Harriet Miers Withdraws
Says the Post:

Miers told the president in a letter of withdrawal that she was "concerned that the confirmation process presents a burden for the White House and our staff that is not in the best interests of the country."

Bush responded that he was "reluctantly" accepting the decision.

"I nominated Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court because of her extraordinary legal experience, her character, and her conservative judicial philosophy," he said in a statement. But, he said, "I understand and share her concern . . . about the current state of the Supreme Court confirmation process."

Yea.

I believe that like I believe there's a god. And like I believed Dubya had nothing to do with the swiftboat ads. And like I believed he didn't ask Kerik to step down when the shit hit the fan, but Kerik withdrew on his own.

Standard operating procedure: Failing nominees take the fall on their own, and the nominator remains unscathed. Lowlies do the dirty work as they're ordered, and Mr. above-the-foray admits no direct connection.

Though this does remind me of the way a good ole' Italian institution conducts business...
- posted by Real Genius @ 10:04 - -

 
Indictment Bingo

1. Karl Rove

2. Lewis Libby

3. John Bolton

4. Steven Hadley

I'm basing the "count" on what Steve Clemons heard and wrote in TWN.

I think the most likely charges for Rove and Libby are perjury and obstruction of justice, respectively. Though I still think it's Fred Fleitz who filled Bolton in on Plame's situation, I have a feeling he flipped. Like Wonkette was quoting a reporter yesterday, "these slimy thugs are turning on one another like runner-ups in a beauty pageant". I think Fleischer, Fleitz, Hannah, Wurmser and a couple of Rove's aides and ex-aides flipped, and I think Bolton's never having given a Grand Jury testimony had to do with the fact that he was a target all along.

Of course, I'd give up either of numbers (2) and (4) above for Cheney, Rice or Bush, but I think they'll get away with having only been named unindicted co-conspirators, that being more likely for the first two than Bush.
- posted by Real Genius @ 10:52 - -

 
Bobo's World
Topeka, KS Edition(emphasis mine):

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - City narcotics officers regularly tampered with drug evidence and falsified records, yet supervisors failed to discipline anyone, a prosecutor said Thursday.

(...)

Hecht said that drugs that were being held as evidence were taken for personal use and that officers gambled and drank on duty, falsified records about their activities, and failed to properly oversee money for drug buys.

Two officers have previously been charged. Hecht's report did not identify other officers allegedly involved in the misconduct.

Former officer Thomas Pfortmiller was sentenced last month to 16 months in prison after Hecht's office found that he stole $20,000 meant for undercover drug buys and falsified records claiming that drug buys had occurred. His former partner, Bruce Voight, was charged with 61 felonies, including falsifying evidence.

- posted by Real Genius @ 23:10 - -

 
Golden Ssshhhh....
You know, I was reading MoDo's column today and something stuck out like a sore thumb:

But the reverse playbook got washed away with Katrina, when Karl Rove and W. did not jump to attention at the word hurricane. W. ended up with a job approval rating of 2 percent among African-Americans, according to a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll. He missed the golden hour, as it’s called in combat medicine, the precious time when acting fast may save those in jeopardy.

W.’s presidency has become branded with rushing into one place too fast and not rushing into another fast enough.

Now I'm not going to suggest that it completely destroys the flow nor that it is irrelevant to the context, but it still somehow felt out of place, somehow not entirely needing use, as if it was placed there for another purpose.

Then I realized how similar to another phrase Golden Hour sounds, especially when I tried to pronounce it in my head instead of just reading it.

It's just one brief consonant short of a Golden Shower, isn't it?

I'm probably wrong but I'd like to think that it's not just a coincidence.

Okay, I'm done being a disgusting asshole for the day.
- posted by Real Genius @ 16:09 - -