Musings on heavy matters that analogize to personal situations.
The intricate series of maneuvers carried out by members of the Bush administration with the purpose of betraying (by revealing the identity of) one of their own spies (Valerie Plame) has reminded me of one of my favorite books, Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy, by John Le Carre. In fact, I've been inspired to get it from the library and am re-reading it.
Not that the two situations are that similar. Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy was a about a mole, a single traitor undermining the British intelligence establishment. The Valerie Plame affair is about a number of high members of a government administration participating in the betrayal of a single agent.
President Bush has asserted executive privilege to prevent Attorney General Michael Mukasey from having to comply with a House panel subpoena for material on the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.
A House committee chairman, meanwhile, held off on a contempt citation of Mukasey — who had requested the privilege claim — but only as a courtesy to lawmakers not present.
Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, rejected Mukasey's suggestion that Vice President Dick Cheney's FBI interview on the CIA leak should be protected by the privilege claim — and therefore not turned over to the panel.
Waxman said they will act in "a reasonable and appropriate period of time," which means the Attorney General of the United States will soon be cited for contempt of Congress...or there will be a flurry of sternly worded letters.
And yet Attorney General Mukasey is still preventing us from learning what happened.
Five years ago today, on a Monday morning just like today, this happened:
Our bedroom was just beginning to show the first hints of morning light on July 14 when Joe marched in, dropped the newspaper on the bed, and said in a tight voice, "Well, the SOB did it." He set a steaming mug of coffee on my bedside table and left the room. What? I struggled to wake up. I sat up, switched on the lamp, and opened the Washington Post to the op-ed page; I didn't know what I would find, but I knew it wouldn't be good. Rovert Novak had written in his column that "Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction."
So much has been said and written about the outing of former CIA operative Valerie Plame -- and the cast of characters that swirled around it, from Judith Miller to Karl Rove -- that today, on the fifth anniversary of how it all began, it seems proper to quote the first lines of the fateful Joseph C. Wilson IV op-ed in the July 6, 2003 edition of The New York Times:
"Did the Bush administration manipulate intelligence about Saddam Hussein's weapons programs to justify an invasion of Iraq? Based on my experience with the administration in the months leading up to the war, I have little choice but to conclude that some of the intelligence related to Iraq's nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat."
Remember its title? "What I Didn't Find in Africa." People in high places paid attention: As we now know, Vice President Cheney marked up a copy of the op-ed from the paper, wondering if the trip to Africa was "ordinarily" done or "did his wife send him on a junket?"
Everybody has wondered when Obama was going to push back against the flip-flop meme that the media was tarring and feathering him with. Paul Krugman today went so far as to suggest that it had Rove's fingerprints written all over them. But Obama has begun pushing back against the flip-flop meme by releasing a fact sheet on Iraq. The fact sheet points out that Obama has the same positions on Iraq now that he did several months ago. You can read the fact sheet here.
Yes, it may be too ironic to believe - but here it is in black, white and Youtube.
Rove: [T]hey’ve got a very callous view about our nation’s security and interests.
...
Well, I read their explanation. And basically, it sounded to me like they were saying we put his name out there because we decided we could. And I mean, they didn’t have a good explanation for it.
Bad Grand Ole' Lady - Bad Bad!
So just who was this agent and why did they name him? Details over the flip.
On Friday, Scott McClellan learned the hard way that the Bush White House is a lot like the Soprano family. As HBO's legendary Jersey mobster Tony Soprano once put it, "Once you're into this family, there's no getting out." Judging by McClellan's treatment at the hands of George W. Bush's foot soldiers on the House Judiciary Committee, today's Republican Party shares the Soprano family values.
Today's the day Scott McClellan (hopefully) squeals. Or C-Span puts it:
House Committee
CIA Leak Investigation
Judiciary
Washington, District of Columbia (United States)
Conyers, John Jr. U.S. Representative, D-MI
McClellan, Scott Press Secretary (2003-2006), White House
Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan testified about reported efforts to cover up the role of the White House in the leaking of the informtion that Valerie Plame Wilson was a Central Intelligence Agency covert operative.
