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October 26, 2005

10/26: Fitzgerald's Game

In the past 24 hours, pretty much everything took a back seat to the Plamegate investigation and the anticipation that senior WH members will be indicted, perhaps as soon as today. A handful of bloggers claim to have advance info from inside sources, and while no one knows exactly what's going to happen, the consensus seems to be that indictments have been prepared.

In related news, liberal bloggers discuss new questions about pre-war WMD intel from Italy, conservative bloggers push back against media focus on the 2K soldiers killed in Iraq. The Harriet Miers nomination continues to simmer; more conservative bloggers take sides, and most oppose. And liberal blogfather Jerome Armstrong hangs up his blogging hat. Plus, we bring you a brief history of this month's hottest neologism, "Fitzmas."

PLAMEGATE: All The Gossip That's Fit To Print

Liberal think-tanker Steve Clemons writes, an "uber-insider source," and then another source of unknown uber-insiderness, says to expect the following: "1. 1-5 indictments are being issued. The source feels that it will be towards the higher end"; "2. The targets of indictment have already received their letters"; "3. The indictments will be sealed indictments and 'filed' tomorrow"; "4. A press conference is being scheduled for Thursday." The rumor spread fast, getting linked in at least 225 blog posts since then -- that's bigger than this weekend's George Will column, that's bigger than the New York Times' bombshell story on VP Cheney yesterday (at least, at deadline yesterday; now it's up to 342 links).

Plugged-in GOP consultant Erick Erickson writes: "Don't believe the rumor mill on this until" special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald "or one of the indicted actually speaks. Some people are using this as an opportunity to settle scores in the confusion." That said, he shares the gossip as he hears it -- the WH itself is facing 2 indictments, although a WH source dismisses that as "office talk." Meanwhile, some "feel confident" that Cheney CoS Scooter Libby and Cheney aide John Hannah will be indicted. The "rumor mill" has implicated NSA Stephen Hadley and conservative commentator Michael Ledeen have been mentioned. Erickson adds: "I hate to disappoint the left, but if the rumor mill is to be believed, Karl Rove, yet again, gets off."

Meanwhile, Clemons also floats a rumor that Sen. John McCain has been "approached about serving as VP if Cheney has 'health problems' or otherwise steps down. Beyond that, speculation that Miers will step down to be replaced by a Bork-like sub (even better, Bork himself ... ). In other words, Cheney takes a bullet, a titanic battle over SCOTUS ensued to change the subject." MyDD's Scott Shields, on what happens if Cheney steps down: "Rather than naming a Vice President as a way of anointing a 2008 pick," Pres. Bush is "far more likely to name someone whom he either knows doesn't want the nomination or whom he doesn't want to have the nomination. The obvious pick is Condoleezza Rice." Andrew Sullivan: "I'm beginning to understand, for example, why Bush told Andy Card to inform Dick Cheney about the Miers nomination. Bush was already insulating himself from Cheney and the legal trap Cheney might have signified."

Left-leaning Taegan Goddard writes, an ex-"high level" Bush admin. official tells him "that 'people are turning on each other' at the White House. Lawrence Wilkerson is likely just the first to come out publicly against the administration."

CAP's Think Progress posts a transcription of CBS's Roberts reporting that Rove and Libby are "secondary players, that it was an unidentified Mr. X who actually gave the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame to reporters. Fitzgerald knows who Mr. X is," indications are that he is outside the WH, "and if he isn't indicted, there's no way Rove or Libby should be." Liberal Hullabaloo: "But, there are a bunch of other people who know who Mr X is, aren't there? They are called 'reporters' -- the ones to whom Mr X allegedly leaked in the first place."

According to the Drudge Report, ABC News told the WH that it had "double sourced" a report that Libby had been indicted in an apparent attempt to bluff the WH into revealing more info. The report runs with a flat denial from ABC News spokesperson Jeff Schneider. Conservative Power Pundit's Rick Edwards: "Scooter Libby was indicted, then he wasn't. Drudge had a headline that he had been indicted, and has now removed it. Go figure." Liberal Oliver Willis: "Looks like Drudge is making up tales again..."

Roll Call's Akers reports -- though several bloggers get their version via Raw Story -- that on 10/25 Fitzgerald "was spotted ... at the law offices of Patton Boggs paying a visit" to Rove atty Robert Luskin. Among those noting it are Basie!, Daily Kos and Suburban Guerilla. TalkLeft guesses: "Fitz was probably interviewing the cooperative Rove one more time -- and didn't want to have Rove seen at his office or where the grand jury meets.

Conservative PoliBlog's Steven Taylor probably speaks for many on both sides: "I hope something happens one way or another soon, as I would like to have some actual information to deal with, rather than endless speculation and leaks of partial information."

