The Hill's Karen Hanretty And Her Awful Appearance On Hardball
By Logan Murphy Wednesday Aug 08, 2007 7:40pm
(Update below:) I scour the cable news shows nearly every day and I have to say that this performance by The Hill's Karen Hanretty on this evening's "Hardball" has to rank as one of the worst and most annoying I've seen. Hanretty became highly perturbed when host Chris Matthews and Ezra Klein from The American Prospect dared to challenge her pathetic attempts to defend Scooter Libby and Alberto Gonzales.
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Hanretty is so wrong on so many levels I'm not even going to attempt to address them all. Have at it in the comments, tell us what you think...
UPDATE: Digby has some transcripts and says:
If anyone wants to know why young people are running away from the GOP in droves, this is it. They are a nasty group of cynical jackasses who make the future look like a dark and hideous prospect.
You go Ezra. It was a sharp, dignified performance in response to the shrill, shrieking harpy who was snidely laughing in your face as she "clarified" exactly what the Republicans mean by "honor and integrity."
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This woman is paid to write?
Wow.. that was a laughably bad performance.
What is it with these blond-bimbo-ish Repuke women? Is there something in their hair dye?
Hopefully her written arguments are better than her verbal ones.
BTW in the picture she looks like an extra in "28 Weeks Later"
[deleted - consult the commenting policy]
Fozzetti @ 3:
Yeah. Pump in the peroxide, pump out the brains.
John @ 5:
Oh brother. I suppose you fully supported the $40 million fishing expedition against Clinton, right John? Clinton fired the prosecutors at the beginning of his term. Not when he was looking for a way to fix the next election like YOUR boy.
I had to put the TV on mute, I was so embarrassed for her. It was hard to watch.
Head.nearly.ready.to.explode.
She was torn between "wow, I'm defending the indefensible" and "wow......there's a big paycheck riding on this."
John @ 5:
RIGHT is wrong.
a guy @ 7:
Right on. I can't believe people are still clinging to this pathetic talking point. Clinton's behavior was standard. This administration has DISMANTLED THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT.
John: Go away troll. What are you, one of those paid Pentagon bloggers?
F-ing idiots.
Anyone who would continue to support this cabal installed in the White House is a brain dead idiot, a liar, a hypocrite, or illiterate. They continue to deny cold-hard facts, obfuscate the truth, and nit-pick at each grain of sand while the tsunami is crashing over their heads.
She stunk. On ice. The Hill's credibility shrivels every passing day she remains on staff.
The government runs on political patronage, what's wrong with that. Not a direct quote but this woman thinks it's okay to run the government like a New York crime family? Time must have stopped pre-Tammany for her. She'll be Scooter's assistant at AEI, Heritage, or better yet, The Wall Street Journal. He is a successful novelist and all. What do these wingnuts say to each other when they're not "on?" That's gotta be a real nightmare.
Here's what someone needs to do: go out and find as many instances as possible of people -- average citizens -- going to jail for perjury. Then circulate the darn thing around the Web to drum up publicity. Then, contact all the news organizations within earshot and give them the list. This can go down as very clear evidence of (1) Washington -- and primarily Bush -- hypocrisy, (2) the classism (and racism) that conservatives ignore, and (3) the idea that the law is a mess!
Wikipedia editors - We have found the photo for the listing for [deleted]. Save Bay Buchanan though use it for HAG.
Why doesn't anyone reply when told there isn't any proof of a crime that it's because bush if refusing to let anyone testify and refusing to turn over documents? If they want this investigation over that bad, stop stalling it. F**K!!!! I get so mad at these assholes.
Digby, as usual, nails this one.
GOP ethics can be reduced to "All that is not forbidden is permitted." Which is in fact, no ethics at all. It is an amoral system that every sophomore quickly learns is the morality of a despot.
Point is, there's no way anyone can intellectually honestly defend the Cheney administration. The reason: it is as dirty as a a three-year old in a muddy sandbox. Either you have some sort of intellectual honesty, or you are totally in the tank. She couldn't think of anything because, honestly, there is nothing to be said. For a split second she realized this, but then though, aw shit, I'll just pull rank on Ezra coz he's young. Dumb, whored-out broad.
a guy @ 7:
So now you're comparing a President lying under oath to Scott Libby! You're kidding right? If Clinton had not lied to congress and the country we would have saved the $40 million. How is Bush firing 9 attorneys a way to fix the elections?
replace the word shenanigans with treason
I'm racking my brain but I can't come up with one reasonable republican out there, not one after McCain imploded. Well, there's Hagel, but his not really a talking head. Every republican you see defending chimpy seems like a sad mediocrity, an incompetent boob or scary religious nut. We're going to see a shitload of registered independents this coming year.
