Merry Fitzmas!

5 Counts!

2 Perjury
2False Statements
1 Obstruction of Justice


Ho Ho Ho! Merry Fitzmas!

Can I start calling him "Tricky Dick" now?

Murray Waas over at National Journal has a blockbuster out today. Read it at the link.

The meat:

Vice President Cheney and his chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, overruling advice from some White House political staffers and lawyers, decided to withhold crucial documents from the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2004 when the panel was investigating the use of pre-war intelligence that erroneously concluded Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, according to Bush administration and congressional sources.

heney had been the foremost administration advocate for war with Iraq, and Libby played a central staff role in coordinating the sale of the war to both the public and Congress.

Among the White House materials withheld from the committee were Libby-authored passages in drafts of a speech that then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell delivered to the United Nations in February 2003 to argue the Bush administration's case for war with Iraq, according to congressional and administration sources. The withheld documents also included intelligence data that Cheney's office -- and Libby in particular -- pushed to be included in Powell's speech, the sources said.

...

Hoo Boy! That could start a whole new investigation, dontcha think?

I think my wife totally called this...

For a few weeks... Well, since the nomination of Meiers for SCOTUS my wife has been saying a lot of wierd stuff about it. I usually have a very high regard for what my wife says but this time I pooh poohed it thinking she was off her chunk.

What she had been saying was basically that she expected Harriett Miers to tank in a serious way so that they could quietly ditch her and appoint somone seriously hardcore. I though at the time that she was giving waaaaay too much credit to the administration, I mean, these are the guys who brought you Michael Brown after all.

I am beginning to regret not listening to her.

CBS News has a story out now called"The Miers Conspiracy Theory" That looks like it just might vindicate my wife's theory.

I hope that it's not correct because if it were then it means that GWB is actually far more savvy than I could ever give him credit for. That, and I hate eating crow....

SKELETONS FIGHT TO GET OUT OF CLOSET AS WITCHES' BREW HEATS UP

This article by Georgie Anne Geyer is a facinating look behind the curtain in one of the mostpowerful families in the world. It talks about the current fallout from the Iraq war and the way that old allies of the Bush family have been warning W about this quagmire for some time. It is facinating. Ms. Geyer certainly has some great access. She uses it to great effect.

Holy Shit!

Sic Semper Tyrannis : Is running a story that has to be seen to be believed. I am still not sure I believe it but in the abscence of any love from the Fitz, I will pass it along for you.

Here's the big deal:

Although most press accounts emphasized that Fitzgerald was likely to concentrate on attempts by Libby Rove and others to cover-up wrongdoing by means of perjury before the grand jury, lying to federal officials, conspiring to obstruct justice, etc. But federal law enforcement officials told this reporter that Fitzgerald was likely to charge the people indicted with violating Joe Wilson's civil rights, smearing his name in an attempt to destroy his ability to earn a living in Washington as a consultant.


The civil rights charge is said to include "the conspiracy was committed using U.S. government offices, buildings, personnel and funds," one federal law enforcement official said.


Other charges could include possible violations of U.S. espionage laws, including the mishandling of U.S. classified information, these sources said.


That Vice President Cheney is at the center of the controversy comes is no surprise. Last Friday, Fitzgerald investigators were talking to Cheney's attorneys, and detailied questionaires, designed to pin down in meticulous sequence what Cheney knew, when he knew it, and what he told his aides,, were delivered to the White House on Monday, these sources said.


The probe is far from being at an end. According to this reporter's sources, Fitzgerald approached the judge in charge of the case and asked that a new grand jury be empaneled. The old grand jury, which has been sitting for two years, will expire on October 28.

...

They said that Fitzgerald is looking into such individuals as former CIA agent, Duane Claridge, military consultant to the Iraqi National Congress, Gen. Wayne Downing, another military consultant for INC, and Francis Brooke, head of INC's Washingfton office in an effort to determine if they played any role in the forgeriese or their dissiemination. Also included in this group is long-time neoconservative Michael Ledeen, these federal sources said.

So IF this guy has any real information that you can quote as fact then the whole shitstorm is about to get much bigger!

PS.

He says that there will be indictments today after all. I'll believe that when I see it too.

Cheny to be replaced by Mayor McCheese -- FafBlog

Fafblog! the whole worlds only source for Fafblog, Runs this very insightful expose on thhe future. Within you'll find all of your speculations are unfounded. Fafblog has ripped the lidoff the stonewalling by the administration and the Fitzgerald investigation.

Here's the money quote:

UPDATE! An even more super-secret source tells us that Dick Cheney will resign and be replaced, most likely by McCheese! Mayor McCheese is widely respected in Republican circles for his strong fiscal conservatism and his tough-on-hamburgling record. But how will this affect the Mayor's 2008 presidential prospects? Will this be seen as a concession to the powerful Fat Lobby? Stay with us, there is more to come!

