In Case of Emergency, Break Glass Blame Monica Goodling
In this video clip, Stephen Colbert observes that “you can’t blame all the problems of the past seven years on Monica Goodling.” But that won’t stop some people from trying.
To be sure, Monica Goodling has made mistakes — and she’s the first to admit them. She forthrightly acknowledged, when testifying before Congress, that she “crossed the line,” by taking political considerations into account when hiring career employees at the Department of Justice.
But has the Goodling Blame Game gone too far? Has she become the new Karl Rove, responsible for everything from DOJ politicization to childhood obesity to the war between Russia and Georgia?
Quite possibly. Read more, after the jump.
From TPM Muckraker:
Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and embattled former White House liaison Monica Goodling are among those newly named as defendants in a private class-action lawsuit against the DOJ.The suit, Gerlich et al. v. Department of Justice, was orginally filed in response to the Inspector General’s report on politicized hiring in the Attorney General’s Honors Program. The report found that a number of DOJ officials, namely Esther Slater McDonald and Michael Elston, had broken the law in basing hiring decisions based on political affiliations.
Note that Monica Goodling’s name appears nowhere in that last sentence. Goodling’s attorneys issued this cheekily entertaining statement (PDF):
“The civil lawsuit filed today relates exclusively to alleged improprieties in the selection of candidates for the Attorney General’s Honors Program and Summer Law Intern Program. As the Inspector General’s June 24, 2008 report makes clear, Ms. Goodling was not involved in any way in the selection of candidates for these programs, nor was she involved in the changes that were made in 2002 to the process used to screen applicants for these programs….Unfortunately, the plaintiffs appear not to have read the Inspector General’s report or Ms. Goodling’s testimony. Instead, they have made a tactical decision to add Ms. Goodling as a defendant to their lawsuit in order to attract the kind of attention that they did not receive when they filed their original complaint in June. But for her name in the caption, this suit has nothing to do with Ms. Goodling. The plaintiffs’ baseless, and possibly sanctionable, allegations against her are based on nothing but speculation and innuendo.
To paraphrase Chris Crocker, “Leave… Monica… alone!”
Monica Goodling’s Attorneys Respond to Amended Complaint (PDF)
The Word - Blame Monica Goodling [Colbert Report / Comedy Central]
Class Action Suit Against DOJ Grows, Names Gonzales and Goodling as Defendants [TPM Muckraker]
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Comments
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Lat, just because you wanna give Goodling your love jones doesn't mean you have to grovel to this extent.
Also, first.
Sorry I'm out of the loop, but Is this the same suit with the UGA law whiner as lead plaintiff? That was some pretty good stuff.
the UGA kid with something like a 2.9 GPA, who felt he was passed over because of his political views?
Judge Halverson is hiring those rejected from the Honors Program. Especially those performing Harvard Law Review quality work.
Or Jesus, I blame Jesus for this whole mess. Without him and his band of merry men, there would be no Regent's University or Monica Goodling to boldly uphold his political agenda.
Lat, no one is blaming Monica Goodling for all of this. But Karl Rove does actually deserve lots of blame for a number of bad things in this country. He is one half of the Rove-Cheney Antichrist. But as far as the DOJ hiring and firing scandals go, Alberto Gonzales deserves the bulk of the blame.
Who really cares where exactly the blame falls or goes (other than Goodlings partents and cat)? The point is that there is a ton of blame to go around and no one should minimize how evil, ugly and illegal this was and the way it screwed with the careers of very capable and hard-working attorneys (as well as any miscarriages of justice can be ascribe to political hacks rather than the most qualified persons doing the jobs.)
I'm just glad that the spotted owl didn't get hired
http://www.cafepress.com/casedismissed.289666443
YAWN
Lat, stop trying to further whatever agenda you may have by trying to "spin" this woman's very clear-headed decision to break the law with impunity. This is not a case where Goodling "has made mistakes"; she severely politicized something that was legally required to remain politics-neutral and she did it for years. Yeah, so she got immunity and won't face criminal charges, but she should be crucified in the public opinion. She deserves at least that.
One of the biggest problems in this world is a lack of accountability by wrongdoers and those wrongdoers' lackeys trying to cloud everyone's judgment through "spin" or outright lies. With the possible exception of politicians, we lawyers are the worst offenders. For the first time since I started reading ATL, I have to say that Lat is a complete loser.
