[Auntie_Cipation]

THE NIGHT BEFORE FITZMAS

Twas the night before Fitzmas, and in the White House
Every one was scared shitless, and Bush was quite soused
The indictments were hanging like Damoceles' sword
As verminous oxen prepared to be gored

The perps were all sleepless, curled fetal in bed
While visions of prison cells loomed in each head
And Dick in his jammies, and George in his lap
Were sweating and swearing and looking like crap

When out on the web there arose such a clatter
The blogs and the forums were buzzing with chatter
Away to the PC Rove ran like a flash
He booted his browser and cleared out his cache

The rumors that flew through the cold autumn air
Made Dubya shiver with angry despair
When what to his horror-filled eyes did he spy?
A bespectacled man with a brown suit and tie!

With an impartial manner that gave Bush the shits
He knew in a moment it must be St. Fitz!
With unwavering voice, his indictments they came
He cleared out his throat and he called them by name:

Now Scooter, Now Libby,
Now Blossoming Turd,
Now Cheney, dear Cheney,
Yes, you are the third
To the bench of the court
Up the steps, down the hall
Now come along, come along,
Come along, all!

He then became silent, and went right to work
He filed the indictments and turned with a jerk
And pointing his finger at justice's scale
Said, "The people be served, and let fairness prevail."

He then left the room, to his team gave a nod
And the sound could be heard of a crumbling facade
And we all did exclaim, as he faded from sight
"Merry Fitzmas to all, and to all a good night!"

- © 2005 Daryl W. Permission granted to reprint anywhere and everyhwere as long as my name is included. Cheers!

[DantesPeak]

Not a lawyer, but some lawyers have said that Bush could pardon himself and Cheney at any point - even before being indicted. Of course, that would be very politically embarassing. Presidents have actually done this before - pardon before a sentence, although they were not 'involved' in those cases. Well, at least Reagan said he wasn't involved.

[erl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DantesPeak', 'N')ot a lawyer, but some lawyers have said that Bush could pardon himself and Cheney at any point - even before being indicted. Of course, that would be very politically embarassing. Presidents have actually done this before - pardon before a sentence, although they were not 'involved' in those cases. Well, at least Reagan said he wasn't involved.

[erl]

You all can return to your celebrating, now.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('erl', 'Y')ou all can return to your celebrating, now.

[DantesPeak]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('erl', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DantesPeak', 'N')ot a lawyer, but some lawyers have said that Bush could pardon himself and Cheney at any point - even before being indicted. Of course, that would be very politically embarassing. Presidents have actually done this before - pardon before a sentence, although they were not 'involved' in those cases. Well, at least Reagan said he wasn't involved.

[rogerhb]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('erl', 'P')residents may not pardon themselves.

[thuja]

man I don't think we want Cheney to get indicted- because then he would resign, which means Bush would put someone else in, such as Rice or Giullianni, who would immediately become front runner for 2008. No, let the evil one stew in the vp slot as indictment hearings show his dark and twisted ways to the rest of the world.

[emersonbiggins]

*pd*
time to crack open my own civics textbooks

[stu]

(Thread moved from Geopolitics)

[some_guy282]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('thuja', 'm')an I don't think we want Cheney to get indicted- because then he would resign, which means Bush would put someone else in, such as Rice or Giullianni, who would immediately become front runner for 2008. No, let the evil one stew in the vp slot as indictment hearings show his dark and twisted ways to the rest of the world.

[Eli]

This is going to be a major shit hit the fan situation for the Bush addministration.

My bet is it will be Rove, Scooter, but no Cheney. We will see though.

The words lame duck come to mind.

[LadyRuby]

Not sure how reliable this source is, but here goes. Looks like possible indictments on Libby and Rove, more serious ones on Libby. link
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')pecial Prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald has asked the grand jury investigating the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame Wilson to indict Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby and Bush’s Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, lawyers close to the investigation tell RAW STORY.

Fitzgerald has also asked the jury to indict Libby on a second charge: knowingly outing a covert operative, the lawyers said. They said the prosecutor believes that Libby violated a 1982 law that made it illegal to unmask an undercover CIA agent. Libby’s attorney, Joseph A. Tate, did not return a call seeking comment.

Two other officials, who are not employees in the White House, are also expected to face indictments, the lawyers said. Those close to the investigation said Rove was offered a deal Tuesday to plead guilty to perjury for a reduced charge. Rove’s lawyer was told that Fitzgerald would drop an obstruction of justice charge if his client agreed not to contest allegations of perjury, they said.

Rove declined to plead guilty to the reduced charge, the sources said, indicating through his attorney Robert Luskin that he intended to fight the charges. A call placed to Luskin was not returned. Those familiar with the case said that Libby did not inform Rove that Plame was covert. As a result, Rove may not be charged with a crime in leaking Plame’s identity, even though he spoke with reporters.

A Wall Street Journal report Wednesday suggests Fitzgerald's primary focus is Cheney's office. An L.A. Times story last week indicated that Libby mounted an "aggressive campaign" against Joseph Wilson, the husband of the outed CIA agent, who questioned the Administration's claims that Iraq sought to obtain uranium from Niger.

Richard Sale, a former UPI intelligence reporter, wrote on his blog Wednesday that two White House officials were likely to be indicted, citing federal law enforcement and senior intelligence officials. Sale was the first to finger Pentagon analyst Larry Franklin in the Israel-AIPAC espionage case.

Rove’s charges appear to stem from allegations that he lied to FBI investigators in 2003, the sources said. Perjury and obstruction charges leveled against Libby center around conflicting testimony to the grand jury, they added. The lawyers said Fitzgerald needed more evidence to convince the grand jury that Plame was in fact an undercover agent. On Monday, he sent FBI agents to her residential neighborhood to obtain testimony from neighbors that they were unaware of Plame’s employment prior to her outing.

Evidence collected in these inquiries was aimed at convincing the jury that she was covert, the lawyers said. A Reuters story indicated that Plame’s neighbors were not aware that she was working at the agency. The indictments, said to be under seal, are expected to be handed down today or Thursday. It is unclear how much information Fitzgerald will make public when they are announced.

[Grimnir]

I seriously doubt Cheney will be indicted. He may be pressured to resign if Libby is, but that would probably go about as far as it did with Rumsfeld.

[Eli]

It is my understanding that when Cheney and Bush testified they were not under oath either so a perjury charge may be harder to do.

This thing is going to be fun to watch Bush is such a bad politician he will have a terrible time muddling his way through it.

[Leanan]

One of the rumors going around is that Senator John McCain has been approached to step in as VP. If Cheney has to resign for, ahem, health reasons, say. That would allow Bush to distance himself from Cheney, as well as give the GOP an obvious successor to Dubya.

[Eli]

Well there is no way it would be Condi Rice

She is quite possibly a lesbian.

[Free]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Eli', 'W')ell there is no way it would be Condi Rice

She is quite possibly a lesbian.

[Leanan]

Jeff Gannon wasn't running for president.

I think Condi would be a problem. Not just because she's not married. (She's never been married, but she accidentally called Dubya "my husband" once. Weird.) But because she's a woman and not white. That would be a serious hurdle, I fear. Especially for the GOP.

[emersonbiggins]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Free', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Eli', 'W')ell there is no way it would be Condi Rice

She is quite possibly a lesbian.