PLAMEGATE II: In Their Opinionation

Under the header "Better To Be Wrong Than Gutless," JustOneMinute's final predictions: "Karl Rove walks -- no indictment, nada. ... John Hannah had CIA links, so he can't convincingly plead ignorance about Ms. Plame's status. He gets a wrist slap for misuse of classified information. ... David Wurmser also has CIA links, and he gets a wrist slap for leaking to Walter Pincus of the WaPo. ... Libby goes to trial. The good news with this scenario is that otherwise, we will never know what the heck happened."

According to a corrected version of the New York Times big Cheney story, Cheney was not under oath when interviewed by Fitzgerald. But in the comment section at Firedoglake, TalkLeft's Jeralyn Merritt writes: "I don't think the oath matters. If he wasn't under oath, it's a false statement charge. If he was, it's a perjury charge. But both have the same penalty -- 5 years."

Balloon Juice expects nothing more than perjury/obstruction charges of Libby and maybe Rove, adding: "If I am wrong, and they get charged with more serious crimes, I say screw 'em. I have no use for people that actually leak secrets or put agents in danger. I just don't think (and I certainly have not seen any evidence -- just rumors and allegations) that that is what happened here."

Arianna Huffington posts a "cheat sheet" summarizing "all the lies we've been told": "I'm not saying that Plamegate is the same as Watergate. I'm saying it's worse. Much, much worse. No one died as a result of Watergate, but 2,000 American soldiers have now been killed and thousands more wounded to rid the world of an imminent threat that wasn't."

In a post apparently since removed moved from the front page to the diaries, RedState's Blanton advises Bush to pardon any indicted aides: "If President Clinton can pardon Mark Rich after receiving campaign contributions from Rich's ex-wife, this President can pardon White House staffers for doing their job well and zealously defending this administration against a never ending leftwing attack."

WMD INTEL: Mambo Italiano

First La Repubblica [Ital. req.] and now the AP report that Italian security agency SISMI chief Nicolo Pollari met with then-dep. NSA Stephen Hadley prior to the 1st reports surfacing of records indicating a Niger-Iraq uranium transaction, later shown to be forged. War and Piece's Laura Rozen elaborates: "The meeting could help explain why despite numerous attempts by the CIA to get the White House to take out the Niger yellowcake claims from its speeches, the claims made their way back into Bush's 2003 State of the Union speech. The unusual meeting may also help explain the seemingly hysterical overreaction" to ex-Amb. Joe Wilson's "pushback" to the WH's assertions. TPM Cafe's Andy Vance, working from a Babelfish translation before the AP published its story, attempts a summary: "The gist of the story, from what I can decipher, is that SISMI chief Nicolo Pollari created a secret channel to the White House and Office of Special Plans. Michael Ledeen's involved somehow." Josh Marshall points readers toward an English-language Italian report stating PM Silvio Berlusconi's gov't has issued a "carefully worded quasi-denial of complicity" in the "Niger forgeries hoax."

NETROOTS: A Farewell To Blogs

Following a week of criticism, largely by bloggers supporting OH SEN's Paul Hackett (D), Rep. Sherrod Brown (D) consultant Jerome Armstrong announces at MyDD: "I'm not going to be posting or blogging here any longer while working campaigns. There's no upside and the downside of posting personal opinions, where it's easy to mark it as a political ploy by the opposition, is plenty. If you do see me blogging, it will be with the campaigns or committees sites or blogs I'm working." He reiterates that he is no longer a business partner of Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas, adding: "I'm still working campaigns, with a contracting staff of usually 6 others, at least into '08. Though I thought I could personally blog my opinions while openly disclosing my work-related interests, that seems unrealistic given the competitive situation. So, see you on down the road." Commenters are disappointed but understand; pro-Hackett blogger Chris Baker writes: "I think that the problem only really manifests itself during primaries and recounts. Then people have to watch out. ... Personally, I want to spend my time focused on defeating Republicans. These days it feels like I'm fighting a rear guard action against some of the most powerful voices in the liberal blogosphere." But this isn't enough for Democracy Guy's Tim Russo: "He thinks this solves his conflict of interest problem... but presumably, he still owns the site, still collects money from its advertising, and still exerts editorial control over its content." Netroots activist Bob Brigham writes in an e-mail: "Jerome Armstrong is known as the Blogfather for a reason, he has inspired many people -- myself included -- to find their voice online and use blogs. While Jerome took a break from blogging during Howard Dean's campaign, I can't imagine not being able to read his thoughts on politics and specific races for three full years." For a good backgrounder on Armstrong's importance to the liberal blogosphere, see this 6/05 AlterNet interview.

THE MIERS NOMINATION: Hey, Did "The Colbert Report" Steal "QuagMiers" From Us? Ah, Maybe Not ...

Hugh Hewitt argues, on behalf of Miers: "If there is no clear and convincing evidence that Harriett Miers is not qualified for SCOTUS -- and thus far there is nothing remotely approaching a persuasive case for a 'no' vote -- any GOP senator that votes against her will be asking for the same treatment at the polls as Miers received from him or her. ... Notice how the folks who voted to confirm Justice Souter are not blamed for Justice Souter's record, but the first President Bush is? ... If Miers does well at the hearings, it will be political suicide to vote against her if the nomination is defeated."

