Month: July 2007

Nixon on Fred Thompson: “He’s Dumb as Hell”

Trish

Pres. Nixon didn’t want Fred Thompson as minority counsel during the Watergate hearings because he doubted the mental capacity of the future actor and lobbyist.

Nixon to Haldeman: “Oh shit, that kid!” Haldeman: “Well, we’re stuck with him.”

Thompson, then 30, was appointed counsel by his political mentor, Tennessee Sen. Howard Baker, the top Republican on the Senate committee. Thompson had been an assistant U.S. attorney in Nashville and had managed Baker’s re-election campaign…

Nixon was disappointed with the selection of Thompson, whom he called “dumb as hell.” Nixon did not think Thompson was skilled enough to interrogate unfriendly witnesses and would be outsmarted by the committee’s Democratic counsel.

This assessment comes from audiotapes of White House conversations recently reviewed by the Associated Press at the National Archives in College Park, Md., and transcripts of those discussions published in Abuse of Power: The New Watergate Tapes, by Stanley Kutler.

“Oh, s—, that kid,” Nixon said when told by his chief of staff, H.R. Haldeman, of Thompson’s appointment on Feb. 22, 1973.

“Well, we’re stuck with him,” Haldeman said.

The two were concerned that Thompson would be outgunned by much brighter lawyer John Dean, who was ready to desert their sinking ship. Appealing to Thompson’s strong partisan side helped him focus and prepare for the questioning.

Dean, the panel’s star witness, had agreed to tell what he knew if he was granted immunity.

Nixon expressed concern that Thompson was not “very smart.”

“Not extremely so,” [Nixon lawyer J. Fred] Buzhardt agreed.

“But he’s friendly,” Nixon said.

“But he’s friendly,” Buzhardt agreed. “We are hoping, though, to work with Thompson and prepare him, if Dean does appear next week, to do a very thorough cross-examination.”

Five days later, Buzhardt reported to Nixon that he had primed Thompson for the cross-examination.

“I found Thompson most cooperative, feeling more Republican every day,” Buzhardt said.

Later in the conversation, Buzhardt said Thompson was “willing to go, you know, pretty much the distance now. And he said he realized his responsibility was going to have to be as a Republican increasingly.”

That seems to be one lesson that got through Thompson’s thick skull and stuck.

Four Years Ago Today Leakin’ Libby Called Judith Miller

Trish

The record is set straight yet again, this time by Clarence Page. But for all those folks who continue to leave comments on this site disputing what Libby did, I doubt it will help.

Weeks before Novak reported Plame’s name in his July 14, 2003, column, Libby revealed Plame’s CIA job in meetings with then-New York Times reporter Judith Miller on June 23 and July 8

…Valerie Plame was a covert agent under the relevant 1982 law that makes it a crime to disclose the identity of a covert intelligence officer. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald cleared up that dispute in a memorandum during the sentencing phase of Libby’s trial. “It was clear from very early in the investigation,” he wrote, “that Ms. Wilson qualified under [the 1982 law] as a covert agent whose identity had been disclosed by public officials, including Mr. Libby, to the press.”

…yes, Armitage did leak Plame’s name to columnist Robert Novak, who was the first to report it to the public. But Armitage was not the first or the only leaker. Weeks before Novak reported Plame’s name in his July 14, 2003, column, Libby revealed Plame’s CIA job in meetings with then-New York Times reporter Judith Miller on June 23 and July 8. Novak also received confirmation of Armitage’s tip from Karl Rove, Bush’s senior political adviser. Rove also discussed Plame, without mentioning her name or covert status, with Matt Cooper, then of Time magazine…

Alas, Libby was snagged by a version of the old Watergate rule: It was not the initial “crime” but the cover-up that got him. Fitzgerald could not find enough evidence to meet the law’s high threshold of proof to prosecute the leak of Plame’s identity. Libby’s false statements did not help…

I sympathize with the public’s confusion about this. I blame the drumbeat from Libby’s supporters who don’t let facts get in the way of a lively argument. I thank the researchers at Media Matters for America, the liberal media watchdog site, for their assistance in helping me collect examples. They include:

– William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard on NBC’s “Today” show: “… I would remind Joe Wilson that Scooter Libby did not leak Valerie Plame’s name. Richard Armitage told Robert Novak, we now know …”

– Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in a Republican presidential debate: “I think the sentence was way out of line, … grossly excessive in a situation in which, at the beginning, the prosecutor knew who the leak was, and he knew a crime wasn’t committed.”

– Republican former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee in an ABC radio commentary: “The leaking of Valerie Plame’s name didn’t constitute a crime because she was not a ‘covered person’ under the relative criminal statue.”

And FYI, all you doubting posters. We really did land on the moon. And the Nazis purposefully killed millions of Jews in the 1930s and ’40s.

Are We Still in Iraq So Democrats Can Win?

Trish

Independent weekly columnist and author Hal Crowley was no doubt already working on this masterpiece when headlines proclaimed that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) would — incredibly — not yet consider impeachment an option for either Bush or Cheney.

