Saturday, February 11, 2006

Libby:  Prez Okayed Intelligence Leaks   In sworn testimony, Lewis "Scooter" Libby said that his "superiors" authorized the intelligence leaks he made to reporters.  Now, Mr. Libby had just two superiors.  As chief of staff to the Vice President, his superior was, of course, Vice President Cheney.  And as a special assistant to the President, he reported directly to President Bush.  Now, the President is condemning intelligence officials for leaking supposedly important intelligence stuff.  What they reported is that the President had ordered illegal wiretapping of American citizens on a massive level, and those illegal and unconstitutional wiretaps have been incredibly ineffective.  I suppose that disclosing the nonexistent intelligence value of the President's secret plan to shred the Constitution is a marginal intelligence loss. However, leaking the name of an undercover CIA agent, that's certainly worse than, say, reporting a (bungled) crime.  But it gets worse than just that; Ms. Plame worked for a covert CIA company, and as such leaking her name also exposed every secret agent covered by that CIA front company.  It also certainly put a death sentence on many if not most foreigners who had any contact with that CIA front company, or, say, Ms. Plame herself.   Until today, I have heard no Republican call Mr. Libby a liar.  However, he has now named the President and Vice President as authorizing his intelligence leaks...and that has become public just as the President has essentially said that anyone who leaks intelligence should be driven from any public office and pummelled to death.  Last I checked, President was a public office. But I guess national security isn't important if the White House can use a leak to get revenge on the spouse of policy critic of the Bush Presidency.  Or maybe now the Republicans are going to say Mr. Libby, one of the people closest to the President and Vice President, is evil, lying scum...and only a damn fool, a moron, a real drooling idiot would ever have anything to do with him. 10:14:34 PM    comment []

Senator Reid Should Go   Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid had a number of contacts with the Abramoff lobbying firm, received tens of thousands either from them or their clients, and wrote four letters on behalf of the Indian tribes with casinos.  All of the letters came after he had begun to recieve money from the casinos.  This does not prove he did anything wrong.  It does, however, strongly suggest it.  The test of corruption is not in receiving money from a lobbyist...it's whether getting that money leads you to do something that you wouldn't have otherwise done.  In which case, it's bribery.  (For instance, Rep. Tom DeLay wouldn't even listen to a lobbyist who hadn't donated to either him or Republicans he favored...which means every single meeting he undertook with a lobbyist was as a result of, well, either bribery or extortion.  You call it.) Who knows, maybe Senator Reid would have written those letters on behalf of someone who donated nothing to him.  I doubt it, but it's certainly possible.  It's not just important that a public servant not be corrupt.  It's also important he not appear to be corrupt.  Senator Reid should resign.  (His pressing a former mob lawyer to run for the Senate also suggests that Senator Reid doesn't really have the hang of the whole...ethics thing.)  Of course, there are dozens of Congressmen who had at least the level of contact with the Abramoff people that Senator Reid had, and have behaved as out of character; all of them should resign, too. I do mean it sincerely.  Senator Reid should go.  If he doesn't, however, he's in plenty--plenty!--of bad company. 10:50:06 AM    comment []