Living In Zen

Some enlightenment would be good in American politics

Dearest Readers, the ongoing investigation continues...Yikes now Prissy knows what Fitz really means when he tells us the investigation will be over when its complete! Prissy likes her cup of evidence to runneth over.

Looking forward to sharing the case with readers when it is made public. Blogging will be short today, Prissy will be putting on her gumshoes a little later...

Remember Nancy Drew?

Here's to hoping you and your families have a lovely holiday season. Prissy plans to post again on Christmas Day.

Hot Links

Courant Dodd Seeks Call-Back Exemptions For Unfit Soldiers

U.S. Sen. Christopher Dodd is asking newly appointed Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to ensure that soldiers debilitated by post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental illnesses are not sent back into combat.

"If experienced VA doctors diagnose military personnel with incapacitating disabilities, such as severe PTSD, it would seem counter to our national security interests for the military services to somehow disregard these evaluations for less thorough assessments performed by military officials," Dodd wrote in a letter Tuesday to Gates. "It seems unacceptable and perhaps even reckless to ask our servicemen and women to entrust their lives to soldiers deemed mentally unfit by medical professionals."

Dodd, D-Conn., said he was troubled by recent reports that some Connecticut veterans who had left active duty and had been deemed disabled with PTSD were being recalled for repeat deployments to Iraq. The Courant featured several of those soldiers in a recent story.

Gee maybe Senator Dodd does support the troops. Now do something to bring them home, Senator.

From MSNBC about the CIA Leak case. Judge Walton admonishes Joseph Wilson's attorney Melonie Sloan:

As counsel should well understand, making disparaging 1 comments in a television interview about a criminal defendant in a highly publicized case on the eve of trial could cause potential members of the jury pool to engender negative attitudes about the defendant. See Hardball with Chris Matthews, Dec. 20, 2006, available at 2006 WLNR 22257429. And even more disturbing is counsel’s uninformed opinion that there is sufficient evidence to convict Mr. Libby of the charges on which he will be tried. Id. Such comments by a member of the Bar, and especially someone who was a former prosecutor, is not only shocking but borders on unethical conduct. Counsel should have known that the comments she made were improper, but if she did not, she does now. Counsel is therefore on notice that any similar comments will not be tolerated.

It is with all due respect Judge Walton, that anyone with a reading ability above the 9th grade knows Libby's goose is cooked! Prissy doesn't see what the big deal is for Ms. Sloan stating her opinion.

Uninformed? Why you said yourself she is a former prosecutor.

Rest assured special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald didn't tell anyone anything.

AND Network Joseph Wilson Challenges Subpoena In Libby CIA Leak Case

Former ambassador Joseph Wilson asked a federal judge Wednesday not to force him to testify in the CIA leak case and accused former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby of trying to harass him on the witness stand. Libby, who faces perjury and obstruction charges, subpoenaed Wilson as a defense witness this month. Libby's attorney, William Jeffress, said in court Tuesday that was a precautionary move and he did not expect to put Wilson on the stand. Libby is accused of lying to investigators about his conversations with reporters regarding Wilson's wife, outed CIA operative Valerie Plame. Plame and Wilson have sued Libby and other Bush administration officials, accusing them of plotting to leak Plame's identity as retribution for Wilson's criticism of prewar intelligence on Iraq.

The Next Hurrah Aspen Trees and Novakula by emptywheel

Anyway, here is the waiver that Libby eventually signed:

I request any member of the media with whom I may have communicated regarding the subject matters under investigation to fully disclose all such communications to federal law enforcement authorities. In particular, I request that no member of the media assert any privilege or refuse to answer any questions from federal law enforcement authorities on my behalf or for my benefit in connection with the subject matters under investigation.

...where "subject matters under investigation" are restricted to: the possible disclosure to unauthorized persons of classified information in connection with Ambassador Joseph Wilson, his trip to Niger in February 2002, and matters relating thereto.

Again, this means that if Novak claims to have spoken to Libby solely about, say, the Frances Fragos Townsend smear, then Libby's waiver would not cover the conversation and--at least according to Novak's own version, Novak would have refused to answer questions because they "touched on matters beyond the CIA leak case." But Libby's own lawyers claim that Novak testified.

Which is it, Novak? Did you testify about a Plame conversation with Libby? Did you lie in your coming-clean-but-not-really column with regards to questions not dealing with Plame and testify that Libby had seeded your smear column attacking Townsend? FWIW, I emailed Novak and asked for some clarification about his conversation with Libby, but received no response.

One of the many contradictions of this case which can only be sorted out in court. If Libby is banking on his witnesses he is really playing fast and loose. They all have serious credibility problems and Prissy looks forward to Fitz taking them to task.

Happy Birthday, Special prosecutor;-)

Wired Bloggers Shrink the Planet

Global Voices was launched in 2004 as a way to get people talking to one another across cultural and lingual divides. A project of The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School -- and the brainchild of Berkman fellows Ethan Zuckerman and Rebecca MacKinnon -- Global Voices began as a kind of Reader's Digest of noteworthy or interesting blogs from non-Western countries.

