Democracy for New Mexico

Quick Hits

Believe it or not I've decided to do something other than work on this blog this holiday weekend. Like have some good old fashioned fun and relaxation. So I'll just offer a few quick hits and links today before heading out to greener pastures:

• If you haven't yet read them, check out two articles by James Scarantino in this week's Alibi related to the firing of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias. One is a compelling interview with Iglesias and the other is a fascinating exposé of Albuquerque attorney Patrick Rogers, including his role in the purge scandal and his connections with the Republican front group, the American Center for Voting Rights. I'll be writing more about these matters after the holiday.
• Health Haussamen has a good piece on State Auditor Hector Balderas and how he's trying to strengthen the office. Balderas, a Democrat, says he's still contemplating entering the CD1 Congressional race against incumbent Rep. Heather Wilson. If so, I think he'd better start moving on it as Martin Heinrich is beginning to build up a head of steam in his effort to be the Dem's candidate.
• Memorial Day started out as Decoration Day, which has its roots in the wake of the American Civil War. After World War I, it became a day of remembrance for all those who had died in the nation's wars. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America organization (IAVA) has put together a resource list of ways you can show your support for veterans this Memorial Day weekend. You can also watch a short film that explains IAVA's critical mission in service of veterans, which you can also support with a donation.
• I watched Charlie Rose's in-depth, hour-long interview with Al Gore last night. Rah! If you missed it, you can watch a video of the show on Rose's website.
• The photos that bookend this post were taken during a sunrise on the Atlantic Ocean at North Carolina's Outer Banks, where Mary Ellen spent time at a family gather this week. Click on the photos for larger versions. I'm glad she got to reconnect with the sea and I'm glad she's back here in the high desert.

Goodling Testimony Prompts DPNM Chair Colón to Query Domenici on U.S. Attorney Firings

An article in today's Albuquerque Tribune reports on the testimony by Monica Goodling at yesterday's House Judiciary Committee hearing on the U.S. Attorney firings. Bottom line: She doesn't remember much of anything either. Seems everyone at the Alberto Gonzales DOJ has amnesia. Amazing how not one person in the Department of Justice will take credit for putting the names on the U.S. Attorney firing list, even though the firings were, you know, just routine and based on poor job performance.

Goodling's testimony did raise more issues about Sen. Pete Domenici's involvement in the firings:

Goodling testified she did not know who put Iglesias on the list of U.S. attorneys fired Dec. 7. But she did reveal that Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty covered up Domenici's involvement in a private briefing McNulty had with the Senate Judiciary Committee in January and in a public hearing Feb. 6.

"He thought the senator would prefer to address those concerns privately with his colleagues, and he wanted to give him (Domenici) the opportunity to do that," Goodling said.

At one staff meeting prior to the briefings, one official - she could not remember who - suggested to McNulty that somebody should call Domenici's chief of staff, Steve Bell, "and see if he wanted to address the concerns with his colleagues before the briefing took place."

Goodling did not say whether the call to Bell was made.

In response to Goodling's testimony, the new Chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, Brian Colón, asked Domenici and his chief of staff, Steve Bell, for some answers about their contacts with the DOJ and Rove. Click for page 1 and page 2 (pdf) of his letter to Senator Domenici. Excerpts:

This scandal has quickly spun into an indictment of the entire Department of Justice and its ability to fairly administer the nation's laws, and you stand squarely in the middle of the vortex. There is no longer any doubt that you were singularly responsible for Mr. Iglesias' firing - the only thing still in question is the manner in which you secured that firing and whether you crossed any ethical or legal lines in the process.

... The Senate Ethics Committee will weigh the legal questions surrounding your role, but in the meantime, you have a larger obligation to the people of New Mexico to finally explain your actions in detail. To that end, I request that you:

1. Detail any contacts between you and your staff, including your chief of staff Steve Bell, and Monica Goodling or other Department of Justice officials such as former Chief of Staff Kyle Sampson.
2. Detail any contacts between you or your staff, including your chief of staff Steve Bell, and Karl Rove and his staff.

If there are emails between your staff and the Department of Justice or White House office of Political Affairs, you owe it to the public to release them. If your executive assistant maintains call logs, a common practice in Senate offices, please release any such call logs noting calls either from or to the Department of Justice or White House.

