The Left Coaster: Comment on Open Thread

Comments: Open Thread

The GOP has their own Monica now who threatens to to bring down an administration. I love it!

Posted by Christopher at March 30, 2007 03:02 AM

Grab the air sickness bags!

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney on Thursday dropped some names of potential running mates in the 2008 race, but added such speculation is a bit premature.

Among those Romney mentioned for the second slot on the Republican ticket were three Southerners: South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

SOURCE: Associated Press

Posted by Christopher at March 30, 2007 03:25 AM

This Monica is unfortunately, a shining example of the sea of toads that have been flushed into every nook and cranny of the Executive and, to some extent, the Judicial branches of our government.

One of the most important tasks for the next, Democratic administration, must be to identify and excise these tumors in the body politic. If they're allowed to fester for too long, their bizarre cultish mentalities will make good government impossible. Perhaps this is another job for citizen journalism. I hate to sound like these enemies of freedom, but I think lists need to be made and documented. The next President had better have the will to do a thorough housekeeping. Wingnuts and corporate lobbyists have GOT to GO!

Posted by DeminNewJ at March 30, 2007 04:31 AM

If Guiliani is elected, he has so many ghosts and skeletons in his closets that the scandals will begin before his first SOTU address.

Posted by Christopher at March 30, 2007 04:36 AM

Ouch! Quite the edge this morning, Steve. I like it.

I did a tee shirt design just for her at my shop.

Posted by Via at March 30, 2007 05:48 AM

two words: special prosecutor

Posted by angel at March 30, 2007 06:02 AM

Christopher, that is the second time in a week that Jeb Bush's name has come up. If you remember, I posted that 'Bert Walker', first cousin to GHWB, said the same thing this week on NPR. It makes sense. Run Jeb as the VP on the ticket, and in eight years we have another Bush in the WH to continue the corrupt Bush dynasty. Perfect. Of course, to ensure that the GOP stays in control, the elections will be rigged.

Posted by Judith at March 30, 2007 06:30 AM

the plan from day one with the Bush Regime was to create a government comprised solely of cultists, culling by any means necessary the non-believers. The result, after 8 years, would be a government completely under Cult control,regardless of whether or not the Dems or another party, ever took power again. The fix would be in. Just look at where they've concentrated their work...judiciary. The lawyers and the judges, up and down the line from Local, to State, to Federal, to Supreme Court. Once they complete the takeover of the application of the law, they can install their own laws up and down the line and be in total control of what you and I can say or do. That is why the Bush Regime has been all Politics, no Policy. The Politics is what puts the right people in the right places. After they are there, comes the Policies to enforce. What are the Policies? Whatever they want, at that point. It is/was an ambitious plan based on Evangelical hubris. History shows hubris to be the undoing of many a plan.

Posted by T2 at March 30, 2007 06:40 AM

Steve,

I'm afraid that you were grossly unfair to your cat in the above simile.

Regards,

Tony C.

Posted by Tony C. at March 30, 2007 06:47 AM

Sampson couldn't remember 122 times during his testimony. I have a great idea. Pass a law that says you have five "don't remember(s)" when testifying. After those five, if you say you don't remember again, you are held in comtempt of court.

Posted by Judith at March 30, 2007 06:48 AM

Bill Scher of LiberalOasis blogging here too.

His post "Sampson: Politics, Performance, What's The Difference!" a couple posts down speaks of the conservative wish to destroy America as we would like our gumment to be. Scher in the comments responded to someone that 30% polling is something Bushy doesn't care about. I think it's the fraction of 1% that might get Bush thinkin' (if that's possible) but that Fox Noise will keep it higher than that. Face it, they don't give a rat's ass about most anyone. And messing with/ making the laws, will help them garner all the power to screw with the "lower nineties" (that's you and me).

Posted by Sharon at March 30, 2007 07:00 AM

P.S. My cat Samson is closer to Jesus and God than any of those M.F.ers!

Posted by Sharon at March 30, 2007 07:02 AM

I can't help but think considering the Iranian actions regarding their British detainees that they are intentionally goading the UK/US to see what they/we will do.

Do they believe that we are in such a bind in Iraq that we CAN'T confront them?

And have they been proven correct yet?

Did they catch us in a bluff?

I can think of no other rationale for their actions in this.

Posted by snark at March 30, 2007 07:10 AM

Maybe they just want their diplomats back, snark. The ones we still have in custody for no good reason? It looks like Blair's playing the game as well, pretending like his "map" of the border is real and his GPS coordinates are proof of innocence. Unfortunatly, trading the diplomats would have to involve the US and that ain't gonna happen.

Posted by iamcoyote at March 30, 2007 07:26 AM

I'm with snark.

