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U.S. Attorney General Resigns
willie3204 is one of many to mention that U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has resigned. One of Gonzales' main opponents praised his decision stating that: "'For the previous six months, the Justice Department has been virtually nonfunctional and desperately needs new leadership,' said the Schumer statement. 'Democrats will not obstruct or impede a nominee who we are confident will put the rule of law above political considerations. We beseech the Administration to work with us to nominate someone whom Democrats can support and America can be proud of.'"
Fortunately for Gonzales, he will probably soon forget he held the position and made a mockery of the judicial system...
He has been a disaster for this country. Good riddance.
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Right now, the opposition party has failed in it's watchdog duties. This resignation is only good news if they finally gain some moxie and push for a hard Atty Gen, one that will actually ensure oversight of the branches of government as the position is supposed to be doing.
Karma Whoring for Fun and Profit.
The Daily Show starts a 2 week break this week.
Is anyone noticing a trend where resignations seem to occur while The Daily Show is off on break?
How many Alberto Gonzaleses does it take to change a lightbulb?
One, but he'll end up doing it multiple times because he can't recall doing it before.
Good! About damn time!
One of the most frustrating, maddening things about this administration is disregard for the people's will. Bolton was a good example. He was only supported by the president and Republicans. When appointing someone that represent the American people you need to have the support of the American people not just your party.
It's in that same spirit that I'm voting Republican in the next presidential election. Do you REALLY think one party rule is going to better under Democrats? I like the idea of one party controlling the White House and the other controlling Congress. It forces people to work together. Something this country BADLY needs now... and for the world as well before we damage things even more.
Actually Gonzo and I were at the same school at almost the same time. No way he could have graduated with such a weak memory, so I've basically been wondering what happened to him. He still has his wits and he's just faking the idiocy? Or was is some kind of mental disease from excessive mental gymnastics and brown nosing?
Anyway, I'm still amazed that Dubya let him resign, even if Chertoff is the replacement (according to rumors). The last thing the neo-GOP wants now is a functional DoJ. Everything is coming unraveled for them.
One more thing. Don't let the door hit ya' on yer way out.
Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
Remember how excited everyone got when Ashcroft was fired^W^Wresigned? That's when Gonzales was put in. Be sure there will be someone just as pliable and loyal to the Party--and probably smart enough not to get caught perjuring himself. So I wouldn't get too excited.
One CPU cycle wasted on digital restrictions management is ONE TOO MANY.
Ding Dong! The Witch is dead. Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!
Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead.
Wake up - sleepy head, rub your eyes, get out of bed.
Wake up, the Wicked Witch is dead. She's gone where the goblins go,
Below - below - below. Yo-ho, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out.
Ding Dong' the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low.
Let them know
The Wicked Witch is dead!
The 'rule of law' is a 'political consideration'!
Sounds like someone needs to brush up on their Constitutional law.
threadeds blog
I am no friend to Attorney Gonzalez. In fact I've wanted him out of the position for some time. But to his credit, he has been placed in a horrible position.
Lets assume for one moment, before he took this position that he was a good lawyer. But to be led by a man who has destroyed so many other reputations is no easy task. It is a great honor and massive amount of responsibility to be in that position. But then to be "Serving at the Will of the President...", augh. He has shown to be loyal to his president. Did he misplace is trust and loyality? Maybe yes, Maybe no. But a strong un-dying loyality in this day and age is very very difficult to find.
In many ways, I respect that ill lasting lasting loyality. But sadly, I would have respected him more had he had the courage to be an honest man with integrity.
This is of course, only my opinion.
Life takes interesting turns, but the most interest is when you're off the beaten path.
They were the ones who first latched onto the US Attorney firings. It was through their investigative reporting that congress got involved.
Talking Points Memo
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Seriously, who the hell talks like that anymore?
Hey Schumer -- 17th century England called. They want their verbs back.
Apology to Ubuntu forum.
The Sandy Berger memos?
Yeah... I don't either...
Clearly, you're eligible enough :)
Here's another one...the VP also used this "I do not recall..." slogan while under fire. It's about time our constitution was amended to automatically have a senior official resign when the all of a sudden they cannot recall matters so important and held so dear to these United States.
... He'll just get replaced by another Bush yes man. Sadly, it will be business as usual with a new face.
This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
Might be hard to believe, but a lot of conservatives aren't happy with the way things have been going throughout this administration. If anything could prove that Republican != Conservative, it's certainly been the Bush White House. I think the more things get shaken up, the more both conservatives and liberals win.
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." -Albert Einstein
Now where did I put my Queen album collection? I have the perfect song.
nobody wins until the balance of power is restored to the people, where it belongs.
turn up the jukebox and tell me a lie
I've noticed that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert have great power over Washington and the current administration.
Most big moves in DC happen when the shows are on a break. Either the administration fears the two jesters or this is a wacky coincidence.
Another event I can remember is "Scooter" Libby's commuted sentence.
All browsers' default homepage should read: Don't Panic...
No, I dont think they've gotten rid of Elaine Chao. Even with all of the China bashing that's gone on, and her connections with pro-China entities, she might survive unscathed.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
Loved the tag so I just poached it!
Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
*yawn*
And he'll be replaced by another indistinguishable "long time friend of Bush."
At least Chertoff doesn't openly advocate torture... at least that I know of.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Chertoff
Formerly GNU/Anonymous Coward. This message has been determined to cause cancer in laboratory animals.
I tend to vote for the candidate rather than the party...It's a shit sammich either way, but at least I know what I'm getting before I take a bite.
And what the hell? One party rule sucks regardless so therefore...What? The system is out of balance right now, and we've had a long period of one party. The system is going to swing back, and a few years of the Left undoing some of the more ridiculous abuses of the Right before we lock 'em down with an unfriendly congress/executive will do us all some good. I'm tired of my damn property taxes going up every year to pay for schools and roads because the fed "Doesn't raise taxes."
A good solid electoral bitchslapping will maybe add some humility to the Repubs, and maybe knock them back toward the middle a bit.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
The President shouldn't have to nominate someone that the democrats support, but someone that is competent, experienced and has a history of obeying the law. If the democrats can't support that then they've got no hope in November of 2008.
From the article: "Bush will likely nominate Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to the position"
Events like this remind me to donate to the ACLU.
Know what I like about atheists? I've yet to meet one that believes God is on their side.
For starters, W. will try to put one person forward, the dems will nix them, and W. will appoint in the middle of the next vacation of congress. This person will simply replace gonzales and will ensure that no real investigation occurs until the end of W. time. The dems need to go after after W. AND obtained convictions, then it would make future presidents about doing such actions. But congress, and the dems in particular, have shown that they will allow it to drop. Nixon and reagan were allowed free walks due to the succeeding presidents being republicans. But the next president will almost certainly be a dem. If so, they need to not pardon and allow justice to prevail. Otherwise, we will see that each republican will continue to screw US at will.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
...that Gonzo has found a more profitable career somewhere else. Keep an eye on him - he'll probably show up later at the Carlisle group, selling weapons to our enemies.
How is this News for Nerds?
The more you regulate a company, the worse its products become.
That means there's another candidate with some exposure to an Ivy - since it's hard to find someone who isn't in that administration. Even then, it hasn't been a large sign of competence either, more like the lack of it.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
it takes some effort to make john ashcroft look like a brave defender of american's freedoms. and ag ag did that, by acting like some sort of blitzkrieg operative for the extension of capricious and dubious powers. all very shady, all very slick, all very despicable, and forever afterward in my mind ag ag was worthy of not just resignation, but prosecution and punishment
now it looks like, like a previous white house operative (ag was the general counsel of gw bush in texas), that he's just the fall guy for his higher ups. resigning and taking the heat that rightfully should lead to dick cheney, karl rove, and gw bush
i'm not one for impeachment, it's a radical act, but i'm wondering where all the self-righteous a-holes who were ready to pillory clinton for whitewater and getting a blowjob from an intern are on the subject of gw bush, (or iran-contra, for that matter). or is it just a partisan game to get the other team at all costs, regardless of any actual judgment of the scale of wrongdoing?
personally, clinton could have had roman orgies on the scale of caligula in the white house. compared to what bush has done to this country's image in the world, orgies in the white house ranks as an impeachable offense a couple of orders of magnitude below what the shocktroops of chicanery the gw bush team has given us
gw bush: the usa's worst president, ever. he's just a moronic drunk rich kid. he wasn't even rightfully elected by the will of the american people. can you imagine how different things would be on the world stage today if al gore was in the white house?
the 2008 elections cannot come fast enough
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
yes, I am sure the fearful leader is ready to put an honest man in place to replace this pile of steaming Attorney General
this will be better now, laws will be enforced and observered.
Lot of liberals aren't happy with it either, and the difference is, they didn't vote it in in the first place. If you voted for the republicans in any of the last 3 elections, you've got to accept responsibility for your choice.
Don't get me wrong; I don't blame the conservatives. They always vote the same way (well, some vote libertarian). Same with the libs when it's their party who is screwing stuff up; gotta ride that sinking ship right to the bottom. The thing that pisses me off is the damn fickle swing vote. You'd think, since they're not really wedded to an ideology, they'd be better than the right or the left, but really, they're just a bunch of jokers who vote based on whether a candidate has "Presidential Hair" and other such simplistic crap.
We may blame all the problems on the government, but it's the responsibility of the people to demand good government, and to put good people in power.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
He is a complete moron. Someone should take a dagger to his heart.
Another 16 months of this fuckwad Bush/Cheney administration to endure.
.nosig
I wouldn't be surprised to see Harriet Miers again.
As an actual candidate, or to take the heat off the real candidate as done in the Supreme Court to fast-track an Ivy? The problem is that who else in his circle of friends is not an Ivy, and can do that exact job without it backfiring is a very limited pool.
Twitter supports and protects racists - by smearing their critics with the "Hate Speech" label.
Might be hard to believe, but a lot of conservatives aren't happy with the way things have been going throughout this administration.
I have to believe that most conservatives are happier with the corruption of the Bush administration than they would have been with electing a Democrat - or even another Republican - in 2004.
Step into a huge movement. Don't Tread In Me.
the head of DHS, easily the most screwed up gov't agency in all it's sectors--not just fema--, is replacing him. This is a man willing to piss on your hat and tell you to your face it's raining if the president tells him to. SO were getting another stooge not an independent jurist as attourney general. It's Bush's insurance policy against prosecution.
That's what Karl Rove and Gonzales are trying to be for Bush and Cheney. I wish to god there was someone in the Democratic party with the balls to bring Rove, Gonzales, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, and all the gang to justice. Letting these guys resign and skate away to enjoy the spoils of their crimes is just as deadly to our democracy as the crimes themselves, because our system of checks & balances and faith in the rule of law remain compromised. Impeach, try, and convict. That's the only way to begin to untangle the disaster they've visited on us and the world.
To those who call themselves Republicans and resist this idea, just imagine Hillary Clinton as president with all the powers Bush and Cheney have arrogated to themselves. It should give you screaming nightmares, because it sure does me.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
If anyone thinks Bush is going to appoint anyone except a conservative criminal, they are deluding themselves. There's no way in hell the conservatives are going to recommend an AG who will have the guts to prosecute all the Republicriminals.
Bush is going to stay the course, and anyone who thinks otherwise hasn't been paying attention for the last few decades. Republicans have no intention to do anything except destroy our government and install a theocratic kleptocracy.
My money on their next appointment is Michael "I killed NOLA, ask me how" Chertoff.
We pay lip service to the people, but really, the people have very little say.
When the country was founded, the founding fathers envisioned the electoral college as a hedge against mob rule...The members of the electoral college were typically rich landowners, and they weren't required to vote based on the votes of the citizens beneath them, so if the rich landowners didn't like candidate A, they could just vote for candidate B, regardless of how the people voted.
That's not the case these days. These days, most states require the EC to vote based on how the people in the state vote...No wealthy landowners here!
Except...Who do the people vote for? The candidates chosen by the two big political parties. How do the big political parties choose their candidates? Effectively it's money. Whoever can line up the most wealthy landowners behind them, that person wins. That's pretty much the point of the primary system...Trot out the candidates, and see which one the money guys like best.
Sure, there are two guys up on stage, but really they're the same. They go to the same schools. They know the same people. They do roughly the same crap in office.
Power to the people will be a first in this country, if it ever happens.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
Except of course the conservatives were quite happy to claim Bush and his admin as one of their own when things were going better.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
The Attorney General serves at the pleasure of the president. Bush is not pleased with this offered resignation.
So Gonzales must stay in the job. Bush's pleasure is the only principle that our country exists to serve. Gonzales said so himself, even if he can't remember.
--
make install -not war
When looking for the best candidate shouldn't they be looking for the best person that America can be proud of. Sounds like they are as bad as the rest.
Presidential pardon at 11:00...
Does anyone seriously think he will ever testify at congressional hearings of any kind?
Gonzales is yet another example how the Bush administration values loyalty over competence. In virtually every executive-appointed office, Bush has installed people who are not qualified to do the job, but are unconditionally loyal to him and his party.
While this may have always been true, it's never been more true now and this exemplifies the weakness of the American system of government. You elect a president, and then he puts incompetent cronies in positions of huge responsibility in important areas of the government. We've also seen that Bush has no reservations against using loopholes like congressional recess appointments to get around the checks and balances in Congress.
In other countries like Switzerland, heads of each major area of government, from transportation to defense, are independently, democratically elected. The next time an American starts talking about "democracy", remind them that they need to look elsewhere, far outside of their own country, to find a more true example of the democracy.
One of the ideas that I came to, is the next one may actually do an investigation. But it will be rigged from the gitgo (think of nixon-ford and reagan-bush). W.'s only other way out of this is via the nixon approach. He could have cheney exit, then put in a mole. Then W. resigns while the mole pardons him. After all, the last thing that the republican party wants is a real investigation into W's actions.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
This is the guy who testified to the Senate that the right to habeas corpus is not guaranteed to US Citizens.
What a strange 6 years we have lived through since 9/11. I'm hoping it will be over soon. At least the Gonzalez chapter is.
...to simply outsource the DoJ to somewhere offshore which can perform its non-function for much less money?
Just wondering.
I'll see your senator, and I'll raise you two judges.
I have been libertarian since 95( hummm ). I have only voted for 1 main stream in my life; kerry, but admit that I was going to vote for gore but GF was sick. The fact that you accuse me of supporting Hillary indicates that you have the same logic as W. (you are either with us or against us). Basically, you see black and white, rather than the greys. BTW, my first presidential election was Carter/reagan/Anderson. Perhaps with the preceeding info, you can even guess who I voted for.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Bedtime for Gonzo.
Ceci n'est pas une sig.
I never Joyce more than once a week. Rejoice!
How's that impeachment coming, y'all?
Ha ha ha!
If Americans could think beyond conservative and liberal[1]. The world is actually a little more complex than black and white. Sadly your electoral system forces one into a black or white world view.
[1] American "liberals" are not liberal btw, they're socialists.
