• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Also, are you sure you want people to rate your comments?

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

… gradually, and then suddenly.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

No one could have predicted…

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

Everybody saw this coming.

One lie, alone, tears the fabric of reality.

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Giving up is unforgivable.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Mobile Menu

  • Seattle Meet-up Post
  • 2025 Activism
  • Targeted Political Fundraising
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2025 Activism
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Better Than a Jail Cell, I Guess

Better Than a Jail Cell, I Guess

by John Cole|  October 4, 20112:28 pm| 128 Comments

This post is in: Republican Crime Syndicate - aka the Bush Admin.

FacebookTweetEmail

Jonathan Turley is shrill:

While former U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has been able to escape investigation and prosecution for his role in the torture program, no law firms or ranking law schools wanted to touch him as he sought gainful employment. Gonzales has been struggling to find someone who wants to be represented or taught by an individual ridiculed for politicizing the Justice Department and bringing in hacks who were accused of a variety of criminal and ethical violations. Well, he finally found one school. Belmont University has created an unaccredited law school in Tennessee. Its new Doyle Rogers Distinguished Chair of Law is no one else than Alberto Gonzales.

Presumably, the “Distinguished” refers to the chair rather than the holder.

Belmont College of Law Founding Dean Jeff Kinsler insisted that Gonzales has what it takes to be “an outstanding professor.” So long as he does not waterboard the students.

What is truly scary is is Gonzales’ pledge to help “develop tomorrow’s leaders in the bar, the Nashville community and beyond.” The idea of Gonzales shaping lawyers is enough to force one into a fetal position.

Right about now, I’m thinking the biggest mistake of the Obama administration (above and beyond outfitting the admin with Goldman Sachs boys) was not prosecuting the malfeasance of the previous administration. I understand why they didn’t, but given where we are today, I sure wish they had driven a stake through the monster while they had a chance.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Fiscally Conservative Priorities
Next Post: About as credible as his former employers »

Reader Interactions

128Comments

  1. 1.

    ET

    October 4, 2011 at 2:31 pm

    This just makes me want to cry. And fear for (or is that scared of) the lawyers being cycled though that “institution of higher learning” and the people/corporations that they will represent.

  2. 2.

    OzoneR

    October 4, 2011 at 2:32 pm

    I’m thinking the biggest mistake of the Obama administration (above and beyond outfitting the admin with Goldman Sachs boys) was not prosecuting the malfeasance of the previous administration. I understand why they didn’t, but given where we are today, I sure wish they had driven a stake through the monster while they had a chance.

    it’s funny that you believe any of them would have actually ever been convicted of anything and not keep finding creative ways to delay trials and verdicts until President Romney gets elected on “Obama can’t fix the economy, so he’s trying to put good Americans in jail” campaign and pardons them all.

  3. 3.

    singfoom

    October 4, 2011 at 2:33 pm

    I thought that wanting the previous administration prosecuted meant that I wanted ponies. A rule of law shaped pony.

  4. 4.

    Corner Stone

    October 4, 2011 at 2:33 pm

    [faints]

  5. 5.

    Napoleon

    October 4, 2011 at 2:33 pm

    Right about now, I’m thinking the biggest mistake of the Obama administration . . . was not prosecuting the malfeasance of the previous administration.

    Agreed, and for multiple reasons. Not only would it be good for the country, and the moral thing to do, but in the long run a political winner (IMO).

  6. 6.

    eemom

    October 4, 2011 at 2:36 pm

    Right about now, I’m thinking the biggest mistake of the Obama administration (above and beyond outfitting the admin with Goldman Sachs boys) was not prosecuting the malfeasance of the previous administration.

    Cole. Your troll is showing.

  7. 7.

    OzoneR

    October 4, 2011 at 2:37 pm

    @Napoleon:

    Not only would it be good for the country, and the moral thing to do, but in the long run a political winner (IMO).

    on what fucking planet?

  8. 8.

    Elizabelle

    October 4, 2011 at 2:40 pm

    @Napoleon:

    Agreed.

  9. 9.

    harlana

    October 4, 2011 at 2:41 pm

    @singfoom: lol, now stop that!

  10. 10.

    Elizabelle

    October 4, 2011 at 2:42 pm

    How long is the statute of limitations on the various offenses?

    Because maybe we can have a jobs program at the Department of Justice during Obama’s second term.

    Time to empty the swamp.

    The snakes were not expected to be so competitive, and so toxic, the very next election.

  11. 11.

    EconWatcher

    October 4, 2011 at 2:42 pm

    I don’t entirely understand the eligibility rules for wingnut welfare, so riddle me this:

    Ken Starr gets a sweet gig as a professor and, if I recall, dean at Pepperdine Law School. Not a high-ranking law school, true, but not a horrible one, either, and I understand it’s right on the beach in frickin’ Malibu. Sweet. Now he’s President of Baylor, which is certainly a very high-level post (although why he’d leave Malibu for that I don’t know).

    Alberto Gonzales, on the other hand, spends literally years getting the door slammed on him, at times doing stuff a newly minted lawyer without great prospects might do (for a while after leaving the AG post he was actually an assistant to a special master–your lawyer friends will tell you this is as menial as it gets). Finally lands a teaching gig at a non-accredited law school in a state that would itself be non-accredited if such standards applied.

    Explain the difference, please.

  12. 12.

    pablo

    October 4, 2011 at 2:43 pm

    Exclusive! The unveiling of the “Distinguished Chair”

  13. 13.

    Jenny

    October 4, 2011 at 2:44 pm

    I sure wish they had driven a stake through the monster while they had a chance.

    Yup. Throwing the Nixon white house into jail and forcing Nixon to resign sure prevented Iran Contra.

    Putting Mike Milken and Ivan Boesky in jail put an end to insider trading.

    Putting Charles Keating in jail sure stopped banks from defrauding depositors and prevented future bailouts.

    Oh Pony, you’re so pretty and warm.

  14. 14.

    wrb

    October 4, 2011 at 2:44 pm

    @OzoneR:

    It is easy to confuse the issues. Prosecuting torture would have been very dangerous, because they prosecution would almost certainly and we’d end up with a precedent legalizing torture.

    Prosecuting malfeasance in the DOJ or on the part of Halliburton etc. wouldn’t carry that risk. I understand why he didn’t, but I would have been more aggressive. But I’m not at all sure that my route would have resulted in a better outcome. Water under the bridge, 50/50 hindsight. He couldn’t know that the Republicans would turn out to be more uncooperative than ever in history and that there was little to lose.

    However he’s right that the underlying, country-killing problem has become tribalism, and he was right to try attack that.

  15. 15.

    Starfish

    October 4, 2011 at 2:44 pm

    Education becomes very expensive and saddles students with a ton of debt when you create unnecessary administrative jobs to give to incompetent political leaders.

  16. 16.

    jwest

    October 4, 2011 at 2:45 pm

    With Eric Holder facing perjury and obstruction of justice charges in his cover-up of Obama’s program to arm Mexican drug dealers, I would think democrats would worry more about him and the deaths he’s responsible for than a few terrorist who were scared by waterboarding.

  17. 17.

    schrodinger's cat

    October 4, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    @Elizabelle: No statute of limitations for crimes against humanity I think.

  18. 18.

    burnspbesq

    October 4, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    The very idea of a new law school, given current market conditions, is ridiculous. This is the paradigm case of wingnut welfare.

  19. 19.

    OzoneR

    October 4, 2011 at 2:48 pm

    @jwest:

    With Eric Holder facing perjury and obstruction of justice charges in his cover-up of Obama’s program to arm Mexican drug dealers, I would think democrats would worry more about him and the deaths he’s responsible for than a few terrorist who were scared by waterboarding.

    LOLWUT?

  20. 20.

    Southern Beale

    October 4, 2011 at 2:48 pm

    The Nashville Scene, our local alternative weekly here in Nashville, broke the news about this yesterday. The comments section is hilarious.

    This is really bad for Belmont. First of all they announced they were ready to hit the national stage by hosting a nationally-televised presidential debate in 2008. They broke ties with the Southern Baptist Convention, indicating they were shrugging off the mantle of the conservative Baptist church.

    And then last year they fired a lesbian soccer coach, Lisa Howe, after she announced to her team that she and her partner were having a baby. This was a huge scandal and caused all sorts of negative press for the school. Prominent alumni came forward, there were rallies in support of Howe, etc. I mean, you just have no idea.

    And now this. I have to wonder WTF ARE YOU PEOPLE THINKING? Nashville is NOT THAT conservative. Yes, the counties around us are, but Nashville is not.

  21. 21.

    burnspbesq

    October 4, 2011 at 2:48 pm

    @EconWatcher:

    Starr was a decent lawyer, and the only person he ever embarrassed with his Javert act was himself. SATSQ.

  22. 22.

    beltane

    October 4, 2011 at 2:48 pm

    This is a little besides the point, but in an economy like this anyone who goes deep into debt to attend an unaccredited law school like Belmont’s is the type of idiot who deserves to be taught by Alberto Gonzales.

  23. 23.

    Mark

    October 4, 2011 at 2:48 pm

    and John Yoo is still at Berkley and still preaching that torture is both necessary and makes you feel like a man…

  24. 24.

    beltane

    October 4, 2011 at 2:50 pm

    @OzoneR: Aren’t you glad that JWest shows up here to provide us with an insider’s view of the right-wing puke funnel?

  25. 25.

    andrewsomething

    October 4, 2011 at 2:50 pm

    Remember when he was seriously being floated as a potential Supreme Court justice? God….

  26. 26.

    burnspbesq

    October 4, 2011 at 2:51 pm

    @jwest:

    With Eric Holder facing perjury and obstruction of justice charges in his cover-up of Obama’s program to arm Mexican drug dealers, I would think democrats would worry more about him and the deaths he’s responsible for than a few terrorist who were scared by waterboarding.

    Man, you have one seriously over-active imagination.

  27. 27.

    joes527

    October 4, 2011 at 2:53 pm

    @wrb:

    It is easy to confuse the issues. Prosecuting torture would have been very dangerous, because they prosecution would almost certainly and we’d end up with a precedent legalizing torture.

    I’m having a hard time caring about the difference between a (legal) precedent legalizing torture. and a (practical) precedent that we don’t prosecute torture.

    What is the difference in practice? The legal precedent is more honest?

  28. 28.

    burnspbesq

    October 4, 2011 at 2:53 pm

    I’m imagining howls of derisive laughter ringing through the corridors of Vanderbilt Law School.

  29. 29.

    trollhattan

    October 4, 2011 at 2:55 pm

    Tennessee? Can’t he hike his ass over to UT and join Putz in a “Heh-indoozle” mutual admiration klub. Then maybe they can recruit the Franzia Pundit for a perfect depravity storm.

  30. 30.

    harlana

    October 4, 2011 at 2:55 pm

    @andrewsomething: “Remember when he was seriously being floated as a potential Supreme Court justice? God….” please don’t make me have a PTSD flashback! i may end up rocking back and forth in the corner for a couple of days.

  31. 31.

