Friday New York Times: Rove confirmed Plame as CIA to Novak too

The NYT is reporting in Friday's paper that Rove also confirmed to Novak that he'd heard Plame was CIA. This conversation occured, reportedly, 3 days before Rove then told TIME's Matt Cooper that Plame was CIA.

Why does this matter?

1. A senior Bush administration official with access to the most classified information confirms to a journalist who a CIA agent is. Is he nuts? Again, anyone who's worked with the CIA and their agents (and I have) knows how careful they are - you do NOT confirm who works there, and EVERYONE in town KNOWS that. Why in God's name would Rove do this? It's inexcusable. And he confirmed it to a journalist, no less.

2. It confirms that Scottie McClellan REALLY misled the media when he said that it was "ridiculous" to suggest that Rove had anything to do with the Plame leak. In fact, Rove not only told TIME about Plame, he also confirmed the story for Novak. So, again, why did the White House mislead the media and the American public for two years by denying Rove's involvement?

3. Three days after he confirms the story for Novak, Rove tells TIME magazine about Plame. Rove can try to claim that it was Novak who brought Plame's status as CIA up in the conversation first (which still doesn't excuse Rove confirming it, good God), but Rove can't explain why HE decided to be the guy to offer Plame's CIA status on a silver platter to TIME magazine. That's a pattern of disclosure, rather than a one-time slip-up.

4. So now we have Rove leaking to Novak AND Matt Cooper, and Bush still hasn't fired him,, no one has revoked his security clearance, and in fact Rove was walking side by side with Bush today. Could we have a bigger threat to our national security that a walking sieve attached at the hip of our president? Read the rest of this post...

Bush's polls are REALLY bad

From Froomkin at the Wash Post:

A majority of those polled disapprove of how Bush is handling the economy, foreign policy -- and Iraq. A plurality -- 49 percent -- agree that "we should set a deadline for withdrawing our troops from Iraq." And asked "If the United States withdraws its troops from Iraq there will be more terrorist attacks in the United States," only 36 percent agree -- compared to 54 percent who disagree.

Finally, it's not just honesty where Bush is taking a hit. Only 50 percent of those polled gave him high ratings for being easygoing and likeable, down from 57 in January; 43 percent gave him high ratings for being smart, down from 50; 40 percent gave him high ratings for being compassionate enough to understand average people, down from 47; and only 29 percent gave him high ratings for being willing to work with people whose viewpoints are different from his own, down from 33.

Yes, this poll came out yesterday, but I think a number of us missed the details that Froomkin caught. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

I'm tired. Read the rest of this post...

Rehnquist: I'm not quitting

Damn, he sounds like a cranky old man, but Rehnquist told everyone to back off, he's not quitting. AP has the story:

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, denying rumors of his retirement, said Thursday he will continue heading the court as long his health permits. “I’m not about to announce my retirement,” he said.

“I want to put to rest the speculation and unfounded rumors of my imminent retirement,” Rehnquist, 80, and ailing with thyroid cancer, said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. “I am not about to announce my retirement. I will continue to perform my duties as chief justice as long as my health permits.”

Read the rest of this post...

Don't Forget The Torture!

Meanwhile, while White House officials are leaking state secrets in a time of war, torture is being committed in our name. Torture -- the evil tool of Castro and Stalin and dictators around the world. Torture -- the cruel, inhuman practice of the bad guys that heros like our World War II and Vietnam prisoners of war endured stoically but all decent people condemned. Torture -- thanks to Bush -- is now the American way.

Actually, it makes sense: the same people who defend torture are the same people defending Karl Rove, a man who endangered national security in a dirty tricks campaign.

The Washington Post details the obvious -- that the same methods used in Abu Ghraib denounced by Bush and everyone around the world began in Guantanamo Bay.

The Post also has an online discussion from Bush Sr's personal physician -- he denounced the use of medical personnel in overseeing that torture in an op-ed column.

And if you haven't picked up the current double issue of The New Yorker, Jane Mayer has a devastating feature on the torture at Guantanamo Bay and the unprecedented and frightening use of doctors. Not that we want to mention the Nazis, but of course it was the horrifying practices of the Third Reich's doctors that shocked the world and led to new standards being set by the international medical community -- standards our doctors are now breaking in Guantanamo Bay. It's a great article for rebutting the people who want to pretend the only claims about torture come from prisoners told to lie in a training manual. Mayer speaks to FBI agents, US military lawyers, former interrogators, soldiers and references the reports filed by the military itself. The article isn't online, but Mayer's q and a about it is available here. Read the rest of this post...

