Prosecutor Purge Scandal – More!

We’ve mentioned the latest reports on the Purge of the Prosecutors earlier today, here, here and here.  Now, as the day draws to a close, ABC News unleashes an astounding update that traces email right back to the White House -

Breaking: New E-Mails Show Rove, Gonzales Had Deeper Role In U.S. Attorney Firings

ABC News reports that new emails reveal that the plan for firing U.S. Attorneys originated in the White House. Both Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzales discussed the idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys in early January 2005. From the article: New unreleased e-mails from top administration officials show the idea of firing all 93 U.S. [...]

Tags: Prosecutor Purge, Karl Rove, Alberto Gonzales, U.S. Attorneys

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Katrina Lessons

Just in case you thought FEMA had learned a lesson (or two) from Katrina and New Orleans, think again.  The fine folks at FEMA are still so locked in governmental rules and regulations that they can’t even tell a disaster when they see one.  Desha County, here in Arkansas, was a disaster to anyone who saw it after a tornado rolled through. But the inspectors from Washington just shrugged their shoulders, essentially telling all the people who lost their homes and businesses that it really wasn’t all that bad.  Not bad enough to warrant any federal help.  That didn’t sit well with the folks of our great state, including newly-elected Governor, Mike Bebee.  The Arkansas Times picks up the story.

Beebe bashes FEMA

Just click, follow the links, and read Bebee’s tongue-lashing of the Feds today.

Tags: FEMA, Tornado Damage, Arkansas, Mike Bebee

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Weaving A Tangled Web

Ya’ know, it may be perfectly innocent.  But, then again, it may be yet another example of White House staffers making an end-run around the rules and laws they are supposed to abide by. Me?  I’m thinking there’s a bit of deliberate dodging going on here -

CREW: Whtie House Breaking Records Law?

A number of readers have written to point out that Karl Rove’s deputy at the White House, Scott Jennings, used an outside domain, gwb43.com, for his emails. The domain, it turns out, is owned by the Republican National Committee. Now [...]

Tags: Karl Rove, Scott Jennings, White House, Email, gwb43.com

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Pete Rose

It seems the entire sports world is simply aghast at Pete Rose’s statement yesterday that he did, in fact, bet on his own team.  It came during a radio interview with Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick on ESPN.  Keith, for the record, isn’t convinced that the statement was all that bad for Rose.  Read on, it’ll make for some interesting watercooler conversations!

In Defense of Pete Rose

Every reporter should have a story written about him, or failing that, have about 100 stories written about a story he generated. It’s the best reminder you can get of how easily assumptions, misunderstandings, and sloppiness can creep into the coverage of almost anything, from the weather forecast to a Pope’s funeral. Case in point: Pete Rose, who rather matter-of-factly admitted “I bet on the Reds every night” to Dan Patrick and me on ESPN Radio Wednesday afternoon. To Pete, it was a simple correction of [...]

Tags: Pete Rose, Baseball, Betting, Keither Olbermann, Dan Patrick, ESPN

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Greenspan Is Worried

Wall Street closed higher today, despite some words of worry from Alan Greenspan. –

Today’s Housing Bubble Post – "Woes Could Spread"

Greenspan warns subprime woes could spread,Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Thursday there was a risk that rising defaults in subprime mortgage markets could spill over into [...]

Tags: Alan Greenspan, Housing Bubble, Subprime Mortgage

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Unfit For Fighting

Another one to make you shudder.

Congress Probes Report That Soldiers ‘Medically Unfit For Battle’ Being Sent To Iraq

Salon.com’s Mark Benjamin, who first revealed the squalor at Walter Reed hospital two years ago, this week reported that injured U.S. soldiers are being dispatched back to Iraq: As the military scrambles to pour more soldiers into Iraq, a unit of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga., is deploying troops with serious injuries [...]

Tags: Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Injured Soldiers Sent Back to Iraq

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But. But….But..

But, wars are IMPORTANT!  Education isn’t.

