Not An Impeachment, But This Will Do

Posted on June 20, 2012 at 5:10 pm by JM Ashby

This isn’t the first time I’ve run that headline, but now it’s becoming a reality.

This isn’t the blowjob impeachment the Republicans were hoping for, but House Oversight Chairman Darrell “Witch Hunt” Issa held a vote of contempt for Attorney General Eric Holder in the House Oversight Committee today.

Contempt passed along party lines by a vote of 23 to 17.

It’s now up to Speaker of the House John Boehner to pass a resolution of contempt among the entire House of Representatives, which he says he will do next week unless Eric Holder cooperates with Issa’s witch hunt committee.

Eric Holder has cooperated however, testifying before congress 9 separate times and handing over thousands of documents. Regardless, the Republicans want to hold him responsible for a program that began under former President George W. Bush and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in 2006. Eric Holder ended the program after it was brought to his attention and initiated an investigation.

There is absolutely no basis for this partisan witch hunt or the vote of contempt. It’s a high-tech lynching of the Attorney General.

I don’t believe this will earn the Republicans anything other than their own vote of contempt held by independent voters.

We’re 10 days away from student interest rate loans doubling. Congress, and more specifically the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, still hasn’t passed the transportation bill which covers millions of jobs. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives still hasn’t signed off on a renewal of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) because it grants existing protections to immigrants, Native American tribes, and members of the LGBT community. And just today, Eric Cantor (R-VA) put a hold on the farm bill because he wants time to assess the political situation. You know, because cooperating might look bad for them.

We’re in a lame-duck session of congress that will be used as an example by which to judge all future lame-duck sessions, and the Republicans are busy trying to tie a noose around Eric Holder’s neck.

This isn’t the 90s and this isn’t a blowjob in the oval office. Most Americans have no damn idea what any of this is about. This will only be seen as a distraction.

Adding… here’s video of the last time Holder tried to testify.

Update… the Department of Justice has issued a response.

“Unfortunately, Chairman Issa has rejected all of these efforts to reach a reasonable accommodation. Instead, he has chosen to use his authority to take an extraordinary, unprecedented and entirely unnecessary action, intended to provoke an avoidable conflict between Congress and the Executive Branch. This divisive action does not help us fix the problems that led to this operation or previous ones and it does nothing to make any of our law enforcement agents safer. It’s an election-year tactic intended to distract attention — and, as a result — has deflected critical resources from fulfilling what remains my top priority at the Department of Justice: Protecting the American people.

“Simply put, any claims that the Justice Department has been unresponsive to requests for information are untrue. From the beginning, Chairman Issa and certain members of the Committee have made unsubstantiated allegations first, then scrambled for facts to try to justify them later. That might make for good political theater, but it does little to uncover the truth or address the problems associated with this operation and prior ones dating back to the previous Administration.

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  • http://twitter.com/SugaRazor Razor

    We’re seriously at a point in America where we have to decide if we want to live in a fact-based world or a fantasy realm.

  • toneczar

    Issa can barely contain himself from ending each statement with “boy” …

  • mrbrink

    “And so, we gonna hang us a negro!”

    The ads and bumper sticker talking points are probably already in the can.

    “…this president’s lawlessness has even led to his Attorney General, Eric Holder, being found in contempt of Congress.”

    These fuckers have no shame. Between the multi-national corporate money bombs on the outside and the party’s sabotage on the inside, this is what a coup d’état looks like today.

    Republicans should be tried for treason.

    • http://www.politicalruminations.com/ nicole

      “a coup d’etat”

      Yes. Something I’ve been waiting for since 2009 since even a blind man could see how restless the natives wingnuts were.

      Let them just fucking try it.

      • mrbrink

        Thom Hartmann:

        Since Dwight Eisenhower left the presidency in 1961 – 5 different Republicans have been President of the United States. And every single one of them – from Richard Nixon to George W. Bush – have been illegitimate – ascending to the highest office in the land NOT through small-D democratic elections – but instead through fraud and treason.

        • http://www.politicalruminations.com/ nicole

          I was completely shocked listening to Lyndon Johnson. That a person would do such a thing (Nixon) to win a political office is not only treasonous, but makes him one of the worst people in world history. Unbelievable.

