Month: July 2005

Cross-posted at My Left Wing

Former NSC staffer Roger Morris, who quit (along with Anthony Lake) in protest of Nixon’s bombing of Cambodia, has a new article, “The Source Beyond Rove: Condoleezza Rice at the Center of the Plame Scandal.” It’s a long article, the great bulk of which is in the form a timeline.

With one exception, what’s damning is not so much any one particular fact, but the whole pattern of Rice’s involvement–precisely the sort of thing that National Security analysts (current or former) and prosecutors are specifically trained to spot, track down, and turn inside-out. In an interview on KPFK this afternoon, Morris suggested that Fitzgerald may well have Rice in his sights as well as Rove.

I’ll quote the passage dealing with that exception below the fold….
Before citing the most damning evidence of Rice’s complicity, it needs to be placed in context.

The core statement of Morris’s perspective is as followes:

For those who know the invariably central role of the NSC Advisor in sensitive political subjects in foreign policy and in White House leaks to the media as well as tending of policy, especially in George W. Bush’s rigidly disciplined, relentlessly political regime, Rice by both commission and omission was integral in perpetrating the original fraud of Niger, and then inevitably in the vengeful betrayal of Plame’s identity. None of that spilling of secrets for crass political retribution could have gone on without her knowledge and approval, and thus complicity. Little of it could have happened without her participation, if not as a leaker herself, at least with her direction and with her scripting….

Her manifest failures in the fateful months before 9/11 in meeting the principal responsibilities of the National Security Advisor-the sheer incompetence and shallowness that left so much intelligence uncoordinated, so much neglected or misunderstood-should have been enough to have run her from public office long ago, of course, were it not for her hold on this tragically flawed president, and her deplorable immunity amid the chronic political cowardice of both the Democrats and the media.

Now, however, her role in the Plame scandal cannot be ignored or excused. She alone among senior officials was knowing and complicitous at every successive stage of the great half-baked yellow cake fraud. She alone was the White House peer-and in national security matters the superior-to Rove and Libby, who never could have acted without her collusion in peddling Plame’s identity. She as much as anyone had a stake in smearing Wilson by any and all means at hand. If Rove and Libby are to be held criminally or at least politically accountable for a breach of national security, our “mushroom cloud” secretary of state should certainly be in the dock with them.

That said, here is the crucial part of the timeline in which Rice’s role in the outing itself is most exposed:

It is in these hours of late July 7 and early July 8 that Rove, Libby and other officials get word of Plame’s identity from Air Force One. Rove and Libby will hear of Plame in the drafting with Tenet of his mea culpa, but officials on the plane reading the INR memo cannot know or be sure of this, and the memo’s passages on Wilson, including his wife, are now relayed back to Washington. Reporters later speculate that Powell might have called either Rove or Libby with such information, but as one concludes aptly, “That was above his pay grade.” The President himself might have read the memo and called the two aides. But given Bush’s style and grasp, that, too, is implausible, though he may well have been informed of the calls and given his approval. The only official on board Air Force One with the knowledge and authority-motive, means and opportunity-to instruct Rove and Libby and so betray Plame was Condoleezza Rice.

Ultimately, of course, the one responsible is Bush, and the underlying crime is the lying to Congress and leading the country to war under false pretenses, as John Bonifaz has explicitly detailed in his May 22, 2005 Memo to Congressmember John Conyers, Jr.:

If the evidence revealed by the Downing Street Memo is true, then the President’s submission of his March 18, 2003 letter and report to the United States Congress would violate federal criminal law, including: the federal anti-conspiracy statute, 18 U.S.C. – 371, which makes it a felony “to commit any offense against the United States, or to defraud the United States, or any agency thereof in any manner or for any purpose…”; and The False Statements Accountability Act of 1996, 18 U.S.C. – 1001, which makes it a felony to issue knowingly and willfully false statements to the United States Congress.

As can be seen from Morris’s timeline, Rice, among others, could also plausibly be indicted as a co-concpirator along with Bush in the violation of those laws.

