foitz

Fitz ‘em all !

good good good, eat it chimpy!

Leaker, Liar, Loser.

fitz you make me schvitz

What a lovely morning set of headlines!

Too bad that it’s a Saturday, with fewer readers. Also, the leaker-in-chief meme seemed to be all over the Friday evening news (well, CNN and PBS’s Washington Week anyway), but that’s also a dimmed out TV night for many.

Off to the woods! Our law students have organized Public Service Day, in which they get their noses out of the books for the morning, roll up their sleeves, and volunteer with practical work — some for the relief nursery, some for the local food distribution agency, etc.

Our environmental students are off to work in a park and so my wife and I, along with 3 lawyers who happen to be visiting from West Africa, Eastern Europe, and Washington, D.C., will join them in blue jeans and raincoats and willing hands.

This is shaping up to possibly be George W. Bush’s Watergate. Now all we need is more administration insiders to leak more damaging information, where is Deep Throat now that we really need him? More, more, MORE!

Milwaukee Journal Sentinal:
America deserves the truth

White House Says Some Leaks Are Good
ABC News - 15 hours ago

Google News provides a count of the different news stories out there in English and “Leaker-in-Chief” just beat out “illegal aliens” as the top news story!

We’re Number One! We’re Number One!

warrantless and illegal NSA sureillance MUCH MUCH larger than thought.
All international phone calls and all internet traffic (websites, emails) is continually being filtered:

http://www.wired.com/news/tech.....wn_index_1

Whistleblower account of the NSA operations:
http://www.wired.com/news/tech.....wn_index_2

illegal monitoring has been continuing since 2002 and AT&T is fully complicit in this illegal and warrantless total surveillance by NSA.

If you have any business with AT&T switch all your services away from them to somebody else and explicitly tell them that the reason why you are switching is their complicity in the illegal warrantless NSA surveillance.

The only way to make the madness stop is to take away the thing republican extremists and their surrogates and supporters/cronies love more than liberty,freedom and privacy:MONEY.

Please spread the word on all the blogs you can so as many people as possible learn the truth told in the Wired.com articles and boycott AT&T so much that they start respecting their customers and their values again.

WH says some leaks are good. LOL. Hey Cheney, why don’t you go help George clear some brush. Better hope he’s not as sloppy with a machette as you are with a gun.

the WH alleging ’some leaks are good’ is a mighty feeble defense. most folk think it’s just sneaky and dishonest. what will we tell the children?

Good mornin’ folks, jest gettin’ ready fer bed but I wanned ta remind folks that this is the 2,016th day since March 20, 2003 and people are still dyin’ and our kidz are still right in the middle of where they shouldn’t be. Let’s make sure that we do everything in our power as citizens to expose and irradicate the fascist junta that is responsible for this nightmare and which is preparing, as we speak, to use nuclear weapons on a country that hasn’t attacked us!!

KEEP THE FAITH, GOD’S GETTIN’ PLENTY PISSED OFF!!

GWB = Evil Doer

I bet Ms. Beezley hides under furniture all weekend. Laura too, probably.

Did anyone else notice the change in how Scottie refers to this case? He used to say, “We’re not going to comment on an on going investigation.” Yesterday, it was “a legal proceeding.“

Think they’re worried about “an investigation” actually touching the Preznit himself? Tee hee.

Why, that’s the most gorgeous crop of headlines I’ve seen in ages. It warms the cockles of my black old heart.

Speaking of which. The US planning for Iran…does the US expect Iran to just sit and wait for themselves to be obliterated?

Does Iran have secret agents? Will the US tip off Iraq to a pending military strike on Iran..will the US notify our own troops that the shit is about to get thick?

Will all of this buzz go unnoticed by the Iraqis…how many of those Iraqis have interests in not seeing Iran nuked?

This will plunge the world into a darkness and a chaos not seen since WWII.

The lower the polls go, the more likely I see them continuing headlong down the road to nowhere.

This is getting real and it is getting scary.

It might be time to start cashing in life insurance policies.

-GSD

“this is the 2,016th day since March 20, 2003″ ? ? ?
Check your arithmetic please! 2016 / 365 = 5.5 years

This morning’s headlines are simply further proof that the press simply chases ratings by giving the people what they want to hear. That it’s true in this instance is merely coincidence.

When BushCo was flying high, the press knew very well that they were leaking and lying, but wouldn’t say so, because it would offend the masses. Now that the masses are turning, the press is turning as well. You don’t need a weatherman …

Morning Christy and FDL.

Oh I don’t know. He doesn’t even read newspapers. His solid steel bubble is apparently inpenetrable. And besides, he truly believes he was set on his path by God himself and that his every action is guided by devine inspiration.

