Rove was in charge of the Katrina reconstruction. Chertoff was in charge of FEMA (Brownie’s boss) which means he was in charge of the Katrina disaster.

Now, granted, unlike Kim, Gonzales gave three week’s notice. But the IG investigation of the Civil Rights Division is one (of several) that clearly has merit. And the politicization of the Civil Rights Division is one that was reported to have been ordered from on high. Is it possible that Gonzales was unwilling to further perjure himself to protect those who had politicized justice in this country?

That sounds tantalizing, but why the urgency? Is there something about that investigation coming to a head? Is there finally a whistle blower that will open up the Civil Rights Division’s can of worms?

We’ll definitely tune in for the next exciting episode…

PS — I definitely feel like there is something big and dark that is going to descend on Gonzales and Rove. Something forced this to happen, because Chimpy was not happy at all today. Maybe he realizes that he only has Cheney in back of him now…

Alison, I don’t think the Mrs. AGAG angle is too hard to figure. Here she is married to one of the most powerful men in the country who at one time was considered a potential Supreme Court nominee. She’s sittin’ pretty connected to all the right people, and one morning she wakes up to find that her Very Important Hubby has become a fall guy. No more dreams of being the wife of a Supreme Court Justice, no more power and influence. It’s all been replaced by scandal and disgrace. And she knows, just as Libby’s wife did, that hubby’s career has turned to ashes solely to protect others in the administration who appear to be on course to sail off into the sunset. I had heard before (perhaps here) that she was unhappy. Perhaps she hit her limit with talk of impeachment ramping up and Congress about to reconvene.

That said, the timing in light of Kim’s resignation suggests Mrs. AGAG wasn’t the only straw that broke the camel’s back. Can’t wait to see how you sort this one out Marcy…

Your’re back in the nick of time!!! And a few hours early, if I’m not mistaken. Welcome.

Well, if the wife theory is correct, I would like to put HER on the stand under oath for little examination as to exactly what level of mendacity, perfidy, corruption, perjury, torture, and shredding of the Constitution it takes for her to have her little come to Jesus discussion with the hubby. What exactly is her personal threshold on each of these subjects individually and collectively. Because there has been seven years of pretty egregious violations in my eyes; what exactly caused her to cross the rubicon now? I am not sure I but the wife angle.

I was being satirical for the most part; but no, spousal communications are generally privileged.

Can anyone check to see if Sealed v Sealed is still, well, sealed?

OT: Just out of curiosity: Has anyone here ever accidentally plead guilty to disorderly conduct after being arrested by an undercover police officer for soliciting sex in a public restroom?

Various versions of the Idaho Coup as it is called, have been local gossip for a couple of weeks around here in DFL circles. It has been on the local court docket for a couple of weeks, but no one could get the now sold out to some sort of nameless combine (Private equity group) newspapers to go down to the courthouse and read the records.

Last time our Airport cops made national news it was about arresting Imams for provocative praying. So now we have Idaho Republicans in an airport restroom that for ages has been a place to get a quick blow job.

You can’t fly west of here on a direct flight except to Portland and Seattle, so this is the a place for making plane changes if your destination is N&S Dakota, Montana, and Idaho, Utah, and a few other places. If you want to go to London or Hong Kong from those places, well welcome to Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. We offer many services, including this small off the beaten track restroom for horney men. My own legislator wants to put a Casino in that waiting area to capture a little wagering money.

I just want to note something of interest. The former Hennepin County Prosecutor, who till last January would have dealt with this matter, is now Senator Amy Klobuchar. One wonders how they eye each other in the Senate Chamber. I think she set up the sting some months before she became a Senator.

I think the timing has to do with the upcoming primarys and the election next year.

Just removing the clutter from the discussions.

Do you think the resignation of Gonzales was connected with the FISA thing being passed at the last minute? Quid Pro quo? I always wondered why there wasn’t a deal for that bills passage.

Sorry Dean was on Countdown. Quote is:
â€I have one in mind, without naming names, who is on his way out of the Department just because of Gonzales. Now whether he will turn around, I don’t know.â€

Welcome back, EW, and thanks for all the clarity…

This confused me, though…

â€And something seems to have triggered her influence just in the last week.â€

Considering how long it has taken for Gonzo to make the leap, one might not call that a â€hair-triggerâ€.

