I really have a hard time understanding why the machine has started cranking to save this administration. The Bush Co. has proven what a sorry group of incompetents they really are. Every attempt the GOP uses, every smear it tries, is going to be seen as a lame attempt to protect liars and thieves. Don't they realize that the more time that goes by the more will be uncovered? The quicksand is going to get deeper and deeper. Time to pack up the tent and head for the next town. The bag of horse manure the boys have been peddling as liniment has been found out.
Yes, the American people are way past believing in fairy tales. Painting the fingernails in red white and blue is no longer a fashion statement.
Ahhhh.
At least I don't have to listen to those stupid Bush rallies on NPR anymore. "President Bush is Laura...Oh my...(giggle giggle) I mean Mrs. Bush..."
"You can call her Laura."
"I think you are the finest family and she is the finest first lady to ever grace the white house. We finally have values in the White House again."
Click.

And Frist...what a dumba$$. I'm trying to be charitable but come on. There's only so much the American people will tolarate. Straight out lying and demanding we take it is hard to swallow.

Letters Show Frist Notified Of Stocks in 'Blind' Trusts

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 24, 2005; A01

"Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) was given considerable information about his stake in his family's hospital company, according to records that are at odds with his past statements that he did not know what was in his stock holdings.

Managers of the trusts that Frist once described as "totally blind," regularly informed him when they added new shares of HCA Inc. or other assets to his holdings, according to the documents.

Since 2001, the trustees have written to Frist and the Senate 15 times detailing the sale of assets from or the contribution of assets to trusts of Frist and his family. The letters included notice of the addition of HCA shares worth $500,000 to $1 million in 2001 and HCA stock worth $750,000 to $1.5 million in 2002. The trust agreements require the trustees to inform Frist and the Senate whenever assets are added or sold.

The letters seem to undermine one of the major arguments the senator has used throughout his political career to rebut criticism of his ownership in HCA: that the stock was held in blind trusts beyond his control and that he had little idea of the extent of those holdings.

The extent of Frist's knowledge of the inner workings of his trusts and his family's health care company is related to a recently launched federal investigation of possible insider trading involving the liquidation this summer of Frist's HCA stock. Within weeks of Frist's decision to sell his holdings in June, HCA shares fell sharply because of a weak earnings report. Frist has said he possessed only publicly available and not "insider" information about the company when he directed the sale and, therefore, did nothing wrong."

------------
And elephants fly.
This guy wants to be president?

What I want to know is why do these idiots take notes that can be looked at later? Are they completely brain-dead?? If you were committing a serious crime, knowing what the consequences would be if you were caught, would you leave a trail of bread crumbs right to your door? None of this makes sense, and I don't trust any of it. Jeanne wonders why they are trying to protect bushco. It's because that's what they do! bushco hasn't quite flushed the country down the toilet yet. But they're close.

And another thing, even AFTER the Downing Street memo, Blair STILL retained power! AAARRRGGG!!

The investigation has
widened to forgery of documents.

By MARTIN WALKER
UPI Editor

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- The CIA leak inquiry that threatens senior White House aides has now widened to include the forgery of documents on African uranium that started the investigation, according to NAT0 intelligence sources.

This suggests the inquiry by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald into the leaking of the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame has now widened to embrace part of the broader question about the way the Iraq war was justified by the Bush administration....

...The second is that NATO sources have confirmed to United Press International that Fitzgerald's team of investigators has sought and obtained documentation on the forgeries from the Italian government.

Fitzgerald's team has been given the full, and as yet unpublished report of the Italian parliamentary inquiry into the affair, which started when an Italian journalist obtained documents that appeared to show officials of the government of Niger helping to supply the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein with Yellowcake uranium. This claim, which made its way into President Bush's State of the Union address in January, 2003, was based on falsified documents from Niger and was later withdrawn by the White House.

This opens the door to what has always been the most serious implication of the CIA leak case, that the Bush administration could face a brutally damaging and public inquiry into the case for war against Iraq being false or artificially exaggerated. This was the same charge that imperiled the government of Bush's closest ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, after a BBC Radio program claimed Blair's aides has "sexed up" the evidence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

Yeh but, who falsified it? Who are they REALLY protecting? Someone has to be the fall guy, the rest can get a pardon. I am losing hope. Come on Fitz, nail those traitors!

Quote of the day.

"My question for today is: Why are contemporary Republicans so full of shit? And a follow-up...How did the party of Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and General Eisenhower get taken over by such lying, thieving, self-serving scoundrels?"
Alec Baldwin.

Is it possible that Judy Miller fought Fitzgerald on testifying because if she had done so last year the investigation would have ended before the election?

Sitting up on "Fitzmas Eve" reading these eleventh hour revelations, I didn't expect to read that Rosa Parks had died today. But it was good to be reminded that such people have walked the earth.

Of all the figures of our lifetime, she is the one who personifies integrity and humility. She changed the world, but she never changed.

Whether or not Cheney and Libby are indicted in a court of law, they've shamed themselves and our country. They could've learned a lesson from Rosa Parks about how to make a real impact on the world.

Lawyers involved in the case said they had no indication that Mr. Fitzgerald was considering charging Mr. Cheney with wrongdoing. Mr. Cheney was interviewed under oath by Mr. Fitzgerald last year. It is not known what the vice president told Mr. Fitzgerald about the conversation with Mr. Libby or when Mr. Fitzgerald first learned of it. Uh...David...according to this it WAS under oath. Now I seem to recall that both Bush & Cheney did NOT testify under oath. Perhaps those assumptions were incorrect. What if Cheney DID really testify under oath and the NYT is correct in this regard. This could be HUGE.

Wait - the Times story says that cheney did testify under oath. This is the first time I've seen that in print. If it's true, obstruction of justice looks pretty small-game by comparison to the axe that really might fall here. If nothing else, he's a goner on the political scene, and Bush with him, one would think, unless Cheney steps down.

