Eric Holder Confirmed, 75-21
We finally have a new Attorney General.
The no votes include (roll call here):
Barrasso
Brownback
Bunning
Burr
Coburn
Cochran
Cornyn
Crapo
DeMint
Ensign
Enzi
Kaybee Hutchison
Inhofe
Johanns
McConnell
Risch
Roberts
Shelby
Thune
Vitter
Wicker
CheneyShelby is a Dick !37 days ’til March 11. Now: Go, Eric, Go!
You said it … he’d better work 24/7 until then.
We can haz indictments??!!
Excellent, Busted !
Um, no, you almost certainly can not. Holder has no dog for the fight to prosecute. Didn’t before, doesn’t now, won’t in the future. The only way he will sanction criminal prosecutions is kicking and screaming, and only then if there is such a groundswell of popular clamor that he absolutely has to. I would not bet a plug nickel on Holder working in this direction.
I’m headed in a somewhat different direction on this. I expect there will SOME indictments, simply because some went way too far on politicized investigations and prosecutions, an area where Bush appointees & His Majesty’s Loyal Line Bushies suffer from a disabling blind spot and where there’s still time to get there from scratch more-or-less.
I’m with you on not expecting indictments from Holder on torture, EXTRAORDINARY renditions, domestic spying and the like – – because regardless what route gets taken on these, I don’t expect it to be the regular one [You may recall from the early stages of your raising concerns on Holder, where I raised in rebuttal his identification while in the Clinton admin DoJ with special prosecutions; plus there’s Conyers’ bill, and a lot of Beltway wise guys crawling towards some vehicle equipped with snappy extras like “commission” and “truth”].
In any event, the pressures towards indictments for something, even if only contempt and perjury [and I expect more; there will be sacrifices to the gods: my money’s on John Yoo, plus Haynes III or IV or whatever he is, maybe Addington & a few others at that level] are too big, wide and deep for Obama to push away, leave aside Holder. The voices of Feingold & Whitehouse & Leahy & Nadler & Davis carry only so far in opposition and have another effect now.
You’ll be lucky to get that punk at DOJ with the Alvin and the Chipmunks voice indicted. The closest thing I can imagine to anything significant would be a Sandy Berger like plea to nothing for Gonzales carting around classified documents.
Well, we’ll see. Meanwhile: hey, I kinda like Alvin et al in my yout’, and now I imagine the key selling feature was that they were too cute for Dave to throttle. The guy you’re referring to: not so much.
That’s an honor roll, for sure. Right there, ladies and gentlemen, your Rump GOP.
“your rump GOP”
I was thinking more precisely.
GREAT!! The “NO” voters should be the target list for the Democrats or folks they need to marginalize AND defeat in 2010.
Barrasso
Brownback
Burr
Coburn
Cochran
Cornyn
Crapo
Ensign
Kaybee Hutchison
Inhofe
Johanns
McConnell
Risch
Shelby
Thune
Wicker
where’s Craig? Isn’t Craig supposed to be on that list?
Craig left the Senate and was replaced by former Idaho Gov Risch who won the seat in the ‘08 election.
ah thanks. I’d forgotten. Too bad. No more wide stance to kick around.
With God on our side, Kay Bailey can run for governor of Texas where she can be more or less out of the way for awhile. (I assume that if she runs, she’s thinking of it as a stepping stone to be President – aargh!) Both of our illustrious/s senators have made your list.
She’ll have the same problem McCain had by that time, won’t she? She is 65 now (born July 22, 1943), so even if she ran in 2012, she’d be in Reagan territory…
Most of these people said they voted against because Holder wants to take your guns away. They’ve protected themselves with this vote pretty carefully.
192 meeeelion guns?
Good luck with that.
The list is interesting both for who’s on it and who’s not [and why]. Some are there merely for base, or comedy, or base comedy [Ayatollah Brownback; the new Senate minority Cruelty & Gruel leadership cadreInhofe doesn’t lose sleep over anything let alone hearings and votes; ]; some to serve ‘larger ambitions’ [Kaybee]. But I prefer these nay-sayers for at least having outed themselves. It’s the Corkers slithering between cloak rooms you have to watch.
They’ve protected themselves with this vote pretty carefully.
cept for, you know, when reality intrudes and all
Why are you guys so excited? This guy is pro drug war, and I don’t doubt that he said comforting things to republican senators regarding Bush admin prosecutions. Patrick Fitzgerald anybody?
Given Holder’s predecessors in Ashcroft, Gonzales and Mukasey, this is known as the difference between Night and Day.
It’ll be interesting to see how many of the same names will be in the No column for the stimulus package.
From the Human Rights Campaign, via email:
You’re going to see that same list of names voting no on EVERYTHING.
with any luck, that list of names are going onto Rahm’s permanent shite list. And Rahm always acts on that list, where rethugs are concerned.
Totally OT – EW, I hope you have the time to check out the latest TPMMuckraker story by Murray Wass – Attorney: Rove Will Cooperate With DOJ Probes
Trust but verify!
Interesting. Checked my calendar to make sure it’s Groundhog Day and not April Fool’s.
Thanks to you, to Murray, and to the Usual Suspects for what’s leading my Chuckle De Jour list: ‘Luskin said that Rove “has not and will not assert any personal privileges” ‘ That’s a big relief.
