OK, it may be a little premature. But it's beginning to look we've reached a turning point.
Here's some of what I've been thinking so far.
MonicaSmith wrote on July 21, 2005 06:10 AM:
TigerMom*in*NM wrote on July 21, 2005 12:42 AM
OK, the reason this stuff is still coming out is because Judith Miller is sitting in jail. That's given the whistle-blowers confidence that they have a reasonable chance of not being outed when they provide confidential information.
That said, I still think that the original ID came from George the Lesser himself. Perhaps the referenced document was a response to an inquiry for verification and a name that the original source, per usual, didn't have. Don't forget that the reason George the Lesser makes up nick-names for people is because he can't remember their names. And the reason for that is because people have no independent reality for him--people only exist as he sees them.
OK--I admit it. That's pure speculation and has about as much validity as the speculations about WMD in Iraq. But, like Clinton's quibbling, is unlikely to kill anyone.
MonicaSmith wrote on July 21, 2005 06:40 AM:
Shelley wrote on July 21, 2005 06:15 AM
I suppose lying is a very hard habit to break. During the Cold War a lot of people were able to convince themselves that their security depended on not letting our enemies (saber-rattlers to be sure) know what we were up to and so a whole culture of acceptable lying evolved.
Then Nixon got caught. But, having learned just yesterday that the Watergate burglars were paid with money that was laundered through bank accounts controlled by a partner of Poppy, Liedtke, I'm beginning to wonder if Nixon wasn't undermined from within and followed some bad advice which then made him realize that the rot was more wide-spread than he thought and he resigned for the good of the country.
Then Ford made Poppy head of the CIA and Carter got rid of him. Which is actually rather peculiar. The more customary thing is that agency heads, while they do serve at the pleasure of the executive, are retained from one administration to the next, as the head of the FBI was for years.
Strange that Carter, an experienced administrator got rid of Poppy. Perhaps Reagan was Poppy's revenge.
Or have I got the time-line wrong? Have to admit that I was real busy with three children under six about that time, not to mention renovating houses, so I didn't pay a lot of attention.
Anyway, I've never bought the oil story when it comes to foreign relations. (The BLM has just announced that it issued over two thousand new permits in one year for drilling on public lands--no doubt a response to the increased price per barrell, as well as opening up the public lands). What these people are after is power--an American Empire that they control--to achieve what their nazi forbears just missed accomplishing (because, it was long explained, they didn't have enough fuel--but that wasn't it).
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MonicaSmith wrote on July 21, 2005 06:49 AM:
I think the most surprising bit of information I've ever come across was the revelation that the sheik of Brunei or Bahrain or some such exotic nowhere place had been persuaded to donate money to some illegal project. I don't even remember the particulars. Only my reaction with the biggest WHY? ever. And I'm only now getting at the answers.
Michael Moore got it right about the "Sheiks of Araby" That's why they hate him so much. Those are the role models for the Bushes--absolute rulers. Of course, the empire they aim for is much, much larger. Too bad their name is BUSH. With a name like that, they'll never make it. Adding "Bandar" won't do it either. LOL
Did you all see in the paper that the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia is leaving? Again? Didn't we just get a new one?
Too much to keep track of!!!!!!
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MonicaSmith wrote on July 21, 2005 08:05 AM:
Patrick in LA wrote on July 20, 2005 10:06 PM
Agree with this analysis. However, it all depends on those with the physical force (military and police) being willing to enforce the dicta of the executive. And that's where it is beginning to slip.
And what we unarmed citizens need to do is make sure we protect the people who are telling us the truth. Because, as I've been repeating for a couple of days now, the situation that's been created makes is OK to lie and threatens to punish those who tell the truth, by making all truths secrets and their revelation, in time of war, treason.
Judith Miller had a choice between telling the truth and being charged with treason and keeping silent and going to prison. As long as people are going to be punished for telling the truth, we have to protect them by keeping quiet and spreading the truth surreptitiously.
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MonicaSmith wrote on July 21, 2005 08:45 AM:
Renee*in*Ohio wrote on July 21, 2005 08:25 AM
He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword. I said at the time that it was most unwise to force Tenet to resign--not because of what Tenet might reveal, but because of the message it would send to the institution that this Chief Executive can not be trusted. If the Chief cannot be trusted, then people will not put their lives on the line.
Obviously, what the public is learning now, has been known by the institution for some time. And it's been known by the people in the State Department.
Again, Miller sitting in jail is the Times' proffer of good faith. It's the key to unlocking a lot of secrets.
Stupid are the people who fed her lies.
And, finally, this from
http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/072105Weiner/072105weiner.html
Excerpts to tempt you:
Bush&Co. realized they couldn't come right out and tell everyone what their true motives were?to depose the Saddam Hussein regime in order to control the world's second largest oil reserve, to set up permanent military bases there, and to use the presence of those bases and the "shock & awe" example of overthrowing a dictator as a warning to other autocratic regimes in the Greater Middle East to bow to U.S. wishes. Those wishes involved oil, Israel, nuclear reactors, terrorism, and the like. So, a convenient reason?one simple enough for the masses to comprehend?had to be found that would justify war.
[...]
The White House Iraq Group
But someone, or some entity, within the administration had to coordinate these concerted propaganda campaigns. That was the bailiwick and job-assignment of the WHIG, chaired by Bush's Chief of Staff Andrew Card, the regular members of which were Karl Rove, the president's senior political adviser; communications strategists Karen Hughes, Mary Matalin and James R. Wilkinson; legislative liaison Nicholas E. Calio; and policy advisers led by Rice and her deputy, Stephen J. Hadley, along with "Scooter" Libby, Cheney's Chief of Staff. In other words, WHIG included the key decision makers (Rove, Rice, Card, Cheney-via Libby), and the key propaganda specialists (Hughes, Matalin, et al.).
[...]
Again, it's not totally clear how far Special Counsel/U.S Attorney Fitzgerald is willing to go to clear out this nest of administration vipers. He could choose to stick close to the Valerie Plame/Joe Wilson case itself, or he could keep heading in the direction of indicting a good many administration officials?perhaps with Bush and Cheney as unindicted co-conspirators?for their part in lying about classified national security matters to the Congress and American people. A wild card: If Judith Miller were to trade immunity for prosecution and decide to testify about Rove/Libby/Cheney, anything could happen.
Wounded, Cornered Animals Are Dangerous
If and when the above scenarios start to unfold, it's not outside the realm of possibility that Rove would get desperate enough to try to question the motives and character of the special counsel himself, as BuzzFlash puts it, "to try to sink the investigation through an ad hominem attack. This is Rove's pathological gutter tactic. He doesn't know how NOT to use it when backed into a corner." Or Rove/Bush conceivably could do a Nixon and order Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to fire Fitzgerald.
Anything is possible as the Bush administration paints itself further into the scandal corner, and, desperate to avoid criminal proceedings and/or impeachment, lashes out at its perceived enemies.
Stay tuned. The fun is just beginning.
Bernard Weiner, Ph.D., has taught government & international relations at various universities, worked as a writer/editor with the San Francisco Chronicle, and currently co-edits The Crisis Papers.
The views expressed herein are the writers' own and do not necessarily reflect those of Online Journal.
Email editor@onlinejournal.com
Copyright © 1998-2005 Online Journal?. All rights reserved.
In case it's not entirely clear, the day started off with the newspapers reporting that Patrick J. Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor designated to investigate the leak of Plame, was moving forward, as well as yet another document, this one from the State Department, regarding Plame and Wilson, having been made available to the Washington Post. That document clearly indicates that the name of Valerie Wilson is to be kept secret.