My spouse helped hold the door for jurors returning this morning. He made CNN and local news, well, just in the camera range. LOL

Fox is also breaking away with other news stories while all the rest are analyzing the trial and verdict.

My spouse helped hold the door for jurors returning this morning. He made CNN and local news, well, just in the camera range. LOL

Fox is also breaking away with other news stories while all the rest are analyzing the trial and verdict.

Saw my spouse standing at the door of the courthouse as jurors filed in. He made CNN and local news. LOL

Fox keeps breaking for other news stories while all the rest of the news hounds are analyzing the verdits.

Much of Houston will feel vindicated.

Skilling was acquitted on the insider trading charges. Not remembering the timing of his sales of the top of my head, but I guess the jury bought his story that he wasn’t aware of the imminence of Enron’s collapse when he sold at or around the time that he resigned. Not sure how that worked, though, since the jury also apparently believed that he had been defrauding shareholders about Enron’s true financial condition all along. Hopefully we’ll get some reports on juror feedback.

Saw my spouse standing at the door of the courthouse as jurors filed in. He made CNN and local news. LOL

Fox keeps breaking for other news stories while all the rest of the news hounds are analyzing the verdits.

Much of Houston will feel vindicated.

fitz

Fitz and Justice!

Fox seemed to think american idle was just as important

Culture of corruption indeed. Pass the popcorn!

Fitz, Feingold and firedoglake.

Site went a little funny when all that was happening, the universe must have shifted because justice was done.

New Murray Waas on Rove-Novak Conversation

Also at National Journal is a piece co-written by Waas on the foiling of the NSA investigation.

fitz!

Personally, I liked the “ostrich” jury instruction, that says basically “If you’re in charge, you can’t claim you weren’t aware of the fraud committed by those who work for you if a reasonable person in your position OUGHT to have been aware of what your underlings were doing, or tried to become aware once red flags came up.” My guess is that this is part of why the jury came back relatively fast with its verdict in such a potentially complicated case.

Hmmmm . . . ostrich instruction . . .

Sounds like something that might apply to other problems with “supervision” issues: torture at Gitmo/AG, KBR/Halliburton contracts in Iraq, Katrina, Plamegate, etc.

When we honor Fitz, we honor the *LAW*

Yeah, it’s a curious aquittal given all the other circumstances. But insider trading is a hard one to nail, and there must have been some sort of technicality that did not meet a guilty standard.

All this must not be sinking in because Skilling looked and sounded pretty cool at the microphone. I’m sure he believes he’s going to beat the charges. Fat chance of that happening.

The Decider Divider must be having a tummy ache right about now. Another crook/friend down the tubes.

Wow that is good, long-awaited news that will hopefully do much to reinvest trust in those who think the government just let the crooks get away.

Thanks to everyone for their prayers for Kobe. He is still in the hospital but I flew all night and drove all morning so I could be back home when he came out. I’m still waiting to hear if there is any long-term damage from the attack and he is now without spleen, but I’m told I have enough for both of us so I will be happy to share.

Again, everyone’s prayers for my boy are much appreciated.

Who says rich white men are never convicted… Oh, wait, there is still appeals and the ever popular “overturned on a technicality” or even the pardon party in 2008. But this is exhilarating in the moment!

Welcome back Jane, and glad to hear about Kobe!

Even with your many worries, you still find humor– LOL Jane and the very best wishes for Kobe and hope you get some rest, soon.

Great to have you back in fine form, Jane. Very best wishes for Kobe.

It will be interesting to see what President Bush has to say today, given his past denials regarding his long friendship with Lay. After all, when the Enron scandal first exploded, President Bush on January 10, 2002 offered one of the biggest whoppers of his presidency:

“I got to know Ken Lay when he was the head of the-what they call the Governor’s Business Council in Texas. He was a supporter of Ann Richards in my run in 1994. And she had named him the head of the Governor’s Business Council. And I decided to leave him in place, just for the sake of continuity. And that’s when I first got to know Ken.”

Sadly, a mountain of correspondence between the Bush and Lay suggests otherwise.

For the history, see:
“Bush Lies About Ken Lay.”

Christy and other Legal Eagles,

my first impression was major props to Prosecutors -

I woud think there’s not much more arcane legal discipline than Securites Law and codes

further, around the time of the indictments lots of big guns were talking about how ‘relaxed’ trading & securities rules/laws had become in the preceeding decade – so there was major speculation that the “highly unethical, but not illegal” meme was going to stick with the jury

OTOH, I wouldn’t have waited for change of venue requests – I would’ve immediately headed to a non extradition happy place the second I’d been notified of indictment

I haven’t seen The Smartest Guys in the Room yet – I suspect it fleshes out the whole arrogance thing rather fully

A technical question: when Tyco’s Dennis Kozlowski was found guilty, he had to start serving prison time while awaiting appeals. I like that–he was found guilty, after all. Can that be done also for Skilling and Lay? If not, why not? Thanks.

Digby is doing some SERIOUS panty-sniffing!

Jane, I’m so happy for you and Kobe, you must be just exhausted! He’ll be fine, now. Has he seen you? That will help so much.

Whew, great news, we were very worried for you both.

Hope that Kobe will be ok.

“7th largest corporation in America…”

Hahahahahahahahahahaha…the MSM keep spouting that lame shit. Enron was nothing of the sort. “7th largest” up & goes “poof” one day, and there’s hardly a ripple in the markets? (other than for the suckers left holding the worthless paper).

Enron’s staggering “revenue” was almost entirely fictional. Fictions concocted by the likes of Fastow and Skilling for the simple purpose of defrauding the market.

Hard time for these pukes, I say.

What a relief it must’ve been to see him, Jane! What an ordeal … poor pup.

OT – “President Bush appointed a longtime scholar at the American Enterprise Institute yesterday to be his top domestic policy adviser, a post that has been vacant since February, when Claude A. Allen stepped down after being charged with stealing more than $5,000 in a phony refund scheme.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..49_pf.html

thrilled for ya to get encouraging news Jane !!

At least one of the jurors talked about wanting some reason to find them innocent, and didn’t get any. THere was also mention that the judge is a ‘law and order’ judge, so the sentencing may be equally interesting.

As a Californian, I’m satisfied.

Good news on all fronts.

Those guys are such slime balls. All the employees who lost everything because of those excessive freaks.

Jane, glad to hear about your Kobe boy.

Justice will out.

The energy of the response to Pach’s previous thread posting–whether Swiftian or ambiguous–should tell the Rove/WHIG/pundit/press pantysniffers that in the words of Capt. Kirk, “We have had enough of you.”

We’ve made clear the gauntlet’s down. Oh, and we can multitask…like moving on to talk about the sublime beauty of the U.S. Judicial System working its uncorrupted way through.

E Pluribus Unum

I still think the DEMS never successful tied Bush to Enron…

During the 2000 presidential campaign…Lay and Enron flew Bush to 12 separate campaign events onboard Enron owned or chartered aircraft….

Enron forced employees to give Bush the max $2000 contribution

and Lay personally contributed over 100k to Repub candiadates

On CNBC: Sentencing on Sept. 11

Wonder if Lay and Skilling are channeling Morrissette this morning:

Isn’t it ironic, don’t you think?
A little too ironic…and yeah, I really do think…

Everything changed after 9/11.

