Today not only marks the announcement of at least one indictment in the Plame affair – that of Lewis “Scooter” Libby for making false statements as has been widely reported even before Patrick Fitzgerald makes the official announcement this afternoon at 2pm ET. It also marks the beginning of what has to be a strong and relentless campaign by the Democrats and others on the left to make the case that it is not only one or two “bad apples” in the White House who are guilty, it’s also the President and the Vice President.
Bush and Cheney cannot be allowed to distance themselves from Libby and Rove by simply forcing Libby to resign or by having Rove take a leave of absence, which he should rightly do while he is still under investigation in this matter.
The president and the vice president know both of these men well. They have known them and worked with them for many, many years. They know their characters. They know their motives and methods. Bush and Cheney will have no credibility in any attempts they may now make to distance themselves from two of their closest allies. They fostered this culture of corruption and deceit and they allowed this to happen under their watch – just as they did in their tacit approval of torture which they blamed on “a few bad apples”. They are as guilty as Libby and Rove and must not be allowed to skirt any blame or guilt.
If Libby is indicted only on the false statements charge, we cannot fall into the right-wing’s trap of minimizing the importance of such an event. Libby has not operated in a vacuum. Neither has Rove. No one in the White House does. They work in concert and their aim in dealing with their opponents has always been focused on complete destruction.
This administration has been one of the most secretive, nasty, deceptive, irresponsible, power-hungry and vindictive in US history. It cannot sustain that release of poison upon its citizens for an extended period of time without experiencing blowback. Now is the time when they are experiencing what rest of us have been for years – the pain of their own attacks.
Make them feel it.
Consider this week, this day as the unofficial kickoff of Campaign 2006; these “very, very dark days for the White House”, as Andrew Card laments. You can bemoan the fact that some of the Democratic leaders have not been as aggressive as you would have liked in the past. You can stay behind if you like. Or, you can hop on the bus and move forward with the rest of us who are seizing this day as a new beginning. Sometimes, you create revolutions. Sometimes, your foes bring them upon themselves. Regardless, this revolution is moving ahead with or without you. Its time has come.
This is awful.
Libby but not Rove and on perjury.
All the genius lawyers on Daily Kos stated months ago that Rove would be indicted…anyone who thought otherwise was a troll to be banned.
What happened to the 23 indictments?
This is such bullshit. 2 years.
Hopefully something will come out of this. Something unexpected. That’s a possibiilty. This is not a knock out blow as it could have been. Just a slap but….
The tragedy is it does not lead to an examination of the lies that led to the war, the naievete of the American public and the withdrawal of the troops.
I don’t care about punishing Libby. This has to lead to a withdrawal of the troops or it’s just meaningless
Of course today matters. It may even be pivotal. But today is not the last reel of a Western. No hero with guns blazing is going to save the town. That’s their paradigm.
Its probably time to stop expecting entertainment.
Mr. Piddy, perjury and obstruction can send Libby to prison for five-to-10 long years. Maybe the whole cabal don’t fall together and right now but… think of it as a can of worms and today Fitz inserts the blade of the can opener and starts to turn it slowly, ever so slowly around the rim.
Altho I was moping earlier because I don’t think we’ll get much more info today about what’s going on, today and tomorrow with be the first time Joe and Jane Average Citizen get alerted. They’ll see USA Today at the news stand near their bus stop or train station and the headline will blare “WH OFFICIAL INDICTED.” They will start paying attention for the first time and Democrats need to be ready to help them understand what it all means.
It’s such a good story, too, a real spy thriller, that they’ll want to know all the details and follow the action. I hope Reid and/or Dean is ready to take full advantage of this.
Glad I was able to lift your spirits a bit. 🙂
And boy, is it ever complex! I think the democrats PR machine (if they even have one) would be really smart to put some kind of ‘Treasongate for Dummies’ press release out there. Today. The American public responds to clear and simple statements.
What is this investigation in a nutshell? Focus group the phrases that get people’s attention.
Sure, no Rove…but he’s still “under investigation”. Maybe something stronger than just perjury awaits him. Maybe there are bigger fish on the counter just waiting for the frying pan to free up. At any rate, there’s enough talk show fodder to keep the talking heads musing through the 2006 elections.
And the reason why no “22 indictments”? Well, some of those 22 have likely been burning up the telephone lines, trying to cut a deal that will nail the ringleaders’ asses to the wall.
We’re at the end of the first book, that’s all; Boromir’s been shot, Merry and Pippin are missing, but there’s still a long way to go before we destroy this Ring of Power.
“You can stay behind if you like. Or, you can hop on the bus and move forward with the rest of us who are seizing this day as a new beginning. Sometimes, you create revolutions. Sometimes, your foes bring them upon themselves. Regardless, this revolution is moving ahead with or without you. Its time has come.”
I’m in…no matter what we have a great gift here going into ’06 elections. If the investigation continues it gives us the ammo to use against the ” Party of Corruption”. Say it loud and say it proud. We the American citizens, we the people will not stand for corruption….period!
Just as Libby and Rove did not operate in a vacuum, neither did the GOP as a whole. It’s impossible to say whether things would be any different if the Democratic Party had fought against the Iraq war, but the fact remains that they did not fight at all.
It’s no use for them to say, as they will say, that they were deceived by the President. No educated person was deceived by Bush unless he wanted to be. Dems voted for the war authorization simply because they were afraid of losing elections. Is that any less treasonous?
It will do us no good to defeat the “party of corruption” unless we also reform the party of craven cowardice.
as a whole would accept the Democratic “mea culpa” more than we would; the majority of the American people were also “deceived” by this misAdministration, as can be seen in the dropping support numbers for both Bush and the “war” in Iraq. I would even accept a true heartfelt apology, admitting that they had been caught up in post-9/11 turmoil like the rest of America. Heck, if nothing else, it makes them seem actually human…
Catnip, I’m on that bus!