No Confidence Vote on Gonzales Is Expected to Fail

[babylonsister]

I hope they're wrong, and if I were a rethug, I'd be downright embarrassed to vote for Gonzo.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/11/washington/11cnd-gonzales.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1181598585-800H/6dAkzsVKbW1VPgcFg

No Confidence Vote on Gonzales Is Expected to Fail


By DAVID JOHNSTON and ERIC LIPTON
Published: June 11, 2007

WASHINGTON, June 11 — Senate Democrats appeared likely to fall short in their effort late this afternoon to force a vote of no confidence in Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales, leaving his critics in Congress uncertain about what to do next in their campaign to dislodge him from office.

Despite deep misgivings in both parties about his performance, Mr. Gonzales has refused to resign and President Bush has continued to back him.

Democratic leaders needed 60 yes votes in the Senate this afternoon for what is known as a cloture motion, ending debate and allowing the no-confidence resolution itself to come to a vote.

Party head-counters predicted that they would come close, with one or more Republicans joining most Democrats, but that they would not reach the 60-vote threshold.

more...

[Duer 157099]

1. Unbelievable

just stunning

[lonestarnot]

2. No one wants to be bothered with the symbolic shit any more.

Can't blame them. Either do something that amounts to something or get the fuck off the pot and let someone else have their turn!

[Duer 157099]

8. Unfortunately, not passing this *is* doing something

and what it will do is very bad. As if Fredo needed more assurance that it's all ok.

[TwilightGardener]

3. I guess appearing at the bedside of a sick, narcotic-addled man in the middle of the night

to persuade him to authorize something illegal isn't enough of a misdeed for these GOPer bastards. If only Gonzo had actually crawled into bed with Ashcroft...

[partylessinOhio]

4. Our do-nothing Congress. at work?

[depakid]

5. Impressive that the Republicans can filibuster

whereas the hapless Democrats cannot.

If the "leadership" had acted responsibly on the nomination, we wouldn't be in this situation in the 1st place.

[in_cog_ni_to]

6. They're voting right now. They need 60 votes to move forward on the motion

to proceed to the resolution.

[Coexist]

7. shit.

not that I held out too much hope. but shit.

[BlooInBloo]

9. I heard it wasn't likely to even get a floor vote.

[bullimiami]

10. how many things have these asshole republicans fillibustered

since the dems took over?
and it IS a fillibuster when you deny a cloture vote. the same thing they whined and screamed about and the press joined in the chorus about and the dems were frightened of using.

its nonstop. they do it all of the time. god damn fucking hypocritical bastards i cant stand them.

[trashcanistanista]

13. No count posted on CSPAN now (cloture)

Feels like it may pass, anyone counting?

[annabanana]

11. The people who vote against cloture support torture, spying without warrants,

invading hospital rooms for signature from incapacited men... There they are America... aren't all you repugs PROUD.

[Lerkfish]

12. so, before we got nothing done because we were in the minority...now...?

:shrug:

[MADem]

18. Well, even if we DID have sixty votes (and we don't have that) what would the result be?

It would be a whole lotta hot air and nothing much else. If the vote were successful, all it would mean is that sixty people in the Senate don't like the guy--Bush would say "So what? Ahhhh laaahk 'im, so there!!!"

It wouldn't mandate that he leave, and likely, he wouldn't, just to piss them off. He's digging in his heels, he obviously knows where some bodies are buried, and Bush is a-skeered of him, quite possibly--likely wants to keep him close, so he doesn't get motivated to do any singing.


I'd rather see more TESTIMONY, frankly. More INVESTIGATIONS. And more coverage of them, too.

This is a feel-good effort that has no real meaning behind it. It's a CHARADE of "doing something" but it changes nothing.

[Lerkfish]

24. I'm in agreement, there. But if we can't even pass a SYMBOLIC thingy with no teeth?

but I agree this was a pointless excercise.
I would have preferred indictments.

[MADem]

27. Well, ya gotta get 11 Republicans to go along with the lame symbolic gesture

at a minimum...because JoeFuckingMentum is gonna vote with the BushCo team, every time!!

I think they need to keep holding public hearings, and grilling the shit out of every baastid who ever got a White House paycheck and knows anything about the bullshit that's been going down over that way...

[MADem]

14. The article infers that no 'anti Gonzo' vote will happen, not that a vote will fail

If no vote takes place, then there won't be a way to identify who was "with 'im, and who was agin' 'im" as it were....people can always claim that their procedural vote isn't indicative of their view, and get away with it.