I don’t think a few bad headlines affect him much.

Now his advisors on the other hand:

Poor Karl probably can’t even enjoy the sensation of Jimmy-Jeff Gannon penis probing his manhole. And forget about what’s going on at the other end with McClellan, Mehlman and various officials from DHS.

Poor Dick probably can’t concentrate on which country he is going to invade next. Should I do Syria and Venezuela first or should I be a “real man” and target Tehran first and save the little guys for last?. And planning his next face-shooting is more than likely completely off the table for the weekend.

And Condi. Poor Condi will probably only be able to pick out 5 pairs of shoes this weekend. And no doubt these headlines will make figuring out if she did the right thing by going “all the way” with Jack Straw last weekend that much harder.

No, I don’t think these headlines effect bubble-boy much. But Karl and Dick are surely squirming. And that can’t be anthing but a good thing…………

At the elementary school where I work, there is an epidemic of kids “showing the finger” (as they put it) to each other.

Sigh. Wonder where they get that?

While we are all (understandably) focused on the leaks, Iraq is going to hell…

http://katrinamemo.blogspot.co.....unded.html

Immagine if over 70 people were slaughtered by bombs placed during Mass at St Paticks Cathedral in New York? Maybe we can’t take any more of this gruesome news.

It wasn’t long ago that the Republicans were enjoying calling President Clinton “Slick Willy”. It seems more than evident today that President Bush and his mouthpiece minions have far advanced the art of “well it depends on what the meaning of is, is”. Apparently, it’s now simply a question of how one defines “leak”.

This is the same President who campaigned as a man of principles who would restore honor to the White House. There’s a limit to the amount of doublespeak that the American public will accept…recent polling indicates this administration has far exceeded that threshold.

http://www.thoughttheater.com

“We support the election process, we support democracy, but that doesn’t mean we have to support governments that get elected as a result of democracy.” President G. Bush - Washington, D.C., Mar. 29, 2006

Saw this on another site. Where exactly did The Treasonous Leaker say this at?

Last night Bill Maher had a great rant on how Bush does everything by ‘trusting his instincts’ but it doesn’t mean Bush is right. He said Bush does things and then prays he’s right. That he should do more learning not praying.

Morning Everyone !

Norske, your #95 downstairs was beautifully said. Sleep tight.

Ben Craig # 7 - don’t think you’ll have to worry. WH is pretty much in a scandal a day mode

Christy, love the graphic - took my annual canning/jam making inventory just yesterday - yup, got everything I need. it’s gonna be a peach of a season

Oily George?

-GSD

The last line from this op-ed by Chris Kelly in the Scranton Times Tribute says it all:

“It all has an eerily familiar ring, but something is very different this time around. We’re no longer talking about a cancer on the presidency, but a presidency that’s a cancer on the nation.”

Here’s a link to the piece:
http://www.scrantontimes.com/s.....&rfi=6

Love the Louisville Courier Journal Article. I hope this will be a wake-up call for many Kentuckians who helped put this nut in office.

I’m spending the morning writing my local paper and the big three, LA Times, NYT and WaPo, sharing the love about Bush’s lying to Fitzgerald. Will be blogging later. Then on to letters to Reid, Pelosi, Boxer and Feinstein. Maybe a couple to Sessions and Roberts. Now is the time to ramp it up and demand the impeachment of Mr. Bush. He is revealed by Fitzgerald as a dishonest unstable fool who thinks nothing of lying or breaking the law.

Now this is not news to us in the blogosphere and it’s not news to the citizenry, not anymore, but apparently it is to our elected representatives.

Let’s give them the news. Let’s do it today.

We must demand that they hold Bush accountable for his actions.

GSD,

That’s funny!

I hold Dick Cheney personally repsonsible for kids who tell each other to “fuck-off”.

-GSD

sorry to go off topic christy, but this is a technical issue

this is now the fourth computer, two at work, my own laptop, this brand spankin new machien, so I know it’s a bug in this software, not in the computeres or settings

I can’t use control+f om this blogs comments section

control+f brings up a find window, I can search the comments area for my favorite poster resonse

