In her second-to-last press briefing today, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino refused to answer questions about possible last-minute pardons from President Bush. A reporter asked whether to expect any more pardons from Bush before he leaves office, and Perino replied by telling the press to “talk to the hand”:
PERINO: I just have you talk to the hand when it comes to pardons. But I don’t — we have never talked about them from here, in terms of what may or may not be coming, and I’m not going to start on — five days to go. … I don’t anticipate that you’ll have any, necessarily, on the 20th. But I — I can’t say that for sure because a president always holds that power and that right, up until the time that they’re no longer president.
Watch it:
Last month, Perino insisted that the White House would follow the Department of Justice guidelines for issuing pardons. However, the administration broke with protocol in pardoning predatory mortgage lender Issac Toussie — forcing Bush to revoke the pardon the next day.
Bush already made the gravest of pardons when he pardoned Scooter Libby for treason.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:16 pmBush’s sudden torture admissions portend rash pardoning.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:22 pmYou might consider begging the American people for our pardon, Dana. You have accumulated a heavy burden of false witness before us.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:22 pmWhy do they even bother holding press conferences any more? I mean, why?
January 15th, 2009 at 4:22 pm“Perino to press: ‘Talk to the hand when it comes to pardons.’”
And that is exactly what Bush said to American people for 8 years with his lies, deceit, and destroying the U.S. Constitution. 4 days to go!
January 15th, 2009 at 4:23 pm“Perino to press: ‘Talk to the hand when it comes to pardons.’”
– - I hope one of the reporters gave her the finger.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:23 pmCats r Flyfishn Says:
Bush already made the gravest of pardons when he pardoned Scooter Libby for treason
– - Don’t get ahead of yourself. Bush hasn’t done that, yet.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:24 pmUm…does Blondie Peroxide know what “talk to the hand” means? I mean — she used an awful lot of words to respond for someone who’s claiming that “the ears aren’t listening”.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:25 pmI tell you what, Barbie – just use that same hand to slap yourself into next week, ok?
January 15th, 2009 at 4:26 pmThese people just keep getting more and more arrogant.
Does anyone know if Parker Brothers has been printing lots of ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ cards?
January 15th, 2009 at 4:29 pm“Talk to the hand” WTF?
January 15th, 2009 at 4:35 pmwell if that isn’t the grace, intelligence, and maturity we’ve come to expect from Bush era press briefings, I don’t know what is.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:37 pmThey have been burning up their printers with all the blank pardons they are stacking for Bush to sign….
….after all, it isn’t torture if it’s done to a brown person, and it’s not murder if it’s done to a brown person….
….we, the American people are not going to pardon you Bush…
….but congress will.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:37 pm“Talk to the hand”
You mean the hand that is up your arse?
January 15th, 2009 at 4:38 pmJust for lulz
Dee’s top 4 Favorite Bush Secretary of all time
1. Ari Fleisher… Baldy was just awesome. I can’t believe he got that quote about the Bush’s lack of energy policy out with a straight face. (Something about conservation and the American way of life is a blessed one)
2. Scott McClellan… He looked so uncomfortable it was great. The beads of sweat dropping from his cherubic countenance surely smelled of gravy.
3. Tony Snow… was a ringer. They brought in a PROFESSIONAL liar to do the Press Sec job. No fun.
4. Perino… just as bad as snow. She brings nothing to the table. I still can’t wait for teh nude photos to come out.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:42 pmCan I be Bush’s Press Secretary for the next four days? I’ll just stand there, draw a salary and do mime or something. I am so sick of them hiring people who refuse to do their jobs.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:43 pmTalk to the hand? All she has left in the tank are outdated mall rat put downs?
January 15th, 2009 at 4:47 pmTalk to the hand, because the ear’s not listening? That is the original meaning of this expression. So, what is this poor woman saying?
January 15th, 2009 at 4:48 pmThe president’s power to pardon is NOT absolute! The president is constitutionally obligated to take care that the laws are faithfully executed. He cannot, therefore, issue pardons to people who broke the law on his orders, because that would be the exact opposite of taking care that the laws are faithfully executed. (The two concepts are in conflict. Absolute pardon authority is inconsistent with the obligation to follow the law faithfully. One requires accountability while the other doesn’t.) I would argue that any pardon given to someone who violated the law on Bush’s (or Cheney’s) orders would be unconstitutional, and that that person could still be prosecuted.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:48 pmAs egregious as pardons can be, there are a lot worse things the Worst President Ever could do in these last few days.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:52 pmI can’t understand how anyone could work for this corrupt Administration. Perino, Flesher,… anybody. Is selling your soul required or what?
January 15th, 2009 at 4:55 pmP.D. Says:
I can’t understand how anyone could work for this corrupt Administration. Perino, Flesher,… anybody. Is selling your soul required or what?
No, because ever having had a soul in the first place would disqualify you from working for them.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:57 pmDana Perino is a sorority girl trapped in an adult world.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:01 pmIt appears Dana Perino is a sorority girl trapped in an adult world.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:03 pmPeople still say that? I suppose next she put her thumbs together leaned back a lttle, cocked her head just a bit and let loose with her best “Whatever”?
January 15th, 2009 at 5:04 pmI “talked to the hand” and it told me to slap the silly blonde beyotch senseless.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:08 pmTell ya what, I’ll see your hand and raise ya a finger!
January 15th, 2009 at 5:13 pmIs the hand posed in the Shocker position?
