Re Comey testifying, I can't help but think of Brownie today - "I'm glad I'm a private citizen and can say that" - I know that the issues there and this one aren't remotely comparable in many ways - but still.
Everything depends on how appalled Comey is.
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 6:17 pm | #
Another piece of quality analysis you will never find in WaPo.
Sorry, Poolboy. Have a wank.
Pachacutec |
02.10.06 - 6:24 pm | #
Whoever is financing Libby's defense kinda has him by the shorthairs. The cost will run into several millions of $$, so he has no alternative but to take whatever defense his overlords choose to provide for him. And I doubt that his well-being is their highest priority.
cosmo |
02.10.06 - 6:26 pm | #
what's interesting is the cable news networks working on the "bombshell news" that Cheney authorized Libby to leak. Whatever the reason, it just doesn't sound good for the White House, does it now?
Wilson46201 |
Homepage |
02.10.06 - 6:27 pm | #
Alexander Butterfield, come in please
Kevin J |
02.10.06 - 6:30 pm | #
I know this thread is ostensibly about Scooter's defense strategy but I can't help but think that when administration minions are about to thrown under the bus that they scream for their mammas like Brownie did today.
Loyalty...not so much; maybe Scooter will learn that lesson too.
WASHINGTON - Three members of Congress have been linked to efforts by lobbyist Jack Abramoff and a former General Services Administration official to secure leases of government property for Abramoff's clients, according to court filings by federal prosecutors on Friday.
snip
Two of the elected officials referred to in Friday's filings have been identified in published reports as Reps. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, and Don Young, R-Alaska. According to Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, the two representatives wrote to the GSA in September 2002, urging the agency to give preferential treatment to groups such as Indian tribes when evaluating development proposals for the Old Post Office.
snip
Friday's filings by prosecutors refer to a third member of Congress, Rep. Shelly Moore Capito, R-W.Va. Her name appears in e-mails that suggest she was trying to help Abramoff secure a GSA lease for land in Silver Spring for a religious school.
Hmmm...Seems like the defense team has hired Clarice to peruse the blogs and leave messages that Murray Waas makes up his reporting "out of whole cloth." Not a bad job for a student intern. Wonder if "Clarice gets a free kidney and fava bean lunch?
St. Vitus |
02.10.06 - 6:34 pm | #
Since he's so honest, he ought to be able to tell us why we should trust Big Brother, right?
Cujo359 | 02.10.06 - 6:02 pm | #
That would be a good question.
I also think, if the article was correct, the whole issue of military tribunal v. courts of justice would be great - but I guess it won't be for that hearing (although Graham brought in some of the torture, etc. with Gonzales).
IMO, Baker is a guy they have to get. He's the one who told Dewine in 2002 the program was working fine and that the changed standard might not be constitutional; he is also the one who has had to tell the FISA judges that internal "checks" (firewalls) are not working and has probably had some first hand feed back from the Judges that they do not think the program is Constitutional - I'm not sure he could duck out of answering what the FISA judges told him about their thoughts on the program.
It might be fun to ask some of those guys (Comey, Baker, Gonzales in the Judiciary hearings), while they are there and all, just how docs are allowed to be declassified by the VP. Or why the March 2003 added the VP for that matter.
There are sure lots of good questions - but the problem is going to be strategically structuring questioning to be able to actually get at the information, when so much is seemingly going to be covered by claims of privilege.
It would also be nice if the ABA has a resolution out by the time the next lawyers take the stand - I don't mean to be all doom and gloom -
I also still think that part of the Libby strategy (I am really skipping around) is to get as much info as they can as to who all Fitzgerald might have info on, to get those names out so that the President can then legitimately "know" about them all come pardon time.
Dang - I am all doom and gloom after all.
Mary |
02.10.06 - 6:34 pm | #
And how about that graphic by Eric - the perfect complement to a sharp analysis.
the green lantern |
02.10.06 - 6:35 pm | #
Kevin J -- yes we'll see just how long their coddling of Scooter will keep him on ice.
jane hamsher |
Homepage |
02.10.06 - 6:35 pm | #
So who will Karl scream for when he gets thrown under the bus....
I can't wait to see the Abramoff pics with Bush.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you..
Seems to me our collective outrage meter is on the fritz (not Fitz). Everybody is discussing the law of this...leave the law to lawyers. Why weren't there democrats demanding Cheney's resignation today? If Al Gore authorized the disclosure of the identity of the White House chef, he would've been forced to resign in shame. Maybe it's just because it's Friday or maybe it's because this isn't as big of a deal as I think it is, but the reaction today seems awfully muted.
billy |
02.10.06 - 6:37 pm | #
In case anyone is interested, here's that EFF complaint against AT&T regarding their assistance in teh surveillance. I'll be interested to see whether it goes anywhere.
sola mia |
02.10.06 - 6:41 pm | #
Zennurse,
You asked for confirmation that I would work with FDL five dollars for liberty [or whatever we are calling it........but i love mirroring our initials.........]
Coz,
I think that news explains why there was another attempt to tar Reid yesterday.
There is even a new, rather articulate wingnut at thewashingtonnote.com who is pushing hard on the "concerned democrats are worried about Reid" meme.
Mary,
Did you see my question at the end of the last thread?
marky |
02.10.06 - 6:42 pm | #
Here's a little excerpt from Josh Green's seminal article in the Atlantic called "Playing Dirty," about the 2000 campaign:
Political campaigns always attempt to diminish their opponents, of course. What was remarkable about the 2000 effort was the degree to which the process advanced beyond what Barbara Comstock, who headed the RNC research team, calls "votes and quotes"—the standard campaign practice of leaving the job of scouting the target to very junior staff members, who tend to dig up little more than a rival's legislative record and public statements. Comstock's taking over the research team marked a significant change. She was a lawyer and a ten-year veteran of Capitol Hill who had been one of Representative Dan Burton's top congressional investigators during the Clinton scandals that dominated the 1990s: Filegate, Travelgate, assorted campaign-finance imbroglios, and Whitewater. Rather than amass the usual bunch of college kids, Comstock put together a group of seasoned attorneys and former colleagues from the Burton Committee, including her deputy, Tim Griffin. "The team we had from 2000," she told me recently, to show the degree of ratcheted-up professionalism, "were veteran investigators from the Clinton years. We had a core group of people, and that core was attorneys."
