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While we wait for the last ballot count tomorrow, I thought I’d tie in Operation Stonewall to the Republicans’ bizarre and seemingly inexplicable "objections" to Dawn Johnsen and Harold Koh. As it turns out, the Republicans are stonewalling Johnsen and Koh because they don’t want to suffer any form of accountability for their actions, especially their wholehearted backing of torture:
A reliable Justice Department source advises me that Senate Republicans are planning to “go nuclear” over the nominations of Dawn Johnsen as chief of the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice and Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh as State Department legal counsel if the torture documents are made public. The source says these threats are the principal reason for the Obama administration’s abrupt pullback last week from a commitment to release some of the documents. A Republican Senate source confirms the strategy. It now appears that Republicans are seeking an Obama commitment to safeguard the Bush administration’s darkest secrets in exchange for letting these nominations go forward."
This also explains why one of Bush’s OLC deputies, Edward Whelan (who as DougJ points out is a member of the kooky-right and amusingly-misnamed "Ethics and Policy Center"), was allowed by neocon Bush admirer Fred Hiatt to pollute the Washington Post’s editorial page today. (The comments on his piece are generally better and more informed than the piece itself.)
Spread the word, folks. They were hoping to get away with their stonewalling by keeping it under wraps. But the more We the People squawk, the more sunlight hits them.
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Screw the Rethugs! Obama needs to get this stuff out there and then let the stoopids try and block his nominations. Let the public see what happened in their name.
when everybody KNOWS the secret, it AIN’T a secret any more
the bushco crimes against humanity ain’t no secret
the cover up ???
that speaks DIRECTLY to the moral values of anybody who tries to participate in the cover up
anybody who claims that george bush did not order torture is a FUCKING LIAR
and a shamelessly self-deluded stupid fucking bastard
the torture ain’t about george any more
it’s about us
we know george is a pathetic little shit of a human being, and a person who brings great shame to his mother and father
the question is; will you defend george, and shame YOUR mother and father ???
let them stonewall
we know what that says about them
soon the entire planet will know
george bush’s “little secret” is common knowledge
I’ve given up on ObamaCo doing anything about BushCo wrongdoings. We’re going to have to count on the courts to uphold the rule of law. But after 8 years of BushCo judicial appointments, I’m not very hopeful.
Boxturtle (It may well be that we’re going to have to depend on foreign courts to hold BushCo accountable)
NUCULAR or NUCLEAR?
If you can’t say it, you can’t do it.
Seriously, what a bunch of drama queens. Extra helpings of shame for the shameless.
- Tom
24 hours and counting
Couldn’t Obama make an appointment once congress adjourns.
Update with vid from over at Josh’s place:
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo…..months.php
I am probably be too clever by half but I think this stonewall thing is a ruse. The DOJ puts the blame on GOP Senators who are more than willing to take the blame. There is almost zero political downside to this. No elections are going to be decided by this so it’s all for show for the few weeks it’s part of the buzz.
The MSM will explain that Dawn Johnsen is a female Democrat and is therefore too liberal with ideas that are out of the mainstream. Middle America seeks core all-American homespun values, tough on crime. The torture of those swarthy types who might do us harm is sometimes always necessary and Dawn Johnsen doesn’t understand that. /s
The problem is that Obama has left the door open for this type of stupid ad hominem attack on Dawn Johnsen.
Recess-appoint them both and let the bitchez whine.
Conversely, have Harry Reid grow a spine by bringing the nominations to the floor and allow them to wail and filibuster.
“Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something.”
Obama just said it on my teevee.
Let’s go.
Teddy or anyone! I’m trying to figure out the tag business on the bottom of Oxdown. All the ads and Oxdown’s are blocking a large part of my screen…I need help! Thanks.
Phoenix Woman responding to another commenter this morning
in this Christy thread
Loo Hoo, are you trying to put a tag on a diary you are composing ?
if so, you know you can pretty much put anything (1 or 2 words, subject’s name, etc.) in there.
Consent Without Consent.
Look Who’s Politicizing Justice Now? Appointing the Dean of Yale’s Law School and a senior professor from I.U. @ Bloomington (Indiana’s flagship land grant university and location for the film Breaking Away), both former senior government lawyers, to two senior government posts is about as newsworthy as going to an ATM machine to draw out cash. The “intense controversy” is in Mr. Whelan’s head and those of the Reichwing demagogues who pay for his welfare.
The answer to Mr. Whelan’s rhetorical question is, “He is”. His masters in the Senate are threatening to filibuster two lawyers as practice for filibustering two Supreme Court nominees? (Or whatever else the Right can use to justify purely obstructionist tactics.) How political is that?
True, Mr. Obama’s DoJ under Eric Holder is adopting the same cloak of invisibility arguments to avoid exposing its predecessor’s secrets – or their own future behavior. But GOP’er should be happy about that. It’s only when new lawyers threaten to turn over their rotten legal logs and expose them to air and light that they get all huffy.
Mr. Obama knows that the legal arguments of the Bush administration were riven with termites and dry rot. He knows he cannot rebuild the rule of law on their foundation. So what is he trying to build?
I did put a few words…
It’s at the very bottom, and Jane explaine it by cats, dogs, petfood or something.
Loo Hoo, are you using Firefox by any chance?
If so, are you using the NoScript add-on?
If so, try forbidding rmxads.com
I curse rmxads.com
those tags are descriptors for your posting
e.g.
Dawn Johnsen, Harold Koh, stonewall, torture memoranda
can you see the [Save & Preview] button?
Yes, firefox.
Yes, I already did save and preview…
How do I forbid ads???
And thank you!
There’s a Firefox addon called NoScript. It allows you to selectively allow or forbid embedded website links to activate, and other things like activeX and Java scripts, etc. It’s mostly a nuisance, but it gives the user control over what scripts are executed in your browser, so if you go to suspect web pages in your browsings, you might be protected from infection by a worm/trojan/virus, etc. It gets updated regularly, and NoScript doesn’t hesitate to remind you how wonderful they think they are.
There are options to show messages about blocked scripts, or not, and so on.
Here’s a link to the NoScript site.
Here’s an independent review of NoScript.
Conversely, have Harry Reid grow a spine…
I would pay cash American money to see that happen. Seriously. Can anyone out there — anyone? — give me any kind of assurance that something remotely like that will ever happen?
I’m really surprised how few people see how the phony scandal around Sen. Chris Dodd is being pumped up by the Republican’t&won’t party. It’s part of the same strategy as the Frankel stall to keep their filibuster power. They will do whatever they can to cut down the number of Dem Senators.
Remember the White Water bullcrap and how it almost brought down Bill Clinton. The Rs learned a lot from that and now they’re going to use it on Dodd. The local Republican-owned media is already on board here in Connecticut.
oldswede