CNN’s own angry-dad-in-residence expressed his dissatisfaction the other day with the panty sniffers of the Bush Administration (Crooks & Liars has the video):
I don’t know about wisdom but you’ll get a little outrage. We better all hope that nothing happens to Arlen Specter, the Republican head of the Senate Judiciary Committee, because he might be all that’s standing between us and a full-blown dictatorship in this country. He’s vowed to question these phone company executives about volunteering to provide the government with my telephone records, and yours, and tens of millions of other Americans.
According to Siun in the comments, Cafferty will be discussing the topic today at 7pm ET on The Situation Room. I think Jack needs to know that his knight in shining armor, Arlen Specter, is now trying to write that "dictatorship" stuff into law and make sure the Sniffer In Chief gets to skate. It’s a far cry from "all that’s standing between us and a full-blown dictatorship." Specter has refused to subpoena James Comey and John Ashcroft, the two people who might be able to shine some light on the illegal NSA wiretaps.
If anyone were so inclined as to write to Jack and hip him to both Christy’s excellent post this morning and Glenn Greenwald’s work on the subject, they can do so here. Hell if anyone can get an address out of cranky Jack I’ll personally send him a copy of Glenn’s book, How Would a Patriot Act? Defending American Values from a President Run Amok.
I think Jack is going to need it, and we are going to need him.
Related posts:
- Jack Bauer Not Surviving Contact With Reality
- Late Late Night FDL: Johnny, Jack, and Mel
- Specter Urges Dem Unity on Cloture; Reid: Thanks for Doing My Job
- George Bush Personally Sent Card, Gonzales to Thug Up Ashcroft
- Republicans Move to Permit Credit Card Companies to Jack Up Their Rates for the Next Several Weeks
Spotlight
Support this site!
Subscribe to the newsletter
Advertise on Firedoglake
Send
us your tips
Make us your homepage
About Firedoglake
Advanced search
Fitz!
I don’t believe it, Fitz you all !!!
AnFITZ!ipation
Got Fitz..unked !!! for the Fitz position of Honnor !!
sent jack an e mail this morning when I saw the expected story of Specter caving – sent a copy for each session
Back, Jack; Do it again! Wheel turning round and round..
BlanK @ 6: Katy didn’t lie, Bush did.
Well, as Reagan would say, “there he goes again.” Spector talks tough, but then inevitably backs down. It looks like Pennsylvania voters are finally coming to their senses and will oust Rick Santorum this fall. But we’ll be stuck with Spector for a while longer, allowing him to do even more damage (unless the Democrats win control of the Senate in the fall?)
In-Spector Clue-So (What)?
“I need a rhume for my pet minkey”
LOL @ Arlen Specter standing between us and dictatorship… He’s holding the fucking door open for it.
Congress might be able to make the NSA nonsense legal from this point forward, but only a pardon can take care of past illegalities. One question, though: can a sitting president pardon himself?
Jack Cafferty is a prime example of the Fed Up American. I’ve watched him for years, and I doubt that he thinks of himself as a liberal, or a progressive, or even (maybe) a Democrat. At least, I’ve never had any trouble imagining him as a member of that vanishing breed, the northeastern moderate Republican. (If you watch In the Money on the weekends you know what I mean.) But he’s had it with Bushco, and as CNN’s official resident grouch, he’s not making a secret of it. Good on yer, Jack. Keep it up!
I’m not as despondent as I was some months ago (indeed, the whistleblowers have been coming out of the woodwork since November), but JESUS TAPDANCING CHRIST! Is that ALL we can do? Try to elect the Dems in Novemner? Write Cafferty a harshly-worded letter?
Just when do WE get to break the rules to restore our republic? Why do WE have to do everything by the book?
Where is the rage? Why aren’t masses of Americans rushing the White House with torches ablaze, taking King George, Darth Cheney, Abu Gonzalez, et al into custody? What’s the Secret Service gonna do, shoot us ALL?
I acknowledge that I’m walking the line here (I’m sure Georgie could get me on incitement to riot if he wanted to), but for fuck’s sake, when is enough going to be enough?!?!
Punaise @ 9 –
“Does your
Spectordog bite?”“Non.”
So true
In honor of Patrick Fitzgerald:
>>>>>>>>>
This old man , he played twelve,
He played knick knack, dig and delve,
With a knick, knack, paddy whack,
Give the dog a bone;
This old man came rolling home.
Not until people are willing to go out and buy some guns and sacrifice their own freedom for those of the rest of us.
Write to him using the link above and tell him Maybe he will come here and read what he needs to hear to keep up the good stuff!
EPU – but that’s not my
SenatordogHe’s all of our’s dog – cur, mutt…..
Anyone strong enough to give us all we want is also strong enough to take it all away. Better safe than sorry and slow and steady consensus should win this caucus race.
Besides any ‘ Man on a white horse’ today will probably be trying to milk it and you don’t flog on a dead horse midstream. Neigh I say, neigh.
Jane come lodge with my fleas in the woods.
