Poor Scooter.

[H2O Man]

Scooter Libby likes to feel in control. He likes to feel that by keeping kind of quiet, he has more influence on the group of co-workers in the administration that he and Dick Cheney have led since 2001. Scooter has never liked the media attention that Karl Rove loves. No, Scooter is a "behind-the-scences" type of guy.

Scooter watches the news. He knows that while it is often full of baloney, a man as smart as Scooter believes he is can read between the lines. But this past week, Scooter has been in the news. Every day. And he is beginning to feel a lot of anxiety, because he can't be sure about that "between the lines" part. No, Scooter just can't decide who is controlling that part of the script, from behind the scenes, where he prefers to be.

Scooter sees an increasing number of reports about Rove pointing fingers at him. Did Karl's attorney leak to the media that Karl testified that Karl and Scooter talked shop about Plame in the days before Novak's article? Or is it those sons-of-bitches from the CIA? Those people Scooter treated like shit, and tried to humiliate in front of their co-workers at the Agency in the months before the war? Scooter believes in crushing all opposition. Maybe he didn't crush them. Maybe they are back, doing what they do best: destabilizing governments. Damn it!

And how about the other rumors? Like that spineless fuck Hannah had turned? Scooter's boys had picked up rumors in the strangest places last year. And Hannah acts, well, strange. Weak. Scooter can think of two or three times there were clues that he should have picked up on that Hannah was a fuck.

But how about those rumors about Wurmser? Hard to believe he would turn. Scooter knows that sometimes investigators will drop a suspect who refuses to cooperate off in a very public spot, so that his buds will see it, and mistakenly believe their partner has turned. Has Wurmser? Scooter knows that between Fitzgerald and McNulty, that Wurmser is in a tight fucking space. If he has turned, Scooter knows that a lot of people are fucked.

Poor Scooter. If he keeps playing his cards close to his vest, and if Karl, John, and Dave have turned to trembling piles of shit, he's fucked. But if those bastards at the Agency are playing mind games, like only they can, and Scooter tosses his hand in now, he's fucked.

Scooter is at a crossroads. One turn leads to conviction, incareceration, and humiliation. The other leads to humiliation, a plea bargain attempt, and giving up Cheney. Let us hope he has the wisdom to choose correctly.

[zippy890]

1. Ah! Maybe Fitgerald will get a call from Scooter's lawyer

over the next few days?

Scooter's really getting squeezed here, and the stakes are really high. I've been wondering if one of the reasons Fitgerald has been waiting so patiently is to create such discomfort in Scooter & Rove that they will come forward, giving up thier bosses.

Does the Scoot have it in him to do this? Man, he must be squirming.

[H2O Man]

5. Yes, exactly.

Anxiety, discomfort, and fear are among the tools of the best investigators. There is a reason to allow a weekend's time for fellows like Scooter to stew. No man on earth is as alone as Mr. Libby right now.

[Toots]

20. Unless of course you have an ace in the hole

Bush* will grant them all pardons by claiming some sort of injustice was done. As long as that safety net is there they have no fear....

[Me.]

26. Even Pardons Needn't Be The End

Fitz could do what the AG from Kentucky is doing. When the Governor there recently pardoned all his felonious cronies, the AG began hauling them in front of a grand jury to testify. They can't take the fifth because there is no longer, thanks to the Governor, any danger of self incrimination, so they must testify truthfully or face other sanctions. All roads lead to Rome.

[orpupilofnature57]

2. Send Scooter pie and Kkkarl to Iraq, and let everyone Know who they are!!

[maddezmom]

3. I've been wondering about this myself

will he fail on his sword or will he give up the goods. :shrug:

[H2O Man]

6. It's hard to imagine

that Scooter isn't weighing out both choices. And he has to have heard his attorney say that he needs to make that choice. Lawyers almost always look out for the best interests of the person they represent. It is unlikely Scooter's attorney is advocating anything less than "take care of yourself: if you don't, no one else will."

[KharmaTrain]

4. Now Is This Just Scooter Or Is A Crashcart Not Far Behind?

Note how Chenney began his latest vanishing act almost immediately following Lawrence O'Donnell exposing Rove's name last July (I think...seems like light years ago now) and the resulting media shitstorm that followed. Then, for some strange reason (maybe you know something I don't), he goes house shopping in Maryland? Talk about strange...but then maybe there's some smoke and fire here.

