I’ve been on the road all day and, as well, working on a number of important reports for the coming week. You’ll want to keep your eyes on The BRAD BLOG in the the days ahead. We may be unloading fast and furiously on a number of breaking and important news items.
In the meantime, however, today there have been some very notable developments in several of the plethora of continuing Republican Scandals wending their way through the courts, the media and the hearts and minds of the American people…
DENNIS HASTERT BRIBERY ALLEGATIONS…
More on Hastert and the allegations that he may have been bribed to withdraw a Congressional resolution naming the murder of anywhere from 600,000 to 1.5 million Armenians as a “genocide” by the Turkish government. On Tuesday, in a BRAD BLOG Exclusive, we reported on former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds’ reaction to recent curious developments including a surprise denial of parts of the story from Hastert’s attorney several months after the original report. Edmond’s is reported to have listened in on FBI wiretaps out of Chicago discussing the possible bribes of “Denny Boy” as he’s said to have been described on the tapes. Bob Fertik has a few more details and thoughts on the matter.
Blogger “Lukery” has now set up a blog devoted to related developments and the call for Hastert to disclose his “un-itemized” $500,000 in contributions between 1996 and 2002. The site is: http://DiscloseDenny.blogspot.com.
WARRANTLESS NSA SPYING UPDATE…
AmericaBlog has coverage of the Washington Times article critical of Bush’s eavesdropping program. (Yes, that Washington Times, and yes, we said “critical”! Which makes this article very notable!) The Washington Times piece reports that the program included American to American calls, not just al Qaeda folks as previously reported; “has failed to make a dent in the war against al Qaeda”; and that apparently al Qaeda members are currently running free in the United States and the Bush admin is unable to found them due to “insufficient intelligence and even poor analysis.”
WaPo has new details on the two FISA court judges who are reportedly pissed off about the way the Bush Administration had been, and continue to, deal with them. Reportedly, the FISA court went so far as to shut down the NSA spying program for a time after repeatedly finding that the Bush Administration was using information gleaned from warrantless spying to receive warrants for additional spying from FISA. The judges also had questions about the constitutionality of the program.
VALERIE PLAME CIA LEAK INVESTIGATION…
Murray Waas files another superb report in National Journal on the CIA/Valerie Plame leak investigation. The headline is that former Cheney chief of staff Scooter Libby testified to Fitzgerald’s Grand Jury that he was “authorized” by Cheney and “other White House superiors” to leak classified intelligence information to the media in order to shore up the Administration’s case for going to war with Iraq. The leaks included the disclosure of the identity of covert CIA agent Valerie Plame in an attempt to discredit her husband Ambassador Joe Wilson prior to the war’s start, as well as additional classified intel later in order to make the case that the Administration did not manipulate pre-war intelligence. As well, Waas describes evidence of the emerging “Oliver North Defense Strategy” that Libby seems to be employing by demanding classified docs that the White House won’t allow to be released, in hopes that it may force the Judge to toss out the case entirely.
UPDATE from David Edwards: CBS News reports on Cheney’s leak “authorization”…
Video in Streaming Flash format…
Video in Windows Media format…
Jason Liepold at TruthOut also has a a superb detailed report which seems to confirm the above concerning Cheney’s authorization to go after Wilson. Liepold quotes sources from State, CIA and the NSC who were aware of and/or present at meetings in Cheney’s office concerning Wilson. The sources say that both Cheney and then-Deputy National Security Advisor (now Cheney chief of staff) Stephen Hadley, “led a campaign beginning in March 2003 to discredit former Ambassador Joseph Wilson for publicly criticizing the Bush administration’s intelligence on Iraq.” The sources, who are said to have testified before Fitzgerald’s Grand Jury investigating the leak, said their roles in the matter “included digging up or ‘inventing’ embarrassing information on the former Ambassador that could be used against him”
Liepold describes the following exchange with one of his CIA sources:
“The way I remember it,” the CIA official said about that first meeting he attended in Cheney’s office, “is that the vice president was obsessed with Wilson. He called him an ‘asshole,’ a son-of-a-bitch. He took his comments very personally. He wanted us to do everything in our power to destroy his reputation and he wanted to be kept up to date about the progress.”
