ROBERT NOVAK SAYS: "BUSH KNOWS" MY SOURCE!!!

[kpete]

RNovak: Bush knows
by Overseas
Wed Dec 14, 2005 at 06:46:35 AM PDT
The News & Observer is reporting on comments made at a luncheon yesterday by Robert Novak:


Newspaper columnist Robert Novak is still not naming his source in the Valerie Plame affair, but he says he is pretty sure the name is no mystery to President Bush.
"I'm confident the president knows who the source is," Novak told a luncheon audience at the John Locke Foundation in Raleigh on Tuesday. "I'd be amazed if he doesn't."

"So I say, 'Don't bug me. Don't bug Bob Woodward. Bug the president as to whether he should reveal who the source is.'

Is this a hint that Bush is our man?


Go Fitz!
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/12/14/84635/496
http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/377675.html

[Dhalgren]

1. Federal marshals should render Mr. Novak to Egypt until such a

time as the Egyptians find out every last detail. This bag of pus cannot be allowed to stand up in public and thumb his nose at the Justice Department!

[KharmaTrain]

16. I'd Suggest Waterboarding...

...but in Novakula's case...the water would probably be the one to give in first.

Wow...stop the presses....so asshat knew who outted Plame? Well blow me over with an f'in' feather. The corporate media's complicity with this regime is worthy of its own investigation once this evil period of our history passes.

[Ganja Ninja]

30. The media's complicity ...is worthy of its own investigation

I'd be happy to waterboard a few of them.

[Supersedeas]

105. Media complicity is the largest disclosure of all

[FreedomAngel82]

80. Of course he knew

Why else did he get a lawyer? Plus, Fitzgerald has talked to Bush's lawyer not long after he indicited Libby for his crimes. Maybe Novak is telling this to save his own ass (that's the only reason why they would tell us the truth) and something is about to happen. Who knows why he's now just telling us (well not us anyways but he does).

[jbnow]

27. We don't know if Novak defied Justice department at all

Fitz wouldn't give him a pass just because he is a grumpy old codger. Novak likely sang and just isn't talking about it. Fitz never leaks.

[Dhalgren]

31. Good point!

[Horus45]

56. I'm sure Mr. Fitzgerald knows who too, we all know Bob rolled...

to save his own skin.

[Mabus]

75. How about putting him on the DoD watch list

along with all the rest of us dissenters and let the government determine who he is communicating and has communicated with over the past few years. Let them tail him and write down the license plates of all those who are congregating at the places he goes. Finally, let the government intercept Novak's e-mail and find out with whom he has conspired to lie to the American people. It would only be fair, wouldn't it?

[Flying Dream Blues]

2. Wow. I don't know whether to think Novak is incredibly stupid

or incredibly smart. My first thought is, be careful crossing streets, and my second was, maybe he is going public for protection. Anyone else have their tinfoil hat on this morning? :)

[TheDebbieDee]

11. I've got my tinfoil hat on all the time now, it seems.

I'm kid you not, but I think more and more people who have been tools of this administration in the past and are now waking up and smelling the coffee will be going public with more of the goings-on within the * administration.

Of course, these people will be passed off as overzealous, closet liberals that hate America. But, what's even scarier is that many * supporters will believe the liberal smear!

[Peace Patriot]

54. "...many * supporters will believe the liberal smear..." So what? We've

got to realize--and really knock it into our heads--that these rightwing nuts are a MINORITY; they've always been with us, they are nothing new; they've just been given a BIG TRUMPET by the war profiteering corporate news monopolies, to promulgate their views way out of proportion to their numbers.

Please read the issue polls! You will be amazed. The great majority of Americans disapprove of EVERY major Bush policy, foreign and domestic, way up in the 60% to 70% range, and have for some time. You name it. The Iraq war. Torture. Social Security. The deficit. Women's rights. They disagree with Bush in huge numbers, and they don't trust Bush on the war, and never have (58% opposed to Bush's war BEFORE the invasion--Feb. '03). They don't agree with him on anything. And his poor approval ratings before the '04 election (so low that Zogby said he could not win) began sinking like the Titanic immediately afterward, and have done nothing but sink ever since. (I suspect that his 50/50 with Kerry at the moment of the election, with Kerry edging forward, was mostly a reflection of the lack of choice on the war. An antiwar candidate would have beaten Bush, hands down. As it was, I think Kerry won by as much as 5%. Kerry got Diebolded. But I don't think even that majority--a 5% margin--was a true reflection of Americans' disgust with Bush and his war, which has consistently pushed nearly 60% for several years (except for one brief period, in the few weeks of the invasion, with US troops at max risk), and is in the 70% range today.

