Dailykos: Libby Writes IN CODE to Miller?

[shraby]

closed the letter on this personal note (although he wasn't quite right on when autumn begins): "You went into jail in the summer. It is fall now. You will have stories to cover--Iraqi elections and suicide bombers, biological threats and the Iranian nuclear program. Out West, where you vacation, the aspens will already be turning. They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them. Come back to work---and life. Until then, you will remain in my thoughts and prayers."

<http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/10/1/132251/998>

[Tower]

1. Now that is strange. Why cite "biological threats", when nothing like that

has happened recently. Well, with the exception of this peace protest Tularemia. But this message was written before that, correct?

The Iranian scare campaign is all about nukes- not "biological threats".

[ClintonTyree]

12. Maybe the Anthrax boys........

are going back into operation? Whoever they (or he) were they sure made monkeys out of our nation's crack law enforcment agencies. Maybe they're coming out of retirement to spread their joy around the country again. THAT would bolster bush's numbers, he's THE WAR PRESIDENT, you know? Then we'd all feel safer when they fingered and took down some poor patsy schmuck they blindsided. :shrug:

[Catrina]

24. How about Nightline's story on Avian 'flu

this week ~ that scared a lot of people ~ and when I saw Bill Frist on the show, I told my friend, (who called me to watch it) that once he was involved, I had to wonder what was really behind making such a big deal over this right now! Not that it's not serious, but to have it in under the control of this administration? It just sounded like another distraction from Frist's own troubles (not even mentioned on Nightline that night, since we had this potential 'terror threat' to deal with!!

Maybe the need Judy to keep the fear going, she's good at that (and didn't one of her first boyfriend's say she was 'obsessed with bio-terrorism, even at a young age'?

Just wondering ~ as for the Aspens are turning, that is definitely wierd and can only be explained by assuming it is code! The most obvious interpretation being the one already mentioned below, that everyone is turning, and you're one of us, we're all connected ~ but connected by what? What is the 'root' connection? I mean, if it's not Bush and Cheney?

[suegeo]

121. Bandar Bush has a big honking home in Aspen

Prince Bandar of Saudi infamy has a mansion in Colorado.

http://foi.missouri.edu/evolvingissues/fallhouseofsaud.html

SNIP
It is on the personal front, however, where Bandar shines. A visit in the early nineties to the summer home of George H.W. Bush, in Kennebunkport, Maine, earned the prince the affectionate family sobriquet "Bandar Bush." Bandar reciprocated by inviting Bush to hunt pheasant on his estate in England. For good measure he also contributed a million dollars to the construction of the Bush Presidential Library, in College Station, Texas. King Fahd sent another million to Barbara Bush's campaign against illiteracy. (He had donated a million dollars to Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign against drugs four years earlier.) Bandar was once Colin Powell's racquetball partner.

Press accounts portrayed Bandar as largely on the outside during the Clinton years, passing melancholy weeks at his mountain compound in Aspen, Colorado (more than 50,000 square feet, thirty-two rooms, sixteen bathrooms).

And so did Kenny Boy Lay
Former Enron CEO Ken Lay made out like a bandit, in a manner of speaking, when he sold his three Aspen houses and a land parcel in the wake of the energy giant’s bankruptcy. Lay sold a six-bedroom, six-bath house on more than three acres overlooking the Roaring Fork River, which he and his wife had used as their personal getaway, in February 2002, two months after he resigned his Enron post. The Lays had bought it for $1.9 million in 1991. They sold it for $10 million.
http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=15081

[Emit]

123. He's also on the Board of Trustees

of the Aspen Institute as an Active Trustee:

http://www.aspeninstitute.org/site/c.huLWJeMRKpH/b.612063/k.AE55/Board_of_Trustees.htm

It's an interesting group of people at this link.

Jeesh. How many of these think tanks are there, anyway!

[Pirate Smile]

34. She wrote a book on it. I don't know. The entire letter is strange.

Germs : Biological Weapons and America's Secret War

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0684871580.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0684871580/002-7508372-9342411?v=glance

[FreedomAngel82]

50. Unless they changed??

I don't know, or maybe they did this note and let it be out so they can confuse people and make people go on the wrong track. And the whole fall thing is weird too. Maybe he wasn't expecting her to get out this time and earlier then they expected her to and this was written before. It sounds like a note that is trying to throw people off and a coded message or something. Or it could be secret code words for them to know to confuse people. They know what they're talking about but we don't.

[LeahD]

147. Aspens turn in the mountains in September. n/t

[Guaranteed]

2. Yes. One root scratches the others' back.

We can all dip our beaks.

Haiku.

[shraby]

3. The people at Dailykos had some interesting

comments on the note. Go read em.

[Guaranteed]

16. This is it, right here:

It's a threat (4.00 / 2)



Very intriguing. Maybe he's just in love with her and they had a fling at the Aspen Institute in West Berlin. He's just trying to rekindle an old flame, but after her trip to Iraq and all those palaces, anyone short of a dictator won't do.

Here's my guess: we're all in this mess together (connected at the roots); if one turns on us and one goes down, we all go down, together. Don't mess with us, Judy. Come back to your CIA assignment at the NYT and all will be well. (And how's the food?)

Someone posted a comment yesterday about Fitzgerald having tricked her into perjuring herself. Anyone remember the argument?



Clark '08




by DrReason on Sat Oct 1st, 2005 at 10:43:42 PDT
--------------

Second paragraph. That's it.



Holy crap. They're all part of the Aspen Institute. So, what does that mean? It's time to start digging on EVERYONE in that group.

[FreedomAngel82]

51. Interesting theory

This is the first I've heard of this group. Sounds like she is very much apart of it from this letter.

[wallwriter]

149. Turning in clusters. Connected at the roots.

It's either a threat or a warning. Wow, someone is going to get hung out to dry.

[TahitiNut]

4. Undercover connections?

:shrug: Co-conspirators?

[fooj]

5. This particular sentence struck me as one of interest...

They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them.

Peace.

[henslee]

6. they turn in clusters = anagram for sincerely stun truth. Silly, huh?

[KittyWampus]

80. how did you get that anagram? I can't really do anagrams & am jealous

of people who can work them out relatively easily.

[henslee]

90. I am an anagram genius.... er, actually I just typed the phrase into the

anagram genius.... http://www.anagramgenius.com/server.html

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

10. This might be a stretch. Maybe Libby is going to roll over? Give states

evidence?

They turn in clusters, and their roots connect them. Maybe if they all turn together, that solidarity will get them through?

A girl can dream that justice will prevail, can't she?

Hi fooj!!!!

[tinfoilinfor2005]

21. That's how I read it too, Ommm.

Although I do walk around with a tinfoil hat, keep in mind. :)

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

36. I've been known to wear tinfoil hats on occassion myself. Actually more

often than on occassion!

[FreedomAngel82]

52. You're not a lone

I keep mine close by all the time.

[ladylibertee]

132. I think he's saying that the leaves (republicans) turning(questioning the

repub party) and they are connected at the root.(they all are conservatives?)

[TahitiNut]

7. I'm not one to look for monsters under the bed, BUT ...

... that letter is beyond bizarre. Perhaps Libby is just having fun -- like "Project X." I have a hard time, however, imagining any decent sense of humor in this White House. What I read in it is completely inconsistent with any notion of a "free press" and "journalism" ... and instead portrays a tone of personal familiarity and allusion that would support the predominant DU opinion that Miller is just another Cabal Conspirator doing spade work for the Regime.

[FreedomAngel82]

53. I don't think it's fun

I think it's a code for something. Maybe a warning with her on to not betray them or something. :shrug: But it's not for fun that's for sure. These people don't take anything lightly and everything they do has some purpose and goes back to the same person.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

8. Excuse me! DU beat Dkos by 7 minutes!!! (warning - tooting my own horn)

see here... http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4944480&mesg_id=4944565

posted at 10:15 pst

dkos posted at 10:22 pst


on edit - okay, to be fair, they did put a little more work into their post than I did into mine. :P

[DoYouEverWonder]

13. Don't you hate it when we catch something first

and then even other DUers give the credit to KOS instead.

[librechik]

29. I don't mind Kos taking the spotlight--we're the Underground damn it! n/t

[shraby]

17. I've been gone, didn't

see your post..sorry.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

25. lol! not nec.

I just made an offhand comment of my first reaction. It wasn't till I saw your post that I took myself seriously. :)

[elehhhhna]

33. My toot. Post from 12;23 pm, same thread. Obvious answer:

He's giving her their Q4-'05/Q1-'06 agenda. Hello!

