Thursday, October 27, 2005
Cranks in the Crosshairs
The Mrs. and I finally caught up last night on our backlog of episodes of The West Wing--the most recent of which gave us a look inside a White House under investigation. (Former Clinton aide Paul Begala takes a similar look inside at TPM Cafe this morning.) People inside a White House under this kind of siege aren't just threatened from the outside; they're also threatened by one another, as Begala notes and The West Wing demonstrated. The most innocuous phone call, e-mail, or meeting note can become evidence of wrongdoing, and merely speaking to the wrong person at the wrong time can put you in the crosshairs, too.
I suppose that's what Repugs were trying to say last week by test-driving the talking point that any indictment for perjury or obstruction of justice in Plamegate would be "minor." However, knowing what we know about the people surrounding He Who Shall Not Be Named, it's doubtful that their wrongdoing involves only the misinterpretation of innocent phone calls. Although we'll be hearing that a lot, along with lots of other dubious bilgewater, once the deal is done. (And it looks now like it might be tomorrow before the indictments come down.)
Recommended Reading: At Orcinus, David Neiwart gets Quote of the Day for his crack about a calendar featuring "attractive" Republican women such as Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter: "These are indeed true visions of superior womanhood, so long as your taste runs towards soulless harpies for whom the word 'crank' has multiple meanings."
Also be sure to check this, from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Mike Luckovich, and this, from BuzzFlash via AMERICABlog. Powerful stuff.
The Mrs. and I finally caught up last night on our backlog of episodes of The West Wing--the most recent of which gave us a look inside a White House under investigation. (Former Clinton aide Paul Begala takes a similar look inside at TPM Cafe this morning.) People inside a White House under this kind of siege aren't just threatened from the outside; they're also threatened by one another, as Begala notes and The West Wing demonstrated. The most innocuous phone call, e-mail, or meeting note can become evidence of wrongdoing, and merely speaking to the wrong person at the wrong time can put you in the crosshairs, too.
I suppose that's what Repugs were trying to say last week by test-driving the talking point that any indictment for perjury or obstruction of justice in Plamegate would be "minor." However, knowing what we know about the people surrounding He Who Shall Not Be Named, it's doubtful that their wrongdoing involves only the misinterpretation of innocent phone calls. Although we'll be hearing that a lot, along with lots of other dubious bilgewater, once the deal is done. (And it looks now like it might be tomorrow before the indictments come down.)
Recommended Reading: At Orcinus, David Neiwart gets Quote of the Day for his crack about a calendar featuring "attractive" Republican women such as Michelle Malkin and Ann Coulter: "These are indeed true visions of superior womanhood, so long as your taste runs towards soulless harpies for whom the word 'crank' has multiple meanings."
Also be sure to check this, from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Mike Luckovich, and this, from BuzzFlash via AMERICABlog. Powerful stuff.
