Login HereNot too much happened today at the courthouse. I sat in the media room all day and was actually surprised that it was completely full for most of the day -- many who hadn't been around for much of the trial feel compelled to hang out for verdict watch. Early this morning the jury asked for an easel and pictures of all the witnesses, and it seemed likely they wanted to map out some sort of diagram or timeline for the case. Since there is both an MIT Ph.d and a mathematician on the jury, it's also seems likely that the jury is taking a reasoned approach to determining a verdict. That does not bode well for Ted Wells' highly emotional, "give me back my baby Scooter" entreaties.
One of the things about our sojourn here in DC that has sparked much interest is Plame House, which became a crash pad for all of us who came here to write about the trial. It's a pretty modest place but it has served as a nice home for us for the past few weeks, and so the PoliticsTV people thought that we should talk a bit about how it came to be on the YouTube above. It certainly has been a wonderful experience, financed by readers of this site and others, and on behalf of all of us I cannot thank everyone who contributed to it enough. It was a really exciting experiment to be a part of, I do think we have had some impact on the spin that threatens to take over the story at times, and I think we've also added to the depth of the narrative in a quite compelling way (in addition to feeding the habits of many a Jonesing Plame addict). I hope that it can serve as something of a model for other events in the future, and very much look forward to doing something along these lines again when the moment seems right.
Again, thanks to the folks at PoliticsTV for being there with us throughout the trial. They've been absolutely wonderful.
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Since there is both an MIT Ph.d and a mathematician on the jury, it’s also seems likely that the jury is taking a reasoned approach to determining a verdict. That does not bode well for Ted Wells’ highly emotional, “give me back my baby Scooter” entreaties.
Did I read right that PhD jurors were the *defense’s* idea? How does that jibe with an arm-waving, smoke-blowing, confuse-the-jury defense?
Wow… I actually read the post before realizing there weren’t any comments yet. Uncanny… Such a great job ya’ll have done with this thing. I sure hope the MSM learn a thing or two from your efforts here…
Thank YOU Jane, Christy, Emptywheel, and everyone else. You did us all so proud. The impact has been amazing.
Hope you are doing well, Jane.
MayDaze @ 6
Amen to that.
Here’s to your health, Jane!!
I am a total Jones-er. FDL is my rig.
Hi Jane! Stay warm and well.
Kudos to you all, this place often seems like an oasis of sanity in an ocean of shite. The analyses of the closing arguments have been amazing and make for great late night reading. Too bad I can’t afford the top shelf Cognac and I hate cigars…
Yesterdays Video had an interesting peice of Art in the background. Was that shot in Plame House or a Museum?
I guess I will say ‘job well done’. Of course no one needs me to say that. A brief moment of humility? ;0)
Thanks for taking me on this ride, Jane, it’s just swell.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 12
Heck, humble doesn’t become you! JANE!! Say LOUD, say it PROUD!
So… what do we turn our collective attention to now? I know what I’m going to do.
It’s a very small amount, but earlier today I was compelled to click on the Paypal link to give a few bucks just to say that you all have truly done something very worthy of support here.
You’re forging new ground and teaching everyone how public participation should be handled.
Now, I am a person of very modest means, so if I can contribute a little bit, so can most other readers. Chip in, everyone. We need efforts like this to succeed.
can you all tear up the bathroom tiles and autograph them, then sell them on eBay?
Thanks for all you’ve done, I donated a pittance, wish I could bankroll the whole thing…
So, what’s next? There’s a real momentum starting here….possible to find more bloggers with expertise on defense spending, healthcare administration, constitutional law, who could blog future committee hearings and diagram the political ebb and flow for us lefties?
You can’t let it end here! I realize you all need to make a living, but pass the torch if you can.
cazimi @ 16
No doubt the folks at Plame House and readers of the blog appreciate your “modest” contribution very much! Thank you!
I’m ready to kick some political …! And do the work.
It is my pleasure to yet again adjust the track lighting.
RBG @ 21
Are they paying you union scale? *g*
RBG @
21
wouldn’t want any glare now…
I have never felt so much a part of a like minded community as I do here at FDL.
Many thanks to all FDLers. This has been, and continues to be, an awesome experience.
To be part of history in the making. Wow. just WOW.
I’m hoping to be able to send some $$ as soon as I get my Tax refund. :).
Hello to those reading this who’ve neither commented nor contributed! Consider one and the other — or both, please.
As a disabled person of very modest means who’s made multiple contributions to Plame House, I ask you: please help. My small contributions have made me feel vested in a way I’d love to share with you.
Give; it goes both ways.
All we have is until Nov. 2008. Not a whole lotta time really.
We need to elect a prez and get a solid Demo majority. Sounds simple. Doesn’t it?
Just saw a video of the founder of “Americans for Jobs, Health Care and Progressive Values” talking on C-SPAN about how his organization’s sole purpose was to “take out” Howard Dean. At least that piece of, um, “work” is not the one Obama hired. But still, if you really want to “change the tone” in politics, you probably shouldn’t hire the guy who was the spokesman for that same organization.
TeddySanFran @ 25
TSF,
That was so very well said! Thank you! I always look forward to your comments here.
AZ Matt @
22
How about I just say that the working conditions and benefit package are really quite rewarding.
For RGB and others behind the scenes: What’ll ya have, I’m buyin’.
amen TeddySF!, amen
have only recently been in a position to give to FDL and damn it felt good - and the goodness far outweighed any sense of it not being adequate
RBG @ 30
Sounds Star Struck to me! 8>)
*blushes*
back atcha
The primaries and the general. Piece of cake. Right? I don’t think so. It’s going to take a lot of hard, very hard work. And money.
“give me back my baby Scooter” Too funny! Thanks.
came for the consummate Plameology. got hooked on a friendly community and snarkasm. got fired up for Lamont and Blue America. ran up some credit cards with feel-good donations.
…what’s not to like?
Eli @ 3: “Did I read right that PhD jurors were the *defense’s* idea? How does that jibe with an arm-waving, smoke-blowing, confuse-the-jury defense?”
PhD’s in the sciences used to lean, by a slight margin, towards the Republican party.
I don’t know if that’s still the case, somehow I doubt it, but it may have been the thinking behind the defense wanting them on the jury, *if* that’s what happened.
legaleze @ 36
And yet millions of Americans saw Judge Larry cry about disposing of Anna Nicole; few could tell you who Wells is.
legaleze @ 36
You means to say Scooter’s mom and Ted Wells!? Who would have thought! But I must say he probably takes after his mother’s side more.
The word “awesome” has been, unfortunately, devalued in recent years (vide “Your new Ferragamos are wicked awesome, Condi!”).
In the old sense of that word, therefore, and I know that you will all agree, the FDL team has done awesome work throughout “L’affaire Plame” — and hopefully will continue to do so well beyond this case.
http://www.pulitzer.com — there, I’ve just made it easier for you on the Nominating Committee (and I know you’re out there) to Do The Right Thing. TYVM and LOL.
————
P.S. — We’re taking our country back. You wanna come along or keep playing for the Ancien Regime?
punaise @ 37
well, there’s this punster from the left coast who’s always cracking wise…. ;>
JGabriel @ 38
I guess that could be it, but if I were them, I’d be looking for indecisive, easily confused people who are distracted by shiny objects.
TeddySanFran @
25
I’ve chipped in my li’l bit, and I’m going to get Marcy’s book, too. It does feel good and makes you feel ‘part of’. I’m pretty hand-to-mouth myself, but I’ve decided to make small contributions to the people and issues I support.
There’s an attempt afoot to stampede the herd (herd: that’s us). Are ya’ll gonna be happy with President HRC?
yeah, as in that scene at the airport in Casablanca. Make a decision here, Schuster….
hi Alicia!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 45
I’m not real thrilled with *any* of the top three candidates. Edwards would be my preference as president, but I think he’s a weak campaigner who doesn’t know how to counter Republican smear attacks.
You know… people who voted for attacking Iraq helped enable people like Libby.
punaise @ 37
ROTFLOL & TYVM!!!
hey TSF! guess we don’t call it Baghdad by the Bay anymore, huh?