          Thanks for posting that, mrbrink.

    • nathkatun7

      And it’s ” a coup d’etat” led by a known criminal thief! How is that for irony? Some of us who’ve been around for some time are beginning to realize that as the famous saying goes: “the more things change, the more they remain the same.” Southern white supremacists, intent on abruptly ending Reconstruction and restoring white supremacy, charged that Reconstruction governments, in which African Americans (AA) participated in, were corrupt and the AA were ignorant. White supremacist employed terror and violence as well as coordinated propaganda to accomplish their goal. Eventually, they succeeded. White supremacy was restored. I

      t took the country, over 100 years in the struggle to end white supremacy and fulfill those “self-evident truths” that proclaimed “that all men were created equal.”

      While it seemed as though most people in the country were euphoric about the election of the first identifiable descendent of the Africans (there are rumors that they may have been five other previous presidents with a trace of African blood) as President, not every one was happy. A sizable portion of the country, including some of the most powerful people, with tons of money, were not amused by the election of President Obama. Even before he took office, they started plotting on how to get rid of him. In spite of their cleverly disguised claims, their opposition had very little to do with his policies; rather it was about who he is: An upstart who did not belong in their precious White House.

      What that the criminal thief, Darrell Issa, who has been given enormous Congressional power, despite his criminal background, did today was, in my humble opinion, a major effort to restore “white supremacy.” Like his predecessor white supremacists, it’s no accident that he went after the second most important AA official in the administration next to the President. Even before the ink dried on Issa’s contempt citation of the AG, the Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell was ready to pounce with his own allegations that the President is using tactics worse than those of Nixon to persecute his enemies. I have yet to see McConnell evidence. But again evidence doesn’t matter when it comes to white supremacists.

      • mrbrink

        The Republican party’s spokesperson is Rush Limbaugh.

        Rush Limbaugh is what happens when a right wing conservative doesn’t have to apologize to anyone ever again.

  • eljefejeff

    Serious question here, and don’t destroy me for it…why did Obama have to invoke executive privilege? That makes it look like he’s hiding something. Did he say he did it just to stop wasting their time, which sounds reasonable to me?

    • desertflower1

      Well, here’s a little help: http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/20/12322475-what-executive-privilege-isnt?lite

      This helps a little more:
      http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-fast-and-furious-materials-obama-asserts-executive-privilege/2012/06/20/gJQAthSArV_story.html

      Executive privilege is a principle that says the executive branch can’t be forced by the legislative branch to disclose confidential communications when they would harm operations.

      Documents responsive to the House panel’s subpoena relate to “sensitive law enforcement activities, including ongoing criminal investigations and prosecutions,” said Deputy Attorney General James Cole in the letter to Issa.

      In a letter to the president released by the White House, Holder argued that giving up the documents sought by the panel “would inhibit the candor” of deliberations within the executive branch. He said documents “were generated in the course of the deliberative process” and as a result “the need to maintain their confidentiality is heightened.”

      The Justice Department says it already has provided more than 7,600 pages of documents in the case. Issa is seeking additional material.

      This is the first time Obama has invoked executive privilege, according to the White House.

      He’s not hiding anything, and as I understand it, investigations are ongoing. If he would have given Issa those docs, he would have been breaking the law.THAT is not going to happen.

      If you get a chance to watch Rachel Maddow’s show tonight, do. Watch from the beginning, because what she breaks down…will leave you shaking your head and wondering WTF???

      • nathkatun7

        Thank you desertflower for your excellent and thorough explanation for why the President had to invoke executive privilege. This had absolutely nothing to do with hiding anything. This is all about protecting deliberations about ongoing investigations. I think Issa was trying to derail these investigations and Holder refused to comply. I also think that Issa and other Republicans knew that there was no way AG Holder would do otherwise but they wanted to cite him for contempt hoping that doing so would wound the President.

        People really need to wake up. What Issa and his Republican stooges did today is part of a coordinated attack to undermine and defeat President Obama. A criminal, like Issa, is not interested in overseeing ethical government. If he were, he would have been in the forefront challenging the blatantly unethical Department of Justice under George W. Bush.

        • Victor_the_Crab

          But, but, but, but… IOKIYAR!

