Coverup = Impeachment by Carol Wolman

Does anyone remember Richard Nixon?  He was threatened with impeachment for covering up the burglary of Democratic headquarters in the Watergate apartments during the 1972 electoral campaign.

 

Bush is engaged in the coverup of a much more serious crime, one that involves treason- the outing of an undercover CIA agent, Valerie Plame.  Whether it was Karl Rove or someone else in the White House, Bush must have known, or have been able to find out quickly, who it was.  The person should have been fired immediately, and efforts made to repair the damage.  Instead, we have unending denials and stonewalling from Bush and his henchpeople, a definite covering up of a heinous crime.

 

This deserves impeachment.  The Downing Street memos, showing that Bush deliberately lied and twisted intelligence in order to win support for his illegal invasion of Iraq, has already sparked informal inquiries by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and 125 other Representatives into the need for impeachment.  The Valerie Plame case provides much stronger grounds for a finding of high crimes and misdemeanors.

 

The Democratic leadership is happy to go after Karl Rove, but once again are sidestepping the necessity for impeachment, even though it is obvious payback time for the ordeal that Clinton went through. 

 

Impeachment will only happen if we the people take matters into our own hands, and generate such intense pressure on Congress that they have to take notice.  You can help generate that pressure by printing out the letter to John Conyers at http://DeepEndNews.com/MEMORANDUM.htm    Collect 15 signatures per page and get your friends to do the same.   Fax them to Conyers' office at the number given.  Even if you have already signed it on line, take it to the many people who don't have internet access.

 

Impeachment is the peaceful way to make the necessary changes in our government.

 

In the name of the Prince of Peace,  Carol Wolman

 

In the name

Fw: stop deforestation of 50% of the Amazon!

