Subpoenas For Rove And Miers?

Well can you imagine?  Democrats are upset about the firing of US Attorneys on Bush’s watch.  This is precious:

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote Thursday on whether to issue subpoenas to 14 current and former administration officials, including White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers, John Bresnahan reports.

Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.), the panel’s ranking Republican, are expected to convene the committee Thursday to vote on the subpoenas for Rove, Miers and William Kelly, a former top aide to Miers.

The committee will also vote subpoena six of the fired U.S. Attorneys and five Justice Department officials, including Kyle Sampson, the recently fired chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Since Rove, Miers and Kelly were just added to the schedule for Thursday’s committee meeting, panel rules allow any member to postpone consideration of the subpoenas for one week.

Hey guys don’t forget to subpoenas for Bill Clinton and Janet Reno.  Recall the Clinton in 1993 fired 93 US Attorneys including those investigating the Clintons’ involvement in Whitewater and Webster Hubbell (still in jail?) and replacing the Attorney in Arkansas with a former student of Clinton.  I think that Dan Rostenkowski (served jail time) was being investigated at that time as well.

In 1993, shortly after she was installed as attorney general, Janet Reno sent an unmistakable signal that her Justice Department would primarily serve the political ends of Bill Clinton rather than the ends of justice. At once, she fired all 93 of the country’s United States attorneys. According to no less an authority than Ted Olson, President George Bush’s chief post-election attorney, Reno’s move was extreme and unprecedented. “In order to maintain continuity in thousands of pending prosecutions, and as a statement to the public that elections do not influence routine law enforcement, the nation’s top prosecutors are traditionally replaced only after their successors have been located, appointed, and confirmed by the Senate. On instructions from the White House (she claimed it was a ‘joint’ decision; no one believes that), Reno ordered all 93 to leave in ten days. There could not have been a clearer signal that the Clinton campaign war room had taken over law enforcement in America.”

Bill knows something about politicizing the US Attorney’s office for goodness sake!

Strickland To Dismantle Education Options For The Poor

Putting politics and teachers unions ahead of poor and disadvantaged students, Ted (“Walking Humbly With God”) Strickland gave the first indications of how far to the left he will try to lead the State of Ohio.  We’ve now seen early payback to teachers’ unions which control education in Ohio and we have seen how Ted intends to take choice away from poor parents and students of this state.  Here’s the warm-up:

But we must be open to new ways of doing things and new ways of thinking. The strategies and ideologies of the 20th Century will not make us strong in the 21st Century. As a writer once observed, “The things that got us here will not get us there.”

Here’s the translation:  “I intend to dismantle anything which does not move us toward a socialistic society beholden to special liberal interest groups.”

He goes on:

Consequently, I’m proposing that the Department of Job and Family Services develop a grant program to encourage job training and job creation for young people in low income communities.

Participating employers will receive funds to support the training and wages of a young employee.

Here’s the translation: “I intend to expand government and make job creation a function of the state.  I intend to funnel millions to those industries, unions and special interest groups which have a liberal ideology and support me politically.”

And yet more:

So as we ask for sacrifice, we must demonstrate responsibility. Wastefulness and giveaways can no longer be tolerated.

That’s why my budget eliminates the Ed Choice voucher program.

It limits the Student Choice Grant for students attending private colleges to those with a financial need.

It eliminates financial aid for students in proprietary for-profit schools not in the Board of Regents system.

I’ll translate again: “I will not permit impoverished families with children to escape a system which destines them for failure and lifetime poverty.  Allowing these families to escape the public school system will weaken the union’s grip on funding and ideology and this will not be permitted.  We must all make sacrifices for the union and the state and I intend not only to soak the rich, but also to screw the poor.  ‘Choice’ has to do with unlimited abortion (which I as a Methodist minister support wholeheartedly) and not with education for the poor.”

And it goes on and on to expand the scope and power of the state so as to make the recipients of all these handouts dependent on those in power.  This could be a long governorship.

MIT Courses Now Online

I found mention at a web site (sorry forgot the exact attribution) noting that many of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) courses are online for your (re)viewing.  Many areas are available, both in the hard and “soft” sciences.  Here’s the link and a listing of departments available.

Aeronautics and Astronautics
Anthropology
Architecture
Athletics, Physical Education and Recreation
Biological Engineering
Biology
Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Chemical Engineering
Chemistry
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Comparative Media Studies
Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Economics
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Engineering Systems Division
Experimental Study Group
Foreign Languages and Literatures
Health Sciences and Technology
History
Linguistics and Philosophy
Literature
Materials Science and Engineering
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Media Arts and Sciences
Music and Theater Arts
Nuclear Science and Engineering
Physics
Political Science
Science, Technology, and Society
Sloan School of Management
Special Programs
Urban Studies and Planning
Women’s Studies
Writing and Humanistic Studies

I love this stuff.  This should keep me busy for a long time.