Gonzales testified that no U.S. Attorneys were fired for "political reasons" after he had plotted with Karl Rove to fire U.S. Attorneys

In January of 2007, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that politics was not a factor in the dismissal of U.S. Attorneys as reported by Salon:

"I would never, ever make a change in the United States attorney position for political reasons."

Yet, in January of 2005, while serving as White House Counsel, Alberto Gonzales plotted with the White House political "mastermind," Karl Rove, about getting rid of U.S. Attorneys:

D. Kyle Sampson, who resigned this week as chief of staff to Mr. Gonzales, responded by e-mail three days later. Discussing a plan to replace 15 percent to 20 percent of all 93 prosecutors, Mr. Sampson noted: “Judge and I discussed briefly a couple of weeks ago.” (Mr. Gonzales is known to associates as the Judge from his tenure on the Texas Supreme Court.) Mr. Sampson predicted that any dismissals could stir protests. “If Karl thinks there is the political will to do it, then so do I,” he wrote.

Surely, Karl Rove never did anything for political reasons.

It's just one lie after another.

The clock is ticking for Alberto. The clock should be ticking for Karl. Read the rest of this post...

Nobel Peace Prize Winner Bishop Desmond Tutu says anti-gay discrimination is just like what blacks faced in South Africa under apartheid

And he's right. So any bigots who have a problem with it, go talk to Tutu, and read up on your Coretta Scott King for that matter, as she too said the prejudice is the same.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu, the former Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, has warned African churches against paying too much attention to the issue of homosexuality while ignoring real problems facing the continent.

"I am deeply, deeply distressed that in the face of the most horrendous problems -- we've got poverty, we've got conflict and war, we've got HIV/AIDS -- and what do we concentrate on? We concentrate on what you are doing in bed," Tutu told journalists in Nairobi during the World Social Forum.

***

Tutu likened discrimination against homosexuals to that faced by black people under South Africa's racist apartheid policies.

"To penalise someone because of their sexual orientation is like what used to happen to us; to be penalised for something which we could do nothing [about] -- our ethnicity, our race," said Tutu. "I would find it quite unacceptable to condemn, persecute a minority that has already been persecuted."

God bless him. Read the rest of this post...

Bush had confidence in Rumsfeld too...

From Ken Bazinet, NY Daily News White House correspondent who's also now a blogger (okay, that so sounded liked Jeff Gannon). The kicker is Ken's final point, at the end:

MEXICAN HAT DANCE: SAME STEPS, DIFFERENT HOOFER

One day after President Bush returned from his news-free foray through Latin America, the game of Gonzo dodgeball is well underway at the White House. Mouthpiece Tony Snow looked like a well-worn prizefighter after spending much of the White House press briefing dodging questions about the fate of Gonzo (The Mouth’s friendly nickname for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales) and whether Team Bush will comply with congressional subpoenas. Here’s a taste:

Q: The Judiciary Committee today approved subpoenas -- authorized subpoenas for five Justice Department officials as they look into the prosecutors case. What's the administration's reaction?

SNOW: Well, I refer you to the Department of Justice on that. I know that they've had some conversations, but I'll refer you to DOJ on that.

Q: Why would that be? Why wouldn't the White House--

SNOW: Because it's subpoenas for the DOJ, and the Department of Justice will respond. The Department of Justice has also had ongoing conversations with people on Capitol Hill. I don't want to be their fact witness on this one, but, again, I suggest you give their office a call.

So why the full court press by the press corps? Because we’ve heard this before:

SNOW: The President has confidence in the Attorney General.

Q: He had confidence in Rumsfeld, too.

And that’s what to keep in mind: the lexicon tapped by White House spokesmen often doesn’t really tell us what the definition of is is.

Read the rest of this post...

Open Thread

Updates. Analysis. Commentary. You decide. Read the rest of this post...

Rove was "at the epicenter" of plans to fire U.S. Attorneys as early as January of 2005

"Breaking News" from ABC. Despite all the White House spin, new e-mails put Rove right in the middle of the fired U.S. Attorneys controversy. It was Karl's idea to can all the U.S. Attorneys back in early 2005 (that was when the Bush team still believed they had a mandate). Karl and Gonzales were plotting the mass firings even before Gonzales became Attorney General:

New unreleased e-mails from top administration officials show that the idea of firing all 93 U.S. attorneys was raised by White House adviser Karl Rove in early January 2005, indicating Rove was more involved in the plan than the White House previously acknowledged.

