Month: October 2005

Good As Gold

Via tribe34 at DKos, I see that Condi is a little bit on edge these days:

Rice bristled when asked how the U.S. could be trusted when it doesn’t live up to its international agreements.

“Well, I think the word of the United States has been as good as gold in its international dealings and its agreements,” she snapped.

Good as gold means withdrawal from the Kyoto Treaty on global warming, refusing to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and abrogating the Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty, I guess.

And then there’s this:

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed in 1997, Bolton articulated his dismissive view of international treaties. “Treaties are law only for U.S. domestic purposes,” he wrote, “In their international operation, treaties are simply political obligations.”

[…]

Bolton called the moment he signed the letter abrogating Clinton’s approval of the ICC “the happiest moment in my government service.”

[…]

Following the 1999 Senate vote rejecting the treaty, Bolton said that the vote marked “the beginning of a new realism on the issue of weapons of mass destruction and their global proliferation. The Senate vote is an unmistakable signal that America rejects the illusionary protections of unenforceable treaties.”

And she bristles when other countries question whether a treaty with our signature on it is worth more than toilet paper.

According to MikeCan over at DKos, after this little snit:

“…local media in Ottawa reported this morning that Condi Rice canceled some interviews etc and rushed back to Washington based upon a phone call.”

What ever could that be about?

.

What A Good Boy! Mama’s Real Proud

Taking the blame for your messed up brother one more time:

Gov. Jeb Bush took the blame Wednesday for frustrating delays at centers distributing supplies to victims of Hurricane Wilma, saying criticism of the Federal Emergency Management Agency was misdirected. “Don’t blame FEMA. This is our responsibility,” Bush said at a news conference in Tallahassee with federal Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who oversees the agency.

And then he added, “Chertie, yer doin’ a heckuva job.”

.

The Kids Who Couldn’t Wait For Fitzmas

It’s driving me crazy too. But we need to take a longer view of this, I think. If we get sealed indictments, if the grand jury is extended, if a new grand jury is empaneled it is only our nerves that are stretched.

Mark Kleiman writes, and I agree:

Yes, I’m as eager as everyone else to know what Fitzgerald is going to do. But today’s delay strikes me as both a Good Thing in itself and a good sign as to the eventual outcome.

It’s a Good Thing because it keeps the Plame scandal on the front page and keeps the bad guys paralyzed with fear. Moreover, after two years of steady drumbeat of conservative propaganda about no crime having been committed and no charges forthcoming, the more time the commentariat and the public have to wrap their heads around the idea of All the President’s Men going to stir over burning a CIA NOC, the better.

Most of the country is only beginning to wake up to the fact that this is a Big Deal and the Bush administration is in big trouble over it. It doesn’t hurt a bit to keep the White House off balance, the press salivating and the story percolating for a little while.

You’ll have to excuse me while I have a pacemaker installed, however.

.

What is this investigation you speak of?

If you want to have a little laugh, watch Faux not cover the Plame story today. Harriet Mieres is the only story in Washington, apparently.

Oh, and the Democrats are ruining America, as usual.

Update: The Beltway Boyz are waxing nostalgic about how well Reagan handled his problems with Iran Contra. They all agree, including Mara Liasson, that Bush needs to appeal more to his base. (Maybe he can name James Dobson to replace Karl Rove?)

But enough of all that unpleasantness. Let’s talk about how well things are going in Iraq and how great the economy is. Move along citizens.

.

Flirting With Moneypenny

People seem to be wondering why Fitz had FBI agents out asking the Wilsons’ neighbors if they knew she was an undercover agent. Why would he do this so late in the game?

I suspect it came from a grand juror’s question. In presenting the case for violation of the identities protection act, one of them may have wondered how, dispute the CIA’s clear assertion that she was undercover, she could live an every day life while keeping her job a secret. There seems to be a perception, born of Hollywood, that undercover agents are all glamorous, cloak and dagger figures who are very different from ordinary people. Perhaps the earlier interviews with her neighbors were a bit vague about that and so Fitz had them re-interview them with the specific intent to show she led a very normal life but told no one that she worked with the CIA.

