Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Let the Eagle Soar


I'll bet you never thought I'd refer to former AG John Ashcroft as a hero.

Okay, I'm still not. But it seems as though, gentle readers, in this one little case, he may have actually stood up to the bullying of future AG Alberto Gonzales and WH chief of staff Andrew Card, FROM HIS HOSPITAL BED.

AG and AC were trying to do what they like to refer to on Law & Order as an "end run around the Constitution."* And since the recently hospitalized Ashcroft and the acting AG Comey refused to sign off on the warrantless wiretap program as it stood, there was a show-down involving Gonzales, Card, Comey, Ashcroft, Ashcroft's wife, several deputies from the Justice Department and a whole passel of FBI agents in Ashcroft's hospital room while the senior WH officials tried to pressure a seriously ill man into signing the program authorization.

Okay, the wiretap program that eventually did pass muster in the Justice Department is still a vile piece of shit, but it's quite interesting to read how one sector of Bushies is so willing to cannibalize another.



*Seriously, isn't about every other line out of Sam "Robots!" Waterston's mouth on that show about "end runs" and "constitutions"?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Republicans will soon be eating their own.

Anonymous said...

I read about that in the New Yorker a while back. I think the phrase "you're either with us, or against us" is the true W mantra.

Unknown said...

Ashcroft is not a Texan; bet he won't that mistake again! That's why God gave him pancreatitis in the first place, so right-minded Texans could serve their, er, His, will.

Some Guy said...

It would've been hard to imagine anyone being worse than Ashcroft. Congrats, Albie, you've done the impossible!

Moderator said...

Memorial day weekend - AG is gone. Just waiting for a time when most of the reporters are gone and no one is paying attention. Mark my words!

vikkitikkitavi said...

Grant: I'm not going to bet against you on that one.

Anonymous said...

The lead story right now on Yahoo.com is:

Sam Waterston asks:

Why have political parties become so polarized that they fail to address the concerns of most Americans?

and I say "but what about the robot problem?"

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070516144437AAXeV90