Snow: Ashcroft Wasn’t That Ill, It Wasn’t Like ‘His Brain Didn’t Work’
Snow: Ashcroft Wasn’t That Ill, It Wasn’t Like ‘His Brain Didn’t Work’
In March 2004, then-White House counsel Alberto Gonzales and then-chief of staff Andrew Card attempted to go around acting Attorney General James Comey and get John Ashcroft, who was debilitated with pancreatitis, to sign off on an extension of the administration’s warrantless domestic spying efforts from his hospital bed.
As ThinkProgress noted, Comey testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee today that “given how ill [he] knew the attorney general was,” he was “upset” and “angry,” believing he had “witnessed an effort to take advantage of a very sick man.”
At today’s press briefing, White House spokesman Tony Snow dismissed Comey’s testimony and the seriousness of Ashcroft’s condition. When CNN’s Ed Henry asked Snow if the White House had been trying to “take advantage of a very sick man” in “an end-run” to “try to get John Ashcroft to overrule James Comey” Snow replied, “Because he had an appendectomy, his brain didn’t work?” Watch it:
The White House refuses to acknowledge that its actions were potentially illegal. At that time, Ashcroft didn’t have any power because the powers of the attorney general had been transferred to Comey.
Moreover, Snow is downplaying the seriousness of Ashcroft’s health condition at the time. Ashcroft had been in intensive care at George Washington University hospital for “over a week” before Gonzales and Card paid him a visit. Mrs. Ashcroft had banned “all visitors and all phone calls.” Comey described Ashcroft’s condition on the day of Card and Gonzales’s visit:
Mrs. Ashcroft was standing by the hospital bed, Mr. Ashcroft was lying down in the bed, the room was darkened. And I immediately began speaking to him, trying to orient him as to time and place, and try to see if he could focus on what was happening, and it wasn’t clear to me that he could. He seemed pretty bad off.
Ashcroft’s chief of staff also personally requested that Comey “not resign until Mr. Ashcroft was well enough to resign with me. He was very concerned that Mr. Ashcroft was not well enough to understand fully what was going on.”
Transcript:
QUESTION: OK. Very dramatic testimony on Capitol Hill today. James Comey, who in 2004 was the acting attorney general, testified that when he raised objections to the terrorist surveillance program, that Alberto Gonzales as White House counsel and the White House chief of staff, Andy Card, took this extraordinary measure. They went to the hospital room of John Ashcroft to try to get him to override what Jim Comey was saying about how this needs proper legal footing.
So why would — wasn’t that an end-run by the White House to try to get John Ashcroft to overrule James Comey?
SNOW: Well, number one, you’ve got a representation of internal White House deliberations. And we simply don’t talk about (inaudible) and not going to.
Number two…
QUESTION: But he’s testified on Capitol Hill…
SNOW: I understand that. I understand that.
But…
QUESTION: (inaudible) have to tell the truth to the American people. He’s testified (inaudible) public…
SNOW: Let me give you a couple of things.
Also, what had always been noted is the terrorist surveillance program was in fact something that was constantly reviewed by the Department of Justice, either 45- or 90-day periods, and furthermore was reviewed by the inspectors general at the Department of Justice and at the National Security Agency. In addition, there was review by the FISA Court.
The terrorist surveillance program saved lives. Period.
Number two, those who had questions about the FISA Court sat down and worked with the administration last year. And we worked out legislation that I think has met any questions that anybody had.
But the fact is, you’ve got reforms. And I’m not going to talk about old conversations.
QUESTION: But you had the acting attorney general at the time saying, regardless of what inspectors general (inaudible) — but the acting attorney — chief law enforcement officer in the country — is saying in 2004, I’ve got problems with this. And then you’ve got the chief of staff and the counsel, Alberto Gonzales at the time, going and, according to James Comey, they were trying to take advantage of a sick man who was in intensive care.
SNOW: Trying to take advantage of a sick man. Because he had an appendectomy, his brain didn’t work?
QUESTION: I was very upset. I was very angry. He was in intensive care at GW. I thought I had just witnessed an effort — let me just tell you. I thought I had just witnessed an effort to take advantage of a very sick man. OK?
