Of Easter Eggs, Spitzer and Stones In Glass Houses
Ah, the constantly evolving case of Bungalow Eliot and all the Spitzer snitchers. I have, for the most part, held off on too deep of an analysis on Spitzer because I didn’t think we had anything resembling the real story to operate from, and it kind of plays into the hands of the puppetmasters to constantly race down the false paths they provide (works on the media every time though eh?). That has not changed; the one thing we know for sure is that we don’t know the whole story for sure.
If I wasn’t the first to say that this was an investigation of a person searching for a crime to validate it after the fact, I was right up there. Every now and then even brain dead squirrels find a nut. The Public Corruption section of the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, clearly in conjunction with DOJ Main, went on an Easter egg hunt in Eliot Spitzer’s yard under the pre-determined assumption that there were eggs there, and were prepared to plant some if they couldn’t find any. That much is fairly evident at this point, but how did this convoluted persecution really start? And why?
The latest revelation is, of course, that the mondo bondage Republican dirty trickster Roger Stone is knee deep in the primordial muck on the Spitzer hunt. Sex, prostitutes, money, power and dirty political tricks; who could have ever imagined that the Stoner might be involved? Eh, okay, we all should have known. By now, you have all probably got the basics on the Stone angle that has emerged; but just in case, here is a brief recap. Roger Stone is a long time GOP dirty trick and bag man. On Friday March 21, by way of a McClatchey article from the Miami Herald, we learned that:
Almost four months before Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned in a sex scandal, a lawyer for Republican political operative Roger Stone sent a letter to the FBI alleging that Spitzer ”used the services of high-priced call girls” while in Florida.
The letter, dated Nov. 19, said Miami Beach resident Stone learned the information from ”a social contact in an adult-themed club.” It offered one potentially identifying detail: The man in question hadn’t taken off his calf-length black socks "during the sex act.”
Interesting that Roger is throwing these Stones, because he has a bit of a glass house problem in the tawdry sex department. You might have picked up on the part where he supposedly learned his information at "an adult-themed club". Now that is the one nugget of info in this mess that is undoubtedly accurate. You see, Stone and his wife are notorious spouse swapping kinky players on the adult swinger circuit. Family values the country can be proud of!
You know, I don’t really care what people do with their private sex lives as an issue of morality; but I do care deeply about the integrity and propriety of American criminal law and the Department of Justice that drives it. In that regard, here, here, here and here are the affidavits, complaint and prior stories of note in the Spitzer case that I have seen to date impinging on the genesis of the case and that are in the public domain (if anybody is aware of others not listed, please leave a link in comments). Here is my question: Just who is the A1 cutout for whom here? Stone says he relayed the dirt on Spitzer to the Feds only four months ago; exactly how are we, the American public, supposed to reconcile that with the sworn statements and posturing of our Federal officers and DOJ/US Attorneys that are contained in the record to date that indicate the investigation is much older? If Stone was corroborating evidence for information already possessed by the Feds, why wouldn’t they disclose it? Because, last I heard, said Federal authorities were still not supposed to lie, omit material facts, and otherwise disingenuously mislead the Court. There is no historical record of such perfidy with this Administration right?
Bmaz, I like this article from the NYT:
As many people, including me, have repeatedly stated, nothing in the public record suggests anything that would have triggered a requirement to file a SAR about any of Spitzer’s banking activities. With the Stone data, we can figure out what happened. There were SARs, related to the Emperors or the QAT company. The feds went to those banks and started going over the deposit slips and wire advices, and tracing them back to the drawee bank and the holder of that account. Among others, they found Spitzer.
Probably. As a proud member of the Brain Dead Squirrel Club, I like to cling to my theory that use of SWIFT provided a glimpse somewhere along the line, but if it didn’t in the audacity of Operation Spitzward Ho! it has and will.
I keep harping that all the Kings and Queens in the DOJ can’t charge Spitz with any crime, and if Spitzer was the guy with the long socks on, was this integral nugget provided to Stone by a mutual friend of Spitzer’s?
Well, I finally read the March 13, 2008 article in the NYT which is the third of the here, here, here links in the post. Get this:
It is just as I have been saying, there is no requirement to report this transaction. The requirement for special scrutiny of politically exposed persons applies only to foreign politicians, the article says, but many banks track US politicians as well.
The SAR was not required. And it was ignored also. Until the QAT matter appeared.
While reprehensible is there any law against what DOJ might have done>
IANAL, but as soon as DoJ and FBI began
leakingtalking to the press about a case, it reminds me of Mike Nifong Disbarred Over Ethics Violations in Duke Lacrosse Case.Also, once you start making claims about SAR (suspicious activity report), you’re blabbing about our intelligence capabilities. That’s giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
Thanks very much bmaz.
That would depend upon whether for example, they used the SWIFT program to illegally access bank accounts.
Does it mean anything that Spitzer resigned? The longer I think about this, the more I wonder that he did or why he did.
If you follow the accounts in the NY papers of late, this scandal allowed me to realize there were a number of NY papers I didn’t know existed, it was hardly just Wall Street that excoriated Spitzer. Spitzer was strongly disliked even by groups that campaigned for him because he was an equal opportunity abuser during his time in the governor’s office as well as as the AG.
