Rove's Newest Investigator Is Under Investigation

Karl Rove is under investigation by the executive branch. So, too, is his investigator.

On Tuesday, The Los Angeles Times reported that the Office of Special Counsel, an obscure federal investigative and prosecutorial agency that is supposed to protect federal employees from prohibited personnel practices, is

preparing to jump into one of the most sensitive and potentially explosive issues in Washington, launching a broad investigation into key elements of the White House political operations that for more than six years have been headed by chief strategist Karl Rove.

The new investigation, which will examine the firing of at least one U.S. attorney, missing White House emails, and White House efforts to keep presidential appointees attuned to Republican political priorities, could create a substantial new problem for the Bush White House.

Rove is tied to all three elements of the OSC investigation. "We will take the evidence where it leads us," Scott Bloch, head of the Office of Special Counsel, told The Los Angeles Times. "We will not leave any stone unturned."

But who is Scott Bloch, and should his vow be taken at face value? The Times story did not provide background on the fellow who will be examining whether Rove and other administration officials may have violated the law by using political email accounts for White House business, by explicitly encouraging government actions for direct partisan gains, and by dismissing David Iglesias, a US attorney in New Mexico. Bloch is a George W. Bush appointee, and his recent record is not one of a relentless pursuer of government corruption and wrongdoing. Here's an overview:

* In February, The Washington Post reported Bloch himself was under investigation:

The Office of Personnel Management's inspector general has been investigating allegations by current and former OSC employees that Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch retaliated against underlings who disagreed with his policies--by, among other means, transferring them out of state--and tossed out legitimate whistle-blower cases to reduce the office backlog. Bloch denies the accusations, saying that under his leadership the agency has grown more efficient and receptive to whistle-blowers.

The 16-month investigation has been beset by delays, accusations and counter-accusations. The latest problem began two weeks ago, when Bloch's deputy sent staffers a memo asking them to inform OSC higher-ups when investigators contact them. Further, the memo read, employees should meet with investigators in the office, in a special conference room. Some employees cried foul, saying the recommendations made them afraid to be interviewed in the probe.

The OSC's memo, the group said, "was only the latest in a series of actions by Bloch to obstruct" the investigation. "Other actions have included suggestions that all witnesses interviewed...provide Bloch with affidavits describing what they had been asked and how they responded."

* Two years earlier, the paper reported that Bloch had declined to enforce a discrimination ban:

Since taking office in January 2004, the Bush appointee has been accused of failing to enforce a long-standing policy against bias in the federal workplace based on sexual orientation, unnecessarily reorganizing the OSC to try to run off internal critics, and arbitrarily dismissing some personnel complaints and whistle-blower disclosures in an effort to claim reductions in backlogs.

He has denied such allegations and argued that he has made the agency more efficient at processing cases and, at the same time, more receptive to whistle-blowers and federal workers who have suffered unfair treatment.

* That same year, public interest groups and employees at the OSC accused Bloch of running an overly partisan shop. As Govexec.com reported:

Amendments to a complaint filed against Special Counsel Scott J. Bloch in early March allege that OSC took no action on a complaint regarding then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice's use of government funds to travel in the weeks before the 2004 presidential election, but vigorously pursued allegations against Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry's visit to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Three nonprofit whistleblower protection groups--the Government Accountability Project, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility and the Project on Government Oversight--and anonymous career OSC employees filed the initial complaint March 3, listing a series of prohibited personnel practices and violations of civil service laws by Bloch.

The politicization allegations stem from Bloch's decision to have a group of lawyers report to a political deputy rather than a career senior executive. The complaint states that OSC has pursued trivial matters without regard to political affiliation...but has not evenly handled higher profile cases.

At the OSC, Bloch is supposed to protect whistleblowers. But he's been charged with reprising against those who challenge his agency and others. Before Bloch was appointed by Bush to take over the OSC, he was a deputy director and counsel at the Justice Department's Task Force for Faith-based and Community Initiatives.

"By most measures, his tenure has been an absolute failure," says Adam Miles, legislative representative at the Government Accountability Project. "He's been under pressure to start doing something." Miles notes that GAP did not initially expect the complaint it filed against Bloch in 2005 to go anywhere. "It was referred to a federal entity called the President's Council on Integrity and Efficiency," Miles recalls, "and we thought it would just rot there." But the case was handed to Pat McFarland, the inspector general for the Office of Personnel Management. McFarland is a former St. Louis detective who spent 22 years as a Secret Service agent before becoming IG at OPM in 1990.

McFarland's investigation of Bloch, Miles says, "hasn't been a totally transparent process but we're hearing it's reaching a conclusion--which could be motivation for Bloch to start this investigation into the White House. If OPM does turn up any adverse information on Bloch, it would be more difficult for the White House to get rid of him while he was actively investigating them." But this could cut the other way. If Bloch is the subject of an investigation, he might be inclined to treat the White House favorably to protect his own position. In either case, there seems to be a conflict of interest. Bloch, Miles says, "may not be the appropriate person to be conducting the investigation" of Rove and the White House.

It is a dizzying situation. The investigator investigating officials who oversee the agency that is investigating the investigator. Forget firewalls. This looks more like a basement flooded with backed-up sewage--with the water rising.

With reporting by Stephanie Condon.

******

DON"T FORGET ABOUT HUBRIS: THE INSIDE STORY OF SPIN, SCANDAL, AND THE SELLING OF THE IRAQ WAR, the best-selling book by David Corn and Michael Isikoff. Click here for information on the book. The New York Times calls Hubris "the most comprehensive account of the White House's political machinations" and "fascinating reading." The Washington Post says, "There have been many books about the Iraq war....This one, however, pulls together with unusually shocking clarity the multiple failures of process and statecraft." Tom Brokaw notes Hubris "is a bold and provocative book that will quickly become an explosive part of the national debate on how we got involved in Iraq." Hendrik Hertzberg, senior editor of The New Yorker notes, "The selling of Bush's Iraq debacle is one of the most important--and appalling--stories of the last half-century, and Michael Isikoff and David Corn have reported the hell out of it." For highlights from Hubris, click here.

Comments (103)

1. This is not a criminal investigation. Period. He might have used a federal Blackberry on Fed property to raise political money, maybe....just like the picture of Obama having a campaign meetings in his Senate office...of course the dems will scream it is more than that..more damaging "during the process"...

   Posted by john maasch at 04/24/2007 @ 5:08pm

2. Bush doesn't appoint people who can do a good job, he appoints people who want to destroy the departments they work for.

   That should be clear to all by now.

   Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 5:08pm

3. Gail Norton, Steven Griles, Abu Gone-zalez, Brownie.....

   Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 5:09pm

4. I love the way bush promised to investigate the outing of a cia agent, and proceeded to do absolutely nothing. No kind of investigation was EVER undertaken.

   Just another lie from Herr Shrubenfuhrer.

   Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 5:17pm

5. Posted by DR DECIBELS 04/24/2007 @ 5:08pm

   If you are correct, then those depts would be destroyed...and they are not..if he wanted to destroy them, and there are depts I wish were destroyed, he would appoint no one and let them drift away in morass..and on Jan 20, 2008 they will still be there and waiting for another political appointment...from either side.

   Posted by john maasch at 04/24/2007 @ 5:19pm

6. I am still not convinced Plame was outed.. for many reasons...what was the finding of the great Waxman hearing anyway? What was the conclusion? Any charges or smoking gun? Arrests? More trials?

   Seems like what ever happened, the Plames babe and her hubby are having a ball in their new multimillion dollar home in Sante Fe....seems the, ah, "outing", is working out better than any retirement plan the feds have for their employees!!

   We all should be so outed...

   Posted by john maasch at 04/24/2007 @ 5:23pm

7. They are becoming disfunctional - look at FEMA - worked like a champ under Clinton. Bush takes over, and it goes straight down the toilet. First Allbaugh the frat bro, then Brownie the moron.

   First you render the department incompetent, then when people say Gov doesn't work, it's easier to convince them to cut taxes to kill the department - which is the goal all along.

   And if people die along the way, so what? It's for a good cause, ask Grover.

   Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 5:23pm

8. John Bolton HATES the UN - make him our ambassador!

   reconstruction in Iraq? Appoint snivelling little bushies fresh out of college to fuck it up.

   Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 5:24pm

9. Posted by JOHN MAASCH 04/24/2007 @ 5:23pm

   You can't buy in outhouse in SF for less than $100,000.

   Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 5:25pm

10. They are becoming disfunctional - look at FEMA..

    I don't really think FEMA has ever worked that well...many in Florida are still waiting for years..it is a big beuarocratic mess...as the govt gets so big it gets sluggish...I am going to New Orleans tomorrow ..I will be interested in what I see...my friends there say there is no shortage of money or material, just shortage of people willing to work.There is a lot that needs to get done. Imagine neighborhoods just leaving and leaving the mess behind them...I will let you know what I can see if you are interested..as I have a little extra time.

    Posted by john maasch at 04/24/2007 @ 5:36pm

11. You can't buy in outhouse in SF for less than $100,000.

    Posted by DR DECIBELS 04/24/2007 @ 5:25pm

    I like it there, but for me to reire there muchless live there I need alot more $.

    ..true enough..so for someone whos life is a disaster it is a strange choice...unless there is no disaster...

    Just a thought.

    Posted by john maasch at 04/24/2007 @ 5:38pm

12. A lot of people who work in SF live in Abq because it's cheaper to commute.

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 5:41pm

13. Posted by JOHN MAASCH 04/24/2007 @ 5:36pm

    If I could put my life on hold I wold love to go down there and help. Went through Camille back in the 60's... that was a mess.

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 5:42pm

14. They are becoming disfunctional - look at FEMA - worked like a champ under Clinton. Bush takes over, and it goes straight down the toilet. First Allbaugh the frat bro, then Brownie the moron.

    Posted by DR DECIBELS

    Dr. Goebbels, And how many major hurricanes, or other disasters hit while Clinton was in office? Brownie looked pretty inept in the face of the New Orleans disaster, but he didn't do such a bad job the previous summer, when 4 (count 'em) Hurricanes hit us down here in Fla......

    Posted by davebarlett at 04/24/2007 @ 5:45pm

15. If you go up around the corner to Pojoaque the land is much cheaper, and it's only about 15 minutes away. Glorieta is about 30 minutes away around the eastern corner, same deal.

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 5:46pm

16. Posted by DAVEBARLETT 04/24/2007 @ 5:45pm

    Plenty, and by ALL ACCOUNTS, the department functioned AS IT SHOULD.

    But thanks for asking ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.....ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.... .ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ......ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 5:50pm

17. Brownie was/is a stoodge.

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 5:50pm

18. Let's consider an obvious comparison: Michael Brown and James Lee Witt, who Bill Clinton appointed head of FEMA.

    As has been widely noted, before joining FEMA, Brown was a lawyer for the International Arabian Horse Association.

    Before Witt was tapped as FEMA chief, he had served for four years as director of the Arkansas Office of Emergency Services.

    Bush placed a crony--Brown was also an attorney for the Oklahoma Republican Party--in charge of FEMA (and permitted the agency's disaster work to be downgraded).

    Clinton gave the job to a fellow with years of experience in disaster management and maintained a close connection to Witt and FEMA, which then had Cabinet-level status.

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 5:53pm

19. http://www.thenation.com/blogs/capitalgames?pid=20380

    Self referential, but better than anything you can come up with bubba.

    ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 5:53pm

20. I am going to New Orleans tomorrow ..

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 04/24/2007 @ 5:36pm

    I spent a night in the French Quarter last summer driving back from Florida w/my son. Took the time to drive the lower Wards (east) and the Lakeview SD by Lake Pontchartrain. Got a close look at the main levee break! The number of `For Sale' signs is unimaginable!

    New Orleans as we knew it, is finished! As it continues to sink naturally, makes no sense to pour money into this `hole'. Keep the port, downtown (ie the Quarter), along with the Garden District (near Tulane U.)....mostly just the west side of NO...let the rest be Global Warmed!

    Posted by Happy at 04/24/2007 @ 5:54pm

21. Former FEMA directors have started their own firms, including Michael Brown, the heavily lampooned former FEMA chief, and his predecessor, Joe Allbaugh.

    But their firms depend on their contacts inside the Bush administration and GOP circles.

    While Witt's firm also relies on his contacts inside government agencies, he has thrived because of the near-mythic reputation of competence he developed while streamlining and reviving FEMA, long considered a moribund bureaucratic backwater for political appointees, in the 1990s.

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 5:55pm

22. "He is nonpartisan, he's very experienced and he listens," Clark said. "He's low-key and just a really good guy."

    As FEMA director, Witt confronted a terrorist attack in Oklahoma City; 100-year floods in Illinois, Iowa and Missouri; the Northridge, Calif. earthquake; and the crash of TWA Flight 800.

    He managed the federal government's response to scores of hurricanes, ice storms, tornadoes and other emergencies spawned by Mother Nature.

    Sorry, Davey my boy, you lose.

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 5:55pm

23. ...he didn't do such a bad job the previous summer, when 4 (count 'em) Hurricanes hit us down here in Fla......

