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
—
Is making me late
Is keeping me waiting . . .I. Anticipation
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October 26, 2005
WB: Anticipation + Oh Shit
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Special Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald has asked the grand jury investigating the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson to indict Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby and Bush’s Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, lawyers close to the investigation tell RAW STORY.
Fitzgerald has also asked the jury to indict Libby on a second charge: knowingly outing a covert operative, the lawyers said. They said the prosecutor believes that Libby violated a 1982 law that made it illegal to unmask an undercover CIA agent.
…
Two other officials, who are not employees in the White House, are also expected to face indictments, the lawyers said.
And just to piss off the wingers, make mine Heinz “57 Varieties” ketchup, please.
Posted by: F’in Librul | Oct 26 2005 17:43 utc | 2
Aides To Be Indicted, Probe to Continue
Richard Sale, longtime security advisor. Also on Pat Lang’s blog.
Christ…that’s nothing. Even Phil Agee said they didn’t violate the Agee Act, which was written specifically to shut down Lou Wolfe’s “Naming Names” column. It specifies that you have to exhibit a Pattern of Revealing Agents. A single instance doesn’t cut it. And Rove’ll pretend he didn’t know she was undercover.
Posted by: jj | Oct 26 2005 18:10 utc | 4
Just remembering the rights reaction to Wilsons outburst when his wife was first outed — and how all the eyes rolled when he said he wanted to see Karl Rove frog-marched to a grand jury, sure, in your dreams Joe. Well I’m content to wait a little longer as Joes dream materalizes (beyond Rove) into a category 5 nightmare moving oh so slow as it turns their little straw houses into jetsam and floatsam and with no FEMA in sight. And yes, just over the horizon, whats that? More of the same on the way.
Posted by: anna missed | Oct 26 2005 18:17 utc | 5
That ketchup commercial is actually the first example I can recall of something I’ve grown to detest over the course of my life: the incorporation of a pop song into a commercial advertising campaign as a jingle.
This has become very common these days (so much so that some pop singers and bands specifically tool their lyrics in hopes that some ad company will want to option the song) but back in my childhood, it was rather rarer. Nonetheless, that particular commercial was so successful that more people now associate the song with the product than they do with Carly Simon, who actually recorded the original single.
Just one of many, many things I would forbid, were I to become God. The music of my life should not be used to put me in a better mood so I’ll be more willing to consider buying a Cadillac. That’s just aggravating.
Posted by: Highlander | Oct 26 2005 19:52 utc | 6
I don’t know what ketchup commercial you’re referring to – you miss this shit if you turn off yr. tv – but I read last summer that McDon- ‘s was even commissioning songs from pop groups. It’s the Tivo Effect – well if we can’t have interludes to peddle our shit, we’ll simply take over the entire program, movie, what have you.
Posted by: jj | Oct 26 2005 20:13 utc | 7
Ironically, this has had the effect of making the quality of music played on commercials superior to that which is played on the radio.
Posted by: Rowan | Oct 26 2005 20:41 utc | 8
Richard Sale is absolutely reliable and Very Well Connected w/CIA guys. He’s the one they turned to when they were desperate to make public that NeoNuts had authorized Mossad to operate in America. (google Richard Sale Mossad)
Does anyone know what he’s doing now?
(i just got server error msg, so I’ll repost. If it double posts, apologies in advance.)
Posted by: jj | Oct 26 2005 21:10 utc | 9
I don’t know what ketchup commercial you’re referring to
It’s a ’70s thing. If you’re under 40, you wouldn’t understand.
Posted by: Billmon | Oct 26 2005 21:29 utc | 10
the lawerly girls at firedoglake are feeling extremely optimistic indeed – certainly much more than i am
Posted by: remembereringgiap | Oct 26 2005 22:16 utc | 11
Sic Semper Tyrannis 2005:
The probe is far from being at an end. According to this reporter’s sources, Fitzgerald approached the judge in charge of the case and asked that a new grand jury be empaneled. The old grand jury, which has been sitting for two years, will expire on October 28.
Thanks to a letter of February, 2004 which Fitzgerald asked for and obtained expaneed authority, the Special Prosecutor is now in possession of an Italian parliament nvestigationi into the forged Niger documents alleging Iraq’s interest in purchasing Niger uranium, sources said.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Oct 26 2005 22:31 utc | 12
maybe now that i’ve learned t link perhaps i should learn to preview
Posted by: remembereringgiap | Oct 26 2005 23:04 utc | 13
It’s a ’70s thing. If you’re under 40, you wouldn’t understand.
Bill, if they’re under 40, there’s hardly anything they understand. ::grin:: Or so it seems to me most of the time, these days…
Posted by: Highlander | Oct 26 2005 23:06 utc | 14
On the continuation of the probe. The great, and totally unexpected aspect of this adventure in criminal investigation is that Fitzgerald made his bones in the investigation and prosecution of the First World Trade Center attack and, more to the present point, the mob (that now includes Richard Perle and Conrad Black). It’s not that he’s not afraid — that comes with the territory — it is that he has learned how crooks think and act, and that is a great advantage over the present crooks in the White House, who don’t know how a prosecutor who knows how they act acts.
The possible (may we hope likely) extension of the Grand Jury investigation (or if it takes a new turn, the empanelling of a new one) confirms my belief that this whole effort to unmask the regime originated deep in the CIA, which has provided Fitz with the casus belli he needs (the death of an agent consequent to the revealing of Valery Plame’s true occupation)to pursue the investigation and uncovering of the process by which the lies that led to the invasion of Iraq were manufactured and disseminated.
Here’s my best guess — if there are five indictments — let’s say for the sake of dreaming that they are Rove, Libby, Wurmser, Hanna and Bolton, with Ms Miller possibily thrown in for good measure and ‘pour encourager les autres’, then the deal is closed on the revealing of names except for Cheney and Bush. That means Fitzgerald can convene a new grand jury to concentrate on the forged Niger papers and the other crimes. This hypothesis depends on his not having brought these points up in any great detail so far with the present GJ. If he has, it obviously makes more sense to keep it going.
My wife complains that I hypothesize too much (on everything).
Posted by: Knut Wicksell | Oct 26 2005 23:42 utc | 15
what i have been reading these last few days infers a qualitative leap in the investigation – deeper by far than watergate – & while i have persisted in the theorem – that the investigation represent just one aspect of an intercinine war amongst elites in the empire – i wonder at their real & actual capacity to take this war to the wire – which would by necessity reveal that the empire is every bit as authoritarian in its practice as its predecessors in germany 1933-45
going to the wire – would require upending so many things – even if you accepted the lowest common denominator of reformism of one kind or another
empires have never relinquished their power – peacefully – & the american empire is no exception
& while i deeply hope that at least part of the appareil of state (in much the same way as i have spoken of the sicilian judges in their war against the mafia & the mafia andreotti/craxi state) is capable of destroying its uglier face – i know, fundamentally, that its uglier practices will continue
& while i dream nightly of a rove or a libby or a cheney in chains – i know they have always worn the baubles of power only because the people themselves have allowed themselves to be chained – by fear & by absence of initiative
Posted by: remembereringgiap | Oct 26 2005 23:46 utc | 16
knut
i have sd this before here – what is happening has all the aspects of a cia destabilisation – except this time – taken to the wolfs lair
i think it is not only possible but probable
the cia & the nsa have been at the forefornt of representing the real & actual interests of the elites
perhaps at one moment or another – the neocons – (like the common grifters that they are – & reps like delay & frist – have more in common with grifter than they do with representing people) sold themselves as efficient envoys of the empire – consolidators – (again there is much they have in common with german fascism – which sold itself primarily to the elites & to the lumpen proletariat & sold itself under force & violence & not incidentally, victory & indeed while it was capable or handing over those victories – they were supported to the hilt – it was not until the magnificent stalingrad – that schisms in the elite attemptd to be effective)
it is no surpise then – that the cheney bush junta who have also sold themselves on victory but have produced nothing but defeats at every level – have lost support of the elites & will soon discard them
Posted by: remembereringgiap | Oct 26 2005 23:57 utc | 17
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. First no yellowcake and now no Zarqawi either:
Fabricated links?
If this kind of thing keeps up people are going to suspect that deliberate lies were told to fool people into supporting an illegal war. Next we’ll probably be hearing about Rolf Ekeus and Scott Ritter allowing the Israelis to play a secret role in the UNSCOM inspections and stovepipe even more bogus intelligence into the works, or of Charles Duelfer, that long time dining companion of Judith Miller, pulling Ritter aside and telling him to work with Ahmed Chalabi, then after Ritter told Chalabi the kind of things he was looking for in terms of intelligence the miraculous appearance of ‘Curveball’ in Germany giving (invented) details and (manufactured) evidence on the very things that Ritter had told Chalabi he’d love to find out more about.
Perish the thought, it could never happen could it?
And yet, it did.
Posted by: clip | Oct 27 2005 0:36 utc | 18
Another GJ – what are the chances they’ll look into 911 being an inside job? That’s the interesting stuff. And shouldn’t it be Treason to Deliberately Bankrupt the Nation? If not, treason doesn’t have much meaning. You can’t attack another country, but you’re free to destroy the country you’ve taken an oath to defend?
Posted by: jj | Oct 27 2005 0:55 utc | 19
That ketchup commercial just proves that this entire thing is just a deceitful plot by John Kerry’s wife to ‘Heinz-Up’ the indictments.
That ketchup commercial is actually the first example I can recall of something I’ve grown to detest over the course of my life: the incorporation of a pop song into a commercial advertising campaign as a jingle.
I’m under 40 and remember the commercial. I noticed later on that when commericals like that got too stale for network stations, it would be slogged off to independents with cheapskate owners. But it didn’t annoy me as much as a Detroit political show on WXYZ hosted by their weather man Eric Smith. The theme song was the accoustic/keyboard intro to “Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)” by Styx. Talk about blaspheme. It wasn’t until really later in life that I caught the irony of it — a political show with “Fooling Yourself” as the theme! Who is fooling who here — are the politicians fooling themselves or the viewers?!? Maybe a little of both!
good point Sizemore..
“Punk died the day The Clash signed to CBS” – Mark Perry of Sniffin’ Glue fanzine Aug. 1977.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Oct 27 2005 3:02 utc | 22
“(T)his whole effort to unmask the regime originated deep in the CIA…”
There are at least a few neoconservatives who would be inclined to agree, substituting ‘humilitate the administration’ for ‘unmask the regime.’
Over the past five years the CIA has, in hardcore neoconservative assessments, been gradually moved from the category of Politically Questionable/Unreliable government organizations to the category of
Politically Hostile/Subversive government organizations, surpassed only by the State Department in treachery and apostasy.
But just because they’re paranoid doesn’t mean no one’s out to get them.
Posted by: Pat | Oct 27 2005 4:58 utc | 24
@ Pat
Yeah, to coin a phrase dear to old Marxists “it is no coincidence that” a veritable circle of fire seems to be closing in on the putschists, who do however seem to retain a stranglehold on the MSM.
Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Oct 27 2005 5:21 utc | 25
Good news, Malooga.
While there, I poked around & came up w/this. I’ve said all along that the plan/hope was to get McCain in as VP. Steve’s sources confirm that he’s been approached.
This just in from a close friend who worked inside the pinnacle of Republican power in the Senate a few years ago, so while this is rumor — it’s Republican rumor, which makes it interesting:
Steve, just heard from trusted friend that McCain was approached about serving as VP if Cheney has “health problems” or otherwise steps down.
Beyond that, speculation that Miers will step down to be replaced by a Bork-like sub (even better, Bork himself…). In other words, Cheney takes a bullet, a titanic battle over SCOTUS ensued to change the subject. You didn’t hear this from me, but feel free to pass on such unsubstantiated rumors. link
Posted by: jj | Oct 27 2005 5:42 utc | 26
“…who do however seem to retain a stranglehold on the MSM.”
You mean the ‘traitorous MSM’ that works day and night ‘to undermine a wartime administration and pave the way for jihadist victory abroad’?
For God’s sake don’t tell them, Hannah. They don’t realize how fortunate they are in this regard. (It’s the political paranoia.) And it’s best that they don’t.
Posted by: Pat | Oct 27 2005 6:13 utc | 27
It’s interesting to see Gen. Wayne Downing mentioned, I did a little Googling and this was the first thing I found.:
Downing was assisted by a former CIA agent, Duane “Dewey” Clarridge, who ran the U.S.-backed contras who fought the leftist Sandanista regime in Nicaragua during the Reagan administration. Together, the two men drew up a plan to train some 200 Iraqi National Congress fighters, who would train another 5,000 men to be inserted into southern Iraq from Kuwait, where they would seize a deserted air base near the city of Basra. According to Clarridge, the logistical support operation for Chalabi’s fighters would have been “outsourced” to mercenaries, including retired U.S. Special Forces members.
