Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Fred and Scooter



Fred Thompson doesn't know what he's talking about.

The about-to-enter Republican presidential hopeful was in the middle of a softball interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News last night--following the GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire (in which Thompson did not participate)--when the conservative talker asked the former Tennessee senator and current Law & Order star about the 30-month jail sentence Scooter Libby had received that afternoon.

Minutes earlier, the question had been put to the ten Republicans at the debate. "Do you think it would be appropriate for President Bush to pardon Lewis 'Scooter' Libby," CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked the GOP gaggle.

Representative Duncan Hunter said, "To make a determination on that, you'd have to look at the transcript." Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore replied, "I'm steeped in the law. I wouldn't do that." Senator Sam Brownback responded, "No, not without reading the transcript." Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee echoed, "Not without reading the transcript." Senator John McCain took a dive: "He's going through an appeal process. We've got to see what happens here." Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani said the "sentence was grossly excessive," but that he "would see if it fit the criteria for pardon. I'd wait for the appeal." former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney claimed that special prosecutor had "clearly abused his prosecutorial discretion" and had mounted "a political vendetta." As for a pardon, Romney hedged: "It's worth looking at that....I'd keep that option open." Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson said the sentence was "not fair" and that he would "examine the record." Only Representative Tom Tancredo said "yes" to a pardon.

On Fox News, Fred Thompson showed no reticence. He called the sentence a shocking injustice. And he went on a tear:

You got a situation here where they knew shortly after they started this fiasco that no crime had been committed. What they were looking at didn't constitute a crime, because of the status of Valerie Plame. She wasn't a covered person under the statute. Then they found out that he didn't -- Scooter Libby didn't leak her name. Richard Armitage over at the State Department did that, but they still kept digging and digging, because the press expected the special prosecutor to come up with somebody in the Bush administration.

The Justice Department should never have appointed special counsel. They were taking criticism and heat from the press and Capitol Hill. And they had to do something, they felt like, so they caved, appointed a special counsel. And he spent a year and a half digging and digging, and he came up with a process crime allegation....

They picked him out to bring the burden of this entire political witch hunt on him, this single individual, and prosecuted him.


Where to begin? Thompson's thumbnail description is completely cracked. He repeated the rightwing mantra that Valerie Wilson was not covered by the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. That's not true. I've argued this point over and over with conservatives who refuse to listen. As Michael Isikoff and I disclosed in Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War, Valerie Wilson was the operations chief of the Joint Task Force on Iraq, a unit within the Counterproliferation Division of the CIA's clandestine operations directorate. She was working undercover, trying to collect intelligence on Iraq's suspected WMD programs, and she had traveled abroad on undercover missions in the five years before she was outed in a Robert Novak column. Under the terms of the IIPA, she qualified as a covert officer. As Fitzgerald declared in a recent court filing, "It was clear from very early in the investigation that Ms. Wilson qualified under the relevant statute [the Intelligence Identities Protection Act] as a covert agent whose identity had been disclosed by public officials, including Mr. Libby, to the press."

On that last point, yes, Libby had indeed leaked Wilson's CIA identity to reporters. Not to Novak. But to Judith Miller and Matt Cooper. And Fitzgerald's investigation was not confined to discovering only Novak's leakers (who turned out to be Richard Armitage and Karl Rove). So Thompson is also wrong when he says the case should have been closed once Novak's sources were identified. Moreover, there was also the critical issue of how Armitage and Rove came to learn about Valerie Wilson. Fitzgerald and the FBI had to pursue that, and Libby was of interest to them on that point, for Vice President Dick Cheney had early on passed information about Valerie Wilson to Libby.

Thompson, mouthing the rhetoric of the Libby Lobby, accused Fitzgerald of engaging in a "political witchhunt." But Fitzgerald decided not to indict Rove for making false statements (even though some of his investigators believed an indictment was justifiable). Fitzgerald did not overreach and use the Espionage Act to indict Armitage, Rove, or Libby for leaking classified information (an option chosen by prosecutors in the AIPAC case). And Fitzgerald never leaked himself--when doing so could have inflicted political damage on the White House. Fitzgerald conducted his investigation in an apolitical manner.

Would Thompson pardon Libby, Hannity asked. The near-candidate said,

I would, absolutely....It's a gross injustice perpetuated in large part by this CIA, and this Justice Department, and this special counsel, who they appointed, and it ought to be rectified.


No waffling there. That's because Thompson is a member of the Libby Defense Trust Fund and has raised money for Libby. He's been drinking the neocon Kool-aid, for neocons have long depicted the Libby case as some sort of CIA conspiracy against Libby. Their reasoning is convoluted, but basically they believe the CIA ramped up the Libby case as payback after the White House tried to blame the messy Iraq war on lousy CIA intelligence. The problem with this theory is that after Valerie Wilson's name appeared in the Novak column all the CIA did was send a pro forma request to the Justice Department for a leak investigation. As CIA officers have said, this was a routine action--and one that occurs almost on a weekly basis. The CIA lawyers who sent Justice the referral could hardly have envisioned what would come of it, and it's highly unlikely they were hatching a scheme to snag Scooter Libby. Thompson has watched too many spy movies. Seriously, it's shocking that after his years in Washington Thompson doesn't better understand how Washington bureaucracies function.

If Thompson does join the crowd of Republican presidential wannabes, he undoubtedly will have the support of the Libby partisans. Of the major candidates, he's the only one pushing for a pardon. But he does not have his facts straight. He's merely reading the script of the Libby Lobby. A leading man who wants to be president ought to be able to come up with his own (factually correct) material.

Posted by David Corn at June 6, 2007 11:10 AM

29 comments:

capt said...

Mr. David Corn,

The Libby lobby is completely delusional.

I am expecting to hear Walton called an activist judge or some such thing. It is what the delusional do. They make their decisions based on ideology and Mafia like blind loyalty then refuse to ever acknowledge error.



Thanks

Kirk

Anonymous said...

The MSM pundits bleating about this sentence? WTF? Didn't he commit treason? Outing a covert CIA operative is treason at the very least and covering it up is even more treasonous. Will we ever see these crooks brought to justice for their crimes? I know doubtful when we have the coward in chief there to pardon one and all of the crooks. Just sad that the military are going to have to pay more blood and suffering for these asshats brain farts. In a perfect world I guess.

Gerald said...

Fred Thompson will be the nominee for the repukes. He is their perfect fit - dumb, lazy, and a parrot for the repukes' wishes.

Let me give you my take on the Libby case! Libby does deserve jail time. But, Robert Novak is guilty of treason. Throwing out the name of any CIA emplyee should be a treasonous act because in our bloodlust society as Nazi Americicans if we disagree with someone for any reason and we have the influence to dangle their name for the world to see, we can place the CIA employee in danger to be targeted by a foreign agent operative. This is a dangerous practice and a treasonous act.

Gerald said...

A STANDING ARMY IS A STANDING MENACE TO LIBERTY. - Voltaerie de Clayre

capt said...

Libby was convicted so ALL of the real criminals will be free.

The support for Scooter is beyond shameful. The WH and the administration is suppose to demand and be the highest respect(ers) and enforcers of the rule of law.

The WH and the Libby lobby seem to have no respect for the law, the courts, the prosecutors, the jury nor any part of the legal system.

It is just another sad day in paradise.



capt

capt said...

Retired Gen. George Washington Criticizes Bush's Handling Of Iraq War
(satire)



WASHINGTON, DC—Breaking a 211-year media silence, retired Army Gen. George Washington appeared on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday to speak out against many aspects of the way the Iraq war has been waged.

Washington, whose appearance marked the first time the military leader and statesman had spoken publicly since his 1796 farewell address in Philadelphia, is the latest in a string of retired generals stepping forward to criticize the Iraq war.

"This entire military venture has been foolhardy and of ill design," said Washington, dressed in his customary breeches and frilly cravat. "The manifold mistakes committed by this president in Iraq carry grave consequences, and he who holds the position of commander in chief has the responsibility to right those wrongs."

Washington noted that while Saddam Hussein was an indefensible tyrant, that alone did not justify a "conflict that seems without design or end."

"The Iraqi people did suffer greatly under unjust rule," Washington said. "But in truth, it is the duty of any people that wishes to be free to fight for its own independence. Had France meddled in our revolution beyond the guidance and material assistance they provided, I should think similar unrest would have darkened our nation's earliest hours."


More HERE

Gerald said...

Yes, capt, Libby's conviction and sentence should free all the prisoners. It sounds like the repukes should make such a case for every prisoner but will they try? Good comment on George Washington!!!

capt said...

When people who are honestly mistaken learn the truth, they will either cease being mistaken, or cease being honest! : Anonymous

=
"I would rather have free a press and no government, than a government and no free press." --Thomas Jefferson

=
"The most consistent and ultimately damaging failure of political journalism in America (is that it) has its roots in the clubby/cocktail personal relationships that inevitably develop between politicians and journalists." From "Fear and Loathing On the Campaign Trail '72" by Hunter S. Thompson

=
"As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there's a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we all must be aware of change in the air, however slight, lest we become victims of the darkness." Justice William O. Douglas


===

Thanks ICH Newsletter!

Anonymous said...

Collapse of the World Trade Center: What Did and Did Not Cause It

At a poster's suggestion, I am offering this link to a paper that has been submitted for peer review to The Journal of Engineering Mechanics ASCE.

Dr. David B. Benson was one of the authors.

capt said...

CIA Leak Case Timeline



A timeline of events leading up to the conviction of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on charges stemming from the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name.


_Jan. 28: President Bush asserts in his State of the Union address: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."


_March 19-20: The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq begins.


_May 6: New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof reports that a former ambassador, whom he does not name, had been sent to Niger in 2002 and reported to the CIA and State Department well before Bush's speech that the uranium story was unequivocally wrong and was based on obviously forged documents.


_May 29: Libby asks Marc Grossman, an undersecretary of state, for information about the ambassador's travel to Niger. Grossman later tells Libby that Joseph Wilson was the former ambassador.


_June 11 or 12: Grossman tells Libby that Wilson's wife works at the CIA and that State Department personnel are saying Wilson's wife was involved in planning the trip. A senior CIA officer gives him similar information, as does Cheney's top press aide, Cathie Martin, who had learned it from CIA spokesman Bill Harlow.


_June 11 or 12: Cheney advises Libby that Wilson's wife works at the CIA.