White House contradicts itself again on Rove

From RawStory, quoting today's White House briefing on Air Force One:

Q Does the President believe it's appropriate for the RNC to continue to weigh in on this matter? They put out another memo today, with a top-10 Joseph Wilson lies. If indeed it's an ongoing investigation and it's improper for the White House to discuss it, does he think it's proper for the Republican Party to weigh in on it?

MR. McCLELLAN: You know, Geoff, I appreciate the question, and as you heard me say yesterday, we are not going to prejudge the outcome of the investigation based on media reports. And I'm not going to get into --

Q What about the RNC, though, Scott?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I said, I'm not going to get into discussing matters relating to an ongoing investigation. We'll let the investigation come to a conclusion, and then I'll be more than happy to talk about it, as will the President.

Q Does the President -- did he yesterday get his --

MR. McCLELLAN: What I'm telling you is that those are all questions relating to an ongoing investigation.

Q Did the President get his news yesterday about Justice Rehnquist's health from media reports?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Andy Card and I did, and Andy Card and I informed the President in the Oval Office yesterday, shortly after the news reports came out. I think that that was the case previously, when the Chief Justice went into the hospital, we didn't have any advance notification either.

Q So why is it acceptable for him to base his information about the Chief Justice's health on news reports, but not about an investigation within the West Wing? What's the distinction there?

MR. McCLELLAN: Oh, I think there's a lot of distinctions there. This is relating to an ongoing criminal investigation. There are clear distinctions in that. That's a nice try to get us to discuss an ongoing investigation, but I think we need to let that investigation continue.

Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

What you hearing? Read the rest of this post...

LOL Now the Senate Republicans want to strip Orrin Hatch of his security clearance!

Oh, it just keeps getting better.

The Senate GOP is refusing to support the Senate Democrats' amendment that would make the disclosure of classified information by a government employee cause for losing a security clearance. This is the amendment:

No federal employee who discloses or has disclosed classified information, including the identity of a covert agent of the Central Intelligence Agency, to a person not authorized to receive such information shall be entitled to hold a security clearance for access to such information.

Instead, the Republicans are proposing an amendment that would make you lose your clearance, basically, if any evil foreigners tried to use one of your statements for their own propaganda (it's a bit more complicated than that, but not by much). Now, you have to love that one, as George Bush would lose his clearance immediately, since pretty much everything he says and does has fueled Al Qaeda's resurgence in Iraq and worldwide.

But it gets better. They also want to yank Senators' security clearances if they reference a classified FBI report on the Senate floor. This is a swipe at Senator Durbin, over his criticism of the horrible conditions at Abu Ghraib. But ironically, the proposed law would also rip Senator Orrin Hatch's (R-UT) security clearance because he has in the past referenced judicial nominee's FBI files.

In addition, every Senator who participated in an Armed Services Committee hearing on Gitmo yesterday might lose their clearance because the FBI agents' comments were discussed. Those Republicans who participated in the hearing are:

* John Warner
* John McCain
* Pat Roberts
* Jeff Sessions
* Saxby Chambliss
* Elizabeth Dole
* John Cornyn

The length extremist Republicans will go to defend treason.

So when is George Bush going to fire Karl Rove, as promised, for leaking the name of a CIA agent? Read the rest of this post...

Why do Republicans hate America and our troops?

I love this. The conservative Powerline blog is reportedly trying to "prove" that Valerie Plame wasn't really an undercover agent. Uh, news flash guys, it's not up to conservative bloggers to decide if CIA agents are undercover or not. If the CIA says she was undercover, then she was undercover - partisans don't get to decide when we out CIA agents for revenge. That's called treason.

The bottom line is that Karl Rove outed a CIA agent working to stop the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. He did it as an act of personal political revenge. He did it while we're at war. He's lucky he's not being charged with treason.

And a quick word about Donna Brazile. When do we get to kick her out of the TV Democrat club? She's on CNN right now talking about how we don't know the truth yet about Karl Rove and Valerie Plame. Really, Donna? What truth is it that we don't yet know? Rove's own lawyer admitted he leaked Valerie Plame's name. So what "truth" is it you're waiting for? Donna drinks way too much Kool-Aid to be representing us on TV. Read the rest of this post...

Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison and Kit Bond ♥ treason

GOP Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) is doing a press conference right now defending treason. Why does Kay Bailey Hutchison hate our troops and hate the war on terror? Why does she think outing CIA agents during war time is a laudable act? Why does she support enabling terrorists who want to destroy our country and kill our people, terrorists who attacked our country on September 11 and who attacked London just last week?

Why does Kay Bailey Hutchison hate America?

Call her and ask.

(202) 224-5922

Senator Kit Bond (R-MO) support treason too. Call him and ask why.

(202) 224-5721 Read the rest of this post...

My column on Rove-gate in RADAR today

From RADAR:

...intentionally ruining the career of an undercover spy who works on weapons of mass destruction while we’re at war on that very issue, putting hundreds of her contacts around the world at risk, and doing it as part of a penny-ante political vendetta—that takes a special kind of disregard for national security.

How it makes one long for a simpler era, when justice was worth obstructing only for higher purposes. Like blow jobs.

Read the rest of this post...

Action Alert: Who Supports Treason?

UPDATE FROM JOHN: Please do call your Senators and House members about Karl Rove. The only reason they're speaking up today is because the White House is begging them - Rove is in seriously trouble. We have seen time and again how extremist Republicans are able to steal the message and spin any crime their way. Don't let them. Call your Senators and House members and demand they speak publicly on where they stand - with the traitors or with the troops. Trust me, if enough members of Congress feel the heat, Rove will be toast.

Okay, now the gloves are coming off.

First the RNC posted an item saying their rank and file members are nonplussed about Karl Rove. Really? Why wouldn't Republicans be angry that Bush's right hand man leaked classified information to the press, violated national security and endangered the lives of a covert agent and the people around the world who worked with her to spread freedom and democracy? Don't they love their country?

Now the White House is twisting arms and getting Senators and Congressmen to speak up and say they "support" Karl Rove. Really? Why would you support a traitor? (Ann Coulter likes to throw that phrase around for anyone who disagrees with her. I save it for people who actually commit treason, such as leaking classified information during a time of war.) Why would anyone say, "Yes, I know Karl Rove leaked information and lied about being involved and it's triggered a very serious investigation and he might have broken the law and put our nation's safety at risk but I think that's just dandy"?

As the London bombings and 9-11 and the daily death tolls in Iraq remind us, this is about life and death. We are at war. How can anyone blithely support a government official who leaked classified info and then lied about it? At best, at BEST, a senator or congressman should say they want to wait until all the facts are in. At least, anyone with common sense should condemn anyone who leaks national secrets at a time of war and insist anyone doing so should be fired.

Where does your Representative or Senator stand on treason?

Phone and email your House members and Senators.

The time for fence-sitting is over apparently. According to the White House they don't want to talk about the investigation but they DO want to rally the troops and demand everyone show their love for Rove when he lied to the country and leaked classified info.

So do your elected officials support treason, do they support outing CIA agents during war time, or do they support our troops and our country?

Anyone from any party who leaks classified information and endangers national security should be condemned. How far adrift are George Bush and the Republicans that they don't understand this?

It's not about politics. It's about patriotism. Read the rest of this post...

Karl, thanks for the help. Love, Osama

More AMERICAblog t-shirts:
Read the rest of this post...

Dad Beats Three Year Old Son To Death: Thanks, Radical Right

Well, the radical right hate groups must be very proud. They preach hate and tell parents they should be ashamed and despise their gay kids and they tell kids of gay parents to be ashamed of and despise them.

Their message of hate is getting out: a Florida man is going on trial for beating to death his three year old son. He feared the little toddler was gay and insisted on "teaching" the boy to box by slapping it on the head repeatedly until the poor child vomited or peed himself. Ultimately, the child fell into a coma and died. (Thanks to threader Ms. Julien in Miami for pointing us to this.)

That's what happens when you demonize human beings and destroy families by ewncouraging parents to turn against their children. Read the rest of this post...

Senator Reid offering an amendment today about security clearances and traitors

Reid, Levin, Rockefeller, Biden and Durbin offer "Security Clearance" Amendment

Senator Reid will offer the following amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill (On the floor right now) on behalf of Senator Levin:

No federal employee who discloses or has disclosed classified information, including the identity of a covert agent of the Central Intelligence Agency, to a person not authorized to receive such information shall be entitled to hold a security clearance for access to such information.