Echoing the sentiments of the blogosphere and my own sometimes comments, I’m tres impressed with both the possibilities of what this became, and the actuality. I don’t offer this lightly, but if you want to have a Blog House for the Dem convention, shoot me an email. Lots of room, lots of political whoring in the area.
Regardless, you all should be very proud of what you’ve done here. Also not said lightly, but you’ve shifted the political plates of How Things Get Done in the 21st century.
RBG - you must be a little bit relieved that things aren’t quite as crazy as they’ve been for the past month or so.
Thank you so much for putting up with all of us and so patiently slaying trolls and keeping us all in line.
Eli @ 48
With only slighly more experience than Obama. I am still holding out for Gore.
dab_from_CT @ 53
hear, hear!
Pectopah @ 54
Oh, I really *really* want Gore. But I think Stoller’s right that he’s not running. Clark and Richardson are intriguing dark horses, but I’m really not super-excited by anybody.
Come 2008… I don’t want to be “crazy on a ship of fools”.
*in tears* Give me back my FDL YouTube!
…very much look forward to doing something along these lines again when the moment seems right.
That moment is every night! :)
S.O.S. in MA @ 50
ROTFLOL & TYVM!!!
TRex once volunteered to be the keeper of the FDL snarkives. :~)
That the jury is putting together a timeline seems fairly clear. It also seems clear that it (the jury) is considering each charge very, very carefully.
Whatever the verdit turns out to be, I’m confident the jury will have taken its work very seriously. Between Walton running a tight ship and this particular jury, would that make an appeal that much more difficult for Scooter (assuming a guilty verdict)?
Eli @ 48
It wouldn’t matter what smears the `pugs came up with if just one of them would say, straight out: “I’m going to prosecute the people who lied about war, I’m going to prosecute the people who stole tax dollars that were supposed to go to soldiers and put that money in their own pockets. I’m going to put corporations on a short leash, for their good and for ours. I’m going to repair the bridges that Bush and Cheney have burned behind them. The rich will pay their fair share of taxes and the poor will finally get some relief. I’m going to spend their tax money on preserving our future, and theirs. I’m going to take religion out of government and put it back in the churches where it belongs. I’m going to bring our troops home and work with the international community to repair the damage caused by an illegal, immoral war created from lies, by liars.”
That’d do it for me. But, I ain’t holdin’ my breath.
mc @ 60
A serious jury is bad for Libby. Wells wants a jury that just throws up its hands and says “It’s all too confusing!”
let’s remember he made a fortune speaking to juries, often countering the high priced legal help of insurance companies
let’s see what he can do now that he’s been De-Shrum’d
Eli @ 56
Gore will run if called (and I don’t mean by God). Hopefully this kerfuffle is the start of the Hillary implosion.
With so many big states moving to Feb 5, you could have a two or three way stalemate on Feb 6. That could induce Gore to jump in.
montag @ 61
Of course, any candidate who would say that wouldn’t let the mud slide, either.
punaise @ 51
Tehran by the Bay? Washington by the Bay? I think in the spirit of Herb Caen, the great San Francisco columnist, Baghdad by the Bay is still good(and it just has to tick off all the wingnuts).
punaise @ 51
There have been 16 murders in EssEff in 2007, twice 2006’s rate. Not like Bahgdad, but scary.
cbl @ 63
I believe we already have. He should have torn Donohue a new one, and instead he *agreed* with him.
Pectopah @ 64
I hope so. I haven’t seen anything to convince me that Hillary’s going to be derailed, unless her refusal to admit that her Iraq vote was a mistake turns out to be poison, which I think is a very good possibility. And she’s made it a lot harder for herself to back away from it.
I’d like to add my squeaky little voice in appreciation for all of you brilliant people who provide us with FDL goodness. There is so much information, intelligence, humor and hope here.
oh crikey, Eli, I didn’t follow the story so much as the outline - I am so disappointed to hear that
A very conservative Republican friend of mine just sent me an email showing a passenger plan with a coffin of an American soldier being offloading. It is an extremely poignant photo because it is night time and soldiers in full dress uniform are offloading a flag draped coffin while passengers are looking out the window.
