Strategist Says Gonzales Is "Finished"

[babylonsister]

And Rohrbacher makes three (Sununu, Smith, Coleman on the edge) senators calling for resignation.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/15/politics/main2572891.shtml

Strategist Says Gonzales Is "Finished"
Senate Investigation Heats Up Amid Calls For Attorney General Gonzales' Ouster

(Page 1 of 2)
WASHINGTON, March 15, 2007


"I want to obtain their cooperation and all relevant information. But I want people to know that if I do not get cooperation, I will subpoena, we will have testimony under oath in this committee. We will find out what happened."
Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy



(CBS/AP) Pressure mounted on the White House Thursday to fire Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for the abrupt dismissal of U.S. attorneys. More Republicans called for his ouster, and one Republican strategist close to the White House told CBS News that Gonzales is "finished."

Congressman Dana Rohrbacher became the latest Republican to say Gonzales should go, reports CBS News White House correspondent Jim Axelrod.

"Even for Republicans this is a warning sign … saying there needs to be a change," said Rohrbacher. "Maybe the president should have an attorney general who is less a personal friend and more professional in his approach."

Meanwhile, the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday cleared the way for subpoenas compelling five Justice Department officials and six of the federal prosecutors they fired to tell the story of the purge.

The voice vote to authorize the panel to issue subpoenas amounts to insurance against the possibility that Gonzales could retract his permission to let the aides testify voluntarily, or impose strict conditions.

The committee also postponed for a week a vote on whether to authorize subpoenas for President Bush's top aides who were involved in the eight firings, including political adviser Karl Rove, former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and deputy White House Counsel William K. Kelley.

more...

[tuvor]

1. It's beginning to look a bit like Fitzmas.

Kinda, sorta.

[tblue]

2. Time for G to admit he wants to spend more quality time with his family (nt)

[saltpoint]

3. If there was political rationale to defend Alberto Gonzales great enough

to overcome Sununu's misgivings about his re-election chances in 08, Sununu would have come out for Gonzales.

He didn't.

Neither did Gordon Smith.

This seems to me to be a gauge of Gonzales' chances of being our Attorney General by this time tomorrow night. I think he's a goner.

[babylonsister]

4. And on a Friday night - sooo convenient! But tongues will be wagging

all weekend whatever happens.

[saltpoint]

5. Hi to you, babylonsister. We meet again over yet another disgraced

Bush official.

I think you're right with those wagging tongues. Bush has been so arrogant for so long he underestimated how bad it can get when the Dems have subpoena powers.

[babylonsister]

6. Oooh, my manners!

:blush: Hello, old friend. Yes, we meet again. Sigh. One day, I hope we meet over some spectacularly good news! And may that time be soon! :pals: And yes, I get discouraged, but am still a dopey optimist.

[saltpoint]

8. No one better blame you for being discouraged. The Bush presidency

is pretty much a total calamity at this point, and the trend is going down, not up.

The longer this administration delays dumping Gonzales, the more of its officials grow vulnerable to prosecution.

I'm with you -- still optimistic for the long term. 2008 is going to be a really blue night on that electoral map.
:hi:

:thumbsup:

[MissWaverly]

14. did you see that a disgruntled DOJ employee leaked e-mails

today, Gonzales was fully involved in the purge, he and rove planned it before he
was nominated to be Attorney General.

[saltpoint]

15. Hi, MissWaverly. Yes, I saw that, and wonder if the press corps can be

roused to ask why that email appears inconsistent with sworn testimony before the Congress.

I'm in a grim reaper frame of mind on the Republican Party. These folks brought this down upon themselves and tried to take the Constitution with them.

No official word yet, but Chuck Schumer says his sources tell him that a White House meeting was scheduled to determine Gonzales' fate.

It's a start.

[MissWaverly]

17. Well, Old Crusoe, methinks this shows Plame no accident

they planned everything down to the smallest detail, when they were going to do it, wait
till all the attorneys had left DC and gone back home, not to upset the chickens while
they were in the henhouse, then what to say to the press, nothing was not planned and the
entire time they were openly lying about what went on, saying Gonzo was not involved.

[saltpoint]

18. I'm buying your version. They couldn't spare 5 minutes to plan their

assault on Iraq, but all the domestic skullduggery got 24/7 attention.

I think your instinct on the Plame leak is right on.

[MissWaverly]

29. thank you, watched David Brooks on the News Hour tonight

he went on with his usual Wilson lied which now even the most naive don't believe, but I
figured him out, he concluded with "who could imagine something like this could reach into
the vice president's office." I am paraphrasing, it didn't reach into the vp's office,
it originated there which is what Fitzgerald's investigation proved, Cheney's right hand
man was found guilty on 4 of 5 counts. They can't spin that. They keep trying to pretend
that the vice president was just an innocent bystander, wrong...

[saltpoint]

30. David Brooks has a lot of talent but uses it for the dark side. I just don't

get him. I often wonder if he truly believes what he says or if the paper pays him to take Bill Saffire's conservative role.