A vote is expected today. Read the rest of this post...

"We Support Karl Rove" t-shirts

Now available at the AMERICAblog.com store:



*Note, the image here is a bit blurry, that's because it's been shrunk for the Web - it's perfectly clear on the actual shirts. Read the rest of this post...

Thursday's Wash Post on Rove

Wash Post:

A number of legal experts, some of whom are involved in the case, said evidence that has emerged publicly suggests Rove or other administration officials face potential legal threats on at least three fronts.

The first is the unmasking of CIA official Valerie Plame, the original focus of special counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald's probe. But legal sources say there are indications the prosecutor is looking at two other areas related to the administration's handling of his investigation. One possible legal vulnerability is perjury, if officials did not testify truthfully to a federal grand jury, and another is obstructing justice, if they tried to coordinate cover stories to obscure facts.

Legal experts said the evidence that has emerged in recent days -- including confirmation that Rove and Cooper spoke about Plame's role at the CIA as a way of knocking down a damaging story about the administration's Iraq policy -- does not by itself necessarily indicate a crime was committed. Even so, White House officials acknowledged privately that they are concerned that the investigation will lead to an indictment of someone in the administration later this year.

Read the rest of this post...

Wilson On Today: It's All About Iraq

Perhaps the best part of "Today's" interview with Ambassador Joe Wilson? His emphasis on a conspiracy and the lies the White House peddled to sell the war in Iraq. Some people fear Rove is a "distraction" from the DSM et al. But Wilson reminds us that this is why they attacked him in the first place.

Wilson emphasized that this is about the war in Iraq and the lies the White House used to sell that war. Tony Blair offered up shoddily forged documents claiming the weak and enfeebled Hussein was trying to buy radioactive material in Africa. Bush sent Joe Wilson to check it out. Joe Wilson came back and said it wasn't true -- the evidence didn't hold up. Bush didn't like that answer so they sent someone else to investigate. They came back and said the same thing: the proof isn't there. Bush STILL didn't like that answer so they sent someone else. Three separate investigations and all three said the same thing: no go.

But Bush lied anyway. In his State of the Union address leading up to the war, Bush stated flatly in 16 fatal words that Hussein had gone to Africa to buy radioactive material. Wilson was astonished and finally decided to come forward and speak out publicly -- the very thing the far right just excoriated Deep Throat for not doing. Wilson knew it meant they would attack and smear him but he came forward anyway. Those 16 words -- that lie -- became the focus of intense debate and ultimately Joe Wilson was vindicated: the White House admitted it didn't have the proof to back up that claim. According to the Bush Administration, Joe Wilson was right and they were wrong.

(The other central piece of evidence -- the tubes Bush claimed were used to make nuclear weapons -- has also been proven to be a lie. One lone mid-level CIA analyst made the claim the White House wanted about those tubes. Every other scientific and military group that looked at the evidence, every expert from the US and from international bodies and our allies overseas said the claims about those tubes were absolutely wrong. But with 99.9% of the experts saying one thing and literally one mid-level analyst saying what they wanted to hear, Colin Powell went to the UN and statedly flatly that there was no doubt what they were used for, which was a lie. If one of those many, many people in the government had shown the courage of Joe Wilson and come forward before the invasion to dispute what they knew was absolutely untrue about the other central piece of "evidence," we might never have gone to war. But of course they knew what would happen. The treatment of Wilson -- who came forward a few months after the invasion -- proved them right. Public support and the upcoming reelection of Bush were at stake and they attacked.)

For when Joe Wilson came forward, the Bush Administration didn't just attack and smear him. They went after his wife as well. And they didn't just smear her; they risked national security to out a covert CIA agent. As everyone working in government knows, the simple fact that someone is a covert agent for the CIA is classified information. People don't reveal that lightly to anyone and when they do, you don't tell your family and you don't tell your friends. And frankly, even a child knows that you don't reveal the identity of a spy. But Karl Rove did anyway.

Why? Because it's all about Iraq. The White House had two "smoking guns" in convincing the American people to go to war. The tubes and the claim that Hussein was actively trying to buy radioactive material. Both were lies. The Bush administration didn't "get it wrong," they knew what they were saying wasn't supported by the facts and they said it anyway.

Joe Wilson bravely came forward and proved the one claim was a lie.