The e-mails also show that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales discussed the idea of firing the attorneys en masse while he was still White House counsel, weeks before he was confirmed as attorney general.

The e-mails directly contradict White House assertions that the notion originated with recently departed White House counsel Harriet Miers, and was her idea alone.

Two independent sources in a position to know have described the contents of the e-mail exchange, which could be released as early as Friday. They put Rove at the epicenter of the imbroglio and raise questions about Gonzales' explanations of the matter.

So, the White House has been lying to the media -- and the American people -- again. What a surprise. Seriously, why does anyone in the White House press corps believe one word uttered by anyone in the Bush White House, including George Bush? The White House lying in this issue is summed up in this line:

What has made the issue a political firestorm is the White House's insistence that the idea came from Miers and was swiftly rejected.

In other words, the White House's insistence was a lie. And, it's such a blatant lie that even the media has figured that out. Read the rest of this post...

Self-Immolation by Afghan Women Rising

Mission Accomplished. Read the rest of this post...

Obama: Homosexuality is not immoral

Good.

Statement from Senator Obama on General Pace

"As the New York Times reported today, I do not agree with General Pace that homosexuality is immoral. Attempts to divide people like this have consumed too much of our politics over the past six years."

Read the rest of this post...

Cliff's Corner

The Week That Was 3/15/2007

Another week. More preposterousness to report.

Karl Rove must go to prison. No not country-club Republican I-ripped-off-your-grandma-with-junk-bonds prison where he can join the Dartmouth or Princeton rowing squad and walk by a state of the art outdoor weight-lifting facility his two-seats-on-Southwest ass would never even think about using.

I mean real prison. Like the kind you go to if you're caught in Kuala Lumpur with Rush's medicine bag.

Once again, I just can't abide by these Johnny-come-way-too-latelys who now realize George W. Bush is challenged by My Pet Goat and "The Google," Dick Cheney's an evil right-wing assclown and Karl Rove is, to quote a not so bright man, "a grotesquely corpulent, politically sociopathic parasite who destroys all government he touches."

He most closely resembles a locust, devouring his surroundings, only to move on to a new destination after all is destroyed (see the Texas political system).

A spate of books came out on this amoral anthropoid before he became a household name in 2000, and all you had to do was observe his past patterns to know this would happen. A candidate he was working for who was running for Governor of Texas magically found a "listening device" in his office the day before a big debate.

Right before the first Bush/Gore debate in 2000, a tape of Bush's "performance" arrives at Gore HQ in the mail, so that's all the press was talking about while George W. Bush was mixing up pronouns and screwing up multisyllabic foreign leaders' names. Surely, coincidence.

If you read Boy Genius for example, you will find that the way Rove beat Democrats in Texas was by politicizing the FBI (Sid Blumenthal has more on this in a new column), and using those partial to his candidates and his blow...I mean politics, to start high-profile investigations of Democratic officeholders right before elections.

So why would it be a shock that his fingerprints are all over the Justice Department politicization scandal, which occurred, of course, right before the 2006 election. And, of course, the buildup to Iraq, right before the 2002 cycle, was completely out of character for Rove. As was outing an undercover agent.

This man is an adult diaper worn by an astronaut for a nine-hour, homicidal road trip. Kaiser Sose on a KFC drip.

He must go to prison. For once in his pathetic self-hating life, fully investigate this piece of garbage--please.

For more on this and other stories, please go to cliffschecter.com. Read the rest of this post...

Hillary: Homosexuality is not immoral

Good. Now where is Obama, and Biden and Richardson and...

Excerpt of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on Bloomberg News Regarding the Comments Made By General Peter Pace

"Well I've heard from a number of my friends and I've certainly clarified with them any misunderstanding that anyone had, because I disagree with General Pace completely. I do not think homosexuality is immoral. But the point I was trying to make is that this policy of Don't Ask, Don't Tell is not working. I have been against it for many years because I think it does a grave injustice to patriotic Americans who want to serve their country. And so I have called for its repeal and I'd like to follow the lead of our allies like, Great Britain and Israel and let people who wish to serve their country be able to join and do so. And then let the uniform code of military justice determine if conduct is inappropriate or unbecoming. That's fine. That's what we do with everybody. But let's not be eliminating people because of who they are or who they love."