As reported in the Tribune article:

McNulty had told the senators that Iglesias and the other U.S. attorneys were fired for poor performance, prompting Iglesias to reveal the phone calls from Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson, also a Albuquerque Republican, and leading to the subsequent admissions by Domenici that he had pressed Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and McNulty to fire Iglesias.

During one meeting, Goodling said she wrote down that "Domenici says he doesn't move cases," presumably referring to Iglesias. She said she didn't remember who made the comment.

Committee member Rep. Bobby Scott, a Virginia Democrat, asked if that "referred to the Aragon investigation." Goodling said she only knew about the Aragon case from press reports.

"Certainly, I knew that Senator Domenici had concerns with public corruption cases," said Goodling.

For information on other aspects of Goodling's testimony, see these AP and Washington Post articles.

Rey Garduño First to Qualify for Public Campaign Funding in ABQ City Council Race

Suzanne Prescott has the story over at . If you can, remember to link up with the new web radio show, New Mexico Blog Radio, today at 4:30 PM. Rey, who's running for Albuquerque City Council in District 6, will be joined by Debbie O'Malley, who's running for reelection in District 2, to discuss their experience with Albuquerque's new public campaign finance law. Listeners can call in and ask questions during the half hour show by dialing (718) 664-9717. I'll be joining Suzanne, who produced the radio show Insight New Mexico that aired on 1350 AM during the Legislative Session, as a co-host for today's show. Visit https://www.blogtalkradio.com/nmblogradio at 4:30 PM today to listen in. And cut me some slack if I come across on the show as a bit nervous -- I'm a rank amateur in the radio hosting department, internet or otherwise!

For more info, see our previous post on New Mexico Blog Radio, as well as our post archive on the 2007 Albuquerque Municipal Elections, which will take place this coming October.

'We The People' Thursday: Eric Griego

Here Ye! Here Ye!

WE THE PEOPLE

Eric Griego 

A visit from former City Councilor who spearheaded
Clean Elections for Albuquerque

May 24, 2007 - 6 PM

Albuquerque, Channel 27
Worldwide On The Net!
call in - 505-346-1633
Click for Streaming Media
https://quote-unquote.org/

WE THE PEOPLE is an innovative television show looking for TRUTH and TRANSPARENCY in local, state and federal governments. THANKS FOR WATCHING. Mickey Bock/Judith Binder - Hosts

New Mexico Blog Radio Premiers May 24

Rey Garduño & Debbie O'Malley Are the First Guests
on New Mexico Blog Radio

From New Mexico Blog Radio:
ALBUQUERQUE, NM, MAY 22, 2007 -- New Mexico Blog Radio modifies an old medium, radio, and dresses it up before  moving it to the Internet.  A new Internet radio show, ‘New Mexico Blog Radio’ begins Thursday, May 24th at 4:30 PM (Mountain time) live on the Internet. Host of the show, Suzanne Prescott, says the show will fill the need for coverage of local New Mexico issues, “We’ll cover issues with our guests that aren’t getting enough coverage in the press and on local TV or commercial radio.” Joining Suzanne as co-host for this first show is the force behind the popular blog, Democracy for New Mexico, Barbara Wold. (Yes, that's me.) Listeners can call in during the show at (718) 664-9717.

Please join Suzanne, Barbara and guests when the show airs on May 24th at 4:30 PM Mountain time (6:30 Eastern) at https://www.blogtalkradio.com/nmblogradio.

The first show will bring together candidates for Albuquerque’s City Council, Rey Garduño  and Debbie O’Malley. Both candidates are using Albuquerque’s new public campaign finance law. The City Council Election on October 2nd will be the first test of the public campaign finance regulations. How well have the regulations worked so far? What do the candidates who are trying out the law have to say about it?

Since its beginning in late 2006, Blog Talk Radio has mushroomed rapidly into one of the most popular sites on the Internet. New Mexico Blog Radio joins over 1000 political blog radio shows already on the Blog Talk Radio site. 

For a lineup of guests who will be on future shows contact Suzanne directly at (505) 304-3960.

