a-the democrats took control of the house and senate today. one of the first things that they did was to restrict gifts from lobbyists. then they hope to:
investigate waste and corruption in iraq. raise the minimum wage. provide assistance to university students. and so on.
ooh, what a radical agenda…seriously, how can republicans hate democrats at this point? the democratic slogan in 2007 should be: ‘we’re not exciting, but at least we’re sane.’

b-it’s 2007. really? i remember sitting in 4th grade at birdseye elementary in stratford, connecticut and thinking ‘2000? that’ll NEVER happen’. and now it’s 2007. it’s the future: it’s january and 60 degrees in nyc. we all communicate via tiny computers. cloning is becoming commonplace. our president used to be addicted to cocaine. and so on.

c-i’ve just begun reading ‘the land where blues began’ by alan lomax. it’s really good. ‘all night party: the women of greenwich village and harlem 1913-1930’ is also really good. maybe the world was better when the counter-culture could be numbered in the hundreds.

d-i still love lists.

e-i still hate the word ‘blog’.

f-stewie saying ‘dont it make my brown eye blue’ after getting hit in the butt by a snowball is inspired comedy.

g-ok, speaking of ‘family guy’, this stewie quote(to brian, regarding brian’s novel), is one of the family guys best ever moments:
Stewie: How you uh, how you comin’ on that novel you’re working on? Huh? Gotta a big, uh, big stack of papers there? Gotta, gotta nice litte story you’re working on there? Your big novel you’ve been working on for 3 years? Huh? Gotta, gotta compelling protaganist? Yeah? Gotta obstacle for him to overcome? Huh? Gotta story brewing there? Working on, working on that for quite some time? Huh? (voice getting higher pitched) Yea, talking about that 3 years ago. Been working on that the whole time? Nice little narrative? Beginning, middle, and end? Some friends become enemies, some enemies become friends? At the end your main character is richer from the experience? Yeah? Yeah? (voice returns to normal) No, no, you deserve some time off.

h-ok, goodnight.

moby

so to recap…
individuals at the white house leaked the name of a covert cia agent, valerie plame, to a few journalists, seemingly as retaliation for the fact that valerie plame’s husband had written a piece for the new york times wherein he criticized the administrations rush to war and disputed the administrations claims that iraq was seeking uranium from niger.
the white house said that karl rove and ‘scooter’ libby were not involved in the leak.
gw bush also said that anyone involved in the leak would be fired.
now it turns out that karl rove and ‘scooter’ libby were directly involved.
so, the white house blatantly lied, and now gw bush has to make good on his claim to fire anyone in his administration who was involved in the leak.
here are some transcripts:
-moby

from the washington post:

previous denials by white house spokesman scott mcclellan that vice president dick cheney’s chief of staff, lewis “scooter” libby, and presidential political adviser karl rove were involved in leaking the identity of covert cia officer valerie plame.

reporters posed the questions during white house briefings.

oct. 7, 2003

q. scott, you have said that you personally went to scooter libby, karl rove and elliott abrams to ask them if they were the leakers. is that what happened? why did you do that? and can you describe the conversations you had with them? what was the question you asked?

mcclellan: unfortunately, in washington, d.c., at a time like this there are a lot of rumors and innuendo. there are unsubstantiated accusations that are made. and that’s exactly what happened in the case of these three individuals. they are good individuals. they are important members of our white house team. and that’s why i spoke with them, so that i could come back to you and say that they were not involved. i had no doubt with that in the beginning, but i like to check my information to make sure it’s accurate before i report back to you, and that’s exactly what i did.

___

oct. 10, 2003

q. yes, scott. earlier this week you told us that neither karl rove, elliott abrams nor lewis libby disclosed any classified information with regard to the leak.

i wonder if you could tell us more specifically whether any of them told any reporter that valerie plame worked for the cia.

mcclellan: those individuals _ i talked _ i spoke with those individuals, as i’ve pointed out, and those individuals assured me they were not involved in this. and that’s where it stands.

q. and none of them told any reporter that valerie plame worked for the cia.

mcclellan: they assured me that they were not involved in this.

july 17, 2005

time magazine reporter matt cooper’s comments on nbc’s “meet the press” about his conversation with libby:

cooper: on background, i asked libby if he had heard anything about wilson’s wife sending her husband to niger. libby replied, ‘yeah, i’ve heard that, too’ or words to that effect.

q. did you interpret that as a confirmation?

cooper: i did, yes.

q. did mr. libby say at any time that joe wilson’s wife worked for the cia?

q. the piece that you finally ran in time magazine on july 17th, it says, “and some government officials have noted to time in interviews as well as to syndicated columnist robert novak that wilson’s wife, valerie plame, is a cia official who monitors the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. these officials have uggested that she was involved in her husband’s being dispatched to niger.”

some government officials _ that is rove and libby?

cooper: yes, those were among the sources for that, yes.