Scooter Libby Post-Post Mortem

The Times runs a book promo for their very own Peter Baker, whose topic is the Bush-Cheney relationship. We are teased with a section on the Libby pardon:

The Final Insult in the Bush-Cheney Marriage

By Peter Baker

In the final days of his presidency, George W. Bush sat behind his desk in the Oval Office, chewing gum and staring into the distance as two White House lawyers briefed him on the possible last-minute pardon of I. Lewis Libby.

“Do you think he did it?” Bush asked.

“Yeah,” one of the lawyers said. “I think he did it.”

Hmm, if you have lost the in-house lawyers...

In March 2007, Libby, who had served as Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, was convicted of lying to federal officials who were investigating the leak of the identity of a C.I.A. officer. For the past two months Cheney had been pushing the president to grant Libby a full pardon before they left office. He would not let it go. ...

Troubled by the decision hanging over him, Bush had asked the White House lawyers to re-examine the case to see if a pardon was justified. Fred Fielding, the White House counsel, and his deputy, William Burck, pored over trial transcripts and studied evidence that Libby’s lawyers had raised in his defense. Their conclusion was that the jury had ample reason to find Libby guilty.

“If I were on that jury,” Burck told Bush, “I would probably have agreed with them. You have to follow the law, and the law says if you say something that is untrue, knowingly, to a federal official in the context of a grand jury investigation and it is material to their investigation, that’s a crime.”

I thought he would be convicted as well, and I even thought the odds were good that he deliberately lied to investigators. But other points were raised by the Cheney side to which I am very sympathetic.

... Cheney’s lobbying campaign on behalf of Scooter Libby had become deeply disconcerting to the president. To Cheney, it was a simple matter of justice. As he saw it, Libby had been pursued by an unprincipled prosecutor bent on damaging the White House. Neither Libby nor anyone else had been charged with the actual leak that precipitated the investigation, only with not testifying truthfully about how he learned about Wilson’s identity. Years later, it would be revealed that the special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, knew from nearly the start that Richard Armitage, Colin Powell’s deputy, was the original source of the leak, not Libby. Cheney believed that Fitzgerald’s relentless investigation in spite of this fact was proof that Cheney was the real target, and that Libby was caught in the cross-fire. Libby had loyally served his country, Cheney argued, only to be made into a criminal. And Powell and Armitage stayed quiet as it happened. “The Powell-Armitage thing was such a sense of betrayal,” Cheney’s daughter Liz told me. “They sat there and watched their colleagues in the White House — Scooter and everyone else — go through the ordeal of the investigation, and all that time they both knew Armitage was the leaker.” Armitage and Powell said they were simply following investigators’ instructions to keep silent.

Well, yes. Fitzgerald was brought in as Special Counsel in the same time frame with the overturning of the Yoo torture memo and the uprising about the surveillance program, so it is fair to consider that Fitzgerald was just one more weapon in the Justice Department war with Dick Cheney [Leak promoter David Corn eventually discovered this as well]. (Fitzgerald's effort to investigate the extent of the Plame leaks from the State Department could not have been more desultory - his gumshoes completely missed the Armitage leak to Bob Woodward. Later the AP put the puzzle pieces together by the Sherlock Holmesian technique of checking Armitage's calendar. But since I think Fitzgerald was investigating Cheney, not the Plame leak, move on).

We get speculation on Libby's motive:

“All right,” the president said when the lawyers concluded their assessment. “So why do you think he did it? Do you think he was protecting the vice president?”

“I don’t think he was protecting the vice president,” Burck said.

Burck figured that Libby assumed his account would never be contradicted, because prosecutors could not force reporters to violate vows of confidentiality to their sources. “I think also that Libby was concerned,” Burck said. “Because he took to heart what you said back then: that you would fire anybody that you knew was involved in this. I just think he didn’t think it was worth falling on the sword.”

Bush did not seem convinced. “I think he still thinks he was protecting Cheney,” the president said. If that was the case, then Cheney was seeking forgiveness for the man who had sacrificed himself on his behalf.

Interesting. I was with Bush on this one.

Let's close with two stories on the light side:

A few weeks before Barack Obama’s inauguration, [Bush chief of staff] Joshua Bolten invited all of his predecessors to his office in the West Wing to meet with his successor, Rahm Emanuel. Thirteen of the living 16 men to have served as chief of staff attended, including Cheney, who was Gerald Ford’s top assistant. They went around the table one by one, offering advice. When Cheney’s turn came up, a devilish look crossed his face. “Whatever you do,” he said, “make sure you’ve got the vice president under control.”

