Open Thread: Fitz Back Before the Grand Jury

25 Comments

1. 

   Cali Scribe on December 16, 2005 at 12:15 pm

   They’d better come up with an update; I’m giving up ESPNews for this…

   (Did you catch the “video capture” down below the item? “Jean Schmidt: Afraid of Water” — I’ve gotta steal that one for my collection…almost tops Condi Rice as the Witch in Bood’s “Wizard of Oil” photo essay…)

   • 

     Steven D on December 16, 2005 at 12:27 pm

     She is not afraid of water.  It’s only the terrorist bouncing balls that cause her distress (I have this on super secret double pleated cross my heart and stab me in the eye if I should lie background, so don’t tell anyone else, ok?).

     • 

       AP on December 16, 2005 at 2:20 pm

       I sure hope so.

       I think James Benjamin’s diary should be frontpaged–it’s about the Senate smackdown on the Patriot Act. I think I saw an AP story (Heh, heh! As opposed to AP’s stories) out that was filed at 1:58P.

       If you scroll down in the diary, you’ll also find the links to how the Senators voted.

       OK. Carry on!

       :<)

2. 

   Connecticut Man1 on December 16, 2005 at 12:37 pm

   Hopefully there will be some more Fitzmas presents in our future! lol

   As a side note:
   Anyone with a Political Cortex account!
   I put th Day 5 of the 12 Days of Justice in the QEU to be voted on for the front page… I can’t vote on my own submissions.

   Help!!! please?

   Pretty please? 🙂

   • 

     Anomalous on December 16, 2005 at 1:49 pm

     Your diary is currently front and center on the Political Cortex Reco list. (As my personal contribution, I took the time to dig through my many piles of post-it notes to locate my Political Cortex login information ;^) – Oh yeah, and I sprinkled around some “fives” – just for good mojo.

     My personal joy was greatly enhanced by today’s official report on Robert Novak’s future relationship with CNN.

     From The Hollywood Reporter:

     ‘Crossfire’s’ Novak exiting CNN

     NEW YORK — Robert Novak, the conservative commentator whose syndicated column in 2003 sparked the CIA leak case and who stormed off the CNN set earlier this year, won’t return to the network. Novak, 74, and the network mutually decided not to renew his contract that ends Dec. 31. Novak had been off the air since early August, when he walked off a CNN set during a live interview after uttering an obscenity. He served a brief suspension and apologized for the incident but had never returned to CNN since. The 25-year veteran of CNN had been seen by millions as the co-host of “Crossfire,” as well as executive producer of his own show, “The Capital Gang” and previously “Evans & Novak” and others. But with a new administration at CNN — and a concerted effort to kill “Crossfire” by Jon Stewart — “Crossfire” and “The Capital Gang” were canceled earlier this year. (Paul J. Gough)

            Good day! -A-
      

     • 

       chocolate ink on December 16, 2005 at 1:56 pm

       The doddering and senile old fool is off to Faux News where he has been hired to do commentary-good place for him.

       • 

         Anomalous on December 16, 2005 at 2:40 pm

         Oops – I just noticed the full coverage of Novak’s career move in Ed J’s (much more thorough) post below. (Sorry for the duplication, Ed) And you’re right – Novak couldn’t have found a better home, and I couldn’t be more delighted that his new home is Fox, because now I’ll know for sure that I won’t ever have to see his face again! HUZZAH!! (The only time I watch Fox is on Saturday evenings to see “Fox News Watch” – and if they add him to the panel I won’t be watching Fox at all.)

         After seeing Ed’s post, I realized I shouldn’t rely on “The Hollywood Reporter” for my political updates, but I had stopped by that site to find out why “Over There” had been canceled – but then my attention was immediately diverted when I noticed the Novak article.

         Enough of my rambles. Good day, CI!

   • 

     ask on December 16, 2005 at 1:50 pm

     Vote given.  Story has 3 at the moment – needs one more.
     (I missed it the first time – thought that clicking on the ‘vote’ link was enough.  However, that brings you to the story – scroll down and look for the vote-box).

     • 

       Anomalous on December 16, 2005 at 2:26 pm

       Oh dear. I’m confused, and it seems that I might have to go back to PC to make some voting adjustments.

       When I visited about 30 minutes ago, I submitted my recommend, and it said the diary had 5 “points” (?) (or something like that) and that it takes 5 points to be on the recommended list. But when I looked on the Reco list, there were 8 people who had recommended (including you).

       It seemed like I had missed a step – somewhere along the way – but I couldn’t figure it out. (All I found at the bottom was the “rate all” box for comments)  

           And again . . . oh dear.

