The Informed Drinker: In the Beginning, There Was Rum
Why We Don't Like You: Texas A&M Aggies
![Weekend Music Preview: Woven Bones Tour Kick-Off [Beerland / Friday]](http://austinist.com/assets_c/2009/11/beerland_27nov2009_250-thumb-110x110-460924.jpg)
Weekend Music Preview: Woven Bones Tour Kick-Off [Beerland / Friday]
Thief Nabs $10K Flagship Trek Bike From Mellow Johnny's
Government Recalls Cars and Cribs [News Bits]
Vice President Dick Cheney's right hand man, chief of staff Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was indicted today for "obstructing justice, perjury and lying" after a two year investigation into the CIA leaks of agent Valerie Plame's identty.
The Washington Post explains why this is such a heinous crime:
Lying about a crime, the accusation against I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, has itself been a crime since the time of Hammurabi.Then, it was punishable by death. Today, perjury is punishable in federal courts by a fine and up to five years of prison for each count.
Then and now, the theory has been essentially the same: If people are allowed to lie during the investigation of a crime, the crime cannot be proven. It may go unpunished or an innocent person might be wrongly punished.
That is why perjury has never required proof of an underlying crime. Without access to the truth, there may be no way to show the underlying crime. (A perjury indictment unaccompanied by a charge of an underlying crime remains, nonetheless, controversial because critics sometimes see it as the product of a failed probe.) ...
Howard Dean had this to say:
Beyond the evidence that the White House manipulated the intelligence used to justify the war in Iraq, a group of senior White House officials not only orchestrated efforts to smear a critic of the war, but worked to cover up this smear campaign. In so doing, they ignored the rule of law, endangering our national security and the brave men and women who dedicate their lives to protecting our nation's security. I. Lewis Libby was a part of this internal White House group.
And Plame's husband made the following announcement:
Today, however, is not the time to analyze or to debate. And it is certainly not a day to celebrate. Today is a sad day for America. When an indictment is delivered at the front door of the White House, the Office of the President is defiled. No citizen can take pleasure from that.
And then there's the Village Voice:
More to the point, today's indictments are the kiss of death for the Bush White House. Libby has resigned, but that's hardly the end of the problem for the administration. For all intents and purposes, so long as Fitzgerald probes, President Bush and Vice President Cheney are in straitjackets.
You can read the full text here.
Most often accompanying the reports of the indictments are photos of Libby hobbling around in crutches, a not-so-subtle metaphor for the crippled state of the administration. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald promised that "it's not over" - might Turd Blossom be next? One can only hope. Err, we mean imagine.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Post a comment (Comment Policy)