    Yutsano

    October 4, 2011 at 2:56 pm

    @jwest: So Eric Holder is charging…HIMSELF?? What color is the sky on your world again?

    AKA link or GTFO.

  32. 32.

    jwest

    October 4, 2011 at 2:56 pm

    I guess MSNBC hasn’t been following this too closely (or at all).

    Google “Fast and Furious”.
    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/holder_knew_about_fast_suggest_furious_zdOtCx4iVCGucohqoLBjaO?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/04/eric-holder-investigation_n_994429.html
    http://radio.foxnews.com/2011/10/04/holder-could-face-perjury-probe-over-op-fast-furious/

  33. 33.

    JCT

    October 4, 2011 at 2:57 pm

    @beltane: Exactly.

    when I used to frequent Salon a few years ago there was some pathetic Republican mouth-breather who *revered* Alberto Gonzalez. It was hilarious. One day I repeatedly baited him by recounting poor, poor Alberto’s employment woes. He went crazy ballistic. I’m sure he’s happy now.

  34. 34.

    Trurl

    October 4, 2011 at 2:57 pm

    If only Gonzales had advocated for assassination instead of torture, Mr. Cole could have clutched him to his bosom as laying the groundwork for what will become known as the Obama Doctrine.

  35. 35.

    wrb

    October 4, 2011 at 2:57 pm

    @joes527:

    Without the precedent, the law is still inhibiting.

    At a future time we might have a Supreme Court that wouldn’t legalize torture, and a future torturer might fry under current law as interpreted by that court, if there was not a contrary precedent.

  36. 36.

    Jeff Boatright

    October 4, 2011 at 2:59 pm

    @Jenny:

    Yup. Throwing the Nixon white house into jail and forcing Nixon to resign sure prevented Iran Contra.

    The people who actually went to jail weren’t central to Iran/Contra. With a couple of exceptions, the Nixon retreads who were central to I/C were the ones who didn’t go to jail.

    Putting Mike Milken and Ivan Boesky in jail put an end to insider trading.

    Milken and Boesky didn’t participate in the insider trading/credit default swap mess that led to the current crisis. Why? Because they had been convicted and weren’t allowed to hold positions later that would have allowed them to participate.

    Putting Charles Keating in jail sure stopped banks from defrauding depositors and prevented future bailouts.

    It sure stopped Keating from doing it again.

    See how that works?

    Now, if you’re arguing that none of these prosecutions went far enough, to the point that they scared future miscreants from doing the dirty, then hey, I’m right there with you. But just throwing up your hands and saying it doesn’t do any good is not the way to go forward.

  37. 37.

    EconWatcher

    October 4, 2011 at 3:01 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Maybe I’m slow, but I’m not seeing your distinction. Starr went to Duke. Gonzales went to Harvard. Starr sat on the US Court of Appeals. Gonzales sat on a major state supreme court.

    Starr carried some dirty water for the wingnuts in the Lewinsky affair (where he showed himself to have no legal judgment or political sense), while Gonzales carried a lot more dirty water as AG, greenlighting policies that are nearest and dearest to wingnut hearts, including torture, ill-founded voting fraud prosecutions, etc.

    I thought the whole point of wingnut welfare was to reward those who’ve taken one for the team. My question remains, why did Gonzales get left out in the cold?

  38. 38.

    Ash Can

    October 4, 2011 at 3:03 pm

    @burnspbesq: Or some damned powerful drugs.

  39. 39.

    burnspbesq

    October 4, 2011 at 3:05 pm

    @Jenny:

    What Jeff Boatright said, plus the following.

    Deterrence requires a steady stream of successful prosecutions in order to be continuously effective. There is an entire generation of hedge fund and private equity guys who were in grade school when Milken was prosecuted. But they know who Raj Rajaratnam is.

  40. 40.

    Ash Can

    October 4, 2011 at 3:06 pm

    @jwest: LOL! Love your links!

  41. 41.

    Belafon (formerly anonevent)

    October 4, 2011 at 3:06 pm

    I’ll make a donation to the school on the condition that I’m allowed to sit in Gonzales’s classes and point and laugh anytime I visit the school.

  42. 42.

    joes527

    October 4, 2011 at 3:06 pm

    @wrb:

    At a future time we might have a Supreme Court that wouldn’t legalize torture, and a future torturer might fry under current law as interpreted by that court, if there was not a contrary precedent.

    Would that be before or after the supreme court gives us all ponies?

  43. 43.

    singfoom

    October 4, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    @jwest: Republican House members requesting a special counsel do not a official charge make.

    Why do you hate our justice system?

  44. 44.

    Yutsano

    October 4, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    @jwest: Poor Lamar. I guess he didn’t get the memo the special counsel law lapsed under Bush and wasn’t renewed. And if that’s all they got that’s a pretty weak case.

  45. 45.

    Ivan Ivanovich Renko

    October 4, 2011 at 3:07 pm

    @EconWatcher: Hmmm… gee, what does Mr. G have that Mr. S does not? Could it be… a surfeit of melanin, maybeeeee?

    Nah. Couldn’t be.

    A good lesson for Herman to learn, as JC Watts learned before him…

  46. 46.

    Yutsano

    October 4, 2011 at 3:08 pm

    A good lesson for Herman to learn, as JC Watts learned before him…

    Who?

    :)

  47. 47.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    October 4, 2011 at 3:09 pm

    @EconWatcher:

    Gonzales sat on a major state supreme court.

    IANAL, no idea how the hierarchy of the profession runs, but I once read an article that even in Texas GOP circles people were surprised Bush put Gonzo on the court. He was a corporate lawyer, mostly real estate, a minor player in Houston politics, when he told GWB how his father had been a mean drunk and Jeebus saved him. Booze and the Bible, Dumbya’s double addiction.

