GO FITZ!!!

Lunch!

BLT, please.

Christy!

great work guys.

Marcy is Goddess!

F I T Z !!!

fitz

Richard Engel on Hardball last night with Chris Matthews:

RICHARD ENGEL, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Chris, right now there is a fundamental turning point in the war. For the first three years, roughly, U.S. troops were fighting Sunnis and were fighting mostly a Sunni insurgency. Then after that Samarra attack last February, almost one year ago to the day, the Shiite militia groups which had been gaining strength on the ground could not take it any more. They have been absorbing so much abuse that after that attack they decided that was it and they started attacking everyone.

The Shiite militias started attacking Sunnis, they started attacking U.S. forces, also any local shop owners. Anyone who wasn‘t agreeing with them.

Then—now there is a new fundamental shift. The Shiite militias have decided to go to ground. Have stopped fighting for the time being. They are going try to and wait it out. And it is the Sunnis who are now in the forefront and are trying to attack both Americans and to attack the Shiites to get them back into the fight so they don‘t just sit back and consolidate their power.

holy site meter ! raw story has linked to FDL live blog

I am still wrapping my head around the fact that in response to Mr Z’s excellent narrative that Wells started off by basically admitting that he was already drinking at such an early hour.

I would be too if I had to look forward to another couple of years of holding poor little Scooter’s hand while feilding phone calls from the likes of Barbara Comstock and Victoria Toensing.

Hopefully he will find some comfort in his bank balance…

Gitmo detainees indefinite detention shot down by US Court of Appeals – DCappeal_detention_in_0220.html

divided panel, majority says 06 Military Commissions Act says US Courts have no jurisdiction-

will be appealed directly to SCOTUS

remember, some dems last week made moves to roll back this atrocity

Richard Engel again on Hardball about the fourth war in Iraq:

ENGEL: Not just Iran. I think right now we are in the fourth war in Iraq. The first war was a very clear, straight up fight. It was U.S. troops coming from Kuwait, marching up to topple Saddam with a variety of different motivations. Weapons of mass destruction, etc.

The second war was to create enough stability to hold elections. The third was to try and stabilize the elected government. That has not been terribly successful. Now we are in a fourth war which is a proxy war. Not only with Iran but also the foreign fighters that are coming in from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the internal power dynamics within the country.

The Kurds that are very nervous about an emergent – the Turks that are worried about an emergent Kurdish state so it is not just a war to keep the Iraqi government in place but it is also to hold the rest of the Middle East together.

Marcy:

Is it harder on your fingers to transcribe when you’re listening to the Scottish Wookie Defense?

Seriously, Wells’ closing so far is more lame-o than I would have expected. So far, he has not even addressed the fact that Scooter’s defense hinges on having forgotten until mid-July what FOUR people told him in mid-June about “the wife.” Is he just dismissing the Grenier, Schmall, Grossman and Martin conversations because he was not indicted for lying about them? Is he also going to ignore Addington and Fleischer?

Is he just going to bluster past the fact that Libby wasn’t in a vacuum during the month between his learning about Plame from The Dick, and the Russert call?

Incredible. Normally I watch MSNBC during the trial to listen to what Shuster has to say. Unfortunately, they’re STILL showing the damn court proceedings on A.N.Smith. 3 plus hours of that so far.

I’m forced to listen to CNN, which reports NOTHING on the Libby trial.

Did I tell you that (with the KO exception) cable news sucks?

Still asking – is there a twelve step program for this?

My name is KestrelBrighteyes..and I am an FDLaholic.

The photo you chose of Wells looking down on Libby seems to say it all. Does he come across in court like that? a debonair devil twisting his moustache, does he wear spats…

WAGGING THE DOG ALERT –

From Larisa Alexandrovna:

I just got word that the SS. John Stennis has arrived in the Persian Gulf on February 15. It apparently steamed better than 24 knots and had no port calls, which suggests it was in a hurry.

http://www.atlargely.com/2007/…..rives.html

My money’s on an attack of some sort on Iran if there’s a guilty verdict.

Dana Priest talked to Imus this morning. Excellent conversation. You won’t find it on the website.

Friedman Unit blathered to Imus this morning. Oh, and he knew nothing about Plame case. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

Generals told Imus via a friend in the know [J-Lie?] that the Building 18 story’s an old story. Nothing to see here. Move along.

Then why, continues Imus, did they wait until this morning to start cleaning it up????

I’m wondering, what other Building 18s are out there? Bet there’s more… Katrina Syndrome all over. Play that air gitar, Bushie….

from counterpunch comes a diss wrt Toensing, by counterpunch. Longer story at the link.
snip
It is a moss-encrusted truism that in order to be an expert in Washington, one only has to know an infinitesimal amount more than the average TV-watching ignoramus. The imperial capital boasts a greater density of pseudo-experts, jumped-up grad students, egomaniacal publicity hounds, and partisan false flag operatives than any patch of territory since the Rome of Elagabolus. The fake expert is now a Washington City career track that supports many a think tank and speaker’s bureau. One such fake expert is Washington lawyer Victoria Toensing, a partisan operative who clawed her way up the greasy pole to become a deputy assistant political appointee at the Justice Department in the remote Pleistocene abysm of the Reagan Administration.
http://www.counterpunch.org/werther02202007.html

You know what strikes me in the way that this was layed out–Scooter tried to get someone to bite on his “bombshell” CIA leak for over two weeks, and noboby, I mean nobody cared. Rove comes in, beginning of July, and immediately gets it in print.

Must have been hard on Scooter’s ego–Rove spanked him on the VP’s pet project.

cbl — was just going to link to that atrocity.

Here’s Riverbend and it will make your blood boil, your heart break and your eyes pour.

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

These are why this trial is so important. The brutal occupation that these monsters lied us into and the brutal treatment of people in detention and the shredding of our Constitution and our reputation.

;(

Rayne @ 18

WAGGING THE DOG ALERT –
…
My money’s on an attack of some sort on Iran if there’s a guilty verdict.

I wouldn’t bet against that, unfortunately… Bastards at the helm of our ship of state.

KestrelBrighteyes @ 16

Still asking – is there a twelve step program for this?

My name is KestrelBrighteyes..and I am an FDLaholic.

Step one is lurk
Step two is post
Step three is admit your addiction
That’s as far as I’ve gotten.J. Thomason @ 25

HotFlash @ 23

KestrelBrighteyes @ 16

Still asking – is there a twelve step program for this?

My name is KestrelBrighteyes..and I am an FDLaholic.

Step one is lurk
Step two is post
Step three is admit your addiction
That’s as far as I’ve gotten.

Coffee has to be included in this sequence somewhere.

Everywhere.

Michael Scheuer, the former head of CIA’s Bin Laden Unit, on Countdown last night with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: Mr. Scheuer, given how often the Republicans said during the debate last week in the House that insurgents in Iraq would follow us home if we left Iraq, which battleground is actually more central to the war against terrorists? Is it al Qaeda starting to rebuild training camps that it had in Afghanistan or the Taliban rebuilding them in the neighboring nation of Pakistan? Or is this the central place still the civil war in Iraq?

SCHEUER: No, the central place in terms of an attack inside the United States is Afghanistan and Pakistan. When the next attack occurs in America, it will be planned and orchestrated out of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Al Qaeda values Iraq primarily for the entree it gives them into Jordan, into Syria, into the Arab peninsula, and into Turkey.

We‘ve really signed—for example, we‘ve signed Jordan‘s death warrant by the—through the war in Iraq. But actually, the people who will plan the next attack in the United States are those who are in Afghanistan and Pakistan, sir.

HotFlash @ 23

KestrelBrighteyes @ 16

Still asking – is there a twelve step program for this?

My name is KestrelBrighteyes..and I am an FDLaholic.

Step one is lurk
Step two is post
Step three is admit your addiction
That’s as far as I’ve gotten.

Coffee has to be included in this sequence somewhere.

Let’s see, you have these:

NYT:
• http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02…..by.html?hp
• http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02…..heney.html

WAPO:
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..00122.html

Over at HUFF:
Jeralyn is blogging as well
• http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..41653.html

sheila @
1

GO FITZ!!!

Oh, I really hope fitz includes this in his rebuttal….

…now, we spent 12 minutes examining Mr. Russert, during which time he testified

T: Read Novak column in WaPo on Monday, July 14 in afternoon. I said, “Wow, this is significant.” Went to work and asked people we were working with what they knew.

F: Did anyone say they knew?

Just the opposite.

Mr Wells spent five hours cross-examining Mr. Russert, but not once did he ask him “are you certain that you read the Novak column on the 14th, and didn’t read it as wire copy on the 11th?” But now Mr. Wells wants you to think that there is “reasonable doubt” about everything that Mr. Russert testified to…. despite the fact that he never challenged Mr. Russerts account about how he read the column and how he went in to work and discussed it with his fellow employees and all of them were as suprised as he was.

HotFlash @ 23

KestrelBrighteyes @ 16

Still asking – is there a twelve step program for this?

My name is KestrelBrighteyes..and I am an FDLaholic.

Step one is lurk
Step two is post
Step three is admit your addiction
That’s as far as I’ve gotten.

Don’t forget to give til it hurts!

epu’d from previous thread,

Just wanted to thank all who answered my question re: how juries feel about GJ indictment

I didn’t realize how the GJ worked.

I thought that would probably be the case, however, I also think that the jury will consider the evidence and hopefully make a decision based on that.

That is what I would do but I think I would still have that info in my mind.

(unless I forgot or misremebered it :>). )

Biodun,

thanks so much for posting the Scheuer link – meant to do it earlier, but got caught up – always a ray of sunshine that one

Dan Eggen just posted this at the end of his WaPo chat on U.S. Attorney firings:

Baltimore: Has Fitzgerald’s name been mentioned as at least a candiadate to be fired? After the pursuing the Valerie Plame case for years after he knew he had no crime, I’d think the idea of firing him would at least occur to somebody.

Dan Eggen: I will post this just because there have been a number of questions along this line, inquiring about the identity ofthe other prosecutor.

We obviously put everything significant in the paper that we can confirm, and all that I have been able to confirm so far about the eighth unidentified prosecutor is that this person was called and informed on Dec. 7 that he or she was being fired, but has somehow negotiated out of it, at least until now. I have not confirmed a name.

However, Eggen did say earlier that this eighth U.S. Attorney is not in the Western U.S. as most of the others have been.

HotFlash @ 23

KestrelBrighteyes @ 16

Still asking – is there a twelve step program for this?

My name is KestrelBrighteyes..and I am an FDLaholic.

Step one is lurk
Step two is post
Step three is admit your addiction
That’s as far as I’ve gotten.

Nope, FOUR steps; step three is joining the http://gabbly.com/firedoglake.com (in a separate window from this one) realtime chat, and Step FOUR is admit your addiction. :)

================
… and OBTW I agree with Raven — Give.Till.It.Hurts — including YOU, Victoria Toensing… we KNOW you’re reading this… you dumb hack, you…

we think well’s summation is weak, don’t forget the otherside is probably saying the same thing about fitz’s summation

at any rate, if we are right, and this is a weak summation, we might expect a swift verdict

that means wells team better be ready with a deal before the judge charges the jury

Haha! While Wells started out his closing drunk, over at HuffPo, Jeralyn points out that ended up on Meth, he was talking so fast and so all over the place.

What district is Fitzgerald in?