       • 

         Connecticut Man1 on December 16, 2005 at 2:33 pm

         Yes. You recommended a diary. I put it in the “Que” for “pending article submissions” to be recommended to the front page.

         It was still at 3 last I checked. (and here is the link)

         But thank you for the effort!

       • 

         ask on December 16, 2005 at 2:51 pm

         Hi Anomalus,
         I think you are looking at the story from day 2 which was re-posted by CT Man on PC on Tuesday.  In fact, we have been trying to get that down from the list, but there is no “un-recommend” button.

         For today’s story, you need to follow CT Man’s link abobe – look for his entry and click on vote – then as I explained above.

         • 

           Anomalous on December 16, 2005 at 3:10 pm

           Thank you, ask. Below is the most recent message I received after voting on the (appropriate) diary. (And thank you very much for not shaming me after my original dunderhead mistake)

           Your vote (1) was recorded.

           This story currently has a total score of 4.

           You’re the straw that broke the camel’s back!

           Your vote put this story over the threshold, and it should now appear on the front page. Enjoy!

           That seem fairly positive to me. Although I don’t understand how a score of 4 “breaks the camel’s back, when they say that a score of 5 is the threshold. (I dunno – it sure seems that these initiatives run far more smoothly when I merely observe from the sidelines!) Good day!

         • 

           ask on December 16, 2005 at 3:17 pm

           Great, you did it!

           I believe the confusion here is that a regularly submitted entry will – as usual – end up on the ‘recent’ list.  It would take 5 recommendations (and no ‘not recommended’) to achieve the 5 points threshold for the reco list.
           What CT Man did was looking for a way to get it on the front page, so it is submitted in a different way to a queu where at least 4 have to vote positively to move it to front page.  I had no idea that the facility was there until seing this story.

         • 

           Anomalous on December 16, 2005 at 3:43 pm

           Thank you for the knowledge transfer, ask – well done! Just to humor myself, I went back to PC to see if I could unrecommend the first diary, but sadly, you were correct in your assessment that there ain’t no going back once you’ve hit the Reco button. (Road To Hell – meet Good Intentions. I see paving in your past.)

           As long as I was engaged in “pay attention to detail” mode, I also noticed that CM and Cedwyn had already posted links to the other sites in which the diary series is being posted. Thus eliminating the need for CM to respond to my request below (above?)

           Thanks again – I really appreciate your patience and kindness.  

     • 

       Connecticut Man1 on December 16, 2005 at 2:35 pm

       Thank you ask.

       I note that you have pretty much Recommended every Justice diary posted where you have an account! lol Every little bit helps!

       • 

         ask on December 16, 2005 at 2:52 pm

         Since I am not a voter/citizen they won’t bother with my calls or letters.  Least I can do is to try to give the story exposure.

       • 

         Anomalous on December 16, 2005 at 2:54 pm

         FWIW – if you’ll provide a list of the sites in which you post the diaries, I’ll be more than happy to open accounts and vote at each site.

         And . . .um. . .maybe I’ve been looking at the wrong diary of yours at PC, but this is the message I just saw (within the past couple minutes):

         Thanks For Voting. This Diary now has a score of 6.

         To be ‘recommended’ it must achieve a score of 5.

         I also noticed above that you said I had recommended “a” diary – but you didn’t specify whether I had recommended the “correct” diary ;^) Good day!

         • 

           Anomalous on December 16, 2005 at 3:15 pm

           As pointed out by ask above – I’ve . . . um . . . been recommending the wrong diary. (And yes, I’m somewhat embarrassed, but I’ll get over it)

           Problem fixed. Sorry for causing any “commotion”.

         • 

           Connecticut Man1 on December 16, 2005 at 3:38 pm

           Were you looking at Cedwyn’s diary OR Connecticut Man1’s article in the Que? Because Cedwyn had the diary up (I missed it when I went there) and I figured it would get more exposure on the front page… So I submitted it as an article instead of a diary.

           I just checked and it moved out of the Que!!!

           Thanks to anyone that helped on this.

           And as per Anamolouses request… The list:

           This one needs some votes>> MyDD

           and it is also Front Paged here: My Left Wing, Dembloggers, ePluribus Media ,Politcal Cortex

           We will wait until a bit later to put it up at dKos. Cedwyn may have it up at other places too? I encourage anyone to put it up at their blog. The HTML code is available at the bottom of this BooTrib diary. to make cross-posting easy!

3. 

   Oui on December 16, 2005 at 12:55 pm

   .

   Indictment by Grand Jury in Chicago –
   U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s Office

   NEW YORK (MSNBC) Dec. 16 — Corrupt as a lord? That paraphrase of the King Charles II-era simile fits Conrad Black fine, prosecutors say.

