i'm listening to Attorney General Ashcroft's testimony as i type this. It's clear to me, after his opening statement, exactly why people hate and fear him so much. He's very good. The AG landed a number of effective shots in his statement, and i can't wait to hear how the opposition tries to deflect them. It's also clear that Dick Clark and Dr. Rice were the undercard and Ashcroft's is the heavyweight title match. i was that impressed.

Gotta go, Ben Vineste is on now, yakking about the PDB again.

. . .

WTF? Ben is asking about Ashcroft using a chartered jet? Slimeball. Why doesn't he ask if Ashcroft was the one who warned all the jews to stay out of the WTC on 9/11? Why doesn't he ask who planted the bomb in the Pentagon and made it look like a plane crash? Aaack!

. . .

Now the idiot commenter at NPR cuts in to assure his audience that they will "have a look at" Ascrofts answer to the sleazy chartered jet question after his testimony is over. Whaaat? Why the hell don't they "have a look at" Ashcroft's more serious and relevant accusations about Clinton's and Reno's eight year incompetence spree? Aaaack!

. . .

Why do the commisioners keep calling him General? He's not a general, he's an attorney general. The word "general" modifies the noun "attorney."

. . .

i'm unable to listen that closely because i am annoyingly distracted by the need to create a false impression of diligence in completing my job tasks.

. . .

It's now over, i didn't notice any effective counter-punches by the commisioners. Now the spinning begins.

Posted by: annika at 01:34 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
Post contains 288 words, total size 2 kb.

1 I forgot that Ashcroft was testifying today. I've got to listen to it.

Posted by: La Shawn Barber at April 13, 2004 03:04 PM (tW8zw)

2 Annika, Go to Instapundit for what appears to be a conflict of interest involving one of the commission members--Jamie Gorelick, former deputy attorney general. This is the kind of shit--Gorelick's--is what will distract us from what's important--winning the terrorism war now. The Monday morning quarterbacking/after the fact analysis is an exercise in politicizing 9/11. Watch for further spin. And watch for dizzy spells.

Posted by: joe at April 13, 2004 03:53 PM (dprmZ)

3 "the need to create a false impression of diligence in completing my job tasks." When I've got a post to finish or a great article to read, well over the past 18 months of bloggin I've gotten pretty good at creating that false impression

Posted by: Scof at April 13, 2004 04:27 PM (XCqS+)

4 People very frequently address Attorneys General (both state and federal) as "General." It's one of my pet peeves, but such longstanding usage isn't going to change.

Posted by: Dave J at April 13, 2004 04:43 PM (VThvo)

5 Annika, the bombshell was that after a long build up about the "wall' that was built between criminal and terrorist investigations (to "preserve" testimony for prosecutions), the Clinton folks overdid it with memos that totally handcuffed terrorism investigators from getting info on real potential terrorism plots. Gorelick was mouthing denials to her fellow Commissioners, then, in a moment of high drama, Ashcroft stated that he had declassified the Memo and released it on the spot. Needless to say, Gorelick was both the author and her initials appeared on the document. There is now a building pressure for her to resign and testify to the Commission. The Memo cause Ben-Veniste to change course and ask Ashcroft about his refusing to fly regular commercial flights, to which Ashcroft replied that both he and his wife always fly regular commercial flights. Goelick was trying to get under the table, reminiscent of Teddy Kennedy during the Impeachment Hearings when Arlen Spector asked him "If the Senator from Massachusetts wishes to engage...?"

Posted by: shelly s. at April 17, 2004 05:57 AM (AaBEz)

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