Monday, November 07, 2005

Say it ain't so, Joe

Topsecretk9 over at Tom Maguire's Just One Minute found this John Batchelor piece at Red State that assures us that Monday will not be a good day in the Alterman Reality. Generals Paul Vallely and Tom McInerny, both familiar faces to Fox News viewers for their insights into the Battle for Iraq, will be appearing on the John Batchelor show tomorrow evening to discuss conversations that they had in the Fox Green Room with Joseph Wilson in 2002. It seems that Joe was quite proud of his wife's job at the CIA. So much so that he mentioned it more than once.

Anyone following the Libby matter might want to note the year one more time - 2002. Supersecret covert agent Valery Victoria Flame Plame Wilson had a helluva cover story. She must be the Purloined Letter of CIA covert agents. Perhaps Inspector Jo.. er Mr. Fitgerald should have a discussion with Mr. Wilson. After all, Mr. Fitzgerald made it crystal clear in his lengthy if obtuse press conference that disclosure of classified information is a very serious matter. Why, he's spent more than two years trying to find out how our gal Val's name ever got into the press.

Did he ask Joe?

UPDATE:

Joe takes another one.

23 comments:

Unknown said...

Were these people ever asked to testify?

Anonymous said...

Hey you Rick....your not supposed to confuse me with new blogs to read now!

Rick Ballard said...

Hi TS9,

This blog doesn't require the focus that Tom's does (at least not involving 'our gal Val'). Stop by when you take a break from sleuthing.

Terrye,

While I would not go as far as David does, I would say that Fitzgerald had his head turned by the press from the gitgo. The fact that he does not directly address Plame's actual status beyond "classified" within the indictment leads me to believe that the two heavy duty statutes that were supposed to come into play (according to the drooling left) were actually not broken.

Fitzgerald is now on the tightrope. It appears that the underlying statutes are not applicable and I am unaware of any statutory prohibition on the disclosure of classified information. If there were, Daniel Ellsberg might still be in jail.

From a political rather than legal viewpoint the revelations concerning Joe Wilson effectively complete his destruction. He tried to run with the big dogs (with their encouragement and "support") and now finds that he is a lonely lost puppy. He is completely unworthy of sympathy however, for he is a truly prodigious liar.

flenser said...

I think we can take it as given that the CIA engaged in "dirty tricks" against the White House. The question is, what is to be done about it? The Republicans running the government seem unable or unwilling to take action.

Charlie Martin said...

... I am unaware of any statutory prohibition on the disclosure of classified information. If there were, Daniel Ellsberg might still be in jail.

Wow, they sure misled me when I signed my clearance papers, then.

Seriously, Ellsberg's prosecution was dropped in the post-Watergate interval because of government misconduct. But Sandy Berger was prosecuted for merely losing classified documents.

ex-democrat said...

rick - are you sure Fitzgerald explicitly describes Plame's status as "classified."? It's a while since I read it, but i remember being struck by a line in the indictment that Plame's identity was "not a matter of common knowledge." As I think I said at the time, that oddly out-of-place term is hardly the same thing.

Syl said...

There are some things I deem important about this:

(1)If Wilson indeed felt no compunction against identifying his wife as CIA it is very likely we can assume journalists also knew it.

(2)Fitzgerald could not himself gather info re journalistic knowledge that mrs. wilson was CIA. He was extremely limited by DOJ rules concerning interrogating journalists.

(3)Libby claimed Russert told him mrs. wilson was CIA. Russert said he said nufink. A transcript has been found wherein Andrea Mitchell admits she knew. And from another transcript from about a week ago where Russert and Andrea were discussing this whole thing, I feel there is some evidence that Russert, when he was questioned by investigators, could NOT remember what he had told Libby.

This gives reasonable doubts concerning Russert's testimony. A huge part of Fitz' case.

(4)And the side benefit is discrediting Wilson as an ego maniac blowhard.

flenser said...

"I saw Val Wilson and Wonkette flashing their boobs in a bar in Georgetown last night! "

Dog bites man.

ex-democrat said...

oops, our heroic speaker-of-truth-to-power Mark accidentally disqualifies himself from the Libby jury pool: "a story that can only be corraborated (sic) by the teller and the target" simply cannot be found as a fact.

Syl said...

markg8

Are you an anti-globalist too, besides your other fine qualities? Is your name a reference to the G8 summits?

What are your thoughts about a smear machine from one side countering the smear machine from the other? Not fair? He with the biggest smear wins? Or is everyone so smeared that we should just give up and not care which smear wins?

Rick Ballard said...

Seneca,

Oops. My recollection was that Ellsberg hadn't signed an NDA. Signing one does change your status under the law.

ex-dem,

Now that you mention it, I have to reread the damn thing - he does use the term classified but it might have been in the general descriptive sense rather than as a specific regarding Val. Reading that thing makes my head hurt but I'll do it one more time and get back.

Markg8,

I feel your pain, man.

Syl said...

mark

Thanks for explanation re handle.

