fitz!

Amen. Good work.

Good Luck! Ms. Plame.

Scott Ritter has an interesting article at:
http://commentisfree.guardian……st_62.html

later,
jlp

Fitz! Cristy! Plame!

You go girls! ahem and guy!

C,mon don’t you know that when authors criticize the administration it emboldens our enemies and makes our troops weaker?

Always late to the fitz party anymore

I think Ms. Plame’s book would/will be one hot property.

heh heh….lucky lurker I guess ;-P

Richard Cohen is one of Plamegates’ biggest apologists. He makes it sound like a silly paperwork error.

Then he says Colbert was rude to call out the President’s lies and incompetence. When the courtiers won’t do it, it comes to the jester.

Never forget that – especially when Cehn starts pimping for us to nuke Iran – saying it is the only reasonable step.

OT, but I had to laugh.

At Raw Story, they’re reporting that a misrecollected contribution from the Choctaw Indians helped finance the NH phone jamming.

I think we need a new parlor game of Republican scandal: six degrees of Jack Abramoff.

Except six is probably way too many.

It’s more like two or three.

And thanks Christy and Jane — your Plame posts are well-written and well-argued — with snark where appropriate. They are just a joy to read.

It would be great to actually her from Valerie about some of these issues, but if she tries, the Bushies will probably claim that the entire book should be blocked under the State Secrets provision. But you’re right, Christy–no matter what she does or doesn’t say, if she offers any criticism of poor little Dubya she’ll be called a traitor.

That should have been “hear from Valerie.”

Jason Leopold!
.
.
NOT!!

Great for her. I hope she is a good writer.

emptywheel has an interesting story about another CIA guy who was screwed by the agency. He was trying to report the truth, and they would have none of it What a surprise!

If Goss was cavorting with male prostitutes provided by lobbyists, he won’t be able to stop Plame from publishing

Here’s the bit that bugs me — and I’ve seen the phrases used elsewhere.

“…is said to be shopping a book proposal among publishers.”
“…seeks a book deal”

Yeah. Right. As if Valerie Plame would have to push a book deal on a publisher. “Shopping”, as if it was just about the money.

A subtle, backhanded slap at Plame by a paper that played a direct role in the leak.

The Grey Lady is dead, long dead, and the stench suffocates us. We should bury the remains, and not out of respect.

Rayne -

Agreed.

I hope they “shop” a movie deal as well. Helen Hunt could do Valerie.

I wish her well in her literary pursuits! She and her family are owed the biggest apology possible when this is done.

suggested title:

NOC, NOC — Who’s there?
Proof of a Treasonous Government

or

I Spied. Your Government Lied.

(She might find it easier to publish under Judy’s pseudonym for her– Valerie Flame.)

Rayne # 17– what you said!!!

Sorta OT, but Lambert covers the blogger panel that featured BushCo’s favorite man-whore (via Atrios):

http://www.correntewire.com/je…..ay_changed

(excerpt)

Civil, like Dignified and Shrill, is a Republican meme that only comes into play when a Democrat or liberal makes a reasoned argument against a Republican talking point or even expresses anger. Because questioning Republican dominance is never, ever Civil. (Needless to say, Limbaugh calling Democrats traitors to an audience of 25 million, including Armed Forces radio, is entirely civil, dignified, and distinctly not shrill. When the VRWC stops calling me a traitor, then I’ll be ready to make nice.) We’ve been calling it out from some time, but as the Man in the Grey Turtleneck points out, the Civil meme is starting to be pushed hard. And guess who’s doing the pushing? Check the first link—Why, it’s the Republican’s own concentration camp advocate, Michelle Malkin!

I’d be interested to know if Valerie is shopping for an attorney to bring a civil RICO claim. By my count, she needs to have it filed by about June or July ‘07, if it’s going to happen at all.

If she profits handsomely from her book deal, would that minimize her civil damages? I would think not, but unless you’re an expert in these things, one never knows..

One thing I just don’t get is what were she & Wilson doing at that Press Corp dinner, if they are disgruntled with press corp, and disgruntled with Bush, then why go to the dinner. Maybe I’m naieve, but it seems to me that they are still playing the Washington power game, just like everyone else at that dinner.

I wonder now why I would think that disapproaval of Bush should equal disapproval of all the Washington self-congratulatory hoo-hah, but I guess I think it would, or should.

Even if Bush & the Neo Cons were run out of Washington on a rail, so long as there are these dinners for demagogues, things will be strange and perverted in that city. And those of us who run after the darling of the day are just propping up a disgusting empty system.– Of course I still make an exception for Fitz. But I’d be very surprised if I ever saw him at a smug insiders type dinner like that Press Corps affair on Sunday.

bcf says:
May 4th, 2006 at 11:43 am …

There was an article that came out a few months ago that said a suit was in the works. Just can’t remember where. Maybe someone here has a link.