{ Dear Jud(as), }

'We're lining up another fake election, plenty o' juicy suicide bombings, BIOLOGICAL THREATS (ahem), and nuking Iran.

Hurry back so you can shill for us as we roll out GW's Fall "Fuck this Planet, Anyway" tour.'

xox,
sCOOTs

The aspens turning? Too scary to think about unless PNAC's got a mass suicide pact.

[Kagemusha]

9. This looks like silliness to me.

The gist to me seems really simple. A full season has passed. The aspens are changing their color. Aspens rely on interconnectivity via every single root that is part of the tap system. In other words, without any particular part, an aspen grove is not whole. Come back, Judy. You are missed, you are needed. It is time to return to your work and your life. Until then, you will remain in my thoughts and prayers.

That's not hard to understand, is it?

I'm sure someone can find less benign things in this reading as well but, I don't think it's worth the effort. It's along the lines of "you're one of us, we need you" without coming out and saying so bluntly because she's supposed to be a reporter for the NY Times, not the White House.

[ClintonTyree]

15. Probably right..........

if anyone needed more proof that Miller is part of the bush cabal propaganda team this should provide it. Sickeningly sentimental glop from "Scooter"? :puke: The mere thought of that really creeps me out!

[Guaranteed]

18. No, seriously, look at the Kos post.

They're all part of the Aspen Institute!! Including Miller, and Cheney!

[FreedomAngel82]

55. Along with that maybe

it's just a reminder to not mess around with them too. :shrug:

[TahitiNut]

11. I just remembered. Google "Judy Miller" and "Les Aspen"

:evilgrin: Judy has slept with D.C. insiders for her entire career.

[flyarm]

19. where you vacation ..part bugs me....

hunter thompson committed "suicide " in aspen..is the first thing i thought of ..not the tree!

fly

[flyarm]

31. try this ..

chalabi+aspen...i found this there!
under aspen institute berlin

http://www.aspenberlin.org/interesting_articles.php?iGedminId=86

[stillcool]

39. i had to go and do it...

its not like my mind hasn't been blown enough lately but this one is too, too, much...i'll have to take a break and return to it later after some brain cells have time to recover... http://momentoftriumph.blogspot.com/2005/07/plame-blame-dames-lost-her-game.html

[TahitiNut]

43. Yep. That blog entry pretty well covers Judy "E.C." Miller.

It's consistent with quite a few articles I've read, skimmed, and stumbled over.

[FreedomAngel82]

58. Wow

Simply wow on the history of this all. The part about Chalabi and overthrowing Saddam is like when they used Saddam to over throw the government the first time. :crazy:

[jazzjunkysue]

49. Amazing article: Here's my fav paragraph: (Thanks!)

"If the double-agent spy business had a trophy to hold up and show neophyte spooks what happens when their craft is perfectly executed, it would be a story by Judith Miller and Michael Gordon that appeared on the front page of the New York Times on a Sunday morning in September 2002. The front-page frightener was titled "Threats and Responses: The Iraqis; US Says Hussein Intensifies Quest for A-Bomb Parts." Miller and Gordon wrote that an intercepted shipment of aluminum tubes, to be used as centrifuges, was evidence Hussein was building a uranium gas separator to develop nuclear material. The story quoted national security advisor Condoleezza Rice invoking the image of "mushroom clouds over America." "

[Jackpine Radical]

40. Les AspIn, I believe.

[TahitiNut]

44. Yep. I know. It's a mental association I couldn't avoid, however.

Lord only knows what kind of associations were embedded in Scooter's missive, though. (I probably should've spelled it correctly but I couldn't help but be facetious.)

[Jackpine Radical]

88. Sorry I missed your point.

[preciousdove]

46. Does Aspin Institute have a political leaning?

Don't read enough German to know if those articles are in this same vein. But this is supposed to be the latest article regarding the Aspin Instutute. Our last two German ambasadors do not speak German. (Mrs Hughes just fell on her face trying to win over the Muslim world)

http://www.aspenberlin.org/mediacoverage.php?iGedminId=110

Persuading the Germans

Julian Knapp
The Washington Times, 12.09.2005

One would think that better times are ahead for those of us Germans that still refuse to hate the United States. After all, Karen Hughes is finally on the job as Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, and a new U.S. ambassador has just arrived in Germany. Surely, the new "propaganda czar" paired with a fresh pair of boots on the ground in Berlin will help to win back at least a few stubbornly skeptical Germans, right? Unfortunately, I doubt it.

For one thing Mrs. Hughes has other priorities. Her focus will be on winning over the hearts and minds of the Arab and Muslim world. But I hope she remembers that it was the hostile hearts and minds of (old) European voters that cost the United States a considerable amount of potential international support and legitimacy in recent years. Public-opinion trends in Germany, once a stalwart ally, should be a particular concern in future U.S. public-diplomacy efforts.

A quick reminder of how things stand here: A poll presented this week by the German Marshall Fund finds that a majority of Germans continues to have an unfavorable view of the United States. In fact, China stands in higher regard, according to a Pew poll from earlier this year. Germans yearn for someone to rival the United States militarily, preferably the European Union. This might be due to the fact that they consider the United States a bigger "threat to world peace" than countries such as Iran and North Korea, as a EU study found in 2003. So, don�Œt count on us supporting German politicians that are openly friendly to you....

However, in today�Œs fast-paced battle of information and ideas this is a practice the United States can no longer afford. As the natural focus point for the media, the ambassador should be thrown into the public debate. But Mr. Timken is a successful businessman, not a proven intellectual combatant. He does not speak German. I fear he is likely to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, who, as far as I am aware, never appeared on Germany�Œs most popular political talk show reaching a weekly audience of five million. What a wasted opportunity....

[TahitiNut]

48. Well, Bill Bradley is a member of the board, it seems.

I also notice that the "U.S. Embassy" is listed as a Sponsor -- indicating significant funding. I tend to wonder whether that's the kind of taxpayer expenditure the public wants to pay.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

98. I think Les ASPIN is how the name is spelled?

[TahitiNut]

107. Six hours and 15 minutes late.

:shrug:

[WinkyDink]

127. Spelling isn't the issue.

It's that Les is turning over in his grave at what Judith is doing. That is the message, whatever it's supposed to mean to Miller.

[DisgustedTX]

14. They are very homoerotic as a group

:(

[Guaranteed]

20. Rec'ding. nt

[John Q. Citizen]

22. The construction is very odd to say the least.

As I recall, some where someone said a deal was made so that Judy didn't have to testify about her past stories at the NYT during the lead up to the invasion.

Perhaps that's the stories to cover. She has to coverup the sources and the circustances about those stories.

The passage makes little sense except as a hidden message. I mean, she might get assigned to cover the mid terms right? so why the enumeration of future stories.

I wonder if Judy covered the anthrax scare?

[JAbuchan08]

35. Indeed, the phrasing is just not natural

Either Scooter has a secret message or he's purposely attempting to write bad prose.

[nonconformist]

23. This is how I interpret this:

We need you to work and cover stories for us. We need your media spin. We're all connected at the root (veiled threat? "one goes down we all do, including you... so don't turn" or maybe a sign they've got her back, "we're all in this together"... or maybe a bit of both).

Interesting about the Aspen Institute in West Berlin. Not sure what to make of the whole thing, but it's really interesting to say the least! Could mean nothing of course, but it's suspiciously worded at best. In any event, it's fun to try and "crack the code".

[i miss america]

78. Yup, that's my take on it too regarding the connected-at-the-root phrase

Just like that famous Ben Franklin quote: "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."

The real question is whether any of those who are connected-at-the-root will break free from the bunch and have the courage to name Cheney as the original source. :popcorn:

[flyarm]

26. check this out about aspen trees!!

Aspen Roots
My house has a couple Aspens in the front yard. Part of the root system runs along ... These trees can really be a menace with their searching root systems. ...
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/rmgard/msg051222069055.html


Planting Aspen Trees.
Invasive root system of the tree makes me worry about having it in the backyard. ... They have been fighting the invasive roots which produce baby aspens ...
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/rmgard/msg0812251430646.html


Trees for Life - The Propagation of Aspen from Root Cuttings
Trees for Life has been working with the propagation of aspen from root ... a site where some big aspen trees had been felled and their root systems had ...
http://www.treesforlife.org.uk/tfl.aspen_propagation.html



Fall Foliage of Quaking Aspen Trees | Poplar Trees
Quaking aspen trees, close relatives of poplar trees, display a shimmering golden foliage ... Their powerful root systems will push up suckers everywhere. ...
http://landscaping.about.com/cs/landscapecolor/a/fall_foliage2.htm



aspen
Long after the visible portion of the Aspen tree is gone, the underground root system remains behind patiently waiting for a disturbance from fire, ...
http://www.coloradoguide.com/rmnp/aspen.htm



Homilies - 4/30/00 - Church of the aspen grove
I've been reading about all kinds of trees, but aspen trees especially. ... Even what seems to be a dead tree is not a dead tree, because the roots, ...
http://www.cincinnatifriends.org/archive_of_homilies/043000-aspengrove.html

[CantGetFooledAgain]

27. This note clearly indicates to me

...that Miller is in the employ of the administration. Her assignment: to report on stories in a manner that is favorable to the WH/PNAC/establishment. In other words, that she is a highly placed member of the ministry of propaganda.