OT, but so appropos
Every American should read this — a series by the Hartford Courant on how soliders with mental illness are being given Zoloft or Prozac, told to get over it and back to the front lines. The stories about the inevitable suicides that follow this practice will make you cry.
http://www.courant.com/news/sp…..orygallery
Way to go, Bush — keep those troop numbers up!(bleeccchhh)
“Just when do WE get to break the rules to restore our republic? Why do WE have to do everything by the book?”
Avenging Angel @13…
For the same reason that our country shouldn’t be torturing people and murdering civilians in response to our having been attacked by terrorists… because something other than underlying intent has to separate us from those against whom we claim to stand.
I understand where you’re coming from, and I often feel the same way. But when it comes right down to it, becoming what we oppose is always a losing prospect in the long run.
I’ve been digging around yesterdays CNN transcripts trying to find an absolute ZINGER that either Jack Cafferty or Lou Dobbs tossed out (I can’t remember which one said it).
Paraphrasing… “We’re in a ‘long war’ with Iraq. A ‘long war’ is what the generals at the Pentagon call a war that isn’t winnable”
When will the congressional Dems start collectively bitching about this and all other Shrub lawbreaking? I am still listening…..
in all honesty — my first question to cafferty is ‘what the fuck has happened to cnn and considering the dire state of things, why the shallow, ignorant obsession with missing white girls, sharks/alligators/birdflu, etc.
my second question would be — any chance you could replace blitzer and drop him into the memoryhole.
“When will the congressional Dems start collectively bitching about this and all other Shrub lawbreaking? I am still listening…”
When their consultants tell them that it’s not only polling really well, but also that it’ll get them a bunch of campaign money.
Uh… Clem are you some kind of loyalist shill or something? It is OUR solemn responsability to throw off the chains of tyrannical government no matter what it takes.
Eve of Syttende Mai [Norwegian Independence Day]. Oh, the symmetry if Karl gets Fitzed tomorrow.
Keep hope alive….This’d even get the attention of the hopelessly embedded media.
(sidebar: I’m not at all a Tony Snow fan–seen too much of his vitriole. But today I saw his humanity. Too bad it takes personal self-interest/suffering to bring about enlightenment. Worse even that some never find that enlightenment. But I agree on the importance of scientific advancements…in cancer research, among other things. In stem cell research, too!
(More’s the pity, his words will fall on deaf ears among this callous, callow crowd in the WH.)
The above quote from Thomas Jefferson. The cite= function doesn’t seem to work.
Uh… Clem. (#26)
Unfortunately, I fear that you are correct. I did’t think that holding a congressional seat in a dictatorship was that satisfying.
Heads up everyone. Jason Leopold is going to be on Ed Schultz show on the Jones Radio networks. Sorry I don’t have the link I am home sick today so I am listening on the radio.
Ed said he is coming on to clear things up.
Let’s see
Peterr @ 11 — Congress might be able to make some of what the NSA has done legal, but Congress can’t repeal the 4th Amendment by passing a statute. And no, the President cannot pardon himself. I suppose he could resign and then let Cheney pardon him, but then who will pardon Cheney?
I have this lovely vision of seriatim resignations, with each successor in the Constitutional line pardoning his predecessor. We could start a pool on whether Hastert is clean enough for the resignations to stop there, and if not, how far down the Cabinet they’d have to go before they reached someone who didn’t need a pardon. I’ll take Norm Mineta.
f’in EPU’d – Isn’t there a Libby hearing today?
Anyone know if Fitz is in DC?
Seems like only yesterday we were hearing CNN reporting on sharks! sharks!!!
Now it’s ‘gator, ‘gator, ‘gator.
Animal-fiddlin’ while….
Here is a link where you can stream the show
avenging_angel at #6 asks:
“Just when do WE get to break the rules to restore our republic?”
I see too much angel, and not enough avenging.
The answer to your question is that you are already defeated if you are asking such a question. When do you “get” to break the rules? You never GET to! Who are you asking permission from?
If you think it’s time to break the rules because the powers-that-be leave you no choice, then go out and fucking break them. The Republicans don’t break the rules because someone told them the “get” to. They break them because breaking them serves their purposes.
Sorry all. Here is the link for a stream for the Ed Schultz Show. Bad day today….LOL
http://www.wegoted.com/listen/index.asp
Maybe it’s the constant clouds and intermittent rain on top of just one demoralizing and maddening story after another coming out of DC, but I am so f’ing depressed today I could weep.
So, Jack Cafferty is cheesed off again. So are we. So is almost everyone I know. So what? That’s right – so what? It’s not getting us anywhere. It’s giving me a headache and making me want to throw things. You think Arlen Specter gives a flying fig what Jack Cafferty thinks? Are we supposed to feel all warm and tingly because someone whose face reaches millions of people said something we all think and feel?
It doesn’t matter. We have wimpy Senators who are no match for a criminal cabal that has taken over the White House. Can’t even count on the Attorney General to understand that his job isn’t facilitating the crimes of the president. Bush has loaded the Supreme Court with justices who aren’t going to thwart the agenda of this president – they’re on board with that agenda – that’s why they were nominated!
