The President’s Press Secretary Tony Snow asked a linguistics question today in response to the Clintons’ criticism of President Bush’s commutation of Scooter Libby’s sentence.
Always eager to further the education of the White House culturally deprived, herewith a definition: Chutzpah is an old Ozark expression for the meshugas of taking a nation into war by lying, trying to discredit those who expose the lies and then, when one of the smearers is caught and convicted, sanctimoniously springing him for self-protection.
Gezundtheit, Mr. Press Secretary.
Showing posts with label Libby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Libby. Show all posts
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
O.J. Gives Valerie and Joe Wilson New Hope
On the heels of Scooter Libby’s escape from jail, Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson can take heart from a new court decision in Florida, made ten years after Fred Goldman filed a civil suit against O.J. Simpson.
A judge has awarded the victim’s family all rights to O.J.’s pseudo-confession, “If I Did It,” which they may rename “Confessions of a Double Murderer.”
"Ron Goldman LLC will own Simpson's name, likeness, signature and story and will hawk it to satisfy this terrible judgment," the family’s lawyer announced. "Justice has arrived in Miami."
This decision should hearten the Wilsons as they pursue their civil suit against Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Richard Armitage and Libby.
Their feelings may be tempered, however, by the realization that, if and when they win their case, the value of those names, likenesses and signatures may have plummeted in the market for trashy stories.
A judge has awarded the victim’s family all rights to O.J.’s pseudo-confession, “If I Did It,” which they may rename “Confessions of a Double Murderer.”
"Ron Goldman LLC will own Simpson's name, likeness, signature and story and will hawk it to satisfy this terrible judgment," the family’s lawyer announced. "Justice has arrived in Miami."
This decision should hearten the Wilsons as they pursue their civil suit against Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Richard Armitage and Libby.
Their feelings may be tempered, however, by the realization that, if and when they win their case, the value of those names, likenesses and signatures may have plummeted in the market for trashy stories.
Iffy Expert on White House Crime
After the Scooter Libby commutation, Keith Olbermann interviewed two people this evening--former Ambassador Joe Wilson, husband of Valerie Plame, the object of Libby’s lying and obstruction of justice, and John Dean, Nixon’s White House counsel in his new career as the Bush Administration’s harshest critic.
For someone who lived through and reported on the Watergate years, Dean’s resurrection is a little hard to take. It’s like listening to sermons from a whore. For those too young to remember, this from Wikipedia’s will serve as a catch-up:
“Dean pled guilty to obstruction of justice before Watergate trial judge John Sirica on November 30, 1973. He admitted supervising payments of ‘hush money’ to the Watergate burglars, notably E. Howard Hunt, and revealed the existence of Nixon's enemies list.
“On August 2, 1974, Sirica handed down a sentence of one to four years in a minimum-security prison. However, when Dean surrendered himself as scheduled on September 3, he was diverted to the custody of U.S. Marshals and kept instead at Fort Holabird (near Baltimore, Maryland) in a special ‘safe house’ holding facility primarily used for witnesses against the Mafia.
“He spent his days in the offices of the Watergate Special Prosecutor and testifying in the trial of Watergate conspirators Mitchell, Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Robert Mardian, and Kenneth Parkinson, which concluded on January 1, 1975. Dean's lawyer moved to have his sentence reduced, and on January 8, Sirica granted the motion, adjusting Dean's sentence to time served.”
Civilized human beings believe in redemption, but does that extend to making the fallen experts and moral arbiters? Dean was a willing White House accomplice to criminal activity until he saved his skin by helping expose the people he worked for and with.
That’s understandable, but more sensitive souls will pardon me for not wanting to hear his opinions on today’s public morality ad nauseam. Olbermann might think about finding instead some of the people who risked their careers opposing Nixon’s criminality while he still had power.
If Alberto Gonzales or any of his cohorts finally spill the beans on Rove and Bush out of fear of going to prison, that will be fine for American democracy. But will it mean having to listen to them as moral exemplars during some scandal decades from now?
For someone who lived through and reported on the Watergate years, Dean’s resurrection is a little hard to take. It’s like listening to sermons from a whore. For those too young to remember, this from Wikipedia’s will serve as a catch-up:
“Dean pled guilty to obstruction of justice before Watergate trial judge John Sirica on November 30, 1973. He admitted supervising payments of ‘hush money’ to the Watergate burglars, notably E. Howard Hunt, and revealed the existence of Nixon's enemies list.
“On August 2, 1974, Sirica handed down a sentence of one to four years in a minimum-security prison. However, when Dean surrendered himself as scheduled on September 3, he was diverted to the custody of U.S. Marshals and kept instead at Fort Holabird (near Baltimore, Maryland) in a special ‘safe house’ holding facility primarily used for witnesses against the Mafia.
“He spent his days in the offices of the Watergate Special Prosecutor and testifying in the trial of Watergate conspirators Mitchell, Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Robert Mardian, and Kenneth Parkinson, which concluded on January 1, 1975. Dean's lawyer moved to have his sentence reduced, and on January 8, Sirica granted the motion, adjusting Dean's sentence to time served.”
Civilized human beings believe in redemption, but does that extend to making the fallen experts and moral arbiters? Dean was a willing White House accomplice to criminal activity until he saved his skin by helping expose the people he worked for and with.
That’s understandable, but more sensitive souls will pardon me for not wanting to hear his opinions on today’s public morality ad nauseam. Olbermann might think about finding instead some of the people who risked their careers opposing Nixon’s criminality while he still had power.
If Alberto Gonzales or any of his cohorts finally spill the beans on Rove and Bush out of fear of going to prison, that will be fine for American democracy. But will it mean having to listen to them as moral exemplars during some scandal decades from now?
Monday, July 02, 2007
A Confessional Commutation
The President proved today that there is honor among thieves. His commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence is a confession of guilt on his own behalf and that of his Vice President.
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