    Posted by DAVEBARLETT 04/24/2007 @ 5:45pm

    DB,

    I grew up in Bradenton, where you at ?

    Posted by Happy at 04/24/2007 @ 5:57pm

24. From the former director of FEMA, how to prepare for challenge, change, and potential disaster

    The Wall Street Journal called James Lee Witt the "master of disaster."

    As the head of FEMA, Witt pioneered a new way of handling crisis and rebuilt America's emergency response system. Instead of waiting for a disaster to hit and cleaning up in its wake, he sought ways to manage a crisis before and during, as well as after, it happens. Heralded by Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and the Harvard Business school for its remarkable results, his approach identifies four windows of opportunity for getting a crisis under control -- preparation, prevention, response, and recovery -- and the demands facing leaders and teams at each stage.

    There, the Wall Friggin' Street Journal agrees with me.

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 5:57pm

25. Yesireee folks...at ChimpCo we've come up with a whole new perspective on disaster managment. We found that it is much more efficient to get ahead of the game by making everything a disaster right up front. This way there's no surprises and we can put good Americans to work on solving these horrible crises that so affect our nation

    No problems right now? Don't fret....we've got our best minds working on it.

    At ChimpCo we're always a step ahead of you. But of course, the illegal (oops, Patriotic) wiretaps help...

    Posted by leftofcenter at 04/24/2007 @ 6:08pm

26. I know Scott and I hope this is all a mistake or all ado about nothing.

    Visit: http://OsiSpeaks.com or http://OsiSpeaks.org

    Posted by KYJurisDoctor at 04/24/2007 @ 6:09pm

27. sounds like yet another little tea pot dome that needs congressional oversight and investigation. such a shame. tsk tsk tsk...

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/24/2007 @ 6:10pm

28. Posted by DR DECIBELS 04/24/2007 @ 5:53pm

    yeah - the appointees of this administration have been especially incompetant and unsuited suited sociopaths. well, guess if you want to dismantle the federal gubbament, may as well monkey wrench it good and hard...

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/24/2007 @ 6:14pm

29. Government bad. No need government.

    Anybody been following the problems at the FDA? Yeah, government's real bad until you eat some spinach contaminated by bacteria or something else that could be detected with proper inspections. Oh well, I suppose we can all just start growing, canning, preserving, butchering our own food, huh? I mean, why waste tax dollars on that when we can just do it ourselves?

    Posted by mtspence05 at 04/24/2007 @ 6:29pm

30. Posted by KYJURISDOCTOR 04/24/2007 @ 6:09pm

    lie down with dogs...

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/24/2007 @ 6:29pm

31. Posted by MTSPENCE05 04/24/2007 @ 6:29pm

    actually...gettin all darladoon here, but it might be wise for us to encourage more local food autonomy...for very sound reasons.

    like our federal gov is in the hands of incompetant ideologues bent on its destruction and their own enrichment...

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/24/2007 @ 6:34pm

32. HA HA HEE HEE...

    all the rottenness is bubbling to the top! tillman and lynch...

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/24/2007 @ 6:36pm

33. yay harry ried!

    he aint responding to someone with a 9% approval rating! ha! yeah!

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/24/2007 @ 6:38pm

34. Are we to be forced to suffer one investigation after another until the next administration? There is a war going on and Al Qaeda is still planning attacks all over the world. Why waste time on Rove or other ridiculous petty issues?

    Posted by jmaestro at 04/24/2007 @ 6:52pm

35. Posted by JMAESTRO 04/24/2007 @ 6:52pm

    Subversion of Democratic rule for partisan gain is certainly NOT "petty" in my book

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 6:56pm

36. But go ahead and trivialize it. It suits your mentality.

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 6:56pm

37. 11th conviction in Abramoff-lobbying probe

    Fifth congressional staffer to admit guilt in Capitol Hill lobbying scandal

    Updated: 1 hour, 36 minutes ago WASHINGTON - A former congressional aide pleaded guilty Tuesday to accepting tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from lobbyist Jack Abramoff in an influence-peddling scandal that has touched the White House, Interior Department and congressional Republicans.

    Mark Zachares was the 11th person to be convicted in the Justice Department probe.

    Zachares admitted engaging in official acts on Abramoff's behalf while working for Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who chaired the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 7:01pm

38. 5th congressional staffer to plead

    "Guilty, your honor," Zachares told U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle who asked what plea he would enter to a single count of conspiracy.

    He faces a maximum of five years in prison, but under federal sentencing guidelines will probably face two years or less.

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 7:02pm

39. Dr. Decibels - Al Qaeda's still out there and your priorities are wrong. I suppose you answered me though. We can look forward to the rest of the Bush administration being all about payback with little Congressional focus on anything else. Yawn until the next terrorist atrocity then more of the same.

    Posted by jmaestro at 04/24/2007 @ 7:09pm

40. Posted by JMAESTRO 04/24/2007 @ 7:09pm

    You sound so scared, little boy, do you need someone to protect you so you can sleep at night?

    Should we turn a blind eye to the evil being practiced HERE, by your hero's, and let bushco rape America?

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 7:13pm

41. Or you could just stick your head back up your ass and let the grownups take care of business.

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 7:14pm

42. My fears? Not at all. Just unable to understand how some people decide where to place their energy. I'd simply rather see Congress focusing on more pressing problems like securing the country first and kicking the crap out of each other last. We didn't elect them to be at war with each other while we are at war all over the world with a real enemy.

    Posted by jmaestro at 04/24/2007 @ 7:18pm

43. "It is a dizzying situation. The investigator investigating officials who oversee the agency that is investigating the investigator. Forget firewalls. This looks more like a basement flooded with backed-up sewage--with the water rising."

    Very helpful and timely article. It looks like we shouldnt waste too much time expecting the "special consel's" report to be anything but obfuscation or a slap on the wrist -- and a publicity prop.

    Posted by RLawrence at 04/24/2007 @ 7:19pm

44. Posted by JMAESTRO 04/24/2007 @ 7:09pm

    why cant we root out al qaeda AND domestic criminality in high places?

    oh yeah, the criminally negligent (and worse) are also incompetant, so we cant even beat al queda. but thats in the hands of the executive branch. going after the executive branch usurpers is the job of congress, who has yet to prove its competance or incompetance.

    putting some criminal usurper heads on poles is do-able, i think. can they do it? we shall see.

    i would not expect much progress in the war, until maybe starting some time in 09. get used to it.

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/24/2007 @ 7:20pm

45. Then you are a fool. Goodbye.

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 7:20pm

46. Something is wrong when all we hear about is Anna Nichole and Karl Rove. Who cares? Not me. Not now.

    Posted by jmaestro at 04/24/2007 @ 7:21pm

47. Something is wrong when all we hear about is Anna Nichole and Karl Rove. Who cares? Not me. Not now.

    Posted by JMAESTRO 04/24/2007 @ 7:21pm

    Spoken as his head slid smoothly back up his anus, where it is so safe and warm.......