The second photo included in the email is of the wife, sleeping on a cot beside her husband the night before he was buried.
They are stunning photos and the commentary is heartbreaking. And this is being sent around the Internet by people of all political persuasions. I have to hope that the tide is turning. I just have to hope.
There is much talent in the Demo party. Exclusive of Hillary and Obama.
cbl @ 71
He basically said that he was troubled by the writings that Donohue had pointed out, but he wasn’t going to fire them. And that was basically it. No counterattack, no calling Donohue on his bullshit, no full-throated defense of his employees, even after the hate mail started flying. I don’t know if he pushed them to resign, or just quietly waited for them to.
I’ll be on the Gore bandwagon in a jiffy. Wait, I’m already on it.
“accept no substitutes”
If Hillary is so smart, why couldn’t she see this warvote-denial thing coming? The only way she could not deny her vote — or admit it’s a mistake — is if she really, really believes in her vote.
In which case, I do not want her to be President.
There; that was simple. Thank you, Senator Clinton.
punaise @ 75
Same here, but we need a Plan B if Gore is content to be Global Warming Jimmy Carter.
‘Hillary the triangulator’. ‘Obama the conciliator’. I vote for neither concept last Nov.
I have to comment on the editing of comments by the mods, specifically pundit’s comment on the last thread. An entire sentence was deleted, apparently because it was not deemed “politically correct”. I always appreciated this site because the posts (and comments) showed a “take no prisoners” attitude, which I found refreshing considering the pablum we are fed from most other sources. Are we now to acquiesce to censorship in the name of “civility”? Where will it end, when we are receiving nothing but pablum here, too?
[RBG Note; Just so we’re clear, the mods have specific instructions that comments about violence against other persons should be moderated. In this particular case, the mods deleted one sentence as opposed to the entire comment. I gotta say I think they made the right choice.]
punaise @ 75
;0)
TeddySanFran @ 76
If she was so smart, she wouldn’t have voted for the war in the first place.
Eli @ 56
Me too. The rest of the field doesn’t truly thrill me. I’m a cockeyed optimist (I’m not even asking for anyone to call me one). :) I still think that Governor Howard Dean MD, now the recently vindicated (”50-state strategy”) Chairman of the DNC, should take another crack at the nomination, assuming Gore makes the “Sherman Statement” ( http://tinyurl.com/2cuu6o ). And the media hatchet job be DAMNED. I’d just like to see the Repukes TRY to drag him down with bad miking this time out…
I do not accept the notion I should acccept second, or third, or whatever best.
Or rather, if you accept the framing both she and Kerry used, she shouldn’t have granted Bush the authority to go to war, because questions about intel aside, anyone who believed Bush would not use that authority is waaaay too trusting to be president.
punaise @ 59
That would be so snarkhetypical of him.
I used to think Hillary was very smart. What does that make me? Not very smart. Then.
Watching Rory Kennedy’s documentary Ghosts of Abu Ghraib on HBO.
America’s shame.
George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Karl Rove, and all their minions and enablers:
Monsters ball.
S.O.S. in MA @ 82
I actually prefer Dean where he is, but I’d like to see him speak out more. He’s one of the few Democrats that the media is willing to cover (it’s Teh Crazy!), and he is very good at naming the Republicans for what they are, and at calling bullshit bullshit.
Eli @ 84
Yes. I do not consider the intel-lies put together by Bush/CheneyCo to be particularly well-crafted or difficult to see through. Therefore, since I believe our enemies to be cleverer than Bush/CheneyCo — a LOT cleverer — I’d like our next leader to be one not taken in by their lies.
I wasn’t taken in. Why should my next President have been?
dab_from_CT @ 72
One of the people in my workgroup has those on his cube wall (since shortly after starting, last year). Those are - well, I wish someone would make Shrub and Darth read them, every day and twice on Sundays, just to see if they can get it.
Front and center. What are the two main problems facing us? Global warming and world war. Gore.
S.O.S. in MA @ 85
That would be so snarkhetypical of him.
problem was, he kept nodding off….snarkolepsy
TeddySanFran @ 89
Yes. And what I’m saying is that anyone who voted for the AUMF got fooled *twice*: Once, for believing that the intel was valid, and twice, for believing Dubya considered war a last resort rather than first choice.
(Seriously, how could *anyone* not know that war is like a Crackerjack prize to that freak?)
I would like to ask the support of the group here in my new task to not read David Broder or George Will anymore.
Some say the milestone comes when a majority of people can vote for a candidate despite the fact she is a woman.
I say the milestone is reached when a majority of people can decide against a candidate despite the fact she is a woman — because she is the wrong person for the job.
In other words, exceptional talent/ability will always succeed despite discrimination. True equality comes when a formerly discriminated-against class achieves the freedom to be as mediocre-yet-successful as the next person.
LindaR @ 96
Yes. The ultimate goal is meritocracy.
Man, are we far away from that.
But LindaR, doesn’t that also explain the Rice Secretariat at State?
TeddySanFran @ 94
You can count on me!
I’m hoping the jury has gone yes, guilty of that one, maybe not that one, and is deliberating over that. I don’t know how anyone even vaguely capable of thinking could conclude anything else than he lied through his teeth to the GJ. I’ll bet he’s wishing right now that he’d done the memory thing then. “I don’t remember” is the kind of lie even Fitz couldn’t prove he told.
are you ready for this ?
all she has to do is remind all kinds of voters that at one time, they all thought the same way - and they really don’t want their President second guessing herself, now do they ?
I’m not saying I’m going to like it, but she might get away with it
Okay, we have YouTube.
TeddySanFran @25
Teddy, also of modest means (unemployed? retired??) but kicked in more than I could afford last month and have just added another mite. If this country survives the current crisis, it will only be due to people like the ones at FDL.
Thanks, Jane, for fixing my addiction with the daily dose of FireDogLakeTV via PoliticsTV.
Now off to watch. Where’s the popcorn?
PhD’s, scientists, mathematicians ‘lean’ republican???
Not any more! Their jobs have all been shipped out of the country over the past 6 years. Speaking from personal experience.
TeddySanFran — No. Rice is a phenom of tokenism; I think she went to the Clarence Thomas School of How You Can Get Here From There.
There are one or two women and men I think would make wonderful presidents.
Rice is so disgusting.
Oklahoma kiddo @ 45
Eli @ 48
montag @ 61
The only problem I see, Montag, is that I’m virtually certain Hillary Clinton would be willing to say just about all of those things if it meant she could get your vote and the vote of the majority, and win. OTOH, I doubt she would follow through. As for me, I’m holding out for Gore, too, but in the event he flatly refuses to run, I’ve decided I will not vote for anyone who had the poor judgement to vote for the AUMF. So that also knocks out Edwards (who was my fall back position until recently.) Perhaps Richardson?
I look forward to the day when people start saying “I’ll be all over that like incompetent on Rice.”
And as for Clarence? Good God!
Oklahoma kiddo @ 45
HRC? That means what?
Her Royal Crassness?
Her Rightwing Cover?
Her Rude Comeuppance?
Her Reign’s Complete?
Howdy, Rudy. Comfortable?
And so much more…hee, hee, hee…ptui!
Just in case you two don’t have anyone telling you how lovely you both are - I’m telling you!
punaise @ 92
Snickering all the while nodding off, I’m sure.
He does need some pushing to work on a book. Maybe if we gave him a working title: Raiders of the Lost Snark. :)
Wonderful clip, Jane & Marcy.
Marcy - thanks so much for your amazing live blogging and for sharing your knowledge and humorous commentary with us.
Jane - Thank you so much for all that you do. (And take care of yourself!)
Gawd it’s lonely w/out Molly.
Okay that’s my favorite YouTube we’ve done yet.
TeddySanFran @ 47
Hey there, TSF!
and thank you, Jane and Marcy.
more to come to the kettle from me.
Ah. Now that was nice. An explainer on t