Sifting the Wreckage for the Real Eliot Spitzer
“He was much too angry at too many people and too many institutions to be effective,” recalled Dan Cantor, executive director of the labor-backed Working Families Party. “His enemies were against him and his friends were deserting him.”
I don’t think there is any doubt that Spitzer was hiring expensive prostitutes. There is a huge difference between being in legal trouble and being in political trouble. Given Spitzer’s image of being a law and order kind of guy, I think he realized he had spent all of his political capital on a prostitute. He simply would not have the political credibility he needed to govern. He had no choice but to resign. However, I don’t think that means that he will necessarily be charged with a crime, much less convicted. And I don’t doubt for a second that the leaks were anything other than a political takedown.
Oh, I don’t doubt the expensive prostitutes, and I realize that it’s setting the bar a little low to say, “Well, you haven’t committed a crime; therefore you can be governor,” but still. It’s the nasty pettiness of the leaks in the affidavit and now the Stone story that bother me a lot more. I mean — someone kept his socks on? Heavens. I’ve been known to keep my socks on. And that’s a world exclusive for you, bmaz.
The leaks were in the affidavit partly because none of the johns who are DOJsters named in it.
I think that is about right. I think I am on record from pretty close to day one that there was a very good chance that no Federal charges would be filed against Spitzer and that, at most, they would pass it off with a referral to the local authorities for a common misdemeanor solicitation charge. I still think that. There is no question but that the Feds can file a criminal complaint if they are determined to do so; but, at least so far, the only charge with an arguable factual basis for probable cause that I have seen is for violation of the Mann Act. Here is the deal though, at least from where I stand and my experience, the prosecutor that signs off on that complaint and has the temerity to actually appear in an open court on the record on a Mann Act persecution will forever in legal circles (which is where such people live and work) be the equivalent on Bill Buckner for the Red Sawx or Bartman for the Cubs. Specifically, he will be a fucking laughing stock. If I were an AUSA, I would resign before I would participate on the record in such bullshit. Phred, you are exactly right; criminal charges were irrelevant. Spitzer’s goose was cooked; I am not sure he even had any “political capital” to expend in the first place, but if he did, it was spent immediately. Back to the possibility that there could be criminal charges, and there could not have ever been much substantive in the way of that; this fact (i.e. lack of anything worth a damn) is exactly why this was clearly a partisan hit.
Skdadl – I can up that ante. I have been so inebriated that I didn’t even know I still had them on….
LOL — at least skdadl has the excuse that as a Canadian, he doesn’t want his toes to get cold ; )
phred, I sort of hate to tell you this, but skdadl is a girl. Otherwise, you are perfectly right. You should see the way we go to bed up here.
Well, I had a 50-50 chance of being right — you win some you lose some ; ) I grew up in WI, so even though it’s doesn’t get Canadian cold, I developed a deep appreciation for flannel and wool socks ; )
Well, I have never been so inebriated that it occurred with the girl in calf length socks! Now, in fairness, unlike the great white north, calf length socks with a bikini, that would stand out a bit in Phoenix and Santa Monica which have been my main domiciles…..
Why is it that tens of thousands of people in Manhatten hire expensive and less expensive prostitutes from the girls who walk tenth street to the escort services that ratchet up the price for (according to the girls who have been interviewed of course) the same services for a $200-400 an hour girl as a $2000 to $4000 an hour girl and we’re only reading about Spitzer?
Make that Tenth Avenue or along Central Park by the row of hotels or 7th avenue around the corner. Sorry for the greivous error.
I meant to mention that although Spitzer seemed very uncomfortable and often phlegmatic to both his inner circle, supporters, and enemies as governor in the article I linked in today’s NYT, (qualities that are sometimes endemic to a lot of politicians), Spitzer was thought to be a reasonable candidate by some people to be a Senator and some mentioned him as “commander in chief material,” capable of getting the 3AM or 9AM phone call without reading “the Little Goat to a classroom of kids etc. while two of the largest skyscrapers, 3000 people and 300 firemen were burning up and planes were crashing.
Pete @ 5
I know these people are rancid liars, but I think they are truthy about the SARs, as that gives some aura of respectability to their pantysniffing. I am dubious about the SWIFT angle. Most people in the US use Fedwire for wire transactions, while SWIFT is used for international transactions. The reported data include references to international transactions by QAT, the corporate shell for the Emperor’s club, but I doubt that Spitzer was using international banks.
@10
I read somewhere that the women in the sex trade feel like the more they charge, the better they are treated by the johns.
Many working girls say that the more they charge the “better they are treated” and charging more gets them access to a clientelle with considerably more disposable income. It seems like Diane Sawyer does the hooker interview schtick about once every five years.
But make no mistake, SWIFT has been used in the same vein that illegal wiretapping was used, and it was fairly standard for Mike Garcia when he was with the gang at ICE. We don’t know what they used here yet, but maybe someone will leak the scenario in a little while.
