Waiting for Fitzgerald

[Penske_Account]

Cindy Sheehan.............Many Americans, myself included, now see her as a person who has come to enjoy the celebratory status accorded to her by the radicals on the extreme left who see America as the outlaw of the world. These radicals are not content to be constructive critics. They are bent on destroying this country.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
1. Not DOA.

2. Janice Rogers Brown is the fallback. There is no way she goes down.

3. What does the 2007 mean? There is no Senate in session for the whole of 2006? I am missing something? What year is this?

JRB is even DerOA.

If it gets past thanksgiving, the Dems will smell blood. They can stall all spring, figuring O'Connor is better than the alternative. Given Frist, DeLay, and now, given Miller's flip, Rove, the D's will smell even more blood for fall 2006, and will stall even further, until after the elections, hoping they'll get a majority.

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
JRB is even DerOA.

If it gets past thanksgiving, the Dems will smell blood. They can stall all spring, figuring O'Connor is better than the alternative. Given Frist, DeLay, and now, given Miller's flip, Rove, the D's will smell even more blood for fall 2006, and will stall even further, until after the elections, hoping they'll get a majority.

Oh baloney, that strategy will not work. The average American doesnt give a rat's arse about Delay or Frist/HCA or Judith Miller. Are the dims going to fillibuster? And you think the Reps won't go nucular?

And I look forward to the dimwits trying to sink a sharecroppers daughter. Good luck. Tell me which Republicans will go against JRB, with a chance to expose the Dems as the racist plantation party that they are.

You are just scared of fight. Bush made the babyjesuschristsuperstar a promise and now its time to pay up.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
Oh baloney, that strategy will not work. The average American doesnt give a rat's arse about Delay or Frist/HCA or Judith Miller. Are the dims going to fillibuster? And you think the Reps won't go nucular?

I think that the Democrats will absolutely filibuster either Judge Owen or Judge Brown. I think that they will force the GOP to pull the trigger on the "nuclear option" if W really wants either of those two so badly.

The strategic value of the 78-22 vote for Roberts (i.e over half the Dems supporting) is that it gives the party much more credibility when they try to block a true radical.

I agree that the decision to switch Roberts to CJ was the signal that Bush was going to go even more "conservative" with the O'Connor replacement to try to drastically shift the current status quo on the Court. The real question is, can he get it done.

As the Big Daddy of the babyjesus christ superstar has told us, Penske, "as ye sow, so shall ye reap."

S_A_M

P.S. The average American may not care about Delay, but many of the average Americans who follow the news know that a big fish in the GOP leadership has been charged with a felony. That can't help the GOP. Frist may well have lied like a rug -- we'll se how that turns out.

As for Miller, it depends on what she says. It resurrects an old pseudo-scandal (really can't possibly help the GOP), perhaps ties a senior GOP official into dirty tricks activity that "exposed" a CIA "covert" employee. Not good when we're fighting a war on terror. The average Joe now remembers none of that bad shit about Ambassador Wilson that Bilmore, et al. so assiduously kept us abreast of. Also -- if Bush doesn't actually fire whoever was responsible (whih he hasn't and won't) -- makes him look like a fucking hypocrite -- and that will get some media play. Doesn't help.

[Penske_Account]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man


I agree that the decision to switch Roberts to CJ was the signal that Bush was going to go even more "conservative" with the O'Connor replacement to try to drastically shift the current status quo on the Court. The real question is, can he get it done.

This is the bottom line, forgetting about all of the other stuff. The Court is huge legacy and Bush knows it. He also knows he owes the babyjesuschristsuperstar for his second term (more so than the first). He has two or three bites at the apple. Throw Owen to the wolves, fine. Janice Rogers Brown comes up. The bottom line is the first black woman is goign to resonate. Average Americans think Sharpton and Jackson are radicals and will be tired of the rancor after Owen. Worst case JRB goes down. Edith Jones. Bush will conservatise the seat. Note it here, for attribution later.

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man


As the Big Daddy of the babyjesus christ superstar has told us, Penske, "as ye sow, so shall ye reap."

What's the reap, we get Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the court? How much more liberal can a future Dem go?

