News Roundup for 12/31/08

Gonzales with his favorite hobby

-Now there's a stupid question-
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, disgraced former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asked the interviewer, "What is it that I did that is so fundamentally wrong, that deserves this kind of response to my service?" He then goes on to call himself "one of the many casualties of the war on terror."

I'll bet if we waterboarded Gonzo, he might come up with an answer to that question himself. In fact, I can say with absolute, 100% certainty that he would. Waterboarding's great for that kind of thing. I could also get him to admit to shooting Lincoln and leading the Sack of Rome.

But, since we can't waterboard him, we'll have to rely on TP to refresh our memories:

-Politicized the DOJ
-Approved torture
-Lied about warrantless wiretapping
-Distorted pre-war intelligence

And, of course, that whole Valerie Plame thing. You know what Bobbie? I think I can answer your question myself -- you're freakin' literally evil. If you're a casualty in the War on Terror, then the good guys scored one when you went down.

One bright spot, Gonzo can't find a job anywhere. "Any law firm that does due diligence on me sees all the investigations and the possibility that I might be indicted and they say, ‘Not right now.'"

Golly, that must be rough. Let's all pretend to feel sorry for him. (Think Progress)


-Headline of the day-
"Ohio anti-bias worker sent racist, sexist e-mails."

According to the report, "An Ohio state employee whose job is to prevent discrimination repeatedly sent racist and sexist e-mails from his government account, an investigation found, but kept his job." A year earlier, he'd sent emails joking about giving jobs to women with big tits. What a hoot this guy is, huh?

Robert Habern, the department's equal employment opportunity contracts coordinator in the state's Lima office, was found to have sent emails with "jokes about men kissing and a woman's genitalia, as well as a racial joke and a caricature of President-elect Barack Obama" which were the source of the complaints this year.

Habern -- who, it can't be repeated enough, is employed to make sure that women and minorities aren't discriminated against -- was suspended without pay for 10 days in October for the latest emails. "Everything's all taken care of and squared away," Habern told the AP. "It's over with. I don't even want to bring it back up. It's done and over with."

Department officials defend keeping on Habern, saying the punishment for the most recent infraction was "pretty harsh."

If they aren't going to fire him, maybe they could transfer him to a different department. Does Ohio have a Division of Asshole Protection? Probably not, since this story proves they don't need one. Assholes in Ohio are very well protected, thank you very much. (Associated Press)


-Bonus HotD-
"Powell Aide Calls Bush 'Sarah Palin-Like President'."

This prompts on of those "chicken or egg" questions; is this more of an insult to Bush or Palin? Matthew Yglesias has a possible answer; Palin.

"I'm going to say 'more insulting to Palin,'" he writes. "Palin's something of a laughingstock, but Bush is a villain. I mean, he wrecked the world economy, he led to millions of Iraqis being forced to flee their homes, he's a total disaster and a disgrace. Palin gave bad answers in TV interviews. There's no real comparison."

Like Sarah wouldn't have done pretty much the same thing if she had the chance. If Bush can be a villain, I have no doubt that Palin could be a villainess. She just never got the chance. (Huffington Post)