Anyone watching CNN? Rumsfeld just lied. He denied saying this

“We know where they are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat.â€

~Donald Rumsfeld, March 30, 2003

http://66.218.69.11/search/cac…..p;.intl=us

Obsessive-editor hat note: asanine should be asinine. Let’s us should be lets us [no apostrophe]. [So that Christy looks genius with no wrinkles when the intellibloggers all link her.]

Valerie Plame Wilson deserves a grande book deal… and a civil lawsuit of muy mucho grande results.

Re: the “movie:”

Joe Wilson = George Clooney.

I heard Joe Wilson say – recently – on one of the Sunday shows that they were “considering their options” with respect to a civil suit.

hang a left says:
May 4th, 2006 at 11:45 am

Thanks for the reply and tip.

Anyway, it would be nice for our political interests if the civil action was filed soon so she could get heavy into discovery before November.

I’m guessing it won’t happen until at least one criminal trial has concluded, though.

OT tech tip.
For Mac users, Blog Assist is a toolbar thingy that helps format blog entries so that you can put links in without all the fuss. And it’s FREEWARE.

EPU-ed–Froomkin on Christy Hardin Smith–she doesn’t miss a thing! (direct Froomkin quote) even though corporate media outlets do…
You go, Christy Hardin Smith!!!

bcf (21) — now that’s some shopping — for which I’d be only to glad to don my corporate wife attitude and play chauffeur in my big-*ssed corporate Chrysler, hunting down the very best attorneys. Yeah, shop THAT, Valerie, you go, girl!!

Speechless (22) — same question crossed my mind…but in their position, short of a massive cash settlement and the frogmarching of half the administration, nothing would give me more pleasure than seeing Bush squirm in his tux in front of the entire media. I think that’s the single best reason why the Wilsons were present, no power games required.

Byron York is already on the case over at NRO’s The Corner. Ya see – we all know Ms. Plame was a CIA agent so the Novak piece could not have outed her. Never mind concepts like which day, month, or year Ms. Plame wrote her book v. which day, month, year – Novak wrote his Townhall piece. After all, Father Time is a LIBERAL.

Good for you Christy Hardin Smith– yer on a well-deserved roll!!!

Maybe she could use the name ‘Victoria Flame’ (even though it sounds to me like a writer of soft-core romance novels). Put a hot couple on the front cover and a … well, not a castle … a romantic (imaginary) middle-Eastern type town, with palm trees and Arabian horses, in the background.

Full Froomkin quote here:
>>>>>

Scooter Libby Watch

Judge Reggie Walton issued an opinion and order yesterday, agreeing with special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald that his earlier rulings on some procedural issues had been in error, and reversing them.

But don’t look for any stories in the traditional media. There aren’t any that I could find.

Luckily, Firedoglake blogger Christy Hardin Smith doesn’t miss a thing.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..00879.html

Sorry..OT but I cannot resist sharing this:

This morning, on my way in, these two wall street suits next to me were yakking on about what a “serious” threat Iran is and amazingly… these guys were saying that it was Bill Clintons fault…the Monica thing… democrats…yada yada yada

Anyway as I was exiting I said to them…

“You know… its been about 6 years since he left office….Isn’t it amazing how many republicans are still fascinated with Clintons dick? Whats with that? “

Speechless – I think Joe and Valerie were there to mess with the comfort level of those in politics and those in the press corps. I can see where it would be pleasurable to see some of them squirm. Real pleasurable.

http://tinyurl.com/a6erq

Help Impeach Today

I won’t say it’s going to be easy ;)

1) Sign Petitions if you have not already done so.
2) Write Congress every day
3) Write the media daily
4) Pass the link around to friends and family, ask them to chip in some time
5) Thanks for helping!!!

RH – Congrats on your well-deserved mention in Froomkin.

Here’s another great line from that article, in reference to Colbert & Stewart:

Their very subversive message, at its core: That this Bush guy is basically a joke. And that the mainstream press is a joke, because it takes Bush at his word.

Anne says:
May 4th, 2006 at 12:01 pm

Speechless – I think Joe and Valerie were there to mess with the comfort level of those in politics and those in the press corps. I can see where it would be pleasurable to see some of them squirm. Real pleasurable.
_____

Yep. So much of that entire event was orchestrated for its own “news value.” And the mock indignation over Colbert is transparent as hell. These people knew what they were getting into — maybe Bush didn’t, but then he’s clueless anyway.

Semi-OT, but related: CNN just covered an audience member’s series of pointed questions directed at Rumsfeld. (Rummy’s speaking in Atlanta and apparently opened it up to questions from the audience. Further confirmation, if any were needed, that the man has terminally poor judgment.) The questioner asked Rumsfeld about his lies before the war, citing chapter and verse and refusing to let Rummy off the hook. Eventually the moderator moved on to someone else.

The questions were direct, but the tone was conversational, e.g. “civil.” Kyra Sedgewick then said that CNN was trying to find out for sure who the questioner was, but that initial reports identified him as Ray McGovern, the former CIA analyst (and one of my heroes, BTW.) Then — and here’s the kicker — she lumped him in with the “other hecklers” who had greeted Rumfeld.

