The Place of Dead Roads

First, the good news from The WashPost:

The vaccine protects women against strains of a ubiquitous germ called the human papilloma virus. Although many strains of the virus are innocuous, some can cause cancerous lesions on the cervix (the outer end of the uterus), making them the primary cause of this cancer in the United States. Cervical cancer strikes more than 10,000 U.S. women each year, killing more than 3,700.

The vaccine appears to be virtually 100 percent effective against two of the most common cancer-causing HPV strains...

Officials of both companies noted that research indicates the best age to vaccinate would be just before puberty to make sure children are protected before they become sexually active...

"If you really want to have cervical cancer rates fall as much as possible as quickly as possible, then you want as many people to get vaccinated as possible," said Mark Feinberg, Merck's vice president of medical affairs and policy, noting that "school mandates have been one of the most effective ways to increase immunization rates."

Naturally, this being about women and their sexuality, the social conservatives must get involved. And not in the good way. Keeping in mind how beholden to the religious right the White House has become, should we be suprised that "a former member of the conservative group Focus on the Family serves on the federal panel that is playing a pivotal role in deciding how the vaccine is used."

Because the vaccine protects against a sexually transmitted virus, many conservatives oppose making it mandatory, citing fears that it could send a subtle message condoning sexual activity before marriage...

Exactly how the vaccine is used, however, will be largely determined by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), a panel of experts assembled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta... [S]aid Reginald Finger, a doctor trained in public health who served as a medical analyst for Focus on the Family before being appointed to the ACIP in 2003: "There are people who sense that it could cause people to feel like sexual behaviors are safer if they are vaccinated and may lead to more sexual behavior because they feel safe."

If I understand this right, the only way to promote abstinence is to keep the other option as deadly as possible. So much for having faith in their message.

Steve Clemons, after experiencing an unrelated car accident, reports

Well, news has just reached TWN that Patrick Fitzgerald is expanding not only into a new website -- but also into more office space.

Fitzgerald's office is at 1400 New York Avenue, NW, 9th Floor in Washington.

What I have learned is that the Office of the Special Counsel has signed a lease this week for expanded office space across the street at 1401 New York Avenue, NW.

Another coincidence? More office space needed to shut down the operation?

I think not. Fitzgerald's operation is expanding.

[maps.google.com]

See also DailyKos

Update: Steve Clemons, reports

October 27, 2005
Retraction: Sources on Office Expansion Wrong

Part of the process of reporting is doing the best one can do to source information, and seek double confirmation regarding stuff we post.

The source of mine in the real estate brokerage arena has called to retract information shared with me that the Office of the Special Counsel was expanding into 1401 New York Avenue. He states that "he just got it wrong."

In addition, the second source -- in the building -- says that he had a miscommunication with someone about this.

From the National Review, we have the following from Andy McCarthy:

...I've gotten a lot of questions about this from people who say some conservatives are hitting the airwaves with preemptive suggestions that my friend Pat Fitzgerald may not be as apolitical as his press clippings indicate...Let me just say this. Pat is at least as apolitical as his press clippings suggest...

Pat Fitzgerald is the best prosecutor I have ever seen. By a mile. He is also the straightest shooter I have ever seen – by at least that much. And most importantly, he is a good man.

This investigation has gone on for 22 months. Most of the evidence was collected before autumn 2004...If Pat were political – or, worse, if he somehow had it in for the Bush administration – it was fully within his power to return indictments in the weeks before the November elections, which would almost certainly have cinched things for Senator Kerry. It is something, I am quite certain, it would never even have occurred to him to do. The only thing the guy I know would do is bring charges or close the case without charges when the facts of the investigation warranted doing so.

This from a magazine that

• Cordially invites you to celebrate Willam F. Buckley Jr.'s birthday'
• Will sell you a 52 card desk of the 52 Most Dangerous Liberals;
• Offers you a children's book of wholesome literature to instill cherished values.

In summary, the very bastion of the conservative movement.

Earlier entries here
- US Atty Patrick J. Fitzgerald
- Many a good thing said of US Atty Fitzgerald

Iraq Coalition Casualities

U.S. Deaths Confirmed By The DoD:	1997
Reported U.S. Deaths Pending DoD Confirmation:	3
Total	2000

AMERICAblog.com Shop : Y2K? 2,000 dead in Iraq. Why

From New York Daily News, Bushies take aim at probe:

President Bush's damage-control handlers are plotting a sophisticated war room offensive to fight back against possible indictments in the CIA leak probe.