Amazing stuff!

How big is this thing going to get?

According to information coming out of Italy being interpreted by Josh Marshall over at TPM the coming of Fitzmas might be accompanied by more than we imagine. In several posts recently, including the linked one above, it appears more and more likely that Fitz is investigating the whole Niger Forgeries in addition to the rationale for the war in Iraq. It is being posited that all of this is so interconnected that once you pull on one string (like the outing of Plame) all of the rest has just sort of come up with it. This is getting very interesting. I am not sure that there will be any real news coming out of this but there certainly is a lot more attention being paid this time around.

Even if this doesn't lead anywhere in the near term it's nice to see the things that have been reported by Josh and many others, regarding the start of the war and the lies and treason that led to it, being discussed by the larger media.

Don't even try to say that Fitz isn't fit

The word Incorruptable doesn't usually come around in these days of scandal in the halls of power, but that is exactly the word being used by Reuters Adam Stern in this article that chronicles the exploits of Patrick Fitzgerald, the man of the hour.

The article talks about his determination and effectiveness in the face of very challenging cases. He looks, from what I've read, to be one tough customer, and one little seen in this day and age. They even compare him to Eliott Ness. It should be difficult to impeach his character.

Nonetheless, look forward to a major slime campaign and cries of dirty pool from the usual wingnuts if the indictments come down.

I feel like a kid waiting for Fitzmas... I can't wait to see the show.

Niger Uranium Forgery Mystery Solved?- by Justin Raimondo

This article by Justin Raimondo is a facinating read and well worh the time it takes to get through. It tells a very complete story that appears to be very welll researched, about what brough us to the point of the Plame leak. I think that he is mistaken in thinking that justice will be served to all who deserve it but it's a fine thing to think about.

I now am finding myself asking how all of these criminals (like Michael Ledeen) get back into strong government positions? If the left did any of this we would be pilloried for it. But it's business as usual for the right. look at some of the names in the biggest scandals and criminal activities in the history of this nation. Watergate, Iran-Contra. they are all still working for this administration. It's insane. The best folks for the job in the Republican party are all criminals and crooks. They get pardoned and go back to work.

Look out of a massive pardoning session to come from the Pres. in the near term.

Michael Brown, Ignoramus.

In the following article:Aide Says FEMA Ignored Warnings From WAPO, the issue is made clear that not only did Mike Brown (he of FEMA fame) lie deliberately to congress to save his extremely well padded ass, He actually was more concerned with HAVING DINNER than saving people he knew to be in "past critical" situations.

The critical passage:

"At 11:20 a.m. Aug. 31, Bahamonde e-mailed Brown, "Sir, I know that you know the situation is past critical . . . thousands gathering in the streets with no food or water . . . estimates are many will die within hours."

At 2:27 p.m., however, Brown press secretary Sharon Worthy wrote colleagues to schedule an interview for Brown on MSNBC's "Scarborough Country" and to give him more time to eat dinner because Baton Rouge restaurants were getting busy: "He needs much more that 20 or 30 minutes."

Bahamonde e-mailed a friend to "just tell [Worthy] that I just ate an MRE . . . along with 30,000 other close friends so I understand her concern.""

The outrage I feel towards this entire assministration is total. I would punch each of these bastards in the face if I ever met them.

God it's good to see this in print....

NYT Today.

The money quote:

"Among the charges that Mr. Fitzgerald is considering are perjury, obstruction of justice and false statement - counts that suggest the prosecutor may believe the evidence presented in a 22-month grand jury inquiry shows that the two White House aides sought to cover up their actions, the lawyers said.

Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby have been advised that they may be in serious legal jeopardy, the lawyers said, but only this week has Mr. Fitzgerald begun to narrow the possible charges. ..."

Life is good.

Here's a guy who knows how to play it...

Gotta hand it to ol' Tom DeLay. The former Majority leader really knows how to take a great booking photo. I mean look at that mug. He hasn't looked more affable in a photo in ten years. We'll see how he looks in the next one...

After the Abramoff deal gets going.

Bob Ney is goin' down hard.

The Ohio lawmaker's Abramoff ties are being investigated.

The article linked above is a real corker and ties in a ton of valuable information about Abramoff and his cronys. Read that one for sure.

Time for the Perp Walk!!!!

Ahhhh the schadenfreud! Ah the blessed irony. Ah the grandness of the Tom DeLay perp walk.


Read about the upcoming festivities here.

House GOP Leaders Set to Cut Spending

This should be very interesting...