   The former chief executive of publishing giant Hollinger International has been accused of bilking that firm through Hollinger Inc., his privately held holding company.

   Yesterday new charges were brought in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Chicago, and made public by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office.

   Black, a British lord, was hit by new charges of racketeering, obstruction of justice, money laundering and wire fraud.

   “Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
   For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”

   ▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY

   • 

     rumi on December 16, 2005 at 1:06 pm

       Invoking RICO in this case has huge implications. This has to be coming from the result of cooperative testimony which means the reach is indeed far and wide.

4. 

   rolfyboy6 on December 16, 2005 at 1:00 pm

   I’m pleased to see this report. Like everyone else I’ve really learned to get a head of myself regarding Patrick Fitzgerald.  There’s a strange comfort in the methodical careful way he does things, as if things will be done correctly, and that they WILL be be done by the hand of an implacable God of Justice.  

5. 

   blksista on December 16, 2005 at 1:01 pm

   I’ve got a feeling he’s going to announce something before vacation or just after.

   My bank is on Rove and another perp.  You go, Fitz.

6. 

   numediaman on December 16, 2005 at 1:08 pm

   Let’s review the news from the past 24 hours:

   Bush says DeLay innocent of charges

   Bush Allowed Domestic Spying in 2002 Order

   Zarqawi Said Caught, Freed

   Op-Eds for Sale
   A columnist from a libertarian think tank admits accepting payments to promote an indicted lobbyist’s clients. Will more examples follow?

   Stem Cell Fakery Admitted

   Senate Rejects Patriot Act Deal

   Hamas Wins Key Elections in West Bank

   Ralphs Indicted in Hiring Dispute

    A federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted the Ralphs grocery chain Thursday, alleging that store managers violated federal laws by secretly rehiring nearly 1,000 locked-out workers during the bitter Southern California supermarket labor dispute two years ago.

    Ralphs used fake names and Social Security numbers and falsified thousands of employee records sent to various government agencies to conceal the rehiring effort, the 53-count indictment alleged.

   —–

   As bad as all this is, at least, every once in a while, you read a column by someone who gets it:

   Torture is us. Denial does no one any good.
   Mark Morford
   Friday, December 16, 2005

   “We do not torture.” Remember it. Write it in red crayon on the bathtub wall, tattoo it onto your acid tongue because those very words rang throughout the land like a bleak bell, like a low scream in the night, like a cheese grater rubbing against the teeth of common sense when Dubya mumbled them during a speech not long ago, and it was, at once, hilarious and nauseating and it took all the self-control in the world for everyone in the room not to burst out in disgusted laughter and throw their chairs at his duplicitous little head.

   Oh my God, yes, yes we do torture, America, that is, and we do it a lot, and we do it in ways that would make you sick to hear about, and we’re doing it right now, all over the world, the CIA and the U.S. military, perhaps more often and more brutally than at any other time in recent history and we use the exact same techniques and excuses for it that our numb-minded president cited as reasons we should declare war and oust the dictator of a defenseless pipsqueak nation who happened to be sitting on our oil…

   It is for us to know, to try to comprehend. The United States has the most WMDs of anyone in the world. We imprison and kill more of our own citizens than any other Western nation. We still employ horrific, napalm-like chemical weapons…

   It is mandatory that we all acknowledge where we are as a nation, right now, how low we have fallen, how thuggish and heartless and internationally disrespected we have become, the ugly trajectory we are following.

7. 

   Ed J on December 16, 2005 at 1:31 pm

   Bob Novak is leaving CNN and going to FOX. This from the Chicago Tribune:

   By DAVID BAUDER
   AP Television Writer
   Published December 16, 2005, 11:51 AM CST

   NEW YORK — Commentator Robert Novak, who hasn’t been seen on CNN since swearing and storming off the set in August, will leave the network after 25 years and join Fox News Channel as a contributor next month.

   Novak, 74, said Friday he probably would have left CNN anyway when his contract expired this month even if it hadn’t been for the incident.

   The suspension actually served to eliminate a delicate problem for CNN, which had received some criticism for keeping the political columnist on the air with his involvement in the CIA leak case.

   A Novak column in July 2003 identified Valerie Plame as a CIA agent eight days after her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, accused the Bush administration of manipulating intelligence before the Iraq war. Novak wrote that two administration officials were his sources, but he hasn’t identified them and Plame’s outing sparked a special prosecutor’s investigation.

   Novak walked off the set in August during a political debate after James Carville said that he’s “got to show these right-wingers that he’s got a backbone.”