the complete birth of the cool

What does it all mean?

So after all the excitement dies down a little, we're left to wonder what it all means. Are we psyched? Are we let down? Are we still just as confused?
All of the above, I think.

Sure, it's a letdown to not have Rove dragged away in handcuffs. And I would have liked to throw in a few others as well. But, as someone or other pointed out this afternoon, the fat lady has not even opened her mouth yet. The investigation is ongoing. Rove has won only a temporary stay.

What Fitz made clear is that his mandate is not to figure out the motivations for the war. His mandate is about the leak case. He went after Libby because Libby got in the way of his investigation. But if his work opens the door to the war lies, so be it.

He also made it clear that if Judy Miller had not clammed up Fitzmas would have been last October. Think about it. Last October. You know. Like, right before the election? Fucking Judy Miller fucking gave Bush the fucking election. Fuck fuck fuck fuck. Think about it for a second and then weep.

The other thing that was interesting was that he seemed to be implying that there was actual harm done by the leak, and not just in a metaphorical or moral sense. I've been reading rumors that an agent was killed as a result of the blown cover. I wonder if this is related.

So, in sum:
Patrick Fitzgerald is incredibly, unbearably wonky sexy. Karl Rove is not off the hook. And if Fitz did not indict Rove there's really only a couple of reasons: he didn't have enough evidence (in which case all my wishing will not make it so) or Rove has offered him something better. Big Time.

Merry Fitzmas to all.

MERRY FITZMAS

Irving "Scooter" Lewis Libby:
Indicted on 5 counts.
Obstruction
Perjury
False Statement

They say he's already packed.

Developing...

Waiting.

fitz
Originally uploaded by brand blue girl.

The latest word:
Papers filed at noon
Presser at 2:00PM
Pat Fizgerald is sexy

Fitzmas Eve

uphill
Originally uploaded by brand blue girl.

No one knows what will go down tomorrow. We hope for the best. I think it might be just Scooter, but only because I can't allow myself to dream any more.
But the thing to remember, no matter what we get under our Fitzmas trees, is that this has wounded the president gravely. Already, unnoticed in the hoopla, they've had to re-instate prevailing wage laws in the Gulf. Their power might finally have reached the high-water mark.
So off to bed, with visions of Fitzy dancing in my head.

Oh and...

Fitz did not rent a new office. And federal grand juries cannot be extended more than once. And this one has already been extended once. And its term ends tomorrow.
So.
Are you there yet?

What a bunch of ass clowns

I think the headline says it all: Cheney, Libby Blocked Papers To Senate Intelligence Panel.

The White House should really be calling a plumber right about now.

Coincidence?

I tend to believe that in Washington, as in Neptune, there are no coincidences. Check this out, compliments of Salon's Tim Grieve, and judge for yourself:

July 19, 2005: On the heels of news that, despite prior White House denials, Karl Rove was very much involved in the outing of Valerie Plame, the Washington Post reports that George W. Bush has backtracked on his pledge to fire anyone involved in leaking Plame's identity. Later that day, the president announces that he's nominating John Roberts to replace retiring Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

Sept. 5, 2005: Amid mounting criticism of the Bush administration's handling of the response to Hurricane Katrina, the New York Times reports that the White House has put Karl Rove and Dan Bartlett in charge of trying to control the "political damage." Later that day, the president announces that he's nominating John G. Roberts to replace the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist.

Oct. 2, 2005: As Washington awaits Judy Miller's testimony before Patrick Fitzgerald's grand jury, the Washington Post reports that it is becoming "increasingly clear that two of the most powerful men in the Bush administration were more involved in the unmasking of operative Valerie Plame than the White House originally indicated." Early the next morning, the president announces that he's nominating Harriet Miers to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Oct. 26, 2005: As all of Washington watches, Patrick Fitzgerald meets for three hours with his grand jury and then with the federal judge overseeing his case, leading the Los Angeles Times to speculate that one or more White House officials may be the subjects of sealed indictments. Early the next morning, the president announces that he's withdrawing Harriet Miers' nomination.