The fairly obvious indication is that she will be allowed to continue in this role after her release from prison. In other words, the status quo would be maintained to some extent.

The other thing that I see, much more :tinfoilhat: but supportable by the text, is that this Fall's PNAC marketing season will include a bioattack (here or in Iraq) and possibly nuclear retaliation against Iran (as others have speculated).

Finally, as others have also speculated, "Come back to work---and life" could easily be a veiled threat. Return to work in your propaganda role and you will be safe. Otherwise, all bets are off.

This is clearly a coded message. No one writes like that to a friend.

[Rex]

28. Aspen roots produce suckers

"Suckers will begin to appear after 4 - 6 weeks and, if they are harvested regularly for cuttings, new suckers will continue to emerge from some of the roots for up to 12 weeks. The root sections are very unpredictable, however, and it is likely that some roots will produce plenty of suckers, whilst others produce few or none at all. Record data, noting the most productive clones, for future reference."

Miller is a sucker!

[Dunvegan]

30. Scooter closed with...

"Come back to work...and life."

Um...would that mean that if Jude didn't go back to work like a good little plant at the Grey Lady that the alternative would be "not life?"

Threat? All clear? I suspect she understood...there were probably references that are meaningful to the two of them from former conversations and interactions.

Whatever, the police read all mail to prisoners.

This is how you'd write to some one waiting out testifying that "Hey, we hid the meth lab, you can go ahead and testify" or some such, that is if you didn't want the jailers reading something so blatent and incriminating.

[Vinnie From Indy]

32. Reminds me of a dead fish wrapped in newspaper

A message ala "The Godfather". Oddly, it looks like Fredo is the front man in the BushCo. remake.

[John Q. Citizen]

37. Google Judy Miller + Vacation

ANd one of the top returns is an article about Miller and Chalalabi.

A Slate story,It mentions that Miller vacationed in Florida.

[me b zola]

38. The reference to the seasons is interesting to me

One possible interpretation:

The summer is when everybody is/was hot/ things heating up.

The fall could be a verb, meaning people who are going to fall, or maybe the next government(s) to fall?

Of course it could just mean in reference to summer heat that things are cooling down, like maybe they dodged a bullet. This seems less likely to me than fall as a verb.

[Dunvegan]

41. Yes....Summer = Hot...Fall = Cooled Down

...seems about right to me.

Judy went to jail when the heat was on.

The heat is off, now...get back to work, STAT.

[sundancekid]

42. full text of all 3 letters (Libby, Tate and Abrams) are well worth a read

... they make that last code paragraph in Libby's even more bizarre, if that's possible ... here is the pdf link

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/national/nat_MILLER_051001.pdf

[renate]

67. that letter is REALLY worth a read!

Scooter says he'll be better off if she testifies.
Hmm.
Guess Scooter won't be the one falling on his sword.

The aspens turn in clusters, because their roots connect them.
Double hmm.

That sentence is SO out of keeping with the rest of the letter. It's weird anyway--why give a friend in jail information about horticulture?--but telling her something she already knows about which season it is (send messages in code, much)? Then that breathtakingly ham-handed secret message about the aspens being connected at the roots is just hilarious.

Sheesh, Scooter, read a little James Bond to find out how to do these things right. :eyes:

[lovuian]

45. Yes the Duers knew it was a coded letter it was obvious!!!

The clue phrase for me was

Come back to work --- and life.

Thats not a normal writing phrase
its indicative of freemasonry
I won't say why will wait for Kos to figure it out!!!

But pat yourself on the back Duers some of us got it!!! While others didn't!!!

[qanda]

47. Hmmm... I wonder if this has anything to do with it?

I found this while googling: https://www.democrats.org/a/2005/09/stonewall_day_6_4.php

WHAT'S BEEN UNCOVERED
Rove Didn't Know Why Judy Miller Was In Jail. "Karl Rove, President Bush's top political advisor and deputy White House chief of staff, spoke at businessman Teddy Forstmann's annual off the record gathering in Aspen, Colorado this weekend. Here is what Rove had to say that the press wasn't allowed to report on. .... 'On Judy Miller And Plamegate: Judy Miller is in jail for reasons I don't really understand . . .'" http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2005/09/19/BL2005091900424.html>

Who is Teddy Forstmann and why does he have an annual off the record gathering in Aspen?

[fooj]

54. US Ambassador to Iraq predicts that US will go into Syria...

at Teddy's gathering in Aspen.

http://www.propagandamatrix.com/Pages/Sept05/180905Syria.htm

[lovuian]

63. They have to hurry before Cheney gets arrested the rush to

WWIII is on. Troops at Israel are ready to go into Lebanon on that side and our troops will go in at the West by Iraq... Then watch Iran get crazy!!! And the Republican Congress will just cheer Bush on...

They don't have the people's support anymore thats their problem!!!

I can't imagine a US soldier going into war with syria!!! But Bush is commander in chief of our Army... and Pentagon has changed the rules for Premptive strike. America is the aggressor now...

Unless we get these guys out soon ... its getting to be a very scary crystal ball!!!

Whats truly amazing they have no fear!!!

[fooj]

68. IMO, their ARROGANCE is what will ultimately destroy them.

Peace.

[Emit]

124. Here's a little on Forstmann

Forstmann grew up in a mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut, with its own baseball diamond, tennis courts, and swimming pool. He was the second son in a family of six children. The Forstmanns were one of the richest families in America–one family friend remembers the house as "a paradise," and recalls seeing the whole family playing cards or throwing baseballs around the lawn–but the reality of their lives was obscured by appearances. According to Forstmann, his childhood was spent in an atmosphere of terror.

~snip~

In 1961, shortly after Ted graduated from Yale...

~snip~

In 1980, Jude Wanniski’s "The Way the World Works" turned Forstmann toward politics. "It was an epiphany for me," Forstmann says. "Wanniski talked about how the élites always think that people are stupid, and he thinks that people are always right. He said that people want an eagle to lead them, but usually a chicken is running against a duck. And I thought, The guy is absolutely right."

Through Wanniski, Forstmann met Congressman Jack Kemp, with whom he joined the crusade against the capital-gains tax. Forstmann funded a think tank called Empower America, whose co-directors include Kemp, William Bennett, and Jeane Kirkpatrick. (Newt Gingrich, whom Forstmann particularly admires and is close to, is a board member.) Now a man of forums and honorary degrees, Forstmann often invites presidents of his companies and other C.E.O.s to Aspen, Colorado, for a yearly conference; this year, it featured Colin Powell and George Shultz.

~snip~

On the day Forstmann announced his purchase of Ziff-Davis, he stood in front of his desk showing off a display of other deal souvenirs. Near him on a bookcase was a framed letter from George Bush, on Camp David stationery, which read, "Dear Ted, You were right about the capital gains tax on the Op Ed page recently. All best." Turning to me, Forstmann said, "You should have been here yesterday. Colin Powell was here."

http://www.mariebrenner.com/articles/oddman/forst2.html

[pacalo]

56. My interpretation...

"You went into jail in the summer" = She went to jail during a time when media attention was most heated.

"It is fall now" = Media attention has waned or is "on board".

"Out West, where you vacation, the aspens will already be turning" = Her prison cell isn't a safe haven for her where she can escape the cabal's wrath; her surroundings, providing she doesn't comply with the cabal, could equal the lawlessness of the "Wild West".

"They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them" = She's outmatched by a network of power; she's being threatened to stick with the program.

"Come back to work -- and life" = They want her back to do more of their bidding (Iraqi elections and suicide bombers, biological threats and the Iranian nuclear program), & the word "life" serves to underline the threat against her.

[SpiralHawk]

57. Miller lives in Sag Harbor, so why make a vague reference to the West?

Sag Harbor is primo vacation territory to start with.

Curiouser and curiouser...

[lovuian]

60. My take is West means Bush and Crawford!!!

and probably Poppy Bush on top of that.

or there is a family member or lover that they know who lives in the west and are saying we know where your loved ones are!!!