I linked several reports in the last two weeks including the NYT story that the feds have been accessing SWIFT to spy on Americans who were making no international bank transactions whatsoever. Mary did far and away the best analysis of SWIFT on one Spitzer thread.
Like most data mining the US is doing, it is far from specific targetting of people who meet any terrorist profile criteria:
Bank Data Is Sifted by U.S. in Secret to *allegedly (my edit) Block Terror 6/23/06
Do you think Fedwire isn’t also monitored? Just the fact that one NSL can cover all their operations makes me say hmmmmmmm.
OT, but on last thread you inquired whether the derivatives, hedge funds, and Bear Stearns buyout were/are all related to Big Shitpile. Shorter: YES!!!
skdadl said
I’m hoping he goes to work full time to take down the crooks in the government who took him down. I don’t know much about Spitzer, but he doesn’t strike me as a real turn the other cheeker.
Doesn’t seem like one to turn the other cheek, although I think he’s a Bright, Shiny Object to distract attention away from other, larger issues — like a $30 b-b-billion dollar taxpayer fleecing at the hands of The Fed + Bear Stearns.
Actually, last week I was shocked when two (liberal) friends both explained that their networks were reporting Spitzer had ‘overreached’ and isolated himself. However, they thought the timing was suspicious.
What is the role of the municipal bonds in all this? Why did Spitzer get ‘taken out’ just as the news of municipal bond impacts were first being reported? Wasn’t he going to go after Wall Street for ’screwing’ [dangerously, or otherwise] with public finance because of unsecured municipal bonds…?
After reading bmaz’s post, a new movie popped into my head: A door opens onto a hotel corridor, and a hooker leaves Happy Man Roger Stone (clad only in his black socks).
Later in the day, we see her enter another corridor, open another door, and we see another pair of black socks on her next ‘client’: Spitzer.
Sorry, just can’t get the irony out of my head…. cue up the soundtrack of ‘
SixTwo Degrees of Separation’.Eliot should have tried ‘The Audacity of Nope’ with the lovely Ms Emperor’s Club, rather than (standing in his socks while) handing his ass on a platter to Wall Street.
Sigh…
True, ROTL. He should have at least left his hat on.
Looks like Spitzer was looking at Bear Stearns. Hope he’ll provide what he knows.
ROTFL!! That line was unfair to someone firing up the computer first thing in the morning? Good thing my tea isn’t steeped yet or I’d have to get a new keyboard!
Me, too. I can’t think of a better person to go after the political hatchet-men than Spitzer. Ironically, his political demise could actually be a very good thing for restoring our democracy, if he figures out how to turn the tables on those who value ideology over the rule of law.
How long will it take for Law and Order to air the Spitzer D’Affaire?
Depends on whether all the episodes for this season are already in the can or not ; )
fyi- on February 14, 2008 Eliot Spitzer wrote this for the WashPost.
Predatory Lenders’ Partner in Crime
“How the Bush Administration Stopped the States From Stepping In to Help Consumers”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..02783.html (269 comments)
The money quotes are:
“Even though predatory lending was becoming a national problem, the Bush administration looked the other way and did nothing to protect American homeowners. In fact, the government chose instead to align itself with the banks that were victimizing consumers.”
“What did the Bush administration do in response? Did it reverse course and decide to take action to halt this burgeoning scourge? As Americans are now painfully aware, with hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure and our markets reeling, the answer is a resounding no.”…..
“Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye.”…..
“When history tells the story of the subprime lending crisis and recounts its devastating effects on the lives of so many innocent homeowners, the Bush administration will not be judged favorably. The tale is still unfolding, but when the dust settles, it will be judged as a willing accomplice to the lenders who went to any lengths in their quest for profits….”
On March 6, 2008 the present and a former Comptroller of the Currency wrote defending letters to the WashPost.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..03016.html (5 comments)
Spitzer (I’m quite sure) was in D.C. to testify before a Congressional committee on this problem, but
Mon. March 10, 2008 there was the leak to the press of prostitution investigation and Client #9. Spitzer did not testify.
One has to marvel at the depth and breadth of this administration’s opposition research and tactics they have at the ready to spring into action when they need to deflect a damaging narrative that would expose their various plots…
Yeah, but just because Spitzer’s been screwed over, doesn’t he still own the information he had on Bear Stearns? Is there some reason he can’t get it out? Just because he resigned doesn’t make his information less valuable, does it? I just don’t see Spitzer going quietly into that good night….
Random thoughts:
What if his computer, or the NY state network, were hacked? Info could be copied, overwritten, you name it. (Not saying that has occurred, just saying that in view of surveillance and taps, it would be technically possible, would it not?)
He’s now been exposed as a moralizing jerk —Newsflash!! Spitzer revealed as human!
IMHO, the efforts taken to derail him reveal just HOW afraid these Wall Street thugs are of Mr. Spitzer. Which is very interesting, especially in view of the March 10th date to testify before Congress.
Some computer forensics on Spitzer’s office computers and network might not be a bad idea. Let’s hope he backed up file copies for his personal use and has one set secured away in a safe in Switzerland.