And more from Cheney:

...Inauguration Day, Cheney showed up in a wheelchair, explaining that he had thrown his back out packing boxes at the vice-presidential mansion over the weekend. “Joe, this is how you’re liable to look when your term is up,” Cheney joked to his successor, Joseph Biden.

So it was wasn't all waterboarding and invading - Cheney had time for some jokes, too.

MAYBE IF HE'D REMEMBERED MORE: Cheney had Hillary-esque memory of his role in the Plame debacle. I sure don't remember him demanding to be called for the defense at the trial.

Comments

[Maybee]

I still do not understand how Cheney became so hated by the left.

Perhaps it was racism.

[That's all folks!]

Cheney had forgotten that he mentioned Plame to Libby.
==============

[Still expecting a pardon some day. Justice delayed can still be justice.]

Burck's a simple fool, and Bush was one to take his advice on this matter.

[Same with Bolton.]

I'll tell you why, Maybee, it was because he was competent.
================

[I'm not here or there.]

Habits, bah.

[Miss Marple]

I still remember when Cheney was announced as Bush's pick. He went on ALL of the talk shows the following Sunday, and by the time Wolf Blitzer got his turn at noon, Cheney had slapped down a bunch of stupid questions andstupid attack attempts.

Blitzer almost groceled. "Hello, Mr. Cheny. Wolf Blitzerhere at CNN. You remember me from when I used to cover the Pentagon, don't you? I sure remember you. Nice to see you again."

It really was pretty funny.

[Steve]

The Voting Scorecard: US House 21 - US Senate 2

http://commoncts.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-voting-scorecard-us-house-21-us.html

[Miss Marple]

Is the President locked in a victim mentality?

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/10/10/is-obama-locked-in-victim-mentality/

[Miss Marple]

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the chemical weapons inspectors in Syria.

I guess it was a bridge too far to give it to Putin.

[peter]

Tom started a thread at 4 AM?

[Jeff Dobbs]

Ok, let's play Who Really Knows Their JOM Stuff?

The rules are, if you know who this is, you can say "I know", but you cannot say who it is.

If you do not know who it is, you can say "I don't know", but you cannot ask anyone to tell you.

The game ends when the JOMer who is related to this birthday gal decides to 'fess up.

I fear the rules won't be followed as they are utterly unenforceable. But it's worth a shot...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAGGIE!!!

Here's a hint: she turns 9 today.

[Jeff Dobbs]

Here's a third category -- if you do not know or are not sure who the birthday gal is, you can guess. Just please please please don't "guess" if you know who it is.

I will neither confirm nor deny guesses.

[narcisoM]

Are they really this stupid, that they didn't realize that Armitage was the culprit, rhetorical question,

[Thomas Collins]

Morning quiz: When did the US Congress last make a formal declaration of war, and against which country or countries?

[Thomas Collins]

I don't know, H&R.

[NKonIPad]

Libby motives? Maybe lawyers think alike but I'm with Burck on this and not Bush and TomM. Libby took Bush s firing threat seriously, so he lied to the FBI and GJ to avoid the public firing and career hit. He figured he could get away with it because it was an inconsequential lie and the media wouldn t reveal sources. He figured wrong because he did not anticipate Fitzgerald using him to attack 'neocons' and make the case his way to legal riches.

[narcisoM]

I would say you princess hit, but it's hazarding a guess.

[Miss Marple]

I believe the last declaration of war was made in 1941, against Germany.

Korean War, Vietnam, Gulf War, and Afghanistan/Iraq were done either as police actions or use of force through the war powers act.

[Thomas Collins]

There was a declaration of war in 1942 against three countries, Miss Marple. Most people think it was the 1941 onE that was the last one, but there was another one a year later. Anyone want to guess the countries?

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

LOL hit; you're quite the compiler of things.

Bush needs to be smacked upside the head for listening to a weasel like Burcke. Is Karen Hughes the only intelligent person who had his ear?

[Porchlight]

I know who Maggie is. Happy birthday!

[Porchlight]

Hi MayBee! I do believe DoT is in your neck of the woods this week.

[Porchlight]

Maybe I'm just too partisan, but the Bush scandals like Libby and Gonzalez seem so very teensy tiny compared to Benghazi, Fast and Furious, IRS.