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Ed Herman

To: hermane@wharton.upenn.edu

Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2005 8:24 AM

Dear All,
The Brazilian congress is now voting on a project that
will reduce the Amazon forest to 50% of its size. It
will take 1 MINUTE to read this, but PLEASE put your
names on the list and forward this on as instructed
below.
First, some facts: the Amazon rainforest is
responsible for the generation of 20% of the oxygen
that we on this earth breathe, 30% of the world's
freshwater is contained within the Amazon basin, 60%
of the cancer fighting drugs used today are derived
from plants that can only be found within the Amazon
rainforest.
The area to be deforested is 4 times the size of
Portugal and would be mainly used for agriculture and
pastures for livestock. All the wood is to be sold to
international markets in the form of wood chips, by
! large multinational companies. The truth is that the
soil in the Amazon forest is useless without the
forest itself.
Its quality is very acidic and the region is prone to
constant floods.
At this time more than 160,000 square kilometers
deforested with the same purpose are abandoned and in
the process of becoming deserts, meaning that this
proposal is in the short-term interests of a few, & in
the long-term interests of none.
Please copy (cut & paste) the entire text into a new
e-mail', put your complete name in the list below, and
send to everyone you know.
(DON'T JUST FORWARD IT - AS IT WILL THEN END UP WITH
ROWS AND ROWS of '>'s - which discourages people from
sending on)
If you are the 400th person to sign please send a copy
to: fsaviolo@openlink.com.br <>
Thank you for your help:
01 - Fernanda de Souza Saviolo - Rio de Janeiro - RJ
02 - Nara Maria de Souza - Rio de Janeiro - RJ -
03 - Julio Cesar Fraga Viana Rio de Janeiro
04 - Monica Grotkowsky Brotto Sao Paulo
05 - Mauricio Grotkowsky Br! otto Sao Paulo
06 - Ricardo A.Corrallo - SP
07 - S unn! y Jonathan - SP
08 - Leonardo Larsen Rocha - SP
09 - Evandro Sestrem -
10 - Marco Aurlio Wehrmeister - Blumenau - SP
11 - Angela Maria Gonalves - Blumenau -SP
12 - Alessandra Bernardino- Blumenau - SP
13 - Pedro Carstens Penfold - Rio de Janeiro - RJ -
14 - Annelena Porto Delgado - S*o Paulo -
15 - Erica Couto -S*o Paulo -
16 - Elaine Couto- S*o Paulo - SP
17 - Tatiana de Almeida Voivodic - S*o Paulo
18 - Solange B Furlanetto - S*o Paulo / SP!
19 - Marcos deSouza Mello - S*o Paulo / SP
20 - ElianeSantiago - S*o Paulo/SP
21 - Francisca J.! Bezerra Alves Ara*jo - S*oPaulo-SP
22 - Carlos Alber to Dantas Junior - Ri o de JaneiroRJ
23 - Daniel Rodrigues da Cruz - Rio de Janeiro /RJ
24 - Gabriella Gaida - Rio de Janeiro - RJ
25 - Ceclia Silva Teixe ira Pinto - RJ - 03/06/75
26 - Tania Santos Miguel
27 - Celso Henrique! Diniz Valente de Figueiredo -RJ
28 - Marcelo Lopes Rheingantz - Rio de Janeiro - RJ
29 - Rodrigo Tassinari de Oliveira - Rio de Janeiro
30 - Andr LobatoPinheiro - Rio deJaneiro - RJ
31 - Ismael dos Santos Silva - RJ -
32 - Gustavo Alexandre Caetano Correa - RJ -
33 - Juana Varella Barca de Amorim - Rio de Janeiro
34 - Nara Faria Silva Rio de Janeiro -RJ-
35 - Isabella Jaggi S*oPaulo- SP -
36 - Diana de Andrade Freitas - Rio de Janeiro -RJ
37 - Karina Dourad! o - S*o Paulo -
38 - Pablo Genuncio Garcia - Rio de Janeiro
39 - Fabola Morais de Lucca - S*o Paulo -
40 - Alexei Morais de Lucca - S*o Paulo - SP -
41 - Renata Regina Roxo - S*o Paulo - SP -
42 - Fernanda Teixeira - S*o Paulo - SP -