Those are some good headlines. Ms. Smith, since you seem to be the “lawyer in residence”, and for all others, a question: does the recent disclosures of Libby testimony get us any closer to the underlying issue of “who outed Plame?”
[Wait! Before everyone jumps on me, I am NOT advocating the repug line of thought. I fully understand, via the Smith analysis, that lying is SEPERATE from whatever ANY investigation is looking into. I’m quite convinced that Libby lied, and he’s going down for it. And that’s a good thing!]
But I’m just curious, did the recent mass of attorney filings shed any light on the “outing” question? My own belief, based only on speculation, is that Fitz probably knows the “outer(s)”, but, as I recall, the statute itself is so poorly written that a prosecution is, at best, problematic.
Still, there is NO excuse for WH officials to blatantly lie to a grand jury. Libby lied, and he’s going down. Ghostman

sorry, hit enter before I wanted to

so when I hit control f the find window comes up but it freezes the browser

Well, y’all can bet Bush is in big trouble over this if this appeared in the San Antonio Excuse-for-News editorials this a.m.:

Bush owes Americans the truth about leaks

Clearly, it’s time to nuke Iran.

Ghostman — I think Fitz knows the identity of all the leakers on Plame — he has to get to two fundamental questions though: (1) Did they knowingly out someone they knew to be a NOC? (For IIPA Prosecution) and (2) Did they knowingly reveal this information without regard to potential damage or other issues, with malicious or otherwise wrongful intent (for an Espionage prosecution)? Fitz is very careful and knows that any move he makes will set a long-term precedent in terms of future prosecutions that could have wide-ranging effects. It’s good that he’s being cautious. And I think Libby holds a few keys on motivation for several others. Although since Fitz has been back tot he grand jury since Libby was indicted, it’s possible that Fitz found a way around having to rely on Libby. And wouldn’t that be interesting?

I can’t reproduce your error, me to me. [cntrl]+F brings up the find window, and find works correctly. In fact, I found your comment by searching for ‘find’. If you’re using Microsoft IE on Windows, try Edit->Find (on this page)… from the main menu.

It seems we need to organize another gift fund for Congress. May I suggest some of these get sent?

Congress Boosters

George the Gorge? Big empty space…or, someone who consumes a large amount greedily?

Kinda OT, but this seems to have been lost in the leak coverage this week.

From the NSA hearings in the House Judiciary Committee.

GONZALES “What I’ve testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee was that the disagreements that have been the subject of newspaper stories did not relate to the program that the president disclosed to the public in his radio address in December of 2005. It related to something else. And I can’t get into that, Mr. Chairman.”

WaPo

So what program were they arguing about? The one written about in Wired that Swiss provided links to in comment 11 in this thread? What the hell is going on in this country?

me to me says:
April 8th, 2006 at 7:46 am

I have noticed that as well. For now, please try this remedy: go to the sidebar in the leftmost column of this page and use the “search” dialog box above the list of recent posts.

GONZALES “What I’ve testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee was that the disagreements that have been the subject of newspaper stories did not relate to the program that the president disclosed to the public in his radio address in December of 2005. It related to something else. And I can’t get into that, Mr. Chairman.â€

Translation: Bush wasn’t lying about the illegal intercetion of international phone calls, he was lying about something else. Probably intercepting domestic calls or email traffic.

As always, the inestimable Digby weighs in with this piece, which cites some grafs from the Knight-Ridder article about the leaks, AND ties in how that’s the way the media has needed to cover this administration.

And he did it in just a few, short words. Love me some Digby!

Argh. Forgot my closing tag!

You know, leaks can be embarrassing. Maybe we should all send along some Depends as a goodwill gesture.

Ms. Smith, thank you for the analysis. I see your point. Seems to me that Fitz believes he REALLY better have his ducks in a row before stepping off into that statute. Ok, caution can be a good thing!
On an emotional level, and PURE speculation, but I don’t think Fitz will get anywhere trying to “put the squeeze” on Libby. Libby reminds me of…a guy named Liddy! Meaning, Libby will “soldier on” and fall on his bayonet if necessary.
Now, Mr. Rove….hmmm. Frankly, I think ole Rove would “squeal like a pig” if stuck. He is, in my opinion, the most fertile “pressure point” for Fitz. Or perhaps one of the WH underlings. But Rove…I just think Rove would melt like butter on a sunny day if he got an indictment stuck on his face.
Interesting times. Let’s all keep watching. Ghostman

OT - did I miss the tape of the rest of the rubber stamps? I saw the 100 stamps delivered to the Congress and watched on cspan as the reps talked about the Rubber Stamp Congress. but I thought that when the stamps were delivered elsewhere, a tape was made and when edited, we would see it.

Excerpts from the Iranian story on RawStory follow: “In recent weeks, the president has quietly initiated a series of talks on plans for Iran with a few key senators and members of the House of Representatives, including at least one Democrat, the report said.
…
One of the options under consideration involves the possible use of a bunker-buster tactical nuclear weapon, such as the B61-11, to insure the destruction of Iran’s main centrifuge plant at Natanz, Hersh writes.
…
“If we go, the southern half of Iraq will light up like a candle,” the adviser is quoted as telling The New Yorker.”

