Count 1: (Obstruction of Justice)… GUILTY
Count 2: (Perjury)… GUILTY
Count 3: (False Statement)… NOT GUILTY
Count 4: (Perjury)… GUILTY
Count 5: (Perjury)… GUILTY
Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the former Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, was found guilty on four of five counts of lying and obstructing the FBI investigation into the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity. For those Bush defenders who continue to insist that the administration did nothing wrong, you gotta ask: why bother conducting a criminal cover-up of something that was perfectly ethical and legal?
President Harry Truman famously claimed as his personal motto, “The Buck Stops Here,” explaining in his farewell address: “The President — whoever he is — has to decide. He can’t pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That’s his job.”
President Bush chooses to echo Truman by ineloquently declaring “I’m the decider” when it comes to the conduct of the war in Iraq and other executive functions, but refuses to take responsibility for his administration’s many missteps, failures and crimes.
In the wake of the Libby verdict, the President owes the American people a personal apology.
Guilty on 4 of 5 counts
Are Rove and Darth still in peril, or have they sleazed thei way out of danger?
Maybe Scooter Libby should have testified in his own defense? And maybe he should have called Dick Cheney as a witness too?
Dick Cheney has been diagnosed with a blood clot in his left leg, leading to speculation he will be forced to resign as U.S. Vice-President.
The 66-year-old has a history of major health problems, including four heart attacks, and has undergone quadruple-bypass surgery.
He is a driving force in both the war in Iraq and the ‘war on terror’ and his resignation would be a huge loss to George Bush.
The vice-president is the leader of Washington’s neo-conservatives and is believed to be a dominant influence on Mr Bush’s military and foreign policies.
He is also believed to be the president’s closest political friend.
There has been widespread speculation that if Mr Cheney is unable to complete his term in office through ill health he will be replaced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, another personal friend of Mr Bush.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/.....article.do
@3
He’s a good soldier. Taking one for the team.*
* – He’ll probably do no more than 6-8 month in custody…then home monitoring. Then he will cash in on a great book deal and will make millions telling about all the other BS Dicky Cheney has pulled on citizens of US.
Ain’t America great?
Flutter, flutter….the Publican punks are digging into the Karl Rove playbook to figure out how to spin this….
1) Oh – it was a Democratic plot and a Democratic prosecutor who was being political.
Oops. The prosecutor works for the Bush regime and is a lifelong Publican.
2) Perjury is no big deal.
Oops. Certainly was a big deal when you “RULEOFLAW” types were attacking President Clinton,
3) Well Democrats have done it too.
Oops. No actually, only Scooter and the Bush regime have engaged in outing CIA agents for political gain.
The House of Bush is disintegrating before our eyes.
This is probably the beginning of the end of the Bush Presidency. This, the US Attorney scandal, and the way that “Walter Reed” is going to explode…exposing the corruption, greed and spectacularly bad judgement exercised by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Rove…et. al.
Bush will be impeached, or he will resign. It’s not going to be fun, it’s not going to be pretty…there will be political casualties on both sides but goddammit, it is the American Democracy at work.
We the people and these United States will be better for it…and the world will see what it means to be a representative democracy.
Hopefully, Scooter will decide that taking one for the team really is not in his longterm best interest, and that cooperating with the prosecution in exchange for sentencing considerations makes more sense. Redemption is still attainable for Scooter if he decides to serve the nation by spilling the beans on Karl Rove and Dick Cheney.
Regarding Scooter Libby….another one bites the dust! Long live Dick Cheney and the neoconservatives in the white house (actually it’s a grey house with all the grey areas of law created by the bush administration).
George W. Bush – America’s first dictator.
Richard Pope @4 says:
“There has been widespread speculation that if Mr Cheney is unable to complete his term in office through ill health he will be replaced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, another personal friend of Mr Bush.”
She would get through an uncomfortable confirmation process. I was just thinking yesterday about the scenario of Jeb getting appointed. That sure would be more a interesting political saga. I doubt Jeb could get confirmed, but the Bushes have to do something to help his electability. W may have ruined his presidential ambitions.