As to the fact that she went to Langley every day to work, even if you see the spook world only through the prism of Hollywood, you can’t help but notice that even James Bond shows up at headquarters between assignments to have a face to face with M. He wouldn’t even know Miss Moneypenny otherwise.

.

Pakistan Disaster Toll May Double To Over 100,000

Like Katrina, but far more extensive, it’s a disaster after a disaster, and it’s preventible:

Doctors are having to amputate the limbs of many survivors because they have gone so long without help, he said. Many more lack shelter as night temperatures plunge below freezing, with the full force of winter only a few weeks away.

“This disaster may have the number of people who died after the disaster bigger than those killed by the earthquake,” U.N. chief aid coordinator Rashid Khalikov said at his tent office in the wrecked city of Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani Kashmir.
Bad weather in the mountains grounded the vital helicopter fleet at the main airbase near Islamabad on Wednesday.

With the known quake death toll at more than 54,000, relief workers had until the end of November to provide shelter, treat the countless injured and supply food, Khalikov said.

“What these communities will have by December 1 is what they will have to live with,” he said.

“We basically have four weeks to deliver.”

There was a time when this was considered a moving statement of some moral truths about humankind’s obligations. But that wasn’t good enough. We now have this expression of sympathy for the less fortunate to guide us.

And what is our Compassionate Leader doing? Well, it turns out the US has pledged a whopping 50 million bucks for earthquake relief. Who says Bush is stingy? That’s nothing to sneeze about. Why, that’s at least 1/3 the cost of a Hollywood blockbuster these days and let’s face it: where’s that money better spent, huh?

Oh, and Pakistan estimates that it will take 100 times the current US committment of funds to rebuild the earthquake area (see here. )

Whoa

Richard Sale is not an idle nobody conspiracy blogger like me. He is a seasoned intelligence coorespondent with impeccable sources. And he is writing some amazing, amazing stuff today, which, if true, is going to blow the lid off this government:

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.

Thanks to a letter of February, 2004 which Fitzgerald asked for and obtained expaneed authority, the Special Prosecutor is now in possession of an Italian parliament nvestigationi into the forged Niger documents alleging Iraq’s interest in purchasing Niger uranium, sources said.

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.

First of all, the fact that there have been recent contacts with Cheney suggests that something really big is up. Second, the fact that he is going to empanel a new grand jury is also huge.

I have long believed that this investigation was going to be rather narrow. It seemed to me that Fitzgerald would have explicitly asked for permission to expand the scope of his investigation into areas that did not touch upon the Plame leak.

But if this is true, all bets are off. There is little doubt that the Niger forgeries are becoming salient all of a sudden. It may be a coincidence and it may not be. But, if someone could possible put that nutball Micael Ledeen in the crosshairs it would be a beautiful thing to see.

Gird yourselves for shrieks coming from the right so cacophanous that you will have permanent hearing damage if Fitz files civil rights charges. Their heads will start spinning like Linda Blair’s and the words “criminalization of politics” are going to be bursting forth like green pea soup. Richard Cohen and Nick Kristoff will sit shiva around Robert Novak’s decaying corpse.

I have serious doubts that Fitz will do it, but if he does I’ll say a silent prayer that somebody, somewhere has finally noticed that character assassination is wrong.

Update: To clarify, when I say character assassination is wrong, I’m speaking here of
using the pwoer of the government, as the Republicans did with their partisan hearings and bogus impeachment and now with the official smearing of Joe Wilson, should not be tolerated. Also, using dirty tricks, lies and ratfucking to portray someone dishonestly is also wrong.

Using hot rhetoric — even name calling, openly and above board — is protected free speech and a common part of political argument. It’s not always pretty, but it falls under the rubrik of opinion. There are magnitudes of difference between that and disseminating lies to damage someone’s reputation.

.
.

“We will ask not only what is legal, but also what is right”

“Only one in 10 Americans said they believe Bush administration officials did nothing illegal or unethical in connection with the leaking of a CIA operative’s identity, according to a national poll released Tuesday.”

I will change the tone of Washington. I’ll bring good people to our nation’s Capitol, and surround myself with a strong team of capable leaders.

