sen. specter calls for a special prosecutor to deal with white house obstruction -- video from SJC on july 24, 2007

video of a long day at the SJC for gonzales. . .

as i suggested last night, it is time
to call for a special prosecutor to
address white house defiance of the
subpoenas issued by congress.

perhaps surprisingly, it was the ranking
republican on the senate judiciary committee
who first made the suggestion of a special
prosecutor today, in open frustration
about the useless testimony of alberto gonzales,
and the plainly obstructionist white house
position of "blanket" executive privilege,
on these matters -- in just 2:43, you'll see
it all -- yes, the latest "nightly nolo" report:

to be clear, i am no fan of sen.
arlen specter -- as some on another
board seem to have mistakenly surmised.

actually -- what i find interesting
is how specter's instinct for self-service
first, last, and always is playing out
here. . . if he is pushing for a special
prosecutor -- it may well be to forestall a
broad-side attack on the white house itself,
with the committees -- HJC and SJC -- seeking
to hold the whole of the white house staff in
inherent contempt for defiance of lawfully-
issued subpoenas, among other matters.

so -- i'd actually LIKE to see specter press
this one forward, on a parallel path, seeking
from paul d. clement, the solicitor general,
appointment authority for a special prosecutor
to look into why cheney had access to case data
at DoJ, among other matters -- all of which
focus on gonzales. . .

the larger, broader, contempt attack will be
then handled mostly by the "adults" (democrats
leahy, whitehouse, schumer, conyers, sanchez,
davis, and lofgren), while "the kids" (specter,
et al.) chase special prosecutors about. . .