Fitz!
Hey, maybe we should form a pool re when the pardon is announced.
I wonder if Michelle Malkin will be as enthused about the benificent effects of incarceration for Libby as she was for the detention of Citizens of Japanese descent in WW II?
Probably not, is my guess.
And, as for Ann Coulter’s thoughts on it, I’ll just quote George Will’s Freudian slip: ” The less said about that man, the better.”
He may be guilty, but here comes the appeal!
He’ll be free for a good long while. I doubt he’ll go to jail before the president is removed from Office.
Response to Richard Pope:
I believe there is speculation that cheney will resign from office but not until the last year of the bush administration. This will not be for his health but to make way for the selection of a younger neoconservative who will have a better chance of a republican re-winning the white house. Condi Rice will not replace Cheney because unlike the democratic party, the republican party is not quite ready for female representation as second in command. Also, Condi Rice is a major author of the bush doctrine which no longer appeal to even bush’s conservative base. In other words she will be too much of a political liability.
Dick Cheney has been diagnosed with a blood clot in his left leg, leading to speculaton he will be forced to resign as U.S. Vice-President.
I HOPE IT’S TRUE. IT’D BE THE BEST NEWS I’VE HEARD IN A WHILE.
FINALLY SOME REAL JUSTICE.
A rape victim in Saudi Arabia was sentenced to 90 lashes. Her crime? Not being accompanied by a male relative to protect her from the rapists.
Isn’t Islam a really cool religion?
If he loses his appeal, maybe Scooter Libby will get lucky and serve his prison sentence here in Washington. That way, he can get released early.
http://blog.seattletimes.nwsou.....lease.html
Cheney’s resignation for health reasons will be timed to optimize the political advantage of designating a rightwing ideologue heir-apparent for the republican presidential campaign, one who couldn’t otherwise hack it in the primaries. Brownback, maybe. Not Condy. And not McGiuliomney.
I believe that the Idiot in charge would nominate Gingrich. Another ‘holier than thou’ type that is nothing more than a self serving neocon hypocrite.
The Dow is up 125 points … further evidence that investors want to rid America of the GOP pestilence … better load up on stocks before the House passes Articles of Impeachment, because the Dow will leap 5,000 points on that news …
@4 Dick Cheney has been diagnosed with a forked tongue, leading to speculation he will be indicted before he gets a chance to resign.
When you get invited to D.C. to work for this administration, the first thing you do is, hire a good lawyer.
@7 Well, it wouldn’t hurt the Democratic Party very much to get rid of some Democrats who have pandered to this regime, would it?
@8 Ah, but then he won’t get his pardon.
It wouldn’t hurt to get rid of some rabbits in the world, too.
@17 Isn’t it disgusting that the Saudis treat rape victims better than we do?
Roger & Yossarian,
The sad thing about that terrible situation is that there is no separation of Islam from government. It’s what you get when you let a fundamentalist religion take over all aspect of life in a nation. The good followers of Islam are being smeared by a lunatic movement within that religion. Islam needs the equivalent of a Protestant Reformation. I think even John Barelli will agree that the Reformation did in fact change the Catholic Church. Islam is very, very overdue a dramatic change.
Where the HELL are all the neocons????
In particular where the fuck is that cunt Janet S.??
How may undercover CIA operatives died in the roll up of Brewster Jennings front operation??
How much intel did we lose on the real proliferation of WMD’s?
When this nation gets hit by a real rouge nuke, it will only be because of George W. Bush and the neocons who support and voted for him.
America is not safer now and that is ONLY due to the unpatriotic Republicans. Period.
FUCK all of you who vote Republcian, you are the allies of al Qeada, the hater of democracy, the Constitution, the Rule of Law and America.
NO EXCEPTIONS. NONE.
@ 17:
I can one up your comment.
3,184 brave Americans have died in Iraq. Their crime? Following the orders of a lying Commander in Chief!
Gee, ain’t conservatism great? NOT!
From news reports:
One juror who spoke to reporters outside court …, Denis Collins, … said jurors wanted to hear from others involved in the case, including Bush political adviser Karl Rove ….
“It was said a number of times, … ‘Where’s Rove? Where are these other guys?’ … I’m not saying we didn’t think Mr. Libby was guilty … [but] he was the fall guy.”
It’s time to Impeach Cheney, now! At least Bush won’t be able to pardon Cheney.
US Constitution; Art II, Section 2.
“The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.“
@27 Islamic conservatives give us a good look at what our own country would be like if so-called “Christian” conservatives got their way.
Puddybud and all conservatives everywhere:
Where are your loyalties now?
To the United States of America and the Rule of Law, or to the dictator of the Republican Party, George W. Bush?
Either you’re with us or against America. Which is it?
It all looks pretty grim for the Republicans in 2008. All the Democrats have to do in NOT nominate Hillary, and the White House will go to the Democrats.
Roiger @ 31,
So Libby was the guy who was to take the rap, like Oswald back when JFK was whacked?
Ooops!
I meant “Roger,” not Roiger!”
HEY WINGNUTS,
SOME GOOD NEWS FROM YOUR FAVORITE HALLUCINATED NEWS SOURCE.
FAIR AND BALANCED.
So, Libertarian, tell us if there’s a Democrat among the current crop of candidates for whom you could vote. Alternatively, would you prefer one of the Republicans? All Libertarians lean one way or the other–this is a test.
Six days after George W. Bush took office it was confirmed to him the al Qeada was behind the bombing of the USS Cole. What did he do? Not a God Damn thing! Except take a realllllly long vacation in August instead of defending America and glad handing Jack Abramoff and having weekly conference calls with Rev. Haggard.
This list of heinous crimes and corruption is too long to detail each one on this blog. Suffice to say, if you’re still a Republican you are undoubtedly an Enemy of the State.
proud leftist,
I’ll cast my vote for the Libertarian candidate in 2008. There is no candidate, Dem or Rep, who has any appeal to Libertarians, and I don’t think one will arise in the next year.
The liberals can say, “Well, a least Libertarian is not voting for the Republicans.” And the conservatives cans say, “Well, at least Libertarian is not voting for the Democrats.”
Around the world, people now know that the Bush regime is as corrupt a regime as you’ll find anywhere.
It also goes to show you that all the illegal, backroom, bullshit used by Publicans will ALWAYS come back to bite them in their cowardly asses.
MEDVED CALLS YOU GUYS “LOSERTARIANS”.
HEY, I’M JUST THE MESSENGER. MEDVED DOESN’T BAT FOR MY TEAM.
Republicans have brought shame on our great nation’s tradition of justice, moral clarity and the Rule of Law.
They have put our soldiers in the most difficult position with no plan to win the war. Then, they treat them like garbage because they had the nerve to get wounded!
Republicans: jihadist in our midst.
YOS LIB BRO says:
MEDVED CALLS YOU GUYS “LOSERTARIANS”.
=========
Yeah, that’s too bad for Medved. I don’t adhere to his beliefs nor care what he thinks and says.
America’s Most Wanted Terrorists:
Osama bin Laden
All Republicans
Libertarian @ 41
Fair enough. I admire pure libertarianism for its adherence to principle–less government applies to both the boardroom and the bedroom. In my experience, however, I have come across few Libertarians who are very consistent in their positions. Indeed, the party’s last presidential candidate hardly seemed anything more than a Republican who didn’t want to call himself a Republican.
proud leftis sez,
…I have come across few Libertarians who are very consistent in their positions.
=====
I’d say that is true across the spectrum. There are not many “pure” Democrats, Republicans, or Libertarians. Libertarians tend to side with the Republicans when it comes to money issues and with the Democrats on individual rights issues. Money issues have were fairly predominant in the last election for prez. I’d say a Libertarian is a Republican who believes in individual rights and a Democrat who believes in individual responsibility.