Harkin Calls Bush’s Education Funding "Laughable"

It’s got to be difficult for guys like Senators Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Tom Harkin (D-IA), two men who truly seem to grasp the power of government to make a positive difference in peoples’ lives, to deal with a White House and Republican colleagues who have no problem wasting $400 billion on a pointless war, but who go pale at the notion of spending a fraction of that to care for the sick or to educate children.  Harkin talked about that earlier this week at a meeting of [...]

Tags: Education Funding, Ted Kennedy, Tom Harkin

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From The Front Lines

I notice NBC’s Brian Williams blogging about very much the same impressions, after returning from Baghdad.  It is, it appears, a very difficult situation to pin down.

The Surge Is (Or Might Not At All Be) Working

Is the surge working? It’s complicated. This morning, I interviewed the chief of police for western Baghdad, a one-star general named Saleh Alany. General Saleh, as he’s known to the American military police who partner with him, is a hard [...]

Tags: Iraq War, Baghdad

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It’s Been A While

But (drumroll, please) it’s time for another clip from Jack Cafferty.  CNN seems to have loosened the editorial noose they had around his neck for a while and he’s showing some of the old form that was missing for a time. Crooks and Liars has a short quote and video clips, for your enjoyment.

Cafferty: Are Checks and Balances Making a Comeback?

With all these scandals piling up (Walter Reed, prosecutor purge, Libby conviction, FBI’s NSLs abuses, etc.) Jack wonders if the antiquated notion of "checks and balances" (remember that?!) is making a comeback."What you have here is a White House that has become an accountability free zone that is now [...]

Tags: Jack Cafferty, CNN, Checks and Balances

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Four Years

And counting.  How did it all begin and what’s happened over the course of those one-thousand-four-hundred-and-sixty days? Kudos to the folks at "think Progress" for reminding us all.

TIMELINE: Four Years Of War In Iraq

Next Monday marks four years since the invasion of Iraq. ThinkProgress has created a detailed timeline that captures the story of the Iraq war over the past 48 months. As the war has intensified and escalated, some of the critical details have faded from our memories. Some notable events from the timeline: APRIL 28, 2004: Images of [...]

Tags: Iraq War, Fourth Anniversary, George W. Bush, Bush Administration

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Ask For Recommendations, And Then…

Just ignore them.  It’s such a great way to make people feel needed and part of the process, isn’t it?

Bush to Congressional health care task force: drop dead

More compassion, from the compassionate conservative. The group that Bush just thumbed his nose to was created by both Republicans (when they still held power last year) and Democrats, with members coming from every walk of life, including business and health care providers so this is hardly some out of the mainstream group. Like every other problem that this administration looks at, Bush chooses [...]

Tags: Health Care, Task Force, Compassionate Conservative

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Surprised?

I’m betting that you are not.  Neither am I.

Iraqi Gov’t Behind Schedule On Bush Iraq Plan

The Bush administration, which six months ago issued a series of political goals for the Iraqi government to meet by this month, is now tacitly acknowledging that the goals will take significantly longer to achieve. In interviews this week, administration officials said that the military buildup intended to stabilize Baghdad and create the conditions for achieving the objectives would not be fully in place until June and that all of the objectives would not be [...]

Tags: Iraq War, Bush Administration, Iraq Goals, Timeline

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Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind

It sure seemed that way.  But, apparently, heeeee’s back.  Or, at least, may be!

‘Macaca’ to rise again?

Former Sen. George Allen (R-VA) ‘will host a private dinner’ to ‘discuss whether to seek’ Sen. John Warner’s (R-VA) seat should he decide to retire, the Washington Times reports. ‘Speculation of late also had Mr. Allen considering a run for Virginia governor in 2009, a post he [...]

Tags: George Allen, John Warner

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American Tragedy

Everybody has a story about mis-treatment at a VA hospital, it seems. Few are good reports, many paint pictures of misery. Now, some are crossing into true tragedies.

