Via Outside the Beltway, this Milbank piece on David Addington’s ‘testimony’ yesterday, about which Joyner states:
David Addington, chief of staff to Vice President Cheney, was testifying under subpoena yesterday to the House Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. To took great delight in being a complete jackass, as Dana Milbank details.
What is surprising is that there is not more about this in the media. In fact, on the cable channels, there is nothing. Compare that to Rev. Wright’s Jackass tour at the NPR. One guy mocks the media, and we get our collective freak on for months. Addington and Yoo’s hands are all over much of the odious crap from this administration, come in and show thorough contempt for congress, and the media yawns.
Zifnab
Remind me again what happened to Cheney’s last Chief of Staff? Wasn’t he given a Presidential Reach Around? If I was David Addington, I’d feel quite a bit of contempt towards Congress myself. Hell, I feel that way right now.
Punchy
I’m amazed at the number of bloggers who expressed surprise that Addington was such the fuck. He’s merely expressing in public the contempt, the wanton lack of respect, and prickish disregard his boss has for Congress and Democrats in general behind closed doors. Yoo was just a baffoon, but in the end, made sure he did not say anything to get himself investigated.
Shorter: Addy relished this day in front of Congress, to more or less demonstrate in the open just how omnipotent he is versus the entire Congress.
Catpain Haddock
Um, well Wright reflected badly on Democrats so that is a valid story.
Addington reflects badly on Republicans, so its not something fit for broadcast.
dnA
I dislike “collective freak on” as a phrase here mostly because it sounds like Rev. Wright provoked several months of group sex, but I think it’s important to understand that in terms of coverage between January and June, Reverend Wright garnered more coverage than any other political story.
And it broke in March.
But it makes sense, because Wright saying “god damn America” is more disrespectful to American values than spying on Americans illegally or torturing people in our custody.
Wilfred
Even if the press did follow the story and hammered Homelanders with the bankrupt philosophy of these pricks we’d still be left with a See No Evil Congress intent on letting every Bushcreant waltz free into memoirland.
It is the job of the investigating committee to redress the contempt of these animals and they are not going to do shit.
Bobzim
There’s something about the whole torture issue that make me think that some people who are vehemently against it are sandbagging the investigations – and possibly the coverage – because they don’t to see this turn into a massive victim parade with the accompanying payouts similar to the Catholic church pedophile scandal.
Am I wrong?
D. Mason
Well you know, if congress won’t show respect for legal process and for its own role in American Government, why should the administration or its lackeys?
Face
Crazy N*gger versus Serious White Guy? And you’re surprised? Are you f*cking kidding me?
Papa Boule
I don’t get it at all. My gut feeling is they seem to actually believe that progressivism (old school liberalism) was completely discredited by the time Reagan came along. So, believing they are standing on a discredited or rejected philosophy, they are sheepish and weak. They flounder and are timid. They are reacting always from a “we lost” position.
And that includes the few remaining true journalists in the mainstream media.
A bizarre thing is that their withdrawal from the fight caused the Republicans to lose their focus. Instead of being the party who resisted big government, lacking that defining and self-constraining purpose, their darker angels were unchained and they morphed into “stalinism without the health care” as Tim F. eloquently put it.
nightjar
What an arrogant motherfucker this guy is. I’d seen pictures of him but had never heard him speak. I suspect when the history of the Bush criminal enterprise is written, this guy will be shown second only to Bush and Cheney as culpable for the worst offenses. Someday soon, GB won’t own the Justice Department nor the pardon power and it at least becomes possible these seditious shits will face justice. And if Obama goes the let “bygones be bygones route” I for one will be screaming “Don’t Obama”, as loud as possible.
KXB
Agree with Face. The writer James Baldwin noted that the traits Americans admire most – being stubborn, standing up for your beliefs, and stating those beliefs in a manner that is often confrontation – suddenly those traits scare the hell out of people if they are demonstrated by a black man.
Neal
Bingo!
A little ironic since that crazy SOB has every right to say “God damn America” whilst these serious white guys have zero right to do what they do…
sigh…
Wilfred
And as scarce as mercy in abu Ghraib when looked for in Democratic party leadership.
Church Lady
The reason the media is not on this is, well, would you expect anything less from anyone in the Bush Administration? Do you not remember the Justice Department firings hearings? The typical response from anyone in the Administration is a big FU to Congressional questioning.
Everyone connected to Bush is just riding it out until January, when, as he rolls out the door to return to Crawford, Bush will issue blanket pardons to everyone involved in anything illegal over the past eight years. Win-win for them all.