Understand that what the war profiteering corporate news monopolies are doing is creating the ILLUSION of rightwing strength--one of its purposes being to make the members of the great American progressive MAJORITY feel isolated and alone.

And let me remind you of what they all did, acting collectively, on election night. Their exit polls (conducted by Edison-Mitofsky) were saying that Kerry won. They shut down the reporting system for a couple of hours (a supposed "computer glitch"), and when it came back up, the numbers were magically transformed into a Bush win. What they had done was to DOCTOR their exit polls--to tweak the numbers in highly unusual and impossible ways--to make them "fit" the results that were coming in from two Bushite corporations, Diebold and ES&S, who were tabulating our votes with "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY programming code, with virtually no audit/recount controls (our election system as it stands today, and stood then). They thus destroyed the function of exit polls--as they are used worldwide--to VERIFY the election. The 2004 exit polls DID NOT verify the election. The real exit poll results (captured in screen shots by an alert statistician, Jonathan Simon, and published on a New Zealand news site, www.scoop.co.nz) indicated that something was very wrong. The news monopolies hid this evidence of election fraud from the American people, in the worst journalistic crime I have ever witnessed.

Exit polls are normally adjusted to fit election demographics. This was NOT a normal adjustment. For instance, in order to get to their exit polls to confirm the Diebold/ES&S result (a Bush win), they had to presume impossibilities, such as including approximately 1.75 million voters voting for Bush who had voted for Bush in 2000, but who were...dead! They failed to include attrition by death in the Bush voter statistics! And that's just one of the ways they falsified the numbers. (See www.TruthIsAll.net.)

Supposed "news" networks who would do such a thing--put FALSE NUMBERS on everybody's TV screens on election night--would do ANYTHING. Believe me. They may not be able to get their war propaganda to stick--it's such a bunch of lies--but they DO get people like you and me, and the majority of Americans, to believe that we are alone.

So I wouldn't bother to worry about what this 30% to 40% MINORITY of Bush supporters would believe or not believe. Worry about what YOU believe, as to the ILLUSION that is being presented to you of what MOST OTHER Americans believe. THAT is the problem.

--------

Note: It's true that some of the issue polls are produced by the corporate news monopolies. But these polls are buried in the "news" and almost never discussed or analyzed. The 58% of the American people who opposed Bush's war before the invasion were just ignored. None of these news monopolies asked, how can such a war, based on such rickety justifications, be prosecuted, with this huge number of Americans against it? Their arrogance is unbelievable. They figured they could turn that around, by helping Bush make the war a fait accompli. That worked for a FEW WEEKS (during the invasion, with so many soldiers at risk). Then the polls went right back up to nearly 60% opposed, which they have royally ignored for the last two years.

[Tuesday_Morning]

66. Amen to everything you said...

Day after the (S)election the Miami Herald's headline read: No Doubt This Time!

What a manipulative piece of tripe.

[FreedomAngel82]

85. Exactly on everything you said

Even if it takes people a while they eventually turn against such horrible things that Bush and the neocons have done. I've always believed we as a country are progressive but it takes some time to get there because of loud mouths with a trumpet. That's what is going on now. The fundies in the republican party have a trumpet and they think they're the majority but they aren't. Same with the freepers. Most republicans believe in the old republican party. The one of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. Nixon even had a lot of old republican party policies (like he cared about education, the enviornment and he did food stamps, compared to today he would be a liberal probably). Kerry did win and I believe too probably about 3-5% as well. This is why we have to ban these machines from our elections forever. Only will people realize what's happening if the polls are so far apart they can't fake it.

[FreedomAngel82]

83. Oh of course

Just like many of them believe that Plame wasn't an agent and she was nothing important to the CIA. :eyes: So sad. Someday they'll wake up from their little bubbles and realize reality.

[MadisonProgressive]

52. Never leave home without it!

[Jack from Charlotte]

78. This should lead to someone asking The AWOL/Moron if he knows. Perhaps...

even Fitz now has reason to interview AWOL/Moron.... under oath, this time.

[FreedomAngel82]

86. Yes!

No more flies for not being under oath! I'm tired of that! They didn't let Bill Clinton get away with it I'm sure! Hopefully Fitzgerald won't let him not be under oath.

[kpete]

91. From Firedoglake

UPDATE: Point of curiousity? Did Novakula know all along that his source was also one of Woodward's -- and did he tell this information to Fitz, FBI investigators and/or the G/J? Or has Bob been in touch with his source recently -- or with Woodward? And if it was Woodward, if he felt free to tell Bob Novak who his source was, why not tell the rest of us? And who is going to be the nervy reporter to pounce on Scotty McClellan on this one today and ask when Bushie is going to come clean on what he knows -- being a public servant and all, doesn't the public have a right to know? I'm just saying.
http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/

[boston bean]

3. holy shit! Ask the president! but, isn't that what we've been saying

all along.

