Letters to the Editor
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I don't think the jury's buying it.
One of the questions they had for Wells this week was about how Scooter Libby, the #1 guy for the second-most-powerful man in the world, could be simultaneously so smart and so spacey. They also can't be making any positive inferences from his refusal to testify in his own behalf.
But of course Scooter will appeal -- that's what the $5 million legal defense fund is for -- and hope he can stall his way through the next two years, until after the November 2008 elections when Bush can pardon him without hurting the GOP's electoral chances. That's going to be the big story: Just as his father George Herbert Walker Bush saved himself by pardoning Cap Weinberger and any of the other Iran-Contra figures who could have sent him to jail, George Walker Bush will pardon the man who could have sent him and Dick Cheney to jail.
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What Goes Around, Comes Around
The inadvertently exposed information has become more interesting than Mr. Libby's "fate." Does anybody actually care?
Mary Matalin, Ms. Indignant, appears very adept at manipulating her friends in the media. Once, even though I disagreed with her, I thought she had some honor, but now I don't know.
If Mr. Novak talks to Karl Rove twice a week, what else does he know--and what does it take to be his "friend?" (If "what goes around, comes around" is true, I wonder what will happen to him next.)
What is a lobbyist doing passing around unpublished articles at the White House? I'll bet there are some stories waiting to be told about this administration that could be of enormous value if they got out--but as time goes by, and this trial proves--it is starting to appear hopeless.
No, it isn't Viet Nam. It is unquestionably another era where it doesn't even make sense to mention the word "conscience," or expect anyone to do anything to jeapordize themselves in the name of a higher purpose.
Apparently, the current crop in Washington, brought to power as a result of a religious movement, don't have a true patriot in the bunch.
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Just think of the monstrosity of this prosecution
Libby is charged with remembering old conversations differently from Tim Russert (whose own memory isn't so good), Judy Miller (whose notes, she had forgotten, were in a shopping bag), and Matt Cooper (lying half-naked on a hotel bed).
After Libby is acquitted, and after the victory party, and after he is back working for the Vice President, I hope Libby invites Sidney Blumenthal for lunch in the White House mess. Libby might have an exclusive scoop for him. About the upcoming Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame depositions.
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Even Blumenthal can blunder
Sidney Blumenthal writes:
Three reporters, Matt Cooper (then at Time magazine), Judith Miller (then at the New York Times) and NBC's Tim Russert, testified that Libby had conveyed to them the information about Plame.
Neither side claims that Libby told Russert anything about Plame. The defense claims it was Russert who told Libby about Plame. The prosecution claims Russert and Libby did not discuss Plame at all. This issue is quite central to the case.
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Too Complicated for America?
Everybody in the G.W. Bush group, including G.W. Bush himself, sounds okay for five minutes at a time. But none of their stories add up. Is five minutes enough?
Maybe. Scooter is an obvious, embarrassing fraud, if you pay attention. They hope we can't pay attention.
I do not care about this twit Scooter Libby. After all this preposterous silliness, would you hire him? No. And I would not do business with whoever hires him after all this preposterous silliness.
I wish I did not have to do business with the fools who hired him before, the obvious jackasses (yet extremely dangerous jackasses) in the White House.
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A Question (or Two) If Anyone Can Answer Please?
I admit, I've been trying to follow this story since I first read about it in late '03. I'm not a legal expert and some of the nuances of the trial are a bit lost on me so pardon me if I appear to be dense. My understanding is that the CIA requested special prosecutor Fitzgerald to investigate the exposure of a covert CIA operative, Plame. Since then, Fitzgerald has held numerous interviews and many officials, reporters, etc. have appeared before the grand jury to discuss their involvement or knowledge of this "crime". Then in Fall of '05, Fitzgerald announced an indictment of Lewis "Scooter" Libby on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. This was immediately leapt upon by the right-wing press as proof that the whole affair was inconsequential and that there was no crime committed by the Administration or, for that matter, anyone (except maybe Amb. Wilson himself). Then last May, word leaked out that Karl Rove would not be indicated in connection (with the outing? the perjury case? what?).
Now, after reading Firedoglake's excellent coverage and Keith Olbermann & David Schuter's daily recap of the trial, I'm getting the impression that Fitzgerald got a clear picture of what happened from May to July of 2003 that led to the outing of Valerie Plame. This includes a not-too-pretty picture of reporters and writers admitting that they received the information directly from administration officials; discussions with the Vice President and his Chief of Staff that clearly stated that national security issues would be involved if Wilson's wife was brought into their attempt to refute or discredit the claims being made by Amb. Wilson. And, at least two reporters, if memory serves, stated that they got this information directly from Karl Rove.
So here's my question(s) - They're still forming as I write:
Is this as far as the Fitzgerald investigation goes; the prosecution for obstructing his investigation? Does the prosecutor submit a final report of his investigation after the trial and, if so, to whom? What are Fitzgerald's instructions? And, (last question I promise) could this whole trial simply be an attempt to get the specifics of his investigation into the public realm prior to him closing the investigation?
My feeling is that if the answer to the last question is an affirmative, Fitzgerald may have just put the administration on public trial. If so, is the rest is up to congress? (okay - had one more).