Why REPUBS Are MAJORLY PISSED And Frightened About the USA Purge

[Beetwasher]

You'll notice this purge more than any other recent scandal has got the congressional Repubs up in arms. I can't even think of a recent scandal in which there has been such a profound lack of support for Chimpy from Congress. Have there even been ANY shows of support for Chimpy or Gonzo from Congress?? I can't think of any.

Now, why you may ask is THIS outrage so different? Good question. This purge is a direct threat against the POWER of the Repub congressmen. Gonzo is attempting to set up his own little army of BUSH LOYAL (NOT Repub loyal) blackmailers AND he's doing it w/out even ANY input even from REPUB congressmen, even when he's replacing a USA in THEIR VERY OWN DISTRICTS. On top of that, the USA's being purged, all of them, were Bush appointed. This is how he treats his own.

Think about it. W/ an army of Bush loyal USA's, the NSA tapping etc., not a single Congressman would have ANY power whatsoever left. They would HAVE to do everything and anything Bush wanted or face being prosecuted by a Bushy loyalist USA. And that's with it now glaringly obvious, through the firing of and threats against his own appointees, that Bush would not hesitate to turn those powers on his fellow Repubs in Congress.

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Hmmm. That's somethign to chew on, for sure.

[Dhalgren]

2. Someone else said that if all USAs were Bush loyalists that it would make

martial law so much easier. There would already be a built-in legal administrator in place in all 94 districts...

[The Magistrate]

3. Exactly, Sir

It has been traditional that U.S. attorneys in a state are appointed from recommendations made by Senators from that state. That the regulation allowing appointment without any consultation with the Senate went through is the starkest possible proof these men and women do not read what they vote on....

[kestrel91316]

9. This is why John Ensign (RW freak - NV) is so angry. Gonzo

shitcanned his own handpicked guy (Bogden) with as much as a how-do-you-do.

That's pretty bad when even this wingnut's guy is insufficiently fascist to stay on.

[Beetwasher]

15. Right, That Was Their Check

The USA in their district would be their guy. That was the give and take. It's a HUGE coup for Bush to take their input away from them, especially for THIS particular appointment. By installing ALL Bushy's, there would no longer be any reason for give and take negotiating between Repubs and Bushy's. You play ball and do what the Bushy's say, or you get indicted. Why SHOULD the Bushy's give ANYONE ANYTHING? There would be no more favors done. There would just be enforcement of the Bushy line.

[IntravenousDemilo]

22. Well, thank goodness you used the term "U.S. attorneys"

or else I wouldn't have known what a "USA purge" is. I thought that in the United States of America, USA stood for "United States of America". Someone is purging the United States of America?

Getting a LITTLE tired of all these unattributed abbreviations here! I almost want to reach through the screen and throttle people who assume everyone knows the precise ingredients in their alphabet soup. Not everyone spends his entire day at this website.

[Name removed]

26. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[TahitiNut]

33. Gotta wonder if they think they've been wire-tapped.

After all, Cheney/Bush have exercised unconstitutional eavesdropping powers and sent out over 40,000 NSLs. They've probably "got the goods" on Congresscritters even more than ol' J. Edgar did in his heyday.

[The Magistrate]

42. That Is Quite Likely The Case, Sir

As the aide at Justice said in kicking this matter off, what is the point of having a power you do not use?

[Kber]

69. Not just any old aide, either

the Chief of Staff, who apparently ran the show, if you believe Gonzoles.

[The Blue Flower]

4. Tired of being blackmailed

Also, with all of the illegal wiretapping that's gone on, it is not possible that these repubs have NOT felt the pressure to get in line no matter what they might think or feel. They're probably as sick and disgusted as the rest of us by now.

[kitkat65]

37. If possible blackmailing is the case,

maybe it's time for the Republicans to call the bluff.

[melody]

5. Enablers of sociopaths always surprise me

These Repub "loyalists" actually thought this idiot would be "loyal" to them. Sociopaths are only loyal
to themselves. They eat everyone alive. George would throw his whole family to the dogs before he'd give
up just a smidgen of anything.

[elehhhhna]

16. He HAS thrown his family to the dogs. Poppy knows it. That's why

he's crying in public lately.

[melody]

24. Oh, Poppy, sure ...

And Babs and Laura ... and I'm sure the rest will be going along shortly.

