Scooter Fingers Dick Hair Trigger Scattershot Attention Deficit Plame Game

[omega minimo]

Look! Shiny shiny shiny cheney cheney Cheney libby libby libby Libby blame blame blame plame Plame Plame Plame Plame Iran

Five Govt. Agencies Looking To See If They Can Censor Libby Case Evidence
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x407597

:kick:

Cheney implicated in leak of CIA operative's identiy
posted by lovuian
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x411055

Vice President Dick Cheney and then-Deputy National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley led a campaign beginning in March 2003 to discredit former Ambassador Joseph Wilson for publicly criticizing the Bush administration's intelligence on Iraq, according to current and former administration officials.

The officials work or had worked in the State Department, the CIA and the National Security Council in a senior capacity and had direct knowledge of the Vice President's campaign to discredit Wilson.
In interviews over the course of two days last week, these officials were urged to speak on the record for this story. But they resisted, saying they had already testified before a grand jury investigating the leak of Wilson's wife, covert CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson, and added that speaking out against the administration and specifically Vice President Cheney would cause them to lose their jobs and subject their families to vitriolic attacks by the White House.

The officials said they decided to speak out now because they have become disillusioned with the Bush administration's policies regarding Iraq and the flawed intelligence that led to the war.

They said their roles, along with several others at the CIA and State Department, included digging up or "inventing" embarrassing information on the former Ambassador that could be used against him, preparing memos and classified material on Wilson for Cheney and the National Security Council, and attending meetings in Cheney's office to discuss with Cheney, Hadley, and others the efforts that would be taken to discredit Wilson.

more... http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=c65b2484511e0a1b

:patriot:

Valerie Plame Leak Sabotaged America's Iran-Watching Intell (TWN)
posted by kpete
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=364&topic_id=403331

There are different directions this story may go. The first might be that one of the reasons that Plame was outed had to do with bureaucratic and/or political enemies who were predisposed against the intelligence results of her team's Iran WMD-watching efforts. I would have to be further convinced of that case -- as I think that internal pettiness inside the Bush White House over Joe Wilson's public outing of the contrived Iraq-Niger-Uranium is a pretty compelling rationale for Cheney's machine to out Plame.

But another dimension of this story has to do with an assessment of the damage that her outing caused this nation. As we now start down a path towards harder-edged threats against Iran, allies will naturally question the quality of our intelligence given our failures on Iraq WMDs.

If Cheney & Co. outed one of the key intelligence operations monitoring the inputs and outputs of Iran's nuclear program -- then Cheney & Co. did vast damage to our ability to know what is real and contrived inside Iran.

more.... http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/001246.php

[omega minimo]

1. John Conyers: Plame Leak Could Set Back Intelligence

John Conyers: Plame Leak Could Set Back Intelligence
posted by cal04

John Conyers:
Plame Leak Could Set Back Intelligence on Iranian Nuclear Program by Ten Years

RawStory is reporting that the consequences of the Plame leak are far-reaching and have had devastating effects on our intelligence efforts to fight nulcear proliferation in Iran. According to RawStory:

Several intelligence officials described the damage in terms of how long it would take for the agency to recover. According to their own assessment, the CIA would be impaired for up to "ten years" in its capacity to adequately monitor nuclear proliferation on the level of efficiency and accuracy it had prior to the White House leak of Plame Wilson's identity.

Former Republican Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and current CIA chief, Porter Goss, has yet to report a damage assessment to the intelligence committees. Yet, this recent revelation suggests that there is plenty about which Congress should be apprised.

The Bush Administration's claims to have strengthened our national security have been shattered in past few days. A clearer picture of incompetence and deceit has emerged with Libby's recent admission that his superiors instructed him to leak classified information and with the Government Reform Committee's scathing report that the Administration knew about and failed to respond to the looming disaster of Hurricane Katrina.

With this Government Reform report, and with the series of NSA hearings called for by Congresswoman Heather Wilson and Senator Specter, Bush's own party is beginning to abandon him for the 40-percent-approval, lame duck president that he has become.

http://www.conyersblog.us/

[omega minimo]

2. FOCUS

:kick:

[omega minimo]

3. Please kick for links to NON-HUNTING threads IMPORTANT

Thanks!

[Citrene]

4. K&R (I'm a little frustrated myself with all the cheney gun threads).

What's new with this bunch of criminals?

[omega minimo]

5. Welcome to link other threads here too!

:hi:

[Strawman]

6. it's really amazing

I'm stupefied. The allure of the quick, easy, meaningless gotcha over focusing on the difficult issues that really matter. It's like Rove couldn't have dreamed up a better way to trivialize the opposition to Cheney than the reaction to this accident. The fact that it involves hunting just makes it even worse. All Rove needs now is someone to blow Chimpy.

[omega minimo]

7. or we could ask why Repugs get away with multiple outrages (and crimes)

that Dems NEVER would.

[radfringe]

8. about Plame, nsa, abramoff and all the rest

Yes, these are important issues and deserve attention...

However, these issues are being "investigated" and handled through govermental procedures - for most americans this is good enough, and for the press it also has been good enough

Although I don't agree that it's good enough - these scandals are complicated and the press pretty much tiptoes around when it comes to asking hard questions

BUT a VICE-PRESIDENT SHOOTING SOMEONE and then NOT making any sort of public appearance, apology, display of regret -- this is something the public understands.

Although the shooting has absolutely nothing to do with Plame, NSA, Abramoff, torture, katrina and all of the rest -- it is the spark that is going to set it all exploding.

Hiding in a bunker, floating in a bubble, not knowing what the hell is going on with anything, managed press conferences and other appearances -- FAILURE or REFUSAL to take responsibility for anything...

and the press is pissed off - they won't let this go

Cheney is being tried in the court of public opinion and his lawyer is in ICU...

[omega minimo]

9. Good point-- it's also true that

"However, these issues are being "investigated" and handled through govermental procedures - for most americans this is good enough, and for the press it also has been good enough"

is why we're in this mess

[OxQQme]

10. Chickens are all asleep

"However, these issues are being "investigated" and handled through govermental (fox-watching-the-henhouse) procedures is the way it seems from this vantage point.
Watta sham!

[omega minimo]

11. No canaries in the coal mine

[radfringe]

15. I agree

and the handling of this shooting just emphasizes the secretiveness of the bush* mis-administration

it's making people ask "who is running things? are they competent?"

If they can't handle something like an "accidental shooting" in an open and forthright manner -- what does that say about how well they are running things things like Iraq, the war on Terror, domestic issues. and it brings up the mother of all questions --

WHAT ARE THEY HIDING? AND WHY?

[omega minimo]

17. What are they NOT hiding?

HIdden in plain site

:kick:

[SmokingJacket]

12. Kick, cuz it's important...

But don't knock all those people starting the Cheeney threads. We've been covering those other subjects on and off for months now -- as we should! -- but this crazy story is a nice change of pace.

[omega minimo]

14. Understood-- and much more news today than mostly silliness last pm

which was crowding out BIG stories-- altho no one thinks Dick shot a man in the heart as a distraction......

Apparently this is part of the perfect storm of bad news for Bushco. And it IS getting the attention of folks who ignore the "complex" stuff.

[lovuian]

13. Cheney can lie shoot people and go to destroy people

professionally and nothing happens to him.......

[Emit]

16. Can we add this link?

I think it's fitting here and should be cross-referenced and included:

RawStory: Outed CIA officer was working on Iran, intelligence sources say
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2105487&mesg_id=2105487

[omega minimo]

18. Armstrong Ranch Owner's Lobbying Partner is Rove's Mistress?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2462835

[omega minimo]

19. Whittington is the Funeralgate lawyer

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=426465&mesg_id=426465

[Cats Against Frist]

20. Kicky

Not just because it's important, but the lead-in cracks me up.

[omega minimo]

21. Ha!

:toast: