connecting*the*dots

Oh my… Fitzmas does come twice a year!

truthout.org, Jason Leopold
Rove Informs White House He Will Be Indicted

Within the last week, Karl Rove told President Bush and Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten, as well as a few other high level administration officials, that he will be indicted in the CIA leak case and will immediately resign his White House job when the special counsel publicly announces the charges against him, according to sources.

Details of Rove’s discussions with the president and Bolten have spread through the corridors of the White House where low-level staffers and senior officials were trying to determine how the indictment would impact an administration that has been mired in a number of high-profile political scandals for nearly a year, said a half-dozen White House aides and two senior officials who work at the Republican National Committee.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, sources confirmed Rove’s indictment is imminent. These individuals requested anonymity saying they were not authorized to speak publicly about Rove’s situation. A spokesman in the White House press office said they would not comment on “wildly speculative rumors.”

Rove’s attorney, Robert Luskin, did not return a call for comment Friday.

Rove’s announcement to President Bush and Bolten comes more than a month after he alerted the new chief of staff to a meeting his attorney had with Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald in which Fitzgerald told Luskin that his case against Rove would soon be coming to a close and that he was leaning toward charging Rove with perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators, according to sources close to the investigation.

A few weeks after he spoke with Fitzgerald, Luskin arranged for Rove to return to the grand jury for a fifth time to testify in hopes of fending off an indictment related to Rove’s role in the CIA leak, sources said.

That meeting was followed almost immediately by an announcement by newly-appointed White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten of changes in the responsibilities of some White House officials, including Rove, who was stripped of his policy duties and would no longer hold the title of deputy White House chief of staff.

The White House said Rove would focus on the November elections and his change in status in no way reflected his fifth appearance before the grand jury or the possibility of an indictment.

But since Rove testified two weeks ago, the White House has been coordinating a response to what is sure to be the biggest political scandal it has faced thus far: the loss of a key political operative who has been instrumental in shaping White House policy on a wide range of domestic issues.

[…]

Let’s recap the legacy of this Republican led government, shall we?

The People

• Karl Rove
• Lewis “Scooter” Libby
• Tom Delay
• Jack Abramoff
• Duke Cunningham
• Armstrong Williams
• Jeff Gannon

The Events

• Iraq War
• Hurricaine Katrina
• Darfur
• Illegal NSA wiretaps
• Illegal phone call data pattern anaysis
• Tax cuts for the rich

I know I’m missing some big ones. Feel free to add them in the comments.

“I could squish your head if I wanted to… I squish your head!”

Murray Waas - National Journal
Cheney Authorized Leak Of CIA Report, Libby Says

Vice President Dick Cheney directed his then-chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, on July 12, 2003 to leak to the media portions of a then-highly classified CIA report that Cheney hoped would undermine the credibility of former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson, a critic of the Bush administration’s Iraq policy, according to Libby’s grand jury testimony in the CIA leak case and sources who have read the classified report.
The March 2002 intelligence report was a debriefing of Wilson by the CIA’s Directorate of Operations after Wilson returned from a CIA-sponsored mission to Niger to investigate claims, later proved to be unfounded, that Saddam Hussein had attempted to procure uranium from the African nation, according to government records.

The debriefing report made no mention of Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, then a covert CIA officer, or any role she may have played in her husband’s selection by the CIA to go to Niger, according to two people who have read the report.

The previously unreported grand jury testimony is significant because only hours after Cheney reportedly instructed Libby to disclose information from the CIA report, Libby divulged to then-New York Times reporter Judith Miller and Time magazine correspondent Matthew Cooper that Plame was a CIA officer, and that she been involved in selecting her husband for the Niger mission.

Both Libby and Cheney have repeatedly insisted that the vice president never encouraged, directed, or authorized Libby to disclose Plame’s identity. In a court filing on April 12, Libby’s attorneys reiterated: “Consistent with his grand jury testimony, Mr. Libby does not contend that he was instructed to make any disclosures concerning Ms. Wilson [Plame] by President Bush, Vice President Cheney, or anyone else.”

But the disclosure that Cheney instructed Libby to leak portions of a classified CIA report on Joseph Wilson adds to a growing body of information showing that at the time Plame was outed as a covert CIA officer the vice president was deeply involved in the White House effort to undermine her husband.

A spokesman for the vice president declined to comment.