Libertarians are to the Right what Communists are to the Left.
One down, several more to go.
I am interested in seeing what Fitzgerald’s end game is for this. Nobody seems to believe this case begins and ends with Libby.
So what’s next?
Well, not really. Of course, the Libertarian Party has become almost a joke, with most people that have libertarian leanings going to either the Republican or Democratic parties.
Quite a few have gone Democratic, as libertarians tend to believe in balanced budgets and smaller, less intrusive government.
Republicans talk about these things, Democrats do them.
There’s a neat little test I’ve seen posted here before, but not for a while. I took it, and cannot really argue with the results.
Personal disclosure. On the chart, my own reading was:
Economic Left/Right: -3.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.77
http://www.politicalcompass.org/questionnaire
“I’d say a Libertarian is a Republican who believes in individual rights and a Democrat who believes in individual responsibility.” Libertarian at 48
I think Democrats in general believe in accountability far more than Republicans do. That’s why tort reform is unpopular among Democrats. We believe that those who harm others should be held accountable, and not be given a free pass. Also, we believe that opportunity should be afforded on the basis of merit and hard work, and not on vestigial remnants of some aristocratic system that perpetuates power congregated in the hands of a few, like the Bush family.
@35 I think it’s even worse than that for Pubbies and Libbies — I suggest you stand in front of a mirror and practice saying, over and over, “Madam President.”
@36 I can go with that comparison.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17485067/
Now – where is Rove? He’s the really guilty traitor here.
@39 If this is the kind of trash that Faux pours into wingnuts’ skulls on a daily basis, no wonder they’re all so fucking ignorant!
@42
GOP = banana republic
9 more U.S. troops killed in the quagmire today.
49, 51
Republicans dodge responsibility; so, if Libertarians believe in individual responsibility, why would any Libertarian ever vote for any Republican?
Above all, why would any Libertarian vote for Never-Admit-A-Mistake Bush?
Personal freedom means having the right to choose. Personal responsibility means accepting the rewards and consequences of those choices.
Headless lucy,
You wouldn’t know a Libertarian if you tripped over one. Even John Barelli points that out in post #51.
Roger Rabbit,
The Democrats are just as bad at avoiding responsibility. It’s the nature of any politician to take credit for things that go well and to blame the other party when things go bad. Bush is doing it now. Remember Hillary’s “right wing conspiracy” crap? The Dems and Reps are different sides of the same coin.
If you work under the assupmtion that Democrats are idiots and Republicans are crooks, you’ll have American politics pretty much understood.
Why not make it three in a row? Government has become the major problem – getting involved in too much, both here and at home.
It’ll be interesting to see how long Fitz remains on the federal payroll after this.
Many seem to view this as a victory over the neocon gang, but hey….Rove, Cheney and several others managed to stay off the witness stand, to say nothing of avoiding the “frog-march” treatment we were all fantasizing about last year. And the whole thing sort of went into hibernation over the time leading up to the election.
Now, Libby’s legal team will start an appeal process that will drag out to the end of next year, and Smirk will quietly pardon him just as he’s leaving office. No way the man is going to see the inside of a federal prison. (Gotta make sure there’s plenty of room for immigrant nine-year-olds, right?)
Did Fitzgerald cut a deal? We’ll probably never know. Wouldn’t surprise me at all to see him resign in a couple months to take a nice high-paying, corner-office gig with some private law firm, just like David Boies did after he was pulled off the Microsoft antitrust case.
When they gonna prosecute the rest of the gang? Bush, Cheney, and Rove?
like David Boies did after he was pulled off the Microsoft antitrust case.
UH… IIRC BOIES WAS A HIRED GUN FOR THAT CASE AND HE HAS HIS OWN PRACTICE.
GBS: Yes, it’s a dark day. Can I vote for a libtard? Tough question. I witnessed what your party has done to my people first hand. So I’ll hold off my comments
I haven’t seen it this bad in government since Bert Lance was around!
