progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital
Asked to explain his choice, Senior White House Official A responded: “We’re giving up on the Neocons for right now, and sticking with the Fundies and the Freepers. That should gin up approval Big Time. Heh. Big Time. Indeed.”
Yet, liberal Democrats remained skeptical. “Why Commander Bunnypants wants to turn this country into a right-wing pseudo-Christian theocracy is beyond me,” one Senator noted. “It will take at least a generation to undo the damage this president has done to the country through his judicial picks alone.”
Still, Bush nominee Scalito remained upbeat. “I totally rock,” he said in his typical light-hearted manner, justifying Bush’s choice. He added, regarding his controversial dissent on Planned Parenthood v. Casey, requiring a woman to notify her husband if she wished to have an abortion: “It totally rocks to be a dude. It’s just awesome.”
So, did this Fitzgerald guy show up today or what?
“We are at a critical crossroads with the nomination of Harriet Miers. We have fought 20 years in tough political campaigns and engaged in many philosophical debates about the Constitution and the proper role of a judge. We should expect excellence in a Supreme Court nominee and a dignified confirmation process.”
Elizabeth Dole in a NRSC fundraising mail of 09/15:
“I ask that you contribute to the NRSC as we continue to fight off attacks from the Democrats and their radical allies, like MoveOn.org and Alliance for Justice, as they attempt to put a strangle hold…on this confirmation process.”
Joshua Green via Froomkin:
“Anyone who takes an honest look at his history will come away awed by Rove’s power, when challenged, to draw on an animal ferocity that far exceeds the chest-thumping bravado common to professional political operatives.”
Funny. I was just saying the other day that I find Rove insufficiently feral.
Often times the indictments are, in fact, “un-sealed” , i.e, made public, upon the arrest and arraignment of the person named in the indictment. But they don’t have to be.
Remember that this grand jury expires this friday. So unless Fitzgerald wants to empanel a new grand jury he needs to hand down indictments by then. If there are sealed indictments handed down by the grand jury in this case I would wager one of two things (that have already been reported by others, by the way): Either some of those that are to be indicted are working on plea/cooperation deals with Fitzgerald currently and by sealing the indictments he is allowing them to negotiate some sort of deal and then will dismiss the indictments against them. This may mean that the public never hears the extent of such person’s complicity.
In the alternative, Fitzgerald may be planning on empaneling another grand jury to buy him time to further investigate matters and is only handing down the indictments he knows he can get from this grand jury at this time. This would allow him to empanel another grand jury without publically releasing the details of the indictments handed down by the expiring grand jury.
Of course the most-likely scenario is that the prosecutor perhaps did not want to deliver the so-called “target letters” (he is not required to do so) because of the over-whelming amount of leask that have been occuring recently and is just sealing the indictments in order to give himself time to give those named in the indictments notice thereof. Given the magnitude of the case and the press coverage related to it I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this last scenario is the one that plays out. Fitzgerald seems like the type of guy who would be diplomatic and courteous in delivering the news to those indicted in order to possibly allow them to avoid the press frenzy that would ensue if he filed unsealed indictments.
But never fear…….. if sealed indictments are handed down the leaks will come even more fast and furious.
Take for instance this thread, in which Tom Maguire wants to know what Rove’s best course of action might be.
Here’s some of my favorite responses:
Meanwhile, a little bit of idle chatter regarding the Plame/Rove/Miller black hole from which no Bushie will be left behind (hopefully).
The whole notion of unattributed sources rests on the idea that if you have two sources that confirm the facts of your story, then it’s very likely accurate. Among other things, this guards against, say, a powerful figure in the government using the reporter to print malicious gossip. If you’ve read All the President’s Men and/or Secret Man, you know that Woodstein goes to great length to double check anonymous leaks.
What if Mark Felt had recruited friends to verify his leaks? Surely, this thought must have crossed Woodstein’s mind at some point. They reasoned, however, that Felt’s revelations put him in such a vulnerable position, that he wouldn’t have risked something like that.
In the case of the White House Iraq Group Libby, Rove, and possibly Cheney planned to discredit Wilson. They came up with a line that went something like: Wilson’s trip to Niger was a boondoggle set up by his wife who’s a covert agent for the CIA.