Deleted
There's an agreement between the president and the Senate Leader Reid to no longer due this. If the President breaks that agreement, it'll upset folks, plus the Senate can be kept perpetually in session by having a senator come in every few days throughout the normal recess. It's not legally binding, of course, but if the President wants to accomplish anything in the next year, I suspect he'll keep his word.
After Ashcroft left, I thought that is was not possible to pick someone worse.
I was very wrong.
Chertoff, the dangerously incompetent man who was defensive of at his lack of understanding during the chaotic handling of Hurricane Katrina.
I saw him on TV a while ago, and wondered why he still was still in the government. And now attorney general.
Incompetence is rewarded, if you show loyalty to the club.
Bush wishes to nullify the position of Attorney General, to give himself more direct control.
al gore is a snore, and is pretty lame on a whole host of character judgments
and yet, with all of those awful deficits, he is still much better presidential material than gw bush
imagine that
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
It's easy to be suspicious when the wind if finally blowing that direction--where were you when this crap started? I knew about Abu Ghraib before I knew about Abu Ghraib, because I've read about the Zimbardo prison experiment. This has been ugly since day one, and I'm not too sympathetic to anyone who gave Gonzalez et al the benefit of the doubt for this many years when they gutted habeus corpus, normalized torture, built secret prisons, etc.
Could someone explain to me what the big deal was with firing political appointees for political reasons?
Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
Well, the reason he says that "someone whom Democrats can support" is because the Republicans would support literally anyone Bush nominated as long. The only exception to this that I can think of is Harriet Myers, and that was mostly because she didn't have a solid record showing opposition to abortion. Bush could put up a green aide who had just finished law school (but had interned with the Heritage Foundation), and the Republicans would vote in lock-step to confirm him. All that matters for them is party loyalty.
The Democrats aren't expecting someone with liberal or even terribly moderate views. They're just hoping for someone that isn't a total toady and that has some basic respect for civil rights and for government oversight. As much as their base would like them to go further, the people in office won't. To be honest, they probably don't even expect to get this much from Bush. He'll probably just give good enough of a candidate for the "let's get it over with" swing-vote crowd to rubber stamp, much like most of the rest of his nominees, or he'll try to slip someone in during a recess.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
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The real reason for Gonzales and Rove resigning is....
So Bush can PARDON them while he is still in office. This gives enough time for any major charges to be brought before the end of Bush's presidency.
. You elect a president, and then he puts incompetent cronies in positions of huge responsibility in important areas of the government.
When the last president of Mexico (Vicente Fox) started, he appointed to several high ranking positions to people that had been found in a "head hunting" process. These were supposed to be the best or, very good at least, in their respective areas, I personally know one of them, the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT), because the guy who was appointed is a friend of my father and both are biologists, the guy is an expert in environment issues.
On theory, that kind of approach should have worked wonders, as it was people that *knew* what their where doing. However all these people lacked true knowledge of Politics, and they were eaten alive by the other parties. Not because they did their work wrongly, but because they just did not have the teeth to defend themselves of "politics".
In other countries like Switzerland, heads of each major area of government, from transportation to defense, are independently, democratically elected. The next time an American starts talking about "democracy", remind them that they need to look elsewhere, far outside of their own country, to find a more true example of the democracy.
That would be very good in theory, the problem is that, people (the majority) in the USA (similarly, in Mexico) do not care about electing, and going to election once every four or six years to choice a president is cumbersome enough. It will prove quite difficult to educate them to do it more often.
Of course, that is a matter of the controlling government not wanting to truly democratize the election of the people in power...
Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
He had the option to not accept the job. You always do.
At this time, W. is incapable of accomplishing anything. In addition, if he does not do this, then he will never be able to get somebody appointed who is friendly towards. Finally, when has W. been truthful or kept his word (except where it was convenient for him)? He will appoint another Gonzales.
In fact, the more that I think about it, this could help the republicans. If he does this, and he is stopped from doing anything, at the next election, the republicans can point to the dems as being obstructionists to progress. Perhaps they could even claim that because of the dems actions, it kept the Iraq occupation going. And to stall things, I would not be surprised to see Rove and others skip out of the country for the next year. Perhaps go into the middle east and work at haliburton.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
in 4 years. The Dems love it, nothing to lose.
damaged by dogma
Content aside, that's the funniest misheard/mistyped term I've seen in a while. It's not roarshark, it's Rorschach . I'm normally not a pedant on things like this, but had to correct this one.
I only post comments when someone on the internet is wrong.
If we could get the losers Biden, Schumer and Kennedy to resign. That would be a much happier day for America.
Microsoft probably engineered Gonzalez's resignation to distract attention from this weekend's WGA fiasco.
This site has nothing to do with tech... its just a place were socialists come to feel good about themselves by attacking capitalists.
Be very afraid.
I'd be surprised if Bush didn't ask him to resign. How could you make the AGs office weaker than actually not having an AG? The approval of a new one will take months. I think he just waited for the bulk of the screams to die down, so it wouldn't look like he was caving on his support of someone in his staff...They seem to do that a lot in this administration, to save face.
As for his memory, I think he remembers perfectly well. Protect the higher ups, and your pardon is assured. As long as everyone who has access to dirty laundry sits on it, then no one will be proven guilty.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
"It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see..."
"You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?"
"No," said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, "nothing so simple. Nothing anything like to straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people."
"Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy."
"I did," said ford. "It is."
"So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?"
"It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want."
"You mean they actually vote for the lizards?"
"Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course."
"But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?"
"Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in. Got any gin?"
--Douglas Adams, So long, and thanks for all the fish.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
This is good news indeed, and I am QUITE glad to hear it. Good Riddance. If only they would indict him now, and get him to point his finger at X number of his fellow criminal suits . . . but that is too much to hope for I am afraid. My, with news like these, one would almost dare be tempted to conclude that Good WILL eventually triumph over Evil. Hooray!
SARAVA!
Perhaps the AG position should require approval by both the Senate and the Supreme Court? I'd expect the SCOTUS justices would be really interesting to have grill a nominee on legal theory, Constitutional issues, and ethics. Ever see a transcript of oral arguments before the Supreme Court? They are brutal to the attorneys arguing before them.
You need to read some of the others posts before going on a jag.
It's just a sad, sad statement when the most informed news you can get, in the paraphrased words of John Stewart, is a fake news show lead into by puppets making crank calls. John gets that. I honestly don't know how he manages to be so chipper and funny - he has to get up on that stage and make fun of some of the saddest/worst stuff in this country. Daily. Perhaps in the hopes that he's entertaining AND informing ... as opposed to places like Fox News, or CNN, which are failing us on so many levels.
*cough* But, Umm, mostly the first one. *cough*
You can't just throw "aaaaand america can be proud of." on the end of anything and make is sound good. Democrats should have learned that from Bush! (I'm a republican, so it's not trolling
You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
This is territory pioneered by Gerald Ford and Nixon.
Step down and be replaced by someone who is (on the surface of it), a "kinder, gentler" version, but someone deeply indebted to the administration and willing to take orders to cover up, pardon, and otherwise dismiss the wrongdoings of the past. First Rove, now Gonzales, soon Cheeney and the "W" himself. Cheeney will have to go first, as he can't rightly sit in as President when George steps down. Probably some milque-toast republican who always wanted the job but is considered an idiot will be appointed to replace/pardon/coverup Cheeney and then "W" will have a health emergency just before the end of term requiring him to step down as well (with a secret pardon that will only be discovered later.)
By the time the Democrats get elected, everything will be shredded, and all the guilty long-gone and pardoned. A giant commission will will give Fox something to talk about over a multi-year period, but it will come back with recommendations only half-way through Hillary's first term. A moving speech from her will assure the nation that the "horrible things" that happened will never happen again, and that checks and balances are now in place but it will be mostly untrue. The shrewd will notice that only a couple of assistants and an aging general or two will have been held accountable and nothing will really have been changed that could stop this kind of fascism from either continuing, or happening again.
