Blog Box

July 22, 2005
Compiled by Delilah Boyd, A Scrivener's Lament

Hang 'Em High!

Treason. The word instantly conjures visions of daybreak firing squads and gallows ropes. After all, loose lips still sink ships, don't they? The Bush/Rove Treason Affair concerns our very survival; but to the Bush administration, treason appears to be just another political tool. So how do Republicans respond to accusations of treason in the White House? They dismiss it as a "scandal" and defend the perpetrators as if this were a college mascot kidnapping.

The blog swarm surrounding KKKarl Rove veered off momentarily this week when George W. Bush announced his white-guy, physically-fit Supreme Court choice, but it returned with a vengeance and a front page Washington Post headline, which definitely widens the perp net. NashvilleFiles puts Rove, the man, into perspective, as Americans seek the truth about the Bush administration's willingness to jeopardize national security for political gain:

The revelation of Rove being the leak is only like finding the body after you've found the trail of blood, the crimsoned knife, and the gory, discarded clothes: a dreaded sight you knew you'd eventually find.

The fate of the nation and the world are at stake, folks. And how does the BushCo mob family behave?

Business As Usual

The truth will set you free... of your BushCo job, that is. The Progress Report has the list of pre-Wilson whistleblowers who dared to challenge BushCo's bullshit, including Shinseki, Lindsey, O'Neill, and Clarke. The post also includes the BushCo henchmen who've been promoted for toeing the company line.

Shades of Watergate? The WHIGs did it. Corrente tells all about the White House Iraq Group and wonders if they, too, had a $50 million slush fund at their disposal.

Wanted: Black Republicans (Will Train)

With his poll numbers in the basement, white Republicans must be bailing on Bush. Why else would Republicans suddenly start courting African-Americans, promising them major party-player status? Media Matters catches one of Rush Limbaugh's hissyfits over RNC chair Ken Mehlman's touching (cough) apology (cough) to Black voters...

Responding to Mehlman's planned renunciation of the race-based electoral strategy, Limbaugh accused Republicans of planning "to go bend over and grab the ankles."

Oh, by the way... Rush's bastardization of the acronym, NAACP, is just as appalling as Mehlman's specious mea culpa:

In discussing the topic, Limbaugh -- whom Bush described as a "good friend" in an August 2004 appearance on Limbaugh's show -- referred repeatedly to the group as the "NAALCP," which he has explained stands for the "National Association for the Advancement of Liberal Colored People."

Florida. Again. Still.

Man-on-dog sex is legal in Florida? From the Pensito Review...

Florida, which has laws against gays adopting children, oral sex between adults of either gender, and erections that show through a man's clothing, has no law whatsoever against people having sex with animals. The recent arrest of a blind Tallahassee man accused of forcing sex on his guide dog highlights this egregious shortcoming.

I'd hazard a guess that Republicans who made fun of the phrase "no controlling legal authority" aren't laughing anymore.

Caveat Lector

News you can trust? Sure, if your idea of quality journalism is Pravda, circa 1960. Cyberjournalist.net has the 411 on a new "news service" called News Trust, which deserves its own watchdog group. Speaking of Pravda (c 1960), Leslie Smith, a Buzzflash guest commentator, asks: "Why did BushCo DELETE the WH Press Briefings concerning 'yellow cake?'"

Thanks again to Crooks And Liars for capturing BushCo video crime scene evidence for the record. Their latest capture concerns the Lou Dobbs Tonight staffer who whispered, "That's bullshit!" when Dana Bash reported Rove's bogus claim that Novak was his source.

We're also fortunate to have many dedicated analysts on our side. For example, Marc C, posting at Daily Kos, puts the Plame "outing" in perspective with his detailed piece called, "Revised Plame Timeline and the Powell Memo." According to the timeline, Nicholas Kristoff actually mentioned Wilson's Niger trip in his May 6, 2003, column.

American Prospect writer and blogger Murray Waas (blogging sporadically at Whatever Already) knows what's been going on inside the Bush/Rove Treason Affair grand jury room:

White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove did not disclose that he had ever discussed CIA officer Valerie Plame with Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper during Rove's first interview with the FBI, according to legal sources with firsthand knowledge of the matter. The omission by Rove created doubt for federal investigators, almost from the inception of their criminal probe into who leaked Plame's name to columnist Robert Novak, as to whether Rove was withholding crucial information from them, and perhaps even misleading or lying to them, the sources said.

Waas also scoops the Washington Post's provenance of the original memo which made its way onto Air Force One and into the hands of White House Republican party hacks:

The classified memorandum, dated June 10, 2003, was written by Marc Grossman, then the undersecretary of state for political affairs, and reportedly made claims similar to those made by Wilson.

