I believe the Washington Post is finally interested because it has new information and that information is related to domestic spying on journalists, media and possible retaliatory tactics.
You know, the ground that Nixon trod on so long ago.
Just guessing.
Posted by Slothrop at May 17, 2007 12:40 PMI think they went Nixon one better. In addition to spying on the media and the Democratic Party, I'd bet my house they were eavesdropping on members of Congress and other elected officials, under the guise of rooting out "traitors" with access to classified information who might "be in cahoots with the terrorists." Can't you just hear John Yoo arguing that to W on Cheney and Rove's behalf? And think what KKKarl must have done with some of the information he obtained -- especially from listening to REPUBLICANS. Maybe that's how they enforced their vaunted party discipline and kept Congress in lockstep all these years!
Posted by dalloway at May 17, 2007 01:00 PMAgree with Dalloway completely and would add:
When Karl Rove talked about "the MATH" as in his numbers leading up to the '06 elections, we now know what he was talking about. The man's a sewer rat and has been a sewer rat since his college Repug days.
Posted by nlacey at May 17, 2007 01:12 PMBeen away from the computer all day, but wow, Steve, great post!
It brought this to mind:
WASHINGTON -- Republican staff members of the US Senate Judiciary Commitee infiltrated opposition computer files for a year, monitoring secret strategy memos and periodically passing on copies to the media, Senate officials told The Globe.
Interesting, isn't it?
Posted by iamcoyote at May 17, 2007 01:13 PMWhy not talk openly about impeachment of the AG?
Bush and Cheney, too. Get rid of them all.
Posted by Christopher at May 17, 2007 01:35 PMTo quote myself from over a year ago:
The cautious conclusion is that the program neither valuable enough nor legal enough to continue. I’ll go out on a limb and conclude that on its face it’s counterproductive and unconstitutional, but it is also a piece in the total Bu$hCo domestic spy program. They are spying on organizations and individuals that are or could be a threat to them. The Pentagon is doing it, the FBI is doing it and the NSA is doing it. GWB's "money tell" is, “I don’t use e-mail -- because I don’t want you reading my stuff.”
Gonzo's "tell" (although it was so obvious that it might exceed the definition of "tell") was how carefully he phrased his responses in his testimony about the NSA wiretapping -- always limiting it strictly to the program the media had uncovered. Then Congress and the media accepted the dictum -- nothing to see, move on.
Wolfowitz will resign June 30th, 2007.
Posted by Christopher at May 17, 2007 03:52 PMLast time I checked, CEO Bush & COO Dead Eye were still calling the shots, and the BOD Congress were still fishing.
Christine Todd Whitman said she didn't want to testify. Condi said she didn't want to testify. Alberto's still there and still stonewalling.
Nineteen more months to play defense and run out the clock, and issue pardons for everyone on the last day.
~~~~~~~~~~
1992 - "It's the economy stupid." - Bill Clinton
2008 - "It's Iraq first and the economy second stupid." - the Public to the candidates
I am NHB and I approve this message.
I do not accept funding from any political party in any way, shape or form, so that I may maintain an independent and objective opinion.
Oh and btw, you may want to see the checklist for
Did We Miss the Coup d' État? By Richard Blair
Posted on May 17, 2007
During the time the Vietnam war was in full swing, Edward Luttwak wrote a seminal book on the phenomena of overthrowing governments, Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook. In defining the attributes of a typical coup, Luttwak explains:
A coup consists of the infiltration of a small but critical segment of the state apparatus, which is then used to displace the government from its control of the remainder.
....
The confluence of several events over the past year or so lead to the question: did a true coup d’état occur in the U.S., and we missed it? ...
Since the time that George Bush came to power in the contested election of 2000, many have opined that the Supreme Court decision in Bush -v- Gore was, in fact, a coup. Legal historians will certainly be arguing the finer points of the SCOTUS decision long after most of us are dead. However, a coup in the classic sense requires that fundamental changes occur to both the power structure of a government and the precepts of enabling documents and legislation (for example, constitutional interpretations).
