Tuesday, August 30, 2005
TIME.com -- Charles Krauthammer: It Ain't Heavy, It's My Team
TIME.com -- Charles Krauthammer: It Ain't Heavy, It's My Team
Blogger Comments: Krauthammer is miserable, so his column says. I begin to read, wondering if he has finally seen the err in his ways. No such luck, it's a column about baseball. Incredible.
Blogger Comments: Krauthammer is miserable, so his column says. I begin to read, wondering if he has finally seen the err in his ways. No such luck, it's a column about baseball. Incredible.
The Sky Above the Directors Guild of America Building
The Director's Guild of America building on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. It was a very sunny day day in Southern California and the sky was so very blue........
Governor pardons all but himself in personnel investigation
Courier-Journal.com
By MARK R. CHELLGREN
Associated Press Writer
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Gov. Ernie Fletcher on Monday granted blanket pardons to everyone who has been or might be charged in the investigation of violations of personnel laws in his administration but said he would not pardon himself.
Fletcher said those who might have violated the law, which he admitted happened and blamed largely on "overeager young managers," would face the penalties that could be imposed by two administrative agencies that are also investigating.
Fletcher repeated his accusation that Democratic Attorney General Greg Stumbo has been carrying out a political vendetta. He also compared most of the charges that have been brought to minor violations of fishing laws.
Fletcher will appear Tuesday before the special grand jury that has charged nine current and former members of his administration with misdemeanor crimes. But he said he would not answer questions.
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Stumbo should drop his investigation and get on with more important business, Fletcher said.
Prosecutor Scott Crawford-Sutherland said earlier in the day the work of the grand jury would continue whether pardons were issued or not.
Stumbo said in a written statement that Fletcher has "slammed the door on the public's right to know what wrongs his administration has committed."
Fletcher made his remarks in a Capitol Rotunda crowded with dozens of his political appointees, who frequently interrupted him with cheers and applause. A spokesman said state government paid $1,200 for satellite time to beam the remarks around the state.
The subpoena for Fletcher includes a demand that he turn over virtually any record that might relate to Merit System personnel matters going back to the first day of his administration, Dec. 9, 2003.
The subpoena demands production of correspondence, memos, notes, faxes, e-mails and phone logs that Fletcher might have. Fletcher's calendar is also included in the subpoena.
The special grand jury was impaneled on June 6. In addition to the misdemeanor charges of personnel violations, one person has been indicted for 22 felony counts of evidence or witness tampering.
Some of those charged are senior members of the administration, including deputy chief of staff Richard Murgatroyd and acting Transportation Secretary Bill Nighbert. Fletcher said the senior managers provided "inadequate oversight" of younger people.
Fletcher said he has "never knowingly violated any laws" while governor.
"What we're talking about in this investigation is people recommending friends and relations who may have worked in a political campaign," Fletcher said.
The move carries huge political implications for Fletcher, who campaigned just two years ago on pledges to "clean up the mess" in Frankfort and uphold the sanctity of the state hiring laws.
Instead, the lead prosecutor has said Fletcher's administration created a "corrupt political machine" designed to hire and promote Republicans and other Fletcher supporters based on their loyalty instead of their qualifications.
"I'd characterize it this way: He ran on a platform of believe me and I will run state government differently," said former Democratic Gov. Julian Carroll, who is now a state senator from Frankfort. "He turns out to be the biggest deceiver that we've had in the governor's office in my lifetime. Rather than a believer, he's truly a deceiver."
House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, echoed the comments about Fletcher's hypocrisy.
"When he was running for governor, Ernie Fletcher promised to protect the Merit System," Richards said in a statement. "He also promised to clean up the mess in Frankfort. Tonight he gave us the final proof that he has done neither."
Fletcher said he would leave it to the voters to decide his political fate.
Joe Gershtenson, director of the Center for Kentucky History and Politics at Eastern Kentucky University, said Fletcher's pardons could cut both ways with voters.
"I still think, as I have all along, that pardons are risky, absolutely," Gershtenson said. "They inevitably create at least some perception that there's some guilt. Why pardon if somebody isn't going to ultimately get convicted? There's some danger of that."
On the other hand, if the hubbub dies down before 2007, Gershtenson said it is too early to call an end to Fletcher's electoral chances.
Gershtenson said Fletcher avoided an even larger problem that might have come if he pardoned himself.
Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, said pardons are grounds for the General Assembly to consider impeachment of Fletcher.
"He is showing a broad disrespect for the criminal justice system that every other citizen in the commonwealth must live with," Stein said.
"Certainly the General Assembly should hold hearings on whether or not his conduct in the granting of these pardons is conduct that rises to the level of consideration for impeachment," Carroll said.
Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, has been critical of how Fletcher has responded to the investigation but said the pardons should put the matter to rest.
Senate Minority Leader Ed Worley of Richmond said he didn't necessarily agree with the pardons and said it was time to move on. "But there's nothing to be done about it except to continue a divisive political war," Worley said.
Republican Party Chairman Darrell Brock, who was among those indicted for actions taken while he was commissioner of the Department of Local Government, said Monday evening he had done nothing wrong.
Mike Duncan, the Inez banker who is a heavyweight on the Republican National Committee, said Fletcher should be commended for the pardons. "I think the governor made the right decision because we need to move the state forward," Duncan said.
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.
By MARK R. CHELLGREN
Associated Press Writer
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Gov. Ernie Fletcher on Monday granted blanket pardons to everyone who has been or might be charged in the investigation of violations of personnel laws in his administration but said he would not pardon himself.
Fletcher said those who might have violated the law, which he admitted happened and blamed largely on "overeager young managers," would face the penalties that could be imposed by two administrative agencies that are also investigating.
Fletcher repeated his accusation that Democratic Attorney General Greg Stumbo has been carrying out a political vendetta. He also compared most of the charges that have been brought to minor violations of fishing laws.
Fletcher will appear Tuesday before the special grand jury that has charged nine current and former members of his administration with misdemeanor crimes. But he said he would not answer questions.
Advertisement
Stumbo should drop his investigation and get on with more important business, Fletcher said.
Prosecutor Scott Crawford-Sutherland said earlier in the day the work of the grand jury would continue whether pardons were issued or not.
Stumbo said in a written statement that Fletcher has "slammed the door on the public's right to know what wrongs his administration has committed."
Fletcher made his remarks in a Capitol Rotunda crowded with dozens of his political appointees, who frequently interrupted him with cheers and applause. A spokesman said state government paid $1,200 for satellite time to beam the remarks around the state.
The subpoena for Fletcher includes a demand that he turn over virtually any record that might relate to Merit System personnel matters going back to the first day of his administration, Dec. 9, 2003.
The subpoena demands production of correspondence, memos, notes, faxes, e-mails and phone logs that Fletcher might have. Fletcher's calendar is also included in the subpoena.
The special grand jury was impaneled on June 6. In addition to the misdemeanor charges of personnel violations, one person has been indicted for 22 felony counts of evidence or witness tampering.
Some of those charged are senior members of the administration, including deputy chief of staff Richard Murgatroyd and acting Transportation Secretary Bill Nighbert. Fletcher said the senior managers provided "inadequate oversight" of younger people.
Fletcher said he has "never knowingly violated any laws" while governor.
"What we're talking about in this investigation is people recommending friends and relations who may have worked in a political campaign," Fletcher said.
The move carries huge political implications for Fletcher, who campaigned just two years ago on pledges to "clean up the mess" in Frankfort and uphold the sanctity of the state hiring laws.
Instead, the lead prosecutor has said Fletcher's administration created a "corrupt political machine" designed to hire and promote Republicans and other Fletcher supporters based on their loyalty instead of their qualifications.
"I'd characterize it this way: He ran on a platform of believe me and I will run state government differently," said former Democratic Gov. Julian Carroll, who is now a state senator from Frankfort. "He turns out to be the biggest deceiver that we've had in the governor's office in my lifetime. Rather than a believer, he's truly a deceiver."
House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, echoed the comments about Fletcher's hypocrisy.
"When he was running for governor, Ernie Fletcher promised to protect the Merit System," Richards said in a statement. "He also promised to clean up the mess in Frankfort. Tonight he gave us the final proof that he has done neither."
Fletcher said he would leave it to the voters to decide his political fate.
Joe Gershtenson, director of the Center for Kentucky History and Politics at Eastern Kentucky University, said Fletcher's pardons could cut both ways with voters.
"I still think, as I have all along, that pardons are risky, absolutely," Gershtenson said. "They inevitably create at least some perception that there's some guilt. Why pardon if somebody isn't going to ultimately get convicted? There's some danger of that."
On the other hand, if the hubbub dies down before 2007, Gershtenson said it is too early to call an end to Fletcher's electoral chances.
Gershtenson said Fletcher avoided an even larger problem that might have come if he pardoned himself.
Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, said pardons are grounds for the General Assembly to consider impeachment of Fletcher.
"He is showing a broad disrespect for the criminal justice system that every other citizen in the commonwealth must live with," Stein said.
"Certainly the General Assembly should hold hearings on whether or not his conduct in the granting of these pardons is conduct that rises to the level of consideration for impeachment," Carroll said.
Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, has been critical of how Fletcher has responded to the investigation but said the pardons should put the matter to rest.
