all i can say is WHAT THE FUCK!

[unblock]

i can't believe what i've seen this week.

republicans' slavish loyalty and congenital inability to admit error has led them to:

- argue that a covert cia agent "needed" outing;
- argue that a cia agent's covert status being classified is an example of the government's penchant for excessive secrecy and overclassification;
- argue that a good way to punish a man is to destroy his wife's career. something any self-respecting texan would call "yella".

i mean, really, WHAT. THE. FUCK.

i can understand them denying facts.
i can understand them trying to distract us.
i can understand them just plain lying, say, by claiming that plame's status was already common knowledge.

but i never would have imagined that the banana republican disease would lead them to actually just plain straight up defend and support outright treason.

outing a cia agent is not merely on a par with informing the enemy of the locations of our warriors. it, for all practical purposes, **IS** informing the enemy of the locations of our warriors.

they've finally jumped the shark, or crossed the rubicon, or whatever the appropriate metaphor is.


for the elections in 2006, 2008, and beyond, we have a new mantra.

the banana republican party is PRO-TREASON

[rockymountaindem]

1. Perhaps they jumped the shark swimming in the Rubicon.

[Swamp Rat]

3. Jumping sharks can be dangerous.

:D

[Burried News]

11. Poor shark - that much crisco can't be good for him?

Still hungry - have a Libby.

[Virginian]

20. Crisco is all vegetable. We are talking high cholesterol lard. n/t

[lady lib]

27. You know if the shark likes lard...

we could throw in Sensenbrenner, too. :)

[Burried News]

46. I always thought of Senselessbrenner as ambergris ...

whale vomit.

[understandinglife]

2. "the banana republican party is PRO-TREASON"

Yeap. That sums it precisely.


Peace.

www.missionnotaccomplished.us

[RoyGBiv]

4. What. The. Fuck.

I sometimes fall into a semi-comatose state, and people tell me this is the only intelligible thing that comes from my mouth. I say it over and over...whatthefuck, whatthefuck, whatthefuck ...

I don't recognize my country in the hands of these fucktards.

[Maraya1969]

5. What about "she wasn't really a covert agent?"

I've heard that one too.

[unblock]

8. right, missed that one.

i've lost track of the insanity.

years from now when some measure of reason returns to the republican party, they will still deny ever saying the things that were captured on tape this week.

[il_lilac]

15. yeah, just a lowly desk jockey

No harm done :sarcasm:

[karlrschneider]

30. "Just a desk jockey"....who somehow had the authority to "send" her

husband on an extremely important diplomatic mission. Uh huh...

[unblock]

54. excellent point!

[Jane Austin]

17. It isn't up to the Republican Party to decide who is and isn't undercover.

I heard someone smart say that on the teevee, and it's a good thing to have in your holster when you run across one of these jerks.

[tridim]

6. "The banana republican party is PRO-TREASON"

Go ahead *, pardon Rove. I double-secret-dog-dare you!

It was a crazy week, probably the craziest in my 30 some odd years on earth... And it's only going to get crazier.

[Pithy Cherub]

7. Strip evey last banana republican of any National Security Cred!

Make banana republicans stand ashamed in the public square, be ridiculed through the investigations of neo-con republicans, humiliated at the R indictments, mortified at the republican trials of the century, and beyond ashamed at the wholly owned republican convictions!

honestly :wtf:

[madrchsod]

9. i really hate to admitt

but i`m on the cia`s side on this one...they maybe some of the worse bastards on the earth but they protect us from bastards even worse..i think it`s treason.

[rman]

52. Just don't be on the side of Bush's part of the CIA,

and you'll be ok.

[Gemini Cat]

10. I never imagined any of this would happen.

I never would have thought it was acceptable to commit treason. I would not have thought that there would be people who would defend the act of treason. I would not have thought anyone would be stupid enough to mess with the CIA and I never would have thought I'd be on the CIA's side!
I've had to rethink a lot of my former positions, since the fall of democracy in 2000.

[AuntiBush]

12. Confound W...

My sediments "exactly!" Thanks for putting it into words. Shew. A daily dose of un-believable is past bizarre, it is "crossing the rubicon" alright and it's frightening.

