Category: Ethics in Government

A powerful news day. First, overwhelming evidence that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales lied about his involvement in the firings of the U.S. Attorneys.

Says the Baltimore Sun,

Gonzales attended an hourlong meeting on the firings on Nov. 27, 2006 – 10 days before seven U.S. attorneys were told to resign. The attorney general’s participation in the session calls into question his assertion that he was essentially in the dark about the firings.

According to NPR news this morning (not yet on the website, apparently), this meeting was specifically to discuss a plan of attack against these attorneys.

Meanwhile, the sleepy little House of Representatives shook a few fleas of its fur, stretched and yawned, and voted only to continue funding the war if the distant August 31, 2008 timetable for withdrawal is included.

Definitely a case of way too little, way too late–but even this faint stirring of opposition is enough to unleash a particularly vitriolic outburst from none other than George W. Bush:

These Democrats believe that the longer they can delay funding for our troops, the more likely they are to force me to accept restrictions on our commanders, an artificial timetable for withdrawal, and their pet spending projects. This is not going to happen.

Note to Nancy Pelosi: Let him veto it–and let that bring home the obvious point that from the date of his veto, there is no funding mechanism for the war, and the troops need to be brought home NOW! At that moment, too, his action will become the latest round in his continuous power grab against Congress, and it’s up to Congress to protect not only itself but the American people from His Imperial Delusional Majesty.

Let’s go to the authoritative source: the Constitution of the United States of America:

All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives (section 7)

And Section 8 (excerpted below) gives Congress specific oversight over the military.

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and
Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general
Welfare of the United States;…

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning
Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be
for a longer Term than two Years;

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union,
suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the Militia, and for
governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United
States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers,
and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline
prescribed by Congress;

Another clause in Section 8 charges Congress

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and
Offenses against the Law of Nations;

How about the Offenses against the Law of Nations perpetrated over and over again by Bush and his underlings? In other words, what will it take to get Congress moving on impeachment?

I’ve been following the scandal about politically motivated firings of highly competent US Attorneys for a while now (see this blog entry I wrote last month).

Some disturbing new developments: First, Kevin Johnson in USA Today reports more details on the guy who replaced Bud Cummins, the fired attorney in Arkansas:

Before his call to active duty in 2005, Griffin was an aide to Rove at the White House. Griffin’s résumé says he “organized and coordinated support for the president’s agenda, including the nomination of Judge John Roberts” to be U.S. chief justice.

In other words, a political hack replaces a skilled prosecutor. Boy, does this one stink! But it gets worse:

Second, Margaret Talev and Marisa Taylor report for the McLatchey newspaper chain that one of the attorneys, David Iglesias, was let go after Allen Weh, head of the Republican Party in New Mexico, complained about him to Karl Rove, and Rove replied, “he’s gone.” The story continues,

Weh’s account calls into question the Justice Department’s stance that the recent decision to fire Iglesias and seven U.S. attorneys in other states was a personnel matter – made without White House intervention. Justice Department officials have said the White House’s involvement was limited to approving a list of the U.S. attorneys after the Justice Department made the decision to fire them.

And we’re not done yet. Third, today’s Democracy Now reports that the White House flat-out lied about the level of its involvement, and actually considered a “coup” against all 93 US Attorneys at once. Attorney General Gonzales, Rove, and former White House Counsel (and Supreme Court nominee) Harriet Miers are all implicated:

New information has revealed the Bush administration’s role in the firing of eight U.S. attorneys is greater than previously thought. The White House has admitted administration officials worked with the Justice Department to draw up a list of U.S. attorneys who would lose their jobs. At one point two years ago, the administration even floated the idea of firing all 93 US attorneys at once. The White House has also admitted President Bush spoke with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales about Republican concerns the prosecutors were not pursuing voter fraud cases. Seven of the prosecutors were asked to step down just weeks later. On Monday, Gonzales’ chief of staff D. Kyle Sampson resigned after acknowledging he did not properly inform the Justice Department of his consultations with the White House. Sampson’s email records show extensive discussion with top deputy Karl Rove and then-White House counsel Harriet Miers. The administration had previously claimed it only approved of a list of fired US attorneys after it was drafted by the Justice Department.

How deep does this scandal go? And many more incidences of scandals, lies, fraud, illegal activity and more will it take before the Democrats find enough backbone to start impeachment proceedings against Bush and Cheney, followed once they are out of office by criminal prosecutions against the whole gang of ruffians?

In any other democracy, these thugs would have been tossed out of office long ago. Failing to do so is an international disgrace. Our Founding Fathers would be deeply ashamed that we have let these unpatriotic radical criminals repeatedly break laws with no apparent consequences.

Yesterday’s New York Times has a very informative–and very depressing–article documenting the firing of several highly competent Justice Department attorneys, including Carol Lam, who got the guilty verdict in the Randy “Duke” Cunningham Congressional corruption scandal.

It seems that loyalty to the Republican party and willingness to play cronyistic games are more important than competence, if this article is accurate.

It continues to amaze me how the Bush administration gets its fingers into every little corner of things, always with the message that independent thinking and action are disloyal, and often with the message that competence is not valued as much as who your friends are. In one case, the times article claims that another very good prosecutor was kicked out to make room for some friend of Karl Rove’s with minimal legal experience.

Seven attorneys have been let go in the past few months–compared to just three in the preceding 25 years!

Says Adam Cohen, the article’s author:

It is hard to call what’s happening anything other than a political purge. And it’s another shameful example of how in the Bush administration, everything — from rebuilding a hurricane-ravaged city to allocating homeland security dollars to invading Iraq — is sacrificed to partisan politics and winning elections.

He then goes on to speculate on three possible reasons, none of them good.

And one more shocker that really crosses the line:

Even applicants to help administer post-invasion Iraq were asked whom they voted for in 2000 and what they thought of Roe v. Wade.

Is there no aspect of government that these thugs won’t wreck?

Chris Owens has a really interesting blog post about Obama and Giuliani, about the power of an individual who thinks for himself and surrounds himself with advisors who raise questions versus the mentality of groupthink where advisors aren’t willing to question

As a black American, Owens also discusses–and dismisses–perceptions in the black community that Obama is “not black enough.” Fascinating.

I’m certainly not ready to make my choice just yet, but it’s early. Still, I see a lot of hope in the Obama candidacy–because he at least says all the right things (though his record doesn’t show so much leadership), he will attract capital and media, and he is a clear alternative to the warmongering, Patriot Act-supporting Hillary.

Democrats take note: If Hillary is the candidate, I and probably a lot of other progressive Democrats are likely to vote Green. The right will come out in droves to vote her down, but the left will not show enthusiasm, and she’ll be buried.

The candidate who most closely represents my own politics is Dennis Kucinich. I was thrilled to vote for him in the ’04 primary and will probably do so again. Unfortunately, he was ignored by the media and wildly underfunded. In short, his candidacy was utterly marginalized, to the continuing shame of the American media.