“…there’s not much more arcane legal discipline than Securites Law and codes”
_____

Well, there’s also not much more simple than THIS:

You create bunch of wholly-owned subsidiaries who then endlessly trade back & forth “contracts” (mostly for future delivery of various commodities you don’t even actually own). You book the face dollar valus amount of each “trade” as “revenue” to Enron. You keep doing this shit till the financial press spooges all over about this miraculous “7th largest U.S. corporation” (in terms of this fictional “revenue,” not actual hard capital assets). Investors, individual and institutional, eager to get in on the ride to the money moon, trample each other a la crazed Xmas Wal-Mart Cabbage Patch Doll shoppers.

Then, one day it all goes “poof”.

The very essense of simplicity.

Maybe we will be able to write Kenny in jail…suggestions for his prison pen-name?….complete with e-mail address?

Ken Lays statement: “Obviously i am dissapointed but i guess that is the way the system works.”

Now he “gets” it!

“There’s a little bit of choreography going on here before they bring Ken Lay out,” says the CNBC talking head in front of the courthouse.

Imagine that. They’re probably trying to ice down the bags under his eyes and get his puffy nose powdered before they bring Dubya’s buddy out in front of the cameras.

“We’ve been told it’ll be another hour before they bring him out to make a statement,” continues the talking head.

Wow. He must be in sad shape; maybe they’re waiting for the meds to kick in.

1,161 DAYS AND THE KILLIN GOES ON AND ON AND…

Fitz, Feingold,LamonT…OH MY!!!

The wheels are comin off so many a the buses in DC that a yellow alert has been issued for pedestrians. Let us celebrate but not take our eyes offa the prize…there is so much goin on simulteneously that we gotta keep our powder dry and sit back and watch a bit…like with the Hillbill sex smear.

PACH: you go guy…run that playbook but remember, this is jest one series of downs in a VERY long game. Don’t getcher players too tired or hurt before crunch time.

KEEP THE FAITH, PASS THE AMMUNITION BUT HOLD YER FIRE AND LET ‘EM KILL EACH OTHER OFF!!!

Prairie Sunshine @ 33–re E Pluribus Unum, always liked the double meaning of EPU on this blog.

Was it puppethead who came up with the phrase “open source think tank”? Out of the many, one, indeed.

Guilty verdicts! Finally a blow for justice. Take note George, Karl, and withering Dick. “Kenny Boy” might just forebode for ya’ll. You guys are on ‘the list’ too. We’re coming for you… Take note Bush mob.

Waas:

“On September 29, 2003, three days after it became known that the CIA had asked the Justice Department to investigate who leaked the name of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame, columnist Robert Novak telephoned White House senior adviser Karl Rove to assure Rove that he would protect him from being harmed by the investigation, according to people with firsthand knowledge of the federal grand jury testimony of both men.

I think this is news.

The site went down for about 15 minutes for me – a little preview of performance for whenever Fitz makes his next big move?

I made these notes while listening in on cable news channgels, FWIW:

I heard Mike Allen of Time say on Fox: “This is great news for the President. It shows that no matter how close someone gets with those in power, the system works.” (slight paraphrase)

So Mike, conversely speaking, does that mean if Lay had been found not guilty it would have been bad for the President? Aside: Has Allen always been a wingnut shill or am I just now noticing it?

OxyRush’s current or former girlfriend on CCN w/Toobin: Is it true that most federal cases end in convicton?
Toobin: Yes, over 90%
OxyRush’s GF: How can that be? Isn’t that …?
Toobin: No, that’s good! We don’t want the federal government indicting 1000’s of individuals only to have them found innocent.

Back to Mike Allen, shilling on Fox: So Mikey, if it’s such great news for Bush, why did Fox cut away from this huge important positve story for him when CNN and MSNBC continues on the story?

My keyboard is now awash with vomitous particles.

I’ve got to work for a living now. Thank you all for your comments and posts on the latest panty-sniffin-swift-boating-rat-fucking efforts by the usual suspects. I’ll chime in more when time allows.

Jane, so relieved to hear that Kobe is still among us.

YEAH for Kobe. I can’t believe you are joking after that kind of a night Jane!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Way overdue acknowlegement – just got through Christy’s post on the Foundation awards to Murth and Mora — great read. Everytime I get too discouraged, I pull out the New Yorker article on Mora.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I hope this guy is in something of the same mold and this isn’t just the military acting as another GWB spin cycle.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12972552/

Marine to go to Iraq to “reinforce” Marine values.

To highlight his concern over recent allegations that Marines in Iraq killed civilians, including women and children, the service commandant said Thursday he will go there to reinforce the values and standards of behavior that Marines are trained to uphold in combat.

“To a Marine, honor is more than just honesty; it means having uncompromising personal integrity and being accountable for all actions,” Marine Gen. Michael W. Hagee wrote in a lengthy statement issued by his office.

I hope Hagee’s the real deal. It has made me so sad to see what Sanchez and Miller and Franks have wrought under Rumsfeld, Cambone, Haynes, Cheney, GWB et al. Apparently these days “accountable” means “able to line up a spare DOJ lawyer to claim state secrets” or, alternatively, “able to establish a nice fat account from lobbying or Board of Directors or speaking engagement fees while the military is turned into a cheap whore.” If the Marines take a stand apart and away, as Mora had the Navy guys do at GITMO, they can still salvage. Or, they can spin. The budget is big enough for tutus and toe shoes, it just won’t be a pretty site to see Generals staging Swansong Lake.

Hoping and praying for the real deal who draws that right and wrong line sharp and clear.

Lieberman finally gets an endorsement … from John McCain

I just love the example this portrays– the 2 top dogs go to jail — are you wChimpy and Deadeye?

Whoa, Murray Waas’ latest is great. Looks like Novak is falling on the sword to protect his buddy Karl.

BobbyG (36) — ah, and then there’s the document trail, where all those wholly-owned subsidiaries had to have signatures of officers and directors in order to file Articles of Incorporation and Corporate Charters and corporate minutes…very, very simple.

I’ve never understood why it took so long to get to this point, because it was a really simple story. Hell, Martha Stewart’s case was more complex.

watching, not w

Oh Bobby G,

don’t disagree with you, was just initially concerned the arcane nature of the subject matter, coupled with fast and loose trading rules would lessen the chances for conviction

some of the deals set up by Skilling were ‘legal’ – appalling but legal

then again, why any Atty half awake allowed this trial to go forward in Houston, or these two aren’t counting their money somewhere in Paraguay is waaay beyond me

EPU’d from previous thread:

“Mmmmm…Karl.”

“You create bunch of wholly-owned subsidiaries who then endlessly trade back & forth “contracts.”

Ah, but the genius was designing a structure such that the “subsidiaries” appeared to be independent entities that were not controlled by Enron. Glad the jury saw through it.

egregious (40) — “open source think tank” might have been me, been advocating setting up one virtually and in real-life.

Everyone of us brings something to the table, even if it is as simple as saying, No, I don’t understand this so that a concept is re-vetted and re-validated. We all of us are co-equals in this direct representation democracy.

EPU. E Pluribus Unum. (EPU, you so need a couple of tattoos…a little devil on one side with Evil Parallel Universe, and a little cherub on the other saying, E Pluribus Unum. Maybe I’ll have to whip up some temporary stick-on tattoos…)

Christy and Jane, you should check out the Murray Waas article soon, it’s talking about conversations between Rove and Novak a few days after the investigation started and quotes new sources with some interesting info. Murray does it again.