I sent a clear signal of my intentions when I named a great citizen to be my running mate: Dick Cheney.

It would be presumptuous for me to name other names before the people have spoken, but I have great respect for the man who introduced me today — and I hope his greatest days of service to his country might still lie ahead.

Should I earn your confidence, I intend to work with Republicans and Democrats to get things done for the American people that both parties represent.

We won’t always agree, but I’ll work to keep our disagreements respectful and I’ll work to find common ground. I will do everything I can to restore civility to our national politics – a respect for honest differences, and decent regard for one another.

I know you can’t take the politics out of politics. I’m a realist. But I’m convinced our government can show more courage in confronting hard problems; more good will toward the other side; more integrity in the exercise of power.

This isn’t always easy, but it is always important. It is what people expect of their leaders, and what leaders must require of themselves. My administration will provide responsible leadership.

Finally, a leader upholds the dignity and honor of his office. In my administration, we will ask not only what is legal, but also what is right – not just what the lawyers allow, but what the public deserves.

In my administration we will make it clear there is the controlling authority of conscience. We will make people proud again – so that Americans who love their country can once again respect their government.

Bush gave versions of that speech several thousand times during the 2000 campaign and it was probably the single most compelling part of his message. People were sick of the scandals and even if they knew the Republicans were behind it, many thought that Bush was different. (A majority knew better, but that’s a different story.) He may have been a little bit dim but at least he was a decent guy. He was hiring the “grown-ups,” the old guard like Cheney and Powell, people who were above the sort of petty politicking that characterized the Gingrich-Burton era.

That was, of course, fiction. Bush Sr, of Willie Horton fame, was as ruthless as they come and little Junior was the creation of the most ruthless Republican operative in the country.

Karl Rove, “the architect,” came to the Bush family’s attention in 1972:

Republican Natinal Committe Chairman George Bush has reopened an investigation into allegations that a paid official of the GOP taught political espionage and “dirty tricks” during weekend seminars for College Republicans during 1971 and 1972. Some of the 1972 seminars were held after the watergate break-in.

Bush said he will urge a GOP investigating committee to “get to the bottom” of charges against Karl C. Rove 32 [sic], who was executive director of the College Republican Committee. (Washington Post story, Bush’s Brain p.135)

This had come to the attention of the Washington Post by a fellow college Republican who Rove and Lee Atwater had cheated in an election (in which Rove had sent “an alternate slate of electors” — sound familiar?) Bush pere looked into it and wrote the guy who blew the whistle on Karl out of the party, telling him, “don’t ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever,” (Or something like that.) A short time later he hired Rove as a special assistant to the RNC.

This was all known in 2000. Wayne Slater wrote about it in the Dallas Morning News. But the national press corpse was so enamored of their darling narrative that had the simple but virtuous Bush paired against the lying, freakish metrosexual Gore that they couldn’t be bothered. And, as we’ve seen so perfectly demonstrated lately, they have been infected by the toxic political culture that says character assassination and dishonest smears are not only perfectly natural, they are admirable actions by virtuous people.

Still, reality does bite eventually. George W. Bush is at the center of the most powerful, vicious political machine in American history. They will destroy anything that gets in their path. They aren’t just playing with silly, gossip items like extra-marital blow-jobs. They are deadly serious. Outing a CIA agent for political purposes is the least of it. They purposefully took this country to war on false pretenses for reasons that were in large part purely political:

“One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief.’ And he said, ‘My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it.’ He said, ‘If I have a chance to invade·.if I had that much capital, I’m not going to waste it. I’m going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I’m going to have a successful presidency.”

Now, if the reports we are hearing about indictments are true, Karl Rove is going to be charged with perjury and obstruction of justice in the Plame case. And the Republicans are going to howl that he’s being charged for politics, not criminal activity. When this happens I would hope that every single Democrat who is quoted or goes on television reminds the American people that Bush and his White House won the election by claiming that they would not only ask what was legal but what was right.

