Cummins' departure "was not for performance reasons," Moschella said, but because Justice officials thought Cummins didn't plan to serve out the rest of his term, and they wanted to find a spot for a former aide to Karl Rove, President Bush's top political strategist.

And this is somehow better then dismissing him because he didn't buckle to pressure?

Ousted U.S. attorneys describe lawmakers' intrusions

"I will say there was a tremendous amount of sympathy for Mr. Libby on the jury. It was said a number of times, 'What are we doing with this guy here? Where's Rove? Where are these other guys?' " Collins said. "I'm not saying we didn't think Mr. Libby was guilty of the things we found him guilty of. It seemed like he was, as Mr. Wells put it, he was the fall guy."

The defense made their case, it seems the jury wants to send the higher ups up the river too.

Libby Found Guilty in CIA Leak Trial | The Huffington Post

Why did Cheney’s chief of staff call and complain so fatefully when Wilson’s claims were repeated on “Hardball?”

Could it be that Cheney feared that if the country knew it was his inquiry that led to the Africa trip then he, the president’s right-hand man, could be expected to have gotten a full report on the trip’s findings.

In that case, Cheney would have known a year ahead of time that there was no deal by Saddam Hussein to buy uranium yellowcake in Niger. He should therefore have kept the president from making that assertion in his 2003 State of the Union that “British intelligence” reported a Saddam effort to buy uranium from Africa. That assertion of a nuclear threat from Iraq is what tilted this country toward war.

Ya think? Chris is coming to this party a little late, but the blunt answer is, they wanted a war with Iraq, marketed a war with Iraq, sold a war with Iraq, and if you disagreed with that, you were a traitor helping the terrorists.

It's time for the current administration to go. To jail.

Hardblogger : Chris Matthews reacts to Libby verdict

Since the mass firings were carried out three months ago, Justice Department officials have consistently portrayed them as personnel decisions based on the prosecutors' "performance-related" problems. But, yesterday, officials acknowledged that the ousters were based primarily on the administration's unhappiness with the prosecutors' policy decisions and revealed the White House's role in the matter.

I think this has been expected by some of us for quite some time.

White House Backed U.S. Attorney Firings, Officials Say - washingtonpost.com

So to ensure that Griles not roam too freely, an Interior official was assigned to keep an eye on him. That official: Sue Ellen Wooldridge, then the deputy chief of staff to Interior Secretary Gale Norton.

After a couple of months, the two were dating.

Fox? Henhouse. Henhouse? Fox. Good grief.

Sex, Lies, and Energy Interests

Judge Raymond Randolph said: "Federal courts have no jurisdiction in these cases."

The appeals court rejected the main argument by lawyers that it was unconstitutional to deny the prisoners a right to challenge their imprisonment in the federal courts. Judge Randolph said of the lawyers' case: "The arguments are creative but not cogent. To accept them would be to defy the will of congress."

Yes, and the courts have such a fine history when they uphold the will of congress over that which the Constitution proscribes. We get such admirable work as Dred Scott, Plessy v. Fergusson, US v. Reynolds...

The question is not the will of congress, the question should be, "Does this violate the letter or spirit of the Constitution?" The blunt answer is, yes it does, and there is no way to remove habeas corpus from people in US custody that does not, regardless of the location of their incarceration.

Guant�namo inmates refused day in court | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited

See, he's helping lay out a basic health care plan. One of the problems we have at state level is that over time a lot of mandates have been added to insurance. You know, the hair follicle benefit -- well, you don't need hair follicles, particularly if you have hair. (Laughter.) If you're going bald, you might think you do, but it's probably not a necessary part of a health care plan.

Hair follicle benefit? I'm not sure what Georgie is talking about on this one, but I don't have Rogaine, Propecia, or plugs on my insurance policy...

President Bush Participates in a Roundtable on Health Care Initiatives

Rep. Gil Herbel, a Republican, said he initially thought the resolution referred to Sonny Bono, the former singer, Republican congressman and husband of Cher.

"When I saw the resolution, I was looking for Cher's name in there," Herbel said.

I realize Sonny Bono managed to get elected to congress, but he's been dead for 9 years. In the meantime, Bono has been the biggest rock star of the past 20 years, a frontliner for a variety of social issues, and a repeated nominee in the past few years for the Nobel Peace Prize (losing to Shirin Ebadi in 2002, Mohammed ElBaradei of the IAEA in 2005, and Muhammad Yunus for his microloan ideas in 2006).

Mr. Herbel? I realize North Dakota is pretty much the middle of nowhere, but living in a cave there is no better than living in a cave anywhere else.

N.D. House rejects bill to honor Bono - Yahoo! News

Manhart, who appeared in a six-page spread in Playboy's February issue, said she got word Friday that she was removed from "extended active duty" and was also told that she was demoted in rank from staff sergeant to senior airman.

Language specialists? Oh, you're gay? Tossed. Drill Sergeant? In Playboy? See ya. I can't decide between "ridiculous" and "stupid" as the best way to descibe what W has done to the military. "Don't ask, don't tell," wasn't a very good policy, but the way things are going now bears more resemblance to "one party, one volk," than I care for. If what you do on your off time is legal, then the government should follow the gamers code, STFU.

Drill sergeant who posed nude discharged - Yahoo! News

U.S. Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked a Democratic bill to increase the federal minimum wage for the first time in a decade, demanding it first include small-business tax relief.

They fillibustered poor people??? The fact that this happened and isn't being screamed from the rooftops by the Democrats shows just how screwed up things are on BOTH sides of the fence. The Republicans should be embarassed and appalled that the current joke of minimum wage is what it is (if Jesus has a political issue, it's poverty) and the Democrats should be raking them over the coals for it.

US Senate Republicans block minimum wage hike�|�Bonds News�|�Reuters.com