Fun times
Oh goody. The Justice Department has issued its final report on Monica Goodling’s illegal hiring practices for career DOJ positions. There’s plenty of fun stuff in here, such as this:
We interviewed Angela Williamson, who was the Department’s Deputy White House Liaison and reported to Goodling during most of Goodling’s tenure as White House Liaison. Williamson attended numerous interviews conducted by Goodling and told us that Goodling asked the same questions “all the time” and tried to ask the same questions of all candidates. […] After Goodling resigned, Williamson typed from memory the list of questions Goodling asked as a guide for future interviews. Among other questions, the list included the following:
- Tell us about your political philosophy. There are different groups of conservatives, by way of example: Social Conservative, Fiscal Conservative, Law & Order Republican.
- [W]hat is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?
- Aside from the President, give us an example of someone currently or recently in public service who you admire.
We found that this last question often took the form of asking the candidate to identify his or her most admired President, Supreme Court Justice, or legislator. Some candidates were asked to identify a person for all three categories. Williamson told us that sometimes Goodling asked candidates: “Why are you a Republican?”
Several candidates interviewed by Goodling told us they believed that her question about identifying their favorite Supreme Court Justice, President, or legislator was an attempt to determine the candidates’ political beliefs. For example, one candidate reported that after he stated he admired Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Goodling “frowned” and commented, “but she’s pro-choice.”
Upon becoming president, Hussein Obama X’s very first act — after freeing Mumia, signing a reparations bill and implementing Sharia law, of course — should be to oust every single unqualified hack that Bush hired right out of Regent University and banish them from ever working again in any job. God knows how many more of them are out there.
[W]hat is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?
Jesus, that is just creepy as hell. The authoritarian worshipping tendencies of some of My Fellow Americans never fails to give me the oogies. I shudder to think of some of the answers she got.
Leave him some time for a few terrorist fist-bumps too.
Let’s hope jail is on the table even if impeachment is not for these scumbags.
[W]hat is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?
It’s hard to nail down just exactly what is the creepiest about all this, but I think this question is on the short list.
…like Matt T. said.
When I was interviewed for security clearances, it wasn’t too unusual to be asked “What makes you want to serve the Office of the President?” However, I was never asked specifically about whoever was in office at the time.
Goodling’s got more face paint on her mug than Chief Illiniwek.
I bet she could wash her face, collect the rinse, and make a bomb out of that many chemicals.
At the pleasure of teh Prezidint!!!111232thirtysix!!1
This is an exact replica of the President’s prick. Can you get the whole thing in your mouth without gagging?
Man.
I agree with your need to flush all of the turds out of DC. Who wants to help me man major exit routes from the city come Feb 2009? I’ll bring the booze and splintery fence rails. You’ll have to supply your own rotten eggs, tar and feathers.
At the pleasure of the President!!!!!!11
Sorry, “your need” should be “the need.”
Guess Goodling creeps me out that much. Her, Perino. What is it with vacant eyed blondes in bAdmin?
And you thought Stephen Colbert was just joshing when he asked us “George W. Bush — great President, or The Greatest President?”
Turns out — it was an interview question — and it was calling from inside the [White] House!
Why don’t they just change the eagle on that seal to an elephant.
Wild-eyed God Nazi put in charge of hiring, with predictable results.
When I was interviewed for security clearances, it wasn’t too unusual to be asked “What makes you want to serve the Office of the President?”
Man, that’s still pretty goddamn creepy. Maybe if they asked “What makes you want to serve the American people in conjunction with the Office of the President?” but all this “honor of the office” and “we must respect the president” bullshit is probably a goodly part of the reason our political system is so fucked up.
But we are a species that really likes being told what to do.
15 years or so back when I recently went to work for a conservative democrat, on his staff, not a civil servant, I took a picture of the “member” and put it right above my desk, with nothing else. No one failed to find it a joke, though some mentioned it was creepier than funny in a communist bureaucrat way. I cannot imagine what Goodling and hercrew did to the DOJ to make such a joke of their life’s professionalism. In my day, you pretty much had to have an ivy league, top five law school degree to be considered for those jobs. What Bush did was no different that what your average junta does after it siezes power. Classy.