Did any White House officials come and try to take advantage of…
SNOW: Again…
QUESTION: That’s just really not applicable in terms of this.
QUESTION: They were trying to take advantage of him, according to James Comey.
SNOW: I’m just telling you, I don’t know anything about the conversations.
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We know that Ashcroft’s brain doesn’t work, but that has nothing to do with whether he was sick or not.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:20 pmCan we arrest them now?
May 15th, 2007 at 4:20 pmI can’t believe Tony Snowball is actually trying to justify what Gonzo and Card did.
If its not illegal, it is highly unethical. A real scumbag thing for them to do.
The Repukes have absolutely no moral values whatsoever.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:21 pmWay to avoid the topic.
So they did in fact try to get around the Acting AG in order to illegally wiretap Americans?
May 15th, 2007 at 4:24 pmI think Tony Snow just forfeited any sympathy we might feel for his own illness.
What an ass.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:24 pmsounds to me like they’re trying to cover up for ashcroft. if comey’s at fault for this one, that doesn’t lessen the crimes that ashcroft has committed either.
This spying issue is completely out of control – bank accounts, emails, phone calls, library records….i think i’ve seen a few sci-fi films about this.
This country is turning into a dystopic novel…
Some further reading:
May 15th, 2007 at 4:25 pm“Freedom in a Surveillance State”
http://www.populistamerica.com/freedom_in_a_surveillance_state
Yeah, it wasn’t like he had cancer or something. PFFFFFFT!!
May 15th, 2007 at 4:25 pmCome off it, Snowflake. Pancreatitis is a very serious condition. I would think someone with your medical history would appreciate that, but I see that you’re simply a useful tool for BushCo, as per usual.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:25 pmUmmm – why didn’t Tony do press briefings from his hospital bed a couple weeks back …?
After – all – it’s not like his cancer surgery affected his brain … right?
Hypocrite ….
May 15th, 2007 at 4:26 pmIf Ashcroft was on pain medication that impaired his ability to make sound decisions, this was very much illegal.
Sadly, no one is surprised by illegal acts of this administration any longer…it’s the status quo.
When exactly are we going to get our country back?
May 15th, 2007 at 4:26 pmhe has some nerve…i guess anyone who doesnt have cancer like tony, isnt really sick.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:27 pmhe has some nerve. i guess if someone doesnt have cancer like tony, they’re not really sick. what a jerk.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:28 pmThese people have no shame.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:29 pmAshcroft was not Attorney General at the time of the notorious hospital visit.
Ashcroft had handed over his AG duties temporarily to Comey.
What was Gonzo going to do? Put a phony date on what he wanted Ashcroft to sign?
Even if Ashcroft had signed it, it would have no legal standing as he was not legally AG at the time.
Gonzo and Card are real scumbags for doing this. It reminds me of another disgusting hospital visit, when Newt Gingrich dumped his wife while she was in a hospital bed with cancer. Repukes are SCUM.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:30 pmHis wasn’t the only brain that “wasn’t” working. Tony Snow: press secretary and forensic psychiatrist…sheesh.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:30 pmThe more I watch that clip, the more medacious and disgusting it seems.
Besides wasting time by listing all of the entities that supposedly “reviewed” this program, a list that has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the question asked, Tony Snow invents a non-applicable reason to not talk about PUBLIC TESTIMONY TO CONGRESS and then ignores the fact that James Comey was ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL at the time.
The question is, why would I have expected anything different?
May 15th, 2007 at 4:31 pmTip, meet iceberg.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:31 pmYou’re drawing conclusions without knowing all the facts. Why were they in such a hurry? Maybe they really needed to get some wiretaps fast-tracked and done ASAP, so that they could crack a terrorist cell somewhere.
Sometimes the rules must be bent if you want to get results. Too bad stiff-necked careerists like Comey don’t understand that.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:34 pmSo, Tony, why did you take a leave from being White House chief propagandist? After all, your brain was still working, wasn’t it? Wimp.
