Fitzmas Observations

I've sort of been avoiding writing any posts yet on the Fitzgerald indictments against Scooter Libby yet. I've been watching this whole thing play out, reading the press stories, blog entries, and watching some of the news coverage on TV. So much has been said, speculated, accused, counter-accused. So now out of all the watching and reading, it is time to put my own speculations down for this post.

First, I don't think Libby was acting alone in this scandal. I believe he was responsible for outing Valerie Plame, along with others inside the Bush administration, in a partisan attack against Ambassador Joe Wilson for Wilson's criticisms, in the NY Times opinion piece, of the Bush claims that Iraq purchased uranium yellowcake from Niger. There is just no way Libby would do this without telling his boss VP Dick Cheney. Libby was acting under the orders or the blessings of Cheney. I would also speculate that uber-advisor Karl Rove was also in on this scandal--either he thought it up, or went along with Libby to instigate it. Both Rove and Libby talked to several journalists about Plame--NY Times Judy Miller, Time Magazine's Matt Cooper, Washington Post's Walter Pincus, and probably even columnist Bob Novak. In his press conference, Fitzgerald talked about a "Mr. X" and a "Mr. A." I have no idea who those two characters are or what role they played in this scandal.

I believe that once Fitzgerald started looking into the White House as being the source of the leaks, top White House officials--probably Cheney and Rove--started instigating this cover-up. They started obstructing Fitzgerald's investigation. I'd also say that Libby has been set up as a fall guy to protect Cheney. I'm not sure if President Bush knew of this entire operation, but I'm sure he knew after Valerie Plame was outed and the CIA demanded an investigation. I would say that President Bush knew of the cover-up.

For this investigation to move on into its next phase of exposing this cover-up, Fitzgerald is going to have to convict Libby on all counts. Libby is going to have to face prison time of 10-30 years. With that sort of threat looming against him, there may be a chance for Libby to consider cooperating with Fitzgerald against his boss Cheney. Until then, Libby's probably clammed up until the trial starts next year. Of course, Libby may also refuse to cooperate if he knows that, once convicted, President Bush will pardon him when he leaves office in 2008. For Libby to refuse to cooperate in his own self-interest, it would certainly require the reassurance from President Bush himself that he will pardon Libby.

Libby's defense strategy has been outlined through this Yahoo News story. It's pretty standard. Libby was a patriotic American public servant who was working tirelessly for the country, and he forgot what he did or said, two years ago when talking about his meetings with reporters to the grand jury and special prosecutors. These prosecutors are being evil at smearing Libby with charges stemming from legal technicalities--Libby's innocent until proven guilty. The defense will use a lot of deception in this case. And that deception will be picked up and amplified by the corporate media and the Right-wing echo machine. You can bet this will happen during the trial.

The trial may just turn out to be a huge mess. You can bet the prosecution will call up Karl Rove and Dick Cheney to the witness stand. When that happens, all eyes will be on that courtroom. And whatever Rove or Cheney says will be picked apart by both the press and the blogosphere. Inconsistencies will be amplified. There is no way the Bush White House will be able to focus its agenda or its media image Libby's trial has started.

Harriet Miers connection? I've always wondered if there is a connection between this leak case and the Harriet Miers withdrawal of her name to the Supreme Court. Bush nominated Miers as an ultimate stealth candidate--without any sort of record regarding her judicial philosophy. The right-wingnuts didn't like that--they wanted a hard-lined ideologue who would overturn Roe verses Wade. Miers failed to dazzle or wow Republican senators (The Democrats were sitting back and watching this play out, saying they'll withhold judgment until after the Miers' confirmation hearings). Republican senators wanted to view White House records regarding Miers' work as legal counsel. White House refuses to release papers. Miers pulls out of Supreme Court nomination process. It is ironic that the Republicans wanted to view the White House records, and not the Democrats. What was in those records that would cause questions raised during Miers' hearings? Did Miers know anything regarding this cover-up? Let's face it--Miers was President Bush's legal counsel. Every scrap of paper going through the Bush White House will also go through her office. How much do you want to bet that the senators in the Senate Judiciary Committee would question Miers regarding this scandal and the possible cover-up--whether or not the White House produced any documentation regarding Miers' work as legal counsel to the president? This brings up the question of why did President Bush choose Miers, saying she was the most qualified candidate for the Supreme Court--especially since she wasn't, considering the conservative alternatives to the bench (Even the right-wingnut prospects such as Michael Luttig, Priscilla Owen, or Janice Rogers-Brown are more qualified than Miers). Did Bush want Miers on the Court in case the scandal went as far as impeachment proceedings, or in case a Democratic Congress subpoenaed White House records regarding their marketing of the Iraq war--you can bet that case would go to the Supreme Court.

The Right-wing Echo Machine will start its campaign to smear Fitzgerald almost immediately after the indictments were handed down against Libby. We've seen a part of this campaign, where Libby is being hailed as a tireless worker, a patriotic American, Libby's innocent until proven guilty and the prosecution is charging Libby on technicalities. Expect to see more where Fitzgerald will be labeled as a partisan, playing politics in trying to bring down the Bush White House, the Democrats are behind all this scandal, and its all Clinton's fault.

The Republican Congress will not initiate any investigations regarding this scandal. The Democrats are going to have to take control of one or both houses, so they can control the committees, and start their own investigation into this matter.

I'll probably think up some more speculations later on.