Karl Rove...shouldn't be indicted simply because of contradictory grand jury testimony, a source said...

Asked in 1999 about Clinton's impeachment by the House, Bush responded, "I would have voted for it. I thought the man lied."

A senior Senate Democratic aide said, "When it's about perjury and obstruction and it deals with sex, Republicans think it's worthy of impeachment. When it's about perjury and obstruction dealing with national security, they don't take it seriously."

Leading the charge for the White House is Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. ThinkProgress has this quote from a Sunday talking head show:

“that if there is going to be an indictment that says something happened, that it is an indictment on a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn’t indict on the crime and so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation was not a waste of time and taxpayer dollars.”

Of course, she hasn't always felt this way about prejury. Al Frankin takes us back to Feburary 12 1999 and the impeachment of Pres Clinton:

The edifice of American jurisprudence rests on the foundation of the due process of law. The mortar in that foundation is the oath. Those who seek to obstruct justice weaken that foundation, and those who violate the oath would tear the whole structure down.
Every day, thousands of citizens in thousands of courtrooms across America are sworn in as jurors, as grand jurors, as witnesses, as defendants. On those oaths rest the due process of law upon which all of our other rights are based.
The oath is how we defend ourselves against those who would subvert our system by breaking our laws. There are Americans in jail today because they violated that oath. Others have prevailed at the bar of justice because of that oath.
What would we be telling Americans--and those worldwide who see in America what they can only hope for in their own countries--if the Senate of the United States were to conclude: The President lied under oath as an element of a scheme to obstruct the due process of law, but we chose to look the other way?
I cannot make that choice. I cannot look away. I vote "Guilty" on Article I, Perjury. I vote "Guilty" on Article II, Obstruction of Justice.

From Knight Ridder Newspapers (one of my favorites), Miers family received 'excessive' sum in land case:

Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers collected more than 10 times the market value for a small slice of family-owned land in a large Superfund pollution cleanup site in Dallas where the state wanted to build a highway off-ramp...

Mediation efforts in 2003 reduced the award from $106,915 to $80,915, but Miers, who controls the family’s interest in the land, hasn’t reimbursed the state for the $26,000 difference, even after Bush appointed her to the Supreme Court...

And from Oct 21, I saw something concerning lawyers getting paid 10x the normal amount for electioneering work. Gets me to thinking...

Without Rove this is what happens. Karl is the one who knows which skeletons are hidden in which closets. Even if at one time Bush could keep track of such things, watching him these days it seems unlikely he is up to the task.

Without Rove around, expect continued flawed choices from the WH. It is likely by the end of the coming week, the tangle of lies Fitzgerald starts to pull out will be that which also knows where all the bodies are. Even if they manage to keep all that quite, those left in the WH will be stuck not knowing what past "short cut" lies waiting for payback behind each new decision to be made.

Their stuck in the astroid field without Han Solo. Not that Karl Rove should even be compared to Han. And yes, Han shot first!

From ABC News, Young Singers Spread Racist Hate:

Duo Considered the Olsen Twins of the White Nationalist MovementThirteen-year-old twins Lamb and Lynx Gaede have one album out, another on the way, a music video, and lots of fans.

Known as "Prussian Blue" -- a nod to their German heritage and bright blue eyes -- the girls from Bakersfield, Calif., have been performing songs about white nationalism before all-white crowds since they were nine.
"We're proud of being white, we want to keep being white," said Lynx. "We want our people to stay white ... we don't want to just be, you know, a big muddle. We just want to preserve our race."

Lynx and Lamb have been nurtured on racist beliefs since birth by their mother April. "They need to have the background to understand why certain things are happening," said April, a stay-at-home mom who no longer lives with the twins' father. "I'm going to give them, give them my opinion just like any, any parent would."...

Songs like "Sacrifice" -- a tribute to Nazi Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy Fuhrer -- clearly show the effect of the girls' upbringing. The lyrics praise Hess as a "man of peace who wouldn't give up."...

Prussian Blue supporter Erich Gliebe, operator of one of the nation's most notorious hate music labels, Resistance Records, hopes younger performers like Lynx and Lamb will help expand the base of the White Nationalist cause.

