"I was very impressed with Fitzgerald's press conference yesterday"
I have no idea is Libby lied, forgot, twisted the truth or what. But I do know that Fitz was not impressive at this press conference. He looked nervous to the point where he looked like he was going to break down in tears. As he was explaining the case, his points were not clear. Plus, it's not too hard to make it sound like you have a good case when people are only hearing your side. My guess is that he will not look so "impressive" when he faces a team of high price lawyers.
While I agree, in general, that lying to GJ is obviously wrong, the problem I have here is that there appears to be no underlying crime and I know this all started with Joe Wilson's lies about his trip (and attempt to undermine this country's war on terror). I consider Wilson the perjurer and Libby the whistleblower.
The reason we have perjury and obstruction of justice laws is so that time and money aren't wasted when people try to stop an investigation from moving forward and finding out the truth. If Libby won't tell the truth, we may never know exactly what happened in this case.
Fitzgerald was given a mandate to find out exactly how the CIA employee's name was leaked. If anybody intentionally blocked him from doing his job, there should be serious consequences.
As far as him being nervous, I noticed both him and the guy next to him seemed to be a little jittery when the press conference first got going. Considering Fitzgerald has successfully prosecuted mobsters in the past, I found it refreshing that he still gets stage fright when he goes in front of TV cameras. He seems like a down-to-earth guy who is telling the truth when he says he wants to return to his life in Chicago as soon as possible.
Fitzgerald also deserves credit for a lack of leaking by him and his staff in this case. It appears all the leaks were being made by witnesses and their lawyers, who are the only participants allowed to talk about grand jury action.
Right!
Libby was the whistleblower for Valerie Plame's nepotism which produced the Niger trip, that led to the very partisan report, that led to the very public humiliation of the Bush administration. She recommended her Democrat hubby Joe Wilson.
THAT IS THE STORY.
It wasn't a crime.
It wasn't "outing a CIA operative".
It was exposing the rank partisan bias that led to the whole story.
Someone posted yesterday that his track record in Illinois is highly impressive. Something like 59 convictions in 65 cases. It certainly leads one to believe he's an effective trial attorney.
Ultimately, the problem lies with Bush because he failed to institute any war powers. One has to shake their heads at what passes for treason these days; imagine how busy the gallows would have been during WWII with the types of things the CIA and other internal enemies are able to get away with.
The Fitz we saw in the presser may not be the Fitz in the Courtroom or GJ room. The Fitz we saw yesterday, may be Fitz, the person.
As SP he is in control. He is AUTHORITY, the man with the power.
Fitz we saw in the presser, maybe the Fitz who is overwhelmed if he has no power or control. We all know people like that. They must be in control to be effective.
I'm not sure it is relevant, but that's my take on it.