Comstock combined a prosecutor's mentality with an investigator's ability to hunt through public records and other potentially incriminating documents. More important, she and her team understood how to use opposition research in the service of a larger goal: not simply to embarrass Gore with hard-to-explain votes or awkward statements but to craft over the course of the campaign a negative "storyline" about him that would eventually take hold in the public mind. "A campaign is a lot like a trial," Comstock explained. "You want people aggressively arguing their case." .
She is a very highly placed political operative. Her job in this case is to craft the narrative.
Your job, Jane, should you and all the Plameologists decide to accept it, is to put a stop to this evil harpy once and for all. She is Satan's mistress.
digby |
02.10.06 - 6:42 pm | #
cluck.
Mary | 02.10.06 - 5:30 pm | #
OT but I just want to say that was a hell of a post by Mary. I hope that it is passed on with the FDL petition. I'd like to think Dem staffers on the Hill are thinking this through, but sometimes the decision-making down there seems woefully amateurish.
Mary raises very legitimate concerns of Comey effectively being steered to endorse The Program(s) by being constrained in what he can talk about. I hope Dems have others e.g. Goldsmith that they will call on, and not place all their bets on Comey's testimony.
The road to Hell and all that.....
Taylor |
02.10.06 - 6:43 pm | #
Jane:
I think that the WH treatment of Brownie was a major wake-up call to Scooter:
Yes Virginia, there is a bus with your name on it.
It may be a small thing but this pack of hyenas will eat live babies on TV before they give up their privilege. Just who does Scooter think he is dealing with?
Mary,
Never mind, I'm reading your answer now,
marky |
02.10.06 - 6:45 pm | #
It has been driving me crazy all day that all the media are referencing Waas' article when the key bit could have been read by all of them in Fitz's letter. I read Emptywheel's original post and Reddhedd's analysis. Reporters at WaPo and the NYT can't read or can't be bothered to read boring legal documents?
I agree with Jane that Libby will not sell Cheney to save his soul. Remember this is Cheney's "Cheney". He lied in the first place to protect Cheney.
Me thinks Jane is right and their twisted logic supports leaking when they feel like it OR maybe they knew Judy Miller would reveal that much.
But all of this rant aside, I'm glad in light of this administration's hypocrisy in going after leakers that this information comes out at this particular moment and that it is getting a lot of play in the MSM, albeit many days late.
The Rejectionist |
02.10.06 - 6:45 pm | #
Republican Chief Outlines 2006 Strategy
WASHINGTON - Republican national chairman Ken Mehlman on Friday outlined a political strategy for 2006 to portray Democrats as too weak to protect the country and to bypass the mainstream media to spread the GOP message.
snip
Mehlman said the loss in popularity of the mainstream media — both the evening network news and daily newspapers — is an opportunity for conservatives. He pointed to the growing popularity of talk radio and blogging.
Not incidentally, Murray Waas was one of the few reporters who blew the lid off the Whitewater bullshit and published it in Salon back in the pre-blog days. I have no doubt that "Clarice" is one of the voices in Comstock's head. She knows Waas's work very well and knows he's got her number.
digby |
02.10.06 - 6:47 pm | #
Jane
Loved the graphic
Scooter Pooter is such a punk.
Punk in the classic sense:
Punk [punk] n. or adj.
1. A short piece of hemp line, used to fire cannons on 18th and 19th century warships.
2. Camel dung on a bamboo splinter, used to ignite fireworks.
3. a person with a bad attitude and a bad haircut.
.
Gentleman Jim |
02.10.06 - 6:47 pm | #
Coz 6:34p.:
Repukes tied to Abramoff. Quel suprise.
OT - Olympic opening ceremonies playing Donna Summer. Yeah baby! Kweers rool!
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 6:49 pm | #
hey Jane [blushing]
Thanks for the props :~)
poor spelling and all -- I really have to correct one name, Nancy Hollander (not Holland} from Freedman Boyd Daniels Hollander Goldberg & Cline (yes, that John Cline).
She is one of the smartest and best crim. defense attorneys evah!
immanentize |
02.10.06 - 6:50 pm | #
I'm assuming (and maybe I'm the last to know) that "Clarice" is the well-connected Clarice Feldman, who probably knows a whole lot about this and apparently has been offering her "stylings" on this and related subjects for a while....
James Baker III (of Baker Botts) is the Bush family spokesman. I noticed right away a few days ago on the Fitzgerald letter to Libby's lawyers that one copy of the letter also went to Baker Botts (I think I commented on it at the time). That means that all the Libby strategy information has to go through the administration in some form.
It would be nice, however, if Libby's lawyers and the Bush family interests were to clash severely enough to make Libby realize that taking the rap for the family isn't worth it. Unless, of course, the family makes him an offer he can't refuse.
Disclaimer: one of my former HS classmates is or was a lawyer at Baker Botts. He used to send out a fund-raising appeal on BB stationery, so there may be a Baker Botts envelope or two in the pile of unsorted and unanswered papers on my desk. I hope that does not implicate me in any of these shenanigans.
notjonathon |
02.10.06 - 6:54 pm | #
Sorry but I'm a sucker for Olympic opening and closing ceremonies and always will be - some still existent sliver of a vestige of some remaining ideal - all the people cheering all the world, yu-hoo-ooooh
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 6:54 pm | #
The graphic is a lulu!
My favorite column in the few months I have been swimming in foredoglake is the Firewall piece...
As they usedta' say in Brooklyn:
Keep up da' great woik, goils!
dancas |
02.10.06 - 6:55 pm | #
Marky - I answered below.
Sola Mia - I think that looks like a pretty tight complaint - it will be ineresting to see how the answer deals with any AG certifications.
IMO - the real snit the govt is in about "discussing" the program openly is the telecoms. Once it has become public that the program may be illegal, that has to make the telecoms feel less protected by relying on the AG certifications that "we don't need no stinking warrant".
Another set of interesting questions for those testifying --- if a telecom is on notice that Congressional scholars across the country are saying the program is illegal, and if it is subsequently found to be illegal, is the telecom open to liability for its time of participation, at least from the time it new the legality of the program was subject to challenge? Same, perhaps, with workers in the dept.
Just some targeted questions about how, if a program IS illegal or a DOJ or NSA or other agency employee has a strong belief the program is illegal, that can be addressed within the current system.
