Fitz!

go get em Fitz!

MarcyJaneChristyPatFITZ!

Andy :(

FITZ!FITZ!
FITZ!
FITZ!
FITZ!
FITZ!FITZ!

FITZ!

GOP Splits into Sunni, Shiite Factions!

http://freewayblogger.blogspot.com

All The Presidents Men has a great passage of during the Gordon Liddy trial of how entertaining and joking Liddy was in the hallways with the press.

Of course, Liddy is, well, Liddy, but he did end up going to jail for a few years… so let them preen and pose. For all we know the jury is making sure they cross every T and dot every I.

I am dreading the MSM / Right-Wing-Radio crowing if this thing ends without a conviction.

So all of this is just an inside joke to the Libby’s eh?A little glam shot for the poor unwashed masses?
One conviction is still a conviction folks.
just sayin’.

Dunno if anyone has seen Bertolucci’s 1900, but why does this call to mind the character played by Donald Sutherland (and his wife?)

Uh, because he’s a psychopathic killer, and a fascist?

Stalking a verdict….

After the end of a long investigation, at the end of a long case and while waiting for a decision from a jury there is often a feeling or sense of helplessness – it can be a challenging and sometimes unhealthy process not unlike the ending of a contentious relationship…

Fitz charging a “process crime” when he couldn’t charge the underlying crime? Would that be like Ken Starr writing a pornographic report to Congress that was then used by the House to impeach a President when he couldn’t be charged with real estate fraud after a five year investigation? Clinton’s “lie” about Monica in a case brought by Paula Jones didn’t even “throw sand” in Starr’s face in his Ahab-like quest to make something out of Whitewater.

What did Andrew McCarthy think about that?

Mods–see 11.

Just to remind Andy McCarthy, who I doubt visits F-dog, of something he once said:

“Pat Fitzgerald is the best prosecutor I have ever seen. By a mile. He is also the straightest shooter I have ever seen – by at least that much. And most importantly, he is a good man.”

Character isn’t that malleable., although loyality might be.

Great color commentary! I don’t know the movie, though.

EPUed from last thread: I finally figured out which actor was rolling around in my head as a good Fitz: Ralph Fiennes. Loved him in Quiz Show.

Arrogance & entitlement.

They anxiously await with a scout in the hallways signalling to them when Team Libby is about to exit from the courthouse.

When Libby exists the cameras start flashing and Libby begins to pose…yes pose. When I first saw this display I was in shock. Somehow I assumed one would want to escape the courthouse onslaught of the MSM. But no, Libby poses. I wondered if I had gotten off the wrong metro stop and ended up in Hollywood.

Libby stood, turned his head slowly and struck a pose. Cameras flashed. He turned his head and struck another pose; cameras flashed again. So scripted!

This sounds like a job for KO! And hey, maybe Jon and Stephen want a piece of this action too–who wouldn’t, when your subject makes it so easy?

And as for poor Andy … surely we don’t have to bring up Capone again, do we? Ya do what ya gotta do, man.

oh, and Libby’s “strike a pose” doesn’t surprise me. It makes me think of Tom DeLay’s infamous grin for his mugshot. They want to appear confident. I must imagine the stress of knowing that Scooter may face prison has to be difficult for Mrs. Libby… but if the man’s a felon, the man’s a felon.

Kathleen!

Thank you for sharing your observations about the trial. I think you have a healthy scepticism. Nonetheless, I choose to believe our justice system has integrity. It dosen’t always get it right but there are a majority of people in our country to which the truth is an important value and it is those people who keep truth, justice and the American way so.

I’m so happy to see your words gracing the front page of FDL! Way cool.

Neil (AKA O’Reilly)

The waiting is the hardest part. Hey! There might be a song in that!
Oh.

Libby needs a Jack Abramoff hat and trench coat.

Land of the Free – get outta here ! was just thinking that for the same reason

Ah, Human Events. They publish Ann Coulter.

Enough said.

But McCarthy also says:

On the other hand, the big fish in question, Libby, did give inaccurate information to an official investigation, something that oughtn’t be tolerated.

Um, so Fitz should have brought charges? Or should not have? Make up your freaking mind. And by “inaccurate information”, do you mean lies? Because now I’m confused.

Dunno if anyone has seen Bertolucci’s 1900, but why does this call to mind the character played by Donald Sutherland (and his wife?)

I recall that Sutherland’s character voluntarily consumes a horse turd. A metaphor for what Scooter’s doing on Cheney’s behalf?

Any whispers about boxers or briefs for Fitz?

Kathleen R’s comments were great.

Oh. My. God. I saw 1900 at the theater in New York when I was in graduate school and was profoundly moved by it. You could not have pointed to a more perfect characterization of evil personified than the Sutherland character (brilliantly played)and his wife. I see the parallels quite clearly, not only to Libby, but (shudder) the Cheneys, Bushes……YUK!!

Ok, I’m getting tired of waiting. I can’t imagine what the jury is doing in there unless they are trying to recreate in 4 days what it took us 3 years to figure out. IMHO, this is not a difficult case, I don’t care what Dingell said. It is quite obvious that Scooter lied. It is also obvious that he obstructed justice. And it is obvious that he had a motive. So, whether the jury is agonizing over the details or just confused, I’m losing my patience with them.
I feel like Samantha Bee interviewing the undecided voters in 2004. “What the *bleep* is wrong with you people?! Why can’t you make up your *bleeping* minds?!”

Hopefully Fitz will cut McCarthy loose in the “friendship” department. Jeez louise!

Patty the Atty @ 14

Just to remind Andy McCarthy, who I doubt visits F-dog, of something he once said:

“Pat Fitzgerald is the best prosecutor I have ever seen. By a mile. He is also the straightest shooter I have ever seen – by at least that much. And most importantly, he is a good man.”

Character isn’t that malleable., although loyalty might be.

Andy McCarthy writes for the National Review. He tried to defend Fitzgerald at first, and got beaten up good by the other contributors at the National Review. He is complete sycophant to the other writers there, often praising them on The Corner in flowery tones. The National Review is Libby Defense Central, and Andy McCarthy has put keeping his job there above loyalty and fidelity to the justice system or his ‘friend’.

Oh, the terrible arrogance of these power people. Reminds me of watching the Iran-Contra hearings on c-cpan. When they were filing out, Elliot Abrams’ wife, whoever she is, some famous neocon’s snotbag daughter, whatever, walked right up to the camera chewing her gum like a cud, and stood there smirking and smacking and chewing away, like, “I dare you, Amerika,” then Abrams himself came right up and smirked, too, before walking away. I wanted to reach into the teevee and slap them both silly. Bitches. And now they’re BACK.

portia.vz @ 31

Ok, I’m getting tired of waiting. I can’t imagine what the jury is doing in there unless they are trying to recreate in 4 days what it took us 3 years to figure out. IMHO, this is not a difficult case, I don’t care what Dingell said. It is quite obvious that Scooter lied. It is also obvious that he obstructed justice. And it is obvious that he had a motive.

“Obvious” is not a legal term of art. “Beyond a reasonable doubt” is what they’re wrestling with.
_

“let’s say this cat represents our system of checks and balances”

squash.

Kathleen, I’m glad you are there to tell us what you are seeing of how these gutless swine give all decent people the finger. May the jury wipe the smiles from the Libby faces and from their fellows in crime.

Millineryman @ 26

Any whispers about boxers or briefs for Fitz?

Hah! You mean soon the arrogant Mrs. Ssscooter will be reduced to bringing underwear in a very humble paper bag to her darling sssnake of a ssspouse? *cross fingers*

LandOfTheFree @
15

Great color commentary! I don’t know the movie, though.

EPUed from last thread: I finally figured out which actor was rolling around in my head as a good Fitz: Ralph Fiennes. Loved him in Quiz Show.

Wasn’t Ralph Fiennes Keith’s “Worst Person in the World” a few weeks ago? Vague recollection of it having to do with him exiting the airplane restroom with a flight attendant or something? There must be more to it than that, tho. Doesn’t seem like the worst thing…

Anyway, I like him for Fitz too – best fit so far.

BobbyG at 33. Truth.

litigatormom @ 12

Fitz charging a “process crime” when he couldn’t charge the underlying crime? Would that be like Ken Starr writing a pornographic report to Congress that was then used by the House to impeach a President when he couldn’t be charged with real estate fraud after a five year investigation? Clinton’s “lie” about Monica in a case brought by Paula Jones didn’t even “throw sand” in Starr’s face in his Ahab-like quest to make something out of Whitewater.

Congress, not the legal system, should be holding the administration(s) accountable. Both recent ’special Prosecutor’ investigations have been abject failures. Time for our elected officials to do what they are supposed to.

