The "connected at the roots" aspens seem to be arranged in a circular firing squad. OMG!!!!!

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16778317/site/newsweek/

Mon Dieu! The article will take your breath away. I really think this was the meaning of Libby's odd little ditty to Judith Miller. "If I go - we all go"

See if you agree.

[hippiechick]

1. ... that was my impression all along ...

:shrug: seems a pretty plain metaphor, no ?

[tridim]

2. I just can't figure out why the note was leaked originally.

[Festivito]

33. I recall one was in prison, so conversations were known not private.

I think she was doing time for not revealing journalistic sources.

And, those aspens. All roots connected. Once one turns, they all turn together, I guess. I've never seen aspens turn. Do they turn yellow, or do they turn red before they turn brown and crumble.

The making of that statement would mean they turned yellow. Whatever the aspens turn is another story.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

looking back in retrospect, all is plain with 20/20 hindsight

;-)

It's a lot plainer now - much more garbled and mysterious then.

[Lerkfish]

3. I pray for the sake of the country, and the world, that you're right --ALL OF EM

go down.

[DU9598]

4. What am I missing ...

Libby didn't want to be the "scapegoat", but Fitz says that there was no underlying crime for outing an undercover CIA agent? Why didn't Fitz indict on the underlying charges, or are those charges coming as the case proceeds?

[movonne]

9. I wonder if Rove gave information to Fitz and that is why he let Rove

go...

[Tin Man]

12. the crux is the wording of the IIPA - leaker must *knowingly* compromise agent's identity

Considering Fitz's reputation for thorough investigations, this tells me that there wasn't sufficient evidence that Libby et al *knowingly* compromised Plame's cover.

It would appear that BushCo, in their zeal to hobble Wilson's credibility, failed to understand that not only was Plame an officer at CIA, but also an *agent* with cover - an important distinction.

So in the end, Rove et al were inadvertantly saved by their own stupidity - they didn't realize Plame had cover before revealing her relationship to Wilson and the Niger trip, and consequently didn't *knowingly* blow her cover. Libby, on the other hand, managed to get caught-up in his own lies as he attempted to cover-up for his boss and his boss' boss.

[The Backlash Cometh]

30. "saved by their own stupidity"

I wouldn't place bets on them not really knowing. I've been to Board meetings of the Association where board members were conspiring against the homeowners and they openly stated that they didn't have to follow any process to reveal their intentions and that no judge would expect them to know all the rules.

It's the reason why we're getting eaten alive by white collar crime. These people KNOW they can act stupid and do evil things.

[Tin Man]

32. You could very well be right. I just think that people, even smart ones, can make dumb mistakes

...mistakes like believing Iraq would be a cakewalk and stuff.

I just don't believe the Mayberry Machiavellis are superhuman.

[The Backlash Cometh]

35. I think our country is a lot more corrupt at the local level than people

realize. YOu know that adage, "Don't account for corruption what can be attributed to incompetence?" That was the old days. Now, the devious neighbors in our community have taken that, and turn it into an Affirmative Defense.

It's sad to think that I might be the first one to sound the alarm, that the Rovian style is very much ingrained at the local level, and that within organizations, like the Chamber of Commerce or Rotary Club, they actually do believe that they have wider parameters to operate from because no judge will hold them accountable for knowing everything. A slap on the wrist for stealing community property while being board members, and for deceiving an entire Association on so many levels. That's the reality I live in, and you can't even hope to condemn them, because it's happening in the entire community with much bigger fish.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

23. The lying prevents proving the underlying charges

Hence prosecution for the coverup.

[Uncle Joe]

5. Thanks for the thread Phoebe Loosinhouse,

I don't know French but the article did take my breath away.

Kicked and recommended

[Little Star]

6. Damn, I wish there were cameras in the courtroom! k&r

[malaise]

7. This entire administration is going down

in disgrace. I can't wait. Let the cannibalism begin - I'm loving it.:popcorn: :popcorn: :rofl:

[BR_Parkway]

8. So once everyone has testified that Cheney orchestrated it and that

it was a smear job - does Fitz use that sworn testimony to indict a sitting VP? People have said that he had to make the case bullet-proof - what better way than doing it all in an open courtroom with public reporting of each person's testimony - by then the public reaction to indicting the VP will be "yes, he deserves it" rather than claims of partisan politics (ala Delay)

[peacebird]

13. please make it so!

[Tin Man]

21. I'm wondering if this testimony, even without indictment, could lead to impeachment procedings...

...impeachment for Cheney. After all, Bill Clinton wasn't convicted of any wrongdoing in the Lewinski scandal, so "high crimes and misdemeanors" isn't necessarily a strict interpretation of prior criminal judgements in a court of law. In fact, the court is the Congress in this case. Would congress impeach for conspiracy?

[BR_Parkway]

34. Will be interesting to see if the testimony publicizes the fact that the

leak shut down BJ - who was our biggest asset in place to prevent Iran from getting nukes. I've wondered if Amb Wilson was sent to set him up for the disclosure of Valerie and disbanding of Brewster Jennings before so they could silence anyone who could say Iran has no nukes, therefore no war - but then I look at how frequently this (mis)Administration fucks up everything they touch and think there's no possible way they could have planned that many steps ahead, it had to be a happy co-incidence. We're talking competition level chess here, and a bunch of gov't stooges who, so far, haven't demonstrated that they can tell the black checkers from the red ones.

I do know that when the trials are over, the investigations finished and everything exposed - the story (and plot lines within plot lines) will completely dwarf anything that any fiction writer could have thought up.

[JuniperLea]

10. Good story! Thanks for posting!

Did you catch the writer's flubs? It really troubles me that no one seems concerned with proof-reading anymore.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

11. I think this thread explains it

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x25350

Joe Wilson was pulling on the thread that would unravel the entire run-up to the Iraq War. The thread he was tugging on was the one that would demonstrably PROVE that the Bush administration was lying and fighting a war of :

Profit and opportunism under the guise of the WAR ON TERROR.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

16. Profit and opportunism under the guise of the WAR ON TERROR.

If I were someone in charge of a country invaded by someone with these motives.... I'd be pissed off... and they certainly are all of that.

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

14. ~Irony ~ Cheney talking about the Incompetence of others.

excerpt~
Cheney personally wrote a note, an excerpt of which Wells read to the jury and highlighted by displaying on an audiovisual machine during his opening statement: “Not going to protect one staffer and sacrifice the guy that was asked to stick his neck in the meat grinder because of the incompetence of others,” Cheney’s note read.

[Duer 157099]

15. But if Fitz has already determined that no "crime" (besides perjury)

was committed, then it really won't matter what happens, or who gets tossed under the non-moving bus.

Does it?

We've seen that the public has an incredible capacity for ignoring the ill-doings of this administration, why should it be different now? Especially if Fitz doesn't think a crime (as in, outting an agent *knowingly*) was committed.

[Tin Man]

18. A jail sentence isn't the only form of punishment - there's also public humiliation and shame

...public humiliation and shame may, or may not, be associated with impeachment procedings. Results and milage vary.

[janx]

20. Where did you get the idea that Fitz didn't think a crime was

committed?

That is certainly not the case. What he said was that he could not make that determination because someone kept throwing sand in his eyes (this was an analogy).

That someone was Libby.

[Duer 157099]

22. I definitely got that idea from Fitz, in spite of the sand comment

Also, see post #12 above, that's the point I'm referring to.

It appears that the hinge was the "knowingly" part -- Fitz could not pursue that question due to the Libby sand-fest, but I think it will become quite clear that this was the case.

[Lex]

17. This is what started the big break between Bush and Cheney.

and, after Bush finally fired Cheney's guy, Rumsfeld, that sealed the break.

Bush and Cheney now look like they despise each other.

[Tin Man]

19. Agreed. Bush ruined Cheney's beautiful wickedness, and Cheney ruined Bush's "legacy"

The two were meant to be together ...in hell.

[wishlist]

24. Libby's motive for lying is that he knew from Cheney that she was covert

Of the leakers perhaps only Libby knew she was covert and knew why Cheney felt it was so important to quickly blow her cover ending her CIA activities. Perhaps that is why he was the only leaker who felt compelled to lie to investigators in order to protect Cheney and himself. Fitz could not establish what Libby and Cheney were up to because Libby was lying about it all.

[TahitiNut]

25. It's the job of a defense attorney to CREATE DOUBT.

What better way of doing that than to raise the spectre of a looming conspiracy to victimize his client, playing on the reputation of Rove? Absolutely NOTHING that an attorney says in his opening statment is 'evidence.' While he'll be called to task to make some kind of case to give at least the gestalt of victimization, he has not yet (nor will he, probably) be able to proffer any "smoking gun" that implicates Rove. Cheney is the most likely to have the spotlight shined at him ... but from Fitz, not Wells,

IMHO, of course. :shrug:

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

26. well, they'll all have the opportunity to testify

UNDER OATH!

[wishlist]

27. Right- Wells is trying to confuse and distract the jury with the scapegoat stuff

[Straight Shooter]

28. Wells is going for Rove's throat because public opinion is spiraling downward.

No way would he use this defense if bush and cheney were popular. Wells figures he has nothing to lose.

At this point, all he cares about is exonerating his client. Or maybe we should dig a little deeper and see if Rove has "fucked with" Wells at some point in the past, or a friend of Wells. Maybe he just thinks Rove is a piece of crap and is the most unsympathetic character that a scenario of defense for his client can conjure.

Cheney and bush are very high-value targets and have a following, but Rove is infamous for his dirty tricks. Yes, I'd be pointing my finger at Rove, too, especially since he's a safer target than Darth Cheney.

[Bjorn Against]

29. I like the sound of this

from the article in OP:

Wells's argument was both brilliant and complex—and perhaps difficult for non-news hounds on the jury to follow. But it raised the prospect that the Libby trial will now turn into a horror show for the White House, forcing current and former top aides to testify against each other and revealing an administration that has been in turmoil over the Iraq war for more than three years.

This is going to be fun to watch.

[dalloway]

31. SWEEEEEEEEET article. Go to the link. K&R