43 - Patr icia Freitas - S*o Paulo - SP
44 - Cintia Regina K*rner -Alemanha - DE -
45 - Wolfgang K*rner - Alemanha - DE
46 - Roseani Viei! ra Roch a - San Francisco - CA
47 - Angela Ichimura - ! S*o Paul o - SP
48 - Assunta Viola - Sao Paulo - SP
50 - Marina Amaral - Alemanha - DE
51 - Fabian Rodrigu! es Caetano - SaoPaulo - SP -
52 - Luciana Cabrera- Santa Barbara- Ca
53 - Andrea Torres- Lahaina, Hawaii
54 - Carla Duarte- New York, NY
55 - Sergio Goes - New York, NY
56 - Itaal Shur - New York, NY
57 - Hiroyoku Sanada-New York, NY, US
58 - Marianne Ebert-new york, NY, US
59 - Gloriana M. Calhoun - New York,! NY
60 - Roger Jazilek - New York, NY
61 - Cheryl To - New York, NY
62 - Judy Mercer - Paris, France
63 - Evelyne Pouget- Woodstock, NY
64 - Hera-Woodstock, NY
65 - Nicos Peonides - Cyprus - New York NY
66 - Fiona Cousins - New York, NY
67 - Alistair Millington - ! London, UK
68 - Edgar Craggs - Bristol, UK
69 - Chris Hastie - Notting ham, UK
70 - Adam Barley - Bristol, UK
71 - Dawn Morgan - B! ristol, UK
72 - Lottie Berthoud - Bristol , UK
73 - Julia Simnett - Bristol, UK
74 - Lindsey Colbourne - Bath, UK
75 - Wendy Lawton - Bath, UK
76 - James Friel - Birmingham, UK
77 - S! ylvia Magyar - Budapest, Hungary
78 - Danco Uzunov - Budapest Hungary
79 - Vladimir Jurukovski - New York, USA
80 - LasteStojanovski - Auckland,New Zealand
81 - Katerina Rusevska - Skopje, Macedonia
82 - Snezana Pesic -Kragujevac, Yugoslavia
83 - Sladjan Pavlovic - Beograd, Yugoslavia
84 - Jelka Crnobrnja-Isailovic - Belgrade,Yugoslavia
85 - Begoqa Arano-Brussels, Belgium
86 - Brendan Kelly-Brussels, Belgium
87 - Rafael Marquez-Madrid, Spain
88 - Ignacio De la Riva-Madrid, Spain
89 - A. Townsend Peterson - Lawrence,Kansas
90 - Anita Gamauf-Vienna,Austria
91 - Desmond Allen-Tokyo, Japan
92 - Krys Kazmierczak, London, UK.
93 - Anand Prasad, Denma rk
94 - Pauline McLe od, Yo! rk, UK ? BR>
95 - Lee Casey, Harrogate, United Kingdom
96 - Sibylle Rhovier, Bournemouth, UK
97 - Peter McCaig, London UK
98 - Robert Vint, Totnes, UK
99 - Hugh Warwick, Oxford, UK
100 - Richard Madden, Brighton, UK
101 - Am! anda Marks, Woodbidge, UK
102 - Jane Laws, Woodbridge, UK
103 - Joanna Hayes, London, UK
104 - Julian Matthews - London UK
105 - Anna Davies, London, UK
106 - Darren Lucas, M! ansfield, UK
107 - Nic Masters, Taunton, UK
108 - Kate Dougal, London, UK
109 - Richard Dolan, London, UK
110 - Stacey Watson, London, UK
111 - Shannon O'Brien, London, UK
112 - Jigna Patel, London, UK
113 - Lisa O'Brien, Malmo, Sweden
114 - Johan Luyckx, Malmo, Sweden
115 - John Dolecek, Malmo, Sweden
116 - Steven Huynh, Malmo, Sweden
117 - Bodil Johansson, Malmo, Sweden
118 - Anna-Maj Wandt, Dalby, Swed!en
119 - Kajsa Nordstrom, Uppsala, Sweden
120 - Anna Hillerberg, Stockholm , Sweden
121 - Anni ka Jegbert, Stockholm, Sweden
122 - Christer Jegbert, Stockholm, Sweden
123 - Anna-Carin Collin, Taby, Sweden
124 - Nadja von Kantzow, Stockholm, Sweden
125 - Johan von kantzow, Stockholm, Sweden
126 - Calle Rosengren! , stockholm, sweden
127 - Daniel Achilles, Stockholm, Sweden
128 - Cecilia Andersson, Stockholm, Sweden
129 - Henrik Eriksson, Stockholm, Sweden
130 - Pontus Holmgren, Stockholm,Sweden
131 - J.B. Russell, Paris, France
132 - S.D. Smith, Virginia, United States
135 - January Harris, Virginia, United States
136 - Tarki L. - Crook, Virginia, United States
137 - Marcia L. Rutledge, Syracuse, NY, USA
138 - Justin A. Cohen, Syracuse, NY, US
139 - Stephen C. Shriber, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