Housekeeping

Looks like all things Fitz-related will be on hold until tomorrow. There goes my bet. Would he really release his findings on a Friday? Seems crazy.
Latest news: he has rented new office space. And ABC news is reporting that Fitz's spokesman Randall Samborn sez: no announcements today.
Also? LAst night's V. Mars ruled. Watch it Sunday in repeats.

Breaking

Harriet Miers has withdrawn.

Logan Sez:

Happy Birthday Cam!

Tomorrow?

I know this is getting old, this waiting. I sure hope it's worth it. Word now is that it won't be today.

So get work done, watch Veronica Mars, buy booze, whatever you need to do to prepare. We'll keep updating you if/when there are developments.

Bored? Freaked out? Anxious? Let Butterstick ease your tension. (Warning: link is to National Zoo Pandacam, and dangerously cute.)

more

Sharks are circling.

also: any time there's one of these registration-only newspaper sites, check out bugmenot. You enter the site address and they give you a login and a password. Because you might want to be reading a lot of newspapers in the next few days.

More rumors

Thursday?

BTW, if you're looking for TV coverage, Olbermann on MSNBC is doing the best job (or at least we here at HQ think so). He's on at 8:00, with a repeat at midnight (perfect for your post-Colbert Report viewing).

Crib Sheet

In the calm before the storm (and yes, the boss is at a meeting now, hence the copious posting) I present to you a Plamegate who's who. Below are the major players/most likely to be indicted/biggest shitheads involved. WHIG is the White House Iraq Group, a sub-group formed to push for the war way back in 2002. Many things are rumored to have transpired in WHIG meetings, not the least of which a plan to smear Joe Wilson by using his wife.

*Karl Rove: WH DCoS, Turd Blossom, WHIG member
*Cathie Martin: Cheney Aide
*Ari Fleischer: Former WH Press Sec.
*Mary Matalin: Ex-Cheney Advisor, WHIG member
Nicholas Calio: Ex-Assist. To Pres. for Legislative Affairs, WHIG member
*Karen Hughes: Assist. Sec. of State, whorebitch from hell, WHIG member
Donald Rumsfeld: SoD
*Dick Cheney: VPOTUS, Prince of Darkness, WHIG member
*Izzy Hernandez: Assist. Sec. of Commerce, ex-Rove Assist.
*John Hannah: Cheney Staff Member, on loan from Bolton’s office at DoS, possible informer
*Condi Rice: SoS, hellhound, WHIG member
*Matt Cooper: Journalist
John Bolton: UN Ambassador, ex-Under SoS for Arms Control
*Judy Miller: “Journalist”
*Stephen Hadley: NSA, WHIG member
*Carl Ford: ex-Director DoS Bureau of Investigation & Research
*Scott McClellan: WH Press Sec., puffy punching bag, bad liar
*Scooter Libby: Cheney CoS
*Robert Novak: “Journalist”
*Susan Ralston: Rove Assist., ex-Abramoff Assist.
*Andy Card: WH CoS, WHIG member
*Jim Wilkinson: Senior Advisor SoS, WHIG member
David Wurmser: Cheney Staff Member, came from Bolton’s office at DoS, attended WHIG meetings, possible informer

*Has/is believed to have testified or “co-operated” with Fitzgerald

Notice that the two possible informers, Wurmser & Hannah (or as I like to think of them, aspens turning) are both from John Bolton's office at State. I don't know quite what this means, but it feels like it means something.

Happy St. Crispin's Day

Looks like today was just a little touch of Fitzmas in the night. The real Fitzmas is coming tomorrow or Thursday. So they say.

So to keep you occupied, here is a hilarious article about short-fingered vulgarian Donald Trump. Apparently he's a billionaire like I'm an Olympic gymnast. Follow the link and revel in the unleashed snarkiness of Timothy O'Brien, financial reporter.