So now asking tough questions is “heckling” — even when the questioner is an expert, no one is yelling, and questions were invited. I wonder if Kyra knows Michelle? (With thanks to ck at #20 for the link.)

good for you Larry # 35! That must have been fun to do. *g*

The other day I saw 2 military choppers and a big C 130 in the skies over our local grocery store. I stared up and there was an older man there and I said, do you think it’s National Guard? Dunno, he said, but they’re our boys. I said they probably weren’t Guard cause they were all over in Iraq. He said yeah, killing those bas***** and filthy ragheads– keeping us safe from those crazies. I said, but Iraq didn’t do anything to us. He looked at me as though I was dumb as a rock and said you don’t know anything. I shrugged and loaded my stuff into my VOLVO with the prominent antibush and antiwar stickers, drove past him and his truck with the w, yellow magnet thingies and NRA sticker and slowed down, opened my window and sang out have a nice day… with my middle finger rigidly extended and placed firmly inside the car; only cause he was an old codger…

BarbaraB– Kyra is a dumbo and shrill shill. Ray McGovern– love him.

Anne @26 said:
I heard Joe Wilson say – recently – on one of the Sunday shows that they were “considering their options†with respect to a civil suit.

Yes, I heard that too. Also, Joe & Valerie Wilson were interviewed briefly at the dinner and of course were asked the same question that Speechless @ 22 asks:
One thing I just don’t get is what were she & Wilson doing at that Press Corp dinner, if they are disgruntled with press corp, and disgruntled with Bush, then why go to the dinner.
Her response was that she was wearing Armani and he said they were invited and saw no reason to hide.

That’s good enough reason for me!

Anne, that’s a good point about the Wilson’s being there to unhinge Bush. It’s interesting to think how frustrated Bush etc. must be that “they just won’t go away” Sort of like Helen Thomas.

Bush in hell might equal being obliged to face all of the facts of his life without slipping away.

Reposted from prior thread:

wondering says:
May 4th, 2006 at 11:44 am

Picking up where we left off yesterday, I think that it would be a good idea for us to communicate via e-mail (with some help from Jane and/or Christy) about Quaker genealogical resources. One resource I found nearly two years ago still works. If you’ve moved over to the new thread, I will repost this.

Norske flamethrower @10

You’re right about Cohen and the minimization of Traitorgate.
Here’s the letter I just sent Cohen re his Colbert column:

Dear Mr. Cohen,

I often enjoy your columns. You appear to have missed the point re Colbert’s appearance at this year’s WHPCD. I think that Bush has gone far further than Colbert in ranging beyond the boundaries of his job/role/persona – whatever.

To categorize the open criticism of one comedian to the most powerful man in the world, a man who authorizes the rendition and torture for endless lengths of time in secret places to kids as young as eight years old, as the hack work of a bully, strikes me as weird.

I am most certainly hoping, along with you, that Bush will not attend next year’s dinner. Perhaps my hopes in this matter are based on different expectations than yours on why this might happen.

Sincerely,

Philip Munger

Stephen Parrish–Thank you! I’m at annefscottatmchsidotcom. I was in Pennsylvania, am now in Iowa. As unseemly as it is to drop a Quaker name, I now attend the meeting that Bonnie Tinker (Tinker v. Des Moines Board of Education) grew up in. Actually, I went to the same college, lived in her dorm–she wore a black armband even on her flannel nightie. Probably more than you wanted to know. Thanks again–gratefully…

What do you think about referring to Mr. Libby by his given name, “Irving?”

In my mind, when i read stories containing his name, i always replace “Scooter” with “Irving,” fancifully imagining annoying the heck out of him. It is petty, i know, but satisfying, nonetheless.

In case no one noticed:
Valerie Plame Wilson is insanely easy on the eyes…

An unabridged audio book, spoken by the author, and her husband would be ideal-

I think I heard the Wilson’s have twins, and a book deal would not only inform the populace about what really went down, ala Cheney and his big thumb, but might also provide funds to raise their daughters, in the absence of revenue, due to the treasonous acts committed by arBusto Inc-

With the revelation of what Plame was working on at the time the Bush administration revealed her identity, I wonder if she wasn’t the target in the first place.

I know it sounds like I’ve been hanging on a conspiracy board or something, but I’ve been wondering if Iran was the ultimate target for this administration, that Iraq was a means to an end to provide a staging area for troops, especially after Saudi Arabia kicked out the US military. Go into Iraq, throw out a weakened dictator, set up the staging area, go into Iran based on lies about Iran’s nuclear capability.

So Plame, who could refute the lies with facts, had to go. Being able to cast doubt on her husband’s veracity and credibility at the same time would have seemed like a two birds with one stone opportunity.

At the very least, the administration-and I’m talking about Cheney, Rumsfeld, and their followers-has kept the Middle East in an uproar instead of unified, has kept Russia and China from making big inroads there, and has helped their oil business buddies by keeping the oil flowing, more or less, while the prices go up. Bush really has nothing to do with this, he’s just the willing front man who is easily manipulated by guys who have been manipulating for years.