What exactly does this last statement mean — southern half of Iraq will light up like a candle?

Is there a point the Republican power brokers realize Bush is more of a liability than the party can bear for the next 3 years? And what would they do about it? There have always been suspicions Booth and Oswald had connections to those in power…………..

Deevy 23, next time you can just link us to the Independent. Thanks.

Christy, you mentioned that “Although since Fitz has been back tot he grand jury since Libby was indicted, it’s possible that Fitz found a way around having to rely on Libby. And wouldn’t that be interesting?”

-Yes, that would be extremely interesting. Also, if Libby’s team catches on to this possibility, they may get the urge to start cooperating very quickly while they can still cut a deal.

If Fitzgerald has another source, Libby’s testimony quickly loses value and his chances to cut a deal go out the window. In fact, Libby probably has earned a special spot on Fitz’s shit list by now, so if Fitz can get by without cutting a deal with Libby, he will forget about getting Libby to cooperate and simply wait to nail Libby to the wall down the line as the indictments grow in number and significance.

Add the San Diego Union to the list of papers with bone crunching body slams on Bush- and this is one of the papers that invented him! They actually have a critical editorial on the subject.

I have no idea what the average person thinks this is all about- how much they know- etc., but they at least must be getting the message that GW Clusterfuck is embarassing the United States of America yet again.

This administration isn’t in “meltdown”- it’s in “slow burn”, there may not be much left of it by the end of the year.

This is an outcome that is well deserved–on the part of the administration at least. Is it well deserved on the part of the American People? Well yes it is I suppose. The american people have been deaf, dumb, and blind when it comes to these fuckers for five years. Even NOW a significiant number of people refuse to see the truth. Now they are about to experience three crucial years in american history without a captain at the bridge. The consequences of this are VERY serious. GW Clusterfuck and Cheney should resign now for the good of the nation. They have proven that they are incapable of “righting” the ship- the ship is foundering and they are the problem!

GrandmaJ, from what we understand there was an editing glitch that caused a mistake in the film. They are trying to correct it before releasing it. I know I can’t wait to see it!

I wonder if any of this bad press even matters to the Bushies.
Ive been thinking that maybe their plans are complete and public opinion or the congress is of no matter.
Read this from the NewYorker.
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/.....417fa_fact
why is it that falling poll numbers and increasing unpopularity dont even bother them?
Could they have set their plans long ago?
… or am I being tin-foilish?

Emma at 28 — thanks much for the link to the Scranton paper and Chris Kelly column. The quote bears repeating:

“It all has an eerily familiar ring, but something is very different this time around. We’re no longer talking about a cancer on the presidency, but a presidency that’s a cancer on the nation.â€

You know, this just might be the straw that breaks the camels back so to speak.

For a WH who campaigned on restoring integrity and dignity to the Office of President, this is a big deal. It was a bit infuriating and also amusing, to watch Scotty McClellan weave and duck through the WH press briefing with his “we don’t comment on ongoing legal proceedings.” While the Press corp sort of hammered him, they didn’t focus on some of Bush’s more damning statements from the past, which were highlighted on Think Progress.

The democrats or moveon and other advocacy groups need to make an ad with his prior statements about not knowing anybody in his administration who leaks, there being consequences for people who leak, etc and then show a clip of Scotty trying to split hairs and distinguish those leaks (NSA wiretapping) to Bush’s leaking select parts of the NIE for political purposes. I think that would be very effective.

The Dems just don’t “get” the outrage and disgust that we on the left (ie. their base) feel at this point. They continue to miss the boat on every issue and are making it too easy for Bush to wiggle out of situations like this because of their delusional fear of looking “weak” on national security.

I’m with the Granite State Destroyer.
Bush might bomb Iran. He’s got nothing to
lose now… all his lies have caught up with
him. Remember when he was blinking his eyes?
I’m worried. We are headed for a consitutional
crisis.

Bay State Librul

“southern half of Iraq will light up like a candle”

This refers to the pro-Iranian groups in Southern Iraq. If the US attacks Iran they will react. It would be much uglier than it is now.

Their excuse of trying to set the record straight just doesn’t wash. They have the bully pulpit, if they wanted information to reach the public, they could just hold a press conference and release it directly to us. Why would they employ secret, furtive meetings with Judith Miller and other reporters unless they knew they were doing something wrong and perhaps illegal?

Will anyone on the talk shows tomorrow try to get an answer to this question?

“light up like a candle”. I guess this refers to the probability that the shiite area of Iraq won’t take it well if the US nukes their shiite brothers and sisters in Iran. Iraq and Iran are the two places on earth where shiites are in the majority- the rest of the moslem world is overwhelmingly sunni. They have been a persecuted minority for centuries- and they are likely to take being nuked personally. That means a SHIITE insurgency- against the US- and probably a demand from the shiite govt that the US leave the country. In the end- a shiite Iraq will be a close ally of shiite Iran. GW Clusterfuck will end up on the side of the minority sunni.

Ya gotta have a scorecard.

“What exactly does this last statement mean — southern half of Iraq will light up like a candle?”

The Southern half of Iraq is largely Shiite…like Iran–mostly Shiite.

Young cleric Al Sadr recently went to Iran and declared that he would support the Iranians in the event of a US attack.

All of the troops in the South–big bullseyes.

Iran is a big player in Southern Iraq now…so where it goes..so goes the South.

-GSD

Sorry if this has already been posted here in the comments- I didn’t see it as I looked through them.

There is an article linked on Raw Story about an AT&T whistleblower who basically lays down what Bush is doing with regard to spying on americans. As we suspected, the program is vastly more illegal and wide-reaching than Gonzales has admitted. They are using supercomputers to give the NSA access to AT&T customers internet use/information. There is nothing about these communications being based on one side being in a foreign country as the law requires. These sweep up purely domestic communications/activity.

I have seen little about this in the mainstream media and to me, this is HUGE because it kills bush’s argument that the program is narrowly tailored- you know, the old “terrorist surveillance program” nonsense.

http://www.wired.com/news/tech.....619-0.html

Thanks.

Wow - Check out this bombshell from WSJ:

Fitzgerald Aims To Show High Level Organized Plan Led To Leak CIA Agents

http://online.wsj.com/public/a.....in_tff_top

lest they forget: the population around the oilfields in Saudi Arabia is also Shia — they might get a little flaming down there too

OT - In other news, according to The Nation, some on the left are blaming Harry Reid for scuttling the Senate compromise on immigration reform.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmp.....on/1575709

me to me #34

get a mouse.

In Notification of Army Deaths, More Pain

By LIZETTE ALVAREZ
04/07/06 “New York Times” –
“After Neil Santorello heard the news that his son, a tank commander, had been killed in Iraq, from the officer in his living room, he walked out his front door and removed the American flag from its pole. Then, in tears, he tore down the yellow ribbons from his tree.”

..Rather than see it as the act of a man unmoored by the death of his 24-year-old son, the officer, an Army major, confronted Mr. Santorello, saying, “Don’t be disrespectful,” Mr. Santorello recalled. Then, the officer, whose job it is to inform families of their loss, quickly disappeared without offering any comfort.

..Later, the Santorellos heard a piece of crushing but inaccurate news: They would not be allowed to look inside their son’s coffin. First Lt. Neil Santorello, of Verona, Pa., had been killed by an improvised bomb. His body, the family was told, was unviewable.

..The Santorellos eventually learned that families have the right to see a loved one’s body.”

http://informationclearinghous.....e12641.htm

This just blows my mind, how much more heartless can they get?

OT, but…WEIRD:

Mental patient charged with threatening President Bush

By: JIM SUHR - Associated Press

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — A Palestinian man faces federal charges of threatening President Bush over comments made while getting mental-health care, according to an indictment made public this week.

News of the indictment raised questions Friday about how to treat such comments by mental patients.

Federal grand jurors indicted Arafat Nijmeh on March 23 on two felony counts of “knowingly and willfully” threatening to harm Bush — first by telling two workers at his treatment center that he wanted to castrate Bush, then a day later to Secret Service agents notified by the center.

So if a mentally-distrubed patient in a treatment facility threatens the President, he’s…believable? I mean, yeah, he’s disturbed and could be capable of anything. But he’s disturbed.

Two things that leapt out at me:

For privacy reasons, they aren’t saying what this guy’s condition is, so we’re left not knowing how the condition would affect his credibility.

Is this treatment center a walk-in facility, or…well…the kind you have to stay in because your problems are so bad?

Man, is this making my tin foil hat heat up…

As to the leak.

Yep. If it was a matter of “national security” don’t you think that the US should have made the matter open and public?

If Joe Wilson was some drunk liar, well, Bush holds a press conference and says this guy is drunk and lying.Instead it gets left to some backroom shennanigans by some mini-me of Dick Cheney.

