The Indictments You Have...

For a while now, the GOP has been floating the "legal technicality" defense regarding the Plame Investigation (now indictments). Basically, the leak had no teeth, so Fitzgerald chased down a lesser charge to cover his tracks. However, to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, "You go with the indictments you HAVE, not the indictments you might want."

During Fitzgerald's press conference, it became clear that he was intensely interested in only bringing indictments that he felt confident in prosecuting successfully. Interestingly, he made some crucial points about the indictments he did issue.

1. National security was at the heart of the leak charge. CIA operatives have dangerous jobs and about the only security our nation can offer NOCs is that their identity won't be revealed. The leak was despicable and our safety has been threatened because of it. He also subtly implied that the specifics of the law may be too vague and narrow as written.
2. The indictments are for serious crimes in and of themselves. The nature of these alleged crimes made it difficult, perhaps impossible, to discern the empirical truth of the original charge.
3. If it is impossible to prove the original leak charge, justice will be served by a conviction on the indicted charges. Fitzgerald appears very confident about the indictments he has issued, and based on the 22 pages, one understands why.
   

On the issue of the future, he reiterated time and again how important it was to protect the secrecy and privacy of targets up to the point of indictment. If he couldn't make an indictment stick, there would be NO charges, nor ANY revelations about the target. In a not-too-veiled dig at Kenneth Starr, he deflated hopes that a report was forthcoming that would shine the light on other targets or the full breadth of the investigation.

So Karl's future is far from certain. You can bet that if he was completely in the clear, words to that effect would have been offered by Bush, Cheney, Luskin and Rove himself. Didn't happen. What does appear apparent is that the leak charge is probably too sticky to prosecute effectively. Since no one else was stupid enough to perjure themselves, it may be that Libby will be taking the fall alone.

Of course, if Scooter flips on someone...

Lott to talk about...

Following up on yesterday's post about Lott's predilection for the taste of his own foot, comes this one...

Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time for an intervention...

Twisting the knife...

So Trent "Foot in Mouth" Lott posits "In a month, who will remember the name Harriet Miers?" Hmmm, maybe her most important client, the President of the United States?!?!

Damn, Lottie, the man promised to build you a nice, new porch and all you can do is pimp-slap his personal attorney. Didn't losing your Senate Majority Leadership during "Operation Credit Strom" teach you anything about sound bites? Sheesh.

Still, I can't help thinking progressives lost their best shot at a moderate in this woman. We ultimately discovered very little about Miers, but her positions on Roe in particular were hardly set in stone.

Further, the granite tough united front of the GOP was fissuring to say the least. A few more weeks of of fringe Right bickering and sniping, followed by a week or so of confirmation hearings would have shined the spotlight on Dubya's eroding influence. As others have noted, it would have been a true watershed moment had Democrats supported the President's pick only to be scuttled by HIS OWN PARTY.

At least one good thing has come from this fiasco, the GOP has handed a litmus test right back into the hands of the Dems. Abortion isn't a deal-breaker, the hell you say! The Right blinked on this one.

Flag on the Play...

I play referee between two respected blogger/pundits. They happen to be Black. Steve Gilliard kicks things off with a post that defies description. Robert George weighs in after dropping hints to Andrew Sullivan and, one imagines, a few others...

My comments to Steve Gilliard are here. To Robert George here. It seems to me that Steve has pushed the envelop too far, yet again, while Robert has played to "liberals are racist too" card, one more time.

The posts are racking up on both sites... Definitely worth a look see...

The Photogenic Pest Killer

Gotta hand it to Tom Delay. He takes a heckuva mug shot. In fact, he's positively beaming. This, in stark contrast to the permanent scowl that normally graces his pix. This is actually a great move on his part. Knowing that the pic would inevitably race across the Internet, he threw on a grin that would feel welcome at a TRMPAC corporate shindig. Subliminal message, "I'm happy cuz I'll be exonerated soon!"

Don't take this the wrong way, Tom, but I hope you're way wrong...

A brief commercial message...

Despite my description, there has not been a lot of pop culture of late. Dubya's cronies have kept me busy with other things. However, I do want to briefly comment on one of my fascinations... comic books. Specifically, the current Supreme Power spin-off feature centering on Nighthawk.

Marvel's Squadron Supreme started as a barely-veiled anti-Justice League. Hyperion and Power Princess were Supes and Wonder Woman. Dr. Spectrum filled in for Green Lantern, Whizzer (WHIZZER!) for the Flash and Nighthawk for Batman. They eventually expanded to include analogues for Green Arrow, Black Canary, Zatanna, and even Firestorm among others. The problem was they always went up against the Avengers, so they always had their asses handed to them.

A while back, they were given a 12-issue maxi-series that featured the team in their "own universe" where THEY were the champions. Interestingly, the plot turned on mind alteration, and the subsequent schism in the team after the technology is abused. Wonder where I've seen THAT before... Anyway, the series gave the team an identity all their own and catapulted them beyond mere foils for the Avengers.

Fast forward to just over a year ago. Marvel has this thing called the MAX line. Darker stories, graphic themes, nudity and violence aimed at mature readers. The line mostly focused on lesser known or underselling characters, where the potential brand risk was lower. Naturally, the Squadron Supreme was a perfect fit. However, like the Ultimate universe, Marvel chose to reboot from scratch. Hyperion was raised by the U.S. military; Dr. Spectrum was a paramilitary killer; Power Princess an apparent alien succubus; Triton a mysterious sea creature; Whizzer (now, the Blur) an endorsement-hungry celebrity and Nighthawk a brooding quasi-sociopath recreated in the new ultradark Batman mold. And speaking of ultra-dark, both Whizzer and Nighthawk were now Black.