Replying to an earlier Hewitt post calling upon GOPers' loyalty to Bush, right-leaning QandO comments: "Loyalty, as everyone who has served in the military knows, is a reciprocal obligation. The loyalty of supporters to leaders must be matched by a congruent loyalty from leaders to supporters."

In a post 1st for Confirm Them and now at Townhall's C-Log, Quin Hillyer promotes ex-Rep./SEC chair Chris Cox for SCOTUS.

Truth Laid Bear continues to add blogs to his list of bloggers' support/oppose/neither positions on the Miers nod. The latest tally:

            Total     %age
Opposed      255     70.6%
Neutral       55     15.2
Support       51     14.1

IRAQ: And They Would Walk 2000 Milestones, And They Would Walk 2000 More ...

On 10/24, we pointed out that liberal bloggers were looking ahead to this week's 2000th U.S. soldier killed in Iraq. They are still mentioning it, but at the same time, so were conservative bloggers pushing back against the expected coverage. Little Green Footballs has been maintaining a "Grim Milestone Watch," noting each time an MSM outlet describes the 2K Iraq deaths as either "grim," a "milestone," or both at once. The 6th of 7 so far features a graphic from MSNBC.com titled "Grim Milestone." Swanky Conservative posts photoshopped "grim milestones" from individual WWII battles, all of which had higher death counts. The Political Teen posts screen shots from MSM websites, which list the news above other stories, most notably about the passage of the Iraqi constitution. Contemplating the lefty response to the 2K figure, Faces from the Front asked U.S. soldiers in Al Anbar how they would want their death to be received, and would they sign up again if they had it to do over? The answer: "They did not want their death to be used as a prop and they would make the same decision all over again. These young Lance Corporals and Non-Commissioned Officers volunteered to join the Marines, many with the intent of coming to Iraq. And while few would say they like war, they all recognize the necessity of it."

SPENDING: Can They Keep This Alive Long Enough For The Miers/Plamegate Stories To Recede?

Instapundit posts an e-mail from Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) counting hundreds of in-state and out-of-state constituent calls in support of the Coburn amendment (with no calls opposing it); he also includes correspondence from readers who have had some success getting pork-related responses from their GOP reps.

Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) posts to RedState, addressing cong. spending. Noting that Dems are testing out a new slogan, he suggests another: "TAX OR SPEND? For Democrat's The Answer Is Yes." In the 50+ comments that follow, many don't think the GOP has done enough to differentiate itself: "I think the best the Repubs can claim now is, 'At least we're not as fiscally irresponsible as you!'"

Conservative PoliPundit's Jayson Javitz notes, the Senate Finance Cmte voted to "reduce federal outlays on Medicare and Medicaid roughly" by $10B over 5 years, on a 11-9 party-line vote. He adds: "Haven't the MediaCrats been ranting and raving about the deficit for the past several years? Yet despite all that posturing when it came time actually to vote on a deficit-reduction bill literally 100% of their members on the Senate Finance Committee said 'non?!' I'm shocked."

MISCELLANY: Stories Our Invisible Assistant Somehow Failed To Write Up

THOUGHT OF THE DAY: On The Origins Of Fitzmas

Although the portmanteau "Fitzmas" is barely a few weeks old, it has spread across the web with surprising quickness. Search Google for the term, and already it returns 156K results. So where did it come from?

As of 10/6, Daily Kos's Moulitsas was already anticipating indictments, and said: "I hope I wake up to good news. This makes me feel like the night before Christmas." Directly inspired by the comment, liberal Attaturk at Rising Hegemon. The word then percolated through the liberal blogosphere and on message boards such as Democratic Underground, before resurfacing in a diary at Daily Kos on 10/18. The same day, known Daily Kos reader Byron York then posted excerpts to NRO's The Corner, whereupon the contributors repeated the phrase again and again. The 1st appearance in the Lexis-Nexis database is a tie between the Washington Post's Dan Froomkin and your humble Blogometer. But the 1st actual appearance of "Fitzmas" as a word seems to be in the 12/8/97 Rocky Mountain News, which points readers toward an Arizona Staraffil. website with a series of e-cards that, 8 years later, is somehow still online. Although we're not sure what it means, here's the Star wishing you a "Merry Fitzmas!"

LEST WE FORGET: Ye Olde Photoshoppe

As we noted yesterday, liberal bloggers are having a merry time photoshopping Cheney into criminal situations. By the same token, they have started photoshopping Santa hats onto Fitzgerald -- see here and here. If that isn't enough, Wonkette last week and Backup Brain this week both have Fitzmas Bingo cards.

In the interests of equal time, here is video of Sen. Robert Byrd (D-WV) falling asleep on the floor of the Senate yesterday.

Posted by at October 26, 2005 12:22 PM



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