October 7: The Beginning of CIA Leak Scandal, The Beginning of the End
October 7: The Beginning of CIA Leak Scandal, The Beginning of the End
Three years ago today, it all started.
On October 7, 2002, President Bush gave a speech in Cincinnati “in which he made the case for war.” According to Condoleezza Rice, “a line had been there about the uranium issue and Saddam Hussein seeking uranium in Africa. And Director Tenet had called Steve Hadley and he told him…he told him I don’t think you should put that in the president’s speech.”
The reference was removed from his speech that day, but famously reappeared in a 16-word sentence three months later during the President’s State of the Union address. (Bush: “The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”)
On July, 6, 2003, former Ambassador Joe Wilson wrote a column indicating that the Bush administration knew the claim was bogus in advance of the speech. The following day, the administration was forced to publicly acknowledge the President was wrong. The incident set into motion an aggressive effort at the White House to “slime” Wilson that culminated in a Robert Novak column which outed his wife, undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame. A criminal investigation followed, involving numerous administration officials, which is expected to conclude this month.
This morning, Karl Rove is scheduled to make his fourth appearance before the grand jury to answer questions about his involvement in the smear campaign. Three years after it all began, sources close to Rove say he and his legal team are “now genuinely concerned he could face [criminal] charges.”
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Interesting. I was not aware today was the three year anniversary of the Cincy speech.
October 7th, 2005 at 10:19 amRove is genuinely concerned and I am genuinely estatic.
October 7th, 2005 at 10:29 amtime flies when your spreading lies! Down Rover! Down!
October 7th, 2005 at 10:35 amThe Bush error is over.
October 7th, 2005 at 10:37 amPucker and plump that chubby butt of yours Karl. Where you’re going you’re going to be in high demand!
October 7th, 2005 at 10:39 amIronically, his last meal as a free man will be fresh fish.
October 7th, 2005 at 10:41 amFrog March Day approacheth. Please, please, please!!
October 7th, 2005 at 10:42 amSome how this administration will spin this. Let’s hope they have enough evidence to indict Rove. Maybe we can bring out the champagne to celerate!!!! Let’s hope we don’t end up with Martial Law.
October 7th, 2005 at 10:48 amIf anyone could supply a link or a quick answer: If Robert D. Novak was the first to publish info about Valerie Plame, why is he immune to prosecution?
cheers
October 7th, 2005 at 10:53 am#7 – A national day of celebration, maybe even mattress sales! Frog March Day 2005!
Burn baby burn!!!!!!!!!!!!!
October 7th, 2005 at 10:55 amI wrote this back in August and thought it to be relevant today:
The End Is Coming:
With Mrs. Sheehan on the steps at Versailles, Americans are quickly rallying to her cause (or against it.) Her message is clear, she wants answers and wants them now. It is unlikely that she will receive her answer. For, if she were to receive her long deserved reparations, the entire administration would be forced to uncover many truths to all of us, which is obviously an impossibility as it would cause the institutional and political demise of a large and powerful constituency; one that reaches the very nexus of the conservative political structure.
What we must realize is that Mrs. Sheehan has placed this administration in an inescapable situation. As each day passes, more and more people want answers. The answers they demand go beyond a moral issue of his “noble cause.” They encroach on every tangible action that this President, his administration, and his party have taken. It is only a matter of time before we, in the greater public and of all parties, demand our representative government to investigate current issues and revisit past investigations, overturning every stone to discover any criminal acts, however great or small. It is an unavoidable problem for this administration and they are fully aware of it.
The second element of the “last throes” of this administration is the subdued, but not buried investigation into the Valerie Plame leak. Mr. Fitzgerald will return his case very soon. I am confident that there will be indictments, and they will reach high places, possibly the President himself.
And so, the end is drawing nearer as each moment passes. It is a factual inevitability. There is no single entity within the American structure that is immune to the rule of law. Mathematically, it is like a bell curve. There are statistical periods of success; but eventually, there will be a decay of the event until it ultimately reaches its collapse, thus beginning a new cycle.
Adversely, let us suppose for a moment that this opinion proves wrong. Suppose that Mrs. Sheehan is answered and satisfied with her answer. Suppose Mr. Fitzgerald returns no indictments. Suppose the House and Senate resist the request by their voters to investigate into perjuries and illegal deceit to their committees and bring no charges nor petitions for impeachment. Where will the President be? Will he claim victory? Will he be an effective leader? The answer is most assuredly no.
