leading up to its potentially illegal reauthorization.

The AAG met with the President and the problems he had were resolved. Plus:

John Schmidt, associate attorney general of the United States in the Clinton administration, superbly explains why the NSA intercept program is legal under all authorities and precedents:

"President Bush's post- Sept. 11, 2001, authorization to the National Security Agency to carry out electronic surveillance into private phone calls and e-mails is consistent with court decisions and with the positions of the Justice Department under prior presidents.
In the Supreme Court's 1972 Keith decision holding that the president does not have inherent authority to order wiretapping without warrants to combat domestic threats, the court said explicitly that it was not questioning the president's authority to take such action in response to threats from abroad.

Four federal courts of appeal subsequently faced the issue squarely and held that the president has inherent authority to authorize wiretapping for foreign intelligence purposes without judicial warrant."

I still remember when he got Bush off jury duty in a DUI case by having a backroom meeting with the judge about how it would be a potential conflict because he might later be asked to rule on a clemency petition in the case.  A clemency petition on a misdemeanor DUI case?  Seriously?  And how that would be a conflict of interest, I'll never understand.  There have been governors who ruled on clemency petitions in which they were the proseuctor!  At least as a juror, he is supposed to be a disinterested party.  Of course, when it was later revealed that he had previously been convicted of DUI himself, it all made sense.  He didn't want to have to answer that question under oath in jury selection.

  Since becoming our Nations Atty Gen in early 2005, Alberto Gonzales is undoubtedly the worst Atty Gen the U.S. has ever had. Even John Mitchell from the Nixon gang couldn't hold a candle to Alberto "The Torturer" Gonzales. This man was the architect of the Bush administrations policy of torturing detainees. Gonzales completely ignored the Geneva Conventions deeming them "quaint". He was a major player in the creation of Guantanamo Bay.

  Gonzales was also pivotal in the creation of the NSA warrant less spying program. He bent the law as he tried to make the illegal spying program legal. He even payed a visit to the Hospital to try and coerce then Atty Gen Ashcroft to sign off on the illegal spying program. Even a sedated Ashcroft refused to do so from his Hospital bed.

 Gonzales also inserted a provision into the Patriot Act that allowed the Prosecutors replacements to not have to go through the usual Senate Confirmation Hearings process. Gonzales was also a major player in the suspension of Habeas Corpus. He can not seem to differentiate between his old job as Bush's Legal Counsel, and his entirely new job as our Nations Atty Gen. These positions are two completely different things and Gonzales never has, and never will understand this. Old habits die hard.

      ANOTHER PERJURY CHARGE FOR GONZALES?:

 So now Gonzales is caught lying to the Senate Investigating Committee "Gang Of Eight" over his role in the NSA program. Gonzales has already been caught lying numerous times to Congress concerning the firings of the nine Federal Prosecutors. My question now is WHEN will he be indicted for Perjury? This man is such a complete disgrace as Atty Gen. His position is supposed to be our Nations highest figure of the law, yet he breaks the law, lies under oath, and violates the Constitution with regularity.

 Gonzales refuses to do the honorable thing and RESIGN. He now says he wants to stay on as ATTY Gen to rectify the tarnished image of the Justice Dept. What a joke! It was his lies under oath, his support of torture, his belief the Geneva Conventions were quaint, his abuses of the Patriot act, his shenanigans concerning the NSA warrant less spying program, and his politicizing of the entire DOJ that tarnished the DOJ image to begin with! He's the problem, not the solution!

 In his testimony before Congress in the Federal Prosecutor firings Gonzales smirked and claimed he couldn't recall seventy four times! These things are not left-Right issues. They are Right-Wrong issues. What does it take for these hopelessly partisan Republicans in the House and Senate to do the RIGHT thing? By that, I mean for ONCE put loyalty to your Country above loyalty to your party?

 When the dirty deeds during the Watergate investigations came to light the Republicans in both Houses realized the importance of loyalty to your Country over loyalty to your party. They were prepared to Impeach Nixon. Nixon resigned instead to spare himself the embarrassment. Will today's Republicans EVER do the right thing?

 How much further are they willing to take America down the toilet with their continued blind loyalty and protection of this corrupt, criminal Bush administration. What more does it take to get the long overdue Impeachment process started?

 Why are the spineless Democrats not pushing harder for Impeachment of this entire Bush administration? Bush, Cheney, and Gonzales( Moe, Larry, and Curly) have far exceeded the Nixon administration cronies. In many ways they make Nixon and his crew look like choir boys by comparison.

 The Republican obstructionists to our Democracy, laws, and Constitution, need to be held accountable too , if they insist on continuing this partisan charade of protecting these thugs any further. They have crossed the line, and are now accomplices in allowing the worst Presidential administration in U.S. history to continue destroying America from within.

 I hope in the end they too ARE held accountable for their dirty partisan deeds. They still have time to save their necks. But it will require they do the RIGHT thing, not more of the right vs left thing.

Jeff Morris-Saugerties, N.Y.- DeJaVu57

"The program had different parts, but there was only one program," Ms. Harman said, adding that Mr. Gonzales was "selectively declassifying information to defend his own conduct," which she called improper.

Glenn Greenwald clears up the confusion about the "other intelligence activities" vs "the program the president has confirmed" in Gonzales' testimony yesterday.

Yes there was additional "intelligence activity" besides what we know was in the so-called TSA. Those activities were what Comey and Ashcroft refused to sign off on when the "TSA" came up for reauthorization. Gonzales is making a cute distinction between "the program" the president has confirmed and the illegal parts of that program he was forced to abandon.

Do you not see the machinations going on before your very eyes??? NOW SEE THIS!

While you are believing the dog and pony show they have been gladly putting on, these major usurpations are going on right before your very eyes.

Gonzales is like a fearsome prized pit bull. Governement is happy to yell at the pit bull not to shred any more victims, but that is for public consumption. They are proud of their terror.

It looks more and more like a Special Prosecutor is in order.

Respectfully disagree, BigTent.

There is no special prosecutor statute anymore. It seemed too much like the Office of the Grand Inquisitor, and had to be abandoned.

Then the white house sends victoria tensing and others to muddy the waters, while the fox noise screams partisan witch hunt, "clinton did it," and liberal media bias (HA!), and before Gonzo is ever indicated, bush pardons him, citing "Christian mercy" and 9/11. why not, so he falls to 18%, Bush doesn't care.