An angry and bitter Paul Wolfowitz

* Guardian:

"An angry and bitter Paul Wolfowitz poured abuse and threatened retaliations on senior World Bank staff if his orders for pay rises and promotions for his partner were revealed, according to new details published last night."

* Newsweek:

"The White House was hit by two sudden resignations late Monday when Paul McNulty, a top Justice Department official, and Lanny Davis, the only Democratic member of the president’s civil liberties watchdog board, announced they were stepping down. Both resignations are likely to fuel allegations of White House political meddling in law enforcement and national security issues... McNulty’s decision to leave now was prompted in part by his disenchantment with both Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and top White House officials over their handling of the U.S. attorney controversy."

* i'm glad that "Like Rain on Your Wedding Day" is increasingly becoming a tagline.


* tristero:

"But I can't celebrate (Falwell's) death either because I know there are other christianists out there, just as bad as Falwell if not worse. His death is not that important in a world where the president of the United States himself is so extreme that he actually curries favor with lunatics like James Dobson.

In other words. the hard struggles needed to reverse the gains christianists have made against the better parts of the United States' government and culture lies ahead of us. There is far too much to do to waste time on Falwell one way or the other."

* Glenn:

"As always, the contempt which the Bush administration has for the rule of law is illustrated not only by their serial and conscious lawbreaking, but also by their extreme efforts to conceal those actions and shield them from any scrutiny or oversight of any kind. Knowing about these events in Aschcroft's hospital room (because he was a key participant in them), Gonzales, with a straight face, insisted in February, 2006 that he would not allow Ashcroft or Comey to testify because "you have to wonder what could Messrs. Comey and Ashcroft add to the discussion." It is impossible to express how free they are of even the most minimal constraints to tell the truth."

* Laura:

"Stunning to think it's Gonzales -- the man who tried to coerce a semi conscious Ashcroft into signing a presidential order in his hospital bed against the wishes of the man formally, legally recognized as the acting attorney general - who wields power as the top law enforcement officer in the country to this very day."

* Mona:

"Massive Epidemic of Bush Derangement Syndrome in Law-abiding DoJ: A host of DoJ lawyers — including then-Attorney General John Ashcroft — nearly resigned. Because they believe in the rule of law.
[]
Well, in testimony today before the Senate Judiciary Committee, former Deputy Attorney General James Comey detailed the desperate efforts Bush, Andy Card and Alberto Gonzalez undertook to get Comey and others to certify the program as legal. What they faced instead was a threat of mass resignations from a whole host of DoJ bigshots, including John Ashcroft himself — all of whom apparently also suffer from BDS

* BlogD:

"Had it not been for 9/11, Bush would have reached 40% (approval) by sometime in early-to-mid 2003, and never would have recovered, losing the 2004 election handily."