October 26, 2005

The Plame Leak Case Thread. Fitzmas. The Plame Affair. The CIA leak Grand Jury Investigation. Call it what you will, the thing is coming to a head, and this is the official Monkeybashi-endorsed thread to discuss it and related breaking news. Within days, the Fitzgerald investigation reaches its conclusion, and either special prosecutor Fitzgerald will convene, announce an extension to the Grand Jury, hand down indictments, or all of the above. It seems unlikely at this stage that nobody will be indicted at all, but nevertheless, we are near to possibly historic political events, and we will need a place to discuss it. This is it.

The importance of what is happening cannot be underestimated. The outing of the identity of a CIA agent of Valerie Wilson's level is a serious crime and potentially threatens the security of the United States of America in a very real sense, particularly since it destroyed a CIA NOC company and undermined decades of taxpayer funded work devoted to smashing *real* WMD proliferation. There is even the possibility that at least one CIA agent or asset has been executed by hostile forces due to the leak, but more on that anon. Further to this, it seems a concerted effort was made by the highest officials in the Bush administration to cover-up the leak and protect those who were responsible for it, for reasons which will relate to the ostensible motive for the Iraq war itself. The actual details of who was responsible and to what level are of course not clear to us right now, but it appears that we will soon know whom the inquiry is targeting. A press conference is proposed for Thursday, US time. First, here is a timeline of events in the situation from Dailykos, another from Perrspectives, and an overall analysis from FactCheck.org. More >>

posted by Chyren 18 years ago
  • CNN is currently reporting that there will be no announcements today in the Traitorgate case. This does not mean that there won't be votes on indictments or that an extension is not looming, just that no official announcements will occur today (Wednesday, October 26, 2005 - US dateline). "Several experts told CNN it is possible the grand jury on Wednesday still could consider the question of indictments and if it votes to return one or more, the indictments could remain under seal and made public later. These experts also said it is possible the grand jury could consider indictments later this week, or that no charges will be brought. It is also possible Fitzgerald will let this grand jury term end and take his case to a new panel."
  • The Left Coaster has a very good analysis of the Niger forgery/Italian/Hadley interconnection in the case. Recommended read. The Niger documents, sadly obvious forgeries, and their use by the Blair & Bush administrations to justify a preemptive attack on Iraq, goes to the heart of the motives behind the leak of Plame's identity, and to the subsequent cover-up.
  • Thanks for putting this up, Chy. Interesting times. Also, Q&A from the BBC.
  • Deja Vu... that strange... Or isn't this the place for this, either?
  • If we're starting a pool, my money's on indictments for Rove and Libby, and nobody else.
  • This has been extremely enlightening. I had no idea that Chyren could type that many words in a row without using an expletive. I kid! I kid!
  • I think we are looking at sealed indictments on conspiracy and obstruction charges. I think there will be charges relating to the outing of a covert agents name, as well, but I think that those may be the hardest to prove. With information still being shaken loose from the trees (Scooter: "Oh, look! Here's some notes indicating it was the Vice President to outed Plame to me.") I expect the Grand Jury to be extended and the indictments to be sealed - just to keep the pressure on those who are slow to cooperate. I also expect to hear the term "unindicted conconspirator" again. This goes way beyond Plame.
  • What? I have to wait and see? I want to know now!
  • "This goes way beyond Plame." Damn straight. Also, from reports, Fitz has had FBI agents going around Plame's neighbourhood in the last week or so asking if they had any inkling that she was CIA. This shows pretty clearly that the lie about her status being 'well known' is gonna be nailed down, and that the issue of outing her is still on the table. This puts the focus back on Rove and associates in contradiction to the media spin the last few days, & possibly even people like Novak are still up shit creek. Such action at this late stage might indicate the investigation gets an extension. As for sealed indictments, they could well be opened at the Thursday press conference... but in any case, it doesn't seem like this is going to end lightly.
  • Thanks Chy!
  • Why do so many people in Niger keep their urnaium in trailer parks?
  • I'm very very sorry. I couldnt help myself.
  • drjimmy11!, couldn't help from laughing at your comment. Does that make me a bad person? Raw Story has generally had the latest rumors. Of course, the accuracy of this sort of thing is always questionable. Looks like indictments tomorrow to me. I can't believe the amount of time I've spent keeping up on the various rumors when I really should have been getting some work done!
  • has, has the latest rumors...
  • I just can't believe that a government high-up is named 'Scooter'. Seriously, I can never hear that name without thinking of when Tracy gets dumped in 'Manhattan'. Isaac says 'Scooter' like it's the punchline of his dumping-speech... Allright, allright, grownups talking. I'll just sit and lurk quietly.
  • We called our dog "Scooter", because "Buttscraper" just didn't sound right. Might work for Libby though.