Another non-Plame Post!

FYI, I think this is how chimpy is going to get out of the Miers mess. He's going to refuse to release her White House documents, the Senate will say that this is not acceptable (which it isn't) and she will be disqualified over that. This way no one has to back down.
Just brace yourself for how far-right wingnutty the next nominee will be.

IS TODAY FITZMAS?

There's no link yet, just the headline. But Raw Story has been pretty accurate so far...
omg omg omg omg.

Hmmmm.

Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?

Fitzmas is coming, the goose is getting fat

Wanna know what? This is what.

There goes that "Scooter was protecting Cheney, who was totally not involved" thing.

There's blood in the water.

CNN is Bullshit

I'm watching CNN right now and they're doing this profile of sexy Fitzgerald and it's total bs. They started talking about how he's totally aggressive and obsessive and zealous and possibly politically motivated. Which is totally opposite from everything else I have ever seen about him.

WTF?

poor widdle georgie

I'm having a craptastic day, thanks in part to the hellish consumer-screwing cesspool that is the banking industry.
Anyway, despite that, this put a smile on my face. (Well, that plus half an ativan.)

Although I think that to call chimpy "a lion in winter" is to vastly overestimate his grandeur, and a real insult to our leonine friends everywhere (not to mention Henry II).

Scooter Smokescreen

There's an article (link the headline) in the LA Times about Scooter Libby. It's being talked about a lot because it details Scooter's alleged obsession with Joe Wilson and his fierce retaliation against anyone who dissed Cheney. Now this article is clearly written with information from someone on the inside, and there's been a lot of talk (including from me, see below) of how the White House is finally beginning to leak.
I don't believe it. I think that this was planned. This was no leak, it was a plant. This is the beginning of the post-Fitzmas spin. This is all about protecting Cheney (and Bush by extension). Scooter is the sacrificial lamb. He was obsessive about Joe Wilson so leaking Plame was all his idea to protect his boss, who knew nothing about what his maverick underling was doing.
See?

Is this a joke? (Non-Plame news alert)

This is fucking sick. Thirteen year-old blonde MK and Ashley wanna be singing twins - with a twist! They're white supremacists!
I have to go wash now.

It's beginning to look a lot like Fitzmas

The sexy, sexy Special Counsel just put up his own website. It's just the documents outlining his mandate etc. right now. But gosh, why would someone need a website to release legal documents if there weren't going to be any indictments?

BTW, my own, non-informed theory of when exactly it will be Fitzmas day:
The grand jury only meets Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I think today is out (duh). Fitz (if I can call you that, you sexy man) is a prosocuter. Clearly he wants to win his cases - the indictment is not the end-point, a conviction is. So he needs to do this in a way to assure maximum exposure and damage. The tiniest of leaks are just beginning now, presumably to put panic into those afraid they might be targeted, thereby allowing them just enough time to flip.
So we get next Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. My guess is that Wednesday, October 26th will be Fitzmas. Monday would make sense, but there's a hurricane heading for Florida Sunday. And I think we all know now that you don't want to compete with a hurricane for attention unless you're a Vanderbilt. Friday is not the day to release big news. So Wednesday. That's where my (metaphoric) money is.

Big money, no whammies!

FEMA is retardeder than we thought

We knew they're incompetent but this is just SICK:

On Aug. 31, Mr. Bahamonde decided to send an e-mail message directly to Mr. Brown.

"I know you know, the situation is past critical," Mr. Bahamonde wrote. "Hotels are kicking people out, thousands gathering in the streets with no food or water."'

An aide to Mr. Brown responded hours later that the director would need a restaurant in Baton Rouge that night. "It is very important that time is allowed for Mr. Brown to eat dinner," the message said.

Mr. Bahamonde is the man who was the only FEMA rep in all of Nawlins when Katrina hit. The failure is mind-boggling.