[…]

Okay, so I’m to believe that Cheney told Libby to leak certain aspects of the CIA report, but nothing about Wilson’s wife? I’m sorry, but no man nicknamed “Scooter” would have the temerity to out a CIA agent all on his own, especially within the 2-hour window between receiving his marching orders from his boss and speaking with the press.

How dumb do they think we are?

Patrick Fitzgerald is getting deeper and deeper in this mess and one step closer to the truth. Payday has to be coming around the bend.

Photo by Emily Geoff

Associated Press (Newsvine)
Papers: Cheney Aide Says Bush OK’d Leak

WASHINGTON — Vice President Dick Cheney’s former top aide told prosecutors President Bush authorized the leak of sensitive intelligence information about Iraq, according to court papers filed by prosecutors in the CIA leak case.

Before his indictment, I. Lewis Libby testified to the grand jury investigating the CIA leak that Cheney told him to pass on information and that it was Bush who authorized the disclosure, the court papers say. According to the documents, the authorization led to the July 8, 2003, conversation between Libby and New York Times reporter Judith Miller.

There was no indication in the filing that either Bush or Cheney authorized Libby to disclose Valerie Plame’s CIA identity.

But the disclosure in documents filed Wednesday means that the president and the vice president put Libby in play as a secret provider of information to reporters about prewar intelligence on Iraq.

Bush’s political foes jumped on the revelation about Libby’s testimony.

“The fact that the president was willing to reveal classified information for political gain and put interests of his political party ahead of Americas security shows that he can no longer be trusted to keep America safe,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said.

Libby’s testimony also puts the president and the vice president in the awkward position of authorizing leaks — a practice both men have long said they abhor, so much so that the administration has put in motion criminal investigations to hunt down leakers.

The most recent instance is the administration’s launching of a probe into who disclosed to The New York Times the existence of the warrantless domestic surveillance program authorized by Bush shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The authorization involving intelligence information came as the Bush administration faced mounting criticism about its failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the main reason the president and his aides had given for going to war.

If this weren’t such blatent and reckless disregard for our National Security, I’d be fun to watch the right try to spin this bombshell into obscurity.

Bush and Cheney consistently play to the American voter’s fear of a National Security breech, creating a hardline image of them being the “protectors” of leaking classified information to the media.

So when someone else leaks classified information (regarding the NSA warrantless wiretapping program authorized by the President of the United States) they launch a criminal investigation. Fair enough. They wanna play hardball and they have the Justice Department in their pocket to do so.

But I do hope they fully realize that they’ve now set a precedent. If they go after the “leaker” of the NSA program with any degree of vigor, they had better damn well be ready to accept accountability for this authorized leak of classified information.

The difference between the two?

This leak didn’t lead to the uncovering of a questionable government wiretapping program; it directly fed the propaganda machine that greased the skids for launching the war in Iraq.

All I want for Christmas is an article of impeachment.

UPDATE: It looks like the administration is going to argue that when the president tells someone to leak information, the process of declassifying the information is automatic and understood. Or some bullshit like that.

I don’t often use these guys as an example of great journalism, but this Hardball segment is on point. They convincingly expose Dick Cheney’s lies regarding the tie between one of the primary 9/11 terrorists and Iraq.

The entire piece screams conspiracy to sell and then launch an illegal war.

Of course, this leaves me with a few questions:

• Who holds these men and woman accountable to such contradictions and lies? Congress? Another special prosecutor?
• Do we have to wait until there’s a Democratic administration in office before an investigation is launched?
• Is Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation expanding?

If it’s proven that this unethical administration schemed to launch an illegal war by knowingly using false evidence — a war which has already killed tens of thousands of people — I want justice.

And no, my sense of justice would not equate with a misdemeanor.

I’ve wanted to put this compilation together for a while now. If you have any favorite moments that you think should be in the Top Ten, let me know. And without further ado…

#10 - Oh, The Hitler Comparisons
Disagree with someone? Think they have an agenda? I know what you’re thinking. They must be a Nazi. Heck, they’re practically acting like Hitler. Um, no… they’re not.
(via Jewish World Review)

#9 - Shrub Speaks To The Iraqi People
Hello, I’m George W. Bush. We’re currently busy tearing out your infrastructure, removing your delicate balance of religious participation in government and replacing your torturous regime… with another torturous regime… led by independent contractors.
(via On Lisa Rein’s Radar)

