You Just Can't Trust The CIA

The Times tells us that CIA is not consistently forthcoming with the truth.

Who woulda guessed?

Water, bridge, I need to move on (or jump off).  The Captain covers the latest outrage.

MORE:  Not that I would necessarily believe them, but can't someone nail down the latest date for which she received credit on her pension for her service abroad?  And the last hashing of this here was Nov 15, and I doubt the battle lines have shifted much.

WHAT DID THEY KNOW AND WHEN DID THEY KNOW IT:  The Muckraker isn't digging the Jay and Jane Show:

But the bottom line here is that at least some Congressional leaders knew something about the tapes and something about their destruction, and didn't say anything about either. [Jane] Harman's silence is especially stunning: she co-chaired a joint Congressional inquiry into the 9/11 attacks in 2002 that didn't receive that very pertinent information.

And in a post that might have been titled "With Democrats Like These..." Marty Lederman writes:

Jay Rockefeller is constantly learning of legally dubious (at best) CIA intelligence activities, and then saying nothing about them publicly until they are leaked to the press, at which point he expresses outrage and incredulity -- but reveals nothing.

...Jane Harman also knew of the intention to destroy the tapes, and she at least "urged" the CIA in writing not to do it. (Where were her colleagues?) But when she found out the CIA had destroyed the tapes, where was Harman's press conference? Where were the congressional hearings?

This ongoing selective outrage by the Congressional overseers is ridiculous.

MAYBE IT IS NOT OBVIOUS: OK, I know sometimes I can be a bit sarcastic, but when I provide a link to Captain Ed and describe it as "the latest outrage" and the Captain appears to be outraged, it is not an absurd leap to think that maybe I am outraged as well; just for starters, I am on the same page as the Captain a lot more than I am off it, and my use of the word "outrage" can even serve as a supplemental clue.   And beyond that, the Captian links to several other irritated righties, so it is not a leap to think that maybe, since righties are irked, I am irked as well.

From the Captain:

Frankly, the timing stinks. The tapes sat unmolested in a vault for at least two years without the CIA worrying about the potential damage from a leak. The Inspector General had long since concluded that the interrogations did not break the law. However, as soon as Congress began debating the specific interrogation technique that the tapes depicted, someone decided that they represented a danger to the agents. It looks a lot more like destroying evidence than tightening security.

Hayden will spend the next few weeks explaining this to Congress. Instead, Congress should be talking with the people in charge of the CIA in 2005 to find out who gave the order to destroy the tapes, and why.

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin agrees, as does Rick Moran.  James Joyner says it looks like obstruction of justice.

Clear enough?

Comments

[hit and run]

SlimGuy:
YouTube of the day

That's a good clip. Liked it. Agree it's worth showing. But. YouTube of the day?

You're wrong. Sooooooo wrong.

YouTube video of the Day Week Month Year Century Millenium ENTIRE. HISTORY. OF. MANKIND.

Clarice and Jane...caught on tape.

CONTENT WARNING. (They really got into it, if you know what I mean, and I think you do.)

[SlimGuy]

Sara

I am still trying to figure out if this has any ties back to Hastings wanting off the Intel committee.

[SlimGuy]

H&R

Not me..
I am moving to another town and starting all over again as a Virgin.

[hit and run]

LET ME PUT ANOTHER **CONTENT WARNING** ON THAT YOUTUBE.

I hadn't watched the whole thing, and really, Jane and Clarice, you should be ashamed of yourselves.

You should have had the CIA destroy that tape.

[SlimGuy]

Breaking NEWS

 There's been another shooting in Colorado today, this one outside a Colorado Springs church.

This on the heels of the overnight killing of two at a Christian missionary.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — At least four people were shot outside of a Colorado Springs church on Sunday, but it was not immediately known whether the shootings were related to an earlier shooting about 70 miles away, authorities said.

The conditions of the people shot outside the New Life Church were not known, El Paso county Sheriff's Lt. Lari Sevene said.

Two people died and two were wounded earlier Sunday when a gunman opened fire in a dormitory at a missionary training center in the Denver suburb of Arvada.

More here.

[SlimGuy]

Yup H&R

But them gals still look good for their years don't they?