(I told my cat, Zoey about Kobe and now she won’t get off my lap. She’s grieving, I think)

So it looks like Murray is saying that Novak lied for Rove, that they almost certainly plotted it together on the phone, and that they’re going to get away with it because the burden of proof is too high for a conversation between two people and neither one of them is going to crack.

So I guess Kenny & Jeff will have to surrender their “smartest guys in the room” trophy to Bobby and Karl.

The whole thing makes me sick.

What effect is the guilty verdict going to have on Ken Lay’s marriage? Is there a divorce in the picture? Actually I don’t even know his marital status, but I guess we can count on the New York Times to tell us.

On a more serious note, how many Bush Pioneers, or whatever they call their big fundraisers, have been indicted or convicted of crimes? I believe both Lay and Jack Abramoff are in that group. Are there others? Does raising $100,000 for the Bush campaign qualify one for a pardon?

A long time friend of mine once interviewed for a QA position with Enron. The interviewer posed a scenario for him, something about “we have a major new software deal about to be finalized with a large institutional client. But, internally, we now know that the product has critical flaws. What do you, as QA manager, do?”

John replied that he would order a suspension of the deal until the flaws could be fixed.

The interviewer responded “oh, you could never work here.”

John immediately decided that he didn’t want to anyway.

Enron was simply one large white collar criminal enterprise.

OT – Waas has been busy. There is also an article that suggests that Gonzales is behind the denial of clearances for OPR to investigate the legal decisions regarding the NSA surveillance program.

http://news.nationaljournal.co…..525nj2.htm

“Representative Hinchey has drafted a resolution of inquiry requesting that Bush, Gonzales, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld turn over documents relating to the OPR investigation’s closure and the denial of security clearances. The resolution asks for “telephone and electronic-mail records, logs and calendars, personnel records, and records of internal discussions.” Hinchey said he planned to get other members of Congress to sign on to the resolution this week.”

I think we should all contact our congressional reps to raise the visibilty of this resolution and make sure they sign on.

Yo Bush, Rove and Dickster. Did ya see the news? We’re gonna give you guys a trial. And then we’re going to hang ya! Houston style.

Obsessed @ 10:07 a.m.

“Lieberman finally gets an endorsement %u2026 from John McCain”

As I said last night, this is just what Connecticut Democrats need: a prominent Republican to tell them who should represent their party in the Senate race.

When we talk about Ken Lay, we must remember to do this.

Kenneth Lay, George Bush’s biggest campaign contributor,……….

it’s been what almost an hour since the verdict and I’ve yet to hear

Indicted Long Time Bush Supporter Ken Lay…

funny that b/c for a long time I thought Marc Rich’s full name was Disgraced Fugitive Clinton Supporter Marc Rich

Ken Lay the newest Republican added to Bush’s list for pardons.

New Waas – Novak may have tried to cover for Rove :

http://news.nationaljournal.co…..525nj1.htm

Obsessed-44:

In the rawstory Lieberman endorsement piece, McCain demonstrates that he sucks on the teat of the Republican talking points mothership*:

“I know that Joe still holds fast to Democrat Party principles.”

It’s the Democratic Party. Maverick my ass.

*no disrespect intended to mothers, or motherships for that matter!

Darkblack, I now start giggling before I’ve even clicked your links.

OT, Rep Norwood (Ga) on radio saying he doesn’t care what Frist thinks, or the president, they’re not passing a bill with “amnesty”, period. Very crusty. “you can paint it pink, but it’s still amnesty”.

Don’t automatically assume Murray’s piece means they get off, remember this is very third hand and doesn’t take into account the multitude of things Fitz knows that DOES NOT LEAK.

Peterr @9:36 – these days, I worry about the “reasonableness” standard. Some of the reasonableness I hear makes my jaw drop.

Jane, I spent the night hugging the commode (no, not the 14th century chest of drawers, the other kind) with my own stomache pains and thought of you and Kobe. Glad he’s out of the woods.

Enron news is good news. Lay’s PR people papered the world with oh, poor KennyBoy had no idea those mean nasty people were doing anything wrong, awwww, it’s not his fault and I was afraid it would be effective.

California thanks you, jurors.

President Bush appointed a longtime scholar at the American Enterprise Institute

Scholar? American Enterprise Institute? Isn’t that an oxymoron? Or is it just a regular grade moron?

Looks to me as if Fitz gave Novak immunity in exchange for his GJ testiomy. Now, one issue becomes was Novak’s testimony a lie?

Jane:
All good thoughts for Kobe.
Our animal friends are very important.
Divine comfort, friendship, and responsibility.
Good luck with the big guy.

Living through the cali blackouts, having the gropanator as governor instead of Davis, paying through the nose for electricity, I hope those bastards rot in prison for life.

Of course, it will be a federal pen with tennis courts, TVs, weekend conjugal visits, etc, and they will go only after years of appeals or until their ill-gotton gain runs dry.

Maybe they will share a sell with the Duke.

Hi All,

Just catching up. Jane, thoughts and good vibes to you and Kobe.

I hope they both do lots of hard time. They stole a lot of working people’s money. If someone broke into a home and took 1/1000th as much, they’d be locked away for YEARS.

OT- did anyone get a chance to digest the new Murray Waas yet? Interesting. Especially given that Novak is supposed to have been fully cooperative since the beginning. If he’s Rove’s firewall, what next>?

I’m sure my reading is superficial and you all will enlighten me very soon.

The multiple shell corporations and holding companies were legal — it was the “mark to market” accounting practices that were fraudulent. Revenues are not profits, and contracts are not revenues.

I’m glad Jane is back in time for Kobe coming out from anesthesia. There wasn’t a damn thing Jane could do medically but the poor pup needs mental and social support right now — and that’s Jane’s expertise! All is working out after all it seems . . .

Congratulations Firedoglake posters

Here we are at comment #66 (or thereabouts) and there hasn’t been one LAME reference to Lay and Skilling becoming someone’s girlfriend in prison!

Thanks!

Jane,

Positive vibes for Kobe.

and may Lay and Skilling spend their final years in fleabag SROs with no heat.

neurophius (55) — excellent question, really; I remember attending a professional event with an attorney as keynote, who was counseling on risk mitigation. Tips included putting assets in the spouse’s name and preparing for divorce if things got ugly to preserve some of the assets.

But Bill and Hill having autonomous lives is somehow different. Gah.

OT but in my comment # 104 in the How Can You Help? thread from yesterday,

why didn’t someone dope slap me? Glenn’s book’s title is How Would a Patriot Act?, NOT – What Would a Patriot Do?

LOL at myself… I’m glad I can find humor somewhere in these dark days (of course also here at the lake). But honestly everyone , thank you for your gracious kindness but next time whack me off the side of the head.

Sorry Glenn!

JANE, Glad you are back…I hope Kobe does GREAT….so…according to Murray, Rover and Novacula got together to make a nice story………Would I like to see Novacula end up in the cell next to Rover….Fitz must have to wear nose clips to wade throught the crap and stench of these LONG TIME criminals.

Darkblack – clean keyboard this time,as I saw it was you before clicking. All hail darkblack.

I know it’s been mentioned, but this new Murray Waas piece on Novak and Rove is fucking huge.

So- who leaked the testimony of the Novak/Rove phone conversation, and why?

The Waas article on Abu Gonzalez is very damning…Alot of stuff going on…Wouldn’t it be nice to have a Fitz present tomm…even if it is a small one?