This is standard stuff, I remember reading all this in the papers in 1975.
There are way better voting systems out there than that one.
Patrick Doyle
I mod down every jackass who puts his moderation policy in his sig. Oh, wait a sec....
I can't help but to think that something is going on here. Rove leaves. Now Gonzales. I think they're going to jump on the next GOP candidates bandwagon and try to ride back into Washington. I do not think that we've seen that last of either of them. Anyone else?
"I think the more things get shaken up, the more both conservatives and liberals win."
Want to shake things up? Join one of the General Strikes that have been called recently! (the one for 9/11/07 looks pretty hot). If popular protests take a little more momentum, things are bound to shake heavily for Bush. Hell, we might even see some movement in one of the "third parties"!
Shit like this really REALLY pisses me off.
Right, Left, Rebulican, Democrat...we are all AMERICANS. When will you people get that through your thick skulls?
There are no "teams" here, people. We are all in this boat together. The more of you that put a letter after your name, the more this country falls apart.
The "team" nature that this country has become obsessed with is the marking of our downfall. People like the person quoted in this post are the EXACT reason why this country is fucked. It's not because he is for the liberals or because he is for the conservatives...it's because he is declaring a "side" as "winning".
The instant you do that, we all lose.
Living With a Nerd
You are absolutely correct there. If you're socially conservative, then the fact that the US has become Las Vegas will just depress you, and if you're a fiscal conservative...well, I happen to think tide and time are always going to screw you there.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
... given a memory test during Congressional confirmation.
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
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That's why the impeachment proceedings are generally going after Dick first. If you get him first, then you can go after Bush on the same materials.
You know who then becomes president? Yep, that's right.
I think Karl Rove quitting, and now the Attorney General is really a distraction away from the disqualification of 5 1/2 million democrat votes for the next election. The district attorneys that Karl Rove put in place were in some key battleground states. When the District Attorney of New Mexico didn't jump on board he was fired (along with 8 others).
This issue has been covered by the BBC, CBS and CBC(google voter caging)...It has not been covered by a major news network in the US. If the republicans can make enough news and diffuse attention from their election system activities then they may have a shot in the race for president.
reference: BBC reporter Greg Palast (www.gregpalast.com), BBCnews.co.uk
Congress has only barely worked up the will to investigate these misdeeds, and I am saddened to realize that Alberto Gonzales' resignation will completely end somehow push everyone to "move on." If ever there was an administration that deserved to be hounded until the end of its days, it would be this one - but they are practicing strategic resignations. Every time there is a lull in an investigation, the official under fire resigns, to be replaced by an equally inept and loyal official who simply isn't under investigation yet. The fact that the obvious target of hatred is gone saps the will of the investigators, and everyone involved gets away with no jail time and no penalties.
nobody wins until the balance of power is restored to the people, where it belongs.
Except that "the people" are to busy lining up to get the newest iPhone/Wii/PS3 instead of lining up at the polls and paying attention to what's going on in government.
Federalists passed something called the "Alien and Sedition Act" in 1798 which allowed prosecution of anyone who said bad things about the current government. This particular governmental power was hastily repealed in 1802 when it became likely that Thomas Jefferson (a staunch opponent of the act and those who passed it) would win the next presidency.
Politics is like football. We've been at it so long that we forget that fitness was the original purpose of the game, and just care about winning.
Wake up - the future is arriving faster than you think.
Yeah, well the difference is that Republicans have been blindly following party dictates and castigating anyone who dares criticize their brethren. Being secretly disillusioned means nothing if by action you show 100% loyalty.
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
Every politician seems to be using this logical fallacy these days, to the extent that they're pretty much one-trick ponies. I can hardly stomach any interviews with a politician because they just launch straight into a false dichotomy at the earliest opportunity, immediately muddying the discussion, turning it into an ideological debate rather than arguing the problem at hand, and diverting from any fault that may be attributable to them.
It sickens me. What annoys me more is that journalists (including the interviewers) love it too. They just carry on with their interview and debate the extremes. It makes for heated debates, and bigger headlines. It all avoids doing any actual fucking journalism.
The world isn't full of extremes but unfortunately it's currently being run by people with 1-bit vision and 1-bit responses. It's all going to end in a 1-bit result if it carries on - and I don't think it'll be the good one.
Somebody gets it, thank God.
That is all.
--- The American Way of Life is not a birthright. Hell, it's not even sustainable.
I think that if anyone could screw up the simple plan, it's Dubya. I can't figure out how he made it into the catbird seat, i.e., was chosen to execute the plan. It seems obvious to me that he's the wildcard.
If there's any hope for foiling the plans of the Illuminati, it's Bush himself. I guess that's what happens when a True Believer gets to the top of the pyramid without figuring out what the real game is.
"Press to test."
(click)
"Release to detonate."
It's not because he is for the liberals or because he is for the conservatives...it's because he is declaring a "side" as "winning".
It was a careless post, but only because I characterized government accountability as "liberal." Neoconservative methods are incompatible with liberal (in the classical sense) democracy. They are a team, and when they win, society loses.
Step into a huge movement. Don't Tread In Me.
HELL to the chief! finally any idiot steps down
his last day is also Mexican independence day..... coincidence? i think not
You don't get it. This country is split. It is split to the left, and it is split to the right. As long as people place a letter after their name, this country is fucked. As long as we divide ourselves, this country is fucked.
You know how Republican states are "red" states and Democratic states are "blue" states? I got news for you. There are only three colors in this country: red, blue, or true.
Which color are you?
Living With a Nerd
The problem isn't the number of parties. The problem is the Federal Government has too much jurisdiction and too much power over too many issues. If the Feds had a narrow focus of making sure the states didn't go to war with one another and promoting individual freedom instead of limiting our freedom, we wouldn't have so many opportunities for corruption.
Congressmen spend too much time forcing us to spend our money (through taxes) on their pet projects and making laws favoring the interests of their largest political contributers because they have the power to do so. A multi-party system will not cure this ailment. The only cure is to remove that power. We should ammend the constitution to give the priciples of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happisness" legal foundation. I'm not against government. I'm just against a large central government that limits our freedom and tries to do too much for too many instead of one that realizes that it should focus on a few core issues. Even issues that are best left to governments are often better handled by local governments instead of a national one.
What clown will be next to fill a position appointed by Bush/Cheney? Is he going to have god tell him who's next in line since he talks directly to him/her/it and got such good guidance on Iraq. Or maybe the pope can help Dubya. Maybe Cheney will fire up that hidden speaker in Dubya's bathroom and pretend to be Dubya's 'Wizard of Oz'/god and tell him who's next again. So many great ways for the Dopey Dubya to make the wrong choice...
Waiting til the day these people leave office already. And curious who the American idiots^H^H^H^H^H^Hpopulation vote for next.
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
A lot of people hated Ashcroft's principles, but at least it's clear that he *had* some.
Given the trend, I just hope that they cannot find anyone worse. Unfortunately, that's an unfounded hope and I don't really have much confidence that they won't find someone worse...
I don't expect the invertebrate Democratic Congress to stand in the way of this sort of nonsense either.
Have gnu, will travel.
and his VP George?
And another one goes and another one goes and another one bites the dust!
Hooah!