[Jeff Dobbs]

I should have said I will not confirm, but will deny...

It is not princess hit and run.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

Of course the JEF has a victim complex. He was abandoned by his substance abusing polygamist father and nympho tramp mother. He belongs in intense therapy instead of the White House.

[NK(tryin'2.0)]

1943 declaration of war. wow, I have no recollection of that bit of history.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

Luke Russert has been revealed as such a brainless dumbass by his nepotism job it's hard to take anything his dead father said seriously.

[NK(tryin'2.0)]

TC-- did a quick check on Congressional declarations, last one is 11 Dec 41 against Germany/Italy.

[Janet]

I don't know. Maybe a young TKer...or one of Jim's granddaughters?

[Danube on iPad]

"Armitage and Powell said they were simply following investigators’ instructions to keep silent."

With which instructions they had absolutely no duty to comply, as their lawyers surely told them. True snakes.

[pagaragain]

Is there a prize for I don't know?

[Jeff Dobbs]

It is not TK's daughter or Jim's granddaughter.

[Jeff Dobbs]

A request for JOMers: I am about to take mrs hit and run to the doctor for (minor) surgery. Nothing big or bad, but enough that she will be under anesthesia. I covet your prayers and welcome all well-wishes.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

Kimberley Strassel has a good column today but she can't break free of the country clubbers' desires to badmouth Ted Cruz. Keep pushing that schism, fuckers, and see what happens. Idiots.

[Marlene]

Maggie is Captain Hate's dog. :) Thinking of mrs.hit and run,keep us updated,hit.

[pagaragain]

From the This is hard to believe file.

http://www.wtnh.com/news/health/thousands-of-doctors-fired-by-united-healthcare

[Account Deleted]

Hit,

My prayers for a completely uneventful procedure, a prompt recovery and no distress for anyone in the family.

[Porchlight]

Praying it all goes smoothly, hit. Keep us posted!

[Extraneus]

Maybe I'm just too partisan, but the Bush scandals like Libby and Gonzalez seem so very teensy tiny compared to Benghazi, Fast and Furious, IRS.

What an understatement. So under it's discouraging.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

Best wishes for Mrs hit and run. Mrs H is recovering from foot surgery to repair a genetic condition that led to two of her toes being dislocated. She avoided it for a long time until the pain got too great. Her recovery has gone very well.

[MarkO]

Hit,

You've got it.

[peter]

Does anyone believe, as I suspect, that the Rasmussen presidential approval numbers are being cooked? Scott Rasmussen left the company months ago.

[Janet]

The Pigford fraud money....the money being spent on this Obamacare fiasco...

We could have just had a giant pot of money to pay for indigent people's dentures. No need to wreck our entire healthcare system....

[Danube on iPad]

Raz has been consistently and substantially more favorable to the asshole than just about anyone.

CH, neither Strassel nor any other opinion writer, no matter how conservative, feels any need to modify her opinions in order to help the GOP. Nor should they.

[NK(tryin'2.0)]

CaptH serious question-- schism building. Who's doing the tearing when Cruz launches a useless 'filibuster' which was an obvious fundraiser for his PAC and spotlight for his POTUS aspirations, and when his stated goal of forcing vulnerable Redstate Senate Dems to vote to defund fails --100% failure-- he drops out and sticks others with the responsibility to accomplish something. Cruz is extremely smart, he KNOWS that apolitical but persuadable voters detest Obummer for trying to ignore the law of the Debt Ceiling, and those same persuadables DON'T support DEFUND, they demand that Repubs to win before they repeal ObummerCare (I have seen no polling about a 1 year delay-- my guess is there is some more support for that). I like conservative plowhorses who do the tough work to persuade voters and squishy Repubs and win (Ron Johnson and Mike Lee are examples) Cruz in my view moved alot closer to showpony, like Rubio. It's a shame, believe me.

[narciso]

Prayers for you and Mrs. hit, now L:ibby probably didn't expect that the guy he bailed out of a libel suit by the Christic
and Ross Perot's minions but that is life,

recall however, it's not personal, it's business, in this case both Armitage and
Powell were part of the Caspian oil syndicates.

[narciso]

They don't support delay, capisce, not that it matters, that's how you end up with Dead
Eye Dan, the Phony Marine, and Sandalista DeBlasio,

[Old Lurker test]

Best to Mrs. H, Cap'n. Mrs. L has had several foot surgeries in the past and it breaks my heart watching her crawl around the laundry room and kitchen to perform her duties. But when I bought her a little scooter thing that she rests the bad leg on, things got right back on schedule.

