So, any hard decisions that might have been, well, difficult, he left to ANYone else?

Can we get the money this man was paid BACK?!

It's really no longer possible to be shocked by these clowns. Whatever gets revealed next - and there is absolutely more shit coming down the pipes - it just won't be eyebrow-raising any more.

Unless we find out that Bush really can read and write - now that would be a shock to the system.

We need to get all the "secret memos" out and into the open already. I think there is only one thing to do:

Let the waterboarding begin!

So help me, I swear (right hand solemnly on plastic keyboard) I THOUGHT your title said "Learning to Delete".

Which just made sense, for some reason.

Oh, and btw, for those who mentioned a week or so back that "anonymous should pick a name", well, we anonymouses ... anonymii... anons kinda prefer not to take credit for what we do, and let the comment stand on its own. Isn't that the whole point?

Well, it certainly explains why during his testimony he couldn't remember anything about how the decisions were made...

Is that like anonymotopia?

Congress needs to file the charges and impeach the Attorney General. I mean it. Fuck this.

In the first place, I don't think any "assignment" or "delegation" removes any ethical or legal responsibility and/or liability for Gonzales. Secondly, how can this transfer occur without the full express knowledge and consent ot the Executive, i.e. the President. Why is the President not subject to direct investigation and questioning regarding this? This appears to create a bigger can of worms for these idiots than would have existed without it in the first place. Freaking morons. By the way, what was that bit about "absentee landlord" Gonzales et.al. were spewing about Iglesias? Iglesias was fulfilling dities in the Reserves; what exactly is it that Gonzales does during working hours other than practice how to say "I don't recall" and "I wasn't in that loop". Looks like 33 year old theo-nazis from Regent University were running the show. today we hear there is actually a document proving it. Just fucking incredible.

the question is who Goodling and Sampson were running the show for. Which would be Rove, on behalf of the preznit.

Didn't Bolshevik Russian implement a similar system of checks and balances? You know, to have the political arm of the party keep an eye on civilian administrators and, oh yeah, make military, police, and intelligence officials fear the Communist Party's leadership through a system of party political officers and spies?

In any case, the similarities to the system worked out in February and March of 2006 and the system evolved during 1917-1918 in Russia seem very similar...or am I thinking of the Sandinistas?

And I still haven't got a good answer as to why those spreadsheets that my tax dollars paid for had a little column that indicated whether a US Attorney was a member of the Federalist Society or not? Well, I mean, I don't have a good answer anyways...and in that I'm no doubt in goodling territory. And I am greatly saddened by this lack of information that I/we have about this strange idea that if one is not the member of a particular society that one is somehow not a very good lawyer. Very troubling. I mean, I better join the Party and get my pin right away...like a good little hack.

There is only one reason for this delegation of the politicization of the Department of Justice. It's for plausible deniability. The consigliares conduct the actions and if caught, take the heat to protect the principals.

This set of actions started back in late 2005 at the latest. Then notice the email dated January 9, 2006 (.pdf) from Kyle Sampson to Harriet Miers with copy to William K. Kelly, both in the White House, subject "U.S. Attorney appointments - PLEASE TREAT THIS AS CONFIDENTIAL." [I'm sure that anyone digging through the documents will find the emailsonthe U.S. Attorney replacements all follow this pattern. From the assistants at DoJ to the staff at White House and back with no principals on the address or Cc lines.]

No principals are even Cc'd on the email! Nothing in writing with the names of the principals on it. Plausible deniability. Anyone seriously believe that Bush, Rove and Gonzales were not each kept in the loop verbally? And there were no third parties who could be witnesses during those briefings?

If the U.S. Attorney purge or the related pressures to reduce Democratic turnout or indict Democrats before an election using the DoJ caused problems, it was planned that Sampson, Goodling and Miers were to be cut-outs to protect the principals.

Notice that none of them currently work for the Federal Government? The cut-outs are gone.

Gonzales is catching flak, but for some odd reason, Bush has total confidence in his behavior both in the Senate Hearings and at DoJ. Gonzales will not leave DoJ before Bush leave the White House, and Rove will be walking to the chopper with them.

Sampson, Goodling and Miers are all true-believers, just as "Scooter" Libby is. They keep their mouths shut and leave office to protect their principals. It's what the consigliare does.

You can delegate authority, but not responsibility. Impeach the little turd.

If Gonzales' name appears in the DC Madam's phone records, he's toast.

Actually, I think it might be illegal.

cmdicely? whadya think?

Surely it was an innocent error of omission, since due to the press of business, he really didn't have time to prepare for his appearance before Leahy's committee.