Kathleen’s observations are mouth dropping. Yet, this adm has openly said & shown their complete disdain for reality. I don’t know sometimes which group I have more disgust for, the adm or the media. Bunch of c-grade actors and their agents.

Hi, mui!

BobbyG @
33

portia.vz @ 31

Ok, I’m getting tired of waiting. I can’t imagine what the jury is doing in there unless they are trying to recreate in 4 days what it took us 3 years to figure out. IMHO, this is not a difficult case, I don’t care what Dingell said. It is quite obvious that Scooter lied. It is also obvious that he obstructed justice. And it is obvious that he had a motive.

“Obvious” is not a legal term of art. “Beyond a reasonable doubt” is what they’re wrestling with.
_

IANAL but if beyond a reasonable doubt is the threshold, it has been met and exceeded.

Mr. Ed @ 11 may want to rethink his comment.

percy @ 26

Dunno if anyone has seen Bertolucci’s 1900, but why does this call to mind the character played by Donald Sutherland (and his wife?)

I recall that Sutherland’s character voluntarily consumes a horse turd. A metaphor for what Scooter’s doing on Cheney’s behalf?

There is currently a diary on dKos called “Bush Eats a Flaming Turd.” Apparently, Bush called the Iraq Study Group — which recommended talks with Iran, something Bush has resisted until Condi’s announcement today — a “flaming turd.”

“David Baerwald @ 21

The waiting is the hardest part. Hey! There might be a song in that!
Oh.

Hi David, I’ve been listening to this song a lot lately:

“as we do the things that we know we have to
do ever hopeful and ever blue we do the things that we
know we have to do and though we all know deep down in our
hearts that someday this will all fall apart for right
now let’s just be heroes”

When they were filing out, Elliot Abrams’ wife, whoever she is, some famous neocon’s snotbag daughter, whatever,

The daughter of Midge Decter: i.e. J-Pod’s half-sister.

In the movie version of the Plame affair which I’m constantly casting in my imagination I can definitely see Donald Sutherland as Libby. I’d been thinking Dustin Hoffman, but Sutherland may be a better choice.

Maybe Hoffman could be Joe Wilson?

OK, I’m dying for Scooter to be convicted just like everyone else. But I’m afraid Kathleen’s post is just a little overheated. The guy’s in politics, for chrissakes. I’m sure we would all love to see him hustled out the door by bodyguards with his coat over his head, but he’s too smart for that. DeLay’s mug shot was an example of how politicians have learned not to look guilty, no matter how bad the situation. So Libby makes sure the cameras catch him in a good pose, looking like a relaxed and innocent man. I would expect any smart politico on trial to do the same thing. I hardly think it’s a glimpse into the dark and evil soul of Scooter Libby.

AltHippo @
47

In the movie version of the Plame affair which I’m constantly casting in my imagination I can definitely see Donald Sutherland as Libby. I’d been thinking Dustin Hoffman, but Sutherland may be a better choice.

Maybe Hoffman could be Joe Wilson?

the previous thread was chock full of casting suggestions.

From where in life do Fitz and A McCarthy know each other? Regis? Amherst? Harvard? Private Law Firm? Manhattan DA? US Attorney?

immanentize @ 38

BobbyG at 33. Truth.

immanentize! egregious brought you up the other day and joked about sending Robby the Robot to find you.

FIX!

that’s the reason for the smirks and poses

immanentize at 12:38 pm

Greetings old friend.

Neil @ 50

From where in life do Fitz and A McCarthy know each other? Regis? Amherst? Harvard? Private Law Firm? Manhattan DA? US Attorney?

SDNY.

AltHippo @ 46

In the movie version of the Plame affair which I’m constantly casting in my imagination I can definitely see Donald Sutherland as Libby. I’d been thinking Dustin Hoffman, but Sutherland may be a better choice.

Maybe Hoffman could be Joe Wilson?

Dustin Hoffman should be Libby. They’re both about 5′4″.

Robert Redford can play Bob Woodward (again).

Neil @ 51

From where in life do Fitz and A McCarthy know each other? Regis? Amherst? Harvard? Private Law Firm? Manhattan DA? US Attorney?

They prosecuted the blind sheik together. Southern District of NY

I am still in bunker mode — for the next two weeks or so, but I will see you soon.

I miss you — and all….

Yeah, sometimes we Kathleens forget the world is not a stage. Shame on us.

Democratic leaders backed away from aggressive plans to limit President Bush’s war authority, the latest sign of divisions within their ranks over how to proceed.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, said Monday he wanted to delay votes on a measure that would repeal the 2002 war authorization and narrow the mission in Iraq.

Senior Democrats who drafted the proposal, including Sens. Joseph Biden of Delaware and Carl Levin of Michigan, had sought swift action on it as early as this week, when the Senate takes up a measure to enact the recommendations of the bipartisan September 11 commission.

Reid, who will huddle with Democrats Tuesday to discuss whether to postpone the Iraq debate, cited pressure from victims’ families for quick action on the Sept. 11 bill as the reason for doing so.

“Iraq is going to be there — it’s just a question of when we get back to it,” Reid said, predicting it would be “days, not weeks” before the Senate returned to the issue. The war reauthorization legislation also appears to lack the 60 votes it would need to pass the Senate.

Democrats are eager to pass the 9/11 measure — one of a handful they promised to push through once in power — to show they can govern. Family members of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are leaning on senators to leave the bill free of extraneous items that could bog it down.

“For that reason only, we may set aside the Iraq debate for a few days, but not indefinitely,” said Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, the party whip. He acknowledged that some “think we should move immediately to the debate on the war.”

[snip]

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, meanwhile, said she doesn’t support tying war funding to strict training and readiness targets for U.S. troops.

Iraq will be there, alright, Harry Reid, but fewer and fewer living Iraqis will be, and so will fewer live American troops. Yup, we really needed a Democratic majority voted in last November to make “progress,” didn’t we?

Somehow the Republicans never needed 60 votes to enact their agenda in the Senate, with a Democratic minority. Too bad, and too tragic for the American people, that the Democratic Party is a party in name only. Time to start occupying Congressional offices in D.C., as well as in the hinterland. Street protests can be ignored. Can protestors disturbing the hushed silence of the taxpayer-provided hiding places of our elite “representatives” be as easily dismissed?

Updated AP article available at:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITI…..index.html

imm at 41 — Hey, you! :)

EPU’d – Richard Gere has to be Amb Wilson.

McCarthy Bio (I think I answered my own question.)
Andrew C. McCarthy is a former federal prosecutor and a Contributor at National Review Online. From 1993 through 1996, while an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, he led the prosecution against the jihad organization of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, in which a dozen Islamic militants were convicted of conducting a war of urban terrorism against the United States that included the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and a plot to bomb New York City landmarks. Mr. McCarthy also made major contributions to the prosecutions of the bombers of the United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and the Millennium plot attack Los Angeles International Airport.

Following the September 11 attacks, Mr. McCarthy supervised the U.S. Attorney’s Anti-Terrorism Command Post in New York City, coordinating investigative and preventive efforts with numerous federal and state law enforcement and intelligence agencies. From 1999 through 2003, he was the Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District’s satellite office, responsible for federal law enforcement in six counties north of New York City.

Mr. McCarthy is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Justice Department’s highest honors: the Attorney General’s Exceptional Service Award (1996) and Distinguished Service Award (1988). He has served as a Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, and as an Associate Independent Counsel in the investigation of a former cabinet official. He has also been an Adjunct Professor of Law both at the Fordham University School of Law and at New York Law School.

Currently, Mr. McCarthy practices law in the New York area. He writes extensively on a variety of legal, social and political issues for National Review and Commentary, among other publications, as well as providing commentary for various television and radio broadcasts. He also does consulting work for the Investigative Project, a private counterterrorism research organization in Washington, D.C.

OT, but speaking of villains…

According to TPM, DangerStein is up to his old tricks:

On Feb. 16, The Politico turned over its front page to a long hit piece on liberal bloggers by Liebermanite Dan Gerstein. In the piece — titled “Liberal Bloggers Demonstrate Their Political Immaturity, Democrat Says” — Gerstein repeatedly unloaded on bloggers, calling them everything from “spoiled children” to practitioners of “high-tech tantrum tactics.” He even suggested that the Democratic Party should punish them by denying them access.

TPM Horses Mouth

The lead for the movie: Who else?
Clooney! Just saying.

Thanks for including Kathleen R.’s observations of Libby, the great poseur. Maybe that is what the art curator saw that caused her to be dismissed from the jury. If I were a juror and saw Libby mugging for the cameras I would convict no matter what the evidence.

Nah, Woodward is now too self-satisfied for Redford to play him.

I’m thinking more like James Spader.

CHS — still fighting the good fight, I see!
Good on y’all!

A little old “process crime”, sure, wingnut.

And Watergate was just about a burglary.

Wavin’ wildly to imm – so kewl to have you check in !

a quote that goes through my head everytime I see these people out and about -

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made”

Dunno if anyone has seen Bertolucci’s 1900, but why does this call to mind the characters played by Donald Sutherland and Laura Betti?

Because Libby has picked up the Justice system by the heels and is laughingly dashing its brains out as he revolves faster and faster and faster???

Is that it, Jane?

Dunno if it’s been mentioned yet, but there’s a Libby-related strip up at GYWO. Currently the last panel on the page.

cbl @ 68

Wavin’ wildly to imm – so kewl to have you check in !

a quote that goes through my head everytime I see these people out and about -

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made”

This is very appropriate considering what is happening to the stock market.

In Kos’s poll today on Reid and such, I voted against Reid’s leadership.

Kathleen R wrote:

I am still hanging onto Fitzgerald’s words, “truth is the engine of our justice system.” Are we foolosh and naive to believe this?

I think truth is all we have. We don’t have a choice but to believe it and must act as if it’s true.

Senate receiving a written message from Preznit just now? When do we find out what it says?

Notta Flatlander @ 74

Senate receiving a written message from Preznit just now? When do we find out what it says?

I resign??

JoyB @ 56

Neil @ 51

From where in life do Fitz and A McCarthy know each other? Regis? Amherst? Harvard? Private Law Firm? Manhattan DA? US Attorney?

They prosecuted the blind sheik together. Southern District of NY

Yeah and Clarice Feldman who blogs at the American Thinker and comments over at justoneminute, thinks Fitzgerald was guilty of prosecutorial misconduct in that case. Why? Because according to Clarice Feldman, Al Queda didn’t carry out the first world trade center bombings – agents of the Iraq government did. These are the type of people Andy McCarthy is sucking up to. Pretty pathetic.

Notta Flatlander @ 75

Senate receiving a written message from Preznit just now? When do we find out what it says?

Right after he comes back from the bathroom.

ChrisO @ 48

OK, I’m dying for Scooter to be convicted just like everyone else. But I’m afraid Kathleen’s post is just a little overheated. The guy’s in politics, for chrissakes. I’m sure we would all love to see him hustled out the door by bodyguards with his coat over his head, but he’s too smart for that. DeLay’s mug shot was an example of how politicians have learned not to look guilty, no matter how bad the situation. So Libby makes sure the cameras catch him in a good pose, looking like a relaxed and innocent man. I would expect any smart politico on trial to do the same thing. I hardly think it’s a glimpse into the dark and evil soul of Scooter Libby.

No, I think it’s a glimpse into the dark and evil soul of the MSM.

We can beat up on the Dems all we want, but the fact is it will be extremely difficult for them to significantly affect Bush’s Iraq policy given the fillibuster veto.

I realize people are frustrated but we should be putting our energy into pointing out that it is the GOP that is keeping Bush from changing course. Otherwise we got stupid aritcles on CNN like this one:

Democrats struggle with next step on Iraq

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITI…..index.html

annx at 77 — That ought to have come with a spew warning. *g*

Jane said:

Dunno if anyone has seen Bertolucci’s 1900, but why does this call to mind the characters played by Donald Sutherland and Laura Betti?

Pitchforks, anyone?

HotFlash @ 79

ChrisO @ 48

OK, I’m dying for Scooter to be convicted just like everyone else. But I’m afraid Kathleen’s post is just a little overheated. The guy’s in politics, for chrissakes. I’m sure we would all love to see him hustled out the door by bodyguards with his coat over his head, but he’s too smart for that. DeLay’s mug shot was an example of how politicians have learned not to look guilty, no matter how bad the situation. So Libby makes sure the cameras catch him in a good pose, looking like a relaxed and innocent man. I would expect any smart politico on trial to do the same thing. I hardly think it’s a glimpse into the dark and evil soul of Scooter Libby.

No, I think it’s a glimpse into the dark and evil soul of the MSM.

Politicians view themselves as movie stars where the only bad publicity is no publicity.

HotFlash @ 79

ChrisO @ 48

OK, I’m dying for Scooter to be convicted just like everyone else. But I’m afraid Kathleen’s post is just a little overheated. The guy’s in politics, for chrissakes. I’m sure we would all love to see him hustled out the door by bodyguards with his coat over his head, but he’s too smart for that. DeLay’s mug shot was an example of how politicians have learned not to look guilty, no matter how bad the situation. So Libby makes sure the cameras catch him in a good pose, looking like a relaxed and innocent man. I would expect any smart politico on trial to do the same thing. I hardly think it’s a glimpse into the dark and evil soul of Scooter Libby.

No, I think it’s a glimpse into the dark and evil soul of the MSM.

Bingo.

From the NYT on the Governors’ meeting with George. I am glad they are pushing on the topic of childrens’ health. I understand they also pushed Gen. Pace on the National Guard issue.

Child Health Care Splits White House and States
By ROBERT PEAR
Published: February 27, 2007

In the session at the White House, when President Bush reported on progress of the war, governors pressed him to provide more money so they could guarantee health insurance for children. In response, administration officials said states should make better use of the money they already had.

Gov. Sonny Perdue of Georgia, a Republican, said afterward, “Health care for children ought to be a priority, irrespective of anyone’s views on the war.”

Georgia will exhaust its allotment of federal money for the Children’s Health Insurance Program within three months, Mr. Perdue said. Thirteen other states expect to run out by September, according to data released here at the winter meeting of the National Governors Association.

Governors said the Clinton and Bush administrations had encouraged them to expand children’s coverage and had granted waivers allowing them to cover parents and even some childless adults.

Having successfully expanded the health insurance programs in their states, some governors now suggest that the Bush administration is pulling the safety net out from under many children.

Harry Reid -

per Christy’s earlier posts -

Digby on the current kabuki

Digby follow up

I keep thinking back to what the retired math teacher told Judge Walton and the other courtroom occupants on Valentine’s Day/Red Shirt Day. IIRC, he said something like, “We realize this might be the last time we all agree on something.” I have been thinking about why he might have said that and what he might have meant by it.

By that day, the jurors had spent a lot of time hanging out together – waiting in the jury room, probably having meals together, etc. Although they were forbidden from discussing the case during those periods, they were, I think, free to talk to each other about anything else, including world affairs (for example, the Iraq War), politics in general, and all non-Libby news.

My thinking is that jurors had talked a lot about non-trial matters before Valentine’s Day, and while doing so got a pretty good sense of each other’s worldviews in general and political thinking in particular. And I suspect they learned that there were some very diverse worldviews in the group.

If I’m right about that, then the retired math teacher’s comments would make sense. He was saying, in effect, “In terms of worldviews and political views, we’re a pretty diverse group here, and we therefore expect we’ll have some significant disagreements when it comes time to deliberate.”

I don’t think his comment that “…this might be the last time we all agree…” had anything to do with the former art curator. I say that because his comment makes sense only if he was referring to one or more of the other persons who had agreed to don a red t-shirt.

If there was a big disagreement with the former curator about the t-shirt thing, it wouldn’t make sense for the retired teacher to stand up in court and talk about everyone on the jury being in agreement. So I don’t think there was any significant disagreement about the shirts.

So I am guessing there is one or more wingnut on the jury.

I admit my thinking is pretty much entirely speculation, but we have to do something to occupy our time, don’t we?

immanentize @ 57

I am still in bunker mode — for the next two weeks or so, but I will see you soon.

I miss you — and all….

Hey imm! Hope you’re well, and wearing your “old guard” epaulets.

cbl @ 69

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy — they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made”

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

annx @77: It’s highly unlikely McCarthy is in the Clarice Fan CLub, although I understand your point.

litigatormom @ 66

Nah, Woodward is now too self-satisfied for Redford to play him.

I’m thinking more like James Spader.

Hey, c’mon, he’s an *actor*, he can *act*.

litigatormom @ 65

Nah, Woodward is now too self-satisfied for Redford to play him.

I’m thinking more like James Spader.

Spader is way too young, but now I’m thinking William Shatner. Shatner has to play somebody in this trial.

Wolverine @ 87

I keep thinking back to what the retired math teacher told Judge Walton and the other courtroom occupants on Valentine’s Day/Red Shirt Day. IIRC, he said something like, “We realize this might be the last time we all agree on something.” I have been thinking about why he might have said that and what he might have meant by it.

