I spent most of the morning (and afternoon) watching the Gonzalez hearing in the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. (The extra $5 per month to add C-SPAN3 to my cable tier has already been well worth it.)
All of those hours are perhaps best summed up by the nugget of today’s hearing found in Rep. Robert Wexler’s extremely to-the-point questions, along with a follow up by Rep. Stephen Cohen (some guy named Rep. Tom Feeney went between the two of them, but it was not particular interesting or newsworthy).
So to save you the time of having to watch all 9 hours, or however long it was, here are the 9 minutes or so of video from those two sections. First Wexler’s must view clip, followed by Cohen:
The crux of Wexler’s very heated questions: If it wasn’t anyone at DoJ, and it wasn’t Bush or Cheney (as Gonzales said today) then who created the firing list?
Chairman Conyers is wondering exactly that, and his office sent us this statement, following today’s hearing:
“We learned from the media today that Todd Graves was the ninth fired US Attorney, and Thomas Heffelfenger of Minnesota may have been the 10th. That begs the question that my colleague, Rep. Sà¡nchez asked earlier, are there any others?
“My request for more information was met with an untenable response: ‘I’ll take that back.’ To whom will Mr. Gonzales take that back to if he, in fact, is the Attorney General, the one in charge?”
Proud to hear about my man Cohen being on the job – He’s from Memphis, and has been a top notch state Representative and Senator here in Nashville for years. He’s a new white guy in the House; yet in the black district formerly held by Harold Ford, Jr.
The Pubs best not F#*K with Cohen, even though he’s a frosh. He’s all business.
shw
Did you see/hear Sensenbrenner’s (the Kotex fortune heir) response to the – “following the breadcrumbs toward 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue” remark,.. he was trying to make America think the Demo US attorney fire/terminate employ investigation was a costly/worthless boondoggle for the majority party to get maximum media attentions with a very hefty price tag to the taxpayer – but absent any basis of criminality or impropriety.
Sensenbrenner said,.. The trail of breadcrumbs that you speak of is more like a trail of caviar – but it will likely lead no where no matter how much you spend.
His snide comment to Chairman Conyers.
The whit and cleverness of Sensenbrenner is astounding. This idiot can’t differentiate his ass from his elbow – what make him think he is qualified to critique beneficial Congressional oversight intended to protect our institutions of democracy ? Shouldn’t the lard ass just shut up and wolf down 3 dozen jelly donuts and let the Democrats run the show. He refused to do so when he had the gavel – what he has to say is immaterial to the integrity of our government.
http://www.brattonmustgo.com/sensenbrenner3.jpg
Hello, Shannon! (#1) Just wanted to let you know I had the opportunity to meet with your Rep. Cohen in January at the Media Reform Conference, and amidst a sea of so many disappointing Democratic Dippity-Do’s, he was a Beacon…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai7xNnbdRDg
(Link to VIDEO of Rep. Cohen/ Rep. Hinchey (NY) in Memphis responding to election judge’s excellent question: “Is Congress taking Election Integrity seriously?” Forgive the camera’s iffy distance/ had to set it down near an outlet to stand at the mike/ but the audio is fine.)
Mr. Cohen also had a very memorable appearance recently on The Colbert Report as a black, female law maker…
not sure how white that actually makes him.
Does anyone in this country actually believe anyone who doesn’t have brain damage of some sort could possibly have a memory as bad as AG AG?
It’s scary because it’s obvious they honestly believe they are above the law, can’t be touched, and can get away with all the crimes, lies and raping of our constitution they are guilty of.
Sitting there lying his ass off with that fucking smartass smirk on his fat evil face. Ugh.
Something has been bothering me all night watching these clips, and I finally figured out what it is: Remember Condi’s testimony after 9/11? Gonzales is using the same speech pattern. Exactly.
What they were doing for two or three weeks was coaching him in how to run out the clock without saying anything definitive. There is a nervousness, a staccato rhythm, a talking “at”, endless repetition of a few pat statements, and “I am lying and you know I am lying and you and I know there is nothing you can do about it.” The similarity is schooled, trained.
Bush was sincerely happy with his performance. The periodic grillings before Congress are just a minor inconvenience in the much larger mission of making the U.S. gov’t the front office for the GOP.