Yup. And impressive how they multitask! The day it broke was the day the Senate intelligence committee’s report on the WMD lies and the Pentagon’s report on no connection between Iraq and 9/11 or AlQaeda came out. So that makes 3 suppressions with one smear!.
No surprise here:
Spitzer Pushed Efforts to Smear Bruno
G.O.P. Consultant Says He Reported Spitzer Trysts in 2007
So if Stone was the downfall of Emporer’s business because DOJ was tipped by a dirty trickster, they would have called it in the wild wild West “one damn unlucky whore house and one damn sorry john brought low by a rival pimp and hooker.”
Before I head out to workie poo, let’s give Barney Frank, a big
fatty round of applause…
In my opinion, Barney is the smartest guy in the House…
You’ll see some needed reforms in the banking/securitization/money
pimping business soon (I hope).
Bring back the 60’s..
Loo Hoo was definitely my morning chuckle on many fronts — or backs, as it were. “He doesn’t strike me as a real turn the other cheeker” set me off, and I’ve been giggling since then. Ok: sorry. I’ll be serious now.
Eeew…is it at all likely that Spitzer partook of Mrs. Stone with Mr. Stone present?
See how easy it is for something like a black sock detail to derail one’s thinking? It’s like the argument about kerning getting in the way of the truth behind the TANG story — and Stone may have been involved in that mess, too.
Regarding the genesis of the whole Spitzer case, and how long the case had been investigated – isn’t it possible that the political masters, the loyal Bushies, have started all kinds of investigations of prostitution and kiddy-porn businesses, which the DOJ or local law enforcement no doubt has jurisdiction to investigate, and use them as a “duck blind”, waiting for someone prominent to fall into them, which can then be used for political destruction or extortion? This would explain the timeline extending so far into the past. It seems to me that a competent USA would object to these kind of resources being devoted to investigations which have usually been left to local vice squads and nuisance bylaws – as wiser ones have said, the real story in the US Attorney purge is the USAs who were left alone, not those who were fired.
I think Roger Stone is trying to take credit for this takedown after the fact to exaggerate his influence as an effective dirty trickster. Why would he send the letter in through his lawyer? If he wanted to be an informant there were other ways to do it. I really don’t think the FBI would want to have a letter from a known political operative and enemy of the Governor be the proximate cause of the investigation.
well what good is warrantless wiretapping if you can’t use it to defeat your enemies???
O/T: Petraeus is saying that Iran is behind the latest shelling of the Green Zone: BBC.
Please tell me that no one in the U.S. believes this stuff?
Bushie is ‘itchin to pull the trigger.
I just hope that he can control his fucking impulses…
When does Cheney de-brief the Prez?
Iran–War–No Happen
1) No actionable targets–what the hell would they bomb
2) Armed forces are broken
3) Country has been in recession for years and money honey/and yuppie side kick have no clue which end is up and can’t afford the hemorrhage
4) Bush is close to his last six months
5) If any bombing of ID’d nuclear facilities gets done it will be Israel as always, not the U.S.
6) Petraeus has little credibility left.
No one in this country who says the surge is working has any power point bullets to back it up, and they are instructed by Gillespie to use nothing else but that banal, empty, false phrase.
So?
The CS (Confidential Source) – from the link provided, page 4 –
“I have spoken with another law enforcement officer
who has been involved in the investigation of a number of
prostitution businesses in the New York City area. The law enforcement officer informed me that in the end of 2006 he spoke
with a confidential source (the “CS”) who had worked as a
prostitute in New York City. The CS was immunized from
prosecution as a result of her cooperation with law enforcement.
In addition, the law enforcement officer with whom I spoke
confirmed that the CS had provided information that was reliable
and corroborated by independent evidence. The CS told the law
enforcement officer that during 2006 she worked for the Emperors
Club as a prostitute.”
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/p…..plaint.pdf
page 11 –
“ In or about October 2007, the FBI and the United
States Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigative Division
(”IRS-CID” ) began an investigation focusing on an organization
suspected of conducting prostitution and money-laundering crimes
in the United States and Europe.”
Prior to November 19, 2007, the FBI contacts Roger Stone.
November 19, 2007, Stone’s lawyer writes the letter to the FBI.
My question – Did the FBI need that letter to specifically get a court order for a wiretap of Spitzer? If not that, then what did the FBI use it for?
Which brings me back again to the question I hate to ask — was Mrs. Stone involved? Did she pull a quick stint with the Emperor’s Club to set up Spitzer for a renewed wiretap?
Or was Roger also a client?
It’s the Stones; it’s really impossible to separate when they are clients of sex service providers, or simply whores themselves.
And I do mean whores in all possible meanings of the word.
kspena @ 26 – It would be nice to see Cheney’s marked-up copy of that February 14, 2008 op ed. I imagine he gave a copy to his ScooterII and some phrase like “take care of this” was muttered.
Can I say something OT.
What the fuck is a “pause”?
A pause means you don’t know what the fuck you are doing…
I’ve never heard of a pause in a war, I mean a cease-fire yes,
but putting the mute button on, and whattabout our soldiers.