Last week, in the storied tradition of Saturday Morning Garden Blogging, I started  posting a series of diaries about my little spot of alternating paradiso and purgatorio — The Sticks.

Those of you who have occupied your minds with the weighty matters of politics, treason, the oil supply, melting ice caps, and the outcome of the latest Big Brother are once again invited to come on down, find a shady spot, and camp out.  I’ll make the lemonade.
It’s been a blazing hot, painfully dry summer around here, and neither the forest nor the garden have much appreciated it.  We (by which I mean, my wife) have picked up a wheelbarrow load of fallen branches every day, and reliable old plants like peonies and columbine have wilted before the heat.  Even the big peach tree — usually so loaded down that we have to use string and planks to keep it from committing peachicide by ripping itself to pieces under the weight of all the fruit — produced only a handful this year, and the deer nabbed those few before they could find their way onto my pancakes.

As usual, the one group of plants that seem to thrive in the worst conditions of the year are the coneflowers.

This year, the little volunteer tiger lillies have also spread quite well — though this seems to have come at the expense of the yellow coneflowers.

Last week, there were complaints that after showing the garden and the road, I failed to give a glimpse of the house.  So, here’s that first look at The Sticks itself.

This is the northern third of the place, minus the part that holds the den and kitchen, the breezeway, and the new garage.  Once I can convince my college age son and his friends not to leave a convoy worth of cars in front of the rest of it, I’ll try and get a shot of the whole sprawl.  But this shot should give you a pretty good sense of the place.  It’s logs.  It’s a house.  It’s a log house.

The Sticks would never make the cover of one of the log home magazines.  It doesn’t have handcrafted custom logs made from thousand year old spruce (it’s plain old southern yellow pine, made popular as telephone poles).  It doesn’t have a three story front window, or a ten person jacuzzi, or landscaping done by someone who won an Oscar.  But it’s one big pile of sticks, it is.

Last week, someone also mentioned that they would like to sit down on the porch swing.  Well, it’s ready any time.  

This particular swing was made by some folks at an Amish community off to the west of us.  That would be more special if I didn’t know they’d kicked out dozens of swings almost identical to it — even the Amish practice their own form of mass production.  

Note the peachy-keeno turntable in the background, highly suitable for playing scratched up America albumns.  The turner also works just fine for listening to This American Life or Car Talk.

If the front porch doesn’t charm you, you’re also welcome to find a seat on the breezeway.

We tacked a new garage onto the place, and the only spot where we could fit it without knocking down a half dozen trees was set off about 30′ to one side of the house.  So we connected the two with a new screened in breezeway.  This is the primo spot to sit on a cool morning.  There’s a hummingbird feeder, big tray feeder, and a squirrel-proof (ha!) feeder just off to one side, so those binocs on the table gets used frequently in peeking at our avian visitors.  

If someone has an idea what might be emptying the hummingbird feeder each night, without so much as removing the little yellow flowers over the openings, let me know.

Okay, that seems like enough for one week.  Next time, I’ll either move inside, or maybe start talking up some of the endless list of projects underway.  Or I could intro some of the critters.  Hmmm.

Cross posted from: The 10,000 Things

Signs of Good Government

When Master Xuetang was leading the community at Qianfu, one day he asked a recent arrival where he had come from. The student said he had come from Fujian. Xuetang said, “Did you see any good leaders along the way?”

The student said, “Recently I passed through such-and-such a province, and although I have never met him, I know Master Ben of Poshan there to be a good leader.”

Xuetang said, “How do you know he is good?”

The monk said, “When you go into the monastery there, the paths are clear, the halls are in good repair, there are always incense and lamps burning in the shrines, morning and night the bell and drum are sounded precisely and clearly, the morning and noon gruel and rice are clean and wholesome, and the monks are polite when they see people as they go about their activities. This is how I know Ben is a good leader.”

