I don't think Specter is going to let Gonzalez or White House slide...

[kentuck]

He is a Republican and he must walk a thin line, as far as working with the Republicans on the Committee. His situation is tougher than any other Senator on that Committee. But, I believe he will stand up for our Constitution. Just my opinion.

[hatrack]

1. Maybe so, but if so, then why didn't he swear in Gonzalez?

:shrug:

[helderheid]

5. exactly

[savemefromdumbya]

6. No liar wants to speak under oath?

[immoderate]

7. Good question. Where did this idea come from?

--IMM

[kentuck]

9. Because he was walking that thin line...

Probably was requested by the White House and other Senators on the Committee. That put him in an untenable position. He could have gone against their wishes but he decided to go along with them on their request... I would not expect that to happen again.

[NNN0LHI]

27. The answer is so he can lie with abandon n/t

[savemefromdumbya]

2. he'll cave in

he probably wants to live doesn't he or he mysteriously have a heart attack

[EFerrari]

3. He's letting him slide as we speak.

And the whore media will praise him for being tough.

[Toucano]

4. He has already failed to do that!

Gonzales isn't under oath.

Specter decided that. This is a waste of time.

[skooooo]

8. testifying before congress is a serious thing

Lying in front of Congress is perjury whether he's sworn in or not - at least that was my impression.

[FreedomAngel82]

13. Does anybody else know that??

[Toucano]

16. Then why swear in anyone?

The function of the oath is to remind the witness of the seriousness of their testimony.

No one is above the rules.

[skooooo]

23. its symbolic

[havocmom]

20. That's what I understood too. Like giving false or misleading info

to law enforcement or officers of the court- it is illegal in its self, oath or not.

Hoping Specter is trying to make the AG feel comfy enough to lie and then nail his ass for it.

A girl has to maintain some hope...

And the junta has already proven oaths mean nada to them.

[KoKo]

24. It Used to Be! Not anymore. This Adminstration has lied repeated to

Congress and never been held accountable. Unitary President and all that crap. We've never seen anything like this...but Congress allowed itself to be put in this position. We don't have members who have loyalty to their constituents and the Constitution anymore. They are loyal to their Corporate Donors and the Think Tanks. The few who are honest have no authority and unlike past times...there aren't Repugs who head these Hearings who will jump ship with their own to honor the Consitution.

There are no surprises anymore. Alito hearings were the final straw showing what it's all about now in Bush's 21st Century. :-(

[FreedomAngel82]

12. Yep just like the rest of them

I'm tired of this shit!

[stop the bleeding]

10. It is a sham today - he already let Gonzo slide - n/t

[kentuck]

14. Gonzo has not yet begun to slide...

He will be sweating so much at the end of the day,he may slide right out of his seat. It's difficult to defend the indefensible.

[stop the bleeding]

15. God I hope you are right kentuck - I would love to be wrong on this

but my gut tells me that Gonzo will slide.

[Tom Rinaldo]

18. Yeah, but he was facing a primary fight from the Right for reelection then

I said more on this below. I am not counting on Specter by any means.

[FreedomAngel82]

11. I'm not holding my breath for too long

We shall see. Maybe he'll let some of the other democrats push the really hard question's and he'll vote with them. One can hope and pray but again he is Mr. Magic Bullet man.

[Tom Rinaldo]

17. It's possible. He just won a new 6 year term and

he probably doesn't plan to run again after this one. Plus he won, at least temporarily, his battle to keep Chairing his Committee which the Right wanted to take away from him. He was much more vulnerable to Bush reprisals when some Republicans were organizing a Senate Primary opponent to him.

I am by no means counting on Specter here, but unlike the Supreme Court Nominees, the Republicans have not kept an almost completely solid front behind Bush on this one. If a few other Republican Senators break with Bush (none will break with him to the point of Impeachment, that I know) it might give Specter enough cover to play this relatively straight and still keep his Chairmanship.

[Tiggeroshii]

19. I'll believe it when I see it

So far I'm unconvinced. Maybe he'll do something to convince me... hopefully.

[KoKo]

25. What can Specter DO, though? Just say that Congress must amend FISA

and allow Bush/Gonzalez to coast by giving them "retroactive authority" to do what they've been doing.

He can't impeach Gonzalez. Gonzalez isn't under oath and Specter won't call for a special prosecutor or counsel...so what is the recourse for Gonzalez and Bush lying? :shrug:

[catabryna]

21. I don't think he is either...

He has 10 minutes to at least get some answer to each of the questions he has. We all know the WH's affinity for fillibustering in these hearings and you can clearly see it happening and Specter clearly trying to stop it. If he spends 10 minutes pounding someone over the head trying to get the answer to one question, then his whole 10 minutes has been wasted. He's looking for an answer; he knows he's not going to get the answer he wants, so he's building a record.

[Jacobin]

22. Its all a big giant huge enormous CON

Specter: "Oh this is awful. Broke the law. LordGawdBush is only trying to proect us from the hordes, but he must have the tools to do so. He doesn't have them now, so congress must pass legislation to allow LordGawdBush to do warrantless wiretaps."

Bingo: Legislation introduced, Repukes all vote for it along with a bunch of CorporatistDems and poof: Problem solved.

[Junkdrawer]

26. Bingo. I said that Day One...

"It’s gotten to the point where I HATE new BushCo "scandals" because I know that just means they get MORE power."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=5634374