He's a liar.

[mod mom]

8. If the president knew, wouldn't it be obstructing justice not to come

forward with the info? or would it have to be requested of him?

[ClassWarrior]

13. Looks like criminal obstruction to me.

NGU.

[sofa king]

55. I think the Presdient is immune from criminal prosecution.

However, that pillar of justice was somewhat eroded when the courts decided that President Clinton could be civally sued while in office. I think the argument at the time was that submitting to civil procedures wasn't too much of an imposition on the President's time. Our War President still spends about forty percent of his time on vacation, doesn't he?

And I also recall that the Wilsons were planning on opening a civil suit against the Bush Administration.

[rateyes]

63. He's not immune from impeachment...

and criminal prosecution...Nixon would have been prosecuted had Ford not pardoned him. Did Brian Williams ask Bush in his aired interview last night what he knows about the leak? When the hell is the press going to do its damned job?

[FreedomAngel82]

88. Yes with the Wilson's

I believe they were going to if nothing happened with the Fitzgerald case.

[Perky]

116. The President is not immune from Prosecution!!!!!

He might be unchargeable on the outing of Plame. but he still would be indictable on the same types of chatges that LIbby has been indicted on.

[sofa king]

117. No, I think rateyes had it right above.

If the President is successfully impeached or otherwise finds his way out of office then he is open to charges, but until then he will almost certainly be named as an "unindicted co-conspirator." The question of whether or not a sitting President can be criminally prosecuted is at best unanswered, and it would take years just to answer it, which makes it effectively not the case now. That's why I can say with confidence that this President will never be indicted while he's still President.

However, this article goes a long way toward explaining how the current wisdom can be overturned. Thanks, as I mentioned above, to the Republican effort to unseat President Clinton, broad holes were poked in the blanket immunity the President was thought to enjoy for two hundred years.

http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/?q=node/3820

Now, however, the argument will be one that should throw "strict constructionist" judges into a tizzy. The Constitution says Congress is explicitly made immune from prosecution, but it does not say the same for the President. A true strict constructionist might well fall on the prosecution side of the argument, if the term "strict constructionist" has not become a euphemism for "bought and paid for by the GOP." Unfortunately, I happen to think it has.

[Perky]

118. I think it is an open question

IN the Paula JOnes case, the courst allowed the Presinet to be sued while president for conduct befor he was president.

They said effectively that a President could not use the demands of his office as a shield to protect from litigation.

If that is true, then he could scarcely use the office to protect him from prosecutiuon.

I appreciate the balance of powers issues involved and you are probably ultimeatly correct and its an acadmic argument anyway. Still, it seems to me that some precedence exists.

[FreedomAngel82]

87. Watergate part two!!

Only this time it isn't just spying on the democrats. People have died because of it. Remember Bush was told not to use the Niger claims in his speech in 2003 but he did it anyways. So of course he knew!

[malaise]

23. Well if Novak knows that

Bush knows, Novak is calling Bush a liar publicly for remember Bush has denied this publicly several times. Very interesting.

[Wordie]

76. Yes, very interesting. And Bush has claimed the leaker would be fired.

Maybe he backed off on that when he realized he could not fire himself? OK, so I'm sorta kidding there. But just the idea of Novak calling Bush a liar is really intriguing. A sign of the times...not good for Bush, despite all the PR efforts going on.

[FreedomAngel82]

89. Yep

When Novak turns on you than you know you're in deep shit.

[malaise]

111. That is what is most interesting n/t

[SkiGuy]

4. Just indict Cheney

and get it over with. Then we can proceed with impeachment hearings.

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. Indict both Bush and Cheney

this whole scandal and cover up comes from the top.

[dubyaD40web]

50. "Indict both Bush and Cheney"

You cannot indict a sitting president. Therefore, * is bullet proof.

[unblock]

51. i don't think that's true

[dubyaD40web]

58. My source:

"In 1973, the Department concluded that the indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would impermissibly undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions."


http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/sitting_president.htm

[unblock]

61. sorry, i'm not taking the nixon white house's word for it.

yes, there have certainly been arguments made along these lines, but they've never been put to the judicial test, and i have serious doubts that an honest supreme court would buy these arguments.

now, the highly partisan banana republicans now on the supreme court might buy it to protect a banana republican like shrub, but not even they would buy it if the sitting president were a democrat.

[rateyes]

64. I'm with you there...

that was Nixon's DOJ opinion...not law...and, had Nixon been immune he wouldn't have needed to be pardoned.

[dubyaD40web]

65. But still.

Why didn't a hawk like Ken Starr indict Clinton to make him look even worse.

