April 25, 2007

Subpoenaville

Democrats turned up the heat on the White House today by approving several subpoenas and granting immunity to a key aide to Alberto Gonzales. Monica Goodling, who had notified Congress that she would invoke the Fifth Amendment if subpoenaed, will have to testify now that the House Judiciary Committee voted almost unanimously to shield her from prosecution:

In rapid succession, congressional committees Wednesday ramped up their investigations of the Bush administration by approving a subpoena for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and granting immunity to a key aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

By 21-10, the House oversight committee voted to issue a subpoena to Rice to compel her story on the Bush administration's claim, now discredited, that Iraq was seeking uranium from Africa.

Moments earlier in the committee chamber next door, the House Judiciary Committee voted 32-6 to grant immunity to Monica Goodling, Gonzales' White House liaison, for her testimony on why the administration fired eight federal prosecutors. The panel also unanimously approved _ but did not issue _ a subpoena to compel her to appear.

Simultaneously across Capitol Hill, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved _ but did not issue _ a subpoena on the prosecutors' matter to Sara Taylor, deputy to presidential adviser Karl Rove.

Democrats took control of Congress on the promise to launch investigations into the Bush administration, and they are fulfilling that pledge. The subpoenas themselves do not surprise much, although the one to Condoleezza Rice might run into some legal wrangling depending on the subject matter. Everyone widely expected the investgations to take the widest possible viewpoint and get conducted in the most confrontational style possible.

The fact that the Democratic majorities got so much Republican support in each instance may come as a shock to the White House, though. Goodling's immunity only got opposed by six Republicans on the committee, where 17 GOP Representatives serve. Seventeen Republicans sit on Henry Waxman's Oversight Committee, and only 10 opposed the Rice subpoena. We have no word on the Senate Judiciary Committee vote on teh Sara Taylor subpoena, but given the hostility of the Republicans during and after the Alberto Gonzales testimony, it's doubtful that it passed on a 10-9 vote.

This does not bode well for the White House. The President's insistence on keeping Gonzales in place has apparently angered his GOP allies on the Hill. It also has provided no barrier to other investigations, and it appears the Democrats have no problem staying aggressive regardless of whether Gonzales stays or goes.

Practically speaking, though, these subpoenas will have little effect. Rice will go before Congress and tell them -- again -- that they saw the intelligence prior to the Iraq invasion, and that it was basically the same as it was during the Clinton administration. No one faked anything, and the one piece that people use to claim Bush lied (a) was based on Joe Wilson's misrepresentation of his findings in Niger, and (b) still backed by British intelligence, where it originated. Goodling may say something damning, or all they may have bought with immunity is a confirmation that the entire mess was nothing more malevolent than incompetence.

But get used to this. We have two years to live in Subpoenaville.

UPDATE: Andy McCarthy explains why Gonzales has not generated much sympathy among Republicans on the Hill:

Throughout her tumultuous tenure as attorney general, Janet Reno could always rely on Democrats and liberals to circle the wagons when critics ripped her judgment, competence, and forthrightness. They’d close ranks when the opposition claimed her Justice Department elevated political considerations over legal ones. By contrast, in Alberto Gonzales’s present hour of need, his only enthusiastic supporter appears to be the president. Why?

Because of politics. Not politicization, as in partisan obstruction of particular investigations. Rather, good, old-fashioned politics in the best sense of the word: namely, an administration’s accountability to its supporters and its fealty to the policies that induced their support.

The Reno Justice Department, whatever else you may think about it, cared passionately about signal “progressive” causes and backed them to the hilt, regardless of criticism. To the contrary, the Gonzales Justice Department and, indeed, the president, often turn spaghetti-spined when the priorities of their base are at stake. How surprising, then, that when friends are most sorely needed there are none to be found.

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Comments (24)

Posted by dave_rywall [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 1:28 PM

Stick a fork on Gonzales. He's done, done, done.

That it took this long to get Goodling in to answer some questions is amazing.

But why did they need to dangle an immunity carrot in front of her? She doesn't deserve it. They have more than enough to ditch Gonzales as it is.

And her incompetence has already come to light. I guess the truth hurts, and, well, that's just too f'n bad for her.

Posted by docjim505 [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 1:32 PM

It's obvious what the filthy dems are up to:

"The appearance of impropriety."

What will be breathlessly reported by the MSM for the next two years? That Bush administration officials are testifying... that they've been subpoened... that there are "grave questions" about their testimony... etc, etc, etc. The net result is that the American people will come to view the Bush administration as composed of nothing but criminals (to the extent that they don't already believe this, that is).

Think about the "incompetent" meme. Bush and Co. knocked over the Taliban and Saddam in record time. We've suffered fewer combat deaths in the past four years than Grant or Pershing or Eisenhower suffered on a bad day. Iraq, a country with virtually no democratic tradition, has held numerous open elections and has a multi-party, multi-ethnic government. In a sane world, these would be heralded as praiseworthy accomplishments. But thanks to the MSM and their constant drumbeat of bad news, people think Bush and Co. are idiots who have run the most bungled war since... Well, since the last time the fwench tried fighting somebody.

It's very frustrating.

But this is what democrats do. Lacking a coherent platform of their own, completely free from any new ideas* about how to deal with Social Security, the cost of health care, illegal immigration, and above all the WoT, all they've got is, "We hate Bush and we're gonna get that bastard!"

----------

(*) Raising taxes on "the rich" (defined as anybody with a job) isn't a new idea.

Posted by james23 [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 1:48 PM

It appears that, Gonzo's best efforts to the contrary notwithstanding, the Admin's efforts to defend McCainFeingold in the Supremes today hit a wall named Roberts and Scalia.
http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype/archives/2007/04/analysis_blacko.html

Posted by Dave [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 2:01 PM

the Bush administration's claim, now discredited, that Iraq was seeking uranium from Africa.
Um, no. That has never been discredited.

Posted by Carol_Herman [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 2:05 PM

Let's go into the gaming room, please.

The stakes, here, are 50/50.

And, you'll be able to notice a few things about this "game" called democracy.

For starters, there's no way you get so popular, a very large percentage of people follow you. Democracy, it seems, has something in common with herding cats.

While, at 50/50, it's rather telling that the donks have kept their power! DeLay spots it as a trend that's more than 50 years old. (Yeah. His new book is very good.)

One of the problems? DeLay, himself, got into politics, and took his pants down for everybody. He admits this. Until he got religion.

Well, "getting religion" when you're an adult. Who had been prone to cheat on his wife. And, oh, to down about 12 martini's a night without losing your feet for the apparatus to get you home, again ...

Tells ya that there are some good messages out there. That can, if you so choose, get you back, again, on the road to health.

But it's like a pair of glasses. The pair DeLay uses, so that now he "see's better," are just not my focal range. People need different types of glasses.

Keep this clue in mind. As you look at the table. And, you see that the political pie is divided about 50/50. You even might see "better candidates" on your side, than the other. But it doesn't mean much, IF your candidates keep slipping out the door on ethics charges.

And, it's here that it's worth reflecting a minute. DeLay takes credit for bringint the HOUSE to the Impeachment of Bill Clinton. Well? From where I sit he lost that bet.

DeLay whines a great deal about pelosi. Who sat in the minority chair. In the House. And, in 1998 turned his life upside-down. Says DeLay, "and the charges were bogus."

Heck, so too were the one's against Libby.

If you don't want to get a disease, folks, don't go into the whore house.

And, strictly speaking about oddball HARDBALL, nothing is dirtier than politics. (Because it's not easy to even get to 50/50, unless you keep stacking the decks.)

Surprisingly, a bunch of women (no less!) are better at hardball politics, than some of the men you sent in. Who've gotten tossed out of "that" theater. Like it or not. What end of DeLay do you see these days?

Much to my surprise, pelosi carried the knife that took off his testicles, and she now wears them in "his" majority seat of power. That's POLITICS!

Not the sound bytes.

And, until you get the hang of this thing. That religion is not the knee-jerk reactions that sends the mainstreamers in to pull levers when they're voting; you're seeing something that's a bit distorted.

And, you're trying to fix it with "luv."

Just like mommy kissing Santa Claus. Or the boo-boo.

You haven't had enough political lessons to even begin to understand the challenge.

The donks HOLD POWER as long as things sit in the middle. They do a better job when the pie's being split 50/50. Part of it? Believe it or not, pelosi exercises more power, with less interference from other donks, than DeLay felt when he operated as your champ.

All the topics you see that are on so many American's minds, are there for everyone to know.

Bush, on the other hand? I think he crapped out. I think his dad did, too, as well. Same types of personalities. THEY DON'T LISTEN! And, both men were hog-tied to the House of Saud.

Yup. No words to describe this.

But if you still believe a CAVE MAN funds all the terror; you don't see how naked your emperor is. Going around saying the House of Saud has nothing to do with anything "but" the religion of peace.

So many Americans are so much smarter than all of that!

Even Guiliani stepped in it yesterday. When he said if he didn't win the White House in 2008, and the donks got in, instead. We'd get another 9/11.

Sorry. It's not Bush's issue to celebrate, anymore.

And, betting that card reduced Guiliani to sounding like a stupid politician. (And, up at Drudge. So you can go look. You'll see how Hillary whallops him silly.)

None of you are inside the ring! We're all outsiders. Watching the match from the audiences' seating arrangements. And, we all carry only ONE VOTE.

But if you're trying to figure out how this whole thing operates, you'd recognize that the donks know you can never please all of the people! And, if your stock sells in a wide-marketplace? All you need is ONE PERCENT. And, you're thriving.

Call it "low margins."

You'd be surprised how rich you'd get on pennies. If you just got one from lots of Americans. Who when they have to choose "fast food" ... bypass your "healthier versions of crap." Than do the sellers who have franchises.

The democraps don't lack a thing. They know how to run the machinery.

Bush? Oh, my. Running with AG Gonzales, "because he can' ... doesn't even come close to what's ahead, here.

The Gonazles story not only has legs, now. It's doing the Charleston.

Makes the GOP so mad, they can't even speak. Which is also the fault of Dubya. In the Oval Office. Not free of flaws, by a long shot.

How many times does the lesson have to come around, for you to catch on to the real deal?

Posted by jiHymas@himivest.com [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 2:23 PM

docjim505 We've suffered fewer combat deaths in the past four years than Grant or Pershing or Eisenhower suffered on a bad day.

Grant, Pershing & Eisenhower were fighting real wars - not colonial skirmishes dressed up as wars for political purposes.

Posted by starfleet_dude [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 2:35 PM

Just off the New York Times website:

Mr. Waxman’s committee also approved subpoenas against the Republican National Committee for testimony and paperwork about White House e-mails on R.N.C. accounts, prompting an immediate and defiant statement from Robert M. Duncan, the national committee chairman.
“You don’t see the New York Yankees giving the Boston Red Sox their signs before a crucial series — and I won’t be giving our equivalent to Howard Dean,” Mr. Duncan said, referring to his counterpart in the Democratic Party.

If it's White House e-mails pertaining to the matter of the fired U.S. attorneys, the R.N.C. will have to give up that information. The White House has tried to hide its' communications with the DoJ by using non-public accounts, but the fact is that it's still the public's business and Congress has the right to oversee it. The R.N.C. had no business handling official White House correspondence in the first place, so like it or not the subpoenas they're now receiving from Congress will have be obeyed or they'll suffer the consequences.

Posted by Terrye [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 2:44 PM

Why should Bush fire Gonzales to please a bunch of disloyal Republcans? He has a responsibility to protect his administration from attacks from self serving politicians of either or both parties. Now if he were to fire Gonzales and put up some Senate chrony in his place who could pander to Schumer for confirmation...well then maybe the Senate would ease off. Gee, maybe he could put Fred Thompson in there. He is a conservative, but he is "one of them". Yeah, right.

I am sick of them all. These guys screw up all the time. And they don't get fired for it.

I am really disappointed in Republicans again. I expect the Democrats to be backstabbers, but this is disgusting.

There is no illegality here. The worse that can be said is that Gonzales was clumsy in the way he handled it. In response we have a lot of Senators doing their turf war thing and in the process they are feeding the kind of out of control paranoia we see in star fleet here. Just another perjury trap.

Posted by contemptofcourt [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 4:11 PM

The worse that can be said is that Gonzales was clumsy in the way he handled it.
----

That was then...this is now. In fact, the best that can be said is that Fredo was clumsy in the way he handled it.

The worst is that he committed perjury. Do tell....how do you prepare for a senate hearing for one month, yet not recall one substantive fact?

How do you tell a senate oversight com. with a straight face that you fired USAs for performance related reasons, but did not know of those reasons until after the ax was dropped?

