Bush’s twin messages
By commuting the sentence of a convicted felon — I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby — President Bush has sent two strong messages to our country and the world. First, the rule of law on which our nation is built is without consequence if the president so decrees it. Second, and more important, the president has commuted the sentence of a criminal who blew the cover of a U.S. agent fighting on the front line in the war on terror. The message to the world is that Bush cares more for his cronies than he does about eliminating terrorism.
How much more will our democracy tolerate from this man?
Ethan Hemming, Denver
Ethan:
"How much more will our democracy tolerate from this man?"
As much as the Legislative and Judicial branches allow him.
Congress lacks the votes to override a veto, and the Judicial Branch is owned 5-4 by ideologues loyal to the King.
We are a monarchy for at least another year or so.
Posted by Charles B on July 10, 2007 06:55 AMEthan: Get your facts straight when you are trying to run down our president. Scooter Libby did not "out" anyone.
Posted by Don Evans on July 10, 2007 06:56 AMFitzgerald learned early on that Plame was actually “outed” by former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in interviews with Bob Woodward and Bob Novak. This fact has been widely reported.
It ought to be instructive that Fitzgerald did not charge Armitage with any crime.
But Armitage is not alone. Fitzgerald also did not charge Libby with "outing" Plame's.
Now comes Hemming infoming us that Libby is a criminal who
"blew the cover of a U.S. agent fighting on the front line in the war on terror."
This is curious.
The great hope of course going in to this was that Vice-president Cheney had committed the felony of exposing a covert agent and that Libby had lied to cover up the fact.
The Vice-president is hated by many who post here. His execution has been called for more than once on this page.
Denied the reality of his hopes the leftist falls back to his default position - fabricate facts as required to keep the dream of vengance alive.
Posted by James Jones on July 10, 2007 07:11 AMKeep on drinking the Kool-Aid James.
Posted by just sayin' on July 10, 2007 07:14 AM"Second, and more important, the president has commuted the sentence of a criminal who blew the cover of a U.S. agent fighting on the front line in the war on terror."
Boy are you one totally ignorant and uninformed moron. Fitz. already knew that the source of the "leak" was Armacost and then went on to prosecuted Libby based on something else. He had no choice other than his fishing expedition. According to Victoria Toensing who wrote the undercover law, Plame didn't even come close to qualifying for your "007" status. Do your homework.
Your pal,
Marc Rich
Posted by hank on July 10, 2007 07:47 AM
Read, save, and recycle: it takes a lot of time to plagiarize and abridge: This is about our great decider from a deicide describing Bush’s tenure as Augean stable, a dirty, filthy environment that violates human rights, undermines rule of law, engages in fear mongering, impugns integrity, protects its own lawbreakers, fires U.S. attorneys improperly, minimizes the significance of its malfeasance (wrongdoing by public official and misfeasance (wrongful exercise of lawful authority), trashes the judiciary with its illegal spying, warrantless surveillance, Katrina response failure, lawlessness, incompetence and dishonesty, flagrantly violates public trust, war crimes and crimes against humanity under his watch, trashing prosecutorial independence, compelling General Gonzales to visit a sick retired Attorney General to circumvent the law, high crimes and misdemeanors such as unlawful invasion of a sovereign nation (Iraq) resulting in the death of thousands of Americans and Iraqis and displacing millions, garden variety misconduct such as Libby Scooter payoff for his silence. Clearly the great decider imposes his leadership on the public and the public denies him titular title except for 26% who still lap at his sweat glands.
Through his henchmen, much like Rockwell confessed to killing a hundred men for Joseph Smith, the great decider is linked to Armitage’s conduct that could have resulted in Valerie Plame’s death by the terrorists and the smearing of her husband, Joe Wilson’s, name just because he tells the truth that could have prevented the Iraq war. With Decider contending the Constitution is just “a goddamn piece of paper,” this explicit comports into implicit that the piece of paper that says: “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal,” in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence is just “a goddamn piece of paper,” and thus Bush’s underlings are more equal than others and by commuting sentences protects himself and Cheney, et al from scrutiny while Paris Hilton and Martha Stewart serve their jail sentence for far less wrongdoing than Scooter.
The great decider in his grand scheme of obstruction of justice of moral bearings, bankrupts America's treasury creating a national debt in many $trillions. Bush leaves office with a system of church-state entanglements on an epic scale as he pours $billions into Christian faith initiatives through forced compulsory taxation to underwrite religious activities created by executive fiat. Bush’s final folly will be carried out by the only fan club he has left: Those millionaires and Halliburton executives to whom he gives tax breaks are planning the Bush Presidential Library to honor America’s bushwhacker.
I can't believe people are still trying to parrot the "she was never undercover" even after the CIA has repeatedly said she was undercover.
It must be nice to live in your own reality where you can make stuff up to save your @ss.
Posted by Tbone on July 10, 2007 09:47 AMT-Bone
Not too mention bringing up Victoria Toensing to do it.
Delusion city!!!
Posted by on July 10, 2007 09:54 AMJames Jones is in no position to accuse anyone of fabrication, as he's the master.
