Pelosi: Where's The Leadership ?

We learned recently that the Justice Department broke the law by using political beliefs as a factor in determining who would be hired, and tried to manipulate the elections by targeting Democrats for prosecution.

Many people, including myself, believe this was done at the request of the Bush administration. The House Judiciary Committee is investigating this, and recently subpoenaed Karl Rove to testify about it.

Of course, in keeping with the established practices of the Bush administration, Rove thumbed his nose at the committee and the law. Instead of testifying, he went to Europe. He claimed he had "executive privilege".

Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee showed some backbone. They voted, along party lines, to cite Rove for Contempt of Congress because he ignored the subpoena. It looked like the Democrats were finally going to hold the Bush administration responsible for their unlawful actions.

But that was before the matter got to Speaker Pelosi. Instead of taking the matter to the full House for a vote, she has decided to play politics with this very serious matter. Her staff says there will be no vote before September, if she even lets it come to a vote then. There is the very real possibility that there will not be a vote at all.

I guess that Pelosi is afraid that it will look like the big bad Democrats are picking on the helpless Republicans. She's afraid that will cost Democrats some votes in the next election. So, once again, she's going to make it look like Democrats are "wussing out" and knuckling under to the Bush administration.

She obviously doesn't realize the Democrats were given a majority so they could rein in the Bush administration. The American people are looking for politicians who will stand up and do the right thing, regardless of the consequences. But instead of showing real leadership, she resorts to political maneuvering.

It was bad enough that she abdicated leadership over the horrible FISA bill, and told each member to vote as he or she saw fit. Now she is doing it again. If she refuses to allow the House to vote on this contempt citation, it will just look to voters like Democrats don't have the courage to stand up for what's right.

This is nothing less than a lack of leadership. Pelosi has shown herself to be a weak Speaker. When the new House convenes early next year, the Democrats should dump her and install a real Democrat who's not afraid to demonstrate some real leadership.

I'm proud of the Democrats for tossing out the old stereotypes and electing a woman to be Speaker. It's just sad that they chose a woman with no leadership qualities or political courage.

Repubs Getting Desperate About HD 129

Things are certainly getting interesting in House District 129. There was a time when this was considered a safe district for the Republicans -- but no more. Democrat Sherrie Matula is proving to be a much more formidible candidate than the Republicans expected.

Matula has outraised her opponent in campaign funds, and currently has a few dollars more on hand than does her opponent. Her campaign workers have also hit the ground and knocked on over 5,000 doors in the district, with more being done each weekend. It's now looking like Matula has a very good chance of beating the Republican incumbent.

It looks like the Republicans think so, too. So much so that House Speaker Craddick has decided to step in and give the Republican a hand. According to Capitol Annex, Craddick has decided to give a fundraiser for Republican John Davis, and the guest of honor is someone from the Bush administration -- Karl Rove.

Yes, Craddick has reached into the gutter and invited the dirtiest Republican campaigner of all. A man who would expose our covert CIA agents, pervert the purpose of the Justice Department, ignore subpoenas from the U.S. Congress and lie to the American people.

With people like Craddick and Rove on his side, it becomes even more important to defeat John Davis in HD 129. It is time for honesty and competence in that district, and that can only be provided in this coming election by Sherrie Matula.

She's going to need more funds to match what Craddick and Rove will provide for her opponent. If you can, give her a small (or large) donation. Or volunteer to her her campaign. With your help, we can send one more ethically-challenged Republican home to stay.

Gonzales "No Confidence" Vote Set For June

The Senate has finally decided to have their "no confidence" vote regarding Attorney General Gonzales in June. I was hoping they would have the vote this week, but Senate Democrats are not feeling too brave right now (you can see how they wussed out on the war-funding bill). So I guess we'll have to settle for June -- hopefully EARLY in June.

Meanwhile, the merry-go-round of blame is still going on among Justice Department officials over just who compiled the list of U.S. Attorneys to be fired for political reasons.

Monica Goodling said Kyle Sampson made the list. Sampson said Alberto Gonzales made the list. Gonzales said Paul McNulty made the list. Personally, I think they're all lying to protect the White House. I believe the list was made by Karl Rove at the request of Bush.

I think the whole lot of them, from Bush on down are guilty and should be punished.

Head Of The GSA Violated The Hatch Act

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel (OSC) has been investigating members of the Bush administration to see if they violated federal law in the last national election. They now believe they have found their first violator of the law, specifically the Hatch Act.

The OSC says that General Services Administration head Lurita Alexis Doan violated the Hatch Act during a January 26th meeting at the GSA, where GSA personnel met with J. Scott Jennings. Jennings is the Deputy Director of Political Affairs in Karl Rove's office at the White House.

After Jennings finished a presentation on the upcoming mid-term elections of 2006, Ms. Doan asked, "How can we help our candidates?" OSC investigators have taken sworn statements from several GSA personnel who remember the remark by Doan.

The OSC report says, "Her actions, to be certain, constitute an obvious misuse of her official authority and were made for the purpose of affecting the result of an election. One can imagine no greater violation of the Hatch Act than to invoke the machinery of an agency, with all its contracts and buildings, in the service of a partisan campaign to retake Congress and the Governors' mansions."

