It's Hard to Know Which Cliche to Use

The Mob is calling in all its markers. The chickens are coming home to roost. The sins of the fathers are being visited on the sons. You reap what you sow. You play with fire you get burned. He who laughs last laughs best.

I could go on. With the Democrats in Congress wimping out on immunity for the telecoms for their co-criminality in the NSA and who-knows-what-other domestic spying capers, it comes as no surprise. The telecoms have been passing out their treasure for good reason, to both sides, for good reason: The quid for the quo.

And the Democrats are falling like flies.

An Idea for an Ad

Here's a modest proposal for an ad spot. No audio. Screen graphic "Support the Troops" for five seconds. Camera then records a succession of real people's faces, who one by one state how they've been affected by the occupation of Iraq... "My father was killed in Faluja" "My sister died in Bakuba" "My brother came back really sick" "My son came back without his legs." "My mother died when her convoy was ambushed in Anbar Province." Screen goes black. Screen graphic reads "Iraq affects each of us." Voice over (perhaps Morgan Freeman) "Iraq affects each of us. And for what? Weapons of mass destruction? [Clip of Bush uttering the 16 words in the SOTU.] (Freeman continues) There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, [Clip of Libby with Cheney and Rumsfeld] and there is abundant evidence to prove that the Bush administration new it and lied to the American people before invading Iraq. 9/11? [Clip of highlight from CIA report, with CIA symbol prominent] The CIA and the 9/11 Commission conclude that there never was an Iraq connection. [Still of Usama bin Laden] Al Quaeda? Al Quaeda didn't exist in Saddam's Iraq. To promote democracy in the Middle East? Diplomacy and fair dealing would have done as much. So, what are our soldiers dying for? An illegal war of aggression against a sovereign nation. You can support the troops by bringing them home and holding President Bush accountable for the unthinkable horror he has unleashed in Iraq." Put that on the internets and watch it burn up the tubes.

Are We There, Yet?

I thought it was bad enough when we found out about the lies that got us into Iraq (thanks to Amb. Wilson for that revelation).
I thought it was bad enough when CIA NOC Agent Wilson was decloaked by the White House (thanks to Patrick Fitzgerald, USA).
I thought it was bad enough that the US officially condones torture (thanks to, among others, the soldiers in Abu Ghraib Prison, who were later drummed out of the military for following orders).
I thought it was bad enough when the government began secretly recording our telephone conversations (thanks to the NYT, I think).
I thought it was getting a little worse when it became legal to search my home without a warrant, and to arrest me without cause and detain me indefinitely.
Things seemed to be getting a little darker when we found out that the DOJ was being stocked with Republican zombies.
It seemed like it couldn't get any worse when POTUS commuted his buddy "Scooter" Libby's 30-month sentence for obstruction of justice.
Now, it seems, a feckless Congress is finding out that they have no recourse if someone doesn't honor a subpoena.
Is it possible that the rat bastards in Washington had all of this in mind before any of it started?
Historians of Hitler's Germany will no doubt recognize a number of points of similarity.

CHRISTIAN SUPREMACISTS DISRUPT SENATE

The Christian Supremacists in Congress showed their true colours today, by demonstrating their foundational bigotry. It fits perfectly with what I've been saying about Creationists/Creation Scientists/Intelligent Design adherents--that they are profoundly arrogant when they propound their story of creation, because it denigrates (by ignoring) the myriad other creation stories and beliefs of the world's non-Christians. The Judao-Christian tradition is pervasively bigoted against non-believers. And, as you're well aware, some Christians over the years have perpetrated unconscionable acts against non-Christians (think Crusades, the expulsion of the Jews from Britain and from other European nations in the Middle Ages, the Shoa). I say let the rat bastards yell all they want about the "idolaters". The more they show themselves for what they are, the sooner this country'll be rid of their venomous religion.

Depraved Indifference

This is taken from the US Legal website.

To constitute depraved indifference, the defendant's conduct must be 'so wanton, so deficient in a moral sense of concern, so lacking in regard for the life or lives of others, and so blameworthy as to warrant the same criminal liability as that which the law imposes upon a person who intentionally causes a crime. Depraved indifference focuses on the risk created by the defendant’s conduct, not the injuries actually resulting.

I just posted over at No Quarter about this. But I want to reiterate: Colin Powell, George Tenet, Dick Durbin, the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, are all guilty of depraved indifference. They all deserve the condemnation of the American people for their failure to tell the truth about the lies promulgated by the Bush administration in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.

They should all be behind bars.

Link

Grab your torch and pitchfork!

Where's the hue and cry?
For years I've been asking myself when the American people (those with a reasonable level of critical ability, that is) are going to wake up to the terrible governance, the outrageous dissembling, the dismantling of the Bill of Rights, the obliteration of America's global reputation, the unmitigated gall of the Bush administration. And for years, I've been amazed at the deaf ears turned toward those who tell the truth about the power-crazed, and mostly unelected government in Washington, DC. Even today, 24 hours after Valerie Plame Wilson testified under oath, before a committee of the House of Representatives, that her covert employment by the C.I.A. was revealed by a crass and reckless White House in 2003, the traditional media are missing the really important part of the day's testimony. After Plame Wilson's testimony, a pair of Washington officials bellied up to the front table, one of whom was Dr. James Knodell, director of the Office of Security at the White House. Dr. Knodell's testimony comes down to this: the White House never, ever lifted a finger to determine the source of the leak. Not even for five minutes did they bother to search for the culprit. And, of course, once the criminal investigation was launched, at the behest of the C.I.A. (the injured party that employed Plame Wilson), the White House dummied up and hid behind their old saw that they would do nothing to interfere with an ongoing investigation, least of all mount a co-eval investigation of their own.

So, the Office of the President, the keeper of the Constitution, defender of the Homeland, protagonist of Evil, didn't even break a bead of sweat to find out who had compromised national security in the exposure of an undercover agent. We all, now, know why, from testimony, under oath, in a court of law. I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, his boss, Richard "Deadeye Dick" Cheney, Karl "Turdblossom" Rove, his boss, George "W" Bush, and several others close to those at the top, were responsible for leaking this patriot's name. Why, indeed, would anyone who had perpetrated such a venal crime choose to investigate themselves, leading to the concommitant exposure of their intrigue to a country divided almost 50-50 along party lines.

I can't say as I blame them. But I can certainly hold their feet to the fire now, since Rove and Cheney still hold the highest security clearance. Does this country want to spend another minute with those two cupping our lives in their hands? Of course, everyone knows that if Rove and Cheney lost their security clearance, there'd be no Executive Branch left--"W" will most assuredly not know what to do without their input.

So, now we have crimes layered upon crimes. The crime that was committed when the President promised the country that he'd get to the bottom of the leak story is superimposed on the crime of allowing liers to continue to be privy to the deepest secrets this country possesses, which in turn is a crime plastered over the underlying one of revealing classified information, and knowingly revealing the identity of an undercover agent of the C.I.A.

If ever there was a time, it would be now, to grab your torch and pitchfork.

Will Tweetie be the next one to sing? Or will it be Novak? Or Armitage?

Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has promised a "surprise" witness next week, as he rounds out the government's case in the I. (guess what that means) Lewis "Scooter" Libby perjury and obstruction of justice trial. I'm going out on a limb with some outrageous possibilities.

What about Robert Novak, to whom Rove is alleged to have blabbed prior to the July 14, 2003 publication of the infamous outing piece? We have every reason to believe Novak would rather stick needles in his eyes than throw Rove under the bus. So, unlikely it'll be Novak.

What about Armitage, former Under-Secretary of State? He's an old pal of Rove's. Arm'y made a Libbyesque effort to give Novak an interview and *cough* 'accidentally' tell Novak that Plame/Wilson sent Ambassador Joe to Niger. To quote Newsweek, "Armitage acknowledged that he had passed along to Novak information contained in a classified State Department memo: that Wilson's wife worked on weapons-of-mass-destruction issues at the CIA. (The memo made no reference to her undercover status.) Armitage had met with Novak in his State Department office on July 8, 2003—just days before Novak published his first piece identifying Plame [and a mere two days after the July 6th Op-Ed by Joe Wilson, the the shit really hit the fan in the WH]." And rumor has it that on June 13, 2003 Arm'y blabbed to Bob Woodward about Ms. Wilson's CIA position and role in sending Ambassador Wilson to Niger [characteristically minus the bit about her covert status]. Yet, again, this wouldn't help Fitz's case against Libby.

Then there's Chris Matthews, the MSNBC poster-boy of punditry. Why him? Because thus far in these proceedings we've heard little, if anything, about Karl Rove's role in the Plame/Wilson outing. Remember that Karl is alleged to have told Tweetie that "the wife" is 'fair game'. [Interesting choice of metaphor, all things considered, since Cheney is the hunter in the White House cadre, and we all know what sorts of things HE considers fair game!] Matthews is an attractive candidate, because he isn't implicated in anything (therefore has no axe to grind; no hidden agenda to be impeached), and because the Rove comment, above all else, speaks of the malice that was focused on Ms. Wilson, and alone of all the evidence thus far produced, is the real smoking gun that says this wasn't just a bunch of political hacks trying to set the record straight, none of whom suspected that a woman working for the CIA could possibly be covert [hard to believe anyone, much less all of them, could be that stoopid]. Rove's comment removes any doubt that this was a calculated set of actions. Even Rove's choice of words speaks volumes: the wife is fair game. Coming, as it did, mere days after Novak's outing, it shows that the real target of their actions was not Wilson, but his wife, for [as they would have it] arranging the trip in the first place.

And there you have it. I'm ready to be edified, and surprised