In Libby case, National Security was never breached

Excellent!

Read this now!

Dems overheated? You don't say!

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It's official, Gil can't count.

Title of this week's rubbish:

Two years and one indictment later, still defending deception.

Well, at least it's half way true.

It is two years later. However, there are zero indictments on the actual Rovegate and/or Leakgate charges (notice how Rovegate rapidly became Leakgate?).

"Let me say two things," Fitzgerald told reporters. "I am not speaking [in this indictment] to whether or not Valerie Wilson was covert . . . And we have not made any allegation that Mr. Libby knowingly or intentionally outed a covert agent."

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Gil, why doesn't it surprise me that your columns constantly contain liberal fabrications and factual errors designed to mislead the general public? I thought lying about WMDs was wrong. But it's OK to lie about Leakgate (or whatever you and your compadres are calling it this month?) Let's have some consistency here.

Patrick Fitzgerald Indicted 60 Republicans vs. 2 Democrats. Nonpartisan?

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Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is said to be "non-partisan" and "apolitical" - but as U.S. attorney in Chicago, a job he continues to hold as he heads up the Leakgate probe, the targets of his investigations into political corruption have been overwhelmingly Republican.

The media is fond of noting that Fitzgerald, who rocked the Bush administration on Friday with the indictment of Lewis Libby, has indicted two aides to Chicago Mayor Richard Daley - a Democrat.

But reporters seldom note that Fitzgerald's biggest case prior to Leakgate is his ongoing corruption probe into former Illinois Republican Governor George Ryan, who happens to be on trial right now.

Fitzgerald indicted Ryan on corruption charges in December 2003, the same month he was tapped to probe Leakgate, in an investigation that saw more than 60 indictments of Ryan administration figures and political appointees.

For those keeping score on Mr. Fitzgerald's political targets, the count currently stands at 60-plus Republicans vs. 2 Democrats - not counting Mr. Libby.
One aspect of Fitzgerald's Chicago prosecution has rankled more than a few observers - his decision to indict the fiance of his star witness against Ryan.

Top Ryan aide Scott Fawell had repeatedly protested that he knew of nothing that would implicate Ryan in wrongdoing.

But Fawell was already under indictment by Fitzgerald on separate corruption charges. And when Fitzgerald's team put his fiance, Andrea Coutretsis, on the stand, she lied to protect him.

Fitzgerald indicted Coutretsis on perjury charges and threatened the mother of two with jail. She was warned that she could escape a prison cell only if Fawell turned on Ryan.

"You guys have my head in a vise," Fawell complained to prosecutors as they dangled leniency for his girlfriend. But in the end the pressure worked and Fawell flipped.
Reacting to Fitzgerald's hardball tactics earlier this month, Chicago Tribune columnist Eric Zorn wrote: "The image that comes to mind is not so much a head in vise as that famous 1973 National Lampoon cover, 'If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog.'"

Zorn continued: "Were you or I to use such powerful leverage to get someone to testify on our behalf, it would be a crime . . . There's a grim amorality to the feds linking [Coutretsis'] prison sentence to [Fawell's] performance on the witness stand this month."

In 1998, when then-Independent Counsel Ken Starr was accused of threatening to indict Monica Lewinsky's mother to gain Monica's cooperation, the media went wild with outrage.

But now that Mr. Fitzgerald is employing the same tactics against Republicans, the national press has decided to look the other way.

Patrick Fitzgerald Retreats From Plame 'Covert' Claim

Leakgate Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald dropped a mini-bombshell Friday afternoon while he was explaining his indictment of Lewis "Scooter" Libby to the press.

It turns out that the central premise of his investigation - that Valerie Plame Wilson enjoyed protected "covert" status at the CIA - may not be true.

"Let me say two things," Fitzgerald told reporters. "I am not speaking [in this indictment] to whether or not Valerie Wilson was covert . . . And we have not made any allegation that Mr. Libby knowingly or intentionally outed a covert agent."

Fitzgerald did insist that Mrs. Wilson's "association with the CIA was classified," which would make leaking her occupation a crime. But he declined to bring any charges to that effect, casting even more doubt on the claim that her CIA job was a closely guarded secret.