By that day, the jurors had spent a lot of time hanging out together – waiting in the jury room, probably having meals together, etc. Although they were forbidden from discussing the case during those periods, they were, I think, free to talk to each other about anything else, including world affairs (for example, the Iraq War), politics in general, and all non-Libby news.

My thinking is that jurors had talked a lot about non-trial matters before Valentine’s Day, and while doing so got a pretty good sense of each other’s worldviews in general and political thinking in particular. And I suspect they learned that there were some very diverse worldviews in the group.

If I’m right about that, then the retired math teacher’s comments would make sense. He was saying, in effect, “In terms of worldviews and political views, we’re a pretty diverse group here, and we therefore expect we’ll have some significant disagreements when it comes time to deliberate.”

I don’t think his comment that “…this might be the last time we all agree…” had anything to do with the former art curator. I say that because his comment makes sense only if he was referring to one or more of the other persons who had agreed to don a red t-shirt.

If there was a big disagreement with the former curator about the t-shirt thing, it wouldn’t make sense for the retired teacher to stand up in court and talk about everyone on the jury being in agreement. So I don’t think there was any significant disagreement about the shirts.

So I am guessing there is one or more wingnut on the jury.

I admit my thinking is pretty much entirely speculation, but we have to do something to occupy our time, don’t we?

I don’t want to spend my time worrying about that!

Keep in mind–Scooter and Mrs. Scooter’s willingness to pose is the reason why Reuters gets all the very nice images that Christy is so good at finding. So I’m grateful for it, anyway.

annx @78: Criminey. I was in the WTC in 93 when that bomb went off and I’m just now learning that I should bill Saddam for the warm duds I had to buy to get home, ’cause I’d left my coat in my pal’s office? Oh, but he’s dead. Reckon his estate would cover it?

Seriously, are Clarice and Laurie Mylroie bosom buddies?

I’m not sure if it’s off topic, but
Bertolucci’s “1900″ has a fabulous score by Ennio Morriocone.

IMDB lists over 500 films that he has scored – ’bout time he got an Oscar. 5 nominations and finally an honorary.

yadayadayaaa – nya nya nya :)

Sparkles the Iguana @ 92

litigatormom @ 65

Nah, Woodward is now too self-satisfied for Redford to play him.

I’m thinking more like James Spader.

Spader is way too young, but now I’m thinking William Shatner. Shatner has to play somebody in this trial.

Who is the biggest nut in the group?

Immanentize!!!!!

Yay!!!!!!

I see Robby the Robot found you at last.

*waving* to imm

immanentize @ 57

I am still in bunker mode — for the next two weeks or so, but I will see you soon.

I miss you — and all….

Come back and play as soon as you can.

queeniesdaughter – somewhere, a coupla proud 7th grade english teachers are smiling their butts off;)

and btw, am going back to my original choice of Bonnie Hunt to play Christy – and no, not the Bonnie Hunt mom you see everywhere – remember her performance in the Green Mile : )

DP @ 80

We can beat up on the Dems all we want, but the fact is it will be extremely difficult for them to significantly affect Bush’s Iraq policy given the fillibuster veto.

I realize people are frustrated but we should be putting our energy into pointing out that it is the GOP that is keeping Bush from changing course. Otherwise we got stupid aritcles on CNN like this one:

Democrats struggle with next step on Iraq

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITI…..index.html

If they truly are powerless, then I expect them at least to make a *VERY LOUD NOISE*.

squirm @ 70

Dunno if it’s been mentioned yet, but there’s a Libby-related strip up at GYWO. Currently the last panel on the page.

Brilliant.

OleHippieChick @
32

…some famous neocon’s snotbag daughter…

love it:
as a song title, as an epic poem,

OR a CD/album title!
now all we need is the band name

emptywheel @ 93

Keep in mind–Scooter and Mrs. Scooter’s willingness to pose is the reason why Reuters gets all the very nice images that Christy is so good at finding. So I’m grateful for it, anyway.

No wonder there are so few of Team Fitz.

HotFlash @ 103

DP @ 80

We can beat up on the Dems all we want, but the fact is it will be extremely difficult for them to significantly affect Bush’s Iraq policy given the fillibuster veto.

I realize people are frustrated but we should be putting our energy into pointing out that it is the GOP that is keeping Bush from changing course. Otherwise we got stupid aritcles on CNN like this one:

Democrats struggle with next step on Iraq

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITI…..index.html

If they truly are powerless, then I expect them at least to make a *VERY LOUD NOISE*.

Agree completely, I think they could be louder.

I just saw KO’s Special Comment. Man, I love the outrage, the incredulousness!

He’s like, “Hey! Get a grip! You’re the freaking secretary of state!“

He’s mad as hell and he’s not taking it anymore!

let the record show: I HATE Condi’s voice and “demeanor”
and she lies thru her gapped teeth

Stockmarket down 399 points. Holy smokes folks!

Millineryman @ 26

Any whispers about boxers or briefs for Fitz?

Millineryman: Boxers, of course!

From WaPo’s “The Prosecutor Never Rests”

“He’s no slouch at stagecraft, either. At the trial of a Mafia hit man, the defense argued that a ski mask — part of what Fitzgerald called a “hit kit” that included surgical gloves, a gun and hollow-point bullets — was really just a hat. (The defense also said the surgical gloves were for putting ointment on the defendant’s ailing dog.) During closing arguments, Fitzgerald startled the jury by rolling up one leg on his lawyerly dark suit.

“These are just shorts, ladies and gentlemen,” he said, according to one account. “These are just shorts.” “

OMFG! LIEberman just said “the situatiuon in Iraq is rapidly improving.” What fucking planet is he from?

More LIE: There’ll be plenty of time to make amendments when, god forbid, the “new plan” fails. Besides, no legislation is going to pass anyway. phtphptphpthptpttt

Jane wrote: I’m picturing something myself like John Candy and the Polka Band in the back of a Ryder truck from “Home Alone,” but I’ve got a bit of an overactive imagination.

I like the way it works, though. I’ve flashed back to that movie more than a few times in my travels.

Karen R. writes:I am still hanging onto Fitzgerald’s words, “truth is the engine of our justice system.” Are we foolosh and naive to believe this?

At the risk of sounding even more foolish and niave, I think truth is the engine that drives all human progress. It gets a big boost from greed, and its more attractive cousin “ambition”, but without it progress would be largely an illusion, I think. So, if truth isn’t what drives our justice system, than it’s hard to think of it as progress.

joe Lie on cspan 2

A good character actor should play Novackula. One who can snort arrogance and doesn’t mind looking unphotogenic.

the anti-thesis @ 104

OleHippieChick @
32

…some famous neocon’s snotbag daughter…

love it:
as a song title, as an epic poem,

OR a CD/album title!
now all we need is the band name

How about “The Commitments,” but not the same definition as the 1991 movie of the same name.

mui @ 114

A good character actor should play Novackula. One who can snort arrogance and doesn’t mind looking unphotogenic.

Shatner might excel at that.

I would love for a reporter to ask the people of Connecticut if they are still glad they voted for Lieberman.

now all we need is the band name

Bile Means

“These are just shorts, ladies and gentlemen,” he said, according to one account. “These are just shorts.” ”

My money is on the Borat uni-thong.

LS @ 109

Stockmarket down 399 points. Holy smokes folks!

Not a problem, CNN is just saying it’s a technical thingy. Of course they didn’t mention China’s stock sell off over night, and of course, they didn’t mention that China’s buying are debt. No worries, are economy is sound and deficits are good.

DP @ 80

We can beat up on the Dems all we want, but the fact is it will be extremely difficult for them to significantly affect Bush’s Iraq policy given the fillibuster veto.

I realize people are frustrated but we should be putting our energy into pointing out that it is the GOP that is keeping Bush from changing course. Otherwise we got stupid aritcles on CNN like this one:

Democrats struggle with next step on Iraq

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITI…..index.html

Then the Democrats should make the Republicans stop them. Let the Republicans be defined by their actions, not by what we think they might do if we acted. Perhaps I’m being niave, but I think that’s a much better way to “frame” this issue.

TJ @ 116

mui @ 114

A good character actor should play Novackula. One who can snort arrogance and doesn’t mind looking unphotogenic.

Shatner might excel at that.

trying to picture Novak doing Shatner’s epic “introspective” version of “Rocket Man”.

LandOfTheFree @ 15

Great color commentary! I don’t know the movie, though.

EPUed from last thread: I finally figured out which actor was rolling around in my head as a good Fitz: Ralph Fiennes. Loved him in Quiz Show.

