At last we have the design for an appropriate memorial to the aspirations of the Bush regime, courtesy of the Washington Post's Tom Toles

Tom Toles, in Sunday's Washington Post (click to enlarge)

In case you missed it, or didn't catch the exact exchange, here is Vice President "Big Dick" Cheney, in an interview with ABC News' Martha Raddatz last Wednesday in Oman, showing that he knows even less about Abraham Lincoln and the American Civil War than he seems to know about the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq:

MARTHA RADDATZ: Two-thirds of Americans say [the war in Iraq] is not worth fighting, and they're looking at the value gain versus the cost in American lives, certainly, and Iraqi lives.

BIG DICK: So?

MARTHA RADDATZ: So -- you don't care what the American people think?

BIG DICK: No, I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls. Think about what would have happened if Abraham Lincoln had paid attention to polls, if they had had polls during the Civil War. He never would have succeeded if he hadn't had a clear objective, a vision for where he wanted to go, and he was willing to withstand the slings and arrows of the political wars in order to get there. And this President has been very courageous, very consistent, very determined to continue down the course we were on and to achieve our objective. And that's victory in Iraq, that's the establishment of a democracy where there's never been a democracy, it's the establishment of a regime that respects the rights and liberties of their people, as an ally for the United States in the war against terror, and as a positive force for change in the Middle East. That's a huge accomplishment.

[from the transcript released by the Office of the Vice President]

Washingtonpost.com's Dan Froomkin has some fall-out from that interview in his column today, "Cheney's Unforgivable Egotism," which leads off with a suitably stinging response to Big Dick's even more astonishing declaration in another interview with Martha Raddatz--yesterday in Ankara, Turkey--responding to her request for "your thoughts" on "the milestone today of 4,000 dead in Iraq":

"The President carries the biggest burden, obviously; he's the one who has to make the decision to commit young Americans."

Here's Dan's take:

That President Bush and Vice President Cheney live in a bubble of flattery and delusion, largely sheltered from the people who are actually suffering from the consequences of their actions, is not exactly news.

But perhaps nothing has crystallized their detachment and self-involvement so vividly as Cheney's assertion yesterday that when it comes to the war in Iraq, it is Bush -- not the soldiers and Marines who fight and die, or their families -- who is bearing the biggest burden.

And in an era where failing to support the troops is the ultimate political sin, Cheney's breezy dismissal of their sacrifice -- heck, they're volunteers, and dying goes with the territory -- was jaw-dropping even by the vice president's own tone-deaf standards.

Does Cheney really believe that Bush's burden is so great? The president tells people he's sleeping just fine, thank you, and in public appearances appears upbeat beyond all reason.

Or does Cheney simply have no idea what it means to go to war? He and Bush, after all, famously avoided putting themselves in the line of fire when it was their time.

Or are they just so wrapped up in themselves they can't see how ridiculous it is to even suggest such a thing?

While we wait patiently for the Bush policies to turn the situation in Iraq around, Kevin McNamara of Houston has something to say about patience

"The Bushies, it seems, like starting fights, but they don't believe in paying any of the cost of those fights or bearing any of the risks. Above all, they don't believe that they or their friends should face any personal or professional penalties for trivial sins like distorting intelligence to get America into an unnecessary war, or totally botching that war's execution."
--Paul Krugman, in his NYT column today, "Sacrifice Is for Suckers"*

Well, of course, it's Friday--and a Friday that's not on the Krugman Vacation Schedule--so you expect him to be brilliant, with wonderful little touches like using the trademark symbol when referring to Chimpy the Prez's Global War on Terror^TM, or making fun of Foreign Policy Phony Fouad Ajami's heart-rending Wall Street Journal op-ed plaint that "Scooter Libby was a soldier in your--our--war in Iraq" by pointing out:

Ah, yes. Shuffling papers in an air-conditioned Washington office is exactly like putting your life on the line in Anbar or Baghdad. Spending 30 months in a minimum-security prison, with a comfortable think-tank job waiting at the other end, is exactly like having half your face or both your legs blown off by an I.E.D.

And you expect Krugman to come up with historical insights like this one, about the Bushes:

Obstruction of justice when it gets too close to home is a family tradition. And being a loyal Bushie means never having to say you're sorry.

But sometimes there is pleasure in picking up the day's New York Times just for the feeling of camaraderie with fellow readers in far-flung places writing letters to the editor that get so aptly to the heart of a matter:

To the Editor:
Now he asks for patience. The world asked for patience four years ago and tens of thousands of deaths ago. President Bush would not deign to listen. After such arrogance, he has no right to ask for anything but forgiveness.

KEVIN McNAMARA
Houston, July 5, 2007

Thanks, Kevin, I couldn't have said it better.

And, oh yes, on the subject of our Irving and his miraculous escape from Doing Time, don't miss E. J. Dionne Jr.'s column in today's Washington Post, "An Unpardonable Act." ("The core point is that 'equal justice under law' either means something or it doesn't.")
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*Note: The complete text of the Krugman column is posted in a comment.