And when the Republicans say that Karl Rove wasn’t committing perjury or obstructing justice — that he just stumbled and couldn’t remember — every Democrat should remind people that Karl Rove has been doing this stuff since 1972. He is known to have an almost photographic memory. He is the man who everybody on both the right and the left have acknowledged as the most effective political operative in history. You can say a lot of things about the Boy Genius (as Bush calls him) — bumbling, confused and dim-witted aren’t among them. He does not do things he doesn’t mean to do.

Bush’s Brain has left a long trail of bodies behind him; it’s simply not believable that a man who has been a Master of Hardball Politics since 1972 is just an innocent bystander this time. After all, his motto since he was in high school is a quote from Napoleon:

“The whole art of war consists in a well-reasoned and extremely circumspect defensive, followed by rapid and audacious attack.”

Update: And somebody needs to have a talk with John Weaver, Rove’s Texas rival, if the man is not drunk on schadenfreude today. There are many things he’s never told. If he has ever fantasized about sticking in the shiv, once Karl is indicted and begins his PR offensive to portray himself as a poor lil’ office clerk who got confused, Weaver may have some tid-bits to share.

Update II: Think Progress has video of Bush making one of his “honor and integrity” speeches. I’m thinking it may be time to do some national ads.

.

They Never Asked

The Times report said Mr. Libby had taken notes of a conversation he had with Mr. Cheney on June 12, 2003, after Mr. Cheney had spoken to George J. Tenet, then the director of central intelligence, about newspaper stories quoting an anonymous former diplomat taking issue with the administration’s use of intelligence about Iraq’s effort to acquire nuclear material in Niger.

The notes do not show that Mr. Cheney had learned the name of Mr. Wilson’s wife or her covert status, lawyers involved in the case said. But they do show that Mr. Cheney knew and told Mr. Libby that Mr. Wilson’s wife was employed by the Central Intelligence Agency and may have helped arrange her husband’s trip, they said.

Republicans sympathetic to Mr. Cheney said there was no inconsistency between what the vice president is reported to have told Mr. Libby and what Mr. Cheney said on “Meet the Press.” They said there was nothing in the reported conversation to suggest that the vice president knew Mr. Wilson or knew who had sent him to Africa.

Please. He spoke with Tenet about the newspaper stories. He found out about Wilson and he found out that Wilson’s wife worked at the CIA and and “may have helped to arrange her trip.”

But he didn’t know who “sent” him and he never asked. Sure.

He was either lying or he just jumped on the juicy tidbit that girly-man Wilson’s CIA wife sent him on the boondoggle — to which Libby saluted smartly and went out to spread the good word.

I think it’s important to remember something. Even if these guys didn’t have a clue that Plame was undercover — they should have asked. These are people who have the toppermost of the poppermost secret clearances. They have an obligation to check before they start talking about CIA employees to reporters.

In order to smear her husband, these guys behaved in a totally irresponsible manner, no matter whether they knew she was covert or not. If they aren’t fired for being under indictement for a crime, they should be fired for reckless, negligent behavior. They should have been fired a long time ago.

.

Do The Wild Kabuki!

Via Think Progress:

CBS’ JOHN ROBERTS: Lawyers familiar with the case think Wednesday is when special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald will make known his decision, and that there will be indictments. Supporters say Rove and the vice president’s chief of staff, Scooter Libby, are in legal jeopardy. But they insisted today the two are secondary players, that it was an unidentified Mr. X who actually gave the name of CIA agent V alerie Plame to reporters. Fitzgerald knows who Mr. X is, they say, and if he isn’t indicted, there’s no way Rove or Libby should be. But charges may not focus on the leak at all. Obstruction of justice or perjury are real possibilities. Did Rove or Libby change statements made under oath? Did they deliberately leave critical facts out of their testimony or did they honestly forget? Some Republicans urged Rove to step down if indicted. Not a happy prospect for president Bush.

Everybody dance now…

Fitzgerald knows who he is — why he could even be indicted for revealing the identity of a CIA agent and endangering national security! But, there are a bunch of other people who know who Mr X is, aren’t there? They are called “reporters” — the ones to whom Mr X allegedly leaked in the first place.

Won’t it be nice when the public is finally informed about all the things half the Washington Press corpse has been keeping secret?

.