The still is priceless; I recall one of old 40-Grit (O'Berien I belive is her name) where the facial expression is exactly the same-- the look Bill O gets when his vibrator hits just the right spot.
OOOPS someone forgot to depict conviction with their last neokkkon automaton downloaded thinking points. their going to have to write in more conviction and denial into their spin software.
Her last words: "...Because I care." Hilarious!
I'm sorry, but Chris Matthews may be the most annoying person on the planet. Trying to figure out if Hanretty is giving a terrible performance is almost impossible with Matthews' constant jabbering. The man is a complete idiot. On the other hand, this is one of the most worthless clips I've ever seen. I thought all three were an embarrassment.
SouthernDragon @ 14:
What really scares me are the orders a woman like Hanretty must get in memos. Those are truly the scariest things to me. It's probably like that scene in Goodfellas when Ray Liotta is young and is busted in court for the first time and is convicted. He leaves the courtroom and he's embarassed and scared as he prepares himself to greet DeNiro and Paul Sorvino's character. He wants to apologize but DeNiro has never been more proud, encouraging the kid that "we all go down, but the point is, you didn't give anything away. You didn't tell them anything." That's the same thing that's true for Hanretty and it's most clearly true as the reason why Abu Gonzo is still employed.
John @ 20:
I never knew Clinton appeared before Congress. And lied before Congress.
John = troll.
Firing prosecutors because they won't file unfounded and politically motivated charges intended to affect the outcomes of elections is wrong. So is asking them to file the charges in the first place.
Interfering in criminal prosecutions is called obstruction of justice. Firing prosecutors for indicting and/or pursuing investigations of members of your political party is interference.
Political activity on government property is a crime. Lying to Congress is a crime. Perjury is a crime. Suborning perjury is a crime. Conspiracy is a crime. Witness tampering is a crime. Violating FISA is a crime.
To claim someone is innocent when they are actively concealing evidence is stupid.
A 12-year-old meltdown. I don't like Mathews much, but he asked her a pretty direct questions and she kept talking about some vague "conservative movement."
Um ... pssst ... Karen ... I hate to be the one to tell you ... but that "movement" is kind of ... er ... over.
And not a moment too soon.
strawberry @ 22:
Yeah Hillary and Obama are so qualified and rock solid in their convictions. Just take a look at Hillary's past (if you can find any documents that have not been burned or misplaced) Except for the fact that they change their positions about every other day. Hillary will do and say anything to get elected.
John @ 20:
Riiiggghhhtttt...and if Bush and his cronies had not lied to Congress and the American people perhaps we might have saved, oh, say half a trillion dollars and nearly 4000 American lives...not to count the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives. Please, if you learn anything John, it should be that conservatives have absolutely no moral high ground. Should I start counting off the names of those who hypocritcally acted against their political (and moral) platforms? Come on, you know them all...
John @ 20:
Actually it was closer to 70 million to uncover....A BLOWJOB! OMFG! THE HORROR! Repugs are so incompetent it took them 70 million. You guys are just so sad. Hell, democrats didn't pay a dime for Foley, the Florida guy who wanted to go down on a cop for 20 bucks, that Vitter guy, the gay pastor and the gay prostitute, Jeff gannon..holy crap you guys are sick.
Amazing clip... I now hate the Bushies more than I ever have... this woman thinks is OK to fire federal prosecutors, mid term, FOR POLITICAL REASONS, AND it's OK to pardon Scooter Libby, and let him "practice" law again, (as if he was ever actually practicing any kind of law before). Scary stuff.
John =
a)Troll
b)Brain-Theft Victim
c)Both
Oh, BTW John, Irving Lewis (Scooter) Libby IS guilty of several crimes. He was found guilty in a court of law and the verdict stands, even if the sentence was commuted.
Also BTW, acceptance of a pardon is an admission of guilt.