I suspect Poppy has primarily been blubbering in public due to the fact he now realizes
his legacy is condemned to be "the father of the President who single-handedly destroyed
the US".

[Amonester]

6. I guess they never heard therr bu$che say:

"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0012/18/nd.01.html

If not, maybe someone should "refresh" therr fading memories...

Investigate (done...)
Impeach (not done...)
Indict
Imprison

[kath]

12. aww, you beat me to it. A most informative quote out of the Chimperor's mouth, no?

At the time, that line gave me chills, beyond the fact that it was an utterly inappropriate thing to say 6 days after he'd been APPOINTED.

One of those lines that many pass off as "ah, Dubya's sayin' somethin' stoopid again", but that really reflect what he believes. Kinda like "money trumps peace".

[Amonester]

18. The "irony" of it all is, I just can't "imagine" what they would have...

done to Bill if he ever had said the same "joke" (uh-ummm) six weeks after his second term victory...

I guess they would have called for his "instant removal" from Office.

[kath]

36. Yep, McPravda and the Repugs would have screamed bloody murder if Clinton had

said such a thing.

GACK! - I just thought of another of Chimpy's disgusting "jokes" that reveal much truth - the utterly repulsive "Lucky me, I hit the trifecta" "joke" that he repeated at least 15 times (search "trifecta" on the whitehouse.gov site). Argggggh. Just imagine the McPravda and Repug reaction if a Dem had been in power and uttered such a line.

[WinstonSmith4740]

52. Let's not forget...

"Don't throw The Constitution in my face. It's just a damn piece of paper."

I teach high school, and some kid actually tried to lay that "piece of paper" comment on me the other day. Needless to say, the class got a talk on what that "piece of paper" means in their lives.

Freakin' neo-cons. They have really screwed up the next generation. These kids have NO sense of personal responsibility, don't see any reason to think about their future, seem to think that my job as a teacher is to entertain them, and lie as easily as you and I breathe.

Sorry, I just had a bad day today. Most of my kids are really good. But neo-cons are still assholes.

[liberalhistorian]

66. Good for you for staying in the trenches and continuing

to be a teacher when it's getting harder every day to do so. My parents were teachers for over 35 years, until they both retired early because they just couldn't take it anymore. My stepdad's Alzheimer's was just beginning, but he also just couldn't do it anymore, even if he hadn't been having problems. And people wonder why the coming teacher shortage is going to be so horrendous. Shit, they'll be lucky to find warm bodies just to sit with kids in study halls.

[TankLV]

56. umm - it was after his FIRST "victory" in 2000, not his 2nd...

WE'VE all known about it for YEARS now...

[glitch]

19. You forgot the creepy little "hehehe" with which he ends most of his utterings.

"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator, hehehe." Hard to believe CNN missed it. ;)

[Rydz777]

7. You may be on to something and

I think they are just getting scared that with scandal piling on scandal they are going to lose their own jobs next year.

[Auntie Bush]

8. In another post on DU...Bob Barr and other conservative Republicans

are up in arms about all the power the Chimp is hogging for himself. They know it's wrong... but I also know they fear losing the presidency in the 2008 election. Then a Democratic president would have all that power too. That scares the sh** out of them...as it should.

[kcass1954]

50. I keep hammering on the little kool-aid drinkers at work -

"So you'll be okay with this when President Hillary does it, right?"

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

10. Absolutely true

and well said. Glad to give the 5th r.

[lyonn]

11. Good thinking. You start stomping on your own you have gone too far.

Or, a case of, whose ox is being gored.

Sorta fits in with the investigation of the FBI searching anyone's personal info, banks, e-mail, etc., as the repubs are mad about this too. Must be getting too close to home and their next election.

[EVDebs]

13. Rephrase: Bush is trying to become J. Edgar Hoover ! With files on everyone

Eleanor Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr, Paul Newman (?), John Lennon (?), my dog Fluffy....

[Manifestor_of_Light]

29. the movie "U.S. v. John Lennon" explains how Hoover tried to get him tossed out of the USA

Goin on for decades, at least since Hoover was running the FBI. Still goin' on.

[Name removed]

34. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Uncle Joe]

14. Well the Repubs should have known, with Bush's track record of "honor & integrity",

what did they expect?