As to Libby and the “I forgot” defense. So, Joe Wilson is trying to knock down the key argument in the linchpin of the Bush administration–there is a massive campaign to pushback because the fate of the nation depends on stopping the “New Hitler”…yet Libby forgets about it?

-GSD

dKos links to a Hartford Courant article noting Lieberman’s initial silence (failure to criticize) re the Bush leak story.

http://dailykos.com/

I stand corrected on the WSJ article I linked to above. The title is a lot more exciting than the content, which is pretty much a rehash of what we already know.

In the cocktail weenie thread, patience wrote:

Libby’s filing clearly shows the hand of conspiracy at work.

This dovetails very nicely with the WSJ article xyz cites at 66.

The forest comes into focus . . .

=====

From upthread:

in recent weeks, the president has quietly initiated a series of talks on plans for Iran with a few key senators and members of the House of Representatives, including at least one Democrat, the report said.

Why, hello Sen. Lieberman. You just made Ned Lamont some more $$$.

Curious in Tex, re. #50 I’m fairly certain they’re referring to the huge majority Shia population of southern Iraq! You can also bet the Shia in and arund Baghdad will “snap” too!

LJ/Aquaria 41
If George is the Gorge does that make Rove the soutien-gorge?

Bionic, are you talking FRENCH to me? ;)

Oh–and good one with the soutien-gorge. A melon holder for a melon head…

Recent WaPo has a handy timeline of the Plamegate investigation, starting with the decision into start it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....00865.html

I had forgotten that

. . . I had forgotten this one, which now seems more interesting:

Dec. 14: Columnist Robert Novak suggests that he is certain President Bush knows the identity of the mystery administration source who first revealed Plame’s identity to the media.

Shez #40
LMAO. That is a beautiful idea!!!

This fits the current administration to a T.

In the shuffling madess
Of the locomotive breath,
Runs the all-time loser,
Headlong to his death.
He feels the piston scraping –
Steam breaking on his brow –
Old charlie stole the handle and
The train won’t stop going –
No way to slow down.

-GSD

Do I detect a subtle…or not so subtle…attack against bloggers? http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=414280

“Recent WaPo has a handy timeline of Plamegate”

when WaPo starts with the timelines, I think they will probably be doing a series or further stories.

SELECT DAYS(CURRENT DATE) - DAYS(DATE(’3/20/2003′))
FROM DUMMY_TABLE;

1115 days

From what I am reading, it appears that there is a groundswell of questions about the wisdom of a president just willy-nilly declassifying information, and for exactly the reasons that many of us thought from the get-go: that if the material wasn’t originally classified by the president, the likelihood is that he would not have sufficient information to understand the national security ramifications of doing so. The intelligence community is not happy about what they are hearing out of this White House.

I think we are going to see an escalation in two arguments:

One, that while it may have been legal to declassify the information, the way in which it was declassified was not in the best interests of the country; and,

Two, that the way in which it was declassified, and the underlying reasons for doing so, i.e., purely for political gain, constitute a serious, and perhaps punishable, abuse of power.

I also think that we are going to see, repeatedly over the next days, video of McClellan talking about the July 18th “declassified just today,” which does not dovetail at all with the dates Scooter was out leaking the material, together with video of his comments about the “stamping” of the document.

More questions: if the VP had the authority to declassify per the 2003 EO, why was his alleged direction to Scooter not sufficient for Scooter to proceed to talk to reporters? Why did Scooter need assurance that Bush okayed it, and why didn’t Addington know that Cheney had the authority? When was the CIA advised that material in the NIE had been declassified?

Can’t wait for the answers…

Lawrence O’Donnel of West Wing consultant fame, said on Countdown that the leak headlines are all over every newspaper and many broadcasts. He said if you read well into the story that the conclusion is that Bush did nothing wrong or illegal, but most don’t. So now it’s really out there, even though as noted on the show that it’s been a major news story for well over a year.

This is the Cokie Roberts school of character assassination (something about how once it’s out there even if incorrect the damage is done) that KKKarl excels in. So sweetly schadenfruedeingly delicious when the worm turns, innit?

We’re on day 1904 of GW Bush’s reign.

Ghostman #48
This may have been mentioned. If so, sorry.
There IS a pressure point on Libby. His wife and children. The opportunity to spend a long time away from his family may not be too appealing to him. By now he should be getting the feeling from GWB that loyalty only goes one way, Up.
There are so many variables at play here. I only offer this one as a possibility.
p.s. I liked your question and Redd’s response.

Perhaps this will improve those sinking poll numbers. The fucking crazies intend to prevent another problem.

NUKE’EM!!!