You deserve no more sympathy than you give Ashcroft.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:35 pmSomeone should ask snow how well *his* brain is working right after chemo; would it be ok for bush’s chief of staff to come ask him right then to get up in front of that podium and do some more of that lyin’ his ass off he’s so good at?
May 15th, 2007 at 4:35 pmRight after Gonzo and Card’s disgusting hospital visit, Comey got a call from Card to meet with him at the White House.
Comey told Card, that based on what he had just witnessed at the hospital, that he would not talk to Card unless a witness was present.
This is the Acting Attorney General of the US telling the Chief of Staff of the President of the United States that he doesn’t trust him enough to have a meeting without a witness present.
This is just another indicator of how BAD things have gotten in the US.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:36 pmBottomBoy, go back to your Repuke gay bar.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:37 pmI knew there was something oddly familiar about the scene: that’s how Newt got his divorce going.
So where does the false sence of moral superiority come from? Republicans seem more like the morally bankrupt party.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:38 pmWhat? You thought Phony McSnowjob was going to suddenly stop making shit up? Sorry, that’s his shtick.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:38 pmBottomBoy sez:
That’s what retroactive FISA warrants are for.
There was no legitimate reason for this conduct. None whatsoever.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:38 pmIf Gonzo needed wiretaps okayed in a hurry, he could have gone to the FISA court…up to three days after the fact.
So that’s a bullshit excuse. Gonzo and Card were trying to pressure Ashcroft into signing an okay to do more warrantless wiretaps.
BottomBoy likes to get ridden bareback.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:39 pmYeah, those dam experienced people. They should be replaced by robots built at Regent University.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:40 pmFunny how the Repukes, from Tony Snowball to our own gay troll, think it is okay for the President’s Chief of Staff and Counsel to go to a hospital and pressure a sick man to sign something.
But I guess its okay with them if Republicans do it.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:42 pmSometimes the rules must be bent if you want to get results. Too bad stiff-necked careerists like Comey don’t understand that.
Comment by BottomBoy
Bend your rules somewhere else sh@thead. We appreciate THE RULE OF LAW. Does that make ANY sense to those who worship the imbecile currently squatting in our White House?
May 15th, 2007 at 4:42 pmTony Snow must be like, the next Jack Bauer if his pain meds don’t make him go bonkers. Or maybe he doesn’t NEED pain meds, he’s just that tough.
I wonder if he gets a twinge about all the irrational stuff they make him say.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:42 pmBottomBoy wishes Tony would Snowball him.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:43 pmMaybe they really needed to get some wiretaps fast-tracked and done ASAP, so that they could crack a terrorist cell somewhere.
Sometimes the rules must be bent if you want to get results. Too bad stiff-necked careerists like Comey don’t understand that.
Comment by ScrapingtheBottomBoy — May 15, 2007 @ 4:34 pm
Remarks like this force me to have some sympathy for these trolls. It can’t be easy forcing yourself to type out crap like this that even you don’t believe and then putting your screen name to it.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:44 pmThis is just another indicator of how BAD things have gotten in the US.
Comment by Tom3
No shit. Things are definitely warped when Ted Olson is the most trusted person Comey could get for a witness.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:46 pmNo matter how you dice it, pressuring a very sick man to sign papers while hospitalized is the epitome of lack of concern for his well being. Of course, the entire Bush Cabal thinks of no one but themselves so it doesn’t surprise me one iota that they would stoop this low.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:49 pmFISA is unnecessary as it approves practically every request it gets. Nevertheless it is a bureaucratic obstacle as you’ve got to have men filing FISA forms while they could be out there doing their jobs. Its existence just complicates operations.
What Gonzales and Card were trying to do was to get all this unnecessary oversight machinery streamlined – or better yet, done away with – to suit better the realities of this post-9/11 world. Bureaucrats like Comey and you just don’t get it.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:50 pmBush Cabal’s Rules – Meant to be Broken
May 15th, 2007 at 4:50 pmI had to laugh at the comment about their actions being “potentially illegal.” When was the last time this band of miscreants did anything that was LEGAL?