[glitch]

17. Excellent post. They never care unless it affects them directly. This is blatant

enough that even a Republican can understand it. Idiots, took them long enough.

[caligirl]

20. congressman Jerry lewis investigation is now likely compromised

By US Attorney Debra Wong Yang leaving the LA US Attorney position Nov 10 and taking a job for 1.5 mill dollars with Gibson Dunn and Crutcher. They represent Lewis and the led attorney is a former US Attorney himself. This firm also employs Ted Olson, Bush former solicitor general who came up on the short list of replacements for Gonzo. Yang claims she left voluntarily. 1.5 mil$$

http://www.beyonddelay.org/node/120

[eppur_se_muova]

21. It's the enemies he creates IN HIS OWN PARTY that will cost him in the end. nt

[mzmolly]

23. I hope it costs the entire lot of them.

I want that party to crumble into dust.

[Qutzupalotl]

25. I think it's even worse than that.

Every tree we've barked up has had a cat. If you look at what the USAs were investigating before they were fired, it sure looks like the admin was involved with election tampering, bribery, corruption of the worst kind, and more. Plus the AG lied to congress. Taken as a whole it looks like obstruction of justice.

[KittyWampus]

27. Exactly Beetwasher, Rove has succeeded in making enemies out of his closest allies

leaving only a small core of loyalists protected and listened to.

[EFerrari]

28. Because as Plaid Adder noted last week, you don't go to war

against a bunch of lawyers -- especially lawyers who know where all the bodies are buried.

[Jade Fox]

30. It's an all-Republican scandal.....

with no trace of collusion on the part of the Democrats (like the invasion of Iraq). The Dems don't have to justify any of their own actions on this one, and I think that is giving them some fuel to fight.

[Nickster]

31. I don't know, they seemed awfully willing to sign over any powers they had before. They didn't want

to do any oversight, they didn't ask any questions, they rubber-stamped everything. Why should approving USAs really be that big of a power shift for them?

[Beetwasher]

32. Because They Are Not Being Consulted

And the USA's have the power to investigate and indict them at the Bushy's whim. Before, the congressmen would have had input and influence w/ regard to the USA in their district (the implications being the USA would be THEIR guy and NOT investigate them personally, for example). Now they don't have that influence/power. With the threat of indictments, there's no reason for Bushy's to SHARE any power w/ Congress. They can just get their way via blackmail a whole lot easier.

[Nickster]

35. I guess I just took for granted that was the plan from the beginning, maybe they just caught on.

Dubya would love to eliminate Congress. I always thought they knew that.

[Joanne98]

38. Hi Beetwasher! Long time no see....

:hi:

[Beetwasher]

39. Hey!

:hi:

How are ya?

[Joanne98]

40. Oh! fine!

I got a cold but I'll live..

:pals:

[Beetwasher]

45. Chicken Soup For You!

:loveya:

[nolabels]

41. I have doubts that this whole AG thing will go anywhere either

Just another distraction or it will be spun into one. Never forgetting that * has and is basically giving corporations (who own a large proportion of the media outlets) free reign to do what ever they want to do. The word will get out for them republicans to play ball or they will be sidelined, just watch.

Btw, Libby will be pardoned and essentially even free wheeling agencies like the CIA have had that same thing forced on them by this fascist-corporate oligarch. What makes anyone think that some group named the republican will be any different :shrug:

[Beetwasher]

43. It's Already "Gone Somewhere"

Subpoena's are coming. That's progress.

[nolabels]

58. Make no mistake on who has got Mr *'s back

I kid you not, much of corporate culture will bail water as long as * needs it, just step back, take good look around at the big picture and you will be seeing it happen

and btw, what going to happen next, in the little subplot is called a........

Mexican standoff
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_standoff


Bush May Invite Constitutional Showdown Over Attorney Firings

By Holly Rosenkrantz and Edwin Chen

March 21 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush is stepping into a potential constitutional confrontation with Congress, vowing to fight demands from Democrats for sworn testimony from his advisers about the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year.

Bush said he will oppose any attempts to compel the testimony of political strategist Karl Rove and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers, and accused Democrats of attempting to set up ``show trials'' to score political points.

