Do you see Bush in pictures with lots of old friends? Nope. He did appoint his gay roommate from Harvard as Ambassador to Poland. They seem to have been really good friends since they were 15 years old or so. Really good friends.
When Bush is through with a person, no matter how close they were formerly, that person no longer exists for him. It's a common ego protection for drug and alcohol abusers. Cut the past off completely, it's less problematic that way. As long as the person is doing something for him, fine. But when he's through with them, adios!
Posted by phidipides at July 13, 2005 08:49 AMSteve.... do you think that Rove had an ulterior motive here and, if so, what could it have been?....he does not strike me as the kind that would be blinded by rage and would make such a blunder.....I'm having a difficult time discerning motive...this guy is no doubt the most saavy political assassin in American political history...something isn't adding up...I mean if he actually went to the same church as the Wilson's he had to know she was undercover....somebody help me here!
Posted by Goyo at July 13, 2005 08:53 AMwhat i'd like to know is, has fitzgerald deposed Powell and Armitage? (deposed? whatever, that lawyery thing) another question is whether it goes beyond bolton and/or libby.
I mean if he actually went to the same church as the Wilson's he had to know she was undercover....somebody help me here!
first of all, as i understand from the WSJ, the wilsons belong to the church of satan, and karl rove is the scourge of satan. so their aquaintance from church is suspect.
further, as i never tire of hearing myself say, if rove did the slightest bit of research into this thorn in his side wilson, he would have bumped up against plame's cover story. In that case, as soon as judy miller or whoever told rove "wilson's wife is CIA", rove would have known she was undercover. QED ipse dixit cogito ergo sum.
Posted by benjoya at July 13, 2005 09:07 AMof course, that's assuming rove ever did any opposition research.
Posted by benjoya at July 13, 2005 09:11 AMOT: Bernie Ebbers gets 25- life.....wondering how Kenny-boy is enjoying himself today!
Posted by Goyo at July 13, 2005 09:12 AMToday on the Today show they are back to supporting the smear on Joe Wilson. Newt Gingrich was on commenting about what a liar Wilson and how he lied to the nation, and how he was a Kerry supporter and in fact gave Kerry money. So the Republican talking points are in place. Karl Rove did nothing wrong, Joe Wilson is the problem. Katie Couric didn't ghallenge any of his comments. Everyone seems to have forgotten the forged documents that supposedly showed the deal between Sadam and Niger.
I understand that the story coming soon is how it was Joe Wilson who actually sent our troops to Iraq.
Just remember: All this right-wing jibber-jabber may--in fact, probably will--muddy the waters enough to keep things politically tolerable for Rove and Bush in the short term.
I have a feeling, though, that high-quality federal prosecutors in front of a jury will have little trouble restoring clarity to the situation. This isn't just politics; this is the criminal law. It's exceedingly difficult to spin while you're in court.
Posted by Matt Davis at July 13, 2005 09:29 AMyou're right matt..lot of spin going on..methinks he doth protest to much......fitzgerald is on to something and we will just have to wait and see what it is..my guess ..perjury
Posted by dennis at July 13, 2005 09:35 AM" So the Republican talking points are in place. Karl Rove did nothing wrong, Joe Wilson is the problem."
Yes, it is discouraging.
This and any number of other things have caused me to reevalutate what it means to be a citizen. And what it means to be an American.
Posted by j at July 13, 2005 09:36 AMOf course all this statement parsing makes no difference since the law doesn't state he has to name the agent by name. The law in this case uses the word "IDENTITY" which can mean anything from identifying the agent in a line up, as the person being seated at counsel's table, as the person living at a certain address, or in this case as the wife of a certain person.
It's a smoke screen and a lousy one at that.
Posted by Siberian at July 13, 2005 09:40 AMIn 2002 they were "fixing" the policy. Connect the dots to the Downing Street Memo.
The Memo/Minutes have not been mentioned in the MSM as they relate to this story. Unless the media draws a very simple, easy-to-understand picture for the American people, they won't get it.
Posted by Susan S at July 13, 2005 09:42 AMGOP talking points are to smear Wilson? What's new there??? Smearing Wilson is what got us into this. The Media is cooperating with the GOP Smear! Whats new there??they cooperated before-do the names Novak and Miller ring a bell? This is just the standard procedure-use the co-opted Media to sell obsfucation and disinformation to hide the truth. Considering Bush's recent poll numbers, I wonder if the US Public is in a buying mood this time?
Posted by T2 at July 13, 2005 10:03 AMsomeone should have asked Bush this morning if he has requested the damage report, if not why the hell not. but I guess I am expecting too much out of our dc reporters.
Posted by john at July 13, 2005 10:15 AMTo all you Rove supporters, I have one simple question. If Rove has nothing to hide, why did it take 2 years to root him out as the "source" Bush and the investigators have been looking for?
I have to ask myself why did Rove let Scott McClellan repeatedly lie for him in WH news conferences? Let's use some common sense. Of course Rove outed a CIA agent, for how else did the Cooper know Wilson was an UNDERCOVER agent and not just an analist behind a desk? Only an insider could have told the reporters that.
The real question we should all be asking is who else in the WH is part of Rove's coverup. Did Bush know about Rove outing Wilson's identity, or is he OK with the fact that his cunning advisor has been deceitful with him as well?
And if Bush did know about Rove being the leak, then the President should be charged as being part of a conspiracy.
Posted by Hank at July 13, 2005 10:42 AM
Rove is the keystone supporting the entire Bush house of cards. Bush did nothing without checking with his oracle. In thinking, I would venture to bet that Bolton was up to his eyeballs in this. Apparently, he is a well known loose canon, does exactly what he is told, so it wouldn’t be surprising that he is tied to the Rove thing. Maybe that’s why their giving him the “plumb?” job at the UN.
Posted by Parallax at July 13, 2005 12:10 PMDead Cat Bounce for the Presidunce
Posted by Goyo at July 13, 2005 01:32 PMAri. The one who quit almost exactly before the Plamegate mess hit. As press sec, he'd be a likely guy to feed the BushLine to "reporters" like Miller and Novak, so they could feed it to the public. But Ari and Rove don't make a likely pair, in my view. They may have acted independently with the Plame info coming to them from a third source...Bolton.
Posted by T2 at July 13, 2005 02:43 PM