"Eleven and 12 years old," he said, "I think that's the perfect age to start grooming kids and instill in them a strong racial identity."...

Gliebe says he hopes that as younger racist listeners mature, so will their tastes for harder, angrier music like that of Shawn Sugg of Max Resist...

Like many children across the country, Lamb and Lynx decided to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina -- the white ones.

The girls' donations were handed out by a White Nationalist organization who also left a pamphlet promoting their group and beliefs -- some of the intended recipients were more than a little displeased...

This is for real.
Get your indictment Bingo cards ready!
Office of Special Counsel
Patrick J. Fitzgerald
Special Counsel
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/osc/index.html

From the Wall Street Journal, CIA Leak Queries Look at Disclosure Of Classified Data, we learn Mr Fitzgerald is interested in more than just the leaking of Mrs Plame covert status with the CIA.

But lawyers and others close to the case say he may be piecing together a case that White House officials conspired to leak various types of classified material in conversations with reporters -- including Ms. Plame's identity but also other secrets related to national security.

(2cool diaried this WSJ article over at DailyKos.)
If Mr Fitzgerald's investiagtions are any indication of what the White House is up to, we must wonder if this is how the White House wants to operate during "times of war". Let's hop in the wayback machine for the answer. From less than one month after 9/11, in the WashPost, we have Bush Edict on Briefings Irks Hill

Wednesday, October 10, 2001; Page A01
Members from both parties objected strongly to Bush's highly unusual step of ordering that briefings with sensitive information be limited to eight of the 535 members of Congress.

[Bush said:] "I want Congress to hear loud and clear, it is unacceptable behavior to leak classified information when we have troops at risk." [He also said Congress should] "...take their positions very seriously and that they take any information they've been given by our government very seriously."

I wonder if Republician Sen. Hagel is sensing the irony these days, given his statement from back then:

"To put out a public document telling the world he doesn't trust the Congress and we leak everything, I'm not sure that helps develop unanimity and comradeship."

Perhaps the White House's problem with Congress "leaking everything" is not that they leak, but Congressional leaks might not be in sync with the White House's leaks of "secrets related to national security." I guess the WH didn't want to have competition when it came to using leaked classified information to control public perception.

Or did you think all this leaking/not leaking of classified information had something to do with national security during a time of war?

From MSNBC, we learn about this exchange of emails from New Orleans to Drownie. This took place Katrina + 2 days.

Wednesday, August 31: Much of New Orleans is underwater when a FEMA official inside the Superdome sends an urgent BlackBerry message to his boss, director Michael Brown:

"...the situation is past critical... hotels are kicking people out, thousands gathering in the streets with no food or water... estimates are many will die within hours," writes Marty Bahamonde, who was sent to be Brown's eyes and ears within the city.

Brown's press secretary writes back: ..it is very important that time is allowed for Mr. Brown to eat dinner. Given that Baton Rogue is back to normal, restaurants are getting busy. He needs much more [than] 20 or 30 minutes."

Bahamonde expressed his frustration about the "dinner e-mail," responding: "OH MY GOD!!!!! Just tell her that I just ate an MRE and [went to the bathroom] in the hallway of the Superdome along with 30,000 other close friends, so I understand her concern about busy restaurants."

Article. II. Section. 4.

The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Article. III. Section. 3.

Clause 1: Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

From RawStory, Second Cheney aide cooperating in leak probe, those close to case say:

Now, those close to the investigation say that a second Cheney aide, David Wurmser, has agreed to provide the prosecution with evidence that the leak was a coordinated effort by Cheney’s office to discredit the agent's husband.

Wurmser, Cheney’s Middle East advisor and an assistant to then-Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs John Bolton, was in attendance at several meetings of the White House Iraq Group (WHIG)...Those who say they have reviewed documents obtained in the probe assert that the Vice President was also present at some of the group’s meetings...

The sources say that Hannah and Wurmser were given orders by senior officials in Cheney’s office in June 2003 to leak Plame’s covert status and identity in an attempt to muzzle Wilson...

Wurmser’s cooperation with Fitzgerald would certainly come as no surprise to those who have been following his career. Last year, he was questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for his possible role in leaking U.S. security secrets to Israel...

