Amid Anger Over Economy, Obama Looks For Right Tone By Alec MacGillis February 5, 2009 President Obama, who swept to the White House on a message of hope and inspiration, is struggling to contend with a different emotion among Americans – anger. Livid about their own vanished jobs and decimated retirement accounts, people across the […]
U.S. Attorney Scandal: Feds Probe Domenici for Obstruction of Justice In Iglesias Firing By Murray Waas February 4, 2009 A federal grand jury probe of the firings of nine U.S. attorneys during the Bush administration is focusing on the role played by recently retired Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and former senior Bush White House aides […]
I watched Markopolos testify tody in the Congressional Hearings on the Madoff Ponzi Scheme and then as much as I could tolerate of the S.E.C. Officials that followed him as I could tolerate [which wasn’t a lot]. Linda Thomsen, Securities and Exchange Commission Enforcement Director, stood out as the paradigm for the kind of bureaucrat […]
Group Psychology is a fascinating topic. It’s more that that for Group Therapists. It’s the key to creating a Group Milieu that can become a powerful force for change instead of a "mob." What follows is my own paraphrasing of the ideas of Winfred Bion, a British Psychoanalyst from the School of Melanie Klein who […]
Attorney: Rove Will Cooperate With DOJ Probes By Murray Waas February 2, 2009 Karl Rove will cooperate with a federal criminal inquiry underway into the firings of nine U.S. attorneys and has already spoken to investigators in a separate, internal DOJ investigation into the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, his attorney said in […]
Obama Justice Department Re-Hires Attorney Fired By Goodling Because Of Lesbian Rumor In October 2006, Leslie Hagen, who was working as the liaison between the Justice Department and the U.S. attorneys’ committee on Native American issues, was informed that despite her “outstanding” job performance reviews, her contract would not be renewed. In April 2008, NPR […]
I’m reading all this stuff on the Internet about Obama’s "cult of competence" being tarnished and the Republicans "winning one" on Tom Daschle’s withdrawal. Boy, I must be out to lunch. I thought Obama said, "I will make mistakes," and that we wanted a "Bipartisan" government. Well, he [or some staffer] made a mistake and […]
Tom Daschle Withdraws As Health Nominee Tom Daschle withdrew his nomination on Tuesday as President Obama’s nominee to lead the Health and Human Services Department, a decision that came one day after Mr. Obama declared that he would stand behind Mr. Daschle as problems over unpaid taxes were scrutinized on Capitol Hill. “I accept his […]
Friend ShrinkRap points us to this exchange on This Week with George Stephanopolis between Jim DeMint [R-CA] and Barney Frank [D-MA]: DeMint: It’s the largest spending bill in history and we’re trying to call it a stimulus. Frank: The largest spending bill in history is going to turn out to be the one in Iraq. […]
Holder Is Confirmed as Attorney General By NEIL A. LEWIS February 2, 2009 WASHINGTON — The Senate voted overwhelmingly Monday evening to confirm Eric H. Holder Jr. to be the new attorney general of the United States. The vote was 75 to 21, with all the votes against the nomination coming from Republicans. At one […]