McNulty praising the Preznit for his support in prosecuting the Enron case.(heh) Speaks about accountability for corruption.

Hopefully we will have some accountability moments for the admin. soon.

ewwwe, darkblack!

We all knew Novacula was lying for Rover……I am glad to finally see it in print, and from someone with the integrity as Waas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1,161 DAYS AND THE KILLING GOES ON AND ON AND…

ccmask: What a great idea “…Ken Lay, largest individual contributor to George W. Bush’s 2000 campaign….”

Now I hope the Democrats in California can pick up the ball and tatoo Ken Lay and Enron to the forehead of the Austrian Nazi…it doesn’t matter who runs against that steroid-fried fascist, if done right by the Democrats in California, it could kill the Republican Party in that state for 20 years.

Democrats accross the country must start recyclin the ENRON scandal in every district…no Republican anywhere can avoid the toxic fallout from this one.

KEEP THE FAITH AND CHOSE YER TARGETS CAREFULLY, THEY AREN’T COMIN OUT ONE ATTA TIME!!!

Novak’s looking at a fat promotion over there at fox.

Yay Kobe!

Eat it, Kenny Boy! And an extra kick in the ass from Grandma Millie!

OT – david paulison – made mistakes on his tax returns – promises to re-file and pay all penalties

Hurricane season is six days away, do u know where your levees are?

It sure smells like conspiracy…

I will never forget Novak storming off the set– now he’s at Faux. the video here for any other sentimentalists:

>>>>>>>>
http://mediamatters.org/items/200508040004

#81: I was wondering the same thing. The piece only quotes Rove’s tattling on Novak, and has nothing about Novak’s testimony. Does that mean the motive for leaking is to show how Rove is cooperating? How does Novak feel about that, I wonder?

ck (72) — it was the establishment of those shells for the purposes of illegally recording certain transactions that was at issue; the shells weren’t strictly illegal, but it was conspiracy to do so.

And frankly, there still may be another opportunity for prosecution right there, depending on the jurisdiction in which those shells were created; Caymans may not be as strict, but Bahamas might be, in regards to the establishment of Bahamian-licensed shells for fraudulent purposes.

For an insightful view of the Enron trail from a local attorney/blogger in Houston, I highly recommend Tom Kirkendall’s blog — blog.kir.com.

For his specific summaries of the Enron trial, see these posts.

The crowd here at FDL may not agree with Tom’s poltical leanings, but in my humble opinion the analysis stands on its own and is worth checking out.

Abe

So, Bush’s biggest patron has been convicted on all six counts — and is awaiting sentencing on Sept. 11? Please excuse my hanging chad-enfreude.

further, around the time of the indictments lots of big guns were talking about how ‘relaxed’ trading & securities rules/laws had become in the preceeding decade – so there was major speculation that the “highly unethical, but not illegal” meme was going to stick with the jury

OTOH, I wouldn’t have waited for change of venue requests – I would’ve immediately headed to a non extradition happy place the second I’d been notified of indictment

1. Although securities, accounting and tax law are complicated, fraud in and of itself is a simple concept and most people (i.e. the jury) know it when they see it. It is “fun” for lawyers to debate the arcana of the law both inside and outside the court room, but it is almost always to no avail.

2. Acquittal on some charges. My personal view is that on multi count indictments, and these were MULTI-count indictments, the jury, after convicting on the “larger” crimes gets bored, and, feeling that justice has already been served by their earlier guilty votes on numerous counts, sorta just stops. Maybe the evidence really wasn’t there, but it is just as likely that the jury was tired at that point and thought they had done enough.

Hey Christy, got a legal question: we’re looking at multiple counts here in the Enron situation. At what point would RICO apply?

Jane — glad you’re home safe for your pup. Been afraid to mention it for fear of jinxing, but this day has so far been jinx free.

Great to see these guys get whats coming to them,they damn shure screwed enough people over.

Rove and Novak-

Man, they weren’t dumb. They just cooked their stories under oath. No wonder Fitz said sand was kicked in his eyes–hell they’ve tried to bury him in shit.

We will really need patience and hope for justice to be done with Rove and the crew. I for one am taking myself off of Fitz watch for a while and will practice patience.

Add to your prayers today a prayer for justice.

I think Lay was actually convicted on 10 counts. Skilling convicted of 19.

Couldn’t have happened to better guys.

Skilling’s reaction to the verdict (the radio version, anyway) didn’t do much to convince me that he’s NOT a psychopath.

CNBC talking head says that members of the Lay family are still convened in the courthouse and have ordered lunch, are working on their statement to the press; they will be in the courthouse until after three o’clock.

Jeepers, they really did suffer from hubris, to have absolutely nothing prepared in the way of a statement in the event of a conviction.

Good news. If anyone deserves to spend the rest of their lives in jail for white collar crime, it’s these two. Big thank you to the jurors for seeing this through.

Stewart/Colbert ‘08

Waas:

Rove had been one of the “two senior administration” officials who had been sources for the July 14, 2003, column in which Novak outed Plame as an “agency operative.” Rove and Novak had talked about Plame on July 9, five days before Novak’s column was published.

Help me out, was this previously known?

Dan Froomkin has a new post up discussing the latest on Plamegate, especially the Cheney involvement http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..00879.html

On the indicted fleeing. They rarely do. In the white collar criminal context I think it is b/c they continue to believe their bullshit (even after the guilty verdicts are read); Skillings demeanor is fairly common. Hey, they’re criminals, remember that. Plus, he can always hope to win on appeal, and I am sure he thinks he has a chance. I’ve said before I’ve always been amazed at the equinimity of people under investigation and during trial, the amazement continues after conviction.

Jane,

Good to hear about Kobe; hope he continues to pull through.

We’ll be waiting to celebrate, with a round of pumpkin loaf for everyone…

Would you really want this man to campaign for you?

http://news.yahoo.com/photo/06…..3a40/print

What’s their respective exposure re prison time? The likely sentence? Redd?

good grief– that is one ugly picture kristinejoy.

kristinejoy 108 – at least Dickbeast appears to be awake in that one.

I wonder if both men smirked at the ‘convictions’, assured as they are of Dubya pardons in 2008? Is there any way to preempt the pardons that are coming down the pike? Doesn’t it seem likely that Friends of Dubya count on simply buying time in the face of any legal entanglements? Might it serve the public, who hope to observe the responsible application of justice, for the media to start asking, at every opportunity, “Mr. President, If you successfully make it to the end of your term in office, will you extend presidential pardons to Mr. Lay? Mr. Skilling? Mr. DeLay? Mr. Libby? Mr. Abramoff? Mr. Safavian? Mr. Cheney? “
It’s never too early to find out.

Late to the party – just caught the news as I was headed out of the office for lunch.

Three cheers for the prosecutorial team. While the underlying basic concepts of fraud, etc. are easy enough for most people to understand, it was not an easy task to untangle and explain, in understandable terms, the complicated series of inter-connected transactions and events that added up to fraud. Many an ordinary juror has glazed over and mentally bailed on cases of Enron-type dealings, and ended up voting to acquit as a direct result of either not understanding, or misunderstanding the prosecution’s case.

I don’t know anyone who lost everything in the Enron collapse, but I’m happy for those who did that they have gotten some justice today; I’m sure they are anxious for the punishment phase to start.

Am anxious to get Christy’s take on the latest Libby docs, and hoping that Fiona and Mr. ReddHedd are feeling better. When my older daughter was a toddler, my husband looked at me rather plaintively one day and asked if I thought we would ever be healthy again. I seemed to have special mommy immunity, but he picked up every last bug our daughter brought home from pre-school. And sorry, guys, but you all make terrible patients. :-)

wtfwjd? says:
May 25th, 2006 at 10:50 am
Waas:

Rove had been one of the “two senior administration” officials who had been sources for the July 14, 2003, column in which Novak outed Plame as an “agency operative.” Rove and Novak had talked about Plame on July 9, five days before Novak’s column was published.

Help me out, was this previously known?
———————————————————-
Yes. He was Novak’s second source. We still don’t know who the first one was.

Amilius – I don’t think there is a chance in hell that either Lay or Skilling receive pardons from Chimpy.

Their been “smirkers” their whole lives, don’t have any other affect, so that is what they do. It is fairly common behavior by convicted defendants.

On CNBC: SEC Task Force giving presser outside courthouse –

“…no matter how rich, they must play by the rules…”

“…did it by not asking the hard questions, did it by not asking the easy questions…CEO’s can’t hide behind accountants…”

Cutting away to Sens. Sarbanes and Oxley in Washington DC in re: SOX impact.

Good God, why can’t this same kind of action and reaction happen in regards to spying on citizens and leaking about CIA operatives?

A couple of threads down I was venting about how the rethug crooks ALWAYS invoke their damn religion whenever they are caought with their hands in the cookie jar or their pants down around their knees.

Well it certainly did not take long in this one:

Lay in Prayer

Jeffrey K. Skilling and his lawyer, Dan Petrocelli, emerged from the court house and briefly addressed the media shortly after the verdict.

But Kenneth L. Lay has yet to emerge. CNBC reported a few minutes ago that Lay and his family, as well as his lawyers and much of the Lay team, had joined hands in a circle of prayer, along with Lay’s longtime pastor, Stephen Wende, inside the court house.

Lay had said all along that the verdict was in God’s hands.

The appeal PR campaign has begun!

twolf1 @ 10:49 am (#103) – The most compelling slate since Bill and Opus.

Re: the murray Waas Novack/Rove piece.

Did you notice the quote from the long time friend of Rove’s about how as long as neither Rove nor Novack crack, FItz can’t prove a thing about the phone call?

Talk about sending a message!!! More Aspens connected at the roots!!

And let’s take a step back from the “Novack’s been cooperating all along”. How do we know that? Waas says that Novack testified, and he may have testified w/o requiring a subpeopna, so that could be considered “cooperating” with the investigation.

But if he came in and LIED, where is the cooperation?

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT:

In my opinion, these criminal conspirators deserve special treatment.
I would rather see them all exiled to an isolated, maximum security, deepwater oil platform, a 21st century Elba, if you will.
Physical access to and from Elba 21 would be strictly controlled, replenishment of food and expendables by airdrop and no visitors allowed.
Warmongers and profiteers, psychopaths, swindlers and thieves, corporate crooks, crooked Christians, politicians and media whores – all should live out their lives together as citizens of Elba 21.
Elba 21 citizens will be unsupervised, everything will be deregulated and physical intervention from outside will not be allowed.
Real time monitoring of life on Elba 21, in every detail, will be streamed out over the Elba 21 website and made accessible to all Americans.
All information coming from outside will be either censored or fabricated.
However, inside Elba 21 will be the appearance of a perfect Libertarian society – which has never been achieved before in the real world.

Maybe we can learn something from this nightmare.

Would it be possible for Fitz to get the Rove/Novak conversations for a specified time period from NSA?

Jane delighted to hear Kobe doing better – I’ll continue to keep my fingers eyes and toes crossed. Try to get some sleep you must be worn out after all that.

The press needs to start asking Bush the following:

“Do you promise not to pardon Skilling and Lay?

If you won’t comment, why not?”

Democratic politicians need to ask the same question, but the clever move would be for them to ask it like this:

“Do you promise not to pardon convicted felons Skilling and Lay, as well as any person in your administration who was involved in the treasonous betrayal of a CIA agent?

If not, why not?

Why would you keep the option to pardon felons and traitors on the table?

Is breaking the law a virtue to Republicans?”

Ask them repeatedly.

Watch them hem and haw.

Watch the poll numbers drop even further.

Wow, what a day. Lay and Skilling are guilty, Fitz is snarky, Murray Waas is on fire, and Denny Hastert is losing it.

looseheadprop

But if he came in and LIED, where is the cooperation?

One of the most puzzling things about this entire affair has been Novak’s almost total silence. I wonder if it is too much to hope that he is a target – or subject – right along with Rove? And he has told that he better just keep it shut or it can or will be used against him?

Rayne @ n95

RICO would have had to have been charged in the original indictment. RICO is a particular form of conspiracy involving corruption an enterprise and using it to commit a crime. RICO stands for Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization Act.

It is also know as enterprise corruption.

If it was not in the indictment, it is off the table

EPU @ 10:53 –

Google Robert Vesco — add Bush and Nixon; see what comes up.

Vesco fled the country, but not before giving bag money to Nixon. Some years later, Cuba let him in, with the understanding that he not engage in dirty business deals.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Vesco

Vesco was apparently not able to resist future financial schemes, and was soon involved in a plan to trade in a supposed anti-cancer and AIDS drug called TX. His partner in this enterprise was again Donald Nixon, who had been his bag-man in his failed efforts to buy the support of Richard Nixon twenty years earlier. On May 31, 1995 Cuban authorities arrested Vesco, his wife, and Nixon, whom they held for 30 days before sending him back to America. Vesco was not so lucky; in 1996 the Cuban government sentenced him to thirteen years in jail.

EPU @ 106

thanks for the insight on flight – but my ass would have been in Ascuncion just the same

Rayne @ n95

RICO would have had to have been charged in the original indictment. RICO is a particular form of conspiracy involving corruption an enterprise and using it to commit a crime. RICO stands for Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization Act.

It is also know as enterprise corruption.

If it was not in the indictment, it is off the table

Timewarp – The praying is for sentencing, not the appeal. They’ll hire experts to put together reports why they should get minimum time (and the gov’t will put forth the case why they should get maximum time). Invariably in those “Sentencing Reports,” are letters from clergy, their family, bestest friends (reaching back to nursery school), charities, invariably saying that the convicted is a person of outstanding moral character who in effect is Mother Teresa in bizness drag, and whatever wrongs they did commit are not their true character, were an aberation, yadda, yadda, yadda.

In this case, it won’t go anywhere, and they can expect to have a lot of “points” added per the sentencing guidelines given the billions of dollars that was lost.. Although judges don’t have to follow sentencing guidelines, they do refer to them and do calculate them.

Kobe!!! Attaboy! Great news, Jane. Really, spleens, who needs them? He’ll be on heavy drugs when he comes home. Don’t freak if he doesn’t eat until the patch comes off. Dogs can go without eating for days (after my dog’s torison surgery he didn’t eat for 4 days) but he should be drinking water. It’ll be bland food for a week once he starts to eat (Hills Prescription canned or make your own rice and boiled hamburger/chicken). No stairs for a few days, either. Mine, 9 days later, acts as if nothing happened to him besides getting a shaved belly. Prayers still coming your way, for Kobe, for a speedy recovery.

Also – the Waas article does seem to put the Novak sneaking off a live set at CNN in a different light!

CK – I said rarely. And it is rare. Vesco is more the exception that proves the rule.

timewarp says
May 25th, 2006 at 11:11 am

If the verdict was in “God’s hands” all along, then I guess he shouldn’t appeal. :)

EPU – sentancing – ha! Well that only emphasizes my point that they think that their brand of Christian should be able to do anything they want and get off scott free, after a little period of prayerful reflection, of course!

wouldn’t it be great if the press just left Lay there and left?

I would totally love that, self-important ass!

Re: Novak.

The prevailing theory seems to be that if Novak and Rove stick to their bullshit stories, they’ll both be okay. I have to disagree. Fitz does not like bullshit. Novak published the name of a CIA agent after the CIA specifically asked him not to. He has two choices: (a) Cooperate fully with the investigation in exchange for immunity, or (b) try to bullshit a no-nonsense prosecutor who clearly has no problem calling bullshit when he sees it, even if it means embarrassing a sitting Vice President. I think he wisely chose option (a). If he goes with option (b), he is in grave danger of being hit with an espionage charge for publishing the name in the first place.

I wanted to thank Abe for the great local link, it looks really juicy with lots of detail. I hadn’t followed this trial very closely, just here and there in online papers. This blog looks like a nice narrative.

Thanks, Abe!!

LHP @ 119, I’m with you. I think Novak’s got a lot of explaining to do, and with the way Fitz operates, it may be too late for that – unless of course, Novak’s got some other tidbits he’d like to profer.

If that’s the case, Fitz, take your time. Reel him in slowly and carefully. Set the hook, and keep the line firm as you bring him in . . . then go back again for a bigger fish.

EPU, did you ever read Abramoff’s character letters? They’re a scream.

Timewarp,
You know how everybody likes to speculate about sealed indictments?

What if there is a sealed indictment for Novack? It would explain his silence. That, or he got competent counsel AFTER the call to Rove, and that lawyer told him to STFU.

I believe, without meaningful evidence, that there is a Rove plus one more under consideration. Who the one more might be??? I change my mind almost every day.

Tea leaf reading is fun.

So, OK who had a motive to leak to Waas? and Why? What was the purpose of this article?

Besides the not so veiled threat not to break omerta?

yay for Kobe!

OT – thinkprogress has a story up about the National Respew’a cover story about global warming. Naturally, NR takes the GOP stance, ignore the science and spew lies because your idiotic base is easy to convince of anything. Here’s a couple of points TP debunks:

CLAIM: When it’s not even clear that the warming we’ve seen is hurting us %u2014 many argue that it’s a boon, citing its benefits to agriculture and its potential to make severe climates more hospitable %u2014 such draconian solutions should be unthinkable.

CLAIM: “[T]here is wide disagreement about the extent to which carbon-dioxide emissions are responsible for the warming we’ve seen so far.”

oops, here’s the link:
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/…..w-warming/

Is anyone else having some extra slowness today? I had to get out of Firefox and am using IE and it’s a bit better, but not much. I don’t think it’s firedoglake, probably just my computer.

anyone?

EPU –

Vesco is an appropriately ironic bookend — in that he and Kenny Boy were both mobbed up with the GOP Gangsters de jour. Vesco with Nixon; Lay with Bush.

Jane, I’m glad that you can be there with Kobe – hoping the best for him and you.

looseheadprop #138

I am a firm believer in omens. And with the heavy duty convictions of Lay and Skilling coming on the very day of this “leak” to Waas (I am sure the leaker did not expect to be aligned with THAT story) I am going to allow myself to hope that a sealed indictment may exist.

And would the leaker of this story be trying to give Rove a heads up – that is goose is fried? And that maybe he might think about being even “more cooperative” (snark intended) than he has already been? That it REALLY is Cheney who is in the cross hairs. Definately not a legal eagle so please feel free to smack down my fantasizing here!

and what is omerta?

EPU Vesco, Nixon, and Marc Richards. Nuff said.
Bipartisan precedents will have Dubya and the boys feeling ‘entitled’, as if they ‘needed’ an ‘excuse’ for loyalty. Do you suppose he’ll hand out Medals of Freedom at the same time?

zennurse 144 – yes, a little slow at times. they are working on it.

EPU,
Listening to CNN announce that Lay still had to turn in his passport while Skilling had already done so.

I immediately thought of Vesco. Wow, now that brings up old memories of my time in Costa Rica in the 70’s :-)

LHP,
I’m with you on the Rover 1 or 2. Leaning that way more everyday as more info is leaked. As to who leaked to Waas and why, I’m clueless.

But what’s up with the Rove “buddy” claiming that the prosecutors can’t go after Rovacula for conpiracy to obstruct because it’s based solely on a private convo? I’m wondering if person(s) was truly, undeniably, unarguably that stupid or that was a little stilleto poke in Rover’s flabby white ass?

Thoughts?

Re: teh other Waas article about the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibilty having sand kiicked in it’s eyes because “someone” refused to give the attorneys needed security clearances. This is old news, but I’m glad to see it out there again.

When it first came out, the MSM did not give it much play. People I know in Federal Law enforcement went nuts.

The Office of Professional Responsisbility is like a internal affairs on steriods. They are the squeakiest of the squeakiest (or used to be before ABU).

I suspect they still are. Thing is they are normally very closed mouthed. I cannot recall any other time when they wrote to an outsider, like a Congressperson to complain that htey were not given the tools they needed.

This is SOOO not their culture. Also, there is no way they could not qualify for any clearance at all–these are the squeaky cleanest in the Departemnt.

Further, ABU refused direct questioning from Congress re: the failure to give these lawyers the clearances they needed and he refused to comment on “interanl discussions” which sounds like it is ABU that is kickin’ the sand in the eyes.

If they are writing letters to Congress, this is like a kidnap victim passing a note to the convenience store clerk asking the clerk to call the police.

Timewarp

Omerta is the mafia code of silence. It means you rat each other out. Ever since Sammy the Bull, the mafia observes it more in the breach, but it was once a powerful matter of honor.

At the end of the Waas rove/novack piece, some friend of Rove’s observes that Fitz can’t get them for the phone call as long as they don’t crack on the story they told.

Waas story is interesting- but doesn’t break fresh ground that I can see on the Rover situation. It might, though, explain why this thing is taking so long. It’s possible that Fitz has part of the case down cold- but is still working on one or two other potential charges. He probably doesn’t want to bring indictments piecemeal- so he wants it all put to bed before bringing any formal charges.

Amilius – Believe whatever you want to believe. BTW, it’s Marc Rich.

Hey All,

Don’t have much time, but I was hoping someone could run with this:

“According to the GAO’s report, “senior agency officials” with the Department of Energy met “numerous times” with energy companies to provide advice to Cheney’s energy task force. Those companies include Bechtel, Chevron, American Coal Company, Small Refiners Association, the Coal Council, CSX, Kerr-McGee, Nuclear Energy Institute, the National Mining Association, General Motors, the National Petroleum Council, and the energy lobbying firm of Barbour, Griffith & Rogers. In addition, the Secretary of Energy discussed national energy policy with chief executive officers of petroleum, electricity, nuclear, coal, chemical, and natural gas companies, among others. ” “

http://www.halliburtonwatch.or…..rgytf.html

The Huff Post has an Op-Ed up about what Lay, Skilling, and Fastow have done to undermine laws and ethics for U.S. business.

I will be posting on the Cheyenne blog of Drinking Liberally to see if I can get some help developing these facts into a bite size nugget for Sheeple consumption.

I’m starting with Bush Family + Cheney + Energy Task Force + Enron + Big Oil and Big Energy = Dead Soldiers, Dead Citizens, and your money in their pocket…

Round-up of Bush-Lay connections:

http://vastleft.blogspot.com/2…..e-got.html

Oops, I cut out this by accident,

“The task force even sought and received advice from the now-disgraced and bankrupt Enron Corporation. “

Question for W’s next presser: Will you pardon Ken Lay, your biggest contributor and fundraiser?

Hey Wyo, long time no see!

Frank

Wow, what a day. Lay and Skilling are guilty, Fitz is snarky, Murray Waas is on fire, and Denny Hastert is losing it.

Reminds me of a programming note from Countdown. Olbermann will be on an hour later (all time zones initially) today due to the Blair/Bush press conference. He will be discussing all the things you mentioned.

Frank @ 11:27am

“If he goes with option (b), he is in grave danger of being hit with an espionage charge for publishing the name in the first place.”

Where’s the precedence for that?

Sure, I realize Gonzales has been barking up the “we’re going after the press” tree, but I doubt Novak was the first name that popped into Alberto’s mind when he proposed the policy.

LHP 151

Thanks for your insights. And for the previous times you’ve provided the skinny on how things work, or are supposed to work, at DOJ.

This latest of yours now adds to my growing fear and certainty that Bushco is scared shitless of the NSA thing blowing up to a real impeachment level scandal.

Add your comments to these two recent diaries on KOS about Bush’s latest, quiet EO’s and yikes, they’re in serious cover up mode now.

#1
http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…..131936/550
By: mspicata
Topic: Clinton Executive – Information Technology Management Reform Act of 1996

And Bush rescinding it with this EO:
Executive Order: Amendments to Executive Orders 11030, 13279, 13339, 13381, and 13389, and Revocation of Executive Order 13011

#2
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/5/24/115758/212
By: SusanG
Topic: Negroponte Can Waive SEC Rules for “National Security”

My fear stems from the proven behavior of a cornered feral animal – what are they cooking up now while we wallow about in the pantysniffing, swiftboating, ratfucking weeds? Don’t get me wrong. I like wallowing in those weeds but, crap, some days doing the right thing seems insurmountable.

Wyo Nate @ 11:51

IIRC from my year in Cheyenne, the folks there don’t take kindly to anyone breaking the rules to get ahead. If there’s one thing that they like about the government, it is to see that everyone plays by the same rules. The same rules for Lay and Skilling as for the folks who run Frontier Days. The same rules for energy CEOs as for the folks who run the gas station on the corner.

“Fine for me, but not for thee” ain’t gonna cut it in Cheyenne, and damn few other places either.

lhp – picking up on your analogy, it’s too bad that Congress these days, in its inability or refusal to take any meaningful action, is equivalent to the store clerk who only dials the first two numbers in “9-1-1″ before hanging up the phone.

It’s shameful.

What I don’t understand is how we are ever going to get accountability from this administration. Their response to any accusation of wrongdoing, and any attempt to investigate, is to invoke “national security” to end the conversation and the process.

Just the other day I heard that Bush had published in the Federal Register a memo that gives the DNI – Negroponte – the authority to allow corporations to report what amounts to erroneous information in their corporate filings if they are doing national security business with the federal government,and reporting the correct information would compromise a national security matter. Rachel Maddow was talking about it this morning on AAR.

They have a way around everything, and only if we take back a majority in Congress will it even be possible to do anything. Even so, what is to stop the administration from invoking national security even if the Democrats get the subpoena power they would have with a majority?

New Poll out- good news for Clusterfuck- it shows him at 37% approval- bad news- that’s down substaintially (eight points) from the last gooper friendly polling by these guys in Feb.

Diageo/Hotline Poll conducted by Financial Dynamics. May 18-21, 2006. N=801 registered voters nationwide. MoE 3.5.

.

“Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?”

.

Approve Disapprove Unsure
% % %
5/18-21/06 37 61 3
2/16-19/06 45 52 2
1/12-15/06
46 53 2
12/12-13/05 50 47 3

What a great day! My Dad would be so pleased (longtime regulator in energy and now advocate on high for truth and justice).
Enron is such a metaphor for our CEO presidency: all hot air and spin, bribery/corruption whenever necessary, and print money/write checks/spend without limit.
We all needed to win this one — and I am so heartily glad that we did. This is better than Fitzmas.

justintime@11:14

Sounds like a great movie. Do I know you? did you ever take a UCLa Ext. online writing course?

And it seems that Ken Lay is gonna try to appeal to the loons with a heaping helping of Come to Jesus.

Sorry, Ken.

You shattered lives, lives of people I knew, good decent people whose feet you weren’t worthy to sniff. You looted and pillaged, and you did it all to give yourself multiple homes in Aspen. Even worse, you gave a sniveling two-bit fake Texan the wings to flap into the Oval Office and shit on this country.

You can pray all you want. IF I were a Christian, I’d know you were wasting your time.

I’m not happy until you’re locked up. And, even then, I don’t thinnk I will be. I want every penny you and you GOP-enabling thugs stole returned to the American people. I want your wife in sackcloth, standing in a welfare line. I want your children to know the pain of having other kids ridicule them for being on food stamps and getting their shoes from the Salvation Army. And that won’t happy, you simian-faced monster.

Justice. We don’t have no stinkin’ justice.

I almost couldn’t believe this news—I heard it while driving, I cheered. Hope that’s not too evil of me, but it seems there’s so little justice these days.
I don’t know if anyone has seen this:
http://www.wvgazette.com/secti…../200605244
“Mine policing: Another fox nominated”

EPU @ 155
OOPS. Thanks for the correction.

Get a head start on Cafferty’s questions for today!

4 p.m.: What kind of witness would Vice President Cheney make in the trial of Scooter Libby?

5 p.m.: What message does the Enron verdict send?

http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form5t.html

P.S. Hang in there, Jane and Kobe – lots of white light comin’ right at you!

(By the way, the news I refer to is the Lay conviction, not Bush’s appointment of a bad guy for mining safety.)

Er, that won’t happen, you simain-faced monster. I tend to get a bit angry whenever I see Ken Lay’s name.

New poll from Univ of Cinn shows Dewine gaining ground in Ohio senate race- leading by 10 points. Mason Dixon also showed DeWine with a big lead recently. This could crush dems thin chances of taking the senate- but these are not mainstream pollsters.

If Abu Gonzales chooses to prosecute James Risen, Dana Priest, et al., under the Espionage Act, as he obliquely threatened this past weekend, he’d be hard-pressed not to do the same with Novak, no? (At least in the reality-based world of my dreams, in which the press presses hard.)

preznit orders docs seized in raid on Jefferson’s cap hill office sealed for 45 days.

“A Well Deserved Drink and an afternoon off.” – Sean “Junkyard Dog, Jr.” Berkowitz – Today, arguably the smartest man in Texas.

I like the message sent by the September 11th sentencing date. It has me thinking about the numbers 666 – June 6th, 2006. I will have to consult my astrologist on this date. ;)

“Remember Patrick. He gets a lot done. He understands commitment. He knows how to concentrate his energies. He is obsessed.
We see the obsession in at least two aspects: Pluto in Virgo on the North Node, symbolizing his obsession with service (Pluto = obsessed; Virgo = service; North Node = compelling and unavoidable); and Mars opposite Jupiter (a kind of religious quest for justice).”

http://patrickjfitzgerald.blogspot.com

Jane, I suffered from bad insomnia last night and I thought about you and Kobe for much of that time. I’m so happy he made it through his surgery. I’m sending healthy thoughts your way.

Jane,

Wishing Kobe a speedy recovery.

-GSD

Also wishing some speedy incarcerations for Lay, Skilling and The Turdblossom.

A Grassroots Victory for the Internet!

http://www.cookpolitical.com/

Link to a good column by Charlie Cook challenging the assumption that Clusterfuck is losing the most support from conservatives. Not so- says Charlie- he’s losing GOOPER support- but mostly from gooper moderates and women.

Goopers are giving up the middle to the dems- this is a very good sign in my opinion- if the dems can capitalize on it.

angie????

Where did you hear that? Man, Hastert et al must be scared shitless!

Dumb Chimpy. This WILL come back to bite him. Most people can smell a rat this big and this is a rat that stinks to high heaven

It is to the conservatives advantage to float the notion that Clusterfuck is losing the most support from conservatives and thereby try to move him to the right to regain ground. If he follows their advice- Clusterfuck will surely lose further ground to the moderates who are his real problem.

Who is in play now? I’d say that it’s sane suburban white voters who voted for him based on lower taxes and fear of terrorism- but have now had enough of his bullshit. If he loses ground there- he’s history.

MSNBC and CNN all now all about Clusterfuck’s non-solution to the Jefferson kerfluffle. 45 days in which the seized documents must remained sealed. Whew! Constitutional crisis averted.

Way to hijack the news cycle.

Thanks everyone so much. LOTS of white light brought Kobe through. He comes home from the hospital this afternoon, and they took a blood test this morning and found no serious organ damage (one of the big dangers of stomach flipping).

My wallet is several thousands of dollars lighter and I could not be happier. My boy’s coming home.

Erm. That is Omerta means you DON”T rat each other out.

Hangs head in shame

Breaking News on CNN’s website:

President Bush orders all material seized by the FBI from a Louisiana congressman’s Capitol Hill office sealed for 45 days.

What does this mean?

You have to wonder if Hastert knows of some documents that might be in Jefferson’s possession that he can’t afford to allow to see the light of day. Interesting- and Clusterfuck sittin on em. Very interesting.

timewarp– breaking on CNN via Ed Henry.

Ken,

You are guilty.

-God

looseheadprop (126) — thanks for the response. I guess I’m still trying to wrap my head around the reasons why DoJ doesn’t use RICO, especially when there are multiple bad players working together in concert on repeated and interdependent bad acts.

Jane-

That is great news! I see a rapid recovery and future pumpkin loaves ahead!

Looseheadprop sez: Erm. That is Omerta means you DON”T rat each other out.

Hangs head in shame-

BREAKING NEWS – loosehead’s prop fails

Great news Jane!

Hey, I think we need to take some action on this 45-day freeze.

This is an intervention of the Executive branch in a scuffle between the Legislative branch and the Judiciary. What gives?

Unless the Executive branch is somehow involved and has something to hide…gotta’ wonder if the reason why the federal government didn’t race down to NOLA post-Katrina was that there was more financial action in their inaction.

How would a Patriot act if the Executive branch overreached into a dispute between other branches…? Is this a kind of Saturday Night Massacre — more like a Thursday Afternoon Bludgeoning?

Wonderful News Jane – quite relieved for you – sorry about your wallet but suspect you have plenty of company here on that

rwcole -sing me that Charley Cook ! – lovin it!

angie 189

What a clusterfuck.

And according to Raw Story the Cong Black Caucus is up in arms over Pelosi sending a letter to Jefferson asking that he resign his committee seat. As well she SHOULD. It is time that someone stand up for ethics in this country. Do people loose all sense of perspective and propriety once they get handed the keys to their congressinal offices?

Really discouraging.

And Jane, GREAT news about Kobe! Some of us know that there are some things more important than $$.

Rayne – there is no way in the world that this can play well … its like sticking the proverbial finger in the proverbial dike.

I almost wish I had cable so I could see Cafferty and Olberman go off on this one!

timewarp (198) — you gotta’ wonder who was the spin doctor in charge of this piece of brilliance; has Rover completely gone bonkers, lost his Machiavellian-sharp edge? Did Abu in his usual stunning ineptitude counsel this one? Gad, it’s incredibly stupid to think anyone would ever tell POTUS, “Hey, you better shut that Jefferson search down and cool it off for a while; Denny’s going to blow a gasket and screw us all while he’s erupting…”

Sheesh. It’s more like shooting fish in a barrel as time goes on.

Oh these stupid f*ckers…CNBC is now bashing Martha Stewart about her civil case.

Meanwhile, not one fricking peep on this channel about the POTUS freezing the Jefferson dox.

Agh. So much for fish in a barrel.

new thread. scooter goes fishin’

We just lost ANWR in the House. Alaska – sold to the the Republicans on the right.

i am merely a lurker here because even tho we might argue about a disproportionate faith in jurisprudence & of potential american heroes – there is so much that is helpful & interrogative in a way that leads to some sort of clarity

however – the faux patrick j fitgerald poster – gives me the shits – he is neither intelligent or humorous nor if his posting & site are any sign – no sense of irony at all

just a very particular problem of the postmoderncondition – the usurpation of identity

I hope the Jefferson matter–scandal, if you will–does not scare Nancy Pelosi and other
Democratic leaders from continuing to talk about the Republican culture of corruption. She did well to distance herself from Jefferson (I will take that back if this all turns out to be a big DOJ frame-up of Jefferson). And I hope that as they talk about the Republican culture of corruption, they always have the good sense to insert the words “Enron” and “Ken Lay, major Bush fundraiser, crony, and convicted felon.”

My own guess is that Novak folded fast before his first grand jury grilling and ‘fessed up to his scheme with Rove.

If he didn’t and is sticking to the story he cooked up with Rove, he will be indicted for perjury. If he was given immunity and then lied, he is deeply screwed. Fitzgerald will not let him skate.

But having watched this consummate worm, he caved right away. He’s Fitz’s parakeet.

When that big E sign falls off, it’ll become W.
Can’t wait for that omen to happen.

mommybrain@169,
Yes, movie or maybe reality TV show.
No UCLA writing course, but thanks for the compliment.
My only connection to UCLA was designing the research greenhouse at the UCLA Arboretum a few years back.

Lay and Skilling going Down Down Down! http://apoeticjustice.blogspot…..-down.html

With ten million page views we could pass the hat around and raise a few lousey thousand dollars couldn’t we?
In a Hong Kong minute!
I’m watching ‘ Hawala’ style developments on the web with micro-payments scheme’s such as ‘ Peppercoin’ holding great promise for Chaumian cash payments online in real time.
This is a key part of our future rapid evolution I feel. The netroot’s netswarm’s armed with most netcash will be the winners of this netwar.

Got to lay this out about the Jefferson case:

1. Pelosi demands his resignation via letter

2. Congressional Black Caucus goes crazy, threatens mutiny come November.

3. Bush steps in and freezes all but can’t take news cycle because of Enron.

4. Bush/Repubs may have in-fighting among Dems for at least 45 days.

5. How many days until the elections?

6. Which branch of goverment controls Justice and FBI?

7. This IS John Mitchell all over again but through a different door.

8. Will Supreme Court have to make a decision about the legality of all this?

9. What a day!