Raw Story - They Got The Day Right!

Raw Story correctly reported that yesterday was Wednesday.

The rest of their scoop seems to have vanished - Fitzgerald did not even meet with the grand jury, let alone present the evidence that would result in Rove being led away in chains (Merry Fitzmas!).

But keep hope alive! 

Tomorrow is Friday, a day when this grand jury would normally meet, so we expect Raw Story and Chris Matthews of Hardball to be giddy with expectation tonight.

But if, against all reason, we do not see major multiple indictments of Rove and company on Friday, will Raw Story and Chris Matthews be able to maintain the pretense that the grand jury is meeting and considering indictments the week before Christmas?

Hey, it's possible - maybe Fitzgerald likes to meet with grumpy grand jurors who want to get out and finish their shopping.  But I will Boldly Predict that the grand jury won't be meeting next Friday on Dec 23.

MORE:  Note to Matthews - "Hollywood courage" is boldly standing up to someone (or something) that 99.9% of your peers find objectionable.  Finding the courage to go after Karl Rove would be an example.

Real courage would involve doing something that entailed some personal or professional risk.  Andrea Mitchell, also of NBC, might be the next Bob Woodward, sitting on the news that she was tipped to a Wilson and wife backstory in June 2003 - that would be a real scoop, but going after it would require, hmm, real courage.

Or even reporting on just what it was that Libby was complaining about when he called Russert in July of 2003 would be newsworthy - we all guess Libby called about you, and some of us think it related to an accusation of anti-semitism on your part.  It would take courage to tackle that.

I am not holding my breath.  Happy Holidays.

Comments

[Pollyusa]

Here's another Novak dropping I've always found interesting.

NOVAK: But you don't know -- Ed, you don't know anything about the case. And those people who say that don't know anything about the case. And unfortunately, as somebody who likes to write, I'd like to say a lot about the case, but because of my attorney's advice I can't. But I will. And there might be some surprising things.
CNN 6/30/05

I'll be away with little access to the internet for the next three weeks, I hope Fitz waits for the new year to indict somebody.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

Maybe Jason Leopold can find another Thomas White e-mail on this.

[Gary Maxwell]

OH no. Raw Story and Lawrence O'Donnell are on opposite sides of the prediction? What to do? The weathervane is broken. One of them is going to break their perfect record here.

[Bob in Pacifica]

Who knows what will happen? Lone nuts killing public figures seems out of fashion, as are plane crashes carrying senatorial candidates. So, presuming that Fitzgerald doesn't die as a result of his prosecutorial (mis)adventure he will probably slap Rove with indictments, and it probably won't be too long. While, lots of folks want it for Christmas, I think it would be better early in January. Maybe one or two others will be doing the perp walk, too.

I think the theory that Bob Novak's "go ask Bush" line was a Rove orchestration precisely intended to get Bubble Boy to pledge his allegiance to Rove. And it worked.

Also nice to know that Dub, as final arbiter of justice, knows Delay is innocent. It sounds to me that the signal is out: Get your get out of jail cards here.

[maryrose]

Bob,
What land are you living in out there in Pacifica?
Back here in the real red state world we don't live by LaLa land fabrications, we deal in the world of facts. None of what you have just stated can be verified or believed by anyone with moderate intelligence. Sounds like you got the dems talking point memo.

[Cecil Turner]

Is it just coincidence that this story keeps Rove's Tradesports futures in play (in particular, that 31 Dec 05 one, whose value you'd think ought rapidly to be approaching bupkus, yet shows a sharp rally)? Insider trading on this one would seem to be a snap for some opinion shapers (any temptation TM?).

[topsecretk9]

HEHEHEHE!! this caused multiple chuckles in the household

Raw Story correctly reported that yesterday was Wednesday.

[kim]

I see the mind rays can reach at least 3,000 miles.
================================================

[topsecretk9]

BTW - Raw Story last night had a Mary Mapes style explanation for mis-reporting...something like

"It may or may not be true the GJ met but...we will be covering it all night!"

[clarice]

Their readers seem to be so hooked on the possibility of Fitzmas, it doesn't matter how often they misreport things, does it?

[Gary Maxwell]

Wow I had not heard the Republicans ( or Bush or insert name here) had caused the Wellstone plane crash in awhile. I am sure, Bob, if you were not so sad about the crash and of course your fingers were tired from all that typing that you could have regaled us with another rendition of the now famous Truth to Power song " The Republicans bombed the New Orleans levees"! Its the only wild ass conspiracy that you left out.

[Kate]

The Rawstory rumor reminds me of the rumors that were flying in early October: 22 indictments, Cheney indicted, conspiracy, etc.

I think Rawstory uses nutty Larry Johnson as one of their sources.

What concerned me more was Byron York's article in NRO.