Great observations about Scooter as he looks and more like he's the dumping boy here for Rove et al or is being used by Fitzgerald to pinch a little higher. Ya know...i'm gonna miss this speculation after indictments are passed out. It's like handicapping a fantasy football team...LOL.

One last thought...could Mr. Fitzgerald and his staff monitoring the weekend talk shows to see if there's still one or two more loose threads they can pull in these last days to tighten this investigation even further?

The shrillness of the right wing hate spinners will be deafening...but it also might be one of their last chances for a long, long time.

[H2O Man]

7. We'll have fun

after the indictments. While the less-gifted republicans will go on Hannity & Colmes and whine that "Wilson smoked reefer in 1967" and the like, the real power base will shift in ways that are not likely to support democratic reforms. Our work will be cut out for us.

But the trials .... they are going to be like the Super Bowl, the World Series, and a good Heavyweight Championship bout. We'll have a blast.

[KharmaTrain]

8. I'm Treating For Popcorn and More...

I love how Tweety finally mentioned the Mehlmann blast fax yesterday and caught Charlie Black or whatever hack that was totally dumbfounded. He looked like he'd just swallowed some bad 1968 purple blotter...LOL :rofl:

Personally, I'm enjoying all this last minute swilling and lying as it's hopefully going to provide a cornicopia of quotes and actions that will keep many of these slime spinners in their rat holes for several years...just like it did in the wake of Watergate.

Honestly, I have mixed feeling about trials. While they're most welcome and I know Mr. Fitzgerald is taking due dilligence to a new standard, I see a lot more division and pain to come. But this is the price this country paid when it sold its soul in a "Contract on America".

Cheers...

[Democrat 4 Ever]

11. Afterthought - let's hope that the repugs remembers what

happened to their party after Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon. They suffered a backlash so severe that some of those dudes are still wearing neck braces.

I feel like there are going to be indictments but I also feel there will be pardons before it goes to trial. The Republican Governor of Kentucky just pulled that stunt here.

Fletcher's campaign ran on "cleaning up Kentucky" (the previous Dem Governor got caught having an affair) and yet Gov. Fletcher's whole administration is embroiled in a scandal that has lead to nine people being indicted. What did Fletcher do? He declared he was sure they were innocent but "if" mistakes were made, they weren't serious, bad mistakes, they didn't mean to, and we can't govern without this lovely bunch of asswipes - so he pardoned every single one of them before a trial or anything. (Hope somebody is taking notes for Chimpy)This little stunt has backfired on Fletcher - now that the pardoned bunch is free from prosecution, the Attorney General is hauling every single one of them before the Grand Jury and forcing them to testify. They can't take the 5th because they are in no danger of self incrimination. Fletcher actually thought he had "won" and the AG just slammed it back into his face. Stay tuned.

Some enterprising Dem needs to set up a database just so we can track all of the corruption, investigations, indictments, trials, convictions that are popping up all over the country for the repugs. I would love to see a comprehensive list of this bunch. DC, Kentucky, Ohio, Texas, Tennessee, the list goes on and on.

[DemonFighterLives]

9. Poor Scooter- he reminds me of one of the tramps involved

with the Kennedy Assassination. He has that slimy undercover minion look.
The trouble with these boys is that they all think they are the Mastermind. Libby, Rove, GFY cheney all want to pull the strings. Dubby is too stupid to be told anything and his daddie controls them all. They don't want to step on dubya or Poppie will get them.

They all want to try to be b*sh's brain and it has to hurt when a superior mind like Fitzgerald has the upper hand. I expect the competition for the heart and soul of this corrupt regime will cause a huge catfight before it is all over. GFY cheney is tougher in this situation but Poppie holds the trump card. So everyone goes, but dubby limps from the wreckage because we all know he is out of the loop.
:nopity:

[dbt]

10. Could we get a few more votes for this post, please?

Meanwhile, Confidential To Libby: SQUIRM, Motherfucker.

:evilgrin:
dbt
Remember New Orleans

[DemonFighterLives]

13. I got vote number 5

;)
Squirm Worm!

[kentuck]

12. I think Josh Marshall has it pegged..

www.talkingpointsmemo.com

<snip>
This certainly seems like an attempt to pin this whole thing on Libby.