140 - Laura I.Shriber!, Den Haag, The Netherlands
141 - Rutje V. Gorissen, Amsterdam , The Netherlands
142 - Floris Mansvelt Beck
14! 3 - Herbert A. Hauer
144 - Dorien Culo, Denderleeuw, Belgium
145 - Heidi De Glas , denderleeuw , Belgium
146 - Van Wesemael Emily J., Nafraiture, Belgium
147 - Nicola Monkhouse, Surrey, UK
148 - Rowena Pickering, Barnsley, UK
149 - Jonathan Exley, Birmingham, UK
150 - Uwe Harck,south africa
151 - Gisela Harck, Stellenbosch,South Africa
152 - Garyth Bevan, Stellenbosch, South Africa
153- Dorothee van B?l , Dreieich, Germany
154 - Lena Agel, Dreieich, Germany
155 - Larissa Agel, Dreieich, Germany
156 - Katinka Gering, Dreieich, Germany
157 - Julia Geisensetter, Dreieich, Germany
158 - Alexandra Liede, Ruesselsheim, Germany
159 - Jennifer A. Klein, Ruesselsheim, Germany
160 - Danijela Kekic, R?heim, Germany
161 - Sandro Boras, Frankfurt, Germany
162 - Nicholas Niksic, Windsor ON, Canada
163 - Mike Marelic, Windsor On, Canada
164 - Scott Scheirich, Windsor On, Canada
165 - Chinedu Ezemenari, Toronto On, Canada
166! - Ross Etherington, Toronto On, Canada
167 - Kathryn Hodgins, Chatham, ON Canada< BR>168 -
Jane Hodgins, Chatham, ON Canada
169 - Sally Joyce, Chatham, ON Canada
170 - Brigitte Davis, Chatham ON Canada
171- Courtney Davis, Chatham ON Canada
172 - Jenni-Raie Merritt, Windsor, ON Canada
173-Crystal Quigley, Windsor, ON Canada
174 - Shana Morneau, Amherstburg, ON Canada
175 - Dawn Stickney, Windsor, ON Canada
176. Jessica Gurske, Waterloo, ON Canada
177. Maggie Couto, Wheatley, ON Canada
178. Rachel Weigel, Kitchener, ON Canada
179. Susi Scott, Kitchener, ON Canada
180. Erin Stewart, Waterloo, ON Canada
181. Laura Prevost, Waterloo, ON Canada
182. Lauren Easson, St. Catharines, ON Canada
183. Evangeline Medina, St. Catharines, ON Canada
184. Melanie Lawrence, Windsor, ON Canada
185. Deborah Nazareth, St. Catharines, ON, Canada
186. Kimberly Todd, Ottawa, ON, Canada
187. Melissa C, Sudbury, ON, Canada
188. Barb A., Sudbury,! ON, Canada
189. Dave Foster, Toronto, ON, Canada
190. Kevin Howley, Toronto, ON , Canada
191. Colin Kingsmore, Toronto, ON, Canada
192. Kieran Adams, Toronto, ON, Canada
193. MaryAnn Scanlon, Ottawa, ON, Canada
194. Adele Chaytor, Toronto,ON, Canada
195. Catie Young, Toronto, ON, Canada
196. Rachel Hogan, St. John's, NL, Canada
197.  Ginny Hogan, St. John's, NL, Canada
198.  Jill Burrage, St. John's, NL, Canada
199 . Caroline Champion , Mt. Pearl , Canada
200. Cheryl Cruz, St Johns, NL, Canada
201. Florencia Awadh, Kuwait
202. Rizalina Nombre Cornejo, Kuwait / Philippines
203. Benilda Albao , Philippines
204.Hermie Albao-South Korea
205.Clarinda Albao-Phils
206.Randy Espino-Phils
207.K-anne Alabo-Espino-Phils
208.Yolly Albao-Phils
209.Lando Albao-Phils
210.Jeng Albao-Phils
211.Gabrielle Angela Albao-Phils
212.Jasper Kweon-South Korea
213.Minjae Kweon-South Korea
214. Wabs Jeon -SK
215. Mac! Jeon -SK
216. Giovanni S. Villafuerte - Phils.
217. Judy A. Vermudo-Phils
218. Amelita O. Tamayo-Manila, Philippines
219. Myrna G. Carandang- Laguna, Philippines
220. Rogelio T. Andrada II - Laguna, Philippines
221. Ensha A. Ancheta - Quezon City, Philippines
222. Nestor John C. Aquino - Baguio City, Philippines
223. reina cabigting b
224. Jerome A. Rodil - Manila, Philippines
225. Jeneen R. Garcia b
226. Apolinario B. Carino - Dumaguete City,
Philippines
227. Jean Asuncion T. Utzurrum - Dumaguete City,
Philippines
228. Archie Lim - Philippines
