Cloture votes

Yeah, right, like you thought they would get even a simple "no-confidence" vote to the floor? It's not as if Gonzales has done anything worth impeaching, right? I mean, dismissing employees of the Justice Department for political reasons isn't a violation of their civil service rights, is it? Or colluding with the rest of Smirky's cabal and wiretapping the whole country illegally? How about the simple fact that he has repeatedly lied to Congress while testifying before committees?
There really is no excuse for anyone supporting this moral waste of oxygen, but hey, there are at least 38 Senators who voted yesterday who did just that.
You see, in the Senate, a vote to end debate is necessary before any action itself gets to be voted on, and cloture requires 60 Senators' approval. This is what's known as the "cloture" vote, and is the official term for the filibuster process. Voting for cloture means that the Senator wants to bring the matter at hand to the floor for the final pass/no pass vote. This past week we saw two instances where this came up; the first was the immigration bill, which also failed its cloture vote; and the second on Gonzales's wrist slap. The vast majority of those not voting for cloture were Republicans (naturally, since they have no interest in doing the people's business, but instead only seek to gum up the works at every opportunity), and since they have far more than the 41 Senators required to deny cloture (100-60+1), we can expect to see a lot of these kinds of votes over the next year and 1/2.
Why didn't the Democrats do this when they were in the minority, even though there were more than 41 Democrats in the Senate, even at their lowest ebb? Good question. Part of the answer lies in the fact that some Dems (I'm looking at you, Joe Lieberman) seem to want to appear as if they really aren't "partisan" when in fact, their lack of party loyalty simply enables the Republican agenda to continue to advance. That's not being non-partisan, Joe, that's being Republican. Jackass. Other Dems seem not to understand that our government is teetering on the brink of dissolution, in effect, as the Executive Branch under Bush runs wild over the Constitution. Those seeking to "keep their powder dry" for something really important can't ever quite pull the trigger on anything, which again simply enables the Republicans to rule, even while they are in the minority. Filibuster the nominations of Alito? Roberts? Bolton? Rice? Gonzales himself? Filibuster the Bankruptcy Bill? The extension of the Patriot Act? Vote to cut off funding for the Occupation of Iraq? Nah, we'll wait and use our "power" when it matters.
The problem with that attitude, of course, is that all of these nominations and bills (and hundreds of others unmentioned) have mattered. Greatly. And by not exercising the power of the filibuster and/or party discipline--as Republicans have been doing for the last 13 years quite extensively and successfully--the Democrats have failed in their duty to represent their constituents, let alone the country's best interests and future.

Alberto, Alberto, Alberto

Our esteemed, er, embattled, er, real estate lawyer posing as the nation's Attorney General (that's right, he is supposed to represent the citizens of the country, not the White House, or the Administration, or the Republican Party, in case 6 years of evidence has clouded your knowledge of the functions of the office) was forced to testify in front of a Senate committee last week. Gonzales had weeks to prepare for his appearance. You would think that during that time he would have boned up on his past meetings with various members of Congress, his aides, his Smirky, and his Slugboy (that would be KKKarl Rove) to pin down dates, times, and agendas (agendae?) that the Senators might ask him about. Instead, his testimony was riddled with bizarre claims of forgetfulness and ignorance. (By one count, he uttered "I don't recall" or some similar phrase a total of 77 times during the course of his single day.)
Now, I'm hardly one to talk about not remembering conversations, dates, and times, as TBO will happily tell anyone. But I'm not the freaking Attorney General, either, for chrissakes! It is incumbent upon him (and all other members of any government, in this country, at any rate) to keep records of every single bit of correspondence, every phone call, and at least the minutes of every meeting he makes or holds. Under penalty of law, that is, and since he is the "Top Cop" of the entire country, one might be tempted to think he would want to be above reproach in this respect.
One who has been brain dead for the last 6 years, that is. Of course there are no records or remembrances of anything by anyone remotely connected with this Administration, especially one of the central players. The crimes of these men and women will remain untold for years (if they ever see the light of day), simply because nothing has ever been recorded, in direct defiance of Federal law. And guess who has jurisdiction over Federal law? Why, none other than our friend Alberto, natch.
You see, Gonzales did indeed use his time to prepare for his testimony. He found out exactly what he didn't have to tell the Senate committee; he knows what evidence is, or more pertinently, isn't, out there that anyone can use against him or the rest of the felons in office. I'm sure he spent every last minute of every last day before last Thursday digging for proof of the truth--so he could safely avoid testifying about it!
No surprises once again, of course--heck, these clowns are on record (numerous times) as believing that the Executive Branch is above the law, so what does it matter if Gonzales perjures himself, or covers up crimes, or simply refuses to say anything remotely resembling the facts or the truth to anyone? Smirky's got his back. And since he's the President, that's all that matters. Unless more Congressmen and women decide that the nascent Imperial Rome of Caesar and Augustus is not an appropriate model for the nation, that is, and impeach these Shivan bastards ASAP.