Yeah, I know. It sounds nuts to me…but I can’t shake the feeling there’s a bigger plan at play than we realized.

RF, I thought they had twin sons?

This editorial appeared in USAToday last July:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/o…..hbor_x.htm

Well worth reading. Good people, serving their country, horribly betrayed.

Angie #41 — Kyra is certainly dumber than a pile of rocks but unfortunately not as silent. She’s a military groupie who has never gotten over being an embed. In fact, her name is in the dictionary as a synonym for “co-opted.”

CNN is now doing a follow up on the Rumsfeld speech. Yes, it was Ray McGovern, our mutual sweetie. Let’s hope this gets a lot of replay time in later broadcasts.

OT – Media Matters talks about the question I asked Joe Klein and how he botched it.

Christy: I am majorly confused. How possibly could a wingnut complain about Plame writing a book??
As far I know from them: She was not NOC, she did not work in sensitive areas, was, in short, a big nobody.

If they believe all that, why would they care about her writing a book?

TR @ #50.

Not nuts. I trust more will come out on this. The subject was discussed here soon after Wayne Madsen had something up on the work Plame was doing. Supposedly, credible reporters are onto this story. I’d like to be able to ask Scott Ritter what he thinks the reason was that Plame’s operation got rolled up.

It also didn’t hurt to bomb the bridge that most of the Iraqi oil flows, so that they can’t contribute to the supply of oil or pay any portion of their own war costs. One wonders if the reason this administration keeps our deficit so high and climbing, with most of our debt to China, is so that we will be so indebted to them that they cannot see us go down without crashing their economy. What I want to know is, what happens when the rest of the world quits buying our debt?

OT, and EPU’d in previous thread, but related to the racism threads of recent days.

I read an interesting article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer this morning. Entitled “Bias crimes found in all areas of cityâ€, the title pretty much says it all. A city employee, on his own time, compiled statistics of all the hate crimes committed in Seattle over the last five years. As the title suggests, they occur everywhere, and for all sorts of reasons. The cases he compiled were from reported crimes, presumably many such crimes go unreported.

Seattle is a city rightly known for the civility of its inhabitants. If such things can happen there I think it’s safe to assume they can happen in any large city. One of the most striking incidents was the taunting of Asians in the International District. This area is one of the more popular places for Asians to settle and work. That they would be treated that way there tells me that there are some seriously stupid and hateful people around here.

The report is available here:
http://tinyurl.com/plj72

Sorry if this is a repeat of someone else’s comment, but I scanned for what seemed like appropriate keywords in all of today’s threads before posting.

You know, this baloney about not insulting the preznit, blah, blah, blah is so much stoopid talk. Those Americans that protect him in this way are protecting their own egos, imho. It is the superiority dance. We are better than anyone and f*** you if you don’t like it and never, ever speak ill of any of us. We aren’t supposed to do it overseas, and now they don’t want us to do it here at home. I respect the office of the president, but it does not necessarily follow that I must therefore shut my mouth and follow blindly when they are wrong. I can and will defend my right to call them as I see them.

I am not a fan of public humiliation in general; in fact, it mostly makes me squirm. But our elected officials are fair game and most especially when they have shut out the voices of so many and been so secretive and belligerant to the press. It is also worth noting that they have broken so many laws and wasted the lives of so many.

I wonder how the people of Iraq, Iran, Palestine, Brazil, Cuba, etc feel when Condi and W. are demeaning and worse to their leaders?

end of ranty thingy. ;)

Christy – a minor correction in your last paragraph. “Let’s” is a contraction of “let us”. The verb you’re writing should be spelled “lets”.

OfT: Meet Jerry Doe
by emptywheel
“It has now been verified, twice, that Valerie Plame was working on non-proliferation issues specifically dealing with Iran. Part of me says “kudos, Larisa, for your scoop.” Another part of me says, “WTF were the rest of you thinking? Where do you think we’re spending our counter-proliferation energies? Canada?” But a final part of me says, “Valerie was not the only one….”

Thanks, Cujo — missed that in my edit. Is fixed.

angie @ 12:45 pm (#59) – I’d take such rantings (theirs, not yours) seriously if they had felt that way during the Clinton years. I think the record will show that most didn’t object very much, if at all, then.

Rick Boston @ 55 says:
If they believe all that, why would they care about her writing a book?

If they believe all that, why would they believe that she had the singular power to send her husband on a boondoggle trip to Niger?

re TR @50

sounds right to me.

agreed, Cujo359. Most of them just climbed aboard that ole sexual impropriety gravy train. ugh.

Christy –

Another possible correction: isn’t it actually Victoria Toensing to whom you’re referring above?

I recall reading an analysis of the Plame outing on antiwar.com interpreting the outing of Valerie Plame as having ‘a two birds with one stone benefit’ to the neo-cons. They wanted to shutdown Brewster Jennings to prevent possible co-opting of their Nuclear hysteria warmongering regarding Iran. Outing Plame accomplish buth (in their eyes) the discrediting of Joe Wilson, and a shutdown of a CIA apparatus not under the mantle of ‘faithful CIA leadership’.