All we have to hope for is picking up a majority in November – nothing else is going to make a damn bit of difference. Anyone who thinks Nancy Pelosi will be Speaker of the House in the next Congress is dreaming – by then, people will be so hot under the collar about her “pledge†that she will be lucky to have access to the House bathroom, much less the podium.
Aaaarrrrgggghhh. Gotta get some work done, so end of temper tantrum.
Bertrand – To be EPU’d is an honor; you need to accept it happening with equinimity.
“Uh… Clem are you some kind of loyalist shill or something? It is OUR solemn responsability to throw off the chains of tyrannical government no matter what it takes.”
LOFL! A “loyalist shill”? Hardly. I just think that we’ve had entirely too much of the ol’ “end justifies the means” motif going on in this country for some time now (particularly over the past five years) and simply piling more of it on top of the rest isn’t going to fix a damned thing.
I mean, after we “storm the Bastille”, then what? Seriously… what actually happens after that?
Sent the email to Cafferty and sent one to Specter. Specter is the most predictable politician we have. What a joke.
Magic bullet my ass.
Ed Schulz
John of C/L is also scheduled for 1:30 PST
Anne (#38)
I feel the same way. You articulated it better than I could have. I’m at a loss for words after “Aaaarrrrgggghhh!”
I sent CNN the following comment:
Uh… Cleam it has nothing to do with the ends justifying the means and everything to do with throwing off the bonds of tyranny. If we must be politically correct when we stand up to our opressors then we are already damned.
It doesn’t matter what happenes then because whatever it is will be happening to a free people instead of slaves. Get it?
Methinks Specter’s problem is that he can’t get it up, even with chemical support. There is no man left in the man.
Gosh, did I really say that? I am really such a mild and fair-minded person.
Angry Dad is right! Cafferty is a blowhard. If you’re counting on him for anything meaningful, you are SOL.
Very curious to hear what Jason Leopold has to say, and whether he is still standing wholeheartedly behind his reporting.
Check out this snapshot of bushco’s failures in just one teensy thing from rawstory’s page– what a juxtaposition. Demonstrates quite well the boy’s weakness in the world due to arrogance and a complete lack of engagement in diplomacy. We are now isolated.
>>>>>>
Picture of Putin
Russia, China say no force in Iran Won’t vote for force;
EU may offer Iran reactor;
Chavez may sell Iran F16s.
BarbaraB at 32
Milk thru nose. It’s funny because it’s true ;)
Well, on second thought, not really.
xyz #48….I can’t wait to hear what he has to say too!
Also, if Leopold is wrong, he needs to burn his sources or he is is forever blacklisted.
I hope he made tape recording of his sources so they can’t simply deny any involvement. We shall see.
One thing is for sure: we won’t keep trusting reporters who get used like kleenex by Rove and Gold Bars.
That’s a loaded question!.
At least that is what DHS honcho Chertoff thinks about questioning Bush’s NG “strateregy.”
Hey, waddaya expect? He just heard about it last night on TV.
Heckuva job, Mike. Next time we’ll lob you a softball.
DMason, sounds good — just waitin’ for you to lead the way.
DMason?
Hello?
mercury, I will expatriate before I fight for the freedom of this George Bush electing shithole of a country.
Uh…Clem 40 — well said.
D. Mason @45…
It has nothing to do with being “politically correct”. (”Politically correct”? What are ya, some sorta right-wing shill there?) ;^)
It has to do with basic integrity, and not simply becoming what we claim to oppose. One of the hallmarks of the Bush administration has been utter disdain for and dismissal of the rule of law as being little more than an obstacle to their agenda. Are we actually better than this? Or are we precisely this, merely possessed of a different set of goals and intentions?
“It doesn’t matter what happenes then because whatever it is will be happening to a free people instead of slaves. Get it?”
Do you honestly think that the Bush administration is the head of the beast, and if we get rid of them then we can all just do the Ewok dance and live happily ever after in a land free of oppression?
Of course it matters what happens after your hypothetical storming of the palace gates. How could it not matter? The end result is always the whole point of taking any sort of drastic action in the first place. If you’re not thinking about that, then I’m afraid that you may have been watching a little too many movies and not reading quite enough history.
Look, I’m sure you have the best of intentions, and as I told you before, I have the same kinds of thoughts sometimes as what you’re talking about! How could anyone watch what’s being done to this country and not? But come on… just because I’m looking at this slightly more realistically than to literally advocate violent overthrow of the current administration doesn’t make me some sort of BushCo shill. That’s ridiculous.
Diane Feinstein sits on the Senate intelligence committee. She’s been pretty accommodating so far, notably voting for the extension of the Patriot Act. In fact, she’s pretty accommodating to the Bush administration in general, which seems (to me anyway) to result from a get-along this-is-our-little-Senatorial-club attitude. I would encourage progressives to vote for anyone else in the upcoming California primary, and to consider voting green in the fall.
I’d be curious to know how much she and other members of the committee have been briefed about the latest NSA revelations. Apparently to some extent. No doubt they’ve been deceived by omissions from the Bush administration, but how much were they willing to go along with without squawking?
All of this demonstrates so vividly that Congressional oversight is NOT adequate, we must have judicial oversight (federal courts and FISA).