[ailsagirl]

35. They've made a shambles of this country. Was that their intent?

They've got some serious screws loose.

They are "...an affront to common decency and an innate sense of justice. Much of this injustice is a direct violation of our Constitution..."

http://www.crisispapers.org/essays-p/despair.htm

[Reynardine]

64. That's what worries me.

When I first got into politics, the CIA was the other side. They were Reagan's pawns and I didn't want them recruiting on campus.

Now, they're on our side? At least, they're not as bad as others out there? I still have a hard time accepting that.

Sometimes I wonder if Bush is a CIA plot to make the CIA look good.

[Robeysays]

77. your mad about it, do something about it!

run for office.

[me b zola]

13. The rnc's pathetic behavior really does set the stage

for some very effective DNC campaign ads.

Remind them of what the republican party *used* to stand for. Remind them of how the republican party of yesteryear would not have condoned such anti-American behavior. **Of course, they have always been dirty, just not openly---but we don't need to include this in the ads:) **

All indications are that a large number of life-long repubs have an idea of what is going on. We need to hammer it in for '06 & '08 just in case they get week-kneed on their way to the polls.

[AuntiBush]

14. You are Not Alone!

Kicked

[Jane Austin]

16. You are so right about hammering them on this.

I am stunned that they are taking this tack and seem to be proud of it.

I pray that it is going to finish off some very deserving Republicans.

[rumpel]

18. Excessive secrecy is Cheney's Energy meeting. Let's remember they operate

with taxpayer's dollars.

Whatever they want to spin now, once Fitz releases the report, we the people will judge, all of them.

[yodermon]

19. MY FAVORITE:

President b***, as Commander in Chief, Chief Executive, and nigh-invulnerable lord of the Universe, has supreme authority to determine which covert agents may be outed, and when.

IOW, His word Is Law.

(note: isn't this similar to the gonzalas torture-approving logic?)

[hvn_nbr_2]

60. L'etat, c'est moi.

IOW, His word Is Law.

I think he's gone even beyond that. Not just his word is law. He is the state in his own mind (what's left of it).

For any who don't know: The French quote means "I am the state." It's a quote from Louis XIV, king of France during the lead-up to the French Revolution.

[Stinky The Clown]

21. I think I'm seeing some cracks in the unanimity

Tonight on Hardball (it was safe ... Tweety was off) Ed Rollins and John Podesta were talking about being in the white house during a crisis. Podesta made a shitload of good points. Rollins looked as if he were in the dentist waiting room ready to get a root canal job. He said the usual talking points you list, but it was pretty clear to me his heart wasn't in it ... at all. He acted like the guy who got the short straw and hadda do the Tweety show.

[SlowDownFast]

22. This shit is coming to a head.

There's a serious fork in the road here.

I thought maybe we were there before, but these turn of events really clarify.

Fork 1:

The media steps up to plate and between their efforts (combined with internet/blog activities) and Fitzgerald's indictments (and, who knows? the CIA?), finally pulls back the curtains on these crooks for all of America (and the world) to see.

Criminal charges are brought, several administration officials are found guilty, America wakes up as a result of all this and changes are made for the long, hard slog back to sanity and healing.

The republican party as we knew it is completely destroyed, and all the co-conspirators in congress who helped cover up these crimes are shamed and are run out of gov't by the people.

Fork 2:

These fascist criminals get away by whatever crooked means they can,
remain in power (more stolen elections), and continue the raping and pillaging of America.

Just when we thought the polarization of this country couldn't possibly have any more tension to it, a political, economic and social line is drawn separating "us" from "them". Folks can no longer remain on the fence. Families split apart because of it.

People left with no hope of a democratic and honest gov't become open to the possibility of revolution - even if it means violence.

Civil war becomes the "buzz word"...


THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED...

[wli]

39. if there is going to be a revolution

It will be the military types gunning down and imprisoning/enslaving dissenters en masse.

You have to do this intelligently, color inside the lines, and all that. That's what the "media war" is about; discrediting them in the eyes of previous partisans and eroding their power base with information.

Abu Ghraib II should turn enough stomachs to turn almost all backs to them.

[Stirk]

23. My favorite piece of head-spinning hypocrisy *ever* came out this week.

Just today, in fact.

The Abu Ghraib photos cannot be released, because displaying pictures of the people our military tortured to death would be a violation of the Geneva Convention.

Besides, their detention isn't illegal, because they're only "enemy combatants", and therefore not protected by the Geneva Convention.

In addition to that, showing pictures of people we raped, tortured, and murdered might put them at risk of physical harm.

That's three full head rotations.

[driver8]

29. Sad thing is, their "sheeple" swallow it all...hook, line and sinker.

My wife was over at a friend's house yesterday. The husband is one of the smartest people I know, but he "leans to the right." (He calls himself a Libertarian). Anyhow, he and my wife were discussing the Rove/Plamegate situation and he said to my wife, "Oh well, this 'Rove thing' isn't that big a deal."

WTF?? Lying and treason aren't 'that big a deal'?? Then WTF is??

[Stirk]

31. Yep! I know the type.

Somebody on TV (or radio) told him it wasn't a big deal, and so he just adopted that opinion. It's so much easier than thinking.

It's amazing.

[Reynardine]

65. If it doesn't touch them personally

They don't think it's a big deal.

[Bozita]

82. Blow jobs are always big with Republicans ... and those Republicans always

... tell the truth about them.

[Burried News]

47. Defending the GOP or defending America?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/22/AR2005072201727.html
"Vice President Cheney met Thursday evening with three senior Republican members of the Senate Armed Services Committee to press the administration's case that legislation on these matters would usurp the president's authority and -- in the words of a White House official -- interfere with his ability "to protect Americans effectively from terrorist attack."

Vice President Cheney told GOP senators that legislation regulating the treatment of detainees would usurp presidential authority. (AP)
Vice President Cheney told GOP senators that legislation regulating the treatment of detainees would usurp presidential authority.

It was the second time that Cheney has met with Senate members to tamp down what the White House views as an incipient Republican rebellion. The lawmakers have publicly expressed frustration about what they consider to be the administration's failure to hold any senior military officials responsible for notorious detainee abuse in Iraq and the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

This week's session was attended by Armed Services Chairman John W. Warner (R-Va.) and committee members John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.). Warner and Graham last week chaired hearings that explored detainee abuse and interrogation tactics at Guantanamo Bay and the concerns of senior military lawyers that vague administration policies have left the door open to abuse.

Neither Cheney's office nor the lawmakers would say exactly what was discussed at the meeting, citing a routine pledge of confidentiality. But Cheney has long been the administration's chief defender of presidential prerogatives, and at the meeting he reiterated opposition to congressional intervention on the topic of detainee interrogations, according to a source privy to what happened."

[rman]

55. While torture is not a violation, and we don't need to abide by the Geneva

Convention anyway.

Good thing the people's power to forget is so great.

[OhNoTheyDidNot]

24. unblock, remember this. Success is not permant .... mark my words

they are going down

[Zorbuddha]

26. The pendulum swings

always

[Warren Stupidity]

48. yes but if they keep tilting the floor it always swings the wrong way.

[annabanana]

49. the pendulum is stuck

(Gots to get the crooked machines OUT of the equation..BEFORE '06)

[Zorbuddha]

25. Cornered rats do the damndest things

You might hear splashes soon, as they begin to jump ship.

[jurassicpork]

28. Don't forget

...Mehlman saying that Rove, not Plame nor Wilson, but ROVE, was the victim in all this, as Rove's career has been destroyed and his life in danger from Muslim maniacs.

ROVE's the victim. Let us never forget that.

JP
http://jurassicpork.blogspot.com

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

32. So wingnuts are actually acknowledging the purpose of this was to punish

Wilson/Plame for Joseph's "going off the reservation" about the Niger forgery, and they think that's okay?

[Vektor]

33. I even have a hard time believing it.

I know the Cons are nuts, but yes, it certainly does seem, for all practical purposes, that they are indeed supporting and defending TREASON. That's some crazy shit.

Wow.

[ailsagirl]

34. I think they're teetering dangerously on the edge...

They're desperate. Everything is falling down around them.
We knew this was inevitable.

[Technowitch]

36. What's more, Valerie Wilson wasn't the only one compromised

EVERY covert agent working under cover provided by that Boston company, Brewster-Jennings, is also compromised.