The man in Atlata speaking truth to power to Rummy was Ray McGovern ex-cia and a hero.

Stephen at 67 — yes, it is — but I was using Jane’s “affectionate” nickname for her. *g*

The man in Atlanta speaking truth to power to Rummy was Ray McGovern ex-cia and a hero.

TR – You are on target… Brewster Jennings and their “work” with AQ Khan were the REAL targets of Cheney when he blew the lid off…

Now we won’t have PROOF of Iran’s nuclear capabilities…
Which gives Chimpy and Cheney plausible deniability of the real threat Iran poses, Look out Iran, here come the NUKES !!

Thanks TRAITOR Cheney…

Here’s the link to that article I was referring to earlier in #68.

Scooter’s Motive

Stephen Parrish, CPA says:
May 4th, 2006 at 12:54 pm
Christy -

Another possible correction: isn’t it actually Victoria Toensing to whom you’re referring above?
———————————————————-
I like Christy’s spelling better. What’s happened to Victoria, anyway? Shouldn’t she be running around Fox News spouting off about “no underlying crime”?

Jane and Christy -

Oops! I didn’t know about the “affectionate” nickname for her!

RE all of ya’s pointing out the incongruity…

Yeah, Plame was just an inconsequential office skirt at the CIA, a glorified AA doing nothing of substance, whose “outing” had zero consequence to national security.

And THAT necessitated all the subsequent WH perjuries and coverup over Little Ms. “Fair Game”?

We Can’t Comment On A Serious Ongoing Criminal Proceeding Regarding The Outing Of A NOBODY?

Hahahahahahahahahahohohohohohohohoheeheeheeheeheehawhawhawhawhawhawhaw…

Cletus, That ol’ dawg jus’ won’t hunt.

I like Vidal’s term for Bush, from ‘Dreaming War’ Vidal asserts throughout that Bush is merely a ‘cheerleader’.

Ray McGovern and his Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity has been like fresh air since the Bushies launched the war in Iraq. He hasn’t pulled any punches in calling this war (and the lies told to the American people in its runup) exactly what it is: a crime. Geneva, Nuremburg, FISA, propaganda, McGovern has covered them all with the experienced voice and savvy of a CIA veteran that understands and explains exactly why politics and the CIA shouldn’t mix.

Back to Colbert, I haven’t heard any mention of the shot he took at David Gregory in the “WH Press Secretary” video. He said something along the lines of: Stretch, nice of you to wake up. This was a haymaker considering that a. Gregory is probably the most recognizable member of that particular collection of “journalists” and b. the rightwing often snipes at Gregory for his “liberal” attacks on the press secretary. Let’s face it, David Gregory’s job performance is a microcosm of the entire D.C. media establishment. He’ll occasionally step out of his cocoon to maintain the fraudulent sense that he’s doing some real reporting, but 95% of the time he’s juggling cocktail weenies and propagating White House lies.

Also thought it was amusing that the “Gannon” button on the dais was blew….er, I mean blue, in the Colbert audition video.

So are we thinking tomorrow’s the day for Turdblossom? Saying a little prayer to the gods of justice.

61 John Casper says:
May 4th, 2006 at 12:47 pm

Good catch! The penultimate paragraph in emptywheel’s post caught my attention:

Also, Doe’s complaint suggests this Iraq (and Iran?) War effort didn’t start with George Bush. The first time Doe was required to bury intelligence was in 2000, before Bush was inaugurated and probably before he was (s)elected. Which reminds me that the Niger embassy in Rome was burgled (and therefore the plot to forge the Niger documents was presumably in place) in early January 2001, before Bush was inaugurated. In other words, they’ve been setting up their Neocon moves since before Bush was put into office.

When did the planning start? Who was involved with it?

Democracy for America has announced it’s latest DFA-List candidates. Three Democratic Women for Congress.

I am very pleased to see that my candidate, Kirsten Gillibrand is one of them.

Kirsten is exactly the sort of democrat we need to send to congress. We need pick up 15 seats to take control of the House and Kirsten’s is exactly the kind of seat we need to win in order to gain those 15. NY-20 is the 15th seat.

But it won’t be easy. John Sweeney (R-Animal House) is a dirty trickster that learned at the feet of Al D’Amato, then Tom DeLay and Karl Rove. Kirsten is running a great campaign so far but we’ll need all he help we can get to take back the House. Show Kirsten a little love at her DFA-List page if you can.

Peace,

Andrew

Whew.

But before I being crafting a dashing tin foil chapeau for myself, here’s another thought(albeit a tad OT):

The only thing stopping them from continuing to operate under the radar and being successful is the modern day version of the Maquis-the blogosphere. Is it any wonder there’s a push to end the internet as we now know it? There’s far less opportunity to dissent when corporate buddies control the internet access.

“Being”=begin

“Opportunity to dissent”=opportunity to coordinate widespread dissent

Proofreading is a good thing.

