Question for all the lawyers out there: 

I came across this suggestion that Pat Robert's upcoming "investigation" into the Fitzgerald probe and whether or not the intelligence community provides too much cover to its members may become a vehicle whereby Rove, Libby and associates could be given congressional immunity as a means to shield them from prosecution, ala North and Poindexter.  Putting the conspiratorial tone of the piece aside, could something like that happen in legal terms or would it be pretty extraordinary? 

It seems like the Roberts hearings are geared towards putting the blame once again on the CIA so I don't know why Rove or Libby would be brought in as witnesses.  Furthermore, I've always thought that much noted political hacks Judges Sentelle and Silberman really pulled the North and Poindexter acquittals out of their asses but obviously other legal commentators have mentioned the problems caused by competing investigations.

Update:  Say, since we're talking about Pat Roberts (R-WH) have a look at his greatest hits via Carpetbagger.

When I heard about the shooting of a terrorist suspect in a London Underground Tube station last Friday I thought that something must have gone wrong because surely they would want to bring in a suspect for questioning.  The report I heard on the radio however repeated at least seven times that the suspect wore a large bulky jacket and made it clear he had jumped turnstile when confronted.  One subway passenger even declared that he thought the man had a bomb strapped to his waist even though the report could not confirm any bombs were found. 

Sadly it turned out that the man they shot was a young Brazilian immigrant and electrician on his way to a job who the police and government eventually cleared, but the story gets even murkier.  The man's family, after meeting with London's Metropolitan police flatly declared that just about every piece of the original story was false: no bulky jacket, the MET confirmed he didn't jump the turnstile, and he was shot not five times in the head, but seven, and once in the shoulder.   

I don't know what will happen with this from here on out, but its not a stretch to say that trying to deflect criticism by concocting a story that is pretty easy to destroy with even a little investigation doesn't work at any level and only causes more pain for those involved.  My sympathies to the de Menezes family.

Although it is too soon to say that all is well in Northern Ireland, this a welcome development and the culmination of more than twenty-five years of debate within Irish Republican circles over the efficacy of pursuing their goals through the political process.  Northern Ireland may no longer be the focus of Anglo-American relations the way it was in the 1990's but it is my hope that we will continue to support British and Irish efforts to bring all groups into a workable political framework.

Read the statement.

Well, not quite but it should henceforth be call "The Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism".  Not nearly as sexy a political phrase as the old "GWOT", in fact it really doesn't roll off the tongue at all, but it does retains many of the unfocused and openended qualities of our previous committment. 

I especially love all the quotes about how the change in terminology was important because we needed to signal that this struggle would not be won by the use of American military power alone.  Funny how in the last election cycle such a suggestion showed you weren't serious about defending the United States and at the very least put you in league with the terrorists. 

Update:  Fred Kaplan over at Slate isn't impressed with the new slogan although he does note that as an acronym it spells GSAVE (SAVE the World, maybe?) which is kinda catchy if you're hip enough to get it.

Although the Iraq situation is generally the biggest FUBAR'd situation for the U.S. since Viet Nam, I do think we have done a few things right.  Take for example, our guidance on the constitutional principles that the Constitutional Assembly is supposed to be using to guide its drafting of the new Iraqi constitution.  What the Iraqis came up with based on this guidance sounds like it is a very good start:

1. the principle of the republican system
2. the principle of Democracy
3. the principle of federalism and decentralization of governance
4. the principle of Islam being the official religion of Iraq and a source of legislation
5. the principle of equality in rights and freedoms
6. the principle of the separation of the three powers and the independence of judges
7. the principle of peacefulness in international relationships and the rejection of violence and terrorism
8. the principle of the unity of Iraq’s people and land
9. the principle of civilian power over military
10. the principle of Iraq’s independence and sovereignty
11. the principle of natural resources being owned by the people
12. the principle of acknowledging that Iraq is a multi-ethnic, mulit-religious country
13. the principle of the family forming the forming unit of society
14. the constitution and the law is above all
15. the role of civil society organizations in monitoring the work of governmental institutions.
16. for the articulation of paragraphs 3 and 4 what has been stated in the Iraqi Transitional Law should be observed

Let's hope these lofty and well-crafted goals do not sink under the weight of our endless mistakes in Iraq.

Our point man to deflect any criticism of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Patrick J. Fitzgerald.

Barack Obama, Senator from Illinois.

The drafting of Iraq's constitution stumbled when Sunnis drafting the vital document boycotted a key meeting, as Al-Qaeda claimed the recent abduction of two Algerian diplomats in Baghdad.

