( 2:22 PM )
Little Lies
If you haven't read Patrick Fitzgerald's indictment against Lew 'Scoot Scoot' Libby, then you should check it out. Mainly because it will lay to rest any Republican spin about Wilson, or that the 'crime didn't happen until the invesigation.'
Some thoughts from your resident RAT (all operating on the idea that Fitzpatrick is much more credible than hypocritical Republicans, and my own general feeling that even though Lib is innocent until proven guilty, the case, the circumstances, and the motives all indicate malevolent guilt):
1) Why would a smart guy like Libby try to make Tim Russert the guy who spread the story? Did he have reason to think that Russert would play along (even though he didn't)? Did he use Russert as a pawn in past dealings (like how he placed the faux WMD story with Judy Miller in the NY Times that lead to Veep Cheney going on Meet The Press and pointing to that story as justification for war)? So why would he think that Timmy would play along?
2) Libby's defense is apparently going to be "a person's recollection and memory of events will not always match those of other people, particularly when they are asked to testify months after the events occurred." When you read the indictment and see how carefully Libby gathered info on Wilson, you'll see why that defense certainly won't save his ass.
3) I don't know if you saw Fitzgerald's press conference, but he came off remarkably well. Sort of cross between Elliot Ness and Jack Webb's "just the facts" Sgt. Friday but on the courtin' side of the law. Someone said the non partisan prosecutor set himself up to be the next Attorney General and I'd have to agree.
4) To be honest, I'm a little disappointed that this was all Fitzgerald could come up with. But since I've decided to place some faith in him, I'll take him at his word that Rove, Cheney, Bush and others had no illegal role in this case (at least until he completely closes the investigation). But I still think the key question that needs to be addressed is why these chickenhawk, sissy thugs thought Joe Wilson was such a threat? Oh yeah, because he was the guy that was telling the public that they were lying about Saddam being a huge threat to the US. Does anyone care that lying to Congress is a federal crime? Punishable by impeachment or whatever may apply to your level of rank or cronyism.
5) My new favorite writer du jour, Elizabeth de la Vega, lays out her thoughts on the indictment here and will show how this all ties together in a prosecutable case gainst the Bushies here at some point on Saturday.
So that's enough. I wish I had the energy to put this in a RAT format, but I'm tired, traveling and want to finsh watching the Buckeyes finish off the Gophers.
Tell me lies
Tell me sweet little lies
(tell me lies, tell me, tell me lies)
Oh, no, no you can’t disguise
(you can’t disguise, no you can’t disguise)
Tell me lies
Tell me sweet little lies
--Fleetwood Mac
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( 8:29 PM )
Na Na Hey Hey (Kiss Him Goodbye)
So I used to be in the camp that thought the Downing Street Memos indicated that Bush lied, but that it's not illegal to lie. So I poo-pooed the calls for impeachment (well, poo-pooed is strong because I supported the general idea) because I didn't think they had the legal grounds for it.
Well, it turns out that it is illegal for a President to intentionally mislead the public (or as White House chief of staff Andrew Card might say, market a new product). I'll link to the piece that makes that case later this week, but today was the first time that I had a palpable sense that I / we are soon going to wake up from this Bush nightmare (of course that depends on the Democratic Party growing a spine, but I'm still dreaming so don't wake me).
One of my deepest beliefs about life is that what goes around, comes around, or as McCartney so eloquently sang, "the love you take is equal to the love you make." And the Bush squad made so much hate and got back so much hate from SO MANY people because all they've done is help the rich and kick the poor. Oh, and start an unnecessary war of choice.
It's hard to remember all the love America had from the rest of the world after 9/11, but tragically we squandered that away. And it's equally tragic that we had a budget surplus and decided to give all the money back to the rich instead of doing something more worthwhile like providing everyone with health insurance. The only thing that could be more tragic is if Bush either does not have to stand in court to defend himself, or resign in disgrace because without Cheney and Rove he just couldn't hack the job.
Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye.
--(does anyone know who the hell sang this song?)
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1 comments
( 6:55 PM )
Games People Play
I've been trying really hard to stay the hell off the Plamegate story because there's not much that I can add to it. I mean it's pretty simple - high ranking White House officials lied about the reasons they took America to war and when a guy tried to point that out, they tried to bitch slap him by outing his undercover/CIA agent wife.
But now you've got hypocritical Republicans saying 'it's no big deal and not much of a crime.' You've got an extremely embarassed New York Times still trying to separate itself from a horrible "journalist." And we're stuck with a President who's probably never really had an interest in governing, but just being the top dog and pretending to run the show.
Now some people would say all of the above is just politics. And I'd generally agree. But what makes me crazy is when the "just politics" line moves because you're with the party in power. I'm barely a Democrat (actually, I'm going to resign my membership in the party in a future blog posting), but right and wrong doesn't change because I get hangtime with the prez.
So my advice to you dear partial payer of attention to politics, is to sleep through this phase of the game and wake up when W is on the impeachment block late next year. Yeah boyee.
Games people play
Night or day they're just not matchin'
What they should do
Keeps me feelin' blue
--Spinners
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( 10:53 PM )
Things I Learned This Week
Welcome to a new feature on the so-called Mike Webb blog. It’s pretty straight-forward, so let’s get started…
1) If you’re friends with George W. Bush, there’s a very good chance he’ll appoint you to a position for which you are not qualified.
2) If you put Journey, the Steve Miller Band, or the Eagles on your iPod, there’s a very good chance their songs will be played on your random setting. Since you only put those songs on for guilty pleasure/nostalgia sake, and you really don’t want to hear them more than once in a blue moon, you might have to take them off.
3) Whether you spend $205 million or $41 million on your baseball team, either team will still have a 1 in 32 chance of making the playoffs. My friend Scott Klein pointed out that the 2 extra wins the Yankees got compared to the Indians cost the Yanks approximately $80 million for each game. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have the $160M in my pocket. Probably for a party for my friends. In Fiji. All expenses paid. Then I’d spend the remaining $159.9 million on something else.
4) When you write to a business associate asking to meet with them and they don’t reply, don’t take it as a rejection. As Eric & Parish Making Dollars said, “business, never personal.” Besides, “cryin’ won’t help ya, cryin’ won’t do you no good.”
5) When a beautiful woman invites you to her “glamour”-themed birthday party, even though you lead a fairly strict unglamourous life, it’s probably wise to accept the invitation. However, if you respond as if it’s a “costume” party and that you’re going to come as Stevie Wonder, you’ll feel a little bit stupid when she has to explain the difference between glamour and costume.
Just some of the things I learned this week.
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