Dear Richard Cohen

This is TOTALLY OFF TOPIC, so I apologize for that...but I really wanted to get it out there...

This is a copy of an email I sent to Paul Harvey this morning...

(for my friend marc)

Dear Mr. Harvey, my name is Jeff, and I live in Northeast Kansas. The reason I am writing to you today, is because of a story I heard you tell on the radio while I was driving an 18 wheeler through the hills of Arkansas.

It was around the Christmas season...and I was a long way from home and feeling a bit 'blue'. I also had serious questions about Christianity in America, and struggle with the validity 'faith'.

The story you told that day shook me for years to come, and I would very much like to have the transcript of it, so I can pass it along, and use it to help explain to others, why I believe what I believe.

The idea of the story, was how difficult it is for God to communicate with his people, without scaring the heck out of them! Your story involved birds, crashing into the pane glass window of a man's home on an icy winter's day, trying to get inside where it was warm and safe...and when the man tried to 'herd' the birds into the barn...where they would be safe...the birds resisted, not knowing that the man meant them no harm...and in fact wished to HELP them. The man, frustrated by his failure to help these birds, lamented, "Oh, If I were only able to become a bird!...then they would listen to me!...then I could save them!"....

The message hit me like a ton of bricks....why God might want to send Jesus to help us understand...It made the concept of 'God on earth' seem real to me...and to this day, it is the BEST example I have found to explain the concept.

If you remember this story, and you have the transcripts, may I have a copy please? :) Thanks for your consideration of this request...God bless you Mr. Harvey...GOOD DAY!

Wasn't Cohen accused of sexual harassment during the Monica days because he would bring the subject matter of the scandal up with young women with whom he worked? I guess he thinks special prosecutors should be reserved for sexual matters that he can use as conversation starters with women who think he's creepy.

Excellent letter, Casey. I only wish you would get a response. I'd like to see what reasoning he comes up with to justify his 'this is the way we do things in DC' approach. Perhaps he doesn't get that that assumption of being outside the law that applies to everyone else is why most of the rest of the country doesn't trust DC denizens.

For my friend Jeff, and the universe at large...

Jamiroquai
by Canned Heat

You know this boogie is for real.
I used to buy my faith in worship,
But then my chance TO GET to Heaven slipped
I used to worry about the future
But then I throw my caution to the wind.
I had no reason to be care free
No no no, until I took a trip to the other side of town
Yeah yeah yeah, you know I heard that boogie rhythm
Hey- I had no choice but to get down down down down.

Dance, nothing left for me to do but dance,
Off these bad times I'm going through just dance
Got canned heat in my heels tonight baby

I feel the thunder see the lightning
I know this anger's heaven sent.
So I've got to hang out all my hang-ups
Because of the boogie I feel so hell bent
It's just an instant gut reaction, that I got
I know I never ever felt like this before,
I dont know what to do
But then thats nothing new,
Stuck between hell and high water
I need a cure to make it through.

Hey- dancing nothing left for me to do but dance
Off these bad times I'm going through just dance,
Hey got canned heat in my heels tonight baby
You know know know I'm gonna dance yeah
Off all the nasty things that people say.

You know know know I'm gonna dance yeah
off the nasty things that people say, but I'm gonna make it anyway...
Dance yeah! Got canned heat in my heels tonight baby!
You know I've got canned heat in my heels baby
You know this boogie is for real...
Only the wind can blow the answer
And she cries to me when I'm asleep
She says you know that you can go much faster
I know that peoples' talk can be so cheap
Yeah yeah
I got this voodoo child inveined on me
I'm gonna use my power to ascend
You know I got these running heels to use
Sometimes there's no way to lose
I was born to run
And built to last
You've never seen my feet
They can go so fast

Dance…yeah, hey!
Nothing left for me to do but
Dance
All these bad times I'm going through just
Dance…Hey
Got Canned Heat in my heels tonight, baby

Hey I've got to dance yeah!
off the nasty things that people say
But I'm gonna make it anyway,
Dance yeah!
Got canned heat in my heels tonight baby

You know this boogie is for real ,
So much canned heat in my heels yeah!
Gonna dance, gonna dance my blues away tonight,
You know I'm gonna dance my blues away,

You know this boogie is for real ,
So much canned heat in my heels yeah!
Gonna dance, gonna dance my blues away tonight,
Dance!
Got canned heat in my heels tonight,
Oh oh oh oh, canned heat in my heels tonight
Oh oh oh oh, canned heat in my heels tonight
Got so much...

Dance!

Hey DJ
Let the music play
I'm gonna live this party life
Hey DJ
Throw my cares away
I'm gonna live this party life
Hey DJ
Let the music play
I'm gonna live this party life
Hey DJ
Throw my cares away
I'm gonna live this party life

Canned heat in my heels tonight!

You know, you know this boogie is for real
Got so much Canned Heat in my heels
Gonna dance, gonna dance my blues away tonight
Whoooooooo!
You know, you know this boogie
This boogie is for real

You know I'm gonna dance my blues away tonight

Wasn't Richard Cohen the guy who slept with Peter Jenning's then wife?

One thing I don't think get's mentioned enough. Fitzgerald didn't do this on his own

THE CIA REFERED THE CASE. The CIA thinks it was a crime. The CIA drove this thing - and such was the cronyism of the Justice Dept that Justice Dept and FBI staffers forced the naming of a special prosecutor.

And for the neo-cons to be screaming about loose cannon prosecutors NOW.... it boggles the mind really.

Speaking of which - hows that Cisenero's investigation coming - y'know - the one where he has already been found guilty and served his punishment.... gonna wrap that up anytime soon GOP?

Left Coaster's Aug 16, 2005 post

Richard Cohen, Ostrich

“This is not a major story. It's a crappy little crime and it may not be a crime at all."
--Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen this morning on Valerie Plame’s outing

“It is the solemn obligation of a columnist to connect the dots.”
--Richard Cohen’s comments today in his column

Read how easily Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen dismisses the Plame outing at a media event this morning, and remember that federal judges thought enough of Patrick Fitzgerald’s case on national security grounds that they allowed Fitzgerald to threaten Matt Cooper and Judy Kneepads with jail time for not cooperating.

And does Cohen lose any sleep over the role his editorial bosses played in selling the war?

Cohen said that everybody got it wrong, that reporters are not CIA agents, and that you have to rely on your sources. "I don't fault reporters for getting it wrong," he said.

This is a perfect example of what I call the “stenographer mindset”, where many coddled, lazy, and scared Beltway media types appear to care more about maintaining access and their perks than they do in actually questioning what they are being told by our government. It is a mindset that eliminates accountability in government, a mindset that enables those in power to get away literally with murder by leading us into wars on lies, and a mindset that gives us the Judy Millers of the world, who willingly become tools of those in power to further their own careers.

Yet to Richard Cohen, it is someone else’s fault that the reporters got it wrong. He should tell that to the actual reporters at the Post who really did their jobs in questioning the propaganda that came out of the White House’s Iraq Group, but who saw their work buried in the paper day in and day out by the Post’s editors (Cohen’s bosses) so as to not cause any problems for Bush’s drive to war. I wonder if Mr. Cohen raised his voice in protest at the idea his paper was going to sponsor a war rally as just one more example of the Post’s willingness to see itself as an official mouthpiece for this administration. What's troubling here is that Cohen is sometimes a damn good columnist, who is able to see the big picture when he wants to as you can see from his piece today. Yet he appears to be incapable of coming to grips with the smashmouth politics employed by this White House and see the big picture through that prism.

Cohen better hope that Fitzgerald has nothing on Rove, Libby, or that nothing of consequence came out of the roll-up of Brewster Jennings or Plame’s overseas contacts, not to mention any ties there may be to the Larry Franklin/AIPAC debacle. Because the real threats to our democracy, namely this administration, feast on guys like Cohen, who never rarely see the bigger picture beyond their window offices and next cocktail party invitation, every day.

http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/005204.php

You know, when I was pulled over and found to have illegal fireworks in my car, I told the cop, and later, the judge, that I didn't intend to commit a crime. I was just about to celebrate our nation's Independence Day. I didn't intend to hurt anyone.

I got a big fine anyway. A travesty of justice, I say... a travesty!

Posted by: Bat Guano at October 13, 2005 10:06 AM

And I sat in traffic court one day, and heard the judge say numerous times, "Ignorance of the law does not make you less guilty of a violation." That was right before he said, "Guilty! And the fine is..."

But seems this standard is not true for neoConservatives who administer their policies in office like a three year old plays "Candyland". In other words...they make it up as they go. (hmmm...same way they run their wars too! Wing-it!)

I am always amazed by standards of the man who would come to your house and never think of stealing money from your wallet, but thinks nothing of sleeping with your wife. And what you suggest, is merely the Washington version of that scenario.

'Distain' for the law should be a crime? That's one of the most bizzare conjectures I've heard in a while, and certanly not supported by any philosophical understanding of ethics or morality that I've ever heard. A lot of people had distain for miscigination laws, if a black person and a while person thought about getting married in the south in the 1950s, I suppose you would consider these people horrible for having 'distain' for the law.

No, in your mind you must work to change a law before you even think of breaking it.

What can I say other then... **** you, facist.

They never should have gone after Al Capone for tax evasion. Everybody does it, and I'm certain he didn't intend to deprive the government of their share of the revenue, it was just an unintentional side effect of his extortion racket.

That's DICK Cohen to you, mister.

The Fascist & The Furious

Was it a mere 7 years ago the nation was engulfed in the cry "Rule of law, rule of law", and the size of the peccadillo didn't matter?

Aw shucks, Richard. I agree. Outing a CIA agent is not that important. Oh, and they didn't mean to violate the law. So, let's give them a pass. We should only prosecute administration officials when we catch them acting like cartoon villians.

While we are at it, why not tell the SEC to get of Frist's back? Hey, Richard Cohen has no idea if a crime was committed there either. And, insider trading is pretty trivial, too.