May 15th, 2007 at 4:50 pm#18 BottomBoy (You really want to go by that name?)
You’re drawing conclusions without knowing all the facts. Why were they in such a hurry? Maybe they really needed to get some wiretaps fast-tracked and done ASAP, so that they could crack a terrorist cell somewhere.
Considering the way that the schemers in the DoJ and White House waited until Sen. Specter was in the hospital to spring their little late night addition to the Patriot Act renewal, I think we’ve figured out their MO. They were in such a hurry because Ashcroft was incapacitated. Don’t be such a naive putz. If they needed to get some wiretaps fast-tracked, they could have done it without going around FISA and gotten approval within 72 hours after the fact.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:51 pmI had an appendectomy a few years ago. I was on demerol for the next day and a half. Good thing I didn’t have to answer any important questions at the time. I never knew when I was going to fall asleep. All of a sudden it would be 2 hours later. Yeah, sure you can wiretap… whatever…zzzzzz….
May 15th, 2007 at 4:52 pmTom: the rule of law is just like truth – malleable.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:52 pmAndrew Card is being presented with an honorary degree by the University of Massachusetts-Amherst this weekend – there have been protests by faculty and students, but to no avail.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:53 pmWrite the University of Massachusetts Board of Trustees at:
225 Franklin Street, 12th Floor
Boston, MA 02110
or call 617-287-7005 to request they withdraw their invitation to Andrew Card.
Bwaahaha.
I wish he had said, “So, if you have an appendectomy your memory doesn’t work?”
May 15th, 2007 at 4:54 pmTom: the rule of law is just like truth – malleable.
Comment by BottomBoy — May 15, 2007 @ 4:52 pm
And there we have it, folks. As close to the truth as you’ll ever get from a right-winger. This sounds to me an awful lot like “Legal Relativism”.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:57 pmI wish he had said, “So, if you have an appendectomy your memory doesn’t work?â€
Comment by Zep Tepi — May 15, 2007 @ 4:54 pm
Now THAT would have been funny.
Of course, we would immediately have to have Abu G checked for appendectomy scars.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:58 pm“unnecessary oversight machinery streamlined”
Those of us who still believe in democracy call it “checks and balances”. 9/11 did not nullify the U S Constitution, much to the inconvenience of those who want things more efficient and authoritarian.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:58 pmBottomBoy, your bottom is malleable. Especially when Jeffy Lube Gannon probes it with his penis.
Go back under your bridge, self=-hating gay Repuke troll.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:58 pmI know, when BottomBoy gets AIDS from getting barebacked by his Repuke butt buddies, lets all go to the hospital and demand he sign documents while he is out of it.
I’m going to get him to sign away his car to me. Hope its a nice one.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:59 pmTip, meet iceberg.
Comment by sfkare — May 15, 2007 @ 4:31 pm
This one’s for you sfkare. Sorry for the long link name.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://shiftingbaselines.org/blog/images/Iceberg.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.shiftingbaselines.org/blog/archives/000380.html&h=677&w=500&sz=47&hl=en&start=8&um=1&tbnid=pGH82G1k3Sfr-M:&tbnh=139&tbnw=103&prev=/images%3Fq%3Diceberg%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX
May 15th, 2007 at 5:01 pmTruth is truth, fact is fact and law is law. None are flexible.
Of course this is the retard that said we should all just give in to inevitability and the resistance was futile, because the New World Order had already taken over.
May 15th, 2007 at 5:01 pmWhile it is true that the FISA court only rejected a handful of warrants in its history, it is still what the law requires. Warrantless wiretaps are unconstitutional and only a fascist buttboy would think they are okay.
I hope that a FISA judge, upon seeing a warrant to bug Democratic party headquarters or the ACLU or Henry Waxman’s office, would reject the warrant out of hand.
Obviously Chimpy and Gonzo do not want judges looking at their wiretaps, so those wiretaps must be bad.
May 15th, 2007 at 5:02 pmUm, Tony… if pancreatitis is like appendicitis, is stomach cancer like a stomachache?
May 15th, 2007 at 5:02 pmThat’s not very nice of a progressive, Tom3. Gay slurs. Maybe I am gay, but I’m still a Republican first.