_June 13: Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward interviews Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage for a book. Armitage tells Woodward in a taped interview that Wilson's wife works for the CIA.


_June 14: Libby meets with a CIA briefer and discusses "Joe Wilson" and his wife, "Valerie Wilson."


_June 23: Libby meets with Times reporter Judith Miller. During the meeting, Miller says, Libby tells her that Wilson's wife might work at a bureau of the CIA. Libby denies saying that.


_July 6: The New York Times publishes an opinion piece by Wilson under the headline "What I Didn't Find in Africa" and he appears on NBC's "Meet the Press." Wilson said he doubted Iraq had recently obtained uranium from Niger and thought Cheney's office was told of the results of his trip.


_July 7: Libby meets with then-White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. Fleischer says Libby tells him that Wilson's wife works at the CIA and that the information is "hush hush." Libby denies that.


_July 8: Libby meets with Miller again. She recalls Libby saying he believes Wilson's wife works for the CIA. Libby denies telling her that.


_ July 8: Columnist Robert Novak interviews Armitage, who tells him that Wilson's wife works for the CIA. Novak says this was confirmed the next day by White House political adviser Karl Rove.


_July 10: Libby calls NBC newsman Tim Russert to complain about a colleague's news coverage. At the end of the conversation, Libby says, Russert tells him that "all the reporters know" that Wilson's wife works at the CIA. Libby says he was surprised to hear that. Russert denies saying it.


_July 11: Fleischer, on a presidential trip to Africa, tells two reporters that Wilson's wife works for the CIA. Rove tells Time Magazine's Matthew Cooper that Wilson's wife works for the CIA.


_July 12: Libby speaks to Cooper and confirms to him that he has heard that Wilson's wife was involved in sending Wilson on the trip. Libby also speaks to Miller and discusses Wilson's wife and says that she works at the CIA. Libby claims he told Cooper and Miller he only knew about Plame from talking to other reporters.


_July 12: Walter Pincus of the Washington Post says Fleischer tells him that Wilson's wife works at the CIA. Fleischer doesn't recall that.


_July 14: Columnist Novak reports that Wilson's wife is a CIA operative on weapons of mass destruction and that two senior administration officials, whom Novak did not name, said she suggested sending her husband to Niger to investigate the uranium story.



_Sept. 26: A criminal investigation is authorized to determine who leaked Plame's identity to reporters. Disclosing the identity of CIA operatives is illegal. A short time later, Armitage tells investigators that he may have inadvertently leaked Plame's identity to Woodward.


_Oct. 14 and Nov. 26: Libby is interviewed by FBI agents.


_Dec. 30: U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald in Chicago, an aggressive career prosecutor, is named to head the leak investigation after then-Attorney General John Ashcroft takes himself out of the case to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.


2004:


_January: A grand jury begins investigating possible violations of federal criminal laws.


_March 5 and March 24: Libby testifies before the grand jury. In a tape of his testimony, Libby tells jurors that he forgot the information about Plame working for the CIA until he heard it from Russert. Anything he told reporters, he says, was just chatter passed on from that conversation.


2005:


_Oct. 28: Libby is indicted on five counts: obstruction of justice and two counts each of false statement and two counts of perjury.


2006:


_Sept. 7: Armitage admits he leaked Plame's identity to Novak and to Bob Woodward of The Washington Post. Armitage says he did not realize Plame's job was covert.


2007:


_Jan. 16: Jury selection begins in Libby's trial.


_Jan. 23: Prosecution and defense lawyers make opening statements to the jury and U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton.


_Feb. 20: Prosecution and defense attorneys make closing statements.


_Feb. 21: Jurors begin deliberations.


_March 6: Jurors return guilty verdicts on charges of obstruction, perjury and lying to the FBI. A not guilty verdict was returned on one count of lying to an FBI agent.


_June 5: Walton sentences Libby to 2 1/2 years in prison.


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

I can't see how the Libby lobby can dispute anything. Moreover it looks like Rove and others were given a pass. Not surprising.



capt

capt said...

Could a Libby pardon help Bush?




The upside to George W. Bush's below-freezing approval ratings? His poll numbers are now so low that maybe pardoning Scooter Libby wouldn't actually hurt him. As Peter Baker writes in the Washington Post this morning, "some White House advisers" are saying that "the president's political troubles are already so deep that a pardon might not be so damaging."

Indeed, there's an argument to be made that Bush can gain political points by pardoning the vice president's former chief of staff. As Baker notes, the people who would be most upset by a pardon are probably ones who've written off Bush already. The folks who'd be most upset by the lack of a pardon, on the other hand, are either still in Bush's camp or susceptible to an invitation to return.

Among them: William Kristol, who suggests that a Libby pardon might be reason to "respect" Bush again, and the editors of the National Review, who argue that Libby is "a dedicated public servant caught in a crazy political fight that should have never happened, convicted of lying about a crime that the prosecutor can't even prove was committed."


-- Tim Grieve


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Bush really has nothing to lose by a pardon and if Scooter decides to squeal on Darth Cheney there could be big trouble.

The notion (albeit correct) that Bush might actually please some of his supporters (the Libby lobby) by a pardon says more about his supporters than anything.