Crowther tries to MOVE US ALREADY from our collective inertia and the delusions we’ve accepted about what we have to lose by leaving Iraq (nothing) and by impeaching Bush/Cheney (nothing).

He also asks a damn good question.

The Bush administration is a cadaver decomposing on America’s doorstep—yet no one will take responsibility for it, no one will give it a decent burial, no one even has the courage to step over it and try to get on with a nation’s decent business.

Democrats are so desperate to win the presidency in 2008 that they refuse to relinquish their two most persuasive, most visible arguments for regime change

This is the president who cannot be resuscitated and cannot be removed. A lame duck is a thing we’ve dealt with before…A dead duck in the White House is a constitutional crisis no scholar ever anticipated and no think tank ever analyzed.

The president’s Memorial Day speech at Arlington was a crowning outrage, one that pushed many a patient, hopeful citizen over the edge into incoherent despair… “Now this hallowed ground receives a new generation of heroes,” he declaimed. “I hope you find comfort in knowing that your loved ones rest in a place even more peaceful than the fields that surround us here.”

…Hypocrisy of such concentrated toxicity seems almost superhuman. “Shame!” the dead cry, but in America, shame died years ago and lies buried in an unmarked grave, perhaps at Arlington…

As Baghdad disintegrated, body bags proliferated and his henchpersons’ interlocking scandals reverberated—as his approval rating scraped bottom near an historic 25 percent, meaning he’s squandered the trust of at least half the people who voted for him in 2004—President Bush faced no future but no certain reckoning. Can no one rid us of this albatross?

…Across the country, from Hawaii to Maine, 70-odd city councils and 14 state Democratic parties have voted to impeach both Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney…But in Congress no one seems to have the stomach for the job.

[…]

Three Solid Sources: Valerie Wilson Was a Covert Agent When Team Cheney Outed Her

Jon Ponder
“I worked in the Counterproliferation Division of the CIA, still as a covert officer whose affiliation with the CIA was classified.”
— Valerie Wilson, under oath, March 2007

Bashing their victims is a tried and true Republican tactic. Now, desperate to divert attention from suspicions that Pres. Bush petit-pardoned Scooter Libby to buy his silence on White House malfeasance, they’re doing it to Valerie Wilson — again.

Last week they trotted out the thoroughly debunked claim that Wilson was not covert at the time Team Cheney outed her. If her status was covert, the men who betrayed her identity — Richard Armitage, Karl Rove Scooter Libby and Ari Fleischer, under the direction of Vice Pres. Dick Cheney — could have violated the Intelligence Identities Protection Act (IIPA).

Here are three solid sources that make it clear that Valerie Wilson was a covert CIA agent in July 2003:

[…]

Celebrate Bush’s Birthday in Your Own Special Way

Trish

We at Pensito Review would be remiss if we let the whole day go by without wishing the Current Occupant, our very own Preznit Bush, a happy birthday!

The asshole of the world turns 61 today, while more than 3,500 American service members and likely hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians will never have another birthday again.

We’d get him a gift, but we could never top the one bestowed on him by a passing bird during a recent rose garden press conference.

Leave a comment and let us know what gift you’d like to give Dumya today to show him how much you hope he enjoys his special day.

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Proposes Spending Millions to Eliminate Gay Sex at the Beach

Buck Banks

Watch out, George Michael: Jim Naugle, the mayor of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has proposed buying $250,000 high-tech toilets to prevent “illegal sex” acts from being performed in public restrooms at the city’s beaches. Apparently the doors of the toilets open after a set time period, thereby making the robotic contraption — which also plays music and automatically cleans the seat — a sub-optimal venue for illicit sex.

Naugle sure doesn’t put a polite spin on it:

I don’t use the word ‘gay.’ I use the word ‘homosexual.’ Most of them aren’t gay. They’re unhappy.
— Mayor Jim Naugle

“We’re trying to provide a family environment where people can take their children who need to use the bathroom,” he said, “without having to worry about a couple of men in there engaged in a sex act.”

Though police say sex in restrooms is no longer a hot crime, the mayor thinks it is. He talked about the illicit sex recently in public meetings, in an interview and in e-mails to residents.

Naugle, not a stranger to public controversy, particularly on the issue of gays, said public restrooms are pickup places for “homosexuals. … They’re engaging in sex, anonymous sex, illegal sex.”

The proposed location for the city’s experimental automated toilet is the parking lot at Sebastian Street, at what many locals call the “gay beach.” Naugle told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that the intelligent commode’s security features are vital at this location, which he called “the rainbow parking lot.”

“The homosexual newspaper said it’s the ‘gay parking lot.’ That’s not me saying that,” Naugle said in the interview, “that’s what they said. I don’t use the word ‘gay.’ I use the word ‘homosexual.’ Most of them aren’t gay. They’re unhappy.”

Naugle, a what else — conservative Christian — has made a name for himself in South Florida for his no-holds-barred, no-brain-engaged comments.