Senate Minority Leader Ed Worley of Richmond said he didn't necessarily agree with the pardons and said it was time to move on. "But there's nothing to be done about it except to continue a divisive political war," Worley said.
Republican Party Chairman Darrell Brock, who was among those indicted for actions taken while he was commissioner of the Department of Local Government, said Monday evening he had done nothing wrong.
Mike Duncan, the Inez banker who is a heavyweight on the Republican National Committee, said Fletcher should be commended for the pardons. "I think the governor made the right decision because we need to move the state forward," Duncan said.
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.
(Don't) Mention the word J*
(Don�t) Mention the word J**
"Mention the word Jew in anything except reverential tones and it’s like calling the Pope a paedophile. Talk about walking on soft-boiled eggs as Muddy Waters used to sing."
"Mention the word Jew in anything except reverential tones and it’s like calling the Pope a paedophile. Talk about walking on soft-boiled eggs as Muddy Waters used to sing."
Comfort-Zoned - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com
Comfort-Zoned - Newsweek Politics - MSNBC.com
"By refusing to reach out to dissenters, Bush is paying a huge political price"
"By refusing to reach out to dissenters, Bush is paying a huge political price"
Nature's Masterpiece
every once in a while you come across something that you know or recognize and have seen so often. every once in a while that thing takes you by surprise and you see it in a different light. today has been one of those days...
Fog 1110: 9th Street Willow
This is one is my favorite of the series. City of Bridges, Pittsburgh PA. USA
Waiting for Katrina
A woman walks through deserted French Quarter of New Orleans as thousands of residents flee hurricane Katrina. Photograph: Rick Wilking/Reuters
Water Lilly Drops
A day lilly shows off the early morning sun while glistening after a morning shower....
Better if viewed at the larger/original size....
Better if viewed at the larger/original size....
ABC News: Infusion of Cash Could Boost Stock Market
ABC News: Infusion of Cash Could Boost Stock Market
Blogger Thoughts: News Article Looks Bogus to Me
Blogger Thoughts: News Article Looks Bogus to Me
Did Time intentionally deceive its readers in P ... [Media Matters]
Did Time intentionally deceive its readers in P ... [Media Matters]
Did Time intentionally deceive its readers in Plame case?
For some time, the central mystery in the Valerie Plame saga was which members of the White House staff leaked the undercover CIA operative's identity to reporters. Although there are still many unanswered questions, at least part of the mystery has been solved: Time magazine correspondent Matthew Cooper has testified that he was told about Plame by White House senior adviser Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff. Yet while Cooper and his editors at Time spent two years keeping Rove and Libby's -- and their own -- role a secret, they published articles that reported, without challenge, a statement from the White House that they knew to be false.
The issue of Time's actions over the past two years was revived by an August 25 Los Angeles Times article stating that the magazine did not pursue a waiver from Rove allowing Cooper to testify in part because "Time editors were concerned about becoming part of such an explosive story in an election year." While the favor this "concern" did for the Bush re-election effort has been criticized, Time's lack of disclosure about its own role in the affair has gone largely unnoticed.
As the Los Angeles Times laid out the chronology, the details of which became publicly known only earlier this summer, on July 11, 2003, Rove told Cooper that the wife of former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV worked for the CIA and had a role in sending Wilson on a 2002 mission to Niger to investigate claims that Iraq had attempted to purchase uranium there. After speaking to Rove, Cooper sent an email to Michael Duffy, Time's Washington bureau chief, relating what Rove had told him about Wilson's wife and saying that Rove had spoken on "double super secret background." The next day, Cooper spoke to Libby, who confirmed Plame's identity. Two days later, Robert D. Novak's infamous column revealing Plame's identity appeared.
Yet on October 13, 2003, three months after receiving the leak from Rove and Libby, Duffy -- the very person to whom Cooper had passed on the information concerning Wilson's wife and the source who gave that information to him -- wrote an article for Time on the subject. In the article, to which Cooper contributed reporting, was this passage:
When word spread last week that the Department of Justice (DOJ) was launching a full criminal probe into who had leaked Plame's identity, Democrats immediately raised a public alarm: How could Justice credibly investigate so secretive an Administration, especially when the investigators are led by Attorney General John Ashcroft, whose former paid political consultant Karl Rove was initially accused by Wilson of being the man behind the leak? A TIME review of federal and state election records reveals that Ashcroft paid Rove's Texas firm $746,000 for direct-mail services in two gubernatorial campaigns and one Senate race from 1984 through 1994. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said accusations of Rove's peddling information are "ridiculous." Says McClellan: "There is simply no truth to that suggestion."