A criminal enterprise finds its heroes in convicts.


capt

O'Reilly said...

Well done Corn.

You found the nexus between a campaign issue and sentencing of Scooter in the CIA leak case investigation.

Is it just me, or have you ever seen ten Republican candidates for Presidnet look so incredibly stupid and ill-informed regarding the facts in a case? Corn, nice job portraying their ignorance and the facts in the case that make them so.

O'Reilly said...

the editors of the National Review ... argue that Libby is "a dedicated public servant caught in a crazy political fight that should have never happened, convicted of lying about a crime that the prosecutor can't even prove was committed.

Exactly! Lying and obstruction is funny that way. When its done well, and it was, it keeps the prosecutor from concluding the investigation and charging the criminal conduct. The folks at National Review are seeing red and publishing angry and poorly reasoned crap.

Gerald said...

O Peace! How many wars were waged in thy name? - Alexander Pope

Oh,my! 3,503 American soldiers killed in Iraq to spread Islamic Law and not to spread democracy. Oh my!

capt said...

Hubert Humphreys of the Right - Wrong Information Given out in New Hampshire



[…]

The Karl Rove doctrine that when you dig yourself into a ditch, the best strategy is to dig deeper, has finally met the test of reality-based politics. It isn't going to be pretty.

These guys got away with these hawkish fantasies because they bamboozled the poor evangelicals into believing they would support public morality, and bamboozled poor conservatives into thinking they would uphold small government. Instead, they are hitching their wagons to a multi-trillion dollar quagmire abroad and don't give a rat's ass about evangelical values.

They will lose because their base is disheartened. They will lose because even their base hates this Iraq stuff. They will lose because their base will stay home in droves.

More HERE

*****end of clip*****

I hope he is right.



capt

capt said...

Last Plamegate Worry for Bush-Cheney



If Libby, who was Vice President Cheney’s chief of staff, were to start talking, he could explain the full role of Bush and Cheney in orchestrating the smear campaign against Iraq War critic Joseph Wilson, which set the stage for Libby and other administration officials to leak the identity of Wilson’s wife, covert CIA officer Valerie Plame, in summer 2003.

Libby also had a front-row seat to the White House cover-up that followed the revelation in September 2003 that the CIA had sent a criminal referral to the Justice Department, complaining about the security breach and prompting the start of a formal investigation.

The evidence from Libby’s trial makes clear that Bush and Cheney had authorized a media campaign to discredit former U.S. Ambassador Wilson, who undertook a CIA fact-finding trip to Niger in 2002 and accused the White House in July 2003 of "twisting" intelligence about Iraq’s alleged pursuit of uranium in Africa to justify going to war.

At minimum, the evidence shows that Bush selectively declassified parts of a National Intelligence Estimate to undercut Wilson, and Cheney ordered Libby to share the information with friendly reporters.

In executing this media strategy, Libby and other administration officials exposed Plame’s identity, though it’s still unclear if Bush or Cheney specifically authorized release of Plame’s CIA employment to discredit Wilson’s Niger trip as a case of nepotism.

Signaling the Conspirators

Beyond the Plame leak itself, a strong case could be made that the President and Vice President sought to mislead federal investigators and the public. On Sept. 30, 2003, Bush declared that anyone who knew anything about the leak should speak up, even as he was concealing the fact that he had authorized parts of the anti-Wilson campaign.

"If there is a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is," Bush said. "I want to know the truth. If anybody has got any information inside our administration or outside our administration, it would be helpful if they came forward with the information so we can find out whether or not these allegations are true."

Since Bush himself was withholding key information, Bush’s statement could be read as a signal to subordinates to hang tough and deny knowledge, anticipating that the inquiry – then under the control of Attorney General John Ashcroft – would peter out.


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

I doubt Libby will squeal. I am certain he has a multimillion dollar position waiting at Halliburton when he is released.



capt

capt said...

When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
Arthur C. Clarke (1917 - ), Clarke's first law

Science is facts; just as houses are made of stones, so is science made of facts; but a pile of stones is not a house and a collection of facts is not necessarily science.
Henri Poincare
French mathematician & physicist (1854 - 1912)

As soon as questions of will or decision or reason or choice of action arise, human science is at a loss.
Noam Chomsky (1928 - ), in a television interview

I believe that a scientist looking at nonscientific problems is just as dumb as the next guy.
Richard Feynman (1918 - 1988)

The important thing in science is not so much to obtain new facts as to discover new ways of thinking about them.
Sir William Bragg (1862 - 1942)

Pandemoniac said...

The clock on the mantle is chiming. You know what that means? Yup. It's officially Thursday here in Texas. S.H.I.T.

The Late Niters have been on hiatus for the last couple of weeks; and they're back. So am I.

I'm digging all the way back to April for the Thursday Night Funnies. I'll get to May and June, eventually.