Now on to this, which I think is extremely important for you to understand:

I think Fitzgerald made that statement about Plame's CIA identity not being common knowledge because of Bob Novak's assertion that it was. I believe it was one of the last aspects of the investigation checked out with the Wilsons' neighbors. Seems odd they'd leave to the last but I guess they got pretty firm denials of that from the CIA.

Valery's neighbors are not journalists.

You are basing your analysis on an assumption that Fitzgerald was able to discern, through his investigation, that the knowledge of Mrs. Wilson's CIA employment was not wideley known, even by reporters.

What you fail to consider is that Fitzgerald's hands were tied on that score because of DOJ rules concerning how much probing of reporters was allowed.

There was no way Fitz could determine that, and his case against Libby is based on incomplete knowledge.

So it is left to others, especially Libby's attorneys, to determine how widely known Valery's CIA employment was among journalists.

Syl said...

mark

Why don't YOU go to baghdad and ask around? That's only fair. Or maybe the picture in the next thread might give you a clue as to the answer.

ex-democrat said...

last i heard the military is already 80% young(ish) republicans.
perhaps when mark's efforts help that number reach 100% the military will decide not to bother defending the democrat free-loaders at all?

(jeez; you guys have no idea how painful and embarassing it is for those of us with my affliction (see handle) to witness this incessant adolescent tripe.)

Anonymous said...

Sean Hannity just announced Gen Vallely will be on his show today to talk about Joe Wilson and his lawyer.

Unknown said...

mark:

Thanks to people like you I left the Democratic party. Thanks to the fact that people like me left the Democratic Party and voted for Bush, he is now the President of the United States.

Way to go buddy boy.

I think the question is if the CIA was concerned enough about this to make a referral to the DoJ, why didn't they kill the damn story in the first place?

And why does Mr. Wilson get to run around telling one story and then another and another and the Bush bashers pretend not to notice what a lying loon blowing Joe really is?

As for your remarks about Iraq, well that is just stupid. Really. Saddam earned the name the Butcher of Baghdad because of his treatment of his own people...to say they were better off with him around just tells us what a fool you are.

Truly.

In fact the Iraqi people are by and large optimistic about their future which is evidenced by their willingness to create a new government for themselves and their attempts to build a new country. As if you gave a damn about the Iraqi people. Saddam could wipe of them off the face of the planet without so much as a kiss my behind from the entire Kos crew.

I tell you what, Saddam is still alive. Why don't you lobby for his return to power?

Why don't you take your ass over to Iraq and ask people [who don't happen to be former Baathists] how they feel about Saddam running things again?

Go ahead big man, be my guest. Just jump right in there. You might even mention that you think it would be a good deal if he was back in town running things.

Unless of course you are just a chicken commenter.

ex-democrat said...

thanks guys - and don't worry, that ship has long sailed.
however, i'm still trying to imagine what kind of man gets up in the morning, surveys our beautiful but troubled planet, and decides to invest his limited time in, of all things, something called 'Operation Yellow Elephant,' - a project designed to persecute young college republicans based upon a fatuous and indeed imbecilic philosophy that citizens not engaged in active combat service may not be heard to support our country's military actions.
fact is, indeed, stranger than fiction.

ex-democrat said...

wounded kos kid whining about 'insults' from 'the VRWC' in 3...2...1..

(btw, terrye, scroll down here for some nice pics of iraqis mourning the loss of their fearless leader: http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/)

ex-democrat said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ex-democrat said...

there's a scene in a 70's movie called "Car Wash" where a flamboyantly gay character (played by Huggy Bear) snaps at a passing bigot: "Honey, I'm more man than you'll ever be and more woman than you'll ever get!"
So, on that note, here's a man who's more of a Lefty than marky-mark could ever hope of being putting him and his ilk in their rightful place: http://www.slate.com/?id=2073772.

Unknown said...

Mark:

I am not touchy my sweet...I am disgusted with your kind.

I got through the first paragraph of your post and said to hell with it. If you want us to read your crap edit it.

As for operation dumbass or whatever you got going...the Constitution of the United States makes it plain that our military will be controlled by the civilian government. That is how a draft dodger like Bill Clinton can become commander in chief. If you have a problem with that then I suggest you and your pals take a civics course.

BTW I have relatives who are fighting this war and nobody dragged them off the back porch, drugged them and sent them to Iraq.

They volunteered and no doubt they would think you were a real winner.

Unknown said...

If you include recruiting for Navy, Air Force and Marines overall numbers are high. Reenlistment is the highest ever. The Army is the only branch down and that is partly because the government is trying to raise troop numbers not just maintain numbers.

As for Halliburton, this is pure paranoia talking. Halliburton has been a major defence contractor for years. In fact in my home town of Duncan Ok it is the major employer. When Clinton was president they got contracts in Kosovo and the same contracts were extended for Iraq. If the VP had not been Cheney it would never have even been an issue.

And in the future when someone else is VP it will stop being an issue.

The whole thing is stupid.

vnjagvet said...

The Markster has the scissors and pastepot out. Tough to make those arguments responsive to real writers who are not ideologues and tied to one point of view.

You're toying with him Peter. He hasn't laid a glove on ya.

When Mark argues that the Iraqis were better off under the Hussein regime, it is tough to take him seriously. True troll material all right.