Frog March at the White House?

Does Rove still have national security clearance? If Rove is indicted, does this mean he’ll also resign his GOP November elections position?

It’s amazing that Libby and probably Rove have only been charged with perjury and obstruction, etc. No one has yet to be charged with the leak. It will be fascinating to see who turns on who first.

Nice “Pulp Fiction’ quote!

Hot diggity damn. I sure hope Jason’s sources are on the money. About f’in time.

From Truthout:

“We need to start fresh and we can’t do that with the uncertainty of Karl’s case hanging over our heads,” said one White House aide. “There’s no doubt that it will be front page news if and when (an indictment) happens. But eventually it will become old news quickly. The key issue here is that the president or Mr. Bolten respond to the charges immediately, make a statement and then move on to other important policy issues and keep that as the main focus going forward.”

Nonsense. Rove’s indictment will weigh on the Whitehouse like a granite stone. Such talk about Rove, ROVE, being indicted as if it were any old scandal is utter hooey. Either the source was spinning like mad (and badly) or they are self-delusional or both.

Rove’s indictment will send Bush squarely and near uniformly into the 20′s, which will trigger the final abandonment by conservatives, which will only magnify the chances of losing control of Congress in November.

Rove’s supposed electoral strategy of hyping the horrors of Democrats actually investigating WH crimes will boil down to exactly what it is: an attempt to save his own ass. And many people will get it because the public has finally and firmly come around to the fact that this bunch lies and manipulates for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Good lord I hope this is true. It may actually be the straw to break the camel’s back. And this camel needs a serious back-breaking.

Damage control. Karl is a witness to others committing the leak crime. He was not authorized at the time to see Plame’s name.
An immediate superior of Rove was who had the authority to see Plame’s identity. A Senior department position.
Rove had no clearance, Bush promoted him to a position that had such in it after the fact, and he’s recently been demoted from that, falsely labeled a promotion within media ranks. It was the best way for him to possibly hedge rats within and to insulate his knowledge of the full background statements he originally issued within their context.

The “Fair Game” statement does apply to Rove directly, the direct quote embodies intent which is encessary to prove in Treason trials.

But Rove is guilty of two treason counts. One for seeing material he was not authorized, one for his display of intent against Mrs Wilson.

The first count will determine specifically who Rove worked in concert with. Until that is known he is under conspiracy as part of a multipaged case, one the Fitzgerald has meticuosly detailed and pursued.

The best we can determine nobody has been cited as a “he” within the other Fitzgerald documents.

Condi Rice(NSA) or Liz Cheney(Near East at State) could have been given some view of this after PATRIOT helped gut internal mechanisms.
Other evidence hints that her background was beingt tested out, via deducative analysis, well before 9-11 within the Intelligence COmmunity after Cheney’s May 03, 2001 overhaul of said group. That will be fleshed out later and is an aside to the actual actions(‘Fair Game’-Intent) that showed within them malice, forethought.

Dreams do come true. And yes they could well use a big ol’ truck load of those towels!

More emissions from the WH disinformatzia machine?

@ some: “Nonsense. Rove’s indictment will weigh on the Whitehouse like a granite stone.”

Depends what happens in the summer: gas prices, Iran, missing white women.

With iron bombs falling on Iran, the courtroom maneuverings of Fitzgerald, Rove, et al will be small potatoes.

Once the first US warplane is shot down, the pilot’s wife/widow and parents will get more screen time than Natalee Holloway.

Additionally, the pipeline damage in Nigeria will be worth TWO “Louisiana Refinery Fires” as an excuse to raise gasoline over $4/gallon. The silliness over Border Security and Illegal Immigration will continue.

In two months the question will be, “Who the hell is Patrick Fitzgerald? And why is his little trial eating up air time?”

RJJ, point well taken.

Sailor Sam, depends on whether they do decide to bomb Iran. I know they really, really want to, but I am not convinced they will yet, despite all the signals. Maybe just me being naive.

I heard a rumor that the CIA Officials and Operatives are having to submit to lie-detector tests….then they have to watch Rove get arrested for not having to take one. I hope to GOD that the CIA will now finally stand up and help the rest of us!
Anonymous | 05.13.06 – 11:17 am | #

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Good post! I believe you hit the nail on the head. The CIA underestimates the support its has from us average Joe’s out there who respect those STARS on the wall at LANGLEY a HELLUVA LOT MORE than we respect shit bags like the Bush junta.

I disagree about the idea Rove vs. Plame attention span of the American people is too short. This case, much to the White House’s horror, has already reached the tipping point in the collective American conscious. Its not going to go away, no matter what diversions they throw at us. Many, like me, see the White House vs. Plame case as encompassing EVERYTHING THAT WAS WRONG about this administration since they STOLE power in 2000. It will not simply “go away” until THEY, THE BUSH JUNTA, GO AWAY.

optimistic expectations/projections are the neocon specialty.

Lord Chancellor Cheney will do whatever is doable. THis is a guy with nothing to lose. He is going to retire to his gazillion dollar retreat on the eastern shore to hang out with his wife and obsess about his rotten heart, swelling feet, and clogged blood vessels?

Everything they said (via their proxies) about the Clintons predicted their behavior. They said that Clinton would never ever leave the white house because he loved power too much. They predicted he would declare martial law and the National Guard would have to be called in to remove him. I think it would be prudent to treat that as a possibility.

