Pardon Scooter Libby

[BCPVP]

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But the big hint is that whether or not she was a covert agent has nothing to do with the espionage act.

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If he's referring to the act I'm thinking of (the Intelligence Identities Act, I believe) then it has everything to do with it. In the U.S. intentionally outing a covert agent is a crime. What started this whole mess was the accusation that someone "outed" Plame and that that someone broke the law (IIA) doing so. If no law was broken (Plame!= covert) then the only thing left was perjury. Which is what we have. Obviously if Plame was a covert agent, the charge against Libby would be outing her, not lying in his testimony.

Kinda like if someone carjacked someone and then killed them, the DA isn't going to skim over murder to go with grand theft auto.

[slamdunkpro]

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I think it's called the Intelligence Identities Protection Act

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Yes that is the statute they were looking at this with.

[slamdunkpro]

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Kinda like if someone carjacked someone and then killed them, the DA isn't going to skim over murder to go with grand theft auto.

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It’s more like you borrow three brown Volvo’s from three friends 3 months ago at 3 different times. In the course of an investigation you are suspected of stealing the brown Volvo. You are hauled before a grand jury and repeatedly asked “what date and time did you take the brown Volvo?…did you tell the owner?” You answer “I think it was the 15th and yes I told Joe” They then haul in Joe and he say, no, it was the 16th and yes he asked Now they know you didn’t steal the car - there was no crime, but your answer is different so POOF! perjury charges.

[Jedster]

Oh dear. There you go again. Claiming that Lewis Libby never told any reporters that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA (which is, of course, classified information). Do you realize how it brightens my day to see you make this claim?

[BCPVP]

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Claiming that Lewis Libby never told any reporters that Valerie Plame worked for the CIA (which is, of course, classified information).

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Working for the CIA is not classified information. I will not get hauled off to jail for mentioning that Porter Goss does indeed work for the CIA.

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Do you realize how it brightens my day to see you make this claim?

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No, I don't. If leaking Plame's name was classified information then Libby would not be facing only perjury charges.

[Jedster]

Valerie Wilson was a CIA officer. In July 2003, the fact that Valerie Wilson was a CIA officer was classified. Not only was it classified, but it was not widely known outside the intelligence community.

[Jedster]

At all relevant times from January 1, 2002 through July 2003, Valerie Wilson was employed by the CIA, and her employment status was classified. Prior to July 14, 2003, Valerie Wilson’s affiliation with the CIA was not common knowledge outside the intelligence community.

[Jedster]

The responsibilities of certain CIA employees required that their association with the CIA be kept secret; as a result, the fact that these individuals were employed by the CIA was classified. Disclosure of the fact that such individuals were employed by the CIA had the potential to damage the national security in ways that ranged from preventing the future use of those individuals in a covert capacity, to compromising intelligence-gathering methods and operations, and endangering the safety of CIA employees and those who dealt with them.

[mosta]

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Kinda like if someone carjacked someone and then killed them, the DA isn't going to skim over murder to go with grand theft auto.

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It’s more like you borrow three brown Volvo’s from three friends 3 months ago at 3 different times. In the course of an investigation you are suspected of stealing the brown Volvo. You are hauled before a grand jury and repeatedly asked “what date and time did you take the brown Volvo?…did you tell the owner?” You answer “I think it was the 15th and yes I told Joe” They then haul in Joe and he say, no, it was the 16th and yes he asked Now they know you didn’t steal the car - there was no crime, but your answer is different so POOF! perjury charges.

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so forgetting which brown volvo you got on tuesday and which on wednesday is comparable to forgetting whether you overheard something from other sources, or you originated the story, learned in advance, with information gleaned from your cohorts and superiors. WOW!!!! (I considered several different ways to mock the analogy, but I think it's better just left there in its own stupendous stupidity.)

and I like the other theory too--that it's nothing because he lied about something perfectly non-criminal. so he systematically, repeatedly perjured himself over nothing at all? interesting. then he must be the stupidest guy in DC, even stupider than President monkey boy if that were somehow possible. that--or maybe there's a lot more going on here than the supposed non-crime. hmmm. could it be? nah, couldn't be--how could cheney et al conceivably have been up to no good?! the bush administration is a gleaming bastion of honor, honesty, integrity, and above all, competence--we all know that.

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It's a fair fix, guv.

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nh


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But, seriously, there is no comparison between the practices of the two "camps" in this respect: I have not seen such blatant disregard for elementary ideological positions by the liberals as I have seen by the conservatives, in the U.S.

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This is the stuff disagreements are made of. Each of us can cite examples and probably neither of us changes our minds. Ideologies, when chiseled in stone, will always cause problems. I'm not suggesting you should give up your beliefs. The Constitution was a result of compromise. In our democratic republic, and in pursuit of our common goals, compromises have to be made. You give to get.



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I mean, <font color="red">ideological opportunism runs rampant in both "camps"</font> but come on! In recent decades, the conservatives have elevated this into an art.

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Maybe the Liberals are gunna just hafta try harder? [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]