Mary |
02.10.06 - 6:56 pm | #
Mary,
What are your thoughts on Ashcroft testifying? It seems to me he is more of a can't lose proposition for the Dems, even if he doesn't give anything up.
Since he's a solid Republican, there will be no surprise if he stands by Bush, and no harm to the Dems, but who knows if he will turn.
marky |
02.10.06 - 6:58 pm | #
The graphix on this blog are incomparable.
Donna Summer again! Hot Stuff! WTF! Love it!
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 7:02 pm | #
I don't think Libby has an incentive to turn on anyone when a) Bush is in office and pardon has to be on the table - like Bush41 did with the Weinberger group; and b) the statute on the underlying offense keeps ticking away.
I can't see a divergence of interests when the power of pardon is on the table, and with a mucky defense and appeals possilibities, they can keep Libby out on the streets until the end of Bush's term.
The president made no mention of the contretemps yesterday, and in fact offered virtually no comment on the bust at all. His only reference was to thank the man who raised the money for it, retired Chief Warrant Officer Lewis King, and the man who sculpted it, Charles Parks.
pol |
02.10.06 - 7:04 pm | #
Mary, what about the possibility of conspiracy charges? There have been several comments here speculating on that, and suggesting that pardon becomes problematic if we get to the end of Bush's term and conspiracy charges are still pending. Do you think Fitzgerald ultimately charging conspiracy is a realistic possibility?
ljt |
02.10.06 - 7:05 pm | #
Doesn't "Clarice" write for "The American Thinker" site? If it is the same person, she has been trashing Fitz since the get go. "Clarice" has also posted (on justoneminute) that Fitz was guilty of prosecutorial misconduct when he threw the Blind Shiek in jail after the first World Trade Center bombings. "Clarice" has stated that the first World Trade Center bombings were not Al Queda but an act of war by Iraq. (SHe seems to think that Ramiz Yousef was an Iraqi agent - even though that has been debunked.) I don't know if she is associated with Libby's defense fund - but she drank the kool-aid a long time ago. I take anything she said with a big grain of salt. Kind of like getting your analysis from Victoria Toensing.
narexbyrnes |
02.10.06 - 7:05 pm | #
Here comes France, je heart y'all
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 7:06 pm | #
Sharkbabe--I'm watching too, but enough with the disco already!
ljt |
02.10.06 - 7:06 pm | #
I'm not as worried about Ashcroft, but to be honest, I feel so "under-facted" that it is hard to really know how I feel. So much that isn't know - it's like computer dating with no pictures (ok, not that I would know about that, but doofy baseball analogies escape me) .
Ashcroft, however, will, IMO, not have the same propensity to make people feel just fine about things, as long as he says they fixed them. It's a very different thing, but I watched a segment on the Bay of Pigs the other night, and a Cuban who spent a lot of time in a detention camp was talking about Castro coming to see the - how's the revolutions treating you, boys - kind of visit. All friendly and fatherly and he talked about how a lot of them, even in the camps, started applauding for him as he spoke.
Charisma can be a really scarey thing.
Mary |
02.10.06 - 7:07 pm | #
ljt, must disagree, but I love you and your country!
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 7:08 pm | #
there may be a Baker Botts envelope or two in the pile of unsorted and unanswered papers on my desk. I hope that does not implicate me in any of these shenanigans.
notjonathon --
Well, it can be said that since you've been hanging around here you've come UP in the world.
But we'll keep an eye on you -- would hate to see you slip into slumming around Baker Botts. Your very soul is at stake. ;-)
Mrs. K8 |
02.10.06 - 7:09 pm | #
Fuck. Laura Bush in stands next to Mrs. Poodle. Where don't these buzzkill assholes lurk?
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 7:10 pm | #
OK- this graphic is my all-time favorite. Just perfect!
If things ever slow down in here, we could vote for the Best Graphics of the Year Awards. We could call them the Graphies and give little paper dogs as prizes.
OhioBlue |
02.10.06 - 7:12 pm | #
Thanks CityGirl - missed your post. (And I meant to say "a bat-shit insane Victoria Toensing" in that last sentence.)
narexbyrnes |
02.10.06 - 7:12 pm | #
India and Iran teams coming in to Funkytown! I'm not making this up!
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 7:13 pm | #
Conyers has sent another letter from the judiciary committee. This one to
Bush AND Cheney, asking about Libby's claim that he was authorized to leak classified into.
It's published in toto at Bradblog.
Jules |
02.10.06 - 7:13 pm | #
(And I meant to say "a bat-shit insane Victoria Toensing" in that last sentence.)
That's redundant. Is there any other kind?
Mrs. K8 |
02.10.06 - 7:16 pm | #
I wondered where that information about the JUDGE being in on the Fitzgerald/Libby Lawyer Team conference call came from... Out of thin air, apparently.
Why would ILLibby testify about "superiors authorizing" him in general to smear Joe Wilson by releasing classified information and otherwise defending Cheney's imperious [that's the word, Jane] and mighty self-image, but not testify that the covert CIA Agent leak was a part of that general smear..?
Or does the question answer itself?
I'm still agog over the leaks that Jason Leopold is getting from sources with "direct knowledge" of the "Smear Wilson" CONSPIRACY at the White House/NSC, CIA, and State Department. Seems to me he's the one doing the real investigative journalism here:
Earlier this morning, we brought you word of Jack Abramoff's work for the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) - which included arranging for a Congressional Delegation led by Rep. Don Young (R-AK) to visit the islands. But $500,000 in lobbying fees buys you so much more.
As we noted in our first post, Abramoff's work for the Marshall Islands eventually led to a lawsuit. And in the complaint, obtained by TPMmuckraker.com, Abramoff's then-firm Preston Gates sets forth the services he provided.
According to the complaint one of Abramoff's services was (from page 5 of the complaint) ...
"Drafting, finding sponsorship for, and overseeing the mark-up of three bills on behalf of the RMI concerning payments by the United States and assumption of responsibility for nuclear tests conducted on or near the atolls of Rongelap, Bikini, and Enewetok. This work was interrupted by the non-payment of fees and charges by a new Administration for the RMI."
Now, that's a full service firm! Abramoff and Co. actually drafted and ushered through three bills on behalf of the RMI. Not advised on them - drafted them.