“So are we thinking tomorrow’s the day for Turdblossom? Saying a little prayer to the gods of justice.”

I wouldn’t count on it. If it were, we’d at least know that something was afoot by now. Fitzgerald would have called for a press conference, or have at least been sighted somewhere within spittin’ distance of the Grand Jury over the past day or so.

Tomorrow will probably not be Fitzo di Mayo, much as we might want it to be.

Sorry to jump in OT, but you have to see this.

Rumsfeld just got destroyed by an informed questioner at a public forum asking him why he lied about WMD and Iraq/Al Qaeda ties.

This is a must-watch clip.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/…..alled-out/

Cozumel at 25

“We know where they are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat.”

http://www.defenselink.mil/transcript…..steph.html

The attempt to shutdown the internet via tier expensing bandwidth is something I personally would love to see them try. The proliferation of ‘homegrown’ wireless enthusiasts, networks and network apparatus is overdue to take the internet out of the hands of the copper/fiber telco’s anyway.

The internet isn’t just the technology, its the communication model. The pandoras box story has to do with ideas. The printing press wasn’t just a single press, it was the idea itself, which was reproduceable, and led further to cheaply reproducable text.

The internet isn’t the copper, or fiber, any media will suffice. Let the telcos test that at their peril.

In a world where our leaders really cared about the war on terror and preventing unstable nations from going nuclear, whatever beef the administration had with Joe Wilson’s conclusions about the attempt to acquire yellowcake would have been handled by directly addressing those conclusions.

Ending Valerie’s career and torpedoing her work and that of her cover company was retaliation for the embarrassment the WH suffered for not having been able to completely control the intelligence conclusions of the CIA. And rather than keeping Joe Wilson on the inside, where perhaps his message might have been able to be tempered, they thumbed their noses at him. Did they really expect he would remain silent while they ignored his conclusions and continued to invoke mushroom clouds as they manipulated their way to war?

But the WH’s treating an intelligence asset as collateral damage is a clear indication to me that “national security†is little more than a code phrase to be used to their own political advantage, and nothing more.

Valerie Wilson had nothing to do with the sum and substance of Joe Wilson’s conclusions, and if the WH hadn’t been so hell-bent on getting revenge for having been “caught†at their game, and was truly interested in national security, they would have gone out their way to keep her name out of it.

I repeat myself, but this clip of Rumsfeld getting called on his LIES is too good to be missed.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/…..alled-out/

Yup … looks like Leopold let us down.

I’m so sick of waiting for Wednesday …

Frankly, I’d be surprised if Von Rumsfeld didn’t recognize Ray McGovern, they’ve both been in the halls of power for over 25 years. McGovern used to deliver Bush 41 his PDB so I assume he was a pretty serious CIA player.

Has anyone mentioned “It’s Legal If The President Does It” for the title?

Sophist says:
May 4th, 2006 at 1:19 pm

It may be premature to mention this, but what effect will Internet 2 have when it is more widely available?

xyz: The Rumsfeld thing is great. So is the ABC News camera angle of the end of Colbert’s routine where all you see is Bush’s face. (link is at over at Froomkin’s)

sophist@86: that sounds encouraging

So, Rummy claims that because our TROOPS ON THE GROUND had donned chemical/bio-protective battle gear, that PROVES that we ALL were certain that Saddam had WMD?

That prick is senile.

Wow! Go Wolfie (for once.) Blitzer just replayed some of McGovern’s questions and Rumsfeld’s answers (denying he’d ever said he know where the WMDs were and that the intelligence was bullet proof) and then fact checked it, proving Rumsfeld was lying. Begala is now piling on, and Watts is going um-er-um. Now Wolfie wants to at least give Rummy credit for taking questions, and Begala is saying sure, but he’s failing miserably and failing the President.

Commercial break, and coming up next: barbecued Frist, or so the trailer implies. Stay tuned.

Sophist says:
May 4th, 2006 at 1:19 pm

From this techology idiot, I truly hope you’re right. I admit a bought for internet has me very worried.

obsessed – glad you like it. I don’t mean to be a broken record, but it is a beautiful thing to behold. I pray we see more truth telling in this vein in the weeks and months to come. Harry Taylor, Stephen Colbert, and now this.

Heroic.

Patriotic.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/…..alled-out/

Anne @#87:

I would like to say that of all the regular posters here at fdl, I find your thoughts and the way you express them to be so lucid and heartfelt. One can truly feel the passion in your words. As one who has lost too many brain cells over the years, I don’t have to try to read between the lines to get your point.

Thanks

end fawn
:-)

I apologize for repeating if in fact I have, b/c didn’t have time to real all of thread.
First thing I thought of when I read the lede,was the Wilsons must’ve been told by somebody on the inside that the case is close to indictment or resolution therefore they’re freer to shop it around than previously. I also recall Wilson saying a year or so ago that they’ve been approached about a movie on their story.
And what a story! Tom Clancy come to life.
The wingnuts conveniently forget that Wilson is a genuine hero. The chickenhawk Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight would give their non-existent ‘nads to have a backstory like his.