Iglesias Today (in the Land of Grumbling Mountain Lions)

Today's Washington Post has a lengthy personal profile of fired U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, what he's been through and what he's doing today, based on a reporter's visit to Albuquerque to interview Iglesias and his wife, Cyndy in their foothills home. The article traces his life to this point, goes into his many recent media appearances and recaps the details of the U.S. Attorneys' scandal, but what tickled me was this opening paragraph's description of Albuquerque:

At 9 a.m. on the very edge of the dusty, desolate collection of adobe homes and Vietnamese restaurants that seem to form this city, David Iglesias begins his run through the foothills of the Sandia Mountains. This is not easy terrain. The footing is terribly uneven. The altitude can be unbearable. At certain times one can hear the grumbling of mountain lions and the feasting of coyotes.

I don't know about you, but I've never personally been aware of any mountain lion grumbling in our "desolate" locale packed with Vietnamese restaurants....

Impeach Gonzales

New video clip from Robert Greenwald partnering with Democracy for America. Click to sign the petition to impeach Gonzales. Pass it on.

From Jim Dean, Democracy for America:
If George Bush won't fire U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, then Congress can.

Demand Congress impeach Gonzales now: https://www.ImpeachGonzales.org

First, Alberto Gonzales and Karl Rove worked together to fire at least seven U.S. Attorneys because they weren't "loyal Bushies" and pushed several others to resign in an unethical crusade to make the U.S. Justice Department a partisan arm of the Bush administration.

Then they worked together to cover it up.

Gonzales went so far as to testify to Congress that he "was not involved in seeing any memos, was not involved in any discussions going on." When White House e-mails exposed his involvement, Gonzales changed his tune in an interview with 60 Minutes then changed his tune again by hiding behind, "I don't recall" more then 60 times in his second Congressional testimony. Time's up for Alberto Gonzales!

Democracy for America has teamed up with Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films to get the message out. Robert has created a hard hitting video short that exposes Gonzales' attempts to mislead Congress. In a few weeks, DFA members around the country will deliver your signature and thousands of others directly to your representative in Congress.

Karl Rove wants this scandal over. Rove knows that an impeachment investigation of Gonzales will open the door to a lot more then just the U.S. Attorneys scandal.

Impeachment puts everything back on the table. Illegal domestic eavesdropping, illegally deleted government e-mails, voter suppression, signing statements, torture recommendations, you name it -- if Gonzales had his finger prints on it Congress will shine the spotlight at it.

Join thousands of Americans demanding accountability and ethical leadership in the U.S. Justice Department. Please sign the petition now: https://www.ImpeachGonzales.org

Thank you for moving America forward,

Jim Dean, Chair
Democracy for America

P.S. Members of the President's Cabinet can be impeached. Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution provides for removal of the President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States.

Barnett and Rogers Implicated (Again) in Rove's Plan to Keep Minorities Off Voter Rolls

Facts be damned. No matter how much evidence undermines the validity of the Republican "voter fraud" claims, they keep on insisting there's a "there" there. And they keep sticking to their odd view that, for some strange reason, certain Republican U.S. Attorneys -- many of whom have since been fired by BushCo -- didn't want to prosecute "voter fraud" even though evidence was supposedly abundant. It's never really been explained why any U.S. Attorney would avoid issuing headline-grabbing indictments if the cases could be made.

The truth is that BushCo wanted these prosecutions in battleground states despite there being no real evidence of crimes -- and they were dedicated to applying political pressure to get them even if they weren't justified. Politics is politics and political gain often seems to be the only goal of Rove et al. What's a little destruction of the integrity and ethics of the U.S. Justice Department when Congressional seats are at stake? One of the top priorities of Rove's strategy for the last few election cycles was to disenfranchise minority voters and discourage them from registering to vote. After all, minority voters tend to vote for Democrats. Creating the "voter fraud" myth and launching headline-making investigations were a big part of Rove's plan, and pressure was applied liberally to U.S. Attorneys who were reluctant to play ball.

Wa-Po Piece Debunks "Voter Fraud"
In a Washington Post op-ed this week, Harold Meyerson debunks the long-running Repub "voter fraud" myth in no uncertain terms. Quote:

... five of the 12 federal prosecutors either sacked or considered for sacking last year had been singled out by Rove and other administration officials for nonperformance on voter fraud. Amazingly, all five came from states -- Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Washington and Wisconsin -- where Republicans were embroiled in tight election contests.

