Month: July 2005

CIA Told Novak Plame Did Not Authorize Niger Trip

Jon Ponder
The CIA spokesman said he warned Novak, in the strongest terms he was permitted to use without revealing classified information, that Wilson’s wife had not authorized the mission and that if he did write about it, her name should not be revealed.

According to the Washington Post Robert Novak, the rightwing propagandist, was warned by a CIA spokesman in 2003 not to publish White House spin that Bush critic Joe Wilson was sent to Niger by his wife, CIA secret agent Valerie Plame:

[Bill] Harlow, the former CIA spokesman, said in an interview yesterday that he testified last year before a grand jury about conversations he had with Novak at least three days before the column was published. He said he warned Novak, in the strongest terms he was permitted to use without revealing classified information, that Wilson’s wife had not authorized the mission and that if he did write about it, her name should not be revealed.

Harlow said that after Novak’s call, he checked Plame’s status and confirmed that she was an undercover operative. He said he called Novak back to repeat that the story Novak had related to him was wrong and that Plame’s name should not be used. But he did not tell Novak directly that she was undercover because that was classified.

In a column published Oct. 1, 2003, Novak wrote that the CIA official he spoke to “asked me not to use her name, saying she probably never again will be given a foreign assignment but that exposure of her name might cause ‘difficulties’ if she travels abroad. He never suggested to me that Wilson’s wife or anybody else would be endangered. If he had, I would not have used her name.”

So Novak’s excuse is, “I did it because I’m idiot who can’t read between the lines when a CIA spokesman is telling me an operative is covert.”

Ohio Special Election: Dem Iraq Vet for Congress

Jon Ponder

This is interesting:

Ohio is a GOP state and the Cincinnati area is extremely Republican. Not so long ago, the chances of a Democrat winning a Congressional seat in the area would seem far fetched but after years of GOP rule and scandal after scandal in the state and now the Rove-gate scandal, the Democrats actually have a chance. Next week there will be a special election to fill the seat of Congressman Rob Portman who resigned to work as a trade representative for the Bush administration.

So how does a Democrat stand a chance in an otherwise right wing patch? Paul Hackett, the Democratic candidate, is an Iraq war vet who has not shied away from criticizing the Bush team (even calling Bush a chicken hawk) for permanent tax cuts and for not providing troops in Iraq with necessary supplies and benefits. If he wins, he will be the only Iraq war vet in Congress.

The election is just next week (2 August) but perhaps for those of you in the area, there’s some way of helping out. His campaign can be contacted here or by calling (513) 735-4310.

New Faux News WH Reporter Is in Marine Reserves

Jon Ponder

Can someone in the military objectively cover his Commander-in-Chief?

FishbowlDC:

Fox News has promoted Greg Kelly to be its new White House correspondent. Kelly, by the way, is the son of the NYPD commissioner.

And, unlike his colleague Major Garrett, Kelly is an actual major in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves. This, to us, raises an interesting question: Can someone in the military objectively cover his Commander-in-Chief?

…How objectively can he do his job when the White House will be constantly making decisions that could bear on whether Kelly is called up for active duty and sent to war? Then there’s that little question of since the President is Kelly’s supreme commander, will Kelly have to salute the President in certain situations?

Will Kelly offer an on-air disclosure when he covers military matters? Should he? Has Fox discussed this potential conflict with him?

Uh – duh… No.

Wars on Terror and Drugs Collide: Osama Tries to Poison Cocaine Supply

Jon Ponder

Osama bin Laden tried to buy a massive amount of cocaine, spike it with poison and sell it in the United States, hoping to kill thousands of Americans one year after the 9/11 attacks, the NEW YORK POST reported on Tuesday.

The evil plot failed when the Colombian drug lords bin Laden approached decided it would be bad for their business – and, possibly, for their own health, according to law-enforcement sources familiar with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s probe of the aborted transaction.

— Juice News Daily

Rumor Has It That Karl Rove Is in a Long-Term Extramarital Affair

Jon Ponder

Karl Rove has built his career on smears and whispering campaigns against his enemies. He is responsible for rumors that Gov. Ann Richards is gay, that John McCain has a child who is African-American and that Joe Wilson’s wife sent him to Africa – just to name three of I could think of without Googling.