Regarding the special prosecutor: http://corner.nationalreview.c.....E0OTkxZTA=
Regarding a black man as President, watch. Hilary’s gang will find something to put on Obama.
So you young libtards have a reference point, Bert Lance was in Carter’s Admin and he was around for BCCI and the Keating 5.
So you libtards forget one thing. Richard Armitage did the “outing”. And since it’s a know fact Armitage told reporters over and over and over his clear distaste for Cheney and his staff from his Asst SoS job, it’s ludicrous to think Armitage would have done Cheney’s bidding. If you libtards could just think it through!
I reported this before so it’s nothing new libtards.
http://neveryetmelted.com/?cat=740
The left has never really yearned for Armitage’s scalp. however, since:
Armitage was a member of the administration’s small moderate wing. Along with his boss and good friend, Powell, he had deep misgivings about President George W. Bush’s march to war. A barrel-chested Vietnam vet who had volunteered for combat, Armitage at times expressed disdain for Dick Cheney and other administration war hawks who had never served in the military. Armitage routinely returned from White House meetings shaking his head at the armchair warriors. “One day,” says Powell’s former chief of staff Larry Wilkerson, “we were walking into his office and Rich turned to me and said, ‘Larry, these guys never heard a bullet go by their ears in anger … None of them ever served. They’re a bunch of jerks’.”
Did Valerie Plame meet the definition of a covert operative, such that it would have been a crime under certain conditions to knowingly expose her? I have heard that she didn’t meet this definition.
So if no crime was committed to begin with, why have a federal investigation and special prosecutor? This is just as ridiculous as what Ken Starr ended up doing in my humble opinion.
If someone had committed a crime by outing Valerie Plame — and the person responsible for doing so appears to have been Richard Armitrage (apparently as part of his protest against the Bush administration and the Iraq war) — then I am sure the special prosecutor would have had that person indicted.
It is a travesty that someone can be charged with perjury before a grand jury, when the grand jury isn’t investigating an actual crime to begin with. Or with making false statements to federal investigators or obstructing justice under the same circumstances.
Scooter Libby should receive the same punishment that Bill Clinton got for his perjury. Disbar Libby or give him a long suspension from practicing law. Make him pay a civil fine to compensate the government for the damages caused by his perjury.
It wasn’t right for Libby to lie under oath. But it also wasn’t right to prosecute him criminally for perjury, when President Clinton wasn’t criminally prosecuted for perjury either.
Tough question. I witnessed what your party has done to my people first hand.
Pud,
You may be served in any business establishment. You can enroll your children in any school you like. You are free to use that nice fat paycheck you earn to buy a nice house in a good part of town without being directed to the “negro” section. You can legally register to vote in all 50 states without arbitrary literacy tests, requirements for an established voter to vouch for you, absurd residency requirements, or any of the other barriers to enfranchisement that were set up in the Jim Crow South.
You’re welcome.
You don’t like affirmative action and don’t need it. That’s fine. Last I checked, slavish worship of AA is not a requirement for membership in the Democratic party.
Although, on this point, there are two charts that have been nagging at me for a while. Maybe you can read them and tell me what you think.
The first one is a list of statistics about the Seattle Public Schools in general.
http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa......&yrs=
Note that 22% of the school district is black. No big surprise here.
Here’s another list, for a particular school. This school is Lowell. It’s an all-city draw. It’s not too hard to get into. The parents of really bright kids in every elementary school class in Seattle get a note from the teacher saying that your child may want to be tested for placement into Advanced Learning. The top 1-2% get to go to Lowell. It’s a good school. My daughter goes there. I’m very proud of her.
http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa......&yrs=
Now, an all-city draw school should presumably look like the city. There are smart and slow white folks, smart and slow Asians, and smart and slow black folks.
Something is missing from that pie chart….
22% of the student body is black, but only 4.3% of the city’s top school is. By my back of the napkin calculations, there are about 84 missing African-American children from a 468 person school.