For her part, Doan says she does not remember making the statement. In fact, Doan says she doesn't remember what happened in the meeting because she spent the meeting sending and receiving e-mails on her BlackBerry. That might have worked, except the investigators obtained her e-mail records and said they were "unable to corroborate that Administrator Doan was utilizing her BlackBerry or other personal digital assistant during the January 26 meeting."

So she not only violated the law, when she was caught she lied about it. Pretty typical behavior for a Bush appointee, most of whom think the laws shouldn't apply to them. She needs to resign and follow Attorney General Gonzales right out the administration door.

Of course, Karl Rove is the architect of this effort to subvert the law and use government employees to affect the election. Hopefully, he will be the next to go.

Is there anyone in the Bush administration that respects the law?

Rove's Political Activity Being Investigated By Feds

It looks like Karl Rove is in trouble again. Until now, he has been the "teflon" man, with none of his criminal activities "sticking" enough to get him booted out of the government. Maybe this is the investigation that finally gets him!

The Office of Special Counsel verified yesterday that it is investigating the actions of White House aides in the last election. The head of the agency verified that Rove is a central figure in the investigation. This small federal agency has repsonsibility for investigating violations of the Hatch Act, which prevents the coercion of federal employees.

During the time leading up to last year's election, White House aides made presentations to several federal agencies, asking them to find ways to support Republican candidates. Some members of the General Services Agency complained this was coercive, thus kicking off this official investigation.

Scott Bloch, head of the U. S. Office of Special Counsel, promises, "We will do a thorough job. We will not leave any stone unturned. We will be fair, we will be impartial, and we will be thorough."

Bloch says they are investigating whether the Republican actions by Rove and other White House aides violated the Hatch Act by using government resources for partisan political activity, coercing government employees to engage in political activity, or using "official authority or influence" to affect the outcome of an election.

While I am hoping this is the investigation that finally nails Rove for his criminal behavior, I suspect that he will once again put the blame on a subordinate, and survive yet again to commit future crimes.

Also, although Bloch has assured us the investigation will be thorough, he is a Bush appointee and Republicans have never been very good at investigating themselves.

But until Rove slithers his way out, I can always hope and dream.

Bush Thinks Americans Are Stupid

The noose is tightening around Attorney General Gonzales regarding the unjustified political firings of eight Justice Department Prosecutors. It's starting to look like he will be the "Scooter Libby" of this scandel. Like Libby was, Gonzales will soon be tossed under the proverbial bus to protect others in Bush's White House circle - perhaps even Bush himself.

It's becoming obvious that although Gonzales pulled the trigger on the firings, Bush's White House cadre planned and ordered the whole mess. Now that this has become obvious, the Senate Judiciary Committee rightfully wants to question Karl Rove and others in the White House.

Bush knows he can't allow that to happen, or more heads would roll than just that of Gonzales. So what does he do in the face of increasing demands? He wants his henchmen to lie to Congress!

In a letter from his counsel to Leahy, Conyers and Specter, we find this very interesting sentence:

Such interviews would be private and conducted without the need for an oath, transcript, subsequent testimony, or the subsequent issuance of subpoenas.

There is only one reason to hold the testimony in private without keeping a record and without the witnesses being sworn to tell the truth. Bush is planning on Rove and the others telling Congress a bunch of LIES, and he doesn't want it coming back to bite him in the ass.

Bush obviously thinks Americans are stupid enough to swallow these lies, or he would not even propose such an outrageous plan.

Congress should not fall for this Bush cover-up. His White House cronies should testify, and the testimony should be under oath and in public. If Congress accepts anything less, then they will be a party to the cover-up.

How Long Before The Pardon Comes?

Another Republican bites the dust. This time it's White House insider "Scooter" Libby. Yesterday, Libby was found guilty of lying to a grand jury and obstruction of justice. I don't think the verdict really surprised anyone - his guilt was pretty obvious.

The only real questions are what will his sentence be, and when will Bush pardon him. The electronic media are fond of saying that he could get 25 years, but that is very unlikely. The media always wants to report the extremes. I think it's more likely he'll get less than 10 years - probably more like five.

But don't expect him to actually serve any real time. The right-wing noise machine will crank up to make the case for a pardon, and I expect Bush will cave in to them and pardon him. Bush has given the right-wing nuts everything else, so why would he hold out this time?

Their best argument is that Libby was just a "fall guy", thrown under the bus to save the necks of higher-ups (Rove and Cheney). While I think Libby was as guilty as hell and needs to serve some time behind bars, I have to admit the "fall guy" argument has some merit.

Even the Libby jury thinks this is the case. While they knew he was guilty, several said, "Where is Rove? Where is Cheney?" They knew who the guiltiest of all were, and they were not in that courtroom. They will never be punished for their crimes.

But as guilty as Libby is, I don't expect him to actually serve any time. He will probably delay his needed incarceration with an appeal bond and some fancy legal footwork, as the rich and powerful usually do. Then, Bush will issue a pardon.

My guess is that the pardon will come sometime this Fall. I'd love to hear what the readers think. When do you think the pardon will come?