Cythraul @ 35:
So now we have resorted to name calling? And most liberals think conservatives are supposed to be black and white on the issues.
Janet @ 17:
Typically, she failed to recall the Bushco stonewall.
Yeah she was pretty useless, but Ezra was like a fumbling idiot too when asked what crime Gonzo committed... um, how about lying to congress on multiple occasions, for starters?
John @ 37:
What do you mean by "we?"
haha- she has N othing!!!
[Thanks for coming by and bringing up what Clinton did. We just don't see Reich wingers do that enough around here. Flamebaiting. Bye-Sitemonitor]
[Hey darla back again-you hate it here. Isn't it stupid to keep coming back when you don't have to? I'm going to help you out-Sitemonitor]
Try to watch. Couldn't.
Kudos on the screen cap
John @ 37:
Ah don't forget the yellow. All these chickenhawks have a streak of it running down their backs.
A waste of 5:24 seconds.
Don't watch that crap! It's rotting your brains!
After watching that clip, I am more convinced than ever that hair dye rots the brain. O'Reilly is in big trouble.
John.
Honey. It's ok. Thorazine is your friend.
We'll talk after.
Yeah, the fella from the American Perspective was a tool...he could have clobbered her, but instead he fumbled around and made a very poor argument.
As Liberals we can all lick our jowels and say "hurrah' but what's fair is fair and Mathews had an agenda with this numbskull.
Hey, you think your smart? Then answer the Q's and at the end, she couldn't answer what her name was!!
Tweaty can be kind of good when he wants to be. Ezra copped out in a way with the I am not a lawyer bit, although he had some other good statements. One right answer is "Is criminal behavior the benchmark for this administration now? The WH and AG may have committee crimes in light of the abuses of the FISA act, but we cannot get close enough to know."
George @ 46:
Naw George, I just skip right to the comments. Saves me reaching for Tums and Tylenol.
John @ 37:
Well, sure, after ya failed to acknowledge at least 3 posts that beat the shit outta yer argument.
What didjya expect? A cookie?
John @ 42:
Clinton's been gone since January 2001. Let's start with Marc Rich. Do you know who Marc Rich's lawyer was? Scooter Libby!
John @ 31:
Hey John I'll give you this. You are a troll yet, if the pathetic attempt by the progressive blogosphere to label certain Dems as "Blue Dogs" is to hold any water what so ever, then Senator Clinton is a true Blue Dog, or more appropriately, Blue [deleted]! She voted for the war in Iraq, and voted for the bankruptcy bill. (Never mind her lack of leadership on FISA, which lands her squarly in the Blue Dog/Bitch camp!!!! How can she command Congress from the WH when she can't do it while in Congress?)
But I am a recovering Netrooter.
strawberry @ 33:
You forgot about the Republican who had oral sex with some guy who was sleeping.
John @ 42:
Okay, when ya bring up Mark Rich don't ferget to mention that his lawyer was I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Hope it helps.
Watched it -- Bad! Wouldn't you think that pretty, blonde, Republican hired schills would want to bring more than scripted rehash and predictable jibberish? Of course they do! 29% will always believe their garbage.
I would hit it.
Wow! a Stepford wife with bulging eyes... who would've guessed?!
John, do you know how many pardons Bush issued in Texas? How about commutations?
TC @ 27
Not to get into comparing this administration with the Nazis, but they do have the same penchant for keeping records, even though they won't give any of them up. All those memos, letters, position papers, etc are filed away and pretty much forgotten because they're the day-to-day internal stuff and will be shipped to some record depository when the Fuhrergrup, er, administration leaves office. One of these days, however, one or more of the office folk who have to file all this crap is going to come up with all the copies they made because they knew that some day it would be a gold mine. Their retirement plan, so to speak. Bush might be an old man when it happens but it'll be a real million-ton-sh*t-hammer moment. I can wait. I'll be able to provide some of my more lizard-brained acquaintances with the same kind of moment.
the really sad thing about this entire exchange is when hanretty says that it's OK, legally speaking, to fire prosecutors for political reasons. she doesn't see anything unusual or unethical about bush making sure that he only surrounds himself with those of the same ideaological stripe.
scary.
Chris @ 56:
Actually I didn't forget him, my hands starting cramping up, so many abby normal repug sex scandels to cover with poor typing skills.