With the home office in Washington breathing down their necks, why did these experienced prosecutors fail to bring voter fraud indictments? The crime, after all, had become a major Justice Department concern. Starting in 2002, Justice required every U.S. attorney to designate a district election officer, whose job it would be to end this epidemic of electoral fraud. These officers' attendance was required at annual training seminars, where they were taught how to investigate, prosecute and convict fraudulent voters. The statutes were adequate; the investigators were primed, well funded and raring to go.

And nothing happened. For the simple reason that when it comes to voter fraud in America, there's no there there. Voter fraud is a myth -- not an urban or rural myth, as such, but a Republican one. [emphasis mine]

...  to prosecute or convict more than a handful of people for voter fraud isn't for lack of trying. Since 2002, the Justice Department's Ballot Access and Voting Integrity Initiative has, as Gonzales put it, "made enforcement of election fraud and corruption offenses a top priority." And yet between October 2002 and September 2005, just 38 cases were brought nationally, and of those, 14 ended in dismissals or acquittals, 11 in guilty pleas, and 13 in convictions.

... And thus, as has so often been the case in the Bush presidency, a government department was instructed to negate its raison d'etre. Just as consumer protection and environmental protection agencies were transformed into agencies protecting manufacturers and despoilers, so Justice -- whose imperishable glory was its role in extending the franchise to African Americans during the civil rights years -- was told that its new mission was to suppress the franchise.

Rogers and Barnett Work the Rove Strategy
Now evidence is mounting that local Repub political operatives Pat Rogers (right) and Mickey Barnett (below left) were, in essence, part of an organized effort in New Mexico to pressure Iglesias to help carry out Rove's strategy.

Barnett was once a legislative aid to Sen. Domenici and was his pick for a slot on the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors. A former NM Senator, Barnett has also lobbied on behalf of the payday loan industry, Corrections Corporation of Amerca and gambling interests. Albuquerque attorney Patrick Rogers served on the board of the American Center for Voting Rights Legislative Fund, which has ties to The Donatelli group involved in the Swiftboat plot during the 2004 election. He testified about "voter fraud" and the need for voter ID at a U.S House Administration Committee hearing organized by fromer Repub Rep. Bob Ney, who later was jailed for crimes connected with the Abramoff scandal.

In a major story in yesterday's LA Times, David Iglesias describes a politicized lunch where Rogers once again applied the pressure:

Weeks before the 2006 midterm election, then-New Mexico U.S. Atty. David C. Iglesias was invited to dine with a well-connected Republican lawyer in Albuquerque who had been after him for years to prosecute allegations of voter fraud.

"I had a bad feeling about that lunch," said Iglesias, describing his meeting at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen with Patrick Rogers, a lawyer who provided occasional counsel to the New Mexico Republican Party.

When the voter fraud issue came up, Iglesias said, he explained to Rogers that in reviewing more than 100 complaints, he hadn't found any solid enough to justify criminal charges.

... Rogers, Iglesias recalled, had pressed him in 2004 and then again just before the 2006 election to push for voter fraud convictions in the state. Iglesias said he was so concerned about the propriety of the preelection get-together with Rogers that he asked a colleague from the office to join him as a witness.

Sour Grapes When Iglesias Won't Cooperate
As it became more and more clear that Iglesias wouldn't go along with the "voter fraud" charade, complaints by Rogers, Barnett and Sen. Pete Domenici bombarded the Justice Department and White House, urging that Iglesias be replaced. The plot thickens and "all roads lead to Rove."

Unbeknownst to Iglesias, a few months before that lunch, Rogers and another Republican attorney from New Mexico, Mickey Barnett, had complained about Iglesias at the Justice Department in Washington. The session was arranged with the assistance of the department's then-White House liaison, Monica M. Goodling, and an aide to White House political strategist Karl Rove, according to e-mails released recently by congressional investigators.

One of those they met with was Matthew Friedrich, a senior counselor to Gonzales. Friedrich would meet again with Rogers and Barnett in New Mexico, where, he told congressional investigators, the pair complained about Iglesias. They made it clear "that they did not want him to be the U.S. attorney…. They mentioned that they had communicated that with Sen. Domenici, and they also mentioned Karl Rove," Friedrich said, according to a transcript provided by congressional investigators.

