A GOP CULTURE OF CORRUPTION

Howard Dean had a point when he said the Republican Party under Bush is mired in a culture of corruption. Here are a few pieces, sent to me today by Ken, that confirm this grim fact. LS

From the George Stephanopoulos show today on the Valerie Plame leak:

Source to Stephanopoulos: President Bush Directly Involved In Leak Scandal
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/10/02/bush-directly-involved/

Piece Here

Near the end of a round table discussion on ABC This Week, George Stephanopoulos dropped this bomb:

Definitely a political problem but I wonder, George Will, do you think it ís a manageable one for the White House especially if we do not know whether Fitzgerald is going to write a report or have indictments but if he is able to show as a source close to this told me this week, that President Bush and Vice President Cheney were actually involved in some of these discussions.

This would explain why Bush spent more than an hour answering questions from special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. It would also fundamentally change the dynamics of the scandal. President Bush could no longer claim he was merely a bystander who wants to ìget to the bottom of it.î As Stephanopoulos notes, if Bush played a direct role it could make this scandal completely unmanageable.

Click here

AND....................

This was posted on Think Progress before the Stephanopolous revelation. -K

Senior Administration Officials Could Be Charged With Criminal Conspiracy
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/10/02/criminal-conspiracy/

The public defense of both Karl Rove and Scooter Libby in the CIA leak scandal have focused on the specific claim they did not know Valerie Plame's name. Even if that ís true, it does not mean anyone is off the hook.

If Patrick Fitzgerald is unable to prove a violation of the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, Rove, Libby and others could still be charged with perjury if they lied to investigators. Today's Washington Post floats another possibility:

But a new theory about Fitzgerald's aim has emerged in recent weeks from two lawyers who have had extensive conversations with the prosecutor while representing witnesses in the case. They surmise that Fitzgerald is considering whether he can bring charges of a criminal conspiracy perpetrated by a group of senior Bush administration officials. Under this legal tactic, Fitzgerald would attempt to establish that at least two or more officials agreed to take affirmative steps to discredit and retaliate against Wilson and leak sensitive government information about his wife. To prove a criminal conspiracy, the actions need not have been criminal, but conspirators must have had a criminal purpose.

The White House Iraq Group could be in trouble

UH OH! Real trouble in GOP paradise, or hell, it seems of late. Well deserved hell, in my view, because the Bush hacks and loyalists sold out the American people to lobbyist and corporate interests. We lost while our leaders gained so much in terms of their own personal financial well-being. Folks, they sold their souls and our's to boot to the devil. LS

From Time Magazine: POWER OUTAGE.

Sunday, Oct. 02, 2005
Power Outage
House leader Tom DeLay's indictment upends the Republicans' to-do list and their outlook for next year's elections. Can they recover in time?
By KAREN TUMULTY AND MIKE ALLEN
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/printout/0,8816,1112775,00.html

Click here