"None of the Sunni members of the committee attended the meeting," Ayad al-Samarrai, spokesman for the Islamic Party, a leading Sunni faction, told AFP.  The 15 Sunni Arab members of the committee, most of whom were coopted on to the parliamentary committee, announced Thursday they would not attend meetings after two of their number were gunned down in the capital on Tuesday.

While the Sunnis have demanded an international investigation into the killings, their withdrawal could raise questions about the constitution's legitimacy in the eyes of the disenchanted Sunni minority.

That in turn could lead to the new constitution being turned down in a referendum scheduled for mid-October as rules stipulate it can be rejected if two-thirds of people vote against it in any three of Iraq's 18 provinces.

Sunni Arabs form a majority in Al-Anbar, Salaheddin and Nineveh provinces.

Thank God we have been pouring billions in there, we should be able to fix it:

US diplomats have been "talking intensively with all the key players in the Iraqi constitutional negotiations," a senior US official told reporters Friday.

They have urged them to be "flexible" and "realistic", while stressing "the tremendous importance" of meeting an August 15 deadline to complete the draft constitution.

We've been in Iraq for 856 days.  Somebody do something.

NFL agent Drew Rosenhaus has a strategy for almost all of his clients.  If you have a breakout season in the middle of a contract, hold out.  Terrell Owens and Javon Walker are two such players.  They apparently think breaking a signed contract makes sense.  Rosenhaus is a little "too" good with the media though.  He's a practioner of the latest fad, the Big Lie.  Sound reasonable when saying something totally outrageous and the fact that you can say it counts for something.  Unfortunately for Rosenhaus and his clients, it doesn't count for much.  Read:

The Voice of Reason:

"The Packers say they aren't going to change their position, so we are leaning that way. We're hoping for a change of heart or a trade," Drew Rosenhaus told the Associated Press.

The people who won't discuss our outrageous demands are unreasonable.  Talking is good:

Rosenhaus said the Packers have refused to negotiate with him ever since he first approached the team this spring to tear up Walker's current contract, which has two years remaining and calls for him to make $515,000 this season. "I haven't had very many holdouts in my career, but I've been unable to get the Packers to commit to any discussion of a new deal," Rosenhaus said. "The Packers have refused to negotiate with us. They expect him to play the year out." 

No shit.  Isn't that what you agreed to do?

Rosenhaus said that won't happen.

"I can't let this player go out on the field and jeopardize his career for that kind of money. I just can't fathom it," he said in an interview with HBO taped last Friday and scheduled to air next week.

Dumbass goes off on Farve, too:

Walker's holdout threat has drawn the ire of quarterback Brett Favre, who also criticized Rosenhaus for his tactics.

Rosenhaus responded by saying Favre should call him to get all the facts.

"I don't think he'll answer my calls," Favre said this week while playing in a charity pro-am at the US Bank Championship golf tournament in Milwaukee. "Set me straight on what? I've played 14 straight years. I have not held out one time. He has nothing to say to me."

Rosenhaus said Wednesday he has plenty to say to the three-time MVP.

"I reached out to Brett. If you take issue with our position, call me," Rosenhaus said. "I'm not allowed to call him. But if he calls me, I'll tell him what our status is. I don't think he knows all the facts. I'd love to fill him in."

Walker will play.  Rosenhaus is done.

Remember that anonymous source for the NY Times known as  "someone who has officially been briefed on the matter" who gave them the "a journalist did it" scoop? 

Well, it looks like his real name is:  Robert Luskin, Rove's lawyer. 

It gets hot and heavy.

Bloomberg's Richard Keil will reveal tonight: "Two top White House aides have given accounts to the special prosecutor about how reporters told them the identity of a CIA agent that are at odds with what the reporters have said, according to persons familiar with the case.

Lewis “Scooter'’ Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, told special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald that he first learned from NBC News reporter Tim Russert of the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame, the wife of former ambassador and Bush administration critic Joseph Wilson. Russert has testified before a federal grand jury that he didn’t tell Libby of Plame’s identity.

And some people call me cynical......

Question: When was the last time a President interrupted primetime network broadcasting at 9pm to present his Supreme Court pick?

Look familiar?

Yep.

Al-Jaafari, for his part, expressed pleasure over his meeting with Ayatollah Khamenei. He called the late Imam Khomeini the key to the victory of the Islamic Revolution, adding, “We hope to eliminate the dark pages Saddam caused in Iran-Iraq ties and open a new chapter in brotherly ties between the two nations.”