  48. 48.

    jwest

    October 4, 2011 at 3:09 pm

    To help bring the left up to speed on why Holder is in trouble, here’s a good CBS report:

    “The Justice Department told CBS News that the officials in those emails were talking about a different case started before Eric Holder became Attorney General. And tonight they tell CBS News, Holder misunderstood that question from the committee – he did know about Fast and Furious – just not the details.”

    http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20115038-10391695.html?tag=stack

  49. 49.

    wrb

    October 4, 2011 at 3:09 pm

    @joes527:

    No, that is after the balance of the court shifts by 2 or so. Could be by the end of a second Obama administration.

  50. 50.

    cleek

    October 4, 2011 at 3:10 pm

    @Yutsano:
    House Republicans Request Special Counsel to Probe Holder on ‘Fast and Furious’.

  51. 51.

    burnspbesq

    October 4, 2011 at 3:15 pm

    @EconWatcher:

    Maybe I’m slow, but I’m not seeing your distinction. Starr went to Duke. Gonzales went to Harvard. Starr sat on the US Court of Appeals. Gonzales sat on a major state supreme court.

    If you take a close look at their CVs, Starr’s is much more impressive. He was a Supreme Court clerk. Gibson Dunn is a much more prestigious firm than Vinson & Elkins. The D.C. Circuit is a much more prestigious appointment than the Texas Supreme Court. And Starr served as Solicitor General, which is the most prestigious public-sector law job there is.

  52. 52.

    Gilles de Rais

    October 4, 2011 at 3:15 pm

    I thought the whole point of wingnut welfare was to reward those who’ve taken one for the team. My question remains, why did Gonzales get left out in the cold?

    @EconWatcher: There are two kinds of people in this world: those who are worth buying off and those who aren’t worth the trouble.

    Gonzalez has no connections save to Bush Jr., and he’s retired. If he decided to go the tell-all route, he’d go to prison, or worse. He’s no possible threat and has no worthwhile connections. He quite simply wasn’t worth the minimal cost of buying off.

  53. 53.

    Ash Can

    October 4, 2011 at 3:18 pm

    @jwest: Gee, this sounds serious. It could lead to the solving of both the Whitewater case and the murder of Vince Foster. You’d better get right on it.

  54. 54.

    burnspbesq

    October 4, 2011 at 3:19 pm

    @jwest:

    Dumbfuck, “I misunderstood the question” is an absolute defense to perjury.

  55. 55.

    EconWatcher

    October 4, 2011 at 3:21 pm

    @Gilles de Rais:

    That’s a persuasive answer.

    All due respect to Burnspbesq, while I don’t question that Starr would come out somewhat ahead in a comparison of resumes, I don’t see how that could explain such a stark difference in their fortunes in wingnut welfare–epecially since actual expertise does not seem to be especially prized in those circles.

  56. 56.

    joes527

    October 4, 2011 at 3:23 pm

    No, that is after the balance of the court shifts by 2 or so. Could be by the end of a second Obama administration.

    Hypothetical:

    2 supreme court justices from the dark side step in front of buses. (I’m not wishing anything on anyone, I’m just going with your thought)

    Obama makes nominations that are to the _left_ of Hitler.

    The wingnut wurlitzer goes into full on wurl over how this is an unprecedented power grab that turns the separation of powers on its head and literally makes the founding fathers hair fall out. Second amendment remedies are openly muttered about.

    The senate (which _will_ flip in 2012) tells Obama nagannhappen. All appeals to rational though are referred to Fox News (where rational thought is not an issue)

    Now, using examples from the last 4 years, explain how the balance of the court ends up shifting by 2 actually confirmed and seated Justices?

    Ore were you hypothesizing pony justices?

  57. 57.

    wesindc

    October 4, 2011 at 3:26 pm

    Bahah love it. I worked with his wife when she was hired at the National Endowment for the Arts of all places. She was a big bleached blonde from TX and a total bitch. Servers them all right.

  58. 58.

    wrb

    October 4, 2011 at 3:26 pm

    @joes527:

    Obama makes nominations that are to the left of Hitler

    ‘bye

  59. 59.

    Yutsano

    October 4, 2011 at 3:31 pm

    @wrb: It gets more creative:

    The senate (which will flip in 2012)

    I want next week’s lottery numbers too.

  60. 60.

    joes527

    October 4, 2011 at 3:31 pm

    @wrb: You are thinking he would nominate someone to the right of Hitler?

  61. 61.

    Southern Beale

    October 4, 2011 at 3:32 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    I’m imagining howls of derisive laughter ringing through the corridors of Vanderbilt Law School.

    Meh. They employ wingnut Carol Swain, a notorious birther who also thought Lou Dobbs would make a great presidential candidate. And here she is gushing about the awesomeness of Michael Steele.

    Glass houses over there.

  62. 62.

    jwest

    October 4, 2011 at 3:33 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    “I misunderstood the question” is an absolute defense to perjury.

    I’ll bet clients just flock to you for legal advise like this.

  63. 63.

    Lysana

    October 4, 2011 at 3:35 pm

    Someone make sure to keep this thread handy when someone claims every criticism of Obama is met with cries of racism from ABL and her “cronies,” please? I’m one of those “cronies,” and that was a fair criticism. I don’t see any of the rest of us jumping him for it, either. Just. Saying.

  64. 64.

    Catsy

    October 4, 2011 at 3:36 pm

    @OzoneR: DNFTT.

  65. 65.

    Yutsano

    October 4, 2011 at 3:37 pm

    @Lysana: Needs moar PUMA for the howler monkeys to take notice. Level criticism doesn’t gird their loins in the same fashion.