The headline doesn't quite match the article--it's the cloture motion vote, not the "get lost Gonzo" vote that will fail, and thus, the no-confidence resolution vote won't take place.

All that said, Hatch does have a valid point, odious though the man is. We aren't the damned British Parliament, after all--we don't DO "no confidence" votes. We should continue investigating this Gonzo bastard's misdeeds and send out a few senior Senate Chiefs of Staff to talk to upper-crust reporters off the record about the damned "I" word vis a vis Mister Gonzales. That would shake the tree faster than these silly and meaningless votes, really.

If the NYT carried an article that said "SENATE DEMOCRATS MOVE TOWARDS AG IMPEACHMENT PROCEEDING" the fucker would probably run like hell, deciding he needed to spend more time with his family. All of this posturing signifies a whole lotta nutthin', at the end of it all.

[melody]

15. The GOP brought it down by trying to make it look like a Democratic "stunt"

It was skillful guerilla politics. Yet one more sign of the oncoming civil war the
right wing is bringing on.

[peacetalksforall]

16. Can someone name the DEMs who vote NO, if any. This will be

a line drawn into the sand (again) for me. Hope the usual ones don't go Republican on us again. I'm sure Joe will be a no. He has his future with Republicans to look forward to.

[LSparkle]

21. I listened but I didn't hear any Dems vote no -- even Nelson (NE) voted aye

as did Blanche Lincoln (another one who sometimes wavers).

[earthside]

17. Lieberman Voted No n/t

[dogday]

22. Lieberman is no Dem

he isn't even Independent, he is a rethug through and through....

[Make7]

19. Only got 53 votes - Cloture Motion Rejected. ( n/t )

[Ian David]

20. Wasn't that just the vote for cloture on debate? n/t

[LSparkle]

23. Yes, but if they don't get 60, then they can't bring it to a vote

I think voting "no" in this case was a vote against having a vote (or a vote to keep debate going and not bring the matter to a vote).

[Ian David]

26. Plus, one person in favor of the bill always votes AGAINST cloture for procedural reasons.

That gives them an opportunity to block the other side from some kind of procedural move or something.

[Make7]

25. Yes, that was mentioned up thread - I edited my post to clarify. ( n/t )

[Make7]

28. Here are the vote results:

YEAs ---53
Akaka (D-HI)
Baucus (D-MT)
Bayh (D-IN)
Bingaman (D-NM)
Boxer (D-CA)
Brown (D-OH)
Byrd (D-WV)
Cantwell (D-WA)
Cardin (D-MD)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Clinton (D-NY)
Coleman (R-MN)
Collins (R-ME)
Conrad (D-ND)
Dorgan (D-ND)
Durbin (D-IL)
Feingold (D-WI)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Hagel (R-NE)
Harkin (D-IA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Kerry (D-MA)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lautenberg (D-NJ)
Leahy (D-VT)
Levin (D-MI)
Lincoln (D-AR)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Menendez (D-NJ)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Murray (D-WA)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Reed (D-RI)
Reid (D-NV)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schumer (D-NY)
Smith (R-OR)
Snowe (R-ME)
Specter (R-PA)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Sununu (R-NH)
Tester (D-MT)
Webb (D-VA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)

NAYs ---38
Alexander (R-TN)
Allard (R-CO)
Bennett (R-UT)
Bond (R-MO)
Bunning (R-KY)
Burr (R-NC)
Chambliss (R-GA)
Cochran (R-MS)
Corker (R-TN)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Craig (R-ID)
Crapo (R-ID)
DeMint (R-SC)
Dole (R-NC)
Domenici (R-NM)
Ensign (R-NV)
Enzi (R-WY)
Graham (R-SC)
Grassley (R-IA)
Gregg (R-NH)
Hatch (R-UT)
Hutchison (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Isakson (R-GA)
Kyl (R-AZ)
Lieberman (ID-CT)
Lott (R-MS)
Lugar (R-IN)
Martinez (R-FL)
McConnell (R-KY)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Shelby (R-AL)
Thune (R-SD)
Vitter (R-LA)
Voinovich (R-OH)
Warner (R-VA)

Present - 1
Stevens (R-AK)

Not Voting - 7
Biden (D-DE)
Brownback (R-KS)
Coburn (R-OK)
Dodd (D-CT)
Johnson (D-SD)
McCain (R-AZ)
Obama (D-IL)

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00207