  • Due to predictable disappointments that abound within BushCo, I am not going to hold my breath that anything of real substance will happen. I've been sucked in too many times thinking that people will do 'the right thing'. If Fitzgerald actually makes those involved accountable, I will be amazed and impressed. Until then I will remain in "wait and see" mode.
  • Buttscraper and Turd Blossom under Bush get indicted ? I'll take a piece of that.
  • I'm with Darshon, unfortunately. (Not that I agree with Darshon in particular, but in that I don't know that the teflon coating this administration is going to let anything stick.)
  • Normally I'd agree, but to quoth James Brown. . . ♪♫ I got that feelin' . . Baby baby I got that feelin' ♪♫ Unh! Goot Gawwd-ah!
  • SAY IT LOUD! I'M BLACK AND I'M PROUD TO LIVE IN A HOUSING PROJECT RATHER THAN A TRAILER! UNNNHH!
  • Nice link, homunculus! The National Journal wants $25 for day pass?? Wow!
  • For me, the most important and most overlooked part of this is the role of the media itself. OK, so someone leaked the name of a CIA agent. The main question I have is, "Why would a reporter think that the name of a CIA agent was worthy of publication?" What possible "public good" was publishing that name supposed to serve? For me it seems a confirmation that the mainstream media, rather than being biased to the left or right, is composed almost solely of gossip mongers and whores. Seriously, why is half of what is "news" on the news? Why is the murder of the wife of the attourney worthy of national news? Why is that missing girl in Aruba? Why isn't Jose Padilla news? If the mainstream news had any sort of conception of what is and isn't worthy of being reported, then whomever was approached with the identity of this CIA agent would have said, "So?" and none of this would have ever been heard about...
  • Thank you un-! From now on it's Buttscraper instead of Scooter! To be perfectly honest, I've never been able to say it out loud. A grown man for heaven's sake. Scooter?! Who *are* these people?!
  • "it seems a confirmation that the mainstream media, rather than being biased to the left or right, is composed almost solely of gossip mongers and whores." This seems to me to be an entirely rational and logical deduction. Further, to completely purge American politics of corruption and graft, one would also have to purge the mainstream media of shills, cyphers and gossip-mongers. I would heartily welcome such a process, but have no idea how it would begin, seeing as the media has always been pretty much bullshit-artist-ville. Execution seems applicable: unfortunately unethical and illegal.
  • mainstream media != the NY Times only
  • I'd settle for moving all the gossip-mongering news to the back few pages of the first section and leave the front and subsequent pages for the important news. You know, the complete opposite of how it is now. Related, the Christian Science Monitor might be more your style newspaper Johnny. I know I enjoy it.
  • I too add my thanks to Chyren for putting this up. It will be interesting over time, to see how the USA mainstream media tackle this. Emphatically agree with both Jccalhoun and Chyren; that the mainstream media "is composed almost solely of gossip mongers and whores." .. "shills, cyphers and gossip-mongers." To add a comment on the post by Mercurius; "This has been extremely enlightening. I had no idea that Chyren could type that many words in a row without using an expletive. I kid! I kid!" I have noticed Chyren's use of the expletive is most judicious, and always creatively applied. heh!
  • Seymour Hersh speculates that the forged documents were done by disgruntled CIA operatives to put down the Executive. This is an old article but I hadn't heard this take on who did the forgery and why before.
  • Washington Note reports that the Office of the Special Counsel has signed a lease this week for expanded office space across the street at 1401 New York Avenue, NW. What does this mean? Along with Fitzgerald visiting Judge Hogan recently, this may indicate an extension of the inquiry. :)
  • My prediction: Fitz will announce indictments tomorrow and a 6 month extension. He's gonna go the whole way with this. Intelligence Identities act is still in his sights.
  • Adam Levine. Remember this name.
  • Time Magazine's Mike Allen says it's likely Fitzgerald got some sealed indictments today {sic}. These will be used to apply the stick to the defendants, with promise of more to come, to get them to plead. In any case, the deadline is Friday, and Fitz must impanel a new jury (I think this is a cert) and announce indictments, if they have been obtained. An extension is the *best* thing we can get! It will extend the investigation into 2006, allow for maximum info on the case to filter thru to the voters, and inflict max damage in the 2006 elections. Oof.
  • NPR has a timeline, if anyone thinks that hearing it would be easier to follow than reading it. thanks for really covering this, Chy! And to others with good info--this is excellent.
  • Republicans should think twice before trying to demonise Fitzgerald.
  • The one horrible thought that just occurred is this: Bush can pardon anyone he wants to. If Rove is (hopefully) indicted and (I pray) convicted, how much do you want to bet there'll be a pardon in the offing? It might be political suicide, but then again, Republicans have shown a noted lack of interest in Bush's political future, since basically, it doesn't matter at this point. All the charges of cronyism are on Bush and the rest of the party might face some fallout, but in reality, probably not much.
  • I've no doubt Chimpy will pardon. I doubt however the party would face little backlash.
  • Backlash? From whom? Voters? That's what Diebold is for!
