FYI The US attorney in Colorado is Troy Eid, who it appears is another GOP hack who was appointed by Rove's criminal "justice department".

http://www.progressnowaction.org/page/community/post/ralphtrenary/CqRT

Friends of George Bush and Dick Cheney? (call Pelosi @1-202-225-0100 DEMAND IMPEACHMENT)

There's no conspiracy, only a lone nut!

Yeah, but if you were part of an assassination plot, would you be carrying around a load of drugs?

Racer X, every US Attorney right now was appointed by Bush and its safe to assume that all of them are, at the very least, politically connected to the GOP. However, Eid was not one of the infamous mid-term appointments that was a focus of so much attention last year.

More importantly, I know Troy Eid and he is not a "hack." If anything, he's an example of the kind of US Attorney appointment that has long been common in other administrations: politically connected, but moderate and non-ideological. He's the kind of lawyer I wish there were more of in the justice department.

In addition, making the implication that somehow Eid is going to soft-pedal this issue or investigation because he's a GOP appointee is really offensive and a little paranoid.

I seem to remember another recent event that put Obama's life in danger that was downplayed by the media concerning problems with his airplane.

And RacerX's assertion that Eid is a Bushrove hack does not inspire confidence.

Doug has it absolutely right. The suggestion that Eid is going to be complicit in an assassination attempt on the Democratic presidential candidate is just nuts. As Doug pointed out, every currently-serving U.S. Attorney was appointed by the Bush administration, and as with any other political appointment you can safely assume that some degree of political connection is involved. But these wild-eyed insinuations that every Republican prosecutor is a potential accessory to murder threaten to diminish one's credibility to the 9/11 Truther level.

Doug,

In defense of RacerX's comment and my own paranoia, what on earth has happened over the last 8 years to inspire confidence in a Bush appointee?

We have far too much evidence of Bush cronies 'soft-pedaling,' ignoring, and even downright aiding criminality. Not to mention most of them have shown a complete lack of respect for the lives of other people and have callously endangered them for political gain.

Just ask Valarie Plame if my paranoia is justified.

And all due respect to JRD and Doug, but it's not necessarily about being complicit on an assassination attempt.

He could just be utterly incompetent like so many other Bush appointees.

I don't know anything about Eid, so I'm not making any claims one way or another. All I'm arguing is that given the copious amounts of evidence we have concerning Bush appointees, are we not justified a little paranoia?

Not narcotics. Meth. Don't say narcotics, it doesn't mean anything anymore.

Meth heads cannot get their act together to do anything except score more meth. This was never a conspiracy to do anything except participate in further stupidity.

doubtful nails it firmly. Ask Valerie Plame if it's paranoid to think that Bush would appoint criminals. As Gonzales (oh wait, he can't remember anything)

At what point do we quit giving Bush's appointees the benefit of the doubt? We've seen what they did, illegally and openly, is it paranoid to think that they're doing more that we're as yet unaware of? I don't know Mr Eid, but I do know about Bush, Rove, Gonzales, Meyers, Goodwin, and a host of other FUCKING CRIMINALS who have been using the US "justice system" as their own political tool. To think that one of their hand-picked appointees might downplay an assanation plot against the primary opponent is hardly a stretch.

And what about all those "terrorist plots" which were so ballyhooed and turned out to be a bunch of morons who didn't even own a gun? Huh?

And it's obvious that JRD hasn't the brains of a toad if he thinks I insinuated that Eid was actually "complicit in an assassination attempt". Typical wingnutty logic that. What I am saying is that the Republicans have destroyed the credibility of the justice department, so doubting what it says is now perfectly rational.

White supremacists with scopes, vests, etc. who are "not credible"?

Someone should call Alan Berg's show with that tidbit.

A rifle and an attitude is always a credible threat. Imagine if Lee Harvey Oswald had been arrested in his car. It only takes one. I disagree with Eid.

I think the paranoid one here is Doug. The issue is not whether the Bush appointed US Attorney is complicit, or going to soft pedal, the issue is whether he is a idiot hack in way over his head, who has a history of taking marching orders from Rove, which seems to be the case.

The suggestion that Eid is going to be complicit in an assassination attempt on the Democratic presidential candidate is just nuts.

See but no one above you suggested that. You just imagined that's what people were posting above because your own posts are rabid ravings and you assume others are equally nutty as you.

It is perfectly relevant to mention that Rove put a bunch of incompetents and zombies into the US attorney's positions.

I wonder if these crazies had been listening to O'Reilly or Hannity.
The world is beginning to see an America they like again with the election of Obama, if anything were to happen to him the world will know that we are ruled by crazy neocons nad neo nazis and that we have no hope.

I know someone who went to Fort Morgan high school with Gartrell. They say he was a druggie redneck loser even then.

As a resident of Hawaii, which has one of the worst meth problems in the nation, I have to agree with TMoore: methheads don't care about anything except scoring more meth. It's entirely possible that these fools were paid to either kill/attempt to kill some convention goers, perhaps including politicians, or just start a riot. Maybe they know Rush, or are on his payroll. Unhinged right wing druggies have to stick together.

"I don't know anything about Eid, so I'm not making any claims one way or another. All I'm arguing is that given the copious amounts of evidence we have concerning Bush appointees, are we not justified a little paranoia?"

Paranoia is by definition never justified. That said, do you have any idea how many Bush appointees are in office right now? 93 U.S. Attorneys alone (maybe some "acting" U.S. Attorneys, but even those are appointed by the president). While there have been some embarrassing failures in the Bush administration, there's really no basis for supposing that anything near a majority of federal civil servants are in any way corrupt or incompetent. Unlike Doug, I don't know Eid, but I do have a fair level of familiarity with the federal criminal justice system as a whole, on the basis of which I can assure you that mere association with the Republican Party does not support a general inference of incompetence or unprofessional partisanship.

I also find it a little hard to believe that you were only arguing that Eid may be incompetent rather than actively aiding an attempt to assassinate Obama in light of your argument above that "We have far too much evidence of Bush cronies 'soft-pedaling,' ignoring, and even downright aiding criminality. Not to mention most of them have shown a complete lack of respect for the lives of other people and have callously endangered them for political gain. Just ask Valarie Plame if my paranoia is justified." That's not an argument about incompetence; it's an argument about intentional misconduct.

I also find it a little hard to believe that you were only arguing that Eid may be incompetent... -JRD

Which is why I amended my argument prior to this response and added incompetence to my list of transgressions we've witnessed from Bush appointees.

I stand by my assertion that we've seen too much "'soft-pedaling,' ignoring, and even downright aiding criminality," and "incompetence," from Bush appointees to trust what any of them say, especially when it relates to a possible attempted assassination.

I think it's naive to assume otherwise and take anyone who is connected to this Administration at their word, let alone someone in the justice department who may have obtained their job illegally.

So you may be rhetorically correct, paranoia isn't justified. But common sense and cautious skepticism is.

I don't trust Eid because he's connected to Bush. Period.

"Meth heads cannot get their act together to do anything except score more meth. This was never a conspiracy to do anything except participate in further stupidity."

Maybe they thought that if they killed Obama, they could score all the meth they wanted. They had the motive (racist hatred, fame) and the means (scoped rifle). I think they would have pulled the trigger if they had the chance.