Dear Mr. Greenwald,

I've read your commentary on the Ivins case with great interest. I hope and trust that you'll keep pushing ABC & others for all the facts.

Would like to make three points on behalf of the late Dr. Ivins:

1) If I understand libel law correctly, no one can ever bring a libel case on behalf of someone who has died. That means anyone--from the government, media, or anywhere--can tell any number of lies about Dr. Ivins without worrying about legal consequences. (I did not know Dr. Ivins. But I hate to see a man's reputation thoroughly trashed when he is not here to defend it. And his family must have suffered great agony over the past several months, now heightened by the attacks on his reputation.)

2) The woman who filed for a protective order against Dr. Ivins said he had already poisoned people. She obviously knew (from whom?) that the government was about to indict Dr. Ivins for the anthrax killings. Possibly she was referring only to them, not to other killings. So far I've seen no indication from any other source to sustain her charge that he had a tendency toward violence going back to graduate [student] days. Nor do we know how long she knew him. If she knew him only in his last, tragic months of mental breakdown, she may be inferring some things that just are not true.

3) Some of your readers are interpreting your (incomplete) quote from a letter Ivins sent to the Frederick News-Post to mean that he was a right-wing Catholic. It's generally wise to avoid political tags in theological discussions. But to the extent they are relevant at all, his letters to the editor suggest he may have been a "left-wing Catholic" (supporting the admission of women and married Catholics to the priesthood and sympathetic to the consistent ethic of life (consistent opposition to violence and killing).

Many thanks for staying on this case!

How shall the new environment be programmed? It all happened so slowly that most men failed to realize that anything had happened at all.

The theater of noise is proof of our potential (Fox News?). The circulation of autotypes. The golden talisman underfoot is phenomenon approaching. And, in the history of now, all ethos are designed.

Chrome robot: Everything will be all right. You are in my hands. I am here to protect you. You have nowhere to go. You have nowhere to go.

Prosecutor: Economics must not dictate situations which are obviously religious.

Mind programming: Changeable. Alterable. Mutable. Variable. Versatile. Moldable. Movable. Fluctuate. Undulate. Flicker. Flutter. Pulsate. Vibrate. Alternate. Plastic.

OMM (deity?): Thou art a subject of the divine, created in the image of man, by the masses, for the masses.

Let us be thankful we have an occupation to fill. Work hard, increase production, prevent accidents and be happy.

Let us be thankful we have commerce. Buy more. Buy more now. Buy. And be happy.

PA announcement: That accident over Red Sector L destroyed another 63 personnel, giving them a total of 242 lost to our 195. Keep up the good work and prevent accidents. This shift is concluded.

Male voice (medicine cabinet): What's wrong?

Man: I need something stronger.

Male voice (medicine cabinet): Take four red capsules. In 10 minutes, take two more. Help is on the way.

Dystopian? How exactly.

Sorry about the time-lag, I went to bed.

-When a person is broke, socially undesirable and sexually repulsive they get to be a sort of expert on Public Radio.-

Then I would automatically qualify as a consummate expert, I guess.

-I'm so bad off the commercial broadcasters won't even broadcast to my house- they say there's no return in it, it's not worth the electricity.-

Perhaps they are concerned about the 17 layers of 12 ga. tinfoil enshrouding the entire structure impeding reception.

I am listening live right now (Sunday morning) and the theme is vintage, and I mean vintage country. Christine Lindie: Walkin' the Floor, I think...

For talk radio, I listen to Air America a great deal, especially the drive-home hours with the brilliant and delightful Rachel Maddow.

I am a fan of musical diversity for certain.

Thanks for the lead.

It seems the DoD is now taking it's turn at telling Congress to go fuck themselves.

TPM Muckraker: Defying Subpoena, DoD Orders Sexual Assault Program Chief Not To Testify Before Congress

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/

It seems the DoD is now taking it's turn at telling Congress to go fuck themselves.

TPM Muckraker: Defying Subpoena, DoD Orders Sexual Assault Program Chief Not To Testify Before Congress

I shouldn't be shocked at this news, but I am. Shocked and saddened.

I used to think that the Reagan Administration would be the most corrupt administration I would see in my lifetime, but it is clear that Bush 43's administration will hold that record. The blatant corruption, violation of law and ethics, and lack of transparency are truly astounding. That no one in government has stood up to Bush and tribe is also astounding.

*heavy sigh*

since Ivin's participation began, irrc, after an indident or incidents at work.

Well, he can't answer, but revenge fantesies are not uncommon particularly when one feels cornered and helpless ...

I want to know if he really bought a gun or a bullet-proof vest...

Otherwise, such fantesies (although serious since workplace going postal events are all too common) may just be a way of coping and, if such, I can understand his outrage if such "venting" in a group session led to involuntary hold.

It's simply tragic that he was "allowed" to commit suicide.

There's nothing that seriously makes me think he was "the guy" and quite a bit to make me doubt it and, even if demonstrated, anger and threats towards real flesh and blood people is rather different that the "he did it to profit from the vaccine" or "he did it increase funding for his research" scenarios.

I had not realized before yesterday he was in hospital for 2 days before dying, which means that the information gap and the stalling by the FBI (which, as you will recall was "about to indict") in providing further information is all the more galling.

patience.