Don’t forget, folks! Obama supporters are the ones with authoritarian complexes.
Just a hint, Monica: These people should have wanted to serve the friggin country.
OK, I have to say this for the record: I actually work with several of the people hired under this regime. Some at least are doing their jobs well. Their political views do not necessarily make them unqualified, because the work is not political.
Whatever you think of the process by which these people acquired civil service status — and I think the same — they now have it. Trust me, you do not want to see a precedent set of purging the career civil service on political grounds every time a new administration takes over.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled snark.
…should be to oust every single unqualified hack that Bush hired right out of Regent University and banish them from ever working again in any job.
I think they should just be forced to attend a real university for a semester or two. Make them pass a class from one of Horowitz’s 100 Most Dangeral Professors, or something. That would break their spirits.
By the way, I certainly hope that at least one person got the creeps and walked out of her “interview”.
Trust me, you do not want to see a precedent set of purging the career civil service on political grounds every time a new administration takes over.
On political grounds, no. But on the grounds that many of these people were hired over much more qualified candidates? I think it merits consideration.
I don’t know — maybe it’s just my notorious weakness for blondes talking here, but I’d still hit it™.
But I’d feel dirty afterwards.
Ok, NOW can we have a parliamentary government? Please?
roac is too right. A political firing of a competent, albeit wrongly hired, civil servant would be worse than the way they were hired. On the other hand, once B. Hussein X puts them to work measuring beard length all day long, they’ll leave on their own.
[…] Sadly, No! has an update on the Monica Goodling/Alberto Gonzalez DOJ hirings. […]
Trust me, you do not want to see a precedent set of purging the career civil service on political grounds every time a new administration takes over.
Considering the post on which we’re commenting, it looks to me like that train has already left the station.
Whatever you think of the process by which these people acquired civil service status — and I think the same — they now have it. Trust me, you do not want to see a precedent set of purging the career civil service on political grounds every time a new administration takes over.
They don’t have to be fired outright. They can be given tasks they find distasteful like investigating voters’ rights violations, right wing hate groups and fundie churches abusing their tax exempt statuses. If they willingly accept their new responsibilities and proceed to carry them out faithfully, fine they can stay and even prosper. If not they can expect to have their performance scrutinized and documented very carefully and they can haz sleepless nights and dread coming to work in the morning. That kind of thing has always worked for me when I inherited crap employees that I was determined to see resign.
Trust me, you do not want to see a precedent set of purging the career civil service on political grounds every time a new administration takes over.
On political grounds, no. But on the grounds that many of these people were hired over much more qualified candidates?
Okay. How about one-time-only, say from Jan. to Mar. 2009, departmental competency reviews due to “special circumstances”?
Wingnuts can forever after call it ‘The Great Terror’.
“[W]hat is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?”
I would love to have seen the look on her face if anyone replied:
“I want to serve despite George W. Bush.”
Thanks, Brad. I just downloaded the report and will now get nothing done this morning.
Colbert’s prescience is uncanny.
Trust me, you do not want to see a precedent set of purging the career civil service on political grounds every time a new administration takes over.
Considering the post on which we’re commenting, it looks to me like that train has already left the station.
That’s true – what if we stuck with the W method of just creating a hostile work environment with no opportunities for career advancement and an attractive early retirement program for political “undesirables?” That precedent’s already been set.
Atop the stack at one of my blogs, I have undertake a rant on precisely this subject, if anyone is interested: Click here.I do NOT limit myself to Pat Robertson’s “Regents’ U,” though…
[W]hat is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?
I am a bootlicking toady.
“Creepy” is kind of relative, though.
I mean, you people* make your children stand every morning and vow their tiny little souls out to your national flag.
That is creepy.
* – By “you people”, I don’t mean to imply that only black people do this.
What mako rojo said. I don’t expect many of these people to be here very long. There have been political hires before, but they leave because the work is not sympathetic.
There are certain norms here which this administration has utterly disregarded, in more ways than have been made public. (My neck is already stuck out here so I’m not going to be specific.) Having been caught, they have not only acknowledged they were wrong, they have positively groveled in apologizing to the career people as a body. Recent hiring has returned to the former standard. We’re happy to leave it at that. The last thing I want is to have some board looking into whether somebody else should have been hired instead of me X years ago. I don’t want any administration to have that in their toolbox.