MattF
The lack of media coverage could be plain old cowardice– Addington, after all, gets his revenge on people by hurting them.
The press
Dude, fuck that noise. I’m just a stenographer here. I don’t do analysis. Copying “Whitey” is way easier than actually dealing with rhetoric and following an argument. I mean, that barnacle line I can relate to. You know attaching myself to the ass of something larger, digesting my own brain and feeding off of whatever comes within arms reach. Honestly, whatever keeps me out of the terrorist spatula’s path I’m fine with. Did you know Vern Troyer has a sex tape?
The Thinking Man's Mel Torme
I think you’re safe in doubling down on that bet and spending yer winnings in advance. Someone who’s whole campaign seems to be saying post-partisanship (whatever that means) is an end in itself won’t be big on a domestic Nuremburg Trials, even if that’s what we desperately need.
While everyone’s been foaming about Big O’s swing to the right on FISA and the recent Supreme Court decisions, my hair’s ignited by his statements to the WSJ that he’s backtracking on his stated tax policy. I know this is how the game is played, but I really was hoping for a little less corporate toadying this time around.
CFisher
He is scum, but I can’t exactly blame him for having contempt for Congress.
Congress won’t do anything about it, but maybe hold another hearing or send another strongly worded letter.
This timid, pathetic, servile Congress deserves contempt from everyone.
El Cid
Right wingers always love going to hearings and saying f*** you to the liberals and Democrats investigating their wrongs.
That’s one of the reasons the right wing swooned so much about that Iran-Contra nimrod “Ollie” North, precisely because of his super manly man ribbon-bestocked testimony saying ‘f*** you, I’d do it again because Ronald Reagan is f***ing awesome and I’m fighting Communists.”
The collective right wing had to change their sheets for weeks after that.
nightjar
You know I’ve wondered whether Bush will do something like this as he goes out the WH door. I wouldn’t put anything past him, but I would be surprised if he did, it would be a tacit admission of lawbreaking, at least that would be the perception. It would put the death knell in the republican brand as the law and order party and the party in general. And of course he can’t pardon himself and it likely would increase public support that HE be investigated thoroughly.
So I suspect he will rely on the prez club unspoken dictum ,at least since Watergate, of “We’ll pardon yours if you pardon ours (presidents)
Dracula
Are you sure about this? I’ve seen others opine that he would do it, and nobody would dare even ask if it’s legit.
Zifnab
Obama can’t push anything resembling his domestic agenda without fixing the tax structure. A country can’t double its national debt every eight years and stay above water. Going on the WSJ and saying, “Sure I’d consider a corporate tax cut and I’m not really interested in raising capital gains taxes” is about as blatant a pander as I’ve ever seen. Anyone on Wall Street who buys it is a complete fool. Corporate Taxes aren’t coming down without some serious loophole closing. Capital Gains Taxes are going up unless we gut our budget.
I wouldn’t take those statements too seriously.
Steve V
Addington’s the guy who set all the booby traps he thinks will blow up in Obama’s face. No wonder he’s so smug.
timb
You know, I think Joyner (the link John posted) was correct in his analysis. Addington has always been contemptuous of Congress. As much as I hate him, he was not about to be the sporting event for Democrats’ grand-standing. They conducted this hearing like it was an interview for Vanity Fair, instead of as prosecutor’s would have.
After this administration and the next, I hope I live long enough for Addington to spend some time in jail thinking over his separation of powers theories. This man enabled torture, encouraged it even; he is responsible for several deaths of death at Abu Garib, Bagram, and Gitmo; he is responsible for violating the Geneva Conventions; he has hidden information from Congress, he has probably destroyed evidence (emails) which needed to be kept.
He is an ass and they missed their chance.
bago
Ask Scalia. More americans might die.
Gus
From what I’ve read this story reflects as least as badly on the Democrats. Of course Addington okayed torture and enabled a criminal administration. The Democrats are showing themselves yet again to be utterly worthless.
Ickabod
To quote Dick Cheney, “So?”.
We gave them keys to a vehicle, with the expectation they’d use it responsibly (take the kids to school, drive back and forth to work, pick up groceries etc etc). But they act as if we gave them the keys to go on joyrides, drag race down main street, and run over cats.
BFR
I noticed another blogger – Dday I believe who got a kick out of the part where some congressman implied that Addington was comparing Cheney to a barnacle:
Fourthbranch Barnacle. His new title.
Gus
I’m perversely glad to see Obama pander and drop the ball on FISA. It’s a reminder not to expect too much from him. You don’t get in a position to become president by being an outsider. I’ll still vote for the guy, I just won’t expect shit from him. Maybe he’ll surprise me.
