Did You Catch Jonathan Turley's Warning On KO Last Night Re: Gonzales ???

[WillyT]

<snip>

OLBERMANN: So four top officials at Justice and the head of the FBI threatened to quit about this, but there was no dispute that Mr. Gonzales could recall? I mean, how does Congress—how should Congress respond to this? I mean, is the first step to offer to pay for a memory improvement course for the attorney general?

TURLEY: Well, first of all, the I-don‘t-recall is not going to work on this one. If he doesn‘t recall this, then he would be effectively brain-dead, because these are the top people within the government who are threatening to resign. And even Alberto Gonzales‘s memory must have this somewhere rolling around in there.

But I think what we have here, again, is a very serious question of a testimony by Gonzales which, at the very best, is intentionally misleading and seems, quite frankly, to be false. And what Congress will do about that is an excellent question, because this isn‘t, as you note, the first time. And really, the committee is losing all credibility every time this guy walks out of the committee room after being confronted with another falsehood.

OLBERMANN: It‘s also been reported that the president personally killed a Justice Department internal probe into all this, and he did so by denying the investigators security clearance. Given Comey‘s testimony appears to implicate Mr. Bush himself now in the implementation of this wiretap program, and we also know U.S. Justice Department considered the program illegal, is this meeting the standards for appointing an independent counsel, at minimum, at this point?

TURLEY: Oh, I think that long ago we passed that line. When the Congress was under the control of the Republicans, the Democrats couldn‘t even get a committee hearing or room. I was called to the first hearing on this by John Conyers. We had to meet in the basement because they wouldn‘t open up the doors to the committee room.

So long ago, there should have been an independent or special counsel.

But the problem comes down to the failure of Congress to deal with what is a very ugly and unfortunate fact. This would be a clear impeachable offense. I don‘t know of a more clear potential charge of impeachment within the modern presidency. I mean, this law makes it a crime to order domestic surveillance without a warrant. The president ordered it and renewed it 30 times. And now we find out that the very top of the Justice Department told him, This is unlawful.

OLBERMANN: Acknowledging that 50 percent or more of an impeachment process is political, and that is not likely to occur, nobody probably on the Democratic side who would have to push for it will be willing to do so. What can be done relative to Mr. Gonzales, especially if Congress doesn‘t want to say try to impeach him? Does the—does his conduct open the door for any kind of remedies from the bar association, the Better Business Bureau? Can somebody go in and get this man out of there?

TURLEY: Well, the answer is, probably not, that, you know, the bar is going to look at this and really give it back to Congress. (INAUDIBLE) probably an independent prosecutor investigating the president. They‘re all going to say, Hold it, the framers gave you the authority and the obligation to act when the president or one of his people engages in unlawful conduct, whether it is lying to a committee or whether it‘s violating federal law with domestic surveillance, that‘s your duty.

And in some ways, the framers did it right. You know, the members of Congress, Democrat or Republican, have no excuse not to call a hearing to look at these offenses. They give them all the power they need, but they need to have the conscience and the principles to use this power.

<snip>

Link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18720630/

And if the commitees don't... well then, maybe the 2008 elections will be a lot closer than they have any possible right to be.

:banghead:

[opihimoimoi]

1. Speedy is well on his way to the door.....he is over the top with BS and Amnesia

[WillyT]

2. I Really Don't Think Bush Can Afford To Let Him Go

And if he does, it's gonna be one heavy-assed golden-parachute to keep Speedy's mouth shut.

:shrug:

[Straight Shooter]

24. Gonzo is so gob-smacked in love with bush, he only opens his mouth to fellate him. n/t

[ribrepin]

5. Speedy is pretty funny

I prefer Shifty Gonzales, but Fredo is more appropriate. They chased the mob out of Las Vegas, only to find it ensconced in the White House.

[magellan]

3. NO EXCUSE

And in some ways, the framers did it right. You know, the members of Congress, Democrat or Republican, have no excuse not to call a hearing to look at these offenses. They give them all the power they need, but they need to have the conscience and the principles to use this power.

Damn straight. What is this, a friggin' panty raid? My 92-year-old saint of a grandma was tougher on me if I did something wrong than these ninnies are in the face of crimes against the Constitution. What the hell is 2008 supposed to change? At best, whoever is our next president will be someone who at the moment can only manage -- at most -- a spate of hand-wringing. At worst it'll be a Repug who sees no problem with this crime.

I'm TIRED of this bullshit.

I HAVE ZERO CONFIDENCE IN ANY OF OUR GOVERNMENT ANYMORE.

[loudsue]

7. Me too. n/t

:kick:

[formercia]

15. Rove said he would embarrass the Democratic Party into obscurity

or something to that effect. It seems to be working.It seems both parties are headed for that historical graveyard, home of the Whigs and Bull Moose.

[me b zola]

4. !

[orleans]

6. i love turley. (never thought i could love someone who wasn't a dem

but i do. he's my hero.)

[Hubert Flottz]

8. He'd make a great replacement for GoneZo...

Turley has been all over this from day one. I'm glad somebody's been speaking out and I remember the hearing in the basement. Now the GOPers in congress are crying every day about how they are mistreated.