SOURCE

“More questions: if the VP had the authority to declassify per the 2003 EO, why was his alleged direction to Scooter not sufficient for Scooter to proceed to talk to reporters? Why did Scooter need assurance that Bush okayed it, and why didn’t Addington know that Cheney had the authority? When was the CIA advised that material in the NIE had been declassified?”

Great point Anne! I too had wondered why Cheney’s say-so wasn’t sufficient since he’d gotten “classification/declassification authority in March while in performance of his official duties “. Addington definitely would have known about this remarkable power delegated to the Veep from the POTUS.

new thread - old secrets

If the US needs to be led into another war, GW Clusterfuck will not be able to do it. No one will follow him- he has zero credibility. The world knows this. It is a very dangerous time for the USA- our power is at a low point- and will remain there until this fucker leaves office. He should resign and take Cheney with him for the good of the nation he pretends to love.

Apple Canyon, *grinz*

I’m serious, we should look for some cheap ones in a flat package with the biggest letters displayed on it we can find as a symbolic kick in the ass to Congress. Unlike the rubber stamps which helped our side this gift is for all of them except Feingold, and Conyers (and the ones who signed his impeachment motion).

Knight Ridder gets it (via Atrios)

http://atrios.blogspot.com/200.....0031884110

Truth is the Vorpal Sword Which Kills Truthiness

WASHINGTON - The revelation that President Bush authorized former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby to divulge classified information about Iraq fits a pattern of selective leaks of secret intelligence to further the administration’s political agenda.

Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and other top officials have reacted angrily at unauthorized leaks, such as the exposure of a domestic wiretapping program and a network of secret CIA prisons, both of which are now the subject of far-reaching investigations.

But secret information that supports their policies, particularly about the Iraq war, has surfaced everywhere from the U.N. Security Council to major newspapers and magazines. Much of the information that the administration leaked or declassified, however, has proved to be incomplete, exaggerated, incorrect or fabricated.

=====

bebimbob says:
April 8th, 2006 at 7:01 am

Leaker, Liar, Loser

There you go Christy - bebimbob has just given you a great title for a posting.

“Young cleric Al Sadr recently went to Iran and declared that he would support the Iranians in the event of a US attack.”

And so will all the other Shia, and a hell of a lot of Sunni too.

One thing can we people on Firedoglake please get over the flat out lie that al-Sadr is pro-Iranian?

He isn’t not even slightly (and neither have any of his family ever been.) He’s an Iraqi nationalist which is why he has significant support amongst the Sunni. Saying he’s pro-Iranian is just more outright lying from Washington.

curious in central Texas #50

What exactly does this last statement mean — southern half of Iraq will light up like a candle?

The Southern half of Iraq is Shia. Part of the backdrop of this is that the genesis of much of the tension between the Sunni and the Shia dates back to the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980’s.

Taking up arms against fellow Shia in Iran was not an easy thing for many Iraqi Shia to do, and at the beginning of that war, there were the germs of a small anti-war movement. Sadaam crushed it, and in his paranoia continued to punish the Shia. The rest is history.

It should also be noted that because of that war and the US support of Saddam and also because of the tensions with the Ayatolla’s in Iran (who sheltered dissidents in the 90’s) the Shia have never been too “fond” of the US. Understandably. Remember the Rumsfeld handshake in what was it — ‘85? They also have not forgotten what happened to them when the US encouraged them to rise up at the end of the 1st Gulf War and them left them to be slaughtered by Saddam. In many ways, it is amazing that the Shia have been as “restrained” (ie, practical) in their dislike of the US occupation as they have been.

So all that is to say — if the US attacks Iran, their Shia brothers and sisters (thousands of Iranina pilgrms travel to Iraq, btw, to visit holy Shia shrines which have existed there since the 8th century) in Iraq are likely to explode, and use it as an opportunity to carve out a Shia state in the South (where most of the oil is). Kuwait would be placed in an interesting position, since it is the only Shia Arab state in the gulf. Though another source of trouble is the eastern provinces of Saudi Arabia, which are populated with a sizable Shia minority and have been treated abysmally by the extreme Wahhabi fundamentalist regime their.

Yesterday, in response to the bombing of the mosque in Baghdad (quoted in this NY Times article) US Ambassador Khalilzad warned of the dangers of the “sectarian” violence.

“There has been no agreement yet on the composition of the new government, and this has to happen as quickly as possible,” he said. “I think the patience of the Iraqi people as well as the patience of the international community is running out.”

Mr. Khalilzad said the negotiations showed that leaders from different factions had been opening up to each other, but that Iraqis in mixed Sunni-Shiite areas of Iraq were growing further apart in a “polarization along sectarian lines, which is very dangerous.”