Lots ahead. Unfortunately. Hell, we didn’t even mention Abramoff or Electoral Fraud once in the above report! Stay tuned…
Treason is not partisan even though all the Traitors are republicans. . . . . The Left is Right and right is Wrong.
LOL! Brad has to put multiple Republican scandal stories in one topic…because there’s so many going on! ROFLMAO!
Tell me about it, Big Dan… Yeesh…
Let’s all hope we can stop Bush and Cheney from bombing Iran, just to take the attention off these investigations!!It’s been worth the wait to see them go down for their crimes,even if it was so long!Good job Brad!!
Let’s all hope we can stop Bush and Cheney from bombing Iran, just to take the attention off these investigations!!It’s been worth the wait to see them go down for their crimes,even if it was so long!Good job Brad!!
I wonder where Ricky the righty is tonight, or medium right for that matter? I wonder how they feel about Cheney being a traitor to America.
special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald must be at risk of "suiciding" about now ?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyon.../9/231036/8036
Bradblog rocks dailykos’ers , Brad’s a multi talented multi tasker uncovering the truth and being the media because somebodys got to do it !
He helps show the world that America is in trouble but Americans are "good people" who will retake their country from the usurper.
Me, myself, long before all this other crap made it to the
surface, I’ve been long waiting for the day when Hasturd
fries, since I can’t remember when , I’ve always thought this prick was a crook
I mean, this bastert has dishonesty painted right on his forehead
My Kos vote made in 52% in favor of Bradblog being trustworthy.
Is this election rigged?
Dum de dum de dum. Boy, there’s sure a lot for "lefty kooks" like us to chew on these days, isn’t there?
It looks as if Cheney decided to hang Libby out to dry, and Scooter is getting his revenge by "telling it like it is" to his lawyer. But why would the lawyer leak it to the press? To create public sympathy for Libby, and persuade Fitzgerald to drop the charges?
Don’t think it will work. "I was just following orders"
didn’t help Nazi criminals at Nuremberg.
The GOP Crime Trifecta! . . . Again, NO DEM’s Horses in Theses Races!
I was thinking that too RLM, the wingnuts can’t come up with talking points fast enough to keep up with the crimes,
so Rust Limpy just blathers on with the old stuff
Doug E #10
If you think Pat Robertson of the intelligence committee is going to do anything to stop the Bush regime, you have been given bogus information.
There may not be another committee more rubber stamp than the senate "intelligence" committee. They are so neoCon they are fascist. They have not continued with the Phase II hearings about the lies in the lead up to the Iraq invasion and occupation … even tho "Pat or his friends" promised to do so.
When they decide to obstruct justice "they are unstoppable", but they should be stopped because what they have done and what they are doing is criminal.
Judge of Judges #14
Good point, there are no dems as committee chairmen of any senate committee because the republicans run both the house and the senate, and chair all committees and have all subpoena powers.
That is why the majority party is worthy to take the accountability hit in November.
Cmon Doug E, lets get those republicans in November dude!
Not sure what’s up with the Daily KOS comments. But…I stopped going there when I realized they don’t talk about vote fraud on electronic machines. They said, in the "Hacked"-ett/Schmidt vote, "It was a moral victory", and mentioned nothing about fraud. I even posted on their site, that I definitely noticed they say nothing about fraud. I haven’t been on their for over a year. Sorry, but I go where the best unsuppressed/unfiltered news is. KOS may or may not be a good site, I’m not saying that. I just don’t care about what they talk about.
Also, Brad Blog is better than Huffington Post. I’m not bashing these sites, they’re good. But, to save time and get the news, I just go to Brad Blog & Raw Story and get the real news.
NO! I don’t work for them, or have stock in their companies (lol)…just trying to save time and get real, important news fast…I wouldn’t be here otherwise…I’ve filtered out sites I think aren’t just reporting cold/hard/important news, that’s all I want.
If I have time for fun, I go to the other sites…they are good…I’m not sitting by my computer, even though I post a lot. I actually just check in to see the news for a minute or so, every so often.
AND…the people who post here, I like to read their comments. Brad seems to have attracted a great crowd here. Throw in blackboxvoting.org w/Bev Harris into this mix, too. Honest, cold/hard hitting important, real news.