Is the Iranian issue actually gaining traction in national news or out East? It's headlining every day, but is it actually working as a motivator for popular support against Iran?

Posted by idiosynchronic at March 30, 2007 07:26 AM

Still the question...when did Monica pass the Bar? What was her track record before DOJ? cleve

Posted by cleve at March 30, 2007 07:33 AM

Alia Malek at Salon, for those of you ready to sit through a commercial for access, has a very good story on the politicizing of the Justice department, specifically, the Civil Rights Division, very much in line with what I said earlier. I highly recommend it. It points out that so very many of the Bush appointees come from our friends at the Federalist Society or Pat Robertson's Law Clown College for Holy Hollers, or related nut farms.

And another thing for John "Warrior" McCain and "Revoltin'" JOE to suck on: Juan Cole reports this morning the the "friendly neighborhoods of Baghad and it's neighbors saw a total of at least 130 dead and 200 injured in one day

Plus:

The US embassy in Baghdad circulated a memo to all Americans working for the US government in the Green Zone. It ordered them to wear protective gear whenever they were outside in the Green Zone, including just moving from one building to another.

Posted by DeminNewJ at March 30, 2007 07:45 AM

The only thing the people that run Iran understand is force. This puts us in a difficult position when trying to negotiate with them. Personally I would punish them severely but that would have dire consequences economically.

Posted by JohnT at March 30, 2007 07:50 AM

The article about Monica quotes an unnamed veteran Republican appointee as saying "They had no appreciation for what would happen after the Democrats took control and how tough it would be."

I thought for a moment, "Tough? How tough? It's not that tough, just the normal give-and-take of politics and differing opinions. How could they not realize how it would be different?" Then I realized that she's quite intentionally avoided ever being in an environment with people who disagreed with her!

I bet that Messiah College didn't feature a diverse 'marketplace of ideas'. Maybe I'm wrong, but I bet there were no late-night sessions arguing with a radical atheist kid, or a wiccan. I don't think those kids go there. Does the Regent U. Law School even use the New Deal as an example of Christian principles in governance?

I knew that Bushistas didn't believe they had the responsibility to govern for all the people, but it hadn't occurred to me that quite a few of them might not even know what the rest of the people are like, having never lived with any of them.

Posted by biggerbox at March 30, 2007 07:51 AM

Judith, I think you're onto something vis a vis Jebby.

I still think Cheney may resign before the end of Bush's term due to "health reasons" and Bush will select Condi Rice as his replacement. Thus giving the GOP their perfect candidate to run in 2008.

Can you imagine a Rice/Bush ticket?

Posted by Christopher at March 30, 2007 07:54 AM

The only thing the people that run Iran understand is force.

Really?

Perhaps you could elaborate?

Posted by snark at March 30, 2007 07:55 AM

Freaky Monica, cultist Kyle, Heckuvajob Brownie, this is the "conservative movement".

The Repubs are the Party of Bush, and these 30-something "conservative" pukes are the unqualified clowns who will make up the ranks of any future Repub adminstration, from Guiliani to St. McCain.

These cultists hate the federal government and want to destroy everything it does that does not involve blowing up people and things.

The Dems at some point need to start making the case that the conservative movement is the real problem, not just Nero, and that electing Repubs means keeping the country under the destructive Party of Bush.

Posted by euzoius at March 30, 2007 07:58 AM

euzoius, Especially the DoJ.

Little Boots wants to destroy it and remake it his own, depraved, power-hungry vision.

Posted by Christopher at March 30, 2007 08:15 AM

The Iran/Iraq maritime boundary being publicized by the Brits (Blair and BBC) and also by the NYT is actually a fake boundary drawn by--guess who--the Brits. Such boundaries are supposed to be bilaterally negotiated by the countries involved but this has not been done by Iran and Iraq so the boundary is in dispute as the Iranians claim and not determined as the Brits claim. If the Brits had said: We understand that the maritime boundary is in dispute and we're sorry if our sailors were in the wrong place the whole thing might be over by now. Oh well, it's as good an excuse for a war as we've ever had before. More here.

Incidentally, in the link I learned that the USS Vincennes was indisputably in Iranian waters when it shot down the Iranian airliner when we were supporting Iraq during the Iran/Irak war. But of course the US is special.

Posted by Don Bacon at March 30, 2007 08:20 AM

snark
That is my opinion from many years observing the Iranian government. They only released our hostages when they believed Reagan would use force. What is your opinion?