The Downing Street Memo proves even our closest ally knew Bush was planning to invade Iraq no matter what and was lying to convince the American people to support it.

The latest polls show most Americans believe George Bush lied about why he wanted to invade Iraq. The truth is coming out. Read the rest of this post...

VIDEO & TRANSCRIPT: Ambassador Wilson on the Today Show this morning

From Today Read the rest of this post...

Wilson: Bush needs to prove he's a man of his word

Joseph Wilson attacked Bush on his perceived strength...Bush claims to be a straight talker, so Wilson said: Prove it. Going after Bush on his perceived strength, that's so Rovian. MSNBC has the video and an AP account:

“My wife’s name is Mrs. Joseph Wilson,” he replied. “It is Mrs. Valerie Wilson. He named her. He identified her,” Wilson said. “So that argument doesn’t stand the smell test ... What I do know is that Mr. Rove is talking to the press and he is saying things like my wife is fair game. That’s an outrage. That’s an abuse of power.”

Asked how he and his wife were coping with the continuing controversy, Wilson said, “We have two 5-year-old twins and they occupy most of our free time. She’s obviously nonplussed at this unwanted attention brought to our family. But she’s tough.”

Wilson said that he and his wife “have great confidence in the institutions that have made our country great ... Yes, we do have confidence that justice will be done.”

“I think the president should call in his senior advisers and say, ’Enough is enough, I want you to step forward and cooperate,’ “ he said.

“The president has said repeatedly, “I am a man of my word,’ “ Wilson added. “He should stand up and prove that his word is his bond and fire Karl Rove.”

Read the rest of this post...

Today Show leads with Joseph Wilson

Today Show led with the Joseph Wilson interview. He was tough, tough, tough. Called for Rove to be fired. Castigated their smear campaign. He was good....on message. We'll post the transcript when it's up.

Then, Russert, with that furrowed brow look, again talked about how serious this issue was for the President. Legal issues involving national security are at the center of this scandal...and have been all along. That's why the special prosecutor is involved in the first place. Even Russert gets that now. And, the spinning and parsing that the Rove defenders have been doing doesn't seem to working.

Looks like the MSM is not letting this one go. Read the rest of this post...

Kennedy blasts Santorum, asks for apology

Kenndy and Kerry jumped on Santorum's confirmation of his previous outrageous remarks about the Boston priest pedophile scandals. Kennedy went as far as criticizing Santorum on the Senate floor and asking for him to apologize to the people of Boston and Massachusetts. The daft governor of Massachusetts, Mitch Romney, apparently is still thinking that the wingnuts will somehow allow a northeasterner to be a serious presidential candidate so he completely wimped out (and sucked up to the wingnuts) by leaving it to his spokesman.

"Senator Santorum is a fine person, and we're all entitled to make a mistake once in a while," [Eric] Fehrnstrom said.

Gosh, don't go too far out on a limb there no matter how nuts Santorum's remarks were. Kennedy and Kerry were every-so-slightly more critical. I'm still curious what Santorum has to say about the countless other scandals in the US including in Philadelphia, a city in the state that he represents. It's a long list though and such scandals are around the globe so Ricky has plenty more towns and countries to attack.

"The people of Boston are to blame for the clergy sexual abuse? That is an irresponsible, insensitive and inexcusable thing to say," said Kennedy.

Senator John Kerry, D-Mass., commented, "As a prosecutor in Massachusetts, I saw some of the worst criminals who had abused children and not once did I hear them hide behind Senator Santorum's bizarre claim that the state was responsible for their acts."

Read the rest of this post...

Yeah, because now they have the fags to bash

RNC Chief to Say It Was 'Wrong' to Exploit Racial Conflict for Votes Read the rest of this post...

FOX News turning on Rove?

Check out this news story, from the most unlikely of sources, FOXNews.com:

Bush's vow that whoever committed the leak would be dealt with is being thrown back at him; watching White House spokesman Scott McClellan squirm under reporters' questions these past few days is reminiscent of Mike McCurry's defense of Clinton before the former president admitted his affair with an intern.

With ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, at least one Supreme Court vacancy and a looming Social Security crisis, a second-term scandal is probably the last thing Bush needs. But having to fire Rove may actually dispel distortions about Bush's command of his office.

"[The late French President] Charles de Gaulle said, 'The graveyards are full of indispensable men.' The world will go on," Cannon said of a Rove departure.

Read the rest of this post...