Jeanie D. #3:
Thanks for the update on Cohen. I’ll see if I can find him on Colbert.
shw
Alwaysfree #5
They both have been created by the same school, and so their brain waves have a similar pattern.
It is not the pattern of the original Americans, but is called by those scholars who watch it, the institutionalization of deceit. It is one of the largest businesses in the US.
If we were to apply an analysis of this process to an individual, instead of to a nation, it would result in a diagnosis of classical clinical delusion.
We were warned about the military industrial complex (MIC):
(Eisenhower’s Farewell, emphasis added). The MIC is the source and background power that is driving the psy ops.
How many times have you heard “I will listen to the military commanders on the ground instead of listening to congress”? It is quite obvious and out in the open, no longer subtle. That is to get us used to the idea a little at a time.
Listening to military commanders is not only good, it is better than listening to the people’s congress, is what is being said. And it is being said by the commander in chief.
One day they plan a takeover out in the open. For now the power source will remain hidden by a state of quasi camouflage, observed only by those with both eyes open.
Rather than admit they are invading the middle east, thru Afghanistan and Iraq, for the purpose of taking Iraqi oil and controlling world oil in the mid-east, they spend billions on propaganda pursuant to their own self deception.
It is a concerted effort to make the world think the shitpile invasion and occupation of the middle east smells good. But like the Gonzales and Wolfowitz wars, this does not work.
The psyche perfume “democracy” “freedom” “stability” and “security” have persuaded the neoCons but have not persuaded the world. This has only moved the MIC further into its own delusional shell, as is to be expected with clinical delusion.
Cheney / Bush are the current front men in this delusional parade. They are an affront to Americanism on purpose and in accord with the schedule. They have shown that a power play can be conducted and sustained for years.
We have seen how ineffective our government is when it comes to dealing with a constitutional crisis and with accountability. It takes decades for us to deal with a Cheney / Bush governmental illness, especially when those who are infected are supposed to be the cure.
ALWAYSFREE you nailed it:
It is time for the Dems to take off the kid gloves and go for the jugular. Impeach Gonzales. Make it a criminal investigation. That will wake their asses up.
Those who have followed Brad from the beginning, will recall that these tactics are the very same from the beginning of problems in OH, when subpoenas were issued. They were totally ignored by everyone WH and all. However, Blackwell did get his come-uppance.You’re exactly right in presuming they do not plan to EVER answer to Congress in any way.
Mr. Conyers has been a dear steadfast pursuant of justice for the American people. My prayer is that the Congress will wake up and realize that they are going to have to take the strongest action against the “evil empire” that has ever been taken in the past.
The Bush administration is taking the gamble that the Democrats and Independents will do absolutely nothing. If they are right on this one, not only our country, but our world is lost! You’d just better be prepared for the worst imaginable to happen.
#5 There is a book out …Elizabeth deVarga..Bush vs. US et al. She makes the argument that a group of people all saying exactly the same thing to commit fraud constitutes conspiracy. She was a prosecutor for a number of years.I agree with your perception of the arrogant obfuscation similarity with Rice. As well as taking up time with drivel to keep the reps. from asking questions. WH is using the last of their dumb tricks. Saw a few minutes of the WH press corpse the other day. There was massive static when the corpse asked their questions. Tony was crystal clear. Sheilah Jackson Lee’s mike got turned off during her fantastic 5 minutes with Abu.
The Keystone Cops defense is still working, they don’t mind looking like idiots, when they’ve never looked like anything but idiots.
A new anti-fascist law was passed and I expect Bush to try to veto it:
(Raw Story). It will be vetoed because Rove would have a tougher time of it gathering information to use against political opponents if it became law.
Thank you Brad for your tireless writtings.
Have faith in the universe.
New leaders will rise in opposition to the Fascist Bushit administration to help the few holding the torch like John Conyers jr and Patrick Leahy. These lying murderous anti-environmental phonies in the Bushit administration crime family will get what they deserve.
I think this should be on top, in black, with red & blue lights…this has real teeth, it leads strait to the top!! Coulter is a distraction from real issues…will Coulter’s demise change what’s happening in Iraq right NOW?? Will her demise change the direction of this lost country or will another shill for hire take her place?? Anne loves to hate…we hate Anne…blah blah blah…anything change yet??
#7:)