Rayne Today

I have to go pick up my son from school...it just dawned on me how much I am going to have to explain to him today, about why we will see so much of the Edwards family on television this evening. You see, in 2004, after waiting in line and in the hot summer sun, I held my son up piggyback in a crowd less than 30 feet from where John Edwards spoke as a presidential candidate, so that my son could see him and hear him. He made an enormous impact on my son, who still talks about that speech every time he sees John Edwards on television, including this morning, before he left for school. Bless the Edwards, both John and Elizabeth, who've had to have important discussions of their own with their children. I thank them for the grace they've shown as an American family and wish them well.

Late last evening two stories were released covering the Gonzales Eight and the White House's role in the dismissals. The New York Times and the Washington Post both covered the document dump by the U.S. Department of Justice in advance of further testimony by DOJ staff. From the WaPo article : The Gonzales aide in charge of the dismissals — his chief of staff, D. Kyle Sampson — resigned yesterday, officials said, after acknowledging that he did not tell Justice officials about the extent of his communications with the White House, leading them to provide incomplete information to Congress. Doesn’t that smell of firewalling and plausible deniability to you? Kyle Sampson was named U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales' chief of staff in September of 2005 , three months before the dismissals of the U.S. Attorneys (USA's) Sampson had been named Deputy Chief of Staff and Counselor to the Attorney General in February 2005 ; is this part of normal transition post-election? ...