We're still trying to get in touch with Young, who was the committee chairman at the time, to find out his side of the story. So far his office isn't returning our calls.
I think the analogy is having to play a game against a team that has all nine players, and you only have seven, and they offer to lend you one of their retired pitchers.
Jane: if I understand your post, and comments above, it seems a key point is Libby's defense strategy has an inherent conflict with the potential defense of other Admin members, including the Prez and VP -- and the only way it is being papered over is via a defense fund in which the other interests can compromise Libby. The comments then suggest that this conflict is reconciled only if one assumes Libby can count on being pardoned.
If that's what this means, I hope there's a way to channel this story right into the trad press -- perhaps even make it the topic of Sunday's shows. First Libby is told to disclose classified national security info selectively to the press to protect Cheney et al, and now he's told that to pay his bills, he has to be careful about flipping or he'll lose his pardon. Now there's a hardball story.
scarecrow |
02.10.06 - 7:23 pm | #
mary,
Too true. Ashcroft testiifying ought to be a win win win for Dems. He is an abrasive demagogue who was THE most hated Senator. It was a surprise to no one that lost his Senate race to a dead man. Republicans were willing to back up his crazy crap when Bush was supporting him, but those days are over.
Let him bring back his in-your-face religious apocolyptic routine to prime time.
Anyone remember the Padilla announcement from Russia?
immanentize |
02.10.06 - 7:26 pm | #
Sharkbabe - since Speedweeks coverage is done for the day, I'm doing the it's a small world after all evening viewing as well ...
and I know exactly what you mean - I got just a little teary when the unified Korean team was introduced ... my dtr is korean and I yearn for peace for that country.
And the mongolians are the best looking team bar none!
siun |
02.10.06 - 7:30 pm | #
Brian Williams commenting on 80's music, "only thing not heard yet is Bette Davis Eyes" - yeah, let's hear it!
We need "American Idiot" for U.S. team, but doubt it'll happen.
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 7:31 pm | #
Note to Scooter - doesn't it just suck when you gotta have someone else pay your legal bills - and your lawyers end up representing *them* instead of you?
Which, by the way, is serious malpractice.
jayt |
02.10.06 - 7:33 pm | #
And wouldn't the fact that your lawyers are representing *them* instead of you indicate conspiracy?
ljt |
02.10.06 - 7:35 pm | #
Testy, testy
by digby
"Mr Victoria Toensing just had a hissy fit on Wolfie because his co-pundit Richard Ben-Veniste agreed that Cheney didn't break the law but pointed out that it was hypocritical for Cheney to lecture people about leaking when he was authorizing his staff to selectively leak to reporters under cover of anonymity.
Mr Toensing rose up and bared his claws at Wolf because he had apparently agreed to come on to only discuss the "legal" issues and not to get into a partisan discussion. He's just an old non-partisan, country lawyer, you know. He doesn't do politics."
Just what does Cheney have to do to be accused of breaking the law? (Please, don't tell me, "lie about a blow job." I just don't want to go there.)
susan |
02.10.06 - 7:35 pm | #
Libby should (re)read Churchill's account of the forsaken honor of the French admiral, Darlan:
"How vain are human calculations of self interest! Rarely has there been a more convincing example. Admiral Darlan had but to sail in any one of his ships to any port outside France to become the master of all French interests beyond German control. He would not have come like General DeGaulle with only an unconquerable heart and a few kindred spirits.. Acting thus, Darlan would have become the chief of the French Resistance with a mighty weapon in his hand.. The whole French empire would have rallied to him... Nothing could have prevented him from being the liberator of France... Instead, he went forward through two years of worrying and ignominious office... and a name long to be execrated by.. the nation...". Their Finest Hour Page 230.
Libby is an major architect of the most avoidable, bloody tragedy in the history of the United States. He will never be mistaken as a liberator. In the memories of the English speaking peoples, however, he might even yet be remembered as a patriot, were he to act in their name, and speak the simple truth as he knows it.
Perhaps the American Weasel has a bit more in him than did the French one.
I doubt it, but maybe.
Sonoma |
02.10.06 - 7:35 pm | #
Bode Miller Nike commercial - am in love with that totally cute raised-by-hippies-rightwing-hating iconoclast. And I don't even play for the het team.
I guess that the President is not enjoying the opening ceremony - Yoko Ono asking for Peace, Peter Gabriel singing "Imagine" and Susan Sarandon carrying the flag.
Lurcher |
02.10.06 - 7:37 pm | #
USA team - there's Bode! - swoon
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 7:38 pm | #
as the US team comes in...the song is "Freedom"
ljt |
02.10.06 - 7:39 pm | #
Music for USA team - disco remake of Aretha's "Think" - "oh, freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom"
too bad no longer applies at present
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 7:40 pm | #
I heard NBC didn't expect good ratings for Olympix - but many of these commercials are superbowl-level-arresting-$$.
Sweden mob of athletes! Now Switzerland! Can I come live in both your countries?
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 7:43 pm | #
Jane: "Don't really see that anything that Comstock and Jeffress are trying to do actually helps Scooter."
Right. "Cheney told me to leak" sounds like a defense that might make sense if Scooter was charged with releasing classified information--not if he was charged, as he is, with lying to the grand jury and the investigators.
neurophius |
02.10.06 - 7:44 pm | #
About Ashcroft, I suggest a post devoted to taking comments on whether or not the Democrats should call him to testify.
I think the question is extremely important.
marky |
02.10.06 - 7:44 pm | #
Sherron Watkins and Jeff Skilling sat, under oath, in front of a Democrat headed Senate sub-committee, just barely 6 feet apart and called each other liars. It's taken over 3 years to get Skilling in front of a jury -
GOP Scapegoats Singing
by Scott Shields, Fri Feb 10, 2006 at 01:26:36 PM EST
Where there is any sort of failure or wrongdoing in a power structure, there will always be a scapegoat. There were many people involved in the Enron scandal, for example,...
Often in government, scapegoats accept blame willingly. As partisans, they're willing to take one for the team.
…What happens when they feel like they've been sold out by the very people they've pledged their loyalty to?
…Scooter Libby, Jack Abramoff, and Michael Brown are three scapegoats for major Republican scandals.
… These guys didn't act alone.
der |
02.10.06 - 7:45 pm | #
ot ot ... after our filibuster blitz, I'm (and I assume everyone here) on a very odd collection of email lists (including still argh Naral!) ... I wanted to compare and contrast two emails in case anyone here is helping Senators learn how to work the base ...
