Every once in a while this story crops up again in the news and makes me smile. Jury selection is getting underway this week in the Hollinger case, Patrick Fitzgerald's "day job." The witness list should be a dilly:
[T]he government will trot out a star-studded group of witnesses that could include former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle and former Illinois Gov. James Thompson. All were directors of Hollinger International at the time of Mr. Black's alleged crimes.
A report prepared by former SEC chairman Richard C. Breeden used the word "kleptocracy" and took special aim at Perle. WaPo:
Press tycoon Conrad M. Black and other top Hollinger International Inc. officials pocketed more than $400 million in company money over seven years and Black's handpicked board of directors passively approved many of the transactions, a company investigation concluded.
A report by a special board committee singled out director Richard N. Perle, a former Defense Department official, who received $5.4 million in bonuses and compensation. The report said Perle should return the money to the Chicago company.
Remember that Perle, as part of the SEC investigation, had already been given a Wells notice, “a formal warning that the agency’s enforcement staff has determined that evidence of wrongdoing is sufficient to bring a civil lawsuit.”
Looks like accountability is the new black and every day is Fitzmas.
Sweet.
Update: Those who prefer their Perle soft and cudly can find it here, courtesy of the new wingnuttified PBS. I know I'm setting my Tivo.
(YouTube courtesy of the fabulous Al Rogers)
Related posts:
- Fitzgerald-Cheney Interview: A Comedy of Excuses
- The Contents of the Fitzgerald-Cheney Interview, Annotated Edition
- The Contents of the Fitzgerald-Cheney Interview, Annotated Edition
- The Fitzgerald-Cheney Interview: What Don’t We Know That We Don’t Know?
- Goldman Sachs Vice-Chair: People Must “Tolerate the Inequality”
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eek!
FITZ!
Colebear!
hello?
HAHLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?
[waves hi to Jane!]
calling it a Wells Notice has a delightful little irony to it – tee hee
jeepers Adie, what a thread hog!*g*
EPU’d from last thread:
Biodun @ 156
(NYTimes link behind TimesSelect firewall.)
[Mod Note; please do not print entire articles for copyright reasons, thanks]
OT
Missing blonde white woman alert:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/…..43081.html
Throughout the runup to Fitzmas I had not been considering that Conrad Black and his cohorts attorneys must have been reading FDL for the scouting report on Fitz. Something tells me that once Fitz backs them off the plate with the high and inside (fear of what he could reveal), they will not be able to get around on the low and away splitter (the facts).
Is there any chance Marcy could go to Chicago, like, today? I’m already nostalgic…who needs to get any work done.
is fitz testafying before congress or bringing his notes for them to peruse this week?
really, I think this needs to be done fast, I am surprised his notes haven’t been declared classified already
Looks like it’s Fitzmas all year round!
I trust FDLers have read Jeffrey Toobin in The New Yorker (yes, The New Yorker) He says Fitz won easily.
JANE!
jeepers!
that is one bubbling cauldron of foul smelling carrion.
corry342 @ 10
Ha! I’d love to catch some of the Black trial. Of course, there’d be no wifi, I’d have to go and sit in the court room and write things down on a piece of paper! But if FDL wants some live coverage of Conrad Black…
Was just epu’d, and want to get TRex’s line from last night out there:
“Let ‘em eat quail.”
And add Josh Marshall’s:
“And let’s not forget the big picture: San Diego.”
Now I get to go read the JH post. Can’t wait.
Hey Marcy!
Live coverage of Conrad Black:
Yes please, a double heaping helping!
Going back to Fitz’ previous trial involving shithead neocons:
Richard Clarke must have especially enjoyed watching Fitzgerald administering the jalapeno enema to Timmeh Russert, after what Russert did to him.
OT–but related. Army ordering injured troops to go to Iraq:
emptywheel @ 14
WE DO!!!
cbl @
7
*after suitably dignified waiting period*
got it? flaunt it! heh.
emptywheel @ 14
Tell your boss that we love him/her for letting you do this! We could even steer some bidness your way.
I’m glad I’m not the only one finding PBS all but unwatchable at this point.
Is Rupert Murdoch now on the CPB Board of Governors? I thought with Ken Tomlinson gone there might be a return to sanity?
One of the Canadian papers recently did a timeline of Connie’s career that shows exactly what kind of dick he is. Unbelieveable. “Lord Black of Crossharbour”, indeed.
emptywheel:
i’ll throw in a fountain pen and any color ink you want.
Biodun @ 18
Read that last night, left me absolutely speachless. There are no bounds to the evil in this administration. I wish them the heat of ten thousand hot suns.
scory @ 22
There’s been some movement towards sanity, in that Bill Moyers is now back and kicking ass, but it likely won’t truly improve until we get a Democratic president in who is willing to clean house (and to judge from Obama and Edwards and their duels with the media, they are just the people to do it).
suncatcher—
Actually I was hoping for a video of Olbermann doing the Bill of Rights, but thanks.
When I woke up this morning and heard on the CBC that Conrad in the CrossHairs’ trial was starting on Wednesday, the thought went through my mind, “I wonder if they’ll be covering this at all at FDL?” This posting suggests that indeed you will be at least paying attention to this trial. I’m happy about that.
I don’t expect you guys to totally live blog this trial, but I look forward to occasionally reading Christy, Marcy’s, Jeralyn’s or any firepups’ thoughts on Fitz’s next project. Being a Canadian and harboring an extreme disgust for the National Poop Post, I will be following this trial as closely as I can. BTW, of course I’ll be rooting for Fitz again.
So many Neo-Cons, only one Fitz!
Is it too early to discuss a Presidential pardon for Conrad Black ‘man of the people?’
Phoenix Woman @ 21
Think the lady would be having a chat with herself…depends on how many billables she’s willing to eat for us.
squirrel hiller @ 24
Wow. A Squirrel Hiller collectible? have to mull that one over…
emptywheel @ 14
For those of you who have not been following the Hollinger/Black scandal, it is a deliciously complex and appalling story of corruption and deception across multiple continents. While it’s more of a financial scandal than a political one, Richard Perle plays an essential role.
Although Second City Plame House is a bit unlikely at this late date, can’t FDL put out a plea for an exciting one-day guest appearance from EmptyWheel (Jane–hint)?
Aren’t there 12 days of Fitzmas?
aren’t the waxman hearings starting this week?
EW — speaking of billables, been tied up with client stuff this morning, now hopping on the phone to make follow-up calls re: meetings. Any changes to your schedule?
p.s. did you catch my comment to Nirmal re: train fare? Cheap.
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 32
waxman’s hearing with valerie plame is scheduled for 10am in rayburn room 2154 (first floor).
Soldiers with spinal injuries ordered back to Iraq. my god. How metaphorical. And personally tragic.
I am a bit floored that there are not 100,000 watadas however.
Phoenix Woman @ 23
They did a whole section on it, lovely pics and all. I put it in the mail to the FDL Snailmail address — Jane it’s marked Newspaper article US va Black, so you know what it is when it arrives, it’ll be from Toronto, Canada.
From JH’s post:
“A report by a special board committee singled out director Richard N. Perle, a former Defense Department official, who received $5.4 million in bonuses and compensation. The report said Perle should return the money to the Chicago company.”
It will be interesting to see how the Wilson-Plame civil case progresses. It could be that Fitz’s GJ’s and sundry prosecutions become set-ups for civil actions that keep the pot boiling until the end of the Bush regnum, and beyond. We can only hope that the names Perle, Feith, Libby, Rove, Abramoff, Kristol et al continue to live in infamy. Maybe eventually the public will get the picture, even with the heavy FOX overdub.
To San Diego and beyond…
theExile @ 28
that’s cuz the other firz’s were fired by teh fitz patrol
how can we unfire the fitz’s that have gone
As one who suffered having to live in Detroit for a portion of my youth, I know how close (comparatively) Ann Arbor is to Chi-Town. Of course I realize that Marcy also most likely has a life. Just sayin’
CBC radio right now on the Current:
Lord Conrad Black and his lawyers say that the upcoming trial is nothing more than a “Salem Witch Hunt.”
No guys, that will be when they go after Barbara Amiel
David Ehrenstein @
12
Yeah, but what did he say before the verdict?
Meanwhile, Darth as broken record. From AP 30 minutes ago:
Rayne @ 33
Rayne’s right, round trip fare for under $50 and as little as $27. Amtrak reservations
zhiv @
15
I saw that post, and raised you one!
following Jane’s link – “a dilly”
you learn about Fitz’s DH (37 yrs old, first big white collar case)
and you learn one of two defense attys has already lost to His Fitzness in the Ryan trial – Edward Genson def’d Ryan aide Scott Fawell
Speaking of PBS, does anyone have an idea when CPB, PBS, NPR will be returning to normal or what steps we have to take to get the “wealth management” underwriters out of the news business?