This accomplished three things:
My point is that when this level of coordination exists the use of multiple sources is meaningless. Granted, Miller didn’t know this, though her mia culpa in the NYT suggests that the possibility had occurred to her. And unlike the hypothetical example of Felt coordinating sources, WHIG did not put themselves in a vulnerable position.
There are other reporters who now are aware that they were customers of a product manufactured by WHIG. Why do they feel themselves bound by promises of confidentiality?
If a reporter’s shield law ever came about (I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, by the way) how would it deal with a conspiracy perpetrated by the anonymous leakers?
Personally, I’m keen on getting rid of the secret government, that I talk about here.
Now, your turn.
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hip·po·pot·a·mus n. A notion, perhaps distinct from conventional wisdom, that needs to be verified by reality-based scrutiny.
95. Cogito cogito ergo cogito sum (I think that I think, therefore I think that I am.)
— Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary
Some speculate the Senator Clinton would want the spirit-killing Vice Presidency because she would be willing to wait for two terms so as to be the likely nominee in 2012. I believe that she could well contemplate this scenario. [Link]
A subsequent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research showed that gas prices fell by 3 percent, meaning that only three fifths of the savings from reduced taxes was passed on to consumers. [Link]
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is filing a complaint with the IRS today challenging the conservative group Freedom's Watch status as a non-profit. [Link]
For Barbara, Hillary has become the screech on the blackboard. From First Lady to Lady Macbeth. [Link]
So what's changed? I asked Reich. "I saw the ads" — the negative man-on-street commercials that the Clinton campaign put up in Pennsylvania in the wake of Obama's bitter/cling comments a week ago — "and I was appalled, frankly. [Link]
Otherwise cites other (mostly right-wing) writers, adding a few words—or one word (usually heh, indeed, or ouch)—to denote approval. This style is, probably purposely, hard to engage. [Link]
Before you tie 'em, you have to lace 'em — and you can choose from among 43,200 perfectly legitimate ways to do it. [Link]
“He doesn’t have the appearance of a tax-and-spend liberal . . . but if the essence of being a tax-and-spend liberal is a lot of taxes and spending, that’s what he comes down to.” [Link]
Before an audience of liberal bloggers last fall, Hillary Clinton defended Washington’s advocate class. “A lot of those lobbyists, whether you like it or not, represent real Americans. They actually do,” she said. [Link]
As things currently stand, it appears that the 39 delegates from DC will include 19 Obama supporters and 14 Clinton supporters. The positions of the remaining 6 — the 4 undeclared DNC members and the 2 add-ons — are unknown. [Link]
But to understand what Obama is proposing, it's important to ask: What, exactly, is the mind-set that led to the war? What will it mean to end it? And what will take its place? [Link]
Clinton's prayer group was part of the Fellowship (or "the Family"), a network of sex-segregated cells of political, business, and military leaders dedicated to "spiritual war" on behalf of Christ, many of them recruited at the Fellowship's only public ev [Link]
"It's quite clear that the Bush administration officials who were around in the 1970s are settling old scores now," said Tim Sparapani, senior legislative counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union. [Link]
Raelyn Campbell has a wild story. She bought a computer at Best Buy. It malfunctioned. She took it back to be repaired. They apparently lost it -- lied about it -- and lied about it -- and lied about it -- and then. . .lied about it. [Link]
When Feinstein pressed, Johnson admitted that "I don't know the answer to that," but offered he himself is working on it, determining "what are the next steps." [Link]
All of this might suggest that the new Executive Order was designed to prevent the IOB from re-emerging as an effective oversight body under a future president. [Link]
What about Congressman Darrell Issa of California? ("`Isa&quo~ means Jesus in Arabic). Former cabinet secretary Donna Shalala? (Shalala means "waterfall&~ in Arabic). [Link]
The filmmaker who won an Academy Award Sunday night for best documentary is next turning his attention to the Jack Abramoff scandal, including GOP presidential candidate John McCain’s role in investigating the affair. [Link]
Today, the House has just approved H.Res. 982, which provides for the adoption of H.Res. 979, recommending that the House of Representatives find Harriet Miers, former White House Counsel, and Joshua Bolten, the White House Chief of Staff, in contempt of [Link]
Looking at Clinton’s statements during critical moments in the war underscores her obscurantism on the most important issue of U.S. national security—a stance that makes sense only in the related contexts of strategic confusion and political expedienc [Link]
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