But, really, what does a guy have to do to get impeached around here?

Who is this anonymous senior executive branch official who spilled it to Murray Waas and why did he do it? He knew about the plan. Uh-oh.

Sampson... Monica... The heat just turned way up. Sampson's lawyer goes mute. He must be feverishly pouring over Kyle's testimony to see if the shitweasel perjured himself. And Monica's attorney is shrieking nonsense. Boohahahaha!

Was there any presidential sign-off on Gonzales' secret memo? Anymore memos yet to be discovered? Does Paul Corts know of others? Can the Office of Legal Counsel shed more light?

Now easy goes it, Leahy. Press on and push on the right places. Cracks are appearing. Steady...steady...like an iron anvil.

"Politicization of the DOJ" needs to be reframed to the corruption of the DOJ. Plays better to folks back home. Corruption is a buzzword they understand very well.

I'm pretty sure he doesn't recall.

That was 12 months ago. Any events more than 4 months in the past are not only foggy but hopelessly entwined with disturbing dream sequences featuring a buff shirtless Bush and large breasted women in burqas.

Time for the DOJ to open up a leak investigation.

If Gonzo's intent was to 'get out of the way', he kinda failed at that, too.

Since we can't expect tha AG nor the Chief Executive to know what's going on under them, maybe we now need a 'Law Czar' -???

So the real thing BushCo wanted covered up was the total makeover of DOJ into a GOP organization, and letting Gonzo look like a "functioning pinhead" (thank you, Jon Stewart!) was preferable. He was supposed to cover this up; mission accomplished! Almost...

Obviously Goodling and Sampson wouldn't make these decisions on their own. They were trusted underlyings, no more. The point of the order is clearly to give Rove the power.

Clearly, Attorney General Gonzales (aka "General Gonzales") did not recall this trifling detail.

So . . . nothing illegal.

Lets see who Gonzales picked for this assignment. Kyle Sampson who fashioned himself a young Karl Rove, and Monica Goodling who was very very tight with the old Karl Rove. Nothing to see her, move along, move along.

May 1, Law Day, a day when we remember all of those pieces of paper discarded these last 6 years.

If there is a "Monica" involved, isn't impeachment de rigueur?

The article describes the memo as "highly confidential". Besides the Bush administration's obsession for keeping everything about themselves secret, is there any sort of justification for this? Can Gonzales just declare something confidential by fiat? Does the president have to sign off on making it confidential? cmdicely?

The cover-up is at least as bad as the crime. Now there will be an investigation into who decided what documents to produce and why this one didn't make the cut.

This story seals it. The DoJ is a wholly owned subsidiary of the NRC and Karl Rove is the COO of both.

What we need to do now is find out whether this hyper-politicization has been implemented in the rest of the executive branch.

Has any other political operative in US history had such far-reaching influence over normally non-political matters? Roves fingerprints are all over this, particularly the aspect pointed out by Rick B (plausible deniability). Nothing points back to Rove in spite of the fact that this is undeniably his brainchild. One can only hope that he neglected to cover some of his tracks.

R Byers - You beat me to it.

In case there's any doubt:

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003124.php

Is there anyone in America who believes Gonzales testimony?

I'm not sure which lies he told, but all in all it was clear to anyone who bothered to listen that he was lying through his teeth. He claimed to have made the decisions, but forgot why or what they were. Now, I don't know if he was lying about the decisions or lying about forgetting, but you have to be awefully credulous to believe that Gonzales actually made those decisions and forgot them.

When we are done with these investigations, I expect that the result will be that Rove needs prison time.

Rove, working from the RNC office and cimmunicating through Goodling, fired all the Republican USAs who were unwilling to put their offices under the direction of the Republican Party. The Party becomes the State.

Gonzales delegated administrative tasks so that he could focus on broad policy matters. This is exactly what he should be doing as a senior executive. Naturally none of the readers here have held such responsibility, so they don't understand how these things work.

Ron Byers: "What we need to do now is find out whether this hyper-politicization has been implemented in the rest of the executive branch."

It has. The relevant Congressional committees merely need to look for it.

A13: "Politicization of the DOJ" needs to be reframed to the corruption of the DOJ.

No, no, according to Hinderaker, the Bush administration fortunately has been shown to be free of any corruption whatsoever.

First time I've ever seen Greenwald speechless. I hope he's okay. We need him.

Kevin, I wouldn't jump to the conclusion delegating isn't illegal.

Why would AGAG delegate these decisions? And why would he not reveal that he had delegated these decisions?