Today, The New York Times confirmed Hannah provided information to the prosecutor, writing, “Officials who testified or were questioned by investigators also included John Hannah, Mr. Cheney's principal deputy national security adviser.”

Live Auction over at eBay:


The Place of Dead Roads : A Novel

        No mistaking that gray shadow moving up the face as the gray lips move.
        "Stay out of churches, son. And don't ever let a priest near you when you're dying. All they got a key to is the shit house. And swear to me you'll never wear a lawman's badge."
        Last words of Mortimer Carsons, father of Kim Carsons.

:

From NYTimes, No Final Report Seen in Inquiry on C.I.A. Leak:

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 - The special counsel in the C.I.A. leak case has told associates he has no plans to issue a final report about the results of the investigation, heightening the expectation that he intends to bring indictments, lawyers in the case and law enforcement officials say.

The prosecutor, Patrick J. Fitzgerald, is not expected to take any action in the case this week, government officials said. A spokesman for Mr. Fitzgerald, Randall Samborn, declined to comment.

A final report had long been considered an option for Mr. Fitzgerald if he decided not to accuse anyone of wrongdoing, although Justice Department officials have been dubious about his legal authority to issue such a report.

From Larry C. Johnson, former CIA agent, A New Tidbit on the Plame Affair

Had lunch today with a person who has a direct tie to one of the folks facing indictment in the Plame affair. There are 22 files that Fitzgerald is looking at for potential indictment . These include Stephen Hadley, Karl Rove, Lewis Libby, Dick Cheney, and Mary Matalin (there are others of course). Hadley has told friends he expects to be indicted. No wonder folks are nervous at the White House.

From RawStory, Cheney aide cooperating with CIA outing probe, sources say:

Individuals familiar with Fitzgerald’s case tell RAW STORY that John Hannah, a senior national security aide on loan to Vice President Dick Cheney from the offices of then-Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, John Bolton, was named as a target of Fitzgerald’s probe. They say he was told in recent weeks that he could face imminent indictment for his role in leaking Plame-Wilson’s name to reporters unless he cooperated with the investigation.

Kid Creole & The Coconuts - Stool Pigeon

From MarketWatch, Krispy Kreme tumbles; unit files for bankruptcy protection

Shares of Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD) dropped nearly 30% to $3.42 in pre-market action on Instinet after the Winston-Salem, N.C., doughnut seller said its Freedom Rings LLC unit has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company said Freedom Rings is a majority-owned unit and franchisee partner operating in the Philadelphia region. Krispy Kreme has agreed to provide funding for Freedom Rings during the restructuring process.

And with this news, there was heard a mighty wailing as the truth eventually penetrated Homer's humble cranium.

From WashPost, Rove Pressed On Conflicts, Source Says:

Rove's defense team asserts that President Bush's deputy chief of staff has not committed a crime but nevertheless anticipates that special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald could find a way to bring charges in the next two weeks, the source said.

Frog March?

From News24.com, reporting on the same NBC/WSJ poll mentioned below, Bush popularity keeps dropping:

The poll also revealed overwhelming opposition to Bush among African-Americans. Only two percent said they approved of his performance as president, the lowest level ever recorded in that category, NBC television reported.

The poll, based on interviews with 807 adults, was conducted between October 8 and October 10 and had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

To recap, somewhere between 94.6% and 101.4% of Black Americans don't care for Bush. Or just about all of them. Good job, George, glad to see you can a 100% on at least one thing.

Awhile ago, I began to understand how the present band of folks came to power. It isn't that they represent a majority opinion. The current power structure is a cabal; disparate interests making common cause in the pursuit of power. And George Bush has been the focal point. I don't think he really has any power. Sure, the presidency does confer great power, but this guy doesn't seem to have the brainpower to use it. What is it he says about governing from his "gut"?

There is only so long such a group can hold together. Keep in mind, this is not a collection of selfless souls out to help the country. I wouldn't want to be a member of any cabal that would have me as a member (sorry Groucho). When a bunch of power-hungry ghosts gather around the pure ineptitude that is Bush, there is only so long before things fall apart. When the means to power starts becoming an impediment to their goals, the whole artifice starts to crumble.

From Howard Fineman at MSNBC, The conservative crack up:

[T]he “neocons”['s]...neo-Wilsonian theory is correct, they insist, but the execution was botched by a Bush team that has turned out to be incompetent, crony-filled, corrupt, unimaginative and weak over a wide range of issues...

