TIME Magazine Understands-BUSHCO Keeping Gonzo To Protect BUSH-ROVE & Others From Litigation

[kpete]

Here are four reasons why Bush can't afford to let Gonzales go:

1. Gonzales is all that stands between the White House and special prosecutors. As dicey as things are for Bush right now, his advisers know that they could get much worse. In private, Democrats say that if Gonzales did step down, his replacement would be required to agree to an independent investigation of Gonzales' tenure in order to be confirmed by the Senate.

2......... Over the past six months, more than half a dozen top political appointees have left the department amid scandal. The unprecedented coziness that once existed between the Justice Department and the White House now remains solely in the person of Gonzales.

3. If Gonzales goes, the White House fears that other losses will follow. Top Bush advisers argue that Democrats are after scalps and would not stop at Gonzales. Congressional judiciary committees have already subpoenaed Harriet Miers and Karl Rove in the firings of U.S. Attorneys last year. Republicans are loath to hand Democrats some high-profile casualties to use in the 2008 campaign. Stonewalling, they believe, is their best way to avoid another election focused on corruption issues.

4. Nobody at the White House wants the legal bills and headaches that come with being a target of investigations. In backing Gonzales, Bush is influenced by advisers whose future depends on the survival of their political bodyguard. Gonzales remains the last line of defense protecting Bush, Rove and other top White House officials from the personal consequences of litigation. A high-profile probe would hobble the White House politically, and could mean sky-high legal bills and turmoil for Bush's closest aides.

more at:
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1649013,00.html

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Wish I could rec more than once

[formercia]

9. Let me rec for ya.

:hi:

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. Thanks! :^D

[formercia]

18. Always glad to help another Mainah.

:)

[malaise]

2. Duh!!

K & R

[pearl]

3. Thanks

K & R

[AllegroRondo]

4. Bingo

I've been saying that for weeks. The only reason they dont fire Gonzo (or let him step down) is because the Senate hearings for his replacement would expose everything.

[WinkyDink]

5. And so far, the strategy is working, is it not?

[annabanana]

6. With Time Magazine covering it?. .not so much as before.

The circulation of this Mag is big enough, and goes into enough homes and Dr's offices to qualify as major mass media..

[theHandpuppet]

8. Yeah, but media coverage doesn't equal congressional ACTION

I'm still waiting for that part of the story where all the congressional threats to "huff and puff and blow your neofascist house down" becomes piggies Rove, Cheney and Gonzales roasting on a litigious spit. Bush can be the imPEACHment dessert.

[tbyg52]

36. MSM coverage is a start, at least.

If a drum is beaten in the forest and no one hears it..... ;)

[gratuitous]

7. Two of the four are purely political

Bravo for Time for finally getting even this modicum of sense about the situation. I suppose I should read the entire article, but in this snippet there seems to be less interest in actual wrongdoing and lawbreaking than there is in how the poor dears of the administration would have to hire lawyers and stuff and be subjected to political hobbling and turmoil. Mercy me!

I'd like a little more analysis and discussion about just how ruinous and damaging these crimes have been to the American system and the right functioning of our government.

[midnight]

10. The focus on these talking points show a great distraction of our

elected officials who's main focus is on campaigns and not on constitution.

[PDittie]

12. Gonzo as human shield

for all the other criminals.

Wonder how he likes being that?

And how high a price could a person place on that kind of fealty? How much could one earn in plum consulting jobs, in corporate board appointments, in a tell-all memoir that wasn't really?

Really and truly, only revolution is going to address this kind of deep-rooted corruption.

[bklyncowgirl]

43. Ask Scooter a few years from now.

If these guys have to take one for the team they know that they will be protected and rewarded for something that the overwhelming majority of their fellow Americans would consider reprehensible.