I never thought NPR or PBS had a liberal bias, even if it occasionally featured a ” Ten year old Pedro sits in the dusty shade of his family’s one room shack he shares with 8 other siblings in the Texas border town where his mother works in the local maquilladora. She makes $2.50 an hour, not enough to pay for Pedro’s asthma medication. His wheezing is exacerbated by the acrid yellow smoke of the refinery where his father works as janitor. Pedro dreams of going to school but without running water and food, his shortness of breath and lack of shoes, he can’t make the 6 mile trek, walking uphill, both ways, to school every morning. The callous school district refuses to provide a bus.” by either Mandelit El Barco or Mandeli Del Barco
Mabel’s Wig Shack @ 35
Are they supposed to mount an M16 to the front of their Power Scooters?
And as Darth addresses the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in DC, an Israeli diplomat takes a page (pun intented) from Beltway practices. From AP:
Biodun @
18
That article made me sick! What a disgusting development this is!
Wow. Just wow. Too bad we won’t be getting a blow-by-blow from the courtroom…I’d love to savor Pat Fitz stringing and knotting Perle.
Also, if you are interested in Fitz or Conrad Black or just to see how news coverage is done in places other than the US, check out the Toronto Globe and Mail’s Conrad Black special feature.
Biodun @ 42
Just once, I’d like to see a member of congress get up and say, “And Cheney once again criticized us for not supporting the troops, yadda, yadda, yadda. Is this guy for real? I mean, really, what is he smoking?”
HotFlash @
19
How long before this becomes a “done deal”?!! Better get started; time is short!
A reporter from the Globe and Mail made a couple good points on the Current.
Since Conrad isn’t as well known in the US or Chicago (even though at one time he owned the Sun-Times) seating a jury without a bias shouldn’t be difficult.
Myself, I was thinking Conrad being pompous as he is wouldn’t be a defendant a jury would be likely to be sympathetic to. The reporter pointed out how his manner of speaking (approx)”spanning an extra century and using lots of ten dollar words won’t play well in the midwestern heartland.”
They also predict that the trial won’t be nearly as covered by the US media as the Canadian media.
The deal is that the producer of the show, Brian Lapping, is a personal friend of Perle’s, the next door neighbor of Perle’s villa in France…
obviously Perle cannot be trusted – he’s a francophile softy.
“let them eat freedom fries”
Biodun @ 48
if a journalist wants to regain any inegrity at all they better start prefacing every question to this moron with;
“mr vice president, you’ve been wrong with every opinion you’ve made concerning this war and what is good for our national security
what gives you any credibility at all telling the politicians who were right about everything that your idea of supporting the troops is even close to theirs”
man, I wish one of the journalists or democrats would plaguerize that verbatum, and by this statement I give my permission to do so without credit
Rayne @ 33
Yup, Chicago is eminently accessible to A2. I’m less worried abotu billables at this point (got none! thank you, auto industry meltdown!!). But I’ve got all those county committee responsibilities to do. It was pretty hard (read, I didn’t try) keep a website updated and doing large email blasts from a federal courthouse.
waves magic google wand
More juicy Canadian coverage from The National Post, why yes, that *is* Conrad’s old Financial Post. Reporter Barbara Schecter *owns* this case, her command of the details reminds me of Marcy.
…and let’s not forget professional scold George Will’s connection with Conrad Black’s sleaze.
cbl @ 58
we think alike cbl
Re: Conrad Black. I love this one about his lawyer:
egregious @ 27
eqregious
Sorry about that. Here it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…..mp;search=
Cheney:
“An enemy that operates in the shadows and views the entire world as a battlefield is not one we can fight with strategies used in other wars.”
But it is hunky-dory for the US to “operate from the dark side”, right Dick?
-GSD
Hey thanks, suncatcher!
I’ll look at it when I get off the phone. Darn business interferes with important fdl stuff :)
Olbermann on video. Mmmmm.
But it is hunky-dory for the US to “operate from the dark side”, right Dick?
What did you expect from darth vader?
emptywheel @ 57
If you don’t mind, I will keep an ear out for opportunities for you in same area as my client. Always seems to be some brisk activity in May-June timeframe there. Can’t hurt, might help.
More about Conrad Black, writer and scholar:
cbl @
58
It’s a start but it lacks the proper degree of mockery and disdain. Delusional is too formal a word. Read the sentence again and substitute the word ‘idiotic’ for ‘delusional’.
Dems are too timid. They need to generate some press for outrageous but true statements.
As much as we’re all Fitz groupies around here, and as good as the Conrad Black trial will be (just getting up to speed on it now…), NYT story says that Fitz is not the primary prosecutor on the case and will only be making sporadic appearances.
