Nevada's John Ensign Resigns

"How's my hair?" Image from source, ABC News

Well, Captain Hairdo finally cashed in his chips. Or rather, he's cashing them out in early May, for some reason. He was busted all the way back in 2009 for making sweet love down by the fire with a staffer's wife. Slowly, the facts came out that said staffer and wife (and their son) benefited greatly from John Ensign's (and his parents') largess. Maybe illegally, surely unethically. For a while, he acted like he'd be running for reelection in 2012. He ultimately announced that he'd retire when his term was up. He commented several times that if he resigned, it would be as good as saying he was guilty.

Now he's announced his resignation. You connect the dots. Meanwhile, Nevada politics has been thrown into a tizzy. Dean Heller, currently a US Congressman, was going to run for Ensign's seat in 2012, but now is a shoo-in to be installed by Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, a Republican. This leaves Congresswoman Shelley Berkley in a tricky spot, since she's already announced that she'd likely be running for the Senate seat. Instead of a contest of current Congresspeople, Berkley would be running against a sitting Senator.  And then there is resident nutball Sharron Angle. She was running for Heller's seat, but now she gets a shot at a special election for his seat, a time when voter turnout will likely be light. So she may get swept in, in a fluke, and have incumbency in her favor in 2012!

Could Ensign have planned it this way? Unlikely. If he just wanted to make it hard on Berkley, he could have waited until she had a lot more invested in the race. If Ensign wanted to boost Heller and/or Angle, he could have resigned earlier. More likely, he left now because something unsavory was about to happen with his ethics investigation.

[Excerpt]

Sen. John Ensign Announces Resignation From US Senate



Sen. John Ensign announced Thursday he is resigning from his seat in Congress, where he served for 11 years, and he will send a letter to Vice President Joe Biden on Friday stating that his resignation from office will be effective on May 3, 2011. . .
 
Read more at: ABC News

Conyers to Investigate Bush White House?

Photo from Raw Story

Well, I wasn't lit on fire by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse's promise to investigate the Bush Administration's various abuses of power. Much as I like Whitehouse, I've just been let down too many times over the last couple of years. But now, Congressman John Conyers is getting in on the action? Sure, he's let us down before too, but it's nice to know that something is going on in both houses!

[Excerpt]

Conyers publishes massive report on 'Imperial Presidency'
Report demands investigation of Bush administration's abuses of power

Everyone wants to know: will Obama order investigations into the Bush administration's abuses of power? But, perhaps the new question should be: if he doesn't, who will?House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) is at least going to try. . .

Read more at: Raw Story

Whitehouse to Investigate Bush White House?

Photo of Sheldon Whitehouse from TPM Muckraker

The standard liberal lament is that the Bush Administration is going to get away with everything. We held on to hope through two years of (nominal) Democratic control in the Congress. But Congress was worried about scaring away voters for this past election, and didn't do much of anything. So, we thought, if we just wait until we have a lot of Democrats, and a Democratic President, something will finally be done about Bush's lawlessness.

But Barack Obama seems to want to be "nice," and look forward and not back. Joe Biden has been similarly wishy-washy on the issue as well. And to tell you the truth, I'm not really surprised. I'm disappointed--very much so--but I sort of expected this. But alas! There is yet another glimmer of hope! Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse says if Obama won't go after Bush, he will! Dare we get our hopes up one. More. Time?

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Whitehouse: If Obama doesn’t investigate Bush’s crimes, I will.

“I think that there’s a lot that remains to look at, and I appreciate that President Obama doesn’t want to make it his purpose as a new president, with America in real distress in many directions, to go back and look at all this, but I think we in Congress have an independent responsibility, and I fully intend to discharge that responsibility,” Whitehouse said. . .

Read more at: Think Progress