Marine Kills Self After VA Turned Him Away

Jonathan Schultze, a Marine who fought some of the Iraq War’s fiercest battles in Ramadi, killed himself four days after being turned away by a VA hospital where he sought treatment for suicidal thoughts. "He was willing to go to Iraq and did what he had to do in Iraq, got injured in Iraq, and he comes home and a year and a half of his life was torture. And they couldn’t help him," said [...]

Tags: VA Hospital, Jonathan Schultze, Iraq War

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Tony Snow-storm

It’s a blinding blizzard in DC today.  At least when it comes to the words swirling out of the mouth of Tony Snow. It’s so nice to have him back.  We’ve all missed the daily entertainment.  Carpetbagger Report has the lowdown from today’s gaggle at the White House.  Let’s just consider this your "Must Read" of the day.  So far. 

Tony Snow prevaricates on prosecutor purge

As the prosecutor purge has transitioned from simmering controversy to full-fledged scandal, the one thing I’ve missed is White House Press Secretary Tony Snow’s unique brand of mendacity. While the president has been traveling throughout Latin America, Snow’s been with him. As a result, Snow has barely talked to the press corps since March 8. At [...]

UPDATE: Tony can’t just "talk" this one into history.  Nope.  It’s sticking around for a while.

Amidst Lies, Leahy Issues Subpoenas Today

The Senate Judiciary Committee agreed to issue subpoenas this morning for senior Justice staffers and 6 of the 8 fired federal prosecutors, in an effort to nail down the factual record of what transpired in the sacking of these federal attorneys. In an effort to keep the pressure on the Justice Department and White House to live up to promises made about providing full information on the matter, Leahy did not move forward with issuing subpoenas against [...]

Tags: Tony Snow, Prosecutors, Purge

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We Have Ways…

So, here’s the big question.  Is what he admitted to, really what he did?

Pentagon Redacted Statements of Khalid Sheikh Mohammad Discussing Torture

According to a Pentagon transcript released yesterday, Khalid Sheik Mohammed confessed to masterminding 9/11 and “more than 30 other terror attacks or plots” at a military hearing held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Known among CIA officers as “Al-Qaeda’s toughest prisoner” in Guantanamo Bay, Mohammad has long been the subject of extreme interrogation techniques, including waterboarding. [...]

UPDATE:  Some of you may find this analysis interesting, especially considering the source – Countdown with Keith Olbermann – from the show’s blog -

If He Did It

…The confession came at a military hearing in Guantanamo Bay on Saturday. It is worth noting that it was the first time Mohammed was able to make any sort of long statement without interrogators present. No one had to waterboard it out of him. The disclosure appears to have taken [...]

UPDATE 2: On the other side of the fence, TRex is writing at FireDogLake –

Look, Look!! SHINY!!

You guys are going to have to forgive me if I’m a little cynical about the timing of these revelations: Mohammed claimed responsibility for planning, financing, and training others for bombings ranging from the 1993 attack at the World Trade Center to the attempt by would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid to blow up a trans-Atlantic flight [...]

Tags: Khalid Sheik Mohammed, Al-Qaeda, 9/11, Guantanamo Bay, Waterboarding

Tags: Countdown, Keith Olbermann

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Tough Position

Hillary Clinton might have the lead, but supporters are starting to question her position on key issues, including the Iraq War. Or, is she (as supporters say) just being honest? In particular, a recent interview is raising eyebrows and generating lots of chatter -

Hillary Nuances Iraq Position

I’m not sure what to make of this: Clinton Sees Some Troops Staying in Iraq if She Is Elected. There’s a lot of nuance here and some of it is very troubling… In a half-hour interview on Tuesday in her Senate office, Mrs. Clinton said the scaled-down American military force that she would maintain in [...]

Tags: Hillary Clinton, Iraq War, U.S. Troops

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Not Letting Go

Here’s my best guess:  No matter how much the Administration and its supporters want to THINK the Prosecutor Purge Scandal is going to just quietly fade away, it’s not going to. From Congress to the blogosphere, there’s a growing wave of critics speaking out.  Including some prominent Republicans.