I am so fucking angry that this Prez has abducted his duty,
he is a coward, plain and simple…
I can’t begin to explain why Bush is doing what he’s doing in Iraq, and neither can he. There’s a huge disconnect and whoever advises him serves him poorly. I think even Rice realizes what a failure it’s been, but Bush isn’t listening if she’s telling him at this point. I think that the two shows Charlie Rose did last week showed a clear contrast between the death fiasco and treasure hemorrhage that is going on and the delusional perceptions of Bush’s policy makers there.
Bush reminds me a lot of the character Marlon Brando played, Colonel Walter Kurtz, in the last third of Apocalypse Now.
A pause is what Moqtada al Sadr is doing, biding his time for when it’s best to strike–not purely, because he hates the US, but in the way he best thinks will enhance his power base.
Why was/is cheney in ME? He only travels when he wants a MAJOR change or committment from a head of state. He’s not there looking for peace or anyone’s welfare.
Oh, he’s most certainly there to look out for someone’s welfare.
He’s looking out for Number One and all of his peeps.
You see, somebody has to persuade the oil-rich dudes to refrain from rejiggering their oil assets’ values in euros instead of dollars. And somebody has to persuade the oil dudes to take on some of the risk in the now-failing financial industry, like the chunk of Citigroup that Dubai bought, before the financial sector takes down the entire global economy and thereby the oil dudes’ wealth, too.
That’s why Old Deadeye is fishing this past Easter weekend off a sheikh’s yacht. ‘Cuz somebody’s got to do the dirty work.
If we (or using the Israeli’s) bomb Iran, it will almost certainly be on moonless nights. That’s April 3-7.
I’ve not seen a clear and comprehensive account of the Israeli bombing of Syria yet. They did it with the U.S.’s blessing to be sure, and Seymour Hirsh has written on it in different places as have others, but there is a smoke and mirrors milieu.
I’m sure there was a substantive reason whether it was a target in a nuclear equation or supplies that help shower them with missles.
Mary’s on timeline duty while EW frolics! Good catch.
I wonder who Client-5 in Miami is. He sounds like a person who would go to the Velvet Swingers Club.
“February 2, 2008, at approximately 4:37 p.m., TEMEKA RACHELLE LEWIS,
a/k/a “Rachelle,’” the defendant, using the 6587 Number, called an
Emperors Club client (”Client-5″) in Miami, Florida. During the
call, Client-5 said that he wanted “both of them” (believed to be
a reference to two Emperors Club prostitutes).”
I asked the question of cheney’s purpose because so many of the possible reasons have been answered.
euro: not a problem; he converted his own assets to euros a few months ago and Halliburton has relocated to the region
price of oil: it’s high; that’s where he and his buddies want it
Iraq: it’s a deliberate stalemate; we support all sides which insures arms sales forever. We are there and we will stay.
chaos: domination is easier in a mess
regime change: this has to be it; the thrust of the new American century is not to let ANYONE challenge US power. The mere pretense of challenge must be crushed. Iran was right on our heels as we marched into Iraq and has dominated the south and the present government without US awareness for a long time. SH also out-foxed US by dissolving his army, sending them off to prepare for insurgency. Both Hamas and Hezbollah, which cheney traces to Syria and Iran, have dented or embarrassed US power in Palestine and Lebanon. Rather than read all this as showing the limits of US power, cheney is probably going to show how strong US is by throwing the weight of our conventional military into regime change (political assassination by another name). cheney’s goal seems to be wedded to the neocon ideal of making sure the world is dominated by US military might.
We know that the ME powers have told him not to invade before. What could he be telling them now to change their minds? Or is he just telling them?
Or maybe he’s just on spring break at US expense…
I sincerely hope that May does not see the U.S. attacking Iran, but my wild-eyed guess is that that’s what Cheney is laying the groundwork for.
Aw, nuts. Nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts …………
Yeah, he says those were Iranian-built rockets, therefore Iran was behind the attack. (’Post hoc, ergo propter hoc’, anyone?)
What would he have said if the rockets had been US-built?
Here’s a couple more observations to add to #59: cheney knows that al Qaida doesn’t pose a threat to Iraq. Of 45,000 to 50,000 prisoners in Iraq, only about 130 are foreign “terrorists”.
And on the Iran nuclear weapons ambitions claim, cheney had the NIE rewritten to say Iran had dropped its ambitions, a compromise that gives him wiggle room. The intelligence report had originally said there no evidence there ever was such a program. The AIEA also says it has never found such evidence.
cheney also scared the Saudis before the first gulf war. He had photos doctored to show Iraqis amassed on the Saudi border to invade. cheney wanted basing rights; when the Saudis saw the doctored photo, they gave US bases to operate from.
And imagine — we had a choice between Cheney and … Lieberman! /s
May well be true but hard to believe any sovereign country wouldn’t check anything that came anywhere peripherally from Cheney or the US for that matter.
How soon you forget Tony Blair.
By which I mean: yours isn’t the only government of crooks and liars. For reasons that escape me, there are right-wing governments (mine, unfortunately, is an example) that still want to ingratiate themselves with Cheney & Co, and they will join in stupid adventures for that reason, talking patriotic lies to their people even as they know they are lying.