Leaks like that won't affect Fitzgerald; they're not intended to. They're aimed at shaping perceptions of indictments if they come down. If Libby and Rove are indicted, then, yes Rove got caught up in it. And it shouldn't have happened. But the whole unfortunate mess was spawned by the bitter Libby-Wilson antagonsim. It wasn't something that involved the whole White House team, not something characteristic of how it functions.

That would be the argument.

And it's one everyone should have their eyes out for, since the key players in the White House appear to have decided that Libby is already a fatality in this battle.

[KharmaTrain]

14. A Great Observation

Josh has been a step-ahead on analysis on this thing and TPM Cafe is a great place for even better nuggets.

Libby definitely is blood in the water but now who is using his carcass as a shield? Is it Rove or Chenney or both? What tips me off is the way the corporate media has rushed to put more of the story on Scooter now and charges against Rove and the boooosh side of the street is very quiet now. Then comes out the talking points that the game is to "insulate" the preznit from further damage. Looks like Rove's still got some pull.

Leaks actually are helping Fitzgerald now as there certainly are things being said by lawyers and their proxies that are just creating even more perjuries and conspiracy charges possible. These fools don't realize that the grand jury is still in session...Fitzgerald can walk in with statements thrown around this weekend and use those as evidence in strengthening or building cases.

[thinkingwoman]

15. Recommended, and kicked.

:hi:

[Me.]

16. Fantasy Smacks Into Reality

Will scooter pie be the man of his dreams, the G. Gordon Liddy of this administration, and become the man of his cell mate's dreams, or will he buckle? Will he serve up Cheney?

[Neil Lisst]

17. Scooter Libby's Combforward ... hate it!

He's a creepy bastid, and that ridiculous combforward he has shows a real strain of delusional vanity. How can a grown man stand in front of a mirror every morning, smear gel all over some hair that is too long, and stack it up on his head like a pile of dog crap? How can he look at it and say "yes, that's it!"

How? Delusional. Libby is one of those inside-the-beltway guys who imagines himself finer than he is, better, smarter, and more protected than he is.

If this were the Star Trek away team, Scooter would be the nameless guy in the red suit, about to get zapped.

[hang a left]

18. I saw an article last night in LBN that said that ** had appointed

McNulty to be Assistant AG. Why oh why would he do that? Is is to score points and attempt to insulate himself?

[tavalon]

22. Who is McNulty?

[hang a left]

24. He is the prosecutor running the Franklin case. n/t

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

27. I just found this little nugget on him.

http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2004/122004/12132004/1102983783

GOP Eavesdropping


Complaint: U.S. attorney shielded allies in eavesdropping probe.

The Associated Press
WFLS News


Date published: 12/13/2004

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The Republican Party of Virginia's former treasurer says U.S. attorney Paul McNulty went easy on GOP members
during the investigation of the GOP eavesdropping case.

In a complaint he filed with the Justice Department, Richard Neel says the process was manipulated to protect officials around U.S. Senator George Allen and Attorney General Jerry Kilgore.

Neel says McNulty reached a plea agreement that protected Allen with then-state GOP chairman Gary Thomson. Neel also says McNulty, Kilgore and Thomson are all political proteges of Allen.

Allen campaigned for Kilgore in his attorney general race and recommended McNulty for a federal prosecutor job. Kilgore was in Allen's cabinet during Allen's term as governor. Thomson worked as treasurer for Allen's political action committee.

A spokesman for McNulty says he expects the Justice Department to find no merit in Neel's complaint. Allen says he was surprised at the complaint and that he never spoke with McNulty during the investigation.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

25. Paul J. McNulty's official bio

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/vae/biography.html

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

19. Great post. I enjoyed reading...

...this one aloud to my dog "Scooter"---he loves to hear his name spoken in conversation. I think it makes him feel important.

[immoderate]

32. Brilliant!

Scooter is a great name for a dog.

--IMM

[DistressedAmerican]

21. Sweat You Eyebrow Challenged Freakshow! Going Down!

Great write-up! Made my morning to think of him sweating. Frankly that is the only silver lining in having to wait for the investigation to wrap. They hate it more than we do!

[Pithy Cherub]

23. Scooter's Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda moments

Can you imagine how often those moments are replayed in Scooter's head and will be for the rest of his life? It is the road to clinical depression. Scooter had a constituency of one, Dick Cheney. Scooter personally hand picked all the turning worms carefully. Scooter crafted the black ops himself. Scooter was the head of Cheney's version of the National Security Council. Scooter became *The Apprentice*, in more ways than one.