Setting aside the constitutionality and use of presidential signing statements and all of the other challenges to constitutional authority that have occurred in the past 6 years, let's just take a quick look at the recent militarization of the heretofore civilian infrastructure of the U.S. government:
Item: In an unprecedented presidential appointment, active duty General Michael Hayden was installed as director of the CIA in 2006.
Item: General David Petraeus makes the rounds in Washington, and updates political leaders on progress / lack thereof in Iraq. George Bush holds a press conference, and invokes Petraeus' name no less than 12 times. He also implores, "Let the commanders do their job". Some would argue that Bush is abdicating his authority (and responsibility) as Commander in Chief for the prosecution of war.
Item: 11 GOP congressmen hold a frank conversation with Bush, telling him that he has no clothes (or credibility). They'll "only believe General Petraeus".
Item: Active duty generals are going on record (at least anonymously) telling journalists that they'll "revolt against the regime" in September if the regime is still sticking with the surge into 2008.
Item: General Petraeus denies that he has come under pressure from President Bush or other political leaders to paint a false or skewed picture of the U.S. military campaign in Iraq:
"I am not being pressured by the president to say anything," Petraeus told reporters after 3 hours of back-to-back briefings of House and Senate members on the situation in Iraq. "I am not going to be pressured by political leaders of either party."
Item: Lt. Gen. Lute is selected as the Bush regime's "war czar", in an apparent direct contravention to the constitution of the United States and the powers of the executive branch. Thoroughly unreported in the U.S. legacy media (or even the progressive new media) is that Lute views the internet as a battleground in the war on terror.
Either Gen. Petraeus is being set up as the biggest patsy in history, or he's already taken over. He's basically been anointed as the "honest broker" and ombudsman between the Bush regime and congress. Everyone is deferring to him, and it doesn't seem as if much of anyone is questioning Gen. Lute's new job, either. The civilian cabinet position of Secretary of War was deprecated in 1947, but it seems that it's now been resurrected, and that a military guy is running the show. General Hayden is running the intelligence apparatus of the United States, and holds no allegiance to the civilian legislative branch, even though that branch was required to confirm him (another GOP rubber stamp job in 2006).
It's acceptable to squirm in your chair a little bit. Perhaps "coup" is too strong of a word, but clearly, the Bush regime has consolidated the executive branch's hold over the military, and the military's current influence over day-to-day decision making at the highest levels of government is pretty much unprecedented in U.S. history.
....
Richard Blair is a Philadelphia area freelance writer and the blogmaster of All Spin Zone.
~~~~~~~~~~
1992 - "It's the economy stupid." - Bill Clinton
2008 - "It's Iraq first and the economy second stupid." - the Public to the candidates
I am NHB and I approve this message.
I do not accept funding from any political party in any way, shape or form, so that I may maintain an independent and objective opinion.
The Republicans have nothing to worry about with respect to their unwavering support of the Bush/Cheney Junta.
When it becomes advantageous or necessary, they will, in lock-step, completely reverse themselves. Not one member of the corporate press/media, save Olberman and maybe Matthews, will call them on it. It will be like it never happened. Worse, the Republicans will be feted in the corporate press/media as the "leaders" of the change in position. Any Democrats who speak up or cry foul will be dismissed as bitter partisans, totally out of step with Americans' demand for bipartisanship.
Bottom line: Abu Gonzalez is not costing the Republicans any votes. He can't hurt Bush because Bush is already down to the people who will never leave him. The fact that AG pisses off the Democrats in Congress is of no consequences because the Democrats in Congress aren't really going to do anything other than bluster.
Posted by James E. Powell at May 17, 2007 04:57 PMSlothrop, I think your guess is not only sound, but probably the truth.
Posted by Judith at May 17, 2007 08:35 PMDalloway, we have been saying for over two years here on TLC that Rove had a blackmail list. Now we know how he got it.
Posted by Judith at May 17, 2007 08:38 PM