“The idea from the beginning was to encourage defections of Iraqi units,” recalled Clarridge, who was indicted for lying to Congress in connection with the Iran-contra scandal but pardoned by President George Bush just before the end of his administration. “You need to create a nucleus, something for people to defect to. If they could take Basra [Iraq’s second-largest city and major port], it would all be over.”
Even though it became the basis for the Iraq Liberation Act, the Downing plan was savaged by much of the U.S. military establishment, including officers of Central Command, or Centcom, which would bear responsibility for military operations against Iraq. Last year, Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, then Centcom’s commander, derided the plan as a prescription for a “Bay of Goats” dreamed up by “some silk-suited, Rolex-wearing guys in London.” In testimony to Congress, Zinni said he had counted 91 different Iraqi opposition groups, not one of which had “the viability to overthrow Saddam.”
Richard Perle, an assistant defense secretary during the Reagan administration andintellectual force behind the anti-Hussein campaign, called Zinni’s comments “outrageous.”
Perle said, “It is not easy to get allies [for such an operation] when you have the Centcom commander saying it can’t work.
Score one for Zinni. Does anyone remember the US military landing Chalabi’s Free Iraqi Forces in Nasiriyah in April 2003? landing in Iraq? It sounds EXACTLY like Downing’s “Bay of Goats” plan. More:
…the Pentagon has flown in Ahmed Chalabi, the controversial head of the Iraqi National Congress (INC), who has been pushing U.S. officials to create an interim Iraqi government led by the INC. The deployment of the opposition fighters represents a bid by the exile-dominated INC to stake out a central role in a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.
But even as the recruits for the self-proclaimed 1st Battalion of the Free Iraqi Forces (FIF) gather at a derelict facility near Nasiriyah, the deployment is already provoking controversy. Chalabi told U.S. News that local resistance forces began to seize control of local government offices Sunday in and around the southern town of Amarah. He identified the local leader as Abu Hattam, who he says has been secretly fighting Saddam inside Iraq for two decades and is a longtime INC ally. But the British forces controlling the area apparently objected. British troops sent an interpreter into Amarah on Monday and warned the opposition forces to vacate the offices in one hour or they would be considered hostile forces. [snip]
Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. envoy to the Iraqi opposition [and current U.S. Ambassador to Iraq], has told officials he hopes to convene a meeting of Iraqi opposition leaders at Tallil airfield near Nasiriyah as early as Saturday. White House officials have insisted that they plan to create an interim administration that would function under the guidance of American government advisers. However, President Bush’s main ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, envisions a leading role for the United Nations. This debate is a major topic of Bush’s meeting with Blair in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
WTF. Did we even tell the Brits that we were installing Chalabi in power? Blair really is a poodle to still stand by Bush after all this shit.
Posted by: joejoejoe | Oct 27 2005 7:10 utc | 28
Let me make that last post clearer:
The neoconservatives and other True Believers don’t realize how fortunate they are, how fortunate they have been, to have the mainstream media that they do. (It’s the political paranoia that prevents them from realizing this.) And it’s best that they don’t.
Read the whole of VDH’s latest at National Review. They’re feeling lonely, but for those who are under orders to carry out, and die for, their bloody whims and wishes.
Posted by: Pat | Oct 27 2005 7:39 utc | 29
To quote Jack Black, rock and roll is about sticking it to the man (yes, from School of Rock, disneyfication of Jack Black, I know). Now rock’s part of sucking up to the man. When Tommy Franks & Beans can walk out onto the sound stage of the R N C and say “this party rocks,” then we know we are still in the national nightmare. Why couldn’t he, Franks & Beans, be satisfied being a bitter retired stuff shirt? Somehow those potent 60s era drugs got into the national water supply system and infected the self-labeled conservatives, yellow republicans, the Whigs, the Wasps, and started us onto this collective bummer.
Posted by: christofay | Oct 27 2005 9:06 utc | 30
Plug something here,
KCRW
available over internut radio.
Posted by: christofay | Oct 27 2005 9:08 utc | 31
speaking of the niger nonsense, it appears shrubya was more directly involved with the particulars of that infamous SOTU than people might have thought. other people said to have co-edited: Matthew Scully, John McConnell, Michael Gerson and senior adviser Karen Hughes.
and another fitzmas-eve eve surprise!