The President has lost already. There will be no act or measure for the duration of his Presidency that will be free of scrutiny or opposition. Both sides know this. For example, the President was sure to sign both the energy and transportation bill as quickly as he possibly could. Further, he has recess appointed the most contentious man ever to step foot into the United Nations since Khruschev. He may hold the office, but he is finished and everyone knows it.
Mr. Mehlman knows it. He has decided to ignore any current concerns on his GOP website, opting to fill his headlines with “in case you missed it,” slants on members of the Democratic party. Further, he is more than likely busy pondering how he can justify his organization’s decision to pay over $722,000 to help James Tobin’s legal woes.
All of the above is swiftly binding up into a snowball that will lead to a great avalanche. As we can see, they are caught completely unprepared for it. Their only method is to scramble and adhere to the same tactics of murk and unbearable repetition that has brought them this far. Unfortunately, it is too late. Consequence is unavoidable. Reality cannot be ignored for more than just a little while.
So, where does that leave all of us? What plans should we draw? The Democratic Party has been criticized relentlessly for “having no message.” Might I suggest that our message be to reverse every possible policy of this “dying king?” We must not wait to begin collecting our spoils. For, they are the very spoils that have been pillaged from us over the past six years. Let us all fight from this day forward to explore a universal and successful withdrawal from Iraq. Let us diligently pursue criminal indictments for all whom have served to perpetuate the lies that had placed these noble men and women there in the first place. Let us repeal the USA PATRIOT ACT and take the time to explore a beneficial plan that does not rob us of our civil rights (nor has to be distributed in the middle of the night to avoid debate.) Let us recapture our individual stake in our political structure. Let us prosecute all whom have taken action to defraud us from our vote.
Rest assured, my friends. The end is near for this President. Let us be ready.
October 7th, 2005 at 11:03 amI think they’ve spun themselves into butter. They are now forced to reap what they have sewn and this is what they get. Criminals have no business in government. His election was a joke and, either way you look at it, it was STOLEN. If not Diebold, Delay. These criminals would have done anything to be elected.
This is a big moment in history, folks. I don’t believe there has ever been such corruption since Tamany Hall. This will be noted forever and we are here to see it. Sad but historical nonetheless.
October 7th, 2005 at 11:05 am#9 – He’s not. Think of it this way… Bushco were the mafia, Novak the hired gun.
Novak may yet be the lynchpin – we know he was told by the CIA not to out Plame.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/26/AR2005072602069_pf.html
["Harlow, the former CIA spokesman, said in an interview yesterday that he testified last year before a grand jury about conversations he had with Novak at least three days before the column was published. He said he warned Novak, in the strongest terms he was permitted to use without revealing classified information, that Wilson's wife had not authorized the mission and that if he did write about it, her name should not be revealed."]
So who changed Novak’s mind?
Stay tuned for the answer.
October 7th, 2005 at 11:13 amI cann’t understand why Novak is not being indict. He is the one that wrote this story. He had a big month.
October 7th, 2005 at 11:22 amIs he on CNN anymore? I saw him walk off the set went he was on the Situlation Room. He did not want to answer any questions about wilson’s Wife.
#11 – Thank goodness for uppity women. I truly believe that Cindy Sheehan sitting in the ditch outside the Crawford ranch was the beginning of the end for George W. Bush.
October 7th, 2005 at 11:22 amyesterday, i got the impression that rove was testifying voluntarily or at least of his own free will… today, the wapo indicates otherwise…
http://takeitpersonally.blogspot.com/2005/10/nyt-on-bushs-speech-yesterday.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cia_leak_rove;_ylt=ArwaQZY.xPxb9eU_Tk6H6eCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA2Z2szazkxBHNlYwN0bQ–
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/07/politics/07leak.html?th&emc=th
October 7th, 2005 at 11:26 amIf there was an ‘ongoing investigation’ of ‘national security’ issues guarded by ‘executive priveledge’ would the McSpin accelerate fast enough to tear a hole in the space-time continuum?
October 7th, 2005 at 11:29 am#13:
October 7th, 2005 at 11:31 amNovak has a mind?
Maybe Bush’s Brain isn’t so smart after all?
Karl’s actions are indefensible.
October 7th, 2005 at 11:31 am#18:
October 7th, 2005 at 11:33 amI think the mass of BS would approach infinity
thereby averting the tear, but with infinite
hot air, who knows?