  • Correction: Special Counsel has *not* signed a lease for new office space. Hmm. I retract my earlier prediction. No idea what will happen.
  • I woulc have no problem with Bush pardoning Rove as long as the real end result of this is the neocons losing face and being marginalized by the bulk of the U.S. populace.
  • Oh, and Chy, that was an exciting little tangent ("the investigation's expanding!") you took us on, there.
  • I feel a bright red terror alert heading our way.
  • "...neocons losing face and being marginalized by the bulk of the U.S. populace." This is already happening. "...exciting little tangent ("the investigation's expanding!") you took us on"... Some commentators with legal experience speculate that this could still occur, if the investigation revealed information relating to the Niger document forgeries and the possibility of the Bush administration knowingly lying to congress. A new jury would have to be impanelled for this, as it would strictly be a different case, I think. Fitzgerald *did* visit Presiding Judge Hogan a few days ago; one of the more likely reasons for this would be to ask for an extension. He could argue that it would be 'in the public's best interest' that the extension be granted, due to late-disclosed evidence, obstruction issues, etc. From my research, I am unable to determine whether this Grand Jury can be extended, or a new one have to be impanelled, because I think it has already been extended once, in March IIRC. I gather that they can only extend a GJ once.. I am not sure on this, I'm reading different issues on it, not least confused by sources not distinguishing between the rules of a Special Grand Jury and a normal Grand Jury. Fitzgerald's is the latter. A new bit of data that I have come across is that even if there is only one indictment, it could cover several defendants! I'm still looking at this info. So even if there is only one indictment, it could cover Rove, Libby, Mr.X (possibly Adam Levine) & others, if it's the same charge! I caution that I am not 100% on this.
  • Caution duly noted.
  • Thanks for the able digestion of available information, Chyren. I have been following this on alternet and cursor and freerepublic, and there are people out there who don't think a crime has been committed. I'm not an expert and I won't get my hopes up, but still.... Just tired of being manipulated.
  • ANother thing I like is that people try to defend the releasing of the names they often try to point out, "Did he KNOW she was under cover?" I always thought ignorance of the law was no excuse? So if I kill someone I can say that I didn't KNOW murder was illegal???
  • Exactly. Seems like the split-hair defense. Anyone know what happened to her? What happened to the "company" she worked for? Her associates? Valerie seems to have left the building. Entirely.
  • The impact on the NOC company is still being felt, and of course the damage caused by the leak itself is also mostly unknown, due to national security and secrecy issues, but presumably that will be part of the issues discussed by Fitzgerald when and if he discusses the findings of the inquiry. I gather that Plame is keeping a low profile but that she and her husband plan to sue the White House or individuals therein in a civil suit once the Fitzgerald investigation is over. There is some speculation that a CIA agent or asset was killed due to the leak.
  • Speculation is a fool's game.
  • I don't know whether that's true or not, but I made a vow today to start speaking more like a character from a hardboiled noir.
  • The problem isn't that the terrorists hate America, it's that Americans hate America. If Rove gets away with this, it is indicative of the decadence of the American way of life. Oh yes: Déjà... fuck that.
  • "If Rove gets away with this, it is indicative of the decadence of the American way of life." Indicative of a deeply corrupt justice system.
  • Release of documents at Noon, news conference 2pm US Eastern time. Reports that Rove may not be indicted could be false, because those reports may originate with Rove, according to Firedoglake. "If Libby is indicted for making false statements/obstruction or perjury regarding from whom he learned about Valerie Plame, and if Fitz has those notes showing that Cheney was the one who told Libby about her. The way that Fitz will prove that Libby was lying will require that the VP be called as a witness in any trial that will occur, pulling the VP right into the center of the case, whether or not an indictment may be issued for Cheney." HA HA HA HA ha ha /wipes tears from eyes
  • How many more lives will you destroy with your liberal America-hating hate, Chyren? First Harriet "Ms Piggy" Miers, now Lewis "Scooter" Libby - who's next, eh? Fozzie Bear? Kermit? I just hope that one day you are headbutted to death by an angry mob of America's finest - the lovers, the dreamers ... and me.
  • ^^genius comment^^
  • "If Rove gets away with this, it is indicative of the decadence of the American way of life." Indicative of a deeply corrupt justice system. I think both are completely over the top, but I'd have to vote for the decadence, because as an American it would probably entitle me to hang around with naked chicks eating grapes or something.
  • CNN: Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, indicted by grand jury on charges of obstruction of justice, making false statements and perjury in CIA leak probe.
  • no word on possible jail time. I smell a book deal!
  • BBC (from above link from sugarmilktea): "Mr Bush said he would accept nothing less than "complete victory" in the war on terror, which he described as the first great war of the 21st century." My pants are dropping. We should be glad over that? Having started the first great war of the 21st century is a achievement? Winning is impossible BTW, terrorism is as old as mankind. Even if you think mankind is only 6000 years old. On preview: Deja Vu.