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 7:25pm

48. rove is a great enabler and knee deep in the corruption and criminality of this administration. but for him...

    regardless, before we can even think about thwarting al qaeda, we need a competant executive branch. the current occupants have ingeniously managed fall into almost every single trap al qaeda has set for us. amazing. worst ever.

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/24/2007 @ 7:26pm

49. regardless, before we can even think about thwarting al qaeda, we need a competant executive branch.

    BINGO. bush just keeps playing right into their hands over and over again.

    Sort of gives a new meaning to the term "useful idiots" doesn't it?

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 7:29pm

50. Hey, I thought we were going to "get Rove"...from the Attorney-gate scandal?!?!?!?

    Or was it "Plame-gate"?

    Posted by Mask at 04/24/2007 @ 7:32pm

51. they are so incompetant its almost sinister, and not much of a stretch to go all rese...but i'll go with the obvious explanation...

    worse presidency ever. dumbest, most morally challenged, arrogant, corrupt, and guilty of making the world not safer, but far scarier...and more dangerous too.

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/24/2007 @ 7:33pm

52. You twerps! It's lunatics like yourselv'es that enable Al Qaeda daily. You spend every waking hour attacking your own country, never for a moment stopping to even so much as criticize Al Queda, terrorism etc. Hopefully this country will wake up, and people like you, Kucinich, Pelosi and Reid will be locked up indefeinitely on charges of sedition, you traitorous filth!

    Posted by barry25 at 04/24/2007 @ 7:34pm

53. Posted by MASK 04/24/2007 @ 7:32pm |

    does the "getting" have to come from one direction?

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/24/2007 @ 7:34pm

54. Now do your country, your families, and your mother's a favor and jump off a bridge, oxygen thieves!

    Posted by barry25 at 04/24/2007 @ 7:35pm

55. Dr Goebbels,

    You're on a tear, admittedly....You must be retired, or have the day off to post so much....But, to respond briefly, since I don't have all day to debate you, the total job load of FEMA under 8 years of Pres. Clinton was no where near it's load the last 3 years, but kudos for pointing out that it was in good hands at least under Clinton.....Still doesn't really convince me that anyone could have done much better with the NO situation, what with the total failure of the Mayor and Governor...contrast the recovery efforts and their progress in NO with the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and various parts of Florida...the main differences?

    Jeb Bush and Haley Barbour, versus Kathleen Blanco...No Contest.... Need I point out who are repubs, and who is the dem?

    Posted by davebarlett at 04/24/2007 @ 7:37pm

56. Posted by BARRY25 04/24/2007 @ 7:34pm

    hey barry! how's wind surfin off catalina from your yacht going? clownin any librul oxygen users? dazzlin the honeys with all your hard earned blingity bling? stopping street crimes? running cocaine?

    sounds like an exciting conservative life.

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/24/2007 @ 7:38pm

57. Are we to be forced to suffer one investigation after another until the next administration? There is a war going on and Al Qaeda is still planning attacks all over the world. Why waste time on Rove or other ridiculous petty issues?

    Posted by JMAESTRO 04/24/2007 @ 6:52pm | ignore this person

    You have got to be joking! AQ isn't even your President's priority...remember? What you should be afraid of is this administration and the destruction of our country from within. These SOBs have caused more hurt to America than AQ could ever dream of. AQ must be laughing at us every day. Unbelievable!

    Corrupt investigating the corrupt. God help us.

    Posted by OneVote at 04/24/2007 @ 8:44pm

58. Posted by DAVEBARLETT 04/24/2007 @ 7:37pm | ignore this person

    Ah...wasn't Bush Homeland Security variety of FEMA doing analysis of the levees and dikes pre Katrina, and didn't they recommend repairing and upgrade (pre Katrina) and didn't they do some mock disaster simulations and come to the conclusion that they could handle it? Funny that the Corp of Engineers lost all those plans for the levee repair isn't it?

    Posted by OneVote at 04/24/2007 @ 8:50pm

59. I do agree with the claim that we are being destroyed from within, but the " within " is coming from the Democrat party and the MSM ( one in the same ). These traitorous, power-hungry, lifelong politicians have shown themselves willing to stoop low enough as to betray their country, cause the deaths of their own troops by aiding and abetting terrorists worldwide, taking the side of our enemies by attacking our country and the Bush administration 24/7 without any condemnation of anything Al qaeda or any other terrorist org. has done. These people are the lowest form of slime and anyone who votes for them is complicit with them and Al Qaeda ( one in the same ). All liberals should be ashamed of themselves and should NEVER be forgiven by America for taking the side of our enemy for political gain and to soften the negative effects " BUSH DERANGEMENT SYNDROME"! So, although I hope that no Americans are ever the victims of a terrorist attack ( we will be ), I hope, that if there is an attack, the victims will be the very liberal scum that enabled and empowered terrorists worldwaide to satisfy their lust for power! LIBERALISM IS A MENTAL DISORDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Posted by barry25 at 04/24/2007 @ 9:05pm

60. rufus investigates the WH so he can get all the embarassing evidence and lock it down.

    well senator we gave all that evidence to rufus so you'll have to get from him.

    then rufus goes: this is all part of my investigation and i can't release any of it since it will damage my case.

    and at the end of my investigation i'll know they're all innocent so i can destroy all that evidence, because senator you're too dumb to get your hands on it

    Posted by jimharris at 04/24/2007 @ 9:09pm

61. Posted by DAVEBARLETT 04/24/2007 @ 7:37pm

    That's because you're an idiot. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZz

    ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 9:20pm

62. IQ_barely25

    lib·er·al /ˈlɪbərəl, ˈlɪbrəl/ –adjective

    1. favorable to progress or reform.

    2. noting or pertaining to a political party advocating measures of progressive political reform.

    3. of, pertaining to, based on, or advocating liberalism.

    4. favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, esp. as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.

    5. favoring or permitting freedom of action, esp. with respect to matters of personal belief or expression

    6. of or pertaining to representational forms of government rather than aristocracies and monarchies.

    7. free from prejudice or bigotry; tolerant: a liberal attitude toward foreigners.

    8. open-minded or tolerant, esp. free of or not bound by traditional or conventional ideas, values, etc.

    9. characterized by generosity and willingness to give in large amounts: a liberal donor.