229. Alma Barcelon - Philippines
230. Kristy Anne Abello - Cebu City, Philippines
231. Jennifer San Juan - Philippines
232. Christine Manaois - Philippines
233. Andrea Leycano - Philippines
234. Maria Roseny B. Fangco-Gellada - Philippines
234. Gary P. Gellada - Philippines
235. Sofia Roshan Hope F. Gellada - Philippines
236. Rona Rodrigueza - Philippines
237. Davelyn S. Pastor - Philippines
238. Jes usito A. Vicente - Philippine
239. Camila C. Sarmiento- Philippines
240. Patricia Fe C. Gonzales -Phils
241. Amparo R. Miciano - Phils
242.Angelina Sanchez - USA
243.Samson Vigil - Philippines
244. Bong Castro - Marikina, Philippines
245.Leonardo B. Rosario- C atarman, Northern Samar,
Philippines
245. Rico A. Sienes - Cebu, Philippines
246. Eduard A. Luz - Cebu, Philippines
247. Janneth F. Ollave - Cebu, Philippines
248. Marcelina  Cabonelas - Cebu, Philippines
249. Marcelina Remonde - Cebu, Philippines
250. Hilario Espejo - Cebu, Philippines
251. Sabino Tormis - Cebu , Philippines
252. Felisa Oyangoren - Cebu, Philippines
253. Ginalyn Montejo - Cebu, Philippines
254. Fr. Max T. Abalos, SVD - Cebu City, Philippines
255. Rosemarie L. Dizon - Cebu City, Philippines
256. Fr. Heinz Kulueke, SVD - Cebu City, Philippines
257. Pureza Tabuac - Cebu City, Philippines
258. Luz L. Dizon - Cebu City, Philippines
259. Ruby L. Dizon - Cebu City, Philippines
260. Regina S. Antequisa - Iligan City, Philippines
261. Walter D. Alquiza - Iligan City, Philippines
263. Angelita Noval - Iligan City, Philippines
264. Dwight F. Zabala - Iligan City, Philippines
265. Salic Ibrahim - Marawi City, Philippines
266. Tata P. de la Cuz - Quezon City, Philippines
267. Enginita N. Aloro - Davao City, Philippines
268. Liezl Aplando-Villanueva- Quezon City,
Philippines
269.  Alma Dulce R. Deapera - Quezon City, Philippines
270.  Conrado S. Navarro - Quezon City, Philippines
271.  Cecilio Ver B. Panambo- Camarines Sur,
Philippines
272.  Louie C. Ponayo-Daet, Camarines Norte,
Philippines
273.  Eminel Mata Perdiz- Legazpi City, Philippines
274. Pablo B. Paet, Jr. - Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines
275.  Renato G. Mabunga - Quezon City, Philippines
276.  Bituin Quinto - Quezon City, Philippines
277. Jose Revaldo - Quezon City, Philippines
278. Sam Gobert - Belgium
279.  Justin Desabilla - Davao City, Philippines
280.  Rafael Revaldo - Philippines
281. Vida Subingsubing-Philippines
282. Naomie Ababao - Kalookan City, Philippines
283. Rocelle Magpayo, Philippines
284. Winsdy Marcos - San Juan, Philippines
285. Carmel de Leon-Ligon - Malolos City, Philippines
286. Liz Dorothy Echiverri-Baes - Sta. Rosa,
Philippines
287. Ma. Victoria R. Endaya - Paranaque, Philippines
288. Noel M. David- Makati, Philippines
289. Mitchell Doren - Ugsad Art Gallery, Quezon City,
Philippines
299. Rudy Coronel- BORDA, Cubao, Quezon, City
300. Elinor M. Abuton - Butuan City, Philippines
301. Grace P. Duerme - Butuan City, Philippines
302. Joseph Labrador - Cagayan de Oro City,
Philippines
303. Rosalie A. Igot - Butuan City, Philippines
304. Rosie P. Pablico- Bacolod City,Negros
Occidental,Philippines
305. Merlito A. Villar - San Fernando City, La Union,
Philipines
306. Ronald C. Estoque - Bacnotan, La Union,
Philippines
307. Kate Keogh - Bangor, Wales.
308. David Cockram - Barcelona, Spain
309 Ben Dana, Guatemala
310. Kim Wilder, Scotland
311. Claire Armstrong, Scotland
312. Pradeep Sharma, Valencia, Spain
313. Dev Ashish, Mirtola, India
314  L. Naqvi, India
315. Sudhir Chandra, India