Fish @ 59:
The GOPers recruit blond eye-candy bright enough to memorize and repeat talking points but not so smart that they can think for themselves.
Cythraul @ 35:
Yep... Both! by a landslide
Aaawwww poor Scooter and Gonzo! They've been treated so badly!!
ReThugs make me Sick.
IMPEACH!
Ok John now that we got this Libby issue out of the way... If you want to relive 1999 over and over again, that's cool.
thanks for the Clinton reruns. meanwhile in this decade, the rest of us are too busy losing track of the republican foobars and scandals.
Troll, the "Clinton did it" excuse is getting pretty damn thin. Haven't you heard? He's been out of office 6 1/2 years.
You're forgetting that presidents typically issue pardons AT THE ENDS OF THEIR TERMS. Therefore Bush hasn't even begun to pardon yet. He's saving the best "Up yours!" for last. Watch & see.
[deleted - let's get back on topic.]
That's quite a high bar they give for the Attorney General of the United States. He hasn't been convicted of breaking any laws, yet, so why should anyone have a problem with him? Much like the President saying in his presser that he had nothing to hold him accountable for since Congress hasn't charged him with anything. You couldn't even trip over this bar because it's laying on the ground .
I am so sick and tired of hearing government employees and their cheerleaders hide behind the law. What happened to ethical behavior? They have set the bar so low it's nauseating. Firing Federal prosecutors for political reasons may or may not slide over the bar for breaking the law, but it certainly can't get close to clearing the bar for ethical behavior.
If a cashier gives me too much change and I keep the excess, it's legal, but I don't think it's ethical. Call me Pollyanna. I used to think/hope people in government service might live by a much higher code than "I didn't actually BREAK the law..."
Also, I personally think G.W. is using executive privilege to make sure, if laws WERE broken, no one can prove it. Everybody just claims amnesia and lets the right-wingers and idiot pundits talk about how 'no crime was committed otherwise Congress would be seeking to prosecute'. Oh yeah, and by continuing to search for evidence that probably exists, the Dems are just "fishing" or on a "political witch hunt". Aaaaarrrrggggg!!!!!!
darla @ 43:
Awww Darla, did your feelings get hurt? Will it make you feel better if I remind you that Michael Moore perhaps weighs a bit more than he should? Does that soothe your sense of injustice on behalf of Karen Hanretty? That's lookin' out for a water-carrier. You're a good girl.
If you don't have enough evidence to convict...does NOT mean that he is INNOCENT; Just that you don't have the evidence to convict. He may be guilty as H*ll, but smart enough to keep his fingerprints off the smoking gun(or shred it).
drtoxic @ 12:
mostly "while the tsunami is crashing over their heads"... Gawd! I wish!!!!! Please oh please oh please make it so!!!!!!!
just another republican [deleted] - nothing new here!
Fish @ 70:
Sweetie, you'd never find out. Strictly missionary, with the lights out and you will shower afterword.
Very pathetic, unfortunately, Ezra Kline wasn't much better. He could have said that Gonzales appears to have committed perjury in front of Congress by lying about attorney gate. Liberals need to take debate classes before going on the Corporate Media.
SouthernDragon @ 62:
I'm with you SouthernDragon. I really can't say that I've been wanting revenge on these hacks personally. I just want some justice. But yeah, I'm with you. When the hammer falls on W and Rove....whether it's 20 years from now, 30 years from, God willing, I will toast the operators who look into the abyss and drop that hammer. (Sorry if there are some mixed metaphors there)
You know there is one word that got completely lost in this debate about Alberto especially. Everyone keeps asking is what he did illegal? Thing is I don't think, in the case of the attorney firings anyway (the "midnight ride" as dubbed by KO and his complicity in illegal wiretaps are a whole 'nother story), is illegal, but it is summed up by the forgotten word...
Unethical
The firing of the 8 attorneys, who are political appointees that serve at the pleasure of the president, is unlikely to be illegal. The thing is is it ethical for the AG of the US to give his blessings to a plan to push out 8 good, solid US Attorneys because, in essence, they decided they would not sacrifice the integrity of their jobs to become the political hatchet men for the republican party or proved themselves to be too good at taking down corrupt republican officials.
Illegal or not the sh*t is WRONG. It undermines everything that a department built around the very lofty concept of Justice is supposed to stand for.