Uh… Clem. says:
May 4th, 2006 at 1:15 pm

If you were on Team Fitz, please try to imagine a set of circumstances in which you have to act as quietly as possible and in which an ex post facto announcement and some PDF files on sites we’re familiar with convey the tidings we’ve been waiting to hear and/or read. I think you can perceive what I’m leading to…

Valerie’s working title: “Redacted.”

Was at guy “bullying” Rummie, like Colbert “bullied” The Tux’ed-up Deciderer?

What’s a Decent, Noble, Freedom-Spreadin’ Family Values Nuculer non-Proliferatin’ Adminushstrashun to do, besieged with all these librul media bullies lying in wait everywhere with their epistemological IEDs?

The Very Idea!

Mary @ 1:24 pm (#90) – Since this book will be written by a woman, they should go with a title more in keeping with women’s interests in human relationships. Something along the lines of Traitorous Bastards And The Wingnuts Who Love Them.

Stephen Parrish – Actually I am a little slow today. Seriously, could you please spell it out why it might happen the way you describe? I desperately want tomorrow to be the day.

Every day that she stays silent before the release of the book makes it more valuable amd more marketable.

I don’t believe it is possible for tomorrow to be Fitzo de Mayo.

Fitz has what I assume will be a massive oral argument before Judge Walton tomorrow. He was ordered to be prepared to discuss (essentially) his order of proof — What witnesses he plans to call and what exhibits he plans to offer. (I was pretty surprised by that BTW–freakin trial is still, what?, six — seven motnhs away?)

Anyway, that is a huge piece of work to prepare and upload onto the old mental hard drive. Even for a brain like Pat’s. I believe the big man is cramming like it was final exams week.

No time for Rover this week.

1,042 DAYS AND THE KILLING GOES ON AND ON AND…

The “Flamethrower” at #10 ain’t the Norske…

KEEP THE FAITH AND WATCH OUT FOR IMITATIONS!

I’m not trying to live blog CNN — really I’m not — but this line was too good not to share. From Begala wrt the poll numbers: “There are social diseases more popular than our President.”

My response, after I’d stopped laughing: Yes indeedy, and they’re a lot easier to cure.

Besides… didn’t Fitz himself say it would be at least 10 days before anything (if at all) would be announced?

Bobby at 93

Yea, that and how he repeats the same theory that Saddam gassed the Kurds – which was refuted by a report in the DoD itself.

BobbyG @ 1:29 pm (#93) – Not sure what you’re quoting from, but the protective suits they wear are really bulky and restrictive. The gloves are nearly as thick as welder’s gloves, and just about as difficult to operate machinery with. The goggles, no matter how clear, always restrict vision. The worst part, I suspect, for most folks who have to wear them is that they don’t “breathe”, so it gets pretty humid and smelly in there after a while.

One of the tactical uses of chemical weapons is to make the other side’s soldiers wear this stuff, which cuts their effectiveness considerably.

While I agree that the use of these suits wouldn’t prove that they expected to find WMD, their use does present its own hazards. It does make the assertion that they expected to find them more credible, if only slightly.

Not sayin’ that Saddam was a great guy (because he wasn’t/isn’t) but that I’m just a truthseeker

And BTW the first people to gas the Kurds were the British in the 1920’s

Cujo – I get the human relationships angle. How about Eff You, Dick ?

On a pink background.

Dr. Bong – thanks for your kind words (blush) :-)

Cujo:

“It does make the assertion that they expected to find them more credible”

No, it doesn’t. Rumsfeld is lying through his teeth.

xyz says:
May 4th, 2006 at 1:38 pm

Like you, I want tomorrow to be the day (although next week will be fine), but I was trying to avoid letting a cat out of the bag. (There could, as has been discussed, be some sealed indictments awaiting various recipients.) But looseheadprop has just reminded me of something that Mary posted on a thread yesterday: the order of proof that will be discussed tomorrow. So it appears that there will, as lhp mentions in his post, be no time for Rover (and anyone else?) this week.

Dr. Bong says:
May 4th, 2006 at 1:41 pm

Didn’t that announcement come from Robert Luskin?

New thread, everyone

Stephen – but if the indictments are sealed and ready to go, maybe it wouldn’t be much work for Fitz to have them unsealed and delivered tomorrow, even though he also has other commitments? Or is this not feasible. Either way, I am all for you keeping things confidential if you feel as though Babs Comstock/Luskin/Rove/Etc. are watching this site for a heads up.

OT – Patrick Kennedy in traffic accident. Yet unclear if alcohol was involved.

Cujo -

On the Rummie vidclip, he tried to use the fact that our soldiers were wearing biochem protection as some lame insinuation justifying his earlier unequivocal WMD location pronouncements. The questioner rightly called BS on that red herring. The troops would do as they were ordered. Rummie never responded to the actual question about his WMD assertion.

SP CPA: You’re most likely correct… the ole grey matter in my noggin just ain’t what it used to be.