Xuetang smiled and said, “Ben is surely wise, and you have eyes too.” He then reported these words to the governor of the prefecture and added, “I am getting old, and I ask you to invite Ben to be leader here at Qianfu, in hopes of the prosperity of the work of the Chan community.”
–Annals of the East Lake taken from Zen Lessons – The Art of Leadership by Thomas Cleary

Matthew 7:1-5
1Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you.
3And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me cast out the mote out of thine eye; and lo, the beam is in thine own eye?
5Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

Inner Mastery, Outer Rectitude
Xuetang said to Master Huaian Guang:

When I was young I heard these words from my father:
“‘Without inner mastery one cannot stand, without outward rectitude one cannot act.’ This saying is worth practicing all your life; in it is summed up the work of sages and saints.”

I remembered these words and cultivated myself while living at home. Even now, when I am leader of a group, these words are like the balance stone weighing heavy and light, the compass and rule determining square and round. Without this everything loses its order.
– Extensive Record taken from Zen Lessons – The Art of Leadership by Thomas Cleary

Reflection
Xuetang said to Master Qiean:

In managing affairs one must weigh the heavy and the light; when speaking out one must first think and reflect. Strive to accord with the middle way, do not allow bias.

Hasty and careless actions seldom bring success. Even if you can get done in this way, after all you cannot complete anything totally.

When I was in the community of students, I fully witnessed benefit and harm. Only those of virtue moved people by their magnanimity. I hope those in the future who have willpower will practice this carefully. Only this will be of sublime benefit.

Lingyuan used to say, “Usually when people always dwell in inner reflection, they are able to clearly understand much, but when they get involved in things, running outside, then they oppose integration and lose the body of reality.”

If you really want to think of inheriting the responsibility of the enlightened teachers, I direct you future descendants to always examine and criticize yourselves.
– Extensive Record taken from Zen Lessons – The Art of Leadership by Thomas Cleary

Matthew 7:6

6Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before the swine, lest haply they trample them under their feet, and turn and rend you.

Someone of Perception
Xuetang said:

When Gaoan addressed the assembly, he would always say, “In a group you must know when there is someone with perception.” I asked him the reason for this, and Gaoan said, “Have you not read the words of Guishan, ‘In your actions, take your examples from the superior, do not lazily follow the mediocre and the vulgar’? Those who while daily in the midst of the crowd do not sink into low folly all utter such words.

“In a multitude of people, the vulgar are many, the knowers are few. The vulgar are easy to get used to, the knowers are hard to get near to.

“If you can develop your will so that you are like one man facing a thousand enemies until the power of vulgar habits are ended, you will truly be transcendent, beyond measure.”
– Extensive Record taken from Zen Lessons – The Art of Leadership by Thomas Cleary

Matthew 7:13-23
13Enter ye in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby.
14For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few are they that find it.
15Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.
16By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
20Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by thy name cast out demons, and by thy name do many mighty works?
23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

“By their fruits ye shall know them.”

“Narrow is the gate… and few are they that find it.”

“I never knew you”

Or perhaps, more to the point he should have said… you never knew me.

Wide is the way to destruction and many are they on that path, the vulgar and the mediocre, the one’s that see the mote in their neighbors eye but not the beam in their own. Too often I fall into that company. Perhaps we all do. Inner reflection allows me to find these faults in myself. Sometimes right away, sometimes after much work, sometimes only after battling much denial and self-justification. Sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly… doesn’t matter… as long as we are practicing inward reflection, practicing inwardly what we profess outwardly… searching for these answers the timeframe is of little consequence. The fruits will always materialize if we work for them and if we have eyes to see and ears to listen we can always see those that are striving on that narrow, inward path. The difference between they and those on the wide path are glaringly obvious once the mist is lifted from our eyes.

X-posted at ETG

A couple of months ago I wrote a diary about the US-VISIT program, which requires visitors from abroad to submit to biometric identification. I also described the technical problems involved.

The Department of Homeland Security now wants to raise the ante and is about to start a pilot program in which foreigners will be issued an RFID ID card readable from 10 to 15 meters away.