Earlier Times stories (and other newspaper stories) have previously and consistently reported that Cheney was NOT under oath. I believe the NY Times is incorrent on that point in the new story.

Er, incorrect. THat is, he was NOT under oath.

Would it be too much to ask that all the reports saying that Cheney did not testify under oath be the ones that were wrong? It is Fitzmas, after all...

I believe.

Hear that weird sucking sound? That's the sound of every GOoPer's nads getting slurped into his abdominal cavity. The Cheney Administration has effectively put an end to Newt's Republican Revolution. Indictments? Who needs indictments when the media is slow-roasting these clowns?

"This is not about the security of the United States. This is about domestic American politics. The national security of the United States of America has been hijacked by a handful of neo-conservatives who are using their position of authority to pursue their own ideologically-driven political ambitions. The day we go to war for that reason is the day we have failed collectively as a nation."
--Scott Ritter

"The Rumsfield-Cheney axis has self-destructed right in front of our eyes, along with the once-proud Perle-Wolfowitz bund that is turning to wax. They somehow managed to blow it all, like a gang of kids on a looting spree, between January and July, or even less. It is genuinely incredible. The U.S. Treasury is empty, we are losing that stupid, fraudulent chickencrap War in Iraq, and every country in the world except a handful of Corrupt Brits despises us. We are losers, and that is the one unforgiveable sin in America."
--Hunter S. Thompson

"George W. Bush is a liar. He has lied large and small. He has lied directly and by omission. He has misstated facts, knowingly or not. He had misled. He has broken promises, been unfaithful to political vows. Through his campaign for the presidency and his first years in the White House, he has mugged the truth -- not merely in honest error, but deliberately, consistently, and repeatedly to advance his career and his agenda."
--David Corn

"Bunnypants is a coward personified. The latest incarnation of the weakest darkest manifestation of evil claiming Kkkristianity while warmongering and killing thousands. No amount of Terri-care will wash his hands of the blood on them already.

"The pathetic little pussy does not "do" funerals, not even for the fallen heroes that died for the lies Bunnypants told. I think he might be God fearing, he knows better than anybody if he should be.

"Consider who he does make happy? The rich, the elite, the Saudis. He will have streets named after the Bush-banner for generations to come. He has effectively doubled their already insane wealth, now I hear $80 is where we are headed.

"Fuck him and anybody that would support such a perverted insult of a wannabe cowboy, Andover-cheerleader. President my ass, he is the opposite of a president, a misleader that could not be moved to care about us unless we voted for him and even then once the election is over so is that cozy little dance."
--capt

"In this job you've got a lot on your plate on a regular basis; you don't have much time to sit around and wander, lonely, in the Oval Office, kind of asking different portraits, 'How do you think my standing will be?' "
— Chimpy McFlightsuit, Washington, D.C., March 16, 2005

Lovely. Just lovely.

Repugnants' Sins

Repugnants and the Ten Commandments

1. I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange gods before Me. Repugnants have chosen money, nuclear weapons, and bush for their god.
2. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain. Cannot determine!
3. Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day. Cannot determine!
4. Honor your father and mother. Cannot determine!
5. You shall not kill. Repugnants are guilty of rape of our planet's land and resources, pollution of the air, land, and sea, murders, and war crimes.
6. You shall not commit adultery. Cannot determine!
7. You shall not steal. Repugnants take away money from the poor and the middle class and oil from the Iraqis and they give it to the rich.
8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Repugnants say that they are saints and the Democrats are devils. Repugnants say that they are not murderers and war criminals.
9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. Cannot determine!
10. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods. Repugnants take away from the poor, middle class, and Iraqis and they give to the rich.

Repugnants and the Seven Cardinal Sins

1. Pride/Vanity - Repugnants say that they are always right. They are our Earth's saints.
2. Lazy/Sloth - Cannot determine!
3. Intemperate - Repugnants are into pork barreling, quick to murder and commit war crimes, and they lack control in spending money prudently.
4. Anger - Repugnants hate anyone who does not agree with their evil ways.
5. Gluttony - Repugnants use our beautiful world for personal gain and destruction.
6. Greed - Repugnants want more and more money for the rich.
7. Impurity - Cannot determine!

If Cheney or Libby or Tenet, etc. got this information from the CIA {for that matter, whoever, the original source was}, all these guys have secret clearances and do they not have a legal responsibility to know if the CIA person they are speaking to others about is covert or not? Before you would pass on any info on a CIA employee, would you not be obligated to know their status if you are speaking to someone without secret clearance? It seems that ignorance is not a defense when it comes to outing someone. These guys had a responsibility to find out Ms Plame's status before they passed along her name to anyone!

LOL He said "That's the sound of every GOoPer's nads getting slurped into his abdominal cavity."

Does anyone else feel like a five year orgasm is about to hit the liberal collective unconscious?

The climax was last november, when we almost ejaculated El Presidente.

But he refused to come out, like he was high on coke.

Get ready it's gonna be a big one!

And to think, it was less than a year ago that Bush, fresh from his incredible (read "not credible) victory was talking about all the political capital he had to spend. Well, he has spent it all. Wasted it on a useless attempt to eliminate Social Security, the most successful program the government has.

Now he is looking at a self selecting Veep that got involved in too much and has been caught. While Bush may want to blame others for his prediciment, he has provem to be a weak leader, and a weak man. He doesn't even have the guts to meet with Cindy Sheehan who will likely be chained to his fence this week.

The only question now is, will we have a replacement VP before Bush steps down. He doesn't have the inner strenght to survive without his key aides.

I'm wishing for all the same things everyone here is, but let's be calm and realistic. The Bush adminstration is not going to self-destruct, and even if it did, the issue for progressives is what is their program and their plan for the country's future? What do they stand for?

