Monday, June 19, 2006

terminally greedy aliens

* huffpo:
"We really shouldn't argue too much with each other: we need to unite and move quickly, boldly, the way we would if we were being attacked by an enemy from another planet--because, in a very real sense, we are.

Make no mistake: it will be hard, even now, to defeat a party that believes it has a special dispensation from God to lie and cheat because God wants it to keep power. Losing to this party again is unthinkable--but it can't be. We have to think it, and let the thought of the meaning and consequences of that defeat inspire our greatest efforts. Otherwise, all we will be left with is a slim doomsday consolation: my apologies to the penguins and the polar bears, but an electorate so stupid as to be taken in again by these terminally greedy aliens among us will get what it deserves and deserve exactly what it gets."

* emptywheel:
"... if I were one of Libby's lawyers, I'd probably be ready to admit the greymail and First Amendment protection strategies had failed, and Scooter's stinky lies were all I was left with. And, as an employee protecting the larger Neocon cabal, I'd recognize that proceeding further, what with every filing revealing some new piece of evidence suggesting Dick Cheney ordered Scooter Libby to out Valerie Plame on a vindictive lark, I might think seriously about calling it quits.
[]
I suspect Fitzgerald may be zeroing in on proving just that--that Dick and Libby willfully outed Valerie Plame. And there seems to be renewed energy attempting to avoid allowing Fitzgerald to prove just that."

* frank rich:
" The presidential diagnosis of Mr. Maliki's trustworthiness was contradicted by the White House decision to keep the visit a secret from him until the last minute. How big a dis is that? Even the Americans the administration distrusts most - journalists - were told a day in advance."
* chitrib:

"Hastert's family paid $11,000 per acre in 2002 for some of the land he and his partners subsequently sold in December for $36,000 per acre."

* arkin:
"In Baghdad meanwhile, Iraqi national security adviser Mowaffak Rubaie magically released a captured al Qaeda in Iraq document yesterday, a document that gives a gloomy assessment of the state of terrorist forces and the insurgency. Never mind that the language of the document immediately called its authenticity into question."

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I keep wracking my brain to figure out what set of circumstances could give us Luskin claiming his client won't be indicted, but refusing to show the letter because of a "pending investigation" and Fitz not commenting.

I keep coming back to a sealed indictment against Porky Pig being the reason for not showing the letter, Fitz not talking and limited immunity for Rove on the strict question of who leaked Plame's name to the Press, leaking Plame's name being one small aspect of the larger crimes uncovered by the Plame investigastion.

Okay, call me an optimist.

Anonymous said...

Chris Floyd has a set of comments on the Chicago Tribune article above and notes that if Sibel Edmonds "is ever allowed to tell her story, good ole Denny migh find himself reaping the healthy benefits of the Leavenworth Diet for a certain number of years."

Miguel said...

Calipendence/Luke,
Do we know how Hastert paid for his land acquisitions? Was it cash or did he take out a mortgage?

We know from Sibel that Hastert is alleged to have received suitcases full of cash delivered to his residence. Obviously, he could not just deposit this money in his local bank account. It would have to be laundered.

I'm assuming Hastert just got a standard mortgage for this land deal; after all, as Speaker of the House, even though he is of modest finances compared to a person like Nancy Pelosi, he should have no problem getting a loan to buy the property.

Still, it's worth asking the question if his illicit Turkish funds could be laundered into a land deal.

Anonymous said...

Has anybody checked Denny's freezer?

lukery said...

miguel - nah - i dont know the details. somehow they parlayed one block of land into a larger one, and then again.

i'm not really sure that Hastert even 'paid' his share.

kathleen - i think that might be why denny got nervous when Jefferson's office got raided

Anonymous said...

For sure.