[boris]

The music for the youtube ad was well chosen ... "Low Spark of High Heel Boys". Notice it paused while W spoke his bit.

[Topsecretk9]

I informed tehm that the Senate was under Democratic control in Sep 2002 (and in Oct when the Iraq War Resolution was voted up).

Over 100 comments and nobody noticed the error.

Posted by: Neo | December 09, 2007 at 04:16 PM

Neo, what's hilarious is that the whole concept of the Crooks and Liars post was the Dems weren't in charge. HA HA HA.

DENVER, Colo. (Reuters) - At least four people were shot at a large Colorado evangelical church on Sunday -- the second shooting in a day linked to a religious community in the state.

Local media said four, or possibly more, people were shot outside or inside the New Life Church in Colorado Springs on Sunday afternoon. The condition of those shot was not immediately known, but police said they had a suspect in custody.

In an earlier incident, two people were killed and two were injured shortly after midnight when a gunman entered a training center for young missionaries in the Denver suburb of Arvada, about 70 miles away from Colorado Springs, police said.

It was not immediately known if the two shootings were connected. CNN reported that the description of the shooter was similar in both cases -- a white male wearing a dark hat and dark jacket.

[JM Hanes]

Elliott:

Whether or not I agree with Jane Harman, I've always respected her straightforward, thoughtful, take on issues when everybody else was skipping straight to the daily talking points. From time to time, she's had to pay some pretty steep Democratic dues, but she's nobody's lackey. That's probably what earned her a top spot on Pelosi's hit list, and why I'm hoping she'll survive the Speaker's vacuous tenure. Unfortunately that seems to require keeping a low profile right when sensible discourse has been most needed. She's one of the few senior Dems I would basically trust to do the right thing, and/or the bipartisan thing, when the national interest is at stake.

[clarice]

Is not, Hit!
JMH, I am in total agreement about Harman.
I still can't figure out what is going on. I read the report someone posted implying that Hastings resigned because new stuff is coming out about his old conviction. Maybe. But I remind you he and Harman were in contention for the intell chairmanship and neither got it--and reportedly he was angry about that.
Against all principles of comity Maxine Waters compaigned for Harman's primary opponent in the last election.

And who blew the whistle on Pelosi? Was it the administration finally calling her and Jay and Jane on it? Or was it people in their ow party unahppy abouttheir performance since attaining majority status?
I can't figure it out--so many rats pointing so many figures.
What I will say, is that anyone who's paid attention to the torture/waterboarding/Gitmo bleatings by the Dems and believed that stuff, has to be feeling like an utter dope right now.

[clarice]

**so many rats pointing so many fINGERS.*******

[hit and run]

Clarice:
What I will say, is that anyone who's paid attention to the torture/waterboarding/Gitmo bleatings by the Dems and believed that stuff, has to be feeling like an utter dope right now.

Um. Well. That would apply to anyone who's paid attention **AND*** is more interested in the truth than The Narrative™.

The Narrative™ is impervious to facts, afterall.

[clarice]

Well, at this point the narrative is so shot full of holes it couldn't hold a drop of dew.

[JM Hanes]

Clarice:

Pelosi's attempt to unseat Harman very nearly took the cake for crass, self-serving, moves. It would have been hard to believe it could go downhill from there. I'd have even favored Harman over a Republican contender just to deal Pelosi the public setback she so richly deserved. I don't think it helped her with her caucus, but shame on them any way. There's not a Democrat in the House who didn't know Harman ought to have had that chair -- not just as a matter of obvious seniority, but because she was the best qualified choice for one of the most critically important posts in the House. Wasn't Pelosi's pick that guy who didn't couldn't tell you a Sunni from Shiite? Talk about playing politics with National Security...

I haven't actually been following this story in detail, but while I'm inclined to give Harman the benefit of any doubt, I'd dearly love to see Rockefeller's head on a prosecutor's platter. Keepin' Hope Alive Here since the day his Syrian excursion was exposed!

[clarice]

I wonder if we'll ever find out who's behind all this,jmh. And yes Pelosi's treatment of Harman has been terrible.(Reyes was the guy who finally got the chairmanship..Yes, he's utterly unfit for the position.)