For instance, he refused to sign a mayors’ pact on greenhouse gas reductions, claiming it was put forward by environmentalist “whackos” who hate America. He also made the insightful if illogical comment that home prices in South Florida would be lower if middle class people would stop sitting on the couch drinking beer and get to work. When a religious festival came to town, Naugle said those who opposed the city supporting a Christian event could just “go to Iraq.”

Of course, the local gay community weighed in on Naugle’s comments. Well, “weighed in” is, I suppose, a relative term:

“Excuse me?” said Marc Hansen, a leader among local gay residents. “Thank God this is his last term.”

Snappy comeback, Marc!

Tune in Live Earth 7/7/07

Trish

Take a break from whatever you’re doing tomorrow and check out Live Earth, the international music event to combat global warming.

Live Earth is a 24-hour, 7-continent concert series taking place on 7/7/07 that will bring together more than 100 music artists and 2 billion people to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis.

Live Earth will reach this worldwide audience through an unprecedented global media architecture covering all media platforms – TV, radio, Internet and wireless channels…

Live Earth was founded by Kevin Wall, the Worldwide Executive Producer of Live 8, an event that brought together one of the largest audiences in history to combat poverty. Wall formed a partnership with Al Gore and the Alliance for Climate Protection to ensure that Live Earth inspires behavioral changes long after 7/7/07.

Live Earth will stage official concerts at Giants Stadium in New York; Wembley Stadium in London; Aussie Stadium in Sydney; Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro; the Coca-Cola Dome in Johannesburg; Makuhari Messe in Tokyo; the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai; and HSH Nordbank Arena in Hamburg.

Live Earth concerts will be broadcast to a live worldwide audience by MSN at www.LiveEarth.MSN.com.

The newest artist to be added to the list of performers is Yusuf, formerly known as Cat Stevens.

Victor Rita Case Makes Libby’s Commutation Look Suspicious

Jon Ponder

It’s hard to imagine a more apt and revealing counterpoint to Scooter Libby’s criminal case than the case of Victor Rita, a North Carolina vet who was accused by the feds of lying under oath, twice, about buying an illegal machine gun.

Both Rita and Libby were convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in federal cases. Both were sentenced to around 30 months in jail. Both sentences were appealed, and Bush officials at the highest levels were involved in the appeals as they played themselves out this year.

In their appeals, both Rita and Libby sought leniency based on their records of public service and current circumstances. Victor Rita served in the Marine Corps for 25 years, including tours of duty in Vietnam and Gulf War I. He is now advanced in age and in failing health. As a result of his crimes, he has been wiped out financially.

Pres. George Bush described Scooter Libby’s career in public service as “exceptional,” but a review of Libby’s bio reveals him to be a neocon bureaucrat who held a series of political positions in Republican administrations before moving up to the Cheney-Bush White House — where he was either a witness or a participant in skullduggery and shenanigans the half of which we don’t yet know. Otherwise, Libby is in his late 50s, appears to be in excellent health, and was able to pay his $250,000 fine out of his checking account, probably with the help of a defense fund set up by powerful Republicans friends like Fred Thompson and Mary Matalan.

Earlier this year the appeals by Rita and Libby both took dramatic turns, at which point the similarities between the two cases came to an abrupt end.

Rita’s moment came when his appeal was heard before the Supreme Court. Contrary to earlier accounts, the hearing was not in 2006. It was five months ago, on Feb. 20, 2007. And the Bush administration’s participation was not merely as a “friend of the court,” as it has been described. The government was a party, the respondent, in the appeal.

At the Supreme Court, Bush’s solicitor general, Paul Clement, argued for upholding Rita’s sentence, describing it as reasonable — a position very much in line with the administration’s tough stance on sentencing.

On June 21, the court issued its ruling, siding with the administration. Rita’s appeal was denied.

Less than two weeks later, on July 3, Pres. Bush commuted Libby’s 30-month sentence, calling it, without a trace of irony, “excessive.”

What Rita so aptly reveals is that the president’s stated reasons for commuting Libby’s sentence — the harshness of the sentence and Libby’s exceptional public service — were bogus. We can only speculate about his real motives, and it is too soon to know whether the commutation will turn out to be a political blunder of the first order or a criminal act, or both or neither.

But there appears to be blood in the water. The Bushies are out in force trying to change the storyline by slamming the Wilsons and desperately downplaying the seriousness of Libby’s crimes. (On Hardball yesterday, David Rivkin, trotted out the thoroughly debunked claim that Valerie Wilson was not covert.) They are desperate to deflect attention from the particulars of Libby’s crimes — that he was convicted of lying to a federal grand jury and the FBI and obstructing an investigation into a conspiracy at the top of the administration to out a CIA specialist in weapons of mass destruction.

This obfuscation may work as well this time as it has from the beginning. On the other hand, while average Americans found the CIA leak scandal to be boring or confusing or too inside-the-Beltway, they totally get a powerful man buying off a witness who knows where all his bodies are buried.