stepped up political pressure on Republicans on Monday by calling for a formal congressional investigation of the Plame leak.

[...]

Speaking earlier at a forum hosted by the conservative Heritage Foundation, [Michigan's Republican Rep. Pete] Hoekstra said his committee would begin hearings as early as September that would include testimony from CIA, Pentagon and Justice Department witnesses..

  Yahoo News article

But what's this?

Hoekstra's counterpart in the Senate, Republican Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas, intends to preside over hearings on the intelligence community's use of covert protections for CIA agents and others involved in secret activities.

The chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence could hold hearings on the use of espionage cover soon after the U.S. Congress returns from its August recess, said Roberts spokeswoman Sarah Little.

Secrets and Leaks: The Costs and Consequences for National Security (speech by Hoekstra) (That's actually only a link to the House Select Committee's site announcing the speech - their link to the actual speech is not working at the time of this post.)

Josh Marshall comments

Roberts' spokesperson Sarah Little told Reuters that his "committee would also review the probe of special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, who has been investigating the Plame case for nearly two years."

Can any Senate Democrat not see now that Sen. Roberts only use for his committee is as a tool to defend the political interests of the White House? And will anybody deny that the decision to investigate Fitzgerald comes down on the orders of the White House?

.....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.