He warned of the danger of civil war, saying: “Whatever you thought of whether the West, the coalition, should have come in here or not — now not to do everything humanly possible to make this country work would have the most serious consequences for the Iraqis for sure, but also for the region and for the world. A sectarian war in Iraq, perhaps drawing regional players, affecting the entire region, would be extremely negative.”

In another article, he was quoted as warning if a civil war which could engulf the entire region in sectarian violence.

There is an enormous amount of recent history , a history the US has played a key role in, behind much of the current situation in Iraq and Iran. Lots of really dumb-assed stuff was done in the name of the cold war “code for maintaining the hegemony of US corporate -er- imperialistic interests. Starting with Mossadeg in Iran in the 50’s, the Al Saud’s in SA, and of course our old friend Saddam.

Add the Seattle Times to the list of papers reporting the leak story, and on the front page too. The title is White House defense: That’s no leak

Not too flattering.

Well said timewarp

I started out thinking that we’re looking at this as pundits when we should be looking at it as lawyers: duty, standard of care, breach, proximate cause, damage. The essence of negligence, after all, is “foreseeability,†i. e., conduct involving an unreasonable risk of harm. So I looked for the Executive Order, 13292, http://www.fas.org/sgp/bush/eoamend.html, for the proof I was sure to find that Our Beloved Leader had breached his own standard of care. That’s when I discovered, at § 3.1(b), that Our Beloved Leader had excised the standard of care, to wit:

It is presumed that information that continues to meet the classification requirements under this order requires continued protection. In some exceptional cases, however, the need to protect such information may be outweighed by the public interest in disclosure of the information, and in these cases the information should be declassified. When such questions arise, they shall be referred to the agency head or the senior agency official. That official will determine, as an exercise of discretion, whether the public interest in disclosure outweighs the damage to the national security that might reasonably be expected from disclosure.
We can parse. We can tell ourselves, following United States v Cormack, 329 US 230, 243 (1946), that you have an abuse of discretion when action is “arbitrary,†as in “[f]ixed or ar¬rived at through an exercise of the will or by caprice, without consideration or ad¬justment with reference to principles, circumstances, or significance * * *.†But construing presidential orders is an exercise in statutory construction, where legislative intent, or in this case, presidential intent, trumps all.
Either this exercise of discretion was simply sloppy, with no effort to consider the reasonably foreseeable damage to national security, or Our Beloved Leader determined that the public interest in trashing Ambassador Wilson outweighed the damage to national security that night reasonably be expected from giving Scooter his carte blanche.

#91, Apple Canyon: gotcha re: Libby’s pressure point is his family. Valid point. Unfortunately, as I sat here thinking thru all this, I’ve got a bad feeling as to the “end game” in Fitz’s investigation. It’s a pardon…and all those WH folks know they’ll get one…so for right now they’ll continue to “dummy up.” I’m afraid we’re working against a time clock, and we’re behind in the game. Using Martha Stewart trial as a template, consider:
1. Libby trial begins January, 2007. The trial lasts at least 2 months. Jury deliberates at least 5 days. Reasonable? A few delays occur along the way. Final verdict is….April 15, 2007?
2. Libby found guilty of “something.” Judge sets a sentencing day…4 months in future? Reasonable?
3. August 15, 2007: sentencing trial. By August 20, judge sentences Libby to prison…5-10 years.
4. Libby lawyers file new trial request. Judge rules on this…end of October, 2007. Reasonable?
5. November 1, 2007: Libby lawyers announce they’ll appeal this “travesty of justice” (cough). Appeals take a long time! Appeal court takes ONE YEAR to issue a ruling. Reasonable?
6. November 1, 2008: Libby lawyers say they’re “takin’ in to the Supreme Court!”
7. First Tuesday in November: presidential election. Winner announced. Bush can do whatever he wants…it matters not politically.
8. December, 2008: lameduck Bush issues Christmas pardon to Libby, while Libby’s case still on appeal to the Supremes. Case closed.
9. Libby never spends ONE day in jail…and walks on the whole thing.
Ummm…..how am I off here? If I’m even close to being right….ALL this damn investigation is for naught. And that’s a real shame. Ghostman

Christy

I know it is dangerous to make assumptions in the legal business, but I’m going to throw this out there anyway.

How can we accept that libby leaked the information he asserts was authorized by Bush and Cheney and that revealing Plames’ identity was not part of the package. Of course at this point, Libby can’t say that without addmitting guilt for Perjury and obstruction. It seems what he did testify to may have been to later bolster a claim that he was, “Just following orders!” in case he was charged with either the actual outing of pl