Monthly Archives: March 2007

Today’s Buzzword: Waltergate

Posted on March 7, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

They haven't come up with a good name for the firing prosecutors scandal yet, but the military hospital scandal has a great new moniker: “Waltergate.”

Perfect.

Posted in Politics: The Party of Sleaze | Comments Off on Today’s Buzzword: Waltergate

An Honest Man

Posted on March 6, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

It's often forgotten how it came to be that uber prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald got appointed Special Counsel for the Plame investigation. After a period of Attorney General John Ashcroft's dithering and meddling, it finally dawned on someone that Ashcroft was conflicted out from the Plame case given the likelihood that the White House was involved, so responsibility for deciding what should be done passed to his deputy, James B. Comey. In his capacity as Acting Attorney General, Mr. Comey selected Patrick Fitzgerald because Comey believed Fitzgerald was the best US Attorney in the nation, and thus the best person for the job. (Comey behaved with similar rectitude when he took a principled stand against unfettered domestic surveillance.) And in due course, naturally, Comey got punished for his honesty, being passed over for the top job at Justice, landing on his feet at a defense contractor.

So if you are the sort of person who will celebrate today's verdict in the Libby trial, not vindictively, but as welcome evidence that the system works (sometimes), then perhaps you might also raise one toast for James B. Comey, patriot.

Posted in Law: Ethics | 1 Comment

It’s a Scandal Trifecta

Posted on March 6, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Today's scandal trifecta is pretty amazing.

  • The jury system works…and Scooter Libby's Guilty, Guilty, Not Guilty, Guilty, Guilty. Calls for Bush and Cheney to at least explain themselves. (Not to mention rumblings about Cheney's impeachment.) But don't hold your breath: Cheney is already stonewalling (“Since his legal team has announced that he is seeking a new trial and, if necessary, pursuing an appeal, I plan to have no further comment on the merits of this matter until these proceedings are concluded,” Cheney said. Earlier, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino issued a similar statement, saying that President Bush saw news of the verdict on television and was also “saddened” for Libby. She said Bush would continue to withhold comment because there is still “an ongoing criminal proceeding” in view of the defense's plan to seek a new trial or appeal the verdict.)

    And the White House won't rule out a pardon. The hope of which (on the administration's last day in office?) keeps Scooter from ratting on his boss — especially if the Judge at the July sentencing lets him stay out of jail pending appeal.

  • Huge Day on Fired Prosecutors Story. US Attorney 'Pressuregate' scandal (aka “Purged Prosecutors” ) metastasizes. Looks like lots more to come here. And that this scandal will end the careers of some Republican members of the legislature too. And maybe worse?
  • And of course there's the Walter Reed scandal. Some scandal containment (at last) by SecDef Gates, but just flopping around at the White House; and I don't think newly appointed investigatory commission co-chair Donna Shalala will do them any favors in her report.

    I wonder, though, if the co-chair, Bob Dole, is as safe a choice as the White House may think. I imagine they are banking on Dole's life-long track record of being a rabidly partisan tool when the crunch is on. But this might just be the exception: Bob Dole is said to have bitter memories of his own rehabilitation at the hands of the VA. As the blurb for his book put it,

    Dole suffered an arm wound during WWII, and because of the poor army medical treatment he also lost a kidney during his rehabilitation.

    And, interestingly, Dole was a physical therapy patient at Walter Reed in 2005.

Not to mention Bin Laden hasn't been caught for something like 2003 days. And, oh yes, there's a couple of wars on…

Posted in Politics: The Party of Sleaze | 2 Comments

Donna Shalala Gets a New Part-Time Job

Posted on March 6, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Dole, Shalala to Head Health Care Probe:

President Bush today appointed former senator Bob Dole and former health and human services secretary Donna E. Shalala to co-chair a new presidential commission that will look into problems at the nation's military and veterans' hospitals.

Shalala is of course also the President of the University of Miami — and a Hillary Clinton supporter.

Posted in Miami, Politics: The Party of Sleaze | 1 Comment

Very Ugly War Stories. But Are They True?

Posted on March 6, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

Joshua Key is said to be a US Army deserter who fled to Canada (which, incidentally, has an extradition treaty with the US for deserters and draft dodgers now). He's published a book, The Deserter's Tale, which purports to be an account of atrocities he witnessed while serving in Iraq. An excerpt — very ugly if true — is online at Why I fled George Bush's war.

As a deserter, Key has an obvious interest in justifying himself. So I think these very serious allegations require corroboration before we can safely rely on them. But serious charges of random violence and apparent gang rape demand at least some investigation. Especially as the book is going to have Canadian, Australian, French, German, Dutch, Indian, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish and Japanese editions.

Unfortunately, that sort of investigation is not at all easy. And the US Army presumably has no great interest in risking corroboration. I fear we may never know for sure.

Posted in Iraq | 2 Comments

Pick Your Nuisance

Posted on March 6, 2007 by Michael Froomkin

We may have the occasional crocodile here in Miami, but it seems just north of us, in Broward County, they have Pitbulls On The Loose.

Nineteen possibly feral pitbulls collected in one week? And many more still on the loose? I feel safer with the crocodiles, which we are assured as generally peaceful and leave one alone if one doesn't bug them.

Posted in Florida | 1 Comment