The series has taken a slow build. Over the course of 18 issues, the whole "team" has yet to gather. Hyperion and "Power Princess" appear to share origins... The Blur, Nighthawk and Hyperion have worked together a few times... and Hyperion has tussled with Dr. Spectrum with spectular results. The results have been undeniably satisfying. In fact, far more satisfying than Bendis' unremarkable take on the Avengers (The SENTRY???) OR the diminished Authority (one yearns for the days of Millar's pencils).

Which brings us back to the Nighthawk mini-series. His is the third character to be explored in this new continuity and the most compelling to date. This is mostly due to the fact that his character barely constituted 20 pages in the main series. Further, Spectrum and Hyperion mostly treaded old ground by filling in the blanks of previously examined story territory. Nighthawk also introduces a freaky "Joker" antagonist, Whiteface, the first completely new outright villain to date. Given the racial overtones of Nighthawk's motivations, this storyline is pure genius. Pick up the back issues NOW...

Scooter's Role: Take One for the Team...

I've been off this topic because "revelations" have been flowing like California mud slides. The blogosphere has been chock full of analysis and the MSM have been elbowing each other like dateless, 39-year-olds with cake buzz at a bridal bouquet toss. But as the grand jury clock ticks its last tocks, the cross hairs appear to have settled on the VP's office. Scooter Libby in particular... but Cheney has NOT been excluded from the possibility of indictment.

How big is this? To put things in perspective, the word TREASON and Vice President are being mentioned in the same sentence this week. TREASON. Ken Starr investigated everything from cronyism to "suspicious" land deals to Vince Foster to Lewinsky and all he came up with was a soiled dress. Fitzgerald's investigation pulls back the curtain on a deliberate, coordinated effort to manipulate facts in an attempt to garner support for a WAR! A war that has cost tens of thousands Iraqi lives, thousands of American lives, and crippled, maimed or injured too many to count.

Plamegate is simply the most clearly transparent attempt at massaging the intelligence. "Saddam has nukes," is a troubling possibility. In retrospect, not nearly as troubling as Kim Jong Il having nukes, but still, not a good thing. However, the outing of a NOC CIA agent is an extremely troubling thing. The linked article indicates that part of the covenant between NOCs and our government is that their identity as an agent WILL NEVER BE REVEALED.

That the right tries to dance around this issue is despicable. Her co-workers/agents? Comprimised. Her contacts and informants? Betrayed. U.S. Security? Threatened. And for what? A lie that would push our country into war. Can anyone seriously compare this lie to Clinton's overactive libido?

Which brings us back to Scooter. The "I" word hasn't been mentioned because the GOP controls both Houses. I mean, what's the point of even considering the impeachment of a war monger who either lied or was too stupid to know the truth when his party won't vote on it? Yet, someone's head needs to be served on a platter. If only to placate the growing resentment about our misguided efforts in Iraq. That Libby could not have possibly operated in a vacuum matters little. As long as SOMEONE takes a fall, the masses will be assuaged.

So Scoot gets scuttled. Perhaps when the aspens turn out west, he can take comfort in writing a new novel and enjoying some wine.

The thing about Miers...

No one really knows who this woman is! I don't mean to minimize her credentials, but doesn't she strike you as the out-of-town cousin who sits at the kiddie table for Thanksgiving dinner? A nice enough person to be sure, but not quite ready to sit with the grown-ups.

This is a woman who has followed Dubya around like a puppy dog since his days as Governor. Do you think she realizes that he's only in office for three more years? If she's ANYTHING like the frat-boy idiot prince leading the country, then sitting with a bunch of learned jurists in black robes can hardly have the appeal of worshipping at the feet of the most intelligent man she's ever met. Which is kind of a good thing as far as I'm concerned. It means that she might just quit after he leaves town. And that would give President Wesley Clark a chance at appointing a justice.

Where to start?

Lots to talk about. I've been reeling from a successive volley of GOP-scandal body blows to rival the beleagured Roy Jones, Jr.

I didn't post anything about the Bennett fiasco for a few reasons. As personally repellent as I found the comments (in their proper context thank you.), I was even more blown away specious Right wing attempts to explain them away.

To begin, Bennett's "thought exercise" is hardly a tour de force of logic. Since there are criminals in every racial population, killing the babies of one population will reduce the crime rate in the same way that removing all red cars will reduce the automobile emissions rate. So let's be clear, Bennett's real problem is that HE introduced race into the argument. Neither the caller, nor the author of Freakonomics (whose book was under discussion) mentioned race as a factor in the premise of relating abortion to crime rate. In fact, as others have discussed, the author used Scadinavian data as part of his analytical model. Not exactly a locus of Black population.

But his defenders are even worse. Driving through L.A., I listened to one conservative host, incredulously ask what was wrong with the statement on its face. Let's look at some numbers. According to DOJ statitics, there are approximately 3 million prisoners in the nation's prisons and jails. According to their most current data on prisoners and parolees, White prisoners outnumber black prisoners 1.5 to 1.

But let's look at the numbers another way. Given this data, more than 90% of Black people in America ARE NOT involved with the criminal justice system in any way. Removing parolees drops the figure to less than 5%. So Bennett's plan is to eliminate 95% of a population as a means of curbing the criminal potential of less than 5%. Talk about throwing the baby out with the bath water. That SOUNDS pretty racist to me.