"House GOP Leaders Set to Cut Spending

Leadership Shake-Up Spurred Policy Shift

By Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 17, 2005; Page A01


House Republican leaders have moved from balking at big cuts in Medicaid and other programs to embracing them, driven by pent-up anger from fiscal conservatives concerned about runaway spending and the leadership's own weakening hold on power."

This article is starting to give me an inkling of just how fractured the GOP is now. I was completely amazed. There seems to be more than one revolt going on in the typically lockstepped Republican party. It seems that the Fiscal Conservatives are starting to look at the new DeLay-less landscape with an eye for the power to affect real change.

It just seems that the changes they are askeing for might be a really hard sell right now. In the aftermath of GOP bungling and corruption, coming out right now and declaring war on poor and elderly, who have suffered the most in the Hurricanes, might not be exactly politically expedient. It's getting to be a very interesting year around here...

The money quote from the article regarding the war on poor people:

After several meetings, Hastert emerged from a closed Republican session the night of Oct. 6 to announce that he had gotten the message. Cuts to entitlement programs such as Medicaid, food stamps and farm supports would be raised from $35 billion to $50 billion in the massive budget bill that will be compiled in November. Republicans would push an additional across-the-board spending cut for 2006 and would try to trim programs already funded.

That kind of attitude might not play too well to the unwashed masses. I'm sure the rich, white base will get behind it, but the problem with the devide between the haves and the have-nots is that there are far fewer of the rich, white base folks around these days. They have been traded for the super rich, white base and the now-struggling, angry, white middle class. A middle class who's been hearing a lot lately about how they are the ones paying for the rich to get richer...

Miller's Security Clearance...

Ivo Daalder over at TPM cafe has a great set of questions regarding Judith Millers supposed "Secret" level security clearance from the DoD.

It is a worthy article to read. It does not however ask one of the fundamental questions that I would expect to be obvious: Is the security clearance the reason that Miller sould not wirte about the Plame leak? Was she aware of the leak but too afraid of being prosecuted for it herself?

Things are getting very interesting around here when you have reporters for the New York Times getting secret informaion through a DoD security clearance....

OMG!!!

OMG! WTF!?






Just what I know you always wanted to have on your wall.

What better way to exploit the tragedy and horror of the worst terrorist act in the history of the world than with a black velvet painting of Christ wrapped in the flag and standing on the burned out hulk of the WTC?

That screams KLASSY! Trailer ownerss all across the bible belt are lining up to put this beauty in their living rooms.

A Polling Free-Fall Among Blacks

Playing the plame game

I have been thinking about little else besides the Plame/Rove/Libby/Miller investigation lately and I have decided not to blog anything about it mostly because there is just not any real credible information coming out that isn't available almost anywhere else in a more readable format. I would recommend firedoglake as the most complete repository on this as I have seen.

Still. I have more to think about. I am personally becoming very excited about the bossible denoument of what has been, by Washington standards, one of the quietest and most secretive investigations in recent political history. This is a far cry from the Kenneth Starr investigations that leaked damaging and politically charged vitriol on a daily basis. There is even the chance that the abuse that this Grand Jury is hearing about goes all the way to the top. There is the potential for a massive and total scandal on the part of the GOP and the presidency of the US. The damage that mightbe visited on the administration could be so total that the GOP may never recover. Yet there is nothing being siad outside of idle speculation. That's unpresidented.

So far we know that there was a leak of a name that may or may not have been a crime. We know that there were at least deputies to the most powerful men in the world involved. We know that journalists have been jailed for not testifying about their knowledge. But that's almost all we really know. There are, of course, tons of timelines and speculative "what if" websites out there but the crux of this thing turns on who knew and who told. We will eventually know those answers but not till Patrick Fitzgerald is finished with the investigation. The world of the left is so far on the edge of it's collective seat that it's resorting to filling in the (rather massive) gaps in information with wild speculation. I am certainly party to this and am doing it gleefully ut I harbor no illusions that this is anything more than a wasted excersize.

Anyway I'll post when there's actually some news. but in the meantime I've got to go check out the latest speculation on firedoglake.....

Those darned uncanny coincidences...

Crooks and liars Has a fantastic video from MSNBC featuring Keith Olberman giving a very chilling rundown of the coincidental bad news for the Bush Administration and the increase of the terror threat level. It's very much worrth looking at.

Go big or go home!

A 22 year old in Florida has just redefined the term joyride. He and a few of his buddies apparently stole a $7 million corporate jet and flew it from Florida to Georgia.

I'm guessing that he is going to be in a ton of trouble but he is also liable to be impossible to beat in a game of ""I never..."

How'd we miss this?!