If Cheney attacks Iran, I am very afraid of what will happen in Canada. Our political parties are all over the map on this turf, and the leaders of both major parties are likely to support your administration, although the people will be resistant at least, if not well enough informed. What. A. Mess.
Meaning? That’s close to Cheney’s line on Iraq Loo Hoo.
Where are the troops going to come from to attack Iran–the Draft that would freak out almost every American. Not coming from there.
I’d love to see a draft because on Day 1 you’d see some substantive pull out of Iraq. Iraq is hardly on the minds of most Americans except the ones directly impacted–about 3%. No American is dreaming their kid can grow up to go to Iraq.
Watch when the Bush kid’s wedding comes–you’ll see no Iraq but just bridal bullshit.
It used to be on the Telly and papers and aside from scant mentions that the US hit the 4000 troop fatality mark yesterday, there is almost no mention of Iraq.
Bombing Iran, war with Iran won’t happen.
We can wage a friendly bet if you like on that Loo Hoo.
Western Kentucky and Louisville in Sweet 16. Sorry about San Diego.
Getting significantly out of Iraq in the next several years won’t happen–it’s absolutely a pander for either candidate who is Dem to promise that. There won’t be a scintilla of reduction of troops with Bush in the Oval.
It’s exactly Cheney’s line on Iraq! *g*
He would have said that they were built by Iran.
I’m wondering about the bank that supposedly gave up this information on Spitzer. Being a very wealthy person, I would think there was a special relationship between him and his bank.
Did someone find it more worthwhile to turn over records than to keep Spitzer’s business?
Logical question but…
We’ve had a lot of elaborate, logical, explanations of the way this SARS/FinCen cascade might have gone down, and I linked a few ITesque articles that were decent, but it’s pretty plausible that someone like Stone bumped into the info (doing whatever bumping he did in whatever the adult club was. One of the few types of 3AM calls this government is able to take is a snitch mucking a Dem in office to DOJ.
And what of course do you think any bank is going to do when the US attorney or whatever scum they have at DOJ or IRS leans on the bank? I wouldn’t trust Mike Garcia or his stooge at Public Corruption SDNY’s explanation as far as I could spit them or anyone at DOJ for that matter. They’re doing they’re damndest to cover up the mobilization of DOJ as one giant tool to decimate Democratic office holders, and to cover up every scintilla of it or deny it exists.
You know what you’ll get from the average wealthy Republican on this? Best imitation of KO immitating O’Reilly or someone from Fox:
“Bill Clinton fired all the US attorneys when he got in office so wtf’s the problem?”
It’s not about thinking–just mouthing some canned response.
Highly articulate and just as nuanced and sophisticated.
Spitzer Schmitzer. They don’t care. You have the quintessial example of that with the Telecoms whose legal staffs are grizzled older corporate counsel, many of whom were exported from DOJ’s Intelligence Division who wrote the wiretapping laws in large part for Congress with staffers tweaking them a bit. They knew full well what they were doing was illegal, as multitudes have pointed out here, but they did it anyway reading Congress pretty well.
I don’t know how many quid pro quos the Telecoms might have gotten, and I sense the Senate and House are teeing up to bury it soon (this is one time I’d be delighted to be dead wrong).
I just posted this over at the lake, I think I’ll post it here too
on the john Eliot show, air America tonight, I learned quite bit about presidential directive 51, there is also a “56″ and a “57″
the directive specifically says catastrophe “anywhere”, it does not carve any exclusions to catastrophe over seas
he has authority to shout down all communication, this means the internet, he has authority to commandeer the national guard and take control from the governers
we also know as a fact the fbi has been deputizing big bussiness, not “if” martial law takes hold but “when”
conyers knew nothing about directive 51 until the take back america forum, where he said he would research the directive
this does not bode well
he has also floated a trial balloon where he claimed in the event, elections could be suspended
this is not looking good aahhhtttt ahhhllll
Come Feb. 20 Bushes and Cheneys will be packed and gone. Count on it. And whatever sinister babble comes out of their mouths, are hollow shell testicle rattling. They’re done.
of course I hope you are right, however we cannot afford to “count on it”, we MUST be prepared for what it surely seems they are preparing
and prepare to remain in their seat of power for “catastrophy” they are, make no mistake about it.
please, do not “count on” them being voted out of office
I’m certainly with you, and want to do anything I can to help restore the Constitution and representation in this government. I should have added in this equation of a decent President, revamped policies in many federal agencies, newer and better Senators and Congress people, the public has to take a more active interest on a wider basis moving toward the level of engagement here and that’s a tall order.
I don’t know who said it at the moment, but the quote that you get the democracy you deserve does seem harsh, but it also rings true.
Iraq is minimized on TV and in print media and on the web, yet last week I wish I had a buck for every time I glanced off the PC and over at the TV and saw Jerimah Wright saying the same things. I have them pretty much memorized.