John Roberts' Fan Club

Bryant, the brilliant blogger at Make Me A Commentator, reports that the Heritage Foundation likes John Roberts, Tony Perkins (Family Research Council) likes John Roberts, and Bill Kristol likes John Roberts.

Of course, they like him. Borg mentality rules their very existence.

On The Lighter Side

Have you read The Benquirer yet? It's like The Onion, only more pungently political. Some recent headlines include:

FOXNews: Fate of War on Terror rests with Natalee Holloway White Child Missing Eventually from Somewhere in the South, Midwest Failed Hurricane Dennis Turns To Depression DUI Attorneys Adopt "McClellan defense strategy" Rove: "McClellan takes it in the ---!"

And my personal favorite...

McClellan Conducts Press Gaggle from Inside Pillow Fort Tuesday, July 19, 2005 by J B Cougar, Staff Writer WASHINGTON, D.C. After an almost daily deluge of questions concerning Karl Rove's involvement in the leaking of the identity of an undercover CIA agent last week, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan conducted his Tuesday morning press gaggle from within a custom made fort made entirely of couch pillows and blankets.

Three cheers for The Benquirer!

Two Sense(s) Worth

Despite C-Span's prissy/sissy ban on video sharing, our American Marats at Crooks And Liars continue to capture and upload historically important videos which will bite BushCo in the butt long after his sorry ass is finally gone. This week's Must See TV snippet is Jon Stewart's simple explanation of the Bush/Rove Treason case, set to the Bye, Bye, Birdie song, "The Telephone Hour."

Did you hear IMAO's hilarious audio, "RoboJustice?" Probably not, unless you frequent wingnut blogs. Anyway, "RoboJustice" features George W. Bush's demonstration of his robotic Supreme Court justice to Laura. Chaos ensues, and George and Laura finally learn the meaning of "strict constitutionalist" the hard way.

Dicking With Drudge

Another wingnut blogger, Point Five, who claims to be "a half step ahead of the barbarians and a half step short of the divine," posts breaking news on Drudge's new site design: "Drudge To Replace Flashing Siren With Fluorescent!" Point Five deserves props for lampooning one of her own, I suppose... but I sense a serious case of PCE (post count envy).

Follow The Links

DUer Dems Will Win relates a tale told at Daily Kos, which makes one wonder if at least one CIA agent was killed because BushCo blew Valerie Plame's cover. Hmm. Maybe those mysterious eight blank pages are the answer. We may never know.

Remember the "Iocane Poisioning" scene in The Princess Bride? American Street cites Atrios and a Washington Post story in a post called, "Miller's Tale," and ultimately asks if Plame was one of Miller's WMD sources, whom Miller burned by divulging her covert CIA status to Rove. Whew! You've just got to read it to follow the plot twists.

Finally, The Indy Voice asks: "If Bush fires his brain, would that leave him with a learning disability or would he be profoundly mentally retarded?"

Blogging News

Gun lover and blogger Triggerfinger is concerned about political commentary being defined as political contributions:

Host a talk radio program? Ever mention politics? If so, you'd better hire a lawyer. And an accountant. Because each and every political comment you made is now officially a campaign contribution that must be reported to a government agency. (The better to censor you, citizen!) --snip-- Of course, for a talk radio host with an audience of thousands, that limit is going to whiz by so fast that he'd hardly get the first sentence out before that limit kicked in. But the ordinary guy who just talks with his friends and maybe runs a blog doesn't have anything to worry about, right? Wrong: you're a "grass roots lobbyist" and required to register if you've spent more than $200 within a single month.

Hey, "Ordinary Guy!" Do you feel as strongly about treason in the White House as you do about free speech for gun lovers?

The Bush/Rove Treason Affair is no mere scandal. The dictionary definition of scandal is disgrace, dishonor, malicious gossip, slander. The Bush administration didn't just get caught entertaining a two-dollar whore... Oops! Strike that - they did, didn't they?

The Jeff Gannon/Guckert affair was a scandal. But revealing the identity of a covert CIA operative and her carefully nurtured front organization should outrage everyone, including Republicans... and not just because our tax dollars paid for decades of Plame's training and clandestine operations, monitoring WMD activity.

Title 18 of the United States Code addresses crimes and criminal procedure. Section 2381 provides:

Treason Whoever, owing allegiance to the United States, levies war against them or adheres to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort within the United States or elsewhere, is guilty of treason and shall suffer death, or shall be imprisoned not less than five years and fined under this title but not less than $10,000; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States. It is a capital offense.

At the very least, Republicans should have more respect for our nation and its laws - and demand the truth from their party and its president. Their behavior during these trying times is... well, scandalous, to say the least.

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