[ladylibertee]

133. That is the best explainatin thus far. Very X-Files, but makes sense.

[Dunvegan]

59. Highly Credible Analysis, 8_Year...

Here's a link to the letter, in it's entirity, with signature...in PDF format:

http://tinyurl.com/8jmja

...this is also from the letter:

"In the spirit of your counsel’s and the Special Counsel’s request, I would like to dispel any remaining concerns you may have that circumstances forced this waiver upon me. As noted above, my lawyer confirmed my waiver to other reporters in just the way he did with your lawyer. Why? Because, as I am sure will not be news to you, the public report of every other reporter’s testimony makes clear that they did not discuss Mrs. Plame’s name or identity with me, or knew about her before our call. I waived the privilege voluntarily to cooperate with the Grand Jury, but also because the reporters’ testimony served my best interests. I believed a year ago, as now, that testimony by all will benefit all."

Sounds like Scooter is saying,

"Damn, Judy...didn’t you get the memo before you took off for jail? Everyone else knew what they were supposed to say to the jury. Get with the program.

"So, since I can’t reach you without the jail reading my letter, here’s the script...figure it out..and follow it.

"Then 'scoot' back to work 'reporting' the party line before the Times has a sudden conniption of conscensience and heaves you overboard...or else.

With Love, A Bouquet of Carrots, and A Lot of Reeely Big Sticks,
--Scooter"

[me b zola]

75. Wow. That underlined portion does tell a story, doesn't it.

He is assuring her that every other reporter has followed the script and that if she testifies in the same manner no one will contradict her testimony, keeping her safe from all of the potential threats--legal & health.

Yeah, you nailed that analysis, including the carrots & sticks.

[pacalo]

77. Thanks, Dunvegan...

And could this be a direction to her in his permission slip:

...I am sure will not be news to you, the public report of every other reporter’s testimony makes clear that they did not discuss Mrs. Plame’s name or identity with me, or knew about her before our call.

It certainly looks to me like he's leading the witness.

[jazzjunkysue]

61. Read the whole KOS, or just this part I quoted: IT ALL MAKES SENSE!

The GOP is outing the Neocons.

If you make it down to emptywheel and quicksilver's posts, you get the most likely answer: Aspen is Ted Forstmann's weekend retreat in Aspen, last thursday, when the old GOP decided it's time to out the neocons. In the old days, according to Richard Clark, the old GOP referred to them as the crazies: Rice, Wolfie, Rummy, Cheney, Boulton, and the rest.

emptywheel also says:

"One more possibility (none / 0)

Aspen is really Ted Forstman's weekend retreat Sept. 15th. Aspen... (4.00 / 4)

...is not the Aspen Institute. It is the meeting of Rove and Novak and others at financier Teddy Forstmann's annual (private) retreat for movers and shakers. In Aspen. All of the news that came out of that (off the record) weekend just slammed Bush. Rove got panned. It
was really a sound rejection of the neocons by the power elite.

Arianna blogged about it. Novak wrote about it (and interestingly, he had never been invited before). Rove was an honored guest, who spoke (supposedly off-the-record) to everyone present... But I can easily imagine there was something else going on, behind the scenes...in clusters...

Ted Forstmann's weekend retreat in Aspen LINKS (4.00 / 4)

Here's Arianna Huffington writing about Rove's appearance in Aspen. The column appeared September 17th, which is the first time I heard about it.

Here's Novak also writing about it, in his column of September 22nd, 2005.

There's also something on Andrew Sullivan's site, but if memory serves, it was just a link back to Arianna, and a comment that the "off the record" rule had been violated...


by QuickSilver on Sat Oct 1st, 2005 at 11:31:40 PDT

Timeline (4.00 / 2)

Libby's letter is dated Thursday, September 15th.Arianna blogged on September 17th, a Saturday, and writes about Rove's off-the-record remarks in Aspen.I think Forstmann's Aspen retreat lasted from Thurs. night (the 15th) through Sunday (the 18th), but I don't think I know any of the 200 or so invited guests (so can't check the formal schedule). Novak talked about "two full days of Bush-bashing."

Arianna tells us that mong the invited guests (drawn mainly from the world of business, journalism, politics, and the arts) were Harvey

Weinstein, Brad Grey, Michael Eisner, Les Moonves, Tom Freston, Tom Friedman, Bob Novak, Barry Diller, Martha Stewart,Margaret Carlson, Alan Greenspan, Andrea Mitchell, Norman Pearlstein and Walter Isaacson.

Charlie Rose moderated panel discussions.

Apparently U.S. News and World Report mentioned Rove's appearance at the conference, too..

by QuickSilver on Sat Oct 1st, 2005 at 11:52:21 PDT

So Libby might have been saying, "The power elite is turning on us, and we've got to band together to pull through this."

But then, I don't know how Libby would know that already on September 15."

So, my (jazzjunkysue's) 2 cents are, after reading about 4 hours of posts in the last 2 days:

They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them

means we're all giving up the pretense and so you can give it up, too. We're turning state's evidence, because our roots connect us all:

We're not able to avoid this anymore, so, why not just come back and face it. We're all confessing and finger pointing and they've got the goods on us, so, no reason for you to keep rotting in jail.

He's saying that everyone who was at the Aspen meetings are turning state evidence, as well.

We know that had started to happen, a while back, and now that Iraq is in shambles and the mid terms are coming, it is entirely likely that the regular old arm of the GOP is going to try to impeach the neocons in order to get some distance from them.

One can hope!

It could be that the old GOP is finally policing it's own, and turning on the neocons. They may believe that they can keep the chimptser behind the big desk, as long as they sacrifice cheney, et al. Maybe shrub was told to disappear in crawford so he'd look like an outsider while they re-shuffle the white house staff.

[Generator]

64. They turn in clusters

Squeal en masse? Or don't squeal we are connected, sweetie and I know your secrets too. Either way..it must mean more than the damn leaves of fall turning!

And that Aspen conference with Novak and Rove at it? How many coincidences can we take????

Turn turn turn.

[EVDebs]

72. Tim Weiner's book Blank Check: The Pentagon's Black Budget

originally called these neocons 'the crazies in the (White House) basement'. So you're right on the money so far. With the '06 elections coming and news stories out there like Sen McCain's
in Bob Herbert's 'Heads in the sand' article:

"When asked this week on CNN how long the U.S. military is likely to remain in Iraq, Senator John McCain replied "probably" 10 or 20 years. "That's not so bad," he said, adding, "We've been in Korea for 50 years. We've been in West Germany for 50 years."

http://spectrumz.com/z/fair_use/2004/09_04.html

You can see that if McCain is a so-called moderate that the R's have a real problem on their hands. The backdoor draft isn't working. The public knows that if this isn't Vietnam redux then it's an awful close version of same.

With Miller as a domestic Operation Mockingbird media asset for the company in an ongoing illegal domestic propaganda effort just to get us into the war, don't you think they will have sandbagged the Fitzpatrick investigation ? The cul-de-sac shortened range of testimony deal with Miller will preclude questions into her own background. Too bad, that's what the country REALLY needs to look into.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

62. Many people are finding this letter to be somewhat menacing

with a thinly veiled threat - "come back to work - and life" and the bizarre references to connected root systems.

Who remembers Judith Miller's cryptic remark that she did not elaborate on shortly before she went to jail that was something along the lines of -"they have too much power"?

Maybe Judy's been sitting in a jail cell because that's the only place she felt really safe.

Also, if this weird letter is filled with codes and threats or inside info or whatever - doesn't that make libby even more PRIME for conspiracy or witness tampering as well as everything else?

[grasswire]

65. I considered that, too...

...that Miller went to jail to be safe from being suicided.

It reminds me a little bit of the matter of Richard Case Nagel, a federal agent who deliberately staged a bank "robbery" so as to be arrested and in jail on the day JFK was assassinated. He wanted to disassociate himself from the plot to kill JFK, as he had been in deep and dark spying on those who plotted. He spent the next five years in federal prison.

We're not thinking big enough on the Miller matter. Obviously, someone's running her.

[marions ghost]

66. the plot thickens....

interesting speculation...to B continued.... :popcorn:

[jazzjunkysue]

70. I've always known the GOP would eventually rout the neocons.

And if they did, wouldn't it be in this kind of situation? A powerful prosecutor, putting everyone's feet to the fire....The smaller rats implicate the bigger ones, until, it reaches critical mass, and the real pay-off comes: Miller has been such an insider for so long, if they offered her freedom from prosecution for testifying against Cheney et al, wouldn't that explain her sudden change of heart?

