The Rude Pundit: Monica Goodling's Act of Civil Disobedience

[meegbear]

Justice Department counsel, now on extended leave, Monica Goodling is a dirty fuckin' hippie who hates her country. Look at her lawyer's letter stating why she's taking the Fifth on testifyin' before Congress on Alberto "Where's Your Fucking Neck?" Gonzales and the eight fired U.S. Attorneys, and let's spin this fucker hard. Essentially, Goodling's counsel says that she ain't gonna talk 'cause the Man wants her to talk and, well, shit, fuck the Man: "First, the public record is clear that certain members of the Senate (and House) Judiciary Committee(s)...have reached conclusions about the matter." Then the letter goes on to cite Arlen Specter's belief that Chuck Schumer might be having hearings "to promote his political party," and, citing a Fox "news" transcript, that Specter thinks the committee lacks "objectivity." So the lawyers think that it ain't gonna be a "legitimate" hearing. Why, my, gee-fuckin' whizzoids, gang, one might think Goodling believes it's a partisan witch hunt. That is soooo nineties.

In essence, what Goodling has done might, in some circumstances, be construed as civil disobedience - telling those in the power position, here the Congress (for, truly, it ain't just Democrats who think something's stinky in the cesspool that is the Bush Justice Department), to stick it. Although it's something of a wimpy act of protest, since Goodling is hiding behind a bullshit use of the Fifth Amendment (you can't invoke the Fifth just because you don't like the people doing the investigating), and any true act of civil disobedience involves, well, shit, you know, being disobedient to the law and risking arrest. And not just covering up for others in power.

Of course, the real reason Goodling's taking the Fifth has nothing to do with this raw seal meat tossed to the drowning polar bears of the right. It's actually the fourth of Goodling's objections that is the gist of the whole deal, that another official at Justice, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, told Schumer that he had lied in a report to the Committee and was ready to turn on Goodling and others. Rats, man, and their sinking ships.

Goodling uses the most punk-ass cop-out ever: Scooter Libby got caught lying. The letter goes on, "The potential for legal jeopardy for Ms. Goodling from even her most truthful and accurate testimony under these circumstances is very real. One need look no further than the recent circumstances and proceedings involving Lewis Libby."

Yeah, what at first looks like a noble stand, an act of protest, against partisan "political theatre," in the popular parlance, is actually what it seems: criminals turning on each other faster than hyenas going at the last bit of a carcass.

http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/

[bullimiami]

1. translation. Libby lied, it cost him. She wants to lie, but she is scared to now.

She cant tell the truth, so she better not say anything.

[gratuitous]

2. "They might be mean to me!" isn't a 5th Amendment ground

As usual, rudely but correctly stated. And I suspect the real reason Goodling doesn't want to do any potentially messy testifying under oath is because the Bush administration hasn't settled on the lie they want to tell yet. There's already three or four stories circulating out there about what happened and when, and the documents that have been dumped don't fully support anyone's story. Navigating one's testimony through the morass will take either a knowledgeable person with unswerving loyalty to the truth, or a believable cover story that will withstand scrutiny and revelation of further documents that may contradict the cover. And right now, the Justice Department seems to be short on both counts.

[DCKit]

3. They still don't realize they're incompetent liars?

I mean really, which of their lies haven't they been caught out on?

The only reason they've gotten away with so much is the basic goodness and tolerance of the people they're lying to.

[gratuitous]

6. Up until now

The people they've been lying to have mostly been Republicans in Congress, who have been quite satisfied to just let the lies go. What has been astonishing to me is not that every tree the Democrats have barked up has had a cat in it (we've been discussing so many of the issues amongst ourselves here for years), but the phony outrage of some Republicans who have the audacity to comment publicly on the lies they let go for so long. What? There aren't enough troops? What? They aren't sufficiently equipped? What? We sent 363 tons of cash into a war zone and it just flat disappeared? What? Industry lobbyists were writing legislation that regulated industry? And so on, and so forth.

[Supersedeas]

4. raw seal meat tossed to drowning polar bears of the right -- exactamondo

[madrchsod]

5. interesting - pleading the 5th before a question is even asked

"No person shall be ... compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself ..."No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.."

"The Fifth Amendment protects witnesses from being forced to incriminate themselves, and applies wherever and whenever an individual is compelled to testify. To "plead the Fifth" or to "take the Fifth" is to refuse to answer a question because the response could form incriminating evidence."

what is she hiding?