Michael Balter

www.michaelbalter.com

"...the issue for progressives is what is their program and their plan for the country's future? What do they stand for?"

The simple answer is of course... the polar opposite of just about everything this administration has done. That could be a mission statement to get started on, no?

Lion in Winter is what a political friend call Bush at this moment. Reading this DeFrank article makes me think how Bush is 'sincerely' upset at how things have fallen (nut is not repentant). But now the spin is that he is a survivor, he is going to struggle on, he will allow history to vindicate him. He is taking it from the playbook of Rumsfield as he did after the Abu Ghrabib scandals... BTW did this good leader Rummy ever fire anyone over that wonderful public relations disaster with the Middle East? Bush will probably copy that one to.

Anyway, the presidency is not a place to learn to be a leader. His strategy of loyalty tests of making sure his people are "bushies" over being competent and sufficiently autonomous in their own right has proven one adage true... a leader that demands loyalty is either immature, or is wounded from a past betrayal or hurt. In either case such a leader is not ready for leadership.

Well until this "lion" was forced into winter by his own CEO management style, I think his loyalty tests were caused by his immaturity (and insecurity)... now as he "soldiers on" he will undoubtedly continue and even refine his loyalty tests because he is now nursing the wounds of these hurtful recent betrayals of his top staffers.

No thanks... he isn't qualified to be a leader either in the past or now in the future... it is time for him to repent... let him nurse his wounds in Crawford while he works with loyal ghostwriters on his memoirs, and sends condolenence cards to his past friends in prison.... unless he pardons them.

#21

I thought repubs were supposed to be good with capital investments.

Bush's record as "America's CEO"...

1st TERM...
huge amounts of capital around the world was gathered due to 9-11... result: squandered and debt to the world for our mismanagement

2nd TERM
allegedly had and certainly believed he had a large capital in a people's mandate for his policies as a result his winning the '04 election... result: lowest favorable poll numbers ever, squandered, discredited and disgraced whitehouse, divisions even in his own party

So what makes us think that he can invest real budgeted dollars, correct our social security... much less the actual fact that we have the worst debt ratio ever and he is a leader with borrowing & spending as a percentage of the GDP over other presidents.

And he wants us to continue to trust in his leadership?

when you get a classified document, the classification is the first thing you see, its bigger than the other fonts on the page and often in RED.

Impossible to ignore. The greater the classification the larger the font.

This was not a faux pas. This.........approaches Treason.

Bush established himself as not being a micro manager for a reason. So his thugs could run free unfettered by things like law. If they get caught HE has total deniablity.

This voter aint having it.

IMPEACH THEM ALL

It's good that Bush doesn't worry about his place in history. Because he will go down in history as the Caligula of American Presidents.

Saladin -"What I want to know is why do these idiots take notes that can be looked at later? Are they completely brain-dead??"

The answer to that is rather simple. The KEY is the sheer mass of BS the Bush administration has in motion at any given moment and the bureaucracy needed to sustain it. Notes are a necessary evil, can't live with them and can't live without them.
Try to picture a team of jugglers having to keep an increasing number of balls in the air as time goes on. So it is with GW Bushs team and the chickens just keep coming back to roost, too.

Um...

Hand written notes with dates can be written at any time to reflect anything. (before, during or after the fact)

Like these "heads of state" in "high offices" are writing little notes that change the basis of investigations? I wonder.

I fully expect these slugs to write a few hand written notes to serve their purpose and direct an investigation by creating the supporting documentation to the tales made from whole cloth.

These are the same slugs that lied us into a war? What are a few faked notes to these criminals? Thousands have died, what is the big deal with making a few "notes" to "remind" them who falls on their sword?.

I believe the "notes" support a process of Scooter falling on his sword and the dragnet will only snare Libby and few rouge soldiers from the night shift (Oop's that's another scandal) a few underlings that will cover for their masters.

Does anybody know what are the rules are for taking notes? If a "high level," "secret," "top secret" or "for your eyes only" meeting is taking place do they all get to scribble in notebooks? Do they memorialize what is said and to whom and how many of these notebooks are floating around? Are these "notes" of secrets shared a violation of the secrets themselves? Are there no laws that address "note taking?"

I have trouble believing the gang that cannot lie straight would keep notes that exculpate or inculpates them or their crime bosses.

You have to view these in the same light that you would notes from high-level meetings of the Mafia. The content of which would be laughed out of any court. (especially when the notes only surface a couple of years into an investigation)

I hope Fitzgerald is as offended by this ploy as I am. It is a joke. It is not very believable in the larger scheme of things.

Time will tell but NEVER believe a proven liar and all of these jerks are proven liars (including Miller).

Why is it that our "reporters" take this BS at face value and never ask a single question about the veracity of these or Millers notes? Is it because the "notes" say what they want to hear or because they are just lap-dogs to their corporate masters? From where I sit I smell some major BULLS**T.

Maybe the reason Miller sat in jail for 85 days is because it takes about two or three months to fake up some believable notes?

Maybe the "Aspens turn in clusters with intertwined roots" is code for: the notes have been prepared and our lies are all in order. Both are from the same fiction/romance author, no?

capt

If I had to guess:

Bush, Cheney and their top aides were actively involved with the crimes against Plame.

This whole process is to allow the true believers to cover for their guy. This process is intended to inoculate Bunnypants from his crime(s).

Bunnypants has a direct line from God, so they are really covering for God. Who would not cover for God?

capt

As I understand it, Martha Stewart was not under oath when she allegedly "lied" about her stock sales. In fact, there were no official records of her interviews with government officials but she was still convicted (on almost nonexistent evidence and on lies by a juror, by an FBI agent testifying for the prosecution and by other unseemly acts of the prosecution/judge). But she was guilty of contributing to Democrat campaigns.