I wonder how much longer Pelosi and Reid will keep their own positions?

[SunnyDay]

It's all Bush's Fault

Biden - "I think this leads right into the White House"

"It appears as though there may be an obstruction of justice charge here, tampering with evidence, and destroying evidence. And this is — I think this is one case where it really does call for a special counsel. I think this leads right into the White House," Biden said. "There may be a legal and rational explanation, but I don't see any on the face of it."

Hagel, a Republican often critical of the administration on national security and Iraq, said he finds it hard to believe the White House did not know. "Maybe they're so incompetent" they didn't, he said. "I don't know how deep this goes. Could there be obstruction of justice? Yes. How far does this go up in the White House, who knew it? I don't know."

Behind The NIE

And why did we need a "major intelligence push" in the first place? According to Miller, it's because Bush dismantled the Iran Task Force set up during Bill Clinton's administration in order to focus all his attention on — surprise! — Iraq. "When Bush came in, they were totally disinterested in Iran," said a former CIA official who held a senior position at the time. "It went from being a main focus to everything being switched to Iraq."

[SlimGuy]

It is already on record that Miers sent a consider keeping them letter so the White House is covered.

The only reason the CIA kept them as long as they did was for the 911 commission and the Massoui trial, and if they had no data on Mr M. they were exempt from that trial any how.

[hit and run]

Just turned to Univision for the Republican Debate!!!!

¡Vaca Santa! Por favor, hablo solamente un poco español. Donde esta el baño. Cual es la fecha de hoy. Feliz cumpleaños y feliz navidad. Me nombre es hit y correr. Castro es mal. Cuba libre!

Mas cerveza, por favor. Mas cerveza ahora mismo. Mas cerveza o bien.

[hit and run]

Yo espero que Elliott habla español...pero, espero que Elliott no escribe en español tambien.

Como se dice "liveblog"? O, como se dice "tape delay blog"?

[hit and run]

Huckabee: Porque de tal manera amo' Dios al mundo, que a dado a su Hijo unigenito, para que todo en El cree, no se pierda, mas tenga vida eterna.

Lo siento...estas palabras no es la verdad...es La Narrativa™

[Mark E.]

Those who dabble in the constant politicization of intelligence will eventually get burned by it...Rockefeller..cough cough

[Jane]

After the pats decked the Steelers, as I predicted, I hustled over to the univision debate, having done earlier reconnaissance so I knew it was on channel 27, and despite the fact that I was at a friends house I was prepared to rush home to live blog, but alas I don't speak a word of spanish.

So Hit, you do it.

[SlimGuy]

A security guard at the church today shot the shooter per live fox stream.

[SlimGuy]

(CNN) -- A gunman attacked worshippers at a Colorado Springs, Colorado, megachurch Sunday afternoon, killing one person and wounding four others before being killed by a security staff member, the city's police chief said.

[SlimGuy]

The New Life Church is the one Haggard got bounced from.

[SlimGuy]

WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - CIA Director Michael Hayden will testify before Congress on Tuesday amid Democratic fury over the spy agency's destruction of videotapes that showed terrorism suspects being interrogated using harsh techniques.

Democratic Sen. John Rockefeller of West Virginia, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on Sunday Hayden would appear before his committee to talk about interrogation and techniques.

"Were there things on those tapes that they didn't want to have seen, that didn't conform to what the attorney general would allow them to do?" Rockefeller asked on CBS's "Face the Nation." "Were they just trying to bury the general subject?"

On Saturday, the Justice Department and the CIA said they were launching a preliminary inquiry into the destruction of the tapes.

[hit and run]

Una problema...lo siento...pero, yo hablo mas babelfish que yo hablo espanol....

Una cosa mas....¡el corte de pelo de Romney es fabuloso!

[Elliott]

JMH,

I can see that my comment lacked the clarity, if not the conviction, of Barack Obama. I think my parenthetical remark made my comment seem Harman-centric, which was not my intent. Based on the Post article, it appears to me that Harman is the only Democrat among those briefed whose actions are entirely honorable. Whatever objections she made were timely and went through the proper channels.

I reserve my ire for the Democrats who, with substantial knowledge of CIA undertakings, did not find fault with them until they had been made public.