Maybe she and Libby are really close friends, and he knows he's toast, and he's telling her she'll live through this because she's not an official white house appointee. She was protecting him, and he's saying that there's no longer any point in trying: He's toast and she can't stop it. They're all turning. Everyone who is connected is turning. The GOP is turning. The power is turning over. The Neocons are on their way out. No need to protect Libby any longer.


This was always about the neocons, and it still is. If anyone was going to wrest the power from their evil fingers, it would be this kind of prosecutor, over this kind of treasonous scandal, with this kind of timeline: Last weeks' Aspen outing of the Neocons was the bubble bursting.

New alliances are forming, and they no longer have the power to hurt her for testifying, and her true friend, Libby, wants her out of jail.

Tell me I'm wrong.

[Halliburton]

74. Maybe Scooter is cooperating?

trying to get a lighter sentence by providing information about Karl, Bolton, and others? I have a hard time believing that Scooter never knew he was Judy's source. If he didn't, then why didn't he contact her just like he did right now to clarify before she went to jail? I mean, he knows he talked to her!

Judy's testimony can also destroy Karl's "I heard it from a journalist but can't remember who" and may clear up who may have committed perjury for Rove (Karen Hughes, Mary Matalin, Andy Card, etc.).

[marions ghost]

83. It's possible...

that the worm is turning as the leaves are turning. And the meeting in Aspen is an indicator.

But even so I don't think the neocons believe they are toast yet. Judy Miller being in jail is a little slop-over they needed to clean up. I think it's questionable that Libby is her friend trying to do her a favor...I don't think these neo-cons have "friends" that they help out of the goodness of their hearts-- something else is going on.

At this point any guess is as good as another though and like I said... "TO B CONTINUED" :D not quite happy dance time yet

[Cocoa]

69. PNAC Slut is Returning

rearrange letters in "Aspin clusters turning"

[EVDebs]

71. Miller is a media CIA asset in their domestic Operation Mockingbird

...that is the only rational explanation for her career thus far. The dog was on a short leash until the master gave a tug. The only scary scenario now is that Fitzpatrick's investigation has made too narrow a range for Miller to testify on, thus ruling out even mentioning the illegal domestic Op Mockingbird and her role in it.

Some questions the media will never allow.

[Beetwasher]

73. "Come Back to Work---And Life" I Read This As A Threat.

A veiled, coded threat...Yup, there's more to that missive than meets the eye.

[tblue37]

76. "Come back to work---and life."

Or else?

Does this sound like a death threat, or am I just paranoid?

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

79. maybe this is from cheney and libby is just a messenger?

cheney knows aspen. he got his knees examined there.

would libby write a curious email without his boss knowing?

[proud patriot]

81. Weird

:think:
"aspens will already be turning . They turn
in clusters because their roots connect them."

[kohodog]

95. Get out of jail. We need your help, or else....

It will be interesting to see her articles in the Times over the next few months, or perhaps a well placed Op-Ed. Maybe they need her to try and help them spin themselves out of this situation they've created.

[H2O Man]

82. "Stick with us,

Judy-baby. We are all rooted in the same truth. If we stick together, they can't turn us against each other. Time for you to work yer magic.

Love,
Bond. Scooter Bond."

[annabanana]

85. what think you, waterman?. . . . .

was this her "get out of jail now" moment to stay out of the soup?

[H2O Man]

87. Yep.

Strange days, indeed.

[EVDebs]

96. H2O Man, do you think Judy's a CIA domestic media asset ?

Under Operation Mockingbird as a domestic op that would be like illegal, ya' know ? The CIA's charter is supposed to prohibit domestic operations (yeah, that Watergate screwup with Robert F. Bennett and Mullen & Co. was just a fluke www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/07.03.97/scoop-9727.html ) and Bob Woodward and Ben Bradlee don't really have intelligence backgrounds either...Criky, Bradlee was Richard Helm's friend.

There are some questions that just don't get asked, or if they do, as with Sen. Robert F. Bennett, the timing is way too late.

Any deal for Judy's testimony is bound to keep her from divulging the real truth. An illegal operative is protected so that a legitimate operative can be outed. That's the sad truth to this story. Can the country handle the truth ?

[H2O Man]

104. Judith:

Journalism is her cover. I am not sure what agency she works for. It could be CI, it could be one of a half-dozen others. But her agenda is such that I would think her going to jail was to protect things other than her "source."

[EVDebs]

115. Yes, it would seem that Op Mockingbird has metastasized eom

[H2O Man]

116. Yep.

It is a common misconception that holds that the CIA is the main intelligence operation. Rumsfeld controls what? 85% of the intelligence community? Op Mockingbird was the model that was used for an even larger-scale systematic control and abuse of the media. I would speculate that Judith started at CI and has been with at least one other group for a long time. Again, that is only speculation on my part, though I'm thinking it is a safe bet.

[EVDebs]

122. So a real journalist today would be on the web preferably exposing

this to the masses, as Carl Bernstein started to do when he wrote The CIA and The Media

http://www.webcom.com/~lpease/media/ciamedia.htm

which really should be put onto the web in public domain (if Rolling Stone will allow all 16 pages of it).

Things have changed since Oct 1977 (duh !) and the MSM hasn't kept up -- intentionally ? But de jure of de facto the media needs to either step aside or begin reporting this story. I'm thinking push them out of the way at this juncture.

[H2O Man]

125. I think the answer

is in not simply who owns the media outlets, but who buys the ads, so to speak. The "mainstream" media is indeed reflective of at most 100 corporations. While I prefer MSNBC to Fox, I know they are not that different.

There is not a single large or even semi-large newspaper, magazine, or broadcasting company that is not influence directly by the basic Mongoose operation. It has become a little more sophisticated, and it represents a few other agencies.

Old police detectives retire and become PIs. Soldiers often become private contractors. The same holds true in the intel community. Thus some of what we see is the same type of propaganda, but put forth by corporations/industries. Halliburton-type outfits have media mercenaries are their payroll.

[glitch]

84. It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt.

I do wish these people would grow up.
Our planet deperately needs adults in charge.

[Beetwasher]

86. OK, Here's My Translation

"You went into jail in the summer. It is fall now."

Somethings going to happen this fall.

"You will have stories to cover--Iraqi elections and suicide bombers, biological threats and the Iranian nuclear program."

A biological suicide attack followed by an invasion of Iran?


"Out West, where you vacation, the aspens will already be turning. "They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them."

Reminder her of the Aspen inst. and "turning" is obvious. He's referring to her possibly squealing (and/or others) on what she knows. "Roots" is reminding her about her connection to others or some shared secret, perhaps something the discussed at the Aspen Int. The more I think about this, the more I think he is wanting her to remember something specific that either happened or was discussed at the Aspen Inst.

"Come back to work---and life. Until then, you will remain in my thoughts and prayers."

A thinly veiled threat. Stay with us, come back to the fold, or die.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

89. Aside from the other creepy cryptic crap in the letter, isn't it great

that he's telling her the stories she will be reporting on?

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

91. If they make a movie out of this

since it would involve a nymphomanic covert CIA reporter involved with not All (but many of)the President's Men - I would title it

3 Days of the Condom

[bread_and_roses]

93. ROFL (n/t)

[EVDebs]

97. Three Days of the Condom ! ROTFLMAO !

That had to be the best spy flick ever made IMHO.

[wakemewhenitsover]

110. How about, "Ball the President's Men"?

[pinto]

92. I M Breathless.

[bread_and_roses]

94. Doesn't even need to be code to make that creepy and wierd.

I don't bother my pretty little head with conspiracies, but I will say that just on the face of it, without any conspiratorial interpretation, that is one of the wierdest paragraphs I can imagine in a "personal" note. The "stories to cover" sentence is queerly hair-raisng - who the hell writes about biological attacks, etc., in a cheery little "get out of Jail" card?

Of course, with this crew, it is always possible that any creepy, wrong-note efforts at "personal" communication is just another example of their psychopathic-seeming inability to perform the simplest human act with any simple, ordinary naturalness.

Maybe nukes and plagues are pillow-talk among the slaughter-loving, profiteering cabal.

[Dunvegan]

99. "Three Days of the Condom"...perfect...

