Sayonara Al

I don't know about you, but I found the testimony by the top dog in the Federal Department of Justice, Alberto Gonzales, before Congress today to be an almost total pratfall. My dogs have far higher standards than this guy.

And that's putting it kindly, considering the overall consequences of having this not dog but swine with his snout constantly up George's ass in such a position of power.

Of course the dark house promptly crowed in expectedly sleazy-weazel fashion about what a great thing it had been (courtesy Talking Points Memo):

Statement from Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino

... President Bush was pleased with the Attorney General’s testimony today. After hours of testimony in which he answered all of the Senators’ questions and provided thousands of pages of documents, he again showed that nothing improper occurred. He admitted the matter could have been handled much better, and he apologized for the disruption to the lives of the U.S. Attorneys involved, as well as for the lack of clarity in his initial responses. The Attorney General has the full confidence of the President, and he appreciates the work he is doing at the Department of Justice to help keep our citizens safe from terrorists, our children safe from predators, our government safe from corruption, and our streets free from gang violence.

But Gonzales apparently is incapable of finding his way out of a paper bag! It's incredible to think this stooge has been allowed to work for a government of any jurisdiction, never mind having the position of authority he does.

His extreme sycophancy and snivveling is of course an insult to all life-forms - but especially those with less than three legs.

Despite several weeks apparently dedicated to getting his story straight (we paid for this? - who did his Important Job even at the half-assed dubya level he wants to use as a defense in the meantime?), he from what I could tell made a total ass of himself. Partly that was because a number of his questioners, including even a Republic or two, made it clear they were sick of AG's dick-and-jane-level "I don't remember - to my knowledge - I can't recall" imitation of a classic psychopath, totally devoid of any conscience or concern for the impact of his actions on others but a little desperate at being cornered. Of course we have reason to be concerned that it may not be an imitation. Personally, I'm now even more intent on my reading of Cleckley's "Mask of Sanity."

Hannibal Lecter maybe not, but all things considered how about Albert Speer? Goering?

TRex at Firedoglake (that site once again the premier source today for premium live-blogging - but Muckraker not far behind!) among others has a good bit to say on the subject:

I only got to dip into today's testimony by Abu "Buttercheeks" Gonzales, our soon-to-be former Attorney General, but I saw and heard enough to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that not only is this man a liar, but a piss-poor one at that. Whiny, arrogant, dismissive, Little Gonzito sat there squirming on the hot seat, petulantly bleating away in that pinched, nasal Gayberry, RFD accent of his ("Ah awready told yew Ah misspoke!"), and stamping his little size 4 Hushpuppies as one committee member after another aggressively dismantled his pathetic scrim of CYA lies and demonstrated that it would be a stretch to let this man run his own bath, let alone letting him run the nation's engines of justice and law enforcement.

Yes, Abu is just the latest in a long line of egregious incompetents promoted well beyond their abilities and experience so that the Bush junta can extend its imperial reach to all levels of American society and forward the Republicans' plan to turn our nation into the world's single largest third-world banana republic. Bush cronies are to the Peter Principle what nuclear detonations are to static cling.

-clip-