Wednesday’s Mini-Report

July 18, 2007

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* In light of all the many, many Justice Department scandals, rumor has it Alberto Gonzales has struggled to fill several top positions, because no one wants to tarnish their reputation by working with him. Nevertheless, filling one of the many empty positions left vacant by the U.S. Attorney scandal, Gonzales named Craig S. Morford, currently the interim U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, as Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty’s replacement.

* I was poking around this afternoon for the dumbest media headline regarding today’s GOP filibuster on Iraq policy, but it looks like David Kurtz found the very worst. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Filibuster Fails to Force Iraq Vote.” It’s as if editors don’t have any idea what’s going on.

* Reader AG emailed to mention that C-SPAN’s headline was better, but still misleading: “Senate Blocks Iraq Withdrawal Timeline, 52-47.” C-SPAN ought to know better.

* Fox News, true to form, skipped the subtlety and flat-out lied to its audience, claiming that 52 senators voted against the withdrawal measure. That’s wrong on a couple of levels.

* A new Gallup poll shows Bush dropping to a 31.8% approval rating, his lowest yet. Cheney fared slightly worse.

* It’s one of the worst-written pieces I’ve seen in a while, but Ed Koch (who recently described Bush as his “hero”) announced that he “will no longer defend the policy of keeping U.S. troops in Iraq to assist the Iraqi central government in the ongoing civil war.”

* ABC News’ Jake Tapper, who’s been disappointingly hackish lately, ran a piece today indicating that a threatened fish species was served at Al Gore’s daughter’s rehearsal dinner earlier this month. Not only is the piece fairly pathetic in its own right, but it’s based on the wrong fish.

* Be sure to watch last night’s ABC report on what it’s like on U.S. troops in the midst of the surge.

* In one of my favorite Culture-of-Corruption lines in quite a while, Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) “acknowledged taking more than $5,500 in illegal campaign contributions from a seafood trade association since 2001, but he has informed federal officials he will only pay back a portion of those funds because some of the violations fall outside the statute of limitations.” Classic. Young’s argument, in a nutshell, is: “Yes, I broke the law. Yes, I accepted illegal contributions. And no, I won’t give the money back because the law doesn’t force me to.”

* There’s a fascinating item in the San Diego Union-Tribune today, catching us up on the latest with disgraced former congressman Duke Cunningham (R-Calif.). After a year behind bars, the Dukestir is apparently far more forthcoming about his bribery scandal and the prostitutes lobbyists arranged for him. (thanks to R.S. for the tip)

* Curious about which presidential campaigns are subscribing to which publications?

* ABC’s libertarian crusader, John Stossel, devotes his latest column to praising free-market healthcare. Fortunately, Anonymous Liberal tears his argument apart.

* Here’s a good post explaining how the Bush administration skewed the data on attacks against U.S. forces in Anbar Province to make it look like there’s progress. Regrettably, the administration is playing games in the hopes of deceiving people.

* And finally, two years after Alberto Gonzales’ office had placed Patrick Fitzgerald on a list of prosecutors who had “not distinguished themselves,” the two ran into each other in the Justice Department’s Great Hall yesterday. According to a report from the WaPo’s Al Kamen, Gonzales said, “Good job” to Scooter Libby’s prosecutor, and extended his hand. Fitzgerald was apparently “taken aback,” and “didn’t say much in response.”

Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.

Fitzgerald should have responded: “You too, baby! You too!”

  • I like this little rejoinder to AGAG’s woes:

    The Senate Judiciary Committee, however, has signaled that it won’t confirm any senior Justice Department appointees until it gets the documents and testimony it wants from the White House. So it’s unclear when (if ever) Morford will take McNulty’s place.

  • I think last night’s pajama party in the Senate was not a bad start but I hope they don’t stop with this one. I reckon it will take a few more installments — hopefully with a better coordinated PR offensive and on days with no plane crashes — for the message to start to penetrate.

  • Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) “acknowledged taking more than $5,500 in illegal campaign contributions from a seafood trade association since 2001, but he has informed federal officials he will only pay back a portion of those funds because some of the violations fall outside the statute of limitations

    Dignity, dignity.

  • They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. That may well be an apt description of John Edwards’ “Road to One America” tour, his 11 city, three day journey to bring attention to the persistent – and resurgent – scourge of poverty plaguing the United States. But while Edwards’ call to address the plight of America’s most needy is admirable, it is out of sync with the current psyche – and voting patterns – of today’s American electorate.

    For the details, see:
    “Edwards’ Thankless Poverty Tour.”

  • I for one am stocking up on ductape and canned food. Now that the terrorists have discovered the power of steam there’ll be no holding them back.

    Even odds that Abu Gonzales will produce six or eight homeless men who, having been plied with 1.75 liter plastic bottles of vodka, will confess to plotting to blow up NY steam pipes. The media will dutifully produce numbers of steam-powered-terrorism experts who will assert that we had a narrow escape and call for increased steam vigilance.

