The Harriet Miers Gambit

So, one of my co-workers is currently theorizing that Harriet Miers’ nomination to the Supreme Court was a ruse all along. He thinks that Bush nominated a moderate who he knew would be questioned so that he could nominate a real conservative when her nomination caused enough rucus to force her to withdraw. The idea then is that we’ll be so happy to have anyone other than Miers that Congress will just rush the new person right on through the obstacle course with little whining.

Another co-worker thinks that the first co-worker is assuming Bush is smart enough to think that sort of plot through.

If Rove wasn’t so distracted by Patrick Fitzgerald, I’d be willing to consider that the Harriet Miers Gambit had his fingerprint.

Now, what would be interesting is if Bush now nominates Patrick Fitzgerald to the Supreme Court and PlameGate just disappears…

Tags: Harriet Miers, politics, George W. Bush, Supreme Court, Karl Rove, Patrick Fitzgerald, PlameGate, Conspiracy Theories

Political Hypothetical What-If Rambling — What Will The Right Do?

As I watch the Traitorgate/Plamegate/ whatever-you-want-to-call-it investigation and the various related blogosphere commentary unfold, I have to wonder to myself how it will affect our country and our voters on both the left and the right. Mostly, I’m curious about those on the right who are deeply in denial. I mean, I’ve seen the commentary by some very liberal bloggers who believe that Bush could rape young boys on live tv and even still his “base” would stand by him and I wonder how close to the truth that is.

In general, over the last few months, I’ve really tried to pay attention to my blogging as far as what I say about the right and in particular, the Bush Administration. What I mean by that is that unlike other liberal bloggers I’ve read, I try to restrain myself from name-calling.

It’s not always easy. Sometimes I just get frustrated as it does indeed seem like Bush&Co. is untouchable and the mindboggling of the excuse-making from the right or worse, the inability to admit that a Republican could do anything wrong, makes me want to run back to that time when in my life when it was easy to believe what I wanted like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and that all Republicans were indeed above badness. Gosh, that was a long time ago and my favorite insult then was “you poopy head!”

But I digress.

I really want to ponder the whole hypothetical of how the “base” right will react if evidence is finally provided that Bush and Chenney did have knowledge of the release of Wilson’s wife’s name to reporters and that it was done as retaliation for Wilson disagreeing with their talking points for why the U.S. had to go to war with Iraq. I’m curious if it would change anything if evidence is presented that the U.S. did in fact go to war on information that was created specifically for the purpose of going to war with Iraq and that Bush and Chenney knew about that too and encouraged it or worse, ordered it.

And if it doesn’t matter to them, then what’s the point? Why prove we were right all along if the other side refuses to believe the truth?

I mean, there isn’t a person, liberal or conservative, that doesn’t deny that Clinton had sex in the White House. We don’t even disagree that he lied about it to the country. Most of us disagree on how important it was, especially considering the fact that Ken Starr was supposed to be investigating Clinton’s business practices and not his sexual ones.

So, if we liberals are big enough to recognize that much, is it too much to ask that the right keeps an open mind and accepts the evidence rather than makes excuses for it or denies it?

Remember, Patrick Fitzgerald is a Republican himself. This is not a Democrat on some sort of political agenda out to destroy the enemy. This is a man who is out to find the truth. He’s spent far less money than Starr, let’s hope he finds something more damning that Bush having sex in the White House.

Tags: PlameGate, Republicans, politics, Patrick Fitzgerald

Dealing With Fitzmas

• This post from Daily Kos’ Georgia10 made me giggle, but really it’s a reminder to not get ahead of ourselves and not help spread rumors. I think it’s best that for now maybe bloggers from both sides should focus on verifiable facts and wait for the dust to clear before stirring up shit. Of course, that won’t happen. Heck, it might not even happen here.

Hey, did you hear how USNews is reporting on rumors that Cheney will be resigning?

And, did ya hear about John Hannah??? No, not that one.

And, hey, did you know RawStory is such a tease? And Judy is a whore?

And, did you know that we’re just hours (all right,maybe a couple days) away from FITZMAS???? Doesn’t it feel like the hap-happiest time of the year??

And…and…don’t ‘cha just feel like you’re going to exploooooooooooode?

