Bill Moyers on the Libby situation, this is one hell of a piece of

[rasputin1952]

journalism/editorial. Moyers spoke w/a dry and somewhat contemptible voice on Libby's supporters:


<snip>

BILL MOYERS: Welcome to the Journal. Iraq is a bloody mess and getting bloodier every day. So what's been all the buzz this week among the people who took us to war from the safety of their beltway bunkers - I mean Washington's ruling clique of neoconservative elites? Their passion of the week is to keep Scooter Libby from going to jail. I'm not making this up. Secretary of State Condoleeeza Rice, one of the premier fabricators of the war, met with the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal here in New York, and is quoted saying that Scooter Libby has served the country well and should be treated accordingly. A strong hint there of a presidential pardon for one of their own.

BILL MOYERS: I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was Vice President Cheney's most trusted adviser - as you know, he's been sentenced to 30 months in jail for lying. Perjury. Not a white lie, mind you. A killer lie. Scooter Libby deliberately poured poison into the drinking water of democracy by lying to federal investigators....for the purpose of obstructing justice.

Attempting to trash critics of the war, Libby and his pals in high places - including his boss Dick Cheney - outed a covert CIA agent. Libby then lied to cover their tracks. He kicked sand in the eyes of truth, to throw investigators off the trail.

<snip>

Link here: Check out Buchanan, he might have a soul!

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/06152007/transcript4.html

Video Link: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/index-noflash.html


And by all means, Check out 91 yo Grace Lee Boggs! What a brilliant and accomplished woman.

[Benhurst]

1. I think you meant Moyers spoke with a contemptuous voice.

Thanks for the post.

:hi:

Recommended.

[rasputin1952]

2. It doesn't really do justice as to how it was said by Moyers...

or the clip of "the real soldiers dead, dying and wounded', as troops put a stretcher w/a soldier up for evac.

It was one of the most powerful pieces I've seen in a long time. I'm going to try to get a download someplace and see if I an find someone to burn it for me on a DVD. Moyers was right up the re w/Murrow and Cronkite...he shined beautifully.

[tblue]

5. You can podcast the audio for free through iTunes or the show's website

feed://www.pbs.org/moyers/podcast.xml

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/index-flash.html

[rasputin1952]

7. Oops, two errors, one, you are correct in your correction...

(damn English Majors...:D ), and my response was done while extraordinarily tired...what the hell was I doing...:hi:

In any case, it was good to see him take on the admin and the whole Libby deal in one fell swoop. Every time the neo-cons are exposed, people get to know just a little more, and that relates to the pathetic %age that bush has. The "Legacy of Failure" is becoming a phrase written in stone.

Right now, NPR on Weekend Edition, they are savaging the Justice Dept and bring the issue closer to the WH...:woohoo:

[HowHasItComeToThis]

3. I AM AMAZED THAT I AM REC NUMBER FIVE

IT DESERVES HUNDERDS OF RECS.

[progressoid]

4. Buchanan has been pissed at his party for a long time...

but I'm not sure that gives him a soul.

Edited to add: Moyers rocks!

[rasputin1952]

8. That's why I put "might" in there...

:D

If he has a soul, it is a mighty small and weak one, but I'm glad to see another windbag change coourse from time to time. There are a lot of clowns out there that take him as the "Prince of Reason", even if he is merely a Clown Prince...:)

[progressoid]

20. Clown Prince...that sounds pretty accurate. n/t

[rasputin1952]

21. Yep...he's a serious buffoon...but every once in a while he

can be lucid. Harder to say that about his sister though, she's just palin looney.

[Gabi Hayes]

6. when are they going to replace the feckless, jowly owl Mark Sheilds with him?

his performance on the show today was paTHETic, taking sides AGAINST Harry Reid's statements about the incompetence of whatever Generals he mentioned. He was clearly ignorant of the WEALTH of billingsgated projected by wingnuts at previous generals in the field, generals who all the chickenhawk commentators BLAMED for the trouble in Iraq, instead of the high command. Remember all that brouhaha.

And Glenn Greenwald dealt very HARSHLY, very SPECIFICALLY with this latest propaganda fusillade from the fascistas.

here:

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/

Is there some rule or custom now that the competence of military officials is not to be questioned? It is not only permissible, but necessary, to criticize the competence of military leaders who are doing an extremely poor job in executing their duties. That just ought to go without saying. And even for Tony Snow, to refer to Reid's criticisms of Pace and Petraeus as "outrageous slander" which compels an apology is just self-evidently ludicrous.