    Do your part by refusing to eat steamed rice, steamed clams or steamed vegetables.

  • And finally, two years after Alberto Gonzales’ office had placed Patrick Fitzgerald on a list of prosecutors who had “not distinguished themselves,” the two ran into each other in the Justice Department’s Great Hall yesterday. According to a report from the WaPo’s Al Kamen, Gonzales said, “Good job” to Scooter Libby’s prosecutor, and extended his hand. Fitzgerald was apparently “taken aback,” and “didn’t say much in response.”

    Pat Fitzgerald looks, acts, and is just like some crusading lawyer from a TV show. And he’s come up against an unconquerable wall supported by the system and yet obstructing justice. It’s as if he’s some kind of novel metaphor for traditional values or the traditional heroic ideal coming up against possibly insurmountable challenges in these modern times.

  • “A new Gallup poll shows Bush dropping to a 31.8% approval rating, his lowest yet.”

    Sadly, no.

    The always reliable Pollkatz says that Gallup had Bush’s approval rating at 29% on July 8. The latest Gallup, for a 3-day poll ending 7/15, puts Bush’s job approval number at 31%, up 2 percentile.

    The 31.8% number is Gallup’s average of polls for the calendar Quarter, ending June 30, and this was, indeed, Bush’s worst calendar quarter to date.

    Bush’s poll numbers, after a multiple week streak of declines, appear to have stabilized around the 30% mark, with Gallup, Newsweek and AP/Ipsos all reporting slight upticks.

  • Bush’s poll numbers, after a multiple week streak of declines, appear to have stabilized around the 30% mark

    Hmm. Well, 20% of Americans think the sun revolves around the earth, so that leaves 10%. About 8% must be the ones who believe the earth is flat and the sun just slides up and down the dome of the sky. The remaining 2% are greedy plutocrats. I think I just figured out “the base.”

  • I think you need to re-read Digby’s piece. Patagonian tooth fish and Chilean Sea Bass are one in the same. They are still endangered, and there’s nothing saying that the environmentally friendly fisheries mentioned in the Whole Foods statement were used for the Gore rehersal dinner.

    That said, this is fairly typical for anti-environmental shills. They have less and less ground to stand on, so it’s easier to just engage in character assassination against Gore and other environmentalists…

  • What do you mean “based on the wrong fish”? Nowhere does digby say it’s the wrong fish.

    Second, digby offers a piss-poor excuse for overlooking a menu with Chilean Sea Bass on it. One sustainable fishery–even if it actually exists–which I doubt, hardly justifies ordering the fish. She has NO way to know where that fish came from.

    Third, there’s hardly a problem with nailing Gore’s daughter on it. I’d nail any restauranteur who thought it was “in,” or that it doesn’t matter, and I’d nail any “friend” for ordering it or going along with it.

    It’s a simple matter not to serve, or order, Chilean Sea Bass. It costs the proprieter nothing. It costs the diner nothing. It costs the species everything.

    You’re far too quick to imply and/or state that, in these dire times, getting environmental issues right just doesn’ t matter. In the grand scheme of things, this is big–and can’t be tossed overboard just because Congress can’t get the Constitution right.

    It’s a both/and scenario-NOT one in which “Rome is burning so I get to eat my Cake”!

  • I move that all fish carry a barcode so that we can all determine the species and point of origin. It would also be helpful if a list of endangered species is plastered all every wall in the meat markets and grocery stores.

  • sombrero, the point is, Jake Tapper is not out “nailing,” as you put it, everyone who serves “Chilean Sea Bass” — i.e., Patagonian toothfish (I actually rather like the real name better). Rather, the inference he wants his readers to draw is that Al Gore is a hypocrite about environmental issues and therefore we shouldn’t take him seriously on global warming. That’s peculiarly insipid logic, and relies on a whole chain of unsupported inferences. But more importantly, how does this on balance help the environment?

  • Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) “acknowledged taking more than $5,500 in illegal campaign contributions from a seafood trade association since 2001, but he has informed federal officials he will only pay back a portion of those funds because some of the violations fall outside the statute of limitations.”

    Since Don Young rarely faces any formidable opponents for re-election, one has to wonder why he’s always so desperate for campaign cash. The answer was reported earlier this week: Young’s campaign spent $250,000 this year lawyering-up, possibly for Abramoff-related stuff (a former staffer has already pleaded guilty). In other words, he needs illegal money to pay for his legal defense.

    It’s a vicious circle. Vicious like an Alaskan mink!

  • She has NO way to know where that fish came from. -sombrerofallout

    Actually, any seafood chef should be able to tell the difference between farmed and wild fish. Now back to the regularly scheduled programming.

  • Actually, any seafood chef should be able to tell the difference between farmed and wild fish. Now back to the regularly scheduled programming.

    I’m not entirely up to date on fishing nomenclature, but the “safe” type of chilean sea bass comes from a fishery, which I don’t think necessarily means “farm-raised”. The dictionary definition of fishery is not clear, but I think they just come from a certain area where they practice sustainable fishing.

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