And by the way, the 4th amendment, and now the 1st amendment, must be respected. Are there moves afoot to bring these issues before a federal court?
Hmmm. Just on CNN…
“I’m a recovering politician. But you always have to worry about a relapse”
- Al Gore 5/15/2006
if you’re going to run a society by fiat of philosopher-kings you really need philospher-kings who aren’t as dumb as rocks and as superficial as air freshener…
This is the first I’ve heard of this. Has this been out in the public and I’m just real slow?
Bloomberg is reporting Transurban Buys Pocahontas Parkway Road for $611 Mln.
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/
This parkway was purchased by an Australian company.
called arlen’s office. the other day his legislative aide told me “no one is workign harder than Areln Specter” to rein in the program.
Today, they woul;dn’t even transfer me to the legislative aide.
You guys are right: i am going to call EVERY SINGLE DAY.
I am so fucking furious my eyes are popping out of my goddamn head. I hope Arlen’s cancer comes back with a vengeance. i hope he takes a long long time to die, suffering. Dirty motherfucker.
BarbaraB says:
May 16th, 2006 at 12:57 pm
Please look at this: http://www.usdoj.gov/pardon/clemency.htm
Once you are on that page, you can click on a link to another page describing the standards for consideration of clemency petitions.
By the way, any Cabinet members who aren’t eligible to become President because of constitutional restrictions are not, of course, listed in the line of succession.
Cathy,
This is a growing opportunity in the financial markets finance markets.
Look for a lot more “privatization” of your favorite thoroughfares. Surely you’ve heard about the one that ends “…well then I’ve got a bridge to sell ya.”
It’s not a punchline anymore.
T-
OT: uh…clem -> great name, BTW. “Someone has broken the president!”
Doings at the courthouse wrt Libby wanting lots of papers from journos. CNN.
wow cathy– I knew a part Australian co. bought a toll road in Indiana; guess the states have to make money decisions too, since they have been largely abandoned by the feds as far as Medicare/Medicaid and education.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/…..nist_mysak
oops–philosOphers. In terms of violent overthrowing, here’s Quaker William Rotch who refused to donate weapons to American forces during the Revolutionary War to a mocker who asked So are your principles passive obedience and non-resistence. Rotch answered: No, my friend, our principles are active obedience or passive suffering.
Meanwhile, The Daily Show gets it right even when Cafferty can’t. Jon Stewart skewers the press over their coverage of the NSA scandals at C&L:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/…..html#a8312
OT but interesting: John King on CNN reported from the Libby/reporters subpoena hearing: according to Jeffers, the source for Woodward and Novak was NOT in the White House…
CNN reporting that Libby’s lawyer says one of Novak’s sources was not in the White House.
Fitz was at the court per CNN John King and scribbling notes furiously but was not involved in the hearing.
Tenet? Armitage?
nice to know Fitz is in D.C., eh?
Leopold on at 5pm on Schultz
T-
America doesn’t own it’s assets anymore. We were joking one day about the Grand Canyon and the Washington Monument being owned by corporations and foreign countries. I think this is the start.
http://tinyurl.com/a6erq
^^^ HELP IMPEACH TODAY
Keep the pressure on Congress… Talking about impeachment wakes people up… They question, it’s a strong motivator to get people thinking. It also lets Congress know how intense the dissapproval is for this President… They seem to be a little slow on the uptake. So please:
1) Sign petitions if you have not done so
2) Send a letter to Congress (both Senators & House rep)
3) Send a copy to the media
4) Enlist friends and family to help, ask them to chip in time
5) Spread the link around, email it (with a request to forward) post it on a blog, or in the comments of a news story.
Help out!!!
Thanks :)
it has not been reported Fitzy was at this Libby vs reporters hearing…
it’s easy for bush to get his way — i know lots of folks who can’t stand bush but who like how he appeals to their FWF [frightened white folks] outlook, although they’d never admit it even to themselves
another thing helping bush is that americans are naive about economics — for instance, american taxpayers pay for agricultural subsidies that make it impossible for mexican farmers to survive, but those same americans go into hysterics when those same mexican farmers come here to take the jobs that await them — a typical american assertion is that americans would do those jobs if they only paid enough, not realizing that if the small business owners who offer those jobs had to pay more than the jobs are worth, the jobs would vanish & our economy would suffer
CNN reporting on 3-hour Courthouse appearance of Libby today. Fitzwas there, taking notes. According to CNN’sreporting,Libby is still
trying to get hold of the reporter’s notebooks, including Andrea Mitchell’s. Tweety will probably report on this as his early show starts in
about ten mins.
Phone: 404-827-1500 – CNN headquarters in Atlanta.
Cafferty is in New York – will try and locate because I want to send him a letter instead of an email. I would like to see if he will ask these Senators on the Judicial Committee to step down and just stop collecting a paycheck, and go on home.
Everyone of these damn Republicans sitting on that Judicial Committee is a criminal. And the Democrats on that Committee are so institutionalized and worried about offending voters, their DLC idiot advisors, or Karl Rove coming after them. Except Feingold.
