Another Weekly RoundUp

My son was in from the service so I haven't spent much time pursuing stuff. Well, other than bad things in F.E.A.R.

Leaking 201

From Crooks and Liars:

"It's ok to leak all over Valerie Plame.

Isn't it interesting-the outrage over leakers-when Valerie Plame was outed and Rove is still working in the White House. President Bush said this about Scooter Libby after he was indicted:

'Scooter has worked tirelessly on behalf of the American people and sacrificed much in the service to this country,'

Cheney said of Scooter:

'...one of the most capable and talented individuals I have ever known.' and 'I have accepted his decision with deep regret.' "

Link: http://www.crooksandliars.com/

The White House is, however, vigorously pursuing the leakers in the President's Spying Caper. So when it rubs one way, it's treason, but when it rubs the other way, it's patriotism.


Spying 101

Sunday Morning Talk
Go to C&L to get the video. It's good. Following are a few transcript excerpts.

"Bob Barr: The president violated the law

Bob Barr came out swinging against Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) on CNN yesterday-over news that President Bush has been spying on U.S. citizens.

BARR: What's wrong with it is several-fold. One, it's bad policy for our government to be spying on American citizens through the National Security Agency. Secondly, it's bad to be spying on Americans without court oversight. And thirdly, it's bad to be spying on Americans apparently in violation of federal laws against doing it without court order.

BARR: Well, the fact of the matter is that the Constitution is the Constitution, and I took an oath to abide by it. My good friend, my former colleague, Dana Rohrabacher, did and the president did. And I don't really care very much whether or not it can be justified based on some hypothetical. The fact of the matter is that, if you have any government official who deliberately orders that federal law be violated despite the best of motives, that certainly ought to be of concern to us.

BARR: The fact of the matter is the law prohibits-specifically prohibits -what apparently was done in this case, and for a member of Congress to say, oh, that doesn't matter, I'm proud that the president violated the law is absolutely astounding, Wolf.' (Full transcript) Whenever a Presidential apologist is backed into a corner by the facts-they always seem to come up with some lame- brain 'what if' scenario to justify the indefensible.

ROHRABACHER: Not only proud, we can be grateful to this president. You know, I'll have to tell you, if it was up to Mr. Schumer, Senator Schumer, they probably would have blown up the Brooklyn Bridge. The bottom line is this: in wartime we expect our leaders, yes, to exercise more authority.

BARR: Well, first of all, or last of all, this so-called plot to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge was bogus because it had to do with a group of idiots who were planning to dismantle it with blow torches. " Link: http://www.crooksandliars.com/

I wonder how long it would have taken to dismantle the Bridge. Is it terrorism if it happens over a span (no pun intended) of three years? Does every violent delusion rise to the status of terrorism in our current paranoid climate?

Final Thought for Today:

Gee, I bet Bill Clinton would have been shot by now. So why are the defenders of freedom sluffing this off? Well, because it's Bush. And everybody knows he can do no evil and walks on water, too.