Yeah RJJ, I suspect the Bush administration might resort to something along those lines too. After all, Bush has repeatedly said he’s above the law.

But if Iran, another missing white woman, or protecting us from brown people who want jobs nobody else wants doesn’t distract America…well, there’s always bird flu? I doubt the Plame case will be the straw that broke the “decider’s” back, however. Because it’s been going on for several years now, it’s complex and doesn’t fit into 30-second soundbites, and the media have been distorting and misrepresenting it all along. It’s not clear if or how far Fitzgerald has expanded his investigation, or if indictments against Libby and Rove will be enough to make them spill the beans? Also, I find it scary that dirty trickster & slanderer extraordinaire Rove will be directing the GOP for the upcoming elections. That doesn’t sound like a demotion to me, not to mention any semblance of accountability in all this.

Oh, plus the Bush administration is doing all it can to destroy the free press, such as it is, and target the media as traitors if they actually report. They’re also trying to destroy the CIA. And Congress is largely complicit in all this.

Once we’re no longer a democracy…what should we call our new nation? Bushlandia?

everyone has good posts here. i hope this ultimately leads to justice being served to rove,etc. for outing val p.
uncertain if he’ll be the architect for the november elections, but if so, rove and the repubs aren’t going down that easy. it’ll be a dog fight going into november.

if leopold is on the money, amb. wilson could get his wish: frogmarch.

Larry, the NYT said Fitz submitted handwritten notes by CHeney on a copy of Wilson’s opEd detailing why he went to Africa.
“The new court filing is the second in little more than a month by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald mentioning Cheney as being closely focused with his then-chief of staff, I. Lewis Libby, on Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson, who is married to Plame.

With the two court filings, Fitzgerald has pointed to an important role for the vice president in the weeks leading up to the leaking of Plame’s identity.”
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-CIA-Leak-Case.html?_r=2&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

The fact is CHeney doubtless deisclosed in the presence of Bush to hedge his liability within the scope of law. Condi walks closer to Cheney than she does Bush.

Oil money, security, partisan politics against our finest in the Agency.

Well, it is the “plot against Joe Wilson”.

The pieces of the puzzle are all fitting together nicely.

Perhaps this news is why Bush is trying to capture the news cycle on Monday.

-GSD

Snow’s gonna be real happy he took this job. Let’s see, if I get this coming week straight, he’ll be dealing with: Tice testifying on NSA satellite story up on the hill; More questions attuned to Hayden on wireless wiretapping; Rove indcitments; speculation on who OFFICIAL A will be for Rove’s indictments; Foggo disaster; Immigration; Medicare Part B deadline; More gas gouging; all played to the rock n’ roll tunes of Neil Young’s “Living With War”. Yup, I’d say Scottie Mc is not just smilin that he’s out but he’s probably skipping! Gotta be careful what you wish for Karl.

Jason Leopold says Rove was notified of an impending indictment yesterday.

I’ve thought about it and I wager the usual arguments about the public’s poor attention and easy distraction don’t necessarily hold anymore. Bush is as disliked as any President since Nixon before he resigned. When Libby was indicted last Fall, Bush’s numbers took a noticable hit and Libby was basically a nobody to most Americans. They learned about him in the context of the indictment. Rove is far better known.

Also, a Rove indictment fits right into scandal mongering press coverage. I would put money on the press not letting Rove’s story go.

I think it is wrong to overlook the specific context we are in and rely on old saws about or overexposed, 12 hour news cycle culture.

Bush’s presidency is at a nadir. How much lower can he go? The public isn’t with him on a single issue anymore.

Besides, all the points raised, and good ones, about issues that will dampen the impact of Rove’s indictment are also bad news for Bush. Immigration is splintering his splintery base; Iran is whomping Bush at PR even as his moutpieces scare the bejesus out of everyone with loose talk about tactical nukes; gas prices only make people angier at the failed oil exec. wasting time in the WH. All these work together in the context of Rove being indicted, not in opposition. They reinforce each other about a simple truth: Bush is a lying fool.

If they pull a wag the dog by bombing Iran, it will as criminal as it gets, but I really wonder if the public will so dutifully break out the bars and stars, or if they will completely turn on Bush. This country does not want another war, this is not 2002.

Dear God, this is vindication. Larry, thanks for all you do and have done for all of us.

Mr. Murder – here’s Reuters’ take on Cheney.

By Kevin Drawbaugh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. prosecutor in the CIA leak case has told a court he plans to use as evidence a newspaper article with notes that he says were hand-written by Vice President Dick Cheney referring to Valerie Plame shortly before she was exposed as a CIA operative.

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=newsOne&storyID=2006-05-14T044535Z_01_N13206101_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-LEAK-CHENEY.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2

What a weekend!

If your interested in viewing the copy of the notations that Big Dick actually made on his copy of Joe Wilson’s Op-Ed there is a copy of it over at Talking Points Memo…

Here’s the link: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/cheney-notes/

Thanks, Admiral, for the link. My favorite Cheney head-scratcher from his scribbles in the margins of Joe Wilson’s editorial:

“Do we ordinarily send people out pro bono to work for us?”

Breathtaking. Yes, Mr Cheney, believe it or not, some people are so crazy that they are willing to serve their country when asked, in ways that do not involve a Halliburton-sized paycheck, or a promise of partisan gain. They merely seek to do the right thing.

What a concept.