Cheney is malevolent. I loved your comment that this isn't "reaching into" Cheney's office, but instead originated from there.

If it didn't, we'd have to believe that Scooter acted independent of the Vice President's knowledge and consent.

I doubt if many lawyers anyplace would want to take that case.

[MissWaverly]

31. well, if they're innocents caught in a web of lies

why didn't Libby or Cheney take the stand in the Libby trial, the only reason they would
not take the stand would be that it would be a detriment to Libby's defense, they did not
testify.

[saltpoint]

32. Yep. I think the whole gang is a bunch of lying weasels.

Gonzales probably knows a lot more dirt on Cheney and everyone else. As Bush's counsel, he likely has some real juicy notes on the administration.

No wonder Bush wants to protect him.

[MissWaverly]

33. remember when Gonzo testified and did not take an oath

to tell the truth, I thought he represents the Justice Department, which has to operate
on a position of integrity and he will not swear an oath before he testifies, I thought
then that he had made a mockery of his office.

[saltpoint]

34. That's right. He's made cynical mockery out of the people's Department

of Justice.

All the inside scoops today point to his dismissal/resignation sooner rather than later, and it can't be too soon for me.

[MissWaverly]

35. yes, let's rescue the Dept. of Justice from the Old Liars Club

[saltpoint]

36. Hear, hear. I'm ready to cast my 2008 vote this minute, and it ain't

gonna be for the red team.

[MissWaverly]

38. Hey, I have been in a blue mood for a long time now

and I want change, I want a president who swears that he will defend and uphold the
constitution of the United States and then DOES it. Yep, I guess that makes me
a radical.

:-)

[saltpoint]

39. If Jefferson and Madison were radicals, then let's you and me join up.

We'll get those terms you set out in our next president, I think. It really does look as if the Democrats will take the White House in 2008. The Republicans are battling uphill against Iraq, the shadow of Katrina, the Walter Reed disaster, this Justice Department spiderweb of corruption, and the sense that Bush has been a very poor excuse for a leader.

Not to mention their 2008 field is a pack of fools. Our line-up of candidates is much stronger.

And we're going to have a president who's heard of Jefferson and Madison, and read the documents they penned to form our country.

[MissWaverly]

40. Hey, I am for it definitely, with a spritzer of FDR humanity thrown in

and also remember that Diebold is begining to back away from the election mess they have made, if they quit making voting machines, then the privatized voting/virtual vote scam
will collapse and there goes the Republicans party's hold on power. The MSM has propped
them up with their "polls" but 70% of the American people have no faith in bush, but 69%
of the Republicans still do. That alone tells you that the Republicans are a minority in
this country, and they have been using the media to fool people.

[saltpoint]

41. And a smattering of those Republicans are finally realizing that the

fundie Far right is taking them down a dark alley with a dead end.

Dobson et al are the real losers in 2006.

Giuliani's their top-polling candidate right now, which is kind of pathetic when you stop to think about it, and I don't even see him carrying New York.

A change is at hand.

[MissWaverly]

42. well, if they are republicans like Nelson Rockerfeller, okay

but like David Brooks, no, I seem to remember when the info about Haditha came out, he
calmly commented something like that stuff happens, and when they the Iraqi Museum was looted, Rumsfeld said that stuff happens, no it doesn't happen on it's own, I want republicans who want honesty, leadership and accountability in government, not some frat boy
mentality where the job is all about winning, sucking up the money and having a permanent
vacation on the job.

[saltpoint]

43. Agree. Rumsfeld's "stuff happens" comment after the Iraqi Museum

was looted kind of wraps up the Bush administration's general attitude.

A category 3 storm slams into New Orleans. "Stuff happens."

Our soldiers have inadequate armor and other protections. "Stuff happens."

Wounded soldiers at Walter Reed endure deplorable living conditions. "Stuff happens."

These people just don't give a damn. They're into tax breaks and no-bid contracts and chep political manipulation.

[MissWaverly]

44. Yes, a leader acts and resolves problems not denies them

Could you imagine what would have happened if FDR had run around saying there is no depression, there is no problem with Hitler.

[saltpoint]

45. Good contrast there. FDR was physically disabled. With Dubya's it's a

brain thing.

Roosevelt was a grown-up, a visionary, an organizer, and a truer servant of the people.

I'll take FDR any day of the week.

[MissWaverly]

46. yes, me too, and Eleanor as well

they cared for the America people, both Bush, Sr. and Bush, Jr. and Cheney care for the
all mighty dollar, notice I am not saying the Almighty but the all mighty dollar.

[saltpoint]

47. Yep. The Roosevelts inhabited the White House and met its high

expectations for public service.

You're right -- we don't see a whole lot of that with Dubya and his crew.

[MissWaverly]

48. a president should be a public servant not a crony

we should expect and receive the best from him, why is it now accepted that he be the
lowest common denominator.

[saltpoint]

49. Well, you and I don't accept it, and several thousand other DUers don't

accept it either.

