Corruption Deepens In Bush Cabinet:
"After serving for five years as Interior Secretary in the Bush Cabinet, Gale Norton ... quietly stepped down ... Norton's sudden exit was almost certainly hastened by the widening fallout from the corruption probes into Jack Abramoff ... To replace Norton, Bush called upon his old pal Dirk Kempthorne, the Idaho governor and former US Senator ... Kempthorne goes to straight to the corporations who want something done in Boise: JR Simplot, the potato king; Boise-Cascade, the timber giant; mining companies, such as ASARCO, Hecla, and FMC Gold; and the power companies. And Kempthorne gives them what they want. Kempthorne is Jack Abramoff without the middleman, decision-maker and lobbyist rolled into one."

Republicans Step Up Voter Suppression Efforts As 2006 Elections Approach:
"... elected officials go out of their way to discourage voting. States are adopting rules that make it hard, and financially perilous, for nonpartisan groups to register new voters. They have adopted new rules for maintaining voter rolls that are likely to throw off many eligible voters, and they are imposing unnecessarily tough ID requirements ... many of these rules seem motivated by a partisan desire to suppress the vote, and particular kinds of voters, rather than to make sure that those who are entitled to vote - and only those who are entitled - do so. The right to vote is fundamental, and Congress and state legislatures should not pass laws that put an unnecessary burden on it. If they do, courts should strike them down."

Bush-Stacked Court Strips Whistleblower Protections As GOP Corruption Spikes:
"The Supreme Court scaled back protections for government workers who blow the whistle on official misconduct Tuesday, a 5-4 decision in which new Justice Samuel Alito cast the deciding vote. In a victory for the Bush administration, justices said the 20 million public employees do not have free-speech protections ... impact would be sweeping, from silencing police officers who fear retribution for reporting department corruption, to subduing federal employees who want to reveal problems with government hurricane preparedness or terrorist-related security."

Impeach Bush ... Cheney ... Gonzales?
"Republican Rep. James Sensenbrenner said he'll demand that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller testify before his House Judiciary Committee to explain their roles in the 'profoundly disturbing' search of Jefferson's office. Sensenbrenner even went so far as to toss around the I-word -- at least where Gonzales is concerned -- with his Republican colleague Darrell Issa. As Dana Milbank tells it, Issa said: 'We have the power to impeach the attorney general' but then added that the committee -- short on members because of the Memorial Day break – couldn't do so because it was 'a couple of shakes short of a quorum for that purpose.'"

Careful What You Wish For:
Failed comic book auteur Karl Zinsmeister, Bush’s replacement for the shoplifting prior domestic policy chief (see yesterday's post), said of journalists in Iraq on 3/28/03: 'A significant number are whiny and appallingly soft ... I almost wished there would be a very loud explosion very nearby just to shut up their rattling.' Today, Reuters reports that 'the number of journalists who have died in hostile incidents in Iraq has risen to 71 - the same number killed or presumed dead during the Vietnam War.'