What innocent explanation is there for such an outlandish suggestion as sacking Fitzgerald? Was it was a tasteless joke, a freudian slip or Sampson's way of obfuscation, suggesting a stupid but "innocent" explanation (a la "who would rid me of this meddlesome priest!") to protect his former bosses. Sampson has already lost his job and this would be a way of minimizing the damage, thereby proving his loyalty for quiet reward later on when the storm has passed. I hate to be so cynical but this Administration has not inspired any confidence in their integrity or competence (except in the criminal sense).

Again, you seem unable to grasp that Sampson is only admitting stuff which has already been revealed in his emails, and even then he is being evasive.

This is not candor. This is a person who is carefully tiptoeing around perjury, especially with regard the Fitzgerald testimony. His testimoney with regard to Fitz is absolutely unbelievable with regard to the response to his suggestion they fire Fitz. Listen to the guy for ten minutes, and any moron can figure out this guy has never had an original idea.

And had you watched the hearings, you would not be so effusive in your praise of a guy who was already trapped by his own words.

So unless you are slapping some Bush drone on the back for avoiding perjury, you might well reserve your admiration for someone who actually worthy, instead of a forgetful stooge who is going out his way NOT to be open and honest.

barking up the wrong tree trying to tie Darth Rove to a possible Fitzgerald/Libby deal. My money is on the idea that Rove was happy to see "his competetion" removed and Cheney, "Bush's competetion", severly weakened by the loss of his "Rove". It may be why Bush hasn't entertained a pardon for Libby yet. I think that now there is a three way power struggle that includes Bush's pesudo presidential group , Cheney's real shadow government, and the third, of course,the CIA who tried to dismember Cheney's war lies and perhaps bring George down with him. Do a little thinking on this one...

Nance, if everyone shares your attitude, you can expect that there will never be a whistleblower emerging from the Bush administration. Why should they, when all they get for their troubles is further verbal abuse?

I have to admit that Sampsom reminds me of a younger Rove, thinning hair, pouty lips, crappy "I'm no one really" posture, and all ... dweebish ... but without the cunning or the "imagination."

But, he's another young'un whose career has suffered mightily ... at least at present, definitely with anyone who's not a party hack ...

Not much loss to the world, imho, but I can feel a twinge of how hard it is when white-collar, college-educated folks find out that "I was only following orders" doesn't really cut it ... with anyone outside the rapidly self-destructing cabal ... boo fucking hoo.

Maybe like Coulson he can "see the errors of his way" and get a gig on the "redemption circuit" ... from what I've read at TPM, the man had extremely high expectations of his glorious future .. but then so did the EIGHT who got canned.

I am a retired MSgt of the USAF. I served 23 years on active duty and since these investigations have started coming out I am understanding clearly what was happening my last three years on active duty.

When this administration came into office the change was noticeable immediately. We all thought that it was because Rumsfeld was sent to change DoD and make the Generals heal.

I can't overemphasize this too much. Our Senior Officers went from being confident and thoughtful leaders who listened to what their subordinates feedback was to these uncompromising and cynical people who barely resembled seasoned professionals.

I don't want to go into a lot of detail here but all I can say is we mid-level managers were walking around scratching our heads wondering what the hell was going on.

Now I know. It seems as though Rumsfeld's 1st priority was to castrate the military of strong leadership. His second task was to get rid of anyone capable of independent thought. Trust me folks when I tell you this does not work well at all in a service that requires technical expertise down to the lowest ranking personnel. His third priority wss to replace all the strong Officers with the sycophants that we have today. These people (Gen. Peter Pace), took their marching orders without question and just to make sure they were into the good graces of their political masters they went one step further and politicized the personnel in their image. Meaning that incompetence became the new normal and it was highly rewarded as long as you seemed to be an individual that was in-charge of everything and responsible for nothing.

I know this was a long rant but you folks do not understand how traumatized I was and still am because it was a bitch working in this environment but now I see why this happened.

You are not the first "mid-level manager" I've heard this from. It appears to have occurred across the branches of service. Several USN professionals I know decided to retire early rather than continue scratching their heads.

It reminds me, as so much does these days, of a banana republic, where the leader remakes the military to match his own incompetence. That dummy Rummie might have delivered a more damaging blow to our armed services than any two-bit terrorist could ever hope.

A wise possum once said, "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

Indeed.

posts from people who actually cared for and served this country honorably when it was still a democracy. It gives me pause and then contentment to realize that when the coup begins and shrub tries for a shameful "continuation" grab for power in 2008 that these types of individuals will be on the side of Clear Thinkers.

I often wondered what army-type individuals thought of Rummy's suggestion that you "go to war with the army you have and not the army you want". I think that of all the asinine statements made over the past six years by these bozos that statement has got to be among the top three. It said it all, dismissing life, limb, and credibility to send men and woman in harms way for their own hubris: "A war of choice".

I think the lot of them should be brought-up on murder charges, tried and hanged when found guilty. What they did to this country and its citizens by choosing to send death and destruction onto Iraq and very soon to the rest of the Middle East via lies, fear mongering, and nihilistic ideology is hardly any different than Saddam’s decision to gas the Kurds. His own version of “gassing of choice”. I'd really like to see "justice" done for the multitudes of dead and maimed Americans in the same manner it was acomplished for the Kurds. Subito.