    10. given freely or abundantly; generous:

    Gee....where'd they hide the insult? That Webster fella must be a goddamned liberal! If he was alive we'd ship him off to Gitmo

    Posted by leftofcenter at 04/24/2007 @ 9:44pm

63. Posted by MASK 04/24/2007 @ 7:32pm

    Hey, I thought we were going to "get Rove"...from the Attorney-gate scandal?!?!?!?

    Or was it "Plame-gate"?

    It was both. But this time, they're really going to get him. Unless they don't, then it will tbe time after that.

    Posted by pontificus at 04/24/2007 @ 10:01pm

64. while we are at war all over the world with a real enemy.

    Posted by JMAESTRO 04/24/2007 @ 7:18pm | ignore this person

    WE ARE NOT AT WAR ALL OVER THE WORLD.

    that is what the criminal in the blood house wishes you to believe, and guess what JM, they have found a major sucker in you. I suggest you enlist.

    Posted by johannesrolf at 04/24/2007 @ 10:17pm

65. does the "getting" have to come from one direction?

    Posted by IBBLEBLIBBLE 04/24/2007 @ 7:34pm

    Starting to think PONTI may have scored a point on this one--Posted by PONTIFICUS 04/24/2007 @ 10:01pm

    Posted by Mask at 04/24/2007 @ 10:24pm

66. Posted by BARRY25 04/24/2007 @ 9:05pm

    Are you one of those guys who call Michael "Dr. Savage"...even though he would really be "Dr. Weiner"?

    hehe

    Posted by Mask at 04/24/2007 @ 10:26pm

67. Posted by MASK 04/24/2007 @ 10:26pm |

    i wanna get invited to one of his catalina "pimps up ho's down" yacht parties. i hear those things are scandalous...maybe i should be nicer to him...lets see...

    BARRY25

    hey...sup? yo homey...when you bustin out one of those pimps up hos down orgy parties again? you wanna argue some politics?

    democratic party and msm are the same thing? really? how so?

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/24/2007 @ 10:38pm

68. Leftofreality, Club Gitmo? Nah, I was thinking we'd re-open Alcatraz so we can save transportation costs shipping the traitors across the bay. Now, here's the new definition of today's liberal: 1) defending the rights of pedophiles to rape little children ( see: ACLU's defense of Nambla and Pelosi's SF connections to high powered PEDOPHILES ) 2) defense of terrorists ( see: any and all ), murderers ( see: tookie williams ), and dictators ( see: Saddam, Castro etc. - can anyone say...Ramsey Clarke?) 30 Defense and re-election of Adulterous, tax-dodging/chaeting, hooker-chasing crackheads ( see: Marion Barry ) 4) Defense and probable re-election of marraige wrecking, campaign manager/friends betraying, no moral compass having Dem. mayor ( see: Gavin Newsome )....The list can go on and on but I goota eat dinner now. But as you can see, people like LEFT-OF-REALITY ( or sanity, or morality )have nNO moral compass and are truly the ENEMY WITHIN our once beautiful country. They're despicable people lacking any sane value system that are an embarrassment to their families, countrymen, society, humanity and god!

    Posted by barry25 at 04/24/2007 @ 10:44pm

69. In the same way AM radio, Fox news and the pulpit are representative of the Republican party, you moron! I forgot to sandwich academia between the Dem. party and the MSM!

    Posted by barry25 at 04/24/2007 @ 10:46pm

70. You got clowned biiiiaaaatch!

    Posted by barry25 at 04/24/2007 @ 10:48pm

71. Posted by BARRY25 04/24/2007 @ 10:44pm

    barry...barry...BARRY

    msm and democratic party, the same? how so?

    trying to engage you here, kid, but you gotta try to pay attention...

    barry...barry...BARRY!

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/24/2007 @ 10:49pm

72. Hi Barry!

    the msm is owned by democratic corporations and investors who demand ideological slanting of all objective reality? really?

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/24/2007 @ 10:51pm

73. Posted by BARRY25 04/24/2007 @ 10:48pm

    Somebody please switch barry25's viagra with nembutal. Secobarbitol?

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 11:08pm

74. Pentobarbital, amobarbital?

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 11:09pm

75. How about a little mescaline barry25?

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 11:10pm

76. Doc's tryin' to help ya little buddy......

    Posted by Dr Decibels at 04/24/2007 @ 11:10pm

77. Posted by JMAESTRO 04/24/2007 @ 7:18pm

    A point can be made that Congress is doing nothing or not talking about AQ and does focus only on Bush with endless and most likely fruitless investigations..

    I am not awake in my bed worrying about if we am going to be attacked again....

    I know we are..but all the efforts are to get Bush because of Iraq..even if there are only 1000 AQs in all of Iraq, to give them notice we are leaving by x date is stupid...any comfort to these guys or an opening will be exploited...these are not people you can sit down at the table and ask why they are mad at you...

    Congress, ifit truely wants to lead the nation in an effort to help make a more safe America could begin by pushing an agenda of fixing our borders, going after AQ and Bin Laden if they are convinced Bush isn't doing so...put for a vocal public plan and acknowlege AQ STILL wants to kill us...

    ..they would certainly gain some respect from me....but all I see and hear is we are getting Rove..Kusinich is going to get Cheney, Fitz got Libby(for what?)..Bush will be impeached.and Waxman and Leahy all over the MSM...and AQ? Totally forgotten...until and when..

    ...they hit us again..and what will the next bunch of hearings be about? If we are hit during Bush presidency...then will focus on Bush failures...if after Bush term and a Dem president..focus will be on Bush failures...enough already.

    No one is talking or bringing into the national discussion the very threat being made against us and the west by the Islamic Facists groups of all flavors..they are telling us what they are trying to do..and we are focusing on ...Rove.

    Posted by john maasch at 04/24/2007 @ 11:27pm

78. OK, you're right! The only FALSE/Fraudulent stories that have either gotten innocents killed ( Newsweeks/flushed Koran ), or Rathergate ( lie about Bush )which was an attempt to swing an election ( failed ), were the work of Conservatives. All networks and papers ( especially the NYT ) are filled with CONSERVATIVE journalists fresh off of CONSERVATIVE communist re-education camps, er...I mean college campuses, RIGHT? I mean, Rather, Jennings, Couric, Dobbs, Cronkite, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, The NY and LA Times, Hollywood etc. are all Neo-cons bent on attacking liberals, right? You are a complete F'ing moron, my child, ( do I sound like that raging conservative, Alec Baldwin? )! I will waste no more time educating retarded, mentally disturbed, liberals tonite! My work is done here!

    Posted by barry25 at 04/24/2007 @ 11:31pm

79. Does anyone understand or notice...we never see the film clips of 9/11?

    Did some one decide it is too traumatic for us to see?... yet we have worse shit belching out of Hollywood and in to our TVs... Why? But we have Anna N Smith, anti Bush, anti US, anti US govt, stories every day all day..

    Posted by john maasch at 04/24/2007 @ 11:46pm

80. IQ_barely25

    1)Yeah...defending pedophiles like Mark Foley while he chased pages around and all his "handlers" knew. Egads...that's right. They were ALL REPUBLICANS, right?

    2) regarding terrorists and murderers...let's forget that Osama we all know and love was created by Ronnie Raygun's CIA, or that famous photo of Rummy & Saddam shaking hands in 2003, or that Ronnie sold Saddam WMDs,. Yeah...the GOP never dirties there hands in that sort of thing, right? bwah-ha-ha-ha

    3) let's also ignore the $billions "lost" in Iraq somehow, and more in New Orleans, or the dozen GOPs who have stepped down and/or off to prison re: Abramoff, or howzabout that zany Libby, or Bush's buddy Ken Lay, or even Cheney who STILL lies about non-existent WMDs and al-Qaida on TV.

    ..and speaking of loss of moral compass...howzabout that Abu Ghraib thing, or Gonzalez signing torture into law, Gitmo, Fitzgerald, illegal wiretapping, Cunningham & "Hookergate" ...yeah, I confess I didn't realize you guys were "on the high ground" (or was it that you were just high...?)

    Ya gotta love them hard-core right-wing fundyvangenuts who think science in schools oughta be of the "presto" variety...and don't forget the ever failing "no child left behind"...that teaches how to pass the requisite test so schools can get their money...while no actual learning takes place.

    And let's not forget Neal Horsley...you know, your right-wing pillar of virtue and defender of the unborn who admitted in an interview that he had sex with a mule. Yeah...you guys sure got lots of room to talk about moral decay. From where I'm watching you might have actually invented it.

    For the record...my eldest is a vet...no doubt she has larger testicles than you possess oh spineless turd, and my youngest is a straight-A, morally conscientious young lady on her way up.

    So speakin of "clownin"...I believe I just beeped your big red nose and bitch-slapped you to boot! Have a nice day...

    Posted by leftofcenter at 04/25/2007 @ 12:03am

81. O.K. you wacky Leftys.

    The president has seen fit to investigate some highly partisan allegations of some possible minor rule infractions in Mr. Rove's office. But this time, unlike when that incredible story of someone in the VP office "outing" a CIA agent, like anyone in the Whitehouse in THIS administration would do such a thing, there will be a through investigation and we can then tell the American people there is nothing to see, so folks, just keep moving, there's nothing to see here. It all been investigated and everything is just fine. Nothing to see. Just move along.

    "It's like deja vu all over again." - Yogi Berra

    Posted by COProgressive at 04/25/2007 @ 12:58am

82. Where's plunger when you need him?

    Posted by RESE 04/25/2007 @ 03:52am

    Right here, Rese!

    Keep up the good work!

    http://plungerspeaks.blogspot.com

    Posted by plunger at 04/25/2007 @ 04:10am

83. Is anybody really surprised? You turn over a rock and under it you find another fourth rate religious freak burrowing deep into our government to turn it into a third world country. Their capacity to lie to justify their stubbornly stupid destructive activity is breathtaking. Even after the next election, it will take years to properly fumigate the government, and then watch how many personnel records suddenly get lost. We are infected and he cure will be difficult and long. Cry the beloved country.

    Posted by Supercritic at 04/25/2007 @ 04:49am

84. A suggestion for Barry25. What you really need is an armband, and maybe a whistle if you are good. Then you can really clean up the traitors in our mist. There are many fine examples for you to follow if you get lost along the way or trip over your shoe laces. There was Ivan the Terrible, Caligula, the inquisition, Hitler, Stalin and our old friends at the bowling alley in their white hoods. And don't worry about those pimples, they will probably go away soon and i am sure that you will find a date for the prom, someplace, somewhere in the corner of the zoo.

    Posted by Supercritic at 04/25/2007 @ 05:17am

85. Ah, Scott Bloch. I remember him. In fact, so to speak, he was the subject of my Know Bush Fact #18, emailed broadly on April 4, 2004:

    "Based on the belief that the truth shall set you free:

    Know Bush Fact #18

    While the spotlight is focused on the heightened drama of gay marriage, the Bush administration is withdrawing protection for federal employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation.

    Last year, Bush nominated Scott Bloch as head of the U.S. Office of the Special Counsel, to start in January 2004. Mr. Bloch is the former Deputy Director of the Justice Department's Task Force for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He was a research fellow for the Claremont Institute, an ultra-conservative think tank in California which boasts of "fighting the gay rights initiative." He has hired at least two religious conservative advocates to his staff and offered the #2 post at the OSC to Prof. Robert Carlson of Casper College, Wyoming, known for helping to form an anti-gay campus group.

    In February 2004, Bloch removed from the OSC's printed documents, training slide show, and website all references to discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workforce being illegal.

    Bloch doesn't believe the 1978 law, intended to protect federal employees and job applicants from adverse personnel actions taken against them for reasons unrelated to their job performance, has to be applied to discrimination based on sexual orientation -- as it has since 1999.

    Bloch argues that there is a distinction between one's conduct as a gay or lesbian and one's status as a gay or lesbian. "Someone may have jumped to the conclusion that conduct equals sexual orientation, but they are essentially very different. One is a class... and one is a behavior," Bloch said in a March 10 interview with Federal Times.

    Bloch does not equate conduct based on sexual orientation with sexual orientation itself. Such a link would mean gays, lesbians and bisexuals are covered as a protected class, even though they are not protected under the nation's civil rights laws.

    Bloch's predecessor at the OSC, Washington attorney Elaine Kaplan, called his reading of the law, "dead wrong."

    "A member of George Bush's administration is altering decades of federal employment policy based on some of the shoddiest legal reasoning I have seen in my professional career," said Rep. Elliot L. Engel, New York Democrat, in a press conference.

    To verify/search, Google: Bush +Bloch +gay

    - April 2, 2004"

    Oh yeah! He's the guy to investigate Rove. Which part of Rove, I wonder...

    Posted by knowbush at 04/25/2007 @ 07:18am

86. Posted by PLUNGER 04/25/2007 @ 04:10am

    Thank God...thought you had been drafted to fight World War-3...or were arrested under martial law sometime in the last three weeks and sent to Cheney's concentration camp!

    Whew!

