Does anyone think that the resignation of assistant AG John McNulty is anything other than an act of a subordinate throwing himself on his sword so that Alberto “At the end of the day” Gonzales and the Bush hierarchy can survive the current investigation?
I mean, granted, this adminstration has set a new record for the philosophy that the buck stops just about anywhere except on the desk of those who should really be answering for decisions that are made about everything from employee firings to mismangement of wars. But this really sets a new low in terms of obviousness and just-how-stupid-do-they-think-the-American-public-is-ism (a brand new hyphenated word, TM).
PAD
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Alberto Gonzales.
Anyway, from day one, I’ve said that all these calls to fire all these various administration officials (Rumsfeld, etc) miss the point. There’s one guy who hired them. And as long as he’s in the White House, you’re not going to get better results.
Having Alberto quit or step down is not the answer. We need to question him and get to the truth. I hope he doesnt quit till the American people are satisfied with an answer.
As for the political aspect the Democrats can use Alberto as a (yet another) symbol of whats wrong in the White House. A President who will keep someone on the payroll who screws up and then “cannot remember anything”.
Till American turns into a Theocracy….oh wait.
On a aide note, just picked up 40 years of Hulk on CD Rom and I am so glad I am able to re-read Peter David’s take on Hulkie. I had to sell all my comics when I moved out my parents home on LI to my first small NYC apart. Since moving to Texas I have tried to buy them all on ebay, but having the CD Rom is almost as good.
Would it really matter if Gonzo resigned anyway? The decider would just appoint another incompetent political hack in his place. I mean, it’s not like he’s going to suddenly turn to hiring based on merit or ability to do the job this late in the game.
PAD:
Look for conduct like this (e.g. the White House becoming even more flagrant in its insular abuses of power) as the Bush administration winds down. In particular, I can’t wait to see who shows up on Bush’s list of last-minute pardons in his final days in office.
That should be good for a laugh…or a moan of disbelief.
The sooner Bush and his cronies leave office, the better off everyone in this country will be. Or at least I hope that’s the case, what with McCain sounding more and more like Bush’s little brother in his campaign stops.
Gonzales had absolutely no idea who ultimately chose the attorneys for dismissal until McNulty left, at which point it all became his decision. Conclusion: McNulty has a memory-hazing field and was impeding Gonzales’s recollections until he resigned. Well, it’s either that or he was gleefully thrown under a bus by Gonzo grasping for a scapegoat, and really, which is more plausible?
I mean, it’s not like he’s going to suddenly turn to hiring based on merit or ability to do the job this late in the game.
It’s a sad state of affairs, but Den sums it up perfectly.
“Brownie” works here in Colorado now with a disaster relief consulting company (oh, the irony), and the other day he was criticizing Bush & others in the administration for what happened after Hurricane Katrina, and how he (Brown) took the fall.
I’m sure there will be others before this Administration leaves office.
The problem is that this administration does assume that the American public is stupid, either wise how could these incompetent morons have been is the situation to end up in the White House 2 elections in a row.
Den:
While it is true that the Decider would TRY to appoint another incompetent ideolog to the AG’s office, they likely would not get confirmed by the Democratic Senate. This is possibly the reason that the Decider is so set on not getting rid of Alberto.
The problem is that this administration does assume that the American public is stupid, either wise how could these incompetent morons have been is the situation to end up in the White House 2 elections in a row.
Den:
While it is true that the Decider would TRY to appoint another incompetent ideolog to the AG’s office, they likely would not get confirmed by the Democratic Senate. This is possibly the reason that the Decider is so set on not getting rid of Alberto.
Argh!! The dreaded double post.
I like the analogy Keith Olbermann had better — the one about throwing people under the bus. McNulty was thrown under the bus (I’m sure the timing of the resignation was calculated, as he had been talking about resigning for months), Wolfowitz threw his girlfriend under the bus and now may get under there with her, certainly Douglas Lute has only been hired so he can get pushed under the bus by the real war czar (i.e., the commander in chief)… It’s like that line in Rocky Horror, “you chew people up and them spit them out…”
Schadenfreude is my drug of choice. I love wallowing in the misery of Bush & Cronies LLC. They have been so good for the country by way of presenting one of the WORST POSSIBLE examples of how to run a free, open democracy and make the world a better, safer place.