Posted by on July 10, 2007 10:25 AMI love the Marc Rich reference, the ultimate hypocracy, since Scoots was Rich's lawyer. I love the argument that all the Bush apologists bring out, "well Clinton did it" as if that makes it ok. I wish you guys would get a new script, the old one is wearing thin.
Posted by Jim Hart on July 10, 2007 11:57 AMT-Bone, Hart, et. al.
How do you account for the fact that Fitzgerald did not charge Armitage with anything?
Posted by James Jones on July 10, 2007 12:00 PMWho knows what happens behind the doors of a grand jury?
I think armitage should have been charged. Plain and simple.
Posted by Tbone on July 10, 2007 12:15 PMJJ.
Easy, Armitage cooperated while Scooter obstructed the investigation at every opportunity. No wonder Libby was let off, he followed the Rove playbook exactly as the master ordered.
Did Clinton obstruct Starr's investigation (witch hunt) anywhere close to the level the Bush Regime has taken obstructionism their nascent art from?
Posted by Holy Reality on July 10, 2007 12:43 PMHoly Reality,
Starr was so deep in Clinton's pocket, no one at the White house was the least bit concerned. When Starr was appointed as special investigator, Janet Reno threw a party
Just for the record, Clinton used his Executive privilege power 14 times during his terms in office.
Posted by jgd777 on July 10, 2007 01:08 PMHoly Reality
The purpose of Fitzgerald's investigation was to find out who exposed Plame. Armitage confessed and was not charged because he cooperated.
So if someone confesses to a crime they won't be charged because the confessed.
Is that what you think?
T-Bone,
The question was how do you account for the fact that Armitage admitted leaking Plame's name to the press and was not charged?
"He should have been" is not an answer.
Posted by James Jones on July 10, 2007 02:43 PMJJ the very serious individual asked:
"...how do you account for the fact that Armitage admitted leaking Plame's name to the press and was not charged?
Because his leak was committed without the knowledge that Plame was covert, and so it did not rise to the level of a crime according to the high standards the statute requires for prosecution. It's interesting to not that he has apologized for it.
Tell us James:
Where and why did Armitage get the information that Plame was Joe Wilson's wife?
and...
Who confirmed what Armitage had told Novak, allowing him to go ahead with the article that outed Plame?
Unless you know the answers to these questions at the very minimum, nobody should take your dissertations on the matter seriously.
You just don't know- or don't want to know- what you're talking about.
Posted by Charles B on July 10, 2007 05:10 PMChalres B,
So he was just guessing and lucked out and guessed right so that doesn't count - of course
Since he didn't know Plame was covert then obviously nobody told him - he was just guessing remember?.
Both Novak and Woodward confirmed the "leak.".
I'm not troubled by reality - that's why I don't need the fantastic reasoning to keep the dream alive.
Posted by James Jones on July 10, 2007 05:21 PMJames Jones said with dawning self-awareness:
"I'm not troubled by reality -..."
Perhaps you will be when you acquaint yourself with it.
You tried (I think) but didn't successfully answer either of my questions. I'll print them again, just in case you want to try again:
a)Where and why did Armitage get the information that Plame was Joe Wilson's wife?
and:
"Who confirmed what Armitage had told Novak, allowing him to go ahead with the article that outed Plame?"
Posted by Charles B on July 11, 2007 08:36 AMCharles B,
I'll play with you for a while.
How did Armitage find out?
He asked his staff who got Wilson the job and they produced the CIA staff memo and learned that wife Valerie, a CIA employee, had made the recommendation.
Your second question is unintelligble but I think you are wondering how Novak confirmed the Armitage claim.
Well, since Valerie went to work every day at CIA headquarters in McClean, Va. I suppose he could have had her followed.
But that seems like a lot of trouble. Maybe he just called the main number and asked the receptionist if he could speak with Valerie and hung up when he was put through to her voice mail.
This is not nearly as mysterious as you would like to believe.
Posted by James Jones on July 11, 2007 08:50 AMLots ;of people work at the CIA, secretary's, etc.
Did Armitage lie to a Grand Jury too?
Posted by Sharon B. on July 11, 2007 11:14 AMSigh...
Here ya go.
a) From Marc Grossman's June 10, 2003 memo.
b) Karl Rove.
I'd also like to clarify that I'm not defending Armitage or his actions in any way. I have some respect for the way he came clean, but that's it. He was just as much a part of the conspiracy to leak the info as every other traitor who leaked it. His attempt to say it was "gossip" and play himself up as the idiot who didn't even know what he was doing is complete bull.
Attempts by ideologues to play him off as a "moderate" Clinton holdover are also bull. He was in on it to his neck.
And yes, the second question was badly worded. It should have read: "Who confirmed for Novak that the information he had received from Armitage about Libby was correct"? My apologies.
Posted by Charles B on July 11, 2007 07:10 PMWhen I saw Bush`s twin message s I thought it said Bush`s twin`s message. I thought they were enlisting.
Posted by Sharon B. on July 12, 2007 11:54 AM