Everyone knows the truth:

Some people just don't tell it.  (Thanks, Al)

Bush starts to auger in.  You can imagine what the effect will be on his approval numbers.  Now the hammer and the anvil.  The Christian Right does not understand that Bush's position has degraded to the point it has.  If they push him on his nominee and retreat from him they way they have deserted the Republicans in the Senate, there's no limit to how low Bush can go.  The 25% here who believe Bush is cooperating with the prosecutor are probably his floor.  They'll believe he always tells the truth.  They haven't realized it yet.  Pretty much everyone else knows he lies all day long.

Ironically, they don't even know the danger.   True believers, they are eating up what Ken Mehlman has to say right now.  That means that they do not understand the danger and will push for a conservative nominee, undermining Bush at his weakest.  Too bad for them it appears some people from the White House are going to be indicted.

Another hammer and anvil--the August 15 deadline for Iraq to write a constitution.  The Sunnis will be out in main force strength.  We need to beef up troops IMMEDIATELY.  I hope they have planned for a big upsurge in violence.  Iraq needs us now and Bush keeps letting it down.

The worst of it?  Afghanistan is the deep dark secret Bush doesn't want you to know.   

How about Tim Russert coming to life?  Everybody, a hand for Rusty Jr.

Yep, he stood up and did what we asked: Put Ken Mehlman on the spot about whether they were going to go after the prosecutor.

MR. RUSSERT:  You say you have tremendous confidence in Pat Fitzgerald.

MR. MEHLMAN:  I do.

MR. RUSSERT:  If, in fact, he indicts White House officials, will you accept that indictment and not fight it?

MR. MEHLMAN:  First of all, I'm the chairman of the Republican National Committee.  I'm not an attorney for anybody.  The fact is I look forward to his getting to the bottom of this.  I can't speak for...

MR. RUSSERT:  But if he indicts White House officials...

MR. MEHLMAN:  Right.

MR. RUSSERT:  ...will you pledge today, because you have tremendous confidence in him, that you will not criticize his decision?

MR. MEHLMAN:  Again, I'm not going to speculate.  I have tremendous confidence in him.  I look to getting to the bottom of this.  Whatever he does, I can assure you, people are going to follow and are going to look to abide by.

MR. PODESTA:  Just say "yes," Ken.

Podesta:  "Just say "yes," Ken."  Brutal.  That's the problem with the Big Lie.  You can't stop.

Once again, if you weren't paying attention.  Karl Rove's confirmation of Valerie Plame's CIA status to Robert Novak is enough to trigger liability if he knew of her covert status.  Its all in the code: 50 U.S.C. sec. 421: 

(a) Disclosure of information by persons having or having had access to classified information that identifies covert agent

    Whoever, having or having had authorized access to classified 
information that identifies a covert agent, intentionally discloses any          
information identifying such covert agent to any individual not 
authorized to receive classified information, knowing that the 
information disclosed so identifies such covert agent and that the 
United States is taking affirmative measures to conceal such covert 
agent's intelligence relationship to the United States, shall be fined          
not more than $50,000 or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both.

If Rove confirmed that Valerie Plame was a CIA agent, he has disclosed information identifying a covert agent. This is how it should be.  Information confirming information heard from another source is extremely valuable.  That's why reporters and spies double and triple source information.  That information should not be passing to reporters and spies.

By the way, it appears there is a subersive at the University of Missouri who has the gall to post the security laws of the United States where its citizens can see it.  Don't go to this site!

UPDATE: Sunday 11:52 PM: Turns out that my interpretation is right.  Karl Rove was required to sign an SF-312 (.pdf) a form consisting of the agreement.  Specifically mentioned in the Form is the Intelligence Identities Protection Act.  Lets hear Tim Russert tell it: 

MR. RUSSERT:    When one is given classified clearance, they are asked to sign an oath, and they are given a briefing book with form--Standard Form 312, it's called.  And if you read this briefing book, it says this:  . . . "If it has not...confirmation of its accuracy is also an unauthorized disclosure."

So by confirming a story from Robert Novak or sharing information with Matt Cooper, no matter where it came from, if, in fact, it was classified information, without seeking to determine whether it was declassified, it is an unauthorized disclosure.

MR. MEHLMAN:  Well, you're making an assumption that it's classified information.

And Mehlman passes right over Russert's insight that Rove has admitted to almost every element of the crime in the public discourse.

Hell, the damn thing gives the U.S. Government to go after book royalties made off the disclosure.

Sherman Adams, the chief of staff to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, left the White House in a cloud of scandal in 1958 after accepting a vicuna fur coat from a business friend who had interests at the White House.