The Bush Administration Memory Hole

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, whom Bush affectionately nicknamed “Fredo” after the Godfather character, delivered a surprisingly poor performance before the Judiciary Committee. Inept is as charitable as I can make it. He sat there and was knocked around all day looking like much more of a moron than I had thought. I was under the (apparently mistaken) opinion that Gonzales was one of the “smart ones” in the administration. Woefully wrong. He looked like a stooge.

Read here more details about it and how a “GOP senator calls for Gonzales to resign.”

The problem is not just Gonzo’s pathetic delivery, it is the lies and coverup. I kind of feel sorry for this criminal because he has nothing to work with here. All evidence points clearly toward a premeditated crime and coverup. He cannot defend himself and so lies, very poorly, or just clams up and says he can’t remember. For instance he says he cannot remember a single meeting he has had in the past four years concerning anything to do with this case. Ummmm…….

Gonzo issued 45 “I can’t recalls” before lunch this morning alone. Seventy something by this afternoon. I loved the guy in the audience ticking them off on his notebook. Beyond pathetic.

It reminded me of this political cartoon about some of his previous performances before Congress.

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In fact his performance was so bad that members of his own party were lashing into him. Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions, a Bush loyalist and Gonzales defender, was even shaken by the Gonzo claims.

During the lunch break, Sessions told TIME, “I’m troubled, very troubled that the Attorney General just flatly stated he had no recollections of the meeting in November. It’s not like it was three or four years ago; it was just last November.” His inability to remember was “frankly not plausible to me,” Sessions added….

The most powerful and honest statement of the day came from die-hard teamplayer Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, who said, “The best way to put this behind us is your resignation.”

Well said, Senator.

Too bad the President isn’t listening. Not to members of his own Party, not to the Congress, and not to the citizens of America. The White House issued a standard Gonzo has the President’s full support statement and even said they were very satisfied with his performance. Of course later it was admitted that the President didn’t even see the testimony, but that is irrelevant.

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Gonzo did what everyone in this administration does. They deliver the party line and drop everything else into the giant Memory Hole Bunker that CheneyCo had built beneath the White House.

“The case of the missing Bush documents” is well known and the evidence is extensive for rampant criminality. There is nothing new here. I just cannot fathom why they all aren’t in prison yet. I mean with such poor and blatantly dishonest performances, what more do you need?

The only bright spot in today’s entire tawdry circus was when Gonzales left the hearing this evening. Protesters began singing “Hey, hey, goodbye!” (from the Steam 1970s hit song.)

Take that back: Another bright spot was Keith Olbermann’s Countdown tonight. It was spot-on, funny as hell, and I also loved the extra special he did on the administration’s habit of losing everything from records to emails to files and then blocking the release of anything that they haven’t “lost.” The revelation that under Gonzales they now deny 75% of all legal Freedom of Information Act requests now is as damning as anything. This administration is redefining criminality and making Nixon look like an amateur.

I guess it is true. Cheney & Co. have been sitting around brooding and planning for this moment since Watergate. They are the most secretive and criminal gang in all of U.S. history. I just hope they spend the rest of their lives in prison so they can’t enjoy any of the likewise “missing” billions they stole out of Iraq.

PS: Check out Gonzales in Retch. I absolutely loved that film when it came out. Cracked me up. So does that poster. It makes me laugh because Gonzales makes me cry.

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