[Ino]

9. He's not a Dem?!

Wow... a Repug who speaks the truth! He's always gotten my attention. John Dean too.

[GreenPartyVoter]

19. I'm not sure he's a repub. Maybe he's Indy or Green or Socialist? He doesn't strike me as

a repub, really, but I could be wrong.

[EVDebs]

20. He represented Area 51 plaintiffs in suit that Bill Clinton stepped in on

So even if he's a Repub at least he stood up for the workers who were being screwed over in the name of 'national security' while our President was willing to let it happen. Good on Turley and KO !

Lawyer hopes to take Area 51 dangers public
National security is at the heart of a decision to deny a lawsuit by ex-workers at a top-secret Air Force facility
http://www.reviewjournal.com/webextras/area51/1997/law.html

"In an interview on the courthouse steps, Turley said President Clinton is the first president in American history to cover a crime by making a national security declaration to block a trial."

Looks like the Bushies will end up doing the same thing, putting that 'national security' fig-leaf over all of their 'war-time' crimes committed (cough) on our behalf.

[H2O Man]

10. Exactly.

Our Constitution is being threatened by the actions of the Bush-Cheneyites. It can be "protected" by letting it lie dormant under glass in a museum. That Constitution must be exercised to regain its strength. The citizens of the United States did their exercises in November of 2006, and they continue to exercise the Bill of Rights each time they speak out against the war, write LTTE, and call/write/e-mail an elected representative. But our congress is becoming frigid, if not dormant, and in that way, they, too, pose a threat to our Constitutional democracy.

[Supersedeas]

22. Comey opened the door for Mueller and Ashcroft to be called as well

The American people deserve to know what really happened.

[Terri S]

11. ok, so....

"But the problem comes down to the failure of Congress to deal with what is a very ugly and unfortunate fact. This would be a clear impeachable offense. I don‘t know of a more clear potential charge of impeachment within the modern presidency. I mean, this law makes it a crime to order domestic surveillance without a warrant. The president ordered it and renewed it 30 times. And now we find out that the very top of the Justice Department told him, This is unlawful."

Excuse my shouting but...

WTF ARE THEY WAITING FOR??????!!!!!!!

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. ...

:thumbsup:

[WillyT]

12. Morning Kick !!!

:kick:

[truedelphi]

17. Following your example! n/t

[dogday]

13. If he doesn‘t recall this, then he would be effectively brain-dead

exactly....

[lonestarnot]

16. Unexcuseable is dems do not get him out. Unexcusable.

[EVDebs]

18. Domestic spying

is CLEARLY illegal when done w/o warrant or by military w/o civilian (Congressional) oversight, that said, as Turley correctly points out, the longer this goes on....

However, the co-opting of the media (much like the Operation Mockingbird, not to mention Operation CHAOS domestic operations that were supposed to have ended, but obviously have not) seems to me to be another avenue of investigation and another impeachable charge.

To wit, I submit the media's undoubtedly most infamous hour:

What's So Funny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0TnqUlB4Gg

(BTW, YouTube seems to have made getting to this clip a bit more difficult; would our military/DOD have anything to do about that ?)

[Divine Discontent]

21. in what manner is that youtube video harder to get to?

is it because they make you sign in first? I dunno, I was already signed in, so I'm just wondering... thanks!

www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<-- check it out, top '08 stuff

[EVDebs]

23. I use to be able to 'google it up' and it would readily appear

using youtube what's so funny. Then it started not showing up recently.

[BrklynLiberal]

25. Another evening kick

[WillyT]

26. Hey Thanks !!!

:hi::loveya::hi:

[Kablooie]

27. I hate being so negative but everything I learn pushes me more that way.

So much crap has been openly put on the table and no one even begins to do anything but look at it and say, "oh, you shouldn't have done that."

That's as far as any of these things have gone.

My only conclusion is that Rove has already taken control of every legal option for dealing with this stuff.
And so the Congress does nothing, can do nothing, and, as is beginning to be talked about, will steal the next election for the Republicans again.

He wants to keep Republicans in power forever and he may very well have already accomplished his goal.


Woe is us.

[williesgirl]

28. k&r - when are the majority of Americans going to wake up and start screaming?

[bluestateboomer]

29. The Time has past.....

Given the attempted hospital room manipulation of Gonzalez....
Given his repeated lies and obfuscations about the fired attourneys...
Given the continued atrocity of an ufounded war of aggression that murders people everyday.....
Given the absolute refusal of our felonius executive branch to end the war....
Given the destruction of our constitution.....
Given the violations of human rights.....

And more that my tired fingers can possibly keep typing about.....

We cannot give and quarter or credence to those who would have us tell us to go slow, do the politically prudent or compromise our principles......

Just as a start, I plan to phone, fax, email, snail mail my congress persons daily demanding they hold the line, investigate, impeach, and fight for us. The other side will not budge an inch and we hve no more time to wait to restore our country. It would be a small start, but if we all did it everyday, it might be noticed.....





:grr: