Neocondom

Who's getting indicted?

Libby? Certainly:

From here on in, we can expect Libby to be charged. The only question is what evidence Fitzgerald may or may not have that leaking this information was part of a multiperson conspiracy to distribute it.

Based on Rove's conversation with Time reporter Cooper, he may have a very, very strong case for that as well.

Rove? Very likely:

Special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald appears to be seriously weighing a perjury charge for Rove's failure to tell grand jurors that he talked to TIME correspondent Matthew Cooper about Plame, according to a person close to Rove.

Cheney? Could happen:

A federal prosecutor questioned New York Times reporter Judith Miller about whether Vice President Dick Cheney himself was aware or authorized her discussions with his chief of staff, Lewis Libby, about a covert CIA operative, Miller said on Saturday.

Frank Rich says it's not about Libby and Rove any more, but Bush and Cheney (article behind paid registration):

This modus operandi was foolproof, shielding the president as well as Mr. Rove from culpability, as long as it was about winning an election. The attack on Mr. Wilson, by contrast, has left them and the Cheney-Libby tag team vulnerable because it's about something far bigger: protecting the lies that took the country into what the Reagan administration National Security Agency director, Lt. Gen. William Odom, recently called "the greatest strategic disaster in United States history."

And the worst could actually be yet to come. The GOP appears to be even more worried about what the outcome of the investigation into the affairs of Jack Abramoff might reveal:

And while the CIA leak investigation by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, now in its second year, has yet to yield indictments, the investigations of Abramoff have resulted, so far, in bank fraud charges against him; obstruction charges against David Safavian, the Bush administration's former chief procurement official; and the withdrawal of President Bush's nomination of Timothy Flanigan, a onetime associate of Abramoff, to be the No. 2 official at the Justice Department.

Abramoff has had close connections with leading Republicans, including Bush; U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay of Sugar Land, the former House majority leader; Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania; party strategist Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform; and strategist Ralph Reed, the former Christian Coalition executive director and Bush campaign official who is now running for lieutenant governor of Georgia.

This is going to be the worst month for the GOP since 1974.

(Corrupt) business as usual

Yesterday Rep. Mike Conaway, of the 11th Congressional district of Texas, hosted a fundraiser for Tom DeLay at the Petroleum Club in Midland, Texas.

I don't have any report on how it went, but I do know a little about the Petroleum Club, as I went there a few times when I lived in Midland and in Beaumont as well. As you might imagine, it's the dining room for the captains of industry, and not just oil barons but cattle barons too, and also bank presidents and newspaper publishers and corporate executives and independent businessmen. Emphasis on 'men'. Extra emphasis on 'white'. The waiters in both cities where I attended functions were all black, but that was it. Don't know if any of that has changed; this was in the mid-'80's to early '90's.

The Houston Business Journal describes the Petroleum Club as one of the "most prestigious and influential organizations," with "a roster of members who are on the forefront of the Texas and global oil and gas industry." (A history on the club's website says the original conception was for "an exclusive, handsome club of and for men of the oil industry.")

"This is a very secure, comfortable place where our members can do their business without having anyone in their business," said Anna Schmidt, the Houston club's director of membership development.

DeLay certainly feels comfortable there. In fact, according to the Washington Post, it was at the Petroleum Club that DeLay received the corporate contributions at the center of his (alleged) money-laundering scheme:

Some corporations were careful to specify that their contributions were solely meant to defray legally permissible administrative expenses. TRMPAC solicitations being investigated did not mention the restrictions. For example, DeLay was the featured “special guest” at a fundraising luncheon for TRMPAC at the Houston Petroleum Club, where donors were asked to contribute $15,000 to be considered a co-chair and $25,000 to be listed as an underwriter.

“Corporate checks are acceptable,” the invitation stated, according to a copy obtained by The Post.

That event took place on August 19, 2002. A few weeks later, TRMPAC official John Colyandro wrote this check, (allegedly) funneling corporate cash to the Republican National Committee, which is now at the heart of the indictment against DeLay.