Have to say I’d just as soon see him spending quality time with Henry Waxman this week. Does anyone know how we can get info on Fitz’ response to Waxman’s letter?
Paging Joe Klein, Howie Kurtz and Dean David Broder:
The Editor of the Herald Review chimes in and says that people contacting the paper about the dropping of Ann Coulter’s column have been “hate-filled”.
Those who dislike our decision range from people who merely disagree to those who threaten to cancel their subscriptions and never read us again, to those who use the most vile, hate-filled language to criticize us, calling us everything from a commie rag to a left-wing paper and worse. By the way, most of those whom posted comments or e-mailed comments opposed to us dropping the column don’t live here and presumably have never seen or held our paper.
From E & P.
-GSD
“I love that I’ve been certified as stupid by the Illinois judge,” said Mr Greenspan
If he actually thinks that’s what the judge was doing … um, well, what can be said?
I’d hope he’s smarter than that, but I want Fitz to win another one.
portia.vz @ 52
As the military scrambles to pour more soldiers into Iraq, a unit of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga., is deploying troops with serious injuries and other medical problems, including GIs who doctors have said are medically unfit for battle. Some are too injured to wear their body armor, according to medical records.
How much body armor and medical care would the 2.3 billion dollars we’re sending to the warlords of Colombia and Israel this year buy for our troops? It should be pointed out that every Dem leader will be following Deadeye Dick to the AIPAC podium this week.
And, are these doctors’ medical orders being overridden? Doesn’t that require some kind of written waiver from somebody fairly high up in the Army chain of command?
from GSD @64
Is this the dictionary definition of “Cheney?”
The author of Sunday’s Outlook article wrt the Dems Iraq plan, Tony Smith, will be taking questions today @ 1pm at the Post– it’s a good read.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01884.html
Ah, the Black case and Libby have more than Fitz in common:
My bold.
theExile @ 40
heh. oh she’s a piece of work alright.
He also called the shareholders and board of directors of Hollinger terrorists for thinking they should exert any influence on the Corporation.
He had to give up his Canadian citizenship to accept his Lord title in Merry Olde. Now he is sucking up trying to get it back, and with our own junior Neo-Con Prime Minister currently, who knows?
portia.vz @ 47
Remember the old Saturday Night Live sketch about the “Walker Brigade”? It’s amazing what was once absurd is now real.
Conrad Black has also had a Beltway columnist in his pocket:
Erudite. I like that.
gollll-y portia -
fine then, another Illinois voice -
GSD @ 64
Right Dick, a differnt strategy is required. One wherein the American presidency is subverted and dominated by an expanded vice presidency which is a subsidiary of Halliburton and ensures that Halliburton fast bleeds the country.
Breaking:
Waxman!
And:
Urine Kiley “Retires”
Deadeye Dick:
“When members of Congress pursue an anti-war strategy that’s been called ’slow bleeding,’ they are not supporting the troops, they are undermining them,” Cheney said in a speech to the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Hat tip to Politico for the nice, juicy right-wing talking point!
-GSD
Sorry OT, but related:
Halliburton to re-incorporate in Dubai
Waxman may hold hearings on this too…
(Note: they are re-incorporating in Dubai, re-listing on a ME bourse: ie, they will not be an American company, if this goes through, which is a detail the article seems to miss. Got a problem with that?)
Conrad Black also “invested” in FDR:
GSD @ 71
Since when is being called a left-wing paper considered the most vile, hate-filled language?
emptywheel,
Not that I read the Detroit Free Press, but it and the Oakland Press dropped Ann T. Culture’s column. There his hope for Michigan after all.
bellesouth @ 83
Condi’s not replying to her mail. Congress is a joke to these people. The American Public should be outraged that our three co-equal branches of gov. has been turned into a joke.
hey, hey, hey
that $25k/day scam is all over the place @ Hollinger
Source: New York Times, December 22, 2003
well at least they’re consistent – believe both Chalabi and Armstrong Williams used $25k increments in their invoicing;)
Biodun @ 62
Reminds of the proverb about the lawyer that represents himself has a fool for a client.
$25k is a trifling bagatelle to these people. “why all the fuss?”
hackworth @ 89
Let’s not forget the message sent by Ollie North back in the day. It is just fine to treat the Democratically held congress with contempt because they are contemptable.
It is all about rewriting the rules when it suits the ideology.
Imagine Hillary and Bill neglecting to respond to Newtie back in the 90’s?
-GSD
On the Conrad Black-Richard Perle connection:
kemo @ 85
Will they be tasked with operating our ports?
Ann in AZ @ 49
I have lost my sense of outrage. It was coined “Outrage Fatigue” (about 4 years ago, mind you) in The Onion.
It’s like the person who first read the “New Constitution” article (post before this one)and thought it was for real at first.
You just automatically begin to expect nothing less than the worst from this administration and become exhausted and overwhelmed by the every day drip, drip, drip of stories like these.
I’m so thankful we have thoughtful, driven, intrepid bloggers like those at FDL to keep the flame burning.
kemo and others,
Helliburton reincorporation -
without even looking, I am willing to bet UAE has NO extradition treaty with US
cbl @ 90
George Will’s lunch money. Will is an effete, elitist, right-wing, psuedo-intellectual Media Shill with stupid hair.
Re Darth Cheney:
Word has it that one way or the other, he might be in the last throes of his vice-presidency.
Halliburton in Dubai will not be an American company and therefore will not be paying US income taxes.
Mandrake @ 96
Actually, if you read it closely, it almost is real. It was less snarky than I first thought, and that is what is frightening.
kemo @ 85
Hmm. Interesting. Wonder if a company divesting U.S. assets that also has DoD contracts and certain levels of security access doesn’t need to go through CFIUS review?
Why I might just have to FAX my Senator as chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee about this…
Not only ports but operating oil contracts in Iraq and MANY supply contracts for our military there, food and water.
cbl @ 97
But they are keeping a US registration for all those Pentagon contracts. I wonder what the tax advantages are as well.
hackworth @ 98
And he bears a remarkable resemblance to Howdy Doody. Or is it that guy from MAD mag.
Perle will probably pull a Libby and claim that he was too busy fomenting a war against Iraq to be bothered about how Hollinger was being looted. Just as nowadays, he’s too busy to remember anything because he’s trying to start a war with Iran.
Will looks like Howdy Doody. Ted Koppel has the Alfred E. Newman what-me-worry hair.
punaise @ 92
$25,000 seems to be a standard payment for Republican shenanigans. I seem to recall that’s how much Orrin Hatch (UT-SelfRighteous) took from BCCI ( Al Quaeda’s financial predecessor) to pimp on the Senate floor for allowing BCCI to buy a
financial sleeper cellbank in D.C. in the late ’80s.And of course, like Arlen Specter more recently, Hatch blamed it on a
low level munchkinstaffer.Go Fitz! We love your work…
Firedogs,
just sent link and brief synopsis of the Injured Ordered to Iraq to Jack Cafferty – hope many of you will do the same . . .
Everyone’s Favorite Curmudgeon
Apparently the Black trial is to Canada what Brittany’s hair is to America. They have something in the news about it constantly, have been structuring their coverage of The Verdict and the travel section of the papers have been running profiles of things to do in Chicago while you are there to watch the trial.
I never think of Black without Perle, or Perle without the Boeing tanker deal, so out of nostalgia:
WaPo story from Dec of 2003, noticing that back in August, Perle wrote a big pro-Tanker WSJ op-ed that didn’t mention all the money Boeing as dumping into Perle’s Trireme. http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..ge=printer
Anytime WaPo displays a passing interest in disclosing the conflicts of Op-Ed writers, it’s a novelty. The fact that it only took them several months after the op-ed to connect the dots and get around to mentioning it is a novelty too. I don’t believe they’ve ever really connected up those Zakaria dots of his undisclosed involvement in war planning with Wolfowitz …
Then there was this story from last year about the tanker investigation, which premiered Rumsfeld’s take on the “can’t remember” defense.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..01090.html
But the one thing no one in the Bush admin ever forgets:
Meanwhile, Bush and his two wives are enjoying the tropical sun in Guatemala:
tbsa @
25
- but you don’t understand. They have to send the ##s they promised. Seriously, I heard it explained that way by some nitwit, who seemed genuinely sympathetic with the brass-plate crowd who hatched this mess.
After hearing shooter live today, I’m more convinced than ever.
They must be impeached. Period. Starting with him. Only a madman would do this to the troops. cheeknee has totally lost his moral compass, if he ever had one.
GSD @ 84
I’d like to get some news coverage, not MSM coverage, of the American
Israel Public Affairs Committee Conference this week. Maybe Max Blumenthal is there with his video camera. Go Max!
Biodun @ 100
Halliburton in Dubai will not be an American company and therefore will not be paying US income taxes.
But they *will* be accepting them….
Can Siun attend the trial?
Conrad and Barbara Black are an interesting pair!
I wrote a story on our blog about Barbara Amiel Black a couples of months ago that will give you an insight into her and some links to some delicious dish.