Why a Gonazales resignation is not enough

It now seems all but inevitable that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will be forced to resign his position over the growing scandal surrounding the political strong-arming of U.S. Attorneys around the country. Resignation, even in supposed disgrace however, is insufficiently punitive to members of an "administration" that has made a practice of employing prominent Republican recidivists left over from what should have been career-ending scandals like Watergate and Iran-Contra. But resignation as a punishment also fails to fit the crime. You may rest assured that apologists [...]

Tags: Alberto Gonzales, Prosecutors, Purge, Scandal

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Prosecutor Purge Scandal – More!

We’ve mentioned the latest reports on the Purge of the Prosecutors earlier today, here, here and here.  Now, as the day draws to a close, ABC News unleashes an astounding update that traces email right back to the White House -

Breaking: New E-Mails Show Rove, Gonzales Had Deeper Role In U.S. Attorney Firings

ABC News reports that new emails reveal that the plan for firing U.S. Attorneys originated in the White House. Both Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzales discussed the idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys in early January 2005. From the article: New unreleased e-mails from top administration officials show the idea of firing all 93 U.S. [...]

Tags: Prosecutor Purge, Karl Rove, Alberto Gonzales, U.S. Attorneys

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Prosecutor Purge Scandal

On a local media blog, some were complaining that an news anchor referered to the forced resignations of those U.S. Prosecutors as "the prosecutor scandal". The writers were upset, touting the right’s allegation that it’s not unusual for administrations to put their own people in those positions.  True.  But, the scandal rears its ugly head when you realize WHY they did and HOW they did it.  Scandal, it is.

‘I intend to get the testimony’

I think it’s fair to say that Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is livid over the prosecutor purge scandal. Democrats are now demanding additional documents, as well as testimony under oath from three top current and former White House officials: Mr. Rove; Harriet E. Miers, the former White House counsel; and [...]

One other bit of information to throw into the mix, putting two and two together -

Bush Admin Emails Contradict Sworn Testimony

In testimony on Jan. 18, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales assured the Senate Judiciary Committee that the Justice Department had no intention of avoiding Senate input on the hiring of U.S. attorneys. Just a month earlier, D. Kyle Sampson, who was then Gonzales’s chief of staff, laid out a plan to do just that. In an e-mail, he detailed [...]

And, then, there’s Arkansas’ Bud Cummins.  One angry man.

Purged Prosecutor: No "Paper Trail" for Administration Alibi

From McClatchy this morning: In an interview Wednesday, [former U.S. Attorney for Little Rock, Arkansas Bud] Cummins questioned whether the Justice Department seriously evaluated any of the other U.S. attorneys who they insisted were removed for performance reasons. "If they [...]

UPDATE:  Add one more to the mix.  Arkansas Senator Mark Pryor -

Pryor Calls for Gonzales Resignation

Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., today said during the Senate’s morning business session that U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales should resign immediately, adding that he didn’t believe Gonzales had [...]

UPDATE 2: I know this post is getting lengthy, but this update deserves to be added.  The subpoena list is growing and you KNOW Bud Cummins will talk!

5 in DoJ subpeonaed over fired US Attorneys; 6 prosecutors subpeonaed

Just in from the Senate Judiciary Committee… Subpeonas approved for: Kyle Sampson (DoJ, Gonzales’ former Chief of Staff) Michael Elston (DoJ, Deputy Attorney’s Chief of Staff) Monica Goodling (DoJ, liason to the White House) Bill Mercer (DoJ, Associate Attorney Genearl nominee) Mike Battle (DoJ, in charge of US Attorneys) Carol S. Lam (fired US Attorney)* Bud Cummins (fired US Attorney)* Paul K. Charlton [...]

Tags: Prosecutors, Purge, Scandal, Pat Leahy, Senate Judiciary Committee

Tags: Alberto Gonzales, Kyle Sampson

Tags: Bud Cummins

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