ROVE AND LIBBY: Perjury, obstruction of justice. Libby seasoned with additional charge of outing a covert operative. Fitzgerald is asking for these charges. As has been noted, what a prosecutor asks for from a grand jury, he gets. [Raw Story]
UPDATE: Sic Semper says we will be served today, not tomorrow. UPDATE CNN The federal grand jury investigating the leak of a CIA operative's identity adjourned Wednesday afternoon and Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald made no public announcement of any action.
THE HERETIK ASKS: Do you think Fitz still has something up his sleeve? Or will he announce later? Cyberspace burns with anticipation. Who will be most burnt by the end of the day?
UPDATE: For those who can't wait for the selection on the buffet, Reddhedd at Firedog Lake slices up Cheney into small pieces.
BUT THE QUESTION STILL REMAINS what else will be on the menu? Who else already feels a pit in their stomach and why?
IN CASE YOU FORGOT [CNN] Federal law makes it a crime to deliberately reveal the identity of a covert CIA operative.(Fitzgerald profile)
THE HERETIK NOTES Libby has recently been seen on crutches, which may be an apt image for his legal fate. Scooter won't be alone for long. Raw Story additionally reports:
Two other officials, who are not employees in the White House, are also expected to face indictments, the lawyers said.
THE HERETIK THINKS one is Fleischer and the other one is Bolton. Time has a way of curving back on itself. Will we finally have an answer to the question? What about Bob? Who told Novak?AND WHAT ELSE? As posted previously, Joe Wilson takes this personally. In this case Fitzpatrick may see the personal as political too. [Patrick Doherty/ Tom Paine]
Larry Johnson just alerted me to this incredible scoop. For anyone out there who has ever read Ender's Game, this is a perfect example of Ender's classic decision to focus on the goal, and not on playing the game. For those who haven't had the pleasure of reading Ender's Game, here's the deal: Instead of Fitzgerald focusing on the crime of leaking an undercover operative's name—a task difficult to prove—Fitzgerald may instead be focusing on the goal of that crime: damaging Joe Wilson's career. Since the attack was so over the top, Fitzgerald may be trying to show that the coordinated White House effort was intending to violate a private individual's civil rights.
That's strategic innovation. Everyone in Washington has just been assuming that attacking your enemies—Karl Rove's specialty since he ran around the country teaching Republicans "dirty tricks"—was fair play.
If this intel is accurate, Fitzgerald just drew a new line in the sand here in Washington.
MORE at Sic Semper Tyrannis. Interesting bit on Niger yellowcake and other personalities involved. Matt at The Tattered Coat picks up on the yellow cake that may be included in the buffet selections. Yes, let them eat cake. The Left Coaster’s Eriposte serves up all you can eat on yellowcake. Impressive.
THE HERETIK SEES time again turns back on itself. The yellow cake report that started this whole mess will again be looked out closely. Will all the ingredients in the cake so cited that gave rise to war be discovered. The Heretik wonders. Fitzgerald probably didn't open a web site just for cat blogging.
SOME SIDE DISH
AND WHAT ABOUT JUDY, JUDY, JUDY? IS SHE DONE AT THE TIMES? [WSJ] The negotiations began with a face-to-face meeting Monday morning between Ms. Miller and the publisher, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., said the lawyer familiar with the situation. A spokeswoman for the New York Times declined to comment. Ms. Miller didn't return calls.
Mr. Sulzberger and New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller both indicated they wished they had known more about the circumstances that led Ms. Miller to go to jail rather than reveal who told her the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson.[via Firedog Lake]
THE HERETIK LAUGHS when he hears about Keller and Pinch’s wishes now. The Heretik wishes Keller had done his job earlier. He should be fired. And Sulzberger too. But Sulzberger can’t be because he is king of The Times. It is good to be king. Just not so much so now.
ALSO: Check out The Kubler Ross of Plame. The Heretik has heard no word yet on The Tao of Piglet Karl Rove. Cheney was not seen reading Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being Indicted.
THE BUFFET IS NOW open. Plenty more to eat later.
It will be interesting to see how soon the White House cuts Scooter and Rove loose when (not if) the indictments issue. Bush is just stubborn enough to change his position once again, and refuse to accept their resignations saying the charges are not true. I think that would be political suicide and it would severly hamper both men's ability to fight any charges.
I also wonder if this is going to cause a rift between the offices of the President and the VP? By all accounts, Bush is outraged at the thought of having to loose his "brain", Karl Rove. He may want to scapegoat Scooter, agnering Slick Dick.
I just hope that the hopelessly deluded mainstream media starts to focus on the real issues including the fact that apparently both Bush and Cheney lied about what they knew about Scooter and Rove's role in all of this. Cheney also claimed he didn't know who Joe Wilson was, which is now known to be false (check out Ariana's latest blog post over at the Huffington Post).
Posted by: stacy | October 26, 2005 at 11:30 AM
"That's strategic innovation. Everyone in Washington has just been assuming that attacking your enemies—Karl Rove's specialty since he ran around the country teaching Republicans 'dirty tricks'—was fair play."
I want that! That's what I want! I don't even need it gift-wrapped! God! It's about time!
Posted by: Tata | October 26, 2005 at 11:56 AM
Damn right it's about me! When do I pop the cork?
Posted by: blogenfreude | October 26, 2005 at 01:56 PM
No more 'dirty tricks' in DC?? Man, now we really are dreaming. What kind of a world would that be? A just one? Come on!
Prediction: Fitz announcement tomorrow. Indictments for Rove, Libby, BOLTON and maybe Fleischer. And as R.Sale hears, an extension of the probe to investigate Cheney's role in a much wider White House conspiracy.
Happy Fitzukkah everyone!
Posted by: Jed | October 26, 2005 at 03:39 PM
Fitzukkah. I love it. What about the feast of Fitztavus?
Posted by: The Heretik | October 26, 2005 at 04:47 PM
You mentioned Enders Game. Before the last election, Orson Scott Card said although he was not conservative regarding social issues, he would support Bush "because honesty still means something to me." (Quote from memory. And, if memory serves, the source was Slate.) Ever since then it's been hard for me to even think of reading one of his books, although of course his extremely bad, blind, confoundingly dim, el opposito, and strange political judgement is irrelevent to the merit of his fictional works.
Posted by: Ender's Blame | October 26, 2005 at 10:33 PM