Obviously McNulty quit so he’d have a few months to kick back before his new tell-all book comes out to explain how he was really a good guy who was helpless in the cogs of the Bush machine, with a few quotes that will piss of the White House and a few facts that will immediately be proven wrong. Don’t you guys know how this works?
I don’t get the whole ‘war czar’ thing. Has the commander-in-chief ever appointed a commander-in-chief before? Sounds like a 5-star General Scapegoat to me.
And had Wolfowitz done his little deal in the private sector, you could clock the time between the revelation and his termination with an egg timer.
Little Wolf, my guess is that Shrub will no longer bother send anybody in an important position to be confirm by Congress. It is going to be recess apointments from here on out to the end of Shrub’s term.
I wonder if the resignation is geared so that the Bosses can survive or if it’s more so he WON’T end up the fall guy for all this.
“It’s like that line in Rocky Horror, “you chew people up and them spit them out…””
Elayne, thanks to you, I will forever picture Bush in Frank’s outfit. Frighteningly, the pearls fit.
Thing is, McNulty can now find a goodly number of sympathetic ears at the Congressional hearings, and he might not be so willing to cover for Gonzo any more.
This could get even more interesting.
J Alexander:
I will admit to not knowing the answer to this, but can a Secretary of a Department be made as a recess appointment. I always thought they couldn’t be, but I may be wrong. Additionally I agree with what you are saying, but I think the Unitary One is going to try to get by without letting anyone he doesn’t absolutely have to let go, leave because he doesn’t want to be taken away from the ‘business of the country.’
RJ: I believe that this is the first time that a President has created that particular position. Ususally the ‘war czar’ is either the President himself, as it should be, or in the case of someone that is less ‘militaristic’ it would probably vest in the SecDef or Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. This whole ‘War Czar’ thing is one more example of the Unitary One, The Decider of the US, His Eminence, …. trying to pawn off the responsibility he does have under the Constitution to try and more power he isn’t granted.
CHV: I can’t wait to see who shows up on Bush’s list of last-minute pardons in his final days in office.
Those last minute pardons, by any President, are always the height of cowardice. Doing something as you walk out the door because you can do it without any consequences? It’s a flat out admission that you are a coward.
If I were ever President (yeah, like that would ever happen) I would not want my last official act to be something so patently craven.
Before you do anything, ask yourself if you would do it in public. If you would not, know that it is wrong.” – Thomas Jefferson
Those last minute pardons, by any President, are always the height of cowardice. Doing something as you walk out the door because you can do it without any consequences? It’s a flat out admission that you are a coward.
I agree. In fact, nearly every president can be called a coward. Check out page 21 for stats on our more recent presidents.
Little Wolf.
I believe recess appointments can be made for all positions. It was frowned up doing so when you knew that the appointment would not pass the Senate until this administration. I recollect that Chief Justice Warren was a recess appointment when Chief Justice Vinson passed away. He later got confirmed.
Little Wolf.
I believe recess appointments can be made for all positions. It was frowned up doing so when you knew that the appointment would not pass the Senate until this administration. I recollect that Chief Justice Warren was a recess appointment when Chief Justice Vinson passed away. He later got confirmed.
My apologies. Double post.
Actually, I’m not so sure McNulty resigned for that reason. I think it was more of a get out while the getting is good scenario.
That said, as soon as he did so, of course Gonzalez started throwing him under the bus. Which I think may backfire as now (if my instincts are correct) McNulty will be very eager to clear his name wherever and however possible.
The recess appointment has outlived its purpose.
When travel was by horse, it took weeks to get the representatives back to Washington, D.C. Today, all could be back in D.C. in 1 or 2 days.
Aw, c’mon… admit it… y’all are gonna miss ol’ Bush when he’s gone.
I would say, “because you won’t have anyone to blame for any new problems that show up.” But that’s not true. I’m still blaming Clinton for a mess of things [because I believe he *made* a mess of things], so I figure once Bush is gone, there will be a good 8 to 10 year span of “because of Bush” blame games.
Unless they elect another Republican to the White House. Then it’ll be the new guy’s fault, because he’s a Bush cronie, and there is a coverup.
Here’s to hoping they hire a Democrat. We need a change.