Now I’m seeing the same picture of a Detroit mayor who may have purjured himself, basically because the media and the viewers are enthralled more with his text messaging of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick following sex more than their own.
let me elaborate and shed some brutal reality here;
If you believe they are not preparing to remain in power then you have to think they have amassed all this presidential power for hillary or for obama
these are fascists, they are masogenists, they are bigots
I think it is not possible they have amassed this power to hand it off to a democrat, a women, a black man, all three
this is more then in the history of planet earth we might add
I certainly can appreciate your frustration and emnity towards this administration. I share it, believe me.
I have tried to refrain from talking about the primary but not everyone who is against Obama is a bigot, and not everyone who opposes HRC is a mysogynist. In fact, many can’t stand her straight up repetitive lying about her past, and about Obama, as she did trying to extrapolate experience out of a lie about dodging bullets at Tusla. Video shown on KO last night clearly shows a typical ceremony with an eight year old child reading poems, and HRC and the HRC daughter called Chelsea walking blissfully down the tarmac. Had she dodged bullets, that experience would have been no more training to be Commander in Chief than someone in Watts or Harlem this morning gets.
In fact, outside femnist literature, I never heard the word mysogyny except in the context of being asked to learn it in high school until people on blogs like FDL, Jerilyn’s obviously overwhelming pro-Hillary slant at TalkLeft and the polar argument on KOS threads raged. I find Talk Left has had nothing ever to say positive about Obama, and seems to be a slow motion study of HRC’s progressive demise. I believe Jerilyn Merritt will go into an extended period of mourning when she finally realizes who will be running in the general but she never tires out of carping at Obama and insisting on ideas like the counting of the Michigan and Florida electinos instead of realizing that indeed those delegates will be seated after HRC is out of the race.
This administration of course was not amassing power for anyone but them. You are truly foolish if you believe that there won’t be an exchange of power after Bush’s term is over.
My advice is to fix on other issues to worry about.
If a Democrat wins in Novemeber, and we will all be working hard to ensure that, then it will be up to the people in the House and Senate we will try to elect as well as the new leader, who ever that might be, to correct many of the things that drive us all beyond frustration. Much has already been written in articles and essays about the power that Cheney has amassed for the Executive, that Mukasey and others before him guard zealously, and one of the missions that EW fulfills with excellence is to try to ferret out the secrets that are so closely guarded by a recalcitrant administration, a facillitating executive branch, and a cowed and compliant judiciary who lacks the guts to do its job with objectivity now more than ever.
I am saying there might not even be an election, I guess I have not been clear
“paranoia strikes deep in the heartland..but i think it’s all overdone .. que: paul simon .. have a good time ..
it’s not paranoia when someone tells you what they are going to do in an emergency, then claims they are the ones that decide what an emergency is
preperation for that event is what’s called prudence
what you propose here perris is that the us military would forsake it’s pledge to “protect and defend the constitution of the united states from all enemies domestic or foreign” and simply fall in line behind the current chimpenfurher and engage their fathers and mothers and sisters and brothers in support of a completely unconstitutional usurpation of power .. what you’d see is a mutiny .. plain and simple .. our military isn’t nearly the facist machine you apparently suppose it is ..
i’m a former military officer .. and i can tell you straight up .. it’ll never happen .. mr bush’s imagined powers as commander-in-chief aren’t nearly what he thinks they are .. the military serves the constitution of the united states .. not the president ..
Your points are well taken and I believed them until about
a year ago.
I am as just as paranoic as perris.
This President gave Scooter, a free ride which I thought was
impossible… and Bush is a crazy man who would attack Iran…
and Darth destroys e-mails….
It could happen…
The world somehow has changed from the America I once knew…
I have noticed the real patriots have retired in protest because of just the integrity you speak, let’s hope there are some who remain
i’ve been out a long time perris .. i was medically retired in ‘88 as a USMC major .. but i’ve got a son currently serving as a marine full colonel .. if push comes to shove on this i know full well he will immediately resign his commission and come home to man one of the old sporterized M-14’s we’ve got .. or a .30-.30 .. or a .303.. or a .308 winchester .. stop-loss orders or no .. notwithstanding .. he serves as i did ..the constitution of the united states .. nota political party .. or a political officer .. mr bush’s warrant as commander in chief expires on january 20th 2009 .. he will not serve past noon on that day .. nor is there any constitutional nor legal mechanism by which he can extend his tenure ..
i don’t trust the bushies at all btw .. i think they’re worthy of impeachment .. and i think they’re war criminals as well having violated the hague conventions on therules of land warfare and the geneva accords on the count of engaging in “aggressive war” ..that’s attacking a country which did not attack you and did not present an imminent threat .. it’s classified as a “crime against humanity” ..in international law .. and by american law as well .. since we are signatories .. and once ratified those accords became a part and parcel of the constitution .. at least that’s what i was taught at the war college .. one does not let slip the dogs of war over rumors.. doing so was a serious breach of our traditions and ideals .. and should not be allowed to stand without bringing those responsible to the bar of justice .. as much as that will/would pain the amercian political right .. which hopefully after november 8th will be assigned back to the political wastelands in which they wandered for the previous fourty years prior to their most so badly botched acendency ..
we don’t have time to impeach them ..the constitutional mechanism is ponderous by design and takes about a year to accomplish .. hopefully the scoundrels will be hauled into the docks after they resume their position in civilian society .. on jan 20th 2009 .. not feb 20th as alluded to elsewhere ..
meanwhile … semper fi ..and keep faith in americans being amercians .. i honestly believe it’s a safe bet ..