I already told Sessions that I was sick of hearing his effeminate whiny bitchy voice. I no longer will show these men respect because they have done the same to me and 65% of the american people – spit on their oath of office and this great country.
I work with bullies – hard core teens in the projects. They back down real quick if you let them know -you are NOT going to tolerate any of their shit.
Watch Randi Rhodes – she gives it right back to the pundits. Some may say that is not very constructive or professional, but we don’t have much time left here or many civil liberties left.
It’s getting like a police state here in Florida. Try getting a public record – you are told, “get an attorney.” Our jails are overflowing with African American males that are getting picked up and doing time for parking tickets. If you have the wrong bumper sticker your windows are bashed in with a bat or you are let go from your employment.
Hopefully, Glenn’s book tour will keep the focus on Specter. Today is the primary in PA.
Cathy 61–it’s the first I’ve heard of it, but the underlying economics of it are pretty straightforward. Read http://www.usafairtrade.com/icplan.htm
and think “Squanderville”.
In short, to cover our foreign debts, we have to sell off our assets…because eventually the piper must be paid.
why do rumor-mongers here hate America? Assets like the Indiana Toll Road etc are not being sold, just leased. 75-years for the Indiana Toll Road. The State of Indiana maintains legal ownership — they are just renting it out…
Look over there! Brown folk! Look!
The primary in Oregon is being reported to have very low voter turnout. 20% or so. We have vote by mail so the tallies are pretty complete.
King remarked that Walton sounded skeptical in response to Libby but no ruling today. Fitz highly attentive in front row.
Avenging: #13, here here, I agree. We need to go Ukraine here….why was it big news that in the Ukraine an election was stolen but here, not a whimper?
I said this before the 11/05 “election:” what the F are we going to do when they steal another one? We need to do a Ukraine here — camp out, light fires, and not leave until they impeach this asshole.
http://www.itmfa.com/
http://www.bradblog.com/
DIEBOLD KNEW IN EARLY 2004! DID NOTHING TO FIX TOUCH-SCREEN VOTING SYSTEM SECURITY CHASM!
Two-Year Old Public Report Reveals Diebold Was Warned of ‘Newly Discovered’ Vulnerability Allowing Software to be Overwritten Without Password in Matter of Minutes
Experts Suggest Decertification of System, Violations of Federal Standards, Describe Diebold’s Failure to Act as ‘Criminal’
The massive security flaw recently revealed in Diebold touch-screen voting machines — which allows election software and systems to be overwritten with rogue software in minutes, without need of a password — and which has sent Elections Officials from Pennsylvania to California to Iowa to every state in the union which uses them, sequestering the machines and scrambling for a solution to mitigate the problem, was previously revealed in a 2004 security report commissioned by the state of Maryland, The BRAD BLOG has learned.
The security assessment of Diebold’s touch-screen voting systems was completed by RABA Technologies, and presented to the Maryland State Legislature in January 2004. The report, reviewed at the time by both Maryland election officials and officials at Diebold, consisted of “a ‘Red Team’ exercise to discover vulnerabilities in the actual voting system” prior to the state’s March 2004 primary election.
A “Red Team” attack is used by computer security teams to attempt to hack into a computer system or software package. The results of the RABA report in 2004, spelled out specific details of the latest Diebold security problems which have been splashed across the pages of maintream media outlets from coast to coast since last Wednesday.
I used to accept everything with equinimity, then I heard that AEI asswipe praise KKKarl for his equinimity and I decided I needed to respond to everything in an overblown manner.
That being said, it looks like CNN answered my question.
Fitz is in the hearing, taking notes but not participating. Perhaps he is saving his own efforts for tomorrow…
*ilson-
Own or lease, they still can do as they please with it. Tolls can be enacted without a vote. Toll prices can be what they want to charge.
CNN – Jack Cafferty
One Time Warner Center
New York, New York 10019
212-275-7800
cool! so Fitzy is near the crime scene in Washington DC !!!
Maeme at 80 – Leahy is ranking member of the Judiary Committee and is definitely one of the good guys. He’s not a sound bite man or the kind of guy to want to bloody his knuckles on someone’s nose. He’s an old style Vermont gentleman, but I believe he’ll stand up and do whatever is necessary to be done to protect this country and our constitution.
How far a leap is it to think that BushCo has ’sniffed’ Arlen’s bicycle seat more than once and recorded the results to hold over Specter like a Sword of Damocles.
It is utterly obvious to me that one of the big reasons for Congress’ inaction is that BushCo has been monitoring Congress Critter Telcom traffic since the day he was installed as ‘King Rat’ and has Very High Quality Dirt on all of them except for a few.
Simple high tech blackmail, a variation on a very old theme/meme.
Regarding Fitz – It will be very interesting if new facts about Novak and Woodward’s sources bubbles up via the pre-trial proceedings for Libby.
The pace at which new revelations are bursting forth out of the judicial process prior to trial is a strong indication that Fitzgerald was extremely wise to keep his charges tightly focused and as bulletproof as possible.
Regardless of whether the new information regarding Woodward’s and Novak’s sources favors Libby’s cause, the fact is that even Fitz does not have all the facts and he is not above being blindsided.
By keeping his powder dry and focusing on the strongest charges against Libby and being patient on Rove, Fitz uses the evidentiary process to gather even more information and put even more pressure on would-be informers and cooperators.
In so doing, Fitz ensures that the growing pool of information only serves to help him focus his future cases, and does not serve to impede, complicate, confuse, or weaken the charges in his current case.
In case anyone is interested in Jason Leopold’s journalistic background (he sounds like a complete mental case), Froomkin had this link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..5Mar8.html
Wonder if anyone has seen him and Jayson Blair in the same room.
tom — chicago @ 1:56 pm (#85) Over at blackboxvoting.com, they wrote last week that there have been several software updates since at least one of the security holes was discovered. That one is still there.
http://blackboxvoting.com/s9/i…..rious.html
For those of you who aren’t computer literate, there are ways to deal with this sort of issue through peer review and testing. The government has, for the most part, chosen not to do this.
the leased Toll Road is across northern Indiana but the upfront cash for the lease will be used all over the State for roadbuilding — cool! — I’m in Central Indiana. The trick is that northern Hoosiers will be paying quite higher tolls (whatever the market will bear). This was negotiated by Gov. Mitch Daniels, Bush’s former Budget Director. The cash will help Mitch but the money will all be gone soon but the Australian/Spanish Toll Road will get higher tolls for 75 years.
Am I nuts or wasn’t this guy the local anchor for Channel 11 news in NY for like a million years? I swear I know his face.
During his virgin White House briefing today, new press spokesman Tony Snow reverted to his Fox News roots with his casual use of a racial slur. But in referring to a thorny question regarding President Bush’s illegal NSA domestic spying programs as a “tar baby,” Snow is just the latest conservative to show why the Republican outreach effort to African-Americans seems doomed to fail.
For the details, see:
“Snow White.”
Lobstergirl @ 2:02 pm (#93) – Wonder if anyone has seen him and Jayson Blair in the same room.
Ah, but at the same time? That’s the question.
Regarding the source for Novak and Woodward — is that not at the WH NOW, or was not at the WH when the information was conveyed? If the former, could mean Fleisher — if the latter, then State looks likely.
I swear, i believe the only way we can deal with these spineless wonders is to say right in their face that we KNOW Bu$hCo has tons of filth on them and that we will not be shocked by ANYTHING – We will support them if they will just do their job. They should tell their spouse, take some antibiotics, light a candle, whatever, and then stand up and fight. Its not a matter of us pouring into the streets, its a matter of them getting over their fears of blackmail. If we let them know that we suspect them of far worse than farm-yard animals and we still want them there and functioning, and if they all get the message at once, maybe they will develope a backbone.
AvengingAngel– when he was asked about his reference to hugging the tar baby, he chalked it up to American folklore or some shite.
shure, Snowballs.
AvengingAngel what exactly do you think “tar baby” means?
oops – no e on develop
Specter is a mere shadow of the ghost he once was. Like John McCain, he is a MINO (Maverick in name only). He calls meaningless, rigged CYA hearings and is doing so again. I am so not surprised.
Besides do you expect Specter to rush in where Democrats fear to tread? Leahy may have held up the newspaper but it was USAToday that told the story.
There are a couple of meanings to tar baby– one is based in African American folklore and the other is not. so. good.
http://www.randomhouse.com/wot…..e=19990212
Will live blog Leopold on Schultz now.
*ilson probably knws more about this than I do , but IN is leasing it’s toll road http://www.slate.com/id/2138950/
Earlier this month, in a triumph for Gov. Mitch Daniels, Indiana’s House narrowly approved his proposal to lease the 157-mile Indiana Toll Road, which spans the northern part of the state, for $3.85 billion to a joint venture of Cintra, a Spanish company, and Australia’s Macquarie Bank. The two companies have been active in the U.S. road business. In 2004, the two inked a 99-year lease for the 7.8-mile elevated Chicago Skyway. Last year, Macquarie completed its acquisition of the Dulles Greenway outside Washington, D.C. And Cintra, which manages toll roads in Europe and the Americas, is a strategic partner to the Texas state government in the planned Trans-Texas Corridor. There are likely more such deals to come.
It seemed pretty clear to me that he was using it in the dictionary sense(A situation or problem from which it is virtually impossible to disentangle oneself). Cries of racism over that statement are just examples of fringe left hysterics and their repeated use discredits anyone on this side of politics. I abhor these knee-jerk shenanigans because they only serve to help republicans win in ‘06. I mean, call racism when it’s real, but goddamn, you can’t twist someones words in order to make accusations of racism and also expect to be taken seriously.
Leopold:
I got so much detailed info on Friday. The entire 4th floor was locked down, Rover with secret service detail, marathon negotiation, plea discussions going on, rejected outright. Rove was handed envelope with the indictment in it.
Vetted by my editors who know my sources…thought it would break in NYT WaPo that evening. I thought sure someone else was tipped off.
Jason says that the entire 4th floor was locked down at Luskin’s place with SS and rover and plea negotiations going on all day and at the end rover was handed an envelope with the indictment. Knight Ridder, MSNBC and ABC all have single sources, he has 2.