House Democrats are eagerly preparing for Friday’s testimony by former White House press secretary Scott McClellan, but Republicans seem unsure of how to handle the president’s unlikely critic.
But over at Time there is a more cynical tone, today will probably turn out to be simply summertime Congressional theatrics, Will McClellan's Testimony Hurt Bush?
Nothing says summer in the nation's capital like tell-all testimony in front of a bunch of members of Congress with time on their hands and the fall election on their minds.
In the hopeful premise that some intern reads dKos, does anybody have an Bush-shattering question they wish asked of Scott McClellan?
When I think of the life of Tim Russert I will think of a man who could have done so much good with the power that was given to him and instead used it to help those who had some of the worst motives and intentions on the American political scene.
I am not saddened by the passing of Tim Russert, as I made known in the first diary announcing the news. (If you have TU status, you can see my comments, and maybe even help to ban me for being uncouth.) I did not wish him dead, but I do not mourn the loss of someone who gave much aid and comfort to the Bush administration over the past several years. As a reminder of what the world has lost, please consider the following:
This is my first attempt at a diary, so be please be kind!
Much has been said about Scott McClellan and his new book. There has been rejoicing from liberals, as one of the Bushies finally comes clean on the shenanigans that has taken place behind closed White House doors. The conservatives have been sitting back scratching their heads wondering aloud if this is the same Scott McClellan they knew and loved? It appears that a leopard has changed his spots, much to the chagrin of the Bush administration. But is this a change of spots, or a wolf in sheep’s clothing, sneaking in amongst the flock, waiting to spring a surprise on the unsuspecting herd?
McClellan to testify before House in CIA leak case
By LAURIE KELLMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush's former spokesman, Scott McClellan, will testify before a House committee next week about whether Vice President Dick Cheney ordered him to make misleading public statements about the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame's identity.
McClellan will testify publicly and under oath before the House Judiciary Committee on June 20 about the White House's role in the leak and its response, his attorneys, Michael and Jane Tigar, said on Monday.
Good thing the president is in Europe, taking his farewell tour and finding out how much he's despised, because between McClellan, Abramoff and the D.C. weather, things appear to be getting pretty hot for him at home.
With the Democratic nomination contest finally over, Democrats now have the opportunity to put the rancor of last many months behind them and unite to defeat the Republicans in November by taking the White House and adding to our leads in the House and Senate.
Among the most important issues that will arise for the next administration is the question of accountability for the villains that preceded it in the Executive Branch. Yesterday on Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Richard Clarke suggested a "Truth and Reconciliation Commission". Some would go farther, others less far.
But few in American politics today have as much personal knowledge and experience with the Bush Administration's lies and its mafia-style intimidation as Ambassador Joe Wilson, whom clammyc and I will be interviewing today at 2pmPST/5pmEST. And the topic we'll be covering? Accountability for Bush and his cronies after that glorious day on which they leave office.
The American public has been bamboozled to believe it's too late to impeach Bush/Cheney by the same corporate media shills and special interests who sold us the Iraq War. They don't want us to impeach Bush & Cheney for two reasons:
They want a war in Iran, for which Bush/Cheney/Media Talking Shill-heads have been setting the stage.
The special interests don't want an investigation to uncover their hand in the crimes.
Not only have the special interests taken impeachment off the table via T.V., right wing radio talk shows, and the newspapers, which they largely control, but they have intimidated many of your Congressmen to defy his/her Oath of Office
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God.
Henry Waxman noted the same thing that I did about Scottie McClellan's book. He noticed that Scottie McC's book sure came close to saying Dick Cheney and George Bush were personally involved in the outing of Valerie Wilson.
New revelations by former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan raise additional questions about the actions of the President and the Vice President. Mr. McClellan has stated that "[t]he President and Vice President directed me to go out there and exonerate Scooter Libby." He has also asserted that "the top White House officials who knew the truth - including Rove, Libby, and possibly Vice President Cheney - allowed me, even encouraged me, to repeat a lie." It would be a major breach of trust if the Vice President personally directed Mr. McClellan to mislead the public.