#8 - Drunken, Belligerent Donald Rumsfeld
What do you do in the middle of a war when you see neighbors acting suspiciously? You challenge them to war! Yee hah! Come and get some! We’ll Shock and Awe you too!
(via On Lisa Rein’s Radar)

#7 - FCC Media Ownership Vote
All we want is one, big, happy family in America. So let’s combine all of those pesky media conglomerates into one so Daddy Warbucks can control our every though with his programming and advertising.
(via On Lisa Rein’s Radar)

#6 - Libby Indictment
Who is this Patrick Fitzgerald shape shifter? Let me try to explain through an analogy… And oh yeah, by the way, this indictment is a good thing for America! Woo hoo! Indictments for all!
(via The Brad Blog)

#5 - Closed Senate… How A Law Is Made
Bill Frist is mad. Harry Reid slapped him and America in the face. Those are some long arms, eh? Jon gets caught in the crossfire.
(via onegoodmove)

#4 - Jon Stewart At The Emmys
Just sit back and enjoy. Classic Stewart.

#3 - Bush vs Bush
Jon manages the coup of all coups—a debate between Governor Bush and President Bush. This exercise  proves that open discourse between politicians can illuminate their differences on key issues. Ugh.
(via On Lisa Rein’s Radar)

#2 - On Jeff Gannon And Bloggers
Just who is that bald guy asking all of those obviously right-wing slanted questions to President Bush? Oh, he’s a right-wing hack/gay web site entrepreneur. And Colbert, I mean, Hitler, exposes the truth behind the blogging revolution.
(via onegoodmove)

#1 - Crossfire Gets Fired
Crossfire was canceled soon after this appearance. Coincidence or…? There has to be a way to get Jon into President Bush’s next cabinet meeting… and if he has any strength left, onto "Survivor."
(via Media Matters for America)

I’m An American

At one time in my life, I would even say that I was blindly proud and patriotic.

I grew up watching The Lone Ranger and John Wayne movies on WOR re-runs on Saturday afternoons. My neighborhood was full of sprawling lawns and happy families. The American dream, right?

Well, eventually I grew up, realizing that things aren’t always what they seem to be.

Over the years, I’ve become exposed to a cross-section of people with varied backgrounds, perspectives and experiences. These breadcrumbs of my travels — mixed in with my own experiences — have made me realize the truth of what being a citizen of this most powerful nation entails:

The benefits of our common goodness, as well as the baggage of our wrongful intent, is what we must continue to evolve towards enlightenment, otherwise, such power can go unchecked.

Historically, American’s dedication to the creation of democratic institutions, producing innovative life-altering government and laws, as well as products, services, medicines, the internet; all have been inspirations to other nations on the face of this planet.

Unfortunately, the DNA of our mafia-style history of murder, slavery and unchecked capitalism has seeped into most of these democratic institutions, whether it be through industrial lobbyists, foreign policy or corporate conglomerates and deregulation.

9/11 changed a lot for me.

I was living in Park Slope, Brooklyn on September 11, 2001. After the attack, my outwardly-facing patriotism far exceeded my formative peek. I shopped for hours, in sold-out stores, looking for a flag to place in my father’s car window. I mean, those were my neighbors, my countrymen that perished in a blink of an eye or worse, over hours leading up to a leap out of a 85th storey window.

But during the months leading up to the Iraq Occupation, my perspective of this nation — more specifically, this administration — went straight into the shitter. My belief in our government and our constitutional processes came to a screeching halt.

I pulled a 180.

The Flip

There’s a reason my blog has its current palette and why I refuse to buy any more blue or red clothes. It’s that sickly, deep with me. Our country hasn’t been a democracy since the end of WWII. Our leaders are heading into the 50th year of a post-WWII plan to create a New World Order.

• Why do you think the Third World can’t evolve out of its poverty ridden, corrupt, AIDS infested, pushover status?
• Why do you think we continue to run rough-shot in Latin America?
• Why do you think we invaded Vietnam?
• Why do you think we’re in Iraq?

A Conversation From “Network”

Arthur Jensen: [to Howard] They say I can sell anything; I’d like to try to sell something to you.

Arthur Jensen: It is the international system of currency which determines the vitality of life on this planet. THAT is the natural order of things today. THAT is the atomic and subatomic and galactic structure of things today. And YOU have meddled with the primal forces of nature. And YOU WILL ATONE. Am I getting through to you, Mr. Beale? You get up on your little 21-inch screen and howl about America, and democracy. There is no America; there is no democracy. There is only IBM, and ITT, and AT&T, and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide, and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today.

Arthur Jensen: You have meddled with the primal forces of nature, Mr. Beale, and I won’t have it. Is that clear? You think you’ve merely stopped a business deal? That is not the case. The Arabs have taken billions of dollars out of this country, and now they must put it back. It is ebb and flow, tidal gravity. It is ecological balance. You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations; there are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There are no third worlds. There is no West. There is only one holistic system of systems; one vast, interwoven, interacting, multivaried, multinational dominion of dollars.

Arthur Jensen: The world is a business, Mr. Beale; it has been since man crawled out of the slime. Our children will live, Mr. Beale, to see that perfect world in which there’s no war or famine, oppression or brutality - one vast and ecumenical holding company, for whom all men will work to serve a common profit, in which all men will hold a share of stock - all necessities provided, all anxieties tranquilized, all boredom amused. And I have chosen you, Mr. Beale, to preach this evangelic.

Howard Beale: Why me?

Arthur Jensen: Because you’re on television, dummy. Sixty million people watch you every night of the week, Monday through Friday.

Howard Beale: I have seen the face of God.

Arthur Jensen: You just might be right, Mr. Beale.

Any of that sound familiar? Up until the past few weeks, I had my doubts that we’d *ever* regain the potential of our great Republic… And then Patrick Fitzgerald finally spoke… And then the Democrats grew a pair. Something happened to me…

I became somewhat optimistic again.

This is my current mental model regarding the state of our nation. We’re pragmatically moving in the right direction.

• The blogosphere is holding corruption accountable
• The mainstream media is beginning to do their jobs
• Discourse is rampant
• Indictments are being served
• Technologists are decentralizing media more and more with each passing day

We’re slowly moving towards democracy, slowly moving towards our common Republic… but we still need to take it up a notch.

• We need to remove ourselves from Iraq
• We need to start developing progressive solutions to our issues of poverty, education, health care and foreign policy
• We need to create alternate forms of fuel
• We need to feel comfortable in that uneasy role of rapid change and evolution
• We need to hold the hands of corporate America in order to break down the old business models of the 20th century, and help instill collaborative, open business models that leverage the best aspects of capitalism, the best aspects of innovation, the best aspects of humanity
• We need to become global citizens

We need to be we, indivisible to the utmost degree.

I’m really trying to walk this walk… hard. Are you?

Until we’re all there, I’ll continue rooting for the Jets and the Suns, eating Pumpkin Pie and Broccoli and washing it down with an OJ and Lime juice smoothie. Why you ask?

Because I’m an American.

From the sound of his press conference today, it seems as though he’s ready to wrap up and move on, as his investigation was compromised by Libby. How bad do I want him to be the Eliot Ness to clean up this administration? I think he knows, as he kept asking the public to sit back and let the process of justice run its course.

Fitzgerald made an interesting analogy today when talking about the indictments served to Libby. He waxed poetic about a pitcher in baseball hitting a batter in the head, whether it was on purpose or the ball slipped. He mentioned that since the catcher kicked sand in his eyes (referring to Libby’s lies), as a prosecutor, he would have to interview people in the dugout to understand the mentality of the pitcher when the act occurred. Interestingly, he didn’t talk about finding out whether or not the manager ordered him to bean the batter.

I know this might sound strange to some "Americans," but this investigation is clearing up a lot of my blockage in trusting the ethical, moral state of our justice system. "Scooter" Libby lied for a reason, either his own or one from the administration. Fitzgerald handed down these lesser felony charges, because Libby committed a crime (perjury, obstruction and false statements) directly to his face regarding a breach of National Security.

As this errand boy is taken care of the truth will bubble to the surface… one way or the other.

America, can we all put down our Coors Light and X-Boxes for a moment?

Thanks.

Now let’s dig back into our collective Cowboys and Indians past and pretend that every injustice in American history didn’t occur.

That’s right, every atrocity from the Vietnam War to the destruction of the Native American population never happened; no Tuskegee experiment; no slavery; anti-women suffrage; industrial age child labor, etc.

Did you find your happy place yet?

Good.

Now let’s wallow in our newly formed self-righteous goodness as a nation and take a look at the chant we were all required to recite in school, specifically the last part of our Pledge of Allegiance”

“…one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Are those words now fresh in your gray matter?