Has anyone mentioned Kevin Costner yet?

Sorry, only one actor can even come close to playing Woodward–Willem Dafoe.

Without sucking up to him/her too muchly, could (if possible) one of the regulars here say some more about immanentize? TYVM :)

cspan2 has Lieberman on screen (blech) properly labeled I-Connecticut…finally

Neil @ 50

From where in life do Fitz and A McCarthy know each other? Regis? Amherst? Harvard? Private Law Firm? Manhattan DA? US Attorney?

From the US Attorney’s Office

Hoping to calm some nerves a bit – for those of us anxiously awaiting the verdict, a little perspective:

The Safavian case from an old article:

The jury of 10 women and two men came to its decision on its fifth day of deliberations after hearing eight days of testimony.

A federal jury found former White House aide David H. Safavian guilty yesterday of lying and obstructing justice, making him the highest-ranking government official to be convicted in the spreading scandal involving disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

OT– Specter asks Condi if she ever knew of the Iranian offer of 2003 to talk.

Rice ’simply’ doesn’t remember seeing a paper as described in the press– there was a fax, but its parentage was unclear. I don’t remember.

(incompetent & liar)

Now asks Gates if he needs permission before striking Iran. Gates defers to Constitutional attorneys. Specter goes to Constitutional power of the purse.

(Leahy up)

Thanks for reposting the digby links, cbl. This bit from the Washington Post that digby copies is very important to understand, as regards the string-pulling that Joe Lieberman is doing to trump the caucus and to manipulate the hapless Harry Reid:

Republican leaders decided not to seek special language spelling out the terms of a transition in case of a power shift — say, if Johnson vacates his post and his state’s GOP governor appoints a Republican to replace him. Under that scenario, power would effectively shift to Republicans, because Cheney would provide the tiebreaking 51st vote. But for Republicans to take parliamentary control, the Senate would have to vote for new organizational rules, a move Democrats could filibuster.

A similar scenario unfolded in January 2001, when a 50-50 Senate convened. In 2001, Democrats demanded a “kick-out clause” in organizing negotiations that would automatically scrap agreements on committee ratios and funding levels and force new organizational rules. But Republicans decided this month against a confrontation that would come from demanding a similar clause.

“Nobody over here talked about that at all,” said Don Stewart, spokesman for McConnell.

I’ve heard McConnell insinuate otherwise, about the power balance in a change to a 50/50 split in this Senate, but it would appear that Committee Chairs would in fact remain in Democratic hands. And that’s all we’ve got going for us in the Senate right now, anyway. I am so damn sick of the American people being dismissed as some sort of fringe “netroots” group by anonymous members of the Democratic Party. What they really mean is: those types don’t pay for my television commercials that allow me to con the public into keeping me in office. So who gives a damn what the peasants out there in the country think – my next corporate-financed ad campaign will fool ‘em into keeping me in this nice, warm, well-compensated seat in the halls of power, where I can continue to serve at the pleasure of the wealthy, deserving, corrupt elite.

Eureka Springs, AR @ 126

cspan2 has Lieberman on screen (blech) properly labeled I-Connecticut…finally

oYah, Idiot-Connecticut…

everhopeful @ 128

Hoping to calm some nerves a bit – for those of us anxiously awaiting the verdict, a little perspective:

The Safavian case from an old article:

The jury of 10 women and two men came to its decision on its fifth day of deliberations after hearing eight days of testimony.

A federal jury found former White House aide David H. Safavian guilty yesterday of lying and obstructing justice, making him the highest-ranking government official to be convicted in the spreading scandal involving disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Thanks – I needed that.

dorothy @ 76

Notta Flatlander @ 74

Senate receiving a written message from Preznit just now? When do we find out what it says?

I resign??

In crayon.

litigatormom @
66

Nah, Woodward is now too self-satisfied for Redford to play him.

I’m thinking more like James Spader.

Omigawd, does that mean Shatner has to play Novak?

Cusack = Fitz.

JPL @ 120

LS @ 109

Stockmarket down 399 points. Holy smokes folks!

Not a problem, CNN is just saying it’s a technical thingy. Of course they didn’t mention China’s stock sell off over night, and of course, they didn’t mention that China’s buying are debt. No worries, are economy is sound and deficits are good.

Well, that’s good. I say we up the debt, then, by starting another useless war, this time on Iraqn.

mui @ 114

A good character actor should play Novackula. One who can snort arrogance and doesn’t mind looking unphotogenic.

Peter Lorre would have been perfect!

twolf1 @ 113

joe Lie on cspan 2

Torture Joe. I’d like to ask him what he thinks of putting 10-year olds and families behind razor wire.

Dan Whitworth @
82

Jane said:

Dunno if anyone has seen Bertolucci’s 1900, but why does this call to mind the characters played by Donald Sutherland and Laura Betti?

Pitchforks, anyone?

Oooohhhh Jane – you really nailed the analogy to Bertolucci’s epic 1900 film. I saw it in SF on Xmas day another age ago in the 70’s. Took several more decades later before I could even watch Donald Sutherland on screen without flinching/cringing.

Thank you, everhopeful! (@128)

You make one . . . well . . . EVER HOPEFUL!

Shatner plays Cheney – Denny Crain IS Dick Cheney in a way.

everhopeful @ 127

Hoping to calm some nerves a bit – for those of us anxiously awaiting the verdict, a little perspective:

The Safavian case from an old article:

The jury of 10 women and two men came to its decision on its fifth day of deliberations after hearing eight days of testimony.

A federal jury found former White House aide David H. Safavian guilty yesterday of lying and obstructing justice, making him the highest-ranking government official to be convicted in the spreading scandal involving disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Another Zeidenberg-prosecuted case.

ironranger @ 40

Kathleen’s observations are mouth dropping. Yet, this adm has openly said & shown their complete disdain for reality. I don’t know sometimes which group I have more disgust for, the adm or the media. Bunch of c-grade actors and their agents.

icks

Not just disdain for reality, but disdain for everyone else who is not in their little ‘power circle’. That’s the point of 1900. In an exaggerated way it captures the class system as it existed shortly before World War One. A new one has emerged since 1980, while we weren’t looking. They really think they are better than us.

I guess what gets my goat is that we were all in the same schools together, and in our day, we were so much better we never paid attention. What we see here is raw power. That’s all they believe in. We let them seize it.

johnSwifty @ 115
How about “The Commitments,” but not the same definition as the 1991 movie of the same name.

the Kommitments (maybe alt spelling ala korn)
With Special Guest: Patty Smith (she’ll rework “Piss Factory”)

it could be billed as a fund raiser for anyone but Scooter’s legal defense

Emptywheel, Iran will come after the Libby verdict. They might need a little or big diversion.

bmaz @ 139

Shatner plays Cheney – Denny Crain IS Dick Cheney in a way.

who did Cheney model his blow up doll on?

here’s a very scary thought;

suppose this is a one person hold out and the jury hangs

that one person is going to be a celebrity across the board, appearing on every corporate media outlet, and they are going to spin away like you would not believe

AltHippo @ 47

In the movie version of the Plame affair which I’m constantly casting in my imagination I can definitely see Donald Sutherland as Libby. I’d been thinking Dustin Hoffman, but Sutherland may be a better choice.

Maybe Hoffman could be Joe Wilson?

Joe = Patrick McNee
Valerie = Diana Rigg
Cheney = Gary McGurk (President Clark from Babylon 5)
Rove = Mike Myers in Dr. Evil getup
Libby = Verne Troyer (Mini-me)

Elliott @ 144

bmaz @ 139

Shatner plays Cheney – Denny Crain IS Dick Cheney in a way.

who did Cheney model his blow up doll on?

I like Shatner as Woodward better.

Elliott #144, not up, job.

OT– Leahy tells Rice that of course billions have been stolen and wasted in Iraq and basically calls her a liar without saying the word.

Leahy evokes Kafka wrt Walter Reed. Calls response bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo.

Condemns admin for saying the dems are not supporting the troops.

(one angry Senator)

Somebody much younger than Diana Rigg needs to play Mrs. Wilson.

are we there yet?

Elliot@145 – Good question. Margaret Thatcher only one that comes to mind. Also, if anyone saw the Oscars, I think we want Jack Nicholson on the Armitage wall, so to speak.

More than one-third of American women are infected by human papilloma virus (HPV), which in rare cases can lead to cervical cancer, by the time they are 24 years old, according to a study being published today.

Holy shit!

Diana Rigg will never age in my teenage Avengers memory.

