June 13th, 2006

Some Things to Contemplate…

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Media Matters asks:  why does Rove still have his high level security clearance?  And why aren’t reporters asking more about that?

What exactly does the phrase "doesn’t anticipate bringing charges" mean?  Otis has some thoughts:

The language used by Luskin strongly suggests that Rove got immunity in exchange for his cooperation (it is probably the same deal I have been suggesting was offered to Novak way back when. . . )Otherwise he never would have testified in the Grand Jury to begin with.

“Does not anticipate seeking charges” means that if Rove testifies at Libby’s trial as expected, and as his agreement no doubt provides for him to testify, (lawyers call it providing “ongoing cooperation”), then all will be well for him. But if he “goes sideways” on Fitz and testifies differently from what is now expected, he could be charged–w/perjury certainly, and his deal to avoid criminal liability in the larger conspiracy could be “off” as he could face charges in that as well.

All told, a very standard deal and not unexpected. The more interesting issue and the reason for optimism now is that he couldn’t have gotten such a deal without having something important to offer Fitz. The “no prosecution” letter pretty much guarantees that he that he made a good deal. Either he offered up Cheney himself, or he offered up Libby to guarantee a conviction so Fitz can roll up Libby to Cheney. Either way, for me, I see Cheney going down and that’s something I can live with!

I have to say that immunity in exchange for cooperation is certainly something that has crossed my mind after the unusual multiple testimonial appearances before the grand jury that Rove made. And I have to wonder what that does mean, if so. And when we’ll find out.

This is much harder on the outside looking in, even though it’s much less work in terms of juggling evidence and the grand jury secrecy issues versus the public’s right to know questions that I head to deal with when I was prosecuting cases. 

Bottom line for me:  it’s not over until Fitzgerald says it is over.

June 13th, 2006

Dodging CIPA Graymail Bullets…And Other Legal Notes

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I’ve been a bit busy the last few days (and still am, as well as being exhausted and missing my peanut…again), but after taking some time to do a brief roundabout on the legal news of the last coupla days, I am compelled to jot a few notes on the doings in a few courtrooms.

First, the NYTimes article from David Johnston this morning.  (And a hat tip to Holden for the heads up on the article.)  If Luskin is coming out and saying publicly that they got a letter from Pat Fitzgerald which says that Rove will not be charged, there are two things that I want to see and know:  (1) what does the letter actually say, word for word; and (2) does it say something along the lines of "Please thank Karl for his cooperation in this matter." 

Johnston has always seemed to have good sources within the Luskin/Rove camp (although, frankly, who didn’t last year when Luskin may have called every reporter in the universe).  So it’s not surprising that Luskin would pick the NYTimes as his outlet for announcing news of a letter freeing-up Rove (if, indeed, that is what it fully does…although, I have to say, in all honesty, as an attorney you would never make an announcement like this without something in hand from the prosecutor which purports to say this — you’d never be taken seriously in any other case otherwise…).

Here’s what the article does say: Read the rest of this entry »

June 12th, 2006

Late Nite FDL: Who’s Laughing Now

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Emptywheel emailed me this NY Sun article entitled "Wilson Gets Ovation at Bloggers’s Conference."  I thought it was going to be a disaster — may well have been intended to be — but weirdly Josh Gerstein got his talking points right:

1.  We think Joe Wilson is a hero and deserving of a standing ovation.  Murray Waas too.

2.  Traditional media has dropped the ball on covering this important story, largely because they’re so compromised in it.

3.  Judy Miller is "a humiliated and discredited shill."

4.  Miller, along with Steno Sue and Byron York, are journalists emblematic of the problem as we see it.

5.  Marcy Wheeler knows more about this case than any other human on the face of the planet and should be listened to at all times.

Anyone else looking to encapsulate the event would do well to carry these points forward.  This is how we begin to take control of the new narrative coming out of Plame Gate.  Enough with mental mediocrities like world-class buttfucker Ana Marie Cox disparaging Joe Wilson to score points with Instahack.  This is the new narrative.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

Everyone had better get used to it.

Bonus:  everhopeful has a wonderfully telling Matt Bai moment.   

June 12th, 2006

The Lieberman Problem

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I met only one politician at Yearly Kos, but since I had a question I really wanted to ask him it seemed worth making the effort.  

Before Harry Reid’s speech he had a private meeting for a few bloggers.  Matt Stoller got him to commit to supporting net neutrality, then Matt double-dog dared me to ask Reid my question.