"The Republicans issued a statement today demanding that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi get back to work. President Bush would have made the statement himself, but he's still on vacation."
-Jay Leno

"Last week, presidential candidate Mitt Romney called himself a lifelong hunter. Turns out he's only hunted twice in his life. And, of course, both of those times were for Easter eggs. He said he hunts only small animals, like Jed Clampett did. Comparing himself to Jed Clampett? Is that a good idea? Anybody gonna want to vote for President Jed Clampett, especially after eight years of President Jethro?"
--Jay Leno

"Are you aware that it's Friday the 13th? ...Down in Washington, D.C., a confused President Bush lit a menorah."
--David Letterman

"Scary moment yesterday for Newt Gingrich. First, Newt got worried when he heard the IRS said they were cracking down on cheaters. Then he realized it was guys who cheated on their taxes, not their wives."
--Jay Leno

"Embattled World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz said Sunday that he will not resign over the scandal in which he secured a pay raise for his girlfriend. That's one thing you have to admire about Wolfowitz: he's a total douche." --Seth Meyers

"Really, President Bush? You think [the Gonzales testimony] went well? Which part? Because the best thing anyone can say about Gonzales' testimony was that he didn't use the word 'Nappy,' and he remembered to wear pants."
--Amy Poehler

"He [Gonzales] is not exactly a constitutional scholar. At one point, he tried to plead the fifth dimension."
--Bill Maher

"There was a prison riot in Indianapolis today. Over 35 former congressmen were involved."
--Jay Leno

"In Nevada, as part of a training exercise, firefighters burned down the famous brothel, the Mustang Ranch. The sad news? Two Republican congressmen were still inside."
--Jay Leno

"In a recent speech, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger told his audience, 'don't believe the platitudes of a politician.' Of course, when Arnold said it, it sounded like, 'Don't believe the platypus of a bad optician.'"
--Conan O'Brien

"Rudy Giuliani says the press can attack him all they want, but they should lay off his wife. Giuliani added, 'I just mean this wife. It's open season on the first two.'"
--Conan O'Brien

"Yesterday, President Bush visited a school in New York City. Before his visit, the city filled in all the potholes near the school. Not only that, before the president's visit, the school hid all the sharp objects and covered the electric sockets with plastic protectors."
--Conan O'Brien

"Today is Arbor Day. Down at the White House, a confused President George W. Bush planted an Easter egg."
--David Letterman

"Did you hear about the Washington, D.C., madam? She was running a call girl operation, and they think a lot of congressmen and senators and high ranking politicians were visiting the prostitutes. It's just crazy. One girl actually got paid with a new highway project."
--David Letterman

"Here's good news: the FBI has arrested the madam who was in charge of the ring of prostitutes. No word though on Osama."
--David Letterman

Ivory Bill Woodpecker said...

Ooh, ooh, lemme try!

"Wednesday was the 63rd anniversary of the Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Normandy. A confused President Bush congratulated his home state of Texas on winning its independence from Mexico."

Pandemoniac said...

yes. it's just that easy.

"Last night, President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush hosted the Queen of England at a big state dinner. One embarrassing moment when the queen told President Bush she'd be on the throne for over 50 years, and Bush said, 'Try Metamucil.'"
--Jay Leno

capt said...

Democratic Congress Increasing Funding for Abstinence-Only?



[…]

While yesterday the House Foreign Operations subcommittee approved legislation that enables global HIV prevention programs to determine at the country level the most effective and relevant mix of services needed by individuals there, the word is that the House Labor-Health and Human Services subcommittee is planning on spending $27 million more than last year (a total of $150 million) on abstinence-only programs (specifically for CBAE--Community Based Abstinence Education program--as early as tomorrow). Yes, the same programs that time and again have been proven to have NO impact on changing the sexual behaviors of young people--but can create increased risk because they are refused a breadth of knowledge on the subject.

It is unconscionable for the Democratic leadership to play into the politics of abstinence only programming, rather than paying attention to the public health evidence. Even more disturbing--in a time of limited resources for public health programs--that the United States think about throwing good money after bad by adding funding to these programs. Just take a look at the states--coast to coast and parts in between--that are rejecting this kind of programming. So why spend more money?

Certainly if the Congressional leadership can see the benefit of ensuring flexibility in international programs to enable the best public health outcomes, the same principle should be applied to domestic programs.


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

And I thought the Democrats were better than this?



capt

capt said...

Abstinence is the same thing as Nancy Reagan's "Just say no" to drugs campaign.

Seems to be working just as well too.

capt

capt said...

Why are Honest 9/11 Researchers Targetted



I am an independent journalist who has investigated the events of 9/11 since that terrible day in which our lives and national political reality were so drastically changed.

My original research and articles have resulted in several discoveries that are central to understanding what really happened at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the reclaimed mine in Lambertsville, Pennsylvania.

Unfortunately, because my discoveries do not support the official government conspiracy version, I was branded an "anti-government conspiracy theorist" by those who refuse to investigate any evidence that challenges the official version.

Last August 15, a gang of three undercover cops came to my house and assaulted me during an unjustified arrest. I was TASERed while restrained and my right elbow was broken in front of my wife and 8-year-old daughter. My writings made me a target of those who are dedicated to promoting the lies about 9/11.

Naturally, this brutal assault took a heavy toll on me. I was thrown into a cell with no water and told to "drink from the toilet." When I asked why undercover cops with body armor had been prowling around my house, I was told – "We are watching you."

I was subsequently charged with two trumped-up misdemeanor charges and immediately became the subject of a well-orchestrated international campaign to discredit me – and by extension my writings and research.