  66. 66.

    trollhattan

    October 4, 2011 at 3:37 pm

    Larry McMurtry on Clinton’s lack of understanding his foe, Kenneth Starr:

    Before leaving them I might just offer a bit of context. To judge from this book, Clinton has never been able to understand why Kenneth Starr, the special counsel appointed to investigate Whitewater, pursued him so ferociously. The answer is to be found in the soil Kenneth Starr sprang from. His hometown, Thalia, Tex., lies along what local wits sometimes refer to as the “Floydada Corridor,” a bleak stretch of road between Wichita Falls and Lubbock that happens to run through the tiny town of Floydada, Tex. It’s a merciless land, mostly, with inhabitants to match. Towns like Crowell, Paducah and Matador lie on this road, and nothing lighter than an elephant gun is likely to have much effect on the residents. Proust readers and fornicating presidents will find no welcome there.
    __
    Bill Clinton should check it out. If he makes it to Floydada his understanding of Judge Starr (as he’s sometimes called in Texas) will have been substantially increased.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/25/books/l-the-man-from-hot-springs-332232.html

  67. 67.

    burnspbesq

    October 4, 2011 at 3:40 pm

    @jwest:

    OK, smartypants. You’re the prosecutor. That’s Holder’s testimony. Explain in detail how you get a conviction.

    You’re seriously out of your depth.

  68. 68.

    geg6

    October 4, 2011 at 3:41 pm

    @Ash Can:

    And where might I send your internets?

    And the troll really doesn’t think we know what “Fast and Furious” is about? Really?

    And when you google it (as I just did to see what came up), all the links are to Hotair, the NYPost, and assorted other rightwing media megaphones. The fact that it’s Issa, noted car thief, arsonist, concealed weapon carrier, liar, and clown, that is in such a high dudgeon about this is what really makes the whole thing hilarious.

    Yes, troll, Fast and Furious was a stoopid operation and the ATF should be ashamed of themselves. Don’t really think Eric Holder is going to prison over it, though.

  69. 69.

    trollhattan

    October 4, 2011 at 3:43 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Water’s pesky surface tension makes it difficult to measure the thin, thin layer that represents its “depth.”

  70. 70.

    jwest

    October 4, 2011 at 3:48 pm

    Looks like the LA Times thinks Fast and Furious is a BFD too.
    http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-atf-guns-20111004,0,6104103.story

    CBS News’ Sharyl Attkisson went on the radio today to tell how the Justice Department and White House yelled and screamed at her for reporting this:

    1:31 – In between the yelling that I received from Justice Department yesterday, the spokeswoman–who would not put anything in writing, I was asking for her explanation so there would be clarity and no confusion later over what had been said, she wouldn’t put anything in writing–so we talked on the phone and she said things such as the question Holder answered was different than the one he asked. But he phrased it, he said very explicitly, ‘I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.’
    6:05 – Laura: So they were literally screaming at you?
    Attkisson: Yes. Well the DOJ woman was just yelling at me. The guy from the White House on Friday night literally screamed at me and cussed at me. [Laura: Who was the person? Who was the person at Justice screaming?] Eric Schultz. Oh, the person screaming was [DOJ spokeswoman] Tracy Schmaler, she was yelling not screaming. And the person who screamed at me was Eric Schultz at the White House.”

    Read more at AofSHq: http://minx.cc/?post=322192

    I guess no one has heard of the “I misunderstood the question” defense, otherwise no one would be wasting time on this.

  71. 71.

    Maude

    October 4, 2011 at 3:51 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:
    That’s why Tunch is so careful.

  72. 72.

    4jkb4ia

    October 4, 2011 at 3:52 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Wins the thread.

    I think it was Belmont who was in the NYT story for firing the lesbian coach. Students said that absolutely no one cared and that the school wasn’t as Christian as it used to be. FWIW.

    As I understand it, BTD was right–Gonzales had too much to do with torture and the Bush Admin to ever have been confirmed as AG in the first place. And he knew everything that happened. But he was involved with what the admin was doing more as a crony than as a prime mover of what happened. There was some speculation in the comments at EW’s that Gonzales might be someone you could flip–he didn’t have a job, and he was loyal more to Bush than to Cheney.
    The sad thing is that this administration can point to their national security record now, and the people who say they can’t be trusted on national security are revealed as completely self-interested. This almost would be the time to do it–would take that talking point away. But the Durham investigation has run its course and was confined to the CIA anyway. Which brings up that you prosecute to say that torture is wrong–but you have to have the confidence to prosecute everywhere when you need both DOD and CIA to trust you enough to do their jobs.

    What came up in the OPR investigation was that you were criminalizing differences of opinion–everyone knew that Yoo had those views. That is not a crime even if it is sloppy lawyering. And now everyone knows that the Republicans have those views.
    The more you wait, the more you can only punish the low-level people and the egregious abuse.

  73. 73.

    jwest

    October 4, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    @geg6:

    You go to jail for lying about it during testimony to a congressional committee.

  74. 74.

    Southern Beale

    October 4, 2011 at 3:54 pm

    @jwest:

    Laura: So they were literally screaming at you?
    Attkisson: Yes. Well the DOJ woman was just yelling at me

    See. It’s all the fault of those angry black people.

  75. 75.

    Southern Beale

    October 4, 2011 at 3:55 pm

    @4jkb4ia:

    I think it was Belmont who was in the NYT story for firing the lesbian coach.

    That is correct.

  76. 76.

    schrodinger's cat

    October 4, 2011 at 3:56 pm

    @Maude: Tunch can warp the space-time continuum, he doesn’t have to care about pesky humans.