May 15th, 2007 at 5:04 pm#48: How quaint. You’ve made truth and law into some kind of a religion. You believe that they’re immutable when there’s plenty of evidence of how both can be manipulated so that they benefit a political party.
May 15th, 2007 at 5:06 pm#46 Tom3
I know, when BottomBoy gets AIDS from getting barebacked by his Repuke butt buddies, lets all go to the hospital and demand he sign documents while he is out of it.
Likewise, next time Tony Snow is in the hospital he should hold his press briefing from his bed, while he’s sedated. Somebody might just get a straight answer out of him for once.
May 15th, 2007 at 5:06 pmBottomBoy comes out of the closet!
BottomBoy, if you’re gay and a Repuke, you hate yourself.
You think you’re an evil sinner and should be a second-class citizen with fewer rights.
And I am not slurring all gays, I am bashing you for being a gay-hating gay. Barney Frank rule applies here.
Go back under your bridge, buttboy.
May 15th, 2007 at 5:09 pmThat’s not very nice of a progressive, Tom3. Gay slurs. Maybe I am gay, but I’m still a Republican first.
Comment by ScrapingtheBottomBoy — May 15, 2007 @ 5:04 pm
Who would have known? The guy who called James Comey a “stiff-necked careerist” has feelings. He doesn’t like to be ridiculed.
May 15th, 2007 at 5:09 pmThat’s not very nice of a progressive, Tom3. Gay slurs. Maybe I am gay, but I’m still a Republican first.
Comment by BottomBoy
You’re not gay.
If you were, you wouldn’t make an asinine statement like that.
May 15th, 2007 at 5:10 pmSo much for compassionate Conservatives.
May 15th, 2007 at 5:11 pmHow quaint. You’ve made truth and law into some kind of a religion. You believe that they’re immutable when there’s plenty of evidence of how both can be manipulated so that they benefit a political party.
Comment by BottomBoy — May 15, 2007 @ 5:06 pm
Umm… any word on WHICH party that would be?
So much for the Republican “Rule of Law” talking point, I guess.
May 15th, 2007 at 5:11 pmTom: the rule of law is just like truth – malleable.
Comment by BottomBoy
With the current band of clowns running our government right now, I would have to believe you. The present administration is the most secretive, criminal, incompetent, and unpatriotic in our 200+ year history. History will not be kind to this administration – or to the citizen robots who blindly supported them.
May 15th, 2007 at 5:12 pmalright bottomboy, just open your mouth and say aaaahhh…
May 15th, 2007 at 5:16 pmI prefer not to use lube on bottomboy..he likes it rough and I’d hate to disappoint…
May 15th, 2007 at 5:17 pm#58: Uh. Ok. My point WAS that GOP as a party has made better use of the malleability of the truth and laws, and I’m damned proud of what we’ve accomplished in that field. We can almost say that black is white and the mugs sitting in front of the tv are going to believe that.
May 15th, 2007 at 5:17 pmEven scarier than the underhanded efforts to legitimize their illegal activities are what these kind of actions mean. They’re trying to take over the government.
For example – If they just wanted to do something illegal, like the wiretaps, they could just go about it secretly and illegally until caught, when they would cease. However, trying to legitimize their illegal activity tells me that they have something much larger in mind AND that they know it is illegal in the first place. Legitimizing it will give them legal ground in the future to formally create a unitary executive. It is quite literally a coup d’etat. These scary a-holes need tossed out on their a-holes before they do further irreparable damage to our constitution and out country.
May 15th, 2007 at 5:21 pmTony, your cancer does not excuse you from being a lying sack of shit hypocrite. Some things never change. Tony McSnowjob, the White House Spokesliar.
May 15th, 2007 at 5:23 pmI would ride BottomBoy all night long, except he can’t afford me.
May 15th, 2007 at 5:23 pmSnow ignores the fact that Comey was temproarily the Attorney General and the attempted end run aound him to get to Ashcroft who might have been more easily persuaded to approve their illegal plan was an illegal act in itself.
