I'm Sorry, So Sorry

A little late, but we'll take what we can get. Little Scottie McClellan, former Bush bootlicker:

The White House took part in an "endless effort to manipulate public opinion to their advantage" in promoting the invasion of Iraq, former White House press secretary Scott McClellan declares in a new book.

Mr. McClellan says that he "unknowingly passed along false information" in his press briefings, including strong denials from Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby that they had no role in the outing of Central Intelligence Agency spy Valerie Plame.

We knew all along...

Et Tu, Scooter?

Remember how this turned out?

"If there's a leak out of my administration, I want to know who it is," Bush told reporters at an impromptu news conference during a fund-raising stop in Chicago, Illinois. "If the person has violated law, that person will be taken care of.

Here we go again:

President Bush said Thursday he will reserve judgment on his administration's destruction of CIA interrogation tapes until several inquiries are finished. "Let's wait and see what the facts are," Mr. Bush said.

I'm not holding my breath.

Less Talk, More Leadership

More Dodd:

"Today's revelations by Mr. McClellan are very disturbing and raise several important questions that need to be answered. If in fact the President of the United of States knowingly instructed his chief spokesman to mislead the American people, there can be no more fundamental betrayal of the public trust.

"During his confirmation process, Attorney General Mukasey said he would act independently. Accordingly, today, I call on the Attorney General to live up to his word and launch an immediate investigation to determine the facts of this case, the extent of any cover up and determine what the President knew and when he knew it."

Punked!

By Bush.

President Bush spared I. Lewis Libby Jr. from prison Monday, commuting his two-and-a-half-year sentence while leaving intact his conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice in the C.I.A. leak case.

It has never been clearer that all Bush cares about is his - by which I mean him and his friends - personal gain and glory. To hell with everyone else. The President has just said that a different set of rules applies to himself and his own than everyone else, and he can get away with it because he is the President. I have never seen such a disgusting lack of understanding and respect for what this country means. We are truly ruled by psychopaths.

Head over to FDL for more reading on the subject.

Merry Fitzmas!

He earned it.

Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Tuesday for lying and obstructing the CIA leak investigation.

Mr. Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, stood calmly before a packed courtroom as a federal judge said the evidence overwhelmingly proved his guilt.

"People who occupy these types of positions, where they have the welfare and security of nation in their hands, have a special obligation to not do anything that might create a problem," U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said.

He knows if you've been good or bad, so be good for goodness sake!

Case Closed

Plame was covert.

An unclassified summary of outed CIA officer Valerie Plame's employment history at the spy agency, disclosed for the first time today in a court filing by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, indicates that Plame was "covert" when her name became public in July 2003.

The right wing has been trying to spin that Plame was nothing of the sort since this story broke years ago. As always, they are wrong about everything all the time.

Plame On!

Catch the play by play at FDL.

Running with the Ball

Good job, Democrats!

Fitzgerald, a good prosecutor - unlike a run-amuck partisan named Ken Starr - has concluded Libby's trial and passed the ball onto Congress. In a move that gives me hope for the 110th Congress, Henry Waxman (D-CA) is running with it.

Valerie Plame, the former covert CIA agent whose cover was blown after her
husband accused the White House of manipulating prewar intelligence, will
testify before a congressional committee next week, the committee chairman
said on Thursday.
Plame will testify about the disclosure and how the White House handled it in an appearance before the House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform, Chairman Henry Waxman said in a statement.

Cheney's involvement in this sordid affair has been known from the beginning and something should be done about it. National security should not be a political tool, but Republicans used it as one to help their power grabs. Corruption must end in order to make this country stronger and safer. Republicans demonstrated that they are incapable of doing that. Democrats are showing us otherwise.

Merry Fitzmas!

It's finally here!

Former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has been found guilty on four
of five counts in his perjury and obstruction of justice trial.
Libby, 56, faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a fine of $1 million.
The five-count indictment against the former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney
alleges perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements to the FBI
and a grand jury investigating how Valerie Plame was outed as a CIA operative.
Libby is not accused of exposing Plame. He resigned in 2005 after the grand
jury indicted him.
Prosecutors contended Libby disclosed Plame's covert profession to reporters as part of a plan to discredit her husband, Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador who alleged that the Bush administration twisted some intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war.

Dick Cheney needs those blood thinners more than ever.

And Astoundingly Even More Scandals!

Emptywheel at FDL liveblogging Scooter Libby trial.

SOTU tonight.

Sweet.