NEWS: Republican Style "Fuck You"

oyaji said:

Wooshissimus maximus.

chainlink said:
is this where the "whoosh" goes?

Say, did you know that Stephen Griles is a felon? But he's about to be a felon whose silence has been bought. At least those appear to be the terms of the plea deal he just made:

Former Deputy Interior Secretary Steven Griles will plead guilty to one count of obstruction of justice in the Jack Abramoff corruption investigation, The Associated Press has learned.

[snip]

Prosecutors dropped earlier allegations that Griles did anything improper to help Abramoff or gained anything of value from the former Republican lobbyist, the AP was told. The agreement does not require Griles to help investigators with their grand jury probe.

In exchange for the plea, federal prosecutors will seek no more than a 10-month prison sentence for Griles _ the minimum they could seek under sentencing guidelines _ but they will agree to let him serve half that in home confinement, according to one person involved in the case.

So what has changed? Why did they drop the other charges, and why don't they want his help? Well, keep reading:

Griles lives in Virginia with Sue Ellen Wooldridge, who until January was an assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's environmental division.

The AP reported in February that Wooldridge, as the nation's environmental prosecutor, bought a $980,000 vacation home last year with Griles and Donald R. Duncan, the top Washington lobbyist for ConocoPhillips. Nine months later, she signed an agreement giving the company more time to clean up air pollution at some of its refineries.

You see, Griles ties right into this great boondoggle BushCo dreamt up, whereby favored oil companies basically get to sell us our own gas at inflated rates and then, later, they get to sell our own gas to the market at deflated rates (with kickbacks thrown in for those, like Wooldridge, arranging this gig). And it was all dreamt up by Sue Ellen Wooldridge.

According to this article, the investigation began several months before December, but picked up steam in December.

People familiar with the investigation said it had begun several months ago, but had picked up speed in the last few weeks.

Hmm. December. What happened in the Justice Department in December?

YUSUF said:
I don't know if I was just having a bad dream, but I remember that this guy Gonzalez was saying yesterday that he's needed because he's "tough on Child Molestors". WTF??? I guess that's a desparate card he's pulling. I had no opinion of him until that, i figured all the criticism was just politics. well, what an ass wipe.

Zarth said:

I guess that's why you get paid the buximus maximus.

Earlier this week, the nonpartisan congressional watchdog Democracy 21 questioned whether or not Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty had allowed political interference to affect the investigation and prosecution of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The scandal was expected to be huge but it seems to have just petered out.

MschfMayhemSoap said:
Welcome to the fold, young liberal

YUSUF said:

actually, I've been in the fold... it was just a
momentary spasm of being "fair". in reality
the bullsh*t flows both ways ya know. But
for sure I'm against all their b.s. (i served during
Gulf 1).

glad to know you're from Texas... check out
Ron Paul from Texas he's running for Prez if you
don't know about him. a republican but really a
Libertarian, he's antiwar. The only guy that talks
straight, consistently...

oyaji said:

LBJ was one of the most cynically dishonest presidents.

MschfMayhemSoap said:
I want a grass roots pres.... someone who gets elected on his/her own merits, not from how much "favor money" has been spent to get them elected.

NickFaust said:

Oh! You mean like Jimmy Carter.

Yeah, that was a big success.

substitute said:
I don't see what the hell the reason people are making a big deal about this, these attorney's were fired for the same reason they were hired for. Those reason were political reasons. No one made a big stink when Clinton fired 93 of them when he took office.

mamet said:

*bang* *bang* *bang* *bang* *bang*

mamet said:

*bang* *bang* *bang* *bang* *bang*

oyaji said:
Let's start with reading the fucking thread before making a comment that's been made and discussed ad infinitum already.

mamet said:

No one said anything when Clinton didn't read the thread!

oyaji said:

FYI.

substitute said:
I don't see what the hell the reason people are making a big deal about this, these attorney's were fired for the same reason they were hired for. Those reason were political reasons. No one made a big stink when Clinton fired 93 of them when he took office.

chikinhammr said:
This article is totally flawed.

chikinhammr said:
Let me prelude this before I get bombarded with hateful replies. I hate George W.Bush, but I am neither a Republican nor Democrat. The President of the United States has the right and privilege to fire Federal Prosecutors for any reason he or she wishes. These Prosecutors are hired by Presidents based on their politics, and their politics are a perfectly legitimate reason to terminate them. There is nothing sinister about this stupid story. Bill Clinton, a liberal favorite, fired 93 Federal Prosecutors in his first six months in office and nobody said jack shit about it. If Democrats want to bitch about this now, they need to expect scrutiny when it's their turn in the White House again. This story is just so lame. If Bush had any balls, he really would have said "fuck off" instead of cowering like the Pussy he is. This article is totally flawed.