Day: April 19, 2007

NRA Lobbyist: “Lock and Load; We’ll Be Back”

Trish

Florida Republicans got sideways yesterday with an old friend, and she’s mad as hell.

Forced to make a virtual Sophie’s choice between the gun and business lobbies — and no doubt influenced by events at Virginia Tech — they defeated the so-called, “Take Your Gun to Work” bill. The law was expected to serve as a model for the rest of the country.

The NRA put the blame for the defeat on “Republican turncoats”

In a rare setback for the powerful gun lobby, a House council on Wednesday soundly defeated a bill that would have allowed employees to bring their guns to work as long as they locked them in their cars or trucks…

Mark Wilson of the Florida Chamber of Commerce said the committee voted to protect “the private property rights” of businesses and residents. He applauded the council members “for voting their consciences under such tremendous pressure.”

…Some lawmakers clearly wanted to avoid the showdown. Rep. Baxter Troutman, R-Winter Haven, asked that the vote be postponed, saying it was “highly inappropriate” following the massacre at Virginia Tech.

Actually, it couldn’t have been more appropriate. But that’s not how past NRA president and chief lobbyist, Marion Hammer, sees it. Floridians recognize Hammer for her place in the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame, where she was installed by none other than former governor Jeb Bush.

In an e-mail to supporters, the NRA put the blame for the defeat on “Republican turncoats.”

“We will not forget these anti-gun, anti-freedom, anti-constitution representatives,” said the message from Hammer, a former NRA president. “Most particularly we will not forget the Republican betrayers — some of whom have to run for re-election in 2008 and some are term-limited out but are planning to run for other offices.”

Actually it was large Florida employers, like Disney, who are more to thank. I can see why a parking lot full of loaded weapons would be unwelcome among the Mickey Mouse ears and strollers. But by all means, Marion, hammer away at those Republicans you don’t see as rabid enough.

She already is.

After the vote, Wilson, of the Florida Chamber of Commerce, tried to shake Hammer’s hand.

“Lock and load,” Hammer said. “We’ll be back.”

Gonzales Testimony Drinking Game – Down a Shot Every Time He Says ‘Improper’

Jon Ponder

It is 6:40 a.m. in West Hollywood as I write this, and I am celebrating the long awaited Senate Judiciary Committee testimony of Attorney Gen. Alberto Gonzales with a drinking game. My plan is to do a shot of tequila every time he uses the word “improper.” I am doing this strictly for your entertainment, dear read, but please feel free to play along at home.

On the substance, the truthy answers he memorized are working as intended. His talks and talks but says nothing — and yet his words seem to brim with content.

Let the games begin:

7:04 – Abu says he’s done nothing improper and therefore nothing improper has been done. Gimme two. Bottoms up! Yee-ha.

7:29 – Nothing was improper, I tells ya! I was not improper, nothing improper to see here, move along. Set up three more shots, tarbender!

8:41 – Abu: I don’t recall it but I do know it wasn’t improper. Just one, barkeep.

8:51 – Improper, I was not, says Abu, and improper was not done by me. Twofer. Line ’em up, good sir, two in row.

9:30 – They have broken for lunch. During Gonzo’s three weeks of practice sessions, the Rove people must have cued him not to over-use his catch phrases — more’s the pity for the game. I’ve only had eight ounces of liquor so far!

On the substance, the truthy answers he memorized are working as intended. His talks and talks but says nothing — and yet his words seem to brim with content.

11:47 – They’re back from lunch, and we have three impropers off the bat. Line ’em up!

11:54 – Just one. Urp!

12:10 – Sen. Whitehouse calls Gonzo on over-using the word “improper.” A dozen or so uses back and forth. A round for the house, my good man!

12:56 – Hatch gives Gonzo big improper love: Four in a row – ding, ding, ding, ding.

1:37 – Gonzo tells Schumer it’s up to accusers to prove he did something improper. Set me up!

1:46 – Early reviews of Gonzo’s performance are not good:

CNN’s Dana Bash:

Loyal Republican after loyal Republican in this hearing room, and more specifically, in private to CNN today have made it clear that they are frankly flabbergasted by how poorly they think the attorney general has done in this hearing. … During the lunch break, in private, several very loyal Republicans made it clear to CNN that they were really dripping with disappointment.

CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux:

[White House officials] believe Gonzales is in trouble. … Two senior White House aides here describing the situation, Gonzales’ testimony, as “going down in flames.” That he was “not doing himself any favors.” One prominent Republican describing watching his testimony as “clubbing a baby seal.”

1:55 – Game over. I’m not sure which is more wasted, me or Gonzo’s career.

Update: We should have been playing on the phrase, “I don’t recall.” Someone counted 71 of them. That would have been staggering.

Correction: Fitzgerald Did Not Punt on Rove Emails

Jon Ponder

I was wrong: On Tuesday, I wrote, “Even so, there is some new evidence [CIA Leak case special prosecutor Patrick] Fitzgerald may have whiffed on going up the chain in the Libby trial. Either he didn’t know about Karl Rove’s secret email system, or he deliberately failed to subpoena all of Rove’s correspondence.”

That was incorrect. In January 2006, Fitzgerald made a filing that indicated he had been informed by the White House that some emails sent by senior staff had been improperly archived and were missing:

Fitzgerald revealed that his investigative team “learned that not all email of the Office of the Vice President and the Executive Office of the President for certain time periods in 2003 was preserved through the normal archiving process on the White House computer system.”

A recent audit by the Office of Administration showed that as many as 5 million emails were lost. What is unclear now is whether the White House was fully truthful with Fitzgerald about the scope of the missing emails.

FBI Raids Home of Abramoff Suspect GOP Rep. Doolittle

Jon Ponder

The timing of this is interesting, since the capo de capo of the FBI/DoJ, Attorney Gen. Alberto Gonzales, is testifying before Congress today about charges that he and Pres. Bush may have obstructed justice by firing federal prosecutors who were investigating GOP corruption:

The FBI searched the Virginia home of Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) last Friday in its investigation into ties between the congressman and his wife, Julie, and disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to law enforcement and other Congressional and K Street sources.

The search took place on the same day that his former chief of staff, Kevin Ring, abruptly resigned from his lobbying firm. Ring left Doolittle’s office to work for Abramoff at the law firm Greenberg Traurig and may have played a role in Abramoff’s decision to hire Julie Doolittle’s consulting firm. After the Abramoff scandal broke, Ring went to work for the lobbying firm, Barnes and Thornburg.

Doolittle came within three percentage points of losing his election in November after facing months of scrutiny over his relationship with Abramoff, who is in jail for an array of fraud, bribery and money-laundering charges. The lawmaker has denied any wrongdoing.

Throughout his campaign, Doolittle refused to return an estimated $50,000 he received from Abramoff clients, mostly tribes, between 1999 and 2004. Abramoff also personally donated $14,000 between 1999 and 2004 to Doolittle’s congressional campaigns.

Doolittle used Abramoff’s luxury sports box for a fundraiser without initially reporting it to the Federal Election Commission.