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
While we are at it, would someone please impeach Bush?
https://www.youtube.com/c/BrendaEM
I honestly don't know what it is with you Americans and your, in my view, totally neurotic fear that Hillary Clinton would be some strange vague, cold, Nazi like feminist who would be the death of your country. Where the fuck have you dumbass fuckers been for the last few centuries? You vote in an utterly corrupt and manipulative criminal (Nixon) whose main claim to fame was getting you out of Vietnam when it became obvious that you were losing and for lying in office and trying to subvert the democratic process, a peanut farmer (Carter) one of the few American presidents with a real set of morals and genuine aspirations of peace yet hated by you overly aggressive gun nut fucks, an has been actor (Reagan) whose administration broke its own laws selling arms to its own enemies - Iran - in order to finance a war against a tiny little country in Central America, a womaniser (Clinton) who was highly popular in spite of that because you all wish you could get what he got, an ex alcoholic coke sniffer failed oilman and reborn nutcase (Bush GW) who got you into two wars both of which are going badly and one of which is basically lost, who, along with his utterly corrupt friends stole billions in uncontested contracts from your government, tried their best to rape your civil liberties, broke the laws on spying more than once (wiretapping and the CIA scandal) and who very possibly stole some elections.
And you're worried about Hillary Clinton?????????? What could she possibly do that your present and past sons of bitches haven't done?
You know what I think, homey? I think you fucks are simply scared of her cause she's a woman.
isn't everyone much happier to have an Attorney General who can't remember rather than one who would lie under oath?
[In court] Okay, so what am I doing?
[Sees other lawyer in court] I'm prosecuting this guy.
[Man makes opening statement] Nope. He's prosecuting me.
Tough another quote sticks with me on this case:
"Facts, not memories. That's how you investigate. I know, it's what I used to do."
Leonard Shelby. Memento
which is really, really sad...but, as you have indicated, it is indeed true.
There are no "teams" here, people. We are all in this boat together. The more of you that put a letter after your name, the more this country falls apart.
You don't understand. Factionalism is built into human society. Hell, it's built into human biology; the urge to associate in groups is written into our DNA. Do you really think that's going to change?
"For the previous six months, the Justice Department has been virtually nonfunctional "
Yeah, because Democrats seeking revenge tried to make a scandal out of nothing important. Just wait. THe Republicans will responds.
You guys need to stop electing these idiots.
Scan down the thread and you will see one, perhaps two people who are bringing up the fact that Gonzales stepping down is only a prelude to a pardon and a cover-up. Everyone else seems to be harping on some variation of "Good! he's gone. Now let's see if we can get a good replacement."
To believe that is to miss the point entirely.
You have to realise if you think about this for even a second, that the only way through it, is by prosecution, discovery of the facts, and actually changing the things that led to this abuse of power. Same goes for Rove, same goes for Cheeney and Bush. The fact that Gonzales is gone is not good news, it's news that justice has been or soon will be evaded yet again.
This resignation, like most political resignations, just means you will never get to the bottom of what happened and the things that need changing will never be changed. The amount of hutspah/balls/whatever required to actually prosecute or impeach these criminals pales in comparison to the amount needed to do that now that they have left the stage sort of speak. Regardless of whether or not formal pardons are actually issued, this is an opportunity for shredding, for coverup and for everyone pretending that the US "didn't really have a fascist government that time."
This is, as I said, standard stuff and the Democrats are as complicit as the Republicans. The only way they could show themselves to be clean is to vigorously prosecute these folks long after the fact, and long after the public has lost interest. Do you really think that is going to happen?
Karl Rove should be in jail, and Gonzales should be disbarred at a minimum, but such an unprecedented outcome can only come about if the anger of the people is maintained and the Democrats can set themselves up as the righteous wielder of that anger. This resignations are classic public relations stuff in that they take all the momentum out of impeachment proceedings and distract the public away from what matters to "what's happening now."
Did you really think that the powers that be in Washington, are going to make a bad move or a dumb move? This and other future resignations is the smartest thing to do when you are a dictator backed against the wall.
Associating in groups is one thing. Fighting with your fellow countrymen like they are the worst things to ever walk the earth is another.
Living With a Nerd
It isn't the letter after somebody's name that makes them greedy or self-serving or ignorant or any of these things. People already hold these positions, and self-select the party and candidates that best represents them. It is not ok to wash your hands of your choices by saying 'we're all americans' or 'can't we all just get along' just because now you regret them. You need to face up to mistakes, admit you were wrong, and apologize.
Bush and Gonzales absolutely fit the definition, if you consider that they must begin with the existing political and economic reality in this country. Just because the U.S. hasn't been turned into Mussolini's Italy now doesn't mean that they have nothing to do with fascism!
How many times have Bush and Gonzales put forward the idea that the President has essentially unlimited executive power? How many times has Gonzales supported as his official legal opinion the idea that the laws of the U.S. do not apply to Bush, that he can wield "executive privilege" to act outside the law any time the President feels it's necessary? The idea of Bush being a dictator with complete power is something both Bush and Gonzales support.
Forcible suppression of the opposition? Hello?! The entire point of the current DoJ firing scandal is that the attorneys were fired because they wouldn't persecute political opponents of the President, and wouldn't give political allies of the President a pass. Wielding the legal apparatus of the country against opponents is forcible suppression.
Economically, fascism is really about merging commercial and political power. With an entrenched free market economy, there's little any would-be fascist could do. Instead, we just have the former CEO and still stock-option-holding of one of the largest defense contractors as our Vice President, and that company is being handed hundreds of millions in no-bid contracts. Look at the Iraq war, and you'll see that Halliburton is practically a branch of our military.
Aggressive nationalism really needs no comment. Replace racism with religious prejudice and homophobia, and we're done.
Honestly, the fact that despite their clear fascist desires Bush and Gonzales have not completely up-ended the country and turned it into an overtly fascist state does not mean they never had those fascist desires (despite expressing them openly), it means that for all its faults our country is still resilient enough to survive fascist wanna-bes in office. If you really don't think Bush and Gonzales fit the definition of fascists, then you either haven't been paying attention, or you are completely baffled as to why attempted murder is a crime.
The enemies of Democracy are
I'm not saying everyone should have the same opinions. WHat I'm getting at is how often do you hear someone agree with something ONLY because either a republican or a democrat said it? How many people have you seen blindly follow one party or the other?
I don't know about you, but I know MANY people that think the way they do because of their "party affiliation", not the other way around. It's ok and encouraged for people to have different views on things...however, you can't sit there and tell me that you think someone's opinion is not swayed based on what their "side" generally thinks. Granted, not everyone follows one side or the other blindly...unfortunately, it's almost universal that the ones that end up in power DO follow blindly.
Living With a Nerd
Is anyone from Bush's original cabinet still in office? The fact that so many of his appointees have resigned during his administration is far more telling about his terms in office than anything else I can think of.
--------
This isn't the sig you're looking for. Move along.
Cop Out.
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
An interesting note about party politics and fiscal spending is that if you actually look at the numbers Democrats tend to be more fiscally "conservative" in that their preferred spending plans generally spend less. Why? Because the favorite conservative program, the military, is the most expensive.
Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
The "slashkos" label is the funniest thing I've seen yet.
I might know what I'm talkin' about, but then again, this is Slashdot...
Depends, would you like to all roll over and say "yes" to the dictator because he's a "true American" like Joe McCarthy, or would you like to fight, and have a chance of the dictator actually having to be worried about opinions towards his actions?
Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
...for new AG:
1. Andy Griffith as Matlock
2. The corpse of Ayn Rand
3. Harvey Birdman
4. One of the Easter Island moai
5. Nora, the piano playing cat
6. Judge Judy
All of them superior to Alberto Gonzales.