Elect a liberal Democrat! Vote for Ron Paul!
RLR
Aw, c’mon… admit it… y’all are gonna miss ol’ Bush when he’s gone.
well, yeah. My sketch comedy group never had it so easy to write material, even under Clinton.
Aw, c’mon… admit it… y’all are gonna miss ol’ Bush when he’s gone.
In the sense I might miss an excised facial tumor, yeah. It’d be weird not to deal with an unsightly growth everyday anymore, but I’d get over it (and be happier for the change of pace).
My fear is that Bush’s damage may have already metastasized into the Body Politic and that the treatment will be both unpleasant and interminable.
I do not think that we are going to ever have the opportunity to miss Bush once he is gone. As soon as he leaves the White House, his people will be trying to get his face carved into Mount Rushmore.
J.,
There are two reasons that GWB will never have even his most stalwart supportors trying to get his face on Mt. Rushmore. First, anyone trying that would have to first get by the group that is continuing it’s ongoing efforts to canonize Reagon. Second, anyone trying to get a face added to Mt. Rushmore would have to be in enough denial to get past the fact that there isn’t enough space to put another face on the mountain.
Roger, in regards to your sketch comedy group, I’m curious about something. It seems as the Bush Presidency has gone on that his Administration become so extreme that it defies satire. You can only exagerate so much. Has this been a problem?
Robert, I think the Bushites will still try to blame Clinton for everything that happens well after the 2008 election if another republican gets elected. Of course, if a democrat gets elected, then they’ll retroactively declare the entire Iraqi debacle his or her fault.
Roger, in regards to your sketch comedy group, I’m curious about something. It seems as the Bush Presidency has gone on that his Administration become so extreme that it defies satire. You can only exagerate so much. Has this been a problem?
Only for the more knowledgeable folks…
Seriously, it hasn’t been that much of a problem. Comedy (particularly political comedy) is almost always a matter of tweaking the noses of the powerful. And there’s always grist for the mill, no mater how grotesque the Bush Administration has become…I think that changes, if anything, has moved to more throwaway lines, rather building sketches around them..
Little Wolf – I don’t entirely agree that electing Shrub & Co twice is a sign of stupidity.
It often happens that the public gets tired of a given administration and decides it’s time to give the other guys a chance. Look at how Canadian’s turfed the Liberals (read: Democrats under another name) in ’84 after 15 years in power (minus a six-months break in the middle). Unfortunately, though we have more parties than the US does, it really comes down to Liberals vs Conservatives (read: Republicans) so the latter got in. I wasn’t happy, but I could sort of understand it/
However, when they re-elected them, with a majority yet, in ’88 after four years of the most scandal-ridden, resignation-plagued administration in Canada’s history, now THAT was *stupid*. Ditto Shrub. One can almost forgive them almost electing him the first time around. No excuse the second, other than, maybe, utter incompetence on the Democrats’ part in being unable to get their act together and crush the little twit in the polls.
Robert, I think the Bushites will still try to blame Clinton for everything that happens well after the 2008 election if another republican gets elected. Of course, if a democrat gets elected, then they’ll retroactively declare the entire Iraqi debacle his or her fault.
They will try, that is for sure, but who is gonna believe them? At this point, the American public’s main reason for disapproving the Bush Administration is the Iraq War. And the Iraq War and the whole War on Terror thing is so very firmly tied to Bush and the Republicans, that not even Karl Rove’s most potent evil spell can make people believe the Iraq War is the Dem’s fault.
Roger, in regards to your sketch comedy group, I’m curious about something. It seems as the Bush Presidency has gone on that his Administration become so extreme that it defies satire. You can only exagerate so much. Has this been a problem?
Heh, the funny and scary thing about Bush and his cronies these days is that they always do what we Liberals always knew they would do. Paul Wolfowitz’s whole mess in the World Bank is a prime example.
The guy gets in deep trouble for trying to get his girlfriend raises and promotions, the guy pìššëš people off for trying to cram his religious convictions down people’s throats by censoring World Bank documents mentioning contraceptives…
These people act so much like caricatures that sometimes I wonder if the whole Bush gang aren’t secretely a bunch of liberals out to make conservatives look as bad as possible?
Seven years in…
So THIS is what “bringing accountability back to the White House” looks like?