I now face a jury trial on May 31st in the Cook County Circuit Court and would appreciate if you would contact the mayor and police chief of Hoffman Estates and express your concern for what happened to me. In today's America, what happened to me could happen to anyone. For that reason it needs to be addressed by concerned citizens.

The contact information is available HERE

WHY ARE 9/11 RESEARCHERS TARGETED?

Three weeks after I was assaulted and arrested, 9/11 researcher Professor Steven E. Jones of Brigham Young University, was slandered on the local NPR affiliate as a "anti-Semite" and removed from his teaching position at that prestigious Mormon school.

Jones and I had collaborated in the spring of 2006 on his research into the molten metal seen at the World Trade Center. I had learned and reported about the molten iron found in the basements of the three collapsed towers in the summer of 2002. These reports had piqued the interest of Jones several years later. His scientific interest resulted in a thesis that Thermite-type cutter charges had been used to facilitate the destruction of the twin towers and the 47-story WTC 7.

I took Jones' research to the University of California at Davis where I met with Professor Thomas Cahill. Cahill had collected data and analyzed the smoke (with a Davis DRUM) that rose from the WTC debris pile from early October until Christmas 2001. The extraordinary abundance of nano-size particles in the smoke indicated that the molten metal beneath the towers was hotter than the boiling point of iron and the other metals found in the bluish smoke. This is the kind of evidence that those who support the official version hate.

SMEAR-AND-FEAR CAMPAIGN

Were the attacks on me and Professor Jones related? Were we attacked, slandered, and discredited because we were asking too many questions about 9/11? In her recent article, "War and the Police State: Complicity of the American People," published by Global Research Donna J. Thorne wrote,

"Fearing exposure, the Czars of Propaganda know that 'Truthers' must be branded and discredited if government corruption and corporate fraud is to flourish unabated."

"Fear attempts to silence dissenters," Thorne wrote. "As the Truth Movement gains momentum and amasses credibility, the fear profiteers have begun heralding yet another 'threat' to National Security - inquiring minds. This is both good news and bad news. We are no longer ignorable. Fearing exposure, the Czars of Propaganda know that 'Truthers' must be branded and discredited if government corruption and corporate fraud is to flourish unabated. This said, prepare for an intensified Smear-and-Fear Campaign. Any group or individual who vocally questions the official story of 9/11 or who exercises the right to demand Government accountability will be labeled 'Anti-American and Anti-Patriotic.'"

Will we allow that? Will we stand up for the Truth - or will we quietly submit to the lies?


More HERE

*****end of clip*****

Odd only the scientists and researchers that question the official lies that get targeted. That is what passes for open and honest discussion these days?

Shameful.


capt

capt said...

9/11 World Trade Center Disaster: the American Sin of Apathy



What is it like to live in a privileged country, one providing its citizens with the opportunity to pursue happiness, and one guaranteeing them that the happiness they establish will indeed be protected at all costs?

What is it like to live in a country where citizens can lay their heads down on a pillow at night and know beyond a shadow of any doubt that their elected leaders will not rest until the common good among them is met in both action and intention?

Further, what is it like to live in a country where the population is assured that no elected leaders will ever be allowed the power or money necessary to conspire against them and their children for any reason whatsoever? Because no reason for conspiracy against their own is a good reason for any leader.

Do you know that? If not, will you ever freely allow yourself to know? Will you pass along the practices, impassible excuses, and downright selfishness of both current political action and inaction to your own children and to their children and to theirs?

So someone over here says, "Oh, that’s been answered already," or someone over there says, "Someone claimed responsibility already." Is that enough answer for you and your grandchildren?

Or have we become so comfortable in our presumed privilege that we do not wish to "rock the boat?" Indeed, would we choose to sit, idle and apathetic, in our posh office jobs and happy little circle of loved ones and friends and think that some of our freedom is not really a very big price to pay?

Think back to a time before the mortgage was on your list of priorities, before the big promotion at work, before the new automobile payment. Gather your remaining spirit for a true democracy by the people – back when you remembered the words surrounding the verse "land where my fathers died."

When you placed your hand over your heart and pledged your allegiance to a flag which symbolizes the gift from your ancestors of liberty and the pursuit of happiness – and the protection from tyrannical rule - did you cross your fingers behind your back?

Only a portion of the questions which need to be answered about the attacks on our people on September 11, 2001 are as follows:

Where are the flight recorders?

How did Bush see the first plane crash on live camera?

Why were there no photos or videos of the Pentagon plane?

Why was there no trace of the Pentagon plane after the attacks, especially the titanium around the jet engines, which were 6 tons each and resilient to volatile burning jet-grade fuel temperatures?

Why was the hole in the Pentagon only about the size of a scud missile?

Why didn't jets intercept the airliners since they had several warnings of terrorist attacks?

Why did passengers or crew-members on three of the flights all use the term "box cutters?"

Why was a security meeting that was scheduled for 9/11 canceled by WTC management on 9/10?

How did they come up with the terrorists so quickly?

How did they find the terrorist's cars at the airports so quickly?

What about media reports that hijackers bought tickets for flights scheduled after Sept. 11? Weren’t they aware the mission was a suicide mission?

Why do none of the names appear on the passenger lists UA and AA gave to CNN??

Why would the hijackers use credit cards and allow drivers licenses with photos to be xeroxed?