It was called Ann Coulter is just a wannabe, which should tell you a lot in itself.
A little taste:
And I don’t think Connie expects to get a fair trial. His lawyers have already complained that “typical juror does not reside in more than one residence, employ servants or a chauffeur … or host expensive parties.”
(Quote from this story.)
BINGO!
per Halliburton Watch -
http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/
and all this talk of avoiding US Taxes – pssshaw – they have incorporated numerous subsidiaries in The Caymans -
1 – for tax purposes
2 – get around those pesky laws about doing business with Axis of Evil (Iran)
In Colombia, Bush held forth on the human condition, even as his army (he’s commander-in-chief, remember?) orders injured troops back to Iraq:
Pectopah @ 104
True true, so maybe technically they remain an American company. Probably, the Dubai operation becomes a wholly owned subsidiary, subject to UAE rules. Sounds like a new twist on the Enron raptor scheme…
Neil @ 114
Some of the more important AIPAC Conference speeches in the past have been broadcast by C-SPAN. You can look them up at C-SPAN’s web page and play them on your computer at your leisure.
Also, re requests for Marcy to cover the Black trial, is there a blog that is to Fitz vs. Black what fdl has been to Fitz vs. Libby?
So, anyone going the Waxman/Plame hearing?
Re Colbert’s Jesus/Libby parallel: Jesus had Mary Magdalene, and Scooter has Mary Matalin.
biodin @42
WASHINGTON (AP) — Vice President Dick Cheney challenged lawmakers Monday to prove their support for U.S. troops and the war on terrorism by approving the Bush administration’s requests for financing military action in Iraq and Afghanistan.
‘’When members of Congress pursue an anti-war strategy that’s been called ’slow bleeding,’ they are not supporting the troops, they are undermining them,’’ Cheney said in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
(snip)
one of the f(l)ounders from politico took credit for the ’slow bleed’ phrase in an interview on npr the other day….sorry don’t remember his name, josh or john or something…sounded quite pleased with himself, said it happened accidentally during editing an article, ’spicin’ it up so to speak, forget the exact phrase he used, basically using the process of creative writing as opposed to factual reporting…i don’t think he realized he sounded like an **s.
Mary4 got me all nostalgic. So here are some other things Rumsfeld has said.
“I would not say that the future is necessarily less predictable than the past. I think the past was not predictable when it started.”
“We do know of certain knowledge that he [Osama Bin Laden] is either in Afghanistan, or in some other country, or dead.”
“We know where they are. They’re in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat.”
“Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war.”
“As you know, you go to war with the army you have, not the army you might want or wish to have at a later time.”
“[Osama Bin Laden is] either alive and well or alive and not too well or not alive.”
“I believe what I said yesterday. I don’t know what I said, but I know what I think, and, well, I assume it’s what I said.”
“Stuff happens”
“Needless to say, the President is correct. Whatever it was he said.”
“Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns — the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”
“If I said yes, that would then suggest that that might be the only place where it might be done which would not be accurate, necessarily accurate. It might also not be inaccurate, but I’m disinclined to mislead anyone.”
“There’s another way to phrase that and that is that the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. It is basically saying the same thing in a different way. Simply because you do not have evidence that something does exist does not mean that you have evidence that it doesn’t exist.”
“It is unknowable how long that conflict [the war in Iraq] will last. It could last six days, six weeks. I doubt six months.” -in Feb. 2003
“Secretary Powell and I agree on every single issue that has ever been before this administration except for those instances where Colin’s still learning.”
“Learn to say ‘I don’t know.’ If used when appropriate, it will be often.”
“I don’t know what the facts are but somebody’s certainly going to sit down with him and find out what he knows that they may not know, and make sure he knows what they know that he may not know.”
http://politicalhumor.about.co…..quotes.htm
Mayan Indians seek to purify site after Bush’s visit.
(Remember when at the UN Hugo Chavez said he smelled sulphur after Bush’s appearance. “The devil was just here,” he said.)
Does it appear to anyone else besides me, that Jr. still has a problem in re: reciting stage directions right along with his quotables?
e.g., “I am here to give the message that I care.”
sorta looking fwd to some rushed newbie handing nit something written in shorthand or text-messaging blog-speak…
“New bedouins“…one of our tribe’s in Austin, another might be in DC this week, yet another in CHI.
Too funny.
ah … can Siun attend the trial … maybe, if work allows … I’ll check schedules and see
AZ Matt @ 122
C-Span??? Anyone know?