Asked about the pair, a prominent political journalist who has written extensively about Rove says, “I’ve heard the stories, but I would never write about Karl and Karen. If you want to keep your job as a reporter in Texas, you make believe you don’t see them together.”

A couple of weeks ago, we passed along a rumor that Karl Rove was seen at gay S&M parties in DC. It seemed a bit far-fetched, and we marked it clearly as such.

But now comes a rumor that has more substance to it – and this one is straight out of Texas:

For years, political insiders in the Lone Star State have whispered about Rove’s close friendship with lobbyist Karen Johnson, a never-married, forty-something GOP loyalist from Austin, Texas. The two first became close when Johnson sat on the board of then-Governor George W. Bush’s Business Council over a decade ago. Their friendship reportedly deepened after Bush appointed Johnson—a little-known spokesperson for the Texas Good Roads Association—to a seat on his Transportation Department transition team in 2000. The plum appointment enabled Johnson’s lobbying firm, Infrastructure Solutions, to snare such high-paying clients as Aetna and the City of Laredo. Sources say Johnson now frequently travels between Washington D.C. and Austin, where she frequently appears at Rove’s side at parties and unofficial functions.

Although there is no evidence that their relationship is anything but professional, the close association between the married White House aide and the comely lobbyist has long raised eyebrows in conservative Texas circles. Asked about the pair, a prominent political journalist who has written extensively about Rove says, “I’ve heard the stories, but I would never write about Karl and Karen. If you want to keep your job as a reporter in Texas, you make believe you don’t see them together.”

In the post-Lewinsky era, Washington’s press corps has mostly avoided reporting on the private lives of public officials. But as the political climate in the capitol grows more poisonous, Rove’s close friendship with the lobbyist has attracted increased scrutiny from opponents eager to prove that Bush’s dirty trickster is sitting on some dirty laundry of his own.

Asked to comment on Rove’s relationship with Johnson, a White House spokesman firmly declined to discuss the matter, saying that their relationship was “the business of these two individuals who have personal lives…I don’t think that’s something that the White House should comment on.” A new air of civility in Washington? Don’t count on it.

Spacing Out About the Shuttle

Trish

There are a number of things I wouldn’t trade about living in Florida, and the ability to pull over to the side of the road and join the great unwashed, and their dogs, watch the space shuttle take off is surely one of them. Why does this site bring a lump to my throat? Why does the crowd assembled at the boat ramp, some in uniform but most in shorts and fishing motif t-shirts, break into applause as the first booster drops off? Why is the white trail (only one this time but you never forget) that lingers and lingers and turns wavy with the wind so damn cool?

Sen. Pat Roberts Shows His True Colors As a Bush Tool

Jon Ponder

Arianna’s got it right:

Plamegate… is truly opening a window on the soul of the Republican Party… and it’s not a pretty view. We’ve seen the GOP attack machine in action many times before. But this time, the targets of the smears are intertwined with national security concerns — putting the attackers in the tricky position of having to choose which comes first, their country or their party.

Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas has clearly chosen the latter. No longer is the smear campaign confined to the surrogates on the margins, now Roberts has opted to use the Senate to do his dirty work. The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee has decided to hold hearings on whether the CIA’s definition of undercover is too broad. Hmm… I wonder why he’s doing that?

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Jane Fonda Rides Again

Jon Ponder

Jane Fonda after being arrested on drug charges in Cleveland in 1970. The “drugs” were tested and found to be vitamins.

I recently finished Jane Fonda’s autobiography, My Life, So Far, which I recommend especially if your interests include the intersection of showbiz and politics, as mine do.

Now Fonda has announced she’s coming out to protest the current war by taking a bus tour across country. She made a similar cross-country trek in the 1960’s, traveling to military towns and even onto bases to meet with active duty soldiers and returning veterans who opposed the Vietnam War. She’ll be traveling with Iraqi war veterans on the upcoming trip.

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