  • up to 30 years if convicted.
  • "Big Georgie says he don't like the inditements, capiche?"
  • "The first great war of the 21st Century. No, it won't be the last... No, it may not be the greatest. But we can at least do our utmost to ensure that it will be seen as the gold standard for all future wars - the war that all other wars want to be. We should not trouble ourselves with petty questions such as, "will war ever end?", "is war ever just?", or "what was that noise?", but simply this: "Is this the greatest war we can be having right now?" Thankyou, and godless America! ...I'm sorry, I'll read that again. God bless Armenia. Goodnight."
  • c-span radio is carrying the conference.
  • from rocket's article: We are confident that when the Special Counsel finishes his work, he will conclude that Mr. Rove has done nothing wrong." Rove provided new information to Fitzgerald during eleventh-hour negotiations that "gave Fitzgerald pause" about charging Bush's senior strategist, said a source close to Rove. "The prosecutor has to resolve those issues before he decides what to do." Since when do people who have "done nothing wrong" have to enter into "eleventh-hour negotiations" with the prosecutor? That is very weird and I cant figure out what it means, unless they are working out a plea bargain to a lesser charge.
  • Sounds feasible, but they've already got Libby... Maybe Rove is willing to give them Cheney in return for a guarantee of no jail time for himself. It seems like too much to ask...
  • I cannot resist posting a reply to the quidnunc kid's hilariously satirical, subtle tongue-in-cheek comment. The chance to reply in all seriousness, as it were, is irresistable. tqk's "How many more lives will you destroy with your liberal America-hating hate, Chyren? First Harriet "Ms Piggy" Miers, now Lewis "Scooter" Libby - who's next, eh? Fozzie Bear? Kermit?" .. is a masterpiece of sly humour. It is refreshing to see such mischievous humour in a discussion on such momentous events, particularly (as we we all know tqk)when it has to be noted that there are none so defensive as those who attempt to defend the indefensible, and there is none so (covertly) fascist as an American who considers the word "liberal" to be on a par with the word "fuck"! A delight (shared by many) in the downfall of corrupt, manipulative, lying, war-mongering, acquisitive, amoral psychopaths is the healthy reaction of the intelligent, rational and balanced human being. As for myself, I do hope the misbegotten shits in "high office" in the USA are all swallowing quick, just in case the round and furry thing they're feeling in their throats is their asshole! (With apologies if offence is caused by the use of expletives.)
  • rocket88, stop getting my hopes up.
  • drjimmy11: ..but I'd have to vote for the decadence, because as an American it would probably entitle me to hang around with naked chicks eating grapes or something. mare: My pants are dropping. It has begun.
  • My guess is that Rove rolled on Libby. Cut Libby loose, give the prosecutor some 'previously unknown' information, put the blame squarely on Scooter and do your best to look cooperative, truck out ol' lone-gunman theory, shrug "I had no idea -- bad apple -- out of our administration just like Our Leader said -- nothing to see, move along." The end.
  • That sounds pretty backstabbing and downright dirty for this administration which has restored integrity to the White House. MERRY FITZMAS CHARLIE BROWN!! loo loo loooo loo loo looo looo loo . . .
  • Heh. A c-span caller said "Yeah I just wanna say that Liddy is, wait did I say Liddy I meant Libby . . is . . " Heh. Plamegate indeed.
  • Plus ca change. I'll light a candle for him.
  • With Career Derailed, Plame Likely to Leave CIA I didn't realize she was still at the CIA.
  • and what about everyone she works with in that cover organization . ..
  • (the really surprisingly part is on page 14, where Libby pulls out the falaffel)
  • There was an elaborate CIA fake corporation that Plame 'worked' for, posing as an energy consultant. The outing destroyed the entire operation, and everyone who worked for it. Many at the CIA are mighty pissed about it, too. All done as payback because Wilson embarrased the administration.
  • to the cries of Wolf! What?
  • Wow, so Cheney told Libby to get it done. awesome. In a clandestine, evil, sort of way.
  • So, all in all, rather a good outcome, I thought. Libby nailed, Rove still under investigation, and the Iraq war to be on trial along with Cheney's aide. The pressure is still on the White House and Bush; they aren't out of the woods. I still expect to see Chimpy dissolve into a blithering, tic-laden, foam-lipped drunken breakdown in the coming months. Although I would have liked to have seen fuckhead Rove get charged, he's still under scrutiny, so he may still get nailed with something.
  • I am waiting for George to come out and state that now that we have an indictment and a resignation, he hopes that this resolves the issue, and that we can put this all behind us and move on. For the good of America.
  • He'll do it Monday.