From "Moment of Triumph"...Grand Moff's Blog

http://momentoftriumph.blogspot.com/2005/07/plame-blame-dames-lost-her-game.html

Plame Blame Dame's Lost her Game

...
Such interpersonal skills Judy no doubt put to good use in her days as a corre-spondent in Paris, Beirut and Cairo. Regarded by her peers as a dogged, talented journalist, she received more ambivalent reviews for her after-hours work. Fellow female correspondents in Beirut had a very rough nickname for Judy - "Egregious Cunt" - which some of them abbreviated (E.C.) and had silk-screened onto T-shirts.
...
Judy's living accommodations in those far-flung outposts were ripe topics of conversation. Her bedroom in Cairo, for instance, had white shag carpeting and bedspread and curtains in an electric- blue-and-orange design. When a fellow correspondent took over her apartment in Beirut, it was discovered that although the place was to be let furnished, there were no sheets available. When news of this reached the city's press community, one unkind journalist commented, "She didn't want anyone to see her notes."

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

100. I know there's a thread around here somewhere about who she resembles

She reminds me of the "Honey" character in Doonesbury and also Ellen Burstyn

[renate]

105. she reminds me of Fraser's bitchy agent Bebe,

the same actress who plays Martha Huber's sister on "Desperate Housewives."

I can't find a stand-alone photo but here's a link to a page that includes a sketch/photo.
http://www.fametracker.com/hey_its_that_guy/harris_harriet_sansom.shtml

[Oilwellian]

101. "Come back to work"???

Isn't that an odd thing to say? Shouldn't it be "get back to work" or "go back to work?"

[Marie26]

129. yeah- unless she's working for them ! (eom)

[Cats Against Frist]

102. OMG -- it's like Twin Peaks

With the lady in the red dress and the blue carnation!

The owls are not what they seem.

[shraby]

103. I noticed he also capitalized the W in West

does that indicate George W.?

[ignatzmouse]

117. Capital W and the tanka form

The calligraphic aspect of the tanka (see post below) was also a subtle and significant form of the art. Certain letters would connect to others in the verse and indicate a sometimes layered relationship. To someone versed in this form, the capitalized 'W' would definitely be significant, and obviously in this case it refers to Bush. It indicates that Miller knows much more. Indeed, she is an insider who could implicate Bush and Cheney, and yet by getting the prosecutor to confine her testimony to her initial "source," Libby, she is effectively shielding the President and VP. For this, Libby is expressing their gratitude. Together they are a cluster of aspens turning together.

[marions ghost]

119. brilliant deductions, mouse

and as the aspens grow together so may they decline together...

[ignatzmouse]

106. It's a Tanka!

Out West,
where you vacation,
the aspens will already be turning.
They turn in clusters,
because their roots connect them.


It's a form of short Japanese verse best known in the poetry of the "thirty-six immortal women poets" who wrote in the Heian (794-1185) and Kamakura (1185-1333) periods. This form of poetry is incredibly nuanced and layered with meaning, often intimately understood only between the poet and the receiver, contained beneath a simple surface.

My speculation would be that the poem is a reference to Dick Cheney's retreat and indicates a nuanced expression of gratitude to Miller -- she is one of the clusters of aspens along with Libby and Cheney. They have deep roots as friends within the inner sanctum. It means that the reason she remained in jail was to protect Cheney. Part of the terms of her testimony, explicitly important to her, was to limit the questions to her "source." She obviously knows much more about the conspiracy, perhaps directly from Cheney, and retreated into this cloak of defending freedom of the press as a way to dodge bringing down the entire administration. It also hints that they know there are going to be charges and are seeing to it that the indictments stop at Libby and Rove. Judy Miller is aware of that and is playing her part.

[ignatzmouse]

108. Confirmation: see also Libby's novel "The Apprentice"

Just found this on a search and it confirms my impression that the 5 verse text is a tanka.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312284535/104-6287702-7103150?v=glance

Libby had a novel ("The Apprentice") published a few years ago set in turn-of-the century Japan. It's obviously a subject close to him. From Amazon:

"Although set in Japan in 1903, Libby's first novel avoids the exoticism and antiquarianism of James Clavell and sets its own tightly dreamlike tone. Setsuo, apprentice innkeeper at an isolated mountain hostel in Northern Japan, finds himself marooned with a dubious cast of travelers during a blizzard. His youthful naivete unfortunately draws him not only to a mysterious young woman with a band of itinerant performers but also to a half-frozen and half-crazed visitor. When this stranger flees back into the storm, Setsuo and another guest separately pursue him, leading to robbery and murder. With rumors of political intrigue enveloping the action and the apprentice in possession of a Macguffin as enigmatic as a haiku image, Libby maintains a sense of mystery and claustrophobia through pared-down prose and minimalist characterization. Setsuo's love interest, for instance, is simply the "girl in the cloak of yellow fur" for much of the novel. Even after he learns her name is Yukiko, her actions, history and motives remain ambiguous to the end."

[Dunvegan]

109. Holy Learned Obscure but Relevant Literary Reference, ignatzmouse!

Insightful~

...and, by Winston, I think you're right.

A high-stakes riddle wrapped in a political mystery inside a literary enigma!

Actually, this is the most interesting thing that this bunch have done to date.

I would have never imagined that a one of this crowd had it in them.

Evil, yes. Evil and literary? Never.

Anyone (heaven forfend) actually have a copy of this paperback Scooter scribbled?

=========
Edited to say: Well, Scholarly Sleuths...Scooter's publisher has given the world the gift of "Amazon Search Inside!"

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0312284535.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Enjoy...here's the link:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0312284535/102-9693934-3696926?v=glance

[ignatzmouse]

114. I t'anka you, I t'ink -- here's an example

For comparison, here's an example of a poem by Ben no naishi (13th century).

Though I had thought that
Dew formed on the undersides
Of blades of grass,
Even my sleeves are wet--
Autumn has truly arrived.

And one more by Ichinomiya Kii (11th century)...

In the bay winds
That are Whipping-up Beach
Has its sand plovers.
Rising waves must be coming in.
I hear their cries in the night.

[ignatzmouse]

139. Zen and the Art of Scooter Maintenance

This (somewhat gushing) article on Neo-Con novels provides a bit more insight into Scooter's Zen world and its reflection in his fiction:

http://www.jeetheer.com/culture/torystories.htm

"Evoking a world where all relationships are circumscribed by rituals and tiny gestures of deference, the novel carefully registers how attentive the apprentice is to the smallest gestures of Yukiko."

<snip>

"The power fantasy is a common type of novel: the work of a wimpy writer imagining that he’s a world-conquering hero. In The Apprentice, we have the reverse: a fantasy about powerlessness.

Written by someone who has exercised high public office, The Apprentice is about finding bliss in being anonymous, free from the responsibilities of authority."

Viewed in the light of the Plame outing, Libby's novel of powerlessness becomes a strange projection of inevitable self-defeat perversely enacted by one's very fear of self-defeat, a Zen cycle if ever there was one.

[Marie26]

130. You're a genius!

That is too cool & I think you're right! This whole thing seems like something out of a spy novel. So I guess it makes sense that a novelist would write it. "The Apprentice" has some weird parallels to the Bush administration - a story of "political intrigue" "fear" "dubious characters" in the midst of a country in crisis (a smallpox epidemic in the novel). I wonder if Libby deep down feels stranded & stuck with some dubious characters, or maybe I'm giving him too much credit.

[wakemewhenitsover]

111. Check out how it says "Lewis" at the end of letter, but he signs "Scooter"

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

112. His word processing program probably has a standard signature block,

and he signs "Scooter" for his pals.

Nice to have that personal touch, for letters with thinly veiled death threats and coded messages and the like.

[jazzjunkysue]

113. Miller avoids obstruction of justice charge for her testimony

The other shoe drops: Finally, I find something to explain the change in Miller's silence on Editor and Publisher: She bargained for a release from an obstruction of justice charge. It's in the last line:

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_di...

Miller Out of Jail, Surrenders Notes on Talks with Libby

By E&P Staff Published: September 29, 2005 8:00 PM ET

NEW YORK Judith Miller, The New York Times reporter who had been jailed since July 6 for refusing to identify a source, was released Thursday afternoon. According to the The New York Times, Miller and her lawyers reached an agreement with a federal prosecutor to testify before a grand jury investigating the matter. She also agreed to turn over certain notes.


In a written statement today, Bill Keller, the executive editor of The Times, said that Fitzgerald had assured Miller's lawyer that "he intended to limit his grand jury interrogation so that it would not implicate other sources of hers." He said that Fitzgerald had cleared the way to an agreement by assuring Miller and her source that he would not regard a conversation between the two about a possible waiver as an obstruction of justice.


Can anything said from the White House podium be taken at face value? Bob Schieffer

[suegeo]

118. Scooter's just a "silly jigalo"?

Well as long as they're all being cryptic, I just gotta ask: Anybody else humming Cole Porter this morning?

Good authors too who once knew better words,
Now only use four-letter words,
Writing prose,
Anything Goes.