And what about Delay? Delay was doing his best to lawfully circumvent Texas' ban on corporate money in campaigns. And you media types are always telling us how complex campaign finance laws are (heck, the ban on corporate funding of TX candidates is at least 12 words long). Better let him go too.

While we are at it, lets let that TX rep busted for DUI go. I am sure he thought he was under the legal limit. DUIs are pretty trivial too as long as noone gets killed (Richard, please let me and the administration know if crimes resulting in death are trivial).

I guess its time to call the dogs off Duke Cunningham. Sure, he took a few million to steer homeland security contracts. But, fortunately, they used home and boat sales transactions to conceal the bribes. So it is complex, and surely helping out some friends is pretty trivial. Its not like it in any way harmed national security. Take that back. Its not like it seriously hamed national security in a way Richard Cohen is capable of understanding.

With watchdogs like Judy Miller and Richard Cohen in the press, there certainly is no need for pesky bloggers.

My response to Cohen:

Dear Mr. Cohen,

If anything offends me about what America is becoming, it's our toleration of gross incompetence - be it the President's incompetence, the Secretary of Defense's incompetence, the CIA's incompetence, or Judith Miller's astounding incompetence as a reporter. The protection of a corporate controlled, and utterly manipulated, press should be the least of our concerns when crimes against democracy are at stake.

So, yes, I hope Fitzgerald charges Rove, Libby, and whomever else he can, with whatever counts he believes are likely to stick. These individuals had the obligation to come clean before the 2004 Presidential Election - when the issue was first raised about White House involvement. It's fair to argue that 2004 Presidential Election was materially impacted by their refusal to come clean, and admit their guilt. Hence, justice has never been done vis-à-vis the Bush Administration, and justice must be done.

I have no clue or care what hairdressers, mistresses, and dog watchers in Washington know, or don't know. I care about what the American electorate is being told, or deliberately not told - and why so many reporters and columnists have become mouthpieces for this Administration's propaganda.

When the press again starts doing its job, I'll have sympathy for the "freedom of the press" argument. Until then, my attitude is that most of you are simply bought and paid for - and hence, not worthy of the protection of the First Amendment.

Sincerely yours,

yeah, i wrote to the insipid ***** too, but what is the point. i merely pointed out that cohen is a jacka$$ of the most vile variety, and i let it go at that. don't get bent about those that live their lives that way.

Cohen's head is so firmly encased in the Beltway bubble that he can't distinquish between the value of a free press and the price of a free lunch.

...the size of the peccadillo didn't matter?

Yeah, but there was sworn testimony as to the shape of the peccadillo. It was in that special room that Hyde and the other House impeachment manglers insisted their party members visited....

Here is what I posted this morning, at AfterDowningStreet:
...WELL, Mr. Cohen...
Submitted by karendc on Thu, 2005-10-13 07:20.

...so much for your views on journalistic integrity. If I am reading you correctly, you want Mr. Fitzgerald to desist from pressing charges against the most corrupt administration ever because we ALL ALREADY KNOW ABOUT IT?

And to add to that, because they didn't call you and TELL YOU about their lies?

jeez!!!

What is in the water cooler at WaPo?

Why ruin a great piece with some othe, unrelated axe to grind? In most places called civilized, sleeping with your neighbor's wife is not a crime. It's your neighbor's fault if she is unhappy.

This must be why Bush and neoCON's policies are so anti-poor and anti-black (and why they had to supress the black vote):

NBC: Bush approval rate at 2% among African-Americans
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/13/112335/81

I wonder if Mr. Cohen thinks we shouldn't persecute people like say ZACARIAS MOUSSAOUI.

After all he didn't really commit terrorism, but word around washington is that he did think about doing it.

Wanker

Reporters hound Scott McClellan with same question 23 times, still no answer
by up2date
Wed Oct 12, 2005 at 06:22:39 PM PDT

From It Affects You

Today's press gaggle lasted 32 minutes. For Scotty, it must have felt much longer. You see, in that 32 minutes, reporters repeated essentially the same question twenty three times. For those wishing to calculate such thhttp://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/12/212239/93ings, that's once every 83 seconds.

oops..here's the link:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/10/12/212239/93

I didn't "fix" intelligence around the policy, but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Sir, you're a better man than I. You were able to resist addressing Mr. Cohen as you fatuous flatulant ****wit. Hats off to you.

[Please keep it clean. Thnx.]

Sure, Cohen could be just another whiny, coddled Beltway media type, crying into his beer that he's being ignored by a prosecutor who unlike Starr actually thwarts leaks of investigative material.

Or he could be far, far worse. We never did find out where the White House spent so-called PR/marketing monies besides Armstrong Williams and a couple others; the numbers don't add up yet.

Is Cohen shilling for the White House, too? Is he tasked with discrediting Fitzgerald before Fitz finishes his investigation? And what about the rest of WaPo efforts related to Iraq -- all pristinely payola-free? Hmm?

Good. I sent Cohen a letter too. I am simply astonished that, despite the fact that the CIA itself, requested this investigation by the Justice Department, Cohen could have dismissed the seriousness of that so contemptuously. When a covert agent is exposed, the ripple effect is dangerous and serious indeed for all others that agent was in contact with for intelligence purposes. What on earth is Cohen thinking?!?

I wrote and suggested to Mr. Cohen that he should probably buy some Long Term Care insurance soon. The incipient signs of dementia revealed in this column suggest he is going to need it before much longer, at least if he doesn't want his entire estate sucked into nursing home costs.

I also noted that he has no credibility left.

"I am always amazed by standards of the man who would come to your house and never think of stealing money from your wallet, but thinks nothing of sleeping with your wife."

Good post, except for that frightful analogy. Your wife is not your property, and if she chooses to sleep with another, you are not being robbed of anything you own.

It is SERIOUSLY time to consider WHY judith miller wrote stories she HAD to know were false

There is ALWAYS a why

So tell me, Mr. Cohen, just how much is the White House paying YOU to write this shit?

There is also a reason WHY the NY Times is silent and the WaPo is trying desperately to make us forget how important it is.

Because by our own laws, if thier false reporting led DIRECTLY to someones death then they are LEGALLY responsible for each and EVERY death.

ReddHedd has an excellent post, and answer to this kind of stuff, over at firedoglake: "Why This Matters"

http://firedoglake.blogspot.com/2005_10_09_firedoglake_archive.html#112908992734723006

An excerpt:

"Imagine that one day you wake up to the incessent ping of your beeper. It is still dark outside your window, and you slide out of bed, pad quietly down the hallway and try not to wake up the wife and kids, as you slip into your home office and place a call on a secure phone. You are told that your cover has been blown, that your family may be at risk. You have to make instant decisions for your own safety, that of your family, and of every asset you have in the field - and to do that, you have to prioritize which assets are more valuable and which you can afford to lose, if necessary. You have to decide then and there which of the people you cultivated, the ones you promised safety in exchange for information and cooperation, which of them may have to die because you may not have time to save them all."

Why all this matters..???

Because if Fitzgerald fails, falters or fades in any way...the arrests will start en masse

And they will start with dem bloggers first.

Some of us should seriously be considering our introduction to life as a political prisnor. And no I am not joking for one instant.

If Fitzgerald fails, the madness will not stay away from us any longer. It will be swift and stunning.

Posted by: Christy at October 13, 2005 12:05 PM

You had Judith Miller and Tom Friedman actively pimping for this war at the Times, in different ways. Bill Keller, the now executive editor, wrote at least one Saturday column in support of it.

Friedman and Keller were columnists, but Miller was not. She was allegedly a reporter - yet it definitely appears that her biases colored her reporting.

I don't understand how she still has a job? Seriously.

She still has a job because she KNOWS WHO else in the Times was UNDER WHITE HOUSE ORDERS.

If they fire her, they are admitting they aided and abbetted TREASON. And they LEGALLY ADMIT liability for EACH AND EVERY wrongful death.

Her bias is not the issue. WHY did she write stories she HAD TO KNOW were false?

And lo and behold just when the WHIG needed and excuse little judy miller JUST SO HAPPEN to be typing up one.

Miller never had any intention of outing Plame. She knew she COULDNT without it being obvious that wilson was calling HER a liar too by default.

Judy never went to jail to protect a source. Judy miller went to jail to keep from IMPLICATING HERSELF IN TREASON.

Even BEFORE Wilson, even BEFORE Plame, miller had committed treason. And the NY Times let her use them to do it.

More Outrage towards FEMA and Bush

Ruin greets residents of poor New Orleans area
Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:29 AM ET

By Nichola Groom
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Residents of New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward, a poor, mainly black neighborhood submerged for weeks after Hurricane Katrina, returned home for the first time on Wednesday but found little to salvage.

Cars, ambulances and relief vans, some from as far away as Texas and Arkansas, streamed into the area under the watchful eye of National Guard troops operating roadblocks.

Residents donned masks and rubber boots to trudge down streets covered with mud and debris, the remnants of a tidal surge that brought 12-foot (3.7-meter) floodwaters to the working class district.

Each block bore the familiar markings of Katrina's fury: cars tossed like matchsticks and dwellings stripped of doors and windows.

In one house, the body of a woman was found unexpectedly by her horrified grandson, bringing Katrina's death toll in Louisiana to at least 1,022.

Others found only ruin in what remained of their homes.

"There ain't nothing in there you can take," said Ernest King, 28, pointing at his mother's bright blue house. King had hitched a trailer to his minivan in the hope of bringing some belongings back, but left empty-handed.

Deborah Hall met similar disappointment when she peered into the single-story white house where she was raised only to find that the living room furniture and decorations had become an unrecognizable heap of water- and mud-soaked debris.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said on Wednesday it had finished pumping out the floodwaters that filled New Orleans after Katrina, which struck on August 29, and Hurricane Rita, which followed less than a month later.

"I wouldn't want to go out on a limb and say there is absolutely no water in New Orleans, but essentially the city is unwatered," said spokesman Alan Dooley.

Vice Admiral Thad Allen, who is in charge of the federal recovery effort in New Orleans, told reporters in Baton Rouge that residents of the Ninth Ward might not be able to return home for two or three years.

Continued ...

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2005-10-13T132614Z_01_SCH268000_RTRUKOC_0_US-HURRICANES-RESIDENTS-RETURN.xml&archived=False

I just realized people are so confused about miller because for one they forget her ACTUAL CRIME...

Also they do not understand her ROLE.

The Downing Memos made her role VERY clear. There was a plot to 'fix the facts'... Miller was the FIXER. Not the only one but the main one.

They would not even attempted such a plot unless they ALREADY had people in place to 'fix the facts'

Judy IS part of the WHIG. I SO DOUBT she wrote and planted stories she HAD TO KNOW were false just cause she was bored.

She is a conspirator in the entire scope of an ILLEGAL INVASION of Iraq.

Her ACTUAL CRIME is TREASON. A treason she gleefully committed.

Alot of us in here are writers. Some of us serious, some of us not so serious. As even a non serious writer I think most of us understand there is NO WAY that we can write something and NOT KNOW in our minds wether it is TRUE or not.

But for a moment put yourself in Millers shoes..

Just for a moment pretend you are a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist in Iraq(preinvasion.)

And your job is to investigate WMD.

Now you are on the ground, standing in the actual place in question. You have the best resources one of the worlds largest news orgs. you look here. you ask a question there. You examine your evidence.

And in spite of you being ABLE to do this right,
you go write up a bunch of stuff spoon fed to you with nothing to chew on but air. Now add circular logic.

A few 'unnamed wh sources'say there are weapons.. i hide evidence of NOTHING by printing what i never investigated or proved, and then cheney says mushroom clouds, terra terra, must be true twas in the NY Times!!

It all goes back to the ? 0f WHY would miller write stories she KNEW were FALSE...??

At this point the only assumption we CAN make is because Rove Libby Cheney and Bush ASKED/Paid her too.

Why else would a Pulitzer Prize winner throw it ALL away? She THOUGHT she had the ultimate power.

The power to bring death with a penstroke. I suspect she even liked playing with it in her mind that she had such power.

A little Eastern philosophy seems appropriate here...

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.
- Buddha

"The truth, when crushed into the earth, shall rise again."

ML King

Posted by: x at October 13, 2005 11:58 AM
-----------

Possibly. It could read "who comes to your house and would never think of cheating you at cards..."

The point was not what was in the mind of the neighbor's wife, but what was in the mind of someone who would sleep with the neighbor's wife.

the outing of plame, as i understand it, had a dual purpose -- not only to punish wilson but to send a message to other whistleblowers that family members would get hurt too [shades of concentration camp torture anyone?], thus that she got hit by ricochet was not accidental nor inadvertant:

http://www.thenation.com/capitalgames/index.mhtml?bid=3&pid=823

http://www.takebackthemedia.com/

I dont know that Plame was just collateral damage.

There is an overriding question everywhere over and over I keep hearing, did SOMEONE completely F**k over the WH... as in betray them??

Its an interesting thought that someone betrayed the betrayers.

I think if there WAS supposed to be someone onboard who turncoated the traitors..i think it was WILSON.

Think about it a moment. What if they THOUGHT he was going to go to Africa and come back and play ball? What if he even told them 'sure sure ill go along' then he REALIZED WHY they wanted him to shut up.

Im not saying Wilson is a bad guy, or even that Plame was NOT collateral damage..what I am saying is that ANYTIME a CIA plot is involved there is BOUND to be atleast HALF of everything that we cant even see yet.

The interesting angle to me is this,

We know since 911 there has been a major unseen turf war going on in our intell community. The drama HAD to be playing out before plame was ever outed.

Once we go back and start holding people accountable for Iraq intell, the most natural questions then go directly to bin laden and 911. It is simply unavoidable.

It would be very interesting to know what Plame thinks about 911.

Oh Shittokki Batman!!!

REPORT: CHENEY'S OFFICE OPPOSED MIERS...

www.rawstory.com

"bad things can happen to good people when the administration -- any administration -- is in sole control of knowledge and those who know the truth are afraid to speak up..."

Huh? Point (1): this administration cannot be said to be in control of knowledge! They control their internal propaganda machinery, to a huge extent, and the media, to a large extent. That's all. They control the flow of information, which is NOT equivalent to knowledge. (Recall, they were just pronounced "guilty" of violating the "no taxpayer-funded propaganda" rule.)

Point (2): Some have had the courage to speak up (Joe Wilson, Paul O'Neill, Gen. Shinseki, Cindy Sheehan, Pat Tillman, Richard Clarke, Joseph DiIulio); the media (please list all of your editorials, Richard, expressing outrage over the treatment of these folks) failed to convey their courage.

My reply to Richard Choen's propaganda piece:

Let This Columnist Go

The best thing Richard Cohen can do for his Country is get out of Washington, return to New York, and learn real journalism.

Thanks to the folks in the blogisphere, we now know the history of Joe Wilson’s trip to Africa and of his writing where he explained he found no evidence of Saddam’s desire for yellowcake uranium. It was a slap to the Bush administration and they set out to get revenge.

The CIA had spent over twenty years of taxpayer money setting up a covert company staffed with covert CIA agents. It all tumbled down like a house of cards due to a soon-to-be named vindictive, power-rich administration official intent on smearing Joseph Wilson. Saddam and his two sons Odai and Qusai often used that tactic to provoke fear and obedience of the Iraqi people by threatening the family of their intended target.

Cohen also suggests that this leaking of a covert CIA agent’s name was not a crime – more of a matter of “no harm-no foul”. While that no harm rule may apply on the playground of twelve-year olds in a pickup game, that application has no bearing on matters of national security. The bottom line is that an administration official leaked confidential information: that is an act of treason according to the laws of our country. The harm need not be proved: it is implied, and we may never know the full impact of the treasonous act.

That is why I want Cohen to leave now and take fellow propagandist Armstrong Williams with him. That will make two less shills for this administration. Please, Mr. Cohen, there’s so much bad journalism in this country – don’t add to it.

Go home, Dick.

- abqjohn -

Check out this VERY VERY lusty art piece i just put up at Reb Nation..

This painting was done with only a PALLETTE KNIFE. The artist works almost exclusively with the knives.

Wanna see a true master and one hell of a sexy work???

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/4123/817/1600/The%20Passion1.jpg

And to the new people Reb Nation =

http://www.rebellenation.blogspot.com/

The work is posted there.

This is definitely in keeping with the Cohen m.o., which always ensures he will have something to write about. When the indictments are handed down, Cohen will then write a column about how he was wrong when he wrote this column. His worthless writings about Colin Powell's pre-war presentation to the U.N. provide a perfect example of this approach. Of course, he can always fall back on those nauseating columns in which the ghost of his father or grandfather (or some dead guy from his family) pays him a visit to impart words of wisdom. Ugh!

Great letter, Casey.

The thing is, we'll never know what damage this leak did, because it's classified. How many other agents lost their cover when the Brewster corporation was outed?

What WMD are now still out there because we don't have intelligence on them?

Besides, I'd love to see some Rule of Law applied in Washington, DC for once!

I wonder if Cohen still wears that grey cape if and when when he returns to Georgetown bars.
He once was touted in the POST Sunday mag as the new H.L. Mencken. After many months of boring us with that failed experiment, he reverted to being just Richard Cohen, i. e., a hole in the air.
He is defending Miller because she, like he, bought into the Iraq adventure.

Chuck in Houston for All:

I've re-read this Cohen piece a few things. first of all, I am disgusted by the general thrust of what he says, which seems to me to be something like this:

"Let us Washington insiders sweep all this crap under the rug. Matters of state are too important to be considered by idiotic peasants or out-of-town prosecutors, who should just go back to dealing with the local yokels in quaint little places like Chicago and forget about us bigshots as we are above the laws meant for little people. In fact, when a prosecutor comes after one of us, we sue the prosecutor! After all even, 'hairdressers, mistresses and dog walkers' inside the beltway can be trusted with informal security clearances, as long as they work for us bigshots; the rest of you peons fall somewhere below personal servants in Washington in that respect."

That's the way I read in, anyway. Although maybe I misread it, because the second thing that struck me about the article was that, on successive readings, I could not find a coherent argument for anything in it. It almost reads like the author was at least half drunk. I'm going to re-read it again but it actually seems bizarre to me.

Chuck in Houston

PS: I am thinking of writing a letter to the WaPo on this, and I rarely write such letters, but this article is so astounding in its implications I don't even know where to start.

I found this on Americablog yesterday. I just copy/paste. It puts Plamegate in very large perspective:

AMERICAblog.com

I apologize for the length of this post, but I think the implications for our foreign policy are important. You're not hearing anything about what's below in our press. NOT A THING. There is an insurrection going on in the Mossad. Over 300 agents have left in protest over what Mossad Chief Meir Dagan is doing; namely: concentrating on "international terrorism" and "overseas commando operations." Considering that there are only 1200+ Mossad agents, this is huge.

I read the Israeli papers daily, but I dont speak or read Hebrew, so I am stuck with the English versions. It is the Hebrew papers that report what is really going on. You need to read Mid-East area translations of Hebrew articles to find this information out. (Grant you, these translations are self-serving: they only translate what speaks to their audience.)
.
The reason what's happening is important is that we have these fascist right-wing Israeli wing-nuts dictating to, hood-winking, and operating within, our government, defense department, and media stateside, all under the old saw of allowing Israel to exist and protected by the anti-semitism mantra. People with Israeli passports (Douglas Feith, Paul Wolfowitz, Scooter Libby, etc), and in league with Sharon's xenophobic pan-Israel view, orchestrated the phony gin up to the Iraqi War. And since, as 911 Commission Head Philip Zelikow admitted publicly last year, we went to war in Iraq for Israel, what's really happening in Israel is important to know. The fact of the matter is Israelis are having as much trouble dealing with their war-hungry extremist right-wing government as we're having with ours. And that includes high-level Mossad agents who have resigned in protest.