  • I find it interesting that Fitzgerald stressed in the press conference that the indictment of Libby should not be seen as an anti-war or pro-war decision or for any of the investigation to be viewed in either light, yet some people are doing exactly that. It's also very interesting how the press really wanted something more from Fitzgerald--you could hear it dripping from every question just about...what about Rove? Did you nail him? What aren't you telling us? Whatever you can't talk about, can you please tell us? We need to hear you say Rove did it! Please!!! On another note, I'll state here for the record that I was mistaken about Plame's status as a covert agent. According to Fitzgerald, it was NOT widely known around DC, so I'd like to acknowledge to anyone I've debated on this issue (Chy, in particular) that you were right and I was wrong. About that. About the other stuff, it still remains to be seen. But Libby wasn't charged with breaking the law as regards outing a covert agent, which I have asserted before would not be likely. Weird, I can't find the link to the big Plame threat in which Chy and I were going at it like steel battalions. If someone can point the way, I'd be eternally grateful.
  • Someone outed a covert agent. That's the most serious crime here, and the one Fitzgerald was supposed to investigate. He hasn't told us who did it yet.
  • Several intelligence specialists spoke out at the weekend about the gravity of what had been done to Ms Plame, who joined the CIA as a case officer two decades ago, when she was 22 years old. It's the "moral equivalent to exposing forward-deployed military units," said Arthur Brown, who retired in February as the CIA's Asian Division chief. ...it also makes it harder in future for the CIA to use the spouses of ambassadors as agents. -news.independent.co.uk
  • "But Libby wasn't charged with breaking the law as regards outing a covert agent, which I have asserted before would not be likely." The reason why Rove and Libby weren't charged with this specific crime (yet) is because, as Fitzgerald said, "he could not investigate the underlying claims of violations of the Identities Protection Act because another crime was being committed that prevented him from doing so, namely the crime Libby stands accused of." The fat lady hasn't sung yet. Fitz made absolutely no indication that the investigation into the leak was over, and even said "I will not end the investigation" until he has uncovered everything. Libby is covering for others in the WH, that is clear. Bush does not have the political capital to pardon him right now; I'd like to see him try. Shit, look at the way the GOP are starting to go to pieces already! Imagine what will happen if Chimpy tries some dumbass cowboy bullshit. So Libby will sit in the clink for two years until Bush leaves office and can pardon him. I wonder what Libby will do, in that time? Many commentators opine that Fitz is possibly using the charges on Libby as leverage. Fitzgerald's investigation isn't over. Only the Grand Jury part of it.. for now. Remember, Watergate took two years to come to a head after Agnew was indicted. I suggest people read firedoglake's last dozen or so articles for a real insight, because they've been right about a lot of things so far and have very concise breakdowns of the issues involved.
  • Well, if Bush is going to pardon anyone he'll likely do it in the very last days of his administration. That's the traditional time to get all of the politically inexpedient pardons out of the way.
  • Joseph Wilson: Our 27 Months of Hell 60 Minutes: The Exposure Of Valerie Plame
  • I had no idea Scooter wrote fiction. But if I had known, I would have bet there would be awful sex scenes in it. At age ten the madam put the child in a cage with a bear trained to couple with young girls so the girls would be frigid and not fall in love with their patrons. They fed her through the bars and aroused the bear with a stick when it seemed to lose interest. “God, they’re an odd bunch, these Republicans.” mmmm. Repressalicious.
  • The following is the first draft of a statement by Vice President Dick Cheney regarding I. Lewis Libby, unreleased by the White House. Mr. Libby has informed me that he is resigning to fight the charges brought against him. I have accepted his decision with deep regret. It is indeed a sad day for our nation when lying, perjury, and obstruction of justice can be interpreted by an activist prosecutor as somehow inconsistent with winning the war on terror. Scooter Libby is one of the most capable and talented individuals I have ever known. He has given many years of his life to public service and has served our nation tirelessly and with great distinction. Should this investigation spiral out of control however, I will of course deny ever having met the man. In our system of government an accused person is presumed innocent until a contrary finding is made by a jury after an opportunity to answer the charges and a full airing of the facts...or he or she is tortured to the point of death at the discretion of the president. Mr. Libby is entitled to that opportunity. Because this is a pending legal proceeding, in fairness to all those involved, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the charges or on any facts relating to the proceeding; however I will work tirelessly behind the scenes to smear, denigrate and threaten all those who differ with my hallucinative reality. Now go fuck yourselves. via
  • petebest, where's your "justify bush's war" thread? I've got a link for it.
  • Here ... hope I didn't beat you to it :)
  • Thanks Koko! However, it's now been posted to the front page. :o\
  • I usually just search for "Iraq" and pick the "Bush compares Iraq to WWII".
  • Great link, homunculus.
