"Mistakes were made."

[CharleyH]

Recently, someone suggested we incorporate the phrase, "Mistakes were made" into the language as a new verb tense: the Past Exonerative.

Discuss.

ROFLOL. Indeed, but that would require a belief in "mistakes ARE made" and the same mistakes "WILL BE made" and I doubt many believe in the now or the future of mistakes.

 

[Subo97]

Subo was here!

Did I subpeona you already?

Are you with the closed door, no-oath, no transcripts group? Or are you with the scapegoats?

My heart always goes out to the scapegoats. I admit some emnity for Judas goats. But I only testify on Sunday.

 

[Seattle Zack]

Mistakes were made.
Obligatory finger-pointing was encouraged.
Weak 'Mea Culpa's were forthcoming.
Distancing from the disgraced was achieved.

Many passive verbs were used.

 

[yevkassem72]

Politicians were elected. Enough said. All mistakes follow from this.

Love the signature, Zack, btw.

 

[elsol]

Scapegoats were selected.

 

[elsol]

Subo was here!

Did I subpeona you already?

Are you with the closed door, no-oath, no transcripts group? Or are you with the scapegoats?

Actually...


The Scapegoats have figured out they were only invited to dinner in case more meat was needed... they're not happy.

And I quote:

The potential for taking the blame for the department's bungled response "is very real," Dowd said. "One need look no further than the recent circumstances and proceedings involving Lewis Libby," he said, a reference to the recent conviction of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff in the CIA leak case.

Normally, I'm not fond of lawyers 'cause they seriously could teach sharks a thing or two... but sometimes you gotta give the bastards credit for putting it down like it is.

 

[shereads]

Weak 'Mea Culpa's were forthcoming.

Who can we bribe to slip "Mea Culpa" into one of Bush's prepared press statements? He'd think he was saying something clever.

 

[Subo97]

Who can we bribe to slip "Mea Culpa" into one of Bush's prepared press statements? He'd think he was saying something clever.

Like the time he told Brian Williams he was an "ecaclectic (sic) reader?"

 

[shereads]

Like the time he told Brian Williams he was an "ecaclectic (sic) reader?"

I missed that one. I stopped subscribing to Bushisms sites a couple of years ago; I guess it stopped being funny that the most powerful man in the world was gleefully ignorant.

"If you teach a child to read, he or her will be able to get a job."

 

[Alexandra1979]

I'd love to become a limousine liberal! Where do I sign up?

"Limousines were purchased."

"Guilt was experienced."

"Caviar was served."

LOL. Giggling here. Oddly enough, I can't stand caviar. My mother's family find this amusing, since they are Ukrainian and think it is a big deal to have access to caviar. I, on the other hand, just don't care for it. Go figure, huh?

But limousines, on the other hand....toss in some Captain Morgan with Coke and I'm a happy girl. And, yes, I do feel guilt at times over inheriting wealth. It's a liberal thing. I just want to do something good with it at times. End of threadjack, sweethearts.

 

[shereads]

LOL. Giggling here. Oddly enough, I can't stand caviar. My mother's family find this amusing, since they are Ukrainian and think it is a big deal to have access to caviar. I, on the other hand, just don't care for it. Go figure, huh?

But limousines, on the other hand....toss in some Captain Morgan with Coke and I'm a happy girl. And, yes, I do feel guilt at times over inheriting wealth. It's a liberal thing. I just want to do something good with it at times. End of threadjack, sweethearts.

Don't feel compelled to end your threadjack. This thread practically begs to be flown to Cuba at gunpoint.




Today's news: the autopsy report indicates that Anna Nicole is still dead.

 

[Alexandra1979]

Don't feel compelled to end your threadjack. This thread practically begs to be flown to Cuba at gunpoint.




Today's news: the autopsy report indicates that Anna Nicole is still dead.