[Replaced_Texan]

that the Democrats will figure out a way to fuck this up:

The indictment sent a shock wave through the GOP establishment, which is already reeling from a swath of criminal and ethics investigations. Three individuals, eight corporations and two political action committees connected to DeLay have been indicted as a result of the probe. In addition, the government's top procurement official, David Safavian, was arrested in September for obstructing a criminal investigation into über-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a close DeLay ally. Abramoff himself is under criminal investigation for defrauding Indian tribes and was indicted for wire fraud in Florida in a separate case. Top White House aides, including Karl Rove and Scooter Libby, have been targeted by a special prosecutor investigating the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame. Representative Duke Cunningham announced he would not run for re-election after overselling his house for $700,000 to a military industry lobbyist; he too has been indicted. FDA chief Lester Crawford resigned unexpectedly after just two months on the job, possibly because of failure to report his wife's sizable pharmaceutical-industry holdings. And DeLay's Senate counterpart, Bill Frist, is battling possible insider-trading charges for dumping millions in HCA stock, a company founded by his father and run by his brother, weeks before it plunged in value. The U.S. Attorney in Manhattan and the Securities and Exchange Commission opened an investigation into Frist and HCA in September.

[SlaveNoMore]

ltl/fb
So, Miller is going to talk, and apparently the person she talked to about Plame was I. Lewis Libby, Cheney's chief of staff. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/29/po...pagewanted=all

Novak's column was July 14. Miller talked to Cheney's chief of staff on July 8. Does anyone know when the conversation between Rove and Cooper occurred? I couldn't find it after looking for all of five minutes on cnn's site.

Is Cheney's chief of staff a "member of the administration"? or whatever the term Bush used.

From that article:

"That decision left Ms. Miller alone in resisting the prosecutors' demand to testify. Much about Ms. Miler's role in the matter remains unclear...

Now, if this article had been printed in - oh, I dunno, say the WaPo - then it makes sense.

The NYT and its editors know all about Miller's involvement. That's the whole fucking point of the story. For the NYT to then print an article claiming ignorance like this is a new fucking low, even for them.

Calame is going end up having a stroke soon

[SlaveNoMore]

Secret_Agent_Man
I think that the Democrats will absolutely filibuster either Judge Owen or Judge Brown. I think that they will force the GOP to pull the trigger on the "nuclear option" if W really wants either of those two so badly.

This is why he's surprising everyone and going with McConnell or my boy Luttig

The strategic value of the 78-22 vote for Roberts (i.e over half the Dems supporting) is that it gives the party much more credibility

Concur, but

... when they try to block a true radical.

Let me know when a "radical" makes the list. I haven't seen Professor Yoo on the short list - and I have no problem with him either (unlike some Bezerkely grad I know ;-) )

I agree that the decision to switch Roberts to CJ was the signal that Bush was going to go even more "conservative" with the O'Connor replacement to try to drastically shift the current status quo on the Court.

Disagree. Rehnquist was dead and the Court needed a new CJ ASAP. Roberts was a shoo-in (and is young). Made perfect sense to switch him to the CJ opening.

Whereas Sandy has agreed to stick around until her successor is confirmed. Getting Roberts in there today and maintaining a pseudo 5-4 majority was far more important than having a 4-4 next term with a pending appointment fight.

P.S. The average American may not care about Delay, but many of the average Americans who follow the news know that a big fish in the GOP leadership has been charged with a felony.

When Wolf Blitzer starts discussing on his show how the complaint suggests no proof of impropriety, you know that this is going to burn out really quickly.

As for Miller, it depends on what she says. It resurrects an old pseudo-scandal (really can't possibly help the GOP), perhaps ties a senior GOP official into dirty tricks activity that "exposed" a CIA "covert" employee. Not good when we're fighting a war on terror. The average Joe now remembers none of that bad shit about Ambassador Wilson that Bilmore, et al. so assiduously kept us abreast of.

If she implicates Scooter, as the "independent NYT" now tells us, the MSM will be flooded with reminders that Scooter filed a waiver years ago. Tempest in a teapot. And no indictments. Still.

Also -- if Bush doesn't actually fire whoever was responsible (whih he hasn't and won't) -- makes him look like a fucking hypocrite -- and that will get some media play. Doesn't help.

He didn't leak and Miller never wrote a story. Won't hurt either.

[SlaveNoMore]

This speaks for itself. I have nothing to ass.

Benator Affleck? Garner's Girl Talk

Are you tired of all those cookie-cutter politicians with squeaky-clean backgrounds? Prefer a candidate who isn't afraid to don a second-skin red leather outfit or bet big at the poker table? Then Ben Affleck may be your guy.

The Washington Post reports the Oscar-winner-turned-"Gigli"-punchline's recent house-hunting excursion to Virginia with expectant wife Jennifer Garner had the state's Democratic bigwigs dreaming they might soon have their very own Schwarzenegger.

Seems party officials are on the hunt for a big gun to run against Republican Sen. George Allen next year and figured the liberal-minded star, 33, might be the perfect candidate.