TEN TIPS FOR DEALING WITH FITZMAS

10. Put down the caffeine: For the next 48 hours, cleanse your body of java, aspartame, splenda, and whatever other shit you’ve been putting in your system. Your body will be producing more adrenaline during Fitzmas than it did when you were a hormone-crazed teenager, so don’t fuel the fire.
9. “Refresh” is the AntiChrist: Resist the urge to press “refresh” every TWO SECONDS. Checking into Drudge every minute won’t make any indictments come any faster..it’ll just give him hits and make Drudge’s head swell even more. Eww. I put “Drudge” and “swell” and “head” in the same sentence. I just grossed myself out.
8. Gossip Folks: Don’t believe anything in the next 24-48 hours. Guess what!! I can report on my blog that Condi will be VP when Dick resigns…and because it’s on a blog, it must be true! And my scoop will fly through the internets at twice the speed of sound and I’ll be so convincing, Condi herself will hear my scoop and think “Shit. I need new shoes!” and next thing you know New York Daily News will be reporting that Condi was in NY shopping for Jimmy Choo shoes that look “Vice-Presidential” and Teresa Heinz passed her by and called her a “bitch.” Get my point?
7. Turn off the TV: Why submit yourself to the torture of watching The Situation Room and listening to Wolf’s “I’m-reading-a-script-but-I’m-trying-to-make-it-sound-live” voice in the hopes that some pundit will throw out something like “Rove will be indicted”? You all KNOW that the talking heads don’t know shit, and that their dirty little secret is that they really get their info from the, gasp!, blogs, so why waste your time? So, Kristol says Rove and Libby will be indicted. Um…99% of the pajamajadeen have said the same thing for the last couple months. Give your blood pressure a break and turn off the TV.
6. Don’t listen to Tip #7: Well, do turn off the TV, but turn it on for Scotty’s press conferences. Nothing eases the nerves and apprehension of indictments than watching Puffy McMoonface squirm as he fends off a resuccitated press corps. With Scotty spinning so fast, you KNOW there’s some serious shit going down.
5. Don’t take off of work tomorrow: Yes, there are some of you who would actually skip work or school to stay home and catch the indictments breaking live. I’ve confessed to being a Plamegate junkie, but please. Those of you who view CSPAN as political porn need to put things into perspective. The indictments may not break tomorrow…and then what? You spent a whole day, one hand repeatedly refreshing dkos and drudge, the other hand holding a remote and flipping channels between CNN and MSNBC and, gulp, FOX, flipping and flipping and flipping and it’ll all be for naught. So treat tomorrow just like any other day, use school and work as a distraction…and, um, did you hear blogging more than once a day can make you go blind?
4. Visit Freeperville: Watch the tension melt away as you read about how Wilson was the leaker, how Fitzgerald is really a closet Dem fucking Hillary at the Watergate hotel, and how Plame orchestrated all this just to get name recognition for 2008. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you might even throw up in your mouth a little bit. But it’ll be a great distraction from the anticipation of Fitzmas.
3. Lower Your Expectations: Hey, it worked for Laura Bush. Don’t expect too much from this. We don’t know what was said in that grand jury room; about all we know definitively is that Karl Rove has a “typical” garage. Fantasies of Cheney being indicted and Bush as unindicted coconspirator are just that at this point–fantasies. Trust the Fitz to do what’s right based on the evidence, and trust that the result will be as far as he was legally able to go.
2. Stockpile the Booze: Ok, you’ve lowered your expectations, but sheesh, don’t be downer. No matter what comes down, these next couple of days will be explosive. So chill the Cristal (or the Guinness) and get ready. Also, compile a list of all the emails of your most die-hard GOP friends. Plan on sending them emails after the indictments, perferably after you’ve depleted your liquor reserves.
1. Enjoy the moment: Take a DEEP breath, and savor the fact that you’re witnessing history being made. The outing of Plame was a vicious act, but nothing will be as sweet as watching justice being served.

Tags: politics, Patrick Fitzgerald

True or False — Grand Jury Indicts Bush & Others?

I’ve seen this in a couple places on the internet the last couple of days. As I haven’t seen it yet printed in any “official” sites, I don’t know how true it is (and these days it’s really hard to tell who’s telling the truth and who’s not…which I think was the GOP’s plan all along.)

Federal Whistle Blower Claims Chicago Grand Jury Indicted Bush And Others For Perjury and Obstruction Of Justice; U.S. Attorney’s Office Says ‘No Comment,’ Refusing To Confirm Or Deny Alleged Indictments

That headline comes from the Artic Beacon, which hails itself as “the last frontier of truth”. As I just stumbled on them, I can’t say one way or another if that’s true.

Although the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago is staying silent, it is well known that Fitzgerald is digging deep into an assortment of serious improprieties among many Bush administration figures based, in part, on subpoenaed testimony provided by former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

According to federal whistleblower Tom Heneghen, who recently reported on www.truthradio.com, Powell testified before the citizen grand jury that President Bush had taken the U.S. to war illegally based on lies, which is a capital crime involving treason under the U.S. Code.

“Regarding the Powell testimony, there is no comment,” said Sanborn.

However, sources close to the federal grade jury probe also allegedly told Heneghen a host of administration figures besides Bush were also indicted, including Vice-President Richard Cheney, Chief of Staff Andrew Card, Cheney Chief of Staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, imprisoned New York Times reporter Judith Miller and former Senior Cheney advisor Mary Matalin.

Heneghen, unavailable for comment and first reported by internet reporter Tom Flocco, allegedly also told sources White House Advisor Karl Rove was indicted for perjury in a major document shredding operation cover-up and that Prime Minister Tony Blair was also indicted for obstruction of justice charges.

The article goes on to discuss a whole Watergate-type conspiracy involving bomb scares and attempts to get Fitzgerald, who is “Special Counsel to investigate the CIA- Valerie Plame case,” fired.

As much as I want this to be true, I hate to admit that I need more “reliable’ confirmation. I mean, Kenneth Star’s investigation was daily big news and so far, I haven’t heard a peep, even on NPR, my most trusted source…though lately, I’ve been wondering about them too.

Tags: Patrick Fitzgerald, George W. Bush, Colin Powell, Dick Cheney, Andrew Card, Scooter Libby, Alberto Gonzales, John Ashcroft, Judy Miller, Karl Rove, PlameGate, Conspiracy Theories