UPDATE FROM HOWIE: SOMETIMES A PICTURE REALLY IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

This picture answers Ken's and E.J.'s questions-- or musings-- about equal justice. Don't you think?

Damn homos couldn't fill the Commies' shoes as Public Enemy #1, so it's up to immygrants. So pick yer own damn fruit and clean yer own damn toilet!

Dinky Georgie Bush, he of the dinkest dinky in the history of the male dinky, thought it would be comical beyond imagining (forgetting that everything in the universe is beyond his imagining) to enslave his scum-sucking doody-for-brains countrymen with a steady diet of hatred and terror. Hate and be afraid! Be afraid and hate!

The American way. Just like ol' Pres. Frankfurter Z. Rosebush 'splained it to us. (Uh, that was in Cuban, but we'll provide an English translation later.)

So now that the dinkiest dink of them all has totally discredited himself in every way possible, leaving himself exposed as a rancid pile of toxic puke, all his hate-mongerees, the people who got a better-than-sexual charge out of all that dawn-of-man ignorance and free-floating violent loathing, are spitting on the shithead even as he sprawls on his imperial throne--and have proclaimed themselves the Puny Princelings of Darkness.

From the depths of their microscopic single-cell brains, the screeching partisans of xenophobia bring forth a screeching brainlessness not known on planet earth since those early primitive proteins (or whatever the hell they were--we patriots hate science people and would be pleased to see them die satisfyingly horrific deaths) evolved (oops, sorry!) into the planet's first life forms. Or, rather, since that magical day when God created man, never imagining that he could someday evolve (oops, did it again!), you know . . .

into--Tom Tancredo! (Eek!)

The Republicrackpots who've been whipping their pea-brained followers into hysteria over the Immigrant Invasion are all clinically insane and should be carted off to loony bins where they can have millions of volts therapeutically pumped into them, until the sickness subsides a bit.

There may be somebody other than the superwackos--and I'm afraid that means you too, Dobbs--who has actual real-world evidence of a crisis involving immigration. But I know I for one haven't seen it, and I've been trying to pay attention. Meanwhile, considering the monstrousness of much of what was stuffed into this immigration "reform" package in hope of making it passable, how could we not be better off with no bill?

Now, as soon as the crackpots have finished their courses of treatment (fire up those electrodes, boys!), maybe we can return to the subject a bit more . . . er, calmly and rationally.

WHY ARE THESE DUFUSES GRINNING? THE GENIUS OF IDIOT AL "THE TORTURE GUY" GONZALES IS TO HAVE MADE HIMSELF JUST ABOUT IRREPLACEABLE

USEFUL IDIOTS AND GRINNING A.G.'S

by Mags

Even though the hasty exit of Alberto Gonzales is predicted by many, it is likely that behind the scenes his continuing in his position for a time is functional for Bush et al.
 
It should come as no surprise that Gonzales is hesitant to leave or that Bush is hesitant to appoint another in his place. At this point in the game, who can Bush turn to? Think about it for a minute. Gonzales breaks the law whenever he is asked to break it. He has stood behind the Administration as they press further into our private lives with unwarranted wiretaps. He has been supportive of Bush policies of torture and rendition. He was instrumental in prosecuting cases that lined up with Karl Rove’s efforts to shut down the vote by claiming voter fraud. He has been at Bush’s beck and call in all willingness to do whatever it takes to whitewash his boss. It has been his job for a long time.
 
Alberto Gonzales has often been questioned by congress, and on many of those occasions he has perjured himself. As he perjured himself, he would, like George Bush get the most troubling grin on his face. Gonzales wears that eerie grin at the most inappropriate times. I first noticed it in the hearings on the torture bill, the darling of Cheney, Gonzales, and Yoo. However, one cannot believe, after hearing the stories of Gonzales’ arm-twisting of a gravely ill John Ashcroft, a person we thought would do anything for this president, that George Bush is just the happy-go-lucky idiot he is often credited with being. He is, it appears, orchestrating the illegalities and horrors that have many of us paralyzed in disbelief.
 
When you are forced to replace such an official, and I do use the term “official” lightly, what you must do is find someone with no scruples whatsoever. You must find someone who is willing to step into a situation where illegality is already under scrutiny. You must find someone who will not spill their guts about it and also will not throw you, the Commander in Chief, under the impeachment bus. This person must share your greed, your lack of character, and your disdain for the American people and the Constitution. It must be a person who is willing to hand over the machinery of this government of the people, by the people, and for the people to those incompetents who make up a pseudo-educated religious right.
 
Who will prostitute himself in such a dangerous office? Who will come in and stoop to this depth of corruption at the get go? If not even John Ashcroft could find it in himself to go along with these schemes at the height of his power and influence, then who will? That is the problem Bush faces.
 