316. Edward S. Herman,  Philadelphia, PA, USA

317  Carol Wolman, Oakland, California, USA

Fw: Exposure of Rove's lies throws Bush White House into crisis

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Never_Surrender

To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;

Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2005 5:46 AM

Subject: Exposure of Rove's lies throws Bush White House into crisis

Good synopsis, some stats I didn't know, and I hope this isn't the dem strategy for 2006

 

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/jul2005/rove-j13.shtml

 

World Socialist Web Site www.wsws.org

---

WSWS : News & Analysis : North America

Exposure of Rove’s lies throws Bush White House into crisis

By Patrick Martin
13 July 2005

Back to screen version | Send this link by email | Email the author

The Bush White House has been plunged into political crisis by the confirmation of widespread suspicions that chief Bush political strategist Karl Rove was one of the officials who revealed the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame. The exposure of Plame was part of a “dirty tricks” campaign to discredit Plame’s husband, Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador who became a prominent critic of US policy in Iraq.

Newsweek magazine provided the most recent and damning evidence of Rove’s role, which had been repeatedly denied by White House spokesmen and by Rove himself over the past two years. On Sunday night, the magazine’s web site carried the text of e-mails written by Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper recounting a confidential conversation with Rove in which Rove identified Wilson’s wife, without using her name, as a CIA agent. (did you see these, i didn't even know about them being on the web)

The e-mails were among the documents turned over by Time magazine last week to the special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, who is investigating the exposure of Plame. The magazine’s decision to turn over the documents undercut Cooper’s own refusal until then to accede to Fitzgerald’s demand that he reveal the confidential source he used for an article on the Wilson-Plame affair. Cooper ultimately agreed on July 7 to testify, after Rove’s attorney called him and released him from his pledge. A second reporter, Judith Miller of the New York Times, stood by her refusal to testify and was sent to jail the same day.

The phone conversation between Cooper and Rove took place on July 11, 2003, three days before the first press report, by columnist Robert Novak, identifying Plame as an undercover CIA operative specializing in weapons of mass destruction. The “spin” which Rove sought to give this revelation to Cooper was identical to that of Novak’s column: that Wilson’s wife had engineered his trip to Niger in 2002, where he investigated claims that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was seeking to acquire large quantities of uranium from the North African country.

The claim of an intensive effort by Iraq to obtain nuclear materials was central to the Bush administration lie that it was invading Iraq to prevent Saddam Hussein from developing a nuclear bomb. Bush cited the “Africa uranium” story in his 2003 State of the Union Address.

Five months later, after the US conquest of Iraq, Wilson wrote an op-ed column in the New York Times revealing that he had investigated the uranium claims in 2002 at the request of the CIA and found they were bogus. The White House was compelled to issue a retraction of the Niger story, but within days it began leaking information to the media in an effort to discredit Wilson.

The implication of both Novak’s column and Rove’s comments to Cooper was that Wilson had not gone to Niger on a mission for top CIA officials, but on a quasi-private junket, for which his wife was responsible. There were multiple lies in this account—Valerie Plame was a CIA analyst with no authority to orchestrate such a mission, and an expenses-only visit to Niger, one of the poorest countries in the world, was hardly a perk. Moreover, Wilson’s findings were reported up the chain of command at the CIA to Director George Tenet, ultimately reaching the White House.

The importance of the Newsweek report is that it confirms the thuggish and anti-democratic response of the Bush administration to political criticism. Rather than attempting to rebut the criticism by Wilson—a retired State Department official with two decades of experience in the Middle East and Africa—the White House sought to smear him as corrupt, and endanger the livelihood and possibly the physical safety of his wife.

