This week's Sunday Talking Head Funnies kicked off with a 'debate' on Meet The Press between a couple of guys who could easily pass for each other in a police line-up:
Neither Newt Gingrich nor his sparring partner, Chris Dodd, managed to bring anything new to the debate over Iraq Policy. For every sober assessment of unfolding disaster Dodd had to offer, Gringrich had a classically Republican comeback--smug, smirking, and at variance with the facts. Click here for all the boring, tedious, details.
Somewhat more interesting was the exchange that followed on Face The Nation between Diane Feinstein and Arlen Spector on the ever-lively topic of the worst attorney general in U.S. History. Spector's continued refusal to call for the resignation of the man he has described as single-handedly responsible for rendering the US. Department of Justice 'dysfunctional' tells you everything you need to know about why Republicans have no business running this country. Regarding the upcoming vote of no confidence against Gonzales, Spector seemed to believe that Gonzales would resign before facing such a vote. Why? If Alberto Gonzales had the self-esteem of a two-peso crack whore, he would've resigned months ago.
The morning's festivities ended with appearances on ABC's This Week by Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell that were not any more likely to change anyone's mind than the preceding discussions. Pelosi sounded vibrant and confident, McConnell sounded like a dispirited hack and a loyalist to a failed cause.....which, of course, he is. The only thing standing between this country and virtual one-party rule by Democrats in a year and half is the American preference for divided government.
For me, the 'Sunday Funnies' are the major network talking head shows--Meet The Press, Face The Nation, and This Week with George Stephanopoulos. I'm sure that 'Garfield' is endlessly entertaining to some, but I have a hard time finding anything more entertaining that the spectacle of a senior Republican Senator lamely defending the most incompetent attorney general in U.S. history.
The consensus from senators Hatch, Leahy, Schumer, and Spector (sounds more like the law firm from hell than a partial roster of the Senate Judiciary Committee) is that 'Berto Gonzales is either doing a heckuva job, lying to congress, overdue to resign, or has some explaining to do.
Giving that Patrick Leahy is refusing to budge from Gonzales's originally scheduled testimony on April 17th, given that Arlen Spector has already described that testimony as a 'make or break' situation, and given that the specific reason for keeping the scheduled date is to obtain confidential sworn testimony from DOJ employees, I think it's a fair bet that Chuck Schumer's blunt call for a resignation is a far better predictor for events of the next two weeks than Orrin Hatch's faint praise and reiteration of GOP talking points.
My predictions at this point are that:
- Gonzales will resign before being called in to testify.
- Harriet Miers and Karl Rove will privately testify--transcripts, no oaths.
- Karl Rove will subsequently be given a choice between testifying under oath or being charged with lying to congress.
Neither Newt Gingrich nor his sparring partner, Chris Dodd, managed to bring anything new to the debate over Iraq Policy. For every sober assessment of unfolding disaster Dodd had to offer, Gringrich had a classically Republican comeback--smug, smirking, and at variance with the facts. Click here for all the boring, tedious, details.