Either way, I don't care. Everyone in the WH is screwed anyway.

[mod mom]

99. On my car: INDICT, IMPEACH, IMPRISON.

[FreedomAngel82]

90. And probably the whole WHIG group

[DoYouEverWonder]

98. Yes, this whole affair

was a group project. Makes you wonder why this woman was SO important to them, that all of the top level people were have meetings and discussions about her?

[rd_kent]

107. Yes!

I would LOVE to see these two corrupt creeps go down!!!!!

[Marie26]

74. What I don't get

Is that the rumors we hear are all about Fitz indicting Rove. And this worries me a little. He should be targeting Cheney, where all the leaks originated, not a side player like Rove. It makes me wonder if Fitz is making much progress - but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[FreedomAngel82]

92. Maybe Rove is just the key

Maybe Rove is the key to the inside of what happened. Rove didn't have that type of access before 2004. Remember Bush promoted Rove to dupty chief of staff. Why would a political advisor need promoting? I remember he did that just a day or two later after November second. I thought it was very strange. Did James Carville ever get a job with Clinton's administration?

[Spinzonner]

5. For your viewing pleasure

:popcorn:

[tanyev]

6. *Gasp* It's Laura!

She has engineered a diabolical plot to take them all down so she can run the country. Or not.

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. She was on the trip to Africa

I bet she participates a lot more then we think.

[tanyev]

17. Cold, calculating eyes behind the soft ladylike demeanor?

There's a reason they call southern ladies Steel Magnolias.

[FreedomAngel82]

94. Hey now

I'm a southern lady and I'm not that way. I'm a sweet cupcake! :P

[tanyev]

100. With a backbone of steel, I'll betcha.

:+

[FreedomAngel82]

93. Wait no

It was Hillary! :sarcasm:

[in_cog_ni_to]

9. Indict the bastard. n/t

[Nimrod2005]

10. 2 Things:

1) Robert Novak wants back in this story, seeking attention for himself with this comment
2) Officially turned againt king Geroge and wants him taken down!!!

I say, bring it on...

[DoYouEverWonder]

15. Novak is a chicken shit excuse for a human

and he's probably been cooperating with the prosecution from the beginning.

[burythehatchet]

14. somehow they're gonna pin it on

the dog. I just know it.

[mattclearing]

18. Wow. My jaw is on the floor. Could it be any more obvious that

Bush is being set up to take the fall here?

[mmonk]

19. A warning shot accross the bow

of the administration?

[mattclearing]

36. Clearly, Novak is not afraid of the administration.

It seems to indicate to me that Novak knows, one way or another, that Bush is finished. The Aspens really must have turned.

[AntiFascist]

110. I wonder how Novak broke his hip? nt

[rwork]

20. Email this to

P. Fitzgerald.

[katinmn]

21. Guess he's bitter for losing his CNN gig

Didn't BushCo pay you enough, Bob?

Whatever.

[jhain]

22. The drunken sot may have just redeemed his soggy self!!! n/t

[QuettaKid]

24. KICK for the a.m. crowd....nt

.

[Nordmadr]

25. My first guess would be that it points to Cheney...but like

everyone else, just guessing.

Olafr

[Gato Moteado]

26. sounds fishy to me

hard to believe novak would say that stuff. is the source credible?

[mmonk]

32. Yes

Rob Christensen is.

[MrBenchley]

28. If only Bob Novak was a journalist--then he could tell the public

what he knows and get paid for it...</sarcasm>

[mmonk]

29. wrong post

[Hubert Flottz]

33. Waterboard Novak and get some answers.

He is an enemy of the people of the United States Of America. The man ratted out a CIA agent...HELLO!

[jhain]

34. coffee on the monitor n/t

[Hubert Flottz]

40. I'm series!

Hook up the wires to his nads and turn loose about 500 watts of DC on him, he'd talk ASAP! Don't use the dogs on him unless they're shit eaters! Shoot the juice to Bobby's family jewels and watch the slobbers fly and the teeth clack! "BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBbbbbbush Did It!" Then give Woodward and KKKarl a dose too!

[Kagemusha]

35. Dousing fire with gasoline.

And even though one half of my brain says it ought not be Bush, the other half says, but the way Novak wrote it sure suggests that it be so.

I want proof either way...

[bunny planet]

37. Oh boo fucking hoo Novakula. He's probably getting fed up with all the

undead, coffin jokes at this point. He after all, just 'took the bait' and was guilty of stupidity with a healthy dose of malice, its the SAOs that broke the law. Too bad he also felt the need to out the Brewster Jennings cover company a couple of weeks after he outed Plame, that was just apparently an innocent afterthought according to RN. Maybe Novak is just getting tired of being the only one demonized and yes I think he is speaking out to whatever degree he can just to make sure he is safe from accidentally-on-purpose falling in the shower again.

:tinfoilhat:
This story just gets curiouser and curiouser.

[FreedomAngel82]

95. Or maybe he's trying to save his own ass

And giving away anyone they can.

[bunny planet]

102. note I said ' to save himself from accidently on-purpose falling in the

shower again,', to imply that if he is vocal before the fact, he is less likely to be suicided (he hopes).

[The Whiskey Priest]

38. I have this on fairly good authority

Sometime after that statement Novak corrected himself, saying: I meant to say "God" and inadvertently said "Bush." Laughingly he went on to say that he is eternally getting the two mixed up when speaking.

[Jacobin]

39. Novak has testified before the Grand Jury, right?

So he's told Fitzgerald who told him, right?

What am I missing?

[Stephanie]

41. Presumably Novak cooperated =

I think he is referring to Rove, confirming those Daily News stories that Bush hit the roof and screamed at Karl for blowing it.

[symbolman]

42. Novak is the "Star" at the Top of my FITZMAS TREE :)

Decorate YOUR FITZMAS TREE - an Interactive Animation, my Best Yet!

MERRY FITZMAS! I wanted a Damn Fitzmas Tree ever since I heard the term invented RIGHT HERE, and NOW by god I have one, and you can too..

I have labored long and hard on this Interactive Animation (Flash - you may need the most recent flash plugin on your system - at least 6 I think, here's the Macromedia link for player/plugins: http://www.macromedia.com/downloads/#players ) - WHERE YOU can actually DECORATE YOUR OWN FITZMAS TREE, by dragging and dropping Ornaments and dropping them on the FITZMAS TREE - if an Ornament sticks to your "hand" it may be because of the slimy people encased within, just give it another mouse click on the tree to shake it off

There are two Flashes that interact with each other - one is the Fitzmas Tree itself, with a box FULL of decorations, the decorations being the Subjects of Indictments, Investigations, etc - something your Right Wing brother-in-law might be interested in knowing, lots of fun facts

If you click (click all over the page, lots of surprises on it) on the TITLE's of the Flashes you can go between the Tree itself, and another Flash that will load up with all the Decorations and an explanation of WHO they are, and WHAT they did.. for folks that don't know much about the Plame Outing they can get educated on the Ornaments and then click on back to the Tree and Decorate the Hell out of it

Here's two links, the first goes to the Fitzmas Tree itself, but like I said, you can click to the other Flash for more info, or a pal can get more info and Trim the Tree after.. Try this one First:

http://www.tbtmradio.com/flash/merryfitzmas.swf

or you can check out the Ornaments (but maybe miss some surprises where the Presents are) at This Link:

http://www.tbtmradio.com/flash/merryfitzmasornaments.swf

In case you're wondering what that building is in the background, it's the HAGUE, I thought it rather appropriate - and the guys in ORANGE, well, I think you'll recognize them

So ENJOY if you will, and do me a favor, keep this KICKED Please - a labor of love, but no sleep for about Three days either.. Pass it around to anyone you think might be interested, but Please also come back here and Let me Know what YOU think of this work, I scrambled brains doing this

And don't forget to open the presents under the FITZMAS TREE, I wrapped them special just for YOU..

[Hubert Flottz]

48. That's a great Fitzmas tree and

A great snippet.

[renate]

68. wow--nice!!!!!!!

Have you given this tree its own thread? I must have missed it.

Thanks, and Merry Fitzmas to you!!!

Edited to add that my praise was not effusive enough... it really is an AWESOME tree--the decorating is groovy and the explanations of all the "ornaments" is great for people who haven't had time to stay up-to-date on all the players.
WELL DONE!!!!!!

[symbolman]

73. Thanks!

I was going for the GROOVY thang :) took more work to make this than it would have to chop a tree down and drag it home lol..

Yeah there's a thread on it, but just to be safe I'm letting people know where ever there's a need to celebrate a good solid ROve FROG MARCH..

The Flash is actually a PR tool to get folks to CLICK on the NOVAK STAR and go to Takebackthemedia.com where I have the film "Rove's War" up for donations.. a year in the research and a 2 DVD set, the Definitive Chronology of Plamegate with lots of facts and FUN in it as well..

Keeps us going, able to make more Flash work and films, etc..

and THAT is groovy, baby :) (I was drafted in 1971 when groovy was actually in USE all the time,,)

Merry Fitzmas to one and all!

[kentuck]

43. How long will he able to get away with his lies?

Forever !

[dweller]

44. Bush Vows to Fire Anyone Convicted of CIA Leak

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/7/18/113723.shtml

you Go, Newsmack!

:eyes:

dp

[sofa king]

53. Heh, talk about commitment slide.

Has anyone been tracking the President's backpedaling on when he's going to fire these guys?

Next, of course, will be "convicted... and not pardoned."

[Straight Shooter]

82. Then it will be "waiting for the ruling on the appeal" ... n/t

[KingFlorez]

45. Maybe it's Bush

[CoffeeCat]

46. I saw Novak in a live debate once...

...and I was stunned at what a dullard he was. Truly, I was struck at how weak and unintelligent he was. It made me wonder how he EVER made it out of high school.

Novak debated Jeff Cohen of FAIR. Whenever Cohen would debate, Novak would act self deprecating--almost shy--and then make a joke or some other incoherent comment. He did not debate. He appeared to be an incredibly weak person who could not form an intelligent thoughts.

My guess is that Novak isn't being clever or smart. It seems like he's haphazardly poking a stick into a roaring fire--and trying to get some attention for himself. He's got power over this administration because HE KNOWS and this administration knows that he knows.

Remember that Rove initially said that Novak told him about Plame? We all know that was a lie. I'll bet that pissed off Novak--big time. I'll bet in real life--Novak is a bit of a doofus--and the administration thought that they could sucker into covering for Rove. I think it just made Novak pissed.

It wasn't long after Rove lied about Novak that the Aspen Conference was held. As noted on DU--that conference was comprised of a large contingent of powerful, influential and rich conservatives. Shortly after the conference, which has NEVER been reported about in the media--Novak wrote a column about that conference--spelling out that Bush is in dire straights and has lost much support from powerful conservatives. Aspen Conference organizers gave Novak the go ahead to disseminate these messages to Bush--in effect, warning Bush that the powerful in his party no longer backed him.

There's something going on.

[mattclearing]

47. Exactly what I noted above...Novak is hanging the President himself

out to dry.

Edit: And one more thing...Novak was probably drunk when saw him.

[CoffeeCat]

59. Is it common knowledge that Novak is a drunk?

I hadn't ever heard this, but it would explain several things.

I agree that Novak--as you said--is hanging the president out to dry.

That column Novak wrote clearly drew a line in the sand. It was evident that Novak was no friend of the president. It's also interesting that so many hard-line conservatives are against Bush too--according to Novak's report on the Aspen Convention.

I think many in the party are sick and tired of Junior. They realize that with him around--they are tied to him and will have a difficult time being re-elected with Junior albatross around their necks.

This should be interesting.

[mattclearing]

62. Yeah...his blow-up on CNN with Carville seemed totally alcohol

induced.

[FreedomAngel82]

97. It appears that Novak

is a tool for the powerful conservatives. They're probably using him to tell Bush through the media that he's screwed.

[mattclearing]

120. That's what I get from it.

I wonder what pushed them over the edge.

[Peace Patriot]

70. And then Libby writes to Judith Miller, "the aspens" are turning (it's

'fall' time) and they "turn together" because they are "connected at their roots."

I don't think anything good can come of "a large contingent of powerful, influential and rich (so-called) conservatives (what's "conservative" about a trillion dollar deficit?)." I do think that something is more than likely going on. But if Scooter Libby's goals in life are any guide to what that might be, I think we can expect, a) war with Iran and Syria after a phony "Gulf of Tonkin" type incident (and, also possible, a nuclear holocaust between Iran and Israel--which will destroy our planet, once and for all--given Carl Sagan's predictions, in "The Cold and the Dark," of what will happen to our atmosphere with even a limited nuclear exchange); and, in the interim, to get the Mideast war going again and bolster war looting, b) Cheney resigns and is replaced as VP by a more palatable puppet, like Rice, to prep a grab at totalitarian rule in '08, or c) if that doesn't fly (despite Diebold and ES&S pumping for her, or him), installation of a War Democrat, who will accomplish the same thing with a somewhat kinder social program.

Personally, my bet is on the War Democrat, because they need a military Draft; Bush can't do it, and I doubt any Repub can; and they will want to start blaming that and all else on the Dems, prep to their backup plan for grabbing totalitarian rule in '12.

As I said, nothing good can come of such a conclave. And it may well be that (c) the war profiteers have already made their deal with Hillary. She sure sounds like she knows the score. No antiwar/populist candidate will be permitted to win the Dem nomination.

-----------------------

What can WE do to get our country back?

Throw Diebold and ES&S election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!

Or, if we can't get that done by '08, try to talk Hillary into it (even War Dems have to pay lip service to progressive values like honest elections).

AND, work like crazy for election reform at the state/local level; support Rush Holt's HR 550; pressure the Dem Party to fund INDEPENDENT EXIT POLLS in '06 and '08 (badly needed); support other efforts at monitoring the '06 elections, gathering evidence, challenging elections, and getting the word out (www.UScountvotes.org, www.verifiedvoting.org, www.votersunite.org, and for info on what happened in 2004, www.TruthIsAll.net ).