With respect to Jay*, I wonder whether the Shelby precedent makes major criminal proceedings unlikely. By my recollection, Shelby leaked classified information and received a slap on the wrist.

——————————–
*narciso, I know his code name is changed to Box Four.

[Elliott]

Sorry, Jane. I sent you to live-blog on faulty intelligence:

As in the Democratic debate held Sept. 9, questions and answers will be in English, with Spanish subtitles. Univision anchors Jorge Ramos and Maria Elena Salinas will moderate the 90-minute forum.

[VIH&R'sH: ELLIOTT LIED!!!!!!!]

[hit and run]

Me gusta mucha Maria Elena Salinas.

¿Yo qiero Maria? ¿Yo amo' Maria?

Es possible.

No diga a senorita hit y correr, por favor.

[MayBee]

I can't believe there is a debate for US President that is being held in Spanish, not even with English subtitles. Ridiculous.

[JM Hanes]

Elliott:

You were pretty clear, I was just seconding the notion.

With regard to Rockefeller, I frankly suspect a certain pattern and practice, not a single incident, and I wouldn't be surprised to find out that he works the press more aggressively than anyone lets on.

[Elliott]

I guess the debate's over now. Any controversy over infelicitous or even misleading translations?

[SlimGuy]

As I understand it the ground rules were the same as for the dems.

The candidates answered in English and then subtitles were in Spanish.

[narciso]

Right, now the last person with Iran
expertise was Gary Shroen, the acting
head of the Near East Division;at he time of 9/11 who basically bought his network in Afghan with mixed results.(Tora Bora) The station chief in Riyadh in the late 90s; John Brennan, was Tenet's briefer. There's areason they called the Iraq Task Force; the "Island of Broken Toys" They had no bench of assets. There were the INC, which the CIA basically despised; they wanted the likes of Gen. Khazraji; a Sunni strongman who had apologized for his role in the Anfal
campaign.Their alternate preference along with MI-6 preferred the Iraqi National Accord; a clique of exBaathist holdovers
headed by Alawi and Shawani. One of those
who wrote a 'shake & bake'memoir which included her stint on the task force,. Tracy Moran,had only experience in
Macedonia; not the most pertinent one. This explains why she wasn't aware of Mullah Krekar's Ansar al Sunnah, which would be taken over by Zarquawi in 2002; before we invaded. Examining the records of many of
the major players on the Afghan Task Force
and COS in Islamabad in the pivotal 1980s; one finds most had no previous Near East experience (Bearden, Pieckney) some had
a little (Shroen, Devine; the last manned
the Iran desk when the whole exile network out of Frankfurt, was compromised; Kappes
was his deputy)The one who supposedly knew
something about who we were dealing with; Vince Cannistraro, was not helpful in the oversight according to Gust Avrokotos, the real hero of Charlie Wilson's War. Bob Baer
who was busy in Beirut, tracking down the
leads of the multiple Beirut bombings; there
and later at Claridge's CTC. Claridge gets
a bum deal because he became involved in Iran Contra; but he had experience in the
region of the Old Khyber Pass, and he had pegged Aldrich Ames perfectly. This is why
he along with the late Gen. Wayne Downing;
were advisors to the INC.

Downing's plan for Iraq was much more intensive with the use of Special Forces and exile Iraqi personnel; a legacy of his experience in Vietnam, working with Central highlands forces. Franks decided on a much more infantry intensive plan; which had the usual results. This would be at the heart of Gen. Petraeus' current plan which seems
to work. Zinni, the last CENTCOM chief before September 11th, who left both the
Iraq and the greater fight against AQ (he along with Mary McCarthy, opposed the mssile strike on the Al Shifa in the Sudan) yet some still think he has something to say. He would have committed to 200,000 to 300,000 or more troops, that would have made
for more vulnerable supply lines, a longer
trek to Baghdad; like the British had in 1914-1917, and twice as many casualties.
He'll probably come out for the surge now like Gen. Baptiste; but that's like when
Iacocca's Chrysler came out for seat belts
in car seats a little too late.