Given that Turdblossom had already memorized the 5th Amendment before his 5th birthday, Goldbars Luskin is at his ludicrous best in declaring prior to hearing the questions, that Turdblossom “has not and will not assert any personal privileges”.
Turdblossom and Goldbars; dumb and dumber.
Rove is a conundrum: To be competent to testify one must know the difference between a truth and a lie. (Basic Evidence.)
Question: Mr. Rove, do you know the difference between the truth and a lie?
Answer: Well, yes (a lie);or, No, I don’t (ding: can’t testify). How do you solve a problem like Rove? (Can’t wait for the answers;))
Isn’t it, though? Did someone say he claimed personal privilege?
A more real headline would be … Rove will
cooperate withstall DOJ probes for all eternity …Hey MadDog, I got some some derivitives on gator filled swampland in Florida, would you like to buy into that too???
Sorry dude, but I put all my borrowed money into that oceanfront property in Phoenix. They tell me the surf is fantastic. *g*
Now Holder can start to rid the DOJ of the 54 holdovers from the Bush regime that are still on the payroll?
There’s already been talk about them, and I don’t think they’re that difficult to deal with, tho they are pretty noisy and I imagine all of ‘em are clear that they’re expected to contribute to the feeding of the Base.
The problem – – we’ve discussed this many times in the past – – is that over the last 40 years, the culture has moved from non-progressive to anti-progressive to regressive, in all areas, even in major prosecutions, which form a very tiny slice of DoJ work.
And this cultural movement is on top of the tendency of prosecutions to attract a crusader attitude at the ‘best’ of times.
That’s what finally got me to concede to bmaz: Holder’s ambitions are a lot more modest than what’s needed. In this I much prefer the take from Scott Horton over at Harper’s.
March 11, Turdblossom playing for time… that common theme that you’re all sensing and trying to put a name to is called “Statute of Limitations”.
Yup – – and to that end, next we’ll be hearing that Karl is really engaged in a patriotic contribution to the public discourse by taking his ‘position’ on a tour of every stop thru the entire court system.
Wow! I can’t believe it. Both of my boneheaded Senate critters (The Odious Saxby Chambliss and the Moronic Johnny Isakson) voted AYE. Color me stunned.
hoping to avoid indictment/implication in the peanut scandal?
RICO says March 11, 2009 ain’t all that important
10 YEARS dude
Why they all seem to be Republicans. What a surprise. Traitors deserving of a blindfold and a noose.
What’s March 11th about?
Read it and weep.
Movie Night up at the Mothership Courthouse Girls of Farmland
Shooter and Rummy are still in DC. Do they still have over these Senators?
And why is Rummy off the grid in DC? He is a multmillionair and riding buses AND has a bus card.
With his SmarTrip card in hand — the DC metro’s rechargeable fare card — Rumsfeld “stood quietly” waiting for the bus.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/….._0202.html
“Cornyn-Crapo” That’s a bumper-sticker I hope to see in the future.
It really is a fairly heavy-on-opportunities-for-derriere-related-jokes list of names when you take a long look at it.
There was something a few days ago in the Science section of the NY Times about how having names that led to teasing created a high proportion of pathological tendencies, particularly when the names related to bodily functions or parts that adolescents thought humorous. Not everyone was susceptible, but a good number carried real anti-social “chips” on their shoulders.
Well, there we have it, our explanation for the last 8 years is that the other kids were too mean to those guys, so they were just getting even. Makes perfect sense…
Awwww, So sad: I did not know it was such a tragedy to be named George, Dick, Karl, Andy, Alberto, ….gee. What a hard life.
running on the ticket of Flat Earther Party, and endorsed by Rush.
What I want to know is, will he prosecute the Obama renditions as violations of American Law? I don’t see Democratic operatives committing the War Crime of torture as any better than the Republican predecessors.
And yes I know that I will draw abuse for daring to apply the same critique to the current President and administration as the last.
Hey, Spokane, have you been keeping an eye on Risch?
I expect to see numbskulls and knuckle-draggers like Imhofe voting against Holder, but my numerous sources have some really good things to say about Idaho’s Risch. So I’m bummed as hell to see him toe the line with the asshats on the Holder vote.
On the upside, there’s another amazing reason to be happy today — Seattle’s Ron Sims will be #2 at HUD. (Sims has guts, creativity, integrity, and a lot of administrative experience. Obama couldn’t have made a better pick.)
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/…..ims03.html
Holder and Sims heading up federal government on the same day… wow.
Fantastic.
Seattle’s Ron Sims will be #2 at HUD.
I was wondering the same thing.He should be held accountable.
It surprised the s**t out of me when he kept that provision in.
the Obama renditions
What renditions are those? If you’re taking the word of unnamed sources with axes to grind in the LA Times article, I’d encourage you to read this post. And, if you’re still determined to believe there will be renditions to torture under the Obama administration, this post.
edit
hit the button too soon.
Yes this is good news
Both Texas
moronssenators voted no. Can we have two new senators, this time with brains?To 61: Plus a Governor?
I know that I will draw abuse for daring to apply the same critique to the current President and administration as the last.
So brave!
Please stow the pre-emptive victimhood. I’m a pretty unforgiving critic of the current President and administration; my expectations are not high. But I prefer to save my criticism for occasions when they’ve actually committed crimes or continued horrible policies. Not seeing it in the case of rendition to torture at this point.