Duffy wrote that Rove was "initially" accused by Wilson of being the man behind the leak, as though Wilson was no longer making that accusation or that the accusation was found to be without merit. In fact, Wilson did not back down from the charge, although he did allow that he had no proof of Rove's involvement. For instance, appearing on the September 29, 2003, edition of CNN's Paula Zahn Now, Wilson said, "I don't have any specific information. I would hope that an investigation would yield the information as to who was responsible for the precise leak. What I do have are any number of journalist sources, none of whom I have any reason not to believe, who have said that the White House was pushing this story after the leak, after the Novak article, and including Karl Rove."
Of course, it turned out that Wilson's charge was correct, as Cooper and his editors knew all along. Despite that knowledge, Time printed a quote from McClellan that they knew to be false without offering any refutation.
Duffy, Cooper, and Time not only failed to inform their readers in July 2003 that they were part of the story, but they continued to report on the leak without offering that information for more than a year. In addition to two stories in October 2003, Time wrote about the leak again on January 12, 2004. It was not until August 2004, when Cooper was held in contempt by the grand jury investigating the Plame leak, that it was revealed that Cooper was involved in the Plame affair.
— P.W.
Did Time intentionally deceive its readers in Plame case?
For some time, the central mystery in the Valerie Plame saga was which members of the White House staff leaked the undercover CIA operative's identity to reporters. Although there are still many unanswered questions, at least part of the mystery has been solved: Time magazine correspondent Matthew Cooper has testified that he was told about Plame by White House senior adviser Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff. Yet while Cooper and his editors at Time spent two years keeping Rove and Libby's -- and their own -- role a secret, they published articles that reported, without challenge, a statement from the White House that they knew to be false.
The issue of Time's actions over the past two years was revived by an August 25 Los Angeles Times article stating that the magazine did not pursue a waiver from Rove allowing Cooper to testify in part because "Time editors were concerned about becoming part of such an explosive story in an election year." While the favor this "concern" did for the Bush re-election effort has been criticized, Time's lack of disclosure about its own role in the affair has gone largely unnoticed.
As the Los Angeles Times laid out the chronology, the details of which became publicly known only earlier this summer, on July 11, 2003, Rove told Cooper that the wife of former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV worked for the CIA and had a role in sending Wilson on a 2002 mission to Niger to investigate claims that Iraq had attempted to purchase uranium there. After speaking to Rove, Cooper sent an email to Michael Duffy, Time's Washington bureau chief, relating what Rove had told him about Wilson's wife and saying that Rove had spoken on "double super secret background." The next day, Cooper spoke to Libby, who confirmed Plame's identity. Two days later, Robert D. Novak's infamous column revealing Plame's identity appeared.
Yet on October 13, 2003, three months after receiving the leak from Rove and Libby, Duffy -- the very person to whom Cooper had passed on the information concerning Wilson's wife and the source who gave that information to him -- wrote an article for Time on the subject. In the article, to which Cooper contributed reporting, was this passage:
When word spread last week that the Department of Justice (DOJ) was launching a full criminal probe into who had leaked Plame's identity, Democrats immediately raised a public alarm: How could Justice credibly investigate so secretive an Administration, especially when the investigators are led by Attorney General John Ashcroft, whose former paid political consultant Karl Rove was initially accused by Wilson of being the man behind the leak? A TIME review of federal and state election records reveals that Ashcroft paid Rove's Texas firm $746,000 for direct-mail services in two gubernatorial campaigns and one Senate race from 1984 through 1994. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said accusations of Rove's peddling information are "ridiculous." Says McClellan: "There is simply no truth to that suggestion."
Duffy wrote that Rove was "initially" accused by Wilson of being the man behind the leak, as though Wilson was no longer making that accusation or that the accusation was found to be without merit. In fact, Wilson did not back down from the charge, although he did allow that he had no proof of Rove's involvement. For instance, appearing on the September 29, 2003, edition of CNN's Paula Zahn Now, Wilson said, "I don't have any specific information. I would hope that an investigation would yield the information as to who was responsible for the precise leak. What I do have are any number of journalist sources, none of whom I have any reason not to believe, who have said that the White House was pushing this story after the leak, after the Novak article, and including Karl Rove."
Of course, it turned out that Wilson's charge was correct, as Cooper and his editors knew all along. Despite that knowledge, Time printed a quote from McClellan that they knew to be false without offering any refutation.
Duffy, Cooper, and Time not only failed to inform their readers in July 2003 that they were part of the story, but they continued to report on the leak without offering that information for more than a year. In addition to two stories in October 2003, Time wrote about the leak again on January 12, 2004. It was not until August 2004, when Cooper was held in contempt by the grand jury investigating the Plame leak, that it was revealed that Cooper was involved in the Plame affair.
— P.W.
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