David Hunt
I wouldn’t worry about that. That line of thought will die a quick death at 12:00:01 PM on January 20, 2009…unless Hell freezes over and McCain gets the nod.
CFisher
Yeah, right.
Sorry, I’m a skeptic. I heard a lot of “if we only vote for the GOP one more election, they’ll have a big enough majority to start cutting government, bring down spending, restore Federalism, and reduce the deficit, and this time we mean it!” from the GOP c.2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006, to buy into that.
nightjar
I’m not sure about much of anything when it comes to the limit of Constitutional desecration from the Bushies. And considering the above analysis, who knows?
If he tried it, then yesterdays Heller decision might take on a added importance.
CFisher
For the record, I stopped believing it from the GOP in 2002.
Yeah, I know. I’ve got some major penance to do for voting Bush in ’00.
Neo
I’ve always wanted to see somebody give a Congressional committee a body slam .. and this is about as close as it will ever get.
And it all legal.
Paul L.
Maybe that is because the grandstanding members of the House Subcommittee getting their collective unprepared butts handed to them and made them look like fools.
I saw some clips of the David Addington’s ‘testimony’ and found them amusing.
Like this classy bit.
Eric
I’m perversely glad to see Obama pander and drop the ball on FISA. It’s a reminder not to expect too much from him. You don’t get in a position to become president by being an outsider. I’ll still vote for the guy, I just won’t expect shit from him. Maybe he’ll surprise me.
I see Obama as a new beginning not an end. After we vote in more progressives and most of the police state gestapo tactics are dismantled from our government maybe we, the public, can render the (now powerless) former Bush gang to justice in the the Hague.
David Hunt
CFisher, I wasn’t meaning to imply that the complete 180 that I was expecting represented some sort of return to law & order or good government. I was just saying that I expected the Republicans to completely reverse their “respect of executive power” line into “tyranny and black helicopters” the moment that Obama was sworn in. And that the Dems would be carried along even though I expect them to be in the majority.
The bit about McCain was just my saying that if he wins somehow, then the Repubs won’t need to reverse course and they’ll do their best to keep us aimed at the precipice. I’ve been disenchanted with Republican practices of government since 1992.
TenguPhule
rawshark
Can’t discuss details because Farmer Jones might be listening. You don’t want Farmer Jones to come back do you? And Paul L thinks its a good response. Classic.
Brachiator
Hey! Now I remember who Addington reminds me of. I think Karl Rove once described him:
Cheney, Bolton, Addington, Dubya, Scalia, and countless others. How can anyone still be surprised at the antics of these puffed up jackanapes?
You haven’t been paying attention to the mood of conservative true believers. Scooter Libby’s conviction was unjust because he was a patriot trying to protect us, so his pardon wasn’t an abuse of presidential privilege. It was (altogether now) the right thing to do.
The Bush Administration long ago dispensed with a respect for the law a long time ago, keeping only a thin veneer of legal procedure, and a numb citizenry dutifully turned a blind eye to this. Some Democrats and “progressives” bleat “War criminal!” and “Impeach him!” but cannot to actually, you know, do anything. The poet Yeats nailed this one a long time ago.
The Republicans don’t care about the rule of law. And the Democrats are so fussily concerned with getting re-elected without offending anyone that while they know that once elected they are supposed to do something, but they don’t have any idea of what that “something” might be.
yam
Governmenting is hard, let’s talk about Tiger’s knee…
John Cole
John Yoo has been on every network multiple times, has had his face plastered all over the world for years, and the number of Al Qaeda attempts on his life- ZERO.
David Addington, additionally, is not some unknown quantity. If the terrorists have cspan, certainly they have the internet.
Kingdom of idiots is right.
OMG- THE NY TIMES PUBLISHED PICTURES OF CHENEY’S BEACH HOUSE!oneoneeleven!
Bruce Moomaw
Kevin Drum says:
“OK, so Addington is not only an arrogant prick, he’s the kind of person who revels in being an arrogant prick. We’ve seen the type before and we’ll see it again: smart, well-briefed, and completely convinced of his own self-righteousness.
“But there’s another aspect to this that never gets the attention it deserves: the Judiciary Committee members KNEW the kind of person Addington was. They knew he was smart and well-briefed and arrogant —- and therefore difficult to question. But they all insisted on their ten minutes of glory anyway. Obviously the Republican members wouldn’t have given up their time in order to put Addington under more pressure, but why weren’t the Democrats willing to give up their collective time and turn it over to a staff member who was Addington’s equal and could have grilled him for a consecutive hour or two? That’s the only way it was even remotely plausible that they’d get anything useful out of him.
“Instead we had a bunch of amateurs tossing easily evaded questions at him for a few minutes apiece. It was tailor-made to allow Addington to get away with saying nothing, and that’s exactly what he did. Next time the politicians ought to pack away their egos and let someone else take the stage.”
Oughta, oughta, oughta. It won’t ever happen, of course. What we just saw was democracy was democracy working the way it always works: that is, not very well. What worries me a lot more is the extent — judging from the polls I’m seeing — to which a majority of the American people may actually be on the side of the torturers (and the unlimited indefinite detainers) because of their ignorance of the actual military facts on the issues. And it’s that dangerous ignorance that we ourselves should be focusing on.
daveinboca
A contemptible Congress with half of GWB’s puny approval rating? Who wouldn’t hold such a collection of assholes & traitors in contempt?
Dana Milbank takes it in every orifice from the Dems, then defecates on the Repubs. What a guy!!!
Bruce Moomaw
Now that another of the Trogs has been heard from, I think it’s appropriate to point out that:
(1) All the polls still show the Dems beating the GOP by an even bigger landslide — 10-15 points — this time in the generic Congressional races than they did last time. (See, for instance, “Polling Report’s” collection, and Rasmussen’s latest poll Wednesday.)
(2) All the polls also show that Congress has even lower approval ratings than Bush because (A) the Congressional Republicans are even less popular with the public than King George the Third Rate, and (B) the public is mad at the Congressional Democrats for not opposing His Majesty more STRONGLY than they are — particularly on Iraq.
HyperIon
i watched about 2 minutes of the CSPAN coverage and cringed at how inept the questions were. there are some very self-absorbed dim bulbs in the congress. too dim to realize how stupid they look on TV.
Chuck Butcher
Let’s start with the ground rules:
Important questions – covered by Ex privilege
Real answers – the 5th
Hearings – election in Nov
Polls regarding congress, a big chunk loathes the other party, anyhow congress sucks – all but my guy. Republicans may take much less of a hit than expected on that basis. If the public is pissed off past that point, look out. Obama will get the polling he needs to understand by looking at that one consideration.
In spite of being a BushCo lap dog Gordon Smith (R-OR) continues. Jeff Merkley (D) is seen to have an uphill fight. In blue OR? Smith is famous for being able to sell himself as a moderate’s moderate (R) as he acts as an (R) tool. If you’re holding a little “extra” money for contributions Jeff is a good guy. He’s pretty libertarian on guns and bedrooms and likes much of what Ron Wyden (D-OR) has put forward. I’ve got an ActBlue button on my site for Merkley.
I hopefully have built a little cred around here and Merkley is NOT a vote against Smith, he’s about as good as the Dems can do, anywhere.
nightjar
These guys and gals have severed themselves from those conservatives who still do care about core conservative principles. They are currently the 25%’ers who have drunk so much of Bush’s and Rove’s Kool-aid they no longer have any core belief’s, if they ever did. And even some of them would de-Zombie from the Bush horror show, if he went for the group pardon thing. So if he did such a thing the remaining 20 percent or so who approved would burn the only bridge left back to the main group of repubs who would begin rebuilding something of a new conservative movement, whatever that would be.
it’s always dicey business for a liberal (like me) to decipher the wingnut world, but it’s some fun trying .
nightjar
It’s funny to watch wingnuts cling to this canard of generic congressional approval. But when it’s all you’ve got, it’s all you got. If you look at all the polling what you see is a generally ultra-pissed voting public who overwhelmingly desire republicans out ANY kind of power. They may not be thrilled with democrats, but when you just have two choices, dems get the nod to take over big.
Redhand
Except:
I think pardons are a real possibility. Bush won’t pass up the chance to leave office with a string of them even more outrageous than than Bubba’s.
The contrast is indeed painful: Bubba’s pardons were to feather his nest; Bush’s will be for major crimes against human decency (torture) in violation of US and international law, and for criminal subversion of our Constitution and governmental institutions.
In a just world Addington and Yoo would be prosecuted for war crimes. Communications in furtherance of criminal conspiracies aren’t protected by the attorney-client privilege, and out of office they wouldn’t be able to claim “executive privilege,” “national security” or the other bullshit excuses they’re floating now with anything like the same effect. All that’ll be left is the 5th.
The only “justice” I really look for for these scumbags is the General Pinochet treatment if they travel overseas. One can at least take some solace in the fact that, like Bosnisn Serb war criminals, they’ll be confined to their home turf.