Woodward Is A McGuffin & Has No Impact On Libby's Perjury Indictment

[KittyWampus]

Ignore Woodward, at least in regards to Libby. Libby was indicted for lying to the Grand Jury. Woodward's statement, whether bogus or not, has no impact whatsoever on whether Libby said one thing and then another while testifying under oath.

McGuffin Definition- Often associated with Hitchcock: A device or plot element that catches the viewer’s attention or drives the plot. It is generally something that every character is concerned with. The McGuffin is essentially something that the entire story is built around and yet has no real relevance. That is, it’s what the movie says it’s about, even though it really isn’t. ...

[ClassWarrior]

1. I agree. And I love the Hitchcock reference.

You didn't have to explain it to me!

NGU.

[KittyWampus]

4. Heh, maybe Fitz likes Hitchcock as well. Someone posted he like puzzles

this has got to be a twist he's gnawing on.

[Supersedeas]

25. I like the reference and thanks for the explanation

[writes2000]

2. That's exactly what he is. He has no effect on the Libby indictment.

[kstewart33]

3. Well said.

Geez, I didn't think anyone remembered Hitchcock much anymore. The McGuffin is central to many of his films. Good comment!

[FreedomAngel82]

21. Hitchcock is the best!

This coming from a twenty-three year old. I love his movies! "Marine" is probably my favorite and "Dial M For Murder."

[YDogg]

5. I try to use McGuffin every day in casual conversation.

[KittyWampus]

6. not to be confused with a McMuffin

[YDogg]

[YDogg]

14. :-)

[newscott]

7. This log does indeed go on a different fire.

Can't wait for it to heat up!!!

[Sal Minella]

8. I thought a McGuffin is something that some of the characters care about

intensely, but whether the movie's viewers care about it or not doesn't matter.

[writes2000]

10. It's a plot device only. Think of James Bond movies.

They are chasing down some disk or some flask or some briefcase. The object is really just there to serve plot.

Yes, the characters care about it but ultimately, the object itself is interchangeable with any other invented object.

It is a device without true substance to the bigger meaning of the story.

[Hardrada]

9. I think a McGuffin is

whatever, deep in your heart, you want it to be. Just so it has no intrinsic significance otherwise.

[Daphne08]

11. I've noticed at least stories that are not being widely reported

due to Woodward hoopla -


U.S. has detained 83,000 in war on terror
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152AP_Detaining...

(excerpt)
The United States has detained more than 83,000 foreigners in the four years of the war on terror, enough to nearly fill the NFL's largest stadium. The administration defends the practice of holding detainees in prisons from Afghanistan to Guantanamo Bay as a critical tool to stop the insurgency in Iraq, maintain stability in Afghanistan and get known and suspected terrorists off the streets.

Roughly 14,500 detainees remain in U.S. custody, primarily in Iraq.

The number has steadily grown since the first CIA paramilitary officers touched down in Afghanistan in the fall of 2001, setting up more than 20 facilities including the "Salt Pit," an abandoned factory outside Kabul used for CIA detention and interrogation.

In Iraq, the number in military custody hit a peak on Nov. 1, according to military figures. Nearly 13,900 suspects were in U.S. custody there that day - partly because U.S. offensives in western Iraq put pressure on insurgents before the October constitutional referendum and December parliamentary elections.


Tentative Deal on Patriot Act, Sources Say
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

(excerpt)

House and Senate negotiators have struck a tentative deal on the expiring Patriot Act that would curb the FBI's investigative power and require the Justice Department to more fully report its secret requests for information about ordinary people.

Democrats and civil libertarians said that while the tentative deal makes some improvements, it doesn't address their chief concern: the curbing of FBI power to gather certain information by requiring the investigators to prove the subject's records are connected to a foreign agent or government.

"It gives a nod toward checks and balances without fixing the most fundamental flaws in the Patriot Act," said Lisa Graves of the Americans Civil Liberties Union.

The agreement, which would make most provisions of the existing law permanent, was reached just before dawn Wednesday. But by midmorning GOP leaders had already made plans for a House vote on Thursday and a Senate vote by the end of the week. That would put the centerpiece of President Bush's war on terror on his desk before Thanksgiving, a month before more than a dozen provisions were set to expire.

[longship]

12. But Woodward/Hadley helps make the WHIG connection.

If Fitz is trying the "big fish net" to sweep up the bunch, this is useful to him. It punctuates the conspiratorial nature of the WH's activities and makes further connections to WHIG, which has to figure prominently in his scope of inquiry.

Furthermore, Bob Woodward is not just any reporter. He's the ***managing editor*** of the Washington Post.

This thing has huge conspiracy written all over it.

[KittyWampus]

16. It's very possible.But Woodward still doesn't influence Libby's indictment

contrary to what the mediawhore spin is.

And Woodward might be lying or giving incomplete info.

[longship]

20. I don't think he lied to the GJ.

That's all that matters. The spin doesn't mean a thing in this case. Fitz is apparently on the trail of big game. I smell conspiracy charges coming. It really doesn't matter what Woodward says in public. If he is lying or, as you say, giving incomplete info, he's killing his career. If he's complicit in this affair in any way, his career may be over.

The news media is waking up. They are realizing that the mess on our hands is partially their doing. It won't happen over night, but they are beginning to cover things with some responsibility. Olbermann is amazingly good. Tweety is doing some good coverage. Hell, even today's Scarborough today was exquisite when he had Barbara Boxer on.

Meanwhile, Fitz works on. More to come, I hope.

[KittyWampus]

24. You are right about spin not making a difference. Somehow, I find that

reassuring. A grown up IS actually in charge for once.

[Kingofalldems]

13. Pulp Fiction had a McGuffin

Whatever was in the briefcase.

[Chicago Democrat]

15. Well said!

[upi402]

17. But what if the Hokey Pokey

is what it's all about?

fudda dump
*crash*

[AnnInLa]

18. Check out Olbermann....Libby's lawyer lied today, and the lie is being

repeated and repeated and repeated...and Fitz is laughing, laughing, laughing.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9665308/#051116a

Wells issued a statement at midday, the key passage of which concludes that Woodward’s "disclosure shows that Mr. Fitzgerald’s statement at his press conference of October 28, 2005 that Mr. Libby was the first government official to tell a reporter about Mr. Wilson’s wife was totally inaccurate."

But Fitzgerald never said that.

The transcript of Fitzgerald’s news conference is not disputed — nobody from his office has called up trying to get it altered after the fact. On October 28, Fitzgerald actually said: "Mr. Libby was the first government official known to have told a reporter" about Ambassador Joe Wilson’s wife.

"The first government official known to have told…" is a huge difference from "The first government official to tell…"

Even if the idea that somebody else in the administration might’ve beaten Libby to the leaking punch is relevant to a trial on five counts of lying, the cornerstone of the Wells statement is erroneous — at best, a serious misinterpretation. Fitzgerald was clearly and meticulously leaving his case open in case an earlier leaker later turned up — as evidently he just did.

much more...required reading for DUers!

[Justice Is Comin]

19. Yes KNOWN

as in oh oh....whoops. DAMN !!

[FreedomAngel82]

22. So this is getting good I think

It seems as though they're spinning and spinning trying to save themselves with the media but keep slipping up! And of course Fitzgerald is watching everything they say. Love it!

[Greybnk48]

23. My father referred to women's breasts as their McGuffins

it sounds odd now