  • Yeah that is awesome - I came here to post it but *snap!* once again bested by tha H-dogg. But this indictment went much further - delving into a statute under which Libby is not charged. Count One, paragraph 1(b) is particularly revealing. Its first sentence establishes that Libby had security clearances giving him access to classified information. Then 1(b) goes on to state: "As a person with such clearances, LIBBY was obligated by applicable laws and regulations, including Title 18, United States Code, Section 793, and Executive Order 12958 (as modified by Executive Order13292), not to disclose classified information to persons not authorized to receive such information, and otherwise to exercise proper care to safeguard classified information against unauthorized disclosure." (The section also goes on to stress that Libby executed, on January 23, 2001, an agreement indicating understanding that he was receiving classified information, the disclosure of which could bring penalties.) What is Title 18, United States Code, Section 793? It's the Espionage Act -- a broad, longstanding part of the criminal code. The Espionage Act criminalizes, among other things, the willful - or grossly negligent -- communication of national-defense related information that "the possessor has reason to believe could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation." It also criminalizes conspiring to violate this anti-disclosure provision But Libby isn't charged with espionage. He's charged with lying to our government and thereby obstructing justice. So what's going on? Why is Fitzgerald referencing the Espionage Act? The press conference added some clarity on this point. read on . . . if you dare!! MuwAhahAhahaaaa!!
  • I came here to post it but *snap!* once again bested by tha H-dogg. I am mighty. Spoon!
  • Indicted Libby's publishers plan 25,000 reprint of 'steamy' novel The Apprentice, an everyday tale of bestiality and paedophilia in 1903 Japan, is to be reprinted after the author's newfound notoriety triggered a stampede for secondhand editions.
  • What a fucking freak.
  • Wish I could write a novel, as opposed to inane comments on a website. Because I've written a lot of them.
  • couldn't you string them together into a 50,000-worder? define it as a new genre, post "that thing burroughs used to do" or something.
  • Little do you know Wolof, I have prempted rory's idea - for some time now I have been collecting your allegedly 'inane' comments and have woven them into a breathtaking narrative that covers the whole sweep of the human condition in a now-tragedic, now-farcical grand narrative of the post-concrete modern.
  • Odd ... I've also been collecting Wolof's comments and mixing them with sand and cement to form a now-tragedic, now-farcical grand and modern concrete post.
  • And thus we cement a new Wolofian interpretation of our dismal plight upon which hangs the gate to sunny uplands of a now-farcical, now-tragedic, shit-it's-silly affirmation of...bugger, I'm losing it...
  • Yeah, but that novel will only amount to the equivalent of some sarcastic old bastard complaining endlessly and making snipes at unseen, unheard others.. I suppose it would be very Beckett.
  • And here our story turns. Where now the bright pastures of the Wolofian mytheme? We return chastened to our quotidian round of what was said, what was done.
  • Uh Oh. Will the MSM report the truth? Only TIME . . . will tell.
  • but i'm guessing not.
  • Just who's to blame for the outing of Plame shall never be known till some balls have been grown.
  • I told you it wasn't over. Fitz has called another Grand Jury. What this is, is the tightening of the screws. What made me laugh, Bob Woodward goes on Larry King and insults Fitzgerald, calls him a junkyard dog prosecutor. Goes on to rubbish the whole investigation, saying that there will be nothing of it. The next day, Libby is indicted! Then Fitzgerald calls in Woodward for questioning! Ha! Next thing you know, Woodward is praising Fitzgerald at every opportunity. This shit is gonna go on for some time, I reckon a few lower-down-the-rung people are gonna turn, rather than face possible prosecution. This is not going away.
  • There's more and more stuff not going away. Hurray!
  • niger uranium purchase story seems to have been engineered by italian intel services to support ingratiation of berlusconi with bush administration. private eye in britain has run multiple stories but i'm unable to find a permalink...
  • Bob Novak: Bush knows who leaked CIA officer's identity Novak said that "I'd be amazed" if the president didn't know the source's identity and that the public should "bug the president as to whether he should reveal who the source is." Odd, coming from such a pocketed tool of the ShrubCo administration. Either he was drunk or the Unpublicans are shifting in the sands a bit. . .
  • Ah, Novakula's been turning a bit on the Unpublicans lately. Probably smells blood in the water.
  • ribbit
  • Sweet. If only.
  • In other words, a conspiracy investigation is very much underway. /Burns
  • Great. I wonder if the incompetence factor of this adminstration will weigh in with the neocon / dittohead / faux newx crowd, or at what point.
  • Dick claims he has the power to declassify information. So if there was a leak, and he's not saying there was, then it'd still be ok, 'cuz he's allowed to do that because he said so. So there.
  • Cheney's remarks came during an interview in which he accepted responsibility for the weekend shooting of a companion during a south Texas quail hunt. Cheney hasn't had a press conference in four years. He has to shoot a guy in the face to be forced to talk to "the press" (the quotes are because Faux Newx is an incredibly biased, morally corrupt spewhole of sometimes-based-on-reality news - it's not like Cheney's trying).
  • Whaaaaat?!?!?!
  • Rove! Rove! Rove!
  • Hoot! Hoot! Turd Blossom Takedown!
  • Indict! indict! with all your mict!