  77. 77.

    adolphus

    October 4, 2011 at 3:57 pm

    @22 beltane:

    That’s what I was thinking. Of what good is a degree from an unaccredited law school? I really don’t know, but in other fields it’s hardly worth the paper their printed on.

  78. 78.

    soonergrunt

    October 4, 2011 at 4:00 pm

    @jwest: Hey, ball-less and brainless–explain to us all how exactly one would prove what was happening inside somebody else’s mind at some point in the past.

  79. 79.

    burnspbesq

    October 4, 2011 at 4:03 pm

    @adolphus:

    Every new law school starts out unaccredited. You can take a look at this list and decide for yourself whether you think ABA accreditation is a high hurdle.

    http://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/resources/aba_approved_law_schools/by_year_approved.html

  80. 80.

    soonergrunt

    October 4, 2011 at 4:04 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: That’s because of the massive-body gravitational field effect, right?

  81. 81.

    jwest

    October 4, 2011 at 4:05 pm

    @soonergrunt:

    “…explain to us all how exactly one would prove what was happening inside somebody else’s mind at some point in the past.”

    By playing the video tape.

    Question: “When did you first hear of Fast and Furious?

    Holder: ‘I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks.’

    (emails produced showing Holder was briefed a number of times over 10 months)

    Burnspbesq: He misunderstood the question!

    Jury: Guilty.

  82. 82.

    Ash Can

    October 4, 2011 at 4:08 pm

    @jwest: If some reporter in Los Angeles got yelled at, there must be something to it. Keep up the good work.

    ETA: Oh, and burnspbesq is not at all a lawyer, and knows absolutely nothing about legal matters, so feel free to turn your legal expertise up to full dazzle and direct it squarely at him, because he’ll wilt like a petunia, just you watch.

  83. 83.

    burnspbesq

    October 4, 2011 at 4:08 pm

    @jwest:

    Remind me again what law school you graduated from and where you got your extensive prosecutorial experience.

    You have no fucking clue what you’re talking about, and neither repetition nor volume can make anything you say, on this or any other subject, even a teeny bit credible.

    Now get out of here so we can have a flame war about whether the iPhone 4S is worth the money.

  84. 84.

    4jkb4ia

    October 4, 2011 at 4:10 pm

    This relates to the FCIC again. They failed–no one doubts that. But they used subpoena power to put a lot of facts in front of the American people that a journalist might not have been able to get. The point of an investigation is to put facts in front of the American people. Some of them will believe only what they see on Fox News. You can’t help that. But others will learn from it so it does not happen again.

  85. 85.

    4jkb4ia

    October 4, 2011 at 4:11 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    I am sorry I missed your comment. I don’t know how it happened.

  86. 86.

    jwest

    October 4, 2011 at 4:19 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    No law degree, just enough experience to know that Holder will be pleading the Fifth in front of a committee within a few weeks.

    Of course, now that everyone knows that “I misunderstood the question” is an absolute defense to perjury, the legal system will probably just shut down.

  87. 87.

    Ash Can

    October 4, 2011 at 4:21 pm

    @geg6: It’s like a Warner Brothers cartoon. I feel like Bugs Bunny watching Yosemite Sam digging up all his carrots for him, searching madly for the gold Bugs convinced him was buried in the garden, under the carrots.

  88. 88.

    Commenting at Balloon Juice since 1937

    October 4, 2011 at 4:32 pm

    @EconWatcher: skin color

  89. 89.

    Maude

    October 4, 2011 at 4:35 pm

    @soonergrunt:
    #80 He helped prove that the universe is expanding, Tunch should ask for some of that Nobel prize money.

  90. 90.

    William Hurley

    October 4, 2011 at 4:40 pm

    Indeed, but I’d restate your conclusion with stronger language.

    It has been the unwavering rejection by Obama to order investigations into malfeasances (many, many lingering naked and tauntingly in the public’s mind) of the Bush Administration and to vigorously ensure that all evidence indicating probable cause will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law that has been his/its most glaring and historically negligent failure.

    I’ll not psychologize nor read the political “tea leaves”, but I will say that this failure – a failure ill-served by the use of the singular tense of “failure” – is an affront to justice and the American people.

    No change, no hope. Primary Obama before its too late.

  91. 91.

    wrb

    October 4, 2011 at 4:43 pm

    I see that Trader Joe’s is still holding that sale on words.

    Indeed.

  92. 92.

    Kola Noscopy

    October 4, 2011 at 4:45 pm

    Right about now, I’m thinking the biggest mistake of the Obama administration (above and beyond outfitting the admin with Goldman Sachs boys) was not prosecuting the malfeasance of the previous administration.

    Why are you always late to the game, John?

  93. 93.

    Kola Noscopy

    October 4, 2011 at 4:49 pm

    @wrb:

    He couldn’t know that the Republicans would turn out to be more uncooperative than ever in history and that there was little to lose.

    Oh gosh no. No way to see that coming at all! No one would have imagined the R’s would be obstructionist assholes. No, not ever. Uh-uh…

  94. 94.

    wrb

    October 4, 2011 at 4:51 pm

    @Kola Noscopy:

    To this, never before approached, degree?

    Willing to trash the economy on purpose?

    Where is the historical evidence?

    He also couldn’t have anticipated that so many who claim to be on the “left” would have worked so hard to hand the 2010 election to the right.

    That still boggles the mind.

  95. 95.

    burnspbesq

    October 4, 2011 at 5:00 pm

    @Ash Can:

    so feel free to turn your legal expertise up to full dazzle and direct it squarely at him,

    You mean he’s got more than he’s already shown? I am cowering in abject fear.