You know what’s going on on the blogs, anyone who has been hard on me, it’s myself.
Yesterday at AEI, 75 reporters were there and only 1 asked about the CIA leak.
Schultz: intimidated by Rove, or they think you are lying.
Leopold: both
kirby says:
May 16th, 2006 at 2:06 pm
Regarding the source for Novak and Woodward — is that not at the WH NOW, or was not at the WH when the information was conveyed? If the former, could mean Fleisher — if the latter, then State looks likely.
———————————————————-
Powell is the other name that should be used here. Remember the dueling Colin vs Ari leaks? One of them needs to be on the hotseat.
Sweet Jesus.
Have we become such an illiterate nation that we no longer know what it means to get stuck with a tar baby?
Didn’t any of your mamas read you the Uncle Remus Stories?
You probably don’t know what somebody’s saying when he asks you not to throw him into that briar patch, either.
Leopold: confirmed with more than 2 sources:
Knight Ridder, ABC, MSNBC all have single source, so they won’t go with it.
ED: If you had one source, would you have run with it?
JL: No. ….sources have been reliable in the past…never gave me anything not true
ED: Jealousy in bloggers?
JL: No, absolute hatred. People are putting a lot of energy into trashing me
ED: Point is, not reported anywhere else — you look like you’re wrong
JL: Cavallo, Rover spokesman — in the past, Livingston about to resign == this guy same spokesman and lied through his teeth
“Knight Ridder, MSNBC and ABC all have single sources, he has 2.”
He’s quoted at TalkLeft as claming FIVE sources now! LOL
Cafferty has his uses, but let’s not forget that he’s an utter Neanderthal with regard to immigration.
JL: still stand by story — I SAID it would be announced sometime this week (only Tuesday)
Luskin said he was at the vet with his cat — I will call the 25 vets closest to him to see if his alabi checks out
I have an e-mail here —
ED: If you’re lyin, it will catch up to you
JL: My goal was to get the story, not to lie to anybody
Leopold hasn’t been proven wrong yet. 3 business days to me would mean through Wednesday and Fitz is in Washington. We just have to wait.
JL: I don’t need this kind of headache — we went with it because we believe it.
Ed, I owe you one — thanks.
END
JL doesn’t come across so hot – the story may be legit but all this drama about being hard on himself, giving bloggers the finger, etc is not very professional as a journalist … stick to this is the story, properly sourced, why did no one ask Rove, and leave the soap opera out of it.
Note that Leopold says Rove was handed the indictment. In his interview over the weekend, he said that Luskin was handed the indictment.
Also, Leopold has never clarified the 24 business hours thing. In fact, he used the term “24 hours” in this interview. Perhaps he is deliberately trying to be ambiguous.
Right or wrong, Leopold is a sloppy reporter.
I wish the interviewer had pinned down Leopold and made him promise to out his sources if they led him astray.
orangejumpsuit #53
Wonderful quote. Shorter Chertoff: I don’t do real questions.
I have to say there are alot of Komodo dragons here commenting on Leopold. You know about those dragons, they like to eat their own. Let’s wait and see if his is right.
Sorry *ilson – you did know more about it – my screen is slow today and I keep getting distracted with looking for stuff on state secrets and with real work and I didn’t see any of your posts. Mea culpa. Funny thing that several So Ind. folk are royally pissed about the toll road issue. Daniels needs another bearhug moment with Bush and a big Pharamceuticals luncheon with his old lobbying days pals to cement the love.
I read Uncle Remus my very own self *g* and also grew up in the South and heard it used to denigrate people. Very poor choice of words from the podium, I think.
YearlyKos update: Howard Dean is coming for a Saturday morning session
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/16/171631/777
possibilities
a) Leopold right, but sloppy — indictment tomorrow or Friday
b) Leopold clinically insane
c) a & b
d) Leopold right, but sloppy, but Fitz pissed at one or both sources and changing his timing to screw them over
e) d & b
f) sources are Rove plants in order to rather-gate the left blogospher
g) g & b
h) none of this is really happening and we’re all insane
i) h & b
WRT to the Bell South and Verizon “denials” about giving/selling our call records to the NSA, take their “denials” with a lot of salt!!!
Their statements have most certainly been vetted very carefully by their corporate attorneys to say only exactly what they want them to say.
As I would expect Christy to agree, lawyers take their wordsmithing very seriously! I would bet that the Bell South and Verizon attorneys chose the most innocuous weasel wording possible.
They claim not to have made this stuff available to the NSA, but those statements in no way negate giving/selling the info to other government agencies, and with those folks then simply handing it off to the NSA.
Who asked the Chertoff question? They don’t deserve to be in the MSM! ;-)
Kate O”beirne and Bob Shrum just look like an old married couple.(on with CM now).
I heard the interview of Leopold on Shultz and I didn’t think Leopold sounded insane. He sounded very young and not very experienced at his job.
I wish the comments software would allow the ISP that entered a comment to go back and edit the typos in said comment within a 5 minute window.
obsessed #127….Now that was hysterical. Thanks, I needed that laugh!
CNN.com headline that Verizon didn’t give phone information to NSA.