This is why I don't take conservatives very seriously. They would happily cut every single program with even the slightest whiff of welfare but happily go bankrupt making sure there's more than enough ordnance lying around to obliterate the world several times over.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
The people have as much power as they have ever had. In fact they have more power than they had in the early days, because the electoral college has been reduced to a rubber stamp based on the popular vote in each state...at least now your vote is being overridden by your fellow citizens and not some rich elector.
Except that the people have to exercise that power for it to make any difference. The #1 thing that takes power away from the people is this depressive meme that what they do doesn't matter anyway. So yeah, if you're sitting around bitching about how you don't have power, instead of voting and writing letters and making phone calls and attending town hall meetings--you're right you don't have power. I'd submit that that's your own fault though.
I think the money aspect is usually overplayed. Money matters, but it's not the only thing. For example--which side of the "drill in ANWR debate" has more money? But they've lost like 20-some votes now, most of which were even under Republican rule. In the end it always comes back to votes. Money can help with those, but it can't actually buy them. No amount of money was going to get Mark Foley back into office.
And to continue my rant just a little longer, it seems like the power of the president is always overplayed in these discussions. Congress is directly elected by the people (even Senators now--another example of increasing power to the people), and is directly accountable to them in a very local way. A lot of the problems of the past 6 years could have been avoided or at least mitigated had Congress been in greater opposition to the President.
So maybe you say: well there's always only two candidates, and I don't agree with either. Well first of all I'd say you're probably not paying attention, since most elections go through a primary process that involves many more candidates than 2. So there's your first chance to affect an election.
I'd also say that there's another way to look at elections--as a beginning not an end. The goal is not to get someone who will "represent you" perfectly, the goal is just to get the person elected who is most likely to be sympathetic to your position on your pet issues. The key is what happens after the election, when the rep. has to start making actual decisions and votes--that's when citizen activity matters most. This is how all the trade associations and interest groups and lobbyists view elections BTW.
You're never going to get someone who agrees with you on more than a couple issues. If we imagine some simple world of only 6 for/against policy positions, that's still 64 possible combinations of beliefs. Whether there are 2 or 4 candidates to choose from does not significantly change the odds that you'll get someone you agree with 100%. And the real world is way more complicated than that.
Finally, losing is not necessarily proof that the system is broken, it's probably just proof that more people disagree with you than agree with you. So what next? It's possible to change minds but it takes time. It took decades of continuous work for the Republicans to get Congress, but they did it. They fucked it up in record time, but the point is that they wanted it, they worked for it, and they got it.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Nope, checked the URL and this is indeed Slashdot, not Digg!
Now I guess I'll scour the parent and try to figure out WTF this has to do with technology news!
Sorry to throw cold water on the celebration, but this is trivial in the long run. BushCo will just get another authoritarian fundie bastard in there, and pronto.
http://www.oldamericancentury.org/14pts.htm
Remember "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters"? Help make it a reality again! http://soylentnews.org
Why is this article/comments on slashdot? I thought this was a techie forum, not a bush-bashin-bandwagon. There is no shortage of sites for that. ... problem solved.
If the limitless left wing hate could be transformed to usable energy.
another fine example of what's wrong with the two party system. Thank you Mr. Coward. Your "my party is best" attitude's effect on the further fucking of our once great nation has not gone unnoticed.
Living With a Nerd
Snoring. yep, yuck yuck... that's when you fall asleep during a speech. Man, I hate that.
You are doing it all wrong. You should vote. You should just vote for a third party. The reason people are afraid to vote for a third party candidate is that they have been convinced that they are "throwing away their vote". If you are actually advocating literally throwing away your vote, you can double the effectiveness by voting third party. There is little to no chance that the third party candidate will win, so it doesn't matter what the candidate stands for. Besides, they are unlikely to be a bigger problem than either of the two major candidates.
If you think that 20% voter turn out will get the governments attention, just imagine what a 70% turnout would do to them with 30% of the votes going to third party candidates! So, don't encourage your family and friends not to vote at all. Don't try to convince them that they should think a third party will get elected. Just explain that if they are going to withhold/throw away their votes, withhold them from the possible winners by putting them on a third party.
If not voting is supposed to be the death by a thousand cuts, voting for a third party is the salt you rub into the wounds.
(closes eyes, waves hands, focuses fingers on temples, hums quietly)
"I profiled Gore as having a level of insanity just below the surface way back when he was VP"
I hereby profile Quiet_Desperation (858215) as having a delusional level of self-regard in his ability to make random hysterical comments about people he sees on the teevee
oh, i'm sorry, and that's all just below the surface
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Now that Rove is available I am sure he would be confirmed with no problem. Certainly a man that can put the law before partisan considerations.
When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.
When Ronald Reagan was in, all they did was replace the attorney general every time some republican cronie was up for investigation to keep delaying the prosecution of said cronie. That's in addition to appointing idiots to the post anyway. In the end everyone got away scott free with the effect of creating a group of individuals that have contributed to the current system that is even more corrupt than before. Give it up, the constitution has been subverted. Democrats, get some balls or disband. By the way, impeachment for treason is not a radical act, executing the entire administration in the middle of 1600 Ave for treason is a radical act.
The defining feature of the Bush/Cheney administration, and of neoconservatives in general is the worship of self-interest over the public good. Neoconservatives go through intellectual contortions to delude themselves that self-interest equals the common good. Their entire philosophy seems little more than an excuse to practice selfishness without limits. They preach "small government", when their actual goal is to co-opt government to serve the interests of a small minority of rich and powerful individuals. Neoconservatives are deluded ideologues, focussed too narrowly on questionable economic theories, while becoming completely unaware of the way civilizations actually operate. They are harmful to the public good, and are enemies of democracy itself.
Good riddance to Gonzales. Bush and Cheney should be impeached.
This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when first he appears as a protector - Plato (423 to 327 BC)
We want Janet Reno -- for the exclusive purpose of re-opening the Microsoft antitrust investigation!
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Comment removed based on user account deletion
The attacks on the traditional primary line up and the whining of other (larger) states is largely misguided and the current trend of trying to jump the line is going to be a disaster if allowed to continue. The early primary states are not a problem, they are a national treasure.
What I replied to the parent:
Small state elitism. There is no reason why Texas or Washington or Hawaii wouldn't take the early nomination process if given a chance. What those two states really take seriously is the money the nomination process brings in through candidates and staff and the press coming to the state, and ads run on the local media. Having Iowa and New Hampshire have the first nominations in an election is okay. That these two 90%+ white states have it every election is indefensible.
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?
The case against Alberto Gonzalez ostensibly centers around two main things:
1) Abuse of privacy protections
2) Employment termination of Federal prosecutors
On #1, I blame Congress largely (although not completely). My opinion is that the clandestine surveillance structure as currently legislated and implemented is hopeless, and needs to be revisited with a clean sheet of paper, but Congress has no will nor critical mass to do so. There isn't even close to a consensus within Congress itself as to what constitutes "reasonable" when talking about warrantless or sealed-warrant surveillance. Absent this clarity, it's difficult to prove or disprove legal conduct, especially when you'll get 535 answers on what is appropriate (or even currently legal). Cabinets cannot possibly guess the answer that will satisfy everyone.
#2 is a no-brainer - there never has been and never will be a cause for action unless the law is changed. These prosecutors serve at the will and pleasure of the President. He can give any reason or no reason. If it is perceived that abuse is occurring that should be actionable, then the only legitimate course is to change the law to strike or curtail the "will and pleasure" Presidential discretion. Mr. Gonzalez did himself a tremendous disfavor by asserting (and not very well) that he didn't remember how all this came about. The correct answer? "Yep, we fired 'em. Nope, we don't have to tell you why." At least then some fig leaf of honesty could be claimed.