Louise Slaughter's emails always make me happy (and contribute) because she addresses us as peers and colleagues who share a concern and outrage. And she always includes real information.
John Conyers is a hero to me but I wish his email folks would vary their message a bit - it's always a new petition. They are always on target regarding issue but really need to identify new tactics to ask us to help with.
Yesterday Ted Kennedy's team wow-ed me with an email that completely matched the lastest issues and was written again in a collegial tone and invited me to watch the Senator's statement when he appeared on NBC Nightly News. I really liked that - it made me feel like Kennedy was sharing the fight with us.
Contrast this with John Kerry's email today which has a hot subject line (Evidence mounts against Cheney) and then a bunch of fighting word text ending with "enough is enough'" - all of which is simply a ploy to get more contributions to Kerry's PAC! (though if you click the link, you just get a donation page and have to maneuver to find the home page).
I would think by now that most national candidates would understand how to use email well but clearly not. So if any campaigns are watching - a little advice - engage me, share real info with me, treat me as a colleague in the fight ... then give me an action item that is NOT donating more money - always having your hand out just diminishes the likelihood that I will donate. Get me engaged on the issues and the actions and I am very likely to then, without prodding, click that donation button too.
sorry ... just thinking about this all day when I should have been advising my clients about the same stuff
siun |
02.10.06 - 7:47 pm | #
neurophius,
as I posted this afternoon, there is the defense against what Libby is currently charged with and the defense against what Libby may likely be charged with in the future.
It is the latter that keeps Scooter and his family awake every night.
immanentize |
02.10.06 - 7:49 pm | #
Jane, I pinched Eric's graphic for evidence and use on my blog. Nice work wrap-up.
Fitz
:)
Patrick J. Fitzgerald |
Homepage |
02.10.06 - 7:50 pm | #
hmmm....some Italians are giving our Bode a run for his money on cuteness...
Wilson46201 |
Homepage |
02.10.06 - 7:53 pm | #
Sorry to be so utterly OT everybody - but this apolitical escapist event is a balm to my cheney-battered soul
Here comes host Italy - their metallic silver coats look horrible individually but cool collectively - goodlookin women, all these youngsters full of life & happiness
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 7:54 pm | #
My mom who just hit 79 called earlier to say she couldn't wait to watch Bode ... he sure has quite the fan base!
me ... I still dream of Jean Claude Killy ... sigh
siun |
02.10.06 - 7:55 pm | #
Thank you, Jane, for setting the record straight. Libby hasn't flipped (yet), and the whole "Cheney told me to do it" story was news over a week ago to those of us who have been reading the documents. I thought I'd fallen into some bizarro world.
Frank Probst |
02.10.06 - 7:56 pm | #
Is anyone citing authority for the VP's ability to declassify?
And if it's the Exec Order, is anyone asking how it is part of performance of his "executive duties" to release NIEs to reporters.
Or asking why he would not have had to have the ok from the Agency (Tenet) head?
ljt - I have this hope that conspiracy is on the table, but will not be charged until after impeachment or 2009 - and that there are enough "acts in furtherance" etc. to drag the conspiracy SOL that far out. That could still have a lot of holes poked in it - but it could make for a really interesting end to 2008. Who does Bush "pardon" if he thinks conspiracy charges might be filed, but they have not been yet and the Prosecutor has not turned loose of all the conspiracy info bc he is pursuing the stand alones of perjury, etc. ?
The only other thing I can think of is if there is any kind of state law charge that might be tacked on to whatever else comes out - I don't think the PResident can pardon for state law crimes (not positive though) and the Prosecutor would have jurisdition as long as they are just ancillary to his fed investigation.
I just don't know. It would be great for the elections to have a bunch of indictments this summer with some nice revelations, but --- as nice as they might be for the political bounce, if you are prosecuting, I think you probably care more about what you can make stick - not just enough evidence for the charges, but a way to get past pardon.
Mary |
02.10.06 - 7:57 pm | #
our local newspaper called the opening a mixture of Fellini and Dante !
Wilson46201 |
Homepage |
02.10.06 - 7:59 pm | #
We already know the Bush administration has adopted the idea that, especially in matters of war, the President and his administration can do pretty much anything they want, even if it blatantly violates the letter of the law, because that is part of the power that comes with the Presidency.
Could the Bushies be preparing to use this as the ultimate defense in Plamegate? Could they argue that releasing the identify of Plame was part of the President's "war powers" and therefore that trumps all other laws?
Chris Andersen |
Homepage |
02.10.06 - 8:00 pm | #
Well, if the attention focus of the country matches fdl's during the Olympics, Bush's JAR will be up 10 points in a week.
Enough Bode. I like the clam lady.
scarecrow |
02.10.06 - 8:00 pm | #
cool flying people with wonderful gigantic floating globes .... wow!
all this and great thinking by Mary here ... perfect evening!
siun |
02.10.06 - 8:02 pm | #
Mary @ 02.10.06 - 6:34 pm -- IMO, Baker is a guy they have to get.
Agreed, partly for the reasons you mentioned, but also because he, like Comey, Goldsmith, and others, objected to this program (or programs, or whatever), and then he didn't. All these folks decided it wasn't worth fighting any more, but why? Did they all have the same reason? I doubt it. Like I said in a thread on this subject yesterday, I doubt that all of them are happy with this situation. Compromise is like that.
Cujo359 |
02.10.06 - 8:03 pm | #
Theatrical shit, well done
Commentators remarking on Italy as cradle of Renaissance
Yeah that Euro Enlightenment - too bad about that crashing into Cheney & co's need for more money
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 8:03 pm | #
Way cool multilevel people on strings
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 8:04 pm | #
all this and great thinking by Mary here ... perfect evening!
siun | 02.10.06 - 8:02 pm | #
Gotta go back and get all the good Mary before bed! :)
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 8:05 pm | #
Come on.. let's get a petition in support of having Ashcroft testifying. It would be so...so bipartisan of us:)
marky |
02.10.06 - 8:05 pm | #
odd: i thought I'd look up some progressive factoid about Turin's history but could find none except Antonio Gramsci and Jean-Jacques Rousseau lived there for a while...