I like how Mathews seems to enjoy forcing pundits to step away from their canned talking points and actually answer questions.
Hanretty won't be making any TV appearances anytime soon after this horrible display.
Snowball @ 78:
Fish @ 70:
Klein should have said that Gonzales is either a liar or totally incompetent and either way he should be fired.
Personally, I think he's both.
Matthews: "What's his [Libby's] punishment?"
Hanretty: "Well ... well... he lost a career. Public humiliation."
I think the kool-aid kicked in at the twitch around the start.
Look how much public humiliation and going to jail affected Liddy's and North's ability to earn a living.
You know, I probably watch Hardball more than I should, but this was a great moment for Chris Matthews, faulted as he is. He could have easily moved on, and he didn't. I was laughing really hard watching this.
That's the problem with Matthews. He's a hack. He puts his finger in the air, if he smells blood in the water, he goes for the jugular. Hanretty is an easy target now. But it's taken us years of corruption and now the fact that the Emperor isn't wearing any clothes for him to take shots at such craven hacks. If he's been doing his research and due diligence over the years, we might not have to even listen to bs like Hanretty's. If Matthews had even 1/2 of Olbermann's nerve, things would be so much better off.
Her bullshit engine completely vapor locks from 1:40 to 2:15 when asked if Lewis should be pardoned. Dead air. Blank stare......Can't remember talking point...........must say something.........."At the end of the term, duh yeah probably."
Are you a complete tool? Duh, yeah probably!
Strawberry, I would still go there to find out. Take one for the "team"
Why can't runway, shaved, and brillo be a topic of *semi* cute repubs?
I'd say she was laughably nervous and unsure and the other guest was a bit sloppy in his response to the legality questions of firing US attorneys. He should have said it was unethical to say the least.
Klein shouldn't use the "I'm not a lawyer" fallback. Just keep saying, "liar, perjury, snake, weasel, untrustworthy, toady, etc..." People don't listen to logic, they listen to adjectives.
Fish @ 87:
OK, here's my guess... brillo. They don't like touching 'IT'. They don't even look at 'IT'. They really don't want anyone else looking at 'IT'. But hey, becareful, I hear they kill after mating.
Fine, gazno did nothing wrong.
w will quit using executive privilige, have aides testify and turn over the emails.
Call his bs.
Best... Screencap... EVER!
Tweety: "....in other words, you want to completely let him go"
Trainwreck: "He can go or he can not go, it doesn't matter to the conservative movement."
Tell that to all the liberals who donated to the free Scooter fund. Tell it to the progressive authors of the "Lewis is a great family man" letters to judge Walton. I bet all the hippies down at the AEI think he matters just a wee bit.
strawberry @ 90:
OK, here's my guess... brillo. They don't like touching 'IT'. They don't even look at 'IT'. They really don't want anyone else looking at 'IT'. But hey, becareful, I hear they kill after mating.
I hear repugs are real big on spanking....
Aaah, the troll patrol. Like Iraq, Katrina, and countless other examples, the neoCONs send out their automaton red-herring tossers years after the fact.
Headline: overpaid right-wing trolls will try anything to disrupt people from agreeing that Shrub runs the worst administration in U.S. history. Breaking news ...
What's funny is the fact that they're going to lose badly in upcoming elections at the same time they're helping to drive up left-wing blog advertising revenue while convincing absolutely no one of their, uh, arguments. Sheer comedy !
TC @ 85-
That’s the problem with Matthews. He’s a hack. He puts his finger in the air, if he smells blood in the water, he goes for the jugular.
I agree with the thrust of yer statement, but- DAMN!- that is one poorly mixed metaphor!
;)
strawberry @ 90:
ROFLMAO
Hand-jobbity wouldn't make in a high school debate, let alone law school moot court. If all you do is repeat the same talking points regardless of the question, that's not debate.
In moot court, you have to be able to argue both sides of the issue, not just one, and you don't even get to pick which side of the issue you start on.
The rolling eyes and the smirk reminded me of Aunt Linda on SNL.
Fish @ 87:
I'm guessing smooth like Barbie - nothing to see.
She should be a regular guest. I love watching Chris and Ezra play tetherball :)
Gee thanks, Tweety. Where was your outrage when it counted? Putz.
I couldn't watch this for too long. Who is that woman? She is really really dumb.