Rosa Parks
1913 ― 2005

The only thing we did wrong,
Stayed in the wilderness a day too long.
But the one thing we did right,
Was the day we started to fight.
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on, hold on.

Give our regards to Dr. King, Rosa.

From billmon.org

*****

I am reminded and humbled by the power of one.

Thank you Rosa, you changed the world for the better by being right and strong and good and honest. You are a true patriot and a real American and always will be no matter how badly things have turned. You taught a generation about what it means to be a citizen in a free country by going to jail. Your strenght of character will live on forever. Thank goodness for the Rosa Parks in our world.

She left this country and this world a better place for everybody.

We should all follow in her example and do more for equality of all of the people here and abroad. Each of us should re-double our efforts in honor of her.

No more "back of the bus" for anyone, not the poor, the disabled, or any group for any reason.

We are all Americans in full measure because of her character and wisdom.

capt

Civil liberties at risk

Congress should carefully weigh Patriot Act's impacts

Both houses of Congress are expected to soon reapprove the controversial USA Patriot Act, which became law on an emergency basis soon after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Americans should be concerned about the effect that a permanent Patriot Act would have on their civil liberties.

Reapproving the Patriot Act without significant changes would result in "an enduring shift of power" to the executive branch of government and "less privacy and liberty for all," said Chip Pitts in Friday's online edition of The Nation magazine.

Hyperbole from the left? Unfortunately, no.

On Thursday, members of the former 9/11 Commission held a press conference to criticize the Bush administration and government agencies for making too little progress in implementing the recommendations in last year's 9/11 Commission Report.

The commissioners faulted the Bush administration for giving only "lip service" to the panel's call for creation of an oversight board to monitor whether civil liberties are being protected. The White House named a board, but it has no chairman. The commissioners described the board as underfunded and toothless.

Meanwhile, the Patriot Act allows federal agents to engage in largely unchecked surveillance and other invasions of privacy.

Before reapproving the Patriot Act, the Congress should consider carefully whether federal actions loosely aimed at terrorist suspects are eroding civil liberties.

Enemies of the nation will score a victory if Americans are forced by their own government to give up constitutional rights.

*****end of clip*****

The last line really says it all.

capt

Fear, Incivility, and the State

October 21, 2005

by Butler Shaffer

Our irrational fears have been a major contributor to the destruction of Western civilization. But what will arise from the ashes? Will it be a phoenix that generates a new, vibrant civilization, or only vultures to feed upon the decaying remnants of what was once a marvelous culture? The answer to this question will likely depend upon whether we meet the world with a passion or a fear of life itself. To put the matter in perspective, we ought to recall the observation of Andre Gide: "There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them."

*****end of clip*****

I have faith in the generations that will follow as we have provided an example of what NOT to do.

Fear is by definition irrational, there will be a return to rationality in time. First we have to get the fear-mongers out of positions of power, world-wide.

capt

Is Anyone Responsible for Iraq's Disaster?

by Ira Chernus

Once again, a mainstream journalist has missed the real story because he didn’¥ check out CommonDreams.org. This time it’≥ the New York Times’†top dog in Baghdad, Dexter Filkins, writing a long piece about the tragedy of Nathan Sassaman.

"Sassaman," I thought, as I read the article. "I’∂e heard that name before." Indeed, I wrote about that name, on www.commondreams.org, nearly two years ago. In December, 2003, I wrote: "The U.S. war against Iraq has found its own Lewis Carroll, its true poet and genius of the absurd: Lt. Colonel Nathan Sassaman.…îhe other day, he told a New York Times reporter: ‘óith a heavy dose of fear and violence, and a lot of money for projects, I think we can convince these people that we are here to help them.’¶quot;

"The new priority would be killing insurgents and punishing anyone who supported them, even people who didn't," Filkins writes. His unit began to beat prisoners, burn down fields, and demolish houses. "When mothers put their children to bed at night, they tell them, 'If you aren't a good boy, Colonel Sassaman is going to come and get you."'

Why this harsh new policy? Sassaman’≥ own explanation sounded crazy: "Fear and violence…£an convince these people that we are here to help them." So Filkins now omits that quote, which he had once published, and makes it all sound very reasonable: "His theory was that no progress would be possible without order first and that ultimately, even if his men were hard on the locals, they would come around."

It all makes sense, Filkins adds, if you assume that Arabs understand nothing but force. "Whoever displays the most strength and authority is the one they are going to obey," as another officer told Filkins. This is probably the same officer he quoted in his article about Sassaman two years ago. As I wrote back then, this officer "explained clearly, if unwittingly, one good reason why it wonմ work. After explaining that Դhe Arab mindՠunderstands only force, he added: Ԧorce, pride and saving face.ՠWounded pride can stir up a powerful resistance." A reasonable outrage at the injustice of occupation, I added, can stir up even more resistance. And indeed it has.

*****end of clip*****

A little more on fear and some very real monsters.

capt

Mal Bozic: Bush not a prototype

October 25, 2005

ON a recent visit to an inner-east Sydney cafe, I was confronted with that popular new intellectual pastime of many Australians: radical anti-Americanism. Prominently displayed under the wall-mounted menu was a faded American flag and next to it a supposedly thought-provoking question: "Would you like world domination with that?"

The tone of the Chomskyesque quote was like something out of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion while the message was reminiscent of the Sinophobic gold rush-era cartoons. After it was pointed out that the wall was being used for what amounted to racist sloganeering, the best the barista could come up with was a "so what?" expression on her face. Apparently, anti-Americanism is the prejudice du jour.

This is not to say that US public policy should not be criticised or resisted. From New Orleans to Enron and from Abu Ghraib to the Florida vote count, the Washington political establishment has received justified criticism. However, the track record of one president and his college-buddy appointees should not be used to tar the 48 per cent of US voters who sought to oust him in 2004, by anyone pretending to judge people as individuals and not based on an ethnic, religious or any other such marker.