Why do you think that is Pud? Are Murray and Herrnstein right and African-Americans are just stoopid? I don’t think so, and I waded through that awful book of theirs trying to find something valid in it. Do black parents not want their kids to go to a better school? Are parents of smart children unable to read notes from their teachers? Do you have any ideas Pud? You seem to have a lot of opinions. Weigh in on this one for me.
Since Libby is guilty of perjury, is he now the democrat front runner for president.
Richard Pope, what planet have you been on? Plame was the control agent for a CIA front known as “Bailey-Marks” or something similar. It fronted as an arms dealer with just enough legitimate business to cover. Its “salesmen” were open to approaches from anyone looking for off-books arms deals, mostly in the Mideast.
SOP for the field agents was to tell the mark that Plame (she used her overt name) had to okay any diversion of arms, needed to meet the mark, etc.
Then Bush and Cheney blew her cover. Yes, it’s a federal felony. So your hero-god, Bush, signed an executive order (I kid you not) which retroactively declassified her identity while the investigation was in its earliest stages.
Bush refuses to disclose how many agents and contacts were killed as a result of his political stunt. That’s classified, don’t cha know?
72
Yeah that’s the ticket. Everyone knows CIA agent routinely appear of national magazine like Vanity Fair to cover their cover. Why people don’t see this as a travesty is (roll eyes) beyond me.
Richard, unless it isn’t obvious by now, the prosecutor was investigating the espionage crime until Bush did the retoactive declassification.
Someday we’ll have a president who doesn’t scream “KING’S X” every time one of his whores gets nabbed.
And Richard, I would think even you could tell the difference between lying about a blowjob and lying about an espionage crime.
I hope that by the time we hand Bush over to the EU for trial, they will have gotten less squeamish about the death penalty.
Richard:
I know your legal career hasn’t gone all that well, so you may not realize this, but making intentionally false statements under oath is a crime, regardless of the context of those statements.
Best thing you can do is remain silent on this shameful chapter in our national history.
‘King’s X’ is a killer band from Texas. But 74 says it’s some sort of saying? Fill me in here, never heard this one before.
And John, thanks for the Political Compass test.
Economic Left/Right: -4.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.49
It’s nice to be in the same neighborhood as Gandhi, Mandela, and the Dalai Lama.
Pud:
We’ve been down that road before, what you witnessed first hand that “my party did your people” is a false argument.
The Democrats of “yester-year” that discriminated against blacks are today’s Republicans. I’ve thought about this topic recently after our lunch and here’s how I’d describe it without the political labels.
Social Liberals work towards the goal of equality for everyone.
Social Conservatives work towards keeping the status quo of the day.
In the 50’s and 60’s there were many social conservatives in the Democratic Party — Strom Thurmond for example — but as soon as LBJ signed the CRA and the VRA in the mid 60’s those Social Conservatives were appalled at the Democrats for giving those “niggers” the right to vote. (the status quo)
So, the Social Conservatives abandoned the Democrats in favor of the Republican Party who saw the opportunity to take over Southern states and implemented what is now known as the Republican Southern Strategy. For which the RNC chairman apologized to the NAACP two years ago for such a blatantly racists policy.
Puddybud. There’s no other way to say it.
You know if all things being equal and Al Gore sent our troops into an illegal and unnecessary war, spied on Americans, destroyed 20 year old CIA front companies tracking WMD’s you’d have another point of view.
So what this is really about, Puddybud, is do you or do you not have the moral clarity to stand up as an American citizen and fight this White House?
Liberals stood up to the Democrat leaders in the 60’s when LBJ lied us into the Viet Nam war with a little thing called the Gulf of Tonkin incident. An event that never really happened and cost 57,000 American lives.
Being loyal to the principles of the truth and not to our president is what gives Democrats moral clarity, Puddybud.
A significant moment in history is upon you, Puddybud, and conservatives everywhere. Will you be loyal to your president and party or to America?