Wilson46201 |
Homepage |
02.10.06 - 8:06 pm | #
Yes--Mary has been the best part of the evening. Thank you!
ljt |
02.10.06 - 8:06 pm | #
Siun -- are you seeing the Ferrari pitstop??
ljt |
02.10.06 - 8:07 pm | #
That picture of Scooter at the top looks like when Peter Pettigrew transforms back into a rat in "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azbakan."
Scared the hell out of me:)
Phoebe |
Homepage |
02.10.06 - 8:08 pm | #
Right. "Cheney told me to leak" sounds like a defense that might make sense if Scooter was charged with releasing classified information--not if he was charged, as he is, with lying to the grand jury and the investigators.
neurophius | 02.10.06 - 7:44 pm | #
--------------------------------------------------
---------
Well, he was worried about getting hit with an IIPA charge. My guess is that he was being too lawyerly for his own good: "I didn't leak Plame's identity, and if I did, it was only because Cheney was telling me to leak classified information anyway."
Now Scooter has a BIG problem. He's on the hook for obstruction/lying/perjury, he's clearly guilty, and Cheney just found out that Scooter told the Grand Jury that Cheney ordered him to leak classified information to the press. Oops. That's going to be a tense Valentine's Day dinner.
Frank Probst |
02.10.06 - 8:08 pm | #
I too have been thinking about Comey a lot, and I just want to mention a notion and see if any of you may think it may somehow factor in.
IIRC, Comey and Fitzgerald are good buddies. Not the GOP version of "buddies" where one hand washes the other over the shared value of corruption, treason, or moneygrubbing, but the real deal.
Now, let's say that Comey is aware that there are programs, plural, which spy on Americans speaking with Americans, domestically.
Does it not occur to Comey, if he is aware of its potential use by the WH against its critics and opponents, that Fitzgerald and his investigators could themselves be targets of snooping?
Is not Comey the guy who did everything in his power to make sure our beloved Fitz had the mandate, the undeniable authority, the budget necessary, to take the investigation wherever it would lead? Was he not super-shrewd then, foreseeing the kind of sabotage the admin would want to wreak on Fitzgerald's investigation in order to keep all the big dirty dirt hidden? Did he not, on his way out of DOJ, make certain to shepherd the authorities within DOJ in such a fashion that Fitzgerald could not be harrassed?
All that being the case, if Comey thought it possible/likely that the Bushie cult leaders would use wiretapping and other surveillance methods to defeat Fitzgerald's search for all the evildoers, wouldn't he now want to do EVERYTHING possible to protect Fitz and all that work he had done in the past?
Could that be why he seems to be hesitant, warning about the executive privilege ace up the slimy administrative sleeve? Does he share Mary's concerns, maybe?
Do you think Comey (and others allied with him and Fitzgerald) are now trying to figure a way for whistleblowers to get out of the box they're in?
Just some thoughts...would appreciate any feedback.
Mrs. K8 |
02.10.06 - 8:08 pm | #
ooh - and a gret burnout here too!
good stuff!
(the teevee commenters always remind me of how embarassing americans are abroad!)
siun |
02.10.06 - 8:09 pm | #
(And I meant to say "a bat-shit Victoria Toensing" in that last sentence.)
"I don't think the PResident can pardon for state law crimes (not positive though)"
He can't (pretty sure).
Sec. 1.4 Offenses against the laws of possessions or territories of the United States.
Petitions for executive clemency shall relate only to violations of laws of the United States. Petitions relating to violations of laws of the possessions of the United States or territories subject to the jurisdiction of the United [[Page 97]] States should be submitted to the appropriate official or agency of the possession or territory concerned.
Jane: "Don't really see that anything that Comstock and Jeffress are trying to do actually helps Scooter."
Right. "Cheney told me to leak" sounds like a defense that might make sense if Scooter was charged with releasing classified information--not if he was charged, as he is, with lying to the grand jury and the investigators.
neurophius |
02.10.06 - 8:12 pm | #
siun --
I too remember Jean Claude Killy. Sigh. When I was a kid, my big sister would nab me and tell me to sit down with her on the sofa to watch the Olympics.
[Of course, everything my big sister who was a teacher did was way cool in my estimation.]
She went out of her way to point out JCK, to show me what a classy, handsome, super-cool European looked like. And the skiing was pretty good, too! ;-)
Mrs. K8 |
02.10.06 - 8:12 pm | #
OT--
If breaking through the resistance of the corporate media is an essential element in the struggle to wake up/take back the country, I tend to think today was a good day.
For instance, here are the five stories that took up the first 20 minutes of the CBS Evening News tonight. (The rest was tabloid/fluff.) None was spun toward the Administration, and no wingnut quotes for "balance:"
1. Steve Kroft showed up to preview a "60 Minutes" piece about all the billions that have been lost in Iraq through the incompetence and cronyism of the CPA. Should be a good segment Sunday.
2. Interview with whistleblower Paul Pillar about his expose on the "cherrypicking of prewar intel," as the piece put it.
3. FEMA hearing coverage with clips of Brownie, spun largely as about lessons learned and "who's to blame for the Katrina failures."
4. A New Orleans piece, on site, billed as "Where does that leave the residents?" with a "tour of the devastation" and showing homeowners still returning to piles of rubble where their homes were.
5. And a short piece on a "new measure of the financial fallout" from Katrina--a soaring US trade deficit due to need for boost in foreign oil purchases.
Imagine if the news were presented straight, like this, on every news show, every day, instead of the pablum we've been getting....
siun @ 02.10.06 - 7:47 pm -- I've e-mailed lots of Senators and representatives. Very few have sent back anything more nuanced than your e-mail from Kerry.
Cujo359 |
02.10.06 - 8:15 pm | #
Can anybody say "Richard Milhous Cheney" ?
I knew you could.....
jefe |
02.10.06 - 8:16 pm | #
wilson .... shhh!
you could almost smell the burning rubber!
siun |
02.10.06 - 8:17 pm | #
"Ashcroft testiifying ought to be a win win win for Dems"
Possibly in more than one respect. Frankly, I'm not sure even Clusterfuck can count on his loyalty. Ashcroft is loyal to his own wingnuttyness, true, but he's indicated on more than one occasion that he's not all that enthusiastic when it comes to lying for the thugs for whom he used to work. He may be one of those wingnuts who just happens to believe that he actually has to earn the love of his wrathful and uncompassionate god.