Also, this is actually kind of funny (whether or not you read the exclamation marks as operators):
I don’t know, it just reads like it should be in a sharply-serrated speech balloon in a Batman comic.
Goodling scoured the internets, wouldn’t you know. She followed the example of her predecessor as the DOJ’s White House Liaison, Jan Williams. From page 21:
That damned spotted owl. It haunts us to this day.
I see Andre has got this one covered. Does this mean someone for the wins?
…it just reads like it should be in a sharply-serrated speech balloon in a Batman comic.
Hee hee
Here I thought K-Lo had posted again.
Sam- Nah, that’s more Groganese.
“[W]hat is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?”
Frankly, ma’am, I just think he’d look peachy-keen with a candied apple shoved in his gob … & he could probably feed a family of six for weeks!
So, do I get the job now or what?
Remember, she’s Mrs. Mike Krempasky now. Someone might want to see what they’re saying over at Redstate.
Q. What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?
A. I really like the way he fills out a flight suit [then give wide-eyed nodding head up and down look for agreement.]
This would be especially effective is candidate is male.
HTML- They be ballin’, Confederate Wankee-style.
I very much agree with the surreal creepiness factor pointed out in Justice Department employees – that is, people outside of the actual penumbra of the office of the President – being asked what it was that made them want to worship our heroic Commander in Chief, George Walker Bush.
I don’t think it’s actually possible to satirize it. If only there were a Charlie Chaplin around.
Also: I do think that setting precedent for mass purges when new administrations come in is bad, BUT.
Bush has made appointments from the highest offices in the land on down on the basis of personal loyalty. When brought under question, by both deliberate pretense and innocent error they’ve betrayed a mixture of ignorance of and apathy for the principles on which this country is built and the basic skillset necessary for the job.
It is like someone being appointed Solicitor General and earnestly believing that part of the defense’s job is to surreptitiously break the defendant out of jail; or someone being appointed head of Homeland Security who labors under the belief that Canada and Mexico are under US jurisdiction.
There should be a test put out for each office which has had appointments made by Bush; ideally it should be designed with significant cooperation by both Democrats and non-authoritarian Republicans (there are actually a few who don’t consider it their job to tongue Bush’s divinely-appointed bung), and written primarily by experts in the field.
There’s still an unfortunate precedent set by holding snap examinations, but our doing the same thing if we had won in 2004 would have saved New Orleans. God only knows what other incompetent toadies Bush has appointed. If they’re Bush toadies with a defensible record and capable skills, fine – but Christ, even Stalin was willing to hire experts from outside of the Party. Lysenko was an embarassment for the USSR; I don’t think he’d even annoy modern Bushlicans.
Prior to actually looking over there, I’m going to guess they are saying:
*chirp, chirp*
Man, that’s still pretty goddamn creepy. Maybe if they asked “What makes you want to serve the American people in conjunction with the Office of the President?” but all this “honor of the office” and “we must respect the president” bullshit is probably a goodly part of the reason our political system is so fucked up.
Well…I was asked similar questions when I started working for the VA, and it was always pretty clear that when the interviewers asked “Why do you want to work for the Veterans’ Administration?” they really meant “Why do you want to serve our veterans?” or “Why do you want to serve our country/the American people by working with our veterans?” In fact, throughout the course of the interview, some of them rephrased the question in just that way.
I agree that one *could* draw a semantic distinction between “serving in the VA” and “serving the American people by working for the VA”; I just think that the interviewers *weren’t* drawing it, and thus I wasn’t freaked out.
It may still be worth insisting on the distinction just to avoid problems in the future, but to me the key distinction is between serving a person and serving an office (or the American people through an office). If the interviewer had asked me why I was interested in serving George Bush (or whatever shmendrick was running the VA at the time), I’d’ve been out the door in a flash.
What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to revere him as a living god?
Is the no-choice Mrs. Krempasky preggers yet?
“W]hat is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?”