When she brought out the "how old are you" defense to Ezra, I lost all respect.
That's real mature.
Janet @ 97:
That would explain the epidemic of peter-puffing in the GOP
I give her two "gaaaahs" and an "ohh brother!!"
Tweety: "he was the good soldier..........took the hit for the President..............In a certain way I might, I might in theory respect that, although I don't respect a lot of the SHENANIGANS that went on....."
Shenanigans? Obstruction of justice and perjury to cover for the outing of a covert CIA operative working in the nonproliferation center during a time of war and destroying the entire Brewster Jennings & Assc front group. Some shenanigans jackass! Getting blown by an intern in the oval office might be considered shenanigans, what these guys did was TREASON!
And you "might respect that". WTF? Like you might respect a mob hit man going to jail and not fingering the Cappo who ordered the hit. Nice.
Del @ 104:
He should've answered."I'm about half yer age. I'm 32 years old."
EMPY @ 107:
I think Treason is codified as Schedule III Hijinks. Or felony No Good.
Wow. I cannot believe she passes for a pundit. I could not track down the language, but it is in fact a crime to fire a civil servant for political reasons. Not to mention the fact that if the administration and its shills have to resort to "it's not a crime" to defend their actions, what does that say? We have to only concern ourselves with dishonesty that rises to the level of a crime? As if everything legal is also then automatically OK? The fact is, there are VERY suspicious circumstances surrounding those firings. None of the administration's explanations have held up. If they firings were above-board, then we should have long ago heard a rational, coherent argument that conforms to the documentary evidence. Is that too much to ask of OUR government?
Andy K @ 108:
Oh SNAP!
LMAO
baylaw73 @ 110:
The crime to which yer referrin' is codified in the Hatch Act:
http://www.osc.gov/ha_fed.htm
now that was funny....LMAO.....no really....she must of went home and watched the tape and hung her head in shame.I wonder how her day will go tommorow?
and that pic of her on the thread...looks like she sat on something.
mudshark @ 114:
BillO's falafel
noen @ 18:
I can atest to that. My father is a parasitic conservative. You should hear him stick up for Dow Chemical pumping dioxins into the Tittabawasee river in Michigan (btw, which has made eating deer meat hunted within 30 miles of the area toxic to humans). His whole argument is that it was ok for Dow to do so because it wasn't a crime yet. Also he believes they should get preferential treatment because they've brought so many jobs to the area.
This is the parasitic bullshit that conservatives found their ethics upon. Garbage, all of them. My father included.
So, "The Hill" is a right-wing rag too?
Jeeze, the Wingnuts own the Guetenberg press, don't they?
All she could do was roll her eyes and stutter. She's paid for that?
Oh Tweety, Tweety, Tweety.
You talk over so many of your guests comments that it's impossible to tell WHAT THE HELL they are trying to say.
Yes Libby is a creep, Yes Gonzales is a joke.
But fer Christs sake let someone get a word in edgewise thru your rapid fire banalities!
You know, if you just SHUT UP for a moment, you might actually learn something.
The lop sided smirk! Is that code for "I'm a neo-con" or is it part of her DNA? Is it possible, could it be, she is Dick Cheney's love-child? There is an eerie resemblance. N'est pas?
Trii @ 118:
Her corporate masters forgot to program her with answers to Tweety's questions.
I was waiting for her to start going "Does not compute, does not compute," while smoke came out her ears.
in all fairness...tweety wouldn't shut up..he was rapid firing question after question..I guess that's the way he catches them off guard.
myiq2xu @ 121:
LOL yeah..with her arm swinging up and down.....Alert..Alert..lol
noen @ 18:
THIS is what pisses me off, Ezra said it, but it doesn't get picked up on. He said "I don't know if he's done anything illegal, I know he's done much that's wrong."
That's always been one of the things I've lived by. There can be a big difference between "legal" and "right". All my friends also know this, as they have functioning ethical standards.
The TRADITION has been that we don't subvert the justice system, so that it works equally for all, and gives stability and... erm... JUSTICE in this country. "All that is not forbidden is permitted." Thank you noen, that is EXACTLY the problem in a few simple words.
Ezra, Ezra Ezra! When asked what Gonzo did wrong, have your shit together and some bullets in the gun. I could have gone on for the next five minutes without pause. How far back would you like me to go Chris?