Her lawyers are completely right. The IG report on Honors Program/SLIP hiring doesn't touch her at all. Remember there have been TWO reports.
Not that anyone cares. People love to hate this woman and are ready to believe anything about her.
10...accountability is important, but you should never be held accountable for something YOU DID NOT DO. I do agree with you that the lady made a huge mistake that she should be punished for.
10, crucification in the public opinion might be justified for the stuff Monica did, but crucification for the stuff she DIDN'T? Why blame her for stuff she didn't do? And isn't that the entire point Lat was trying to make?
5:24, just because she was not involved in honors program/SLIP hiring does not mean that she wasn't centrally responsible for politicizing the hiring process. 5:17 is right on target. lat should be ashamed of himself.
So we should blame George Washington as well as George Bush for Guantanamo, Iraq, etc.?
After all, under 5:27's reasoning, just because he was not involved in Guantanamo or Iraq doesn't mean he wasn't "centrally responsible" for creating the system where such things could happen.
10 here:
To be honest, I didn't read past Lat's second paragraph starting "To be sure..." because it infuriated me that Lat was taking such a soft tone with regards to Goodling's previous actions by calling her actions "mistakes" and saying she "forthrightly acknowleged".
Having read the rest of his post, I agree that Goodling should not be blamed for this current mess although you won't find me very sympathetic to her plight. Irrespective of this current situation though, Goodling's previous actions were not "mistakes", but "clear-headed decisions to break the law with impunity for years". The truth sounds alot harsher, right? I guess this is precisely why wrongdoers love the word "mistake".
This is almost too obvious to bother saying, particularly in this forum, but it's kind of ironic that the very same people who think Monica Goodling deserves to be "crucified" because she supposedly discriminated based on politics are the same people who hate her (HATE her) specifically and exclusively because she's a conservative Republican. I know it's not against the law to hate someone for being a Republican, but I have to wonder how these people would have treated resumes from Federalist Society members if they had been in her position at DOJ.
5:24 - Actually, the IG report finds that others were responsible for setting up the the Honors Program/SLIP screening process in 2002, before goodling was in the AG's office. In other words, she wasn't responsible for the individual hiring decisions OR the process.
Have you read these reports? No, of course not. Why would you?
proximate cause
17, how do you make the judgment that people who want Goodling crucified are Democrats? It sounds to me like you're the one who can't see past party lines.
As a matter of fact, I agree with Republicans on more issues than I do with Democrats, but I also like to think for myself so I consider myself an independent. And I'll vote this November based on the issues and the candidates' character as opposed to pledging allegiance to a group of mostly old white men.
And who knows what I personally would have done in Goodling's position? Maybe I would have been biased against idiots, criminals, or arrogant pricks. But if that was against the law, then I should have to pay significant consequences. No one forced Goodling to take that job or to accept that power. I won't apologize for her because she's not a victim.
20 - You're right. What was I thinking? The lynch mob out to get Goodling is made up of a bunch of Republicans.
And WTF are you talking about, "old white men"? No one gives two shits who you're going to vote for, but it's good to know the candidates' race, age, and sex will be factored into your decision.
Praytell, Lat, how was Monica Goodling "the first to admit" her mistakes?
To 20 (6:02) - If only people were taught the proper use fo the subjunctive these days.
"But if that WAS the case against the law" ???
To 20 (6:02) - If only people were taught the proper use of the subjunctive these days.
"But if that WAS the case against the law" ???
17, what evidence do you have that anyone who feels negatively toward Monica Goodling harbors those feelings solely and exclusively based on the fact that she's a conservative Republican -- rather than based primarily on the fact that she admittedly engaged in improper and probably illegal activity (though we'll never get to find out since she got immunity)? In fact, no one would even no who this woman is, much less "hate" her, if she had done her job in a legal and proper manner.
Was Bush Sr.'s White House Liaison a conservative? Probably. Do I hate him/her? No. I don't even know who s/he was, because this person just did his/her job and wasn't the *first* White House Liaison in history to abuse the office by participating in (and making executive decisions in accordance with a policy of) the politicization of non-political DOJ jobs.
no = know
- 25
she made "mistakes"???? Are you completely out of your mind?
17 = pwned by 25
Who?