Ex-Mossad Official Admits Occupation is the Reason Behind "Terror Attacks" against Civilians
GAZA, Palestine, October 10,2005 (IPC+ Agencies)---Amiram Levin, the then-Deputy Chief of the Israeli Secret Intelligence Service "Mossad, took the unprecedented step in stating that Israel's continued policy of controlling the Palestinian people will inflict a resounding defeat of the Hebrew state.....
Levin [delivering a speech at Van Laer institute in occupied Jerusalem] who said to be one of most Generals of the Israeli army in making a good deal in combating the Palestinian resistance movements admits " it is an eventual result that controlling another people and occupying his land produce terrorist operations."?The ex- deputy chief of Mossad strongly criticized the command of the Israeli army due to the pursuit of intimidation, harassment and abuse against the Palestinian civilians.
read more
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_new/en....asp? name=11122

Mossad rocked by resignations
JERUSALEM:Israel’s spy agency, Mossad, has been rocked to the core by an internal crisis provoking an avalanche of resignations since Meir Dagan was appointed its chief in 2002, a newspaper reported yesterday.
“Earthquake at heart of Mossad,� ran a headline on the front page of the Yediot Aharonot, detailing a “wave� of unprecedented departures from staff accusing their boss of driving the elite agency into a “dead end�.........
The latest report comes just over a year after Israel’s private Channel 2 television claimed in November that more than 200 agents, including seven department heads, had resigned over the policies of its controversial boss.......
When Dagan took over in October 2002, Mossad switched its sights on international ‘terrorism’ with a renewed focus on overseas commando operations....
read more:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/0710200...isis- press.html
http://www.zaman.com/?bl=interna...l&alt=&hn=25129 [Turkish paper]

overseas commando operations??!! Like in Iraq? Or Bali?

and then this.........
Outing Plame Allowed the Mossad to Grab Russian Nukes ?Was London Just a Warm-Up?
Valerie Plame and many CIA agents were working under the cover of a company called Brewster-Jennings and Associates. They were active in Saudi Arabia, China, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and Syria.

Outing Plame meant exposing this company as CIA front and thus destroying and compromising all these agents. Basically, the most important CIA human intelligence agents are all gone. The Mossad destroyed the CIA using the White House.

In Russia, these agents were the only people monitoring loose nukes, making sure that nothing goes missing, and tracking and locating missing items.

Across the southern areas of the former Soviet Union there are numerous nuclear devices, fissionable material and delivery systems that are barely guarded by the locals.

For years now, and since outing Plame, these Russian nuclear devices and materials have remained unguarded, available for the Mossad to grab. The Mossad would use the nukes to stage terrorism and blame it on "Al-Qaeda" or Arabs or Iranians.

The pending indictments in the Plame outing case are threatening to shed a lot of light on the real purpose of outing Plame and the Mossad operatives and sayanim involved in grabbing the Russian nukes both in the US and overseas.

Will the Mossad now accelerate the staging of nuclear terrorism? Where will they strike?

Look for nuke-proof stolen Arab passports.

Better yet, keep your eyes on the right people this time, not the Arabs. Maybe you will catch them before they do it.
http://www.libertyforum.org/ show...umber=293765825

Lest some of you consider this last post a wing-nut stretch, I urge you to do your own searching back to 1997-2000, and read what US defense and military analysts [try Jane's Defense] had to say about the effect of the Cold War/Russia dissolution on weapon availability. Certain scientists and military people, previously employed by the state in the Russian outback, were selling Russia's portable military and nuclear arsenal on the black market in desperate acts of survival to make ends meet. Sales were going on in boats anchored in the coves of of Indonesia's 11,000 uninhabited islands. Indonesia has 17,000 islands along its 3,000 mile coast.

Time to get our collective heads out of the sand, sports fans...and BTW, go back and re-read this article:
Tell us who fabricated the Iraq evidence
http:// comment.independent.co.uk...ticle318195.ece

.

Chuck in Houston again:

I just re-read it again -- now I'm struck by what seems to be this Cohen fellow's agrument: "It was OK when Joe McCarthy did it so why bother?" (And this doesn't even get to the issue that in this case the leak itself invovled an actual criminal act.) Am I misreading this article entirely? Is this Cohen crazy or just drunk? As they say, I don't know what he's drinkng and what he's smoking, but I may like to find out so I can get some and survive until the American people decide that democracy is worth fighting for, or in othewords, decide they are at least on a par with whomever walks Tom DeLay's dog in DC.

Chuck in Houston

Sparrow's right about the disdain thing.

That doesn't excuse Cohen even the slightest. But you
should probably give sparrow's first comment some thought.

It could indeed be that Cohen's spending too much time drinking with Christopher Hitchens...

Some more insight on just how things work (or don't work) in Cheney/Rumsfeld's Pentagon. A must read interview with Brigadier General Janice Karpinski.

This interview was done in August 2005. Karpinski has a book that was published yesterday (10-12-2005) titled, One Woman's Army: The Commanding General of Abu Ghraib Tells Her Story.

It's lengthy and riveting.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/082405Z.shtml

Here's a link to the book:
http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=1401352472&PID=29373&PID=29373

Excellent post, Casey. Also, remember how aghast republicans were about Clinton's lies. Lying was so terrible in the '90s and so accepted in the '00s.But we all know that.

Good news out of the IL Tenth. Now, even the republicans are running television ads against Mark Kirk!!!!

Lake Pontchartrain water improving rapidly

03:04 PM CDT on Thursday, October 13, 2005

WWLTV.com

The quality of the water in Lake Pontchartrain is improving much more rapidly than anticipated, according to the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation.

Director Carlton Dufrechou said sampling of eight spots in late September showed that 75 percent of the samples met the criteria for swimming safety.

“We knew Lake Pontchartrain would heal itself,” said Dufrechou. “The rate of recovery is a welcome surprise. Eight dolphins were sited on October 11 near Mandeville and if the big critters are back, the lake is definitely coming back.”

Following the storm, floodwaters that included sewage, oil, gas, household chemicals, paints and decomposing materials were pumped into the Lake to help drain the city.

Dufrechou said another test would be done on October 14.

Why give Cohen all this free advertising? Fugetabotit! Now the TV news folks will read the blogs and suddenly they'll all discover the WaPo article that hardly anyone would otherwise have read....

The NBC/WSJ poll results are very telling.... watch for Condi Rice to suddenly be all over the LSM. (especially TV, which is really the only medium that reaches almost 90% of Americans) Condi in Africa, Condi in Europe, Condi meets this leader, Condi meets that leader.... Condi in an airplane, Condi on a boat, Condi lunching with Blair's advisors, Condi....

Interesting article from the Pak Tribune, a Pakistani newspaper, courtesy of Watching America:

http://www.watchingamerica.com/paktribune000004.html

While God was busy telling Bush to bring ‘freedom' to all those in the vicinity of major deposits of crude oil, he somehow failed to tell him to bring ‘freedom' to the starving people of North Korea, ruled by a godless regime openly building nuclear weapons. Is it possible, this op-ed article from Pakistan's PakTribune wonders, that Americans are unaware of the bloody history of politicians with a God-complex?

Here's my letter to Richard Cohen:

You write: "This is rarely considered a crime. In the Plame case, it might technically be one, but it was not the intent of anyone to out a CIA agent and have her assassinated (which happened once) but to assassinate the character of her husband. This is an entirely different thing. She got hit by a ricochet." I'm afraid you got some major stuff wrong.

First, the minor stuff: You might want to think more about that ricochet analogy. If, during the commission of a crime, a ricochet hits a bystander, guess what happens? The criminal is charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Manslaughter if the ricochet kills. The logic behind that is that if the criminal hadn't decided to commit the crime, nobody would have been injured. If you and a buddy go out to commit a crime, and shooting ensues, and the cops end up killing your buddy, guess who gets charged with his death? You do, by the same logic. Again, this is just a minor point, but your ricochet analogy flies in the face of hundreds of years of jurisprudence.

Now the major stuff: you are completely, totally wrong in your identification of the victim in the Plame outing. There wasn't one victim, there were many, and we may never know the agonies they suffered due to the White House leakers' "ricochet."

Let me explain: Valerie Plame was a covert CIA operative. Her specialty was WMDs. Her cover was posing as an "energy consultant." In that role, she traveled, met with foreign energy experts, and sometimes got them to talk about their governments' efforts to develop WMDs. Those people who talked to Valerie Plame took great risks. Those people who talked thought they could make the world a safer place by secretly letting the CIA know about dangerous things their governments were doing. Those people who talked believed the CIA's assurances of confidentiality.

And now? Now those governments know what Valerie Plame was doing. Now those people who talked to Valerie Plame are suspected, in their own countries, of being traitors. And some of those governments aren't very nice. Some don't bother with trials. Some use torture. Some torture children to get a parent to speak. And everyone who ever met with Valerie Plame, for whatever reason, is now at great risk. These people are the true victims of the White house "ricochet." These people were betrayed by the White House leakers. Justice demands that the leakers pay for the betrayal of all Valerie Plame's contacts.

But that's not all. The CIA still has to gather intelligence. They still have to give assurances of confidentiality. The White House leakers just made the CIA's job a whole lot more difficult. Sources are going to think twice or three times before spilling to the CIA now that they've seen what can happen to their confidentiality. And with the CIA less effective in gathering intelligence, every American is at greater risk. Every one of us. All due to the White House leakers' brazen disregard for the law.

Mr Cohen, instead of wheedling Patrick Fitzgerald not to enforce the law regarding the White House leakers' crimes, you should be on your knees thanking the almighty that someone, somewhere, has the courage and character to try to put a stop to the White House leakers before they do even greater damage. The laws they broke weren't trival laws. They were laws designed to protect CIA contacts the world over. Everyone should understand the consequences of outing a covert CIA operative. Especially a columnist such as yourself. It's your job to connect the dots. For shame Mr. Cohen, for shame. The least you can do now is apologize publicly for your ignorance and join the demands for the White House leakers to be brought to justice.

-- Lee Campbell

Your wife is not your property, and if she chooses to sleep with another, you are not being robbed of anything you own.

No "possibly" about it.

Another excellent article, this one from Argentina, again via watchingamerica:

http://www.watchingamerica.com/lanacion000002.htmlntina:

Religion Sows Confusion Among U.S. Democrats

The lack of coherent policy alternatives from American Democrats has resulted in an over-emphasis on religion and morality in the country, and according to this op-ed article from Argentina’s La Nacion, means Democrats are failing to benefit from the collapse of President Bush’s popularity.

I also wrote to this mutt. It's his motive that really bothers me....

Mr. Cohen,

Your advise has the net effect of dismissing misconduct by those in Washington for the very real crime of outing a CIA covert
operative. And for what? To protect access for the chosen few journalists and pundits whom this administration deems worthy of passing along information to. And just how does this administration make such judgments? When exactly did access to power become synonymous with journalism? Please, you and Ms. Miller ought to spend a little less time worrying about your place seating at Morton's and little more time seeking the truth. If any good comes from the war in Iraq it just may be that the public at large finally tires of boorish self interested journalists and pundits trying to cover up their laziness with the first amendment.

Cheers,
Nick Foresta

FILE THIS ONE UNDER THE CATEGORY "UHHH..YA' THINK?..."

Bayh Chides Rove Over Role in CIA Probe By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press Writer
Thu Oct 13, 1:06 PM ET

DES MOINES, Iowa - A Democratic senator and potential 2008 presidential candidate said Thursday that White House political adviser Karl Rove must step down if he is linked to the leaking of a CIA operative's name.

Rove faces a fourth grand jury appearance in the investigation of the leaking of CIA officer Valeria Plame's name after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, criticized the Bush administration's policies in Iraq.

"Even if he's not indicted, if it appears that a top adviser to the president of the United States was trying to harm someone personally for having a different public policy point of view, that's unacceptable behavior in the White House," Sen. Evan Bayh (news, bio, voting record) said.

The Indiana senator said Bush's strategists have divided the nation for short-term political gain.

"That kind of cynical strategy has worked well for Karl Rove and the people whose advice he takes, but it's not good for America and it's not the kind of politics I'm going to practice," Bayh said.

Bayh, who is considering a run for the Democratic presidential nomination, visited Iowa to campaign for legislative candidates.

I guess what Mr. Cohen is saying is that lying, fixing, betraying, outing, treason, stealing, torture, money laundering, and cold blooded murder don't seem to be big enough reasons for any to take a stand today.

Throw in a cigar and a blue dress, Mr. Fitzgerald. Maybe that will do the trick.
Or maybe the gentleman prefers S & M.

At 3:00 pm ET in downtown Los Angeles, Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) will announce his opposition to Proposition 75, the "paycheck protection" measure. Proposition 75 would, in Kerry's view, "silence the voices of firefighters, teachers and nurses and increase the power corporate special interests have over government."

Prop. 73 being pushed by Anold would restrict abortions in California by requiring parental notifications. Looks like when Anold got down to Bush's 38% popularity he turned to the religious right. So much for his principled pro choice position. He will be toast next November.

"Fully 65 percent of Americans polled — including half of Republicans — say recent charges against former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay indicate 'potential illegal activity,' far outpacing the 24 percent who call indictments against him a 'partisan political charge.'"

The Boston Globe's Charlie Savage reports that the "increasing focus" on Miers's religious faith "drew criticism from some leaders of the religious right" who Noted that White House supporters of John Roberts had "rejected suggestions by liberals that his devout Catholicism might affect his judicial rulings."

Oncall, that is what I posted here yesterday.

The Wall Street Journal's McKinnon and Hagan think the disclosure of an earlier conversation between Libby and Miller in June 2003 is "potentially significant" because "it suggests the "White House" could have been developing a strategy to undermine Mr. Wilson even before he went public with his criticisms . . ."

Interesting they use the term White House rather than just naming Libby or Rove. Could Fitgerald have more up his sleeve, perhaps even a broader indictment in store to lets say include Mr. Cheney? I just can't imagine how Libby could be involved in this scheme without Cheney knowingly or at least tacidly agreeing to it as well.

Or maybe the gentleman prefers S & M.

Posted by: Truth Shall Prevail at October 13, 2005 05:19 PM

Is he a friend of Dick Morris?

Cyrano,
hahahahaha!

thank you...

Posted by: Ira at October 13, 2005 05:41 PM

Ira, I was thinking something similar last night. The fact that Miller had a discussion with Libby about Wilson weeks before the op-ed actually appeared is fascinating. It suggests to me that: a) the op-ed was submitted sometime in mid-June to the NY Times; b) Miller found out about it, saw it as a threat to her own reporting (as A Huffington has suggested), and went to her sources in the Administration in order to debunk it. Of course, regardless of what Miller did, Libby would be legally forbidden to tell her anything - and if he did tell her anything, he's screwed.

DeLay's home, campaign phone records subpoenaed
Thu Oct 13, 2005 5:57 PM ET

By Matt Daily

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A Texas prosecutor on Thursday subpoenaed former House Republican leader Tom DeLay's home and campaign office telephone records in his investigation of possibly illegal campaign contributions, DeLay's lawyer said.

The subpoenas were the latest legal move in the case that forced DeLay to step down from the second-highest post in the U.S. House of Representatives last month when he was indicted on money-laundering and conspiracy charges.

DeLay's lawyer, Bill White, said the subpoenas were "no big thing," and simply part of Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle's investigation.

But a spokesman for DeLay called the new subpoenas "odd and desperate," and repeated accusations by DeLay that Earle, a Democrat who has prosecuted several Texas politicians from both parties, was on a partisan witch hunt to drive him from power.

"This is a baseless investigation that is over three years old, and only now Ronnie Earle is issuing subpoenas? It's a ridiculous stunt to try and cover up the fact that Ronnie Earle's partisan investigation has turned into an embarrassment for him," DeLay's spokesman, Kevin Madden, said in a statement.

Earle's office was not immediately available to comment. He has been investigating DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority for possible violation of state laws that prohibit corporate donations to political campaigns.

DeLay, who was first indicted on September 28, is accused of attempting to get around the law by laundering corporate donations through the Republican National Committee. He could face up to life in prison if convicted.

Still considered one of the most powerful politicians in Washington, DeLay has faced censure in the past year for ethics violations and improper ties to lobbyists, but the Texas charges are the first that could put him in prison.

DeLay's lawyers have lodged a counterattack against Earle, seeking a subpoena to force him and two of his assistants to testify in court as to whether they improperly sought the charges.

DeLay's efforts in Texas helped finance campaigns in 2002 that enabled Republicans to take over the Texas Legislature for the first time since the Reconstruction era after the Civil War.

Once in power, the Republicans led a controversial redrawing of congressional districts in Texas that added five Republican seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

An initial hearing was scheduled for October 21, White said.

U.S. soldier opens fire on fellow troops
Thu Oct 13, 2005 2:02 PM ET

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier opened fire on a group of fellow soldiers during a morning exercise session at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, on Thursday but no one was injured at the Army base.

The soldier, whose name was not released, "is in custody after firing shots at a physical training formation" but no one was wounded, Fort Campbell said in a statement.

It provided no other details but said the matter was under investigation.

The facility, on the Kentucky-Tennessee border about 60 miles northwest of Nashville, is home to the 101st Airborne Division that has served in Iraq.

Something positive...

an interesting report from a WaPo reporter returning to Afghanistan

Afghan Fragments
A Professor Survives, And Other Surprises
Sunday, October 9, 2005
By Peter Baker

GARDEZ, Afghanistan - The last time I saw Hakim Taniwal, I thought he was a dead man walking.

A slight, aging sociology professor with gentle manners, Taniwal returned to his homeland from exile in Australia after the fall of the Taliban to help build a new Afghanistan. When I ran across him in the spring of 2002, he had been dispatched by Hamid Karzai, the new Afghan president, to the untamed frontier to take over as governor and dislodge a brutal local warlord who ruled over these parts. Taniwal had no guns, no army and seemingly no chance. It seemed like a suicide mission.

When I saw him again here two weeks ago, he was sitting in the provincial governor's office and the warlord was somewhere in the countryside, out of power, his militia largely disbanded. I reminded Taniwal of our first meeting, when he could not even get into the governor's house because it was occupied by the warlord's family and dozens of his thuggish guerrillas, bristling with Kalashnikovs and grenade launchers.

Taniwal looked at me and smiled. "Things have changed," he said with satisfaction.

read more...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/07/AR2005100702332.html

STUCK IN BAGHDAD? YEAH, RIGHT
Joshua Holland, AlterNet
Don't believe what you hear from the White House and the Pentagon. We can leave Iraq anytime we please.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/26777/

Not that I agree with Mr. Cohen, but Tom Oliphant was making the same point on Hardball several nights ago.

oncall,

what was the point he made?

Cohen's arguments just seem so--inelegant.

Oh what a surprise...the Bush teleconference with the soldiers in Iraq today was totally staged! Who would have thought...

Bush Teleconference With Soldiers Staged
By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer 48 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - It was billed as a conversation with U.S. troops, but the questions President Bush asked on a teleconference call Thursday were choreographed to match his goals for the war in Iraq and Saturday's vote on a new Iraqi constitution.

Read the details here ==> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051013/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_iraq_10

More evidence that Bush and Company are out to lunch on Iraq:

NEW YORK
"In a remarkable report published widely Thursday, Tom Lasseter, longtime Knight Ridder correspondent in its Baghdad bureau, reveals what he learned as possibly the first American journalist to embed with an all-Iraqi military operation in the war -- and it isn't pretty.

Lasseter writes that "a week spent eating, sleeping and going on patrol with a crack unit of the Iraqi army" (the 4,500-member 1st Brigade of the 6th Iraqi Division) suggests that the Bush exit strategy of turning over military control to the Iraqis "is in serious trouble. Instead of rising above the ethnic tension that's tearing their nation apart, the mostly Shiite troops are preparing for, if not already fighting, a civil war against the minority Sunni population."

Indeed, the soldiers he traveled with are "seeking revenge against the Sunnis who oppressed them during Saddam Hussein's rule."

American commanders often refer to the 1st Brigade as a template for the future of Iraq's military, and sometimes they operate on their own, other times with American firepower taking the lead. But Lasseter notes that increasingly "they look and operate less like an Iraqi national army unit and more like a Shiite militia."

Whole story on Editor and Publisher:

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001305694

Anybody read Brooks this morning? His column was apparently quite dismissive of Miers' abilities. I haven't seen it (since I've yet to pay for Times Select).

Posted by: madame defarge at October 13, 2005 07:01 PM

I'm shocked, I tell you... shocked that the pResNitwit would stage a teleconference with our brave soldiers fighting to keep control of his oil fields in Iraq...!

If you believe how shocked I am, I have an antique bridge to sell you. I swear to God it's an authentic historical bridge, complete with provenance....

And the underlying question still remains: how did OUR oil get under their country? Must have been someone messing with Mother Nature again.

Posted by: Cyrano at October 13, 2005 07:47 PM

Here you go, Cyrano...it's making the rounds via other blogs & emails, so why not here for you too!
(Article in its entirey)

In Her Own Words
By DAVID BROOKS
Of all the words written about Harriet Miers, none are more disturbing than the ones she wrote herself. In the early 90's, while she was president of the Texas bar association, Miers wrote a column called "President's Opinion" for The Texas Bar Journal. It is the largest body of public writing we have from her, and sad to say, the quality of thought and writing doesn't even rise to the level of pedestrian.

Of course, we have to make allowances for the fact that the first job of any association president is to not offend her members. Still, nothing excuses sentences like this:

"More and more, the intractable problems in our society have one answer: broad-based intolerance of unacceptable conditions and a commitment by many to fix problems."

Or this: "We must end collective acceptance of inappropriate conduct and increase education in professionalism."

Or this: "When consensus of diverse leadership can be achieved on issues of importance, the greatest impact can be achieved."

Or passages like this: "An organization must also implement programs to fulfill strategies established through its goals and mission. Methods for evaluation of these strategies are a necessity. With the framework of mission, goals, strategies, programs, and methods for evaluation in place, a meaningful budgeting process can begin."

Or, finally, this: "We have to understand and appreciate that achieving justice for all is in jeopardy before a call to arms to assist in obtaining support for the justice system will be effective. Achieving the necessary understanding and appreciation of why the challenge is so important, we can then turn to the task of providing the much needed support."

I don't know if by mere quotation I can fully convey the relentless march of vapid abstractions that mark Miers's prose. Nearly every idea is vague and depersonalized. Nearly every debatable point is elided. It's not that Miers didn't attempt to tackle interesting subjects. She wrote about unequal access to the justice system, about the underrepresentation of minorities in the law and about whether pro bono work should be mandatory. But she presents no arguments or ideas, except the repetition of the bromide that bad things can be eliminated if people of good will come together to eliminate bad things.

Or as she puts it, "There is always a necessity to tend to a myriad of responsibilities on a number of cases as well as matters not directly related to the practice of law." And yet, "Disciplining ourselves to provide the opportunity for thought and analysis has to rise again to a high priority."

Throw aside ideology. Surely the threshold skill required of a Supreme Court justice is the ability to write clearly and argue incisively. Miers's columns provide no evidence of that.

The Miers nomination has reopened the rift between conservatives and establishment Republicans.

The conservative movement was founded upon the supposition that ideas have consequences. Conservatives have founded so many think tanks, magazines and organizations, like the Federalist Society, because they believe that you have to win arguments to win political power. They dream of Supreme Court justices capable of writing brilliant opinions that will reshape the battle of ideas.

Republicans, who these days are as likely to be members of the corporate establishment as the evangelical establishment, are more suspicious of intellectuals and ideas, and more likely to believe that politics is about deal-making, loyalty and power. You know you are in establishment Republican circles when the conversation is bland but unifying. You know you are in conservative circles when it is interesting but divisive. Conservatives err by becoming irresponsible. Republicans tend to be blown about haplessly by forces they cannot understand.

For the first years of his presidency, George Bush healed the division between Republicans and conservatives by pursuing big conservative goals with ruthless Republican discipline. But Harriet Miers has shown no loyalty to conservative institutions like the Federalist Society. Her loyalty has been to the person of the president, and her mental style seems to be Republicanism on stilts.

So conservatives are caught between loyalty to their ideas and loyalty to the president they admire. Most of them have come out against Miers - quietly or loudly. Establishment Republicans are displaying their natural loyalty to leadership. And Miers is caught in the vise between these two forces, a smart and good woman who has been put in a position where she cannot succeed.

"The conservative movement was founded upon the supposition that ideas have consequences."

Ya, like the idea of invading Iraq. The idea of cutting taxes during wartime. The idea of eradicating social security. These ideas all have consequences -

"And Miers is caught in the vise between these two forces, a smart and good woman who has been put in a position where she cannot succeed."

And I wonder what Brooks means by "where she cannot succeed"? It sounds to me as though her appointment is in the bag....

Does Brooks think that the only definition of success is pleasing both Republicans and Conservatives, and that's it? What about success in being appointed? What about the (questionable) possibility that she will be a good judge? What about succeeding at serving America - not just conservatives - well?

To Brooks, the only way to be a success is to be annointed by the "conservative movement." Hogwash.

Posted by: madame defarge at October 13, 2005 08:00 PM

Thank you!

Interesting column. After reading her prose, I can better understand how she might see the President as the most brilliant man she's ever known...

I'm becoming convinced that Conservative opposition to Miers is authentic, and that Democrats and Progressives are not being intentionally set up in some grand conspiracy. I do think that Miers might be pursuaded to change her views, once she's been exposed to the arguments of the more moderate Justices on the Court. That might not help on issues where her religious convictions are at risk, as with abortion. But I can readily see why, from their point of view, conservatives are worried about her. I doubt that she has thought about Constitutional issues in any serious way. And until you do, I suspect that you have no clue which side you will eventually come down on.

Posted by: Cyrano at October 13, 2005 08:35 PM

Another thing I find very interesting: how the WH made a fuss about keeping Roberts's religion & its impact on his potential judicial decisions out of bounds for the judiciary hearings... And now Boy George is making a very big deal about Miers's religious attitudes as a qualification for the SC job.

Madame, that's the WHs lame attempt to signal the right about her distaste for Roe.

"...on successive readings, I could not find a coherent argument for anything in it. It almost reads like the author was at least half drunk. I'm going to re-read it again but it actually seems bizarre to me." Chuck in Houston

I think the reason it seems so bizarre to you is that Cohen is using the right of free press to discredit freedom of expression. From Cohen's own description, Ambassador Wilson is, by definition, a whistleblower. (This rocked the administration, which was already fighting to retain its credibility in the face of mounting and irrefutable evidence that the case it had made for war in Iraq -- weapons of mass destruction, above all -- was a fiction.) Actually, Wilson's objection was not about WMD, it was only the yellow cake uranium and whether attempts had been made to purchase it from Niger. All he really said was that the administration should have known that info was bogus, because he had told them so himself. Shortly after Wilson's op-ed, the administration admitted it was a mistake to include those "sixteen words" in the State of the Union speech. Yet Rove & Co. went after his wife anyway, I think, like the BTK killer, just because they could.

If I were a high ranking official of the administration, I think I would be hard pressed to divulge the identity of even a secretary at CIA, because you never know who might want to bribe state secrets that she may have typed out of her. Yet members at the highest level of our federal government didn't have the judgement to know that loose lips sink ships? I find it hard to believe that the disclosure of Plame's identity wasn't deliberate and strictly vindictive and controlling in nature. Thus these guys tried to thwart free speech. Now Cohen is trying to tell us that freedom of the press trumps national security and free speech. Apparently he doesn't know that free speech is what makes freedom of the press possible, or that he should more naturally be on the other side of this argument. Free speech is not supposed to make reporter's lives easier. When access to high ranking administration officials comes with a heavy price tag, and that price tag includes them saying only what the administration wants them to say, they should consider giving up the access and find other ways of digging up the news, or they could consider giving up their press credentials.

Oh Chicago is definitely not on this regime's most favored cities list now... Anyone willing to bet we'll get a terra alert here now?

Check this out...(and DiAnne, if you're lurking, this one's for you)...

Venezuela promises cheap oil to poor Chicagoans

Venezuelan officials today promised to offer discounted oil to benefit poor Americans, with Chicago one of four U.S. cities to be included in the initial energy offer.

The pledge came at the start of a two-day series of events in Chicago by Venezuelan government officials to promote better relations between Americans and the controversial regime of leftist President Hugo Chavez.

"Venezuela Matters" is unusual public diplomacy by Chavez to mix his anti-American rhetoric with generosity toward the American people.

While Venezuela had offered the cheap oil after Hurricane Katrina struck, today's announcement provided new details, including word Chicago would be among the first cities to benefit from the South Americans' generosity.

Officials with the government and Citgo Petroleum Corp., now a subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, said schools and medical facilities would have top priority.

"We will have differences. It is a part of life. On the other hand, we have a lot of common interests," Bernardo Alvarez, the Venezuelan ambassador to the U.S., told dozens of Chicago community leaders at the River East Art Center.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-051013venezuela,1,3551625.story?coll=chi-news-hed

...Can you hear me now?
(or for the Who fans...Tommy can you hear me?)

DeLay's home, campaign phone records subpoenaed
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051013/pl_nm/delay_dc

Chuck in Houston fo Ann in AZ:

I think you are right that what Cohen is trying to say has more to do with the issue of Judy Miller and the larger issue of which the legal system may coerce a journalist to divulge sources. To that end, I don't see why he has to say we shouldn't prosecute high administration officials for breaking national security laws, and I certainly don't see how his allusions to Joe McCarthey help his case (or anyone's).

On the issue of protecting journalists' sources, I have never understood how that applied in Judith Miller's case in this instance. Insofar as such a protection exists -- and I believe it is a sort of implied protection rather than an explicit statutory one -- it would only apply if a reasonable case could be made that the source feared punishment inside the administration for the leak. In other words, it would only apply because the leaker thought that something ought to be in the public realm for the public good, AND that the leaks would harm the interests of the leaker's superiors and thereby subject the leaker to administrative sanctions (in other words, to safeguard against a prinicpal-agent dilemma). In this case, the opposite is true. The leak itself is criminal in nature (and for these reason should be considered as introducing information into the public realm for public bad) and was likely made in order to further the cause of those superiors.

I can think of no reason that journalists should be allowed to protect sources in such situations other than to preserve a particular journalists unequal access to inside information by, in effect, acting as agents of an administration. Rather than advancing the public good and alleviating conflicts of interest in the administration, such protection serves to
significantly harm the public good and increase the conflict of interest.

By publishing this tripe, the WaPo is racing the NYT to the bottom with respect to journalistic ethics.

Chuck in Houston

Amy

Thanks for the watchingamerica site.

and .. from James who is moving to Canada ..

http://www.csmonitor.com/commentary/index.html

How a hurricane fueled German politics

BERLIN “ America had been on its best behavior. President Bush made a stop in Germany on his "listening" tour this spring. He threw his support behind European negotiations with Iran. Days before the German election Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld openly complimented German hospitality during a recent NATO ministerial in Berlin. No more controversial talk of "ending" terrorist states.

Especially after anti-American rhetoric decisively tipped the scales in the 2002 German election, these genuine efforts should have bolstered America's image in this year's elections, right?

Read on ..

Madame Defarge

I just gassed up at Citgo!! I was "running on empty" and had to get off at an unfamiliar place on the freeway and passed up a Shell & a Chevron when I saw a 7/11 with Citgo. This is my 6th fueling there. Take that, Pat Robertson!

Truth is stranger than fiction -

Idiotic photo from Kansas:

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b398/FLHRI-OK/idiot.jpg

That's Rev. Phelps. His people picketed Rehnquist's funeral and chanted that the late S.Ct. justice was pro-gay (huh?). Check his website. Phelps thinks that Chief Justice Roberts is a closet case.
http://www.godhatesfags.com

Chuck in Houston with an "Oops -- major typos" Correction:

In first sentence of a post I made above, "larger issue of which the legal system may coerce ... " = "larger issue of to what degree the legal system may coerce ... "

Sorry -- brain working faster than fingers again (and fingers slowing down with each passing year).

Chuck in Houston

Don't know if anyone posted this yet==
http://cunningrealist.blogspot.com

But you can't make this stuff up...these guys are unbelievable!

Women and children first? Not when "friends" get the heads-up before anyone else. From the NY Daily News:
The city's rich and well-connected were tipped off to last week's subway terror threat days before average New Yorkers, the Daily News has learned.

At least two E-mails revealing the purported plot were sent to a select crowd of business and arts executives early last week by New Yorkers who claimed to have close connections to Homeland Security and other federal officials, authorities said.

The NYPD confirmed that it learned of the E-mails on Oct. 3 - three days before Mayor Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly and the FBI went public with the threat.

"I have just received a most disturbing call from one of my oldest friends from growing up in Washington," one E-mail began. "He called with a very specific caution to not enter or use the New York City subway system from Oct. 7 through 10th."

A second E-mail sounded a similar ominous tone: "As some of you know my father works for Homeland Security, at a very high position and receives security briefings on a daily basis.

"The only information that I can pass on is that everyone should at all costs not ride the subway for the next two weeks in major areas of NYC."

One of the E-mails was dated Oct. 3 with a 6:05 p.m. time stamp, about 90 minutes before Bloomberg was fully briefed on the threat, a police source said.

The early warning infuriated several police officials, who noted that Homeland Security officials had challenged the credibility of the threat after the city and FBI warned the public.

"We're briefing the mayor, ratcheting up security, talking about when to go public - and Homeland Security is downplaying the whole thing while their people are telling friends to stay out of the subways," a police source said. "It's pretty bad."
Charming, eh?
posted by The Cunning Realist at Thursday, October 13, 2005 5 comments

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

http://www.storyarts.org/library/aesops/stories/boy.html

The Emperor's New Clothes

http://deoxy.org/emperors.htm

I see your analogy between the wife and wallet as being useful in your argument, but the fact is that the wife is not the husbands property unlike his wallet, and I find it increasingly disturbing as I write that you would so casually make it so. Anyway, good point, bad analogy.

Bush Teleconference With Soldiers Staged

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5342911,00.html

Video Feed of Scripted Interaction

http://www.crooksandliars.com/

Kerry v Arnold

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5342805,00.html

Chuck in Houston on WaPo Issues:

Along with the Cohen idiocy today, read the Broder schtick:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101202000.html

So, candidates for president have to fit into their little tea parties, and they (WaPo insiders) shall be allowed to annoint acceptable pledges. This is a DCP issue -- the MSM are a big part of the problem but how do we address it? To Broder, we are all Hollywood Liberals or Deniacs. Me, I am neither. To Cohen, we aren't fit to be potty-scoopers for DeLay (assuming any dog would have him). Ten, nine, eight ....

Chuck in Houston

Oops -- "Deniacs" = "Deaniacs" in the above. And I mean no disrespect to that fine former Governor and aspirant to the Democratic Party's nomination for POTUS and Chairman of the Democratic Party. I like Dean. I like Kerry. I like both Clintons. I like Gephardt. I like Gore, despite the 2000 campaign and despite Leiberman. I like Edwards and Clarke. I don't know any of these folks and I mean that in the sense of I would support them because they have stood up for issues I cae about. I retain a modicum of respect for the NYT and WaPo, but it is waning quick. I have no respect for Broder or Miller and Cohen just messed up big time in my book. And yes, I am a little big angry right now, and that is a fault on my part and that is probably effecting my typing. Ten, nine, eight ....

Chuck in Houston

PS: I like Kucinich too but not as POTUS per se (although he would be ten-times better than what we have).

Chuck in Houston for All:

I am thinking of sending this to the WaPo (and Amy, I respectfully disagree, this sort of thing does matter), and would love any input before I click the button:

"Dear Owners and Editors of the Washington Post:

"I don’t much write letters to the editor but the Richard Cohen column of October 13 really offended me. Apparently, tax-paying Americans like me don’t count so much in your town as the person Tom Delay pays to poopy-scoop his dog (assuming any dog would have him), and that is not meant in anyway to badmouth whoever does that, as they probably have a much stronger sense of moral order and decency than you. In case you forgot, Cohen said “send Fitzgerald back to Chicago” because all you beautiful people in Washington don’t need no stinkin’ prosecutors if they might upset your tea parties. It’s OK to spit on national security laws in order to slime political opponents “inside the beltway” is the way I read your take. Washington DC may be your town (at least the tea-party part) but this is not your country. Your attitude toward the rule of law makes me sick.

"Sincerely,

"[TBD]"

Chuck in Houston

PS: I doubt I'll send it but typing it made me feel a little bit better. And I would love any comments. The more I think on this the angrier I get, not that I can do much about that.

GO STROS.

Having watched them since 1961 as a little kid its long past our time. Have tickets to see Clements and Petitt pitch this weekend.
As Ed Schultz so fondly says, even Dems are rabid sports fans.

Maybe next week will be a great week. A two for. The Stros go the series, Rove goes to the slammer.

Chuck in Houston,

BRAVO!!!! I LOVE The Letter. Just dry enough,
and to the point. Send it.

Chuck in Houston with a Revision:

Well, I still want to send something in to WaPo to register my dismay. Here's what I have now, and I would love comments/encouragement/discouragement (I re-worked ita tiny bit):

"Dear Owners and Editors of the Washington Post:

"I don’t much write letters to the editor but the Richard Cohen column of October 13 really offended me. Apparently, tax-paying, law-abiding Americans like me don’t count for much in your town. We don’t even come close to the person Tom Delay pays to poopy-scoop his dog(assuming any dog would have him) together with secured gossip relating to our national security. That is not meant in anyway to badmouth whoever does that poopy-scooping, as they probably have a much stronger sense of moral order and decency than you (and certainly earn their pay, unlike you). In case you forgot, Cohen told Fitzgerald to go back to Chicago because all you beautiful people in Washington don’t need any outside prosecutors upsetting your tea parties. It’s OK to spit on national security laws in order to slime political opponents inside the beltway; that is the way I read your take. Washington DC may be your town (at least the tea-party part), but this is not your country yet, so maybe you might want to take a little care at least once in a while. Your attitude toward the rule of law makes me sick. I hope and pray Fitzgerald doesn’t cave to it too.

"Sincerely,

"[etc., etc.]"

Chuck in Houston

PS: The more I think on this, the angrier I get.

DALLAS — The list of finalists to build the George W. Bush Presidential Library has been limited to four: Southern Methodist University, the University of Dallas, Baylor University in Waco and a group led by Texas Tech University in Lubbock.

Thank goodness its not Houston or our beloved Austin.

Whacko would be a perfect and fitting place for him to store his 8 years of garbage.

Ira:

Living where I do, I sure am happy Rice ain't on that list.

