More confusion – According to AJ Strata it emerged in the Scooter Libby case today that Joe Wilson’s 2002 trip to Niger debunked his own report from 1999? Huh?
Tom Maguire bandies up the reviews of Judith Miller’s memory problems but concludes: “But the gist of her story - Libby discussed Plame with her before he claims to have heard and absorbed it from Tim Russert on July 10 or 11 - remains as a problem for the defense.” Next up: Matt Cooper who apparently makes Judy Miller look like Edward R. Murrow.
3 comments:
The gist of Libby's defense--
*the guy from the CIA was reliable enough to brief us on national security but what he's saying now is shaky;
*the lady from the New York Times was reliable enough to feed top-priority scoops but what she's saying now is shaky;
*the man who served as Press Secretary was reliable enough to speak for the entire administration but what he's saying now is shaky;
*and you can believe Karl Rove and Dick Cheney when they testify that there was no name leaking, but keep in mind that they want me to take the fall for what we didn't do;
--is not a construct you should put too much emotional investment into. It'll only end in tears.
As usual, Snarky, you miss the point.
The perjury case against Libby is based on the fact that his recollection of distant, seemingly minor conversations differed from that of other people like Judy Miller, et al.
If nobody can seem to agree exactly on what transpired, when, then that undermines the allegation that he deliberately misled the prosecutor.
It looks like TGK never played the Sesame Street game "One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other" when he was younger. While everyone's memory is different around the edges, this ain't "Rashomon." The preponderance of the testimony is hurtful to Libby and what you call his "minor conversations."
Libby may be found not guilty...we're not there in the courtroom and you never know. But the trial has already obliterated the "nothing happened/unintentional/everyone knew/honest mistake/Cheney was completely uninvolved" alibis, and we haven't even gotten to the most fun witnesses yet. Whatever the verdict (does anybody really blame Lewis Libby, mad dog rebel?), the case is one more touchpoint in the inevitable assessment of the Bush administration as one our history's least able.
The shame of it all! Finding a Bush supporter in 2015 will be like finding an outspoken Nixon fan in 1980. But that will be then. Just watching a ruined Bush stumble around, moaning, "The Bush Legacy... must find my legacy..." is entertainment enough for 2007.
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