I Smell Watergate (BERGER)

[UTUSN]

So somebody ratted BERGER out.

Could it be that the Shrubbites really DO have one of their biggies (CHEENEE, ROVE) going down, and this was a preemptive strike?

Or was the timing to deflate the 9-11 Report--------but they already KNEW what was going to be in it, no-fault for Shrub. To begin with there's that news item that White House Crony, uh, Counsel Alberto GONZALEZ ***BOTH*** knew about the BERGER investigation-----AND-----"coordinated" the document flow to the 9-11 Commission.

And yet there is that other thread here, "No Defense for Sandy BERGER" that features BERGER's proto-NeoCon persona, his hyping for the Iraq Attack since the '90s and being Shrub apologist since.

So then, was the BERGER leak from OUR side? To excise the malignancy of Iraq-attacker from our body-KERRY.

But now comes the next news item, that MORE Shrubbites, besides GONZALEZ's shop, knew about the BERGER situation.

[UTUSN]

1. I Smell a Kick n/t

[CatWoman]

2. I smell another kick

:kick:

:hi:

[Cleita]

3. No answers yet. Inquiring minds need some information.

Another :kick:

[homelandpunk]

4. No. What this is is Jennifer Flowers.

Yup. You heard me.
BEFORE Clinton became an ELECTED president, the thrust of the nazis to undermine and destroy his presidency was already apparent. They were already in full investigation mode pre-November '92.
Same thing here. If Kerry wins, we are seeing the initial Jennifer Flowers-loosening-the-soil-tactic-for-the-once-every-other-day-call for-investigations-and/or-investigations that will plague Kerry's presidency FROM DAY ONE.
as I stated before, this should show you how truly fucked we are as a party of pussies. After ALLLLLLLLL of the high crimes and misdemeanors of the last 3-1/2 years and finally...an investigation! Oh but...yeah, it is a KERRY advisor being investigated.
O people.

[UTUSN]

5. Well, I Agree and Disagree

As soon as JK wins, all Hades will break loose, BOTH from the Right AND from the Left. I'll be there.

[CatWoman]

8. you must bear in mind that Republicans control the house

and thus the power to initiate investigations.

[RummyTheDummy]

6. My theory: Kerry campaign leaked it

I think they either got wind of it on their own and decided to act pre-emptively or they got wind this one was going to be one of the bullets in Rove's gun come late Oct. and decided to nullify the effect.

If either of those are true, Kerry's people are a helluva lot more cunning than I gave them credit for.

[Lestatdelc]

9. NOt buying that

Seems a like a VERY thin reed to hang that on.

[RummyTheDummy]

10. I think it's more believable than Rove doing it

The timing for that would be all wrong. You would want to maximize effect. This thing will be swept under the rug next week and the week after that will likely be dominated by the post mortem on the Boston convention and where the race stands heading into the Repuke convention or some unknown event.

If Rove was behind this, all logic points to doing it closer to the election.That's been his style in the past. If you want it to have some impact, timing is everything and the timing of this one doesn't really favor the Republicans in any way. It will be an afterthought by November.

The other option would be that neither campaign had anything to do with it.

Don't misinterpret as a slam on Kerry (I think that would be the instict of a lot of DUers) because it's not. If they leaked it themselves to pre-empt something it's a very smart move.

[Lestatdelc]

12. Disagree

Takes a month or to gen-up and pound on the "can't trust Kerry's judgement" theme by pining on this sort of trivial bogus crap.

[RummyTheDummy]

15. Nah

On something like this the effect is going to be immediete or it's going to fade into the background noise of the campaign. A quick look at all the evening cable news shows as well as the big three network newscasts tonight seems to indicate the story is already fading. It would have far greater shock value closer to election day, not in late July.

You grossly overestimate the attention span of the American people. It won't be an issue in November.

[Lestatdelc]

17. Disagree

The effect they are after is NOT a knock-out punch. That won't happen. But death by a 1000 paper cuts.... that has always been their method because they have nothing but small shit innuendo to work with.

[RummyTheDummy]

20. Now that may be true

It could very easily be part of a long term strategy, but honestly, I don't think they scored many points on this one.

And while the death by a thousand paper cuts may have been their method in the past, I think they're looking for something huge this time around i.e. Bin Laden caught in late Oct. or something more substantial and more directly tied to Kerry or Edwards.

I guess I expect more out of Rove. Perhaps he's been built up too much.

[alcuno]

11. I agree. The Kerry campaign did it.

It would have come out eventually so it was better to get it out as soon as they found out. Better last week than next week. Better next week than in October.

It's delicious to think that Kerry's campaign struck "preemptively" and then blamed it on BushCo as playing politics.

[Lestatdelc]

13. Nonsense

If they had issues with the Berger investigation they would have quietly moved him out of the advisor. They NEVER would have outed him to do it.

[Lestatdelc]

7. This seems more Rove

I.E. Rove via Ashcroft.

Remember this came out of Justice. Could be tied through Rove to, to try and smear the Kerry campaign.

Berger being the 04 campaign "bug in the office" type "scandal" to smear the other team with. Incompetence, nefarious motives, poor judgment, the whole raft of sound-bites for them to try and hang a "can you trust this clown" hat on Kerry.

Also makes since that this came via Rove's desk because of the speed and breadth it went across the mainstream media outlets.

[stableRadical]

14. Berger is only the beginning

I fear what the real data dump will contain.

[FreakinDJ]

16. It was the 911 report and Bush's military records

The Freepers are speechless over there

[Lestatdelc]

18. Explain

The FReepers are speechless...?

How so...?

[Octafish]

19. I smell a big rat, see.

Stay back, copper!

Rice Knew 'Nothing' About CIA Agent Leak

By Reuters
New York Times
Sunday 28 September 2003

    U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday she knew "nothing of any" White House effort to leak the identity of an undercover CIA officer in July, a charge now under review at the Justice Department.

    On "Fox News Sunday," the top aide to President Bush said, "This has been referred to the Justice Department. I think that is the appropriate place for it."

    Rice said the White House would cooperate should the department headed by Attorney General John Ashcroft decide to proceed with a criminal investigation of the matter, which centers on the alleged public disclosure of the wife of former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson.

    The Washington Post reported in Monday editions that White House officials said they would turn over phone logs if the Justice Department asked them to. But the aides said Bush had no plans to ask staff members whether they were involved in revealing the name of Wilson's wife.

CONTINUED...

http://truthout.org/docs_03/093003B.shtml

This story's been percolating a while. It's about time the great mass of American GOVERNMENT got critical and smelled the rat we on DU have sniffed since this place got founded. They're ALL game -- from Scooter Libby to Cheney to Condescenda to Smirko. Watergate? "The sinking of the BFEE?" Let it be so.