The world has gone mad today,
And goods bad today,
And blacks white today,
And days night today,
When most guys today,
That women prize today,
Are just silly jigalo's.

[dooner]

120. "aspen roots survive after the death of the trunks above ground"

I think the "neocons" (or fascists, or...) are ready to let Bush/Cheney get thrown out. They can carry on with their next puppet.


"Another interesting feature of aspen's clonal reproduction method is that the roots of a tree can survive underground after the death of the trunks above ground.

As a fast-growing pioneer species, aspen regenerates profusely after disturbance such as fire... new shoots, or ramets, grow from the roots of a parent tree, and these stay connected underground, even once the shoots have matured into trees. All the interconnected trees are a single organism, known as a clone, which exhibits synchronous behaviour - for example, all the component trees will come into leaf at the same time. Because aspen is dioecious, an individual clone is either male or female, and research on Populus tremuloides in the USA has revealed how large individual clones can be. One clone in Utah, nicknamed 'Pando' (from the Latin for 'I spread'), contains over 47,000 individual stems and covers an area of 43 hectares. With an estimated weight of over 6,000 tonnes, this is the world's largest known organism.

http://www.treesforlife.org.uk/tfl.aspen_boreal.html

[highplainsdem]

126. To the tune of "Danny Boy" (Libby's song for Judy):

Oh Judy girl, we neocons are calling.
'Tis time to go, there's stories still to write
Of WMD and pretty bombs a-falling.
Be loyal to us, or we'll give you a fright.

So go on home, where aspen leaves are turning.
They turn as one, their roots are so entwined.
Don't turn on us, or lessons you'll be learning.
Go back to work -- you're always on our mind.


(Sorry -- I was up too late last night, thinking about that bizarre letter, and this thread.)

[Marie26]

128. Aspen Strategy Group

OK, here's my guess.

Judith Miller is a member of something called the "Aspen Strategy Group." This is an organization of policy mavens that meets annually to discuss arms control & national security issues. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspen_Strategy_Group

Other members include: Dick Cheney, Condolezza Rice, James Woosley & Paul Wolfowitz.

In August of 2004, the ASG held a "summer workshop" in Aspen, Colorado. The topic: "The Dangers of Proliferation" - focusing on the danger from nuclear & biological weapons. So who was there? According to the website: "The Aspen Strategy Group summer workshop in Aspen, Colorado brought together ASG members, regional experts, and administration officials to discuss the challenge and threat of the proliferation... tackling various aspects of the proliferation challenge including dangerous states such as Iran, North Korea, and Pakistan; the nexus between nuclear and biological weapons..." http://www.aspeninstitute.org/site/c.huLWJeMRKpH/b.612521/k.A3AD/Programs_by_Date.htm

So we know Judith Miller & administration officials were together at a meeting in Aspen, out west, last summer where they discussed Iran's nuclear program & biological weapons. Sounds familiar...

"You went into jail in the summer. It is fall now. You will have stories to cover--Iraqi elections and suicide bombers, biological threats and the Iranian nuclear program."

Here he's reminding her of the meeting, and the topics they covered. Maybe also referring to conversations they had there. He's promising her they are carrying through with the agenda they had set up, and she, too, can still be a part of it!

"Out West, where you vacation, the aspens will already be turning."

I think he's tipping her off about "the Aspens," the officials that participated in this conference. He's saying that these people are turning state's evidence, or maybe that some of these people will be indicted. He seems to be warning her that one of these officials is being targeted by the investigation.

I'm going to try to see if I can figure out who the conference participants were. The ASG doesn't have a list, but he could be referring to Condolezza Rice - she's an expert in nuclear proliferation & it seems like the type of meeting she'd be at. John Bolton, who specialized in WMD proliferation, would also be a possible guest. Rice was also involved in the WMD issue & saw the State Dept. memo w/Valarie Plame's name. Finally, she has big connections to the Aspen Ins. - she got her start in politics when she was hired to the Aspen Institute, & the director there introduced her to George Bush. http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=ja04prados. Maybe Aspen turning = Rice indicted? (Hey - if you're going to overinterpret, why not go all the way?)

"They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them. Come back to work---and life. Until then, you will remain in my thoughts and prayers."

Now he's saying that even if some are indicted, the agenda can carry on because they are all "connected at the root." Even if one "Aspen" falls, the rest can continue to live & spread their agenda. He wants her to come back to the team so she can help to accomplish their goals.

What are these goals? The ASG didn't have an official report of the meeting, but the website does have external links to other news stories mentioning the conference. There's 2 NY Times editorials - "An American Hiroshima" & "The Nuclear Shadow." Both are about the imminent danger from nuclear terrorism. The National Journal says -"According to experts who gathered recently in Colorado for a meeting of the Aspen Strategy Group, the need to contain the proliferation of nuclear weapons has rarely been greater... Containing such proliferation... would include tougher export controls on nuclear technology and more-invasive inspections of nuclear facilities, as well as the prospect of economic sanctions, and possibly military action, against violators."

This also sounds familiar. Maybe what he's finally saying is that the Bush Administration needs her work to persuade people about the danger of Iran's nuclear program, and build public support for military action against Iran as she did for the Iraq war. Maybe this is the agenda that they discussed at the ASG seminar. And that he believes despite this scandal, this agenda can continue.

So I'm basically making this all up, but I think the timing of the Aspen Strategy Group meeting, the fact that Libby's letter refers to the topics discussed in that meeting, & the fact that Miller is a member of this group is a lot of coincidences unless he meant to refer to this organization. And in Tanka form yet! :)

[mirrera]

134. Aspen Strategy Group: Link to the PDF

of the Aspen Strategy Group's summer meeting. "In Search of a Grand Strategy for the Middle East" http://www.tech.purdue.edu/pages/news_events/deans_lecture_04/AspenArticle.pdf

Judith Miller (pg. 37) was giving a talk on WMD proliferation after Iraq. I read all the posts on Kos as well as here and your slant is closest to what I think. I have one different take. I believe that the Globalization plan is accepted on both sides of the aisle. You have Albright (who is part of the ASG) and people like Soros who help push these "peaceful" coups in places like the Ukraine, and you have the Neo Cons who take things by force. I read somewhere that the thing the more hawkish Dems and the more moderate GOP hate the most about the crazies are their methods, not necessarily their goals. You don't see Kucinich at these kind of meetings. My take is that Scooter may be saying Out west where you vacation...meaning when you are getting a free trip to "lecture" at the Aspen Group, or maybe he is just differentiating between the Institute in Berlin by saying "you know the place where everyone vacations (aspen, skiing, etc.). Anyway he wants her to know which group he is talking about. They are turning. I take turning to mean they are starting to see things our way that Iran is a threat as is the next biological attack that we may make happen. So it is time to get back...COME back to work. Also when you read all 3 letters (http://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/national/nat_MILLER_051001.pdf) with Miller's old Lawyer saying to Scooter's lawyer what are you talking about? You never reassured us about your waiver! This is Scooter's way of telling her the new plan. Telling her to say that she was silent more out of principal then because of him. Telling her not to worry none of the other reporters have said anything that could hurt me so it really is just you. How about the line "If you can find a way to testify to discussions we had, if any, that relate to the Wilson-Plame matter, I remain just as interested as I was a year ago." That is clearly some deal they made about how to testify. I would jump all over this letter if I were the prosecutor.

One more take on the "Out West"...If he is talking about The Aspen meeting at the millionaires house maybe the "turning" is "Out W" meaning Bush is the one who is going to take the fall, or is out. AHHHH I can't stop thinking about this damn letter.

It will be interesting to see what her stories look like in coming weeks. Bush has mentioned biological attacks way to much in the last few appearances and has that sickly guilty I am cheating look on his face.

Tin foil hat firmly on: I think a man made flu really bad to clear out some more coastal land...or some anthrax from the axis of evil and they will nuke iran...or since they have new orleans completely militarized, some rogue black ops like the mercenaries that are already down there or some more brits dressed like Arabs will bring in a dirty bomb from Iran and we will nuke iran.
Something to try and re fire up young men's testosterone.

Sorry for typos I have to work...


http://NoBullshiRt.com

[Marie26]

138. And more

Yeah, I can't quite let go of this letter, either. It's just chilling, somehow. You almost get the impression that it's some sort of big chess game, with the pawns being slowly moved into place.

The Aspen Group isn't a neoconservative group, but you're right that they all seem to be interested in spreading democracy - whether by peaceful or other means. I was thinking that the "aspens" had to do w/witnesses in the Plame case, but your idea seems better that he's referring instead to future Aspen activities/beliefs on Iran. Especially because he uses the future tense - the aspens "will be turning". Could he be referring to some sort of coordinated effort by these members to promote war/regime change in Iran this fall?

