Guest blogged by David Edwards of Veredictum.com
Video in Streaming Flash format…
Video in Windows Media format…
Hidden amongst the smoke and mirrors of Bush’s plan to boost sinking poll numbers, pander to his base enact immigration reform, the media largely missed revelations that Vice President Dick Cheney has been directly implicated in the CIA leak case.
MSNBC’s Countdown managed to sneak in this short report about the new details of Cheney’s involvement. My apologies for not posting this video sooner but the issue is still relevant and deserves further scrutiny.
A recent court filing by Patrick Fitzgerald includes Cheney’s handwritten notes on a copy of Joe Wilson’s July 6, 2003 New York Times op-ed. According to Fitzgerald, the handwritten notes show “the contemporaneous reaction of the vice president”. In his notes, Cheney writes talking points that are later leaked to the press and used to smear Joe Wilson.
Christy Harden Smith of Firedoglake writes,
I don’t need to tell all of you that this is potentially HUGE.
In an interview on MSNBC, Richard Wolfe of Newsweek, went even further by leaving no doubt that Cheney’s notes on Wilson’s opinion article were actually “an order” directing his staff to push Cheney’s loaded questions to friendly journalists…
WOLFE: Because the questions are an order. He’s prompting his own staff to go and spin those lines. In fact, that’s some of the language — the “junket” language — was exactly what was spun out to reports about the op-ed, about Joe Wilson. So, its’ not so much a question to be answered, it’s a question to be put out there to particularly favored reporters and columnist. And that’s exactly what’s happened. That the conspiracy here and I expect that’s why people like Libby were trying to cover it up. Because they knew this was a smear tactic.
Emptywheel of The Next Hurrah has compiled a list of Cheney’s smoking guns. Jeralyn at TalkLeft suggests that Rove may be providing evidence againse Cheney.
And let’s stop parsing words about CheneyBurton’s efforts to "discredit" Joe Wilson, shall we?
What these filthy war criminals were doing was COVERING UP THE LIES that THEY continually put forward to justify their illegal, immoral, corrupt, racist full scale invasion and occupation of Iraq.
NOt to mention the fact that he previously denied ever having any knowledge of what was going on and denied ever being briefed on the matter.
So he’s responsible and a proven liar…again.
Hey Brad when I clicked on comments on the article about the diebold salesman I get a white screen that says cannot find server. I went to 3 or 4 articles down from there and got the same message. it looks like you have been hacked on your comment sections check it out. Thanks Laura
After I wrote that comment I went back and now all sections are working. Never mind.
Hardly a surprise. Did anyone think Libby lied to save his own neck?
So….would Cheney have to be resigned by Bush? How would that political process work exactly?
Bush can’t fire Cheney. Only Cheney can fire Cheney, other than Congress via impeachment.
If Bush asked Cheney to resign, Cheney’s response would be…? Choose from the following:
1) "All right, Mr. President. You know I’ll always do what’s best for the country as you see it."
2) "Just exactly who do you think is running this country, fuckface? You’re at 29% and you want ME to resign?"
3) "Let’s go hunting and we’ll talk about it."
4) "I’ll check with Exxon Mobil and see what they think before I decide. Know any corporate boards looking for a guy who can make a big difference?"
5) "Sorry, I was dozing. What did you say?"
Darth Vader = Fascism
This shouldn’t be happening to America. It is our nation.
It belongs to us.
We should start acting like it. These people are accountable to us. But it is the big corporations, the big party structures, and the altar of conventional wisdom that they worship.
America’s altar is liberty, freedom, privacy and the right to rebel against tyranny.
Let them hear your outrage.
A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL
Link to Buzzflash Editorial
Cheney–Go down, you filthy SOB.
Citizens on the jury–NAIL that creepy & criminal Bush crony Kenneth Lay too!
RLM #7 VERY funny! Thanks for the laughs!
Well, this makes the midterms ever more important!
I can’t wait to see what happens.
Maybe we can get a two-fer on the impeachment.
Unfortunately that would put the speaker of the House of Representatives – currently Dennis Hastert – into the Oval office (eeeeeeeeeeewwwww).
Next in line is the president pro tempore of the Senate, right? I think that’s Ted Stevens…don’t know much at all about him.
Unless of course Bush has already signed an order changing the succession so Condi Rice is next.
Wouldn’t put it past him.
Didn’t we always KNOW Cheney was the impelling force in this? It just smelled like him from the start. Hah, RLM!! Perfect!!!
Well, we all knew it was Cheney. Where’s the link to our comments back when the story first broke…
Kes –
Don’t you think we shouls just start over, from scratch? Re-run the 2004 elections? ON PAPER? That would solve a lot of those pesky succession problems, I’m sure…
"Don’t you think we shouls just start over, from scratch? Re-run the 2004 elections? ON PAPER? That would solve a lot of those pesky succession problems, I’m sure… "
In my own dreamland scenario, the widespread election fraud of 2004 would be exposed and the results immediately voided. Chimpy, CheneyBurton, Rhuemmy, Rice, Rove, etc., would ALL be forcibly removed from the White House and frog-marched into a large paddywagon and placed on trial for Treason, War Crimes, Mass-Murder, Conspiracy, Obstruction of Justice (to name only a few of their collective crimes).
I feel so helpless there is no way anything is gonna change, Cheney will walk as always. Sorry I wish that was just my opinion but it seems to be a proven fact 🙁
This is my idea for a bill in congress and I’m not kidding one bit, (not that it matters)!
CANCEL every single piece of legislation passed and all appointments made since Bush has been in office! Then immediately place the last legitimatly elected president (Al Gore) in his place!
He was never actually the president, and the last 5 years may as well have been a bad dream! This is the closest we could come to waking up and saying "Whooow, I’m glad that wasn’t real"!
My immediate perception of the matter when I read of the evil Dickster’s notes on the op-ed article were exactly the same: they were instructions to subordinates on what to do, not questions which were really needing to be answered. Subsequent lies and obfuscations by Cheney and the White House comprise a mountain of circumstantial evidence proving this very point. John Dean was correct in speculating that Fitzgerald has Cheney in his sights.
But take heart: the really bad guys do sometimes get caught and held accountable in the long run by our justice system. It took the FBI something like 20 or 30 years to catch mob boss Massino and gather the evidence necessary to put him in prison for a long term. The Bush mafia will go down, too. That is my prediction.
In my own dreamland scenario, Bush still wins the popular vote over Kerry by three million but Kerry wins Ohio handily and thus wins the Electoral College! Bush gets screwed royally! Payback’s a bitch!
Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime 1.0
http://video.google.com/videopl...67008400743688
The Movie to See
RLM #7- aaHahahahaaaaa. . . . . I needed that ! . . . It’s the Tone & body language to . . . Heehehhehee
Vice Fuhrer Darth Fudd roolz the galaxy, even napping. We’ll need Han and Luke to get him out.
remember your parents telling you that if you give your enemies enough rope,they will hang themselves? hopefully the rope is getting shorter and America will be the good ole America as our Fathers intended it to be and these people will just wither away…..
Larry Bergan #18
I agree.
But we must do something more, because … and this is a deadly and dangerous fact, the republican dictatorship has turned the world against us. Not just against our government as is usual, but against US!!!
Billions of people hate us because this republican dictatorship has killed and maimed so many people, and they think we are complicit in it (Raw Story here).
Do not poo poo billions of people who are watching. Our borders and our security is porus. We must behave to fit in to the neighborhood. If everyone in the neighborhood thinks we are bullies and out to have our way, they will watch for an opportunity to assuage their fears.
And it will happen. The republican dictators have moved us from a beloved and respected nation to a feared and hated nation. For that they should hang until they are vapor.
PRESIDENT GORE has had a lot of time to think about something he had taken from him.
I really like that speech Gore made to Congress a few months ago AND as VP, he helped write the Kyoko Treaty to reduce GLOBAL WARMING which the Bushit administration representing us, the GOD OLE USA refused to sign when put forth on the table. Sounds like he got his shit together and collected his thoughts since dancing with the Bushit debater as a wishy washy PRESIDENTIAL candidate. Does anyone remember his wife Tipper Gore pushing legislation for labels on music to restrict what artists sang about in the early 80’s? Was a bit young then but remember that Frank Zappa, Mr. Twisted Sister, and John Denver spoke up against this (at the time) unAmerican 1ST AMENDMENT restraint. Can you imagine if John and Frank were alive what they would have to say now??? unfckingbelievable!!! As most of us know, Gore won the Florida popular election in 2000 and the Federal Supreme Court Judges allowed Jeb Bushit to "stop counting the votes" and simply award BUSH his 1st WHAT IS AND WHAT SHOULD NEVER BE victory. Kerry does not deserve to be PRESIDENT ever. I was one of those PATRIOT types who refused to see DUBYA steal his 2nd election and posted on the Ohio Democratic website regularly, wrote Kerry, and even called David Orr to hear the denial from those lying bastards. Their website’s front page claimed how the final recount tally gave Kerry 300 and some odd additional votes. The Kerry camp said "we will count ever vote." Total Total Bushit! They knew it was rigged. Kerry is the Washington Generals (fakis b-ball team) face of the electronic and massive humanistic fraud riddled 2004 election and should NEVER BE PRESIDENT. He had trunk loads of money to expose the truth and chose to keep his alliance to the Skull and Bones. That being said, anything would have been better than this BUSHIT ADMINISTRATION. Break out yer dream catcher but don’t hold your breath for an AMERICAN leader to take US home FROM THIS FCKERS REIGN OF TERROR because the REPUBLIDEM PARTY represents the interests of the corporate elite (NOT the American people). Thank you Nancy Pelozi for reiterating that. Billy Clinton: (asian voice) U enjoy Congressional BJ but wife already HAD chance to run White House. Yeh that ship came and went with your sorry lying ass. (Stupid fakis chick voice)But your so popular with the mindless masses.
Dredd:
That was a horrifying article. I know the world has been trying, but it looks like we’re at a tipping point now. Wonder if we can even make it to the 2006 election.
Thank God for people like Cindy Sheehan and Michael Moore for trying to get word out that there are some people here who care. When we get rid of Bush, we should have a national day of kneeling and asking of forgiveness (go ahead and throw up all over yourself Hannity, I could care less what you think about anything you war mongering freak)!
There was a guy who came to town to show a movie he made in Iraq, called “Inside Iraq, The Untold Stories”. A very brave guy (Mike Shiley), who got right inside Iraq and got so close to the people, they let him film inside one of their beautiful mosques. It put such a good light on the Iraqi people that he said an American spit on him at a showing of the movie.
I’m proud to say that I got to shake the hand of Mayor Rocky Anderson while I was there and say thanks. He had an Anti Bush rally here when chimpy came about a year ago and about 3000 people showed up. The guy who made the movie said that of the 285 places he had shown the movie, Mr. Anderson was the only public official to introduce it. And Utah is at 52% approval rating for Bush, behind Idaho. Sorry, but this is my home, and I can’t help but defend it when possible.
This is one big Republican mess! I don’t know if the Democrats can clean it up this time, but we’re gonna have to try!
Grizzly Bear:
Gore has made about five really great speaches since Bush got in. I think he broke his ties and exposed the corporate leaning Democrats when he aligned with Howard Dean. That was really an illuminating time for us. The two factions are still fighting, but the Republicans are breaking ranks too!
This whole thing is getting stranger by the day with these idiots in the Democratic party saying to the NY Times that we shouldn’t even try to win in 2006.
But we must never forget that the Democrats are still light years ahead of the Republicans. I agree about Kerry. I actually loved what he said on Meet The Press a couple of weeks ago, but then later in the day I remembered how he let us down and was embarrased at myself.
16 & 18..
Exactly.
Re Kerry: I still feel that his credibility is a shriveled raisin. I have NO faith in him. NONE.
I do like Gore. And Feingold. GORE/FEINGOLD sounds real good to me.
AFTER BostonTeapartying the voting machines.
Then a big, long, drunken, raucous combination Gore/Feingold inaugural – bush/cheney impeachment bash. Bring yer party hat. 🙂
Other members of the republican dictatorship are now a part of the Plame investigation too … as possible targets for indictment (link here).
I’m getting more pissed off by the day. Gotta calm down. And we here on Long Island are just SOOOOO lucky Bush is coming to give the commencement speech at the Merchant Marine Academy. Nobody is going to be allowed near him. Nobody’s ever allowed near him. My father worked there for 40 years and is as blindly patriotic as they come and HE can’t get in. Bush thinks he’s some sort of god. I’d love to see the graduating class boo his ass on national tv, stupid fucker.
Roger: Who would want to get anywhere near Bush? Why would your father care to do that? To get his autograph? To be able to say he was near a big celebrity?
God, how pathetic. I swear, if the man knocked on my front door I wouldn’t answer it. Go away, Bush. Go spread your bullshit on crops…at least they’ll have a chance to grow.
Roger#31
The same thing happened here recently:
"Bush’s visit to West Sacramento Saturday, Like Friday’s visit to the Bay Area, was met with protests. West Sacramento police said about 1,500 protesters gathered along sidewalks about 100 yards from the building in which Bush spoke. The president’s caravan entered the site from a different entrance." (other sources put the number at over 2,0000)
He entered from the rear of the building – protesters were out of site and out of mind.
During the demonstration one of the demonstrators was arrested and held without bail. It was claimed that he had placed a backpack containing a bomb in the street!
Later it turned out the backpack had been there for over 4 weeks!
This out today: Congress Faces Multiple Criminal Probes
See!
The Democrats ARE just as corrupt as the Republicans.
One Republican (Bob Ney) and one Democrat (William Jefferson).
Jefferson even has the same two first names as Bill Clinton! I wonder if he’s raped anyone!
Did Rove throw Cheney under the bus?
When, oh when will we get the politicians we want instead of the garbage they keep putting up for election? And how are we going to fix this?
I ain’t goin’ to that commencement speech. I might do something real stupid. There’s only one way onto the base. They’ll probably have all the streets blocked off so you can’t get near it anyway. I’ll find out if there are any protests planned and see where they will be able to get to. It’s right on the water so they’ll probably have boat patrols too. I was thinking of getting a boat and blasting a fog horn while Bush is trying to feed the bullshit.
RLM, I certainly don’t want to get near him in a positive way. I’d just like to say "Fuck You Mrs. President" like that guy did to Cheney in the woods after Katrina. Probably go to jail for that too, though. I really would like to see them boo his ass but he’d probably draft all of them and send them to Iraq.
Hey BlueBear. Ever hear of ‘New Monsoon’?
For Roger: I get your point. My preference would be for simply ignoring the S.O.B. altogether.
One point I make in The Lindbergh Syndrome
(sorry for the plug here) is that since the dawn of the TV era presidents have become celebrities, like rock and movie stars. They sign autographs and wave to non-existent crowds. Can anyone imagine Abraham Lincoln waving to people who didn’t exist, or Woodrow Wilson signing an autograph?
The more we treat presidents as if they were rock stars, the less we demand of them in terms of statesmanship. That’s how we wind up with an ignoramus like Bush in the White House. And that’s why a Karl Rove will design a campaign strategy that demands nothing of Bush in terms of wisdom or competence, just focuses on his good-old-boy Texas persona and his cowboy-leading-the-posse response to 9/11.
RLM,
TLS is a good read. I recommend it for all.
RLM
Your book looks like a good read. Where HAVE all the heroes gone? (Anyone who thinks Bush is a hero needs to be put in the looney bin.)
To Truth Seeker and Roger: Thanks so much for the friendly reviews.
I’d sacrifice every penny of royalties for the rest of my days on Earth to know that Bush and his villainous crowd had been exposed for what they are. My (Unitarian) pastor, Rev. Frank Hall, closes every prayer with the operative phrase…"And so may it be."
How will we do that though? Without the information they have hidden so well, it will be all but impossible. If there is any real investigation, you can bet your ass there will be massive document shredding.
For Roger: It won’t be easy. Documents will be shredded. But one lesson of Watergate is that somewhere amid the lies and cover-ups is found a smoking gun.
I’m idealistic enough to believe that a coalition of citizens’ groups and investigative journalists, using the Freedom of Information Act, can prove election fraud took place in 2000 and 2004. And, as Patrick Fitzgerald has demonstrated with his indictment of Libby, perjury and obstruction of justice are separate crimes from (in that case) outing a C.I.A. officer. Likewise, shredding documents and lying about what they contained would be crimes in their own right, separate from election fraud.
That’s where I think this can lead, even if every document is shredded. And I’d settle for seeing Katherine Harris, Kenneth Blackwell, and the rest indicted on those charges. If that were to happen, lesser figures (as in the Abramoff case) will cop pleas and fess up to stay out of jail.
Enough people are angry now to make it happen. What’s needed is more cooperation from the corporate media. They’re coming around very slowly, but with each failed security test and with lawsuits proliferating and local election officials in many states refusing to certify machines, their hands are being forced. This isn’t Kiev yet, but we’re getting close.
Too close for my comfort, that’s for sure. My brother doesn’t believe at all that we are turning into a fascist state. He says the Constitution has to be shredded into little, itsey bitsey, teenie weenie pieces before that happens and innocent people start getting put in jail. Well, it seems to me that we are well on the way. Bush absolutely needs to be impeached with all his neo-con buddies.
Oh, but God wants him there, I forgot. Forgive me.
Roger #36
Finally made my way back here – no I haven’t heard of New Monsoon.
I just looked them up – I’m blown away – how did I miss them?
I guess it’s because the kids are too old to be free anymore and the festivals have gotten way too expensive. I can do all my summer camping for the cost of one show! Used to do High Sierra and Hog Farm Pignic all the time – not any more!
I’ll have to catch them later this summer when they are back in northern CA. In the meantime I’ll be looking for an album!
BlueBear2
Get the Live At Telluride disk. Awesome!
And they’re on the SCI label. Good endorsement.
BlueBear 2
Get the Live at Telluride disc. Awesome!
Roger:
Thanks for the tip on New Monsoon! They’re great!
There are a whole bunch (167) of their concerts at the Archives site.
(They changed the format at the site and I’m still trying to figure it out – I liked it better before.)
I’ve downloaded the "Live at Last Concert Cafe on 2004-04-23" and it is excellent. Very good quality recording.
Thanks again – see ya around.