EVERY contact and resource Ms. Wilson talked to while overseas is at risk of arrest and execution.

EVERY intelligence matter Ms. Wilson or any of her formerly covert CIA associates worked on has been compromised, and revealed to our enemies.

Those who leaked her name are, by my judgment, guilty of treason. I don't even care if there's some legalism they can pull to evade charges. Or if charged, avoid conviction. This one falls under the "any reasonable person" rule.

Any reasonable person would see that outing a covert intelligence agent is a treasonable act.

My feeling anyway.

-Technowitch

[tuvor]

37. Thanks for that. n/t

[XemaSab]

38. all you can do

is offer to get them a bigger shovel for that thar hole they're working on digging themselves into.

[oasis]

40. Rethugs can't admit they are wrong although it is as clear as day. They

are afraid it would lead to them taking a look at every sham conservative cause that they have stood up for in the past.

The horror, oh, the horror. :scared:

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

41. They really are digging themselves a nice hole, aren't they?

First it was Social Security, then it was Schiavo, and now this. I think they've lost their collective minds. Further to the point, this is a perfect demonstration of the fact that the current GOP leadership is nothing special. The only part of their operation that actually works is their spin machine, and that's what's been winning them elections - NOT the strength of their leadership, party unity, or any of the other things discussed here at such length.

[hallo]

42. hypocrites

Wasn't the election All "security"-- security moms, etc. ... isn't revealing a CIA agent's identity a "security issue"? You'd think they'd be on the OTHER side of this, logically.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

44. Haha, you used "election" and "logic" in the same sentence!

:)

[hallo]

45. ha

Newbie mistake I guess. Election + logic = what was I thinking?

[annabanana]

50. Well hello there, hallo!

Welcome to DU! :toast:
(In case you've been wondering "where did America go?".... Here we are!)

Just for curiosity's sake, how long did you "lurk" before you decided to chime in?

[helderheid]

63. hallo hallo!

[unblock]

56. right, they're destroying the ONE issue they have a majority on

people prefer democrats on virtually EVERY issue except national security.

now they've just HANDED that issue over to the democrats.

thankfully, i think -- hope -- that dean is just the guy to seize upon this and make the most of it.

[suegeo]

57. They win elections because they steal them

I don't mean to be rude, but I have to enhance something you've said:

"The only part of their operation that actually works is their spin
machine, and that's what's been winning them elections"

Their spin machine is certainly shrill and it's lobotomized many people. However, there are other parts of their operation that have been working pretty well:

--Assassinations and assassination attempts
--Election fraud, rigged machines.

In my opinion, the rigged machines are keeping them in power now. Back 'round 2000, it was their spin machine, but now, it's election fraud.

The assassination attempts (anthrax, suspicious plane crashes) had been working pretty well. But the attempt on Plame's life seems to be backfiring. I hope?

ON EDIT: Even in 2000 it was fraud. How could I forget Jeb and Katherine and their felon's list.

[unblock]

58. i agree. fraud keeps them in. the spin machine serves to keep us down

the spin machine gives them just enough support to make it seem like it's not out-and-out fraud. that is, if 70% of the voters wanted kerry and the machines said bush won, people wouldn't stand for it, they'd KNOW it was fraud.

but with 'only' 53% of the vote, it's close enough that even if we're highly suspicious of fraud, people grudgingly accept the results and focus on fixing the process for the next time.

imagine if the banana republican spin machine were instantly replaced by a democratic spin machine! shrub would have about 7% support within a week!!

[Tux]

43. Nevermind

Rove's access to super double triple uber-secret stuff.

[rman]

51. argue that she was not outed, argue that she was not under cover

got cognitive dissonance?

[unblock]

53. wow, NINE nominations!

and all i had to do was write "fuck" instead of "f*ck" :-)

[hvn_nbr_2]

59. the banana republican party is PRO-TREASON

Someone should work a banana into some "yellow elephant" artwork.

[helderheid]

61. she was asking to be raped kind of mentality

[unblock]

66. what gets me is this is the WIFE of the person they were trying to punish

really, with all the texas talk around shrub, this is the most unfathomable past.

in the old west cowboy world if, instead of fighting the man you're angry with, you punched out the man's wife instead, you would be run out of town on a rail!

