Day: October 2, 2005

Source: Bush, Cheney Were in the Loop on CIA Leak

Jon Ponder

Rotten from the top: Until today, the MSM storyline for the CIA Leak investigation has been that the President and Vice President were out of the loop in the whispering campaign to smear Joe Wilson by outing his wife, CIA operative Valerie Plame.

Can you serve as President or Vice President if your security clearance has been revoked?

According to Think Progress, the storyline may be about to change:

Near the end of a round table discussion on ABC’s This Week, George Stephanopoulos dropped this bomb:

Definitely a political problem but I wonder, George Will, do you think it’s a manageable one for the White House especially if we don’t know whether Fitzgerald is going to write a report or have indictments but if he is able to show as a source close to this [sic] told me this week, that President Bush and Vice President Cheney were actually involved in some of these discussions.

This would explain why Bush spent more than an hour answering questions from special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. It would also fundamentally change the dynamics of the scandal. President Bush could no longer claim he was merely a bystander who wants to “get to the bottom of it.” As Stephanopoulos notes, if Bush played a direct role it could make this scandal completely unmanageable.

It has been established that top White House officials first learned about Valerie Plame’s identity in July 2003 on Air Force One heading to Africa. Secretary of State Colin Powell and others were seen with a briefing document about Plame marked “Top Secret.”

If Bush officials worked in concert to relay this secret information to the media, it is a violation that is punishable – at the very least – by revocation of security clearances.

Begs the question: Can you serve as President if your security clearance has been revoked?

Crooks and Liars has the video.

Helicopter Ads Offend Moslems, All the Rest of Humanity, and God

Trish


The ad Boeing Co., Bell Helicopter Textron, and the National Journal were forced to apologize for recently isn’t the only one produced by the unholy three. One in particular, so far flying under the radar so to speak, could be worse. AdWeek:

[I]t’s enough to make you anxiously cast your eyes skyward in order to avoid the lightening strike God must surely be sending our way

The image in the Osprey ad is one of several provocative visuals TM has created for print ads that appear in defense industry trade publications. An ad for Bell’s AH-1Z attack helicopter shows the craft rising out of a flaming background heavily armed with missiles. The headline reads: “We made it beautiful. Because it’s the last thing some people will ever see.”

Man. That’s enough to make you anxiously cast your eyes skyward in order to avoid the lightening strike God must surely be sending our way.

The other ad, which was specifically disavowed, was bad enough:

The ad, created by Interpublic Group’s TM Advertising in Irving, Texas, depicted a CV-22 Osprey aircraft delivering troops to the roof of a mosque. The headline read: “It descends from the heavens. Ironically it unleashes hell.”

…The ad for the CV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft depicted soldiers rappelling onto the roof of a building, labeled “Muhammad Mosque” in Arabic. The building has a dome, crescent moon and minaret, all common features of a mosque.

The galling thing is how much the parties involved don’t get it, even as the measured apologies and blame issue forth for a “clerical error” that allowed the ad to run after the proofs were supposedly destroyed.

“We recognize that some organizations and individuals may have been offended by its content and regret any concerns this advertisement may have raised,” the Bell statement read.

Concerns? These folks don’t seem concerned in the least. Wonder why they aren’t throwing roses at us in Iraq anymore.

Historic Home Available for Free in NC Mountains

Jon Ponder

Okay, “historic” might be pushing it but the house does have sentimental value to members of the Ponder family.

Ponder House at Mars Hill College

Price: Free (Must be moved)
Square Feet: 1500 approximately
Lot Size: N/A
Location: On Campus of Mars Hill College behind Wall Science Building, Athletic Street, Mars Hill
County: Madison
State: North Carolina
Zoning: N/A
Contact: blovins@mhc.edu, 828-689-1246

This quaint farmhouse built in 1911 by the Ponder Family and donated to the college in 2002, sits on the site of the future Ferguson Science and Math Center, and must be moved by March 2006. It has metal roof, chestnut joists, two fireplaces, central stairway, and all beadboard walls and ceilings. All building systems are original and will need updating. Unless it can be moved to nearby location, it will have to be cut into pieces. House movers have estimated costs to move it locally at $35,000. Please email blovins@mhc.edu or call 828-689-1246 for more information and contact information for serious inquiries.

Area Information: Mars Hill is 18 miles north of Asheville on Interstate 26.

Map: Here.

Bush CIA Leak Investigation May Result in Conspiracy Charges

Jon Ponder
Fitzgerald might charge White House officials with conspiring to retaliate against Joe Wilson by leaking sensitive government information about his wife.

Jeopardy: Now that Judith Miller is out of jail and has testified before the grand jury convened by specical counsel Patrick Fitzgerald to look into the Bush CIA Leak matter, a new prediction about the outcome of the leak investigation has been floated:

[A] new theory about Fitzgerald’s aim has emerged in recent weeks from two lawyers who have had extensive conversations with the prosecutor while representing witnesses in the case. They surmise that Fitzgerald is considering whether he can bring charges of a criminal conspiracy perpetrated by a group of senior Bush administration officials. Under this legal tactic, Fitzgerald would attempt to establish that at least two or more officials agreed to take affirmative steps to discredit and retaliate against Wilson and leak sensitive government information about his wife. To prove a criminal conspiracy, the actions need not have been criminal, but conspirators must have had a criminal purpose.

The “two or more officials” would probably include the Administration’s domestic president Karl Rove and Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief advisor Scooter Libby. We would toss former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer into the pot as well.

Or, on the other hand, Fitzgerald could conclude the investigation and do — nothing:

“Even assuming . . . that somebody decided to answer back a critic, that is politics, not criminal behavior,” said one lawyer in the case. This lawyer said the most benign outcome would be Fitzgerald announcing that he completed a thorough investigation, concluded no crime was committed and would not issue a report.

Poll: Bush Rebounds Post-Katrina 38% Up to 40%

Jon Ponder

Smear ‘N Spin works: The White House strategy of trashing their opponents and flying the President all over hell and half of Texas for photo-ops during Hurricane Rita was effective as usual:

President George W. Bush’s approval rating rose from the lowest of his presidency, a survey released by Newsweek magazine showed today.

Bush’s approval rating rose to 40 percent from 38 percent in the days after Hurricane Katrina struck on Aug. 29. The survey, conducted Sept. 29 and 30, found 53 percent of participants disapproved of Bush’s job performance, Newsweek said in an e-mailed statement. The results of its poll will appear in the Oct. 10 issue of the magazine.

Bush’s response to Hurricane Rita, which struck the Gulf Coast on Sept. 24, helped his job approval rating rebound from a record low in another poll. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll released Sept. 29 found public approval increased to 45 percent in the poll conducted Sept. 26-28 from 40 percent in a Sept. 16-18 poll.