Bush's real problem here is that his "screw you" attitude is coming back and biting him on his a$$. Noone liked Fredo from the start...he was just one of Bush's boot lickers and in way over his head from the start. The fact that Bush has capitulated on core issues has not earned him any coin with repubs in congress. Now they are leaving him and his boy wonder out to dry. And on top of all that, Bush has an approval rating on par with Satan, so noone in congress fears challenging him at this point.

The $64,000 question at this point: Does Monica fall on her sword, or throw fuel on the fire?

Posted by Terrye [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 4:25 PM

contempt:

There is no evidence of anything like that. Since firing these people was not a crime, there was nothing to lie about.

The truth is that the Senate is like a club and they think they have been dissed. Now when the Justice Dept went after Jefferson in the House and actually searched his office, Hastert was pissed. Why? Well because that was his house and they were not supposed to be there as far as he was concerned. Even if Jefferson broke the law. Nonsense of course.

And I am tired of hearing how Bush did not kiss up to his base. Bush has not changed. His policies toward compassionate conservatism, education, immigration are the same as they were when he got the nomination, won the presidency and was supported by these fair weather backstabbing cry baby egotists.

Posted by Terrye [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 4:33 PM

And I absolutely do not care what Andy McCarthy thinks, he is just another pundit who is under the impression that Bush is supposed to kiss his butt. He can say that Bush had this coming for failing to pander to the right people who ever they may be, but I have not noticed any overhelming loyalty coming from Andy's direction, It is pretty much a one way street with that guy.

As a matter of fact these Republican Senators who are not supporting Gonzales also took a fair amount of crap from conservatives for everything from earmarks to immigration themselves. So exactly what has the base got to do with it? Not long ago I was hearing the base did not support the Republican Senators either.

Maybe the truth is people like Andy don't much like anyone.

Posted by contemptofcourt [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 4:35 PM

There is no evidence of anything like that. Since firing these people was not a crime, there was nothing to lie about.
----

Then why did they lie about it? Why did they come up with the lie that these guys were fired for performance reasons? They weren't....look at the emails...they were scheming ideas to justify the firings, when the simple course of action (and the proper) would have been to just say that their 4 yr appts were up and it was time for someone new. Instead, they threw these guys under the bus by railing their performance.

I find the chasm that is growing in the Republican party interesting. You are either a Bushie or a RINO. If the pubs don't build a bridge over that chasm, then they are going to lose the presidency in '08.

Posted by AnonymousDrivel [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 4:46 PM

RE: jiHymas@himivest.com (April 25, 2007 02:23 PM)
...not colonial skirmishes dressed up as wars for political purposes.

So, Operation Iraqi Freedom and associated conflict is/was:

  1. An American colonization,

  2. a mere skirmish with commercial packaging, and

  3. some sort of political contrivance.

Um, yeah. Good grief.

Posted by Lightwave [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 4:56 PM

I can't help but think that two more years of this will only lower the congressional approval ratings to numbers well below Bush...and in '08 Bush is gone.

Ed, two years of this is only going to allow the voters to see what happens when the Democrats are in charge: nothing happens. The '08 ads will write themselves. The House initatives that the Dems ran on have yet to even make it to Bush's desk and if the Dems are spending all their time trying to create a scandal and NOT get any legislation passed, they will lose massively in '08.

The GOP can simply say "For six years the Dems said we were the do-nothing Congress, and yet this Congress has literally done nothing but try to attack Bush. Look at the important legislation that the GOP got passed when we were in charge. Compare that to the symbolic wastes of time the Dems have put forth."

The Democrats cannot possibly win this battle. Let the GOP Senators and Representatives give the Dems enough margin to hang themselves with their own investigations. It's a lesson the GOP learned well 12 years ago and again 8 years ago.

Posted by RBMN [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 5:11 PM

From:
No Retreat, No Surrender: One American's Fight
by Tom DeLay
3/19/2007
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/TomDeLay/2007/03/19/the_criminalization_of_politics

excerpt:

Today it is not enough to defeat a man politically. It is not even enough to vilify him publicly. You have to carpet bomb his life. You have to make sure that he leaves office disgraced, bankrupt, and heading for jail. You have to ruin him in every way, and then dance on his grave. This is what the political left in this country has brought us, and this is why many of the best leaders in our land refuse to take public office. They are willing to be scarred in political battle, but they are not willing to subject themselves to total destruction.

