” Fitzgerald is an Irish doorman’s son who attended a Jesuit high school, then Amherst College — where he was a Phi Beta Kappa mathematics and economics major — and Harvard.
He registered to vote in New York as an independent. When he discovered that Independent was a political party, he re-registered with no affiliation. Illinois citizens know him for pursuing Republicans and Democrats with equal fervor. Former governor George Ryan (R) is on trial on corruption charges, and a growing number of aides to Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) face influence-peddling charges.”A witness in the case said of Fitzgerald – “As White House staffers, ..you had generals and Cabinet secretaries being deferential to you. He didn’t care what you’d done or how well you knew the president.” Washpost
Col. Patrick W. Lang (Ret.), a highly decorated retired senior officer of U.S. Military Intelligence and U.S. Army Special Forces, served as “Defense Intelligence Officer for the Middle East, South Asia and Terrorism” for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and was later the first Director of the Defense Humint Service. Col. Lang was the first Professor of the Arabic Language at the United States Military Academy at West Point. For his service in the DIA, he was awarded the “Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive.” He is a frequent commentator on television and radio, including PBS’s Newshour, and most recently on MSNBC’s Hardball and NPR’s “All Things Considered.”
His CV and blog are linked below the fold.
This man is a politician’s worst nightmare. He doesn’t “care what you’d done or how well you knew the president.”
He reminds me of the portrait of Robert Kennedy in Richard Mahoney‘s book, “Sons and Brothers.” Relentless, dogged, thorough, a workaholic who goes home to Chicago on the weekends. He has priorities and they are not all about his career.
Men like this are not driven by self-interest so much as they are by an internal demand for justice and virtue in the world.
He is unimpressed by the argument that “we have always done it that way.” Graft, character assasination as political “business as usual,” influence peddling? Men like this are outraged by such things.
Norah O’Donnell of NBC news said last week that she had been told by someone interrogated by Fitzgerald that he could best be described as “pious.” That strikes me as apt.
Piety can be religious or it can be civic as the Romans would have understood this virtue, as Marcus Aurelius would have understood it. In either case, Fitzgerald’s piety is “bad news” for a number of people.
He will do what he is going to do, and partisan hand-wringing will not affect him.
Get ready.
– Pat Lang
Personal Blog: Sic Semper Tyrannis 2005 || Bio || CV
Recommended Books || More BooTrib <a href="Posts
Novel: The Butcher’s Cleaver (download free by chapter, PDF format)
“Drinking the Kool-Aid,” Middle East Policy Council Journal, Vol. XI, Summer 2004, No. 2
I’m also impressed by the fact that he has a website for the case. That’s the transparency we’ve been bereft of for too long.
Some used to wonder how the internet would affect democracy. These last few weeks have provided amazing answers!
I think you guys are very naive about Fitzgerald
http://www.boomantribune.com/?op=displaystory;sid=2005/10/24/121112/16
Didn’t we all, somewhere deep in our heart of hearts, figure (or at least hope) that the negative campaigning, retaliation, smearing and character assassination would eventually lead us to this point?
It just keeps getting worse. How far can you stretch the truth and take your opponents words and voting record out of context before it’s no longer the truth? How badly can you stretch the limits of your power before you cross the legal line between hardball and the criminal abuse of that power?
I think we might be there.
How about some factual information. I am sick of hearing this stuff about Fitagerald.
1). He was appointed by James Comey “his best friend”. Comey works for the Cheney influenced Lockheed Martin. An ultra right wing organization’.
Fitzgeralds affiliations are with Republicans. It is generally acknowledged that he is a Republican. John Ashcroft choose Comey who chose Fitzgerald.
2). He indicted George Ryan a repulican who defied George Bush by putting a moratorium on the death penalty. I have a personal report that his indictment is a direct result of that moratorium.
3). It appears if there are indictments they will be for perjury and obstruction and not related directly to the Plame affair. And least that is what the republicans seem to be saying. And that is nothing compared to what Fitzgerald should have uncovered.
4). Fitzgerald is going after the Democratic Machine in Illinois. His ultimate goal appears to be the Mayor. In Illinois Governor Ryan and Mayor Daley were like partners. There was no real separation. Ryan was a Repulocan in name only.
5). In the Plame case there have been no small fish being indicted to get the big fish as he has done in Illinois in both cases in which Fitzgerald is involved.
I can see no reason to think that Fitzgerald is not covering up or muting the Plame case as much as possible in line with his own very conservative outlook.
So you can say get ready. But it is not Fitzgerald who will bring indictments it is the Grand Jury because they were the one’s who were lied to in all probablilty and Fitzgerald can’t do anything about that.
I am telling you that if they don’t indict anyone on charges directly relatied to the Plame investigation….Fitzgerald ought to be called FIXGERALD
I hope you’re wrong. Or that, if that’s what happens, it’s because he didn’t have the proof to make the indictments.
If we’re wrong, you should reprint your diaries that castigate Fitzgerald.
The whole world says I am wrong Susan. I relish the thought that I am wrong. I will be very happy to see something like Cheney indicted. Oh Boy! You guys are giving me hope!