The Rove exposure has further revealed systematic lying by Bush, Rove, White House spokesman Scott McClellan and other White House aides. McClellan was the target of a heated barrage of questions Monday at a press briefing in the White House, where reporter after reporter cited the press spokesman’s own words over the last two years flatly denying that Rove had played any role in exposing Valerie Plame, and reminded the Bush operative of Bush’s pledge to fire any official who had been involved.

McClellan declared that he would take no questions on the Plame case because the leak is the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation by special prosecutor Fitzgerald. He nonetheless received 35 questions on the subject in the course of a 40-minute press conference, and recited his one-sentence “no comment” nearly two dozen times. He was asked, at one point, whether he had retained his own personal defense counsel in the case.

Rove, Bush, Cheney and other top White House officials have all provided testimony on the leak to the grand jury impaneled by Fitzgerald. Rove and other top administration officials, including Bush, could be open to charges of perjury or obstruction of justice for this testimony.

In that eventuality, the Republican right will no doubt display its unparalleled hypocrisy. They howled for the blood of Bill Clinton when he lied in a deposition about his affair with Monica Lewinsky and then sought to parse words with the grand jury convened by Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. Lying and obstruction of justice were the two charges on which the Republican-controlled House of Representatives impeached Clinton. No one should expect the same approach from the Republican Congress to Rove’s lying and obstruction of justice, which concerns, not a private sexual matter, but a serious abuse of power—the attempt to smear and intimidate a political critic.

This being said, the role of the Democratic Party in the Plame affair is both cowardly and reactionary. Leading congressional Democrats seized on the Newsweek report on Rove to present themselves as defenders of the CIA and national security, while charging that Rove, by revealing the identity of an undercover CIA agent, had undermined the “war on terror.”

Not one leading Democrat pointed out that the exposure of Plame was an effort to suppress opposition to the war in Iraq by intimidating a well-publicized critic with considerable inside knowledge of US-Iraq relations (Wilson was the last US diplomat in Iraq before the 1991 Persian Gulf War).

Senator John Kerry, the defeated Democratic presidential nominee, e-mailed supporters urging them to sign an online petition calling on Bush to fire Rove. Senator Hillary Clinton appeared side-by-side with Kerry at a press conference to endorse this demand.

“The White House promised if anyone was involved in the Valerie Plame affair, they would no longer be in this administration,” said Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid. “I trust they will follow through on this pledge. If these allegations are true, this rises above politics and is about our national security.”

Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey demanded that Bush suspend Rove’s security clearance. Referring to a vicious McCarthyite speech Rove delivered recently in New York City, Lautenberg added, “Karl Rove has accused liberals of not understanding the consequences of 9/11, but he’s the one who blew the cover of a covert CIA agent.”

Congresswomen Louise Slaughter declared, “There can be no gray area here. Regardless of how he phrased it, regardless of how much detail he provided, he revealed the identity of an undercover CIA agent. What Mr. Rove did is reprehensible. Putting the life of an undercover CIA agent in jeopardy cannot be tolerated. He clearly deserves his pink slip.”

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean issued a statement declaring: “Rove betrayed the identity of an undercover officer fighting on the front lines in the war on terror.... It is disturbing that this high-ranking Bush advisor is not only still working in the White House, but now has a significant role in setting our national security policy.”

The entire Democratic Party establishment, from Clinton to Dean, has decided to attack Rove and Bush from the right rather than the left—to focus on the alleged damage done to the CIA rather than the effort to suppress criticism of the Iraq war. This dovetails with the political positioning the Democrats are undertaking for the 2006 congressional elections, where they will campaign as advocates of a more vigorous and effective intervention in Iraq rather than calling for troop withdrawal.

Just as significant as this decision to forego any identification with antiwar sentiment is the Democrats’ silence on the jailing of Judith Miller, who defied the order by Federal District Judge Thomas Hogan to answer questions from Fitzgerald about the Plame case. Miller is being held in Alexandria, Virginia, at the same facility as accused Al Qaeda terrorist Zaccarias Moussaoui.

The jailing of Miller, notwithstanding her own reactionary role in promoting the Bush administration’s lies about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, is a flagrant attack on freedom of the press. But neither the Democratic Party nor the media itself has sought to make it a major issue.

