Reply #46: If I were T/O in this situation--afte re-vetting the sources, and if

[Peace Patriot]

they seem to hold up (if they can't find any obvious weirdness there)--I would wait out the GJ term--because if something happened like a special Fitzgerald/WH deal to wrap up this prosecution (say, with Cheney as unindicted co-conpirator, which would then have to go to Congress; thence to the "aspen" scenario, Cheney resigns, etc.), no one is likely to find out anything about it until after the GJ concludes. Until then, I don't see what T/O can do. And if they have any doubts about their sources--unless they have "smoking gun" evidence of a sting--they can't really disclose that, at this point. They have to have some certainty about it. And they really can't have certainty, until the GJ concludes (and if Fitz goes to a third GJ, all bets are off--then we will know for sure that something very tangled is happening). What T/O needs to know is, were their sources generally right but got the timing wrong (and T/O made the unforunate mistake of going with that timing), were their sources right but deliberately gave T/O the wrong timing (in which case they could never be trusted again), were the sources providing deliberate disinformation (as a prelim sting on Leftist blogs), were the sources' errors honest or dishonest, and how did T/O fail in its vetting process, or in wrongly interpreting sources' information (if that's what happened)?

I'm sure these are not easy questions to get answers to. If the sources burned them, the sources may not care that they cannot be trusted--and may not be available for further inquiry. Another possibility: the sources themselves may be in a whole lot of trouble right now. What if their info was honest (true, as far as they knew), and they provided it to T/O with good motives--and THEY are the ones who got stung (with planted info)? If Rove is not going to be indicted, he can now destroy them--along with the damage done to T/O.

On a positive note: I've been thinking a lot about this staged Zarqawi bombing, and the timing of it. They've had this guy on spy satellite for a long time now (remember, he was the Al Q supposedly "in Iraq" on which they made the case for Saddam/9/11 conspirator, but it turned out Zarqawi was in Kurdistan, which was under US control--and they lied that he was in cahoots with Saddam.) (Hell, he was/is (who knows?) probably on the Rumsfeld payroll.) So they've had this card to play for a long time. Why now? It gives them a dead Arab on the front pages for a few days, likely to stretch into this week. Is this just November electioneering--playing the first killing and hatred themes for the phony Bush "comeback" narrative in November (the "explanation" for how they "won")? Or does it have a more specific purpose? And the one purpose that seems plausible--that they would play such an important card for--might be an imminent Rove or Cheney indictment.

I admit, there is a large element of hopefulness in this surmise. And their "sacrificing" Cheney (off to his splendiferous retirement), may just mean we get a healthier liar and crook in his place, like Ms. Happy Face Vampira (Rice--I keep trying to identify the cause of the shuddering I feel whenever she's doing her act, and I think that's it-- the tense Happy Face she would put on while she's sucking your blood.) On the other hand, the evil scenarios may just be what I'm guessing that the fascists want or are planning, not what will really happen. Got to keep the faith, and be smart and practical, no matter what happens. (Throw Diebold and ES&S election theft machines into 'Boston Harbor' NOW!)