A Nexis Lexis search shows that since Mrs. Wilson's alleged "outing" in July 2003, the media has erroneously referred to her "covert" status more than 3,100 times.

Surely the press will begin issuing its Leakgate retractions any minute now.

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Plamegate charges: Joe Wilson's civil right violated?

Oh, come on.

Source.

Charges against White House officials in the Valerie Plame Leakgate case could include violating her husband, Joseph Wilson's, civil rights.

That's the bizarre claim from NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell, who insisted on MSNBC's "Hardball" Monday night that Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has likely determined that Leakgate is, at least in part, a civil rights case.

"You know, it‘s not just perjury or conspiracy or obstruction, there are other really important criminal charges," Mitchell claimed. "We‘re even told that there could be a conspiracy charge, conspiracy to violate Joe Wilson‘s civil rights."

Filling in on Baltimore radio station WMAL, talker Steve Malzberg tells NewsMax he had a field day with the claim that Wilson's rights had been violated - since the Leakgate accuser instigated his fight with the Bush administration in the first place.

Plame Game

Did George Tenet leak Plame name?

The ultimate source of information identifying Leakgate accuser Valerie Plame as a CIA employee my turn out to be the CIA itself, the New York Times reported Tuesday.

Notes obtained by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald identify then-CIA Director George Tenet as the person who gave up Plame's secret to the White House, with the Times reporting that Tenet tipped Vice President Dick Cheney to her identity.

However the notes - taken by Cheney's chief of staff Lewis Libby - "contain no suggestion that either Mr. Cheney or Mr. Libby knew at the time of Ms. Wilson's undercover status or that her identity was classified."

So far, Tenet has neither confirmed nor denied that he was the original source of the Plamegate leak, with the Times reporting that he was "unavailable for comment."

Cheney first disclosed name?

The New York Times reported late Monday that Vice President Cheney has been directly linked to the so-called "Plamegate" scandal involving the disclosure of the name of Valerie Plame, a CIA officer.

The paper reported that Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby "first learned about the C.I.A. officer at the heart of the leak investigation in a conversation with Mr. Cheney weeks before her identity became public in 2003."

The paper sourced their story to "lawyers involved in the case."

The Times said that notes taken by Libby differ from his own testimony before the grand jury as to when he first learned of Plame's identity.

"The notes, taken by Mr. Libby during the conversation, for the first time place Mr. Cheney in the middle of an effort by the White House to learn about Ms. Wilson’s husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, who was questioning the administration’s handling of intelligence about Iraq’s nuclear program to justify the war."
Cheney apparently discovered details of Plame's CIA work after he questioned then CIA Director George J. Tenet about her husband, Ambassador Wilson.

But even if Libby or Cheney had disclosed Plame's identity as a CIA officer they may not have committed a crime.

"Disclosing a covert agent’s identity can be a crime, but only if the person who discloses it knows the agent’s undercover status," the Times said.

Oops he did it again!

This is in response to this column, which states:

The bottom line, then, might be that Texans are every bit as upstanding as residents of our own red state community, though whether they want to admit it or not, they’re clearly confused about what, exactly, constitutes “morality.”

Whether he wants to admit it or not, he's clearly confused about what, exactly, constitutes “a red state”.

According to the most-recent Presidential election, Pennsylvania is a blue state.

We can postulate what he's saying, but it's a misnomer. Obviously, if it's a "red state community", one would have to reside first within a state that is red. It might be a red county. But not a red state.

NY Times: Karl Rove, Lewis Libby Likely Cleared on Leakgate Charges

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Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has likely decided not to indict top White House aides Karl Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby based on allegations they "outed" CIA employee Valerie Plame, lawyers close to Fitzgerald's Leakgate investigation have told the New York Times.

Instead, the paper said, conflicting accounts given by Mr. Rove and Mr. Libby have been the focus of Mr. Fitzgerald's probe "almost from the start" - raising questions about whether the respected prosecutor continued his investigation after determining that no underlying crime had been committed.

It's not clear whether Fitzgerald believes that Rove and/or Libby had indeed violated the 1982 Intelligence Identities Protection Act, but couldn't prove his case. Or whether he realized early on that the law didn't apply to Ms. Plame, who doesn't qualify as a covert agent because she hadn't served abroad within five years of her "outing."