Zarquawi was on the radar because of his role in the Lawrence Foley hit in
Amman, two years back; as well as a New Years eve plot. Zarquawi's mentor was the
former Iraqi Shiite Imam Maqdissi; who adopted Salafism in his new home in Jordan.
Maqdissi, came to prominence almost three
decades ago, in the uprising in the predominantly Shiite oil rich Hasa region
of Saudi Arabia; which was obscured by the
larger 'Siege of the Grand Mosque of Mecca'
which was the focus of Trofimov's latest book. But that's just water on the bridge
unless Mugniyeh reactivates those networks
in the event of a confrontation with Iran. Which we don't have to worry about because
of the NIE. The Europeans and theEgyptians, to name to parties are scared!@#@$@%$%^ . Gingrich. who sometimes is good for something; then again sometimes he's our
John Nash; pointed out that the 2002 NIE
only had superficial agreements, with vast
areas of debate from Energy, State, et al.
The same will probably be said of this one; with three State NIE refugees in the DNI.
The fact that the NIE doesn't reference the
Mousavian letter to Khameni; doesn't even
try to challenge the findings of the Jafazadeh's NCRI. Has no status reports on the individuaL known facilities makes it pretty useless as even a research tool much less a policy instrument. Bring back the OSP.

[PeterUK]

His wife goes out of town and he starts speaking in tongues,I only hope he doesn't find the wood chipper he was bought for Christmas.

[Ann]

Elliott,

"I reserve my ire for the Democrats who, with substantial knowledge of CIA undertakings, did not find fault with them until they had been made public."

That is all they have to say, is it not.

You are a good addition to this blog, Elliott.

[PeterUK]

Ann,
That is to common trait amongst modern professional politicians,claim the good and duck out from under the bad,at no time exhibit moral fibre and accept responsibility.

[SlimGuy]

PUK

Ah sometimes I tend to think when the wife is away he totes a cooler full upstairs to save all those trips to the fridge downstairs.

[Ann]

PeterUK,

Which is the opposite of what I believe in and quote to my daughter:

"False friends are like our shadow, keeping close to us while we walk in the sunshine, but leaving us the instant we cross into the shade." Bovee

I have never figured out who Bovee is, but I have quoted him alot.

I "must of done something right", (as the Sound of Music song goes) because she just came downstairs and told me to turn on Nickeloeon. It was a show called "Nick News with Linda Ellerbee"
about global warming scaring all the children. My daughter knew it was just that..stupid.

[MayBee]

The candidates answered in English and then subtitles were in Spanish.

My Univision channel had a Spanish voice-over for the candidate's answers. I didn't see the subtitles, but then I didn't have my glasses on.

[hit and run]

SlimGuy.......the kids are old enough now to get me beer...they push a stool up to the fridge. Some times I have to bribe them to make the trip for me. And if I play my cards right, they come back with three beers.

SPEAKING OF THREE: It did take me three trips to take the empties to the recycling can in the garage.

SPEAKING OF KIDS GETTING OLDER: hit and run junior finally took off the training wheels this weekend. A little late, but he never expressed interest before. And, literally, we took one trip down and one trip up the driveway with me helping him -- after that, he was riding as if he had been on two wheels for years.

[SlimGuy]

I just saw that on another blog somewhere, I don't have the Spanish package on my satellite dish.

[SlimGuy]

H&R

I just got a bike cause the doc said I need some exercise and after many years the first time I hoped on that thing I could have almost used training wheels....almost.

[Ann]

Oh, how I miss training wheels. That is nothing Hit.

Enjoy every second of everyday, because they will be twelve in a nano second. Telling you about all the girls that sit in the back row of the movie show to make out...at twelve.

[Elliott]

MayBee,

During the introduction, Salinas said English subtitles were available on closed captioning 3. I have only been able to find CC1 and CC2 on my TV and the audio is no different on SAP. Perhaps CSPAN will air it in the next couple of days.

[Ann]

Heck, I get mad when the ATM asks me if I want it in Spanish.

Fred Thompson is looking like I might have to send him some Christmas money, NOW!

[MayBee]

Thanks, Elliott. I missed the introduction, but I'm certain I couldn't have figured out how to get to CC3 on my tv. I did try changing the audio, but to no avail.