Thanks, hon. That's hilarious. Same with the Anna Nicole thing. Shades of the old joke about Franco. Though one I always liked about her: she never felt compelled to get thin, like some people have in her situation. That takes guts, to be a full-figured woman and still strut your stuff, knowing that you're sexy.

 

[shereads]

Thanks, hon. That's hilarious. Same with the Anna Nicole thing. Shades of the old joke about Franco. Though one I always liked about her: she never felt compelled to get thin, like some people have in her situation. That takes guts, to be a full-figured woman and still strut your stuff, knowing that you're sexy.

She had six or seven different prescription drugs in her at the time of death - sleeping pills, valium, xanax, some antibiotics, a muscle rexaler. And Tylenol. It was probably the deadly Tylenol that killed her.

Have you signed up for your paternity test yet? Some of us without penises, and who never met her, have decided we might as well give it a shot. The lab could make a mistake, and the kid is worth millons.

 

[Alexandra1979]

She had six or seven different prescription drugs in her at the time of death - sleeping pills, valium, xanax, some antibiotics, a muscle rexaler. And Tylenol. It was probably the deadly Tylenol that killed her.

Have you signed up for your paternity test yet? Some of us without penises, and who never met her, have decided we might as well give it a shot. The lab could make a mistake, and the kid is worth millons.

LOL....I probably have as much of a chance as that impotent-looking lawyer/snake Mr. Stern.

It's funny how many people say "yes" to drugs, whenever they are prescription.

 

[shereads]

LOL....I probably have as much of a chance as that impotent-looking lawyer/snake Mr. Stern.

It's funny how many people say "yes" to drugs, whenever they are prescription.

Kind of sad that she was surrounded by adoring hangers-on and none of them managed to intervene. Maybe that's why they were allowed to hang on. The other sad thing - and yeah, I know, I'm not supposed to admit paying much attention to such low-brow pop-culture, unless there's a break in Jon-Benet's murder - is that she apparently didn't mean to kill herself, but was self-medicating after coming down with a fever and refusing to go to the hospital because there would be a media frenzy.

Whoa. A belated attempt to preserve her privacy, but man did it backfire!

I vote for Zsa-Zsa Gabor's husband as the father. That makes the best ending for the books.

 

[Seattle Zack]

For those of us scoring at home, it's difficult to actually adjust to the scope of the Republican scandals (as opposed to the Clinton administration, where you just tracked the female interns).

This is an awesome little bit from Slate. This might be kind of fun to watch, over the next few days.

As clichés go, "It's not the crime, it's the coverup" is a pretty useful one. And it's particularly apt in the train wreck that is the Bush administration's U.S. attorney purge. Sure, the underlying act that's alleged—firing only those U.S. attorneys who didn't measure up as "loyal Bushies"—was a bad one. But what seems to have undone the once-leviathan Bush administration is the fact that everyone's lying about it. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty apparently admitted both too little and too much in one brief briefing. And those admissions have triggered the kind of scrambling and finger-pointing we've never seen from this administration.

Had McNulty not claimed before the Senate on Feb. 6 that six of the fired U.S. attorneys had been let go for "performance-related" issues, he would not have infuriated those lawyers into defending their performance. And had he not had one dumb moment of pure honesty—admitting that a seventh was fired just to make room for a former Rove aide—he might not have illuminated more than the White House cared to reveal. And without these assertions (bear in mind that Harriet Miers advised him to deny, deny, deny), McNulty might not have implicated his colleagues at the Justice Department and the White House and turned them into liars and finger-pointers as well.

It's not easy to keep track of who in the Bush administration did what and whose lies contradict whose. A chart helps. So here's a roundup of some of what we now know.

 

[shereads]

For those of us scoring at home, it's difficult to actually adjust to the scope of the Republican scandals (as opposed to the Clinton administration, where you just tracked the female interns).

This is an awesome little bit from Slate. This might be kind of fun to watch, over the next few days.