*****end of clip*****

A little perspective from down-under.

Seems like the rest of the world has a pretty clear take on Bunnypants and his merry band of morons.

capt

Tomgram: LeVine on Playing the Chaos Card in the Middle East

The collective mess our government (and country is in)...it makes you long for the days when the worst we had to worry about was whether our President was getting BJs in the Oval Office.

Bob in North Dakota

For Rosa Parks:

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost
But now I’m found
Was blind but now I see

'twas grace that taught
My heart to fear
And grace that fear relieved
How precious did
That grace appear
The hour I first believed

Through many dangers
Toils and snares
I have already come
'twas grace that brought me
Safely thus far
And grace will lead me home

And when this heart
And flesh shall fail
And mortal life shall cease
I shall possess
Within the vail
A life of joy and peace

Those on the right would sing in unison the word "Character." Now they seem as if they have forgotten the word and the concept.

What kind of character lies about wars and what kind of character justifies the lies by the deaths caused by their lies?

They always said, over and over, "it’s not about the sex" but it all came down to a smear campaign.

What kind of character uses smear campaigns?

They are the most hypocritical SOB’s to ever claim the mantle of power.

IMHO

capt

Capt, #29 that is EXACTLY why I don't trust any of this! #33 When the hell are people going to wake up??

Any body put King George on suicide watch? He is a proven coward in case no one noticed.

How does John Bolton play into the Plame outing?
He visited Judy Miller on several occasions. Just because they are friends? Hmmmm. Considering the circumstances surrounding her going to jail I'd be a little stand offish until she was out.
--------------------
Libby's Source Was Vice President Richard Cheney -- Not Journalists

"The question is how did Libby then churn up more info on Wilson without other parts of the "untrusted" bureaucracy spitting in his face or reporting his sins?

My hunch is that he went to trusted spear-carriers for Vice President Cheney -- the office and staff of Under Secretary of State John Bolton. Fred Fleitz, Bolton's chief of staff, maintained his CIA WINPAC portfolio and access as an active duty CIA staff member while he operated as Bolton's "acting" chief of staff. We know that Fleitz was a key part of the intelligence cherry-picking/stove-piping operation when it came to both the intel and policy response to various global WMD concerns -- in North Korea, Libya, Iran, and Iraq.

We also know that David Wurmser and John Hannah, who have both apparently cooperated after threats of legal action (i.e., time behind bars) with Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald worked both for John Bolton's operation and the Vice President's office.

I recently consulted with a number of senior State Department officials about the level of interaction between Vice President Cheney's office and John Bolton's office -- and was informed that there was "intense" exchange between them, constant. One said that "Bolton and his team were operatives of Vice President Cheney inside the State Department establishment -- there to subvert Armitage and Powell wherever they could, and if not subvert, then there to spy on the them and report back.

TWN knows nothing more than what it speculates to be a plausible scenario. Tonight, I consulted with three senior State Department officials, one currently at the State Department and two who are now outside the Department. All three of them agreed that the scenario I have described about Fleitz being the source of information about Plame's covert WINPAC role -- and this information then passing from Fleitz and/or Bolton to Scooter Libby "is not unbelievable.""

Former UN Weapons Inspector: Don't Rule Out Staged Government Terror
Ritter says Neo-Cons are embattled, surrounded, could resort to desperate measures to further global domination

Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones | October 24 2005

Former United Nations weapons inspector and Marine Scott Ritter appeared on The Alex Jones Show and stated that he wouldn't rule out the possibility of the Bush administration staging a terror attack in order to jolt a wavering foreign policy agenda back on track.

Ritter compared the atmosphere within the administration to that during the time of Watergate, where Nixon considered utilizing America's nuclear arsenal to create a devastating diversion from domestic calamity.

"Nothing this administration would do would surprise me, they're desperate right now."

"If you go back and take a look at the Nixon administration during the height of Watergate Nixon was talking about using nuclear weapons against the Soviets in the Middle East, insanity of this nature."

"When you have an irresponsible administration like the Nixon administration, like this current administration, and they start to feel embattled, surrounded, they take on a fortress like mentality where everybody becomes the enemy."

Asked if he thought a staged terror attack was possible, a scenario previously considered by former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, Ritter responded,

"Yeah, you have people who have no regard for the rule of law. These aren't people who appreciate the Constitution, to them the Constitution is an impediment, it's an obstacle, it's something in the way, it's something to be avoided. They are married to an ideology of global domination, of global imperialism and they're not going to deviate from this."

On the subject of which country will be subject to the next Neo-Con invasion, Ritter commented,

"There are elements within the Bush administration, especially Donald Rumsfeld's associates, Doug Feith, Wolfowitz and others whose long goal crossed the line of serving America and they started serving another country out there, Israel."
----------
Why wouldn't they use this tactic? They've done it before, and so has Israel.

The Top Nine Plamegate Lies

By Josh Kalven, Media Matters for America. Posted October 25, 2005.

As the possibility of high-level indictments increases, the misinformation battle intensifies; get the truth behind the major falsehoods.

*****end of clip*****

Good piece, fair amount of information all in one place.

capt

"Why wouldn't they use this tactic?"

Of course they have and will again.

Waiting and watching with a skeptical eye to discern the truth and expose the lies.

capt

#44
Kick their asses right out of office, today!!!!

Jeanne, that's what we're hoping for!

Dan,
I was thinking the same thing. If everybody leaves King George what's he going to do? Who's going to be the voice in his ear?
Kinda got a problem there don't ya George?