Good.

So, as an absolutely righteous nation with a Godly pledge, let’s take a look at one way our government reacted to the mother of all terrorist attacks.

So Much For “Indivisible”

Patrick Fitzgerald — the man who took down the 1993 WTC bombers, the 1998 bombers of the US embassy in Africa and John Gotti of the Gambino mafia family — is quite possibly going to hand out indictments to a chunk of the current administration for crimes of treason, including cover up perjury and obstruction of justice.

This is not an isolated case of misdoings; these charges have everything to do with the war in Iraq, and are even more telling of our government’s character.

For those of you that have been enjoying all the freedoms that this country provides, but with blind faith and limited involvement regarding our government, take a moment to review the following time line of our divisive leadership:

2001: An Italian intelligence report had Iraq purchasing uranium yellow cake from Niger, in defiance of United Nations sanctions. Dick Cheney contacted the CIA to look into its validity (since then, it’s become public knowledge that the report was forged)

February 2002: Unbeknownst to Dick Cheney, former-US ambassador Joe Wilson is dispatched by the operations unit of the CIA to Niger in order to verify the report provided by the Vice-President

March 2002: Wilson briefs the CIA and the State Department African Affairs Bureau to his findings, which turned out to be a complete contradiction of the forged Italian report; no such uranium sale had been made

September 2002: The British government publishes a “white paper” asserting that Saddam Hussein and his unconventional arms posed an immediate danger, citing Iraq’s attempts to purchase uranium from an African country

December 2002: The State Department publishes a fact sheet that mentions the Niger case

January 2003: Bush follows up his lies to Congress by addressing the American people and the world, stating that there was explicit evidence that Saddam had purchased yellow cake uranium in Niger

March 2003: The United States of America invades Iraq via Shock and Awe

June 2003: Discovered in October 2005, Scooter Libby’s notes show that Dick Cheney asked George Tenet — the post-9/11 decorated former CIA Chief — about Joe Wilson

July 6 2003: Joe Wilson writes an op-ed piece in The New York Times entitled What I Didn’t Find In Africa, which contradicts the administrations entire version of the Iraq, yellow cake and Niger story

July 14 2003: Directly following the printing of Wilson’s op-ed, Robert Novak identifies Joe Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, as a CIA operative in column titled, Mission To Niger. He attributes “senior administration officials” as his sources.

September 14 2003: On Meet The Press, Dick Cheney denies receiving any brief about Joe Wilson’s findings, adding “I don’t know Joe Wilson. I’ve never met Joe Wilson.”

October 1 2003: Joe Wilson tells Ted Koppel on Nightline that Washington reporters told him that senior White House adviser Karl Rove said his wife was “fair game.” Wilson “plans to give the names of the reporters to the FBI,” which is conducting a full-blown investigation of the possible leak.

Outing the identity of an unofficial covert CIA agent is not only a threat to the lives of the agent and his/her colleagues, but it is an explicit act of treason, as it potentially threatens our National Security.

So here we have an administration espousing American values left and right, yet crafting false evidence to justify war with a sovereign nation. The same administration then attacks Wilson’s wife — and our safety as a nation — because Wilson made it crystal clear that the administration disregarded his official briefing in order to back false evidence and rally support for the war.

Bully tactics, plain and simple.

Back to the anthem; where exactly does the term “indivisible” fit into the equation here? How about that “one nation” concept? I can see “under God,” “liberty” and “justice for all” at work over in Iraq…

There’s a lot riding on Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation.

Holding individuals accountable for treason, perjury and obstruction of justice will begin to show American citizens and people around the world that the promise of the American Republic is still alive. Exposing the motivation behind these actions would go far in exposing the criminal cabal responsible for launching this war.

Look, I’m a realist, I know accountability is tougher to score than a 70-yard field goal. Unfortunately, I’m also at a point of my life where I perceive the motivations of the federal government as being one and the same with corporate America: short-term growth at any cost.

So while the potential reality of my perception of our government could be dangerous to the environment, individuals rights, the national economy and the shores of any sovereign nation with natural resources, the perception itself is even more disconcerting; for it is this perception of reality that rages as the unlimited and intangible natural resource that powers terrorism from oversees.

I stopped crossing my heart and blindly chanting the American jingle a long time ago for these exact reasons.

Haven’t you?