-----------------------

As for Novak, his remark ("Ask Bush") provides grounds for impeachment in several possible ways:

1. Bush was the source.

2. Cheney was the source, and Bush knows it.

3. Libby, Rove, Rumsfeld, Bolton, Rice, or others were the source, and Bush knows it.

4. Bush has been harboring a traitor (at minimum, a felon), and has been covering up and lying about it.

But Bush's "pod people" in Congress won't act until their Corporate Masters have secured plans to keep looting, to retain most of their tax cuts and other welfare at our expense (truly, they are like a humongous succubus on our backs, feeding on us and hypnotizing us with evil designs), and, of course, have set us up to be their slaves and cannon fodder forevermore (if the human race has a "forevermore"). Hillary fills that bill. And I think they're now testing whether they can fly that pro-war, pro-corporate Dem by us. (And we had better be very smart about it, too; oppose her in the primaries, for what it's worth to keep majority views in her ears; and support her like crazy in the election, to garner the influence we need to reform the election system.) They are also testing out systems in Ohio for conducting massive flipovers of votes, with impunity.* It's not current everywhere yet, but is very worrisome.

This is a BIG country, with a large and diverse population that will not be easily Hitlerized. I think that the great progressive American majority will beat them in the end, and that we will make a better democracy as a result of this terrifying brush with fascism. (Secret torture dungeons in middle Europe! Traitors in the White House! I mean, what the hell?) But we have a lot of work to do before that happens.

*(See Bob Koehler's article on the four recent Ohio ELECTION REFORM initiatives, predicted to win by 60/40 votes, flipped over into 6/040 LOSSES on election day--the most audacious election theft yet:
http://www.tmsfeatures.com/tmsfeatures/subcategory.jsp?custid=67&catid=1824 )

[AntiFascist]

112. A ha!

That might explain the plans for future allocations of $500 billion on the war. There are the Aspens and then there are the Cheney cronies who are growing wealthier and more powerful as we blog. Showing them the money may keep Bush in power.

[FreedomAngel82]

96. I think so too

Maybe he's getting revenge to Rove for blaming him. :shrug: Interesting on the Aspen conference. Remember Scooter's letter?

[blogslut]

49. kicksies

:kick:

[MellowOne]

57. But but......

Bushy boy said he would bring all people responsible to justice.

[MaggieSwanson]

60. Serious question: Why can't the feds

wiretap all the phone lines at the WH?

If I, as a private citizen, was believed to be, or to be in communication with, someone who created a national security risk by outing the name of a covert CIA operative wouldn't MY lines be tapped? Wouldn't MY emails be searched?

I'd like to see the Patriot Act turned right against it's implementers. I'd like them to see how it feels.

After all, Mr pResident, if you've got nothing to hide, then why should it bother you if the feds monitor all your communications? What, do you hate America or something?

[usregimechange]

67. Notice What Bush Once Said:

“If somebody did leak classified information, I’d like to know it, and we will take the appropriate action.” ~President Bush

[mmonk]

71. I wonder what that action is?

[foreverdem]

77. A pardon, I'm sure n/t

[usregimechange]

69. kick

[Marie26]

72. Isn't it Hadley?

He's almost said he's Woodward's source; which means he's almost certainly Novak's as well. When Hadley went to the prosecutor, he probably felt an obligation to tell Rice & Bush as well. So Fitz knows, Bush knows, Novak knows. Novak's just tired of being hassled about his stupidity in revealing Plame's name & wants the media to focus on Bush.

[Peace Patriot]

81. Why would Woodward's source and Novak's source be the same?

(orry if it's a stupid question. It's hard keeping track of all these liars, and what they said, and what they said they said, and what they denied they said, and the emails that back them up, or don't back them up, or couldn't be found but are now found, and to whom they said it or wrote it, and who that might indict. Whee-e-esh! What a snakepit!

I appreciate the Machiavellian twist that THAT is exactly WHAT certain parties were trying to do--create an untangle-able, complicated feedback loop of reporters/WH liars, so that the WH source(s) could never be tracked back, and no one could get pinned to the wall, and to create the IMPRESSION that "everybody knew" Plame's identity. Diabolical is the word. (Poor Machiavelli--the first Man of Reason to address the pigsty of hypocritical religious control over public policy--is often unfairly maligned.)

