Just a couple of items tonight have caught my eye.
First, (someone break out the orchestra and start the sympathy music), former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asks, “What did I do that was so fundamentally wrong that deserves this kind of response to my service?” He said this in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. If I can stop laughing long enough I should be able to also mention that this is part of the Bush administration’s “charm” offensive. They are trying to become more likable. Whatever.
Some of Alberto Gonzales’s history that clearly explains what he did that was “fundamentally wrong” from Think Progress:
Politicized the DOJ: – Gonzales approved the firing and hiring of federal prosecutors for political reasons and lied to Congress about the scandal.
Approved torture: In 2002, Gonzales “raised no objections and, without consulting military and State Department experts in the laws of torture and war,” approved an infamous August 2002 memo giving CIA interrogators “legal blessings.” Gonzales witnessed an interrogation at Gitmo in 2002 and approved of “whatever needs to be done” to detainees.
Lied about warrantless wiretapping: Gonzaled lied to Congress multiple times about the Bush administration’s illegal wiretapping program, saying there wasn’t “any serious disagreement” about the program (there was).
Distorted pre-war intelligence: Last month, the House Oversight Committee revealed evidence showing that Gonzales lied to Congress in 2004 by claiming that the CIA “orally” approved Bush’s claim that Iraq sought uranium from Africa.
Jon Swift is a popular conservative blogger who never seemed to really go over to the dark side (become a neoconservative). I frequented his blog numerous times before he took a sabbatical. I thought he was reasonable in many of his discussions and I applaud him for that. He has asked several, if not hundreds, of bloggers to submit their “Best Blog Posts of 2008.” He put all the submissions together in one post. Unique idea (also drives traffic to your site). Well worth the read. Here’s a small section which includes what I thought was my best post. (This is not in the order in which he posted them. Oh, and the blurbs are Jon’s.)
Where’s the Outrage?
Supply-side Economics Never Made Sense
“Maybe this ‘Me First, Everything Else Second’ mentality helped cause the craziness that we’re seeing on Wall Street,” writes Errington Thompson. Personally, I think it’s the “Me first, Jon Swift second” mentality that’s the problem.
skippy the bush kangaroo
8-8-88: it was 20 years ago today…everything changed – a skippy musing
skippy remembers a day that will in infamy.
Daily Kos
Three Times Is Enemy Action
Markos Moulitsas Zúniga nominates Devilstower’s post, which links our economic woes to deregulation that began in the 1980s. But just because something doesn’t work out the first few times doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try it again.
The Agonist
Who Got It Right
Numerian points out modestly that The Agonist predicted what would happen to the economy long before many of the experts did. OK, smart guy, what’s going to happen next?
Rude Pundit
Time to Rub Their F—ing Faces in It
Rude Pundit reaches across the aisle in his own special way.
Tbogg
Your Mumia Sweatshirt Won’t Get You Into Heaven AnymoreTbogg visits some Ralph Nader voters in Happy Gumdrop Fairy-Tale Land and kills them.
A Blog Around the Clock
The Nobel Prize Conundrum
Coturnix explains the negative side of the Nobel Prizes, besides the fact that there isn’t one for blogging.
Informed Comment
Barack Hussein Obama, Omar Bradley, Benjamin Franklin and other Semitically Named American Heroes
Juan Cole says that Barack Hussein Obama should be as proud of his name as Abraham Hussein Lincoln and John Hussein Adams were.
Firedoglake
Iqbal And The Question Of Accountability For Torture Decision-Makers At The Top
Christy Hardin Smith says that one question the Iqbal case will answer is “What is justice here — and is it even possible to accomplish?” I agree with President Nixon: “When the president’s men do it, that means that it is not illegal.”
The Moderate Voice
Obama’s Election: A Sea Of Shattered Assumptions
Joe Gandelman lists 12 assumptions shattered by Obama’s election, not to mention the assumption he couldn’t win, and provides an exhaustive roundup of news media and weblog reaction on the day he won.
Pam’s House Blend
Thoughts on Barack Obama’s ‘A More Perfect Union’
Pam Spaulding muses about the impact of Obama’s speech “in terms of the relief it gave me to hear someone articulate so clearly the need to have a discussion about race because I felt like I was screaming into a void.” Conservatives are just happy we never have to talk about race again.
Comedy Central’s Indecision 2008
Breakfast with Jon Stewart, Part One
Dennis DiClaudio experiences “second most fascinating, most I-can’t-believe-I’m experiencing-this, thing I have ever witnessed in my admittedly very unfascinating and inexperienced life.”
Wonkette
Your Lengthy Guide To The Insane McCain-Palin Cold War
Wonkette details the inside story of the brilliant, hard-fought campaign McCain and Palin aides waged against each other.
