Friday, July 15, 2005

Turdblossom triumphant?

I probably ought not say much about Rovegate right now, since my net time is limited and I haven't completed today's reading. So far, the best summary of events I've found would be Billmon's:

So suddenly Plamegate -- which no one at the White House will talk about on the record, because it might get them indicted . . . I mean, because it might compromise Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation -- has sprung a whole shitload of leaks.

And whaddya know! They've all appeared on the same day (document dump Friday, no less), they all help shore up Karl Rove's alibi, and they all seem to have come from either Justice Department officials who've been "briefed" on case, or from attorneys who are very familiar with Karl Rove's defense.

Funny how that works.

In terms of the GOP's propaganda offensive, this is what the generals call "committing the reserves." But the leaks have also revealed the White House's line of legal defense -- which appears to be that Rove and his fellow choir boys were led astray by those nasty media whores in their fishnet stockings and pushup bras. They're the ones who outed Valerie Plame, not poor little innocent Karl.
In short: Rove now says that the reporters leaked to him, and not vice-versa. And where would a reporter get the info? A good question -- but don't hold your breath waiting for an answer. A good journalist is supposed to go to jail before revealing his source. Or rather: Her source.

And now we know why Judy keeps silent, even though she has burned sources in the past, and even though Rove has already been named.

After she spends a few months in the pokey waiting out the Grand Jury, she can emerge to receive her nice fat reward. Protecting Turdblossom's brobdinagian rectum should fetch her a cool million or two, which she will no doubt receive via the usual mechanism of a pseudo-bestseller. You know the drill: bulk purchases of advance copies. No-one dare call it a pay-off.

She may even get a movie or television deal. I doubt if the tale of Courageous Judy and her epic struggle against Darth Fitzgerald will actually make the big screen. Still...one never knows...

Bloody effing genius. Sometimes I think these diabolical manipulators deserve to win.

Will the public buy into the numerous false "blame Plame" stories now being spread by the usual propagandists? So far, they haven't. But never underestimate the power of sheer repetition.

Speaking of repetition, I'd like to note once more an important factoid I've pointed out in previous columns: On September 17, 2001, a CBS News poll revealed that only three percent of the American public believed Saddam Hussein to be the mastermind behind the World Trade Center attack. As you know, this tiny percentage eventually turned into a majority.

Such things do not happen by accident.

Staying on message works. As Muhammed Ali understood, if you can't knock out an opponent in the first round, you may still be able to tire him out.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

It *is* indeed falling into place now. If Judith Miller, mouthpiece of the Chalibi section of the Pentagon, is willing to go to jail, it would only be to save Karl Rove's hide, not for High Journalistic Principle, of which she has none (only look at her [disgraceful, unprofessional] reporting). This woman could well be a plant -- it wouldn't be the first time the Times has been infiltrated by State/Pentagon/CIA agents, when it's not doing their bidding all on its own. Only look at the Nixon era.

And it's clear now why Fitzgerald, a generally well-respected prosecutor, went to the extreme of seeking a contemp citation against a journalist.

He sees perjury, but won't be able to prove it without Miller. Look for Judy's book deal.

Anonymous said...

please, folks, we cannot forget that novak referred to TWO officials telling him of plame. rove is only one, we can assume. the other...

well, it seems to me that miller had more contacts than just rove. in fact, her chum chalabi might be of interest here, given that there he no doubt spent time with the likes of bolton.

there are those iraq group meetings that smell funny, as well as powell's presence on AF1 during that fateful week.

this is a full blown conspiracy, i'm thinking. don't have a clue why joe is referring to fitzgerald as the darth; blumenthal quotes him in his stellar piece from yesterday as having said little, but he DID say that this case is not about a whistleblower; it's about a potential retaliation against a whistleblower.

this is where protection of sources drops off the first amendment. sorry, but no citizen of MY us of a has the right to protect anyone who is abusing power.

one more thing to remember: the difference between public opinion moving toward the war is there was no oversight committee on it; all media, all the time. in contrast, in this case, it doesn't matter one bit what the public thinks. if the prosecutor builds a case, then it goes through the judicial process. and from what i've read about how the grand jurists are handling this, we have no reason to despair as yet. for chrissake: even the judge who put miller in jail gets it! he noted that she was not protecting a whistleblower but someone who'd tried to silence one!

keep perspective here; things are not going badly at all. all you have to do is watch just how desperately the repugs are behaving.

Anonymous said...

Joseph:
Today's lie du jour, that Novak leaked to Rove, opens Turd Blossom up to yet another criminal charge. Rove's failure to report unauthorized disclosure of classified information, even to someone with a security clearance, is a felony. Look it up. Ho Ho Ho.

Barry Schwartz said...

Someone who believes what Karl Rove says is called a fool, Joseph.

Rove is simply using his usual technique of turning tables. You're a war hero? Then we'll paint you a coward. You are a hero to children? Then we'll paint you a pederaster.

But the prosecutors, the judges, and the grand jury cannot be affected by this alone, and Rove already has admitted, effectively, that he is guilty of defrauding the government. He will be charged at least with that. But who really gives a damn what happens to Karl Rove? He's chicken feed.

BTW if he _were_ telling the truth now, then he's admitted what a previous commenter said, plus it makes him guilty of conspiracy.

O.J. Simpson could get away with murder, but no one in the White House has won a Heisman trophy or entertained us with suicide threats in a white Ford Bronco -- yet.

Joseph Cannon said...

I should have made myself clear in my original post. OF COURSE I think Rove's latest story is a lie. Yeesh -- we're talking about Karl Rove here. Everyone reading this blog should know that I think this man lies every time he opens his mouth -- even when he says "Hello, my name is Karl Rove."

"Darth Fitzgerald" is how he will be characterized in Judy Miller's insta-book.

I know full well that Novak spoke of two sources, but in many ways his orginal reports are now being declared "inoperative" by the spinners.

As far as Rove is concernend, the script will probably remain: "I gave the identity to Novak only after I got it from Judy. Ask Jusy where SHE got it." Judy clams up. Eventually she is released and writes her pro-Rove book.

Anonymous said...

re: the 3% that believed Saddam was behind 9/11

Citizens of Red America are disinterested in
facts and hungry for myth.

The truth is that cowboys, farmers, and US
industrial workers have become irrelevant to the world, the economy, and the future.
Deep down they know this, but they bury the realization under their heroic battles
for the unborn, for Jesus, and against
"terror".

Technology is already doing to office
workers' jobs what it did long ago to
those of farmworkers and factory workers.
With the prospect that 80% of the
workforce will be unemployable it's no
wonder the authorities consider citizens'
rights a liability. Do you think all
those people are going to happily sit
around eating brown rice and translating
Rilke?

Anonymous said...

calling turd b a genius is
ridiculous. if he can be credited
for anything it is that he is obsessed with hating imaginary
monsters that he refers to as liberals. the only thing that
makes him seem powerful and
smart is the fear his followers have of him and the hate he offers them as an answer to what confuses them. the
scarry thing about rove and
the like is the quixotic
conviction that posseses them
and this, not genius is what
their power really is.

Anonymous said...

calling turd b a genius is
ridiculous. if he can be credited
for anything it is that he is obsessed with hating imaginary
monsters that he refers to as liberals. the only thing that
makes him seem powerful and
smart is the fear his followers have of him and the hate he offers them as an answer to what confuses them. the
scarry thing about rove and
the like is the quixotic
conviction that posseses them
and this, not genius is what
their power really is.

Anonymous said...

Karl Rove is Bush's brain,
He outed Valerie Plame,
To the American masses,
George says, "Kiss our asses,"
Karl's totally without blame.

Anonymous said...

That was so much fun, here's another:

Karl Rove, the Pillsbury Doughboy,
Has our country for his playtoy,
George calls him "Turdblossom,"
But soon he will toss 'im,
A victim of his own Plame ploy.