Mary @ 1:45 pm (#113) – Ooh, I like it. Only three syllables, and I don’t think that color has been used much since Legally Blonde.

“If you were on Team Fitz, please try to imagine a set of circumstances in which you have to act as quietly as possible and in which an ex post facto announcement and some PDF files on sites we’re familiar with convey the tidings we’ve been waiting to hear and/or read. I think you can perceive what I’m leading to…”

Stephen (99), I’ve been considering that today, but I keep coming back to the fact that Fitzgerald didn’t sneak around when Libby was indicted. I mean, it’s not as though a quiet leaking of information about an indictment of Karl Rove is going to really benefit Fitz in a way in which the standard press conference would not. What are your thoughts on that?

I also don’t get the feeling that it’s Fitzgerald’s style to be all cloak-and-dagger just for the sake of being cloak-and-dagger. I recall after Libby’s indictment, Fitzgerald was almost apologetic for having been so tight-lipped up to that point, because he knew that we all wanted to know what was happening, he also knew that he couldn’t say anything until there had been an indictment, and at that point it seemed like he felt it his duty to talk to us and let us know everything he could about the case as it related to Libby’s indictment.

I honestly think that he’ll follow pretty much the same process that he did with Libby. Once he secures an indictment against Rove, he’ll announce a press conference the day before, and then he’ll tell us all about it the next day.

Valerie Plame Wilson…her aim is true.

Dr. Bong says:
May 4th, 2006 at 1:41 pm

Shuster said Luskin was told that.

TR @ 50 –

Neither you nor anyone else needs to suffer self-accusations of paranoia for wondering if destroying the Brewster-Jennings operation wasn’t the more important of two motives for betraying Valerie.

Just take a peek at newamericancentury.org. The PNAC manifesto found there has been on public display since 1997, IIRC. In that manifesto, they lay out the whole plan: first Iraq, then Iran, then Syria, and then…can’t remember if it’s Libya or Lebanon, and I’m not going back to check. Won’t visit that website ever again, nosiree.

Every American should check out that website at least ONCE to see what horrors they’ve been plotting for a very long time. But I can’t make myself go back and look again, makes me too sick.

As my 80-year old uncle, veteran of WWII, said when informed of the details in the PNAC manifesto, “Holy cow! That sounds like an American version of Mein Kampf, doesn’t it?”

Speechless – I think Joe and Valerie were there to mess with the comfort level of those in politics and those in the press corps. I can see where it would be pleasurable to see some of them squirm. Real pleasurable.
I also remember reading Joe Wilson’s book. In it he said it is safest in these situations to keep a high profile. For whatever reasons. He seems like a man with pretty excellant judgment, so . . .

BobbyG at #19 -
Oh, and you know who could play Judith Miller?
Harriet Sansom Harris – the woman who played Fraser’s diabolical agent Bebe Glazer. The resemblance is uncanny.

Speaking of the Valerie Plame book, Christy, I did a post titled “Jane Bond, The Novelette.”

http://tinyurl.com/eucd5

We need a detailed explanation of who end up dead or in jail because of the Vice President’s Men. Valerie will never be able to tell the full story without the help of Congress.

So first she is so covert that Wilson wants Plame out of the public light. Then they show up at parties and the White House Correspondents Dinner. Then Plame is going to write a book. Gotcha.

Anyone want to tell me why the CIA can’t comment on whether she was covert or not? She’s not working there anymore.

I was thinking Emma Thomson for our gal Val. Helen Hunter would be good too. This is better than Clancy even if the Iran link doesn’t pan out. Film rights bidding!

To lapse into PNAC speak for a moment Libby is the tactical pivot, Rove the strategic pivot and Cheney the prize.

The prize chump.

I can wait another week – another nail in a lot of neocon coffins. Another week to try and get some sense from John Dickerson and other’s.

I hope whoever get’s to check Judith through court security takes a close look at her shoes.
Irma Krebbs style shoes I’m talking about.
On the off chance Valerie’s here I would ask her to consider the book title ‘ Yellowgate’.
My reasons for asking go way back. In mid 2003 things looked grim – I even went on the board ( at Infoshop) to spout some empty rhetoric about the ‘ darkness before the dawn’. Ouch.
Almost the next day there was a Plame story breaking and I remembered immedietly the year before. In 2002 I’d seen Condi Rice talking with Gwen ifill. I had an immediete impression that she was lying. So then I was able to put two and two together and wrote at Infoshop that this was a scandal that had legs and would go all the way. I told them there how this was going to play.
A major turning point came around this time last year when the WMD lie sunk in and it’s been downhill ever since for Team Bush. Late last year I wrote that they were all toast at Melbourne Indymedia. Check it it’s gold.
Gold like yellowcake – the yellow press – Chickenhawks yellow streaks and your hair Val.
Yellowcake – the CIA leak case if you will.
I don’t ask much and I don’t ask often but trust me on this. Yellowgate is gold and the moving finger having writ moves on.

‘ Immediate ‘