it began in afrika-ka-ka

* "In the margins of (Joe Wilson's) op-ed, Cheney jotted out a series of questions that seemed to challenge many of Wilson's assertions as well as the legitimacy of his CIA sponsored trip to Africa: "Have they done this sort of thing before? Send an Amb. [sic] to answer a question? Do we ordinarily send people out pro bono to work for us? Or did his wife send him on a junket?"" (link)

* emptywheel:

"Consider what these notes mean. For the most part, these questions are not first reactions to information he learned newly from the op-ed. We know from Libby's indictment that Dick already knew the CIA had sent Wilson and presumably he already knew (from the CIA materials faxed to his office on June 9) that Wilson had made the trip pro bono. And note the Plame reference: not only does this reference prove he knew of Plame's purported involvement in Wilson's trip (since Wilson's op-ed makes no mention of Plame, Dick had to have known of it independently). But it suggests that Dick's first response, upon reading Wilson's op-ed, was to insinuate it was just a boondoggle arranged by his wife."

* a commentor at EW's: "The annotated "What I Didn't Find in Africa" is the semen stained dress."

* josh: "Both papers are now hearing from intel sources that Goss had asked Foggo to resign early last week, a few days before Goss himself resigned. And both papers are also hearing and apparently crediting claims that Goss himself didn't know Foggo before plucking him from relative obscurity to assume day to day management of the Agency."

* bush's JAR amongst dems is 4%. surely that's a record.

* i think joe cannon was the first to appreciate that all of wilkes' companies were fronts. Laura heard from someone who had business dealings with wilkes 2 years ago:

"I've toured the ADCS facility in Poway. It's like a corporate Taj Mahal, everything is super high-end. Lavish flower arrangements in the lobby, toilet paper in the bathrooms folded like a hotel room, marble everywhere. Weird thing is NO ONE seems to actually work there! Brent showed us his production floor and it was completely empty. Tons of huge, elaborate, obviously incredibly expensive equipment and no one using it."

* emotywheel: "In short, I think Fitzgerald is clearly communicating to Dick that he has evidence Dick conceived of the terms of the smear, ordered Libby to implement it, and possibly extended it after receiving warning of the repercussions of it."