[...]

I served in the United States Congress for twenty-two years. I was passionate, aggressive, and partisan. I believed in my cause, and I hit hard. It came as no surprise to me then when my political opponents hit back. To open my morning paper and see lies written about me, or see myself painted in the ugliest terms, became a regular part of my life. It was harder to read vicious distortions about my family and friends, but even this I accepted as the price we all paid for the life of leadership I had chosen to pursue. What I did not expect was a concerted effort to destroy me legally, financially, and personally. I have now spent millions of dollars in lawyers’ fees to answer the lies of the left.

[...]

I have thought long and hard about how to respond to the liberals’ barrage. Of course I must answer in court, because this is required by our legal system. That is, if I ever get to court: Clearly my opponents want to file lawsuits against me for the sake of smearing my name, but they never seem to be willing to take those suits into court, where they will have to prove their facts. Beyond legalities, though, I have tried to decide between rising above my opponents and refusing to validate their charges by even mentioning them or answering them directly and shaming them with the truth. I’ve decided the latter, but the reasons may come as a surprise. I am not doing this just to save my reputation. That will happen with time anyway, because the truth is on my side. Nor am I doing this because I have some driving need to answer each lie in detail. No, I want to shame these lies with the truth because I believe this may help to expose the tactics that are keeping good people from public office and punishing those who serve well. I want to take the risk of repeating lies about me so I can demonstrate how these lies are designed to bludgeon me for simply having the wrong political views. Perhaps then I can help to end our current culture of political bloodletting before it permanently sullies our nation. We cannot continue to allow liberals to function like communists and destroy anyone who gets in their way.


Posted by GOP08_DOA [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 5:48 PM

"The Democrats cannot possibly win this battle."

Too late, they're already winning it. The electorate not only voted the Democrats into power to legislate, but they were obviously sick and tired of the 109th rubber stamp Congress and were thirsting for some good old fashion investigating as well.

It's silly to think that the Dems will hang themselves with these investigations especially since after a mere 4 months in power, they've managed to shine a blinding light on the WH and the cockroaches are running for their lives. Why are they running so fast? The public wants to know why.

Apparently some have conveniently forgotten that the Republicans pursued the Clinton Administration with endless investigations, no holds barred. The result of those countless investigations, which by the way amounted to diddley squat, is the nightmare we have in the WH today. The future will tell if the same scenario will prevail.

The Bush republicans made some savage errors. Where they once had it all, it now appears they'll be picking up the pieces for many years to come.

Posted by Fight4TheRight [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 6:27 PM

In one of her first speeches after the Elections that gave the Dems a majority in the House and Senate, Nancy Pelosi's microphone cut out and this portion was not audible (okay, so it's sarcasm , haha):

"We heard you America!" (microphone cuts out).....

-We heard that you don't want us to spend the next six months working on saving Social Security and Medicaire, no...you want us to spend six months removing the Attorney General for firing some attorneys!

- We heard that you don't want us to try and improve the availability of healthcare in America, work to lower your taxes, resolve the War in Iraq, raise the minimum wage, resolve Illegal Immigration, reduce our trade deficits and budget deficits....No! We heard you! You want us to do nothing over the next two years except the following:

- Remove Donald Rumsfeld from Office
- Remove Alberto Gonzalez from Office
- Remove Condi Rice from Office
- Remove Karl Rove from his position
- Impeach Dick Cheney
- Impeach George W. Bush

We Heard You America! That IS why you voted for us.....right? "

Posted by GOP08_DOA [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 6:59 PM

I has been only 4 months correct?

Posted by Terrye [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 7:10 PM

Who the hell says they lied? Even Chucky Schumer says there is no evidence of it, if there was he would have already have charged perjury. Besides the Democrats do not have clean hands themselves, the crooks.

Posted by Fight4TheRight [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 7:37 PM

Yes DOA, it's been four months. Four months and AG Gonzales is still on the job. I did give you guys 6 months though as you can see. :smirk:

Posted by JEM [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 8:07 PM

Unless and until he gets the hell out Gonzales is going to be the gift that keeps on giving for the Democrats. Once again, the termination of the USAs was not remotely illegal, no matter on what basis it was done, but his inept performance in front of Congress was an embarrassment the White House didn't need right now.