Really, how many darts have to hit you before you realize you ARE the latest Bush diversionary dartboard?

Gotta give Gonzo credit for one thing… he takes a punch and just keeps on leering, like some cartoon character that just jumps right back up after being squashed by a steamroller. There are times I have wondered if he’s really just a badly drawn ’toon.

And as for Bush and Domineci, is there any doubt that they got their stories straight in this little event, I suspect more than one felony was committed behind closed doors, in a conspiracy to put a lid on Domenici’s election woes.

Too late for that, though. And a visit from Bush is a double-edged sword, everyone who remembers Bush’s barnstorming just before the 2006 election will also remember that his visits were the kiss of death for more than one republican incumbent (Jim Ryun comes to mind).

When Gonzales began his adieu, it seemed his heartfelt praise was for his king but surprisingly it was for Mrs. Gonzales. â€The wife†and children could not have been protected from the scorn heaped on the AG, so it may have hit critical mass–it’s either â€him†or â€meâ€. This choice gave AG a perfect getaway and a temporary reprieve from his professional problems. The king understood on some level since he needs his queen and his ladies-in-waiting. Now it’s a waiting game until it all catches up with them. Soon, I hope.

Ah Sally. I should have hit refresh and read your posting before I posted after you. This makes total sense of Bush’s comments, not about Gonzales, but for Mrs. Gnzales.

And a visit from Bush is a double-edged sword, everyone who remembers Bush’s barnstorming just before the 2006 election will also remember that his visits were the kiss of death for more than one republican incumbent (Jim Ryun comes to mind).
Posted by: JEP | August 28, 2007 at 09:04

Exactly, most Republican campaigns don’t want Bush within miles of their voters but Dominicci does? for 400K? There’s got to be more to it.

I wonder if Bush’s petulance at his presser Monday can be attributed solely to Gonzo’s resignation. It’s possible – legacy minded Presidents don’t want their AGs resigning under pressure or more likely in this case, forced to resign under pressure. Could Dominicci have been the one applying the pressure?

Gonzales’ wife? They were worried she would become another Martha Mitchell?!

It does seem like there is something very serious about to come out and Gonzo was not willing to be the fall guy one more time. And Senators Specter and Leahy must have made it clear to Bush that he wasn’t going to get off the hook. They must have pushed resignation, which is why Reid also felt compelled to get the deal on a recess appointment.

So what were both Rove and Gonzo involved in? The USA firings, also the Don Seligman presecution. Perhaps more voting rights sham cases. I don’t think it is the intel abuses, as that is now McConnell’s bailiwick.

Bush must be feeling very alone these days. And the moeny seems to be on some Bush I figures, leading credence to my speculation that someone is in there cleaning up the mess that Bush Jr has made lest the GOP go the way of the Whigs.

Oh, Happy Day!

Welcome back!

(Gathers-up TNH Pond Notebook and places on shelf)

Here’s what I think: Clearly, Mrs. Gonzo has good vision.

When she saw Bush make his big pre-Recess FISA power-play, where he ground his bootheel into the Dems upturned foreheads with glee until he got ’more than he wanted’ – Mrs. Gonzo had no problem forecasting how the scale was going to tip back the other way in the Dem response to having been so egregiously wronged. When she dressed him for work on Friday, she said to him, â€You’ve got to call the King and offer to ride the Bus over to the King’s ranch and resign, before he sends the Bus to run you over.â€

Bush acts like a King.

It costs him Rove, Gonzo and Craig.

We’re down to Cheney and Bush – and EW has made a compelling case for intimate involvement by both of them in the Plame Affair, not to mention the Iglesias Firing (and all the USAs who were fired), and the Hospital Coercion Visit, to name just a few fiascos directly implicating Bush and Cheney.

For whatever stated reasons Rove and Gonzo left – and maybe their wives played a part in their decisions – certainly they left with clouds over their heads that are a lot smaller than the clouds still over the White House.

If Rove and Gonzo, then why not Cheney, too? Domenici is looking mighty shaky, also.

Will the Rule of Law triumph as equal for all?