One for Rosa

Back Of The Bus
Harry Belafonte
If you miss me at the back of the bus
You can't find me nowhere
Oh come on over to the front of the bus
Because I'll be riding up there
I'll be riding up there, I'll be riding up there
Come on over to the front of the bus
Because I'll be riding up there

If you miss me on the picket line
You can't find me nowhere
Come on over to the city jail
Because I'll be rooming over there
I'll be rooming over there
I'll be rooming over there oh
Come on over to the city jail
Because I'll be rooming over there

If you miss me at the Mississippi river
You can't find me nowhere
Come on over to the swimming pool
Because I'll be swimming over there
I'll be swimming over there, over there
I'll be swimming right there
Come on over to the swimming pool
Because I'll be swimming over there

If you miss me in the cotton fields
You can't find me nowhere
Come on over to the voting booth
Because I'll be a voting right there
I'll be voting right there, right there
I'll be voting right there
Well come on over to the voting booth
Because I'll be voting right there

And one just for the irony of it all...

What Did You Learn In School Today
Tom Paxton
What did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine?
I learned that Washington never told a lie
I learned that soldiers seldom die
I learned that everybody's free
That's what the teacher said to me
And that's what I learned in school today
That's what I learned in school

What did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine?
I learned that policemen are my friends
I learned that justice never ends
I learned that murderers die for their crimes
Even if we make a mistake sometimes
And that's what I learned in school today
That's what I learned in school

What did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine?
I learned that war is not so bad
I learned about the great ones we have had
We fought in Germany and in France
And someday I might get my chance
And that's what I learned in school today
That's what I learned in school

What did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine?
I learned that our government must be strong
It's always right and never wrong
Our leaders are the finest men
So we elect them again and again
And that's what I learned in school today
That's what I learned in school

************

And a thank you to Mr. David Corn - without whom Hajji & I wouldn't have ended up quafing a few cold ones together last evening.

Robert, I sent Hajji the forecast for Bishop, and it did the exact opposite. Hope to be meeting with him tomorrow.

Saladin,

He's looking forward to it! He did mention that the Sunny Southern California wasn't.

David Shuster on MSNBC just reported that Tenet, through his associates, is denying that he ever told the VP's office anything about Wilson's wife. The NYTimes article was fuzzy on this point, and Shuster seemed to be implying that his reporting on Tenet was based on reporting independent of the NYTimes article.

It's sunny here now, rained last night. But that provides the scent of wet sage, my fav!

The severity of the current situation is being largely overlooked. We as a country could stand before the world headless. We need a backup plan and backup leadership. The world is watching! Contingencies anyone?

"We as a country could stand before the world headless."

I think even headless would be an improvement over the current insult of a figurehead?

Never any real any risk that we little people have taken control from the rich and elite. Not without a revolution. I am sure they have a name or two handy and the MSM will close the sale.

Just sayin'

capt

Rep. John Conyers: 'The pre-emptive war against Patrick Fitzgerald'

-----

Democracy Now! - We speak to former CIA analyst Melvin Goodman on the latest development in the CIA leak case. The New York Times is reporting today that Vice President Dick Cheney’≥ chief of staff Lewis Scooter Libby first learned the identity of the CIA operative from his boss –†Dick Cheney.

"the scent of wet sage"

I am right there with you Saladin!

I love that smell on a cool day, after a little spate of rain or drizzle.

Good to hear Hajji found some brewskis!

capt

No lack of brewskis here in Cali Capt!

#57

Both are the bomb!

Thanks

capt

(still listening to the audio)

#57

Both are the BOMB!

Thanks!

(still listening to the audio)

Good thing about the brewskis, if there were none I bet Hajji would be headed to another state! HA!

capt

Ahh, the smell of wet sage. Last night we were confronted with the smell of wet skunk...the real black and white striped, four legged kind.

It is the boards fault!

I get an error and I "refresh" the post does not show until I post again then both are there.

I swear I never mean to double-speak!

capt

David,

Love your website and I read it daily. I can't help lawyerin' a bit on this beautiful day. Legally, it doesn't matter whether or not Cheney was under oath when Fitz interviewed him. It is a crime to lie to an agent of the federal governement, even if the testimony is not sworn and even if the testimony is oral under 18 USC section 1001. Any arguments to the contrary are just wishful Republican spin. Also, Section 1001 makes it irrelevant whether or not or not he knew Plame was covert (again, more Republican wishful thinking). Simply put, the NYT bombshell didn't just land near Cheney, it landed on him, these notes put Cheney squarely within a conspiracy to violate Section 1001 and to give a false impression to Congress. He's dead. I'd bet my ACLU card he'll be indicted this week as well. Keep up the good work.

PoliticalGirlTellsAll.blogspot.com

#64
Kick their asses out now! Today! Proto!

Speaking of falling on your asses.
Al Roker blown over

I'm bringing you this as a show of concern. I'm not laughing. At him. I'm laughing with him. (giggle giggle)

http://www.netcharles.com/orwell/ext/244.htm

Orwell AND brew!

A little light reading for those interested in the subject.

capt

...and added a few more quaffs along with some interesting cuisine at the Border Cafe when I got back to "Sunny" (NOT) Santa Monica. Was certainly a thrill to see Mr. Schwartz in person...

I had no idea he was a siamese twin, though. Didn't care much for his brother...talks too much, that one.

Strange...

Seriously, I can only hope that the rest who post here will sustain the honesty and integrity brought here by Robert and others.

And I hope that anybody who finds themselves in my own neck of the nape will look me up, too! There's always a cold beer, warm fire and honest conversation!

C-ya soon Sal!

-T

1999 "Official" US Iraq deaths

Is anyone but us paying attention?

How many more?

"How can you ask a man to be the last...?"

ROSA PARKS 1913-2005
We could never thank you enough!

May GOD give you the paradise that you so deserve. One big assist for mankind.We love you!

Hajji; no one is paying attention because those dead bodies are'nt in their back yards stinking. La La La if I can't see it its not there, time for Juniors' soccer practice and gas up the Rover.

cheney may be close to his next heart attack

Whether he was under oath or not looks irrelevant.