Obviously, the job performance and capabilities of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and Senior Commander in a war are necessary topics for discussion. They're not holy religious figures. Their job performance -- which is what Reid addressed -- is just as legitimate a source of criticism as any other government official. And it isn't exactly scandalous to call into question the capabilities of those who have authored the greatest military disaster in our country's history.

But beyond that obvious point, the spectacle of George Bush's press secretary lamenting attacks on military officers is just laughable. The President was re-elected following a political convention where his followers mocked John Kerry's purple hearts by waiving around band-aids. And decorated war veterans from John Murtha to Max Cleland to Wes Clark have seen their character and integrity -- not their mere competence -- publicly mauled by the President's political movement.

And more specifically still, the President's most vocal neoconservative war supporters have spent the last several years trying to shield themselves from blame for the Iraq disaster they unleashed by heaping all the blame on the incompetence of Generals Casey and Abizaid. In fact, the reason we have a General Petraeus is because war supporters blamed the problems in Iraq on the prior military leadership. Indeed, it became an Article of Faith among neoconservative adherents that their Brilliant Iraq Vision was marred by incompetent military leadership. In addition to John McCain, here are but a few examples, beginning with the President's personal "Surge" architect:

..........

he goes on to cite articles by Frederick W. Kagan & William Kristol, by Reuel Marc Gerecht, Mackubin Thomas Owens,
that cited things like blaming Gen. Casey for the civil war, mentioning that in past days, generals were routinely executed for failing to accomplish their goals, things like that. These articles, of course, have gotten no attention, but whatever Reid says, whether it has the advantage of being true, is used to make him seem a supporter of the enemy.

Read Greenwald's excellent. it once again, as usual, points out the really vile hypocrisy and mendacity that generates the core of the neocon sophist's approach to justifying their cause, truth and logic be damned at all cost.

[rasputin1952]

9. My printer is on the fritz, and since I am as broke as a dead dog

I bookmarked Greenwald's article so I can print it out at the college on Mon.


The administration is being openly questioned as never before, and I am now leaning more toward Carling for a boatload of Articles of Impeachment, even though w/o the votes in the Senate to convict aren't there. I have stood in the camp saying impeachment wasn't an option because conviction was impossible, but the more I see facts bearing down on this administration, the more apt i am to believe that constituents of the various state might put some serious pressure on the R's to convict. It would need to be a Tidal Wave type force, but people are getting more and more angry at these shitweasels...:D

[chelaque liberal]

10. Re: Harry Reid's statement. What exactly did he say?

from Media Matters:

Fox altered false story but failed to issue correction

A June 14 FoxNews.com article (retrieved via Yahoo cache) mischaracterized a question posed to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) during a press conference to convey the false impression that Reid suggested that Army Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of the multinational force in Iraq, is "incompetent." FoxNews.com reported that Reid was asked whether he "considered Petraeus competent," and that "Reid responded, 'Not as far as I'm concerned.' "

In fact, according to the transcript provided by Congressional Quarterly transcription services -- as well as a video aired on Fox News Channel -- Reid was asked whether he believed Petraeus was incompetent, answering, "Not as far I'm concerned." Fox later altered the story online to accurately reflect the exchange but never issued a formal correction to note that a change had been made. Rather, the new version of the article simply changed the word "competent" to "incompetent," indicating Reid's denial that he regards Petraeus as incompetent. Fox News congressional correspondent Major Garrett, who is listed as having contributed to the FoxNews.com article, similarly mischaracterized the exchange on Fox News' Special Report. Later in the program, after playing a video clip of the exchange, Fox News Washington managing editor and host Brit Hume properly characterized the exchange, but he did not note Garrett's false report.

[madhoosier]

11. They believe their own lies and propaganda.

From the article; "From the former Governor of Virginia, James Gilmore, a staunch conservative, comes this verdict: “If the public believes there’s one law for a certain group of people in high places and another law for regular people, then you will destroy the law and destroy the system.”"

It’s not that there is one law for people in high places with the Bush administration; it’s that there is NO LAW for them. Off the top of my head I can’t think of a single act where they’ve said, to quote Dick Nixon “We could do that...but that would be wrong.”

Even when events prove them wrong they still don’t admit they’re wrong, Saddam’s WMD’s morphed into bringing “democracy” to Iraq, when the democracy rhetoric fueled the Sunni insurgency they didn’t admit they were wrong, now that the entire Middle East is about to break out in war between the Shia and the Sunni they still don’t admit they were wrong. Having said that, given the Bush family’s ties to the House of Saud ginning up a Shia vs. Sunni war with the U.S. bombing Iran back to the Stone Age, may well be their plan.

