Whitehouse blasts Gonzales over Cheney Access to DOJ

I love the irony in that sentence. But I didn't say The Whitehouse, it actually refers to Freshman Senator & Democrat from Rhode Island, Sheldon Whitehouse. He is member of the Senate Judiciary Committee looking into the Department of Justice, the Attorney General & the Bush admin. Go WHITEHOUSE! Now that's what our Congresspeople SHOULD BE doing. Protecting our REPUBLIC & upholding our Constitution!

According to the The Raw Story: "During Tuesday's Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing, a freshman Democratic Senator stumped Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on how Vice President Dick Cheney, his chief of staff, and counsel, had been granted authority parallel with the President on intervening in pending matters at the Justice Department.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) questioned the Attorney General about the independence of the Justice Department and communications with the White House on pending cases or investigations.

He then pointed to a May 4, 2006 memorandum signed by Gonzales which showed that the Office of the Vice President had been granted parallel privileges with the Executive Office of the President on communicating directly with the Justice Department's staff on criminal and civil matters.

"What - on earth - business does the Office of the Vice President have in the internal workings of the Department of Justice with respect to criminal investigations, civil investigations, and ongoing matters?" the Senator asked.

Gonzales was stumped, "As a general matter, I would say that's a good question."

Whitehouse then pointed out that in the same memo, the Chief of Staff and Counsel of the Vice President were also explicitly granted the same authority.

"On its face - I must say - sitting here, I'm troubled by this," Gonzales added. ..."

I'm sure he's saying that because his back is against a wall.

Speaking of Darth Cheney, I was curious about what was happening on Dennis Kucinich's attempt to impeach Cheney (U.S. Resolution 333).

According to Wikipedia.com's Dennis Kucinich article: "As of July 16, 2007, thirteen other Congressional representatives have become co-sponsors. Three of these are members of the House Judiciary Committee." *Heather's note: Those three are Maxine Walters of CA, Keither Ellison of Minn., & Hank Johnson from Georgia. Other supporters are from: NY, Missouri, Ohio, Washington, Virginia, Illinois & Maryland. Sadly, Oregon has ZERO congresspeople who've become co-sponsors. I'll have to call my politicos yet again.

None of the Democrat's Presidential nominees have expressed support. Also according to Wikipedia, during the first Democratic Presidential debate at South Carolina State University, none of the other candidates' hands went up when the moderator, Brian Williams, asked if they would support Kucinich's plan to impeach Cheney. How typical of the Dem's to play pussy.

Where it is now:

The resolution has been referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, chaired by Congressman Jerrold Nadler.

Neither the subcommittee nor the full Judiciary Committee, chaired by Congressman John Conyers, has yet scheduled a hearing on the resolution. Absent a positive referral from the Judiciary Committee, the only way the resolution could reach the floor of the House is with the approval of the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Failure of the Judiciary Committee and Speaker Pelosi to act favorably would result in the resolution remaining in committee indefinitely, where it would never receive a vote.

Find out more on wikipedia

Couldn've said it better myself

Keith Olbermann op-ed about the whole Scooter Libby thing. I definitely could not have said it better, so I'll just post it here. He even quotes JOhn Wayne, an ultra-conservative.



In other news, Dennis Kucinich is still pushing for the IMPEACHMENT OF DICK CHENEY. Contact your Congressperson if you support the impeachment process.

Also, Cindy Sheehan has challenged Nancy Pelosi for her job. On July 8, 2007 she announced that she will run against Speaker Pelosi if she fails to introduce articles of impeachment against President Bush. Go Sheehan! I admire your courage to speak out in a country where it's not popular to speak up against Big Brother.