Heh. Reminds me of a famous question asked by a spoof chat show host in the UK: “What first attracted you to short, balding millionaire Paul Daniels?”
Trilateral Chairman,
Well, that’s the key, isn’t it? You were being asked why you wanted to work for the VA*, not serve anyone or anything. It may be just a semantic difference, but it’s still a pretty damn big one in my opinion. ‘Course, I do have problems with authority and have never been able to come up with a good answer to the “why do you want to work for us” question, now that I think of it. “Well, that weed won’t buy itself” probably wouldn’t fly.
* Kudos on that, by the way. My old man’s a vet and the VA’s always done right by him. I know it’s a damn tough job.
[W]hat is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?
He’s Batman. Obviously.
(Also: http://www.p2pnet.net/story/16522 McCain sued by RIAA rumor. Anyone got more on this?)
It’s not surprising to me and many many others that the same people who chirp about change and support all sorts of not even true whistleblowing are the same people who don’t want to talk about Obama’s record at his church. What do you and he have to hide, liberals? But back to this issue- just like you’re keenly unaware of economics, you’re also unaware of democratic theory and principles that state that the President, by virtue of being the President, should be able to form the bureaucracy in his image. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this, and I suspect and expect you to ignore Obama, if he is elected, when he appoints his cronies and radical leftists.
Prior to actually looking over there, I’m going to guess they are saying:
*chirp, chirp*
That is substantially correct, although I would characterize the posts as *burp, burp*.
AKA: Obama hates the troops, Serge be working, Obama is stupit, serge be working.
Trilateral Chairman,
Well, that’s the key, isn’t it? You were being asked why you wanted to work for the VA*, not serve anyone or anything. It may be just a semantic difference, but it’s still a pretty damn big one in my opinion. ‘Course, I do have problems with authority and have never been able to come up with a good answer to the “why do you want to work for us” question, now that I think of it. “Well, that weed won’t buy itself” probably wouldn’t fly.
* Kudos on that, by the way. My old man’s a vet and the VA’s always done right by him. I know it’s a damn tough job.
My dad had to do part of his residency with the VA hospital and it pissed him off. The administrator was one of those by-the-book dicks who made the surgeons wear ties beneath their gowns. Not a pleasant experience.
Nothing at RedState about Goodling, but they have this gem.
Shorter Erick Erickson: As a rational, level-headed conservative, I was skeptical of a certain chain e-mail by a soldier who accused Obama of blowing off the troops; however, when the author himself admitted that he was lying, he not only proved that he was telling the truth, but revealed a massive liberal conspiracy within the military to silence any opposition to Obama.
just like you’re keenly unaware of economics, you’re also unaware of democratic theory and principles that state that the President, by virtue of being the President, should be able to form the bureaucracy in his image.
So Bush is a pig-ignorant party flack? Why, SF, I never took you for a Bush Derangement Syndrome candidate.
What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to descend into the abyss?
What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to abjectly surrender your puny will to the all-powerful Bush hive?
What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to fellate goats?
the President, by virtue of being the President, should be able to form the bureaucracy in his image
And on the seventh day he rests.
Trust me, you do not want to see a precedent set of purging the career civil service on political grounds every time a new administration takes over.
I agree, after a fashion. Anyone who’s actually competent can stay, as far as I’m concerned, and as others have said above. It may be that more qualified people were passed over to hire the Jesus W. Bush drones, which is a tragedy akin to several others the Bush admin has perpetrated through stupid / malicious appointments and policies.
Hopefully, those who joined up merely to grovel at the Gee Dumbya altar will quit on their own once they’re no longer serving him. Especially if it’s President Obama running things and they’re convinced he’s the antichrist.
D.N. Nation – that’s quite an eyebrow-raising URL you’ve posted for Red State: “barack-obama-blew-troops-according-email-now-retra”
Well, that’s the key, isn’t it? You were being asked why you wanted to work for the VA*, not serve anyone or anything.
