III. Using Rosa

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[H]aving sampled Scalito’s intellectual wares in the Casey case, I think I can say unequivocally that this is a battle that has to be fought to the bitter end — up to and including nuclear war. Little Scalia has to be attacked with any and every legal tool at the left’s disposal, and for my money, Casey is a pretty good place to start.

And if that be Borking, let us make the most of it.

II. Casey as the Bat

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I. Body Double

Shorter Victor Davis Hanson

II. Restoration

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Or, as Jane puts it, just because the investigation is almost finished doesn’t mean the consquences — read: indictments — are.

I. Crouching Prosecutor, Hidden Charges

Jigsaw, Part 2

[T]he few loose ends he’s still tying up may include squeezing Libby until he coughs up the whole hairball of the conspiracy, including the vice president’s role in it. Right now, though, it doesn’t look like justice has been well served, or even fully baked.

Why Did Fitzgerald Throw Judy in Prison?

Anything but plamegate …

[S]omeone has tried very hard to keep Official A on ice, so to speak, while roasting Libby over an open Plame/Flame. Of course, that doesn’t mean Fitzgerald will indict Rove, but it’s the most tangible evidence that Rove remains in deep legal doo doo.

The Man Who Wasn’t There

If Fitzgerald is going after any bigger fish than the one he’s already landed, or the others still wriggling on his hook, it almost certainly is Cheney. What other game is worth the candle? But I still think the odds are against it.

III. The Straight and Narrow

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II. What If

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I. Hung Jury

Did one of those "other officials" include the vice president? And who is the "other person" in the veep’s office (besides Libby) who had classified documents from the CIA faxed to their personal attention? And what else did Dick Cheney tell Scooter at their June 12 meeting?

It appears Patrick Fitzgerald still has a few cards tucked away in his underwear. The investigation, he says, is not over. Let’s hope the revelations aren’t over either.

Fitzgerald Pulls His Punch

II. Ho Ho Ho

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I. Cat and Mouse

All major U.S. papers have pieces on the UN Oil for Food report delivered yesterday by Paul Volcker. All find wrongdoing and cite from the report. It is all about Russian and French companies and on Siemens and Daimler being involved in kickbacks to Saddam’s regime.

Iraq used its oil wealth to influence some countries’ policies at the United Nations, rewarding Russia $19 billion in oil contracts and France $4.4 billion in deals, according to the report.

Cont. reading: Blame France and Russia

Open Thread …

It would be a crying shame if Fitzgerald closed the book before we get to the part where Hercule Poirot or Miss Jane Marple solves the crime.

Final Countdown

.. Gonzales appears to be what the Senate Dems claim they’re looking for: another, albeit gender-challenged, Sandra Day O’Connor. My advice would be to go for it, and hope the liberal-libertarian alliance on presidential war powers can defeat any Roberts-Thomas-Gonzales axis of authoritarianism.

Rear View Miers

The waiting gets boring. So let’s get a bit busy with some handicraft.

beq carved these beautiful Jailoween pumpkins.

All I Want For Fitzmas
by beq
(a really great desktop background:
1600×1200, 1280×1024, 1024×768)

fauxreal offers this haiku:

slothrop adds:

beq:

lonesomeG:

Rowan:

and also:

And of course there is Billmon’s Fitzmas Carol.

C’mon, add yours below.

Maybe now they won’t have to hang out in an Iowa cornfield for all eternity.

Clean Sweep

Bush hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief.

A Fitzmas Carol

II: Plain Speaking

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I: We’re Boned

The GOP shill chorus has been wailing about the "criminalization of politics" — by which they mean busting the criminals in politics. Well, they may be about to get the politics of criminalization, in spades.

II. Oh Shit

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Is making me late
Is keeping me waiting . . .

I. Anticipation

2000