:-))

(Now you see why I don't let her read JOM)

[NK(tryin'2.0)]

OL@08:55-- heh Heh HA!!

On the odd chance that Mrs L does read that comment, I suggest by then you have secured all 1 Irons, sharp objects, and trauma causing blunt instruments in your home. I wouldn't worry about firearms, at least that would be quick.

[MarkO]

LOL

Legal Insurrection ‏@LegInsurrection

OMG, we've damaged the Republican "Brand" that brought us Obama, Maj Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi #goodolddays

[Janet]

Libby should have never been prosecuted because there was no crime to begin with. Nothing. There was NO CRIME.

All of us could be brought up on perjury if we were hauled in & questioned about past events. It was a "he said vs he said" prosecution. Makes me sick.

Powell, Armitage, Russert, Mitchell, & Gregory all make me sick. No honor....none. zero.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

NK, I don't see anything wrong with fighting a bad law by any tool at your disposal. The donks do it all the time, over much more marginal issues, and don't suffer one iota. For all the "the law is settled" dimwits, so was the Fugitive Slave Law. And filibusters aren't useless if they keep attention on a bad law.

I don't know where you're getting Cruz's presidential aspirations because they're not obvious to me and I generally oppose Senators for president because they have no executive experience. He attained his current seat contrary to the wishes of the Repuke establishment so I can't imagine the Rove types trying to direct large donors toward him.

[MarkO]

"It's the law," is an inane argument against repealing a law. If it weren't a law there would be no effort to repeal it.

It would be equally cogent to say, "Because I said so."

[Account Deleted]

Cruz isn't interested in money from the slime mold bathhouse billionaires. He doesn't need it any more than he needs approval from anyone buried up to their nose in a deep Blue Hell cesspool. He's using a different political map and has placed a solid wager on the probable outcome of 404Care. I don't see it as a long shot at all.

[Janet]

The brouha over the nothing Plame story is uber sickening when you you think about all the lies from this administration.
It actually shows how clean the Bush administration was...that the left had to concoct a supposed crime.
Just like with the tea party racist meme...they have to lie.

[Maybee]

Really, Porch? DoT is here? If only he had told me, I could have invited him over to see my latest tasteful nude.

[Clarice]

've made myself clear over the years. I don't think he intentionally led in a perjurious fashion. I think the FBI and Fitz framed him in hopes he'd tag Cheney with wrongdoing, Nevertheless, it's interesting this came up today. Didja notice, VIPs stalwart who did so much to promote Plame and Wilson just flew to Russia to give an award to Snowden?

[narciso]

The Dolce and Gabbani nature, of that poll, is interesting, it actually assumes Obamacare is 7 points more popular, as we
more of 'what's in it'.

Now the true lesson of Libby's brouhaha, is don't try to explain anything to a journalist, it's like teaching Sanskrit to a pig. French is too clear for our purposes.

[centralcal]

Porch, Maybee - now I am confused. I thought DoT was in London?

[NK(tryin'2.0)]

Not so fast CaptH-- Cruz clearly doesn't want Rove or any other 'establishment' Repub money, he's an insurgent trying to topple the 'establishment'-- using his own PAC (which commissions polls, one of which found Cruz top candidate for '16-- convenient.) I am for repeal of Obummercare, so are all conservatives. How to get there best? 'Defund' is the stupiest tactic because it's a double loser, it has no chance and it alienates persuadables. Cruz knows that, he did it any way-- he hurt the cause of repeal IMO (luckily the damage was not large as the gov't slimdown is a push politically and ObumerCare rollout has been a disaster). I agree completely with you a schism needs to be avoided in order to win, I want team oriented conservatives from establishment and TP like Lee, Johnson, and Cantor and Ryan. Cruz's roll should be to excite the passionate true believers and intellectually destroy the lies of the Left. Cruz needs to show he is willing to fill that roll, not just be out for Cruz-- same thing goes for the squishy careerist Repubs. If they are not helping the Conservative Team, I have no use for them.

[Clarice]

Best wishes for Mrs Hit.

[narciso]

Ah McGovern, the certifiable 9/11 denialist,
along with a Siloviki handler, for Snowden
fils.

[Clarice]

Exactly, narciso!

[Jane]

"Maybe I'm just too partisan, but the Bush scandals like Libby and Gonzalez seem so very teensy tiny compared to Benghazi, Fast and Furious, IRS."

