Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Waiting For Godot - or Scooter Libby










The Libby trial is now in deliberations, which have resumed after a juror was thrown off the case due to having seen some media items concerning the trial. Will the wait and the resultant verdict, be devoid of meaning, as in "Godot", i.e., symbolic perhaps of our existential condition?

God, I hope not!

Thursday, February 08, 2007

If It's Libby On The Label















"If it's Libby, Libby, Libby
on the label, label, label
you will like it, like it, like it
on your table, table, table
if it's Libby, Libby, Libby
on the label, label, label"


Remember that ol' TV commercial for Libby? I think they sold like canned peaches, and a bunch of other canned stuff. Well, now VP Cheney's former Chief of Staff, Irv "Scooter" Libby is on the table, and I'm liking it! Prosecutor Fitzgerald has made him the centerpiece of a legal prosecution which consists of lying under oath concerning attempts to smear a former ambassador critical of Iraq and the Administration, and the outing of his CIA undercover agent wife, with the tentacles of the conspiracy leading directly to Vice President Dick Cheney himself! MMMmmmm...Delicious!

There have been reports that "Scooter" has stated that he will not be the fall guy for a situation whose direction came from the top (read: V.P. Cheney). The case is a little convoluted, but basically "Scooter" is on trial for perjury; for essentially lying about how this smear attempt came about (it's always the coverup, not the crime, that gets them - as with Watergate). "Scooter's" alibi, Tim Russert of "Meet The Press", directly contradicted "Scooter's" testimony this week, saying that he was not the source of the ID revelation of the undercover CIA agent to "Scooter", as "Scooter" has already stated under oath that Russert was (can you tell yet that I love to keep saying "Scooter", in quotes?). Essentially, lies (under oath - perjury) and coverup is going on here, to protect misdeeds and mis-doers (Cheney), at the top of the heap. So, someone is definitely lying under oath here. And unfortunately for "Scooter", Prosecutor Fitzgerald has lined up a series of media persons who also contradict "Scooter's" story. And so the coverup and the lies, begin to unfold.

The prosecution is about wrapped up I believe, and now the defense comes next. Look for a lot of smoke and mirrors, a lot of "I can't recall"; and also they will try to wrap their defense in "graymail" from what I read, a new term I learned which means employing a legal defense wrapped up in things like "national security" issues, and therefore not allowable into the public domain or in a public court. I also read though that Prosecutor Fitzgerald is prepared for this, and has some tricks up his own sleeve in response (this guy is good - and "Fitzmas" may still be possibility - in February rather than December!).

We may yet get to the bottom of how we got into this crazy war, albeit in perhaps an indirect way, as the revelations from this trial continue to unfold and lead elsewhere. And in a legal sense, I'll take that deal!