These guys are all so unethical, so accustomed to flauting the law, so quick to lie, and defend their cohorts in crime, it is just natural to them.
Can we wait 600+ more days?
May 15th, 2007 at 5:27 pm#51- You hit the nail on the head Bottomboy! You just pointed out the problem with all you right wing nut jobs. You are all, as you said “Republican first.” If you were truly a patriot, if you truly loved this country, you would be AMERICAN FIRST, and not Republican first! Bush, and the rest of his illegal band of misfits, took oaths too uphold the Constitution, and the laws of the U.S., not an oath too be good Republicans, and play by their own rules as they make them up as they go along! 616 very long days too go until we get back too an administration that puts America first, and not their political party, their religion, or anything else first! We need too get back too a loyal American as President, not a loyal Republican!
May 15th, 2007 at 5:33 pmTom: the rule of law is just like truth – malleable.
MAYBE to Nazi scumbags like Bush and Gonzales and YOU.
REAL Americans think the RULE OF LAW is to be followed.
You scumbags seemed to think that the RULE OF LAW was important when you impeached Clinton over a BJ.
WHY the change of “heart” now???
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
May 15th, 2007 at 5:37 pmSince when does a working brain mean anything to the Bush administration?
May 15th, 2007 at 5:59 pmtony’s dismissive comment “his brain was working” makes me withdraw my sympathy posts, when tony’s cancer caused him to take a leave of absence. At this point, it appears that his cancer has now spread to his heart. What an incredible ass@ole.
May 15th, 2007 at 6:09 pmMy father had pancreatitis and it was frightening to watch. His pain unbelievable and he was put on meds that not only had him believing he was back in WWII but also imaginartrying to pluck imaginary things out of the air. Snow is a fool.
May 15th, 2007 at 6:16 pmThe Snowflake is melting…
May 15th, 2007 at 6:20 pmYes, Bottomboy is a confused poster, but the point is, his original point is irrelevant. FISA allows for quickly listening in and getting permission later. So Bottomboy’s little problem is a non-problem and all he’s doing is attempting to justify unlawful, unconstitutional behavior.
May 15th, 2007 at 6:23 pmB R E A K I N G! —
senator patrick leahy to
subpoena bradley schlozman
on thursday, may 17, 2007!
when we put senator leahy’s statements
of this morning, together with thursday’s
senate judiciary committee executive
business meeting agenda. . . one may
easily surmise that by thursday, sen.
leahy plans to have a subpoena with mr.
schlozman’s name on it, ready for service.
i bet there will be action on
May 15th, 2007 at 6:26 pmgonzales’ failure to comply with
rove e-mail subpoena return-date
of this afternoon, as well. . .
Bottomboy: “My point WAS that GOP as a party has made better use of the malleability of the truth and laws, and I’m damned proud of what we’ve accomplished in that field.”
Bottomboy has inadvertently described one of the challenges to the liberal progressive community – we are fighting against amoral sociopaths who, by definition, see no need to play fairly. We can’t lower ourselves to their level. In fact, most of us are incapable of lowering ourselves to that level. We just need to keep doing the right thing.
May 15th, 2007 at 6:26 pmSnow looks whacked out of his f*cking mind!
Too much Satanist mind control!
May 15th, 2007 at 6:39 pmYOUR FAVORITE TRAITOR…
…Joe Lievermin…
…is throwing a fundraising bash for…
…REPULSIVESCUM Susan Collins…
…email Harry and Nancy and DEMAND…
…his chairmanship be YANKED!
May 15th, 2007 at 6:52 pmI want Snow to die. I will rejoice when this piece of crap expires. Censor me all you want, I make no apologies whatsoever.I hope his death is long and ugly.
May 15th, 2007 at 8:11 pmSnow=Lying sack of liquid crap.
May 15th, 2007 at 8:12 pm78 – I do understand your feelings, and I struggled with my own feelings today when I heard about the death of Jerry Falwell. But after sitting with my mother through her prolonged, painful death I truly would not wish it on anyone, not even Little Dick Cheney, whom I loathe.