  • More smoking guns, eh? Well . . . surely *this* will be the one that takes them down . . .
  • Thanks to Waas, for the first time, we may now know for a fact that Rove and other Bush advisers viewed the truth about the run-up to war as something that could destroy his re-election prospects. *sigh* I wish I could believe that. But even our own Fes takes at face value that the run-up to war didn't matter in the overall purpose of it. (Whatever that purpose may be - it depends on who you talk to.) I really don't think people care that we were lied to to go to war. Perhaps we are that fucked up as a society. I'd like to think that some smoking gun from the Plame case could topple this regime, but I see plenty of people who really ought to know better simply *bleep* right over it every time they're confronted with the plain bare-assed truth that we were lied to, that Bush was intent on war from the start, and that we are seriously fucked financially and militarily for years and years to come. *bleep* Hey what's for dinner tonight? Ooh there's a good movie on!
  • What movie? What channel? Where?
  • As a buddy of mine says, "I'm gainfully employed, and there's a grocery store on the corner where I can get beer 24 hours a day. Why should I care?"
  • yeah. That. *gurgle*
  • The American dream is to live in a heaven where no one has to seriously worry about the government, the world around them, or any other matter of conflict and strife in life. Just gimme my stofer's meatloaf and my 24 and leave me the fuck alone. This isn't my mess. It's the worst part of individualism. It's your right to not give a fuck, but no one stops to wonder whether it's really a good idea.
  • Not sure what the American dream is, or if anyone can define it without writing a book or ten. In the beginning, folk came to North America for far more than a change of scenery. Summary: people were unhappy wherever they started to emigrate from -- and they came to the New World hoping to be less unhappy. HIstorically, some folk may have cherished one or more of these ideas: 1. to make money, to end up with more money/wealth/possesions than you could in the place you came from 2. to be able put food on the table for yourself and your family, if things worked out 3. to practice your (very probably) unpopular religion 4. to be able to walk away from whatever troubled you in the administration of justice -- the king, the czar, whichever bastard was the Big Cheese o' the Day, the laws, the whole system But notice how there's a tension working behind the above ideas -- ethics vs materialism. Right now it looks like materialism is the top dog. But I wouldn't take any bets on it's remaining so. Ojhne assumes there's mkore of the future than there has been of the past -- though this is rather irrational.
  • Ojne = One and tjwo = two /bjees
  • ach! now must I confront the problem of mkore? *buzzes off hastily*
  • I see your point bees, but I still think their's an ideal in the heads of most Americans that leads to a greater deal of escapism and personal isolation in our populous than in other countries (from what I can observe from outside them). And just because people came her with some basic needs they needed to attend to, doesn't mean that they didn't also have some pretty great desires and ideas about the kind of life they could have here and that certain myths about what kind of life one could achieve didn't form in these people's minds.
  • You can be anything you want, little Johnny. You can be PRESIDENT!
  • "The debriefing report made no mention of Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, then a covert CIA officer, or any role she may have played in her husband's selection by the CIA to go to Niger, according to two people who have read the report. . . . But the disclosure that Cheney instructed Libby to leak portions of a classified CIA report on Joseph Wilson adds to a growing body of information showing that at the time Plame was outed as a covert CIA officer the vice president was deeply involved in the White House effort to undermine her husband."
  • Thank you, homunculus. You're my favorite news team! Always good articles. Is it just because I'm on the liberal side of the fence that the tactics of the Bush administration make me feel physically ill? (General question, not directed at homunuculus specifically.) Is my perception that they're all stoney-hearted liars wrong? I was in my 30's during the Nixon debacle, and maybe the road to the outcome was a lot longer than I remember, but I think the hearings to impeach Nixon had started by this point. So, a question to our (few) more conservative Monkeys: Why hasn't the Republican Party abandoned this administration? There was a time when the RNC was conservative, but honorable. I think there are honorable Republicans left, but where are they? And, yeah, I know the Democrat party leadership has turned into a cluster of dweebs, and that's really embarrassing, but why isn't the party of Lincoln storming the gates to get this seeming abomination out? Ok, sorry, rant over.
  • Here's another great article from Murray Waas: Is There A Double Standard On Leak Probes? I think yes.
  • make me feel physically ill? I find good brandy settles the stomach. but I think the hearings to impeach Nixon had started by this point. Check out this comparison.
  • I think there are honorable Republicans left, but where are they? My own $0.02 is that they're head-in-the-sand, with the unprecedented help of bullhorns on Fox and talk radio. Have you seen the TV Turnoff thread? This is a great line for that one too. The constant stream of media has helped this administration continue to act unconscionably without much resistance. (Okay, $0.03)
  • Fitzgerald to Seek Indictment of Rove - Truthout Toldja. Not over.
  • I sense a great disturbance in the Force!!! Something is happening!! I think it's beginning to look a lot like Fitzmas!
  • Rove indicted (updating the link above). Where is the media coverage of this earthquake?
