Fitz didn't indict Rove so he could shut him up while he rolled up his mob

[farmbo]

Many have expressed understandable regret that Fitzgerald did not indict Karl Rove during this Grand Jury(GJ) session. In a world presided over by a God with a sense of justice (or even a sense of irony), Karl Rove should be headed for a career in the license plate industry. Fitzgerald did, however, continue the GJ investigation and has let the world know that Rove is still in his cross hairs.

Here's why.

If Rove had been indicted Friday, he would without a doubt have immediately engaged the Tom Delay defense: attack the prosecutor, attack the Judge, hell...find out who the janitor at the courthouse had contributed to. (Tonight on Hannity & Combs...dramatic evidence that court reporter Cynthia Mullins once contributed to THE SIERRA CLUB!) The strategy is simple: contaminate the jury pool with an unending series of ad hominem attacks on the legal system. After all, it only takes one juror to acquit.

With the sole exception of Rupert Murdock, only Karl Rove has the ability to manipulate the media perception of a story for weeks at a time. By keeping Rove "in the clear but under a continuing investigation" Karl finds himself in a sort of media manipulation limbo; unable to attack the methodology or the bona fides of the prosecutor, lest Fitzgerald decide to submit the Rove scenario to the GJ once more.

Karl now has the Sword of Damocles hanging over his head; his voice silenced, his hubris dulled and his political nuts brutally shriveled. Alas, he will have only one meaningful course to pursue: to jump on the "Scooter Libby was one bad apple" bandwagon.

Meanwhile, in the fullness of time, Patrick Fitzgerald will settle on a way to take him and his treasonous mob down.

[rzemanfl]

1. I am more inclined to think that Rove and his lawyer laid a

bullshit bomb on Fitzgerald at the last minute-one where if he didn't refute it in exquisite detail Fitz would be tarred as a running amok without all the facts. Fitzgerald, to his credit, will bide his time.

[benburch]

2. I think Rove turned.

I think there is no honor among thugs, and he rolled over.

[fooj]

6. I'm right there with you.

Peace.:hi:

[rzemanfl]

8. A lot of people think this. We will see. n/t

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. Rove threw Fitzgerald a bone

at the last minute in order to put off getting indicted. He certainly didn't want to be one of the first to go and had no remorse leaving Libby to hang out there on his own.

Now the question is was there any meat on that bone or not? Either way Rove is screwed and Fitzgerald still has him by the balls.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

15. Me, too

Some more metaphorical sand thrown, and Fitzgerald is smart enough to know that time's on his side, so he backed away. Very smart.

I'm still wary of the pardon stuff, though.

Irony. It keeps me sane. Remember the big stink when Clinton pardoned Marc Rich on his way out of office?

Lewis Libby was Marc Rich's attorney, and negotiated the pardon.

Irony. This is my minimum daily requirement.

Now, imagine Irving Libby trying to blow himself...........

[rzemanfl]

20. Glad you agree. I think it is some funky, "your evidence is wrong"

type of thing like "I couldn't have done that as I was meeting with the Assistant Agriculture Minister of Pakistan, who will verify my story as soon as they get the building off of him and the phones working again."

Rove could have cut a deal, but I think you'll agree it is very difficult to negotiate providing the prosecutor with information on someone else without giving up enough as bait so that the prosecutor can figure out how to prove the case without the information you are bargaining with.

We will see.

By the way, that is how he broke his foot.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

21. Arrogance

It's such an insidious disease affecting each and every one of those White House squatting mofos, I'm not sure exactly how superior anyone feels. The idea of Libby, with all his legal experience, lying to the FBI and the grand jury is really beyond me. So, who knows what kind of smokescreen Rove's capable of throwing up - that Pakistani alibi's a good one - and how far he's willing to go to stay up there in him imaginary superior lair.

Actually, Libby had just begun the transspecies process. It was a cloven hoof, and now it's a foot.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

3. Actually, it takes only one juror to hang;

it takes a bunch more to acquit.

But, you're jumping the gun here. The alleged violations that Rove may or may not be charged with - no one knows anything about his involvement beyond the investigations, don't forget - haven't yet been reached, and may never be reached. Right now, Libby is charged with obstruction and other felonies, but they're what he did in the course of his participation in the investigation of the aforementioned alleged violations.

The idea of 'contaminating the jury pool' in Washington, DC is pretty funny. It's a remarkable place in terms of slick juries, unlike those in other places. See, the local news is also the national news here, and, like most places, people tend to sort out what matters to them and what doesn't. For the most part, the comings and goings on Capitol Hill and downtown at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW don't concern the residents of the District. So, there's no worry there.

There is a particualr bloodlust shown here on DU for Karl Rove, and I understand it, but I also see a lot of people getting terribly worked up without any facts to back up their agitation. All we know today that we didn't know a couple of days ago is that Irv Libby is now an indicted man, and is in a shitload of trouble.

As the judge tells the defendant in contempt cases, Libby holds the key to his own cell. That is, if he decides to cooperate with the prosecutor and rat out his fellow White House denizens. I seriously doubt that he'll do that, because I have this sinking sense that something else will happen before that, and that is that Fuckface will issue a series of Presidential pardons, on the basis of "national security," covering Libby, Rove, perhaps Cheney, perhaps any number of White House staffers and others.

If that happens, the party's over. Fitzgerald will be stopped in his investigation, and nothing more will be done.

We could, though, see some interesting challenges to such a move.

So, your last line, about Fitzgerald 'taking...(someone) down," while dramatic and probably a fine line to use in a Law and Order episode, is off the mark, because Fitzgerald doesn't bring anyone down - he merely collects evidence and puts it together and presents it to a grand jury.

Keep in mind that Libby did this all to himself, by choosing to lie over and over, and - this is the pertinent fact that might have escaped the attention of many - he lied to the grand jury in response to a juror's question, not to a query by a prosecutor.

He lied to a juror. That's remarkable. And incredibly arrogant and stupid.

Anyway, for now, all the speculation is so much pissing in the wind, because the simple fact is that - as before - we know nothing.

Just keep that in mind: We Know Nothing.

[Botany]

11. HMMMMMM!

"It might work, it just might work." Tom Hagen about Michael Corleone
whacking Virgil Sollozzo & Captain McCluskey @ the dinner meeting.

Remember Fitz started w/ 1 indictment in Illinois and wound up w/
66 and the governor too.

[SpiralHawk]

4. Rove has the koZmiQuE MoJo working against him now

and until deep into 2006. As does Dickie Cheney.

What previously has worked brilliantly for him, no longer will.

The koZmoZe has spoken clearly on this matter, giving out A Gargantuan Groaning Voice (unto those ENDOWED with the Capacity to HEAR) via the Mighty Mighty Oracle Beans.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

5. You ever think

that they don't care?

They're done with it all, anyway. They stole two terms, and that's all they wanted.

And don't you think that rightwingnut candidates would hump their own legs to bring Rove on board as a political guide for their campaigns?

[rzemanfl]

12. "Hump their own legs?" Another masturbatory image

from Leftie, creator of the "imagine * blowing himself" brain exercise. Following in rapid succession the "panties around your ankle" post of last night. Could it be you need to get laid? Just asking.

[OldLeftieLawyer]

13. ::: lighting cigar, peering anxiously at monitor::::

Why?

You got a plan?

I couldn't hardly use the "Imagine George W. Bush trying to blow himself" line again here, could I?

I got a reputations on this Internets, see?

::: puffing ::::

[rzemanfl]

19. Find the advertising office of your local underground paper and

place an ad under "Personals."

[OldLeftieLawyer]

22. No can do

I don't want to get personally involved.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

14. It seems to me that either I read something or I

was imagining a scenario of roverere lookin' for his next marionette, perhaps jeb had been a possibility.

After all there's not much call for a former dirty trickster. One who operates behind the scenes for the most part.

Now that he's been at the center of power on the planet basically, it is hard to imagine how the Grate One can take any lesser position except in jail.

[corbett]

7. Great Piece! Nominated!

http://www.wakeupwalmart.com/feature/delay

[Tab]

9. Small clarification

Although I think Fitz still has Rove in his crosshairs, this is not a trial where you need "one juror" to acquit.

The grand jury convenes with 23 jurors, and a majority of that 23 (namely, twelve) is needed to hand down an indictment. As many as 11 can object, but not more.

[MADem]

16. Hand UP an indictment, if ya wanna get really nitpicky!! nt

[SpiralHawk]

17. And of course we do

Hand up the indictments
We'll have a barrel of fun

Hand up the indictments
and we all get nitpicky...and have a barrel of fun...

[MADem]

18. Sounds grand to me! n/t