January 15th, 2009 at 5:14 pmMaybe he was very forthcoming. Hard to say if you lack any memory of the event…
January 15th, 2009 at 5:20 pmWayne A. Schneider Says:
No, because ever having had a soul in the first place would disqualify you from working for them.
January 15th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Genius!! ;)
January 15th, 2009 at 5:32 pmGee Nettles, it took 29 posts for a Clinton did it too! posting. What’s the hold up? Chimpy has been president for 8 long years, that’s 56 in your years) and you’re still beating the Clinton drum. I bet you’re calling the current ecomomic problems the C”linton Depression” right?
January 15th, 2009 at 5:33 pmHey Perino, talk to the shoe btch.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:33 pmNice job putting on the facade of professionality, you idiot of a valley girl.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:41 pmTalk to the hand on pardons?
I thought Perino helped with pardons already. Just that she pardoned White House and RNC staffers of their pants in secluded offices when they were having “tough times” or her bosses needed pictures to use for votes or favors later.
January 15th, 2009 at 5:45 pmPoor Nettie.
Is that all you got?
January 15th, 2009 at 6:00 pmDoes anyone else remember when a press secretary was supposed to facilitate the flow of iinformation ?
January 15th, 2009 at 6:14 pmThat’ll be a cute response when the investigators and prosecutors come knocking on Liar Barbie’s door.
January 15th, 2009 at 6:17 pmSpeaking of pardons, the WSJ says that the future of America depends on pardoning Scooter Libby!
Wayne A. Schneider Says:
The president’s power to pardon is NOT absolute!
True, but it’s pretty damn close. There aren’t very many court rulings on it, and I don’t trust the SCOTUS we got right now to rule on anything but “Bush is our King.”
.
Nettles Says:
Remember how forthcoming Joe Lockhardt was re: WJ Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich?
No? Neither do I.
Nope. No idea what you’re talking about. Go research it for me and fetch us back some links.
January 15th, 2009 at 6:29 pmBush will probably issue a hundred pardons in his last 5 minutes, give the press the finger, and trot off to Texas. Let’s just hope he doesn’t decide to press the red button for kicks 2 minutes before that.
The lesson to learn is: Never again will I not fight night and day to prevent the election of a Republican President.
January 15th, 2009 at 6:58 pm“the WSJ says that the future of America depends on pardoning Scooter Libby!”
What a sad, sad, shallow essay.
January 15th, 2009 at 7:31 pmfrom the wiki:
“The sentence is often considered to be a sarcastic or obnoxious phrase, and is commonly associated with urban black youths, especially black women, as well as teenage valley girls who adopted it. The phrase was popularized by actor and comedian Martin Lawrence in his 1992 sitcom Martin. It is usually accompanied by the gesture of extending one arm toward the other person, with the palm of that hand facing the person being insulted, in the manner of the gesture to stop.”
They even got Dana from today there.
January 15th, 2009 at 8:11 pmElBruce Says:
Speaking of pardons, the WSJ says that the future of America depends on pardoning Scooter Libby!
_______________
So, just out of curiosity, I go to read this at the WSJ. I mean, Cheney recently ADMITTED PUBLICLY he was behind the outing of Valerie Plame, si I’m curious to see what sort of twisted logic the Journal is floating here.
“Let us be clear about the Bush legacy. After September 11, not a year into Mr. Bush’s term, his became a war presidency. George Bush’s place in history will turn on what becomes of Iraq and al Qaeda. If Iraq fails, history will mark down the Bush presidency. If by fits and starts Iraq grows into the Middle East’s first large, functioning democratic republic, a more likely result, the Bush presidency will be one of the great building blocks of the new century’s political order.”
Wha the F….????
“One of the great building blocks of the new century’s political order”???
At that point, I had to go puke, and hard.
Then I remembered…
The WSJ is now owned by Bush fellator extraordinaire Rupert Murdoch…
January 15th, 2009 at 8:27 pmHang in there, sock puppet. Only 5 days until you enter re-hab.
January 15th, 2009 at 9:10 pmTalk to the hand? Answer my middle finger extended.
January 15th, 2009 at 9:12 pmYes—if Bush pardons people who committed crimes based on his authorization or on his behalf, then, those pardons don’t really have any constitutionally valid and lawful effect. They would be void. They would be worthless.
Yes—imagine if Bush ordered people to kill all of his political opponents and then pardoned all of the murderers before he left office. Those pardons would be void, and the murderers could be prosecuted at any time.
Similarly, Bush’s potential pardons for people who committed what can be thought of as “Bush crimes” should be void—crimes relative to wars of aggression, lies to justify them, usage of a wide variety of illegal weapons and illegal targeting of civilians, illegal detentions, torture, murder, warrantless spying, outing CIA agents, politicizing the Justice Department, etc. Prosecutors don’t have to honor such pardons.
David Swanson makes perfect sense.
Submitted by Andrew Yu-Jen Wang
B.S., Summa Cum Laude, 1996
Messiah College, Grantham, PA
Lower Merion High School, Ardmore, PA, 1993
“GEORGE W. BUSH IS THE WORST PRESIDENT IN U.S. HISTORY” BLOG OF ANDREW YU-JEN WANG
ONLINE ANTI-BUSH SCHOLASTIC RESEARCH: LISTING OF MAJOR ISSUES
http://andrewyu-jenwang.blogspot.com/2008/10/bush-is-worst-president-in-american.html
January 16th, 2009 at 2:42 am