His role was clear-cut, and it came up in your own coverage. And in mainstream media coverage, as well as that of other blogs.

Cooper received leaks; Cooper knowingly published false stories; Cooper refused to testify about what he knew. Until he had to. Like Russert, Miller, and others, Cooper’s role was to distribute false information, and deny his readers the real story.

montag @ 32

This may distill a few of those points, but, what this shows is that it’s a whole lot easier to lie to the current bunch of slobs in the White House Correspondents Association than it is to a grand jury… and that Scooter and Shooter didn’t know that before, but, they sure as hell do now….

Which is tangential to another point that came to my mind earlier:

It never even *occurred* to them that this wouldn’t be successfully covered up. They probably thought they had either covered their tracks well enough that no-one could prove anything, or that the prosecutor would be some crony who would just go through the motions and then give a shrug and a wink.

They thought that because the same tactics have already been successful so often.

This is an abberation, caused by a truly treasonous action by Cheney and probably Bush, followed by the amazing appointment of Patrick Fitzgerald as Special Prosecutor.

I understand the frustration of how slowly the ‘wheels of justice’ move. But you must have faith and patience.
… Fitzgerald is methodical and deliberate.

Yes, I agree OVP and the WH do have serious cause for concern if Libby is found guilty, perhaps especially on the obstruction charge.

On the one hand I think it would be a very difficult task to pursue. And yet on the other, Ken Starr was able to get to BC on a far less significant matter, although he had Monica singing.

Starr was given more judicial power than Fitzgerald, since Starr was acting as a Special Prosecutor.. Right?

I am too young to know, but to me this has much more of a Watergate feel to it than the much simpler Monicagate. W-gate took a while to develop too, is my understanding. And that one also exploded only once the MSM finally got fully on board.

All this 3-inch page A16 crap so far may be a prelude, as well as a harken-back. I sure hope so, because the size of the issue is potentially far greater even than the W-gate break in and subsequent coverup. This thing could very easily mushroom-cloud.

It’s good that the jury seems to be taking this seriously. The evidence would seem to weigh in on Fitz’s side.. Fingers crossed ..

RockPaperScizzors @ 226

The question that arises is whether Cheney was ‘instructed’ to declassify, manipulate, and deliberate endangerment of national security to obfuscate the truth. Cheney may not be the final destination of our trip. The Drama continues if Libby is convicted and we continue on Fitz’s roadmap.

I am impressed that Fitz got as far as he did and certainly hope he progresses until we have the full truth of the matter.

But it is very diffcult for me to imagine that Justice will be able to reach as high as the Pres, even if that’s where the trail in fact leads……They may well get away with it, is what I am resigned to.

I understand the frustration of how slowly the ‘wheels of justice’ move. But you must have faith and patience. It may be that Fitz moves like the tortoise but in the end he will cross the finishline. When Gov. Ryan was convicted recently, it was due to the slow, long, drawnout process over many years. From Daily Kos:
“U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald took over the investigation into corruption in the Governor’s office in 2002, indicting him in December of 2003 (Fitzgerald indicted some 73 Ryan administration officials before he made his way to the top). “I submit that the citizens of this state expect honest government from the secretary of state or the governor,” Fitzgerald said at the time. “They deserve nothing less.” For those not familiar with Illinois state politics, George Ryan was a Republican who was governor from 1999 to 2003. Before that, he was Secretary of State, from 1990 to 1998. A Republican powerhouse, his actions mirror those of Republicans on the national scene: cronyism, rewarding campaign donors, free trips to Jamaica, accepting gifts from lobbyists, and more….prosecutors pointed to what they called the “tangible consequences of corruption.” In November 1994, six children (all of one family) died when a piece of a semitrailer truck fell off and hit their van, causing it to explode. The driver of the truck was not qualified to drive that vehicle, but he had paid a bribe to get his license under the Ryan administration. It was also alleged that the Ryan’s Attorney General sought to squash an investigation into the crash. “
http://www.dailykos.com/storyo…..132349/646

The chain of events that began in 1994 was the death of six children from one family and was the jumpstart to the unravelment of Ryan’s criminal activities. This excerpt is from Department of Justice:
“WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and United States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald of the Northern District of Illinois today announced that a federal grand jury in Chicago issued a 22-count superseding indictment against former Illinois Governor George H. Ryan, Sr., and businessman Lawrence E. Warner.
The indictment charges Ryan with racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, and other crimes alleging public corruption, official misconduct, and fraudulent conduct during his terms as Illinois Secretary of State and Governor of Illinois.”

Fitzgerald is methodical and deliberate. He is reminiscient of the ancient seafaring voyaguers. Time is inconsequential to him.

It is easy to fool a lot of people, especially with something as nonsensical as a coverup of something that didn’t exist.

In this case, the yellowcake uranium was all over the news and was one of the main reasons that the war on Iraq started.

Since there really wasn’t any uranium, the Bushites needed to cover up its nonexistance.

Still, i think the story became more conveinient as a distration for the bloggers. We could have really shone light on the Repugs corruption, but we were still calling for “Fitz” to fix it for us.

Fitzpatrick is every bit as much of a republican special attack prosecutor as Ken Starr. They were just much more clever about the packaging this time, since it was their own sins that were upon indictment.

The question that arises is whether Cheney was ‘instructed’ to declassify, manipulate, and deliberate endangerment of national security to obfuscate the truth. Cheney may not be the final destination of our trip. The Drama continues if Libby is convicted and we continue on Fitz’s roadmap.

I am impressed that Fitz got as far as he did and certainly hope he progresses until we have the full truth of the matter.

But it is very diffcult for me to imagine that Justice will be able to reach as high as the Pres, even if that’s where the trail in fact leads.

Convicting Cheney would be difficult if it relies mostly on Libby’s testimony, and convicting Bush even harder, if that relies mostly on Cheney.

Like others have commented, it may be a political matter at this point, something only available to our week-kneed Congress. The exec branch’s claims of privilege would seem to render senate subpoenas mute, and so impeachment proceedings would be the only course and I just don’t believe anyone has the stomach for it, especially since time’s running out on this admin anyway.

They may well get away with it, is what I am resigned to.

If Libby is found guilty I believe the next step(s) are motive and intent. Libby is one of the leakers and according to the transcript it’s OK to discuss Plame within the government to government officials, “The indictment alleges that Mr. Libby learned the information about Valerie Wilson at least three times in June of 2003 from government officials.
Let me make clear there was nothing wrong with government officials discussing Valerie Wilson or Mr. Wilson or his wife and imparting the information to Mr. Libby. ….FITZGERALD: So that at least seven discussions involving government officials prior to the day when Mr. Libby claims he learned this information as if it were new from Mr. Russert. And, in fact, when he spoke to Mr. Russert, they never discussed it.
But in addition to focusing on how it is that Mr. Libby learned this information and what he thought about it, it’s important to focus on what it is that Mr. Libby said to the reporters. In the account he gave to the FBI and to the grand jury was that he told reporters Cooper and Miller at the end of the week, on July 12th. And that what he told them was he gave them information that he got from other reporters; other reporters were saying this, and Mr. Libby did not know if it were true. And in fact, Mr. Libby testified that he told the reporters he did not even know if Mr. Wilson had a wife.
And, in fact, we now know that Mr. Libby discussed this information about Valerie Wilson at least four times prior to July 14th, 2003: on three occasions with Judith Miller of the New York Times and on one occasion with Matthew Cooper of Time magazine.

My guesstimate of where Fitz is taking us is to Cheney but how to get there is through Libby who set the roadblocks and detours. The big question is how Cheney ‘the hand that rocked the cradle’ will be implicated? Did Cheney ‘instruct’ Libby to inform reporters of Plame? What was the motive? Was there malicious intent? Did Cheney knowingly instruct Libby to damage national security in the outing of Plame? Transcript: “FITZGERALD: The fact that she was a CIA officer was not well- known, for her protection or for the benefit of all us. It’s important that a CIA officer’s identity be protected, that it be protected not just for the officer, but for the nation’s security.”
In Cheney’s self-serving mindset of ‘the ends just the means’ commit treason? The question that arises is whether Cheney was ‘instructed’ to declassify, manipulate, and deliberate endangerment of national security to obfuscate the truth. Cheney may not be the final destination of our trip. The Drama continues if Libby is convicted and we continue on Fitz’s roadmap.

I am able to view videos at other sites so I have no idea what could be going on. Any ideas about how I can fix this would be appreciated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All I can say is: Bush Derangement Syndrome
is real. You people are delusional.

God help us.

Jane and Marcy rock!!!!!!!! You guys are just incredible. I am blowing kisses at the screen and snail- mailing a donation. XXX