And kudos to HRC for calling Hillary (and Obama) to task. Read the rest of this post...

Evangelical leader: "It ought to be God's agenda, not the Republican Party's agenda, that drives us."

She's melting. Read the rest of this post...

Gay group to Hillary and Obama: We're not happy

I hear that the gay civil rights group the Human Rights Campaign had a come-to-Jesus (come-to-Mary?) chat with the Clinton and Obama campaigns this morning over the candidates' seeming inability to give a straight answer yesterday to the question of whether they think homosexuality is immoral. (Lots of background on the issue here.)

HRC reportedly told both campaigns that they were not happy, and that the campaigns' various and ever-changing answers to the question were evasive and unacceptable, and that both needed to issue forceful and unequivocal statements saying that they don't think homosexuality is immoral.

Will Hillary and Obama respond? Stay tuned. Read the rest of this post...

Dennis Kucinich, a FOX Democrat

Or is that FAUX? Read the rest of this post...

Senate Judiciary Committee issues subpoenas over US Attorneys firing scandal

From Schumer:

Today, at the Senate Judiciary Committee markup, authorization for subpoenas was approved for several Department of Justice officials: Mike Elston, Kyle Sampson, Monica Goodling, Bill Mercer, Mike Battle. Republican members of the committee blocked the authorization for subpoenas for White House officials, namely Harriet Miers, Karl Rove, and William Kelly. Schumer released the following statement:

“This is the worst crisis at the Department of Justice that I have seen in my time in the Senate. It is a crisis of confidence, a crisis of credibility, and a crisis of management. And ridding the Department of one bad actor doesn’t begin to rid the Department of the taint of this scandal. That is why every day more and more Senators have joined me in my call for Alberto Gonzales to step down. Beyond a change in the top, we should also be doing everything we can to get correct and candid answers from the Department, once and for all. The sooner we do that, the sooner public confidence can be restored. And it won’t be a moment too soon. Today’s authorization for subpoenas gets us a major step closer.

“It is regrettable that members of the minority blocked subpoenas for some of the White House players. They should be joining in our efforts to get to the bottom of this.”

Read the rest of this post...

Garrison Keillor does his best Ann Coulter impression

Just read Dan Savage's post all the way to the bottom, where you get to the second snippet of what Keillor wrote in Salon recently. Total bigoted homophobic pig. Read the rest of this post...

Hillary and Obama flub "is homosexuality immoral" question; Edwards does okay

Pretty crappy, and offensive, answers from both Hillary and Obama yesterday when asked whether they think that homosexuality is immoral (the question was prompted, of course, by the General Pace controversy, in which the nation's top uniformed military leader said he thinks homosexuality is immoral).

Rather than giving the clear cut answer that Senator John Warner (R-VA) gave, "I respectfully, but strongly, disagree with the chairman's view that homosexuality is immoral," or that John Edwards gave, "I don't share that view," Hillary and Obama squirmed.

Hillary: "Well, I'm going to leave that to others to conclude."

Obama: Newsday caught Obama as he was leaving the firefighters convention and asked him three times if he thought homosexuality is immoral.

Answer 1: "I think traditionally the Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman has restricted his public comments to military matters. That's probably a good tradition to follow."

Answer 2: "I think the question here is whether somebody is willing to sacrifice for their country, should they be able to if they're doing all the things that should be done."

Answer 3: Signed autograph, posed for snapshot, jumped athletically into town car.

What? Hey Senator Obama, do you think Jews are immoral? Jesus Christ.

To Hillary's credit, her campaign did some damage control last night:

Clinton's spokesman, Philippe Reins, said the New York senator "obviously" disagrees with Pace and that everyone, including the general, "has the right to be wrong, but should not inject their personal beliefs into public policy."

Then Wednesday night, the campaign released a statement from the senator herself, saying, "I disagree with what he said and do not share his view, plain and simple."