Fitzmas Bingo

For those of you really trying to get into the Fitzmas spirit (although already Fitzmas fatigue is setting in - apparently Fitmas is so 2 days ago) here is your Fitzmas bingo card.
Print 'em out, give 'em to all your friends.
And just so you know, Fitzmas tradition dictates that only alcohol-based gifts can be given at Fitzmas.

Fitzmas

Just so you know, the day Fitzgerald does whatever it is he's going to do (which, btw, looks like indictments. Most recent evidence: he has announced that he will not be releasing a report [assume that this is because a report will be unecessary - indictments report themselves, as it were] and he will make whatever announcement he is going to make from Washington, not his home base in Chicago) has come to be known in the liberal blogosphere as "Fitzmas" (as in Christmas).
Get your Fitzmas carols here. Warning: they are ear worms and you will be singing, "Plame! The White House sources say/Wilson's wife is CIA" all day.

Obligatory disclaimer: maybe he's got nuthin'. Or maybe he'll indict Scooter and that's it. Do not let wild joy and desire to monkey-dance blind you.

Plame Crazy

Short post. Here is a nice bunch of talking points on Plamegate from our friends at the Center for American Progress.

First Impressions

I used to work for the guvmint "investigating" police misconduct. I have interviewed a lot of cops who did a lot of crappy, stupid things. And this is one thing I know: "I do not recall" = I AM LYING/I AM COVERING SOMETHING UP. And if I know that? You can be damned sure Fitzgerald knows it too.

I read that Judy Miller article and I swear to god, and at every crucial moment, she does not recall.

WHAT IS JUDY HIDING??
Dammit I can't take all this suspense.

pleasepleaseplease part II

JUST CLICK HERE. Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. If we get nothin' out of all this? I'm gonna be so bummed. Oh God. Yahweh Allah Hare Krishna Buddha Great Spirit fuck fuck fuck. PLEASE.

You knew the fun wouldn't last

Lest we get too caught up in the excitement of Plame-gate, V. Mars DVDs and the return of the giant ball of fire that hangs curiously in the sky, a small reminder that things are still going to hell.
Our friends in congress (and really, really, what are you doing to make it a Democratically controlled in 2006?) have made the tough decision to slash medicare and other unimportatnt things to make way for the costs of Katrina rebuilding.
That's right. Keep the tax cuts. Screw the poor. Same shit, different day.

P.S.
My lunchtime assignment is to really read the Judy Miller article from yesterday's Times. It may take several lunchtimes. When I am done I will report back. Hopefully it will be irrelevant by then, as there is a rumor the Fitgerald word will come Wednesday.

a marriage of convenience

hee hee. This whole "Bush satellite interview with our troops" stuff is hi-larious. I love that the damn thing became a laughing-stock within minutes.
Dana Milbank just talked about the "curse of Cindy Sheehan," saying that it was since August that Bush has had this, "huge, cataclysmic series of miscalculations." hee hee

You know the evangelicals are new to the whole politics thing. They used to NOT vote, not trusting that the solutions would come from government. The brilliance of our current gang of assholes is that they got them to the polls. But with this whole Miers thing, they are feeling like their suspiscions have been confirmed. They feel like they got burned. And they might not come back.

The great coming together

Today's a slow work day, so I've got a little time here to pontificate.

My inner life is ruled by four things: On the good side we have Veronica Mars and all things Apple Computer. On the bad side we have all things George W. Bush related and all things work-related.
I bring this up because yesterday was a weird point of confluence between all of these factors.
First, and I suppose most importantly, things are not looking good for Chimpy. In the latest Wall Street Journal poll his approval rating was at 39%. Other polls have sunk into the 30s also, but this is a record low for the WSJ. The Miers thing is blowing up, Fitzgerald is looming, Delay and Frist are in trouble and the base is getting restless. I have never seen this group in such complete disarray. And it's worth thinking about the fact that their whole strategy (which I believe comes courtesy of Rove) is the illusion of invulnerability. But it's a ponzi scheme built on a pack of lies. They never had more than half the vote, but they made us think that they were unbeatable. I look around now and I realize that people who hate this president/administration/gang of crooks are the vast majority of Americans.