There was a conspiracy to do something improper or illegal. AGAG's actions--and Bush's loyalty to Abu G--are strong circumstantial evidence they were aware at some level of the misconduct.

rk: It has. The relevant Congressional committees merely need to look for it.

It's been found. Now it just needs to be thoroughly investigated to see how far it's gone.

Why would AGAG delegate these decisions? And why would he not reveal that he had delegated these decisions?

Oh, please. Calm down, liberals--no laws have been broken and your Fitzmas president is a lump of coal.

When a person of importance--and it's a hoot to have to point out that few, if any of you, have ever had more than a cubicle or a name tag you could take home with you from work--delegates authority, it is designed to improve the function of the office and allow the decision maker to have time to actually lead and set a good example. Are we now to conclude that a bunch of liberals are going to decry the fact that the Attorney General of the United States of America has issued orders delegating his authority to trusted staff members? Is that to be the next thing that is now illegal?

How often did Mr. Janet Reno delegate authority to hide investigations and keep the Clinton administration out of the newspaper? How often did he delegate authority? Would it shock everyone to know the truth? And who would care?

The fact of the matter is, no laws were broken, this is a non-scandal, and your screeching and pathetic whining isn't going to put anyone in jail or do anything to change the fact that Alberto Gonzales has done a fine job as Attorney General in a time of terrorism and partisan debauchery.

your Fitzmas president is a lump of coal.

This is what I get for drinking too much green tea--that should read "your Fitzmas present."

Pardon me while I take medication to get my hands to stop shaking.

It is probably not illegal, but that is only the minimum condition for running the Department of Justice. This arrangment reeks of partisanship and incompetence whether or not its legal.

Goodling when she resigned was only 33 years old, Kyle Sampson was only 37. These are jobs for seasoned professionals. Relatively young with resumes long on political credentials and short on justice credentials placed at some the highest levels of the Department of Justice and provided with secret power is just a ridiculous way to run the Department of Justice and reeks of incomptentence as well as partisanship.

Does Alberto Gonzales have a clue how important this job is, and are these the best, most experienced and wisest people he could find for these crucial jobs or just the most politically expedient?

Apollo 13 is right - this is about corruption, not politicization. The perps might be rewarded with ideology and power instead of dollars and cents, but they're still crooks.

"Goodling, when she resigned, was only 33 years old. Kyle Sampson was only 37."

Ah, the brain drain from government caused by those nit picking libs.

At the end of the Front Page movie with Matthau and Lemon, there was a note that the Sheriff of Cook County had been convicted on "Malfeasance, Misfeasance and Non-Feasance" in office. This has become the slogan of the current Junta.

I have a sweet DKos diary today.

Ah, for the days of yore, when true leadership led the DOJ - Why, following 9/11, John Ashcroft knew what the priorities should be.

Cover the breasts of the statute behind him.
Go after the assisted suicide law in Oregon.
Appoint an evangelical to make personnel decisions instead of continuing the examination by a peer group of experienced attorneys at DOJ.

Yeah, Big John, we hardly knew ya.

Hey alTorquemada Gonzalez is a big idea man. hiring and firing if a job for little people

Ah, for the days of yore, when true leadership led the DOJ - Why, following 9/11, John Ashcroft knew what the priorities should be.

Good list, but you forgot going after legal pornography and prostitutes while cutting the budget for anti-terrorism prior to 9/11 and flying on private jets without warning the public of the potential danger.

Good times, good times.

shortstop: No, no, according to Hinderaker, the Bush administration fortunately has been shown to be free of any corruption whatsoever.

Ah, Assmissile will say anything -- beat me, screw me, call me Edith -- swooning over his man crush for Dear Leader. Of course, he can't say such revelations publicly so he and his amigos use code... Republicanism.

Here's how it works...

They say: We're turning the corner.
Translation: And dumping the Iraq quagmire on the next president to solve.

They say: The president has full confidence in Alberto Gonzales.
Translation: When Bush pulls his string, Gonzo chirps, "I can't recall."

Look at Al's latest: "Gonzales delegated administrative tasks so that he could focus on broad policy matters. This is exactly what he should be doing as a senior executive."
Translation: I don't know a damn thing about the appointments clause of the Constitution. I'm a Republican. We hate government.

And his closing statement: "Naturally none of the readers here have held such responsibility, so they don't understand how these things work."
Translation: I know nothing and I hate you smart libs. Waah!

Assmissile's declaration: "Not a single instance of corruption has been unearthed."
Translation: I closed my eyes. Nothing to see.

Simple, once you get the hang of it.