You’re making me nervous. Don’t jinx it. Don’t "count all your chickens before they hatch". It’s all not over yet. Not till they’re, like the ImpeachMobile says, "evicted & convicted"! I’m just sayin’. Cross your fingers, throw some salt over your shoulder & knock wood, not that I’m superstitous.
Sorry, that should be*superstitous*
Damn, I did it AGAIN…
SUPERSTITIOUS! jeez..
Joan,
I really don’t want them to get it yet
I want this hanging over their heads next November
The other candidates can fill in the blanks that way, with
none of the "hand-slaps" I’m expecting them to get in the end
Floridiot,
You DON’T want a big bunch of Republican congressmen marched out of the House & Senate in handcuffs before November?
You don’t think that might put a crimp in their plans to keep seats in R hands?
Not that I have much faith in our voting process, God knows, but still.
I’m afraid if the handcuffs are slapped on before halloween, the sheeple would forget before the setup,er
selection process, er, election came
A thread on Firedoglake last night provided this. The bastards actually changed the LAW to out Plame. Are you surprised?
Executive Order 12958-Classified National Security Information, as Amended
http://www.archives.gov/isoo/policy-documents/ eo-12958-amendment.html#part-2
It fits into the timeline perfectly here.
http://www.dkosopedia.com/ index.php/ Plame_Leak_timeline#May_2003
Dredd – I think Doug might have been talking about Fitzie – he’s a dog that will hunt…
The "president" (wannabe ‘king’) has "passed" more laws (a.k.a. executive orders) than congress has.
I understood quite clearly what Cheney said when he was asked if he would welcome congress making FISA exactly like the prez wants it.
He said (paraphrased) "We already have all the power we need and can do warrantless eavesdropping under that power". He implied that FISA is a "tool" to be used or not.
It is like Napoleon saying "The pope has his papal bull but I have my army".
From history we know that the pope "Travelled to Paris in 1804 to crown Napoleon emperor, but Napoleon took the crown from Pius’s hands, crowning himself."
Cheney fancies himself of the Napoleon, King, type but must really hate the American Framers of the US Constitution.
Folks, you ain’t gonna’ believe this. On the same day that The New York Times covered the news from Fitzgerald that Libby’s "superiors" (that can only mean Cheney, or possibly Bush) had O.K.’d the leak of classified information to reporters about Iraq’s weapons capability, it prints an Op-Ed piece by C.I.A. Director Porter Goss titled "Loose Lips Sink Spies."
Goss sermonized about the dangers of leaking classified information. He closed with, "The terrorists gain an edge when they keep their secrets and we don’t keep ours." Either he’s the most tone-deaf C.I.A. director in history, or he wrote the editorial without knowing that Fitzgerald was about to blow Cheney’s cover by releasing a letter he’d received from Libby’s lawyers. Wow!
Can you handle it? I wrote the Times a letter pointing out the irony, and closed with "If only Shakespeare were alive." Brad, you’re at liberty to use that letter here if you wish.
Czaragorn #25
That could be and if so point taken. Reminds me of the old Saturday Night Live skits of "Pat".
Pat "the Fitz" is quite different than Pat "the Robberson".
But you may know that I have posted here that I think it is quite clear that Pat "the Fitz" has also been compromised.
The NSA spy data is useful on many, many fronts or the neoCons would not be taking risks that way. They know everything they want to know about Fitz, the grand jurors, and congress. Like I said in posts on this subject months ago … they have "Pat’s" number and they know how to use it.
RLM #27
"Folks, you ain’t gonna’ believe this" is the best way to say it. Incredible. Can the MSM be so void of understanding, or are the just overloaded with so much corruption that they can’t keep track of it anymore?
Looks like a lot of the chickens are coming home to crap all over the Bush administration.
Still, I think there are a lot of other ones: source of forged Niger documents for example.
For Dredd: I’d guess the Times’ editorial department had made plans a day or two in advance to run Goss’ Op-Ed piece. When the news from Fitzgerald broke they couldn’t pull it in time because they had nothing else to fill the space with.