Second, Apple, bless their shiny little hearts. If you haven't checked out the new iPod (released yesterday) at Apple you really should. Here's the thing: it plays video. And it has TV out. The iTunes store now sells videos and TV shows. That's right, TV shows. And you can load your own videos on it. That means that you can store TV, movies, video, whatever on you iPod just like music. And bring them anywhere and either watch on the little screen or link out to a TV and watch there. Now from what I hear the resolution isn't that high on a TV yet, but I'm not sure. Perhaps it's just the downloaded iTunes shows that have low resolution. Anyway the point is, can you even for a minute imagine what this is going to do for the porn industry?

Third, Veronica Mars-y goodness. If you didn't catch last night's episode it will be re-run on Sunday. Watch it already, OK? And if you're confused about what's going on, the good people at Mars Investigations have done a great job at explaining. On V. Mars they actually discussed the BBC/A&E Pride and Predjudice. Which happens to be another obsession of mine. And an iPod figured prominently. And the episode? It's about a ponzi scheme built on a pack of lies.

And last, I have a new job which seems to involve working 10-12 hour days. (10/12, get it?) Wednesday, October 12th. The day where everything connected.

pleasepleaseplease

do you remember the feeling you had when you read those first exit polls last november, the ones that said that Kerry was way ahead...
the moment you let yourself dream for a minute? the oh my god could it be possible please please please?? the feeling called hope? you remember that?
well remember again how horrible it felt when kerry conceded and the polls were wrong?
try to keep that in mind. keep that in mind so you don't dream too big. but now read this, and remember too the feeling of hope. from wonkette:

Rawstory blares:
SOURCES CLOSE TO FITZGERALD SAY CHENEY EXAMINED IN LEAK INVESTIGATION... DEVELOPING...
Before we go further: Fitzgerald aint leaking. He's a tight-lipped Boy Scout and his discretion has been the bane of Washington gossips since the get-go. Wherever this tip comes from, we seriously doubt it's Fitzgerald. That said: We hear Cheney, too. We hear "Watergate-esque." We hear "perjury."
It sounds like a Kos Kid wet dream, but it's our wet dream, too.

pinch me.

In Case

You were wondering what gay frenchmen think of Veronica Mars, here, in all it's glory, just such a thing.

Veronica Mars rocks my world

Ok, donc ça c'est ma grosse obsession du moment, il était temps d'en parler un peu.

Veronica Mars est une fille débrouillarde et futée qui voit sa vie basculer le jour où sa meilleure amie, Lilly Kane est retrouvée assassinée chez elle.

Du jour au lendemain, son copain (Duncan, le frère de Lilly) la largue sans explication, son père est viré de son boulot de shériff (il devient détective privé), elle se retrouve éjectée de son clan d'amis riches et populaires (les 09'ers) car papa Mars a accusé (à tord semble-t-il) Jake Kane (père de Lilly et Duncan) du meurtre de Lilly et qu'elle à choisit de l'épauler au lieux de choisir le camp 09'ers. Pour couronner le tout, sa mère l'abandonne et elle devient la fille la plus impopulaire de Neptune High. Oh sans oublier le fait qu'elle ait été droguée durant une fête et s'est faite violée pendant qu'elle était inconsciente. Elle ignore qui lui a fait perdre sa virginité et n'en a jamais parlé à son père.

Assez moche hein ?

Pourtant Veronica est une battante et la vie continue. Elle est pas mal crainte de la populace lycéenne qui entretient les rumeurs en tout genre à son sujet. Dans le premier épisode, elle se met dans la poche le chef du gang des motards, Weevil et se lie d'amitié avec un nouveau qu'elle a secouru de son bizutage de bienvenue (perpétré par...Weevil et son gang lol), Wallace. Elle passe son temps à remettre les 09'ers en place, en particulier Logan Echolls, le plus odieux gosse de riche du lot (qui est le meilleur ami de Duncan et qui était le petit ami de Lilly).

