board77

Well, we went into Somolia for no known reason. You can make the argument that the timing was simply convenient.

I'm not sure I'd buy it, but the argument can be made that Operation Deliberate Blowjob (my name for that operation) was not a case of the tail wagging the dog.

Somalia...what a clusterfuck. Talk about trying to herd cats...except normally cats don't have RPGs and hate your guts even though you're trying to feed them.

Or at least mine don't.

I hope.

Quote:

Why, Iavas? What if this is the correct decision, and justice has been served?

Justice may have been served purely in relation to who leaked and who commited perjury. But it has not been served in the much more serious issue that the leak case illuminates - the government deception used to send the nations children off to war. Justice has not been served for all those who died or were crippled believing they were protecting the people back home from Saddam and his WMDs.

Now we hear it from the horses mouth that 9/11 was the reason Iraq was invaded. The whole UN resolution/last minute talks/intelligence gathering period was a SCAM, as they'd already made up their minds to attack. They should all be sent to jail as lieing warmongers.

Well, cats don't have RPGs.

Teremia wrote:

Just thought I'd better point out that there are NO "normal mothers of twins." I should know.

Amen Sister.

sauronsfinger wrote:

Instead of knocking the train off the tracks all that has happened is a scooter got tilted over.

Anti-climatic at best.

SF, that's what I thought at first. Then I started thinking about Libby's trial, and what spectacle it will be, particularly since Cheney will almost certainly testify.

So maybe not so anti-climatic, even if Rove is not indicted, which he might be.

George Bush said he was sad to see Libby go, that he was a man who tirelessly served his country ( ), and that

"in our system each individual is presumed innocent and entitled to due process and a fair trial."

Okay.. is this the same George Bush who wants the power to jail people like Jose Padilla indefinitely, without charge or any proof of having commited a crime?

"Each individual" is presumed innocent George? Or is it each individual who kisses your arse?

Voronwe --- I hope as you do that eventually all the parties to this nonsense will get a full measure of justice. I simply find it amazing that Carl Rove was not indicted. And I believe the full court press his attorneys placed upon the prosecutor in the final days of the grand jury paid off for him.

This man is the best con man of the last fifty years. Not since Joseph McCarthy has anyone continually played the public and media for suckers, been caught, pulled the same scam again, got caught and lived to do the same some more with even more power.

If Roves name had never come up in the speculation, perhaps many of us would be celebrating the indictments of Libby. He is one powerful figure and played a huge role in the deception that is the war. But when the spectre of Rove was dangled in front of us, we smelled his blood. Now it is denied to us. Christmas did NOT come early.

Quote:

this the same George Bush who wants the power to jail people like Jose Padilla indefinitely, without charge or any proof of having commited a crime?

Good point, Iavas.

SF, I don't believe in Christmas, so not having an early one is no hardship for me. And maybe Rove will still get his.

Interesting that you mention McCarthy, SF. That's who I think of when I hear the name of Karl Rove.

Jn

Mee, too. Don't get me wrong, SF, I would like nothing better then to see Karl Rove get the punishment that I believe (I believe, Anthy) he deserves. But just the Libby indictment is far more then I expected would happen.

Monday update --- The Drudge Report says that the VP will be called as a witness at the Scooter trial.

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN OCT 30, 2005 18:31:21 ET XXXXX

PROSECUTOR PLANS ON CALLING CHENEY AS WITNESS IN OPEN COURT; EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE FIGHT LOOMS

**Exclusive**

Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is planning to call Vice President Dick Cheney as a witness in the trial of Lewis Libby, the DRUDGE REPORT has leaned.

But the high stakes move could result in an executive privilege showdown between the White House and Fitzgerald, a top government source said Sunday.

"If Mr. Fitzgerald is going to demand a public recounting of conversations between the vice president, or even the president, and his staff, on matters he, himself, has acknowledged are 'classified,' executive privilege will obviously be invoked."

Fitzgerald has made it clear to lawyers involved in the case that he prefers Cheney appear as a witness in open court.

"Mr. Fitzgerald is starting from the position that this should not be done on remote or videotape," the well-placed source said.

Fitzgerald and Libby's attorney Joseph Tate discussed possible plea options before the indictment was issued last week, TIME magazine reports in new editions. But the deal was scotched because the prosecutor insisted that Libby do some "serious" jail time.

From http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/

Quote:

Judge Who Gagged
Edmonds Is Judge
For Libby Case By Wayne Madsen
10-30-5


US District Judge for DC Reggie Walton has been assigned the Lewis Libby case. It is noteworthy to point out Walton's past and current links to the Republican Right and to elements in the Bush administration who have covered up important details about 911.

Walton was appointed to the DC Superior Court in 1981 by Ronald Reagan. In 1989, he was appointed by George H. W. Bush as the deputy drug czar under Bill Bennett. Walton was reappointed to the DC Superior Court by the senior Bush. George W. Bush nominated Walton to the US District Court for DC in 2001.