Heck, I get mad when the ATM asks me if I want it in Spanish.
Oh no! That's a good thing. It's easy for the ATM to be programmed in different languages, and there are lots of visitors and temporary legal workers here that speak something other than English.
I don't know what I would have done in Asia without English as an option on the ATM, customer service numbers, etc.

[SlimGuy]

It's a shame that kids out of high school can't balance a checkbook but they have to know Spanish to get a job at McDonald's where I live.

[Elliott]

Jonathan Martin blogged the debate for The Politico.

[SlimGuy]

I understand Paul got booed for his position on Cuba and Venezuela.

[Ann]

Maybee, you make a very good point. However, I worked for twenty years in the electronic banking area and they know who you are when you enter your card. It is political b.s. when they ask you if you want english or spanish. Do you ever wonder why they don't have an EU menu of which language you speak?

[Sara]

H&R, this ol' lady still remembers the day her Daddy brought this fantastic piece of rubber and metal out of the basement and said, "c'mon I'm going to teach you how to have fun on wheels."

It wasn't a new bike, it was, in fact, the bike my Dad bought my Mom during the War years when gas was rationed. It had gathered dust and rust for several years. He shined up the chrome, repainted it from a dingy brownish red to a cool pale blue, painstakingly put on racing stripes, new seat, and a new basket that he painted white and stenciled my name on the front. We went out to the sidewalk and within a few minutes I got kind of the hang of how to get on. It wasn't so easy since I was only 4 and the bike was a 26 incher. But with my Dad running along side, like millions of Dads have done, I finally got it. Unless I thought my Dad let go, then I'd panic. What I remember the most was getting mad and stomping my foot and saying, "stop telling me I'm on my own so I fall." So, he kept running next to me for another hour, even though he didn't have to hold on. I finally got the confidence to ride off down the street without him. It was a wonderful day. I loved my bike and once I learned to ride, we became joined at the hip. I would ride off in the morning and explore all day. I kept that bike until I went away to college, when my Mother replaced this Schwinn with one of the new sleek racing bikes with gears. It was never the same.

When my husband taught our son to ride, he got it on the second try, but his Dad forgot to tell him about brakes. He rode down the street and crashed right into a concrete block wall. I was upstairs in the bedroom and could hear him screaming a half block away, but figured any kid who could scream that loud couldn't be that hurt. He was also 4, and he knocked out all his front baby teeth.

[MayBee]

I don't know, Ann. When I travel, the ATMs overseas don't know who I am right away. I'm sure the same is true for people traveling here.
My ATMs here (outside of LA) are in English but ask if you want another language such as Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Russian, or Japanese. I think it has something like 35 options.

[SlimGuy]

Funny I am trying to remember the last time I even used an ATM

[SlimGuy]

Hugh Hewitt has the debate transcript up.

[Sara]

I don't remember my ATM giving me a language choice. It will ask which account I wish to withdraw or deposit to, but other than asking for my pin, I think it takes me right to my transaction.

[SlimGuy]

Fred's site was pretty much just blogging his part but Kos also had a live thread.

[Other Tom]

I'm with JMHanes on Harman. I respect her more than any other Democrat I can name.

My recollection is that when the NSA program got leaked, she was pretty much on record as having supported it, and continuing to support it, with the sole reservation that she thought more people ought to have been briefed.

I did't see Face the Nation. Could someone summarize what that reptile Rockefeller had to say about his prior knowledge of the waterboarding?

[SlimGuy]

code segment snippet

IF accountholder speaks English THEN proceed ELSE if OTHER known language use that ELSE ask.

[SlimGuy]

CBS has the video up of his appearance.

[SlimGuy]

Jay was mealy mouthed trying to have it all ways and as usual Hagel was not much of a counter to his position either.

[SlimGuy]

The CBS video has the section on the tapes and then they cut it off at the break when they were going to come back to discuss the NIE.

[SlimGuy]

OtherTom

I hold a lot of good for Liberman also.

[Other Tom]

Sure--I didn't mean to leave out old Joe, who is a true profile in courage.

Meantime: The Loathsome Harridan is down to 62.9 at Tradesports.

[SunnyDay]

Jay said he was not allowed to say what he had or had not been briefed on.