Bush has never been acceptable to us, and in the 6 years he's been in office, we likely think a lot less of him now than ever before.

[MissWaverly]

51. well, I can say that it was the machine that defaulted to Bush

when I tried to vote for Kerry, it did this 5 times, I will never forget, two stolen elections and look where it has gotten us.

Yes, you are right, I am grateful to my friends at DU, they were my lifeline after the
second stolen election, I ate hotdogs for lunch for months to send my lunch money
to Kerry and I sent $200 to have the Ohio election recounted. Now the State of Ohio
is upset about the rigged recount, big whoop, they sent 2 people to the slammer for
18 months over it. It reminds of seeing an entire stadium full of people and having someone say, here are the 2 people that were there for the game.

[saltpoint]

52. We're going to prevail. The daily news of the Bush administration's

failings and deceptions are depressing, I agree.

But there's light at the end of the tunnel.

A blue light.

[MissWaverly]

53. a blue light, I hope so and it better not be a K-Mart special

Old Crusoe, we are both old enough to remember the blue light special at K-Mart, I want
a large democratic majority in the Senate and the House, it is the only way we will clean
things up, the democrats are not secretive, the Republicans are best as yap dogs, constantly
drawing the public eye to democratic failings.

[kestrel91316]

55. Hell, they were so busy playing politics and scheming from Day One

that they couldn't bother to read the PDB and other intel about ME terrorists and airplane plots.

None of this surprises me anymore.

[frogcycle]

19. yeah, no mercy! no pity!

rat bastards should drown in their own sewage

[tsuki]

50. Hi, MissWaverly.

Greg Palast has a story up that says that Harriet Miers has a history of these kinds of purges. http://www.gregpalast.com/bush-hit-woman-behind-prosecutor-firings-has-long-history-of-purges-to-protect-bush/#more-1598

[MissWaverly]

54. thanks, I love Greg Palast, have his book Armed Madhouse

will check it out, thanks for the link.


:-)

[John Q. Citizen]

22. As soon as Hillary called for his resignation, I knew that she knew that there was

a whole lot more to come out.

Hillary only acts when she knows it's safe, and her action won't harm her chances for the brass ring.

[saltpoint]

26. I kept waiting all week for those smarmy endorsements of Gonzales --

the ones the Republicans always offer. They send McConnell or Lott or some other sorry-ass group of Rethugs in front of the cameras to blather about a given Bush official's being pure as the driven snow, etc.

Not much of that this week at all.

Seemed like the cat got the Republicans' tongues on Alberto Gonzales.

[MissWaverly]

37. I would say that triangulation is correct

I do hope that we get Al Gore for prez in 2008.

:-)

[stevedeshazer]

7. Dana Rohrabacher?!

THAT Dana Rohrabacher?

The friend of, well, Oliver North and Jack Abramoff, the one who toured the Northern Marianas in search of ways to profitably exploit women under the Made in USA label?

The former Reagan aide?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Rohrabacher

That fucking guy?

:rofl:

[driver8]

9. My sentiments exactly!! n/t

[babylonsister]

10. I think, at this point, lots of them have nothing to lose. They're cutting

their losses, so to speak. ;)

[stevedeshazer]

11. Breaking News: Local Canary Dies in "Republican Coal Mine®"

2008 Elections To Be Held Next Week

Film at eleven ----

[MadMaddie]

12. Okay that's just funny....

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[robinlynne]

13. But, getting individuals fired, as opposed to getting the whole group into jail,

doesn't seem like a lot to me. Rumsfeld and Ashcroft are gone, but the republicans just get more and more daring. that doesn't really make a change. It feels good, but America doesn't get better.

[frogcycle]

21. i heard a great quote

forget if it was on Countdown or Tom Hartman - anyway some dem congressman said "we've only had the power for six weeks, and every tree we bark up has a cat in it! just wait til we've had six months!"

So just hang in there,. It may be starting slow (not!) but its gonna snowball. i remember the early days of Watergate when it looked like just a little something here and there - then the dots started getting connected...

[ninkasi]

25. That's what I think, too

Right now, it looks like we could investigate anything this administration has done for the last 6 years, and find plenty of illegal activities and scandals. This is without question the most criminal administration, and the most corrupt president in American history. The scandals just keep piling up.

[John Q. Citizen]

23. This has gone through the DOJ into the White House. A resignation by

Gonzalez isn't going to end it.

[robinlynne]

24. Thank you both.

[Morgana LaFey]

16. Testimony under oath: music to my ears

and it's been a long time coming. I hope this is the beginning of NO hearing anywhere on Capital Hill without oaths taken. None, ever again.

And yes, I understand it's a crime to lie to COngress, whether or not under oath. However, being under oath does tend to focus the mind a bit more than without it.

[durtee librul]

27. Pardon me for my ignorance...

but under oath can't they still take the 5th?

[Morgana LaFey]

28. yeah, and it's always pretty damning when they do nt

[frogcycle]

20. "Maybe the president should have an attorney general who is less a personal friend and more professi

ya think?