By the time Bush was in his second term as governor, laying the groundwork for his presidential run, he and Rove had gathered all of the often competing and sometimes contradictory strains of conservatism into one light beam...

But now all the constituent parts are — for various reasons — going their own way. Here's a checklist:

Religious conservatives: The Harriet Miers nomination was the final insult...And what really frosts the religious types is that Bush evidently feels that he can only satisfy them by stealth...

Corporate CEOs: Bush’s handling of Katrina was, and remains, a mortal embarrassment to their class...who believe...in anticipating problems and moving mass organizations. They also like to think of themselves as having a social conscience...

Main Street: Smaller government deficit hawks: people who think federal spending should be relentlessly reduced...After binges of spending and legislating, backbenchers in the GOP, especially in the House, are in open revolt...

Isolationists: Now the isolationists of old are back, and with a new crusade: immigration...But in the eyes of this crowd — one leader is Pat Buchanan — the Bush Administration is doing nothing.

Neocons: They think that the Middle East can be remade, and this country made safe, by instilling a semblance of democracy...But they seem to have given up on the ability of the Bush Administration to see that vision through...

Supply-siders: This is the one faction that the president has yet to disappoint in a major way...Bush and Rove remember what happened when Daddy moved his lips and raised taxes. will he move his lips, too? If the conservative crack up is to be complete — and I think it will be — the answer is yes.

From MSNBC, Bush approval dips below 40 percent:

[A]ccording to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, the fortunes of the Bush administration and the Republican Party have not yet begun to recover.

For the first time in the poll, Bush’s approval rating has sunk below 40 percent, while the percentage believing the country is heading in the right direction has dipped below 30 percent. In addition, a sizable plurality prefers a Democratic-controlled Congress, and just 29 percent think Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers is qualified to serve on the nation’s highest court.

"Any way you slice this data, I think these are just terrible sets of numbers," said Democratic pollster Peter D. Hart, who conducted this survey with Republican pollster Bill McInturff...

48 percent say they prefer a Democratic-controlled Congress, compared with 39 percent who want the Republicans to control Capitol Hill. In fact, that nine-point difference is the largest margin between the parties in the 11 years the NBC/Journal poll has been tracking this question.

People also seem to be turned off and unhappy with high gas prices. According to the survey, 69 percent believe the worst is still to come with energy and fuel prices. Just 25 percent think the worst is behind us.

Because of this generally sour attitude, the NBC/Journal pollsters doubt that Bush will be able to climb out of his standing anytime soon. "His trampoline [is] made of cement," Hart said.

From USATodsy, a collection of quotes from Investigator of CIA leak seen as relentless:

• from the Bush administration's perspective, "they could not have picked a worse person."
• "will bring to this the same energy and aggression that he does to every other project he undertakes."
• "He has no agenda. He looks at the facts, uncovers the facts and goes where the facts lead him."
• about his political views — "if he has any, and he may not."
• Fitzgerald demonstrates "a more black-and-white view of the world" that is "reductionist in disregarding nuances beyond what it will take to prevail."
• "not prone to consider what some would term humane factors in charging and sentencing decisions."
• "To say that he is extremely aggressive is, I think, a gross understatement...not disrespectful, but he's a lot less deferential than I bet most judges are accustomed to."
• "almost universally admired ... for telling the truth and prosecuting these cases."
• "He's doesn't do lunches at the important clubs or make rah-rah speeches"
• "Pat is driven by iron-tight integrity and a tireless work ethic"
• "is impervious to political pressure. ... I've seen no evidence that he has anything but the purest motives."
• "He's going to pursue matters ... with dedication and thoroughness...but overzealous? Certainly not."
• "the picture of what the public would think is an earnest prosecutor. He's a boy scout."
• "He's exactly the kind of person you'd want doing something like this."

Previous bio: US Atty Patrick J. Fitzgerald

Back in April, I posted the entry Bush or Chimp, ask the Belgium Police, which included the image
This turned out to be one of my most popular postings.

Now you can get this image on a t-shirt, via zazzle.com,

Bush Chimp T-Shirt

All my profits will go to help Katrina evacuatees. Please feel free to leave a comment recommending a charitiable organization (not the Red Cross).