Which brings me (finally) to my point - pursuing partisan activities on Federal (read: taxpayer) time and money, under the guise of "oversight". This cheapens real oversight, and uses governmental resources for partisan means. Anyone who thinks otherwise in this case needs to go back and carefully re-read what I wrote above. There are processes to go through to make changes. None of that is happening - there's just character assasination (and in the case of #2 self-inflicted mortal wounds). Partisan benefits should be obtained using partisan resources.
And for perspective, I felt exactly the same way about Clinton/Lewinsky. Pointless, groundless, wasteful squandering of resources just to give the teflon President the finger. Sow the wind, etc...
-- Brad Felmey
If you voted for 'W' - who appears to be going down in history books as the worst US president ever - you should probably seriously consider you ability to vote for quality.
Kerry or Al combined would not have wasted this much money as W has. Not to mention that W is personally for destroying many Iraqi and US lives.
Of course 'W' really isn't the problem, it's the lowering of moral and ethical standards throughout our country. And if you voted for W, you're as guilty of this as Bush and friends could ever be.
The race to the bottom is fun, until that sickening splat at the end.
I agree with parent post, as should anyone who respects historical facts. As a further example, Sulejman Talovic shot up a mall in Salt Lake City and there was speculation this was a result of the war. From wikipedia: "Some family members suggested that emotional trauma Sulejman may have suffered during the Balkan war years of his youth might have contributed to this shocking act of violence."
Some people die at 25 and aren't buried until 75. -Benjamin Franklin
Hey, Jumper. Your talking points are showing.
It's only deafening silence if you choose not to listen. There's no comparison between the US Attorney turnover at the beginning of almost every first Presidential term and the very obviously political machinations of the US Attorney firings designed by Rove and executed by Gonzales' staff--mid-term, in clear retribution for those attorneys' refusal to pursue political agenda in order to outflank the opposing party.
Sure, these attorneys serve at the President's pleasure. I'd personally have simply shrugged and chalked it up to business as usual for this White House. It's the ham-handed and fumbling attempts at covering it up that drew attention to it, and the arrogant incompetence demonstrated by the appointed spokespeople that raised the hackles of the electorate. FFS, if one is going to play the political game, we want it done slickly, so that even if we notice, we can at least acknowledge the skill.
You have every right to ignore the facts. You also have the right to post falsehoods in the form of exaggeration here and in many other places. Believe as you wish; my advice is to refrain from laboring under the illusion that posting your indefensible beliefs here makes any difference.
"Press to test."
(click)
"Release to detonate."
Let's try it and see:
"'For the previous six months, the US Congress has been virtually nonfunctional and desperately needs new leadership,' said the Gonzales statement. 'Democrats will obstruct and impede any individual who will not put political considerations above the rule of law. We beseech the Public to work to elect someone whom America can be proud of.'"
There. Fixed it.
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?
Ben Hocking
Need a professional organizer?
I found this article of Drudge, all canidates claim to support political unity. . . which is hard to imagine with the spins that go one alone just within the democratic party right now.
Here is Obama's claim:
http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/obama-camp-says-
I graduated from Rice the same year as AG. Even though he was in my residential college, no one I know knew him, he kept his head down, studied hard, and graduated with honors.
It's a cautionary tale about how easily one can be corrupted. Almost certainly he worked with a lot of lawyers more evil than him on the way up the ladder, formed strong loyalties to those who gave him a leg up, and finally was blinded by his loyalty to the Shrub. He had no idea how contemptible he was becoming. Since he's only moderately evil for a lawyer, there's possibility for redemption, for example, if he retires and spends the rest of his life raising houses for Habitat for Humanity instead of as a Carlyle Group partner.
He was just a very smart toady, an unfortunate example of the kind of professional that top-ranked schools are in danger of cranking out. Frankly, Ashcroft scared me more.
The dangers of a defective refresh circuit.
Aw. . . Somebody's feeling bitter.
Don't worry. If Bush sticks around long enough, you'll have the opportunity to be issued your very own hand gun and arm band. And then you'll show them! You'll show them ALL!
-FL
An old JE: Vote Third (or Fourth) Party
Wikileaks, no DNS
Not only are we divided but over the stupidest issues imaginable. If you think the people who sit of the board of directors of the member banks of the Federal reserve who inflate the economy and then make immense bank when it collapses give a damn about abortion, the 2nd amendment, gays, or prayer in school you are kidding yourself. They know they'll make big bank regardless of whether a Ripoffagain, or Dimocrap wins, because both parties support corporate globalization, fiat currency, and the military industrial complex. The military industrial complex doesn't give a damn whether it's blatant war for oil and Israel like the Repigs give us or "humanitarian" interventions like the Dimocraps give us as long as they making the tanks and bullets. They laugh at the earnest suckers who argue over abortion and prayer in school while they take their wheel barrows full of gold to the bank, count on it. The only thing that is going to stop them is a coalition of Green/lefty radicals (where I fall BTW), and Ron Paul/Pat Buchanan, Paul Craig Roberts type honest true conservatives banding together to reform the government from top to bottom. Until that happens the globalist corporations and bankers will laugh at us regardless of which sock puppet party we choose. And we will be left holding the bag of a decayed infrastructure, a Karl Rove polarized populace over pseudo issues, global environmental decay, a gutted economy, and an utter lack of preparation for a post fossil fuel 21st century. China and Europ will eat our lunch and not even burp for what's left of the U.S. will be a third world shell like Brazil.
Tired of all the isms, don't exploit people as an employer, or a government, mmmmK?
Actually, free societies tend to fall apart under one-party rule. Divisiveness and partisanship are the guardians of freedom. Trying to get rid of partisanship through appeals to patriotism is how one-party states begin. I'm glad we live in a society where people with differing political ideas have to compete against each other to run the government. Sure, it would be nice for our mythical "single unified voice for the common good" to take charge, but benevolent dictatorships are rare and never survive the dictator.
In Repressive Burma, it's not just your connection that dies. slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=314547&cid=20819199
..to see what books are on that shelf in the background. What are the odds on World Leadership for Dummies?
Probably not as good as World History: A Story in Pictures.
https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere
Republican Conservative Repubs advertise their base & platform is X, therefore X is a subset.
First, immediate points off to anyone who puts the words elitism and New Hampshire in the same paragraph. Scrappy, independent, frugal, industrious, maybe. Elitist? Not uttered by anyone who ever set foot in the state.
But to your point, no, not every state can do it.
(1) Size matters. In this case small, geographically and demographically, is better. The ability for the people to actually meet and press the candidates on the issues could never happen in a state the size of TX. Candidates could spend a year there and not meet 1% of the population and you would never get the level of citizen involvement that one gets in NH. The physical size alone makes it financially impossible for shoe string candidates to get a foot hold
(2) Location, location, location. Most presidential candidates are tethered to DC in one way or another. The many trips back and forth to any state too far west becomes impractical and too expensive very quickly.
(3) Practice, practice, practice. IA and NH have been at this for a long time. Campaigns need experienced operatives and volunteers on the ground to get a campaign, particularly for candidates who are initial long shots, off the ground. Any state can learn to do this over time but it will be a mess for the first few cycles and rotating primaries would just guarantee an ongoing cluster fuck.
There are many other reasons but these are enough for now.
Turning to the racist nonsense about NH and IA being "too white", so what? There isn't a state in the country that perfectly reflects every demographic, be it race, income, age, religion, etc. And it doesn't matter. IA and NH have 90% of the same concerns of all Americans - the economy, security, environment, globalism, health care, etc. It's not as if somehow IA and NH are denying FL the opportunity to pander to retirees or Arizona to talk about border issues. Every state has some local concerns - that's why they have primaries too.