2). He indicted George Ryan a repulican who defied George Bush by putting a moratorium on the death penalty. I have a personal report that his indictment is a direct result of that moratorium.
What personal report?
It;s not necessarily about Fitzgerald, but about Bush and Ryan and their relationship.
http://bushplanet.blogspot.com/2005/09/more-fixgerald.html
That’s not exactly proof.
Now it’s not proof. I don’t have proof. Just some information. And of course it is hearsay and or a factual account from Scott Fawells perspective only.
It makes sense to me, though. But ….
Spell check is your friend. So is grammar check. Also, repeating the same thing over and over doesn’t make you right. Sorry to be harsh, but it needs to be said.
I’m not part of the Fitzgerald love-in, but I’m also not ready to tar and feather him. I’m perfectly happy to wait and see what happens.
Well I don’t know who Patrick Fitzgerald is and I am trying to find out by presenting at least a different voice. Unless of course I am really Patick Fitzgerald and just having some fun.
I generally don’t use spellchuck. It interferes with my free time.
LockHeed Martin is ultra right wing. 60 to 40 the Klu Klux Klan probably does that. You know what that is, they are just hedging their bets. They are part and parcel of the Military and of Industry. They are always having a scandal and their corporation counsel James Comey is there to use his connections in the government and the judiciary to mitigate and “fix” and problems they run into.
My personal report is heresay.
Ryan was not any more crooked than any politician just about anywhere. he did favors for people. He is not a millinoaire, never was, does not have a lot of money and never did. So it isn’t likely that he was simply crooked. He was nominated for the nobel peace prize. He’s not that bad of a guy. He took a risk on the death row inmates. I don’t think death row inmates have a lobby in congress offering kickbacks and votes to politicians. There was nothing in it for him. I respect him for doing that. No other crummy politician did it before him. He saved a lot of innocent people from dying, I imagine.
It’s too late for little fish isn’t it as far as this Grand Jury is concerned isn’t it?
I saw Nora O’Donnell call Fitzpatrick “pious” and the the context of it was meant to be a put-down, I think. But she giggled for a second after she said it. It was like she was reading a script (talking point) and suddenly realized that the word didn’t really have negative connotations. Matthews smirked at her like they were sharing a private joke. It was an odd moment.
She’s such a sycophant, she would giggle about someone who’s truly pious — in the civic sense — as Pat describes.
I’ve written MSNBC several times to tell them that when she comes on the air, I switch channels.
editor@msnbc.com
hardball@msnbc.com
etc.
I am beginning to hate Patrick Fitzgerald. It’s not his fault. It’s the fault of all the people who keep falling all over themselves in lauding him to death.
Gee. Please look at this situation in a larger context. Do you really think he slipped through the cracks and got appointed by mistake?
Maybe….but it doesn’t look like it.
Thanks Pat for once again some great thoughts. I may be nutso but am holding on to the optimism I came down with while on vacation. I do believe Fitzgerald will do the right thing, NOT the right-wing thing. Shoot please, if I am wrong.
.
Keep fingers crossed, how many months did he need to put the Gambino Family behind bars?
That, even Mr. Fitzgerald’s former opponents in the courtroom say, is classic Fitzgerald: dogged, dispassionate and endlessly prepared.
“He doesn’t let anything go,” said George Santangelo who represented John Gambino, identified by the authorities as a crime family captain, in a case prosecuted by Mr. Fitzgerald. “We duked it out for about three years, and it was quite a duking session. Let me put it to you this way: If John Ashcroft wanted any favors on this one, he went to the wrong guy. This guy is tough.”
###
Further reading ::
1. U.S. DoJ – Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald Web site
2. Revealing National Security Secrets ◊ by SusanHu
3. Patrick J. Fitzgerald – Investigating Bush Administration
Once again, a great and informative diary with references – thank you Pat Lang!
Special Counsel Investigation :: see also my diary —
Prosecutor Fitzgerald Zeroes In :: Cheney – CIA Feud!
Wed Oct 19th, 2005 at 03:15:12 AM PST
and … Judge Tatel’s opinion has eight blank pages in the middle of it where he discusses the secret information the prosecutor has supplied only to the judges to convince them that the testimony he is demanding is worth sending reporters to jail to get.
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
.
A convicted counterfeiter has been arrested in Chicago for plotting to blow up a courthouse, prosecutors say. Gale Nettles planned to build a fertilizer lorry bomb like the one used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
Mr Nettles, 66, who apparently had a grudge against the government, was held as he tried to sell his “bomb” to undercover FBI agents.
"The only people he [Mr Nettles] dealtwith were FBI agents and informants,"
according to US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald
The prosecutors said Mr Nettles last month asked another undercover agent to put him in contact with someone affiliated with al-Qaeda or Hamas whom he wanted to use to carry out the attack.
In a recorded conversation with an agent, he said he could make a 3,000lb (1,360kg) bomb, suggesting to detonate at mid-morning to maximize the number of casualties, prosecutors said.
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
of an upright man.