Nice, but. Hillary's final statement, while avoiding the g-word (g-a-y), would have been acceptable as a FIRST statement on this issue. But as a final statement after all this brouhaha, she needs to say clearly, just like John Warner did, that she doesn't think homosexuality is immoral - she needs to say it, not cryptically disagree.

And Obama's spokesman later said the Senator disagrees with Pace as well.

(The only reason I'll give Edwards a pass for issuing the same non-g-word statement as Hillary is that his statement was the first thing he said, not the 4th - he never equivocated. Having said that, it would have been nice to see a fuller g-word-embracing statement from Edwards as well. Pace's comment was outrageous, it was offensive, it was demeaning, it was dehumanizing, and it was bigoted - it wasn't simply something you "disagree with" like tax policy or something.)

And let me just say, what the hell is up with Obama? This is the first major flub I've seen from Obama in this campaign, and it's a doozy. Some of the shine just got knocked off that golden boy.

As for Hillary, this is not good. Many in the gay community love her, while many fear that while she generally talks a good talk, she won't be there for us when we need her. This kind of vacillation and avoidance only feeds those fears. And it's not the first time. Recently, she spoke at the board meeting of the largest gay civil rights group, the Human Rights Campaign (all the pro-gay presidential candidates were invited, including Giuliani, but to her credit only Hillary accepted (where were Obama and Edwards - and Giuliani, for that matter?)). While HRC (the organization) proudly posted Hillary's speech on YouTube and as the top story on their Web site home page, the other HRC (Hillary Rodham Clinton) didn't tout her appearance at all, unlike her appearance the next week at the pro-choice women's group EMILY's List, which was feted by her campaign to all the media. When asked, twice, why her campaign appeared to be hiding her gay appearance, Hillary responded:

"You'll have to ask my campaign."

Again, the arm's-length non-denial.

I want to like her. I really do. And I've heard the same sentiment from lots of my friends and colleagues. We love her husband, we adore her daughter, and we really want to like the good Senator. But damn she doesn't make it easy. Read the rest of this post...

Wash Post on Alberto Gonzales: "He should never have been confirmed"

The man always struck me as the same caliber of lightweight that is Harriet Miers. Great Washington Post editorial on the growing US Attorneys firing scandal. Read the rest of this post...

Thursday Morning Open Thread

What a coincidence. Bush is in trouble. Big trouble. The Attorney General is going to lose his job. The Pentagon said Iraq is a "civil war." So, Khalid Sheik Mohammed's testimony is released. Playing the terror card...again. What a coincidence.

Start threading. Read the rest of this post...

Zimbabwe opposition leader vows to continue struggle

It's difficult to say if Morgan Tsvangirai is the person to lead Zimbabwe out of the current ruined state and dictatorship, but this guy is tough as nails. Beaten up by the police, leaving him with head injuries, knee injuries and a broken arm, Tsvangirai is not backing down despite continued threats of violence by Mugabe, Zimbabwe's dictator. The US has voiced its criticism and little else though what is most disappointing is that the best the African Union can offer is that they find the situation "embarrassing" and "uncomfortable". I understand the baggage of neo-colonialism but taking a stand against such violence and brutality is not a great leap. It's the right thing to do. The US should look into how it can constructively work with the AU on issues such as Zimbabwe because it is in everyones best interest to peace and prosperity across the continent. Read the rest of this post...

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 to ignore the problem and put it off for the next person because he lacks any spine to make a tough decision.

The Bush administration on Wednesday rejected key recommendations from a citizens' group asked by Congress to find out people's health care wishes.

Suggestions included guaranteeing health coverage for specific checkups and treatments and protecting consumers from high medical expenses. The group released its report Sept. 29 after hearing from about 6,500 people at 84 meetings.

President Bush agrees with many of the goals, but differs on how to achieve them, according to a letter from Health and Human Services Secretary
Mike Leavitt to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

The group "chose an approach based on mandates and government intervention rather than an approach emphasizing consumer choice and options," Leavitt said.

Unless he receives his talking points from the extreme radical right and his corporate enablers, nothing registers. This is a president who just continues to spiral away from the basic needs of his country. Why is it so hard for him to stand up for average Americans? Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Nothing to report. Read the rest of this post...