On the other hand, I'd love to see Rice go up to the Hill and go on the offensive. Given proper preparation - something the AG seems not to understand - she should be able to pull it off. GWB should have called Wilson a liar in public the day after his first NYT piece, and I'm still waiting for some Administration official to do so clearly and with no hint of weaselization. Taken only on the basis of what the Administration said (that the Brits reported that Saddam had sought yellowcake) the Administration's case is solid, and any Administration testimony on the Hill should beat that point to death, and not be drawn into any discussion outside that scope.

Posted by conservative democrat [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 8:40 PM

Now the GOP is getting a taste of their own medicine. Whitewater (nothing there) Monica (an affair). Thought you were tough banging on Clinton, huh.Shoes on the other foot now. DocJim, how can you sound so rational some nights, and then the next night sound like Rush Limbaugh. If I want to read Tom DeLay I'll buy his book, Quoting him in length isn't a comment, its being a parrot. Looks like the civil war in the gop is breaking out earlier than I thought. Tried telling the Bush apologists that the dems have learned to fight fire with fire. Didn't listen did you. The Gonzalez scandal is just getting warmed up. He lost McCain today, Mark Pryor is hopping mad. Is the gop imploding? Their losing the fundraiser wars too. Bush better step up to the plate, his party is in free fall.

Posted by unclesmrgol [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 9:23 PM

If I were Monica, I'd still plead the 5th even in exchange for legislative immunity.

The legislative branch has no right to confer immunity against prosecution -- that's the prerogative of the executive branch.

Conservative Democrat,

If I read you correctly with Whitewater/Monica, your claim is that there is nothing the republicans did which is illegal, but raking them over the coals is good for the gander.

OK. We'll just wait until it's over. The Dem's will look like fools for wasting all this money and getting absolutely nothing for it.

Oh, and it's "they're losing", not "their losing".


Posted by Carol_Herman [TypeKey Profile Page] | April 25, 2007 10:47 PM

The HOUSE democraps do NOT want Bush to fire Gonzales! They just want Bush to keep being Bush. And, doing what he is doing.

The disaster? Similar to the time his dad promised "No new taxes," and then HAD NO CLUE THAT HE COULD LOSE GOP VOTERS!

Did you know 1992 came as a huge surprise to the elder Bush? He was sure that "being the Commander in Chief," in charge of a war; A war to save his friends in Kuwait, would have so many happy Americans parading with the flag. That his re-election was a shoo-in.

Well? Bush's friends, the Saud's, approved junior; who asked permission of Bandar. To run for the presidency in 2000.

IN political talk, that's CONTRIBUTIONS. FUNDED MONEY. And, Dubya got the go-go-go green light.

Much to the Saud's surprise, Bush arrived in office in January 2000, and did not go on immediate war footing. (That's why we got 9/11.)

And, that's why Bush hasn't got an iota of an idea how smart lots of Americans are. His own right wing bunch? They're sure most Americans are idiots.

Nope.

There's a small show, now. It's not a big deal. We're years away from the presidential race. But for the most part, most Americans SEE WITH THEIR EYES, that the fools in congress are wasting time. We always wish them well when they get caught up in nonsense.

Wee! Bush is loyal to Gonzales.

Wee! Bush is an affirmative action guy. Just look at his hires. If you can open your fingers long enough to look, look at Condi, too.

Bush has put dreck on the paths where most Americans think it's wrong to just let your dogs shit in the streets. (Even though bears shit in the woods.) And, politicians are pander bears.

The rules for success are way different than what the right is doing, now.

Are you confused? Do you want to root for Bush?

School colors, huh?

Some people, though, graduate school. Well, they didn't go to Yale. They didn't go to Harvard. They didn't have a dad that gave his son top jobs. At which his son didn't even have to perform all that well.

You think there's a big difference between Bush and Kerry. But in my book? They all live in mansions. And, they are ALL out of touch.

As to the side show, why make a big deal out of nothing?

There's other voices out there, too. If you're curious. You, too, could go to Amazon. And, buy a book. If the PRICE OF LOYALTY doesn't turn you on; then what about Col. Hunt's new one?

Ya know INSIDE THE MILITARY THERE IS ANGER!

You don't see it or hear it. You're just on a name-calling jag.

But while Bush defends the incompetents; there are lots of competent men who feel they've been left out to dry.

Grandpa reid's not a threat.

The problem's bigger.