Adie @ 130
It will streamed from the Committee’s website and the gentleman I spoke to at the Oversight Cmte said he believes cspan will cover.
my post at 124
biodin’s quote was from 42 not 62
angie @ 131
Thanks!
I wonder if CIA is going to send lawyers.
uncle toby @
79
I thought the Walker Brigade was a Monty Python skit. It went along with The Killer Joke.
“My dog has no nose.”
“How does he smell?”
“Terrible.”
Democracy Now will also be covering the AIPAC conference.
OT
just heard on the news that general kiley, army surgeon general, resigned and will retire……he’s the one that used to run walter reed, was for a short period recently appointed in charge again until army realized was mistake, that decision led to head of army (hadley?) being fired by defsec gates……kiley lived across the street from bldgs where outpatients stayed…..was made aware of problems a while back and did nothing and is resigning……
seems like there should be a way to prosecute him criminally for knowing and doing nothing……
cbl @
81
Yeah, more like that but with more derision. Maybe presidential candidates should not be too derisional. That should be the province of people like Tim Whathisname from Ohio who does the killer speeches in the House.
From AOL’s online survey:
What do you think is behind Halliburton’s relocation?
Tax advantages 66%
Mideast contracts 34%
Total Votes: 30,571
Nice. No third or fourth options there, like “no extradition treaty” or “need faster help from old BCCI cronies“.
When I was in the UAE, all businesses there had to have a UAE citizen as an equal partner in the business. I doubt, but don’t know if, that has changed.
So if Halliburton is going to be a Dubai company, who is going to own half of it?
AZ Matt @ 122
and is there a “Waxman Watch” website somewhere, that Haliburton Watch site is right on top of the Cheney family’s business, we need a constant notifier about Waxman’s activities. Waxman, riding the “what goes around comes around” wheel of inevitable karma, is nipping at their heels, so the neocons are running scared (Halliburton moving to Dubai is the best example).
Is there a schedule anywhere of the Plame testimony? And will it be broadcast on one of the C’spans?
Hugh @ 125
So, Hugh, are you starting another list? Put together like this, it sure sounds like Yogi Berra-isms.
Speaking of your list, is there any possibility it could have a permanent residence somewhere on FDL, maybe a new page that can be added to or referenced from time to time. I have in mind something recurring, if you get what I mean. Or is that too much like TPM or Dkos?
The G&M article says that Black was extravagantly spending his ill-gotten largess for such expenses as a whopping $2500.00 in purses (presumably for his wife, but the article doesn’t specify and I’d hate to be too hasty in drawing conclusions).
Just $2500? The Blacks must shop at the same remainder flea market as Babs Comstock.
JEP @ 140
Is there a schedule anywhere of the Plame testimony? And will it be broadcast on one of the C’spans?
Try the committee’s website (it’s Oversight and Government Affairs). You’ll also find stuff back up the thread a way, where the question has been asked at least once before.
OOps! timing is everything…
OT–but related. From AP:
dmac @ 136
Now what is gates going to do about the doctors who are “fixing” medical reports that make it possible to deploy someone with imjuries that were previously considered undeployable.
Biodun @ 145
Lordy.
Joel @ 142:
It’s $25K.
portia vz at 137
pray-tell, why?
sure beats delusional. *sigh*
Adie @ 127
I think that you are correct. It sounded very awkward – even for him. He must have been reading notations/stage directions. His handlers must have a very difficult time trying to keep notes separate from script. Different colors, italics, caps – no matter – like Ron Burgundy, he’s gonna read whatever you put in front of him. His vocal inflection and rhythm is always odd with every speech so that only a keen ear could identify that. Ted Baxter was a genius by comparison.
emptywheel @ 14
How do you know there would be no wifi? why not start calling the court, use Walton’s order as a precedent
egregious @ 16
yes please with snark
dmac @ 136
Sounds a lot like dereliction of duty to me!
Eddie Greenspan is the most prestigious defence lawyer in Canada. No matter what else Black does, he is signalling not only that he buys the best advice but that he is Canadian.
Black needs his Canadian citizenship back so that if he is convicted, he can serve in a Canadian jail, which may be more comfy than a US jail.
He also has much more networking power in Canada than in the US, and may be able to get a much cushier approach to incarceration under a Harper government than under a Chicago judge.
In order to gain the British title, he renounced his Canadian citizenship. He must reapply, which is harder to do if serving time for a felony in a US jail.
Canadians are cheering for Fitz today.
Rayne @ 138
Or even “other.”
looseheadprop @ 151
Golllleee!, those doggies gettin’ push-shee!
‘Nother YES! vote here!
GO FOR IT! Puleeze!