Voilà le point de départ d'une des meilleures séries du moment. Durant chaque épisode, Veronica résoud des petites enquètes pour le compte d'un ado en détresse ou pour aider son père dans une de ses affaires. Tout au long de la saison, elle continue aussi de chercher des réponses à ses questions (et aux notres !) qui à tué Lilly Kane ? Où est sa mère ? Qui l'a violé ? On nous distille des indices sur ces mystères au fur et à mesure et parfois, d'autres révélations inatendues s'ajoutent au puzzle. On est tenu en haleine et l'attente pour voir la suite devient vite insupportable.

Kristen Bell qui interprète notre héroine est GRANDIOSE.

Elle délivre ses réplique avec un cynisme impeccable. Certes, Veronica est peut être un peu trop intelligente pour une adolescente de 16 ans mais l'actrice est totalement crédible dans son rôle.

Exit Sydney Bristow, Veronica Mars est mon nouveau girl crush ^^

Après vous avez Logan Echolls qui est un connard fini au tout début de la série, mais qui se révèle vite être l'un des personnages secondaires les plus intéressants jamais vu dans une série TV. Jason Dohring qui l'interprète a un charisme de dingue, Rosenbaum style. Il a de l'alchimie avec tous les acteurs et tous les accessoires du plateau LOL. Il devient de plus en plus calinable à chaque épisode, un énorme woobie ! *sigh*

Les scénarios et les dialogues sont extrêmements intelligents. Je me rend compte en lisant les recaps de TWOP qu'il m'arrive de rater pas mal de vannes tellement ça fuse à la seconde lol. Pas grâve, ça me donne une bonne excuse pour me faire un deuxième visionnage.

Voilà un site français sur le sujet : Veronica hypnoweb (Please please please, allez signer la pétition pour une diffusion française, *mode subliminal ON*vous savez déjà que vous adorez cette série*mode subliminal OFF*)

Et voilà un très bon site en anglais : Veronica-Mars.org (Attention aux spoilers ! Je me suis déjà faite avoir 2 ou 3 fois *pleure*)

Lost ? Desperate Housewives ? No. Veronica Mars is THE shit !!!!!

*contaminée des pieds à la tête*

Actually, I think he might be Canadian. I lost the link, but if I find it again I'll post it.

OMG OMG

I looooove Plamegate! Maybe in a few days we'll find out it was nothing and Fitgerald won't issue any indictments, but until then, OMG! Rove back on the stand. GOP in disarray. This quote from The Note (link above): "Another basic fact: congressional Republicans and others close to the White House are N-E-R-V-O-U-S."
Joy. Pure joy.

Also, I love Veronica Mars. The scene between Veronica and Logan in the hallway was, like, the best TV ever.

Like Logan says, if the cuddling's the best part, he didn't do it right. I think that applies to Fitzgerald too.

Amazing Judgement

Aug. 6, 2001
Originally uploaded by brand blue girl.

Harriet Miers, giving the most brilliant man she knows, some papers. On August 6, 2001. Hey, wasn't that day that he received the "Bin Laden determined to attack inside US" PDB? Hmmmmm.

There's nothing I could say about why I love Bill Clinton that isn't illustrated by this picture

Clinton in Louisiana

What a man.

I'm onto you Harriet Miers!

she's got a twin...



and it's Professor Umbridge!

Abiding loyalty to the inept ministry and all... the resemblence is STRIKING. The worst thing we know about HM so far, to me, is that she says Bush is the most brilliant man she's ever met. Like, how are you defining brilliant? I bet even Laura Bush would lol on that one. Also, apparently you totally don't have to be a judge to be on the SCOTUS. I think just watching a certain number of Law & Order episodes qualifies you. Sweet! I'm so there!