Walton was the judge who, under pressure from the Justice Department, placed a gag order on former FBI translator and whistleblower Sibel Edmonds and cleared his courtroom of the public and media in Edmonds' hearing in her case against the FBI. Edmonds brought to light important information about how the FBI failed to translate important wiretap intercepts before and after 911.

Judge Reggie Walton assigned to Libby case: Recusal of judge appointed to the bench by two Bush presidents should have been sought by prosecutor

Great.. a Bush man trying a Bush man..


Also:

Cheney-staffer-turned-reporter now covering Libby indictment for NBC News

Good to know NBC is concerned about objectivity..


And IMO, the Harriet Miers fiasco may have been done on purpose to create a media distraction running in parallel with the wrapping up of the leak case. Because now, conveniently, all eyes are on the Supreme Court (and tomorrow, bird flu ) - the message created is that Bush is getting back on track, which is providing a sudden sense of optomism in the party (which is sure to perculate into the easily rallied republican base).

Well you might argue, why would Bush pick a bad nominee, as that makes him look bad? But do you not get the sense that his new nomination seems to have wiped the slate clean, and that there'll be no lingering damage from his first disastrous attempt? I think they knew that if they got it right the second time, the first time would be forgotten, and so they planned the 'getting it right' part to come directly after the indictments and turn the tide.

Surely someone with Rove's ability would have known that Miers didn't stand a chance - but instead would think it a great way to drag out the nomination process and make it the big talking point post-indictments.

More Cheney resignation rumors from BlogWashington:

http://blogwashington.com/ (look for the Nov 7 entry if it's no longer Nov 7 when you're reading this)

Quote:

The notion that VP Cheney might have to go -- for a combination of political, legal, and p.r. reasons -- and that Bush might bring on partial nemesis John McCain to try to 'save' his Presidency is actually a real possibility now. Cheney, for some time more unpopular than Bush who himself is now way down there, has taken on a kind of drip drip quality.
Day after day, scandal after scandal, so many negative things have Dick Cheney attacked to them. The key Washington scandals -- from his Chief of Staff 'Scooter' now under indictment, to IRAQGate with all the lies and sub-plots, to the torture fiascos of Abu Ghraib et. al, to the Neocon 'cabal' -- all are tracing back to the VP.
...
Meanwhile John McCain has positioned himself right where he wants to be. He orchestrated the Senate's 90-9 vote to totally outlaw torture, with VP Cheney fighting him every step of the way and even getting Bush to issue a rare veto-threat that further exposed the President on this lose-lose issue.

In other news, Republican lawmakers are outraged that information about secret CIA detention camps was leaked to The Washington Post, and are demanding that intelligence committees "immediately initiate a joint investigation into the possible release of classified information".

Quote:

In their letter, Frist of Tennessee and Hastert of Illinois said they wanted the intelligence committees to determine if the information given to the newspaper was classified and accurate, who leaked it and under what authority, and the actual and potential national security damage from it.

Asked whether the Republican leaders would seek an investigation of the secret prisons, Ron Bonjean, Hastert's spokesman, said, "First we're looking into why we have people leaking classified information."

Yes, we all know what a hard line the Republican Party takes where the leaking of information is concerned! Farce is more and more obsolete every day.

Long URL

And will they deny the international red cross access to these secret prisons? Even the Nazi concentration camps allowed the red cross in - do the CIA prisons have worse to hide? Given the level of torture in the publically known prisons, it wouldn't surprise me if there was even worse in the secret ones.

Report saying that Fitzgerald is preparing to file indictments against Rove and/or Hadley:

http://baltimorechronicle.com/2006/032806Leopold.shtml

Quote:

In lengthy interviews over the weekend and on Monday, [inside sources] said that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has started to prepare the paperwork to present to the grand jury seeking an indictment against White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove or National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley.

Although the situation remains fluid, it's possible, these sources said, that Fitzgerald may seek to indict both Rove and Hadley, charging them with perjury, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy related to their roles in the leak of Plame Wilson's identity and their effort to cover up their involvement following a Justice Department investigation.

The sources said late Monday that it may take more than a month before Fitzgerald presents the paperwork outlining the government's case against one or both of the officials and asks the grand jury to return an indictment, because he is currently juggling quite a few high-profile criminal cases and will need to carve out time to write up the indictment and prepare the evidence.

The more indictments the better.

Libby is reportedly now testifying that both Bush and Cheney directly authorized the Plame leak:

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?S ... 1445-4182r

That's serious isn't it? How will they bury that one?

Presumably with a Surpreme Court that rules they're above the law. At least, that's what I expect them to try if this story is accurate and they can't find a way to discredit his testimony.

Here's another report:
http://news.nationaljournal.com/articles/0406nj1.htm