Chuck in Houston (Medical Center)

Posted by: madame defarge at October 13, 2005 08:00 PM

I cannot bring myself to read it tonight.

Tomorrow is another day.

Chuck in Houston for Truth:

Here is the vesion I am fixing to send:

"Dear Owners and Editors of the Washington Post:

"I don’t much write letters to the editor but the Richard Cohen column of October 13 really offended me. Apparently, tax-paying, law-abiding Americans like me don’t count for much in your town. Cohen made some reference to the fact that national security secrets are common knowledge to 'hairdressers, mistresses and dog-walkers' in DC. So we Americans don’t even come close to the person Tom Delay pays to poopy-scoop his dog (assuming any dog would have him), and that is not meant in anyway to bad-mouth whomever does that, as they probably have a much stronger sense of moral order and decency than you (and certainly earn their pay, unlike you). In case you forgot, Cohen said “send Fitzgerald back to Chicago” because all you beautiful people in Washington don’t need any outside prosecutors upsetting your tea parties. It’s OK to spit on national security laws in order to slime political opponents inside the beltway is the way I read your take. Washington DC may be your town (at least the tea-party part), but this is not your country yet, so maybe you might want to take a little care at least once in a while. At least try and keep up appearances as a sensible business policy. Your attitude toward the rule of law makes me sick.

"Sincerely,

"[etc.]"

Chuck in Houston

PS: I just wanted to post it here first.

Chuck in Houston,

I still like the first one best. Just my two pesos worth.

glad you are back chuck.

I am sure Bush can find an appropriate garbage dump site to store his belongings.Hear there are some huge dump sites in N.O. Notice none of his brilliant kids are applying to graduate school at Rice.

It would sure be fun to hear his recordings again reminding Americans what he pledged during the 2000 election,played as Rove and Libby are handcuffed, saying I am running for the Presidency to Restore Honor and Integrity back to the oval office.

Maybe someone with a good sense of humor could play that in front of the White House from a sound truck, if Rove is indicted.

Chuck in Houston for Truth, for what it's worth (Truth =? 2 pesos? Just kidding):

Here is what I sent, and I feel a bit better (and poorer):

Dear Owners and Editors of the Washington Post:

I don’t much write letters to the editor but the Richard Cohen column of October 13 really offended me (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101202002.html). Apparently, tax-paying, law-abiding Americans like me don’t count for much in your town. Cohen made some reference to the fact that national security secrets are common knowledge to “hairdressers, mistresses and dog-walkers” in DC. So we Americans don’t even come close to the person Tom Delay pays to poopy-scoop his dog (assuming any dog would have him), and that is not meant in anyway to bad-mouth whomever does that, as they probably have a much stronger sense of moral order and decency than you (and certainly earn their pay, unlike you). In case you forgot, Cohen said “send Fitzgerald back to Chicago” because all you beautiful people in Washington don’t need any outside prosecutors upsetting your tea parties. It’s OK to spit on national security laws in order to slime political opponents “inside the beltway” is the way I read your take. Washington DC may be your town (at least the tea-party part), but this is not your country yet, so maybe you might want to take a little care at least once in a while. At least try and keep up appearances as a sensible business policy. Your attitude toward the rule of law makes me sick. You ought to fire Cohen for writing such a cynical and offensive column.

Sincerely,

Ira:

We will get there. By the way, my duaghter caught her first Bluegill last weekend in the San Jacinto! And two undersized cats and a crab. We had loads of fun. We let them all go.

Chuck in Houston

What the heck would they put in a "W" library? We had so much fun with this last year on the JK blog,and what a difference a year makes....have at it!
I have one consolation after the election and that's the look on "W"'S face today. Bet there was hell to pay after that go round with the press and the staged WH/Tikrit with the troops. It's amazing to watch as his handlers continue with photo ops and his polls keep tumbling down and down. Lousy policy can't ever make up for ops and they can't figure out wwwwwwwwwwwhy!

Ira:

I note that Aggies are absolved as well....

Chuck in Houston

You see, in my experience, Aggies actually have to work for a living....

Chuck in Houston

Chuck in Houston for Truth:

To be truthful, that Cohen article deeply offended me as an American and a human being. I will continue to give him the benefit of the doubt in the sense that I think he must have been "judgementally impaired" when he submitted it (and I, for one, shall never throw that first stone), but that does not relieve the WaPo collectively for their decision to print it. It takes a bit these days to achieve it but I actually am a bit shocked.

Chuck in Houston

OT...

Rudolph Giuliani in '08?

Posted by: Karen at October 13, 2005 06:55 PM

Oliphant was saying that what transpired with Wilson, Plame, Rove et al was really not that different than what happens in Washington when politics gets rough. He wondered if there were an attempt at crimilizing what has been standard political behavior.

OLIPHANT: Maybe more.

I mean, according to this developing theory of the case, you could even suggest that one of the reporters is technically exposed. What I don‘t understand is why I don‘t hear more of my fellow lefties screaming to the heavens about a situation like this, where the power of the state is being used essentially, as near as I can tell, to criminalize the political transactions of Washington.

I mean, we learned from Pat Buchanan in Watergate that that was an excess of...

MATTHEWS: So, you think may just be political hardball and not criminal, going out to destroy or discredit somebody like Joe Wilson?

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: That is the question.

OLIPHANT: Exactly.

But when you delegate the power of the attorney general of the United States to a guy, a special, you are giving up an awful loss. And the checks on that prosecutor are very few. And I was taught to always be suspicious of conspiracy charges, to always be suspicious of novel theories of crimes.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9662325/ (transcript)

Chuck in Houston,

You are such a gentleman. I'm still trying to find out how big a deal this guy is.

In fact, I was just in the process of getting into that little bit of fact finding.......
and, it may be premature for me to say without
checking him out first but he seems kind of like
a mumbling wannabe pundit who is feeling kind of left out of the action. He may be well known and respected, but he comes off as wistful and whiney to me. I don't think his column was even deserving of an answer, myself.

Off comes the t.f. hat. Nite everyone.

Chuck in Houston,

Oh, and I DID like the letter you sent. It was a nice blend of the two. Just the right amount of sarcasm, and I could hear the disappointment and slight disgust in the tone.

Good job, my man!

Off to bed....

Oncall/Truth:

So, it's OK to break the law as long as it's just in order to slime a political opponent? Oliphant, in his bow-tie and all, if he said that, can kiss me where the sun don't shine. (And Truth, I am sorry, and probably so would be my mom, but that is where the "gentleman" in me ends).

Chuck in Houston

PS: I get the sense from all of this that something weird is in the works

Chuck,

I was responding to Karen. I had posted earlier that essentially Oliphant had said the same thing as Cohen, and Karen asked me about it. I had left for the evening and wanted to reply. In no way do I agree with either Oliphant or Cohen. I included a link to the transcript from his discussion with Chris Matthews from Monday night. He actually did say those things that are in the transcript.

I agree with you something weird is happening here. I think the Republicans will claim all of this is dirty politics after the indictments come down.

Chuck in Houston for All:

In case it is of interest to anyone, I got this email in reply to my submission to the WaPo:

"This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.

"Delivery to the following recipients failed.

opinions@washingtonpost.com"

Not sure what that means. I used their website. Oh well, I tried. As per usual, result = useless.

Chuck in Houston

Chuck in Houston to Oncall:

I find it very strange that all of a sudden columnists like Oliphant and Cohen are acting goofey. Please understand that my post was not directed at you but rather was a comment on the gist of many posts. I am a simple man simply waiting for an explanation from my social betters as to when and where it is OK to break the law for political gains so as I can plan my affairs.

This is a peculiarly awkward postition for me as I was raised to believe that in America no one per se is my better. Please excuse me on this but we (I mean me and my ancestors) go back generations in America and through all that history none of mine ever felt that we had to kiss behinds to survive, so when folks like Oliphant or Cohen all of a sudden tell me that's my lot I get a bit perturbed.

Please, no one who cherishes democracy take offense at that. I meant it in a good way. If it came across otherwise it's simply my deficiency at expression.

Chuck in Houston

Not sure what that means. I used their website. Oh well, I tried. As per usual, result = useless.

Chuck in Houston

Posted by: Chuck at October 14, 2005 02:00 AM

LOL. I was going to bed earlier, but then started researching Mr. Cohen and rereading his article. Very funny to stop back by here and see your post, Chuck. ha ha ha.

Chuck ih Houston for Truth:

Truth be told, I don't know if I should laugh or cry. In my family tradition, I'll probably hew to the middle and try to be a bit of a Stoic. For me, it's not over until I say so.

Chuck in Houston

HANG ON

- by Michael W. Smith

Let the tempest and the flood
Shake your soul and spill your blood
Like an old song
Keep hold'n on
Let the people laugh at you
Call you names and say you're through
Never let go
Keep hangin' on

Hang on, hang on
Can you hear me,
I'm gonna say it again
Hang on, hang on
Never giving up, no, never giving in

Hang on every hopeful word
Even when it seems absurd
Keep holdin' on
If you triumph when you fail
Keep your head when you prevail
Be a hero
Keep hangin' around

Hang on, hang on
Are you listening,
Let me say it again
Hang on, hang on
Never giving up, no,
Never giving in

" In this country, anyone who is anyone in the news business is directly or indirectly controlled by the CIA"-- William Colby, in Senate testimony.

LMAO!!

Patti F says, "What the hell would they put in a W library?!"

"What the hell would they put in a W library?!"

Posted by: not my president at October 14, 2005 09:03 AM

Pretzels & unread PDB's.

The Dewey Decimate System

"Conspiracy is no different from sleeping with your neighbor's wife or stealing from the collection plate." Or writing for a paper while collecting payola secretely for a regimen propaganda purposes.

new thread

Richard Cohen was a scab during the Post Strike in the 70's. He betrayed his friends and associates for his job.

Great smackdown. Richard Cohen needs to find a job at the Washington Times.