Gonzales Not Under Oath

This is shameful, gutless, and unconscionable on the part of Specter and the Republicans. Baseball players must be under oath, but not energy execs, or the Attorney General, even when he has already lied under oath?!!? Where's the Republican with some backbone to dissent? Kudos to the Democrats for raising the issue. May they continue to hammer it home. Typically, Congress has been very defensive about protecting its own powers... but the Judiciary Committee Republicans appear largely bought and paid for. I'm absolutely disgusted.

Crooks and Liars has the video of this sorry state of affairs. Specter of course does not offer a compelling argument - come to think of it, really any argument - for not putting Gonzales under oath. Gonzales himself claims he has no objection to going under oath - of course, an oath didn't stop him from lying before. And now, with Specter's move now he can claim it wasn't up to him. Convenient. At least he's getting some grilling...

One of the best lines in Syriana comes at a barbeque when one character explains to his client, "we need the appearance of due diligence." Until Republicans start grilling the President and the Attorney General for willfully breaking the law, they have no credibility. As Pat Roberts continues to stonewall on intelligence investigations and the Abramoff scandal grows, the Republicans remain the party of cosmetic fixes. The Constitution be damned; they will sacrifice the rule of law and civil liberties in order to retain power. Some Republicans, including far-right fanatics like Grover Norquist, oppose warrantless wiretaps. Congress possesses quite a few Republicans who have spoken out on this as well... but they need to either become more vocal, or get on more committees! It's very clear now that the opposition party must have subpoena power.