PS – I like what one poster on DKos said today about Falwell: I hope he died without pain, entered the Pearly Gates, basked in the glow of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – and then was introduced to Jesus’ boy friend.
May 15th, 2007 at 8:32 pm#80 — Heh.
May 15th, 2007 at 9:02 pmSo Ashcroft was in intensive care with pancreatis but Snow downplayed it to an apendectomy? Did anyone set him straight?
May 15th, 2007 at 9:12 pmIt wasn’t merely an appendectomy. Ashcroft had pancreatitis from gall-bladder disease. They may have removed his appendix at some point, but that is often done as an incidental procedure.
Anesthesia, by definition, makes your brain not work. We are all grateful that we can be operated on and have our brain blissfully unaware.
It’s not the operation that affects your thinking, it is the anesthesia. I believe Mr. Comey described Mr. Ashcroft’s condition very explicitly. Please read it if you haven’t.
I think Tony Snow is guilty of the attitude that is said to define “major surgery” and “minor surgery”. If Tony Snow is operated on, it is major surgery. If it is anyone else, it is minor surgery.
Some people do not become more sympathetic to the plight of others when they go through troubles with their health. Instead of offering sympathy like most of us did when we learned that Tony’s cancer had returned, he callously behaved like no one else has really been sick except himself.
May 15th, 2007 at 9:26 pmTony Snowjob is not even telling the facts straight (big surprise).
Ashcroft had gall bladder surgery for a life threatening gallstone pancreatitis, not an appendectomy.
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2004/March/04_opa_159.htm
Ashcroft had obstructive pancreatitis, caused by gallstones blocking his pancreatic duct – one of THE most painful conditions one can experience short of Abu Ghraib/Gitmo torture, in which pancreatic juices back up and literally eat away at the heavily innervated pancreas.
Ashcroft would have been writhing in pain on admission, and heavily doped up continuously from the time he was admitted on Mar 4 2004 through his surgery on Mar 9, and during his recovery in the ICU on Mar 10 when Gonzo and Card were sent in to try to finagle Ashcroft into signing off on the FISA-violating warrantless wiretap scheme.
May 15th, 2007 at 10:23 pmPS – I like what one poster on DKos said today about Falwell: I hope he died without pain, entered the Pearly Gates, basked in the glow of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – and then was introduced to Jesus’ boy friend.
Comment by Viola Cella
That’s a good one. Thanks for sharing it with us.
May 16th, 2007 at 12:01 amReally, Dr. Snow?
Comey had a message.
When Card and Gonzales came a callin’ on Ascroft..
bringing sweetness and mercy
to his ICU bed.
Attorney General Ashcroft was clinically delirious.
[Temporarily out o' his gourd.]
Georgie’s frantic for a “Get out of jail free” law for his domestic espionage.
That’s why “FISA reform” keeps oozing out of the Rethug’s agenda.
Abu Gonzales and Card waited to ask Ashcroft’s OK…
until the Attorney General was delirious
and had formally delegated his official powers .
May 16th, 2007 at 12:57 am
I’m sorry Mr. Snow, do you have a medical degree? Medications, especially pain medications and narcotics, alter your level of consciousness and ablility to make vivid decisions. Adam, MD
May 16th, 2007 at 2:21 amI take back my earlier comments regarding Snow’s recurrent cancer. I had expressed sympathy for him and wished him well in his recovery. I take those words back now, since he is clearly unwilling to express the same compassion for the former Atty General who was in great pain and preparing to undergo major surgery. That being said, I am NO FAN of Ashcroft and was completely shocked that there was something we actually agreed upon (i.e., the wrongness of the wiretaps.)
Tony Snow can rot in hell, alongside the other members of the Bush cabal. No more sympathy for the devil.
May 16th, 2007 at 9:04 amI always though Snow was crazy, but I had no idea that he was delusional.
May 16th, 2007 at 11:25 amAs a physician, I cannot help noticing that Ashcroft’s pancreatitis (a very difficult illness with a high mortality rate) is referred to as an appendectomy (much more benign illness) by Tony Snow.
May 17th, 2007 at 8:24 am