``We will not go along with a partisan fishing expedition aimed at honorable public servants,'' Bush said in brief remarks at the White House last night, after the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee rejected his offer to let Rove and Miers submit to interviews behind closed doors.
(snip)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aQirTUmLcrUc&refer=us

[Cameron27]

44. Excellent OP

Happy to add a rec.

[Old and In the Way]

46. I have no doubts some of the Repoublicans are getting it.

The 94-2 vote confirms that this is not a partisan issue.

So why would there be a rush to install Bush Loyalists?

(1) 2008 Election....indict Democrats on "corruption" charges and, if necessary, contest the election results?
(2) Key investigations that get to the heart of the RNC Syndicate and how they use appropriations to corrupt and re-fund their electioneering schemes.
(3) Blackmailing Congresspeople to see things their way.

Combine abuses at the FBI and the Loyal Bush USA's...I think you've got the makings of a real dictatorship. All they need now is another 9/11 "event" to force us to get back into line.

If you were exposed to indictable criminal acts - like lying about the casus belli, disregarding the 9/11 warnings, outing CIA agents....what wouldn't you do to protect your miserable, worthless ass?

[heatstreak]

47. kick

[cassiepriam]

48. Karma time. All those who supported Bush are now his victims.

[Beetwasher]

49. SENATE VOTES 98-2 TO TAKE AWAY GONZO'S POWERS

To appoint USA's w/out approval. Further support of my hypothesis.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

51. Who were the two who voted no?

[TwilightGardener]

54. Hagel-NE and Bond-MO.

[cassiepriam]

61. I wondered exactly the same thing......

[FredStembottom]

53. This has been the EXACT question in my mind for days!

...why THIS scandal? I mean, after all the Bushco horrors?!?!

But you (and the excellent string of replies here) have hit on something: Bushco is now not even loyal to fellow 'publicans!

And as some of you suggest, may now be leering and scolding and possibly even threatening 'publicans more than we know just yet!

Bushco may now have descended into full-tilt, dime-store novel type paranoia.

I now await what I thought should have occurred sooner: the "Lonesome Rhodes" moment - when mental breakdown manifests itself irrevocably live, on-camera. When someone crumbles in front of millions.... and the whole nightmare ends.

[Gregorian]

55. It's just a kinder gentler Naziism.

Hitler just hung them. Bush fires them.

That's my simplistic post of the day. Now it's to bed, and dreams of another fun day of momentum toward democracy.

[Pacifist Patriot]

62. The face of compassionate fascism. *shudder*

[mtnHov]

57. lets kiss the republican party good-bye....flush twice

[Marr]

59. Honestly, I think it's purely a matter of timing. These fools have stepped on countless

landmines before this one. This just happens to be the first one they've stepped in since the Democrats gained control of Congress.

As for the change in Republican attitudes, they know very well that the last two months are only a small taste of things to come. They know more than the Dems do about exactly what the Bush Administration has been pulling in recent years, and they know the bush league Bush team is going down- and they do not want to stand up and defend them.

[Kurovski]

60. K&R.(nt)

[The Count]

63. This begs for the still from Jon Stewart "pleasure of the preznit" rant

[Canuckistanian]

64. Maybe that would explain why Hagel voted against the Senate USA bill

He knows he's targeted because he's said one too many "disloyal" things.

Maybe Hagel is going for the (not so) coveted "Bushie" status to take the heat off.

[Seabiscuit]

65. Urge, splurge, then surge, purge.

[Beetwasher]

67. Regurge

:evilgrin:

[Nikki Stone1]

68. I think you hit the nail on the head

The goal of this group has been to put power in the hands of the President and completely strip Congress of its power of oversight. Stripping Congress means stripping the American people of power.

[EVDebs]

70. Shades of Korea-gate of long ago. The hookers are the key.

Much like Operation Gemstone, of G. Gordon (flipped-his) Liddy fame.

[truedelphi]

71. I have to chew on this. Brilliant post.

You are putting it in some terms I had not yet thought about.

Wow and Wo-hoah!

[Beetwasher]

73. Thanks!

Yeah, from this perspective, the recent Senate vote taking away Gonzo's power to appoint USA's makes a lot more sense. It's rare to get such a lopsided vote ESPECIALLY these days. Funny how this amazing vote hardly gets any play in the traditional media.

[EVDebs]

72. This scandal needs a name: I suggest The USA Massacre Scandal