    BLOG | Posted 03/28/2007 @ 02:14am MoveOn Launches Online Townhalls by Ari Melber

    "Time is up. World War III starts Friday – and it will coincide with conditions inside the US that lead to Martial Law, through either an Anthrax attack or a phony Bird Flu Outbreak. ---Posted by PLUNGER 03/28/2007 @ 7:46pm

    Posted by Mask at 04/25/2007 @ 09:22am

87. Stop throwing around "traitor"- Barry, you sound like a five year old. Opposition to a sitting President's policies or conduct is as American as baseball and duck hunting. When the right wing was calling for Clinton's impeachment- although disgusted and embarrassed for them, I never thought of the "right" as traitors. A more reasonable conclusion is the current administration are traitors to the current and binding Constitution of the United States. I realize Barry and his ilk are backed into a corner and are forced to lash out with illogical conclusions. Wise up folks, these whitehouse fools, felonious and sloppy, are destroying any remaining credibility from their blind supporters. Stop making excuses, I'll stop feeling sympathetic, and we can bring back true debate. I'm off to clown college...

    Posted by phillymark at 04/25/2007 @ 10:03am

88. Posted by JOHN MAASCH 04/24/2007 @ 11:46pm

    they especially dont want folks to see wtc-7 implode...har har.

    when you pre-wire buildings with federally sensitive secret crap to be pulled on short notice, i guess you cant exactly let that out...might make the blissfully ignorant drones inside kind of edgy.

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/25/2007 @ 10:24am

89. Barry, last time I will address you, because you are lacking in basic logic skils and are no longer worth my time.

    This has been addressed here repeatedly for you,RIO,LUVVY and Aludra in all her forms, but you seem unable to grasp simple facts. Wanting my guvt to be responsible to the people, wanting my guvt to not be corrupt to its core, wanting my country to not go to war based on falsehoods and jingoistic slogans does not make me a traitor. George Bush is NOT America, you spineless, brainless sheep.

    since your hero George the Chimp took power Islamic terrorism has increased. He has managed to lose wars in two locations. He will leave office with both wars unfinished. You will blame everyone except those in power during his tenure (look up tenure if you have to). since Chimp took power NAMBLA has stayed the same, a group of whackos like Foley that have absolutely zero influence anywhere. What is your fascination with the greasy old mans club? Were you too old for them?

    As I note to PONTI etc and now you, think about this: no wmd's in Iraq. No connections to Al Qaida. the Chief of staff to the VP lied to the FBI and a Grand Jury. Chimpies depts have been found guilty of breaking many, many laws, including paying to spread propaganda (which you bought hook line and sinker) , abusing the CPB and holding US citizens in violation of US law. they have kidnapped innocent (yes innocent) people and had them tortured by Islamic governments. He has lost more supreme court cases than any other president that I know of. These same people told you the prisoners in GITMO were the "most vicious", then released over 200 of them.

    You are not real bright, you "clown" no one here, ever. Your facts are generally nothing more than talking points given to you by people that have looked into the camera and lied to you, repeatedly.

    The "left" did not oppose desegregation.

    You are ignorant, childish, boorish and ill informed. I have seen you voice zero opinions of your own, just parroting right wing talk radio. Your dreaded MSM hopped into bed with Chimpy and spread fear of Saddam, ignoring almost every sane voice available during the lead up to war. NBC is owned by General Electric. CBS is owned by VIACOM, whose CEO pledged to do whatever it took to elect Chimpy. ABC is owned by Disney, an entertainment giant. FOX is owned by a right wing nut job. Gannet is the largest paper company in the country, they bust unions, brook no dissent, illegally monopolize distribution outlets. Knight Ridder is barely any better. They are not "liberal" by any stretch. As a matter of fact, the "left" despises most MSM due to their corporate connections and willingness to fire editorial staff to shave costs, because all that matter to MSM is better share prices.

    If you want to help your country, start reading some books, turn off whatever "news" source you parrot, and join the Army to fight towelheads. Seriously, you are one of the most ignorant individuals I have ever had the displeasure of encountering. You have zero understanding of what the "left" is about. You make up definitions to fulfill your twisted desire to hate. And to top it off, you are never even funny. If you could at least fill that niche you might be worth reading, but you fail in humor just like Chimpy fails in leadership.

    Bye bye, you lunatic. I think Usama and Muqtada would be happy to have you, as you have more in common with them than you do most of this country.

    Here is your president fighting AL Qaida:

    By ALAN COWELL Published: April 25, 2007 LONDON, April 25 -- In a somber and wide-ranging assessment of the threat facing his country, Britain's top counterterrorism police officer, Peter Clarke, said Al Qaeda has survived "a prolonged multi-national assault" and its supporters had established "an inexorable trend towards more ambitious and more destructive attack planning."

    results count. Chimpy has failed. It is patriotic to point that out, not hide our heads in the sand hoping for the best.

    Witless drone.

    Posted by crabwalk at 04/25/2007 @ 11:51am

90. As for the rest of the neo-cons, you guys hate guvt with a passion, but you defend this one at all turns.

    Why? In order to have good guvt, we have to have good people in guvt. Chimp has proven again and again that loyalty to he and part are more important than ability. I would think that that would make you cringe, not set your lips to the butt cheeks of guvt. I would think you guys would be the most upset at opportunities lost, not upset that Americans are pointing out the necked Emperor.

    Worst Potus ever. He will leave the country more in debt, more at risk, more divided, and with more poor citizens than he found it. But you neos are still more afraid of Jane Fonda and Marion Barry than you are concerned with your neighbors welfare.

    It's hard to see whats going on when you have the flag wrapped around your head so tight it cuts the O2 supply.

    Posted by crabwalk at 04/25/2007 @ 11:58am

91. "he and partY"

    Like loyalty to the Communist Part is requisite for entrance into Chinese guvt.

    Posted by crabwalk at 04/25/2007 @ 12:00pm

92. I don't know why i am doing this, it is a waste of time, but here goes:

    Barry (and LUVVY) says the ACLU is anti-American and only defends pedophiles and liberals. Anybody that knows anything knows that is BS. As Barry is unable to use The Google on the internet(s) here are some links that prove Barry is 12:

    For immediate release October 26, 2006

    NATCHITOCHES, LA--Today the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana filed a lawsuit on behalf of a lone protestor who was denied his free expression rights by the City of Natchitoches. Edwin Crayton, a devout Christian, sought to stand in front of Wal-Mart in Natchitoches with a sign protesting Wal-Mart's alleged position on gay marriage.

    "Government violates the principles in the First Amendment when it puts an overbroad permit scheme in place to restrain free speech in a public place," according to Joe Cook, Executive Director, ACLU of Louisiana. "The sweep of the ordinance is so wide that it could encompass a chance meeting on the street corner by two strangers."

    Mr. Crayton peacefully picketed for about 40 minutes on a public sidewalk with a sign that said "Christians: Wal-Mart Supports Gay Lifestyles And Marriage. Don't Shop There." Then, he was approached by a Natchitoches police officer who refused to allow him to continue without obtaining a permit from the City. Mr. Crayton received permission from the chief of police to hold an "open air meeting," but he also needed permission of the Mayor. Despite the passage of several weeks since his application, the Mayor has still failed to approve Mr. Crayton's request.

    "The right to be heard on matters of religious and political significance is at the core of our constitutional system," said Katie Schwartzmann, Staff Attorney for the ACLU of Louisiana. "The City of Natchitoches has effectively silenced Mr. Crayton on what for him is an important religious issue, and this type of government censorship cannot stand unchallenged." http://www.laaclu.org/News/2006/Crayton_102706.htm

    http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07011/752795-152.stm

    --Zoning Ordinance Illegally Bars Church from Establishing House of Worship in East Point, ACLU Says

    ATLANTA - The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia today filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of the Tabernacle Community Baptist Church, charging that the city of East Point, Georgia violated a federal religious discrimination law when it denied the church a zoning permit needed to establish its house of worship.

    "We simply want a permanent house of worship, where church members can gather for ministry, education and fellowship," said Nathaniel Smiley, pastor at the Tabernacle Community Baptist Church. "The East Point property is perfect for our church and we don't believe that we should be denied the ability to move in because we are a church." http://www.aclu.org/religion/discrim/25518prs20060419.html

    NEWARK, NJ -- The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey today announced that it is seeking to participate as a friend-of-the-court in the case of a second-grade student who was barred from singing a religious song in a voluntary, after-school talent show.

    "There is a distinction between speech by a school and speech by individual students," said ACLU of New Jersey cooperating attorney Jennifer Klear of Drinker, Biddle & Reath in New York City. "The Constitution protects a student's individual right to express herself, including the right to express herself religiously." http://www.aclu.org/religion/schools/20174prs20050920.html

    CLEVELAND -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio is supporting a preacher in his lawsuit against an Akron suburb that stopped him from protesting abortion during a parade.

    The ACLU usually argues on the other side of the anti-abortion movement, fighting bans on a late-term abortion procedure and restrictive parental consent laws.

    "But when it comes to free speech, we take all comers," Raymond Vasvari, legal director in the ACLU's Cleveland office, told The Plain Dealer. http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=16471

    Posted by crabwalk at 04/25/2007 @ 12:27pm

93. Remember Crabs

    At ChimpCo we redefine reality as required, and its required whenever we say so. We like to call it "situational response."

    Posted by leftofcenter at 04/25/2007 @ 12:43pm

94. Posted by LEFTOFCENTER 04/25/2007 @ 12:43pm

    My father calls it '10 pounds of bullshit in a 5 pound bag.'

    Posted by skeletonman at 04/25/2007 @ 2:20pm

95. Posted by SKELETONMAN 04/25/2007 @ 2:20pm

    So ChimpCo is compressing bullshit...apparently by conflating other things...like measures of the economy and welfare of the American people.

    ChimpCo - making new problems for tomorrow's problem-solvers! We call it thinking ahead.

    Posted by leftofcenter at 04/25/2007 @ 2:50pm

96. Posted by LEFTOFCENTER 04/25/2007 @ 2:50pm

    Another way to look at it: by the time these nefarious bastards are done, all that feculent carbon material will have been converted into diamonds.

    Posted by skeletonman at 04/25/2007 @ 3:02pm

97. WHY I AM NOT A CONSERVATIVE, PART DIEUX...

    Seems like what ever happened, the Plames babe and her hubby are having a ball in their new multimillion dollar home in Sante Fe....seems the, ah, "outing", is working out better than any retirement plan the feds have for their employees!!

    We all should be so outed...

    Posted by JOHN MAASCH 04/24/2007 @ 5:23pm | ignore this person

    I single this comment out because it (a rhetorical tactic honed to perfection originally by William F. Buckley, Jr.) is not untypical of the way conservatives argue in general when someone calls one their own on something. It is basically a version of what is called in classical rhetoric the "Tu Atque" ("You Too") argument and the (dis)logic rests on the following egregiously fallacious presupposition: "You did something bad too, therefore what WE did bad to you is OK." I don't know how many times I've seen versions of Tu Atque posted by conservatives (here and elsewhere). And it is always trotted out IN LIEU OF actually defending a (usually indefensible) action (such as, for example, the perjury and obstruction of justice surrounding Plame's "outing"). I am, frankly, getting sick of seeing this tactic trotted out, mainly because, being logically fallacious, it reeks of crass stupidity.

    Posted by w_m_bear at 04/25/2007 @ 8:38pm

98. That should, of course, be "Part Deux." Boy, am I really off my spelling/proofreading game tonight. (So "Tu Atque" me!)

    Posted by w_m_bear at 04/25/2007 @ 8:47pm

99. Posted by DR DECIBELS 04/24/2007 @ 11:08pm

    erections lasting four or more hours?!?!?!? priapus? hell, BARRY's so hard core, he takes the stuff FOR the priapus!

    Posted by ibbleblibble at 04/26/2007 @ 09:50am

100. The most effective way to engender loyalty is to appoint the incompetent. It's general rule number one in the Republican handbook.

     Posted by RxDemo911 at 04/27/2007 @ 4:08pm

101. The most effective way to engender loyalty is to appoint the incompetent. It's general rule number one in the Republican handbook.

     Posted by RxDemo911 at 04/27/2007 @ 4:11pm

102. Bloch's appointment, as Corn points out, is to give the appearance of a thorough investigation while avoiding the risk of findings of illegal politicization of DOJ and other agencies. Bush was far better at his game when the Republican rubberstamp no oversight Congress was in power. Bush's ability to obstruct justice has been severly crippled by the election last fall and a press that has begun to wake from its stupor.

     Contemporary conservatism is averse to independent critical thinking and self-examination. Three things - the slavish loyalty of the contemporary movement, the elevation of democrats to enemy status, and a profound lack of accountability - have created the conditions in which our democratic republic has become a festering abomination.

     Both democrats and republicans used to believe corruption was wrong and the rule of law was essential. Now, republicans vociferously support senior White House officials' treason in outing CIA agents, starting pre-emptive wars of choice on fraudulent evidence, turning government function over to industry insiders, and giving no bid, no accountability contracts to campaign contributors.

     Posted by NeilSagan at 04/27/2007 @ 11:34pm

103. 36% agree-ify with W.

     Worst president ever? Don't answer that. It doesn't matter as a question unto itself but it does provide some perspective about the health of our government.

     Posted by NeilSagan at 04/28/2007 @ 12:08am