[Marie26]

119. I guess it's basically a hunch

No, it's not a stupid question at all! It's all such a mess it's almost impossible to keep it all straight. I'm not actually sure of the answer; I basically just assumed Hadley was the source for both reporters. Even before the Woodward thing broke, Hadley was being kicked around as a possibility for Novak's source. This was based on Novak's description of the leak as an "offhand revelation from this official, who is no partisan gunslinger." He later called a 2nd official to confirm. From the indictment, we now know this second official was Rove. So who's the 1st source? The description is interesting - even Novak would have to admit Rove or Cheney are partisan. But Hadley has been described as a soft-spoken, straight arrow, "Clark Kent" type. He just seems to fit Novak's description well. Plus, note how Novak called it an "off-hand revelation." Woodward also said the leaker revealed it as an "off-hand comment in a conversation." Both Novak & Woodward use almost exactly the same words to describe the comment - this also makes me feel that they are describing a conversation w/the same person. Hadley made sure to be very "off-hand" & casual when mentioning her name - and his quiet manner would lend the reporters to be less suspicious as to motive. So Hadley was always a possibility for Novak's source, but when Woodward apparantly admitted that Hadley leaked to him, it made it seem even more likely. Plus, this also fits with the "all roads lead to Cheney" picture that the indictment painted - Hadley is also known as Cheney's ally in the NSC & could easily find, and spread, this info according to Cheney's orders.

[FreedomAngel82]

79. Oh wow

Why are they now blaming him? This could get good! :popcorn: I do think Bush probably does know.

[kpete]

84. Little something

The Same Source?
Actually, now that we've made fun of it, there appears to be a nugget of news in the Bob Novak speech yesterday: Novak is "confident" that Bob Woodward's source is the same one who originally gave Novak the information.

So, positing that Novak's source spoke with the Grand Jury, shouldn't he or she disclosed the conversation with Woodward? Or was the source confident that Woodward would never admit learning the info?

If so, is Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation heading towards more indictments for incomplete and misleading testimony re: disclosing speaking with Woodward?
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowldc/

[bloom]

101. It's not up to Bush* whether Novak reveals his source

that's just annoying.

[kpete]

103. Looks Like Libby has been talking too (From Firedoglake)

Guess the Libby defense team won't be eating at Cafe Phillips again any time soon. According to the WaPo, some savvy lunchers recognized Scooter and his legal team and overheard some strategery they were discussing in the crowded eatery.

Libby -- the former veep aide indicted in the Valerie Plame leak investigation, the most closely shrouded federal prosecution in recent years -- was at the next table, she said, while his defense attorneys, Ted Wells and William Jeffress, had a loud and "lively discussion" about matters such as who will draft discovery letters and petitions. She heard Wells say he hopes Karl Rove will not be indicted because he fears the press coverage would complicate Libby's defense. Jeffress, meanwhile, speculated that Time's Viveca Novak could be the next reporter to lose her job because of the probe.

The only time the group showed concern about potential eavesdroppers was when Wells uttered "Scooter!" -- then "they all froze," our spy said. (Libby, looking "thinner and paler" these days, drank a diet Dr Pepper and bought cookies on the way out.)
Guess Scooter isn't looking thinner because he's doing South Beach with that cookie buy on the way out, but I'd bet he and his team will be ordering in next time they have a meeting. Conference room for three?

http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/

[Generator]

104. Crap on a cracker!!!!!!!!

I'm late to this. By the way-KPete your posts are now the ones I look for!

Novak has turned on Bush. This is stunning to me. Not that Bush "knows", of course he knows. But what the hell is going on among these criminals? They all are getting testy with each other. Oh crack crack crack..watch them go. I love it.

[bettyellen]

106. kicked.....

[Kazak]

108. Could this be a plant?

I notice this story just showed up on Yahoo! Now I'm wondering if the intent of this story is to lessen the blow when Rove gets indicted... :shrug:

[H2O Man]

113. It's no secret

that Rove told Novak. It was mentioned in the Libby indictment, though Rove's name was not used. But all of the attorneys close to the case have said it was Rove in the off the record chats with journalists, including Luskin. At this point, it is not as likely Rove will be indicted for telling Novak as for lying to the FBI and the grand jury.

There may be more reason to assume that Mr. Noval was commenting on his first source, who was not Rove. It might be that the first source is feeling some hostility towards the president's office, but it is not likely that there is any coordinated effort between this person and Novak. At this time, Novak's attorneys have instructed him to have no contact with any of the WH officials involved; similarly, their attorneys have instructed them to talk to others in the case.

[Kazak]

114. Aha! Thanks, Agua. :)

It just seems strange to me that Novak would publically finger Bush like that. I have to wonder if he was instructed to? Probably just my tinfoil talking...

[H2O Man]

115. Mr. Novak is

a very bitter man. Everything that comes out of his mouth is bitter.

[lovuian]

109. if Bush knows he should fire him and deny security clearance

and he should be prosecuted...

and Novak is a traitor...