Christopher Hitchens: Scooter is going to jail because he made a telephone call to Tim Russert

[sabra]

http://www.slate.com/id/2168642/

Free Scooter LibbyThe case gets weirder by the day.
By Christopher Hitchens


If Scooter Libby goes to jail, it will be because he made a telephone call to Tim Russert and because Tim Russert has a different recollection of the conversation. Can this really be the case? And why is such a nugatory issue a legal matter in the first place?

...

The call to Russert was not about Plame in any case; it was a complaint from the vice president's office about Chris Matthews, who was felt by some to have been overstressing the Jewish names associated with the removal of Saddam Hussein. Russert was called in his capacity as bureau chief; any chitchat about Wilson and Plame was secondary.

Does it not seem extraordinary that a man can be prosecuted, and now be condemned to a long term of imprisonment, because of an alleged minor inconsistency of testimony in a case where it is admitted that there was no crime and no victim?

I know of a senior lawyer in Washington who is betting very good money that if the case is heard again on appeal, the conviction will be reversed. This is for three further reasons, which I call to your attention.

:crazy:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. "No crime and no victim"?

OK, Chris. Put down the bottle of Tanqueray and slowly back away from the keyboard.

[MADem]

2. Have another drink, Hitch.....Christ, that guy is a piece of work!!!!! nt

[SoFlaJet]

3. Does that drunk

actually believe the stuff he writes?

[LoZoccolo]

4. That's like saying someone is going to jail for moving their arm.

If they stabbed someone else.

[wtmusic]

12. Bingo.

Hitchens' brain is succumbing to drink. In the past this kind of lame logic would have not even occurred to him.

[Warpy]

5. Hey, Tosser! Scooter is going to jail because he

OBSTRUCTED JUSTICE.

If he'd gone states' evidence and had sung like a little birdie about Cheney and Rove, he'd be a free man!

[dogday]

6. He is going to jail because he lied and obstructed justice

All he had to do was tell the truth... All this other crap is just that, crap, and right wing talking points....

He was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice, not outing a CIA agent... He broke the freaking law....


Christopher Hitches is either drinking or needs a drink, I am not sure which one it is....

[bunkerbuster1]

7. Hitchens--once again, about as useful as tits on a bull

I see he's reverted to his apparently natual state, that of dumbass neocon thug.

[SoFlaJet]

8. how funny is that?

all three of us were thinking the same thing

[yardwork]

9. ...shaking my head slowly.....

[Jacobin]

10. This is worse, because Hitchens is not stupid. He's simply

obtuse and purposefully ignorant of the effect that the lies spread by Cheney, Libbey et al had on starting Hitchen's favorite war.

[Canuckistanian]

11. I don't read writers who use the word "nugatory"

And the fact that Hitchens is using it as part of the "Free Scooter" movement is doubly disgusting.

[lisa58]

13. Noooooo.....

...Scooter is going to jail because he remembered, in detail, a conversation that never happened and couldn't remember anything else - and thought that Russert would never testify.

[Richard Steele]

14. "Can this really be the case?" Um...no. It really CAN'T, and it ISN'T, and you KNOW THAT!

Whatta douchebag.

[LostInAnomie]

15. "Tim Russert has a different recollection of the conversation"

Well, Russert and the other witnesses against Scooter's version of events. It's amazing the talking points never include those people or the fact that the jury convicted on all counts except one.

It's almost like they are trying to obfuscate the matter. :eyes:

[burythehatchet]

16. A.S.S.H.O.L.E.

no offense to actual anuses.

[Buzz Clik]

17. Hitchens reminds me of the Bruce Willis character in "Bonfire of the Vanities"

A once decent reporter, now on the downside thanks, in part, to excessive vices.

Still a hoot at parties, no doubt.

[Ganja Ninja]

18. "it is admitted that there was no crime and no victim?"

:wtf: Who admitted that? It wasn't the CIA or the prosecutor. The only people I've heard admitting to that are the right wing gasbags that keep repeating every chance they get.

[stellanoir]

19. "no crime". . . uhhhh can you say "obstruction of justice & perjury"

in an investigation that was looking into treasonous behavior?

"no victim". . .ahh tell it to the Wilsons and the worldwide network of employees and contacts of Brewster Jennings and the speculative claims that outing has resulted in more than 70 directly related deaths. To say nothing of the further allegations that B & J may have sabotaged the planting of WMD's in Iraq via Turkey in '03 or that they may have had leads to expose crashcart's connection with the Pakistani running a "nuclear WalMart" who sold nuclear technology to Iran and South Korea or that it's totally trashed a half a century of diplomatic efforts.

Okay taking off my tin foil now. It's getting hot.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

20. Eventually, Hitchens will end up in prison for killing someone while intoxicated.

I'm sure he'll defend his, Libby's and the neocons' crimes 'til the day he dies 'cause, well, they are all innocent DONCHA' KNOW?!!!!

[Jim__]

21. "...Given the unsoundness of the verdict,..."

Given the unsoundness of the verdict?

Gee, I guess the jury should have convened in Hitchens favorite pub so he could have counseled them during their deliberations.

[Critters2]

22. Who gives two shakes of a rat's ass

what that inebriate thinks? My dog's opinion is more relevant--because she thinks more clearly.

[blueworld]

23. Hitchens is not great - at logic or facts

1. It's true the call to Russert was a complaint, but not about Jewish names or Saddam Hussein: "Tim Russert recounted that he had a conversation with the vice president's then-chief of staff, Scooter Libby, on or around June 10, 2003. Basically, Scooter Libby called him, had a complaint, was very angry, used some very clear and firm language, and wanted Chris Matthews and 'Hardball' to stop saying that the vice president had sent someone to Niger." http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/jan-june07/libby_02-07.html

2. It's true that Scooter wasn't charged with breaking the IIPA - so shut up about it. He was charged with & convicted of PERJURY & OBSTRUCTION!

3. See Digby "Update": http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/rebutting-monsignor-by-digby-most-lefty.html

4. Why should someone with his extremely high level of security clearance be given a free pass if he is in fact as big an idiot as you claim? He can't remember where he learned about a CIA agent, allegedly wasn't sure she was covert but blabbed it to 3 reporters? He needs more than a memory expert. :crazy:

[Straight Shooter]

25. .

Hitchens Is Not Great.
How Neocons Poison Everything.

[Bitwit1234]

24. Libby is going to jail for one reason

A reason the republicans and their sympathizers want us to forget. HE LIED --- HE LIED UNDER OATH-----HE LIED TO A GRAND JURY.

Didn't the impeach a president for that. No matter in the mix about Valerie Plame at this point. He lied and that's what counts.

[deutsey]

26. Booze is a helluva drug. n/t