I think that Marcy and Jane should play themselves. Over the last several weeks they certainly have had a lot of experience delivering the daily updates on Politics TV.

the anti-thesis @ 143

johnSwifty @ 115
How about “The Commitments,” but not the same definition as the 1991 movie of the same name.

the Kommitments (maybe alt spelling ala korn)
With Special Guest: Patty Smith (she’ll rework “Piss Factory”)

it could be billed as a fund raiser for anyone but Scooter’s legal defense

I was thinking more like, “They should be committed.” With special guests Syd Barrett and Alice Cooper.

urban pirate @ 152

are we there yet?

20 more minutes.
[as said to my children]

mui @
114

A good character actor should play Novackula. One who can snort arrogance and doesn’t mind looking unphotogenic.

Maybe James Woods? Probably there’s an ideal choice out there who’s name most of us don’t know.

Shatner for Rove.

Didn’t those awful two from 1900 basically pose for the hoi polloi while leaving the gates, just before the pitchforks?

More LIE: There’ll be plenty of time...

Yeh, right, J-Lie. Tell that to the soldiers-yet-to-lose-limbs. Tell that to the folks Bob Woodruff will feature tonight.

Hey, everyone, send J-LIE this week’s Newsweek [cover story on war wounded]. Oh, wait. Katrina. Nevahmind.

The man is without soul.

JoeLie seeks to enhance information sharing state security apparatus with “fusion centers” to fight the war on terra. All support of state, local and tribal will receive the guidance and good expertise of the perverts personnel at DHS.

I see woods as skooter

There is a general feeling that Fitzgerald went overboard to nail a big fish on a process crime (lying to investigators) under circumstances where the underlying offense (intentionally disclosing classified information) could not be proved.

Um, yeah. Because normally prosecutors are so understanding about that sort of thing. Ole Fitzy boy’s just making a big deal out of nothing!

“Well, I would have liked to finish investigating that, but whatcha gonna do? Someone’s lying, but, you know, VIPs deserve a free ride now and then.”

And of course, it could have entirely been possible that a dozen senior journalists and administration officials were unable to forsee that a CIA employee would actually be, you know, undercover!

Cujo359 @ 122

DP @ 80

We can beat up on the Dems all we want, but the fact is it will be extremely difficult for them to significantly affect Bush’s Iraq policy given the fillibuster veto.

I realize people are frustrated but we should be putting our energy into pointing out that it is the GOP that is keeping Bush from changing course. Otherwise we got stupid aritcles on CNN like this one:

Democrats struggle with next step on Iraq

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITI…..index.html

Then the Democrats should make the Republicans stop them. Let the Republicans be defined by their actions, not by what we think they might do if we acted. Perhaps I’m being niave, but I think that’s a much better way to “frame” this issue.

That’s what Reid did, forced the GOP to fillibuster and they took a hit in the press.

I think the biggest problem the Dems seem to have is that they are still scared of being painted as not supporting the troops by the wingnuts. Well that’s gonna happen anyway, and a majority of the country is behind them so they need to suck it up.

Bustednuckles @
78

Notta Flatlander @ 75

Senate receiving a written message from Preznit just now? When do we find out what it says?

Right after he comes back from the bathroom.

Post Of The Day

somebody said something about a note delivered to the Senate. Was that true? or just snark?

Oh crap HoJoe wants Biosurveillance?!? You’ve got to be kidding me. That is Orwell territory.

old hat by now?: (salon.com)

Glenn Greenwald
Monday February 26, 2007 07:46 EST
Joe Lieberman’s dishonesty: The Iraq tragedy in a nutshell

When historians endeavor to understand how America embarked on this dark and disastrous period in our history — how we not only collectively made our worst strategic mistake by invading Iraq on multiple false pretenses, but also proceeded to re-elect the President who did that and long embraced the obvious delusion that the chaotic occupation was going well — they can begin with this Op-Ed in this morning’s Wall St. Journal by Joe Lieberman. The Op-Ed is an act of dishonesty and corruption as audacious and disgraceful as one can find. …

Can we go public with every bit of information about McCarthy to demonstrate just a taste as to why the outing of a CIA agent is not a good idea?

Wall Street hammered in global sell-off
Worst day in over three years; slump follows big drop in China

NEW YORK – Stocks tumbled Tuesday, with the broader market sinking to its biggest one-day drop in more than 3-1/2 years, as Wall Street joined a global market plunge sparked by growing concerns that the U.S. and Chinese economies are cooling and that equities prices have become overinflated.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3683270/

Bustednuckles @ 9

So all of this is just an inside joke to the Libby’s eh?A little glam shot for the poor unwashed masses?
One conviction is still a conviction folks.
just sayin’.

you know, i’m a professional actress. ‘dazzling smiles, everyone’ is the order of the day no matter what. the show must go on. the libbys are a contemptible enough pair, but these smiles are fake, and quite brave, considering their ages and the number of years they are looking at if (WHEN! WHEN!) scoots is convicted…

So I took a two hour nap thinking you guys would bring her home. And nada! Get to work…

Avian flu: the next big way to scare the daylights out of people and make big money for someone.

Scientific validity: not so much.

Yes we should research it and try to come up with a vaccine. But if it was truly a public health emergency, why would CDC be forbidden to share more than 20% of the genome? M O N E Y. For your Homeland Security, naturally.

Remember all the right wing groups that gave buckets to Lieberman at the end? They could not have him lost this seat, and their cash cow.

And remember bioterrorism was one of the Aspens letter thingies for judyjudyjudy.

Why Thank you chaboard.

I figured it slipped by.

JoeLie on Private Sector preparedness.

Umm I am divining a recipe for corruption, payback for buddy Mel Sembler & Friends etc. etc.

We’ll see someone playing Fitz first in the Enron feature film in development, since he was in charge of the Enron Task Force. DeCaprio just bought the rights.

none @
147

AltHippo @ 47

In the movie version of the Plame affair which I’m constantly casting in my imagination I can definitely see Donald Sutherland as Libby. I’d been thinking Dustin Hoffman, but Sutherland may be a better choice.

Maybe Hoffman could be Joe Wilson?

Joe = Patrick McNee
Valerie = Diana Rigg
Cheney = Gary McGurk (President Clark from Babylon 5)
Rove = Mike Myers in Dr. Evil getup
Libby = Verne Troyer (Mini-me)

punaise @ 168

old hat by now?: (salon.com)

Glenn Greenwald
Monday February 26, 2007 07:46 EST
Joe Lieberman’s dishonesty: The Iraq tragedy in a nutshell

When historians endeavor to understand how America embarked on this dark and disastrous period in our history — how we not only collectively made our worst strategic mistake by invading Iraq on multiple false pretenses, but also proceeded to re-elect the President who did that and long embraced the obvious delusion that the chaotic occupation was going well — they can begin with this Op-Ed in this morning’s Wall St. Journal by Joe Lieberman. The Op-Ed is an act of dishonesty and corruption as audacious and disgraceful as one can find. …

Glenn Greenwald doesn’t mince words.

DP @ 164

Cujo359 @ 122

DP @ 80

We can beat up on the Dems all we want, but the fact is it will be extremely difficult for them to significantly affect Bush’s Iraq policy given the fillibuster veto.

I realize people are frustrated but we should be putting our energy into pointing out that it is the GOP that is keeping Bush from changing course. Otherwise we got stupid aritcles on CNN like this one:

Democrats struggle with next step on Iraq

http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITI…..index.html

Then the Democrats should make the Republicans stop them. Let the Republicans be defined by their actions, not by what we think they might do if we acted. Perhaps I’m being niave, but I think that’s a much better way to “frame” this issue.

That’s what Reid did, forced the GOP to fillibuster and they took a hit in the press.

I think the biggest problem the Dems seem to have is that they are still scared of being painted as not supporting the troops by the wingnuts. Well that’s gonna happen anyway, and a majority of the country is behind them so they need to suck it up.

Except that they didn’t actually have to filibuster, because Reid called a recess. I’m not sure if it would have been worth the effort given the symbolic nature of that resolution, but in the end, Reid accomplished nothing. Even a tepid resolution wouldn’t pass, and no one had to make a real issue out of it.

In short, they should try to pass a real bill, and make the Republicans stand against it. Until that happens, color me unimpressed.

UPDATE: By the way, Reid’s made it quite clear we can’t expect any more out of him:

http://www.taylormarsh.com/arc…..p?id=25209

Fresh thread for everyone.

Samuel L. Jackson as Dr. Rice.

Sparkles the Iguana @ 154

More than one-third of American women are infected by human papilloma virus (HPV), which in rare cases can lead to cervical cancer, by the time they are 24 years old, according to a study being published today.

Holy shit!