As Ex says, a massive understatement.

I have a Maggie guess. Am I supposed to post it?

Oh and prayers and good wishes to Mrs Hit. Maybe she will enjoy the anesthesia. (One can hope)

[centralcal]

Caught up reading now, best wishes to Mrs. Hit for an easy, successful surgery.

[narciso]

I'm missed Strassel's diss of Cruz, however she seems to have ignored the last five years, so it's a tie.

[centralcal]

Is is Wolverine?

[centralcal]

gack - Is it...?

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

We'll have to disagree on how useful the defund tactic is, NK. I don't see how being able to point out that you spared no effort to eradicate something people oppose will hurt anybody in elections over a year away.

[Miss Marple]

Captain, best wishes for Mrs. H's recovery!

I also like the workhorses better. Talk is cheap, as we have seen with numerous and sundry candidates.

Cruz accidentally did something good (waking people up to Obamacare's implementation and stiffening a few spines), even if not for the most unselfish of motives. Rand Paul also did the same thing with his filibuster.

The filibusters, or long talks or whatever you want to call them, do get some coverage and bypass the usual news cycle.

Boehner could have taken a cursory vote and then passed a clean CR. I wonder why he didn't? Maybe he didn't have the votes to do that.

So, we are where we are, through chance or mysterious and yet unknown strategy. I think it best if all people in the GOP hold their tongues and stick together in public. If this is a disaster, there will be time enough for recriminations. If we make some progress, then no one will have embarrassed himself.

I am particularly thinking of Peter King and John McCain. Those two need to clam up.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

"For months now, the GOP has been held hostage by a faction of the party that deluded itself into believing Presidevt Obama might be rolled on his signature health-care law". Held hostage? Deluded itself?

It sounds like MessNBC.

[jimmyk]

Best wishes for Mrs. Hit and Mrs. Hate.

Cheney was seeking forgiveness for the man who had sacrificed himself on his behalf.

The Libby thing has always mystified me. How exactly was Libby protecting Cheney by saying whatever he said to investigators, given that Armitage was the source of the leak?

[Jeff Dobbs]

OL:
(Now you see why I don't let her read JOM)

But doesn't YL read JOM?

Doom...OL...Doom!

I'm now comfortably ensconced in a seat in the waiting room and just got hooked up on the wi-fi (you would have never guessed that seeing as I'm posting a comment on JOM). mrs hit and run is in the back getting drugged up.

The nurse told me if I wanted I could head out for a while.

Wait. What?

Why does she hate me? If I left* I'd be in a bigger doghouse than OL will be once YL tells Mrs. OL what he said about her. Her procedure should be over around 11 and then I should be able to take her home 11:30 or noon.

I would never ever ever want her in pain for any reason, but I must confess I kinda like the idea of being able to dote on mrs hit and run mercilessly for the whole day.

------------------
*Only if mrs hit and run found out. And I'm sure neither she nor anyone who knows her reads JOM. If only the pool hall was open this early...

[narciso]

We're talking one of Carlos Slim's abler chimps, jimmy, from his point of view it makes sense.

[Jeff Dobbs]

It is not the Wolverine.

Jane, you are certainly free to post a guess.

[Extraneus]

Didn't Marlene already get it? The Airdale who lives where the hatchlings hatched?

[Old Lurker test]

Damn Hit you are right about YL. I had better head that off ASAP.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

McRINO is very quotable to his friends in tha DeMFM when it comes to expressing dismay at other Repubs. Maybe some other Repubs should start dropping some comments on his Muslim Brotherhood advisor being the source of his dumbass ME stands.

[narciso]

Burck, it turns out is a fellow SDNY veteran, practically a Fitz mole, by the look of it.

[Extraneus]

9 companies exit Nebraska’s health insurance market

Nine insurance companies are pulling out of Nebraska's major medical insurance market, and some of them cite Obamacare as the reason for their departure.

Seven of the nine companies have notified the state of their plans to leave since August. Most of them have a minor piece of the major medical market in Nebraska, and likely don't think it's worth it to make the changes necessary to comply with the federal health care law.

As Obamacare shifts into a higher gear, all Americans must buy health insurance or pay a fine beginning in January. Insurance companies selling individual plans can no longer sell cheaper, bare-bones plans, must offer an array of benefits and cannot deny people coverage because they're sick or old.

