nothing there now but in the next week...

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/osc/index.html

Conason reminds us that Fitzgerald is not a Ken Starr.

The Wilson's are going to sue The WH.

Posted by Geoff

Well they're greedy and clearly corrupt. But they are political savvy. This picture mug shot demonstrates

You wont see this in many ads next year. I guess we'll have to wait for sentencing.

The support ads are popping up all over the internet. No defense, they just attack Earle. That's pretty weak, should,'t appeal to anyone but the lowest, likely corrupt, "guilty of something" Republicans. Like Frist, the 22 Republican officials and right wing hacks being probed by Fitzgerald, The Ohio Republican party, the Kentucky party, the rest of Delay's crony friends, et cetera...

Take a look...

Will it be a crime to be conservative? Of course not, but it is a crime to do what Delay is accused of doing. I don't think all conservatives are corrupt but man a lot of them are. As for the defense of Delay by conservative groups, it leaves a lot to be desired. Not one reason why he is innocent just typical Repup partisan attacks.
Posted by Geoff

There is only one hummer I like, these guys agree. An entire site for pics of people flipping off Humvee's.

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The "Truth in Broadcasting Act" (aka "Pre-packaged News Story Announcement Act of 2005") passed committee today. Now it hopefully can make it through the "porking" process and get a fair vote. Sounds like something this country needs, pay closer attention if you don't understand.


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Interesting. Murray Wass

New York Times reporter Judith Miller told the federal grand jury in the CIA leak case that she might have met with I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby on June 23, 2003 only after prosecutors showed her Secret Service logs that indicated she and Libby had indeed met that day in the Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House, according to attorneys familiar with her testimony.

Judy, Judy, Judy...

Posted by Geoff

Robert Fisk recently wrote an excellent article on the reality on the ground in Iraq. He was interviewed by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now! today, it is a good half an hour long and I highly recommend it.

Here is a link to transcripts and downloads...

When asked, when compared to all the wars and such in the Mideast that he has covered (in his long distinguished career), what gives you hope in Iraq he paused for several seconds and then replied "nothing... I'm sorry nothing, I'm sorry." ... "Ordinary people I guess. Ordinary people who speak out...".

Grimm.

Posted by Geoff

Reminder:



Every Thursday at ~530 pm.

I guess it's for satisfaction or maybe some scientist is statisticly documenting the exact time when America woke up on this guy. But why are we so interested in who likes the pResident anymore? He's not running for anything and we know he doesn't read papers so he probably has no idea that the people have lost faith in him. I would have liked to see this poll reset and replace "Bush" with "Republican Leadership"; that would have been some usefull information.

We already know Bush sucks. Why document his end?

Bush is above 50 percent in only six states -- Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Alaska, Nebraska and Oklahoma. Utah, at 61/36, is the only state above 60 percent. In May, Bush was above 50 percent in 13 states. In September, it was 10 states.

Texas and SC both look surprisingly bad

Posted by Geoff

If this is true (and I'll admit who really knows) then this is going to be big!

John Hannah is a senior aid to both Bolton and VP Dick Cheney, and he was named by Joe Wilson in his book; I believe he was mentioned when I saw Mr. Wilson speak at the College of Charleston (I'll try and check).

Individuals familiar with Fitzgerald's case tell RAW STORY that John Hannah, a senior national security aide on loan to Vice President Dick Cheney from the offices of then-Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, John Bolton, was named as a target of Fitzgerald's probe. They say he was told in recent weeks that he could face imminent indictment for his role in leaking Plame-Wilson's name to reporters unless he cooperated with the investigation.

Others close to the probe say that if Hannah is cooperating with the special prosecutor then he was likely going to be charged as a co-conspirator and may have cut a deal.

It looks like Fitzgerald is going by the book and starting at the bottom, shaking down White House and administration staffers for cooperation in exchange for immunity. If true Hannah is the first officially targeted with more to come.

[UPDATE]
via pontificator at dKos who is also on the story...

Other news outlets, such as the New York Daily News, are following the story as well:

Cheney's name has come up amid indications Fitzgerald may be edging closer to a blockbuster conspiracy charge - with help from a secret snitch.

"They have got a senior cooperating witness - someone who is giving them all of that," a source who has been questioned in the leak probe told the Daily News yesterday.

Incidentally, this is what happens in any major federal prosecution -- the people at the bottom are flipped so that the people at the top (who usually try not to leave fingerprints), can be prosecuted. The only thing unusual here is the target is not the Mafia or Enron, but is rather the White House.

Go get 'em Pat!!!

[UPDATE - 2] From Mr. Johnson via Atrios... and so on...

Had lunch today with a person who has a direct tie to one of the folks facing indictment in the Plame affair. There are 22 files that Fitzgerald is looking at for potential indictment . These include Stephen Hadley, Karl Rove, Lewis Libby, Dick Cheney, and Mary Matalin (there are others of course). Hadley has told friends he expects to be indicted. No wonder folks are nervous at the White House.

Posted by Geoff

Yet again the propaganda wing of the Republican Party is showing its face. Today's revelation on behalf of Judith Miller that she had a DoD security clearance is, as the E&P Staff said, "as close as one can get to government licensing of journalists..."

The issue came to the fore because Miller, in recounting her grand jury testimony, wrote about how her former classified status figured in her discussions with I. Lewis Libby. She was pressed by the prosecutor on this matter.
...
There is one enormous journalism scandal hidden in Judith Miller's Oct. 16th first person article about the (perhaps lesser) CIA leak scandal. And that is Ms. Miller's revelation that she was granted a DoD security clearance while embedded with the WMD search team in Iraq in 2003.

This is as close as one can get to government licensing of journalists and the New York Times (if it knew) should never have allowed her to become so compromised. It is all the more puzzling that a reporter who as a matter of principle would sacrifice 85 days of her freedom to protect a source would so willingly agree to be officially muzzled and thereby deny potentially valuable information to the readers whose right to be informed she claims to value so highly.

BTW, she also mentioned how wrong everything she reported actually was. To think I used to argue with and get verbaly attacked by nuts who drank to much neo-con kool-aid. I'd love to say that I was right but there's about 1970 brave men and women with famlies who probably don't want to hear that right now. They probably wont like the mini-Iranian Republic of Iraq either. I told you so's aren't good enough for them.

Pat Lang has some similar thoughts and a hypothetical what if...

Judy Miller is/was part of the conspiracy that Mr Fitzgerald is investigating. That is why she is
"playing games" with him. She has to camouflage a couple of things This is just opinion on my part.

1-She was an active participant in the plot to smear the Wilsons and discredit them in the eyes of the American people. She still is. Why? I really don't know or am unwilling to give an opinion.

2-She used the NY Times as a vehicle for propagandizing the American people to whip them up for the Iraq war on the basis that Iraq was, in effect, Nazi Germany come again, and that this time the pseudo Nazis were going to provide the Jihadi nuts across the world with nuclear weapons with which to attack us at home. To obfuscate this point of performance, she went to jail for contempt hoping to emerge from this "soulless" place (down the street from my house in Alexandria and run by one of my neighbors, the sheriff) as a champion of press freedom for whom all would be forgiven.

She should be indicted along with her neocon Jacobin and Mayberry Machiavellian pals. They were all in this together.

She called me up once at the point in history at which her BS about the Iraqi WMD program was falling apart. She tried to get me to "sign up" to the idea that "it must have been true." I told her that I did not wish to participate in her fantasy life. She was disappointed. Given Wilson's experience, I have to wonder what she was trying to "set me up for."

Just my opinion.

One I share.

Posted by Geoff