Which hijacker's passport was found after the attacks in the street? How did it survive through an explosive plane crash when the plane’s black boxes did not, and come to a rest outside the building, on the street, where an FBI agent just happened to be there to retrieve it?


How could the FBI distinguish between Muslims and hijacker Muslims on those flights?

Why was there not one "innocent" Muslim on board any of these flights?

Why the strange pattern of debris from Flight 93?

Why did Bush stop inquiries into terrorist connections of the Bin Laden family in early 2001?

Why did the FBI not release the Flight Data Recorder info?


Who video-recorded the first plane hitting the tower? Why did he disappear from the media?

When was the Bin Laden Home Video found and who found the video if Northern Alliance and US troops had not yet arrived in Kandahar or Jahalabad?

Why, according to the German Magazine, MONITOR, were the most controversial statements translated incorrectly?

Why did Bin Laden state in UMMAN Magazine in Sept. 2001, that he was not involved in the WTC?

Why did General Mahmud Ahmad, former head of the ISI quit his position?

Why did retaliation against the Taliban begin the day he stepped down?

Why does Ahmad think that another secret service was involved in the 9/11 attacks?

The September 11th families who fought for an independent investigation resulting in the 9/11 Commission asked over 400 questions, which the 9/11 Commission clearly used as its outline and basis for the report. Most of these questions were left unanswered or completely ignored in the hearings and final report.


The families called for the resignation of Executive Director Philip Zelikow (a Bush Administration member and close associate of Condoleezza Rice). The demand was ignored, although Commission Member Max Cleland resigned, calling the whole thing a "scam" and a "whitewash."

The 9/11 Commission Report contains falsehoods - ignoring anything in disagreement with the "Official Story."

The three buildings became the first structures of their kind to completely collapse due to fire and damage.

"The dramatic collapse of World Trade Center 7 (The third) is something everyone ought to see…. It really does have the characteristics of an explosive demolition." – Dr. Steven Jones, Physicist and Author of Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Completely Collapse?

"If any government sponsors the outlaws and killers of innocents, they have become outlaws and murderers themselves". –President George Bush

"I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in." –George McGovern

"Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism." –Martin Luther King, Jr.

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans, and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty and democracy?" –Gandhi

Think for yourselves. Investigate. Create change.


More HERE

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Worse than apathy there are some that work hard on the endeavor to prove the official lies as truths.


capt

capt said...

UQ Wire: Italian Television Enters The "911" Ring



[…]

Dr. Steven Jones, in a peer-reviewed paper (4), points out that WTC 7 had twenty-four "huge steel support columns insideĂ¢€¦arranged non-symmetrically," and there were some 57 columns around the perimeter. Only three of the support columns and nine of the perimeter columns were damaged, not by a plane or fires, but by falling debris from the collapse of WTC 1. Interestingly enough, both the narrator of the Italian piece and a recent Zogby poll state that the 911 Commission did not investigate the collapse of Building 7. Was that not something that should have been examined? Just another, more political, questionĂ¢€¦did our taxpayer dollars fund the 911 Commission and did we get our money's worth?

Zogby International conducted a fascinating poll (5), nearly a year ago, with some intriguing result. Of the people polled, 43% did not realize that WTC 7 had, in fact, collapsed. These findings are shocking considering that other results during the same poll showed that 48% of the people did not think the government and the 911 Commission were covering anything up. This makes one wonder, if these people knew about Building 7, would the results have been different in the cover-up question?

There are a great many independent films out there that show video of the crumbling of WTC 7 in upon itself. There are many professors, Dr. Jim Fetzer, Dr. Kevin Barrett, Dr. Steven Jones, Dr. David Ray Griffin and others talking about the oddities of this and more, as well. "Seven is exploding" concludes with questions and statements being asked on television in Italy that I know many would like asked here. "But it appears to have been demolished in purpose. Why then not tell the truth right away? And if the authorities have been lying to us about building 7, how do we know they haven't been lying about all the rest as well?" The conclusions seem to be the same; if it looks like a controlled demolition, falls like a controlled demolition, and compares to a controlled demolition, it must be a controlled demolition!


Endnotes:

(1)www.911inplanesite.com

(2)http://www.ichblog.eu:80/index.php?option=com_seyret&task=videodirectlink&id=55818

(3)http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/6160775.stm

(4)http://www.journalof911studies.com/volume/200609/
Why_Indeed_Did_the_WTC_Buildings_Completely_Collapse_
Jones_Thermite_World_Trade_Center.pdf Pgs 19 & 20

(5) http://www.zogby.com/features/features.dbm?ID=231 Results for question 24 and 25


More HERE

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And I thought peer review was just BS.


capt

capt said...

JFK airport plot 'a US setup'



Port Of Spain - The four suspects in an alleged terror plot to bomb a New York airport were set up in an elaborate plan by the US Republican party to retain hold of the White House, the daughter of an arrested suspect claimed on Tuesday.

Huda Ibrahiim, daughter of Amir Kareem Ibrahiim, one of four men accused of plotting acts of terrorism against the United States, said US justice officials had engaged in entrapment in breaking up the alleged plot.

Huda, 20, speaking on behalf of the Trinidad and Tobago and the Guyanese Shi'ite Muslim community, read from a prepared statement in a press conference at a hotel in Port Of Spain.