[Elliott]

Have the netroots at last presented a revised narrative that explains how Bob (Graham) and Silent Jay, along with their two Democratic colleagues from the lower chamber, demonstrated heroic and principled leadership in this matter? If they haven't already, I'm sure they will and I am curious as to what they will come up with.

[JustADude]

Sunny

Yeah I noticed that to , he even said he couldn't talk about stuff with his chief of staff.

Probably the only place he will keep his mouth shut by all other speculation.

[Sue]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8TELP1O0&show_article=1>Scooter is not going to pursue his appeal.

[Other Tom]

The Nation is now savaging Nancy.

And the Vile Shrew is at 61.0 at Tradesports.

[MayBee]

I only wish they would be savaging Nancy for the right reasons.
The takeaway should be that Nancy did the right thing before, and they all got hoodwinked into braying the "waterboarding is torture!" line.
I wish they were mad at her for pretending waterboarding and CIA holding cells in Europe were the proof of the evils of Bush.

[Neo]

Apparently, Libby has decided to end his appeals.

This means an end to Fitzgerald's "special" status as a primary government official with oversight by Public Domain.

[clarice]

With this statement from his counsel, Ted Wells, Libby has disconinued his appeal:

[quote]Today Mr. Libby has filed a motion to dismiss the appeal
from
his conviction. The notice of appeal had been filed before President
Bush
commuted Mr. Libby's sentence last summer. The commutation left Mr.
Libby
with a $250,000 fine, which he has paid; 400 hours of community
service; and
two years of supervised release.

We remain firmly convinced of Mr. Libby's innocence. However, the
realities
were, that after five years of government service by Mr. Libby and
several
years of defending against this case, the burden on Mr. Libby and his
young
family of continuing to pursue his complete vindication are too great
to ask
them to bear.

Mr. Libby has made the decision to discontinue his appeal in
recognition
that success on the appeal would lead only to a retrial, a process that
would last even beyond the two years of supervised release, cost
millions of
dollars more than the fine he has already paid, and entail many more
hundreds of hours preparing for an all-consuming appeal and retrial.

Mr. Libby and his family extend their heartfelt thanks to the tens of
thousands of Americans who have supported them throughout this ordeal,
and
hope they will understand that today's action reflects a painful and
difficult decision. [/quote]

[Topsecretk9]

The Firepups say Nancy is being blackmailed by the WAPO...

[kim]

Maybe Libby has more faith in the verdict of history than he does in that of eleven foolish jurors, a put-upon judge, and a Star Chamber prosecutor. But what of Fitz's misbehaviours, what of the Constitutionality of his appointment, and what of the perjury of Russert?

And Eckenrode. This is allowed?
=======================

[MayBee]

We should start a meme that the FBI destroyed- DESTROYED the evidence of the Russert interrogation.
Then maybe we could get some outrage.

Anyway, I don't blame Libby. I'm sure he'd love a reversal, but couldn't possibly welcome his conviction being upheld. I'm guessing he'll land on his feet.

[Jane]

I will reiterate what I said in the other thread - I hope the President grants him a full pardon a year from now.

[Sara]

I can understand why Libby wouldn't want to drain himself of any more millions. Many many people, including me, elect to settle suits because the costs of going forward, even if a winning case, are so prohibitive, a citizen, even a very rich one, often can not survive the burden.

I know in my own case, it was take the offer or spend about 10 times as much going to trial with no guarantees a jury would award any more than the offer in hand. It also gives a closure of sorts. I wanted a trial in the worst way, but my lawyer and everyone else convinced me there is a time to continue the case and a time to be practical. It is an unsatisfying outcome, but there is something to be said for getting it over and getting on with life. I held my nose and signed the papers and didn't really believe I was doing the right thing, but as it turned out, there is something to be said for not having to dwell in the past or on the details day after day. You do begin to get a new life afterwards. Although I still contend with mild PTSD and still find it hard to leave the house alone, the nightmares have stopped and that is a very big plus. For Libby, the thought of facing another media onslaught, especially as his children are getting older, and the amount of money necessary, are reasons I can fully understand.

I do wish we had some option, though, on adjudicating Fitz's appoint and the destruction of evidence.

[Sara]

I see that Conrad Black has been sentenced to 6 1/2 years in jail.