  96. 96.

    burnspbesq

    October 4, 2011 at 5:05 pm

    @William Hurley:
    @jwest:

    Get a room, you two. You couldn’t possibly be more perfect for each other.

  97. 97.

    Ash Can

    October 4, 2011 at 5:11 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    You mean he’s got more than he’s already shown?

    I can only hope. Sorry to stick you in the crossfire for my own selfish reasons, but watching jwest trying to argue this Eric Holder thing, especially with you, is pee-your-pants funny.

  98. 98.

    soonergrunt

    October 4, 2011 at 5:14 pm

    @jwest: Oh. I’m blinded. Not by your brilliance, mind, but your simplicity.
    Oh, wait. Too many long words for jwest. I’ll have turn it down a bit.
    @jwest: U talk pretty cause u real smart! I talk pretty one day, too. Oh, look, a shiny thing!

  99. 99.

    soonergrunt

    October 4, 2011 at 5:18 pm

    @burnspbesq: It’s not. NOTHING made by Crapple is worth the money!

    [sits back, opens a beer, grabs popcorn]

  100. 100.

    Southern Beale

    October 4, 2011 at 5:28 pm

    Right about now, I’m thinking the biggest mistake of the Obama administration (above and beyond outfitting the admin with Goldman Sachs boys) was not prosecuting the malfeasance of the previous administration.

    I agree and that’s not just Obama’s fail, that’s Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats, too. I know, water under the bridge … but the fact that they were bending over backwards to NOT look petty and partisan and basically let the Bush crime family get away with murder was a huge mistake. Who knows how much crap we’d have uncovered once we lifted that rock.

  101. 101.

    Kola Noscopy

    October 4, 2011 at 5:35 pm

    @Southern Beale:

    but the fact that they were bending over backwards to NOT look petty and partisan and basically let the Bush crime family get away with murder was a huge mistake. Who knows how much crap we’d have uncovered once we lifted that rock.

    gosh, I know…who could imagine WHY the dems would help the GOP cover up their filthy, dirty crimes? I mean, how shocking is that? One would almost imagine Obama and Nancy Impeachment Is Off the Table Smash WANTED Bush to get off scott free…wonder why that be?…I’m still just mystified by it all…any thoughts?

  102. 102.

    William Hurley

    October 4, 2011 at 5:44 pm

    @Kola Noscopy:

    I didn’t realize that illegal acts were “OK” if perpetrated by those who are/were politically cooperative. I’m glad you’re pushing back on that.

  103. 103.

    William Hurley

    October 4, 2011 at 5:48 pm

    @wrb:

    What could you possibly mean by this:

    He also couldn’t have anticipated that so many who claim to be on the “left” would have worked so hard to hand the 2010 election to the right.

  104. 104.

    wrb

    October 4, 2011 at 5:49 pm

    @William Hurley:

    Talkin’ ’bout you

  105. 105.

    Yutsano

    October 4, 2011 at 5:52 pm

    @wrb: “When your enemy is committing an error, let them.”

    – Sun Tzu

  106. 106.

    LanceThruster

    October 4, 2011 at 5:56 pm

    I am pretty sure that by definition, failure to pursue a predecessor’s war crimes is itself a war crime.

  107. 107.

    Corner Stone

    October 4, 2011 at 6:01 pm

    @William Hurley: wrb has a fixation on the belief that two “Left” people convinced enough D voters to stay home that it swayed elections across the nation.

  108. 108.

    Corner Stone

    October 4, 2011 at 6:04 pm

    I understand why they didn’t, but given where we are today, I sure wish they had driven a stake through the monster while they had a chance.

    “John Cole, buddy, you can always vote for Hilary/Edwards/Nader in 2012.”

  109. 109.

    tam1MI

    October 4, 2011 at 6:05 pm

    Right about now, I’m thinking the biggest mistake of the Obama administration . . . was not prosecuting the malfeasance of the previous administration.

    Congratulations.

    You are now a Firebagger.

    Prepare for anything you say after this to be dismissed as just so much “butthurt” from the “emoprog” who is probably in the pay of Grover Norquist.

  110. 110.

    wrb

    October 4, 2011 at 6:12 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Imagine a life freed of consequences.

    How lovely. Maybe invisible harps would be plucked. Incessantly.

  111. 111.

    Corner Stone

    October 4, 2011 at 6:15 pm

    @wrb: It may behoove you to do a couple thought experiments. The first being risk v reward. The second being goals v capabilities.

  112. 112.

    Uncle Clarence Thomas

    October 4, 2011 at 6:19 pm

    .
    .

    Right about now, I’m thinking the biggest mistake of the Obama administration (above and beyond outfitting the admin with Goldman Sachs boys) was not prosecuting the malfeasance of the previous administration. I understand why they didn’t

    I understand also too. It’s because President Obama is neither a good person nor a law-abiding – or law-enforcing – citizen.
    .
    .

  113. 113.

    William Hurley

    October 4, 2011 at 6:24 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Can you clarify?

  114. 114.

    jpe

    October 4, 2011 at 6:33 pm

    @tam1MI: No, a firebagger would say this makes Obama history’s worst monster.

  115. 115.

    William Hurley

    October 4, 2011 at 6:41 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Ahh, I see. It’s the 19% of registered voters who describe themselves as liberal or very liberal who will lose the election for Obama and not the voting intentions of the remaining 81%. Excellent logic on the part of the concessionairres of the left.

    More number regarding voter self-description – with trends – here.

  116. 116.

    William Hurley

    October 4, 2011 at 6:43 pm

    @Yutsano:

    And why do you “let” them commit the error?

