Happy Hour Discurso

Today's opining on the public discourse.

Well, now. This could get delightfully interesting:

The Justice Department investigation into the firings of nine U.S. attorneys has been extended to encompass allegations that senior White House officials played a role in providing false and misleading information to Congress, according to numerous sources involved in the inquiry.

The widened scope raises the possibility that investigators will pursue criminal charges against some administration officials, and recommend appointment of a special prosecutor if there is
evidence of criminal misconduct.

[snip]

The Justice Department's Inspector General (IG) and the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) are jointly conducting the current investigation. Both can initiate disciplinary action only against Justice Department employees and neither has prosecutorial powers.

People close to the investigation say that the investigators' final report will not only examine the reasons and circumstances behind the firings of the nine U.S. attorneys, but efforts by senior Justice Department and White House officials to mislead the public and Congress about
the firings:

"It will be as much about the cover up as about the firings," said one former senior Justice Department interviewed at length because of his personal role in the firings. This source believes the investigators "are going to tell a narrative, and they have taken their
investigation right into the White House."

Quite a narrative that will be, especially if it ends up with lying fuckwits in the Bush Regime bunged into jail. Not much would make me happier at this point.

Speaking of lying fuckwits, John Edwards finally came clean:

I will never, ever understand what someone in John Edwards’ position was thinking.

John Edwards repeatedly lied during his Presidential campaign about an extra-marital affair with a novice film-maker, the former Senator admitted to ABC News today.

In an interview for broadcast tonight on Nightline, Edwards told ABC News correspondent Bob Woodruff he did have an affair with 42-year old Rielle Hunter, but said that he did not love her.

As if that makes an affair all better. Now, I really don't care if politicians commit adultery - we've had plenty of excellent presidents who can't keep it in their pants - but I'm just a wee bit sick of these stupid fuckers playing the "good family man" card while they're out running around. And Edwards knew what the Republicons would do with this if (when) they found out and still ran for President knowing that revelations of this affair would destroy Democratic chances this year. For that, I can't forgive him.

Speaking of Dems behaving badly, you might have heard of Nikki Tinker and her outrageous use of racism, anti-Semitism, and downright bullshit to try to win Tennessee's 9th Congressional District's primary against incumbent Steve Cohen. Looks like Democratic voters are a wee bit off-put by those shennanigans:

Following up on an item from yesterday, the Democratic primary in Tennessee’s 9th congressional district went well beyond “heated.” Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), who is white and Jewish, was seeking re-election in a predominantly African-American district. Nikki Tinker, whom Cohen defeated in a 2006 primary, was seeking a rematch, and had received support from Emily’s List and some members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Tinker launched some of the ugliest attacks of the 2008 cycle, going after Cohen’s religion, and linking Cohen to the KKK in a television ad.

I’m pleased to note the attacks backfired.

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) overwhelmingly defeated attorney Nikki Tinker in a racially-charged Democratic primary in Memphis that received national attention.

With 89 percent of precincts reporting, Cohen leads Tinker by a 60-point margin – 79 to 19 percent. The AP has called the race for Cohen. […]

Cohen’s sizable victory suggests that Memphis voters, both black and white, resoundingly rejected Tinker’s campaign tactics.

I think that’s probably fair to say. It’s likely that Cohen would have won the primary anyway, simply by virtue of being an effective member of Congress, but a 4-to-1 margin suggests yesterday was more than just a vote of confidence for Cohen — it was a forceful repudiation of Tinker’s horrid, divisive strategy.

60 points? Yeah, I'd say that was forceful. Seems that Tennessee voters might have been borrowing the Smack-o-Matic yesterday. Good for them.

And speaking of voters behaving intelligently:

Yesterday, Rep. David Davis (R-TN) became the first incumbent Tennessee congressman to “lose in a primary in more than four decades.” He lost to Johnson City, TN Mayor Phil Roe who accused “Davis of selling out to ‘big oil’ by accepting money from industry PACs and backing legislation supporting offshore drilling.”

[snip]

Throughout his campaign, Davis used common conservative canards to justify his support for
Big Oil, falsely claiming that “there is more oil in Colorado than in the entire nation of Saudi Arabia,” and “China is 90 miles off the coast of the U.S. drilling for oil.” Davis, like many other Big Oil advocates, has received thousands of dollars from the oil and gas industry this year and has consistently voted with Big Oil’s interests in mind.

This week, Davis returned to the floor of the recessed House with other conservatives to participate in a partisan political stunt demanding a vote on offshore oil drilling.

Conservatives predicted significant gains in the polls as a result of their stunt. The Hill wrote, “House Republicans believe they have struck political gold with American voters.” Instead, Davis’s support for big oil cost him his job.

These could be signs that voters will make excellent choices this fall. They're not falling so hard for Republicon bullshit as they typically do, and that is a very hopeful sign indeed.