More below the fold.
The Kingston (Ont.) Whig-Standard reports:

Kingston’s closest U.S. border

crossing will employ high-tech radio frequency technology to monitor visitors from other countries who want to enter the States from Canada – a move that alarms both a Kingston privacy expert and an immigration specialist.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said this week that the crossing between Lansdowne and Alexandria Bay, N.Y., will be one of three Canada-U.S. land borders to require non-Canadians to carry wireless devices as part of a pilot project.

Travellers will be required to carry the devices as of Aug. 4.

(snip)

They’ll have to carry the wireless devices as a way for border guards to access the electronic information stored inside a document about the size of a large index card.

Visitors to the U.S. will get the card the first time they cross the border and will be required the carry the document on subsequent crossings to and from the States. link, via BoingBoing

Most Canadians are apparently exempt, but landed immigrants are not.

DHS says that the UHF frequency used “makes it impossible to locate a specific person”. However, Queen’s University law professor and privacy expert Art Cockfield points out:

“Often these technologies are introduced in a fairly minor form and then the technology is extended. What would be very troubling to me would be the tracking of visitors after they’ve crossed the border.”

Not to mention the possibility of surruptitious screening in electronic spot checks.

What will they think of next?

There is something that is becoming increasingly clear to me. The Bush administration has made a number of decisions that fall into a hazy legal universe. Whether or not anyone is indicted and prosecuted for these decisions will be determined not by an independent assessment of the law, but by other factors entirely.

For example, a newly leaked FBI memo shows how tenuous the legality of Bush’s rendition program is:

:::flip:::
This is just the latest revelation that many legal minds think Bush has exceeded his authority in authorizing torture, extraordinary renditions, and indefinite detentions.

In another ominous sign, Jimmy Carter just declared:

This resonates with the assessment of Tony Blair’s cabinet, spelled out in the Downing Street Leaks. Is it legal to launch a preemptive war based on a pack of lies? I think that depends on who the Attorney General is, who controls Congress, and who sits on the Supreme Court. It’s an impeachable offense if enough people say it’s an impeachable offense. For our civilian unelected leadership, participation in a conspiracy to deceive Congress could easily be an indictable offense. But it would only be indictable if there is someone inclined to investigate.

The uncomfortable reality is that Bush has authorized policies of dubious legality through executive orders. Those executive orders can be interpreted as clear violations of our signed treaties, which are the highest law of the land. But the executive orders can also be brushed under the rug and excused as necessary actions for a country under threat.

The reason this is so troubling is that the determination of whether George Bush is a resolute wartime President, or a potential war criminal and violator of basic human rights, depends almost entirely on who wields power. Bush and his cronies cannot legally afford to lose power. If they do, they could find themselves thoroughly discredited and possibly imprisoned.

Given control of the Justice Department, it would be a simple matter for me to indict Rumsfeld for the crimes of Abu Ghraib. And the Bushies understand this. For me, this makes it critically important that we get paper trails for our ballot boxes. We are no longer facing an opponent with a differing political philosophy, we are facing an opponent that has been engaged in a criminal conspiracy. Their only failproof defense is to maintain control of the courts, the oversight committees, and the Justice Department. And that does not bode well for clean and fair elections.

Update [2005-7-31 14:0:18 by susanhu]: “Iraqi officials consider rationing fuel,” Al Jazeera, July 31, 2005.

You’ve no doubt seen the spate of articles and Sunday talk show discussions on the delayed completion of the Iraqi constitution, including today’s WaPo “Iraqis Debate Constitution Delay.” Two superb analysts — Juan Cole and Col. Patrick Lang (Ret.) — look at the issues involved:

MORE BELOW:
Meanwhile, Juan Cole summarizes the latest bombings, killing, and kidnappings: “Three employees of Baghdad International Airport, who had been kidnapped, turned up blindfolded and dead.” … “An Iraqi health ministry official, Eman Naji, was kidnapped by gunmen who stormed her home in the capital’s upscale district of Mansour.”