This may actually be technically correct: what exactly did they get from NSA? Because that would make it sale or trade, rather than gift. BellSouth has also denied giving information. ATT / SBC has yet to be heard from.
I’m moving next week. I’m considering cablephone…
obsessed @ 127– brilliant!!!
I think they (BellSouth, et al) are very much relying on the EFF and any other suits being dismissed under the State Secrets approach that Gov has filed. When he wasn’t busy with Padilla, Comey corralled the ponies for Ashcroft in the Arar case ( I know that’s a little unfair, but somehow not so unfair as suppressing investigations of violations of the US Torture Act under the guise of State Secrets – in my book at least – which is probably why I have no book deals).
http://www.fas.org/sgp/jud/arar-notice-011805.pdf
http://www.ccr-ny.org/v2/repor…..ontent=712
On February 16, 2006,in New York,attorneys with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) voiced disappointment after Federal Court Judge David Trager dismissed the federal lawsuit brought on behalf of Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen who was “rendered” to Syria by U.S. authorities where he was tortured and held in prison for nearly a year. In his ruling, Judge Trager determined that he could not review the decision by U.S. officials to send Mr. Arar to Syria to be tortured, because it was a question of national security and foreign relations.
New thread…
obsessed @ 2:31 pm (#127) – I hadn’t even considered d) as a possibility before. It’s quite possible, though.
There’s no reason to think that a), b), d), and f) can’t all be true, BTW.
Mary @ 2:39 pm (#136) – which is probably why I have no book deals).
Thanks for posting here, anyway. It’s kinda like reading a book, but I don’t have to tear myself away from the computer ;)
Obsessed – Your outline of possibilities is good, but you leave out the possibility that Rover is already indicted and what we will get is an unsealing. I’ve always been in the “he’s cooperating” camp after the 5th gj appearance (and maybe earlier) and I have no reason to change sides now. He also left his position at the WH, which may be coincidence, but may not be.
I don’t think that swift boating applies to Rover’s situation, since Rover will be (or has been) indicted, that much I know. The “swifted” will have the last laugh – it is just a question of timing.
Although you can never discount the insanity option.
Mary @ 2:39 pm (#136) – I have a question about that PDF for the Arar filing. How can Comey claim to know that there are foreign policy implications to this case? He’s in DoJ, not in the State Dept. I don’t get that. Is it common for a (Deputy) Attorney General to assert such a thing?
Why aren’t masses of Americans rushing the White House with torches ablaze, taking King George, Darth Cheney, Abu Gonzalez, et al into custody?
* * * *
Because there are so many outrages – - and have been from day one of this Criminal Regime – - how would you decide which outrage to march against.
Really, I don’t get my mind wrapped around one disaster before another one hits.
If there were one, identifiable, grand outrage, I think we could get the pitchforks organized.
I find this whole thing amusing. The collection and mining (and traffic!) of data about individuals has been with us for decades — the only difference is that it’s been a *little* more overt lately. The fact that the government is being a little more overt than usual is the least of our worries.
I’m suddenly reminded of the furor over the concept of a “National ID Card” that completely ignored the fact that all Americans (actually, make that all people who are registered wage earners in America) already have one. It’s called a Social Security Card.
The genie is out of the bottle and living large in a villa on Grand Cayman. Perhaps it’s time to get used to it.
xoxo, mongo
No shit, # 142. And every time you hear someone like Cafferty say something you’d like to agree with, don’t get too excited. As for Specter, I’m almost starting to feel bad for him (kind of like being a little embarrassed for Ted Stevens when he got all riled on the floor and said he wasn’t coming back).
To #142 & 144: Oh, please.
Why isn’t anybody wondering about the fact that the telcos had this information ready to gift wrap and hand to the feds? What uses are they putting it to themselves?
You should have trotted out your indignation and put it to use when the Echelon program was created.
Pitchforks… sheesh. Get a grip.
Put the corporate zaibatsus under the same level of scrutiny that you apply to the government and maybe you’ll get somewhere.
xoxo, mongo
JL doesn’t come across so hot – the story may be legit but all this drama about being hard on himself, giving bloggers the finger, etc is not very professional as a journalist … stick to this is the story, properly sourced, why did no one ask Rove, and leave the soap opera out of it.
Please. He’s responding to the issue at hand — which has been raised and chewed over and gnawed at by bloggers & acolytes from here to Kokomo.
Who have no way whatsoever of disproving Leopold’s reporting as long, that is, as long as Fitgerald can keep indictments under seal while possibly continuing to pursue new targets, new crimes, new testimony.
There may be apparently or possibly problematic elements that don’t seem to fit neatly with what we think we know, but the degree of speculation over this has been huge.
Leopold is obviously going to defend himself against what may be nervous-nellie, trigger-happy keyboardists.
The ridiculousness in taking Byron York’s and MArk Corallo’s word as disproving/discredtingn any way what Leopold has reported shows the egregiousness of this witch-hunting silliness.
There’s reason to be cautious, yes. And perhaps Leopold’s even being played by his sources. But to attack him without knowing his sources — at this level– is a bit much. Prove it if you can.