The only clean way to move forward, with integrity, is for Bush to appoint an independent, honest, person well respected by Americans of both the Democratic and Republican parties.
Then, that person must promise the congress that he or she will open the books and properly investigate the machinations of the Judiciary-- specifically, the actions, decisions, discussions and orders of Gonzales and his subordinates-- and that these will be followed wherever the investigations take them, including the whitehouse, the RCN e-mails, Cheney, Rove, the senators who engaged in interference, like Domenici...
If Bush fails to do that, the congress should reject that nominee.
Joe Scarborough says, "I hope the president will ...appoint someone based on... integrity, character and competence more than loyalty," someone like Casey, who replaced Rumsfeld.
Casey has a long history of also being a partisan team player. I dont' think the successful appointee should have any partisan taint. We need someone who will be trusted by both parties to do an honest job. That's a hard order to fill, but falling short will be bad for America and could drop the public's support for congress down to the single digits. This is a challenge for the Democratic leadership. They must play tougher than ever with Bush. They should be treating Gonzales' resignation as further evidence of guilt. He refused to face the light and heat of further investigations, avoided being judged on the facts.
That should not mean that the hearings will be stopped. They should definitely continue, even intensify, with one less person intentionally blocking the investigations.
Let's be clear about one thing. The media have already begun showing they are their true colors, suggesting that "the democrats may have lost one of their best targets," as though Gonzales was THE problem. Gonzales was and continues to be a sympton, like a bolus of snot in a runny nose. Blow it. Get it into a tissue, into a trashcan, and the affliction is still there. The real problem is higher up in the system. yet, as I write this, CNN is allowing Senator John Cronyn <R-TX) speak for several minutes, unchallenged, apologizing for Gonzales, blaming the problem of Gonzales on Democrats, suggesting that this was all political. Pathetic!! More pathetic that CNN allows his statement without citing all the lies Gonzales was caught in, his perpetual memory lapses, the resignations...
Michael Chertoff, head of Homeland Security, has been cited as a likely replacement. He may seem to be a strong candidate, but he has already proven himself to be a failure and major Bush Administration apologist in dealing with Katrina. And we've reported before about <a href="click here unpleasant ties with terrorists.</a>
America needs a nominee who is clearly, definitely an honest, independent trusted, non-partisan, wise, highly qualified stalwart of justice.
If Bush fails to propose anyone with less than these credentials, he will be again betraying America. But it is up to the congress to set these standards. The leaders of congress-- Nancy Pelosi, Stenny Hoyer, John COnyers, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Arlen Specter-- should make it clear the criteria they will be using to evaluate Bush's nominee. They should do it today. I'm not saying they should suggest any names. That would be a mistake. THey SHOULD make a statement what kind of person they are looking for.
Bush is plummetting down, historywise, as the worst president in history. He has an opportunity here to at least slow the descent and maybe even turn it around. There are risks. Any decent, non-partisan, highly qualified appointee will have a responsibility to investigate the corruption in the justice department that congressional investigations have already uncovered. The Dems must raise the bar VERY high and absolutely refuse to settle for anyone who does not meet these criteria.
This should and will play out quickly. By the end of today, we'll see if the Democratic leaders in congress will get off their vacation berths and make the statements they need to make, sending Bush the message immediately, that he will not get away with any appointment less than someone trusted by all Americans, who will begin to heal the gaping wounds in the judiciary his appointee Gonzales, and his own manipulations, through Rove, Cheney, etcetera have inflicted upon America.
Rob Kall is executive editor and publisher of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is also published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com. He is a frequent Speaker on Politics, Impeachment, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump speeches and debates. He recently retired as organizer of several conferences, including StoryCon, the Summit Meeting on the Art, Science and Application of Story and The Winter Brain Meeting on neurofeedback, biofeedback, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology. See more of his articles here and, older ones, here.
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-While I'm registered as a Democrat, I consider myself to be a dynamic critic of the Democratic party, just as, well, not quite as much, but almost as much as I am a critic of republicans.
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Now that Gonzo is a prizate citizen, sans the protection of Bush and darth vader Cheney, can we have his habeas corpus removed and label him as an enemy combatant?
Revenge is a dish best served cold!