Today, the Global Voices website has grown to a million visitors a month, and is rated on blog search and analysis company Technorati as the 207th most popular blog by inbound links, in a field of around 55 million. Geographically distributed editors spend their days rounding up the most important posts from their parts of the world and presenting them through the site, so visitors can easily zoom in on what's happening in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba or the Congo.

CNN Sandy Berger stashed classified documents under trailer

Berger took the documents in the fall of 2003 while working to prepare himself and Clinton administration witnesses for testimony to the September 11 commission. Berger was authorized as the Clinton administration's representative to make sure the commission got the correct classified materials.

Berger's lawyer, Lanny Breuer, said in a statement that the contents of all the documents exist today and were made available to the commission.

But Rep. Tom Davis, R-Virginia, outgoing chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, said he's not convinced that the Archives can account for all the documents taken by Berger. Davis said working papers of National Security Council staff members are not inventoried by the Archives.

"There is absolutely no way to determine if Berger swiped any of these original documents. Consequently, there is no way to ever know if the 9/11 Commission received all required materials," Davis said.

It's all good, Sandy will have access to classified materials again in 2007. He was only barred for three years. Yet a person who isn't a thief cannot get clearance if they have a stint of bad credit.

International Herald Tribune U.S. to declassify secrets aged 25 and older

Secret documents 25 years old or older will lose their classified status without so much as the stroke of a pen, unless agencies have sought exemptions on the ground that the material remains secret.

Historians say the deadline, created in the Clinton administration but enforced, to the surprise of some scholars, by the secrecy-prone Bush administration, has had huge effects on public access, despite the large numbers of intelligence documents that have been exempted.

And every year from now on, millions of additional documents will be automatically declassified as they reach the 25-year limit, reversing the traditional practice of releasing just what scholars request.

Many historians had expected President George W. Bush to scrap the deadline. His administration has overseen the reclassification of many historical files and restricted access to presidential papers of past administrations, as well as contemporary records.

Telu portal Indian American whistleblower withdraws complaint against n-plant

New York, Dec 21 (IANS) An Indian American nuclear plant worker who lost his job after complaining about serious security loop holes at a nuclear plant in Connecticut has withdrawn his complaint.

In 2005, Sham Mehta complained to three different agencies that the intruder alarm system at the Millstone nuclear power plant in Connecticut was routinely turned off because of false alarms.

Soon after his complaint the management of the nuclear facility terminated Mehta's job, according to the online edition of News Day newspaper.

However, this week Mehta withdrew his complaint after reaching a settlement with the company. The settlement has been kept confidential

Hat tip to justice blogger ChimpCoulter. Cute flash game Decorate the Bush official you want investigated/indicted for Fitzmas

CBS Senior Bushes Lend Hand To Salvation Army

Former President George H.W. Bush and wife, Barbara, rang bells for the Salvation Army outside a local furniture store Monday, hoping to promote volunteerism and give a lift to the fundraising effort in the final week before Christmas.

The Salvation Army is coming off a record-breaking year in 2005 for its 115-year-old Red Kettle Campaign, raising $111 million in pocket change, small and large bills and the occasional diamond ring or gold tooth.

However, as of late last week, two of the Salvation Army's four U.S. regions reported donations off as much as 11 percent from a year ago — in large part because of a lack of volunteer bell ringers.

And the Salvation Army enlisted some of the people who caused the reason people can't give? One readers comment: For whom the bell tolls... It tolls for Thee.

Jerusalem Post This must end before it's like Iraq'

"Nothing justifies this ruthless war," said bookstore owner Khaled Shaker. "Most people here are disappointed with Hamas and Fatah. This war plays into the hands of Israel, whose leaders must be laughing at us now. We demand an end to the fighting before Palestine becomes a second Iraq."

We can all agree that nothing justifies a ruthless war upon innocent people.

Vanity Fair Don't Ask … Don't E-mail

The half-open closet in which Mark Foley spent his life was a recipe for disaster, say those few who tried to intervene. Investigating Foley's pre-teen seduction by a priest, the "ladies' man" mask he wore in Palm Beach society, and his love-hate relationship with the gay community, the authors uncover the ambition, delusion, and hypocrisy that corroded both the politician and his party.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, former representative Mark Foley, President Bush, House majority leader John Boehner, and Representative John Shimkus. Everyone knew Mark Foley was gay. Everyone. And everyone who had a stake in his success—party, press, parents, staff, supporters, and pages—conspired for their own purposes to keep the closet half closed.

Quotes of the Day

To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great step to knowledge.--Benjamin Disraeli (1804 - 1881), Sybil, 1845

You can pretend to be serious; you can't pretend to be witty.--Sacha Guitry(1885 - 1957)

"Victory goes to the player who makes the next-to-last mistake."--"Discours de la Methode" -- Chessmaster Savielly Grigorievitch Tartakower (1887-1956)

"Each problem that I solved became a rule which served afterwards to solve other problems."-- Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

"I would have made a good Pope."-- Richard M. Nixon (1913-1994)

Prissy couldn't resist