Aetna, American Family Mutual Insurance, Humana, Independence American Insurance Company, Reserve National Insurance Company, Standard Security Life Insurance Company of New York, Companion Life Insurance and United Security Life and Health Insurance have all informed the state insurance department of their intent to stop selling health insurance to individuals - and in some cases - groups.

Something both sides can read with a smile. One side because it shows how bad the law is, and the other because it shows how well the law is working.

[sbwaters]

Today is two days early; it's Sunday, and it's Maggie Thatcher.

[NK(tryin'2.0)]

Marvelous MissM-- King needs to shut up, McRino needs to shut up, that guy in Georgia who debated with Hewitt needs to shut up. None of them are team players. This is an exciting and scary time. Exciting because as DoT predicted, ObummerCare will fail POLITICALLY by the end of winter, the gov't Slimdown hasn't hurt conservatives, and Obummer's NO NEGOTIATION nonsense is already a political loser, and of course he'll contradict himself many more times about that. The scary part is there is no organized Conservative Team-- I give Boehner alot of credit for holding it together-- thus far. What repubs/TPs need to do NOW is pull back and agree what their bottom line to Debt Increase/CR is, and keep it simple 4-5 Points: Mine would be 1. Debt Hike $400B/August 31st whichever sooner-- NO extraordinary means, 2. Medical Device tax repealed 3. Soc Sec unchained, 4. CR at sequester levels -- NO FURTHER DEFENSE CUTS all civie 5. TBD. These conditions attack ObummerCare (small repeal), the Debt-- no blank check, Spending-- sequester still in effect, and start entitlement reform. These are non negotiable-- they are poison for Obummer/Dems-- but they are desperate for debt spending. Let them chase us to make a deal.

[Jeff Dobbs]

It is not Thatcher.

[NK(tryin'2.0)]

SDNY alum... like Andy McCarthy or Judge Mukasey for instance?

[Janet]

McCain - video poker & doesn't know what allahu akbar means.
That's all ya need to know.

[Marlene]

Don't be *shocked* but this is the headline in the Bangor Daily: "Susan Collins leads on plan to reopen government."

[OldTimer]

I still think McCain has been showing signs of significant mental decline for some time now. Missus Mc should be insisting on his retirement. ...But maybe she doesn't want him hanging around the house in his delusional condition. ;)

[NK(tryin'2.0)]

John Mc-- is an old fool. He was never very bright,but somehow an old fool is less charming than a young one. One thing though, when he goes away, you get a shiny new Dem Senator.

[Captain Hate on the iPhone]

A dem senator from the state of Goldwater? McCain pretends to be a conservative whenever he runs.

[George Will in today's]

I'm going to guess Romania, Hungary, and Occupied France.

[jimmyk]

I was going to guess Maggie was one of Porch's, even before Porch said she knows who it is, but I'm probably wrong because someone here would have known.

[Miss Marple]

Hot Air says that Reid has been cut out of the negotiations. Also Biden in meetings.

http://hotair.com/archives/2013/10/11/oh-my-white-house-cutting-reid-out-of-negotiations/

I can think of about 5 reasons why this may have happened, none of which involve Obama having some common sense.

[NK(tryin'2.0)]

TC-- can you give the '43 declaration answer, I'm keenly interested to learn that bit of history-- Romania and Occupied France make sense because of Ploesti raids and supporting the French Underground-- Hungary?.

[centralcal]

DID ANYONE JUST HEAR JOHN McCAIN ON FOX NEWS JUST NOW??????

I will not listen to anything more that b*st*rd has to say.

Gotta go to work, steam coming from my nose, ears, and mouth!

[jimmyk]

Good column by Sowell. I know some here don't like criticism of Boehner, but this is constructive and right on the mark, not just regarding Boehner but the Republican establishment (may I say that?) more generally.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/360597/inarticulate-republicans-thomas-sowell

[narciso]

Well no not like them, more like Comey, who slew the fearsome Martha Stewart dragon.

[MarkO]

Boehner does not inspire confidence. He's Tommy Newsom.

[Sue]

Is it Porch's daughter?

[NK(tryin'2.0)]

As usual Tom Sowell's critical analysis is spot on. In additions to Redlines for a deal, repubs have to agree to their marketing buzzwords like-- 'no blank checks for debt', 'get the Debt under control before we lose control' 'we are tearing up the credit cards and spending only what taxpayers can afford to pay', those kind of phrases.

[Jeff Dobbs]

It is not Porch's daughter.