At this point one can assume that the only folks who would accept this position would be the likes of a James Inhofe or Ted Stevens. It will take someone like Tom DeLay, who even now denies his own criminality and intent. It will take someone with that degree of self-delusion to take the place of Gonzales. In short, you need someone who will lie, who is willing to put the GOP and George Bush ahead of the rule of law and democracy, and who will betray the Constitution, thereby betraying their country and countrymen. Added to that, this person must be willing to dodge the bullets of personal liability in the face of congressional investigation.

That is a tall order. As long as Gonzales remains a target, Bush and Rove can figure out what to do next; no real change needs take place. They can buy some time to cover up. They can spin reality into something that in their last ditch effort might sound plausible. No wonder Bush is in no hurry to push Gonzales out. No wonder Gonzales is doing so much grinning lately.

[Editor's note: Whenever Howie and I talk about the "Gonzales succession," he insists that Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch is ready and willing to take the job, and points out that the chances of the Senate declining to confirm one of its own are not large.--Ken]

ABU GONZALES-- THE NEVER ENDING SOON TO END SAGA

One more time, Karl; who stays and who goes?

The Bush Regime doesn't count Republican Senator Arlen Specter among its most reliable stooges, although he has been a fairly dependable rubber stamp (even more so than Lieberman) for most of their hideous agenda. At one point they threatened to disregard his seniority and not allow him to become Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Apparently they got him to agree to a certain amount of toein' the line and he was chairman, until the Democrats swept half a dozen Republicans out of the Senate in November-- and Specter and the rest of the Republicans out of their committee chairs. It looks like support for Alberto Gonzales wasn't part of the toein' the line extracted from Snarlin' Arlen. Yesterday he suggested it's time for Gonzales to say goodbye. A failure to do so, he said on Fox News Sunday, would be "no doubt, bad for the Justice Department."

Republicans made their anger at him clear in a blistering hearing over the dismissals on Thursday. In his testimony, Mr. Gonzales cited a faulty memory at least 50 times in responding to questions about the dismissals.

After the hearing, aides to Mr. Gonzales reportedly called the absence of a demand for his resignation from Mr. Specter a “positive barometer.” But Mr. Specter said Sunday that they were misreading him.

“I don’t think they should be celebrating that, because the attorney general’s testimony was very, very damaging to his own credibility,” he said. “Charges are being made that the Department of Justice was the political arm of the White House.”

Mr. Specter said that it was up to President Bush to demand a resignation, but that Mr. Gonzales’s presence “is bad for the Department of Justice.”

“It is harmful,” he said. “There has been a very substantial decrease in morale. There’s no doubt about that.”

In today's Newsweek Michael Isikoff writes that "GOP senators-- hoping for a strong performance-- were visibly pained when Gonzales couldn't remember a crucial Nov. 27, 2006, meeting (noted on his calendar), when he was briefed by his chief of staff about the firing plan. "Senator, I have searched my memory. I have no recollection of the meeting," Gonzales told GOP Sen. Jeff Sessions. The A.G. was even unable to recall a meeting where President Bush passed along complaints about the three U.S. attorneys-- a talk that Bush himself has publicly recalled. (Gonzales said he now "understands" he had such a conversation.) With that performance, Gonzales lost the Hill."

Congressman Doody (R-FL), the third-ranking Republican in the House leadership is just a little twit but when he called for Gonzo to step down Friday he was speaking for the entire GOP House leadership-- the "position that a group of top House GOPers privately delivered to Bush earlier in the month. 'He's done something I didn't think possible. He's lost the confidence of almost all the Republicans in Congress,' said one top GOP strategist who is close to the White House, anonymous when talking about sensitive personnel matters. A big GOP concern: Gonzales's continued presence will make it hard to move measures important to the party's base, like immigration reform, through the judiciary committees, said the strategist."

At this point, though, the entire affair is about petulant Bush's childish sense of ego. "One White House adviser (who asked not to be ID'ed talking about sensitive issues) said the support reflected Bush's own view that a Gonzales resignation would embolden the Dems to go after other targets-- like Karl Rove. 'This is about Bush saying, "Screw you",' said the adviser, conceding that a Gonzales resignation might still be inevitable. The trick, said the adviser, would be to find a graceful exit strategy for Bush's old friend."

One of the fired prosecutors, David Iglesias, said that if this was his case he'd be putting Gonzales aside for now-- since he said he doesn't know anything about anything-- and start some serious investigations into Karl Rove and his White House operation.


UPDATE: EVEN A RIGHTIST HACK LIKE GINGRICH TELLS BUSH TO PULL HIS HEAD OUT OF HIS ASS AND GET RID OF ABU GONZO

Newt Gingrich, a Republican who wants to be president, "chastised Bush on ABC's This Week for letting 'personal loyalty transcend service to the nation' by not forcing Gonzales to step down." Like all but the most narrowly partisan DC gameplayers, he told Bush to get rid of him for the good of America.