I believe the impeachment of bill clinton took only a couple of monthg
in addition, there was not one person that marched to impeach president clinton and I don’t even think there was a march to impeach nixon
americans are marching for impeachment of these criminals, it is accomplices to allow them to continue in their crimes
hey bub .. if it was up to me .. they’d have been facing charges as war criminals five minutes after they launched into iraq .. so you’re really barking up the wrong tree here ..
to coin a phrase .. “you’re asking the wrong motherfucker” .. you need to take your hostiity out on nancy pelosi .. she’s the one who took impeachment off the table not me ..
and sure .. the trial phase in the house took a couple of months .. but convening the committee .. assembling the charges.. and meeting the parlimentary requirements of reporting out was proceeding for quite a while prior to the impeachment phase ..
i’ve got a 3′ X 5′ gadsden flag i fly on the wall here .. it’s the one with the coiled rattler with the motto “don’t tread on me ” across the bottom .. don’t push your luckin’ fluck .. eh bro ?
i
You were very clear, and we all share and understand your frustration. You’re reading this blog though, and FDL and others so you’re engaged in doing what you can to get things better.
Someone asked about the mistake in the release of Sara Jane Olson on the last thread and her rearrest and if that kind of mistake happened often.
Thinking that it was a federal mistake, I said no. In fact though, she is not in federal custody. Her date has been reset to March 17, 2009 and it was a ridiculous mistake made by the California Corrections Department.
Her attorney is Ms. Shawn Holley, who vows to ask for a rehearing before her original judge during her recapture, according to yesterday’s NYT.
I’m sorry for the error, but I believe the State of California is more sorry.
I wish her luck. Living a lie since 1975 had to be quite a strain on this woman who used to be known as Kathleen Soliah when she was with the SLA.
well i dunno .. i was giving spitzer the benefit of the doubt in re his resignation .. my thoughts were that spitzer .. unlike vetter and craig in the u.s. senate understood that once he had compromised he dignity of the office he holds .. he knew he was no longer fit to hold the office ..
men of integrity don’t have to be saints imo .. they all have some flaw .. that’s what defines us as humans .. the flaws ..
i am troubled by the way the info came out ..and by the SAR’s .. i don’t see what could have triggered them .. i think it’s far more likely the whole kit-n-kabootle was backtracked .. this was political dirty tricks .. no doubt about it .. but spitzer deserves no sympathy .. he commited the moral crime of hubris .. thinking that a man of his position and stature wouldn’t be found out was and is pure folly .. just ask bill clinton ..
as to the general in november .. i left this prediction over on tboggs ..
after august .. or before .. we’ll see an obama-richardson ticket i think .. the fact a black man is running for the office of president will electrify the black voters in america ..and they will turn out in heretofore unprecedented numbers ..and the presence of bill rochardson will likewise energize the latino voters nationwide and especially in say ..texas ..
the resulting surge will carry obama-richardson into office with ease ..and once confronted with a black man as the actual factual POTUS .. sean hannity and rush limbaugh ..and mike savage .. and the rest of the right wing radio squawking mynas ..heads will explode .. riddingthe airwaves of their toxic speils ..
que: “what a wonderful world” by louie armstrong …
I’m with you Perris, if that helps. But I’m still optimistic in that I don’t believe Cheneyco will succeed even after cancelled election, martial law, etc. No I won’t try to project a specific scenario for this failure; lets say I just have faith. Not much I know but important anyway.
oh i’m not questioning anyone’s patriotism.. but i have more faith in the boyz and galz in the US military than believing they would betray their most basic oath and fundamental duty to support he likes of bush and company .. just beneath the uniform rests and american citizen as well .. who has a vested interest in the perpetuation of our system of government .. i think to accuse them.. or suspect them of such a fundamental breach of conscience simply because they are serving is really an insult to everyone who wears the uniform .. imo ..
i’m just as disapointed and disheartened as anyone about our current state of affairs ..
but don’t mind me ..carry on ..
Talking about our military…
‘The three-star director of the Navy staff was fired last Friday for providing “false and misleading information” during a Defense Department inspector general investigation, the Navy’s top spokesman confirmed Monday.’
http://www.navytimes.com/news/…..m_032408w/
wasn’t this string about elliot spitzer ??
back to topic .. eh .. ??
That’s a piece of good news, Jkat. Sure hope you’re right.
What a mess we are in on all fronts. Hope is all we have left.
Because there is so little courage, hope and personal integrity in a political patriotic Congress, we have had no time to impeach in the last 7 years– illegal election to illegal, expensive, and immoral war– these people will retire out of public service with pensions and secret service protection intact. History books written about the criminality of this administration will be Lynn Cheneyfied by the NEH and only stories around the campfire of folklore will tell of the 21st Century U-turn in American progress to democracy.
Will Americans allow the World to bring our leaders to justice through the International Criminal Court? I doubt it. We are too patriotic.