... Iglesias has said that he believes "all roads lead to Rove" in explaining the dismissals and that he is counting on the Office of Special Counsel to find the truth.

Obstruction of Justice?
Another fired U.S. Attorney says the political pressure could merit a criminal investigation:

This week, another fired U.S. attorney who has said he felt pressure on voter fraud cases, John McKay of Seattle, said he thought interference with Iglesias and other prosecutors amounted to "possible obstruction of justice." He predicted that a criminal inquiry would be launched. He said he felt pressure to bring voter fraud charges in his district after a 129-vote margin put a Democratic governor into office in Washington.

Remember that both Sen. Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson made phone calls to Iglesias in the run-up to the 2006 election that he perceived to be intimidating. Clearly, a message was being sent to Iglesias and other recalcitrant U.S. Attorneys that they must proceed with politically motivated indictments and investigations about "voter fraud" and other matters or face the wrath of the DOJ and Rove. Those who didn't respond were put on the to-be-fired list.

Domenici Pushes Rogers to Replace Iglesias
A final "irony": Pat Rogers was one of the names reportedly submitted by Domenici as a suggested replacement for Iglesias. I guess Rogers did such a good job keeping the pressure on Iglesias that Domenici believed he deserved a reward, like any good flunky.

Rey Garduño Hosts Signing Party Saturday

From Rey Garduño, Candidate for Albuquerque City Council District 6:

We are moving forward at a steady and measured pace with The Clean Elections process. We turned in to the City Clerk about a third of the necessary signatures and contributions on Tuesday the 15th; albeit, they need to be vetted. This is great; now, we need commitments from all of us to get at least five (5) of our friends and neighbors to come to a “Signing” Party at my house at 414 Vassar, NE in the UNM Campus (Directions below) from 10 AM - 12 PM this Saturday, May 19th. 

What is this signing party you ask? Quite simply it will be a centralized place where we can ask folks to sign the qualifying form and contribute $5 to democracy. This will qualify me to run as a clean candidate for City Council District 6 this fall, and not have to take campaign contributions from special interests. It is most urgent that we gather these signatures as soon as possible, our deadline is May 29; having begun the process now I can take the forms on a weekly basis to verify the signatures. The sooner we have 271 qualifying signatures the sooner we can begin the campaign and formulate how we are going to improve on the good initiatives already in District 6. Furthermore, we can build a framework cooperatively with the rest of the city to make this a great community.

Thank you in advance for your dedication to Democracy, to our community and my campaign.

Gracias, Rey Garduño

Directions to 414 Vassar NE: From Girard at Campus [street between Central and Lomas] you would go West on Campus into UNM campus turn North or right onto Vassar, the first house on the right is 414 Vassar).

Editor's Note: To determine your City Council District, . To read our previous posts about Rey Garduño's campaign for City Council, click here and here. You can also visit his website: https://reygarduno.blogspot.com/.

Rove in the Crosshairs in DOJ Scandal

You remember "voter fraud," the fictional problem concocted by Repubs to provide a tool they could use to suppress and purge Dem voters and those who were dedicated to registering them. One of the main excuses used by those who went after U.S. Attorney David Iglesias and the others was that they were allegedly refusing to prosecute massive "voter fraud" cases in the run-up to the 2004 and 2006 elections. All research findings to the contrary, the Repubs persist to this day in insisting that voter fraud on the part of Dems is rampant. Why let facts get in the way of a useful Repub political tactic?

Now it turns out that Rove was the Repub operative orchestrating this effort -- from inside the White House. New information shows that Rove led an attempt to manipulate the Department of Justice so that U.S. Attorneys in battleground states, including Iglesias, would either have to agree to prosecute these baseless "voter fraud" cases or risk being fired. Always ready to subvert democracy to benefit BushCo, Rove had no qualms about using the DOJ to try and tamp down Dem voting in areas where such tactics might well make a difference. Like the 2006 Wilson-Madrid race in NM that was ultimately decided by fewer than 900 votes.

Harper's Magazine states:

The McClatchy Newspapers report today that in the final weeks before the midterm Congressional elections of November 2006, presidential political advisor Karl Rove orchestrated a large-scale effort to suppress voter turnout among potentially Democratic constituencies, leveraging Department of Justice resources in the process. Key to the project were P. Kyle Sampson, Alberto Gonzales’s chief of staff, and Matthew Friedrich, then chief of staff in the Department’s Criminal Division.