Lastly, the stuff about the financial rewards of the primary is just drivel. Most NH residents don't own hotels or tv stations so they never see a dime but even if they did it would come out to about $100/person/year. Whoop di do, party on!
Leave the gun, take the cannolis.
Other instincts (arguably) built into human dna include some urges you wouldn't want to associate with humanity.
Don't question the origins of a concept as much as its fallacy; the greatest acheivements come from the few people with enough courage to challenge the status quo and instigate change.
I, for one, believe that factionalism is outdated and national, or even global unity is much needed.
Where is Cygnus when you need him/her?
both sides seem too damn idealistic. wish they would stop trying to prove that their mentality/culture/vision is the right vision and just be open-minded, fair and balanced. wish they would stop trying to promote themselves and just listen to experts from all camps surrounding an issue and make practical, not ideological decisions.
As I said before, there is nothing wrong with Iowa and New Hampshire being first. It is a very big problem that they are always first. You are defending the indefensible. And when you defend the indefensible, your arguments tend to be pretty pathetic, like the people who excuse Bush's "My Pet Goat" moment by saying "he didn't want to scare the children", as if he couldn't have quietly directed one of his aids to get on the phone to Rumsfield, Cheney or NORAD.
Size matters. In this case small, geographically and demographically, is better.
Cars and planes have been around for over 100 years. And they get used pretty frequently. There's also these little things called radio and local television stations.
The ability for the people to actually meet and press the candidates on the issues could never happen in a state the size of TX.
Ah, yes, because Texas's constitution forbids voters from asking candidates questions at open forums.
Location, location, location. Most presidential candidates are tethered to DC in one way or another.
Airplanes, airplanes, airplanes.
The many trips back and forth to any state too far west becomes impractical and too expensive very quickly.
Pfft. Air fairs are going to be vastly cheaper from DC to California or Texas than to Iowa. Secondly, the top candidates all have warchests in the millions, and can easily afford plane tickets for themselves and their staff. Hell, even Ron Paul can raise $75,000 in one day.
First, immediate points off to anyone who puts the words elitism and New Hampshire in the same paragraph. Scrappy, independent, frugal, industrious, maybe.
This coming from a person who laughs at the idea of small state elitism and then talks about how "scrappy, independent, frugal, industrious" they are. I haven't seen this much backflipping since Fred Thompson (who voted to remove Clinton from office) gave a speech where he called passionately for the rule of law while equally passionately calling for a pardon of Scooter Libby.
Practice, practice, practice. IA and NH have been at this for a long time.
More elitism.
Campaigns need experienced operatives and volunteers on the ground to get a campaign, particularly for candidates who are initial long shots, off the ground. Any state can learn to do this over time but it will be a mess for the first few cycles and rotating primaries would just guarantee an ongoing cluster fuck.
Dude. Every state in the union is practiced at having elections, since they happen all the time. Mayors, city council members, governors, state legislators, federal representatives, judges, state AG's, etc etc etc.
Turning to the racist nonsense about NH and IA being "too white", so what?
Since when is pointing out reality racist? This nation is constantly becoming more and more diverse, yet the primary voting block in the primary is older white farmers. Your argument is like one from a psychotic ex-girlfriend who makes her problems some one else's fault.
There are many other reasons but these are enough for now.
Do you have any that aren't ludicrous?
Lastly, the stuff about the financial rewards of the primary is just drivel. Most NH residents don't own hotels or tv stations so they never see a dime but even if they did it would come out to about $100/person/year. Whoop di do, party on!
Nope, still ludicrous. Millions are spent on advertising, traveling, and hotels by both the candidates, their staff and the press. How many millions? $250, according to this article, and that's just for New Hampshire.
Actually there's a vote that counts a lot more than your ballot and won't get you killed. Vote the way that counts the most, with your dollar and emmigrate out of the U.S. Sure, it's a large move, and for people who are already have families here it probably isn't ideal but if enough people leave the U.S. may improve. If not, what do you care? You're already in a better country. Now this is over-simplified and there are serious disincentives to not immigrate, but if you aren't indifferent towards politics and don't feel like wasting your time fighting an entrenched system leave. I know I want a choice better than piss cola vendors or shit sandwich drive-throughs and I don't have any significant roots here, so unless apathy winsn I'll probably leave.
For those who would prefer to stay here and attempt to reform the U.S. government go do this little exercise:
Imagine your ideal government and compare the U.S. to it. Estimate roughly how long it would take for the U.S. to reach it. Then go look at other countries, there is probably at least one that is much closer to your idealized government than the U.S. For most of you it would be faster to immigrate to that country, and fully acclimate then it would for the U.S. to change to how you wish it were. If so then whether you emmigrate out of the U.S. comes down to how much you care.
There are 11 types of people, those who know unary and those who don't.
I hear it all the time from republicans in the office and that I meet; they rarely have anything intelligent to say about their positions like say based on facts or reason -- and mostly the ones that do are not republicans but libertarians. Democrats will almost always give a thoughtful answer when I ask them questions about politics.
I really don't think that 'the problem' is that people choose sides. From what I've seen it looks like the problem is that the ones that choose R have just turned off their brains. I can respect somebody drawing a different conclusion that's based on facts and reason, even if I draw a different one, but mostly the republicans I've met are just willfully ignorant.
"Tell me where I'm wrong."
Whatever, sparky. If you didn't understand the comment, you could have just ignored it.
Right, Left, Rebulican, Democrat...we are all AMERICANS.
Except for all those slashdotters (like me) who aren't. Of course, the rest of the world has a well known liberal bias...
But I digress. As an outsider, your two parties look like a single party that is split on pro/anti abortion and a few other 'gut feeling' issues that don't really have anything to do with how the country is run. I don't envy your political climate.
.evom ton seod gis eht
"I'll show you politics in America. Here it is, right here. 'I think the puppet on the right shares my beliefs.' 'I think the puppet on the left is more to my liking.' 'Hey, wait a minute, there's one guy holding out both puppets!'" -Bill Hicks
Do you understand now, or do you need to be hit over the head more?
Living With a Nerd
From YOUR post
"Questions such as whether the Union was older than the states or the other way around fueled the debate over states' rights. Whether the federal government was supposed to have substantial powers or whether it was merely a voluntary federation of sovereign states added to the controversy."
That's what people mean when they say state's rights, and your link supports me perfectly.
"I was hoping you could point me to some reasons that weren't directly related to slavery."
I was hoping you'd be smart enough to see that slavery was one small part of self-determination and the right to self governance.
I only go to buffets for the unlimited soft serve.
The USA's that remain are to a man, people who enforced caging lists, voter roll purges, and brought politically motivated cases timed for greatest effect at the polls. The calls of voter fraud was just a cover for their own illegal acts.....
From IMDB entry for "A Few Good Men":
This movie also happens to be the source of the often heard line uttered by Jack Nicholson: "You can't handle the truth!"
How fitting.
I think the rest of your post is of equal quality to your description of "A Few Good Men".
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
"To save you time, I'll summarize it:
Slavery, slavery, slavery, slavery, slavery, and slavery."
No, actually, that's an easily disproven lie. In the very first sentence of YOUR LINK
"The origins of the American Civil War lay in the complex issues of slavery, competing understandings of federalism, party politics, expansionism, sectionalism, economics, and modernization in the Antebellum Period."
Why lie about something so easily disproven.
Competeing understandings of Federalism is not "slavery" like you claim.
Party Politics are not "slavery" like you claim.
Expansionism is not "slavery" like you claim.
Sectionalism is not "slavery" like you claim.
So, are you done lying because you're wrong and know it, or do you want to continue to be humbled and made a fool of?
I only go to buffets for the unlimited soft serve.