Posted on 10/28/2005 1:05:49 PM PDT by Congressman Billybob
This is a very curious press conference just conducted by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald. With his machine-gun delivery. He repeatedly flopped back and forth between saying that the “outing” of Valerie Plame, wife of discredited Ambassador Joe Wilson was a “serious matter,” and saying that he “reached no conclusion” whether she had been outed, and if so, when and by whom.
The mood in the room among the reporters changed appreciably as the conference went on. Initially, the press was very interested in the charges made and reasons for them, and in the charges not made against other people, and the reasons why not. But by the end of the conference, the reporters were clearly puzzled by the wandering speech of Fitzgerald and his lame analogies about a baseball pitcher throwing at a batter’s head, and a bank robber with his fingerprint on the holdup note and a signed confession.
Again and again, Mr. Fitzgerald said that it was “vital” that he and his Grand Jury should get to the end of the process with a “clear understanding of all of the facts.” Yet, again and again, he replied to reporters’ questions by saying that he “had not reached a conclusion” about central facts of the matter concerning either Valerie Plame or Joe Wilson.
Source: this is written as the press conference is under way. The transcript will surely be posted on the Internet within minutes.
Toward the end of the conference, I realized what I was watching. Fitzgerald was offering the press and the nation a version of Humphrey Bogart’s star turn in his last film as Phillip Francis Queeg, the Captain of the USS Caine in The Caine Mutiny (1954). The turning point in that film came when the obsessive Captain comes apart on the stand while being cross-examined by the lawyer for the mutineers in their trial.
Beginning with the exposure of Captain Queeg as obsessive in the story about the missing strawberries from the mess hall, the Captain visibly unravels. As he does so, he takes two ball bearings from his pocket and begins to play with them in his hand.
Fitzgerald seems to be a similar person. He is wound far too tight. He is obsessing about a few conversations with reporters (where it might be the reporters, not Scooter Libby, who are either lying or maybe just poorly remembering what happened years ago). At the same time, Fitzgerald is deliberately ignoring the larger fact that a war is going on, and must be won. It was just like Captain Queeg.
Fitzgerald had everything except the strawberries, and the ball bearings. By the end, I think many of the reporters had reached the same conclusion.
John_Armor@aya.yale.edu
to me, that was the tone of "hoping to go home," etc, although he was not explicit.
The CIA suspected, but could not prove, that Aldrich Ames had revealed her identity to the Russians.
Also the CIA itself blew her by sending some documents revealing her identity by sending improperly secured documents [which they admit the DGI read] to the U.S. Interests section of the Swiss Embassy in Havana.
Dogberry:
Marry, sir, they have committed false report; moreover, they have spoken untruths; secondarily, they are slanders; sixth and lastly, they have belied a lady; thirdly, they have verified unjust things; and, to conclude, they are lying knaves.
Someone at the press conference SHOULD've asked Fitzgerald:
"When yourealized Plame was not a covert CIA agent , WHY DIDn't you shut down the investigation since there was no crime to investigate."
You would've heard: '(crickets chirping)'
This is the REAL untold story! By the looks of the actual indictment, it seems as though Libby was the one talking to reporters all the time.
Charles Krauthammer was just on Fox referring to him as "Captain Ahab". Even better...
I am serious as I type this:
I listened to him on radio through the Rush Limabugh program.
My immediate impression was that he was drunk.
Does he normally slur his words?
is that you, Sobran?(wouldn't want to out you here!)
no, but he supposedly knows every line, right? and you sure came up with a gem in a hurry.
Didn't 'Beat the Devil' come after Caine? Maybe you don't classify that as a major picture, though.
What's the frequency, Kenneth?
No, apparently he's starting up another grand jury. Sounds really bogus to me.
Interesting observations. I read only this morning in an online newspaper biography of Mr. Fitzgerald that he enjoys a reputation as an extreme workaholic., with Queeg-esque tendencies (of the obsessive/compulsive variety). He is also said to be fair and impartial,and I suppose we will see.
Limabugh = Limbaugh
Sorry, Rush.
And another thing... Why did this thing go on for more than an hour, most of which was refusing to answer questions due to grand jury secrecy? Curious.
Oh, and did any reporter ask him a single question about the leaks pouring out of his 'secret' grand jury process? Not that I caught.
My conclusion .. he's in the tank for the democrats .. and this was best he could do in finding anything wrong.
I might change my mind if he doesn't charge Rove, but if he does .. then my conclusion will remain.
Also .. Fitz said Libby did not out a covert operative - but CNN and the other media outlets have completely ignored it.
I'm not watching the media frenzy. I could care less. I just hope Libby has a lawyer willing to go for the juglar and he ends up exposing all the lying reporters.
Clinton fingers
Have a little charity man/women.....perhaps he's a lawyer first and not an actor.......I got the impression that he DID NOT want to be in front of 10,000 cameras.
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