-Covered Bushes DUI
-Strongarm sick AG in hospital
-Authorize torture
-Moussaoui trial bait and switch
-Illegal wiretaps
-Illegal spying on protest groups
-Raid and bust whistleblowers, but the the crimes they disclosed
-Zero terrorist convictions for terrorist charges
-24 unfilled US attorney vacancies
-Lying to congress
-Abuse of FBI National Security Letters
-Padilla "dirty bomber" trial. Evidence????
-Failure to enforce congressional subpoenas
-Most of his staff have resigned since purge investigation began
-White house Email cover up
-Coached Monica Goodling testimony
-Guantanamo Fucking Bay
-Dogshit Oxycontin settlement
-Voter rights a mess
-Voter ID laws, that promptly get overturned
-Convict and jail border patrol officers who bust a drug mule
-No election fraud investigations, but mountains of worthless voter fraud BS
-Voter caging
-Political qualifications for career DOJ positions
-Unqualified USA's
-Department moral in the shitter
-Minorities removed from Equal rights division
-Trust by Congress = ZERO
-Trust by American people = ZERO
For Ezra,
Hanratty: It's not illegal
Matthews: Do you believe US Attorney's are hired because they're pals and they deserve a little political favor or do you think they hire them because they're the best lawyer in town?
Klein: I think that whatever reason you hire them, you can't fire them mid-term for political reasons.
Hanratty: Yes you absolutely can fire someone mid-term for political reasons. It's not against the law.
Klein: That is a wonderful way to run a government
Hanratty: (angry, eye rolling) How old are you and how naive are you that you honestly think that this town isn't built on patronage?
Klein: How cynical are you that you believe you should support that political patronage and excuse anything they do?
Hanratty: Give me a break. That has nothing to do with supporting it..
-------How cynical are you that you believe you should support that political patronage and excuse anything they do?
Very very SAVVY response from Ezra. Karen is supporting it in every word she utters. Karen wants Libby (inmate#28301-016) completely pardoned at the end of Bush's term with no regard to law and order because she is and has been isolated in the circle of those," patronage political partisan loyalists first/ Americans second" hacks. That she (karen) is unable to recognize right and wrong in this country. karen appears like someone with Stockholm syndrome...............
thepoetryman @ 88:
Except that he DID say that.
*120: More like Cheney's Hate-child.
I gagged for some of that, and then it became HILARIOUS.
Did you hear her call down Matthews and Klein for being "inside the Beltway people"?? She writes for "The Hill"!! She's as Beltway as they come! WTF is that?
Why do these fucking career Washington/think-tank/media/lobbyist/military-industrial assholes always pretend they are not part of the ruling clique they nurture and defend every day of their lives??
RobertPaul @ 119:
Amen.
Questions about Her personal opinions and how She would advise the president?? What does this answers contribute to the topic? Usual Matthews methodology when he's losing ground. Worse than O'Reilly.
what a fuckin wacko.
But Ezra had nothing, NOTHING, on the US Attorney scandal. He couldn't bring up a single fact other than 'they were fired mid-term for political reasons'. Well no shit. When are the people who get to go on TV going to take 10 minutes out of their day and read http://www.bradblog.com to get to the real issue on this: firing attorneys who would not do their part in disenfranchising voters in time for the 2006 and 08 elections.
Conservatives are going to be crazy, foaming-at-the-mouth morons on these talk shows, thats just a given. Instead of trying to keep up with their crazy talk, people like Ezra need to have a point and get it across.
strike the word "answers" in 130.
those are the eyes of a desperate senile witch...maybe she's got "The Darkness". Look out she's summoning little demon imps!
Although I'm late to the party, my I nonetheless say/type this? Karen Hanretty is nothing more [deleted]. And she's probably not a good one. (bite me moral police of the right wing!)
Look, Karen thought she saw an opportunity to up her republican pay grade by personally attacking Ezra and his age instead of his steadfaxt principle to this country being a country of laws and not of men.
"Republican values have never been, what they always say they really are", ( Robt's copywrite.)