The idea of Senator Affleck "spread pretty widely, at least in the political underground," University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato tells the paper.

Ben, who campaigned for both John Kerry and Al Gore (he also stumped for Hillary Clinton's more successful senatorial bid), has made no secret of his love of legislature.

"I think there's a real nobility to public service," he told Vanity Fair in 2003. Two years earlier, he revealed to GQ, "My fantasy is that someday I'm independently wealthy enough that I'm not beholden to anybody, so I can run for Congress on the grounds that everyday people -- be they singers or poets or bankers or lawyers or teachers -- should be in government."

The other appealing aspect to the job, according to the "everyday" movie star: "Not to get too Susan Sarandon on you, but part of what I'd get off on would be the oration, the speech-making and the idea of leading."

From msn.com

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
What's the reap, we get Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the court? How much more liberal can a future Dem go?

I was referring to the potential use of the "nuclear option" and the reverberations in future Congresses as the minority party in the Senate is essentially emasculated.

But on judicial nominations -- you can get a lot more liberal than Ginsburg -- maybe some Dem President could install a reverse ideological counterpoint to JRB or Owen -- say someone with the philosophy of a Dershowitz or Estrich? Or the 9th Cir. becomes once again a preparatory ground for the S.Ct?

You usually hear this from the weaker party, but it is true, that our system does benefit in the long run from a certain amount of compromise -- which requires more than a "reacharound" as Bush is humping the Dems in the rear.

S_A_M

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
This speaks for itself. I have nothing to ass.

From msn.com

As a drunk, it is my expert opinion that we cannot afford any more ex-drunks in public office. No more Wagon stops on the Hill or White House.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
This is why he's surprising everyone and going with McConnell or my boy Luttig

Luttig would be confirmed (and probably not filibustered). It would be a smart move for Bush, and a darn shame.

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Let me know when a "radical" makes the list. I haven't seen Professor Yoo on the short list - and I have no problem with him either (unlike some Bezerkely grad I know ;-) )

I would consider someone who believes that Lochner was wrongly decided to be a bit of a radical, and at least somewhat outside the mainstream of current judicial thought.

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
Disagree. Rehnquist was dead and the Court needed a new CJ ASAP. Roberts was a shoo-in (and is young). Made perfect sense to switch him to the CJ opening.

I agree it made perfect sense, and you may be right about the reason. We'll see.

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
When Wolf Blitzer starts discussing on his show how the complaint suggests no proof of impropriety, you know that this is going to burn out really quickly.

We'll see. I think that there would not have been an indictment unless Earle was pretty sure he could elicit testimony against Delay from one of the co-conspirators. That wouldn't necessarily happen at this stage. As someone said already, it will take such testimony to convict.

Originally posted by SlaveNoMore
If she implicates Scooter, as the "independent NYT" now tells us, the MSM will be flooded with reminders that Scooter filed a waiver years ago. Tempest in a teapot. And no indictments. Still.

We'll see. The guy may be waiting to seek the papers until after he has all the testimony he wants, to sdee how it all shapes up.


S_A_M

[baltassoc]

Well, at least one Republican pundit agrees things aren't so great for DeLay.

• At the White House, the president's chief spokesman, Scott McClellan, expressed support for Mr. DeLay, telling reporters, "Mr. DeLay is a good ally and a leader who we have worked closely with for the good of the American people.'' "The president's view is to let the legal process work," Mr. McClellan said. "There's a legal process and we're going to let it work.''

Translation: Good luck with that who thing down in Texas, Mr. DeLay. Been nice knowin' ya.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by Penske_Account
The bottom line is the first black woman is goign to resonate. Average Americans think Sharpton and Jackson are radicals and will be tired of the rancor after Owen.

Yeah, the strategy worked so well with Clarence Thomas. Everyone* thought him a more than capable replacement for Thurgood Marshall.


BTW, SAM, the rub on JRB is that she thought Lochner was correctly decided, and that West Coast Hotel v. Parrish was wrong to overrule it (or that case, along with others).



*other than the 48 senators voting against.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
BTW, SAM, the rub on JRB is that she thought Lochner was correctly decided, and that West Coast Hotel v. Parrish was wrong to overrule it (or that case, along with others).

Yes, indeed. I meant to say it that way (the first part) but got crossed up.

P.S. Slave -- Who knows what it will all shape up to mean, but it sees likely that Judith Miller was talking to Scooter Libby. She apparently did not accept that his first, written waiver was voluntary because it came "from lawyers." (Idiot.) He spoke to her by phone a couple weeks ago to assure her it really was voluntary, and that she didn't have to sit in jail on his account.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/...eak/index.html