Did the pharmaceutical company that makes that new vaccine against the HPV (which worries me greatly) fund the study? How large was the study group? Because this is a very big statement so I would like to see thousands in the study group…

Rove = Mike Myers in Dr. Evil getup

Cheney = Mike Myers in Dr. Evil getup.

Fixed it ;).

egregious @ 173

Avian flu: the next big way to scare the daylights out of people and make big money for someone.

Scientific validity: not so much.

Yes we should research it and try to come up with a vaccine. But if it was truly a public health emergency, why would CDC be forbidden to share more than 20% of the genome? M O N E Y. For your Homeland Security, naturally.

Remember all the right wing groups that gave buckets to Lieberman at the end? They could not have him lost this seat, and their cash cow.

And remember bioterrorism was one of the Aspens letter thingies for judyjudyjudy.

And it seems like they are crying wolf.

Personally, I would tend towards the belief that the whole purpose of McCarthy’s meandering musings was to provide an opportunity, and a selfestimable one at that, to use the contraction “oughtn’t” in print.

On the other hand, the big fish in question, Libby, did give inaccurate information to an official investigation, something that oughtn’t be tolerated.

If a twenty didn’t change hands, the karma of prose gambling will be out of balance for some time to come.

OTOH, he was able to kill two endangered species with one missive by going after the whole of the reporting privilege while he was at it. Finish up with the victimized vehemence of lumping all the pro-war mongers and Bush-praisers in the MSM as being “Bush-bashers”

Bc, after all, what with huge sections of DOJ these days pretty much devoted to advocating for torture and kidnap of innocent civilians, by and for the Executive branch; Bin Laden uncaught, unbowed and unremorseful; hundreds of billions devoted to an effort that has been wildly successful at destabilizing the world and promoting terrorism; and political purges of US Attys offices across the country — what with all that, what is, after all, really important is for someone with McCarthy’s background to devote himself to a cyberspittle filled rant about the true dangers and concerns that the paper that willingly front paged Miller’s pro-Bush might be, horror of horrors, aligned with the “Bush-bashers”

I’d be the last to say he oughtn’t.

Harkin decimating Rice.

Muzzy @ 180

Samuel L. Jackson as Dr. Rice.

707!

Sparkles the Iguana @ 154

More than one-third of American women are infected by human papilloma virus (HPV), which in rare cases can lead to cervical cancer, by the time they are 24 years old, according to a study being published today.

Holy shit!

Popping my head up for a pet peeve.

And how many men? They may not get cervical cancer but they spread HPV to those who do.

I’ll never understand why the HPV vaccine was not tested on males. If everyone were vaccinated, cervical cancer would be a relic.

jackie @ 166

somebody said something about a note delivered to the Senate. Was that true? or just snark?

Ture. I was watching C-SPAN2 (in spite of my utter hate for all thigs mickeysoft, I have to admit I *do* like my media center HP) and some flack from the formerly White now Black House delivered a written msg. from Prez to Senate.

Probably no big thing, but there it is.

I actually had some work to do for a while, but I’m back.

Here’s my casting for the movie:

I agree with some of the casting already proposed:

Kevin Costner – Fitz
Shatner – Cheney
Dustin Hoffman – Joe
Nicholson – Armitage

How about:
Naomi Watts – Valerie

I’m having a hard time casting Scooter.

It would be great to cast Jane and Marcy as themselves, but I could see Janeane Garofolo as Marcy.

none @ 147

AltHippo @ 47

In the movie version of the Plame affair which I’m constantly casting in my imagination I can definitely see Donald Sutherland as Libby. I’d been thinking Dustin Hoffman, but Sutherland may be a better choice.

Maybe Hoffman could be Joe Wilson?

Joe = Patrick McNee
Valerie = Diana Rigg
Cheney = Gary McGurk (President Clark from Babylon 5)
Rove = Mike Myers in Dr. Evil getup
Libby = Verne Troyer (Mini-me)

Great idea–going back to the Avengers. Patrick McNee is still alive and living in Southern California–but he is in his 80’s.

leolabeth @ 186

Popping my head up for a pet peeve.

And how many men? They may not get cervical cancer but they spread HPV to those who do.

I’ll never understand why the HPV vaccine was not tested on males. If everyone were vaccinated, cervical cancer would be a relic.

that’s a pet peeve of mine, too

Mary @ 184

Personally, I would tend towards the belief that the whole purpose of McCarthy’s meandering musings was to provide an opportunity, and a selfestimable one at that, to use the contraction “oughtn’t” in print.

On the other hand, the big fish in question, Libby, did give inaccurate information to an official investigation, something that oughtn’t be tolerated.

If a twenty didn’t change hands, the karma of prose gambling will be out of balance for some time to come.

OTOH, he was able to kill two endangered species with one missive by going after the whole of the reporting privilege while he was at it. Finish up with the victimized vehemence of lumping all the pro-war mongers and Bush-praisers in the MSM as being “Bush-bashers”

Bc, after all, what with huge sections of DOJ these days pretty much devoted to advocating for torture and kidnap of innocent civilians, by and for the Executive branch; Bin Laden uncaught, unbowed and unremorseful; hundreds of billions devoted to an effort that has been wildly successful at destabilizing the world and promoting terrorism; and political purges of US Attys offices across the country — what with all that, what is, after all, really important is for someone with McCarthy’s background to devote himself to a cyberspittle filled rant about the true dangers and concerns that the paper that willingly front paged Miller’s pro-Bush might be, horror of horrors, aligned with the “Bush-bashers”

I’d be the last to say he oughtn’t.

Mary said selfestimable.

everhopeful @
37

Wasn’t Ralph Fiennes Keith’s “Worst Person in the World” a few weeks ago? Vague recollection of it having to do with him exiting the airplane restroom with a flight attendant or something? There must be more to it than that, tho. Doesn’t seem like the worst thing…

Anyway, I like him for Fitz too – best fit so far.

Worst thing… business class
KO seemed to think they should have partied in FIRST CLASS

egregious @ 173

Avian flu: the next big way to scare the daylights out of people and make big money for someone.

Scientific validity: not so much.

Yes we should research it and try to come up with a vaccine. But if it was truly a public health emergency, why would CDC be forbidden to share more than 20% of the genome? M O N E Y. For your Homeland Security, naturally.

Remember all the right wing groups that gave buckets to Lieberman at the end? They could not have him lost this seat, and their cash cow.

And remember bioterrorism was one of the Aspens letter thingies for judyjudyjudy.

I confess I don’t follow the genome stuff. But The thought of JoeLie and his neocon paymasters friends, trying to tag folks in a physical way is completely repulsive.

HotFlash @ 183

egregious @ 173

Avian flu: the next big way to scare the daylights out of people and make big money for someone.

Scientific validity: not so much.

Yes we should research it and try to come up with a vaccine. But if it was truly a public health emergency, why would CDC be forbidden to share more than 20% of the genome? M O N E Y. For your Homeland Security, naturally.

Remember all the right wing groups that gave buckets to Lieberman at the end? They could not have him lost this seat, and their cash cow.

And remember bioterrorism was one of the Aspens letter thingies for judyjudyjudy.

And it seems like they are crying wolf.

They’re not crying wolf. The flu is potentially very dangerous to humans. The problem that report describes is how certain folks, like a former Defense Secretary, are exploiting this thing to make money for themselves. Tamiflu wasn’t nearly as effective at treating the bird flu as it was claimed to be, and as usual our credulous press didn’t investigate very much.

Why are they so unconcerned about a potential disaster? I suspect it’s because they figure they are all rich enough to weather the storm. They can stay in their bunkers until the disease is cured or eradicated. And it’s also possible that this won’t happen in their lifetimes, or even their childrens’ lifetimes.

Sparkles #141: Thanks for that! Z. and Fitz seem to make a really good team, especially judging by the closing arguments. Safavian also had 5 counts against him like Scoots, and Saf was convicted on 4 of those 5. Didn’t follow that case, but just perusing a few articles. and it seems similar enough to our current Monkey-Scoots trial that I’m feeling better and better about our current jury deliberations.

Team FitZ!!

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000944.php

HF – do you think I oughtn’t have?

Harkin (see angie@185) is one of the best.

>Libby = Verne Troyer (Mini-me)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One day idling away time I looked up Andrew McCarthy’s archive on NRO, and he is so far out and drowning in his own verbiage. He must have had a hard time appeasing his colleagues on NRO because he’s been pretty silent about the Libby case until now. Fitzgerald and McCarthy are at least 7 years out from working together so I hope their paths and thinking have diverged by now.

HotFlash @ 192

Mary said selfestimable.

Wish I knew how to make the Beavis and Butthead laughing sound in print.

Re; Tamiflu, apparently all it does is shorten symtoms of the flu by a day and a half…

Cujo359 @ 195

And it seems like they are crying wolf.

They’re not crying wolf. The flu is potentially very dangerous to humans. The problem that report describes is how certain folks, like a former Defense Secretary, are exploiting this thing to make money for themselves. Tamiflu wasn’t nearly as effective at treating the bird flu as it was claimed to be, and as usual our credulous press didn’t investigate very much.

Why are they so unconcerned about a potential disaster? I suspect it’s because they figure they are all rich enough to weather the storm. They can stay in their bunkers until the disease is cured or eradicated. And it’s also possible that this won’t happen in their lifetimes, or even their childrens’ lifetimes.

Avian flu is a real problem in Asia. But the problem seems to wax and wane.

Scooter-James Wood

prostratedragon @ 159

mui @
114

A good character actor should play Novackula. One who can snort arrogance and doesn’t mind looking unphotogenic.

Maybe James Woods? Probably there’s an ideal choice out there who’s name most of us don’t know.

Shatner for Rove.

Didn’t those awful two from 1900 basically pose for the hoi polloi while leaving the gates, just before the pitchforks?

Kevin Spacey is Scooter..

An animation!

Cheney Antoinette by Ann Telnaes

http://www.anntelnaes.com/Anim…..nette.html

Better yet, Scooter-David Spade

TJ @ 151

Somebody much younger than Diana Rigg needs to play Mrs. Wilson.

Virginia Madsen would be good!

jackie @ 201

Re; Tamiflu, apparently all it does is shorten symtoms of the flu by a day and a half…

I gather that it’s a general sort of anti-viral drug, and isn’t all that effective. There aren’t many drugs that are effective against viruses, and that’s part of the reason for the panic buying, I think.

mui @ 202

Cujo359 @ 195

And it seems like they are crying wolf.

They’re not crying wolf. The flu is potentially very dangerous to humans. The problem that report describes is how certain folks, like a former Defense Secretary, are exploiting this thing to make money for themselves. Tamiflu wasn’t nearly as effective at treating the bird flu as it was claimed to be, and as usual our credulous press didn’t investigate very much.

Why are they so unconcerned about a potential disaster? I suspect it’s because they figure they are all rich enough to weather the storm. They can stay in their bunkers until the disease is cured or eradicated. And it’s also possible that this won’t happen in their lifetimes, or even their childrens’ lifetimes.

Avian flu is a real problem in Asia. But the problem seems to wax and wane.

Well, they should worry about the avian flu wiping out the slave population that makes the cheap goods that pay for those bunkers.

What I remember most clearly from 1900 is the scene of the two old men wrestling on the ground like kids. Fantastic scene, reminded me so much of my father and uncle.

the media made common cause with partisan Democrats to demand the investigation that led to Libby’s travails.

Partisan Democrats? Is that what we’re calling the CIA now? I’m still mystified as to when and how, exactly, the CIA became Berkeley’s Langely campus… Someone needs to tell this McCarthy twit it’s a few happy hours past the time for revisionism…

ObCasting: James Woods as Novakula is inspired, as is Kevin Spacey for Scooter. But Rove… if we could get Hackman to straighten his hair and gain 50 lbs and plaster on a permanent shit-eating grin…

Here’s my list (subject to change):

Cheney – John Goodman
Rove – Tim Robbins (iffy on this one)
Libby – Kevin Spacey
Mrs. Irving – Katherine Harris
Joe – David Strathairn
Val – Kim Basinger
Fitz – James Cromwell (maybe too old)
Novak – Philip Seymour Hoffman
Woodward – Jim Broadbent

litigatormom @ 12

Fitz charging a “process crime” when he couldn’t charge the underlying crime? Would that be like Ken Starr writing a pornographic report to Congress that was then used by the House to impeach a President when he couldn’t be charged with real estate fraud after a five year investigation? Clinton’s “lie” about Monica in a case brought by Paula Jones didn’t even “throw sand” in Starr’s face in his Ahab-like quest to make something out of Whitewater.

What did Andrew McCarthy think about that?

Beautiful. Brilliant

TJ @
151

Somebody much younger than Diana Rigg needs to play Mrs. Wilson.

Maybe the actress from Designing Women, who also played the wife of the (Nixon-like) President on 24. Excellent actress and looks quite a bit like Valerie Plame.

As long as we’re time-traveling in the casting exercise, Patrick McGoohan as Fitz.

Mad Dogs @ 133

dorothy @ 76

Notta Flatlander @ 74

Senate receiving a written message from Preznit just now? When do we find out what it says?

I resign??

In crayon.

Is it upside down?

Did his lips move?

It’s probably written by Barney.

LindaR @ 209

Well, they should worry about the avian flu wiping out the slave population that makes the cheap goods that pay for those bunkers.

Ouch. I know that was tongue in cheek. But I have been really concerned for love ones from time to time about SARS and bird flu, etc.

Tucker Carlson is one of two wankers that wants to further the media narrative that Americans really don’t support the Democrats, especially liberal bloggers, in opposing Bush.

LindaR @ 209

Well, they should worry about the avian flu wiping out the slave population that makes the cheap goods that pay for those bunkers.

mui @ 217

Ouch. I know that was tongue in cheek. But I have been really concerned for love ones from time to time about SARS and bird flu, etc.

Then I’ll refrain from making some more cynical observations about post-apocalyptic economics.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/…..-netroots/

Since it didn’t link here is the URL of Mr. Tucker.

Hypatia @ 214

As long as we’re time-traveling in the casting exercise, Patrick McGoohan as Fitz.

No. 6?

SARS was real. One of my cousins worked on the genome. It was a scary epidemic that was stopped before it got too far.

The composure, not the posing, is the interesting detail. Doesn’t matter so much what he is doing when he’s feeling at ease, just wondering why he’s feeling so.

As an Italian-American with relatives in northern Italy that lived through those times and are prodding me to perform interventions on a widely scattered group of relatives in America that the Italians feel have lost their souls, your observation could not have been more striking.

Canuck Stuck in Muck @ 124

Sorry, only one actor can even come close to playing Woodward–Willem Dafoe.

Brilliant suggestion!

MarkH @ 214

TJ @
151

Somebody much younger than Diana Rigg needs to play Mrs. Wilson.

Maybe the actress from Designing Women, who also played the wife of the (Nixon-like) President on 24. Excellent actress and looks quite a bit like Valerie Plame.

Jean Sharp. She’s too old.

Diane @ 16

Arrogance & entitlement.

Excessive entitlement!

everhopeful @
37

LandOfTheFree @
15

Great color commentary! I don’t know the movie, though.

EPUed from last thread: I finally figured out which actor was rolling around in my head as a good Fitz: Ralph Fiennes. Loved him in Quiz Show.

Wasn’t Ralph Fiennes Keith’s “Worst Person in the World” a few weeks ago? Vague recollection of it having to do with him exiting the airplane restroom with a flight attendant or something? There must be more to it than that, tho. Doesn’t seem like the worst thing…

Anyway, I like him for Fitz too – best fit so far.

IIRC, it was for “mile high club”ing while flying coach.

That is a real coincidence– for me. I just bought this from Barnes and Noble yesterday. I was looking for Germi’s movie Alfredo-Alfredo and it was not available so I ordered a copy of 1900. I can’t say it was a subconscious coincidence. Anyway I have not seen it yet but your post will give me a little additional twist to look for.

Boris an Natasha remind me of the characters played by Donald Sutherland and Laura Betti. I can easily imagine them raping and murdering a child for sport (the most horrifying scene in bertolucci’s film.)

These big, powerful dudes and dudettes gotta remember that you got three choices when you go before a grand jury. Take the Fifth, tell the truth, or lie. Been there and done it back when I was charged with stealing airplanes. Grand Jury called. I took the Fifth. Still got indicted and the feds shipped my big, fat, butt off to Federal prison. It was ironic. When I got there, they had an airplane mechanic school. I got enrolled. Eighteen months later, I was licensed for life by the FAA. I rarely worked on aircraft after I got out but the various skills I learned enabled me to never have to worry about a job for the rest of my working career. Retired in 2000, got a pickup and 17′ travel trailer and head west to the California desert to enjoy life and the gravy train pulling into the station every month. I is there to meet it.

Roger Woods
rwoods4108 AT yahoo DOT com

I love that movie. At the begining you wonder why that mob of old crones is chasing that nice looking couple (Donald Sutherland and his wife) across the field with pitchforks. At the end when they replay the scene you root for the crones. Maybe if enough of us showed up at the Whitehouse with pitchforks…