  • Right there, on CNN: Hot on the trail of Angelina Jolie
  • Here's another take that also comments about how nobody's covering this yet...
  • Well, after getting very excited at first, I think no one's covering it because it hasn't happened yet.
  • Leopold responds to mainstream denials of his article.
  • So call me a cynic, I'm beginning to think this story has no legs.
  • Aren't indictments a matter of public record? Ad if so, where are they kept? Personally, I'd like to see this on the Smoking Gun.
  • WashPost's Kurtz takes a moment to point out that Leopold is a felon, drug addict and alcoholic. Oh, and that his story is bullshit. May require (free) subscription.
  • Well that bodes less well, then.
  • Leopold acknowledges ... that he is a past liar, convicted felon and former alcoholic and cocaine addict.
    sounds pretty de rigueur.
  • Oh well, It's all over, bar the shouting. Close, but no cigar. Let's just hope the Libby trial brings out some shit.
  • Indeed.
  • Don't speak too soon, the fat lady has not sung.
  • Now Rove can concentrate on tracking Iran's WMD programs and keeping us safe without all these petty, liberal distractions.
  • Not-so-great googly moogly.
  • /waiting for the fat lady
  • /pretty sure she's been renditioned
  • /or rendered to help solve the fuel crisis
  • Fat-ality gets us all.
  • You'll pay at the plump for that.
  • *denies it stoutly*
  • ...and ha!
  • Come on, that would never happen. More vile Grauniad propaganda.
  • Sweee-hee-heet
  • Heh. Make waves, lady!
  • Absolutely nothing will come of it. Cheney will just declare that all of the documents and testimony she needs to prove her case is secret and can't be revealed. Without anything to prove her case it will be thrown out. It's the same way that the administration has squashed many cases over the last five years.
  • I resignatedly agree with Berek.
  • we'll have to see what we shall see of the administration's skullduggery the longer in the public eye the worse it looks for it seems that Halliburton's cooked the books
  • *beats Berek with plush polyester kitten*
  • Huh. She's kinda babely. Darn my juvenile sensibilities.
  • I noticed that too, p-dogg!
  • *beats Berek with plush polyester kitten* No, no, I only like to be beaten with live kittens!
  • Halliburton's cooked the books!! Why, how can that be true? The Prezdonut thinks they're just dandy red-bludded 'Merikns.
  • Heard on the radio Wilson-Plame brought suit now in order that there be a trial in future, since otherwise the statute of limitations would apply and the case could not be tried subsequently.
  • Even once Bush leaves office Executive Privelige would still apply and keep the important papers to secret. Plus no predecesser of Bush is likely to help set a precedent that could be used against them in the future. Absolutely northing will come it.
  • And in an amusing aside, Dick Cheney has lawyered up for the civil suit as well — hiring the same lawyers that worked for Bill Clinton during his impeachment. Oy.
  • Did anything actually happen here?
  • Well, aside from me being completely wrong in all my predictions, it's not over yet. As far as I can gather, the Justice Dept. investigation is still not actually closed. I don't know if a Grand Jury is still empanelled, I think it is not. Rove's lawyer never actually denied that Rove was guilty of making a false statement, for one thing. Luskin insisted that Rove had never been charged or indicted - which is true. But the lawyer may have glossed his words to make it seem like Rove was not guilty of any breach of the law. It's possible, *just* possible, Rove may have pled guilty to making a false statement before charges were filed. Federal sentencing guidelines allow for a big reduction of sentence where a person has pled guilty & 'accepted responsibility' for his actions. So he might have got off like that. /shrug. We won't know for a long time. Perhaps ever. But it also seems like Fitzgerald knew for a long time Armitage was the crook, & was trolling for other stuff. /Speculation. As for treason, etc, these motherfuckers always get away with shit like that. They only ever caught Al Capone for tax fraud, after all. :| I'm still hoping some rogue CIA guy zaps that humpty dumpty motherfucker in the back of the head with a few slugs, one fine day, just for jollies. Novakula, too.
  • I bet Robert Novak gets drunk tonight.
  • Why would tonight be any different?
  • Oh! You are so outed!
  • The evidence is pretty overwhelming that they don't care. Which is also sad.
  • Yeah, well maybe the shit-disturber future husbands of those future foreign agents will think twice before contradicting what the future government tells its future citizens in the war on future terror.
  • Also: I'm not sure what that is, but I'm fairly certain it's not irony, Valerie.
  • image
  • I would tell her all my secrets. and, yes, I have secrets.
  • Also, in the photo that Pete has kindly posted, I believe that's her mom sitting behind her. Which is kind of ironic* in that, every time I have appeared before Congress to discuss my days as a former secret agent, I have also brought my mom along. *Fes bait
  • "Bait a Fes to post, read him for a day. Teach a bait a Fes to . . read . . . Oh Pffffthhhbhtthh!!
  • Undercovers, indeed! Miaow!