Anonymous |
02.10.06 - 8:19 pm | #
So who's gonna put the torch flame to the cauldron thang? Only possibility I've heard is Tomba the bomba
I've studied several languages including Italian - none have that sensuous immediate emphatic lilt of Italian
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 8:19 pm | #
You guys have to have mercy on us poor west coasters. The Opening Ceremonies coverage started 13 minutes ago and I am just now hitting my first real commercial. The previous 13 minutes was the informercial for the USOT put on by NBC.
My two cents: I want Comey, Ashcroft, et al, to testify to the truth. I don't care if anyone says what I want or don't want to hear, what I need to hear is the truth.
Suzanne |
02.10.06 - 8:21 pm | #
being from Indianapolis, a car-obsessed city, I know cheapass car theatrics. Hoosier boys outgrow that by 17...
Ferraris doing doughnuts is simply declasse...still, it was thrilling for them to be gunning it when leaving the pit stop...the roaring of engines is way cool.
Wilson46201 |
Homepage |
02.10.06 - 8:21 pm | #
A google search on Barbara Comstock brings up loads of interesting hits . . .
this "womens thing" they are doing is so right...
Wilson46201 |
Homepage |
02.10.06 - 8:23 pm | #
City Girl -- yes -- in fact, from that perspective, it was a very "good" newsweek. Unfortunately, much of the news throughout the world was tragic, and our only solace is that the awful news might finally wake up enough people to change the leadership that's responsible. It is an awful price to pay. But it would have been worse if it all happened, and no one noticed or cared.
Mrs. K8: you're so right about the comey history. It's what makes everyone hope he'd be such a great witness. But it's a role of the dice when the hearings are outside the control of an ethical majority.
scarecrow |
02.10.06 - 8:23 pm | #
OK, on topic for a second. Gods I hope the rats have had enough.
Wait here's the flag - Sophia Loren! Susan Sarandon! Isabel Allende! Wangari Maathai! (if you don't know, google her - unbelievable), music is triumphal march from Verdi's Aida, guess the commentators don't know that.
YIKES what a bunch!
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 8:25 pm | #
years of opera productions have taught the Italians how to stage spectacles ! but then, i suppose folks got off on watching Christians thrown to the lions there too...
Wilson46201 |
Homepage |
02.10.06 - 8:25 pm | #
Now that Olympic fanfare that somebody wrote back in the late 60s, always grabs me
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 8:27 pm | #
Dayam it, Wilson, that one almost cost me another keyboard.
Suzanne |
02.10.06 - 8:27 pm | #
Scarecrow, you are right, I thought about putting "good" in quotes too. Like everything else these days, even that word is turned on its head in this context.
...but she has her finger in a lot of pies it looks like.
Cozumel |
Homepage |
02.10.06 - 8:30 pm | #
Sarandon really has to be a thumb in the eye to Prez Cheney
Sharkbabe |
02.10.06 - 8:30 pm | #
Wilson46201 - Ferraris doing doughnuits! cheap ass theatrics !
Cheezy? Maybe. Cheap? No. Just wait until the repair bills.
Cujo359 |
02.10.06 - 8:30 pm | #
I like to think that we are having some impact on the media message - and imagine how much more if we keep going!
that said ... an evening off to play olympics is good for the blood pressure ...
Mrs K8 ... we're prolly in the same age group or there abouts ... JCK was one of my first images of true romance (after Tramp in the spaghetti scene in Lady and the Tramp)
but I must say ... spinning tires + susan, sophia, et al is just damn good teevee!
siun |
02.10.06 - 8:33 pm | #
Gotta like today's political headlines in today's LATimes. Main page (top two):--
"Brown says White House learned quickly of Katrina"
"Libby says 'superiors' OK'd Leaks"
+ political page:--
"Abramoff says he Met Bush "Almost a Dozen Times""
"Bush Appointee Steps Down from Post at NASA: Amid reports that George Deutsch tried to censor scientists..."
"DeLay Gets Coveted Committee Seat"
"Conservatives' Reunion is Less Than United This Year: Discontent with Some Bush Policies..."
"ABA President Urges Bush to Obey Spy Laws"
"Bush Land Sale Glance"
"Bush Administration Details $1B Land Sales"
"Gov's Top Aid Was Paid by Developers"
Gosh. Not bad for one day's news? Even with all their witchdoctoring of the news, MSM can't help making it sound like we're being ruled by a bunch of thugs.
Blub |
02.10.06 - 8:34 pm | #
Cujo ... maybe pols are a little nervous about emailing "Cujo" for help ... I'll happily forward some of mine to you!
siun |
02.10.06 - 8:36 pm | #
Yoko!
W must be cranky now ... but of course, he's prob. already asleep
siun |
02.10.06 - 8:37 pm | #
Every time I watch something like the Olympics, I wonder how our species can be so amazing -- we are capable of such breathtaking beauty.
scarecrow |
02.10.06 - 8:37 pm | #
scarecrow --
Yes, you're right about that. But that wasn't really the point I was trying (not so well, I guess) to get across. My point was not even so much about the hearings or his testimony.
I guess I was trying to look at a larger frame than the NSA hearings -- i.e., don't you think that Comey and Fitzgerald and maybe even a good numer of other genuinely upstanding souls are looking for, and working on strategies for continuing to fight the Big Brother Evil Empire -- to find ways to make it safe for whistleblowers to come forward? Perhaps to apply pressure behind the scenes to key people?
I dunno. I just think that Comey has to be one majorly pissed off dude to think his and Fitzgerald's work could be compromised. I'd think that there's lots of scheming (the GOOD kind) and strategizing going on behind the scenes.
I've even speculated if it isn't possible that someone somewhere who works for NSA or any of the other spy agencies might not be "documenting" through his/her OWN surveillance the doings and plannings of the Evil Imperial Guard. Sort of using the regime's own weapons against them.
Caveat -- I am certainly NOT suggesting that Comey or Fitz themselves would be doing suchlike. Heaven forfend! -- even if I WERE to think such an impure thought, I wouldn't dream of thinking it aloud.
However, internecine warfare has been waged within EVERY single federal agency ever since the evil clowns came to town and started subverting EVERY single agency to their own evil purposes.