Maybe this can apply to the FDL addiction

Twelve-steps to curing e-mail addiction

Cheney: if you’re reading this,

READ THIS!:

http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

another bit of Scheuer goodness from last night -

The Iranians are no threat to the United States unless we provoke them. They may be a threat to the Israelis. They‘re not a threat to the United States.

does anyone have anything lately from Tony Zinni on Iran ?

One of my best moves so far was to ask about Friedman last night on FDL. I saw and heard him clearly. So dismissive of Joe Wilson. “Hey, has anyone seen any yellow cake uranium?” He kept laughing and repeating it. He says he’s paid no attention at all to the case. And that would be because….

Curious in Central Texas @ 36

What district is Fitzgerald in?

Northern District of Illinois

Vickie Toensing spewing forth on WaPo……apparently she is in the courtroom today. I just asked her if Plame was not covert, why did CIA even refer it to DOJ for investigation.

One of the biggest days of the Libby Trial and no MSM coverage. The MSM can’t run away from this story fast enough. Its an effing joke. Its as if they got their marching orders from the administration.

Meanwhile, Anne Applebaum in Slate, on the fact that even Russia’s beating up on the US:

“I have a difficult time explaining that speech. It doesn’t accord with either the world as we see it nor with the character of our interactions with the Russians.”—Condoleezza Rice, Feb. 15, 2007

Ten days have now passed since Russian President Vladimir Putin made a speech in Munich, Germany, accusing the United States of plunging the planet into “an abyss of permanent conflicts,” of deliberately encouraging the spread of weapons of mass destruction, and (this from a country that regularly blackmails and manipulates its neighbors) of having “overstepped its national borders in every way.” During that time, the U.S. secretary of state—quoted above—has not been alone in expressing surprise. With varying degrees of shock, commentators and politicians have speculated about the significance of Putin’s “new” language, wondering whether it means Russia’s road to democracy has reached a fork; whether President Putin was really speaking to his domestic audience; or whether, even, the speech heralds some kind of policy change.

(snip)

Did anybody else think that Zeidenberg’s summation did major damage? You never know what a jury is going to do, but the whole story just zipped up so tight. If you’re awarding points on which side’s narrative makes more sense, there really isn’t any argument.

Sparkles – linky pls

The suspense is almost unbearable!
How long can lunch go on?
If Fitz does not appear soon I will pass out!

…must practice roll breathing and progressive relaxing…

J. Thomason @
26

HotFlash @ 23

KestrelBrighteyes @ 16

Still asking – is there a twelve step program for this?

My name is KestrelBrighteyes..and I am an FDLaholic.

Step one is lurk
Step two is post
Step three is admit your addiction
That’s as far as I’ve gotten.

Coffee has to be included in this sequence somewhere.

and popcorn.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01472.html

Link to Toensing’s WaPo chat.

thanks !

Sparkles the Iguana @ 42

Vickie Toensing spewing forth on WaPo……apparently she is in the courtroom today. I just asked her if Plame was not covert, why did CIA even refer it to DOJ for investigation.

Dang! I just asked her the exact same question!

RH. You’ve got mail. Not a biggie but Wells filed a motion on govt’s time for rebuttal. kinda funny but not real important. it can prolly wait until tonight.

Somebody else asked the same thing:

Peaks Island, Maine: If the CIA did not consider Plame a covert employee, why did they refer the disclosure to the FBI? Do you believe that the CIA, FBI, DOJ and Fitzgerald all are in error in stating that Plame was a covert employee of the CIA?

Victoria Toensing: My point in the piece was that the CIA did not send over a request for investigation based on the requirements of the covert law being broken. It sent a boilerplate classified information link form over. It’s not against the law to reveal the identity of someone whose position is classified at the agency. That’s why we wrote the covert law in 1982. I don’t even know that she was even classified.

Many things grabbed my attention as I followed along this morning. But two specifically jumped out at me from Wells’ summation, and they’re of a piece in my mind. I’d like to know what the lawyers here think about them.

There’s the comment about Libby’s kid’s dandy birthday gift, a flight on AF2. (Even if, as someone pointed out on the other thread, it involved spending the day with Uncle Grumpy.) And later, Wells made the point that Scooter was a “very important person.” I understand that I’m not hearing Wells, but reading his words, and his tone could have made a difference. But my quick take-away was that it was an insult that Scooter Libby, VIP, was even before the court at all. That’s for the rest of us riff-raff.

There’s something elitist in Wells’ summation. Jurors’ kids, as another commenter noted, aren’t going on AF2 junkets on their bdays. And if any of the jurors were to be brought up on charges, nobody’s likely to argue a VIP defense on their behalf. While not evidence, and not strong arguments for innocence, do these kinds of things seep into jurors’ minds? Do they color their thinking in deliberations? Or am I making more of them than jurors likely will? I’m curious.

CNN now live reporting on Libby

Rayne @
18

WAGGING THE DOG ALERT –

From Larisa Alexandrovna:

I just got word that the SS. John Stennis has arrived in the Persian Gulf on February 15. It apparently steamed better than 24 knots and had no port calls, which suggests it was in a hurry.

http://www.atlargely.com/2007/…..rives.html

My money’s on an attack of some sort on Iran if there’s a guilty verdict.

Sadly, I’ll put my money down on the same.

What I wanted to say was that when I first read the USS John Stennis comment, I misread it and thought for a few seconds that the Bush Administration was sending former Senator John Stennis to negotiate with the Iranians. That’s how low my expectations of Bushco. have fallen.

P.S. Will there be a day when the USS Cheney and a USS Leiberman are patrolling the Gulf? (Try not to think about THAT too much before going to bed tonight!)

Australia is planning to phase out incandescent bulbs:

Australia intends to phase out incandescent light bulbs completely within three years, the country’s environment minister said today.

The minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said the government would use both persuasion and regulation to get the whole country to switch to compact fluorescent bulbs, which use less energy, as part of its drive to cut down on the amount of “greenhouse” gases, implicated in global warming, that it releases into the atmosphere.

I have to wonder how useful this really is. According to the article, it will reduce Australia’s greenhouse as emissions by about 0.7%. Not exactly earth shaking.

Besides, I like the look of incandescent light, at least in homes. Flourescents all seem to look harsh.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02…..light.html

If Ockham’s Razor is ever going to apply – this is the case.

Wells argument is torture…

[Food-related]
Happy Paczki Day Everyone
(from the Windy City)

Boston1775 @ 40:

Friedman also amused himself on Imus by saying again and again: “How does one go about finding out whether there’s uranium or yellow cake in a country like Niger? That’s the question no one’s asked yet about this case. Do you ask this or that person: Have you seen uranium or yellow cake? Just how do you find out?”

Of course Imus agreed with him that this was a good question that no one’s asked yet.

Paul makes a good catch:

p.lukasiak @
28

Oh, I really hope fitz includes this in his rebuttal….

…now, we spent 12 minutes examining Mr. Russert, during which time he testified

T: Read Novak column in WaPo on Monday, July 14 in afternoon. I said, “Wow, this is significant.” Went to work and asked people we were working with what they knew.

F: Did anyone say they knew?

Just the opposite.

Mr Wells spent five hours cross-examining Mr. Russert, but not once did he ask him “are you certain that you read the Novak column on the 14th, and didn’t read it as wire copy on the 11th?” But now Mr. Wells wants you to think that there is “reasonable doubt” about everything that Mr. Russert testified to…. despite the fact that he never challenged Mr. Russerts account about how he read the column and how he went in to work and discussed it with his fellow employees and all of them were as suprised as he was.

Sparkles- If it is Fitz, then it brings to my mind one of my favorite bumper stickers from the Watergate era-
Impeach the Cox Sacker!
…unfortunately, not the same with substitution of “Fitz Sacker” … but the sentiment would certainly be the same.

Biodun @ 60

Boston1775 @ 40:

Friedman also amused himself on Imus by saying again and again: “How does one go about finding out whether there’s uranium or yellow cake in a country like Niger? That’s the question no one’s asked yet about this case. Do you ask this or that person: Have you seen uranium or yellow cake? Just how do you find out?”

Of course Imus agreed with him that this was a good question that no one’s asked yet.

That’s stupid! That is what Niger has to sell. It is one of their commodities.

WTF is *that* supposed to mean?
The investigation was initiated by random, standard paperwork?
I don’t think so.

…

Victoria Toensing: My point in the piece was that the CIA did not send over a request for investigation based on the requirements of the covert law being broken. It sent a boilerplate classified information link form over. It’s not against the law to reveal the identity of someone whose position is classified at the agency. That’s why we wrote the covert law in 1982. I don’t even know that she was even classified.

CNN reporter recapping summations thus far. Makes a point of Wells’ extensive challenge of credibility of Russert….

MSNBC? All Anna Nicole body all the time.

This doesn’t pass the laugh test.

Montclair, NJ: Do you hope the jurors read your column?

Victoria Toensing: No, I would hope they would follow their instructions not to do so. That’s the way our justice system works.

bellesouth @
51

Sparkles the Iguana @ 42

Vickie Toensing spewing forth on WaPo……apparently she is in the courtroom today. I just asked her if Plame was not covert, why did CIA even refer it to DOJ for investigation.

Dang! I just asked her the exact same question!

But did she answer it?

Sparkles the Iguana @ 42

Vickie Toensing spewing forth on WaPo……apparently she is in the courtroom today. I just asked her if Plame was not covert, why did CIA even refer it to DOJ for investigation.

sparkles, do you have a link to that chat, por favor?

laurie9 @ 61

Sparkles- If it is Fitz, then it brings to my mind one of my favorite bumper stickers from the Watergate era-
Impeach the Cox Sacker!
…unfortunately, not the same with substitution of “Fitz Sacker” … but the sentiment would certainly be the same.

Let’s just say a little prayer that we don’t need such a bumper sticker!

Shorter ABC analysis
If Libby walks it will mean that Fitz fizzled and meant nothing.
I disagree.
A *lot* of sunshine eminated from this trial.
The fawning bootlicking of the press.
Russert as a lackey, the Grey Lady complicit in cheerleading.
Those things do not go away.

MSNBC? All Anna Nicole body all the time.

They have to keep Rita Cosby busy now that they’ve dragged her out of deep freeze to dig up dirt on this tabloid (and quite frankly ghoulish) story. She’s doing her darndest too, from, of course, the Bahamas.

I wonder how Wells openning words came off in the court room. My first thought was that Fritz might respond, “Mr. Wells, being drunk is no excuse.”

But seriously, from where I sit and read, he seem quite whiny and defensive about Z’s “personal” comments. Z did state that Wells overpromised and didn’t deliver, but was Z really calling him a liar? Well’s response seemed to be ad hominem and bitter, which is not something the jury wants to deal with. Thoughts?

Eureka Springs, AR @ 67

Sparkles the Iguana @ 42

Vickie Toensing spewing forth on WaPo……apparently she is in the courtroom today. I just asked her if Plame was not covert, why did CIA even refer it to DOJ for investigation.

sparkles, ddo you have alink to that chat, por favor?

See @48 above.

I just finished reading the Prosecutions initial summation. I did not see where Zeidenberg expressed her appreciation for the jurors service. Did she do so?
I have never tried a case where the first words out of my mouth at summation weren’t:
“On behalf of X, as well of myself, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the jurors for the patience and attention they have devoted to this matter.”

infoshaman @ 56
Will there be a day when the USS Cheney and a USS Leiberman are patrolling the Gulf?

They’d have to be garbage scows, I’m thinking. Or hauled away as garbage (to quote someone else).

Rich @ 71

I wonder how Wells openning words came off in the court room. My first thought was that Fritz might respond, “Mr. Wells, being drunk is no excuse.”

But seriously, from where I sit and read, he seem quite whiny and defensive about Z’s “personal” comments. Z did state that Wells overpromised and didn’t deliver, but was Z really calling him a liar? Well’s response seemed to be ad hominem and bitter, which is not something the jury wants to deal with. Thoughts?

Yep. Or Fitz could accuse Wells of DWI….defending while intoxicated.

Oh, Noron, how low you have sunk.

From what I observed of Toensing’s chat the bottom line from her seems to be that Perjury charges are ONLY possible when icky sex is involved.

She’s quite the legal eagle that one.

beth meacham @ 67

bellesouth @
51

Sparkles the Iguana @ 42

Vickie Toensing spewing forth on WaPo……apparently she is in the courtroom today. I just asked her if Plame was not covert, why did CIA even refer it to DOJ for investigation.

Dang! I just asked her the exact same question!

But did she answer it?

Yes, someone else asked. See post @ 53.

Haha! Someone at the WaPo chat saw Vickie in the courtroom today, sitting at the Defense table!

[Mod Note; it’s probably worth getting confirmation on that before we spread it any further.]

Gaspard: LOL! Reminds me of Poirot!

Woodhall Hollow @ 80

Haha! Someone at the WaPo chat saw Vickie in the courtroom today, sitting at the Defense table!

She said it was just blind luck.

I say put her under oath and prepare the perjury charges!

The Economist’s take on the Libby trial (the view from across the pond):

DICK CHENEY has never been a great fan of open government. His staff refuse to reveal how many people work in his office, let alone what they do there. He went to court to keep the membership of his energy commission secret. You can find the White House and the Pentagon on Google Earth. But the vice-president’s official residence is pixellated out.

Which makes the trial of Mr Cheney’s former chief of staff, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, all the more notable. The defence finally decided against calling Mr Cheney to testify. But nevertheless the trial, which is now reaching its final stages, has cast a rare shaft of light on the vice-president’s dark world. His handwritten notes have been projected on giant screens. His bureaucratic fingerprints have been examined in the smallest detail.

(snip)

yeah, and look who she’s married to, Attaturk.

talk about ick– the two of them make me want to hurl and something’s gotta be done about these social-paths; DC has become quite a den of iniquity.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..498twp.jpg

Terre @
15

Incredible. Normally I watch MSNBC during the trial to listen to what Shuster has to say. Unfortunately, they’re STILL showing the damn court proceedings on A.N.Smith. 3 plus hours of that so far.

I’m forced to listen to CNN, which reports NOTHING on the Libby trial.

Did I tell you that (with the KO exception) cable news sucks?

Earlier it was all Anna all the time on MSNBC & CNN & CNN HEADLINE NEWS, oh, & FOX(!)

not a banner day for tellywatchers. makes ya wonder what would happen if they interrupted the soaps to cover Anna’s remains. Yikes!

Good news: Wells can’t claim jury nullification based on excessive tv coverage(?)

Attaturk @ 82

Woodhall Hollow @ 80

Haha! Someone at the WaPo chat saw Vickie in the courtroom today, sitting at the Defense table!

She said it was just blind luck.

I say put her under oath and prepare the perjury charges!

Yeah, I’d like to see what would happen if I walked up and sat down in a *spare* chair at the Defense table. Maybe Pach or someone can test it out…!

You did say on Any subject, right?

This is a link to an article in the Independent of 9th February. It is about an offer to talk from the Sunnis in Iraq. Not a cheep in any of the US media that I have seen, and sadly, not on an anti-war site either.

http://news.independent.co.uk/…..251354.ece

I do wish folkses would stop calling the present fracas “War”. We are the Occupation Forces now conducting Counter-Insurgency. The “war” bit was over when Saddam was ousted.

If Nancy Pelosi has told Dumbya he has to get permission to fire one single round at Iran, what does Congress have to do formally to remind him?

I think you can only ask one question, but I tried for another one, which was, “Did you or do you represent anyone involved in this case? Yes or No.”

Now I’d like to ask her, the weasel, based on this little tidbit of obfuscation:

A trip abroad does not make a person covert. “Covert” is only applied to people specifically assigned to live abroad.

What about working at B&J overseas?

Woodhall Hollow @ 79

Haha! Someone at the WaPo chat saw Vickie in the courtroom today, sitting at the Defense table!

[Mod Note; it’s probably worth getting confirmation on that before we spread it any further.]

Vickie confirmed it in her answer.

Victoria Toensing: I’m not a part of the defense team — there was an overflow, we were in the overflow room and lawyers can sit at that table. There were other lawyers there who were not part of the defense team, like Jake Stein.

[Food-related]
Happy Paczki Day Everyone
(from the Windy City)

Mmmm! Paczkis!

For a complete list of links we’ve covered in the Libby trial click on my name or HERE. I made a series in honor of all the hard work FDL has been doing, and hoping to save Christy some hard work.

Scrolling through it shows exactly why FDL has left the MSM in the dust. Will start updating this week tonight.

I saw Vickie’s answer and don’t know what to make of it. She sat at the defense table because it was crowded?

this happens to be the longest lunch hour I can remember

bellesouth @ 88

I think you can only ask one question, but I tried for another one, which was, “Did you or do you represent anyone involved in this case? Yes or No.”

Now I’d like to ask her, the weasel, based on this little tidbit of obfuscation:

A trip abroad does not make a person covert. “Covert” is only applied to people specifically assigned to live abroad.

What about working at B&J overseas?

This whole business about being covert or not is a red herring. The fact of the matter is that her employment status was CLASSIFIED! And it is illegal for a high govt official with security clearance to leak classified info.

Which is why all the speculation re what Bush/Cheney did or did not de-classify re Plame is so interesting. For me, that is the invisible elephant.

Terre @ 15

Unfortunately, they’re STILL showing the damn court proceedings on A.N.Smith. 3 plus hours of that so far.

that is why they had the A N Smith trial today so they wouldn’t need to report on Libby’s trial

Thanks, intrepid FDL-ers, for venturing over to Toensing’s chat and reporting back. After reading all of yesterday’s Longest OpEd In History, I couldn’t face anymore. But I did learn something new to yell at my TV when Sam Waterston’s botching it on Law & Order. “Jack! They have to be lying for nefarious reasons. Say nefarious.”

More about Cheney and the Libby trial from The Economist:

(snip)

He started his career as a failed academic, dropping out of Yale after a few terms and never completing his PhD at the University of Wisconsin. But he flourished when he came to Washington: attracting the attention of Donald Rumsfeld, rapidly climbing the greasy pole, and becoming Gerald Ford’s chief of staff at the age of 34. He had found his perfect milieu.

During his years as an insider he has acquired the typical habits of mind of veteran Washingtonians: an obsession with spin and gossip, including an over-inflated sense of the importance of newspaper articles; a hyper-sensitive nose for threats; and, it would appear, a determination to destroy his enemies by whatever means necessary. He began his career in the White House by conspiring with Donald Rumsfeld to sideline the vice-president, Nelson Rockefeller, and to rein in Henry Kissinger (who then combined the jobs of secretary of state and head of the National Security Council). If Mr Libby’s evidence is anything to go by, he has been conspiring and manoeuvring ever since.

(snip)

My bold.

Wells’ opening statement excerpt:

…And Mr. Libby, you will learn, went to the vice president of the United States and met with the vice president in private. Mr. Libby said to the vice president, I think the White House — people over there in the White House; not the office of the vice president — people in the White House are trying to set me up. People in the White House are trying to sacrifice me. People in the White House want me to be a scapegoat. People in the White House are trying to protect a man named Karl Rove, the president’s right-hand man.

And the vice president made a note of what Mr. Libby said in private to the vice president. The note shows Mr. Libby telling the vice president, I did not leak any classified information. I was not involved with the leak to Karl Rove — excuse me. I was not involved with the leak to Mr. Novak. I had nothing to do with the Novak leak. I did not leak any classified information. But I am concerned I am being set up. I am concerned people are trying to use me as a scapegoat.

And the vice president makes a note, and we have the note — and I am just going to show you one sentence of the note which sums up this nightmare for Scooter Libby. Let me show you one sentence of what the vice president wrote — and you will get to see it in the vice president’s own handwriting, in his own handwriting. He kept it. Maybe it never was supposed to be seen. The vice president wrote: “Not going to protect one staffer and sacrifice the guy that was asked to stick his neck in the meat grinder because of the incompetence of others.”

And you will learn from the evidence that the — stay on that slide, please. I am sorry. The person who was to be protected – “to protect one staffer” — that one staffer was Karl Rove.

Karl Rove was President Bush’s right-hand person in terms of political strategy. Karl Rove was the person most responsible for making sure that the Republican Party stayed in office. He was viewed as a political genius. His fate was important to the Republican Party if they were going to stay in office. He had to be protected.

And the person who was to be sacrificed – “sacrifice the guy” — that’s Scooter Libby. Scooter Libby was to be sacrificed. Karl Rove was to be protected.

Protect Karl Rove. Sacrifice Scooter Libby. The person whose neck had been put into the meat grinder, you will learn, was Scooter Libby. The vice president and the president of the United States — because the note is very interesting. The note, when you see it, has “the pres” – P-R-E-S — and then vice president Cheney crosses that out.

And then the person whose neck was put into the meat grinder was Scooter Libby…

How poignant.

What utter bullshit.
_

bellesouth @ 88

I think you can only ask one question, but I tried for another one, which was, “Did you or do you represent anyone involved in this case? Yes or No.”

Now I’d like to ask her, the weasel, based on this little tidbit of obfuscation:

A trip abroad does not make a person covert. “Covert” is only applied to people specifically assigned to live abroad.

What about working at B&J overseas?

Tonsiling is getting hammered over there with a preponderance of good questions. I think she’s a bit taken aback by the lack of sycophancy. I think they’re all beginning to be a little surprised that people are waking up and getting pissed off.

WAGGING THE DOG ALERT –

I just got word that the SS. John Stennis has arrived in the Persian Gulf on February 15. […]

My money’s on an attack of some sort on Iran if there’s a guilty verdict.

There will be an attack regardless of the trial outcome. “Spread the chaos outward” is the PNAC motto.

My thinking about Valerie Plame has always been – whether or not she was covert at the precise moment she was outed (which I maintain we don’t know, because the CIA keeps these things secret), she was someone who had two young children and probably wasn’t doing overseas work for that reason. But she wanted to keep her options open and wanted to do covert overseas work in the future once her children were older. Being outed ruined her career and any chance of doing what she wanted to do overseas.

Wrt Victoria Toesuck Toensing, Judge Walton excoriated Melanie Sloan, the Wilson’s attorney in their Civil, suit a few months ago for a few statements she made on HARDBALL. Toesuck Toensing wrote four-pages that were obviously timed to hit as the jury broke for deliberations.

This came up at TPM Muckraker earlier: Any chance of the cabal being taken down by this US Code of Law known as Misprision of Felony?

Whoever, having knowledge of the actual commission of a felony cognizable by a court of the United States, conceals and does not as soon as possible make known the same to some judge or other person in civil or military authority under the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

MSNBC briefly left the ANbody story…to talk about Obama’s Hollywood event. New Republieface Michelle Laxalt…well actually, it’s an obviously old face, steamrolled to a sheen with botox….refers to her “Democrat” counterpart Jack Quinn.

I do think we should shorten even more the “republic” party tag…to republi-speaker, -consultant, -WH spokesman, and so on.

Over time, the republies will become self evident.

Oh, and back to ANbody allatime. Noron, you poor dear, and in your condition, too.

John Casper @ 102

Wrt Victoria Toesuck Toensing, Judge Walton excoriated Melanie Sloan, the Wilson’s attorney in their Civil, suit a few months ago for a few statements she made on HARDBALL. Toesuck Toensing wrote four-pages that were obviously timed to hit as the jury broke for deliberations.

it’s the cheney sleeper cells ramping up.

New Libby Live thread upstairs

My unanswered question to VT. Just how much did Babs pay you to write that editorial?

And then the person whose neck was put into the meat grinder was Scooter Libby…

Mixed metaphors anyone?

Shez….

THANK YOU!

A desktop shortcut to your synopsis is certainly in order.

hackworth,
She must be thinking, “An informed populace! What is this country coming to?”

kristinejoy @
21

You know what strikes me in the way that this was layed out–Scooter tried to get someone to bite on his “bombshell” CIA leak for over two weeks, and noboby, I mean nobody cared. Rove comes in, beginning of July, and immediately gets it in print.

Must have been hard on Scooter’s ego–Rove spanked him on the VP’s pet project.

I second this – Rove was also way more slick in the way he disseminated the info – always as an aside in a conversation the journalist had initiated on another topic. There was some exhibit that described the effectiveness of this type of political knifejob.

I bet Rove etc were cursing Scooter and Cheney on many counts – ineffective rumor spreading, poor coverup, and then inability to lie with a straight face.

mack @ 63

WTF is *that* supposed to mean?
The investigation was initiated by random, standard paperwork?
I don’t think so.

…

Victoria Toensing: My point in the piece was that the CIA did not send over a request for investigation based on the requirements of the covert law being broken. It sent a boilerplate classified information link form over. It’s not against the law to reveal the identity of someone whose position is classified at the agency. That’s why we wrote the covert law in 1982. I don’t even know that she was even classified.

Yeah, her answer does not explain shit. If everyone knew from the outset that there were zero legal consequences to revealing Plame’s identity, why did the invesetigation go forward? Why did the FBI continue to question, why did Ashcroft recuse himself, why was a Special Counsel deemed to be necessary? Surely Vickie does not think this was political….Republicans investigating Republicans?

Here’s a piece of news that somehow got by the MSM. Last week during Bush’s press conference he was addressing a woman reporter who asked him a question about Iraq. In the middle of his somewhat testy reply to her he blurted, “You’ve been to Iraq. I haven’t”. Um.. then where was he when he appeared in an army mess hall with a huge plastic turkey on the first Thanksgiving Day during the war? Remember that? Was that photo op made stateside? I think this story deserves investigating. If the turkey was fake it stands to reason everything we saw in that clip was, too.

I am waiting for the illegal wire-tap of one of the jury to pay-off with a hung jury…

Is that a roasted turkey in the thread photograph?

mayan @ 115

Is that a roasted turkey in the thread photograph?

That is one big honkin lunch.

vitriolic toes a singin
an off key ballad of lies

mayan @ 115

No, just another chickenhawk that’s had its goose cooked (to mix a metaphor).

maunga @
87

You did say on Any subject, right?

This is a link to an article in the Independent of 9th February. It is about an offer to talk from the Sunnis in Iraq. Not a cheep in any of the US media that I have seen, and sadly, not on an anti-war site either.

Can this really be true? We all know about it over here on the little island, and you could always get it off the Guardian website, which should be required reading for US liberals. Yes they really did offer to talk. It might have been tongue in cheek, but a good idea to find out don’t you think?

While I’m on is it just your reporting, or is Wells rather incoherent? If he is, is that a tactic or is he trying to create confusion in the minds of the jurors, which in view of the clarity of the preceding summation, might be a good idea?

http://news.independent.co.uk/…..251354.ece

I do wish folkses would stop calling the present fracas “War”. We are the Occupation Forces now conducting Counter-Insurgency. The “war” bit was over when Saddam was ousted.

If Nancy Pelosi has told Dumbya he has to get permission to fire one single round at Iran, what does Congress have to do formally to remind him?

Shez @ 91:

Wow! Thanks. But you do yourself a disservice. You should also have posted this link, embedded in your website:

http://mmnetroots.com/libbylinks.html

It was touched upon a little, but I see it as critical. Anyone with a security clearance should not be peddling OR CONFIRMING classified information. Rove Libby should have lost their clearances from the get-go. Libby signed documents that he understood and was responsible to handle sensitive information. Negligence and I forgot are not specail clauses in those documents.

Shorter Wells:

Blah Blah hic Blah Yada Yada Blah Blah

Great job!! I would appreciate a general comment as to effectiveness of defense lawyers. Does it appear that no Libby/no Cheney could be a big problem for them??

I think Wells’ statement reveals evidence of why Libby thinks of himself as “innocent.” There may be a clue in here as to the real sequence of events of the leak. Specifically, an early stage in which Plame’s ID was leaked in order to sway reporters off of Wilson’s information entirely; then a later one in which they desperately sought to damage the Wilsons and therefore silence CIA officers who were beginning to talk. Wells seems is implying that the process of leaking Plame’s identity did not in fact begin with his client, (Armitage’s leak to Woodward is the first known admin-reporter disclosure of Plame’s ID), therefore Fitz has the “wrong man.” In other words, when Libby later on the orders of Dick Cheney leaped in with both feet and began leaking all over the place, he may have been trying to bail out of a bad situation (in fact he may have thought the leak was a bad idea all along but “just followed orders.”) This makes Libby “innocent” in his own mind because the leak was not his idea. This also made Libby feel he had a duty to lie (to protect his boss Cheney’s bad decision to overtly out Plame). By IOKIYAR standards, therefore Libby is “an innocent man.”

Someone posted this over at another blog today:

A reporter in the White House briefing today, “Victoria Jones from Talk Radio News Service” slipped in a very important question to Tony Snow, “Can you confirm that Karl Rove received a copy of the Iranian proposal for negotiations in 2003?”

Here is the link: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news…..220-3.html

Victoria Jones from Talk Radio News Service:

Q One more, please. Can you confirm that Karl Rove received a copy of the Iranian proposal for negotiation sometime in early May, 2003?

MR. SNOW: I absolutely cannot. I know nothing about it.

Q Are you sure you know nothing about it?

MR. SNOW: I am sure that I know nothing about it. I will try to find out —

Q Can you find out about it?

MR. SNOW: I will try to find out.

Q Thank you.

MR. SNOW: Apparently you think you know something about it — (laughter) —

Q I do.

Boston1775 @
92

I saw Vickie’s answer and don’t know what to make of it. She sat at the defense table because it was crowded?

Ha! I’ve deciphered this. The ROOM was crowded, but the DEFENSE TABLE was not. My conclusions: (1) There are a lot of folks who don’t want to sit with Libby any more. (2) The rats are leaving the sinking ship.

Bob in HI

Soooo..The Empire Strikes Back with a few legal rulings. Think you’re gonna sue big corporations for millions? Think again.

Think you’re gonna get legal redress if you are accused of terrorism? Think again.

Pray for the health of Justice Stevens.

-GSD

S.O.S. in MA @ 23

Rayne @ 18

WAGGING THE DOG ALERT –
…
My money’s on an attack of some sort on Iran if there’s a guilty verdict.

I wouldn’t bet against that, unfortunately… Bastards at the helm of our ship of state.

If any of you have read, “The Greatest Story Every Sold” you would have to agree with this view.

p.lukasiak @ 28

Oh, I really hope fitz includes this in his rebuttal….

…now, we spent 12 minutes examining Mr. Russert, during which time he testified

T: Read Novak column in WaPo on Monday, July 14 in afternoon. I said, “Wow, this is significant.” Went to work and asked people we were working with what they knew.

F: Did anyone say they knew?

Just the opposite.

Mr Wells spent five hours cross-examining Mr. Russert, but not once did he ask him “are you certain that you read the Novak column on the 14th, and didn’t read it as wire copy on the 11th?” But now Mr. Wells wants you to think that there is “reasonable doubt” about everything that Mr. Russert testified to…. despite the fact that he never challenged Mr. Russerts account about how he read the column and how he went in to work and discussed it with his fellow employees and all of them were as suprised as he was.

And despite the fact he never brought ANYONE forward that could show that they learned about Plame on July 11th or 12th FROM THE AP WIRE!

He never even brought forward any evidence that it WAS sent out on the AP Wire by the 11th! He simply got Novak to say that he thought it might be sent out the day he submitted it.

Lemme see…d’ya think that the AP might be a bit slow to do things on Friday afternoons and on weekends?

Sparkles the Iguana @ 42

Vickie Toensing spewing forth on WaPo……apparently she is in the courtroom today. I just asked her if Plame was not covert, why did CIA even refer it to DOJ for investigation.

Also ask her that if Plame’s position and activities were Non-Classified why can’t she obtain that information about what she did from the CIA’s Public Information Office? And why can’t any other Media source?

Seems that this means that it’s classified, hush-hush on the QT….perhaps even COVERT…if the CIA’s lawyers actually asked the DOJ to investigate a possible violation of the Intelligence Agents Identity Protection Act. You’d certainly think that the lawyers (they call them Counsellors) at the CIA were able to look at Plame’s employment history before sending the DOJ the referral!

This just shows theses idiots are morons and have no idea what the issue is about at all. Don’t they realize that Nigerien yellowcake is sold to Western countries and Japan for their reactors?

Biodun @ 60

Boston1775 @ 40:

Friedman also amused himself on Imus by saying again and again: “How does one go about finding out whether there’s uranium or yellow cake in a country like Niger? That’s the question no one’s asked yet about this case. Do you ask this or that person: Have you seen uranium or yellow cake? Just how do you find out?”

Of course Imus agreed with him that this was a good question that no one’s asked yet.

bellesouth @ 88

I think you can only ask one question, but I tried for another one, which was, “Did you or do you represent anyone involved in this case? Yes or No.”

Now I’d like to ask her, the weasel, based on this little tidbit of obfuscation:

A trip abroad does not make a person covert. “Covert” is only applied to people specifically assigned to live abroad.

What about working at B&J overseas?

If Toensig wrote the law she should realize that the law doesn’t say anyhting about an agent having to “LIVE” or be “STATIONED” abroad.

The law says that the agent merely has to have SERVED abroad. That means that any activity on CIA business undertaken overseas would apply…even a day trip to interrogate a source that couldn’t be brought back to the United States.

Toensig would have to argue that the team sent over to kidnap the mullah in Italy weren’t covert and on a covert operation. They’d still have to be living abroad by her rationales!

In addition the law clearly does distinguish situations where “sources” LIVING abroad are accorded similar protection as Agents who SERVE abroad. If the law only implied that agents who lived abroad were protected it would have used the SAME LANGUAGE as it used in reference to the sources.

Re: Attack on Iran.

General Clark has been warning everyone who will listen about this for years now.

Frenchie Cat at DU put together an excellent post of his ongoing efforts to STOP THE NEXT WAR BEFORE IT STARTS!! I pray he is being heard.

Nary a word from Corpress on any of these efforts. Big shock, eh?

What has WES CLARK Done? IRAN: A Work in Progress

Clark has long said Jr. will attack Iran this Spring. Time is running short… :(

I keep getting BROWN lunch trays.

It seems to me that if Libby failed to really get the outing out to the media and that Rove had to step in and get the job done properly (so the media would actually report it), then that indicates the top dog wasn’t Cheney, but that it was either Bush or a collaboration of Bush, Cheney and perhaps some others near the top (like Rove, Matalin, Rice, Libby, etc.).

They’re probably all guilty.