See, but I think I *was* being asked to serve our veterans. Moreover, if one of the interviewers had asked “Why do you want to serve the Veterans’ Administration?” I would’ve understood it in the same way. I’m not much good with authority either, but that didn’t particularly tweak my rebell-o-meter the way the word “serve” usually does. That’s probably because I believe that the question is more or less appropriate. As a group, veterans aren’t quite like any other group. People who don’t make an attempt to understand or care about vets–people who just show up to count the hours and collect a paycheck–tend not to be very good at their jobs. I’m not by any means calling for a hospital full of drooling flag-wavers; I’m just hoping for people who understand where they are and who they’re working with.
My old man’s a vet and the VA’s always done right by him.
He’s a lucky guy. The VA does not do right as often as it should, unfortunately. Speaking of which, I need to stop posting here and go figure out how HR/Medical managed to lose half our lab’s paperwork for the THIRD DAMN TIME. (It’s only *half* the lab’s paperwork, but it’s always the same half. I don’t get it. I really don’t.)
I miss Bruce.
What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?
Mmmm, commander codpiece . . .
He’s a lucky guy. The VA does not do right as often as it should, unfortunately.
Oh, no doubt and he knows it. Plus, my old man’s got the patience of a saint, and when that don’t work, my mother can argue down a charging bull. My brother thinks the successful visits with the VA has less to do with the administration and more to do with them getting Momma out of their hair.
Nah. You don’t have to “Purge” anybody for their politics. You just appoint upper management that return to the old-fashion management style of demanding and rewarding competence rather than loyalty.
If any of these political hacks are truly competent, they will be rewarded with better assignments and better jobs and roles. If they are truly nothing but political hacks, and there are better candidates for the job, a couple of quarterly performance reviews should pretty much clean it up.
The problem was the criterion being selected for. Interesting, that is also the solution..
mikey
That damned spotted owl. It haunts us to this day.
That’s the same reaction I had when I saw that search term. I imagine that a wingnut’s diagram of liberal conspiracies would have all the lines emanating from a picture of Dan Rather in a spotted owl costume.
I see some poor kid groveling before Monica yelling “I will not turn! I will not turn!” while she blasts him with lightning.
Darth Monica. “Only now, at the end, do you realize the true power of Republicanism…”
I gotta tellya, when I was able to afford my own therapists and doctors and recovery clinics and the like, I pretty much stopped using the VA for anything. Annoying bureaucracy, wait for everything, and if your caregiver is an idiot or a prick its just tough.
Private headshrinkers are expensive as all get-out, but it’s some of the best money I’ve ever spent…
mikey
Darth Monica. “Only now, at the end, do you realize the true power of Republicanism…”
(AP) The next president will inherit a record budget deficit approaching $490 billion, according to a new Bush administration estimate.
Note: Does include about $80 billion in war costs, because as Paul Wolfowitz told us, the war in Iraq will pay for itself.
oh, and also, Robert Novak has a brain tumor.
Trying to decide how tasteless a joke I’m comfortable with.
This is serious as hell. Barack really needs to purge the Justice Department, and as many other gov’t agencies as he can, of all the miserable zombies that these fascistic, religious nuts have put in place. Each and every one of them will spend their entire work day working to undermine the new president’s positions and agenda. They all have to go.
Like Clinton, he needs to fire every US Attorney and start from scratch. Maybe some of them will get their jobs back, but he needs to get a resignation letter on file for every single stinking one of them.
And Monica Goodling needs to be shunned by society, ridiculed on the street and scorned by anyone who loves America. Her name needs to become synonymous with “traitor” and “anti-American”. Seriously, she deserves to have the rest of her life ruined by what she tried to do to this country.
I am serious as cancer:
Reagan was a dancer.
Reagan was a dancer.
Oh, Snap!
Trying to decide how tasteless a joke I’m comfortable with.
Maybe the tumor is in the sector of his brain that has to do with applying the brakes of his automobile.
Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal! Tee hee! Giggle! Bush is totes kewliez! No job for you, doo-doo head liberal!
Note: Deficit does NOT include 80 billion in war costs. So the real deficit is much higher, and going even higher.
“Reagan proved deficits don’t matter,” Dick Cheney told Paul O’Neill during a Cabinet meeting. “We won the (2002) midterms. This is our due.”
Incidentally, according to Wikipedia it was Monica Goodling who ordered that the partially nude ‘Spirit of Justice’ sculpture at the Justice Department be covered with drapes back in 2002.