And, the U.S. has established “the first long-term military base” near the Syrian border to prevent foreign terrorists from entering Iraq, reports today’s LA Times. The LAT also mentions that “U.S. military officials have asked the Iraqi government to issue emergency laws that could include a curfew and a travel ban” in Fallujah.

I’m going to change tracks here and write something completely devoid of snark… sorry for the shock, my bad, I probably should have warned you sooner… 🙂

Okay, starting now no snark…
I just want to say Thank You to each and every one of the contributors on BooMan Tribune. I have learned so much from you, been inspired, gotten fired up, been informed of events I would have missed, but are just as important as any others, and seen the best of humanity come alive in the diaries and comments of this site.

I am truly grateful that we have a community of such diverse and passionate people who care deeply about the world as a whole and believe everyone is deserving of respect.

The diaries welcoming newcomers, the spiritual and moving diaries, the fun and frivolous diaries (okay, yes, I’m talking about mine here.. 🙂 damn, I said no snark… ugh), the environmental and poverty diaries, each of them make this site what it is today.

A true community.

Our wonderful hosts BooMan and Susan deserve our respect and thanks for creating and embracing the community… they set the standards by which the community tone has grown. It’s a beautiful thing.

Anyway, it may be the lack of sleep making me all sappy but I just wanted to let you all know how much I value the friends I have made and all that you do each and every day to make this place home.

Cheers,
spiderleaf

Good morning! Good morning, and welcome again to Sunday Griot! I’m happy to be here. It’s been quite a week, and quite a couple of days, and now I’m glad to be back on familiar ground: up here in front of the crowd on a Sunday morning, ready to tell a story. And today’s story goes back to Aesop once again; it’s about what happened when the frogs decided they couldn’t leave well enough alone, and asked to have a king.

The Space Station will be re-supplied,
As Discovery carries garbage earth-side
While they stow all the muck,
On this winged garbage truck.
If there’re flies, least they’ll all be freeze-dried!

(Four more after the fold, plus a bawdy, R-rated limerickal voyage into the White House bedroom!)
In attempts to both stifle and neaten,
Suppressing news about pigs to be eaten,
China revisits sars,
And revisionist scars,
Report flu and you just might be beaten.

In the Senate, Democrats will dig deeper,
On Judge Roberts, as the battle gets steeper,
They will seek to ligate
This Rehnquist legate,
And avoid seating a young freeper-sleeper.

Confirming the facts all along,
Hussain, held in Rome, says we’re wrong.
`Tis brilliant this strategy,
Of make believe tragedy,
And propaganda mouthpiece standing strong.

Seems HMO’s already abhor,
That documentary director, Mike Moore.
He’s not yet started “Sicko”,
They’ve already gone “Psycho”,
With an “iron shower curtain” décor.

Last night on c-span I watched some of a presentation by Jeff Golden about his book “As If We Were Grownups: A Collection of Suicidal Political Speeches That Aren’t.” Has anyone read that book? I don’t know anything about Golden – sounds like he does a radio show, has been elected to local office and is pretty progressive in his politics.

I was really intrigued by what he said and would love to hear what other people think. As I understand what the book is about, he is saying that its time that politicians talk to us like we’re grownups and can understand the hard choices we face. While I REALLY agree with this – I also know that its pretty idealistic.  

Golden also said something in response to a question that really has me thinking today. He said that if we want politicians to treat us like grownups – then we have to act like grownups. And this means that we need to support people we agree with 90% of the time – even when they vote against our wishes that 10%. In other words, we can’t be single issue voters and have to be willing to look at the big picture. It reminded me when, as a Minnesotan who thought that Paul Wellstone was my ideal of a politician, I had to wrestle with the fact that he voted FOR the Defense of Marriage Act. There is no way I would have abandoned by support of him over that – but it was difficult. But how far do we go with that?

Any thoughts out there about whether or not those running for office can dare to treat us like grownups? And how do we act more like grownups to encourage that?