Harkin to the Clinton years of, He lied
yeah...I have too agree...just as bad as O'Lielly
1. This was a particularly annoying performance from Matthews,
2. Answer to "What has Albert Gonzalez done wrong?" was incredibly weak. I have no idea whether the firing of the US Attorneys was wrong. This is, in large part because the Justice Department (Gonzalez) has made it very difficult to investigate by: withholding documents, stonewalling investigators from other departments, and because Gonzalez has been lying, obfuscating, and completely uncooperative (although not overtly hostile) in every hearing held on the issue. Most noticeably, his statement that there was no significant opposition within the Adminstration to the TSP when in fact the former AG, his deputy, and the head of the FBI had been willing to resign,en masse, due to some of the behavior within the TSP. This was a complete self serving and misleading lie to congress, which is, in fact, against the law.
He has also demonstrated, through his complete inability to remember fucking anything, even after taking like three weeks off of his job to prepare for the hearings, that he is entirely incompetent to hold the position of Attorney General, and should return his salary from the last few years.
my 2 cents.
Nick,
might I add Perjury to congress under oath, if I may.
Karen's on one of the news channels every day. The more wrong you are the more right you are to the bookers of these shows
Szin @ 127:
Well, he could have mentioned the likely lying in testimony before congress too.
I kept waiting for him to bring that up and ...... nothing.
jr @ 139:
That's "hookers"
bvac @ 131:
Agree. He was weak. Should have mentioned lying to congress, if nothing else.
I'd do her.
Seriously though, its ridiculous how whenever a Republican gets offended or beaten in debate they resort to shrillnes and sarcasim.
Hannity is the biggest moron that uses that lame tactic and seems like Karen has been watching a little too much H&C for her own good.
and just when Matthews says something that makes you want to like him he goes and obsesses over Hillary. (Does he love (in a stalkerish way) her or hate her, I can't put my finger on it?)
Why does Matthews continually interrupt her when she's trying to make a point? Doesn't he care about the answer more than rattling his interlocutor? Has Matthews no manners?
I'm not siding with the lady. I'm angry at his shabby treatment of her on his program. NBC should give him a talking to.
In fairness, Ezra kind of boggled the last question. "I'm not a lawyer"??????
Come on! All he had to say was "did you watch his appearances in front of the Senate? You would have to be a complete partisan idiot not to think he committed perjury!"
I don't necessarily think that Hanretty is babbling these inanities just for money, or to maintain her "pundit" status; she might actually believe them. I am acquainted with people who spout such nonsense, and they actually think it's true. I'm not talking about uninformed or uneducated people, but they certainly seem to be either lacking in critical thinking skills or are in self-induced denial. I've also noticed a tendency amongst them to be unable to follow or maintain a consistent, logical argument, i.e., Hanretty's segue from whether or not firing appointees for political reasons is "wrong" to her next statement that politics tends to be about patronage. I would expect that there should be some intermediary argument, perhaps that "all politics-as-usual is 'right' by definition"; at least then her argument would make some logical, if not factual sense.
These people surely must realize that something is at least a bit off with their pet politicians, unless they have recurrent bouts of amnesia. I suspect that some of them believe that Bush literally is incapable of doing anything wrong, since he continually insists that he is a Christian. I also suspect that some of them view the political process as a "my team must win at any cost" type of sporting event, in which they are fans but the outcome really has no effect on them personally. When I am talking with these people, I start to get a horrible sensation as if I'm an eight year old explaining to their mother that my new stepfather has been raping me, and getting a response that that can't be true because stepdaddy would never do such a thing; he loves her, he's a good man, and plus, he told her he hadn't done it.
David E Toronto @ 144:
She was trying to avoid answering a simple, straighforward question. He was trying to shake her off her programmed talking points.
When he did, she had nothing else.
That was no lady, that was a trained parrot.
OhReally @ 26:
Yep. Don't know how anyone could possibly have answered Matthews' questions -- he yammers like a monkey on speed.
I would have liked to have heard how the woman defended Bush's decision, it's interesting to think that anyone could manage to do that. I would like to have heard Ezra's response. But on Hardball, no one gets to hear anything but Chris Matthews running his mouth.
I just don't understand why Klein can't point to AG's lies, which are a crime given AG is also Attorney General. Gonzo repeatedly swore under oath that the US Attorneys were NOT fired for political reasons, and now that bimbo comes on saying that they were indeed fired for political reasons and that AG hasn't done anything wrong. You don't have to be a lawyer to see that she is pointing (rather loudly) to the crime herself. It's almost surreal.
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