We all remember the story of how Newt announced his intention to divorce his first wife by bringing the papers to her bedside as she recovered from cancer surgery, badgering her to sign. Apparently, right-wing compassion for the ill mirrors Newt's own personal ethic, as outlined in testimony today by former Deputy Attorney General James Comey. The accounts are all over the place, but the single best presentation and commentary are by Glenn Greenwald.
It seems that then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzalez and Chief of Staff Andrew Card were upset by the fact that, as acting AG, Comey refused to sign off on the warantless wire-tapping program. Comey was "acting" because then-AG Ashcroft was in the hospital with pancreatitis, a common concomitant of severe gall bladder problems (Ashcroft was over a week in ICU after his gall bladder was removed; I, on the other hand was lucky enough to be home by lunchtime the same day; I know how lucky I was). Not content with the "No!" they received from Comey, Gonzalez and Card went to the hospital to badger an ill man to sign off on a program his own department had concluded was illegal. Ashcroft, who for multiple reasons is a person it is easy to both dislike and ridicule, nonetheless displayed a remarkable amount of integrity by (a) refusing to sign off on the program; and (b) remind both Gonzalez and Card that he was not AG. Legally, his imprimatur would mean nothing, even were he to agree to give it.
I hate to be so judgmental. I really do. All the same, I have to say these people are scumbags. Unethical, immoral, lying, awful individuals who deserve every approbation imaginable. Awful. Horrible. Scumbags.