(just pretend you’re as shy now as you were on the rugby field, heh – prolly about right)
Totally O/T. Army surgeon general Kiley has resigned.
Yes, Marcy. Get back in court!
barbara @ 157
now follow the cookie trail & fire the boss, & his boss, & so on, & so on….
dmac @ 136
Yes there should be, but he did waht he was supposed to do – take his pay, keep his mouth shut and look the other way as the failure of Privatization took hold. All the federal money went to subcontractors who took the money and ran the operation into the ground. Its the textbook republican business model.
Slow start to my first day between work projects, but I’ve got a post about Mutual Linking that I hope people will check out here.
Adie @ 127
Wow, did he really say that? Recycling a classic bit of daddy’s idiocy, “Message: I care.”
No one in the Bush family every seems to get that people don’t care how many times your words say you care if your actions say you don’t.
Ann in AZ @ 155
What about “impending US recession, and market downturn”…
And what’s up with closing Walter Reed? So Halliburton gets that valuable real estate under the buildings, has anyone checked?
Adie @ 127
These people hire someone else to care. Off-shore it if necessary.
Redshift @ 162
s’more comments were far worse, & way more stoopid. it’s just that, ya see, i have these memory lapses… probably overload…
or maybe the shocked, just shocked look my honey gave me when he walked in the room while I was watchin the speechifiasco ;->
new thRedd
Mary4 @ 111
Arrrrgh Mateys!! It’s the Curse of the Black Perle all over again.
Kiley’s resignation -
doggies – there is a story here – why in the hell wasn’t this guy sacked ?!?!? he was the one in charge up until 6 mos ago and he was the one in charge when Walter Reed services were privatized – but somehow allowed to retire – jeebus c’mon Dana, give us the 4-1-1
Fresh thread, gang. Thought you might like to know…
egregious @ 164
Nah, they just have a scummy operations contract, real estate isn’t really their thing. (I’d imagine it’s harder to get away with real estate fraud than government contracting fraud.) It’ll be a big fight between developers and the city and federal governments, apparently.
perris @ 38
I don’t think there is anyway legally to do so. However, there were some extraordinary people who have fled DOJ because they put their professionalism and integrity ahead of any party affiliation.
I think any Democrtic President should be honored to invite them back to their former positions.
Phoenix Woman @ 23
Conrad Black has a deep history of sneering arrogance and malevolent behavior goiing back many decades. I didn’t read all the comments so I don’t know if other Canadians have filled some of the back story, but he has a long history of union busting, neo-con journalism, and a life of sneering contempt for ‘ordinary’ people (the unrich and unarrogant). In this case he ended up with money probably out of the pockets of partners as well as mere workers, shareholders and other peasants. I would get great pleasure from from seeing him do a considerable chunk of hard time.
Marcy, I think we OWE you a trip to Fitz-ney-World [feeble play on Disney World].
GSD @
71
You know who those people are. They’re the same ones clogging the C-Span “Democrat” phone lines and they always say stuff like “I used to be a loyal Democrat until (fill in name of right-winger’s hate object du jour) did something I don’t like! Waaaahhh!”
Robert Paehlke @
173
He is the epitome of the hyper-rich neo-con Man Without A Country: You know, the clowns that claim to be super-patriots of whatever country they’re operating from at the time, yet send their workers’ jobs to China?
Eileen Joan @
116
Chicago Dyke may know of someone attending to this as well…..
Adie @
149
Give the mockery to a surrogate. Keep the heat off of the candidate.
oh, I just caught up to Marcy’s interest in covering the trial. If Marcy would cover it….we need to chip in, etc..
Marcy, you rawwwwk
mc @ 9
I thought you were talking about Ann Coulter. I got my hopes up too early.
Jane…hopefully you will keep us posted…have been waiting for this trial…absolutely delicious
Siun @ 129
Oh good, Siun. I didn’t see you on this board so I’m glad you replied. Hope it works out.
Here’s an old post of mine on this subject.
The Prince of Darkness vs. Lord Black
portia.vz at 178
Good point.
I consider the decline of the Charlie Rose Show to have begun when Mr. Perle, Mr. Gaffney, Mr. Kristol, and Mr. Rose were discussing, PRE-INAUGURATION, how a true mark of ‘greatness’ for a president was engaging in a war and how dubya might achieve that. I recall being shocked that any group of men could have their priorities so askew that they could think such a thing and then say it. I stopped being a regular watcher of Mr. Rose that night. One does not assume greatness with ungracious choices without realizing the instructive consequences of such choices. One then realizes one’s self as a great disappointment.