Regarding Proclamation 6518, Grant of Executive Clemency
57 Fed. Reg. 62,145 (December 24, 1992)

This document is the pretrial executive pardon of former Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger for his conduct in the Iran-Contra affair.

The Response:

Fourth Interim Report to Congress
Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters Lawrence E. Walsh (February 8, 1993)

findings include:

Pretrial pardon preempts public disclosure and examination of facts.
The pardon of Casper Weinberger violated the purpose of Title VI of the Ethics in Government Act.

"The Attorney General has issued regulations which, although they do not bind the President, are designed to ensure fair and appropriate use of Presidential pardons. Under these regulations, pre-trial pardons are completely unavailable; rather individuals seeking pardons must wait until they have been tried convicted and have served their sentences, plus an additional period of years."

n : delight in another person's misfortune

From the AP, Rove Said to Testify in CIA Leak Case:

Federal prosecutors have accepted an offer from presidential adviser Karl Rove to give 11th-hour testimony in the case of a CIA officer's leaked identity but have warned they cannot guarantee he won't be indicted, according to people directly familiar with the investigation.

The persons, who spoke only on condition of anonymity because of grand jury secrecy, said Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has not made any decision yet on whether to file criminal charges against the longtime confidant of President Bush or others...

Before accepting the offer [to testify], Fitzgerald sent correspondence to Rove's legal team making clear that there was no guarantee he wouldn't be indicted at a later point as required by the rules.

The prosecutor did not give Rove similar warnings before his earlier grand jury appearances.

Ahhh...what fun I had growing in Fairfax City, VA. Members of my family have degrees from George Mason University. Far too many days and nights spend making pizza at Picco's, formerly of Olde Towne Fairfax. How things have changed...
From LeftHook, Full Report: Student Brutalized by Cops, Right-Wing Students, for Protesting Recruiters At George Mason University:

A Pakistani-American who served four years in the United States Air Force as munitions personnel was beaten and brutalized by right-wing students and campus police last Thursday at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va.

Tariq Khan, now a junior majoring in sociology, said he was standing in front of the recruitment table outside the school student center - as he has often done before - during noontime with a paper sign reading, "Recruiters lie, don't be deceived," taped to his shirt. A student approached Khan and initiated a verbal argument, screaming in his face; he then took the flyer and ripped it up in front of him, Khan says...

...the officer "grabbed him, put him in a half-nelson headlock," and then "slammed him into a metal stage," propped three feet above the floor. Wells added that the officer then slammed Khan into the ground hard, resulting in his face hitting the surface.

...a university employee who stood about six feet eight inches and weighed around 300 pounds began helping the cops to further subdue Khan. "He performed jujitsu moves on me while the cops held me down, and the cops let him do it," Khan said...

He says one cop was preparing to spray him with mace. "He held the can straight at my eyes, about five inches away from my face," Khan said. "So I started yelling, 'Hey, this cop is trying to mace me, someone take a picture if you have a camera!"

Wells quickly took out her cell-phone camera and began snapping pictures. "After I did that, the cop put away his mace can and said, 'Okay, no one's going to get maced today.' I mean, clearly, he knew he was doing something wrong," she said...

Khan also says another policeman told him that "You people are the most violent people in the world." Before being hauled off to the Fairfax County Jail, Khan was warned by the police who were questioning him that "If you even look at [cops] the wrong way, they'll hang you up by your feet."

Asked what motivated him to begin his protest against military recruiters on a campus where there is no organized anti-war movement, the former Air Force enlistee said, "For four years, I was making bombs. Then I started wondering where those bombs were actually going."

This is Gitmo in Fairfax, VA not because Mr Khan was mistreated while in detention. What is seen here the same view toward peoples of the middle east which sources the brutality displayed at Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, Bhaghram. This scares me because the GMU campus was a place I biked through for years as a kid. I am sure there are times when 1984, definitely, The Place of Dead Roads, were in my bag while at GMU. At that time, I thought they were only cautionary fantasies. I am being to see they were predictions.

From AmericaBlog, The White House is hiding Karl Rove - they know something's coming...:

I just talked to a source who told me that Karl Rove has been missing from a number of recent White House presidential events - events that he has ALWAYS attended in the past. For example, Rove was absent from yesterday's presidential press conference to promote Harriet Miers. These are the kind of events Rove ALWAYS attends, I'm told, yet of late he's been MIA each and every time.

