Digby this evening:

And this is the one Bush crime where a nice information package already exists --- there have been years of investigation already into this crime and a full trial. (Perhaps Fitz might be persuaded to turn over his non-grand Jury material to the committee if they subpoenaed him nicely.)

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/07/impeachment-by-digby-has-there-ever.html

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/07/03/keith-olbermanns-special-comment-you-ceased-to-be-the-president-of-the-united-states/

Which is why they think Glenn is strident.

My favorite quote:

The twists and turns of Plame-Gate, your precise and intricate lies that sent us into this bottomless pit of Iraq; your lies upon the lies to discredit Joe Wilson; your lies upon the lies upon the lies to throw the sand at the “referee” of Prosecutor Fitzgerald’s analogy… these are complex and often painful to follow, and too much, perhaps, for the average citizen.

But when other citizens render a verdict against your man, Mr. Bush — and then you spit in the faces of those jurors and that judge and the judges who were yet to hear the appeal — the average citizen understands that, sir.

It’s the fixed ballgame and the rigged casino and the pre-arranged lottery all rolled into one — and it stinks. And they know it.

small actions at the White House gates would be neutralized by the sneering ridicule of the kewl-kids press

Which is of course why directing ridicule AT the kewl-kids press is more valuable then many might be inclined to think. The heart of America may not be paying as close attention to the details of governance that they should but they sure know how to react when they think they're being ripped off. I have a feeling this latest move by the WH might be just the tipping point to wake up lots of people who've been on the sidelines to this point.

http://sentencing.typepad.com/sentencing_law_and_policy/files/libby_3583.pdf

We've already seen a touch of snark coming from the bench in the past, but this seems to be directed specifically at the White House.

The short version is that since the President has chosen to make up the law as he goes along, it's now up to the actual parties to the case to get to together and figure out what the hell to do now.

http://phd9.blogspot.com/2007/01/boycott-mouse.html

http://www.freepress.net/ownership/chart.php

It's not excessively disruptive. It comes with a catchy slogan. It doesn't involve excessive personal sacrifice. And it would directly address much of what has gone wrong in this country.

Think about it.

But I have to think that the phenomenon you desribe in you post is exactly where the neocons want us to be. They care little if America is respected as long as she is feared. Of course this style of thinking is exactly as effective in international relationships as it is in interpersonal ones which is to say not at all.

I think the best way to adress Che's concerns is to point out that even though the US has engaged in reprehensible behavior in the past, at least in the past when caught out, we've had the decency to deny involvment and or otherwise behave as if the behavior didn't reflect our core values.

It is quite unprecidented that the US, when caught engaging in acts of torture, would simply acknowlege it and assert our intention to continue the practice.

The middle portion stresses a point that I think bears constant repetition. Our core American values are carefully spelled out in our founding documents and as such, are not really subject to change. Our behavior as a nation may succeed or fail to reflect those values, but they can't make them disappear (yet!) Our current dilemma is therefore twofold. 1:Bush and company have explicitly rejected the American values as expressed in the Constitution and the Bill of rights and 2:the American public has let him get away with it due to the general innattention to those values encouraged by the media and our educational system.

Problem #1 is relatively easy to fix; we need merely vote the bums out.

Problem #2 is much more difficult and requires a much broader effort of which your contributions are an important part. It's certainly appropriate that we discuss these things, especially at the heels of our celebrating the signing of the document that reads in part:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences.