they uncover who blew the NSA spying cover ? <br><br>Or who leaked Plame's idenity?<br><br>any speculations?? <br><br>I'm waiting for the right wingers to explain how outing Plame and her covert company was "no problemo", but telling they NYT the NSA was spying on citizens is ! <br><br>David (OFI)<br>

Another angle is what else might be revealed before the fan finally stops spinning. The Plame thing was bad juju. The NSA gambit is really scary. What else might be going on that we don't know about yet?<br><br>Maybe nothing (hopefully). But these guys seem to respect no boundaries.<br><br>Having said that, maybe I don't want a new iMac after all. Who knows what that iSight is really connected to! <br><br>

...or Google Mail...<br><br>

There's no telling when anything will come down, but I agree with what seems to be your assumption here: that the Department of Justice is going to go full steam on the NSA leak probe for political reasons.<br><br>As far as the Bush Administration's rhetoric is concerned, the advent of a new leak couldn't come at a better time because it puts Bush on the other side of the issue. Now, instead of being the perpetrators of a leak, they can be a righteous victim of such a shameful act. They need badly to combine the two leaks in people's minds.<br><br>The CIA leak was an instance in which the government manipulated the press to ruin a person's career. The NSA leak was an instance in which someone in the government knew of a violation of the Constitution inside of government and exposed it. A bold line between manipulation and whistle-blowing does not serve the President because it makes people judge for themselves right from wrong. If the Bush Administration can just come down hard on "leaks," they can spare the embarrassment of having purposefully started one so long as they can superficially seem to enforce law and order in the end. As an added bonus, Bush can also harp on national security, despite the fact that the NSA activities (without easily obtained court order) are an unnecessary trampling of Constitutional rights.<br><br>The main problem that the Bush Administration is going to face with anything he says though is that people probably aren't going to believe him. He's not the most popular guy right now and the next year does not bode well his whole power structure with all of the Republican scandals set to come to a head next year. There is a lot of talk about a power shift in Washington in the next election and that talk is all based on current polling numbers. All of that pessimism about Republicans doesn't even start to address the troubles of Tom DeLay, Bill Frist, and more importantly, Jack Abramoff.<br><br>Lately, we've seen the significant weakening of the Bush apologist as more conservative voices turn to caution and issues. Next year, the Bush apologist simply won't exist and his cult of personality will be totally disbanded.<br><br>-- Charlie Alpha Roger Yankee Whiskey

AFAIConcerned...<br><br>until they push through some sort of voter reform with teeth<br>~ A PAPER READOUT RECEIPT ~<br>We'll continue to spin our wheels Following Every "Election".<br><br>

I totally agree with your "whistle blower" vs vindictive leak comparison- two different motives, and I hope the American public will see that!<br><br>I heard the other day on the radio that Fitzgerald has sent out several letters of inditement.. from 1-5. They received them last Friday but they won't be announced until a Press conference to be this coming Thursday. Early hints was that Rove was definitely one, but there may be up to 4 more besides him.<br><br> I also heard/read Abramoff made a deal and several (6 -12) Congressmen may be involved... not just DeLay... I would bet most, if not all, are GOPers - Not to pick on them but Abramoff was a GOP fund raiser... so it suggests most would be in that "camp".<br><br>This can't be good for Bush or the GOP controlled Congress. To be fair, I would NOT be surprised if some Dems are doing the same thing.. I think the whole body is basically corrupt !! I have never felt it was all GOP - they just seem to be more arrogant and blatant about it the past 4-5 years.<br><br>I never had "rose colored" glasses on to say all GOPers are "bad" and all Dems "good" which is what the Bush apologists say - of course in reverse. Nothing is ever that "clear- cut"- it's always more complicated. I have posted a lot about Bush's bad behaviors and decisions, but I don't believe he's the only problem in Wash., DC. Congress is just as bad - Bush is just more visible because he's the President. Nevertheless, he has lots of company for being short-sighted azzholes.<br><br>David (OFI)<br>

The whole NSA business makes for an interesting constitutional question. If you know that the government is doing something that is illegal, but it covers the action under the national security umbrella, does it become impossible to bring the government to justice?<br><br>. . . . . Here's lookin' at [color:red]you</font color=red> kid.

yeah, the Ultimate Catch-22 !!<br><br>excellent point !!<br><br>David (OFI)<br>

I wouldn't be surprised to see any Democrats get caught up in this either, but there is something you are forgetting. A hallmark of both Tom DeLay and the new GOP power seat's business practices is that they refuse to work with any lobbyist unless that lobbyist exclusively deals with Republicans. So in their zeal to corner the market on peddling influence, they may have also contained all or most of the corruption.<br><br>(Wait, aren't peddling influence and corruption the same thing? We live in some pessimistic times, don't we?)<br><br>If I were making predictions, I'd say whatever damage the Democrats endure from any current corruption investigation will be totally insignificant compared to what the Republicans are going to go through. Hopefully everyone who did anything gets caught, but I think people living in Democratic districts can rest without too much worry that their representative will be embarrassed or run out of town.<br><br>The thing is, the Democrats have already been through all of this with the likes of Dan Rostenkowski and the Congressional Post Office Scandal of the 1990s. So if you're wary of Democrats as well of Republicans, you have a damn good reason to be. I just hope that the power shifts within the Democratic Party have promoted some better leadership while they have been out of power in the House.<br><br>-- Charlie Alpha Roger Yankee Whiskey

Hmmmm, I hadn't considered the K Street takeover in the context of lumpin' all the rats onto one ship. Delicious irony, seein' that ship sink and those rats swimmin' for all their worth. Which, is probably a sizeable amount. <br><br><br><br><br>[color:blue]And I'm the one that jaded you . . .</font color=blue>