you can multiply the vet health care problems by a thousandfold if you look at the disability cases on appeal for everyday citizens. Unfair, routine turn downs of claims results in common two year wait for appeal hearings.Why two year before a hearing… because of underfunding for 100 judges needed to eliminate the backlog. One second, yes… one second of the cost of Iraq pays for a year of disability benefits for the poorest citizens amongst us.

This bears repeating!
One second, yes… one second of the cost of Iraq pays for a year of disability benefits for the poorest citizens amongst us.

Lindy @ 89

Wow, Christy! Just…wow!

I want to also comment that Marcy seems to have reached her stride, now more than ever. This has been an absolutely amazing eye-witness account, with details we’d never see in the MSM and totally riveting.

Delurking for just a moment to second this sentiment strongly.

Is it too soon to be suggesting to the PlameHouse team that you spend the “waiting” hours working on a plan to publish the FDL coverage of the Libby trial as a book? Of course, the live-blogging in itself would not to be reprinted in full, because by then the full actual transcript will be available. A sample that is laced with courtroom description (that will NOT appear on the official transcript) might be appropriate. But what I mainly think would be in the book would be the PlameHouse team blogs on the trial, and a selection of the better commentaries. It would be a difficult challenge, but I think it would be worth it!

Bob in HI

The most important point I take (page 34)is that the defence could, after losing the argument, which I assume went orally along the same lines, have chosen even then “until the very close” to have Libby testify and thus introduced all the documents on the memory defence, and still they did not.

Have got to closely watch typos with IANAL, preview is your friend. And EPU’d again

fantastic.

help! am looking for above referenced DKOS diary by grayslady – anyone ?

grayslady @ 112
It’s called “The Players Behind the IAP and Walter Reed Scandal”. Thanks for asking.
=========================================

i couldn’t find it either, i hand-scrolled back to last wednesday and then did the search with your name, got 0 hits. how about a link?

To the Gloomy Gusses (?) among us. Remember that conviction on even a single count would represent the highest level criminal conviction within the executive branch in US history. (Christy, please correct if I am wrong).

Tough call on this. Consider the case of John Poindexter, Ollie North’s boss, in the Iran Contra affair. He was Deputy NSA from 1983-85 and NSA from 1985-86. Compare that with Libby being VP’s Chief of Staff/NSA. Neither post requires Senate confirmation, but Poindexter was ostensibly more senior, particularly in national security issues. To look at it in more contemporary terms, wasn’t Condi Rice (2001-2004) more senior than Libby?

corry342 @ 102

Oklahoma kiddo @ 94

If Libby is convicted, the feeling here is that a pardon from Bush is all but inevitable. But hopefully a pardon will not end it for others in this administration.

I have read elsewhere that a pardon removes the 5th Amendment option of avoiding self-incrimination when testifying before Congress. Can any attorneys here comment on how a pardon for Perjury would affect Scooter’s ability to avoid testimony before Congress on various matters? What could he still avoid testifying about?

Second reason for comparison – Poindexter’s conviction was overturned because gov’t could not establish that congressional immunity did not taint criminal proceedings. That’s why you do the criminal side first and follow up with congressional hearings. If Libby is acquitted on some charges and obtains a pardon for convictions of other charges, he is done. Double jeopardy will not allow a re-trial on the earlier charges, and Poindexter precedent will make sure that testimony will be given broad span. Depending on the wording on the pardon, he should still take the Fifth.