Don't anyone worry, Bush, it has been suggested, is going to claim "exigent circumstances", break his deal not to recess appoint any one, and install Chertoff, sans any vetting by the Senate.
by
Frank J. Ranelli (63 articles, 143 quicklinks, 28 diaries, 361 comments)
on Monday, August 27, 2007 at 12:41:41 PM
...and shows just how damn STUPID our Democratic-controlled Senate can be, as they COULD have simply "adjourned subject to a call back by the Chair" rather than recessed, and then recess appointments would have been impossible.
If Chertoff (or anybody else) should be recess appointed, the House and Sentate should simply impeach them and remove them on the grounds that there was no reason for the President to not wait 2 weeks, and that it is "too important a position for there not to be a full and complete Senate confirmation process."
Of course, they won't.
The Democrats will roll over and play "good puppy" because they seem to think that their poll numbers are down because they are being mean to the President and his criminal administration, rather than because they are not being TOUGH enough with these scum-cum-traitors.
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Charlie L (2 articles, 2 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 638 comments)
on Monday, August 27, 2007 at 1:32:43 PM
"There'll be no recess appointments this time around, Roll Callreports (sub. req.), meaning the White House won't be taking advantage of Congress' vacation to install any contested nominees. That's due to a deal between Bush and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)."
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Frank J. Ranelli (63 articles, 143 quicklinks, 28 diaries, 361 comments)
on Tuesday, August 28, 2007 at 2:20:10 AM
Roll Call looks like a reputable source and I sent an email to the author of the orginal article who has replied saying he/she (Erin?) is on holiday but will send me the text on returning on thursday.
I think it is worth keeping an eye on this issue of what Harry Reid and Bush agreed with respect to there being no recess appointments - someone should be held accountable if a recess appointment occurs and Congress (via Harry Reid) are out manovered or have strategically allowed themselves to be out manovered again.
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Brett Paatsch (0 articles, 2 quicklinks, 21 diaries, 961 comments)
on Tuesday, August 28, 2007 at 7:47:25 PM
Will Gonzales's resignation have a positive impact ?
With AG-AG's resignation, a metastasized cancer will be removed from our body politic; and, there isn't a need to bring the impeachment process out of cold storage for him (which he fully deserved, but that the spineless, gutless House leaders lacked the courage to initiate). Now the impeachment process needs to start for the Creepy Veepy, who is the true heart of darkness in Bush's bleak world, being the petri dish in which deadly political viruses have been grown and released, such as: "no limit on President's authority in time of war; 'war on terrorism' justifying abandonment of the Constitution and Geneva Convention; and no records of our actions need be provided to the people or their elected representatives." Unfortunately, AG-AG's departure in no way indicates that the Bushites will adhere to the principles of our Constitution with respect to separation and balance of powers, and accountability; faithfully executing the laws of the land; or ceasing their death and destruction of humans and other living things, at home, and in foreign lands, to embrace the life-affirming values taught by the canons of all the major religious traditions. Instead they will likely devote increasing negative energy in continuing to wrap themselves in the flag of fear and cloak of Christian evangelism to perpetrate their "Death Eater" [see Voldemort's army in the "Harry Potter" series] theocratic, autocratic, plutocracy. Written with 1 year, 4 months, 23 days, and 21 hours until the inauguration of the next President. Can we afford to wait that long?
by
Citizen Denizen (1 articles, 2 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 6 comments)
on Monday, August 27, 2007 at 2:16:24 PM
But what I think matters is that Congress gets to do its job of checking the President (and impeaching the President where appropriate) and that means that an AG should only be approved by Congress that will put the Constitution above loyalty to the President that waves executive privilege around with the enthusiasm of a teenager at rock concert.
An AG is needed that will aid the investigations. Investigations aimed at determining the truth behind the Bush administrations self-serving spin.
Did this President deliberately take the country to war in bad faith and using false pretenses as the available evidence very very strongly suggests? That is what has to be investigated.
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Brett Paatsch (0 articles, 2 quicklinks, 21 diaries, 961 comments)
on Monday, August 27, 2007 at 8:48:02 PM
My guess is that Bush will try to appoint someone who will keep secrets, and stick with the program. That means no honest people will even be considered. There are many folks out there who are honest, yet conservative, that Bush could appoint, and Democrats would confirm, but I doubt that is going to happen.
I expect Bush to try to appoint people like Roberts and Alito - ultra-conservative and not averse to lying, distorting and playing fast and loose with the law. They can’t afford to have an independent and active AG looking over Bush and Cheney’s shoulders.
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John R Moffett (80 articles, 14 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 598 comments)
on Tuesday, August 28, 2007 at 8:53:38 AM
