“I’m confident the president knows who the source is. I’d be amazed if he doesn’t. So I say, ‘Don’t bug me. Don’t bug Bob Woodward. Bug the president as to whether he should reveal who the source is.’” What did the President know about Plamegate, and when did he know it? Saving his own skin first, as per the norm, Douchebag of Liberty Robert Novak says ask Dubya. Update: Safe once more among his kind, DoL Novak joins FOX News.
Category: GOP Culture of Corruption
Mea Culpa, Sort-of.
“It is true that much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong. As president I am responsible for the decision to go into Iraq.” In his final speech on Iraq before tomorrow’s elections, (text) Dubya admits the case for war was FUBAR, while insisting it was a good idea anyway. (“The United States did not choose war — the choice was Saddam Hussein’s.“) Of course, Bush neglected to mention that it was he, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al who cherry-picked through the available intelligence and continued to recite claims they knew to be false. Still, for someone who’s seems pathologically incapable of accepting reality at times, this has to be considered a step forward.
(Chief) Justice De-Layed?
Ten days after the Post unearthed a Justice Department memo deeming the recent Texas redistricting a violation of civil liberties, the Supreme Court says it will review the DeLay plan. “The panel stressed that it was deciding ‘only the legality’ of the redistricting plan, ‘not its wisdom.'”
The Money Pit.
The Washington Post offers some handy graphs on the comings-and-goings of Casino Jack Abramoff’s donation operation. Looks like, while the GOP has a 2-1 advantage in obtaining Abramoff and the tribes’ money, some prominent Dems — particularly Patrick Kennedy — have seen their share of the loot as well. Update: Another Dem — Byron Dorgan — returns his Abramoff-tainted money.
The other Novak speaks.
“One final note: Luskin is unhappy that I decided to write about our conversation, but I feel that he violated any understanding to keep our talk confidential by unilaterally going to Fitzgerald and telling him what was said.” TIME reporter Viveca Novak explains her testimony before the Fitzgerald grand jury. Novak, who may well have tipped Luskin to a hole in Rove’s story, is now on a leave of absence with TIME “by mutual agreement.”
Adam Had ‘Em.
More trouble for Casino Jack and his GOP shakedown operation cronies: Federal prosecutors are on the verge of flipping Abramoff associate Adam Kidan. “Kidan, who has known Abramoff since their student days when they were members of the College Republicans, has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud…’Adam will testify against Abramoff and Ney if he is given an opportunity to do so,’ said Joseph Conway, an attorney for Kidan.”
Hammered Again.
In a blow to the Hammer’s hopes of regaining his seat of power in the near future, the judge in Boss DeLay’s Texas trial offers up a split decision, dismissing a conspiracy charge against DeLay (the law apparently wasn’t on the books when he broke it) while upholding the “far more serious allegations of money-laundering.” Update: As a result of the judge’s decision, DeLay’s GOP opponents start to balk under his regime.
Justice DeLay-ed.
Another smoking gun…The Post obtains a memo showing that Justice Department lawyers generally agreed that the infamous DeLay redistricting in Texas violated the Voting Rights Act. “The memo, unanimously endorsed by six lawyers and two analysts in the department’s voting section, said the redistricting plan illegally diluted black and Hispanic voting power in two congressional districts. It also said the plan eliminated several other districts in which minorities had a substantial, though not necessarily decisive, influence in elections.” Nevertheless, higher-ups at John Ashcroft’s Justice Dept. overruled the memo for partisan reasons, to great effect: “The redistricting was approved in 2003, and Texas Republicans gained five seats in the U.S. House in the 2004 elections, solidifying GOP control of Congress.” As the illegalities pile up, one has to wonder: Is there any facet of the Republican operation that isn’t rotten to the core?
The DeLay-Abramoff Job Farm.
The NYT examines yet another front in the widening Abramoff investigation: the quid pro quo hiring of GOP flunkies on K Street for legislative favors. “Investigators are said to be especially interested in how Tony C. Rudy, a former deputy chief of staff to Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, and Neil G. Volz, a former chief of staff to Representative Bob Ney of Ohio, obtained lobbying positions with big firms on K Street.“
Armstrong-Gate comes to Baghdad.
“Even as the State Department and the United States Agency for International Development pay contractors millions of dollars to help train journalists and promote a professional and independent Iraqi media, the Pentagon is paying millions more to the Lincoln Group for work that appears to violate fundamental principles of Western journalism.” According to today’s NYT and in keeping with the Dubya administration’s penchant for rigging the media, it appears the Pentagon has been paying for planted propaganda in Iraqi newspapers. “‘You show the world you’re not living by the principles you profess to believe in, and you lose all credibility.‘”