I’m a believer in cause and effect so when I see something like Jimmy Carter’s recantation of his statement that the Bush administration is the worst Presidency in the history of the republic I assume there was a cause for his recantation. When, faced with nearly limitless grounds for the Impeachment of Bush and Cheney, Nancy Pelosi states “impeachment is off the table.” I assume that there was a cause for her position. (And I don’t think the “Albatross” of letting Bush drive the Ship of State into the rocks is the cause of Pelosi’s position on impeachment.)

Wellston’s death, the anthrax letters three weeks after the Bush administration’s top people started dosing themselves with Cipro, the exact antibiotic to prevent anthrax, massive illegal wiretapping, disappearing enemy combatants, creating “enemy combatants”, building an army of corporate owned mercenaries; how much evidence do we need to conclude the Bush administration has gone outlaw?

When Bush does attack Iran, a blatantly illegal act of aggressive war, I believe he will also go blatantly illegal here at home, free speech will no longer be allowed, even in free speech zones, antiwar and anti Bush demonstrations will be banned, right wing talk radio will encourage the Dittoheads toward violence against “liberals” and the war will be used as an excuse to delay elections.

All denial of what’s happened in America under the Bush administration accomplishes is advancing their cause.

[Binka]

13. “We could do that...but that would be wrong.” WOW!

Nixon has more scruples than the Bush Mafia Squad. That speaks volumes!

Like the typical narcissistic anti social bullies that the Bush team is this crew believes they should not be held accountable for ANYTHING they do, in fact they believe they should be praised for allowing the common folk to feel their boots on his/her throat. I hate these mother fuckers with a white hot rage. HATE THEM.

[rasputin1952]

15. You're not alone in your hatred...I despise them as well...

in fact, I'm actually surprised I haven't heard from the SS yet, although I've never spoken/written anything about doing 'harm' to them.

These people are MONSTERS, they have no souls, and have duped so many people they deserve a special pace in hell. But before that, they need to be tried, all of their assets stripped from them and placed in someplace like Gitmo. They are a cancer on humanity and need to be brought down to the level they want every honest person to be at: broke, miserable, hungry and dying of curable diseases.

They need to suffer, THAT would be justice.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

22. What I hate is that they are getting away with so damn many crimes,...

,...against our own laws, our own people, our own nation!!!

YOU KNOW if they never pay for the crimes against US, they have no fear whatsoever of paying for crimes against humanity elsewhere.

Libby is nothing, his crime is nothing compared to all the other crimes the neocon sadists have committed! And, they're complaining he's going to a federal pen for thirty months. Obviously, the neocons consider themselves outside/above/beyond the law and, rightly so, because they're getting away with fraud and various violations of the Constitution and misappropriation and murder and (insert pages of crimes committed here).

[Faygo Kid]

12. Beautiful. Moyers and Olbermann get it, and get it right.

The voices of reason are few and the fight for justice getting tougher in a country still run by neocons. I'm glad Bill Moyers is on our side, and we on his.

[Uncle Joe]

14. It was an excellent program, and

Moyers is a class act.:patriot:

Thanks for the thread rasputin

Kicked and recommended

[rasputin1952]

19. Thanks, but it was Moyers who did the work...Journalism is not

dead as long as we have men and women who will look into the eyes of evil and not flinch.

These are the men an women the Founders had in mind when they presented us with a free and unbridled press. Sure, women were only considered later, but can you imagine the country w/o the likes of Molly Ivins, Katrina VanderHueval or a national treasure like Helen Thomas?

[freesqueeze]

16. Great Post on Your Part

And great point on Moyers' part.

All the problems we have in this world and the entire neo-con cabal has shut down to keep this one criminal out of jail.

geeze!



By the way, I know it's been said many times here but this new program on PBS is excellent.

[rasputin1952]

17. They know Libby is weak person, he'll talk, more like sing...

and the administration is terrified of that. Right now, Libby is begging for a pardon, it's probably the only way he'll keep his mouth shut...but if bush pardons him, it could trigger some serious stuff.

Libby is nothing more than a punk and a pawn, I'm not even sure if he'll live long enough to go to jail.
in any case, he committed an act of treason, he got off lightly, he should be somewhat happy. If I were on the jury, after hearing what he did, I'd have suggested he make his own coffin, dig his own grave, and then hang him from a rotten tree right over both. And I'm anti-DP!

If this were a D during the Clinton era, the R's would have had him drawn and quartered...x(

[Dystopian]

18. k/r ~ n/ t