Breaking: Libby Indictments Issued
Okay, I’m literally walking out the door for Houston, but here it is:
Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, was indicted today by a grand jury on one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of making false statements and two counts of perjury in the CIA leak probe. The indictments are the first in a nearly two-year investigation into the public unmasking of an undercover CIA operative.
Talk to you tomorrow…
a small thank you note for dems:
The past few weeks have been the source of the most anxiety I have had since the elction in 2004. The GOP was faced with the disintegration of its cohesion with the Miers nomination and the previous ‘pending’ indictments.
In this time of trouble, no one has been a more stalwart ally to the conservative party than the dems. The worst case scenario would have been Miers confirmation, but thanks to you guys and your charges of cronyism combined with the conservative intellectuals, you managed to save us.
The hype you lent to the Special Investigation-focusing on Rove, Espionage, Treason, Leaking, Cheney, White House Iraq Group made the most serious of wounds of actually having the veep’s assistant indicted. In a vacuum, this would have been explosive, but instead of letting the cards fall where they may, you speculated a doomsday scenario that diminshed the events when it didn’t even come close.(Special thanks to Larry o’donnell
.) No covert status…in one word-”Thud.”
You were gracious in 2002 to sacrifice the memorial of Paul Wellstone and turned it into a political rally, wounding all national dem candidates. (And up to then, I believed all politics were local, but you showed me differently).
Losing Libby is like losing family. It hurt. But you guys picked me up…If there is anyway you could emphasize him as taking one for the team in some sort of coverup, it would help. The average joe kinda likes a guy who stands up for the team, no one likes a stoolie. Sandy Berger stealing the documents from the National archive during the 9/11 investigations was great…that light sentence he got will be a good bargaining chip for a lighter sentence. If all else fails, Clinton showed it was cool to take 450,000 to pardon Mark Rich, and if that fails we have Huge Rodham getting 500,000 for getting a pardon for a drug lord. What would be the big deal if Bush pardoned Libby. (Or in a better scenario, Bush resigns with a week to go in offcie, Cheney is named President and does the pardon himself. Hope dems wouldn’t mind seeing Cheney listed as a former US President, even if it was for two weeks-but then they already call him the President…
Forgive the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown, and you really don’t have to filibuster it…but if you want to go after a black woman for having conservative views, go for it. I’m sure African Amercians wouldn’t see it as a bunch of white people trying to bring down an African American, over the fact that she is a conservative. maybe you could get Obama and rangel to jump her…they’re in safe seats.
Just saw GDP was over 4%, despite Katrina.
Merry Fitzmas everyone,
Merry fitzmas.
This post is unreal. An indictment was served against a sitting White House official for the first time since Grant was President. Tom DeLay is indicted. We are bogged down in Iraq with no end in sight. The deficit exceeds $400 billion. Katrina exposed a gaping hole in the government’s ability to respond to disaster. And you’re talking about Marc Rich?
1) The Democrats are at fault with Miers? Bush nominated someone who was apparently unqualified, the Dems largely stood aside so she could get an up or down vote, she was savaged by the Right, and Bush pulled the nomination. What do the Democrats have to do with this?
2) I don’t think you saw many (if any) leading Democrats talking about doomsday scenarios. Nor is the investigation over.
3) No covert status? Fitzgerald spoke about how her neighbors and friends had no idea she was in the CIA. Prosecutors indict for the cases which they feel are slam-dunks. Al Capone was jailed for tax evasion. Nor is this particularly relevant: perjury is perjury.
You can open your eyes and admit that things are seriously amiss. Alternately, you can close your eyes to the many obvious examples of ineptitude, incompetence, and (allegedly) criminal behavior, and instead try to blame everything on Micheal Moore. It’s your choice. The facts are there.
Did I mention Michael Moore?
Never really learned about the Grant guy getting indicted, was he as an obscure figure as Libby?
Bogged down in Iraq…maybe you can give me a link to something about that…other than Juan Cole.
Seems there will be a permanent government selcted in December, and soldier will begin drawing down in the Spring and Summer, immediately before the 2006 election. Dems can call their mission a failure or a success, but they’ll chose the former. Any chance to stub their toe, they take.
The deficit was cut to 319 billion…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4343814.stm
“The White House initially forecast a 2005 deficit of $427bn at the start of the calendar year, but has steadily revised the figure downwards since then.”
(Relative to your 400 billion belief, which overstates it by 25%). Versus the prediction of a trillion dollar deficit during 2004, which overstates it by a wider margin)
“No covert status?”
Yep. no covert status-sorry the neigbors testimony couldn’t prove that. Can I ask Libby’s neighbors for their input?
1) Libby is an obscure figure? He has three titles: assistant to the President, chief of staff to the Vice President, and national security advisor to the Vice President. That’s obscure?
2) Whether he is more or less “obscure” than the “Grant guy” is not the issue. The point is that this is the first time that a sitting White House official has been indicted in modern history. I suppose this is insignificant to you?
3) Bogged down in Iraq? We have roughly the same troop levels we walked in with, and the casualty rate is essentially the same as it has been throughout the war and occupation. The violence against Iraqi citizens continues unabated. Maybe we will draw down troops next year and maybe we won’t. What is your definition of “bogged down?”
4) The source you give undercuts your case. The deficit was $412 billion in fiscal 2004; $319 billion in fiscal 2005; and uncertain in fiscal 2006 because, as the article notes, the bulk of Katrina spending is pushed into the next fiscal year. Bush started his Presidency with a surplus. Your point?
5) No need for you to ask her neighbors — the FBI did. It is indisputed that senior government officials revealed the status of a CIA agent in a political vendetta (what Bush I called treason). It is alleged in the indictment that one official lied about it repeatedly under oath. There may be other indictments to follow. As Reagan used to say, facts are stubborn things. You can spin this until you are dizzy, but the facts remain.
I think that Fitzgerald’s press conference yesterday was an a-ha moment for many who saw it. He struck me and many others as a Jimmy Cooper – like figure who came to town to clear out the bad guys. I think there was a clarity in his speaking which was reminiscent of what American values used to be. He cut through the spin like a knife through hot butter, and I think those who have open eyes will see from his simple declarations regarding truth as the engine of democracy how far we have come from the ideals which this administration so frequently espouses.
Can you name a libby speech?
There are stars and there are supporting figures. (Guess which one Libby was.)
you stated the deficit was 400 billion. I corrected you with good news that Bush had reduced it 25% from your belief, but the glass is still empty?
Your analysis of Iraq never mentions any progress with the Iraqi government or the training of soldiers. That would help you to understand the exit strategy of building a government and training troops… so once again the glass is half empty, along with your argument. If the only guages you have are US troop levels and casualties, every death is is another move towards doom…
“figure who came to town to clear out the bad guys.”
He indicted one guy. He did not indict for leaking of classified info-but perjury is a serious charge, I wish Scooter the best in his defense. Enjoy the trial.
” The point is that this is the first time that a sitting White House official has been indicted in modern history.”
Hmmm, Clinton was indicted for perjury. It wasn’t serious then but it is serious now? It was serious to me then, as it is now. Oh, Clinton wasn’t a whitehouse official..my bad.
1) Karl Rove doesn’t give too many speeches, so I suppose he’s a bit player too. Libby was, among other things, Cheney’s Cheif of Staff. He was in the President’s inner circle. I’m sorry, that’s a star role.
2) Like Groucho Marx said to Margeret Dumont, “when I thought you were worth only $400 million, I still loved you. When I found out you were worth half a billion, the extra $100 million meant nothing to me.” My point was not the exact deficit figure. My point was that it is huge and unforgivable.
3) There is some progress with the government and training of soldiers. How much is subject to question. We are still bogged down, even if there is incremental progress. Had Bush accurately predicted what things would be like back when he proposed the war, what do you think the reaction would have been.
4) I said nothing about Clinton. I don’t excuse him for what he did.
Actually you can figure the deficit relative to GDP, to put it in perspective.
http://traxel.com/deficit/deficit-percentage.png
Now factor in that the deficit as a percentage of GDP is:
(319 billion/11.75 trillion=)2.7%.
It is all perspective. If Bush choses to to keep discretionary spending below % increase in GDP for his final two years, he could well achieve the ‘balanced budget’ experienced in the Clinton years.
Of course the balance is illusory, it does not include money that is supposed to be allocated to social security…Bush is as guilty of this as Clinton.
It is correct that the surplus/deficit numbers exclude Social Security.
I don’t see how Bush could possibly reduce discretionary spending to the point where we will have a balanced budget (ex-Social Security) by 2008. Unless the prescription drug benefit is cancelled and there is a sizable increase in taxes, it ain’t gonna happen. Even if Katrina never happened.