Is this impeachable?

Man, how crazy/awesome would it be to see the Dub go down in flames.

Sweet.

Was just about to email you some of those links!

Kaboom is right.

Another thing… a few days ago, I heard an interview on CBC radio with a former US soldier who left the military after working at Abu Ghraib — it was after the big scandal, and he was told to not talk about what had happened in the past there with anyone.

He said by the time he got there, they weren’t sexually humiliating the prisoners anymore, but they did use hypothermia, dogs, and a couple of other questionable/illegal methods to terrorize the prisoners during interrogations.

In some cases he said other soldiers would use rectal thermometers to read the core temps of prisoners so they could keep a detainee cold enough that they wouldn’t die but still cold enough to stay pretty disoriented due to the effects of hypothermia. He was told that no, their prisoners there were “not covered by the Geneva Accord”, despite Cheney, I think it was, announcing to the media in the states that of course they were abiding by the Geneva Accord. Holy shit.

http://​www​.cbc​.ca/​t​h​e​c​u​r​r​e​n​t​/​2​0​0​6​/​2​0​0​6​0​4​/​2​0​0​6​0​4​0​5.html

Technically the President and VP have the legal authority to unilaterally declassify info…so I wouldn’t get your hopes up. Nice to think about though. Even nicer to fantasize about us actually electing an intelligent, principled president. *Sigh*

Jon,
Between you and the other h-less Jon (Stewart), I never have to watch the news. I love you for it. I, too, would love to see G-Dub ang Darth Cheney thrown in Gitmo (or impeached, whatever, I’m flexible)
but this scandal has no blowjobs, so we can pretty much forget about it.

this scandal doesn’t involve any sex, so no one will care…

maybe it’s not a real scandal then.

Eight Hour Lunch,
There are two categories of classified information, that which the Congress has made classified and which Congress has made it a crime to reveal, and that which the present president or any of his predecessors has classified . In the second case, the president can declassify what (s)he or his/her predecessors has classified, or delegate to the vice-president or a group of advisors to declassify same, but none of them can declassify what Congress has classified.

If Bush or Cheney did indeed tell Libby to talk about Plame then they’ve committed a crime because the identity of undercover federal agents is in the category of information that Congress has classified. No one but Congress can declassify that.

I don’t know that Joe Wilson was authorized to reveal information about his trip in the first place. He took liberties with the truth, as the now declassified documents show, in his attack on the administration.

The administration made a clumsy attempt to rebut his claims. Their biggest mistake was thinking that the mainstream media would accurately report the facts once given to them.

Given all the classified leaks that have occurred over the past couple administrations, and continue to happen by congressman, senators, and anonymous staffers, I find it amusing that this one is found to be of any importance.

Spin it how you want, but I doubt that the so called “outing” of Valerie Plame was revenge. Her participation in the mission is a fact and material. It had to come out once the mission was exposed by her husband.

That said, if the President and Vice-President knew that Scooter Libby was dishing info to the press on their authorization while the investigation and grand jury process was set up to discover this very activity, and they continued to make claims to the contrary, for the last several years…

then they can both fry.

If this is Scooter Libby playing fast with the facts trying to save his own skin, then I hope the administration is given the opportunity to defend themselves and a 16 ton weight falls upon him.

Guilty or Innocent, the truth is there is blood in the water and the next two years are likely to be ugly. Probably would have been anyway.

Sebastian

Joe Wilson attacked the administration. The administration defended itself. There is nothing particularly new or novel in that. (At least Joe Wilson had the balls to attach his name to it; unlike the slimy weasels in the CIA and State departments.) If there was “nothing secret” about his trip, as he contends, than there should be no classified information to leak or be embarrassed by.

Any person in government, appointed or elected, should go to jail for breaking the law. As well as any reporters. So far Blurb’s examples and hyperbole show a disagreement over policy but not actual law breaking.

As far as this latest “scandal”, there will be those GOP apologists who will carry water for Bush and Cheney, but that will disintegrate as soon as the evidence is discovered. The Right tends to eat its own who don’t hold up to their standards. Witness the long string of resignations from Gingrich to Delay.

I find it contemptible that the administration would essentially stone wall an investigation into a supposed leak for years. If the material had truly been declassified for Libby to talk to reporters than they should have immediately acknowledged the embarrassing fact and all moved on. The fact that there has been what amounts to a coverup lends to the possibility of unlawful conduct at worst or pride at best. And by doing so, Bush and Cheney may have repeated the same dumb mistake as Nixon and brought down what was otherwise a great presidency.

Sebastian

Sebastian,

I wouldn’t call what Wilson did an “attack” the administration sees it that way, but he merely said questions should be asked. I’d hardly call that an attack.

I think you might be one of the 35% who thinks the President is doing a super job.

I think after 9/11, the President had an opportunity to really make a mark on history in a positive way. That he has chosen to go the route he has seems to indicate that history will not be kind with W.

The other aspect of this is that the mainstream media, conservative and liberal are dropping about 700 balls on all counts. I don’t expect much from TV, but the newspapers who should be asking the tough questions don’t appear to be wanting to play hardball. And I’m digressing.