[Supersedeas]

13. for those who had the courage to vote against Gonzo--the move from WH counsel to AG

presented the conflicts that we now see today

[emulatorloo]

14. kick and rec n/t

[GardeningGal]

15. Wow - wish I could recommend more than once. n/t

[Demeter]

16. If You Want To Impeach Gonzo, You'll Have to Tear Him From Bush's Cold Dead Hands

Yeah, I could live with that!

[Mme. Defarge]

17. Self Delete

[chill_wind]

19. "...Democrats are after scalps and would not stop at Gonzales. " Don't make me laugh.

Pelosi has all the enthusiasm of a wet sponge for pursuing impeachment or any other kinds of prolonged investigations into Gozales's wrong doings, much less any appetite for impeaching Bush, who she also insists is not worth it to the party's energy. She wants Gozales to just resign and go away for the sake of the busy Dem '08 agenda and beyond.

I'm sure a deal could be brokered toward that end. We'll have our usual rubberstamping party-fest for Bush's next loyal pick after a round of sham hearings into Gonzo's tenure after the fact of his departure. The Unitary Executive can refuse all over again to send anyone to cooperate with a whole new set of hearings for as long as possible, while claiming partisan Dems trying to hold the new appointment hostage for political gains and he'll have his defenders. Nobody (but us) will give a rat's behind about Gonzo hearings or tenure matters AFTER he's gone, anymore than they did after Rumsfeld left.

If Gonzo resigns, we can reset the clock and start the whole stall game over again, which should buy the WH plenty new time. About as much, perhaps, as they would finally need. Even better.

[Vincardog]

20. LEt me get this straight. WE can investigate them after they are removed from office right?

They can be criminally proscecuted after they are out of office right?
Lets get on that.

[ThoughtCriminal]

29. Yes, and they know that

But they still figure it would be better not to have an extra large cemetery load skeletons falling out of a closet the size of a medium red-state during the 2008 campaign. Much better for them when all of this is "Old News".

Based on previous experience, I think they expect the next Democratic administration and USAG to be lenient.

[Vincardog]

32. Which is why they support Hillary. Why do you think the Corporate Controlled Media has been selling

the Hillary is unstoppable BS for soooo long?

[AntiFascist]

21. K&R, Bring down Gonzo now!! n/t

[L. Coyote]

22. NEW #2. All of Gonzo's opinions as WH counsel might need review.

What if everything Gonzo said and did had to e reviewed? Torture, spying, Iraq war, .....

If Gonzo gets burned as a liar, what happens to all his wise counsel of Bush? I think this beats out "coziness."

[redacted]

23. So TIME suggests Gonzo=linchpin? Knock him out and the whole train derails?

Would this be an appropriate analogy? Comments--Kpete? Anybody?

Linchpin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

A linchpin (or lynchpin) is a metal part used in mechanical engineering to prevent a wheel or other rotating part from sliding off the axle it is riding on.

In colloquial speech, it is used to refer to the object at the center of a certain situation. An example of this is the main character in a sitcom, who acts as the glue that keeps all the other characters and situations together.

[donkeyotay]

25. If Gonzales is the linchpin, what's to stop him from resigning over recess?

Bush appoints another bot for the replacement, and then what?

[ThomWV]

27. Reid is reconviening the Senate once every 10 days in August I've read

To block recess appointments

[chill_wind]

30. Get ready for it. A Gonzo replacement attempt over recess would not suprise me at all.

[NewJeffCT]

46. To be replaced by -

Harriet Miers!

[Laurab]

41. Do you remember where you read that?

I hope it's true - I've been assuming that an appointment would happen during recess, and was just explaining that process to one of my brothers, who didn't know he could do that. All I could think of was Bolton the walrus and the UN appointment.

It would be great if Reid is doing that, but I haven't heard anything about it. And, if he is, is it unprecedented? As much as I'm sure the Senate looks forward to their break, this is just too important, and I've been worried about it - these are dangerous times with that idiot in office.

[myrna minx]

24. Well if Gonzo is all we have standing between the WH and justice,

we better get ready for the dominoes to fall, because Gonzo is no mental giant. In fact, and it's embarrassing to say this about the AG of the US, but he seems rather dumb.

[Pacifist Patriot]

44. I've thought so too. He really doesn't strike me as particularly intelligent.

Arrogance is often a great mask for that.

[NewJeffCT]

47. It would be wise not to underestimate them

Team Bush was smart enough to fool enough Americans into making both the 2000 and 2004 elections close enough to steal.

[Pacifist Patriot]

48. I don't underestimate them, but sometimes I think there is too much

assumptive overestimating.

[Supersedeas]

26. and the rest of the Gop/Corp Establishement Media--when will they get a clue

[redacted]

49. Some in the media have a clue but management won't let them report it

As for the GOP, well, did they EVER have a clue? About anything?

[ooglymoogly]

28. Looks like time is telling us the downside to bringing

Gonzo to justice is legal bills....Yuh right...like the hundreds of thousand dead in Iraq means nothing to these shallow people...or what treason this fkr has covered up also is meaningless...r.o.i.t its the legal bills....fer sher

[progressoid]

31. Gonzales is the cork in the ass of the White House.

Once that cork is popped...watch out for a shit storm.

[Hepburn]

33. K&R

Excellent...concise, thorough and on point!

[Disturbed]

34. Sen Specter:

Sen Specter: "I Think We Need To Finish This Investigation And Find A Way To End The Tenure Of Attorney General Gonzales."

This Senator sure talks like he will do something. Then he never does.

The Rethugs are in a quandary over Gonzo. They want him to go back to Texas but are afraid of what would happen if he does go.

Leahy said that Impeaching Gonzo would take over a year to accomplish. I don't understand why it would take that long. There is plenty of evidence in plain sight of Gonzo's criminal acts.

[Faux pas]

35. Am I wrong, or is gonzo the AG of the US? Doesn't that cancel out

his being bush's private counsel? They can't have it both ways, right?

[rzemanfl]

37. 100th rec. n/t

[jazzjunkysue]

38. 101!! "Democrats are after scalps and would not stop at Gonzales"

THAT beautiful piece of rare journalism deserves

MORE COWBELL!!!!!!!

[Auntie Bush]

39. Bush won't dare fire Gonzo and it's not out of loyalty.

I get so angry when the media keep saying Bush is being loyal to his friends. That's not why! He won't fire him because he's afraid he'll tell all of the crooked things Bush has done for the last 30 + or - years. The list of felonies would fill a very juicy book. Gonzo is the only one that could set history in the right direction on a variety of subjects. Like why we really went to war, just what has Rove and Cheney been up to, who did they spy on...Kerry? Who really ratted out Plame! How he hid the fact that George was a druggie, and x-felon, a traitor, a liar etc. Count on it...a man who knows as much as Gonzo will NEVER be fired!

That's also why he kept that disaster Rummy around for so long. He must have made a deal with Rummy to pay him more than anything he could have earned by writing a book. George has made so much illegal and legal money off this war it would be peanuts to pay off Rummy. Or maybe they are both blackmailing each other...they know too many felonies and lies committed by the other. LOYALTY..my ass...that's pure BULLSHIT!

[autorank]

40. K*R First rate analysis. Truly. About "time";)n/t

[fooj]

42. IMPEACH the rat bastard.

Checkmate.

[Sherman A1]

45. So

While I understand the WH incentive, what would stop a Dem Congress from doing the investigating after the Esteemed Mr. Bush leaves office? If they have committed crimes or violations of the Constitution (and we know they have), just what stops Congress from doing so after Bush can no longer exercise Executive Privlidge? I would guess that many documents will be shredded, hard drives erased and destroyed, but the legal bills will be very real then if an investigation does occur and they will not have the cover of Bush to offer a pardon (unless he does not leave office as some think or we have another stolen election).

:shrug: