July 5, 2005

As July 4th drew to a close and the last fireworks sizzled before they fizzled, the aroma of spent gunpowder wafted through a summer's night's breeze across America. Ah, but a new odor could also be detected; a stench, really. Emanating from The White House, it was a unique distillation of death, B.S., political ideology and corruption. And it's bound to linger for as long as George W. Bush and Karl Rove do that war thaing that they do so well.

When Bush decided to embark on his grudge match against Iraq in '03, he needed fictitious facts to rally America. So, he made Iraq the earthly equivalent of Star Wars' "The Death Star." They possessed WMD and drones that could hit America within 45 minutes and they had rape rooms and links to the 9/11 terrorists. They had even tried to purchase uranium in Africa in order to nuke us.

Unfortunately, none of that was true. Joe Wilson, a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, who was sent on a CIA-sponsored trip to Niger to investigate the uranium claim, came back and said that, basically, it was all laughable. Bush used the Niger "connection," none-the-less, to scare us into Iraq. After we invaded Iraq, Wilson came forward and, in a scathing column on July 6, 2003, in "The New York Times," claimed that Bush was playing fast and loose with the truth.

On July 14th, right-wing columnist Robert Novak revealed that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was a CIA agent who set up Wilson's trip (later proven false, thanks, Bob), according to unnamed government sources. Novak actually "outted" an undercover CIA agent as a Republican payback for Wilson's article. At the time, Wilson said he thought that Karl Rove was the source of the leak but his accusation was dismissed by the White House as being "totally ridiculous."



Today? The White House isn't smirking as much. Karl Rove? C'mon down! "Time Magazine" has dumped a ton of e-mails to special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald. Guess who's name is there as a "source" of a Time magazine story on Plame! Bingo! Take a bow, Karl.

For anyone who hasn't been following this story, it's a doozy. After Novak outted Plame, Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney from Chicago, was ordered to find the source of the "leak." He got down to business, subpoenaing records of the members of the White House Iraq Group, an internal task force created to strengthen the case for war made to Congress and us, the American dupes. In addition to Rove, the group included National Security Council deputy Stephen J. Hadley, Dick Cheney's chief-of-staff I. Lewis Libby and former Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs Nicholas E. Cailo.

Fitzgerald and the Justice Department also subpoenaed the phone records of Air Force One for several days in July before the Novak column ran.

Reporters were hauled in before a grand jury, as well. Novak, apparently cut a deal, because he's been mum on the subject for two years, using Trigger's old teeth to smile his way out of the spotlight. Two reporters, however, Judith Miller of "The New York Times" and Matt Cooper of "Time Magazine" have been threatened with jail time for not giving up their sources.

Last week, "Time" decided to turn over all its records on the Cooper story. On Friday MSNBC political analyst Lawrence O'Donnell, let a bomb drop on the syndicated talk show "The McLaughlin Group," quipping:

"What we're going to go to now is the next stage, when Matt Cooper's e-mails, within 'Time Magazine,' are handed over to the grand jury -- the ultimate revelation, probably within the week of who his source is.

"I know I'm going to get pulled into the grand jury for saying this but the source of...for Matt Cooper was Karl Rove, and that will be revealed in this document dump that 'Time Magazine's' going to do with the grand jury."

Since, this is a festive holiday time of year, O'Donnell's declaration didn't get too much coverage from the MSM. It should be noted that little Karl slimed his way through THREE grand jury appearances under oath. His last appearance, October of 2004, coincided with Fitzgerald saying that his investigation was complete with the exception of the testimony of reporters Cooper and Miller.

Can you say "perjury?"

(It should be noted that, in October of 2003, krafty Karl called "Hardball's" Chris Matthews and chortled that Plame was "fair game." Hmmm.)

Lawrence O'Donnell, meanwhile, was following up the reaction to his McLaughlin fireworks display, via a blog on Arianna Huffington's site.

"On Friday, I broke the story that the e-mails that Time turned over to the prosecutor that day reveal that Karl Rove is the source Matt Cooper is protecting," he wrote.

"That provoked Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, to interrupt his holiday weekend to do a little defense work with 'Newsweek' and 'The Los Angeles Times.' On Saturday, Luskin decided to reveal that Rove did have at least one conversation with Cooper, but Luskin told the Times he would not 'characterize the substance of the conversation.'

"Luskin claimed that the prosecutor 'asked us not to talk about what Karl has had to say.' This is highly unlikely. Prosecutors have absolutely no control over what witnesses say when they leave the grand jury room. Rove can tell us word-for-word what he said to the grand jury and would if he thought it would help him. And notice that Luskin just did reveal part of Rove's grand jury testimony, the fact that he had a conversation with Cooper. Rove would not let me get one day of traction on this story if he could stop me. If what I have reported is not true, if Karl Rove is not Matt Cooper's source, Rove could prove that instantly by telling us what he told the grand jury. Nothing prevents him from doing that, except a good lawyer who is trying to keep him out of jail. "

O'Donnell also noted: "Luskin was forced to open the first hole in the Rove two-year wall of silence about the case. In a huge admission to 'Newsweek' and 'The Los Angeles Times,' Luskin confessed that, well, yes, Rove did talk to Cooper. It is a huge admission in a case where Rove and Luskin have never, before Friday, felt compelled to say a word about Rove's contact with Cooper or anyone else involved in the case.

"Luskin then launched what sounds like an I-did-not-inhale defense. He told 'Newsweek' that his client 'never knowingly disclosed classified information.' Knowingly. That is the most important word Luskin said in what has now become his public version of the Rove defense.

"Not coincidentally, the word 'knowing' is the most important word in the controlling statute ( U.S. Code: Title 50: Section 421). To violate the law, Rove had to tell Cooper about a covert agent 'knowing that the information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert agent's intelligence relationship to the United States.'

"So, Rove's defense now hangs on one word--he 'never knowingly disclosed classified information.' Does that mean Rove simply didn't know Valerie Plame was a covert agent? Or does it just mean that Rove did not know that the CIA was 'taking affirmative measures' to hide her identity?

"In Luskin's next damage control session with the press, let's see if any reporter can get him to drop the word 'knowingly' from the never-disclosed-classified-information bit."

So, where does this go from here? Both Cooper and Miller could wind up being ordered to serve four months jail time as of Wednesday if they don't spill the beans on their source. Novak, FINALLY interviewed on CNN last week, said that, eventually, he'd reveal ALL and THEN SOME (after fellow right-winger William Safire, in "The New York Times," called for him to come clean). Whoah, Trigger!

The "Newsweek" story is out. The "Los Angeles Times" story is out. Various news agencies (mostly European) are picking up the story.

Karl's mouthpiece is spewing stuff like: "Karl did nothing wrong. Karl didn't disclose Valerie Plame's identity to Mr. Cooper or anybody else... Who outted this woman? ...It wasn't Karl.

"...What I can tell you is that Cooper called Rove during that week between the Wilson article and the Novak article."

So what might be the outcome of this investigation? That our War Preznent wanted a war so badly that he'd put an undercover agent's life (and all those around her) in danger because her husband DARED to disagree with his illegal invasion of Iraq? That he'd risk thousands of American lives in a war that would accomplish nothing but make him bigger than his father in the history books?

And, oh, yeah. How are those wars going, Mr. War Preznent? Well, in Afghanistan, the war we won and, largely, pulled out of so we could get into Iraq? Last week, a chopper with 16 American navy SEAL commandos was shot down. They all died. Two rescue troops were also killed. And, in targeting a "tairrist" outpost, US forces killed at least seventeen Afghani civilians, including women and children. But, we apologized. So, everything's fine. And, oh, yeah, according to the BBC? Four Afghani journalists covering the story have been detained by "local security agencies."

Can't you smell the freedom?

In Iraq? Democracy's on the march with daily car-bombings, kidnappings (including the top Egyptian envoy) and assassinations.

So, how does all this impact our War Preznent? It doesn't. He spent his fourth of July in West Virginia (with Karl Rove, who ducked questions).

Wearing his poll numbers around his ankles, Bush had the AUDACITY to link July 4th, our Independence Day, with his Empire building in Iraq and with the terrorist attacks he allowed to happen on 9/11.

"Defending the ideals of our founding has required the service and sacrifice of every generation, and the men and women of our Armed Forces have always answered our nation's call. With their courage, they have crossed oceans, defeated murderous ideologies, and liberated the oppressed. And today, on this Fourth of July, our grateful nation thanks our 25 million veterans for their service to our country," he spewed.

"At this hour, our men and women in uniform are defending America against the threats of the 21st century. The war we are fighting came to our shores on September the 11th, 2001. (NOTE: Nope. Is this desperation or what?) After that day, I made a pledge to the American people, we will not wait to be attacked again. We will bring our enemies to justice, or bring justice to our enemies. (NOTE: Is that dyslexic or what?)

"Our enemies in this new war are men who celebrate murder, incite suicide and thirst for absolute power. They seek to spread their ideology of tyranny and oppression across the world. They seek to turn the Middle East into a haven for terror. They seek to drive America out of the region. (PLEASE NOTE THAT LAST SENTENCE. That sums it up, folks. Screw democracy. This is about Empire.) These terrorists will not be stopped by negotiations, or concessions, or appeals to reason. In this war, there is only one option, and that is victory.

"We are pursuing a comprehensive strategy to win the war on terror. We're taking the fight to the terrorists abroad so we do not have to face them here at home. We're denying our enemies sanctuary and making it clear that America will not tolerate regimes that harbor or support terrorists. And we're spreading freedom, because the terrorists know there is no room for them in a free and democratic Middle East.

"....Iraq is the latest battlefield in the war on terror. (NOTE: thanks to us.) Our work there is difficult and dangerous because terrorists from across the region are converging on Iraq to fight the rise of democracy. (NOTE: thanks to us.) The images of cruelty and suffering we see on television are real, and they are difficult for our compassionate nation to watch. (NOTE: Thanks to us.)..."

Dubya also had the feckless balls to state that: "We know the best way to honor their (our dead's) sacrifice is to complete the mission, so we will stay until the fight is won," "And we know that when the work is hard, the proper response is not retreat; it is courage," and "I believe that this century will be (known as the) 'liberty century.'"

And, I believe I'm going to be sick.

And what about the cannon fodder who've been sent out on the two fronts of Dubya's "Operation FUBAR?"

On July 4th, at Al Asad Air Base, Marine Cpl. Traben Pleasant, 24, of Long Beach, California, drank a nonalcoholic beer and reflected: "This is my third July Fourth in Iraq. I miss my family and my friends. At home, I'd be barbecuing on the beach with my girlfriend."

Hey, kid? Don't sound so unpatriotic.

Because, consarn ya', Dubya and Karl are still goose-stepping on.

For a while.

The White House can't plug the leaks forever.

And, thanks to Fitzgerald and O'Donnell, a fuse has been lit.

Let the fireworks begin!

Over the White House.

http://mkanejeeves.com/