Scooter has history to upset his delicate constitution forevermore. The Watergate participants and IranContra criminals will always be remebered by these defining acts against America. John Dean entered the land of redemption by taking responsibility, outing the evildoers and owning what he did. Will Scooter try, stay tuned, episode 124567 will be on a news channel near you soon! Watch for the promos!

My Guess:
Scooter will ultimate choose to fall on his sword. That may be fatal as Fitzgerald is giving him a *deal* and Scooter will lament not taking it. Fitzgerald is smart enough to have more than one crack at Cheney. He is just giving Scooter first call. Cheney himself may have compromised the Iraq War mission by involving someone else who turned on the VP, unknown to Scooter. It will all have been for naught. Then there are the known Cheney enemies - Powell, Armitage and a few former 4 star Generals. This is just a plain CF (clusterf*ck) of epic proportions. On with the show :popcorn:

28. I think Libby has a sensitive side the others don't

If he was a willing dupe, then he probably will want to get out before it is too late.


If you look at their lawyers, Libby's lawyer looks like a nice person to me. Cheney's lawyer looks tough, and Rove's lawyer looks like a fox.

Joseph Tate - Libby's lawyer


Terrence O'Donnell - Cheney's lawyer


Robert Luskin - Rove's lawyer


Some interesting aspects of Libby. Seems that he likes intrigue, and people know that about him, namely Wolfowitz who was his professor.


"""After graduating from Columbia, Libby practiced law in Philadelphia until 1981, when he was recruited by his former professor, Wolfowitz, to join the State Department in the Reagan administration. He moved to the Defense Department during the administration of the first President Bush. There he got to know Cheney, a fellow skier and former Republican congressman from Wyoming who was then secretary of
defense.

Neocon credentials

In 1992, disappointed that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had not been forcibly removed from power during the first Persian Gulf War, Libby and Wolfowitz drafted a memo for Cheney that set out a doctrine for the era following the Cold War. It called for unilateral, pre-emptive U.S. military action, if necessary, to keep developing countries from obtaining weapons of mass destruction, and it helped establish Libby's reputation in the neoconservative movement. """

http://www.ajc.com/today/content/epaper/editions/today/news_34153f4ba053a1171062.html


"""He told CNN’s Larry King that he considered himself fully on
Cheney’s team, “but there’s always a novel kicking around in
the back somewhere.” And he told The New York Times, “I do occasionally dream of just becoming a novelist and sitting on Crete and drinking odd-named wines.”

An excerpt from “The Apprentice” shows Libby’s sensitive side:
She remained still. His face inside her kimono was bathed in her warmth and the moisture of her skin…Unwilling to show his discomfort, he kissed her softly as he moved that she would think that was his purpose and he felt her body soften, but she remained frozen as she was, her head above him in the air.""""

http://thinkprogress.org/?tag=Values

[zippy890]

29. kick the scooter

:dem:

[stepnw1f]

30. Decisions Decisions

Oh my oh my....

[Catherine Vincent]

31. That stern look from The Fitzer will make him talk:

:-)

[bleever]

33. What a great vignette. And some insightful replies. I agree that

Scooter has to figure out whether to take the fall or turn on Cheney, all the while not knowing whether or not Fitz has other avenues by which to nail his unholiness.

What to do? Too late to just become a bibulous novelist on Crete. Too bad.

34. Oysters make pearls

Libby wants to become a pearl, ok I'm stretching, but maybe its true.

[rosesaylavee]

35. Kicked. Nominated again.

Great thread H2O Man! Thanks for the scary look inside Scooter's head. :scared:

[fooj]

36. Checkmate. Screwed either way.

:smoke:

[wakemewhenitsover]

37. Could indictments somehow lead to exposure of election fraud?

None of this will make a difference in the long run if they keep on election-jacking.

[robertpaulsen]

38. Kick

The possibilities of which direction Scooter will turn are very entertaining!

:kick:

[H2O Man]

39. Poor Dick!

On Imus, they were laughing about "the rats turning on each other." Of course, it is possible that a Libby lawyer leaked the information about Cheney being Scooter's source to the press. Tucker Carlson insists it is a lawyer connected to Fitzgerald's office.

There are other attorneys connected to the case.

[Me.]

40. Ah Yes Tucker's Analytical Skills Are As Tiny As His Bow Ties

Maybe he's just reverting back to his position as WH shill. He and Victoria Toensing should do a show together.