So I asked him — if Joe Lieberman leaves the party, what will happen with regard to his Committee appointments?  Reid was very careful with his words, and very specific.  He said that his letter written to delegates on behalf of Lieberman had made it crystal clear that he was endorsing Joe specifically because Joe was committing to stay in the party.  But, I pointed out — Lieberman has since that time given several interviews where he has refused to run out the possibility of an independent run.

I told him we weren’t unsympathetic to his situation — we weren’t the Club for Growth going after Lincoln Chafee.  I might not like Ben Nelson’s politics but we mostly leave him alone for a reason, taking him down would assuredly deliver the seat to a Republican. But I said Ned is a genuinely good candidate, and Reid agreed.  He said he’d met with Ned twice and liked him a lot.  And as to the opposition we’ve been mounting against Joe?  Reid said it to me twice, and he chose his words very carefully:

It’s important for people to know that their actions have consequences.

By which I took it to mean, from the context, that Lieberman’s actions have brought this on himself.  I was actually a bit surprised that Reid spoke about the situation in such a forthright manner.  Obviously he was a bit more clued in than Barbara Boxer about the temperature of the YK crowd with regard to Lieberman, but still — it was a lot more than I expected.

And I pass this on in the FWIW category.  Ever since the convention last month, people have been  furiously floating rumors that Lieberman would leave the party.  Given the numbers it’s a rather obvious point of speculation and I’ve attributed most of these tales so far to just that — rumors — but I finally heard it from somebody quite knowlegable of Connecticut state politics whose judgment I trust, that Lieberman would in fact be leaving the party in the next few weeks.  I have no idea if it will happen but if Reid is hearing the same thing it does provide some context for his remarks.

Meanwhile, Ned Lamont challenges Lieberman to support the winner of the August 8 primary. Party loyalty, anyone? 

June 12th, 2006

Take A Bow

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Since I’m filling in this afternoon as the FDL crew recuperates or heads off to yet another blogfest, I thought I’d take the opportunity to dish about Jane and Pach and Christy behind their backs a little. And you too.

I think we can all agree that FDL made quite a splash at YKOS, can’t we? I was watching from afar, as most of you probably were, and people came over to my blog drooling over Jane and Christy. (I’m sure they would have drooled over Pach too, if they’d seen him.) The blogosphere was proud as a peacock to have such smart hot women representing them. Not that physical attractiveness is the most important thing, by far, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.

The Plame panel was a huge hit, fascinating and insightful — and regardless of the snooty pooh-poohing of the mainstream bozos, when Joseph Wilson and Murray Waas were given standing ovations, it choked me up, and I’ll bet it choked up a lot of people in that room too. I’ve been following Waas since the 90’s when he was one of the few who kept his head and exposed the fetid underbelly of the anti-Clinton movement in Salon Magazine. And any man who was willing to take on both Saddam Hussein in 1991 and the Bush Administration in the spring of 2003 cannot be considered anything but a hero. How proud I was to be a member of this tribe at that moment.

Read the rest of this entry »

June 12th, 2006

Time Magazine Launches Bukkake Festival

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At one point during our FDL caucus on the first day of the convention, Ana Marie Cox was standing out in the hallway with Byron York and Pach hailed them inside.  York came in and sat down, but as Wankette teetered through the crowd on a pair of spindly legs shown to ill-effect in a set of shorts I’d seen on the markdown rack at Barneys (others wisely having steered clear), she looked like some self-fashioned Marie Antoinette afraid that the unwashed masses were going to mob her.  After that the only place I ever saw her was in the media room, safely protected from the dirty horde.  Tap tap tap, intrepid girl journalist, where’s that guy from the Weekly Standard.  

Her previous career may have been launched by a wilingness to coarsen political discourse by talking about the things she inserted into her rectum, but at Time she seems to have changed positions.  TBogg alerts us this morning that her new stint seems to be on her knees:

She also emails: "Bonus material: I saw Joe Wilson get not one but two standing ovations today; he was also called ‘a true American hero.’ People waited in line for his autograph. I’m going to begin drinking now."

That was me, and I called him one at 9:45 in the morning.  Since Wankette was looking a bit puffy (especially around the eyes) the entire time she was there I can only imagine she made good on her threat.  

It’s aparent Cox isn’t quite bright enough to understand the dynamics of what is going on either in politics or with the netroots so I’m sure she must go to someone for an explanation, and Instacracker is as good as the next I suppose. (Talking about things she doesn’t understand seems to be her new specialty — or maybe not, I never really read her so it’s possible I just didn’t notice.  I’ll certainly take the trouble to do so now.)  But in the interest of being helpful to another gal, I thought I’d give her a brief history lesson and let her know why I said it.

Read the rest of this entry »

June 12th, 2006

Fiscal Irresponsibility Claims Another Victim - Everyone

Bush Loves His Money

Last week the Appropriation Committees of the House and Senate reached a deal on the supplemental appropriations bill to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The new bill is expected to make it to the floor this week for debate and is expected to pass. Originally there was a provision in this bill to ban any of the money being spent on permanent bases in Iraq, a provision which was silently removed by the Republicans.

Congressional Republicans killed a provision in an Iraq war funding bill that would have put the United States on record against the permanent basing of U.S. military facilities in that country, a lawmaker and congressional aides said on Friday.

The $94.5 billion emergency spending bill, which includes $65.8 billion to continue waging wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, is expected to be approved by Congress next week and sent to President George W. Bush for signing into law.

As originally passed by the House of Representatives, the Pentagon would have been prohibited from spending any of the funds for entering into a military basing rights agreement with Iraq.

While this is already a horrible move by Republicans, things get worse. Today we learn that Bush is planning on keeping a force of about 50,000 troops in Iraq for years to come:

America plans to retain a garrison of 50,000 troops, one tenth of its entire army, in Iraq for years to come, according to US media reports.

The revelation came as George W Bush summoned his top political, military and intelligence aides to a summit on Iraq’s future today at the presidential retreat at Camp David.

[SNIP]

Military planners have begun to assess the costs of keeping a 50,000-man force in Iraq for a protracted period of time. At present the total number of serving American troops is about 500,000.

The plan has not yet received presidential approval. But it would fit with the administration’s belief that while troops numbers will fall, American forces will have to remain in Iraq beyond Mr Bush’s departure from the White House in early 2009.

Read the rest of this entry »

June 12th, 2006

Any Ideas?

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Dateline: 6/11/06…

At the moment, I’m cruising at an altitude of about 27,000 feet (well, give or take…I wasn’t really listening to the pilot when he did the announcement. But it was something with a "7" in it…), and thinking back on the rush of activity that was YearlyKos. And I’m, frankly, a bit overwhelmed by the experience.

Meeting everyone and putting faces and names and screennames together.

Meeting a whole host of bloggers that I e-mail with and/or post about their posts after they’ve posted about one of mine.

Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

(By the way, the in flight movie is "Failure to Launch." It’s a bit predictable, but definitely has some amusing moments. And Zooey Deschanel? Good snark.)

Anyway, I’m half watching a movie, half running my brain through the lessons of YearlyKos, and I keep coming back to something that I talked about with the folks from LinkTV, and then later with Murray Waas. About the interaction between the political types who attended the conference and the folks from the netroots who attended – and the relationship between the two. And whether any relationship exists at all. Read the rest of this entry »

June 11th, 2006

Late Night FDL: MataTron Goes Long

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Scene: Deep in the bowels of the underground complex beneath the White House, 4:35am.   A heavy-set technician in a bulky boiler suit is standing at a console in a Batcave-like assemblage of huge machines covered in blinking lights.  Clouds of white fog belch from the floor.   There is a humming of massive engines throbbing somewhere out of sight.  A second, pretty young female technician in a white lab coat enters the room.

"Hank," she says, "I’m going to need you to do another rapid-thaw."

Hank, in his greasy boiler suit, sets down his pastrami sandwich on the edge of the console and sighs, rolling his eyes.  He picks up a clipboard, "Who is it dis time, Theresa?  Gingrich?" Read the rest of this entry »

June 11th, 2006

Headliners and Legends

Liberal Slots

The most important panel of the past week didn’t take place on any of the Sunday Head Shows. It took place in Las Vegas, where even the slots are liberal.  CSPAN has the video.

I should qualify that statement by acknowledging that I didn’t see This Week with George Stephanopolous, which was preempted by the Iran vs. Mexico World Cup Match. (Mexico won, 3-1.) But I don’t imagine that either the George Will/Donna Brazile roundtable or Will’s chat with Grover Norquist were particularly newsworthy.

Meet the Press was also preempted, by the French Open, but was finally broadcast in the late afternoon. Today’s program led with retired General Barry McCaffrey, filling in for the schedule-conflicted, non-retired General George Casey.

Read the rest of this entry »