October 2005 Archives
Man, there have to be a whole lot of disappointed lefties out there.
Talk about a huge build up to nothing. The Libby indictments stink. I agree with Ledeen. They basically boil down to a he said/she said dispute between what Libby told the investigators he said to various journalists, and what the journalists say he said. Apparently, the journalist's word is gold and support enough alone for a federal indictment for obstructing justice and perjury.
Don't believe me? Here's MSNBC's synopsis of the charges
Count one: obstruction of justice
The grand jury charges that Libby did “knowingly and corruptly endeavor to influence, obstruct and impede the due administration of justice... by misleading and deceiving the grand jury” about when and how he learned that covert operative Valerie Plame worked for the CIA. He is also accused of misleading the grand jury about how he disclosed that information to the media.
Well, there's no support for the first sentence in the facts alleged in the indictment. As to the second sentence, if the allegations about Libby's accounts of his conversations with the journalists are correct, they seem to indicate that Libby lied to the journalists, but there is no indication in the facts alleged that Libby lied to the grand jury about the truth of his knowledge of Plame's identity. In other words, its a crime for Libby to tell the Grand Jury that he told Russert that he didn't know that Plame was Wilson's wife only if Libby also claims that he actually didn't know that Plame was Wilson's wife. It's not a crime for him to have known that Plame was Wilson's wife and lie to Russert about it (it was actually his legal duty!)
Count two: false statement The grand jury charges that Libby “did knowingly and willfully make a materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statement” in an FBI investigation. Specifically, the indictment says Libby misled FBI agents in response to questions about a conversation with Tim Russert of NBC News in July 2003.
Well, that only sticks if the jury believes Russert and not Libby. Do you really want to indict a federal official on he said/she said evidence?
Count three: false statement Libby is charged with misleading FBI agents about his July 2003 conversation with another reporter, Matt Cooper of Time Magazine.
Ditto.
Count four: perjury After taking an oath to testify truthfully, Libby knowingly made a “false material declaration” about his conversation with Russert, the grand jury alleges.
Ditto.
Count five: perjury Also under oath, Libby is accused of knowingly making a “false material declaration” about his conversation with Cooper.
Ditto, again. Counts 2 and 3 are essentially the same as 4 and 5, the only difference being who Libby was telling his side of the story to at the time, the FBI or the Grand Jury.
To repeat, there is no allegation in the indictment that Libby lied to the Federal Grand Jury or the FBI about his knowledge of Valerie Plame's identity and when he learned it.
Where's the crime, Fitz? Is this the best ya got? 'Cuz it ain't good enough.
And don't you usually lead with your best stuff? If this is what he's leading with, I think the White House has very little to worry about.
A friend sent me this article about the "crisis" in MLB. Apparently, there is a growing sentiment that there aren't enough African-Americans on the rosters.
But I tend to agree with my friend:
I know you aren't a baseball guy but this article really isn't about "baseball" per se. I guess what troubles me about this article is that A) People are going around counting the number of each race on each team; and B) that there doesn't seem to be any sort of concern about the number or thereof of caucasians on the rosters of other sports. Shouldn't it all be about who the best is for the sport or position? Since the growth of baseball is coming from the college draft should we start diluting the academic and talent "bars" thereby creating more "opportunity"? I just can't figure out what these people want. Does everything need to have a quota attached?
And if this article is correct, and approximately 9% of the major leaguers are African-American, then is there really a crisis? 9% is pretty much representative of the population as a whole, isn't it? [Ed: African-Americans comprise approx. 12% of the population as a whole] Still, 9% isn't far off.
What about the number of whites in the NFL and NBA. We don't see white commentators bemoaning the lack of white players, do we?
Has it ever occurred to anyone that blacks simply choose not to play baseball? Egads! Life choices governed by free will, not determined by the cool of their skin! It's radical, I know.
Leading intellectuals will meet next week to discuss its replacement.
Details here.
Except to make people like me put "See 'Domino'" at the top of my 'to do' list?
How does a story like this get green-lighted exactly?
Horny reporter: Keira Knightley is topless in her next movie!
Editor: Great! Think of a news angle and print it!
Horny Reporter: There isn't a news angle.
Editor: Screw it! Just print it!
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - More than three dozen Palestinian police officers broke into the parliament building in Gaza City on Monday, firing in the air to protest a lack of bullets...
Perhaps if they shot fewer of them into the air, they'd have more when it came time to do their job.
But maybe I'm being too analytical.
