The Political Whore

President Barack Obama has reveresed himself on how open his Administration will be on the torture approved by the previous George W. Bush Administration of Horrors, refusing to release Abu Ghraib torture photos. Daily Dish reports:

In what can only be seen as a stunning reversal, the president is now refusing to release photographs that would help prove that the abuse and torture techniques revealed at Abu Ghraib were endemic in the Bush military. I can’t help but wonder if this is related to his decision to appoint Stanley McChrystal as the commander of his Afghanistan war and occupation. There is solid evidence that McChrystal played an active part in enabling torture in Iraq, and his activities in charge of many secret special operations almost certainly involved condoning acts that might be illustrated by these photos. The MSM has, of course, failed to mention this in their fawning profiles of McChrystal.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in a wide-ranging interview with Rolling Stone, says at least three senior Bush Administration officials could be prosecuted for crimes they committed while in power.

RS wrote in its latest issue:

Do you foresee a scenario in which senior members of the Bush administration are actually prosecuted?

I think so. The American people deserve answers. Where we are now, in terms of prosecution of White House staff, is that we have charged them with contempt of Congress. We’re talking about Harriet Miers, Josh Bolten and Karl Rove. The natural course of events from here is that the speaker will determine what charge we’re going to pursue, because there are more than one. Under Bush, the Justice Department told the U.S. attorney not to prosecute the case. So the beat goes on – it just gets worse. We don’t know what will happen, because they’ve delayed it a long time.

I’m talking more about the level of a Donald Rumsfeld – people who authorized torture and greenlighted the kidnapping and rendition of innocent people.
I didn’t like their policies, which is why we needed to win the election – to get them out of power.

But I don’t know what the evidence is against them on any specific charge. When you have a truth-and-reconciliation commission . . . look, I’m still fighting the bombing of Cambodia. I still have my gripes with the administration that bombed Cambodia before you were born, so I think it’s important to bring these things out. If you have a case against someone, you bring a case.

Pelosi was supportive of legislation aimed at a kind of “Truth Commission” that would look at the wrongdoing in the previous administration.

The lowlights of the Bush Administration in 2:08:

From indy journalist Murray Waas:

Vice President Dick Cheney, according to a still-highly confidential FBI report, admitted to federal investigators that he rewrote talking points for the press in July 2003 that made it much more likely that the role of then-covert CIA-officer Valerie Plame in sending her husband on a CIA-sponsored mission to Africa would come to light.

Cheney conceded during his interview with federal investigators that in drawing attention to Plame’s role in arranging her husband’s Africa trip reporters might also unmask her role as CIA officer.

Cheney denied to the investigators, however, that he had done anything on purpose that would lead to the outing of Plame as a covert CIA operative. But the investigators came away from their interview with Cheney believing that he had not given them a plausible explanation as to how he could focus attention on Plame’s role in arranging her husband’s trip without her CIA status also possibly publicly exposed. At the time, Plame was a covert CIA officer involved in preventing Iran from obtaining weapons of mass destruction, and Cheney’s office played a central role in exposing her and nullifying much of her work.

Come on San Francisco, light my fire.

• Patraeus, the candidates and the showdown on the Hill.
• Bigger threat to computer systems, you or al-Qaeda? Hint: Don’t check Afghanistan for the answer.
• Bush administration euphemism of the day: deferred prosecution.
• Before your next visit, please consult the Tourist’s Guide to Baghdad.
• Home opener: Crist throws out the first pitch, the Rays lose 6-5.
• Disney animation makes a big move to 3-D.
• According to a new study, violent video games promote relaxation more than violence.
• Just when you though Facebook couldn’t possibly eat more of your day, presenting Facebook Chat.

(Photo Credit: Donnay)

The stunning story recounted by former Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey in his Senate testimony today about current Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez is not only yet another reason Gonzo must go: It is a line-by-line reading of the hospital scene in The Godfather where Michael Corleone must protect the shot-up Vito from another attempt on his life.

The Bush Administration is finally revealed as the dysfunctional, lying bunch that we all suspected, cast in this drama as the Barzini family hitmen rushing to the bedside of the ailing then-Attorney General John Ashcroft. (OK, raise your hands if you ever thought that Ashcroft would appear to be the rational, compassionate player in any movie. Anyone? Thought not.)

The New York Times writes how Comer and FBI Director Robert Mueller were among those who rushed to Ashcroft’s hospital bed, sirens and lights on, to short-circuit Gonzo and Chief O’ Staff Andy Card’s attempt to get the ailing Ashcroft  to extend Bush’s illegal NSA domestic surveillance program:

Although Mrs. Ashcroft had banned visitors and telephone calls to her husband’s hospital room, she had just gotten a call from the White House telling her that Mr. Card and Mr. Gonzales were on their way to see her husband, Mr. Comey testified. “I have some recollection that the call was from the president himself, but I don’t know that for sure,” Mr. Comey said.

He said his security detail then sped him to the hospital with sirens blaring and emergency lights flashing, while he telephoned the director of the F.B.I., Robert S. Mueller 3d, from the car. Mr. Mueller shared his sense of urgency: “He said, ‘I’ll meet you at the hospital right now,’ ” Mr. Comey testified.

When he got to the hospital, Mr. Comey recalled, “I got out of the car and ran up — literally, ran up the stairs with my security detail.”

“What was your concern?” asked Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, who was the chairman of today’s committee session.

“I was concerned that, given how ill I knew the attorney general was, that there might be an effort to ask him to overrule me when he was in no condition to do that,” Mr. Comey replied.

Comey arrived in time.

No word on whether Mueller was forced to stand out in front of the hospital with his overcoat collar up and hand in his pocket as if he had a gun to repel Gonzo and Card:

ENZO

If there is trouble, I stay here to help you. For your father — for your father

MICHAEL

Alright… Listen, wait for me outside in front of the hospital. Alright? I’ll be out in a minute.

Go ahead…

ENZO

Okay… okay.

[Michael returns to the Don's room, at his bedside. The nurse is still in the room]

MICHAEL

Just lie here, Pop. I’ll take care of you now. I’m with you now. I’m with you…

[Michael kisses the Don's hand; the Don smiles, with a tear in his eye. Michael

leaves to meet Enzo outside of the hospital]

MICHAEL (grabbing and tossing the flowers that Enzo is still holding)

Get rid of these

(then, as Michael turns Enzo’s collar up)

Come ‘ere… Put your hand in your pocket like you have a gun. You’ll be alright.

(then, after he sighs)

You’ll be okay…