Or, the editorial department and news department simply don’t talk any more. The Wall St. Journal has had that problem for years, except there the news people are liberals and the editorial staff are the conservatives. A similar Times’ schism would explain why the news editors refused to cover O’Dell’s resignation from Diebold and class-action suits filed against the company the same day, yet later that week the editorial staff scolded Diebold for not upholding its duty to the democratic process.
I remember your cautioning us about Fitzie’s compromising, Dredd, and while I always enjoy reading your contributions, on rare occasions I disagree with you, and I have to say I hope I’m right in my belief that he’s the right stuff. Only time will tell – in Czech you hold your thumbs instead of crossing your fingers, and that’s exactly what I’m doing over here in Prague. And RLM, Goss is such a hack – he’s just the heckuvajob crony who was sent to dismantle the CIA, as so many cronies were dispatched to various bodies. I had a brief vision today of a complete sweeping of the cabinet, of the entire administration, and it was so sweet. Let’s make it happen!
Nobody will stop ol’ Pat or his friends, they are unstoppable. Cheney will go down and the good guys have all the protection they required.
Now’s the time to up the ante and put triple-threat on these bastards, nail your boards of election against the wall to provide voter verified paper records, manual audits and instant runoff voting for every area you can get your hands on!!!!!!
To the truth!!!!!!!!!!!!
In vote you trust
Doug
#16: Patrick Fitzgerald doesn’t get compromised…..and he’s the one charging people with the crimes, using a Grand Jury..he even blogs on his own seperate website(s) and if he was "compromised" there wouldn’t be information leaked implicating Cheney……
Doug E.
Too much. Inside of my skull is like a tilted pinball machine. Who really sees a way to STOP this stuff? Special prosecutors are the ONLY hope of getting it done, and they are being compromised left and right, and TAKE TOO LONG. The ONLY cure for this is masses of Americans rising up.
Joining the Liberty Coalition didn’t seem to get anybody but me, and Bob Kincaid, excited. I hope I’m wrong, but it looks to me as if we prefer the safety of our gatherings with our own interest groups to uniting with people of other interest groups to bring down this fear mongering dictatorship of fools.
Not only do we need publicly funded campaigns, we need to make them pass proficiency tests before they can run. We need to put in a constitutional amendment that there will be a commission of randomly chosen citizens called to decide whether or not any public servant should be fired whenever there is serious question of the proper execution of their charge. THE PEOPLE have to take back the reins. It isn’t going to be pretty… assuming enough of us quivering fat lazy self-interested resource hogs could ever be induced to RISK something to stop the torturing, murdering, starving and enslaving government.
If we asked real nice some kind Ukrainians might come over and teach us how to apply orange paint when the exit polls turn out to be too out of whack
Czaragorn! Amen to that! Or, maybe some Florentines to come help fill our streets….
Doug E. #32 — you say website(s). I was only aware of one, where is/are the other(s)?
Sorry Agent99 but the only way this will get done is through our careful slipshots…
You take practiced sniper shots not throwing right and left cinderblocks everywhere…it will take time, and it will get done
You can start by stop being so apologetic or reactive; and getting in your own community beginning lawsuits and upheavel regarding the voting machines. Its being done all over the USA, and you need to get in the trenches too; because we just kicked them out of another three states and I’ve got my own uprising going on in Utah.
You want to get rid of them so badly yet, you are talking about them all the time instead of taking visceral action….and it takes action, and allowing real prosecutors like fitzgerald to do their job. Which isn’t instant gratification, my friend. Play the game ruthlessly.
Doug E.
BB Fitzgerald has an official DOJ site and then his staff runs a site on blogger.com which isn’t too hard to find…..and he owns both of them.
Doug
Now,. . . How big was it Dick ? . . . . . GOTO PICT !
RC : Well . . . . . This Big !
Merifour, I hope you’ll return and celebrate with us if any of the following events take place:
1) Bush and Cheney are impeached.
2) The 2000 and 2004 elections are exposed as fraudulent.
3) The G.O.P. loses control of Congress in 2006.
4) Sibel Edmonds blows the whistle, is not punished, and is accepted as a heroine.
5) Ann Coulter marries a eunuch and retires to a Pacific island.
6) Bill O’Reilly is caught on tape soliciting a whore.
7) Lay and Skilling are convicted and sent to jail.
8) Alberto Gonzales is disbarred.
9) Tom DeLay is convicted and sentenced to jail.
10) Valerie Plame wins her civil suit.
11) Diebold declares bankruptcy.
12) Thomas Noe is convicted of fraud, sentenced to jail for six months, and exposes 2004 election as a fraud as part of his plea bargain.
13) Jack Abramoff moves to Israel, becomes an adviser to the military-industrial complex there.
14) Bernadette Noe divorces Tom, marries Ken Blackwell.
15) Rush Limbaugh overdoses, then retires.
I read a book a couple of decades ago about Hitler’s rise to power. Many people laughed at this funny little man with the goofy mustache and outlandish ideas. They lived and died to regret it.
I see so many similiarities, as do so many here, all the stage props, the billboards with dubya’s picture and the words, Our Leader. All dictators have a thing about seeing themselves in statues or on signs on buildings. I do not see him (w) envisioning himself as a King, I see rather his vision of himself, (which he has declared publically) as a dictator.
Hitler pulled off the Holocaust with a handfull of loyal people. He answered to no congress, no laws.
I do not believe we will see another election after the passage of PAII. I do not understand the stupidity of members of congress believing they will somehow be blessed to part of the inner circle. I am sure they will be the first he will get rid of and I am speaking of the individual members since the congress will no longer be. All this data mining has not been for naught. Those loyal to this evil have engaged in all of this thinking they will be rewarded. They will not.
I do not know if the genocide planned will be based on race, religion, or political leanings. The undesirables will certainly be targeted and those wielding any sort of power that could be used to target this small group will definitely be high on the list. The old will just die, natural attrition based on the cutting of health care, social security and the like. The young will be forced to serve in his unending war. The children will be force fed propaganda and become as Hitler’s youth. They are being drugged now, 78 million prescriptions written last year for drugs for kids.
I believe the old age has ended and a new age has begun. Many people have left this country because of the handwritting on the wall. Soon we will no longer be able to leave. I rather guess my feeling is that because only 50% of America is even somewhat awake and the other 50% still believe in bush because he posseses ‘moral values’, America will reap what it has sown. We have a long history of bad karma. Karma is returning and it is Just. Money will not save any of us, nor will blue eyes, or skin color. What I find sad is that the people of this country must pay for the sins of the few. The few who have used the planet for their playground to rape and pillage to feed their insatiable appetite for material wealth and power.
Many prophecies have stated the year 2012 as the end time. This is dubious at best considering variations of calenders and how we perceive time. I am stepping away and will seek peace within for time is short and this must certainly be our destiny. March 10 arrives in l month. congress will seal our fate, of this I have no doubt. I hope I am wrong but my inner vision sees a great cloud of black over this Nation. Tho this will pass, the horror to come is not within our realm of thinking at this present time.
From "Desiderata"..’ You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be and whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul.’
Thanks all for allowing me to be part of the 6 or 7 of you here at Bradblog. My time here is finished and may you be blessed with Power. I AM Mary and 4 is the number of my name.
Mary,
Sorry to see you go. I wish you well.
p.s. I’ve always loved the Desiderata AND its parody!
Robert,
I would only add to your #1: "and indicted, convicted and jailed."
Czaragorn and Doug E #31-#32
Compromised does not mean knocked out completely. He is being used whether he knows it or not. If he were not being used and had not been compromised Rove would have already been indicted.
The Cheney leak info is not damaging, it helps the case. The Vice President has declassified the Plame information and therefore neither Rove nor Libby are being charged with leaking classified info, cause the boss declassified it.
The indictment (as John Dean – x white house counsel – explained in legal opinions I posted here a long time ago) was very strong as to indicting Rove.
Rove pulled some power and he has not been indicted. Rove is, instead, out speaking again to the RNC about how democrats are pre 911 and republicans are post 911.
Face it, power is vested in the republicans who abuse it as a matter of course. And they really abuse it when they need to. And they have.
Fitz has been spied on and they know what he is going to do before he sets out to do it.
The NSA spying is not just for breakfast anymore.