I think a lot of people on here, specifically people like 17, don't realize that Monica wasn't just a party hack for republicans. She asked questions (along the lines of) "why do you think george bush is the best president ever" or "what are you going to do for him". Serving the justice department, especially the non-political side, is not about serving the president (directly, at least) at all. Its about serving the country.
Hell, I used to be a very conservative republican from Texas. And I have have detested George Bush for a LONG LONG time. And would have voted for McCain 4 years ago without thinking about it. Bush != republican.
Goodling, along with Rove and company are not republican. They are there own brand of neo-conservative cronies that have all but destroyed this country and its credibility. I only pray for whoever has to take over, regardless of it being mccain or obama, that they can do something to reverse that.
Is this ATL's reporting, re-hashing the Colbert Report?
lat has such a soft spot for the Pubs.
Lat is such a hack. When is Goodling getting disbarred? She doesn't have immunity from her bar association.
I want to serve me some Bush
Watch out! The libs get really uset when someone does to them what they want done to every non-minority/conservative.
What that biatch did was wrong, but it happens everyday from the other side at law school.
---Conservative Faggot
35-
what the hell is "the other side at law school"?
---seriously.
Yeah, you're right 21. Only Democrats think that Goodling did something wrong. Because this obviously isn't a case of right and wrong. A bipartisan legislature didn't pass these laws to protect against this type of political manipulation.
As for "old white men", my bad. I stupidly fixated on the sole grandfatherly gentleman who was standing surrounded by all of the blacks, hispanics and Asians in those pictures at the Republican and Democratic conventions.
You have your head so far up the ass of the Republican party that everything you see is strictly along party lines.
And 24, I'm so sorry I didn't check all of my subjunctives in my anonymous post. It completely detracts from everything I said because if it was not the most correct grammar in the world, then I must be a failure at life. (And where did I use the word CASE?)
ATL needs a weekend edition.
Seriously. It's my life.
33, I think it is very unlikely that Ms. Goodling is a member of any bar.
Also, she should be sent to Guantanamo post haste. Maybe Lat too, if he keeps making excuses for her single-minded and criminal assault on the notion that the Department of Justice may be something other than a branch of the Republic National Committee.
Just a thought.
Part of the samurai honor code, seppuku has been used voluntarily by samurai to die with honor rather than fall into the hands of their enemies, as a form of capital punishment for samurai who have committed serious offenses, and for reasons that shamed them. Seppuku is performed by plunging a sword into the abdomen and moving the sword left to right in a slicing motion.
"Lat, stop trying to further whatever agenda you may have by trying to "spin" this woman's very clear-headed decision to break the law with impunity."
Thank you. So very tired of Lat's Fed Soc blatherings--spare us, and just keep reporting BigLaw layoff and salary rumors. That's what people come here for.
Don't know why Lat is trying to drum up sympathy for someone who used her position within the United States government to the detriment of the American people, and intentionally and avowedly so. I'd have thought that as a former AUSA that this would offend him deeply. And as for her being "forthright" about her "mistakes", responding to a question under oath asking if she broke the law with "I crossed the line" and then refusing to clarify what she meant by "crossing the line" on follow-up is NOT being forthright - especially for somebody with immunity.
Her lawyers' statement reads like a serial killer's lawyers expressing outrage at being wrongly accused of a single murder. "My client may have killed John Does 1 - 49, but how dare you accuse him of killing John Doe 50!"
Lat - why do people assume Ms. Goodling had one of her little claws in every "inappropriate" (that's one serving of "illegal" with a tablespoon of "immunity" mixed in) hiring practice at DOJ? I suspect you don't need me to answer that question.
Goodling is from a tier 4 school - the religious right's law school - Regent Univ.
She fired an atty. b/c that atty. is a lesbian.
Goodling is a prime example of the how the religious right, under Bush, has taken over entire deptartments and inflicted their agenda on the country.
These people need to go.
Goodling is from a tier 4 school - the religious right's law school - Regent Univ.
She fired an atty. b/c that atty. is a lesbian.
Goodling is a prime example of the how the religious right, under Bush, has taken over entire deptartments and inflicted their agenda on the country.
These people need to go.
To David Lat, crossing the line = intentionally violating the law + abusing position of power
Is this c%$# going to get disbarred? If she isn't disbarred, no government lawyer should ever be.