[TP]

Gary. I love the Wellstone assassination story. The guy who owned the company that flew him was a long time supporter of St. Paul and lots of other Democrats. The insurance companies settled right up with the lawyer for Wellstone's estate, a Minnesota trial attorney and prominent Democrat. Of course, there is the theory of antiaircraft fire shooting an unscheduled small airplane down on a foggy day.

[TP]

Gary. But to be fair, maybe Bob was talking about Teresa's "hit" on her first husband. : ^ )

[clarice]

And the plot was even worse--they forced the Dems to break the deal with Coleman who'd ceased campaigning to turn the memorial service into an anti-Republican, tasteless campaign rally. More of that Rovian long distance mind melding stuff..

[TP]

It was an amazing week on the tundra. A lot of the experts though Mondale would be a shoo in on a sympathy vote--then Rove tricked them in to that voodoo memorial service. The man is a genius.

[richard mcenroe]

Maryrose, gary maxwell, tp, bob... Don't forget Rove and the Rethuglicans took down JFK Jr off Martha's Vineyard, too. Just in case.

[Chants]

I have done more research on the Raw Story report. After a few phone calls, two more facts seem to check out.

There does appear to be a Time reporter named Viveca Novak. It also appears that an attorney for Rove is, in fact, named Robert Luskin.

[TP]

RM. While I fear there might be a serial killer in our midst, I still have to admire the sheer nerve of the guy for trying to kill Wellstone so soon after having such a disastrous result with Mel Carnahan.

[MaidMarion]

TM,

I thought it was already well established that Libby complained to Russert on July 10, 2003, about Chris Matthews's July 8, 2003 HARDBALL edition.

I've read comments on blogs about some "anti-semitic" remark, but I can't seem to find that in the transcript. This HARDBALL show was just two days after Joe Wilson's first appearance on MEET THE PRESS hosted by Andrea Mitchell, July 6, which...coincidentally...was the same day Wilson's Op-Ed was published.

Andrea sure landed a lucky interview, eh?

So two days later, Matthews gleefully picks up the "Wilson trip to Niger" hot potato from Andreas Sunday interview with Wilson and throws more gasoline on the fire.

That's why Libby called Russert on July 10, and why Russert's claim that he didn't understand what all the fuss was about until he read Novak's article on July 14th...

I couldn't find an MSNBC transcript for the July 8, 2003 HARDBALL, but here's an unofficial one. I've put the URL on two lines so you'll need to cut and paste this:

http://www.independent-media.tv/itemprint.cfm?fmedia_id=
1469&fcategory_desc=Environment

[Rick Ballard]

MaidMarion's Matthew's July 8 Transcript

[Tom Maguire]

I've read comments on blogs about some "anti-semitic" remark, but I can't seem to find that in the transcript.

Ahh, well - if you check a Hardball transcript for, IIRC, July 15, 2003, you will find exactly what you want.

However, that gives a bit of a date problem. And no, I can't explain it - it would be very cool if Libby called Russert twice, or if somehow Russert had the dates wrong, but it doesn't add up.

However, other articles had put Matthews in the "anti-neocon / anti-semitic" camp in the spring of 2003, so Libby may have been nursing a more general complaint.

Oh, check the transcript for Hardball, July 9 - that has as outrageous a segment as July 8:

MATTHEWS: Let me go back to David Gergen on the question of who may be culpable here, because we do have a paper trail, thanks to Joe Wilson, the ambassador. He said he was sent to Niger, the government in Africa that is in question here. There we have a picture of him. He was on "MEET THE PRESS". He also wrote a letter, an op-ed piece for the "New York Times" this weekend.

He made it very clear he was sent down there at the behest of the vice president's office last year. Months, almost a year before the president's State of the Union Address, he came back with the information that there was, in fact, no deal. Isn't vice president's office responsible, right now, to come out and say why they didn't act on that information? Why the CIA, which also must sign off on presidential speeches, they didn't come out with the information and clear the president so that he wouldn't have to, in his own words, by the way, to use his words, revise history as he seems to be doing, saying that this was not a mistake.

GERGEN: Chris, it was my understanding that he went to the -- to Africa at the request of the CIA, not the vice president's office. Vice president's office was...

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: At the behest of the vice president's office, the CIA was tasked by the vice president's office to do it. Senator, isn't that right?

ROCKEFELLER: That is correct.

GERGEN: Well, I thought what he said in "The New York Times" was -- in his piece, was that he was asked by the intelligence agencies for whom he had worked, they paid his way. He went pro bono in terms of his...

(CROSSTALK)

MATTHEWS: At the request of the vice president's office. Right, Senator?

ROCKEFELLER: Absolutely correct.

And Raw Story runs an after-action report today assessing their coverage.

[r flanagan]

Not only did Matthews fail to be giddy with expectations about tomorrow's possible GJ meeting ,he didn't even mention it.

[clarice]

The after action report is worth reading for laughs.