I'm with Sean Paul on this one. This should have been front page news. it seems that right under our noses a "Chinese Crew Blasts Off for Space Mission" Now there are not many countries that have built a space program with manned flight. as a matter of fact there are only three. This seems like a bigger deal than the news agencies are making it out to be.

Wow. Really cool way to get some money raised...

Here's a good one.

A nine year old boy SWAM from Alcatraz to San Francisco to raise money for Katrina relief.

HE SWAM! THERE'S SHARKS! THERE'S SUPER COLD WATER, EXTREME CURRENTS, WIND, AND HE MADE IT!

HE WAS NINE!!!

Freakin' Awesome!!

What did you do? (I gave at the office... I feel a bit humbled just now...)

A great moment in the history of journalism

The column written by Howard Kurtz - TV's Newest Anchor: A Smirk in Progress, (found via atrios) is a great piece on one of my favorite comedians, Stephen Colbert. It talks about his career and how he delights in skewering hypocracy in all of it's forms. Colbert wonders why there aren't more like him in the MSM.

The key grafs:

When Colbert talks about skewering hypocrites, he makes clear that, like Stewart, he cares about politics as more than a punch line. He recalls Vice President Cheney, in a CNBC interview last year, being asked about having said it was "pretty well confirmed" that terrorist Mohammed Atta had met with an Iraqi official in Prague -- part of a White House attempt to demonstrate a link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. Cheney denied making the comment, but "The Daily Show" later aired a tape of a 2001 "Meet the Press" interview in which the vice president had said the Atta meeting was "pretty well confirmed."

"When Dick Cheney says, 'I never said that,' and then we play the tape, why did we do it?" Colbert says. "Why wasn't it done broadly? Because he wasn't speaking about something inconsequential. It wasn't like we were playing gotcha journalism over some quibble. It was over weapons of mass destruction. That's not advocacy journalism. That's objectivity in its most raw form."

Good stuff.

Horrible

This link takes you to my local TV stations coverage of the massive earthquake this weekend in Pakistan. My heart goes out to all of those affected. It truly is horrible.

the death toll has been put recently at over 30,000.

They're kidding right?

So this link takes you to an ABC News exclusive pop up that is entitled "What do you need to prepare for an attack?" and it about... Wait for it... a nuclear attack on your home town.

Now I realize that there is a very real threat of nuclear terrorism out there but c'mon! I mean this is little more than "Duck and Cover" revisited. It's a way for people to feel that they have some control over what happens after a nuclear blast. This always was pure propaganda. We even figured that out in the fifties. Please give us a break. We are still intelligent individuals out here....

House Narrowly Approves Bill to Boost Refineries, 212-210 - New York Times

This makes me sick.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House narrowly approved a Republican-crafted energy bill Friday aimed at encouraging construction of new refineries, although opponents said it would do nothing to ease energy prices while handing unneeded benefits to a profit-rich oil industry.

...

The bill passed 212-210. Its prospects in the Senate were uncertain.

The vote, which was supposed to be taken in five minutes, lasted more than 40 minutes as GOP leaders searched for the last two votes they needed to get the bill approved. They buttonholed lawmakers for last-minute lobbying as Democrats complained loudly that the vote should be closed. Finally two GOP lawmakers switched from ''no'' to ''yes,'' giving the bill's supporters the margin of victory.

If at first you don't succeed, break the rules. So much for the "Party of accountability and integrity"

Giving holden his pony.

Bush's poll numbers have hit 37%! The lowest polling numbers in the history of the poll.

Holden gets a pony.

Reality sends chills through halls of power - Yahoo! News

Ouch! That hurts...

A nicely written piece....

Trust me... I'm a Doctor!

SEATTLE (Reuters) - An Oregon woman whose doctor convinced her that he could cure her lower back pain by having sex with her is suing him and his medical clinic for $4 million, according to legal documents obtained on Monday.

The doctor, Randall Smith, who was 50 at the time, was stripped of his license and sent to jail for 60 days last year for charging the state's Oregon Health Plan $5,000 for his 45-minute "treatments" involving the woman.

"Treatments" indeed!

Heh!

Housekeeping Part Deux

Well... After a bit of debate I have gone ahead and turned off the anonymous comments. You see there is nobody that really comments here and all (literally 100%) of the comments were Ad-Spam. SO too bad no love for the anons. If you are willing to register with Blogger®, you can comment and I would welcome any feedback. Sorry if you were thinking of commmenting and I have stilfed you but I assume that you can go and register and have that shot at me that you always wanted anyway.

Care to go for Three?

Here's a story that's only now getting fleshed out in the press. I wonder how long till CNN get's it....


DeLay indiceted again! This time for money laundering....

The plot thickens.