I think there's some basis to believe this is true.

At the same time that the ASG held it's own meeting on proliferation, the Aspen Atlantic Group had a meeting on Iran (called Iran: Prospects for a Common Agenda). Members wrote 2 meeting briefs, called "Recent Iranian Political Developments" & "The Iran Nuclear Issue."

In Dec., 2004 - Albright & other Aspen group members co-wrote an article in the Washington Post entitled "How to Approach Iran." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60177-20... This article offers ideas for getting Iran to stop it's nuclear program - by diplomacy or commercial perks. "In the event that diplomacy fails and Iran decides not to abandon its efforts to develop nuclear weapons, Europeans should be ready for alternative courses of action, including going to the U.N. Security Council... The transatlantic community should not be trying to force a confrontation with Iran, but we must not fear one if that's what is necessary to prevent the introduction of another nuclear weapons program into the combustible Middle East."

This Friday, John Bolton made a new appointment to the UN, named Jeff Gedmin. http://www.thewashingtonnote.com. Gedmin will hold the #2 position as the new Deputy Representative to the UN. Gedmin is a neoconservative and the director of, you guessed it, the Aspen Institute. This appointment ruffled some feathers because the Deputy Rep. is usually a career diplomat, not a political appointee. So why would Bolton want this guy to be his new number 2? Gedmin recently published an article in the Weekly Standard called "Plan B for Iran." http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/0... . In it, he talks about the imminent danger that Iran will soon have a nuclear bomb, and criticizes the administration for relying on "diplomatic measures" to stop Iran's program. He writes: "By now it must be obvious that if the United States is serious about preventing the mullahs from getting the bomb, we have two choices: either preemption or regime change. By now it is also pretty clear that bombing would be difficult, which can only make one wonder why we have been so slow in giving serious support to the democracy movement in Iran. This regime has to go."

Bolton is appointing UN officials that support regime change to support him. The Aspen group is promoting the danger from Iran's nuclear program. You know the Vice President is on board. The pawns are all moving into place. Now Libby's saying they need her, their chief propagandizer, to come out of jail now so she can write overhyped stories to gain public support for their Iran plan. All the aspens have to "turn together" & they need her work. This sounds nutty, but I'm starting to think it really isn't that far-fetched.

[mirrera]

140. Exactly!! I read about Bolton's appointment...

I read about it in the Daily Kos thread. I did NOT realize he had published an article on regime change. It is all fitting together. I think they are all lining up to go after iran. Michael Ruppert talks about this in "Crossing the Rubicon". He said to watch for "terrorist" action where ever these guys want to strike, and the drumbeat about Iran to get louder and louder. The irony is Iran WITH full fledge Nuclear weapons would be less dangerous than our 10,000 in the hands of this administration. The only time I feel safe is when congress is not in session. Whoops there goes the endangered species act and clean air...whoosh no more environmental hassles for the off shore rigs.

I find another pattern is the way Bush mentions biological weapons all the time. Now he is wanting to use the military to quarantine whole states over the flu! Just what kind of flu is brewing????

What is also interesting is that Judy is not sticking to the script. She is backing up her first Lawyer and saying that she got NO reassurance from Libby a year ago. Unless I mis-understood. I was sure she was going to back up Libby and say that yes she did get the waiver but it was the principal, and the not wanting to be asked about other sources.

It must be the Chalabi/Franklin connection she is protecting.

Is anyone exploring this further???


http://NoBullshiRt.com

[hang a left]

142. this is courtesy of shraby

http://antiwar.com/justin/

this article ties it all together.

I think it is the Franklin investigation that has her spooked too.

[Marie26]

143. NY Times article - Franklin fed propaganda machine for Iran.

She should be spooked. The New York Times has a new article that basically confirms everything from the antiwar.com article. Franklin, on the Pentagon's Iran desk, testified that he was "unhappy" with diplomatic policy towards Iran, so was sharing info about Iran's nukes with AIPAC as a "back-channel" to influence the National Security Council. AIPAC was also feeding him info about Iran for him to funnel up to Hannah & the Vice-President's office. He did the same thing in the Iraq war, using Chalabi as a source to manipulate intelligence on Iraq. He was already starting on Iran. But it looks like the plans for Iran have hit a bump in the road.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/06/politics/06spy.html?oref=login

Are you guys implying that Miller was feeding/receiving info from AIPAC at the same time she was working for the Bush admin? Cause if you're not, I will. :) She also used Chalabi as a source, was a part of the same WMD scheme Frankin was, and shared the same pro-war agenda as AIPAC. The antiwar article said that AIPAC shared info w/Israel and also "favored members of the media." I wouldn't be surpised if one of those "favored media" was Judith Miller. She was perfectly positioned to both receive and spread info about Iraq & Iran's "programs."

Franklin's pled guilty, which means he's cooperating with the prosecutors. This could explain why Fitzgerald let Miller out of jail the same day - he doesn't need Miller's testimony anymore on the AIPAC/Iraq war sources because Franklin had already filled him in. I knew Fitzgerald wasn't that dumb. Judith Miller probably smugly thought she was fooling the prosecutor by limiting her testimony, when she was the one being fooled all along. No wonder she isn't going by the playbook anymore. Is it possible Fitzgerald could uncover the whole neocon agenda? :wow:

[Marie26]

148. More overanalysis

OK, got my tinfoil hat on now. :tinfoilhat: I agree with you that there seems to be another pattern w/the increase in the whole biological threat issue. Bush wants quarantines, is meeting today w/top drug companies about a bird flu vaccine, was reading a book this summer about the 1918 flu epidemic. It seems like at the same time they're starting to beat the "Iran" drum, they're also beating the "biological threats" drums (even stronger). It looks like they're peddling two unrelated fear campaigns to the US. Or are they really unconnected?

Like I haven't already overanalyzed this thing to death. There's something else odd about his phrasing of this sentence. "You will have stories to cover--Iraqi elections and suicide bombers, biological threats and the Iranian nuclear program." Normally, when you make a list of unconnected items, you seperate each item with a comma. Like "I'm going to buy bread, cheese, chips and wine." You only use "and" & remove the commas if two items are connected or part of a larger unit. Like "I'm going to buy macaroni and cheese, and pork and beans."

In Libby's sentence, there's no commas between the words "Iraqi elections and suicide bombers" or "biological threats and the Iranian nuclear program." This implies each of these phrases is a connected, unified whole. The first phrase makes sense - Iraqi elections & suicide bombers are connected, as bombers try to stop the elections. But why does he list biological threats & the Iranian nuclear program as part of one unified phrase? WHY SHOULD THESE TWO THINGS BE CONNECTED? No one is yet suggesting Iran has anything to do w/biological threats. The current "biological threat" is from an Asian flu, not a Middle Eastern country. Why is Libby mentioning Iran's nuclear program & biological threats in the same breath? This seems to imply some hidden connection between the two. Is one being used to justify actions against the other? Do these two propaganda campaigns have the same ultimate goal?

[ladylibertee]

131. Very peculiar

[Laura PourMeADrink]

135. Kick for Plamegate Gurus

[Laura PourMeADrink]

136. Kick

[Laura PourMeADrink]

137. Utterly facinating!!!!!!!

[woodsprite]

141. Let's just hope Fitz is looking into the letter like this. n/t

[Skwmom]

144. How about

"You went into jail in the summer. It is fall now. (Someone is ready to take the fall or someone will be falling because of what Fitzgerald has uncovered - which wasn't the case when you went to jail - or maybe the circumstances have just changed). You will have stories to cover--Iraqi elections and suicide bombers, biological threats and the Iranian nuclear program. (You aren't expected to take the fall b/c we have important work for you to do or now that someone is taking the fall we need you out of jail so you can continue your important work for us or maybe just we need you out of jail to continue your work). Out West, where you vacation, the aspens will already be turning. They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them. (We are all on the same page now or maybe this is referencing who turned - gave Fitzgerald info - maybe a person or persons whose roots are in the West) or maybe we expect you to remain loyal and on the same page because we are connected by past dealings - or maybe everyone stuck together and Fitzgerald has nothing). Come back to work---and life. (Don't worry, you'll be safe - as previously written they have important work for her to do. Didn't she express concern when she went to jail?) Until then, you will remain in my thoughts and prayers."

[Turd Ferguson]

145. weird stuff

He sounds like Mr. Miyagi from Karate KId or something. That is a creepy letter.

[Skwmom]

146. The letter obviously means something.

Just what is difficult to determine.