You're good at translating Republicanism, shortstop, probably better than me.

BTW, h/t to Martini Republic for Assmissile.

He is an extremely duplicitous little bugger. No wonder he has the full confidence of the President, just like Wolfowitz paying off his mistress. Republicans are lucky people: they are unburdened by ethical, moral or legal values.

....Alberto Gonzales has done a fine job as Attorney General....Norman Rogers at 11:03 AM

...This is what I get for drinking too much green tea...Norman Rogers at 11:05 AM

Actually, I think it might be illegal.

cmdicely? whadya think?

I don't think its illegal, because there doesn't appear to be any actual delegation of authority, whether such a delegation would have been legal or not. If you "delegate" authority conditioned on your specific approval of the action (which appears to be the case here), there is no actual delegation—you haven't given anyone the authority to make decisions on their own. You've just pretended to delegate the authority, while not giving the person to whom you've made a feint at delegation any actual authority to make decisions, only the authority to make recommendations that you either approve or not.

So, probably not illegal, but, barring really misleading reporting, probably not effective even as a PR move to avoid the perception of responsibility. Certainly not an effective move to deflect responsibility in the eyes of anyone who is paying attention to what is going on and cares about substance.

Though I'd expect that the AGs defenders will wave this around a lot in a desperate attempt to pin any responsibility on his underlings.

Can we just follow Blue Girl's advice and tell our congress critters to impeach the pinhead.

Norman Rogers will no longer be posting here,As he hit the post button he was blown up by God.One little lie, one little K-Boom.

So the white house is placing USSR-style zampolits throughout the civil service?

Norman Rogers will no longer be posting here,As he hit the post button he was blown up by God.One little lie, one little K-Boom.

Sorry, Bub. God has no such plans to mess with me. In fact, the Creator and I are on excellent terms. When the stock market surged over 13,000, I cashed in some stocks and made a killing. That will be me on a new boat this summer, enjoying life and leaving the little paddle people in my considerable wake.

To be rich and content is a blessing, sir. A blessing. Too bad your hairnet went through the wash again--will your manager spring for a new one? Or will he make you wear the clown hat when you work the Fry machine?

My question is,

Were Goodling and Sampson aware of this memo, or is this a sort of retroactive memo?

This memo does seem to define the gist of their understanding of their jobs, but it only gets Alberto off the hook if it actually exists.

So, is it vintage?

cmdicely wrote: probably not illegal, but, barring really misleading reporting, probably not effective even as a PR move to avoid the perception of responsibility

One wishes it were the case that one could discount the possibility of really misleading reporting out of hand and trust that the PR move would, indeed, not be effective.

The "Al" who posts here. That couldn't possibly be --- wait for it --- "Alberto" could it?

As for the new, replacement Norman Rogers --- he hasn't had his new posting name assigned by the RNC yet. It was suppose to be "Norman Rogers, M 2.0" but he is posting with the post name assigned to the prior "M 1.0" for the interim.

Merely a temporary administrative glitch. We all recognize that Republicans and conservatives don't prepare for Acts of God. The 'magic of the free market' is supposed to be able to deal with everything.

Another document--Constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley is on a roll on Olbermann: It is really getting bizarre, the newest document is relevant, and it fits the model that Gonzales heads petty bureaucrats...laughable. What is it that the AG does all day--doesn't recall stuff, forgets why he fired people. What does he do in the day?
An empty suit! There is very little "running of the Justice Department."
Firing people for raw political reasons? In one case just to give Rove's assistant a job?
This is serious and the political influence wreaks of the Soviet era.

As for the new, replacement Norman Rogers --- he hasn't had his new posting name assigned by the RNC yet. It was suppose to be "Norman Rogers, M 2.0" but he is posting with the post name assigned to the prior "M 1.0" for the interim.

Silly twit. I give money to the Republican Party and I get to tell them, nominally, what to do.

Shows just how out of touch liberals really are...

It's clear that the USAs were fired for performance reasons. Many of them were letting subordinates run their office, and weren't on top of the day to day workings. Or at least that's what Gonzalez's subordinates told him. He really didn't have time to be bothered with the day to day workings of his office.

And Norman, perhaps you can take a break from patting yourself on the back for your cleverness long enough to face the fact that accusing people of "working the fry machine" is something that has been said by hack comedians for decades. As a matter of fact, accusing a comedian of using that line is shorthand for calling him a hack. Nice originality there. Perhaps you could respond by telling me how much money you make. That would only be about the thousandth time you've fallen back on that one. With all your money I'm guessing you pay to have a monkey type this stuff for you.