        • desertflower1

          Now read this.
          http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/Why_Pelosi_Is_Correct_Today

          Issa did this because Holder was going his job TOO WELL! Holder is going after states investigating whether they are keeping citizens off the voter rolls and not letting them vote. We know that Republicans know that if massive amounts of people turn out to vote…they lose. POC are targets, as are young and old voters (medicare goes under R’s!) Issa wanted a scalp to hold up as a trophy, and went after Holder…and by default, PBO. He’s so corrupt that he shouldn’t even BE there! And check this:
          http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/06/21/1101851/-2008-Darrell-Issa-Voted-YES-to-Fund-Project-Gunrunner-Merida-Initiative

          He knew about this. He voted FOR it!! We need to GOTV in the most massive show of force and solidarity ever…and shut these guys out of government for a long, long time.

          Happy reading!

    • desertflower1
    • desertflower1
      • nathkatun7

        Df, I am truly amazed at your energy and the breadth of the information you share. Obviously you must be an excellent teacher.I don’t have any young children otherwise I would send them to you to be educated. I wish we still had people in the U.S. media who valued facts, information, and truth the way you do.

        • desertflower1

          Thank you so much,nathkatun :) What a nice compliment.Knowledge is power…and no one can take that away from any one of us. As a citizen, it’s everyone’s responsibility to inform themselves…if I can help inform, I’m there! Lord knows the MSM doesn’t.

  • GrafZeppelin127

    The Republicans will take the White House by force if they have to.

    Civil War II is coming.

    • http://www.politicalruminations.com/ nicole

      I just wish they’d hurry up and get to it. I am, at this point, ready to fight.

      • MrDHalen

        I’ll be right beside you!!!

  • D_C_Wilson

    So, at what point will Issa acknowledge that Fast and Furious began in 2006 under Bush and AG Alberto Gonzales?

    • Brutlyhonest

      Bush and Gonzo? No way! The coverage of this on cbs tonight went out of the way to make sure viewers knew that BushCo did some gun walking ops, but F&F started in 2009. The watchdogs :(

  • bphoon

    I don’t think I have to wonder why Issa hasn’t called Alberto Gonzales before the committee. Issa is a purely political animal. Doesn’t have an honest bone in his body and does nothing without a political agenda. He’s a grandstander and a hyperbolic blow hard.

    I learned all I need to know about Darrell Issa when, back in ’03, he funded the Grey Davis recall petition drive. Until he put $1.6m of his own money into it, it was going nowhere. He played coy about his intentions until the petitions were validated by the state. Along the way, he’d secured a promise from Arnold Schwarzenegger that he wouldn’t run. Then, of course, Arnold ran. A day or two after Arnold announced his candidacy, Issa held a press conference where he was to announce his intentions. When he got to the part where he declined to run, he broke down in tears and almost couldn’t finish. It was plain to all who cared to look that he had a mental picture of the governor’s office going up in smoke before his very eyes.

    That press conference confirmed to me that he thought he’d be able to buy the governorship only to find out what a back stabber Arnold turned out to be. He showed himself to be transparently political, made plain his agenda was entirely politically driven and exposed a driving ambition tainted by a stunning naivete that endures to this day. It is impossible for me to take anything he says or does seriously.

    And you couldn’t pay me enough to put a Viper car alarm in my vehicle.

    • muselet

      Couldn’t agree with you more.

      –alopecia

    • vgranucci

      I’ve been saying for years, that the best thing about Schwartzenegger was that he wasn’t Darrell Issa.

    • nathkatun7

      “Issa is a purely political animal.”

      bphoon, with all due respect, I think you overlooked the fact that Issa is a crocked “political animal” with a criminal background. Many of us in California know exactly who Darrell Issa is. His goal was to be governor of California after he colluded with the criminal Enron to bring down a Democratic governor. Fortunately for California, his criminal record was exposed and he knew he could not become governor. But, unfortunately for the country, his right wing Congressional district constituents looked the other way and continued to vote for him for Congress. Now this criminal chairs one of the most powerful Congressional Committees with oversight over the government. I still have not been able to get over the irony that a known criminal is now in charge of a Congressional committee that is supposedly about ethical government oversight. Talk about the fox guarding the chickens!