Bipartisan support for Senate subpoenas

March 22, 2007

Yesterday, the House [tag]Judiciary Committee[/tag] empowered Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) to subpoena White House aides in the [tag]prosecutor[/tag] [tag]purge[/tag] [tag]scandal[/tag]. Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee followed suit, but this time, Dems picked up a Republican vote.

A Senate panel, following the House’s lead, authorized subpoenas Thursday for White House political adviser Karl Rove and other top aides involved in the firing of federal prosecutors.

The Senate Judiciary Committee decided by voice vote to approve the subpoenas as Republicans and Democrats sparred over whether to press a showdown with President Bush over the ousters of eight U.S. attorneys.

Democrats angrily rejected Bush’s offer to grant a limited number of lawmakers private interviews with the aides with no transcript and without swearing them in. Republicans counseled restraint, but at least one, Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, backed the action.

In fact, when the committee voted to give Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) the authority to subpoena current and former White House officials, the panel voted by voice vote (instead of a roll-call vote). Grassley went out of his way to ask that the record reflect the fact that he voted “yes,” along with committee Democrats.

Note to the White House: when you start losing Republicans on these votes, the ice you’re skating on is getting thin.

Tony Snow accused critics of wanting “a Perry Mason scene where people are hot-dogging and grandstanding and trying to score political points.”

With Republicans lining up with Dems in larger numbers, that’s a tougher sell for the White House to make.

* Five congressional Republicans, including one (ostensive) presidential candidate, have joined Dems in calling for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales’ ouster.

* Grassley sided with Dems today on subpoenas, and Specter has indicated he might do the same in the future.

* A Republican leadership staffer told Roll Call yesterday, “We are not throwing ourselves on the grenade for them anymore. There’s now an attitude of ‘you created this mess, you’ve got to get yourself out of it.'”

If you watch Fox News or read right-wing blogs, there’s an effort to paint this entire ordeal as a partisan game. Dems, they say, are trying to score cheap points. At the president’s brief statement/press conference on Tuesday, he referred to the Dems’ “partisanship” five times in 10 minutes.

But there’s a growing sense that Republicans see the writing on the wall, too, and more and more of them a) recognize the seriousness of the scandal; and b) see no reason to go down with a sinking ship.

Stay tuned.

March 22, 2007 at 4:49 pm

c) see that their constituents have a fairly correct understanding of where the real problem lies.

i find it interesting that grassley made a point of having his vote on the record.

A surprising vote from our own (“I carry lotsa water”) Grassley on this one … if he sees the deck chairs sliding off the deck, something must be afoot here. Just a hunch, but I would never have foreseen this vote from him. Tiny props to him on this, but I still want to work my butt off to make sure he gets defeated in 2010, thanks to that execrable cheerleading of the bankruptcy bill.

Looks like he’s trying to cultivate the “maverick” image, but don’t be fooled by it folks…

Am I the only one who finds this rather exciting?

Tony Snow accused critics of wanting “a Perry Mason scene where people are hot-dogging and grandstanding and trying to score political points.”

In other words, trying to steal his thunder. What a flake.

A“We are not throwing ourselves on the grenade for them anymore. There’s now an attitude of ‘you created this mess, you’ve got to get yourself out of it.’”

Welcome aboard the Clue Bus Sparky! Sheesh.

Bush is moving from Albatross to Concrete Suit and might well become a political Black Hole for his party in the not too distant future. Effective opposition ads might be a simple matter of finding a photo of the candidate shaking hands with the Shrub. “Joe ReThuglican once touched George Bush. Do YOU want a man who touched George Bush in office? Vote for Jim Democrat.”

Not that I’m rejoicing about that or anything. Not that I think the ReThuglicans should be thoroughly thrashed for supporting the Drunken Draft Dodger or nothin’. Not that the thought of the ReThuglicans who went along with this shit because they were greedy or stupid or both weeping over the tattered, shredded, burnt and bleeding remains of their once glorious political careers makes me do a little dance.

Honest.

So, once again, when it actually mattered and a vote was cast Arlen Specter voted with Bush and Co.

I am shocked and amazed. (NOT!!)

For each and every one of those Republicans who is trying to avoid going down with the ship, hand them an anchor.

They enabled Bush and made the Bush disaster possible, so they share full culpability.

In the old days, Senators thought they ‘were somebody’, meaning they expected to be treated with deference and respect as powerful men, even by a President of their own party. As John Oliver said on The Daily Show, the President’s initial position on this was essentially “go #bleep# yourselves.” I can imagine even Republicans finding that insulting to them.

My question for Tony Snow is, since Perry Mason was a good guy, does his desire to avoid a Perry Mason-like scene imply that he is trying to get away with something? Perry Mason wasn’t dramatic for his own ego, he was fighting for justice! What is Tony’s problem with fighting for justice?

To follow on biggerbox at 7, Senators are still somebody. Committee chairs are people too…. It’s just a little hard for the authoritarian cultists to accept. They have short memories.
Related note: I’m sorry to put this gooey imagery in your minds, but does anyone remember Frist?

Tony Snow accused critics of wanting “a Perry Mason scene where people are hot-dogging and grandstanding and trying to score political points.”

Unlike what was going on back during Snowjobber’s “glory days” in 1998.

Grassley sided with Dems today on subpoenas, and Specter has indicated he might do the same in the future.

You mean Arlent “We should take what we can get” Specter, the biggest wet noodle in the Senate?

Local news coverage of Grassley going “on the record” to buck Bush is enlightening. It appears Chuckles was neither refusing to go down with teh ship nor responding to constituents, but rather (and I so enjoy this) rather subtly letting BushCo know that paybacks are hell:

“Republican U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley approved the subpoenas, saying the administration hasn’t been responsive to his oversight requests.”

Even dyed-in-the-wool Rethugs get tired of being treated like minions after a while. Georgie boy, your welcome is wearing out real fast.

This strikes me as one of those “genius of the system” moments. We all know that Bush loyalty is a one-way street, and these Senators–who’ve been, let’s face it, eating shit and smiling for years–see where the road ends. Their interests now diverge from Bush’s; it’s not so much that they’re now flying the Stars and Stripes over the Elephant, more like the lame duck Deciderer can’t do anything for them now.

There might be a little element of payback involved too; remember, these guys think (and with cause) that they lost their majority because Bush waited too long to fire Rumigula last autumn.

Did Bush Firing Of Attorney Have To Do With Turning A Blind Eye To A Pedophile?

People In Washington State Are Wondering.

http://soundpolitics.com/archives/008252.html

Perhaps there are reasons behind why Bush fired these people. Perhaps these people are not as innocent as the Democrats are trying to portray them as being.

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