It’s 2:00 eastern time. Everyone face your portrait of President George W. Bush and recite your prayers.
-Monica Badling
The fact is, DUmmie FUnnies is a way funnier blog than this one.
Novacula has a brain tumor? Now?
How conveeeeenient…..
The fact is, DUmmie FUnnies is a way funnier blog than this one.
That desperate idiot isn’t still blogging, is he?
Can someone else look for me? I’m a little frightened.
the USDOJ has instigated a review of the behavior of the employees of the USDOJ so that should those findings be found worthy of criminal or civil liability the USDOJ employees can go after other USDOJ employees or their bosses. The USDOJ feels that the USDOJ is perfectly suited to best weigh the relative illegality of USDOJ employees based on USDOJ rules as interpreted by the USDOJ. USDOJ had the following comment:
John Conyers and Henry Waxman could not be reached for comment, as both of them were totally fucking useless.
That desperate idiot isn’t still blogging, is he?
Looks like he is.
In similar news, I can’t get the “Fred Thompson Facts” archive page to load, but that might not mean anything.
Doctor Missus- Yep, he still is:
Um…….ha?
Oh, no doubt and he knows it. Plus, my old man’s got the patience of a saint, and when that don’t work, my mother can argue down a charging bull. My brother thinks the successful visits with the VA has less to do with the administration and more to do with them getting Momma out of their hair.
I would have to agree with your brother. I think that in general, vets tend to complain a lot less than other folk. It’s generally an admirable quality (I’m still in awe of my grandfather for his apparently inexhaustible patience) but it can become a liability in places like the VA. Squeaky wheels get the grease, and all those wheels that are doing their damnedest *not* to squeak get ignored until they actually break.
I gotta tellya, when I was able to afford my own therapists and doctors and recovery clinics and the like, I pretty much stopped using the VA for anything. Annoying bureaucracy, wait for everything, and if your caregiver is an idiot or a prick its just tough.
That seems pretty common (it’s what my family did for my grandfather when they got enough money together). In the end, the VA seems to be there for people who can’t or won’t go anywhere else.
Yeah, it’s not as if having a sleeper cell of Regent U wingnuts in the career DoJ isn’t going to cause any Democratic president problems in the future.
Goodling: If we let you toss the President’s salad, would you do it without grape jelly?
Does anyone know who Regent U plays in their first game this Fall ?
That sums up the problem nicely.
Does anyone know who Regent U plays in their first game this Fall ?
I think they’re taking it to the Sumerians.
I hear he has been critical of Barack Obama. Let’s hope he recovers so he’s not just another name to add to the list.
AKA: Obama hates the troops, Serge be working, Obama is stupit, serge be working.
About time that lazy asshole Serge got a job.
Q: What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?
It may be that more qualified people were passed over to hire the Jesus W. Bush drones, which is a tragedy akin to several others the Bush admin has perpetrated through stupid / malicious appointments and policies.
Oh, you betcha…
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/28/goodling-passed-over-experienced-counterterrorism-prosecutor-because-wife-was-a-democrat/
In today’s Justice Department report on Monica Goodling’s and other DOJ officials’ politicization of the department, the investigators reveal that Goodling’s political considerations were “particularly damaging to the Department because it resulted in high-quality candidates for important details being rejected in favor of less-qualified candidates.”
In one disgraceful example, Goodling refused to hire “one of the leading terrorism prosecutors in the country” because his wife was a Democrat:
He was an experienced terrorism prosecutor and had successfully prosecuted a high-profile terrorism case for which he received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service. … The candidate’s wife was a prominent local Democrat elected official and vice-chairman of a local Democratic Party. […]
[Executive Office for United States Attorneys (EOUSA) Michael] Battle, [EOUSA Deputy Director and Cheif of Staff] Kelly, and EOUSA Deputy Director Nowacki all told us that Goodling refused to allow the candidate to be detailed to EOUSA solely on the basis of his wife’s political party affiliation. Battle said he was very upset that Goodling opposed the detail because of political reasons.