[mwb970]

69. Maybe there's more to it than we think.

You're right, it doesn't make sense. But would it, if we knew more?

[unblock]

73. it's certainly worth wondering

they did far more damage to valerie and to the cia's wmd intelligence gathering network than they did to joseph.

makes ya wonder if maybe the whole 'to get back at joseph' is actually the LESS damaging version of events for them!

[omega minimo]

62. It's "1984" folks

It's the "Two Minutes Hate"

Are you still trying to make sense of it?

:evilgrin:

[Dragonfli]

67. "all i can say is IT'S WHO THEY ARE!"

They are
PRO-TREASON,
PRO-TORTURE,
ANTI-ACCOUNTABILITY,
Lying treasonous bastards that are destroying our country.

I have a new mantra for for my sig line.
the banana republican party is PRO-TREASON
I will repeat it often & loudly.

[unblock]

68. wow, i made it into someone's sig line!

now i've REALLY hit the big time!

:hi:

[Dragonfli]

70. A Worthy Mantra

:hi:

[oldcoot]

71. They love their president more than the country

If they cared about the United States, they would be screaming to get to the bottom of this. Instead, they care more about protecting their beloved president than protecting national security. I think that it is fair to start asking them if they are Americans or Republicans.

[unblock]

72. remember these are the people who IMPEACHED clinton for lying about a bj.

yet outing a covert agent is no big deal.
:eyes:

[oldcoot]

76. It is disgusting

The fact that so many Republicans made such a fuss about Clinton's sex life yet do not care about the outing of a CIA agent demonstrates their priorities. They care more about getting and staying in power than our national security.

[moondust]

74. If the shoe were on the other foot.

If a Dem administration had committed an act of treachery this vile and irresponsible I'm sure the self-righteous screeching would be heard all the way to Neptune. "THEY HAVE IRREPAIRABLY DAMAGED THE NATIONAL DEFENSE!!" "IMPEACH THEM ALL!!!" Bimbo news collaborators everywhere would lead with "TRAITORS!!!"

You'd never hear the end of it.

[unblock]

75. of course, it never would have gotten to this point

a democrat would have been impeached for calling his pig farm the 'western white house' before any of this could have happened.

nevermind what they would have done if a democratic president just sat silently in a school room knowing that 'america was under attack'.

[The Magistrate]

78. Well Said, Sir!

Rove did treason!

His owners ordered and sought benefit from treason!

His defenders defend treason, and in doing so, partake of treason!

These things are all simple and self-evident; they cannot be refuted, if only they are repeated and repeated and repeated....

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[Why Syzygy]

84. Listen here ~

The very "election process" was treasonous from the very beginning.
Right?

Yes, indeed, my good fellow:
"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

My question? To what end, this Treason? For profit? No doubt.
Rue the day that Treason was for ideaology. Was it?
Or profit always?

Banish the repeats, Sir.

[TreasonousBastard]

79. We have seen this before...

Reagan's people being accused of making a deal with Iran to hold the hostages until after the election-- treasonous acts.

Several hundred indictments amongst Reagan's political appointees. Some quite major-- criminal acts.

Indictments handed down for dealing with the enemy in trading arms for hostages and using Nicaraguan contras as a conduit-- treasonous acts.

And so much more...

How many of those involved now learned their skills in how to keep the shit from sticking to them back in the '80s? they got away with it then, and they assume they will get away with it now. And, they might be right.

They are criminals of the highest order, and they are very good at it. What they learned from Nixon was not to do the right thing, but how not to get caught.

Keep repeating that they are traitors. Eventually it will stick more than the lies they put out.

[mom cat]

80. Repukes support treason...and brag about it

[dogday]

81. We are Americans first, and always. To put one's

party in front of our national security is treason, no doubt about it. When Rove and Libby go down, the Republicans are going to all look like a bunch of crooks.

[Why Syzygy]

83. "excessive secrecy"??????? Whaaaaa ?

There are more black markers in the Oval Office (aka Rove's den) than in an Office Max!

Secrecy? Yeah. He who has the last black marker wins.