Is there anyone who would like to hold accountable the Republicans who represent them in the US Congress for this in-your-face corruption?

Karl Rove before the grand jury this morning

Do you think he's still keeping this promise to the President?

A couple of memories of New Orleans

Borrowed and brought over:

Cafe au lait and Beignets at two in the morning; a great way to top off an evening in the French Quarter. Powdery sugar all over your face while the pigeons peck for scraps on Decatur Street; chicory-laced coffee piping hot slurped down while viewing an other worldy scene of Jackson Square and Saint Louis Cathedral. Another day of trolling the Big Easy just hours away.

Goodnight my friends; I will never let you forget New Orleans.

And in response to that, this was written:

I hate cafe au lait.

My memories of New Orleans aren't so typical. I remember standing in line with my first girlfriend to see the King Tut exhibit at City Park. I remember being terrified of watching my grandfather placed in his tomb, and wandering around the graveyard instead. My sister and I found a section of the graveyard that was being repaired, and there were a couple of tombs broken open, and some bones scattered around.

A cousin of mine had a neighbor that had a black bear as a pet. Somewhere there was an old corner store with a wooden floor that echoed like a warehouse where my parents took us to eat po-boys. I remember my Aunt Valerie's house, and circling the block because her old house smelled of cigarettes too much for me to bear.

I remember my great-great aunts Maddie and Evelyn, and their old shotgun duplex, and the little brick courtyard that was always dank and in shadows. I remember when Evelyn died, and my father searched their house and found a sock full of Kennedy silver dollars on top of a newspaper from the Sunday after Kennedy was shot. I still have that newspaper, I think. There is an article about Oswald, and it gives his address on Magazine Street, about two blocks from where my mother grew up. That surprised my mother. The article ended with a sentence that Oswald was going to be moved from the Dallas courthouse that morning.

I remember my father's shock when he found a picture of Aunt Maddie with an old boyfriend who was black. We all thought it was cool, but my father was surprised. Aunt Maddie always looked more Creole than Cajun anyway.

I remember riding to New Orleans on Highway 90 as a little kid, lying on the back dash of the car and watching the city lights flick by over my head. I remember when the I-10 bridge from Slidell was built, and I was so scared to cross it that I hid on the floorboard and prayed that the bridge wouldn't collapse.

I remember meeting a cousin at a funeral parlor and never seeing her again. Weddings, funerals, suburban streets, canals, antebellum mansions under oak trees, memorials to the War of 1812, soccer fields along the levy, the river roads out of the city...

There is so much more to New Orleans than the French Quarter, and there is no way it won't all come back. Too many people have too many memories.

I'll drink to all that.

Christmas in October this year?

From of all sources, the Wall Street Journal (page 3A today, and temporarily free online):

Mr. Fitzgerald's pursuit now suggests he might be investigating not a narrow case on the leaking of the agent's name, but perhaps a broader conspiracy.

* * *
Lawyers familiar with the investigation believe that at least part of the outcome likely hangs on the inner workings of what has been dubbed the White House Iraq Group. Formed in August 2002, the group, which included Messrs. Rove and Libby, worked on setting strategy for selling the war in Iraq to the public in the months leading up to the March 2003 invasion. The group likely would have played a significant role in responding to Mr. Wilson's claims.

Given that the grand jury is set to expire on Oct. 28, it is possible charges in this case could come as early as next week. Former federal prosecutors say it is traditional not to wait for the last minute and run the risk of not having enough jurors to reach a quorum. There are 23 members of a grand jury, and 16 are needed for a quorum before any indictments could be voted on. This grand jury has traditionally met on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Dear Santa:

For Christmas, could I please have a Johnny Jump-o-Leen and some Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots and a Red Ryder BB Gun and Karl Rove and Scooter Libby in handcuffs and leg irons, with Dick Cheney (at least) as unindicted co-conspirator?

Please?

Your friend, PDiddie