Friedrich’s testimony and statements to Congressional investigators made clear that the decision to proceed with “voter fraud” charges in a series of dubious cases resulted from direction from partisan political operatives in the White House, including Rove.

As the McClatchy story relates:

While it was known that Rove and the White House had complained about prosecutors not aggressively investigating voter fraud, Friedrich's testimony suggests that the Justice Department itself was under pressure to open voter fraud cases despite a department policy that discourages such action so close to an election.

Greg Palast Has 550 "Missing" Emails from the RoveTeam
Also be sure to read the entire Democracy Now report by Greg Palast (transcript and audio), which details his recent telephone interviews with David Igelsias and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. about the scandal. Excerpt:

GREG PALAST: Rove flew to New Mexico just before the [2006] election and got an earful of complaints about Iglesias from state party chiefs. Rove reported to President Bush, who personally put the heat on Attorney General Gonzales. Iglesias was stunned.

DAVID IGLESIAS: I had no idea that a few local yokels in New Mexico would have enough stroke to get the President to complain.

GREG PALAST: There was more than failing to help the Wilson campaign. In the 2004 presidential election, Republican operatives blocked a quarter-million new voters nationwide from voting on grounds they brought the wrong IDs to the poles. To justify this massive blockade, Republican officials wanted Iglesias to arrest some voters to create a high publicity show trial. Iglesias went along with the game. Just before the 2004 election, he held a press conference announcing the creation of a vote fraud task force. But the prosecutor drew the line at arresting innocent voters.

DAVID IGLESIAS: They were telling Rove that I wasn’t doing their bidding. I wasn't filing these voter fraud cases.

GREG PALAST: The evidence fellow Republicans gave him was junk. He refused to bring a single prosecution.

DAVID IGLESIAS: It was the old throwing pasta at the wall trick, that he’s throwing up pasta. Something’s got to stick, and it didn't.

GREG PALAST: For failing to bring the voting cases, Iglesias paid with his job.

DAVID IGLESIAS: They wanted a political operative who happened to be a US attorney, and when they got somebody who actually took his oath to the Constitution seriously, they were appalled and they wanted me out of there. The two strikes against me was, I was not political, I didn't help them out on their bogus voter fraud prosecutions.

GREG PALAST: Rove personally ordered his removal. As a prosecutor, Iglesias says that if missing emails prove the firing was punishment for failure to bring bogus charges, Mr. Rove himself is in legal trouble.

DAVID IGLESIAS: If his intent was, look what happened with Iglesias, if that was his intent, he’s in big trouble. That is obstruction of justice, one classic example [emphasis mine].

After reviewing Palast's cache of misdirected email from RoveCo, voting rights attorney Kennedy had this to say:

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: They ought to be in jail for doing this, because they knew it was illegal, and they did it anyway.

GREG PALAST: What is it that was so obviously illegal that law professor Kennedy thought they deserved prison time? The evidence that shook him was attached to fifty of the secret emails, something that GOP party chiefs called caging lists, thousands of names of voters. Notably, the majority were African American. Kennedy explained how caging worked.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: Caging is an illegal way of getting rid of black votes. You get a list of all the black voters. Then you send a letter to their homes. And if the person doesn't sign it at the homes, the letter then is returned to the Republican National Committee. They then direct the state attorney general, who is friendly to them, who’s Republican, to remove that voter from the list on the alleged basis that that voter does not live in the address that they designated as their address on the voting application form.

GREG PALAST: In all, the Republican Party challenged nearly three million voters, a mass attack on minority voting rights virtually unreported in the US press.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: So they disenfranchised millions of black voters who don't even know that they’ve been disenfranchised.

GREG PALAST: Page after page of voters with this address, Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, hundreds, thousands of soldiers and sailors targeted to lose their vote. Go to Baghdad, lose your vote.

And what does this have to do with the prosecutor firings? Take a look at the name at the top of the secret missing email: Tim Griffin. This is the man in charge of the allegedly illegal caging operation. He is research director for the Republican National Committee, special assistant to Karl Rove, and as of December 7 Karl Rove's personal pick for US attorney for the state of Arkansas. Is this a case of the perpetrator becomes the prosecutor?