Carol -- I just made my first link. Will wonders never cease? Thanks for your help!

C'mon, we're publishing the 'body count' figures for the Iraqi Resistance.

Cheney Plan Exempts CIA From Bill Barring Abuse of Detainees
By R. Jeffrey Smith and Josh White

The Bush administration has proposed exempting employees of the Central Intelligence Agency from a legislative measure endorsed earlier this month by 90 members of the Senate that would bar cruel and degrading treatment of any prisoners in U.S. custody.

*************

License to abuse, anyone?

HEY FOLKS!
Our dream of orange jumpsuits may become reality!
Uncle Dick giving Scooter the 411 on Plame? Well well, give Dick a 3x jumpsuit.
ROBT S. #57:Saw Democracy Now this morning myself, and lets hope there will indictments left,right,and center. CAPT: Pops says "hi" to all. He's o.k. JEANNE #65: I've got my boots,lets start kickin'! HI SALADIN, how's my dahlink? It's been a long time. ALAN: I'm going to try to git down to H-Town before winter sets in, lets hang out a little bit , how dat sound?

Robert,

When there's no other measurable progress, we ALWAYS can count the dead.

ACLU Reports 21 Homicides in US Custody
By Lolita C. Baldor
The Associated Press

At least 21 detainees who died while being held in U.S. custody in Iraq and Afghanistan were killed, many during or after interrogations, according to an analysis of Defense Department data by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The analysis, released Monday, looked at 44 deaths described in records obtained by the ACLU. Of those, the group characterized 21 as homicides, and said at least eight resulted from abusive techniques by military or intelligence officers, such as strangulation or "blunt force injuries," as noted in the autopsy reports.

*************

Sorry, I guess that's license to kill, just like the old 007 movies....

Robert,

It was my understanding that at one point they wanted to parse the language so that only non-US citizens, employed by the CIA would be exempt...

Now THERE's a guest-worker program for YA!!!

-T

Bro.Tex!

Glad to hear pops is doing well! We need his redwings more now than ever before!

Micki!

First link? Woo Hoo! that is way cool! Good Link BTW!

capt

CAPT, he won't be able to kick for awhile, so me & lil' brother will be working double time! Help Wanted!! Ass Kicker: No exp.needed, Will train.

#57

It will be pretty difficult to smear Patrick Fitzgerald. He's a straight shooter.

How is it that Libby seems to be taking all the hits and Rove is walking away? And, another thing, what about Novak?

