Oh, before I forget
Oct. 18th, 2005 10:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ebonlockI meant to link to Steve G's rebuttal of Kristol's whiny bleat on how poor conservatives are being picked on by the big bad Democratic bullies:
How about this: maybe they're crooks?
Maybe they violated the law so openly that they were caught and exposed?
This is pathetic. I don't remember Dems running to defend Rostankowski or Wright. They were happy to see them go. Dems don't defend the corrupt or excuse them. People were disgusted with Clinton, but applied common sense rules to his behavior, not turn it into a jihad.
Yet, in typical whiny GOP form, they say it's some kind of vendetta against conservatives. Well, no. It's a reaction to criminality.
The real reason Kristol is worried is that the party is over. The GOP is about to be the defined as the party of corruption. Raw, naked corruption and Bill can see his paychecks floating away.
Kristol is being purposely dense here. Classified information, sure. Plame's name and role was not classified. It was Top Secret-SCI, restricted to the Directorate of Operations and its most senior officials. Her work at the CIA was a state secret. Revealing it was a crime. It wasn't just politics as usual. But it wasn't her name alone, but revealing her work as an employ of Brewster-Jennings which caused the real problem. When a judge is asked to review Fitzgerald's requests, he's never been turned down. Most of his public papers are redacted. People probably died as a result of that revelation. You can bet Fitzgerald has that information on tap. It was a major intelligence defeat and a self-inflicted one at that.
But Kristol and friends would rather defend the unacceptable than deal with the consequences of what is basically treason.
There's a rumor floating around that Fitzgerald may announce his findings as early as today. *fingers crossed*
EDIT: firedoglake likens this to the calm before the gathering storm, and fills in some more details on just what Fitzgerald might be sharing with us soon. Also, the Rude One chimes in on his gut feelings on the matter:
The Rude Pundit is not a prognosticator. But there's something that he's feeling in his gut: that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald may just try to save America. If Fitzgerald is the hardcore law and order guy we've been led to believe, then he may just decide it's his job to take down the Bush administration, so rank with the stench of lawbreaking.
Why the gut feeling? Because if, as some Rude Pundit readers have suggested, that this is all just a show, that there'll be some whitewashed report and it's done, then it would have been over by now. Fitzgerald would have put on a good show, held a press conference or two, and it would have been done a long time ago. But more and more, the indications are that Fitzgerald is going after something more than a couple of powerful aides who committed something akin to treason. Fitzgerald has fucked with the PDA schedules of many, many administration members and hangers-on. He has opened up the investigation into the evil White House Iraq Group.
Unlike that pathetic gloryhound wannabe, Ken Starr, who had to bray about every semen stain to make it seem as if he had a real case against Bill Clinton, Fitzgerald's investigation has been virtually impenetrable and quiet. And it's always the quiet ones who end up being the most vicious killers.
And Billmon points to some more good news:
President Bush's job approval rating continues to plummet, with 39 percent of Americans surveyed in the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll supporting his performance, compared to 58 percent expressing disapproval.
The approval rating was lowest the poll has recorded during Bush's presidency . . .
Yes, you read that right, a Gallup poll puts Bush at 39%.
Also kudos to Billmon for creating the "Captain Renault Righteous Indignation Award", I'm madly tempted to create a visual for this. It'd make a killer icon :)
How about this: maybe they're crooks?
Maybe they violated the law so openly that they were caught and exposed?
This is pathetic. I don't remember Dems running to defend Rostankowski or Wright. They were happy to see them go. Dems don't defend the corrupt or excuse them. People were disgusted with Clinton, but applied common sense rules to his behavior, not turn it into a jihad.
Yet, in typical whiny GOP form, they say it's some kind of vendetta against conservatives. Well, no. It's a reaction to criminality.
The real reason Kristol is worried is that the party is over. The GOP is about to be the defined as the party of corruption. Raw, naked corruption and Bill can see his paychecks floating away.
Kristol is being purposely dense here. Classified information, sure. Plame's name and role was not classified. It was Top Secret-SCI, restricted to the Directorate of Operations and its most senior officials. Her work at the CIA was a state secret. Revealing it was a crime. It wasn't just politics as usual. But it wasn't her name alone, but revealing her work as an employ of Brewster-Jennings which caused the real problem. When a judge is asked to review Fitzgerald's requests, he's never been turned down. Most of his public papers are redacted. People probably died as a result of that revelation. You can bet Fitzgerald has that information on tap. It was a major intelligence defeat and a self-inflicted one at that.
But Kristol and friends would rather defend the unacceptable than deal with the consequences of what is basically treason.
There's a rumor floating around that Fitzgerald may announce his findings as early as today. *fingers crossed*
EDIT: firedoglake likens this to the calm before the gathering storm, and fills in some more details on just what Fitzgerald might be sharing with us soon. Also, the Rude One chimes in on his gut feelings on the matter:
The Rude Pundit is not a prognosticator. But there's something that he's feeling in his gut: that Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald may just try to save America. If Fitzgerald is the hardcore law and order guy we've been led to believe, then he may just decide it's his job to take down the Bush administration, so rank with the stench of lawbreaking.
Why the gut feeling? Because if, as some Rude Pundit readers have suggested, that this is all just a show, that there'll be some whitewashed report and it's done, then it would have been over by now. Fitzgerald would have put on a good show, held a press conference or two, and it would have been done a long time ago. But more and more, the indications are that Fitzgerald is going after something more than a couple of powerful aides who committed something akin to treason. Fitzgerald has fucked with the PDA schedules of many, many administration members and hangers-on. He has opened up the investigation into the evil White House Iraq Group.
Unlike that pathetic gloryhound wannabe, Ken Starr, who had to bray about every semen stain to make it seem as if he had a real case against Bill Clinton, Fitzgerald's investigation has been virtually impenetrable and quiet. And it's always the quiet ones who end up being the most vicious killers.
And Billmon points to some more good news:
President Bush's job approval rating continues to plummet, with 39 percent of Americans surveyed in the latest CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll supporting his performance, compared to 58 percent expressing disapproval.
The approval rating was lowest the poll has recorded during Bush's presidency . . .
Yes, you read that right, a Gallup poll puts Bush at 39%.
Also kudos to Billmon for creating the "Captain Renault Righteous Indignation Award", I'm madly tempted to create a visual for this. It'd make a killer icon :)