Surely folks who quietly despise the Bushies, the civil servants who want to do their jobs, do not dislike the regime any LESS in recent days. I'd think the people on the side of the angels would be banding together, assisting each other, planning with each other.
Mrs. K8 |
02.10.06 - 8:39 pm | #
nodding to scarecrow ...
my kids see it all in a pretty cynical vein but I can timetravel back emotionally to when it all felt true and possible ...
Imagine! A new thread.
scarecrow |
02.10.06 - 8:40 pm | #
siun --
LOL!!! We MUST be in the same age range. Lady and the Tramp! Oh my, I pestered my parents endlessly -- to no avail -- to get me a cocker spaniel after that movie.
Did your parents take you to see "The Parent Trap"? I got teased endlessly for a supposed resemblance to Hayley Mills. Never lived it down.
Mrs. K8 |
02.10.06 - 8:42 pm | #
I know I've been in a rambly repetitive overdrive, but thanks for bearing with me.
MsK8 - I sure hope someone is trying to provide cover for whistleblowers - this has got to be about as good faith as it gets on a belief of illegality. If FISA judges won't give you a surveillance warrant based on what you get from your program -- you have to pause.
I am also finding life more and more ironic.
For example, while the head of the Intelligence committee is telling us all to quit hating America and support warrantless wiretaps, military tribunals, and widespread telecom and internet provider compliance with info tunrover to the govt ---
Congress in a "bipartisan" fashion is up in arms that yahoo is turning over info to the Chinese. Because, after all, it's against our values.
"I don't like any American company ratting out a citizen for speaking out against their government,"
The group said Yahoo provided electronic records to Chinese authorities that led to an eight-year prison sentence for writer Li Zhi in 2003.
the same dilemma of complying with laws that lack transparency and that can have disturbing consequences inconsistent with our own beliefs," Osako said.
[insert your own joke]
In September, Yahoo was accused of helping Chinese authorities identify Shi Tao, who was accused of leaking state secrets abroad and was sentenced last April to 10 years in prison.
Sentenced? You mean - he got a trial, not a secret military tribunal - I guess the Chinese are out of the loop.
Smith said the hearings set for February 15 will push Yahoo to reveal what information it provided to the Chinese government, the number of people involved and details on how Yahoo interacts with what he describes as the "secret police."
And yet, I don't think he means the guys at NSA.
Siun, I was very impressed by Kennedy's emails and website. Thanks for the info Cujo and Cozumel, and I appreciate that folks who disagree with me do realize that I am not so much trying to avoid truth, just really worried about how some aspects of a hearing that will almost certainly involve a lot of limits on testimony can be addressed.
Costas on Peter Gabriel belonging to Amnesty Interanation and other similar "philanthropic" organizations. Righto Bob, just another United Way. Why don't you just head back to St. Louis and do us all a favor? You are so outclassed in Europe.
fred |
02.10.06 - 8:44 pm | #
Mrs. K8. Mary's response to you was far better than anything I could have said. I agree with your point -- or your hope.
weirdly, my daughter who is about to turn 20 adored Lady & the Tramp and watched the dvd at least once a day for about two years (at Redd's Peanut's age!) ... and ya know ... it wasn't bad!
then they did a new version of the Parent Trap - and that was dreadful!
At one time I was spozed to look like the prissy Patty Duke character on that show that I can't remember ...
it wasn't a bad time to grow up and I continue to believe that some of our early childhood mass media made us more rebellious - from Crusader Rabbit to the Tramp ... we had early models of outsiders who rebelled or fought for justice even if it was simply snatching all the pups from the dogcatchers!
siun |
02.10.06 - 8:51 pm | #
graphic is damn good
jane hamsher |
Homepage |
02.10.06 - 9:42 pm | #
In tonight's spirit of "these Olympic moments", the best (and probably most accurate ) description of Turin I've ever heard is "Detroit with Cathedrals" (pretty sure it was John Powers in the Boston Globe).
Speaking of the great graphics offered by Jane, Redd et al. - Jim Bamford (NSA expert and co-litigant in one of the civil suits in the NSA wiretapping bru-ha-ha - the ACLU one, I think) recently described the Bushies' defense to almost everything as:
"The Terrrorists Are Coming! The Terrrorists Are Coming!".
This cracked me up and I immediately thought of re-doing the 60's spoof "THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING! THE RUSSIAN ARE COMING!" (directed by the great Norman Jewison and written by Nathanial Bencheley, son of Robert and father of Peter of Jaws Fame) as follows:
"COMING TO YOUR SCREENS SOON!
Watch NOW as Alan Arkin depicts everyone's favorite Al-Quida Leader OSAMA BIN LADEN, Carl Reiner sympathetically portrays beleagered town leader GEORGE W BUSH, and Jonathan Winter IS the double-dealing town sherrif KARL ROVE....!
Anyone with photoshop skills care to take a shot at this?
McGee |
02.10.06 - 9:47 pm | #
That's very funny. Don't lawyers normally owe a duty to their clients that supersedes any duty to ANYONE NOT THEIR CLIENT?
If Cheney or the rest of the WHIG want to be protected, shouldn't they get their own lawyers? Don't Libby's lawyers owe him *at least* that much? Hmmm...
Chris |
02.10.06 - 10:22 pm | #
It's the "Unitary Executive" in action. In order to fight the war, it was necessary to get public opinion behind it. And in order to get public opinion behind the war, we had to get the press to do our bidding.
This was all granted to the President in the AUMF, right?
roxtar |
Homepage |
02.11.06 - 4:03 am | #
I wonder if Comstock has some ability to lay claim to THESE TX. $ for Tommy's DeFense fund?
“I don’t have any real good insight or reasons” for the demise, said WHITTINGTON, who also is chairman of the Texas Funeral Service Commission.
(~honing in on this sort of misdirection MIGHT BE reason to shoot someone...)
_ _ _ _. I got thinkin TRAVIS COUNTY, TX. and accidentally wrote "Tommy", instead of SCOOTER.
pLEASE ammend above post to read:
I wonder if Comstock has some ability to lay claim to THESE TX. $ for Scooter's DeFense fund?
“I don’t have any real good insight or reasons” for the demise, said WHITTINGTON, who also is chairman of the Texas Funeral Service Commission.
(~honing in on this sort of misdirection MIGHT BE 'reason' to shoot someone...or at least pepper 'em up a bit! --you know, just to set an example/show him you are serious.)