Goodling’s “damaging” refusal, the report notes, forced the EOUSA to “select a much more junior attorney who lacked any experience in counterterrorism issues” and was grossly unqualified for the position:
Because EOUSA had been unable to fill the counterterrorism detail after Goodling vetoed this candidate, a current EOUSA detailee was asked to assume EOUSA’s counterterrorism portfolio. … He had no counterterrorism experience and had less than the minimum of 5 years of federal criminal prosecution experience required by the EOUSA job announcement. Battle, Nowacki, Kelly, and Voris all said they thought that he was not qualified for the position, since he had no counterterrorism experience.
Ha ha, someone tries to suck up by saying Condoleeza Rice and gets shot down anyway. He didn’t deserve the job. He would have been better off saying Mussolini.
I shot some comments into the air, where they landed I know not where.
Hello? Is this thing on?
Q: What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?
You might be a rock ‘n’ roll addict prancing on the stage,
You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage,
You may be a business man or some high degree thief,
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.
Novakula? I’ll go there.
First reaction: All of that seething evil is bound to eat a hole in whatever it touches. In this case, resulting in a brain lesion.
Then again, maybe it’s just a legal ploy to excuse driving away from a hit and run and then claiming “I never saw the guy” who was sprawled all over the hood.
The fact is, not only is DUmmie FUnnies a way funnier blog than this one, it’s way more witty too.
Ooohh, I said it. Damn.
You know that scene in Standing Tall (hey, it’s not that terrible a film, just go with it.) when The Rock become sheriff of the corrupt little town, and the first thing he does is fire all his deputies and staff?
Someone needs to rip that clip form the film and send it to Obama.
This makes me absolutely livid.
Can I get my taxpayer money back from her? Can she give back her salary, please?
actually, the question was misunderstood by goodling’s assistant. what monica actually asked interviewees was, “what is it about george w. bush that makes you want to service him?”
This is the lexis nexis search string that I use for AG appointments.” The string reads as follows: [First name of a candidate]! and pre/2 [last name of a candidate] w/7 bush or gore or republican! or democrat! or charg! or accus! or criticiz! or blam! or defend! or iran contra or clinton or spotted owl or florida recount or sex! or controvers! or racis! or fraud! or investigat! or bankrupt! or layoff! or downsiz! or PNTR or NAFTA or outsourc! or indict! or enron or kerry or iraq or wmd! or arrest! or intox! or fired or sex! or racis! or intox! or slur! or arrest! or fired or controvers! or abortion! or gay! or homosexual! or gun! or firearm!
My god, that search string summarizes all the partisan political issues (form the grand to the oh so petty) of the last twenty years. You can’t make this shit up!
[First name of a candidate]! and pre/2 [last name of a candidate] w/7 bush or gore or republican! or democrat! or charg! or accus! or criticiz! or blam! or defend! or iran contra or clinton or spotted owl or florida recount or sex! or controvers! or racis! or fraud! or investigat! or bankrupt! or layoff! or downsiz! or PNTR or NAFTA or outsourc! or indict! or enron or kerry or iraq or wmd! or arrest! or intox! or fired or sex! or racis! or intox! or slur! or arrest! or fired or controvers! or abortion! or gay! or homosexual! or gun! or firearm!
Haven’t I read that here before? Is that you Gary?
My god, that search string summarizes all the partisan political issues (form the grand to the oh so petty) of the last twenty years. You can’t make this shit up!
Not quite. It’s missing Tinky Winky and the Vagina Monologues.
This is the lexis nexis search string that I use for AG appointments.” The string reads as follows: [First name of a candidate]! and pre/2 [last name of a candidate] w/7 bush or gore or republican! or democrat! or charg! or accus! or criticiz! or blam! or defend! or iran contra or clinton or spotted owl or florida recount or sex! or controvers! or racis! or fraud! or investigat! or bankrupt! or layoff! or downsiz! or PNTR or NAFTA or outsourc! or indict! or enron or kerry or iraq or wmd! or arrest! or intox! or fired or sex! or racis! or intox! or slur! or arrest! or fired or controvers! or abortion! or gay! or homosexual! or gun! or firearm!
or charg! or accus! or criticiz! or blam!