My source tells me that the scuttlebutt around town is that the White House knows something bad is coming, in terms of Karl getting indicted, and they're already trying to distance him from the president.

Oh, God, you've been so good to us lately. Please give us this one more.

by John in DC - 10/05/2005 03:36:00 PM

From Pre$$titutes, Indictments Imminent In Plame Case?:

Interrupting our regular focus on Pre$$titution, we want to let readers know that rumors are flying around D.C. that over a dozen indictments may be coming in the Plame case.

We caution that we are reporting a RUMOR. Nothing more. And this may be absolutely false. Still there is definitely chatter in Washington circles....

Posted by JD on October 05, 2005 at 03:53 PM

[Update] From Radar Magazine, Breaking! Plame Indictments Imminent:

The D.C. rumor mill is thrumming with whispers that 22 indictments are about to be handed down on the outed-CIA agent Valerie Plame case. The last time the wires buzzed this loud — that Tom DeLay would be indicted and would step down from his leadership post in the House — the scuttlebutters got it right.

From Reuters, US officials brace for decisions in CIA leak case:

The federal prosecutor investigating who leaked the identity of a CIA operative is expected to signal within days whether he intends to bring indictments in the case, legal sources close to the investigation said on Wednesday.

As a first step, prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was expected to notify officials by letter if they have become targets, said the lawyers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter...

Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, declined to say whether his client had been contacted by Fitzgerald. In the past, Luskin has said that Rove was assured that he was not a target.

Libby's lawyer was not immediately available to comment.

From NYTimes, U.S. and Iraq Step Up Effort to Block Insurgents' Routes:

Colonel Davis delivered a blunter message. "We're not going anywhere," he told the murmuring crowd, adding that as long as there were attacks against Iraqi or American troops the house searches and roadblocks and bridge closings would continue.

"Some of you are concerned about the attack helicopters and mortar fire from the base," he said. "I will tell you this: those are the sounds of peace."

Meanwhile, in Iraq, all things are double-plus good.

From MSNBC, via Atrios, someone is feeling a bit subversive.
Harriet Miers, at the time staff secretary, is seen on Aug. 6, 2001, briefing President Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Let me see, can I recall what possible Presedential Daily Briefing they might have been reading? Here is a guess:

Transcript

[Update] From E&P, Miers Briefed Bush on Famous Bin Laden Memo, But Newspapers Handle the AP Photo Quite Differently

An article by Richard A. Serrano and Scott Gold observes that early in the Bush presidency “Miers assumed such an insider role that in 2001 it was she who handed Bush the crucial 'presidential daily briefing' hinting at terrorist plots against America just a month before the Sept. 11 attacks.”

From Ask the White House:

Karrin, from OHIO writes:
Where were you on September 11th and what did you do?

Harriet Miers:
Karrin, I was traveling with the President on September 11, 2001. So I started out in Florida. I was the President's Staff Secretary at that point in time, so I continued to do those duties. I was responsible for making sure the remarks he prepared to give to the Nation from Louisiana were properly prepared for him. It took some time, and the President saw me hurrying to give them to him. He said, "Good hustle!" He made me feel good that I was contributing. Typical. That was a remarkable day I will never forget. I will never forget how strong the President's response was to something so dreadful and so unexpected.

Also, from the same webpage:

Caleb, from California writes:
With the 911 Commission report stating there was no linkable evidence between Sept. 11th and Iraq, why are the two often grouped together? Shouldn't they be considered two separate fights?

Harriet Miers
Hello, Caleb. I believe you must be referring to some language in the Report that can be misread. [...Much quoting from the report...] The scope of the Commission’s review limits the reporting on post-9/11 events, such as the activities of Zarqawi and his associates in Baghdad. So, no, I don’t think they should be considered separately. They are both part of the War on Terror.

I think there is a bit more evidence out there supporting the complete lack of connection between 9/11 and Iraq. If I may quote Colin Powell, from 20/20. This is from an interview that aired the day before the above "Ask" session.

Walters: Do you think, looking back, that there was a connection between Saddam Hussain and the terrorist attack of 9/11?

Powell: I have not seen one.

W: You have not, eventhough that has been used as one of the reasons...

P: I have never said it.

W: You have never thought there was a connection.

P: I have never seen a connection. I can't think otherwise because I have never seen any evidence to suggest there was one.