Senate to stay in Pro Forma session over the winter break

The Senate will stay in Pro Forma session during the winter break to deny the little idiot the opportunity to use recess appointments to put mendacious thugs like Sam Fox in positions that they wouldn't have a prayer of being confirmed to.

The Fox appointment might have been the proverbial straw that broke the donkeys back. Sam "Swift Boat" Fox was nominated for an ambassadorship, and withdrawn because the votes weren't there to confirm him. When Congress recessed for the Easter break, Bush made an end run around decency and installed Sammy-the-Swiftboat-liar via a recess appointment.

I have to give the devil his due here - I have been one of those Democrats screaming the loudest for real leadership. I would prefer that the feckless Republican bastards be treated exactly the way they insisted on treating the Democrats for the entire Bush administration. I want my pound of flesh, and I don't even pretend to deny it. I want the fuckers to bleed and sputter and whine like the little bitches they are.

So when I see a scintilla of spine, a modicum of moxie or even a dram of determination - I am happy for it. It fortifies me for the upcoming fight, and since I want more, and better - with the emphasis on better - Democrats, I will take all the fortification I can get.

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Dodd Questions Legality of Fox Recess Appointment

Senator Christopher Dodd (D, CT) has indicated he will seek a legal opinion on the recess appointment of Sam “Swift Boat Liar” Fox to be Ambassador to Belgium.

Fox would serve in a voluntary capacity, without pay, but there are legal questions about the interpretation of the law the way the Bush White House reads it.

In the White House interpretation of the law, Fox could serve as ambassador voluntarily, so long as he agreed not to sue the government later for not being compensated for his services.

But there is a catch…

Under federal law, “voluntary service” is prohibited when the position in question has a fixed rate of pay – and ambassadorships have a fixed pay rate. The salary is a “statutory entitlement” and therefore unwaivable. That is how the Government Accountability Office, an arm of Congress, interprets the law.

Look for this to be a major issue when an angry congress returns to session next week.

This appears to be far from over.

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Folded like a cheap suit...

Thankfully, Swift Boat Liars are not a fortified bunch.

In the face of questioning by the man he helped malign, St. Louis businessman Sam Fox has had his specious nomination as Ambassador to Belgium withdrawn.

But the genie is out of the bottle, and both senators from Missouri need to be accountable for their support of this creep.

A feckless, mendacious jackal is a feckless, mendacious jackal, and I don't care whether he's a home-town boy or not.

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McCaskill should rethink support for Fox

We exist to hold congress accountable. That means that when we are unhappy with the actions of our elected representatives, we do not simply look away if they have the "right" party signifier behind their name. In the spirit of this endeavor, I am calling Claire McCaskill on the carpet for her support of the nomination of Sam Fox to be the ambassador to Belgium.

Fox was a donor to the Swift Boat Veterans smear campaign during the 2004 presidential election.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats are raising concerns about President Bush's nominee for ambassador to Belgium because he gave money to the group that impugned Sen. John Kerry's war record during the 2004 presidential campaign.

With a vote set Wednesday in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Connecticut, said Tuesday he opposes the nomination of businessman Sam Fox because Fox "refused to apologize for his behavior" during a confirmation hearing last month.

"U.S. ambassadors need to be both responsible and credible, and Mr. Fox's support for an organization known to have spread falsehoods illustrates neither," said Dodd, who is seeking the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

Fox, one of the nation's most prominent Republican fundraisers, made a $50,000 contribution to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Many Democrats blamed the group for sinking Kerry's presidential bid after it aired a series of TV ads that claimed the Massachusetts Democrat did not deserve his Vietnam War medals.

[snip]

"I would have preferred you saying, you know, 'In retrospect, looking back, contributing to the Swift Boat campaign was a mistake and I wish I hadn't done it,' " Obama told Fox.

Fox has garnered the public support of Sens. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri, and Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut Independent, both of whom testified for him.

I’m sorry – but Josh Marshall is right – there are some things that are just beyond the pale. The Swift Boaters crossed a line and should, as a result, be denied participation in the political process forevermore – not rewarded with plum ambassadorships.

There is simply no excuse for this, and I hope Senator McCaskill rethinks her support of this man.

(*Her office has been contacted for comment but has not returned calls as yet. When they do, the comment will be posted as an update.)

If you want to contact the Senators office to express an opinion about this, her office phone number is 202-224-6154 and her web page with all contact information is here.

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