I think “blam!” is a pretty worthwhile search term actually.
Holden: Describe in single words only the good things that come into your mind about… your mother.
Leon: My mother?
Holden: Yeah.
Leon: Let me tell you about my mother.
BLAM!
BLAM!
You generally want to avoid job interviews like that.
Along with economic laws and all internet traditions, I am apparently not fully aware of lexis-nexis search string rules: why are sex! and racis! listed twice even though she’d used or?
why are sex! and racis! listed twice even though she’d used or?
It’s sexier and racier.
’cause she’s stupid. As far as I know, there’s no reason to list ’em twice.
Something to look forward to in the coming month or so: the wingnut xenophobe spasm over The Perfect Game.
Seeing that the GOP and the Bush Admin. used old Chinese Communist torture manuals for their application of interrogation, would it be OK for President Obama to use some of Stalin’s old manuals on how to purge the government of undesireable political agents?
Just asking.
-G
Anyone want to bet that Monica Goodling never went to Burning Man as a pre-teen?
Or, like, ever? Could that be our new soviet reducation camp? “Comrade, you have disappointed the collective. You will report to Nevada not to return until you have been purged of your bourgeois afflictions.”
Imagine MG, tweaked out on shrooms, dancing naked under the full moon to the sound of the drums. The thought give me hope for the future.
Imagine MG, tweaked out on shrooms, dancing naked under the full moon to the sound of the drums…
tearing out her hair, grabbing flaming brands from the fire and chasing after hippies, throwing herself onto the flames with an unearthly metalic shriek…
Believe me, it isn’t as easy to exorcise the demons as you might think.
Speaking of hatred of liberals and their policies, it appears that dickhead in Tennessee that killed the two people at the UU church was angry at liberals. The article states this:
[T]he state recently sent a letter to Adkisson telling him food stamps he had been receiving would be reduced or eliminated.
Typical. Big time hater of gays too. Quelle surprise. Can’t wait for the commentary from the right.
[T]he state recently sent a letter to Adkisson telling him food stamps he had been receiving would be reduced or eliminated.
Those damn liberals, slashing assistance programs!
Can’t wait for the commentary from the right.
You’ll hear it as soon as all those crickets stop chirping, I bet.
[W]hat is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?
Serve him as what? Drunken Chicken? It seems like he’s been marinating for a long, long time.
CBS: Time To Prosecute Goodling And Company
Awards for gall need to be handed out, preferably in 16-ton single block chunks dropped on the winners while they stand smiling on the podium of shame.
More search string fun. This is a little long, so please skip over it if you’re not interested in the gory details of quotidian bureaucratic hackery.
From pages 100-101 of the report.
OT but somehow gratifying
Robert Novak Has Brain Tumor. The same one that’s inflicted the Bush admin from day one?
Oh, right….that search string. I didn’t know you meant that string.
[…] spent a couple of hours this afternoon browsing the report (h/t to Sadly No! where I found the link to the report (actually entitled ‘Investigation of Allegations of […]
Yeah, the little bustard *looks* kinda tough & stringy, but if the Enquirer is correct he’s been marinating himself nicely.
Nobody wants to serve Darth Cheney, though. Even before they started bathing his bionic heart in radioactive isotopes, his carcasse had a vile smell & no doubt an even worse aftertaste.
the gory details of quotidian bureaucratic hackery.
Huh. Is that what the kids are calling it today?
Just looks a lot like lying to cover your ass to me.
mikey
What is it about George W. Bush that makes you want to serve him?
Well, I know he’s cut off, but the way he likes to make out with Gannon is just a hoot! And plus it’s funny when he does a face plant and has to make up stories!
He is just the best story teller! I mean he’s got everyone thinking he’s sleeping with Condi but really he’s just her beard! Plus he’s free with the money when he’s had a few.
Lordy, that man loves him some whiskey.
Here’s a quick summary for the word-averse.
I’m all about serving Bush…
WITH A WARRANT FOR HIS ARREST!!
(bah-dum tish)
Indictment! indictment! indictment!
“To Serve Bush”…?
Oh my God! It’s not a cook book!
I really like and thank you for blog post.Much thanks again. Fantastic.