Do your self a favor:
Go down in your basement and dig out your copy of Animals by Pink Floyd.
It really enhances the experience of the recent news!
:)
October 7th, 2005 at 11:33 amI never owned “Animals” but seeing how
October 7th, 2005 at 11:35 ammuch I love “wish you were here” I should
probably get it.
Oh, and I keep the LPs upstairs.
#15 – Novak may yet be indicted. But surely the much more enticing prospect is Novak testifying against the people who leaked Plame’s name to him?
No question at all, Novak has already been told by the prosecutor “you are either with us or against us”… we just don’t yet know how Novak has decided.
Don’t worry too much. Fitzgerald is on top of this, and Bushco are scared sh*tless.
October 7th, 2005 at 11:35 amONLY DIMLY AWARE OF A CERTAIN UNEASE IN THE AAAAAAIIIIIRRRRRRRRR
October 7th, 2005 at 11:44 am#16 Zookeeper I guess I will take that as a compliment. That is funny. Maybe Cindy Sheehan did us all a favor.
October 7th, 2005 at 11:44 amBleating and babbling I fell on his neck with a screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeam.
Wave upon wave of demented avengers
October 7th, 2005 at 11:50 amMarch cheerfully out of obscurity into the dreeeeeeeeeeeeam.
Just where is Cindy Sheehan today?
October 7th, 2005 at 11:53 amDon’t know,
I do know where Karl is, though!
Mour Yamma
October 7th, 2005 at 11:55 amShe’s home troll.
October 7th, 2005 at 11:55 amI think Cindy Sheehan is going back to Texas for Thanksgiving. I think Bush goes to Camp David every year for Thanksgiving. Does anyone know? Is there suppose to be a rally on November 6? Does anyone know about this?
October 7th, 2005 at 11:58 am#28 – Please do take it as a compliment!
#30 – It doesn’t matter where Cindy Sheehan is today. It only matters where she was during the month of August, 2005.
October 7th, 2005 at 12:01 pm#26, PLUNGER,
I’d say you about nailed it, well done!
October 7th, 2005 at 12:29 pmHi, Plunger,
I enjoy your posts; however, it isn’t necessary to post dups on every thread.
Thx!
October 7th, 2005 at 3:18 pmWar Protest – Nov 10 2005 Take a day off! – Please Read
If you feel, as the majority of Americans and people throughout the world do, that the war in Iraq is wrong, and you wish you had a way to show the Bush Administration, the Government of the United States, and the world, how you feel about it, then join us in our world wide walk out on November 10th 2005.
Show the world how you feel, and just how many of us feel this way. Let’s drive the point home by taking away from them their most precious item; money.
On November 10th 2005, unless you hold a position which people rely upon in the event of an emergency (you work at a hospital, a firemen, policemen etc), don’t go to work. Try not to drive your car; don’t watch T.V.; don’t use the internet. Stay at home. Read a book. Play with your kids. Engage in a hobby.
Plan a vacation day at work. Call in sick. Use your best judgment on how to take this day off.
If we don’t get their attention this way, we’ll just do it again, until we do.
If the people speak, and speak together, they have to listen.
Please email this to as many of your friends and colleagues as you wish/can.
October 7th, 2005 at 7:41 pmDarn it Smedley, you guys picked the same day as us. We thought Nov.10th would be the day where we would show our support for the War effort. We plan on showing this support by making sure we all makes it to work that day, even if we are a little ill. No car pooling either, we’ll all be driving individual vehicles wherever possible. Oh yeah, and we will just keep doing this every day too, until you guys start to pay attention and listen to reason.
October 7th, 2005 at 9:14 pmTCP Just another Troll wishing he could make sense of it all. Go back to sleep, we will wake you when the ride is over.
October 8th, 2005 at 12:25 amAnd the result…
http://theunitedamerican.blogs.com/Movies/2000A/2000.html
October 8th, 2005 at 1:52 pmHey! Let’s keep blogging!
It’s making all the difference!…
until these fascists laugh in our
faces and get away with their misdeeds.
Look back no further than the previous
4 Bush administrations. Bush/Reagan just
pardoned people BEFORE they were indicted.
This iteration of bush fascism won’t even bother
with the paperwork.
Bush’s family are autocrats. Don’t be stupid.
October 10th, 2005 at 11:15 pmNobody will pay.