As clichés go, "It's not the crime, it's the coverup" is a pretty useful one. And it's particularly apt in the train wreck that is the Bush administration's U.S. attorney purge. Sure, the underlying act that's alleged—firing only those U.S. attorneys who didn't measure up as "loyal Bushies"—was a bad one. But what seems to have undone the once-leviathan Bush administration is the fact that everyone's lying about it. Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty apparently admitted both too little and too much in one brief briefing. And those admissions have triggered the kind of scrambling and finger-pointing we've never seen from this administration.

Had McNulty not claimed before the Senate on Feb. 6 that six of the fired U.S. attorneys had been let go for "performance-related" issues, he would not have infuriated those lawyers into defending their performance. And had he not had one dumb moment of pure honesty—admitting that a seventh was fired just to make room for a former Rove aide—he might not have illuminated more than the White House cared to reveal. And without these assertions (bear in mind that Harriet Miers advised him to deny, deny, deny), McNulty might not have implicated his colleagues at the Justice Department and the White House and turned them into liars and finger-pointers as well.

It's not easy to keep track of who in the Bush administration did what and whose lies contradict whose. A chart helps. So here's a roundup of some of what we now know.

According to Senator Arlen Specter, the Attorney General "may have been less than candid."

I was reminded of the story we all learned as children about young George Washington who, when asked whether he had chopped down his father's cherry tree, replied, "I cannot be less than candid."

 

[Boxlicker101]

According to Senator Arlen Specter, the Attorney General "may have been less than candid."

I was reminded of the story we all learned as children about young George Washington who, when asked whether he had chopped down his father's cherry tree, replied, "I cannot be less than candid."

What puzzles me is why they didn't just say something like "We fired these guys because they were doing lousy jobs." After all, W has the power to fire any or all of them, and I suppose he can delegate that power to the AG. Certainly, there is no crime or "wrong-doing" to cover up.

 

[shereads]

What puzzles me is why they didn't just say something like "We fired these guys because they were doing lousy jobs." After all, W has the power to fire any or all of them, and I suppose he can delegate that power to the AG. Certainly, there is no crime or "wrong-doing" to cover up.

The guys all had EXCELLENT performance reports. It's hard to fire someone for poor performance when his official file says he's great at his job.

U.S. attorneys are traditionally fired en masse when the incoming president takes office, just like other appointed positions. (Karl Rove's spin on this is that "Clinton fired all of the U.S. attorneys." So did Bush, and so did every other president at the start of his term. But Karl didn't think you'd want to hear that.)

After the initial appointment, it's hands-off unless there is a performance reason for the firing, which is supposed to be preceded by a warning that the person is not doing his job well and needs to do better - and that's supposed to be in his file, for the record, so that there's no question the firing was without cause.

Political firings of U.S. Attorneys are at best, unethical. At worst, it's a criminal act - the criterion being, as I understsand it, whether the attorney's firing was timed to interfere with an active prosecution.

In at least one case, a crime was committed here. An attorney with an excellent performance review was fired during a critical point in a case she was prosecuting - a case that the administration did not want to go forward.

In all cases, these fired attorneys were either prosecuting Republicans or had chosen not to prosecute Democrats; all now say they had come under pressure to make political decisions about those cases, and refused to cave. There is no reason for their firings in their employee files; they were given no official warning of poor performance.

The White House doesn't get to decide who gets prosecuted for criminal wrongdoing based on who their friends are, Box. Not even if Karl Rove thinks it's a cool way to get even.

They should have just made an Enemies List, like Nixon, and sicced the IRS on them. Nothing messes with an Enemy of the White House like a tax audit, unless it's J. Edgar Hoover bugging their bedrooms. Those were the days...

I hate that you Republicans don't know this stuff before you post about it, Box. i'm exhausted from filling you guys in on what Fox News didn't tell you.

 

[Subo97]

Fox News isn't the the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth?

You mean we may not be winning in Iraq? Sadaam Hussein wasn't responsible for 9/11? Global warming isn't a Liberal illusion?