Dear David, Hoping you might have an answer for me, I came to your website expressly to post a question which had immediately occurred to me upon reading the big news in the NYT and was amused to see that the reader who queried you had more or less the same question--which your reply, however, did little to clear up(!!). Since I see you already have a trillion posts here, and I can't imagine that you will actually get to every single one, I have no idea whether you will see this and respond, but I'll give it a shot anyway in case you do, because my question is torturing me. So if perchance you happen to see this, it would be cool to get some clarity on it. Like you, I, too, assumed that Cheney had not given his testimony to Fitzgerald under oath (was it perhaps only the president who did not testify under oath and we both misremembered it?), but if you check the Times piece again, you will read when you get to the fourteenth paragraph, "Lawyers involved in the case said they had no indication that Mr. Fitzgerald was considering charging Mr. Cheney with wrongdoing. Mr. Cheney was interviewed under oath [!!!!!] by Mr. Fitzgerald last year." Hmmm. Now, if memory serves, after Wilson wrote his now legendary op-ed piece, Cheney was going around saying that he had no idea who this Wilson person was, that in fact he'd never even met or heard of the man, much less been briefed on some cockamanie report he'd filed with the CIA. I can almost swear I saw Cheney at least twice on t.v. huffily insisting on this to Russert or Blitzer (or whoever)--am I wrong? If not, I'm having an awfully hard time imagining that Cheney would have had any compelling reason to change his story by the time Fitz got around to interviewing him. In fact, even if, as can be persuasively argued, there is nothing criminal about the fact that he and Tenet had discussed Wilson and his wife well before Wilson came to the attention of the general public (and presumably CheneyÔøΩs), is this a piece of information that Cheney was likely to have voluntarily divulged to Fitzy? I should think--assuming he was looking to keep himself out of legal jeopardy--this would be the very last thing he would have wanted to offer up, lest he might start raising all sorts of red flags and arousing special counsel's suspicions. Wouldn't Fitz then have cause to ask how it was that he could have simply "forgotten" for a short time someone about whom he had previously shown intense interest, or what had happened in the interim to cause him to change his tune? Either he knew who Wilson was or he didnÔøΩt, no? And donÔøΩt his different claims suggest something significant that doesnÔøΩt exactly bode well for him? Obviously there's nothing untoward about two men at the highest level of government discussing top secret or classified information; I'm sure it happens every day of the week in Washington. However, the particulars of this caseÔøΩi.e., who was talking to whom and whom were they talking about--would make such an exchange appear far from innocent. To have revealed this bit of news to a prosecutor would have been tantamount to calling in the police to this particular alleyway, I think. Or is the explanation simply that the Times just made a mistake? As you can no doubt see, this is driving me nuts, because the possibility exists, too, that Cheney's original testimony may have been misreported and no one bothered to correct the official record at the time. However, if this is information that did not come voluntarily from Cheney, and if he originally attempted to keep it from Fitzy (as seems to me only logical, looking at it from Cheney's perspective), I'm puzzled about why no one seems to be looking at the obvious issue here: the very real criminal implications for our vice-president. Indeed, what has been so very frustrating for me (as for so many others, too) about the last several years is the way the press has so consistently shied away from asking not just tough questions, but the most basic and obvious ones any third-grader could think of. When Cindy Sheehan, for example, asks, "What noble cause, Mr. President?"--a simple enough question that nevertheless resonates as eloquently as it does because we all know it goes straight to the heart of the matter--why is it that no one thinks to demand a direct answer to this from the President himself? If the President were to fail to come up with a satisfactory or useful answer--not the usual canned ones that he keeps repeating endlessly like a broken record to the point that he's got almost everyone in this country now tearing their hair out in utter despair--what is it that stops the press from attempting, simply as a matter of public service, to connect all the dots for the rest of us and answer the question for him? It seems to me that it's all right there for all to see, plain as day, but no one is willing to take a strong enough leadership position and point it out. Yet in poll after poll we find the American people feeling rudderless and adrift, now saying how hopelessly confused they are about why we even went to Iraq in the first place. If there are no WMD's what's keeping us there, seemingly forever? This is the great unspoken fear which, I think, subliminally spooks everyone and which there seems to be a general reluctance to address, (perhaps precisely?) because we all sense on some level that the longer we stay the harder it will be to extricate ourselves from that country. Seems most people have heard the word "neocon," but outside the Beltway few can really tell you with any degree of confidence what constitutes their dangerous philosophy; indeed, another poll I saw recently indicates that a majority of Americans donÔøΩt even know who Karl Rove is. This to me is a fairly astonishing thing, because those of us who have been paying attention to this tragic absurdity from the beginning know that you can't even begin to sort out anything about this mess in Iraq unless you realize the singular and powerful influence the neocon ideology has exerted on this administration's foreign policy. When you pick up Richard Perle's and David Frum's neocon manifesto, "The End of Evil," it's almost a shock to discover how plainly it's all laid out, and that it's been so accessible all along: our mission and indeed our moral duty, as the world's sole superpower, is to spread democracy around the world--even, in Perle's and Frum's own words, "at the point of a bayonet, if necessary"--and the first vital step is for us to take on the responsibility of stabilizing the Mideast and remaking it according to our interests and then to establish a base in the region from which to "project" American power. This is absolutely central. But can you imagine President Bush coming out and actually saying this? But to appreciate this critical piece of the puzzle is, of course, to finally become aware not only why this administration cannot possibly be serious about ever leaving Iraq and abandoning its proposed military bases, but also to understand why an essential part of the strategy has dictated that Americans be kept in the dark as much about the initial decision to invade Iraq as about our wretched need to stay the frigginÔøΩ course. Demented as this may look to everybody else, the neocons--unrepentant, undeterred and suicidal as ever--are still far from relinquishing this grandiose epic fantasy of theirs, as far as I can judge. They still think, despite everything, we can ÔøΩwin.ÔøΩ Hence their vested interest in canny deception. It's worth bearing in mind, too, that to these students who have worshipped sanctimoniously at the shrine of their revered father of neoconservatism Leo Strauss, the Straussian "political lie," employed in the service of achieving a greater good and a higher truth, is an essential and useful tool of governing. Now, if this credo were to be articulated in the public arena as brazenly and unapologetically as the neocons themselves usually proclaim it among themselves, one would think there's a good chance there might be an instant revolt in the land. Of course, they themselves are shrewd enough to anticipate this, and therefore see the need for their tricks and subterfuge. But if widely known, can anyone imagine regular folks (Democratic or Republican) sitting still for this? And so I have to wonder, What can be so hard about our media, supposedly the people's watchdogs, trumpeting this simple revelation to the country as a form of public service announcement? ItÔøΩs way past time that this cat be let out of the bag. Sorry to have rambled on here taking up so much of your valuable virtual real estate, but I canÔøΩt resist bringing up something else (now that we're so close to "Fitzmas" and getting unreasonably giddy) upon which you may be able to shed some light: last weekÔøΩs report, which from what IÔøΩve been able to gather has not so far been refuted and which apparently was put out by a fairly reliable and reputable journalist with credible sources and a history of covering the Bush family for over two decadesÔøΩthat Bush knew all along about the Plame monkey business and had therefore been ÔøΩfuriousÔøΩ with Rove not so much because of the smear campaign itself as because of the heavy-handed way Rove handled itÔøΩdoes this have the grave consequences for the President that it would seem to suggest? If this turns to be true, would not this expose the President himself to serious legal trouble--even if he did not testify under oath (again, here IÔøΩm assuming that he is unlikely to have told Fitzgerald anything other than what he has publicly maintained all along)? And amid all the predictable spin that is now beginning get spun, are we in danger, perhaps, of having the White House (as per usual) change subject and thereby lose sight of the fact that the President of the United States was aware of this conspiracy yet chose to lie to the American public? And, if youÔøΩll just bear with me one more minute, this, too: another one of my big frustrations has been the inability to get to the bottom of those forged documents which mysteriously first turned up in Italy and which supposedly set off the wild goose chase in Niger to begin with. I believe I read somewhere at some point that Larry Franklin, the Pentagon analyst/spook who was recently indicted for passing classified intel to the two head honchos at AIPAC (an outfit which IÔøΩm sure you know is alleged to be in pretty thick with that notorious gang of Washington neocons), had been placed in Rome right around the same time that those forgeries surfaced (no?). My gut has been telling me for quite some time now that there is sure to be some link here and that Fitzy may well have stumbled across it and unearthed itÔøΩhas anyone anywhere done any credible reporting on this as far as you know? This is, at bottom, what IÔøΩve been itching to find out all these years while the NYT was sending The Judy Miller Horror Show around the globe chasing after one wild fantastic rumor after anotherÔøΩwhether this is the kind of stuff that the Office of Special Plans was busy cooking up in the bowels of the Pentagon. Any ideas, speculation, info, rumor, good intel on this? ******* David: if you do happen to come across this, thank you for your consistently fabulous work. I pray the American people will one day come to appreciate what you and many of your colleagues, what I call the ÔøΩrealÔøΩ journalists who have steadfastly resisted being taken in by the mendacity of this administration, have done for all of us. Bless you, Ralph