Mrs. Senator Cheney?/Libby Lobby Goes Wild
I filmed another Corn & Miniter Show for PajamasMedia.com. It should be up on the site sometime today. But Richard Miniter, Pajamas' Washington editor, raised two interesting points. First, will there soon be a new Cheney in the U.S. Senate? I say "new" because Dick Cheney, as vice president, is already the president and tiebreaker of the Senate, and Miniter was referring to Lynne Cheney. Wyoming Senator Craig Thomas, a Republican, died of leukemia a few days ago, and, per the state's constitution, Governor Dave Freudenthal, a Democrat, must appoint a Republican as Thomas' replacement. And one of the names in circulation is Mrs. Cheney. My response: Please! Go for it, Gov! Two for the price of one--what could be better? Vice President Cheney is the most unpopular veep since Spiro Agnew. (And the latest news about Dick Cheney makes him seem to be a fan of Mob rule; see the item below.) Yes, let's keep reminding the public that the Cheneys are in charge. And perhaps if Lynne becomes a senator, a publishing house will reissue her novel about lesbians in the Wild West.
Miniter also decried the recent sentencing of Scooter Libby, claiming the case against Libby was nothing but a political vendetta. How so? He explained: After Attorney General John Ashcroft recused himself form the CIA leak case, Deputy Attorney General James Comey appointed U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald to be the prosecutor and--cue the ominous music--Comey had Fitzgerald pursue Libby because Libby was a bureaucratic enemy of Comey. That is, it was all as setup. Comey had his good friend Fitzgerald destroy his foe.
This is a line being pushed by the Libby Lobby. Friends of Libby--such as Republican consultants/strategists Barbara Comstock and Mary Matalin--have been promoting this "explanation." The problem: there's no evidence to back it up. Libby's lawyers did try to challenge Fitzgerald's appointment, but as far as I'm aware they never argued that Fitzgerald (a man of no discernible political leanings) was part of a Comey-led conspiracy to take out Libby. And Comey, a former US attorney, is hardly known as an ideologue driven to bureaucratic warfare against policy opponents. But Comey is in the news these days for disclosing that Cheney's office in 2004 was involved in the effort to overturn Comey's decision not to reauthorize the warrantless wiretapping program after he, Ashcroft, FBI chief Robert Mueller and others decided the program was not legal. The Libby partisans are trying to exploit this new information. How far will the Libby Lobby go to win a pardon for Libby, who appears to be heading to jail because he lied? As far as Libby went.
WANNA SEE GRIDLOCK?In today's Washington Post, Dan Balz analyzes the collapse of the immigration bill in the Senate and writes:
The collective failure of the two parties already appears to have stimulated interest in a third-party candidate for president in 2008 whose main promise would be to make Washington work. It is far too early to assess the viability of such a candidate, but it is easy to imagine the immigration impasse finding its way into a television commercial if someone such as New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg decides to run.
What the smart Balz did not mention is that while some voters might be intrigued by a third-party candidate, there is no way a third-wayer could make Congress work any better. Imagine how both parties would respond to a president of neither party. Yes, George W. Bush, the diminished and diminishing president, has little influence these days. But an independent chief executive would have even less sway. With such a traffic cop in charge, gridlock would be worse.
JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT? In Thursday's report on the G-8 meeting, The Washington Post detailed how thousands of protesters tried to circumvent police blockades. It said nothing about what the demonstrators were protesting. Iraq? Global warming? Nothing.
SECOND THOUGHTS. Yesterday I put it on the line and predicted that Tony Soprano would be dispatched to the big pork store in the sky by Paulie Walnuts. But now I'm wondering if Paulie's going to double-cross me. So here are some other possibilities. Janice Soprano kills Tony. Why? Family kills. Or Tony whacks himself. Remember he's a depressive. Or perhaps Tony helps his FBI nemesis nail those two possible Middle Eastern terrorists and wins a get-out-of-jail free card. Or, he turns snitch and rats out Phil Leotardo. Then, via the witness protection program, he and Carmela are relocated to Utah, where she opens an antique shop and he watches History Channel all day long. By the way, next door there's a curious family that seems to have one husband and three wives.
While we're obsessing with HBO, let me recommend one of its new shows, Flight of the Conchords. You can watch the first episode on-line here. As for the designated replacement for The Sopranos, a show called John from Cincinnati, I'm wondering how HBO is going to pull this off: moving from a crime soap opera to a show that appears to be about metaphysics and surfing. How much waxing will there be? (Disclosure: I'm a consultant for an HBO series on the Iraq war that's in the works.)
Posted by David Corn at June 8, 2007 11:26 AM
8 comments:
If you ever want to see a Nazis' Nazi, it's Lynne Cheney. She is definitely part of the it gender and totally lacking in nurturing and sensitivity.
The Nazis are starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel with their nominations and selections.
John F. Kennedy wrote Profiles in Courage. Our politicians are gutless and without any courage to lead.
The Democrats may also be scraping the bottom of the barrel.
I'm not saying it's likely to happen but, if one reads this closely, it is not a legal requirement that a Republican be named to replace the dead Republican senator in Wyoming. It is possible that the central committee could send the governor the name of a Democrat, Libertarian, Independent, etc. as a replacement. I know it's not going to happen, but the statue doesn't appear to disallow it. Just saying....
Wyoming Code Title 22, Chapter 18, Section 111(a)(i): If a vacancy occurs in the office of United States senator or in any state office other than the office of justice of the supreme court and the office of district court judge, the governor shall immediately notify in writing the chairman of the state central committee of the political party which the last incumbent represented at the time of his election under W.S. 22-6-120(a)(vii), or at the time of his appointment if not elected to office. The chairman shall call a meeting of the state central committee to be held not later than fifteen (15) days after he receives notice of the vacancy. At the meeting the state central committee shall select and transmit to the governor the names of three (3) persons qualified to fill the vacancy. Within five (5) days after receiving these three (3) names, the governor shall fill the vacancy by temporary appointment of one (1) of the three (3) to hold the office.
Lynne Cheney in the United States Senate?
Would that mean she'd have to actually step foot in Wyoming? She's not well-liked there.
David Broder had a good column on Judge Watson and he is not soft on criminals. Judge Watson speaks to students in blighted schools and he talks to the students about obeying the law. He holds no favorites and claims that NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW.
He will have several talking points about the Libby Case when he speaks to the students.
People, the immigration laws are on the books but our federal government has failed to enforce the laws.
This Senate immigration bill is totally flawed. I do not always agree with the Heritage Foundation, a think tank for the Nazis, but with regard to this immigration bill I am in total agreement. They are opposed to the immigration bill and the foundation had the facts to back up their opposition to the bill. They also mentioned that the total cost to the taxpayer would be something like $90 billion in the first five years and no end in sight as to what the tab will be for the taxpayer. This immigration would not secure our borders but it would open our borders to abuse and more insecurity.
Yes, my fellow Americans, it's B.O.H.I.C.A. day everyday for Americans from both political parties.
Occupying Iraq, Forever
A US Nightmare
Hitler Bush and his Invasion of Iraq
The baptism of a president
I have a problem with all this talk about religion. Even the candidates are talking about religion. For me religion is not a noun but a verb. Religion means action and deeds. Talk is cheap.
If we look carefully at Hitler Bush, he is a big talk on religion and yet he is a known murderer and war criminal.
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