It is particularly noteworthy that in 40 minutes of questioning of White House spokesman McClellan, not a single one of the journalists took note of the fact that a colleague had just been jailed. No reporter asked McClelland for the White House reaction to Miller’s imprisonment.

Similarly, the editorial pages of the major daily newspapers and the commentators on network television have been largely silent. The subject was barely referred to on the Sunday television interview programs, which generally rehash the major events of the week. The New York Times itself, while it has backed Miller’s stance editorially, made no reference to her imprisonment in its reporting Monday and Tuesday on the Plame case.

 

Fw: The Big Lie About Valerie Plame

 

----- Original Message -----

From: rainbow7

To: rainbow7

Sent: Wednesday, July 13, 2005 1:16 AM

Subject: The Big Lie About Valerie Plame

The Big Lie About Valerie Plame

By Larry Johnson

From: TPMCafe Special Guests

The misinformation being spread in the media about the Plame affair is alarming and damaging to the longterm security interests of the United States.  Republicans' talking points are trying to savage Joe Wilson and, by implication, his wife, Valerie Plame as liars.  That is the truly big lie.

For starters, Valerie Plame was an undercover operations officer until outed in the press by Robert Novak.  Novak's column was not an isolated attack.  It was in fact part of a coordinated, orchestrated smear that we now know includes at least Karl Rove.

Valerie Plame was a classmate of mine from the day she started with the CIA.  I entered on duty at the CIA in September 1985.  All of my classmates were undercover--in other words, we told our family and friends that we were working for other overt U.S. Government agencies.  We had official cover.  That means we had a black passport--i.e., a diplomatic passport.  If we were caught overseas engaged in espionage activity the black passport was a get out of jail free card.

Jul 13, 2005 -- 12:47:20 AM EST

A few of my classmates, and Valerie was one of these, became a non-official cover officer.  That meant she agreed to operate overseas without the protection of a diplomatic passport.  If caught in that status she would have been executed.

The lies by people like Victoria Toensing, Representative Peter King, and P. J. O'Rourke insist that Valerie was nothing, just a desk jockey.  Yet, until Robert Novak betrayed her she was still undercover and the company that was her front was still a secret to the world.  When Novak outed Valerie he also compromised her company and every individual overseas who had been in contact with that company and with her.

The Republicans now want to hide behind the legalism that "no laws were broken".  I don't know if a man made law was broken but an ethical and moral code was breached.  For the first time a group of partisan political operatives publically identified a CIA NOC.  They have set a precendent that the next group of political hacks may feel free to violate.

They try to hide behind the specious claim that Joe Wilson "lied".  Although Joe did not lie let's follow that reasoning to the logical conclusion.  Let's use the same standard for the Bush Administration.  Here are the facts.  Bush's lies have resulted in the deaths of almost 1800 American soldiers and the mutilation of 12,000.  Joe Wilson has not killed anyone.  He tried to prevent the needless death of Americans and the loss of American prestige in the world.

But don't take my word for it, read the biased Senate intelligence committee report.  Even though it was slanted to try to portray Joe in the worst possible light this fact emerges on page 52 of the report:  According to the US Ambassador to Niger (who was commenting on Joe's visit in February 2002), "Ambassador Wilson reached the same conclusion that the Embassy has reached that it was highly unlikely that anything between Iraq and Niger was going on."  Joe's findings were consistent with those of the Deputy Commander of the European Command, Major General Fulford.

The Republicans insist on the lie that Val got her husband the job.  She did not.  She was not a division director, instead she was the equivalent of an Army major.  Yes it is true she recommended her husband to do the job that needed to be done but the decision to send Joe Wilson on this mission was made by her bosses.

At the end of the day, Joe Wilson was right.  There were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.  It was the Bush Administration that pushed that lie and because of that lie Americans are dying.  Shame on those who continue to slander Joe Wilson while giving Bush and his pack of liars a pass.  That's the true outrage.

http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/7/13/04720/9340