I'm gasping for breath here.

 

[shereads]

Fox News isn't the the Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth?

You mean we may not be winning in Iraq? Sadaam Hussein wasn't responsible for 9/11? Global warming isn't a Liberal illusion?

I'm gasping for breath here.

Fox is the Essential Truth, which is like the regular truth, but improved. They strip it of facts that could confuse the untrained mind or induce troubling self-doubt, and repackage it so it's more nutritioius and digestible.

 

[Guest]

Fox is the Essential Truth, which is like the regular truth, but improved. They strip it of facts that could confuse the untrained mind or induce troubling self-doubt, and repackage it so it's more nutritioius and digestible.

Like Metamucil?

 

[Boxlicker101]

The guys all had EXCELLENT performance reports. It's hard to fire someone for poor performance when his official file says he's great at his job.

U.S. attorneys are traditionally fired en masse when the incoming president takes office, just like other appointed positions. (Karl Rove's spin on this is that "Clinton fired all of the U.S. attorneys." So did Bush, and so did every other president at the start of his term. But Karl didn't think you'd want to hear that.)

After the initial appointment, it's hands-off unless there is a performance reason for the firing, which is supposed to be preceded by a warning that the person is not doing his job well and needs to do better - and that's supposed to be in his file, for the record, so that there's no question the firing was without cause.

Political firings of U.S. Attorneys are at best, unethical. At worst, it's a criminal act - the criterion being, as I understsand it, whether the attorney's firing was timed to interfere with an active prosecution.

In at least one case, a crime was committed here. An attorney with an excellent performance review was fired during a critical point in a case she was prosecuting - a case that the administration did not want to go forward.

In all cases, these fired attorneys were either prosecuting Republicans or had chosen not to prosecute Democrats; all now say they had come under pressure to make political decisions about those cases, and refused to cave. There is no reason for their firings in their employee files; they were given no official warning of poor performance.

The White House doesn't get to decide who gets prosecuted for criminal wrongdoing based on who their friends are, Box. Not even if Karl Rove thinks it's a cool way to get even.

They should have just made an Enemies List, like Nixon, and sicced the IRS on them. Nothing messes with an Enemy of the White House like a tax audit, unless it's J. Edgar Hoover bugging their bedrooms. Those were the days...

I hate that you Republicans don't know this stuff before you post about it, Box. i'm exhausted from filling you guys in on what Fox News didn't tell you.

I still say NO CRIME WAS COMMITTED. It may have been unethical, but since when have politicians ever been ethical? You say, or at least imply, that it would be a criminal act to fire a prosecutor who had a case in progress. At any given time, some of them have cases in progress. If one has a case in progress on Jan. 20, 2008, when a new president, say Hillary Rodham Clinton, is sworn in, would she be committing a criminal act by firing him or her?

I would expect that all the fired attorneys were prosecuting Reps. I would also expect that some of them had refused certain prosecutions of Dems. I would also say that some of them were prosecuting Dems and had refused to prosecute Reps. Out of curiosity, which one had an excellent record and was prosecuting a case the Reps. didn't want, and what case was it? In fact, how is it that you know the personnel records, which are not made public, of the people fired? You say that Fox is not reliable, and I am inclined to agree, but I don't trust any of the networks very much, especially when it comes to reporting on the pres.

FYI, I am not a Republican. Offhand, I don't know what my registration is, because I change it frequently. I do know that I voted for Dems. for pres. in the last three elections and for congress in the last four elections. For the Senate, I tend to vote for Lady Di and against the Boxer.

 

[yevkassem72]

War crimes were committed. Virgins were sacrificed. Towns were torched and plundered. Women were ravished. Can you imagine how many despicable acts, not counting the examples that I just noted, that this past exonerative could cover? In Bukharin's name, no one will be responsible for anything now!

 

[elsol]

Fucking AAA!!!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17852146/

That's another popular one.

It's not that they lied... it's that they weren't accurate.