    So that you can use it against them later – a.k.a. accountability!

  117. 117.

    wrb

    October 4, 2011 at 6:49 pm

    @William Hurley:

    Don’t get agitated

  118. 118.

    NR

    October 4, 2011 at 6:57 pm

    Don’t be silly, John. Everyone knows there were never 60 votes in the Senate to prosecute these people. Learn how the fucking government works, please.

  119. 119.

    LanceThruster

    October 4, 2011 at 7:38 pm

    @NR:

    Yeah, like being able to beat over the head those who voted along party lines to ignore war crimes and other criminal activity. Seems like win-win all around.

  120. 120.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    October 4, 2011 at 7:56 pm

    @Ash Can:

    @jwest: If some reporter in Los Angeles got yelled at, there must be something to it. Keep up the good work.
     
    ETA: Oh, and burnspbesq is not at all a lawyer, and knows absolutely nothing about legal matters, so feel free to turn your legal expertise up to full dazzle douchenozzle and direct it squarely at him, because he’ll wilt like a petunia laugh at you like a hyena, just you watch.

    Improved.

    I think we’re supposed to remove the “w” from jwest’s nym. I know I always laugh at the inane bullshit that they post.

  121. 121.

    honus

    October 4, 2011 at 8:10 pm

    Minnie Pearl’s gonna be pissed about this.

  122. 122.

    Marginalized for stating documented facts

    October 4, 2011 at 8:35 pm

    Sorry, John, you’ve now crossed the line.

    You have criticized President Obama, our first African American president to reside as an African American individual in the white House with his African American-ness gracefully pervading the newly Africanized American Oval Office in which he sits as an African American person at the presidential African American desk behind which he gives African American orders as an African American African American African American African American African African African American American blah blah woof woof [insert more identity politics slogans here as needed].

    Therefore you are now a racist.

  123. 123.

    jimbo123

    October 4, 2011 at 8:47 pm

    So, I’m guessing there were no openings on the law faculty at Regent? Or Oral Roberts? And after all the work the Bush-era DOJ found for THEIR graduates, too.

  124. 124.

    Corner Stone

    October 4, 2011 at 8:57 pm

    @LanceThruster:

    Yeah, like being able to beat over the head those who voted along party lines to ignore war crimes and other criminal activity. Seems like win-win all around.

    If they had gone after them then no R’s would have voted for ACA. And further the R’s would have most likely mounted a rump campaign to stymie the government and all its actions. Why, if investigations had ever started the R’s may have taken the extreme step of publicly declaring that their #1 goal was to make Obama a one term president.
    The mind boggles at the number of different schemes the R’s could have chosen to implement if they had felt threatened in any way by investigations into the former admin.
    They could have put a hold on UI, denied attempts to decouple the Bush Tax Cuts, threatened a govt shutdown, or even…wait for it…been danged to default on the USG’s credit rating.
    I, for one, am damned glad it never came to any of that.
    Kudos rule of law, kudos.

  125. 125.

    lethargytartare

    October 4, 2011 at 9:50 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    totally agree, man. I, for one, would totally trade the too small stimulus for no stimulus at all, the auto bailout for 14% unemployment, DADT repeal for a soon-to-be rescinded executive order, ACA for nothing, etc. if only I could have had 4 years of symbolic prosecutions and MSM blathering about the most partisan Whitehouse in history focusing on settling political scores instead of doing its job for Amurka.

    ‘cuz that would have been AWESOME!

  126. 126.

    Corner Stone

    October 4, 2011 at 9:53 pm

    @lethargytartare: So predictable. And boring. Try to not be boring from now on.

  127. 127.

    Mike G

    October 5, 2011 at 12:48 am

    The wingnuts look after their own. Bushes, on the other hand, seem to take pleasure in hiring the most craven, incompetent hacks, demanding loyalty and then casually discarding them, just to prove they can.
    I think Gonzo was W’s choice, rather than part of the larger wingnut network; the network let Chimp have his choice rather than picking one of their own, but didn’t feel they owed him anything.
    And W himself was a lackey of the wingnuts. You may take care of your lackey, but a lackey’s lackey is not worth bothering with, especially when you’re GOP and he has a surplus of melanin.

  128. 128.

    lethargytartare

    October 5, 2011 at 7:39 am

    @Corner Stone:

    I guess a one-note troll like you would know boring better than anyone, so I’ll give it some thought.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

On The Road - Christopher Mathews - Iceland: Season's Fleeting 3
Image by Christopher Mathews (6/13/25)

PA Supreme Court At Risk

We did it!

We raised the 25,000 for The Civics Center, and with the external matches, that gives them $60,000 for this Spring effort!

You guys rock!

Recent Comments

  • Jackie on Friday Night Open Thread (Jun 13, 2025 @ 9:07pm)
  • Gloria DryGarden on Friday Night Open Thread (Jun 13, 2025 @ 9:06pm)
  • Matt McIrvin on Friday Night Open Thread (Jun 13, 2025 @ 9:03pm)
  • Gloria DryGarden on Open Thread: “It’s Called Remigration”… (Jun 13, 2025 @ 9:03pm)
  • zhena gogolia on Friday Night Open Thread (Jun 13, 2025 @ 9:03pm)

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
War in Ukraine
Donate to Razom for Ukraine

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)
Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Social Media

Balloon Juice
WaterGirl
TaMara
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
DougJ NYT Pitchbot
mistermix

Keeping Track

Legal Challenges (Lawfare)
Republicans Fleeing Town Halls (TPM)
21 Letters (to Borrow or Steal)
Search Donations from a Brand

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!