Instead, the Times said: "Among the charges that Mr. Fitzgerald is considering are perjury, obstruction of justice and false statement" - raising speculation that the Leakgate case may devolve into a Martha Stewart-like prosecution, which drew howls of derision from legal critics.

Joe Wilson: Druggie, cheater?

Wilson said he'd been a true child of the 1960s and had ``too many wives and taken too many drugs. And, yes, I did inhale.''

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Wilma!!!!

One of the biggest storms ever may be brewing in the Gulf Coast and headed towards Florida. Wilma is a Category 5 hurricane during a strong hurricane storm season this year.

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Sheehan: Hillary sounds like Rush Limbaugh

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Rumor: Cheney to resign, Rice to be VP

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Today reporter caught paddling in shallow water

Too funny!

During a live report, two men walk in front of Today reporter paddling in ankle-deep water.

Hattip: Drudge Report

What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas?

Looks like this week, Gil is on vacation. Finally, we get a break from that dull, dreary rhetoric LNP likes to refer to as "a column".

Don't worry though, there is some big news brewing that I promise you you will not want to miss next month on several fronts. So hang in there. Check back next week to see if Gil is back to his old antics.

Republican's big moment? Or Gil's little flub?

Wasn't this the same Gil Smart that only a few weeks ago stated that cultural conservatives hold the power in all three branches of the government for the past decade?

I think someone is just cranky that they did not get to replace Rehnquist and O'Connor with their ultra-liberal moonbat nominees hand-picked by John F. Kerry (or Al Gore). Does little Gilly need a cracker, a juicebox and a nappy-poo?

Jesus, somebody send this guy to "national politics kindergarten" so that he can start writing columns with the big boys. Seriously, ...Charlie Brown?

What were you thinking?

Maybe next week Gil can inform us how Snoopy vs. the Red Barron fits into all of this?

Grow up!

MSM manufactured Bill Bennett "racist" comment story?

Democrats are yelling bloody murder over comments made by radio talk show host Bill Bennett in which he was discussing a section of the book "Freakanomics".

However, in Chapter 4 of Freakanomics, which discusses abortion and its relation to the crime rate, it specifically mentions:



Is this another manufactured news story by the MSM? Surprise, surprise, it appears that the comments are in context.

Worth Repeating: Terrorists are how desperate?

Remember this story?

More reports are coming out that Marines are kidnapped. However, considering these past stories, one has to wonder whether these new stories are accurate. Be sure to remain aware of hoaxes such as this.

FEC: Nancy Pelosi's PACs Broke the Law

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Two political action committees linked to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have been charged with attempting to circumvent to legal limits on campaign giving, the Federal Election Commission has ruled.

According to the March 2004 FEC finding, Pelosi appears to have violated the same kind of arcane campaign finance regulation that spurred the indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay this week.

The San Francisco Chronicle explained at the time:

"The FEC ruled that two Pelosi political action committees created to help Democrats in the 2002 elections were related instead of being independent and therefore violated a rule against giving more than the maximum $5,000 annual contribution."

'NY Times' Finally Runs Full Correction on Krugman Column, Announces New Policy

Story

One notes that Krugman, Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich all incorrectly stated that former FEMA director Michael Brown went to college with his predecessor Joe Allbaugh. Another corrects where Mick Jagger made a certain statement about economics.

Pennsylvania not identified as "Island of Ignorance"

I got a hint of what that effect might be last week when a press release from a group calling itself “The Campaign to Defend the Constitution” showed up in my e-mail, directing me to the outfit’s Web site. On it, Pennsylvania is identified as one of 10 U.S. “Islands of Ignorance,” where “ignorance” the teaching of intelligent design is permitted to trump science.

-Gil Smart

False! Check the press release here. (Also here.)



The list starts with Dover, PA. It does not identify the state of "Pennsylvania as one of 10 U.S. Islands of Ignorance".

This press release references a website which is registered to Nick Allen, President of an organization called DonorDigital in California, which states that they specialize in online advertising, marketing, and advocacy. They list George Soros as a client. Hardly a non-partisan source which makes up a wide scope of the national view of Dover, Pennsylvania, is it?