Mimikatz, from your link to Martha Mitchell’s bio:

â€Dubbed “the Mouth of the Southâ€, Martha Mitchell began contacting reporters when her husband’s role in the scandal became known. At one time, Martha insisted she was held against her will in a California hotel room and sedated to keep her from making her controversial phone calls to the news media. However, because of this, she was discredited and even abandoned by most of her family, except her son Jay. Nixon aides even leaked to the press that she had a “drinking problemâ€. The ’Martha Mitchell effect’, in which a psychiatrist mistakenly diagnoses someone’s extraordinary but reasonable belief as a delusion, was later named after her. Nixon was later to tell interviewer David Frost (in September 1977 on Frost on America) “If it hadn’t been for Martha Mitchell, there’d have been no Watergate.â€

Martha undoubtedly was drugged to keep her from talking and accused of having a drinking problem by the republic thugs. Too many of us didn’t credit her with telling the truth when she was doing exactly that. We’ve since learned what obscene things the Republics are capable of.

For anyone who actually lived through Watergate, Martha Mitchell remains an indelible figure, and it is impossible for us to hear â€Attorney General’s wife†without thinking of her. That’s why I put a â€?!†after my comment, Phred. Don’t be so literal.

Great to have you back emptywheel.

WAG alert (wild ass guesses), Mrs. Gonzales is cover for the wider GOP who is pillaging Bush primarily over Iraq. Based on the time line emptywheel has so helpfully provided, I would very humbly invite others to consider that Sen. Elizabeth Taylor’s Warner’s performance on MTP this weekend may have factored in this.

IMVHO, GOP keeps demanding that Bush â€change course†on Iraq and Bush keeps offering up whomever he can, to buy a little extra time. GOP will not back down, because they know those 22 Senate races are all that stands between them and more losses on K Street.

IIRC, the WH broke both the Alberto and Karl firings on a Monday. If the WH were still in control, those stories would have been dumped on a Friday. If Bush had known that Alberto was already toast, when he was forced to fire Rover, I think he would have fired them both at the same time. IMVHO, right up through Saturday night, Bush thought that his hand-picked firewall at Justice could survive.

Also, no word on where Gonzales is going to continue picking up a paycheck in return for disgracing the bar. Just like Rove, he has no future employment lined up. (With the bottom falling out of the housing market, there have to be a lot of great opportunities for Harvard educated real estate lawyers). Alberto could have been an â€Accountability in Government†lecturer at Pepperdine’s Law School with a snap of Ken Starr’s fingers. Those things are not happening which strongly suggests to me that ultimatums are coming fast and furious from JB3 and Poppy.

Also, Bush is completely unprepared to name a firewall successor to Gonzales, which is Bush’s only concern critical to hampering ongoing DoJ investigations into Hatch violations, torture, 4th Amendment, habeas corpus … . AFAIK, the absence of a permanent AG effectively bumps the authority of all the other DoJ department heads. Paul Clement comes in with the title of â€interim.†That won’t scare as many DoJ types as a Senate confirmed AG.

IMVHO, Senate could â€suggest†that Bush nominate Fitz for AG. I know a lot of people here have concerns with him, but he’s gotta be really pissed at Bush for commuting Scooter’s sentence. In my un-expert opinion, he would be better than Comey.

Completely OT, Sara you had an as per usual brilliant analysis of Harry Reid’s strategy on Iraq. I can’t remember if it was in a thread or a separate post. OT, it would be nice (if and only) if someone at TNH had the time to link all your posts to your name as a â€Contributor.†Currently, your name is not listed.

Praedor, goddammit, Sara was not endorsing the Harry’s strategy, she was explaining it. I apologize to you and Sara for stating it in a way that left it open to your interpretation.

I can’t find Sara’s comments. Have you read them?

Boo, yer totally right, Thanks so much for your analysis Sara, the post is August 24, Time For Serious Talk On Iraq
By Mimikatz

Praedor you need to read the comments from that post if you haven’t done so already. Yer a touch outta line.

â€Bush was in NM for a LUNCH fund raiser today.â€
Posted by: bg | August 27, 2007 at 21:58

Isn’t it just shocking that there are still any people who would give even $1 at a Bush fundraiser for either Bush, the Repub party or to Domenici?

I mean, c’mon folks, Bush is a war criminal and Domenici is sleazy. What is the f’ing matter with you folks? Remember, â€traditional family valuesâ€? Where are yours?

Sheesh.

TWO DOWN TWO TO GO