She said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) informant key to breaking up the alleged plot had presented himself as an Islamic missionary from the United States while visiting the homes of Abdul Kadir and Amir Ibrahiim.

The FBI's informant, whom she called "the source", "is the only person culpable of any of the activities mentioned in the complaint.

Intent to entrap

"The source visited our brothers with the specific intent to entrap them in activities they know nothing about, never agreed to and did not participate in," said Huda.

Her 62-year-old father, 56-year-old former Guyanese parliamentarian Abdul Kadir, along with Russell De Freitas and Abdel Nur, both of Guyanese heritage, allegedly plotted to blow up fuel-tank pipelines at New York City's John F Kennedy International Airport.

Ibrahiim, a Trinidadian, and Kadir appeared in Trinidad court on Monday while Nur gave himself up to local authorities on Tuesday. All three men are facing extradition to the US where De Frietas has already been arraigned.

"We believe that the persons responsible for the arrest of our brothers are doing it for a purpose other than the protection of the people and interests of the USA," Huda said.

"They have apparently done so in the interest of shoring up a lame duck presidency and increasing the lame chances of the Republican party being returned to power in November 2008", said Huda, whose father is a retired government accounts clerk.

'Sure of their innocence'

She also said her father was afraid to fly, was not computer literate and does not use the internet.

"We are absolutely sure of their innocence. Neither of these men and we believe no one in our community participates in activities as those alleged in the public statements or in the filed complaint of the Department of Justice", she said.

As believers in Islamic Sharia, they followed the cardinal principles of the Koran, she said, including the principle that the blood of civilians is sacred.

"To our Muslim brothers and sisters we swear by Allah, the Lord of Muhammad, that we have not participated in any terrorist plot against the United States," she added.


More HERE

capt said...

Much ado about ... Everything!



I had no idea my statement would cause such a brouhaha! Or would go so far and so wide, so fast! And I find it troubling that many of my fellow skeptics apparently approve of dishonest tactics.

Still, I'm pleased to hear skepticism from both sides of the 911 debate. This is how skeptics should act. As well as any "truthers" who wish to be taken seriously. Everyone is absolutely correct to have doubts about who I am and the agenda behind this blog.

My name is Pat Curley,(not Curtiss, as some have stated) and I was born on March 4th, 1955. That may not alleviate any suspicion in and of itself. A determined individual with sufficient resources could find this out. But it was not something I spread around where twoofers were likely to visit. This is not a publicity stunt to promote Screw Loose Change. Unfortunately I must reference my former blog to illustrate my points. I'd rather leave James out of it if I could. He was, like me, only following the agenda. It is no reflection on his personal character how deeply he was trapped in the program I have left.

I'm still not ready to go into details, but broadly, we were approached by a Mr. Jordan who had learned about us from our political commentary. He allegedly shared our concern that the twoof movement showed so signs of abating, especially with the growing popularity of Loose Change. Mr. Jordan worried this would become a divisive media issue and invited us to join his collective of blogs that would network and coordinate to expose Loose Change, as well as offering easy access to resources of fellow allied blogs. Note, not all of these are part of Mr. Jordan's collective. And the informal organization through free providers makes connecting these dots almost impossible. Still, we were excited to find a fellow traveler and jumped on board.

It was only later we realized we should have been at least as skeptical of Mr. Jordan as we were(and still are) of Loose Change.

Note: A thank you to all who've offered there help and shared their concern. But, for now, it is better for me to do this alone.

Posted by Pat at 12:49 PM

More HERE

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A healthy dose of skepticism for all sides is healthy.


capt

capt said...

Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Completely Collapse?



By Dr. Steven E. Jones
Physicist and Archaeometrist
The views in this paper are the sole responsibility of the author.

The paper has undergone significant modifications following an additional set of peer reviews organized by Journal of 9/11 Studies Editor Kevin Ryan.

An earlier version is now published in a volume edited by David Ray Griffin and Peter Dale Scott, 9/11 And The American Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out, Northhampton, MA: Interlink Publishing, 2006. It is published here by kind permission of the editors. One of the editors (Prof. Griffin) has explained that there were four reviewers for my paper, all Ph.D’s, two were physicists. To clarify some apparent confusion: the paper is not published in "The Hidden History of 9-11-2001," Elsevier, 2006, although that volume does contain a number of relevant articles.


More HERE

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The molten metal is captured in both still and video pictures and in reading the NIST report the NIST does not dismiss the molten metal as anecdotal. HERE - the NIST call the molten metal "The condition of the steel in the wreckage of the WTC towers (i.e., whether it was in a molten state or not) was irrelevant to the investigation of the collapse since it does not provide any conclusive information on the condition of the steel when the WTC towers were standing."

So just for the record, not anecdotal just irrelevant.

But who actually reads such stuff?

Bottom line anybody that thinks for a second that the same evil that put Bush in power was or is above killing Americans to further their evil plans has never considered the OTHER 3,000 killed for folly (the troops killed in Iraq).

The PNAC plan was plain and in place years before Clinton left office, the Northwoods documents expose the insanity as being based on thinking from the 1950's and 60's. Nothing new or novel about killing American on American soil to start a war. Some think it a coincidence - I am not in that number.




capt

capt said...

New Thread