Posted by JohnT at March 30, 2007 08:23 AM

biggerbox, I thought the "tough" line was more like "it's going to be tough to get away with these shenanigans once the Dems are in power..." rather than the "hard work" kinda comment Bush always uses.

idio - I don't think the PR campaign for an Iran strike is working, but I don't think the Bushies care if it works or not. Seems to me, they're trying to make a paper trail of "evidence" for if/when they actually bomb the shit out of Iran. What's curious is the fact that the Bushies aren't out there screaming about the hostages - if they were really looking for an excuse, it seems they've been handed one.

JohnT, so you're advocating another war? Seems to me, someone else besides Iran only understands force.

Posted by iamcoyote at March 30, 2007 08:30 AM

Things are going well in Iraq. Especially the stuff you don't hear about.

Posted by phidipides at March 30, 2007 08:34 AM

What is your opinion?

They have not used force in their regional dealings in anyway in recent history. Sure they support Hezbollah. Just like we support Israel with military assistance.

They have been practically begging us to deal diplomatically with them for years and we refuse. Why?

They offered their assistance in dealing with the Taliban and we snubbed them. Why?

It's clear who chose to address the regions problems with the use of force. And it wasn't Iran.

Posted by snark at March 30, 2007 08:42 AM

Oh.

I should've known that the Shatt al-Arab waterway was at the heart of this mess. Iran and Iraq have been fighting over the territory and waterway rights since the 1800's. Christ. That place is a built-in Gulf of Tonkin. It was a major flash point for belligerence during the Iraq-Iran war in the 80's.

Posted by idiosynchronic at March 30, 2007 08:44 AM

idio - we were chatting about it the other day, sorry ya missed it! It's a pretty interesting, sticky situation. Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail.

I'm kinda surprised that no one's talking about this:

House Dems to Question DoJ Officials in Private

The House Judiciary Committee has worked out an agreement to have transcribed interviews with at least eight current and former employees of the Justice Department behind closed doors. The committee said that the deal followed a series of phone and written negotiations.

I thought there'd be much more howling and Dem hating this morning over this one.

Posted by iamcoyote at March 30, 2007 08:56 AM

Kyle Samson the "dork" went to law school with Elizabeth Cheney and they were buddies. She got him his job, which after yesterdays testimoney appeared to be do nothing except find and destoy anyone who is not a Bushie. No substance per his own admissions yesterday.
Shades of "brownie" now its US Justice my oh my what didn't they do?????

Rita Forsyth

Posted by at March 30, 2007 09:11 AM

What a masterful plan--after all, it's worked so well for us in Iraq, and for Israel last summer!

Your simplistic answer belies a more complex truth--after all, the Republicans were able to negotiate with the Iranians for the 'October Suprise' when political motivations were involved.

Posted by cheSF at March 30, 2007 10:13 AM

Via TPM this morning I see this LAT op-ed by Joseph D. Rich, a DoJ insider w/30 yrs experience writing about the USA purge scandal. He writes about the the USA Kansas City interim attorney, Schlozman who was appointed in 3/06...

'...the week before the Nov. election Schlozman brought 4 voter fraud indictments against members of an organization representing poor & minority people."

'...this blatently contradicted the Dept's long standing policy to wait until after an election to bring such indictments.'

To be careful here, it's a bit unclear whether he is referring to a general DoJ policy or a local policy not to bring indictments just before an election, but it would seem likely that this is a DoJ policy, in which case HOW COME WILSON & DEMENICI weren't brought to task on this immediately when they phoned up David I. and inquired whether indictments would be brought before the Nov. elections? A policy of this sort is a direct recognition of how the USA's and DoJ cannot allow the taint of an indictment to be aligned with an election.

Posted by mainsailset at March 30, 2007 10:37 AM

Monica's Beatitudes

Blessed are they who advocate torture for they shall iive empty lives.
Blessed are the hypocrites for they shall consistently fail to distinguish truth from unvarnished bullshit.
Blessed are the political operators for they shall build tall houses of cards.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after unfettered power for they shall have nothing else.
Blessed are those who traffic in gods and spirits and addictive substances for they shall inherit the wind.

Posted by steve at March 30, 2007 10:47 AM

Main,
Another example of suspicious behavior happened in New Jersey. I forget the USA's name and I'm about to leave. She(?) loudly announced an "investigation" into candidate Menendez's real estate dealings of 14 years previous, acting as a landlord. The case lingered for weeks before the election, the FBI subpoenaed records, the Kean camp howled with faux outrage (and glee) but Menendez crushed them in the election and not another word was heard from the USA.

Pretty strange, eh?

Posted by DeminNewJ at March 30, 2007 12:54 PM

I think perhaps some priests and bishops have taken a page from the muslim play book.

Seems the image of Jesus is sacrosanct these days too.

Posted by snark at March 30, 2007 02:35 PM