Tuesday, September 30, 2003

Plame-Gate QUOTE OF THE DAY "Those who can convince us to believe absurdities can convince us to commit atrocities." - - Voltaire KNOW YOUR HISTORY: SEPTEMBER 30th 1962 -- After deployment of 12,000 federal troops to quell segregationist violence, troops escort James Meredith as he, on his fourth try, becomes the first African-American student to register at the University of Mississippi. Meanwhile, same day, in an abandoned theater in Fresno, California, The National Farm Workers Association (predecessor to the United Farm Workers) is founded at a convention called by Cesar Chavez. 1991 -- CIA finances a military coup in Haiti, overthrowing the democratically elected government of Reverend Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Three years of "protecting US interests" follows: featuring state-sponsored murder, rape & theft. A RHINO TV TIP: This Week on First People's TV - "Backbone of the World" Plays 4 times Tuesday Night & Wednesday on WorldLink TV DIRECTV® (Channel 375) and DISH Network® (Channel 9410) Near the Blackfoot reservation in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains, the Badger Two Medicine, a 130,000 acre tract of treaty land has been opened for oil drilling by the U.S. Forest Service. An important spiritual retreat for the Blackfoot people, the Badger Canyon region is now threatened by water contamination and the inevitable destruction of plants used for medicinal and spiritual purposes. The program examines issues of modernism vs. tradition and nature vs. commerce. Part of  "First Peoples' TV" a series made possible by DreamCatchers, & curated by Gary Rhine. More on First People's TV at: http://www.dreamcatchers.org/fptv More on WorldLink TV at: http://www.worldlinktv.com . RHINO HERE: As reported here earlier, Ambassador Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was outed as a CIA agent by Robert Novak who supposedly received the tip from 2 top shrub gang officials. Wilson you'll remember was the one sent by the gang to investigate the Niger yellowcake story & reported it was a forgery. Then when shrub used the story in his state of the coup speech, Wilson came out to say no way! So the story goes, someone in la casa blanca decided to punish him & warn any other potential turncoats what could happen if they spilled any of the gang's beans. Well, now the cake is out of the box and it's being called, "Plame-Gate." Following are a few blurbs & links on the scandal. Be sure to consider signing the petition demanding an investigation. Bush Administration Is Focus of Inquiry CIA Agent's Identity Was Leaked to Media Washington Post, 9/27/03 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11208-2003Sep27.html Rice Knew 'Nothing' About CIA Agent Leak By Reuters, New York Times, Sunday 28 September 2003 http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/093003B.shtml Bush Vows Action if Aides Had Role in Leak Democrats' Demand for Special Counsel Rejected By Mike Allen, Washington Post, Monday 29 September 2003 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17129-2003Sep29.html Special Prosecutor for the 'Outing' of CIA Agent Valerie Plame - Sign the Petition! From democrats.com, 9/29/03 "The Bush officials who 'outed' Plame committed a major felony - violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982 - which can result in 10 years in prison. They also threatened the security of the United States, because they undermined the important covert work of Plame, who is an expert on weapons of mass destruction. Who are these top Bush administration officials? Wilson suggested senior advisor Karl Rove is responsible. George W. Bush could find out in 5 minutes if he simply asked his staff - but Bush refuses to ask. CIA director George Tenet asked Attorney General John Ashcroft to investigate this crime. But John Ashcroft is a right-wing political appointee of George W. Bush, who puts loyalty to Bush ahead of the law. He is incapable of conducting an objective and thorough investigation of 'Plame-gate.' We, the undersigned, demand that Ashcroft appoint an objective and independent Special Prosecutor to investigate the serious crime of 'Plame-Gate.'" Sign the Democrats.com petition! http://democrats.com/elandslide/petition.cfm?campaign=plame Democrats Want Independent Investigation for Plame-Gate From democrats.com, 9/29/03 Despite the furor over the "outing" of CIA agent Valerie Plame by 2 top administration officials, "Bush has no plans to ask his staff members whether they played a role in revealing" her name. Richard A. Gephardt (Mo.) called it "a natural conflict of interest" for Justice Department appointees to investigate their superiors, and said congressional committees should step in to try to determine what happened. Howard Dean said Attorney General John D. Ashcroft should play no role in the investigation and should turn it over to the Justice Department's inspector general, who operates independently of political appointees. "Bush came into office promising to bring honor and integrity to the White House," Dean said. "It's time for accountability." Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) said the investigation "must be conducted by an independent, nonpartisan counsel." Bush Aides Say They'll Cooperate With Probe Into Intelligence Leak Washington Post, 9/29/03 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14909-2003Sep28.html RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE is an in depth article from last January's Esquire Magazine which gives much insight into the man many people believe is at the heart of this illegal act; one Karl Rove. Here's a blurb from Democrats.com citing the article, and then the article itself begins. Rove's Fingerprints are All Over Plame-Gate From democrats.com, 9/29/03 In a January 2003 feature for Esquire, Ron Suskind wrote: "Sources close to [George Bush Sr.] say Karl Rove was fired from the 1992 Bush presidential campaign after he planted a negative story with columnist Robert Novak about dissatisfaction with campaign fundraising chief and Bush loyalist Robert Mosbacher Jr. It was smoked out, and he was summarily ousted." Bob Novak is Karl Rove's "go-to" guy in Washington - which is a dead giveaway that Karl Rove "outed" Valerie Plame and should spend 10 years in prison. We demand the phone logs from Karl Rove's office! (Thanks to talkingpointsmemo.com) 7:40:19 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - Why Are These Men Laughing? Why Are These Men Laughing? by Ron Suskind, Esquire, January 2003 Maybe it's because the midterm elections went so very well. Maybe it's because at the White House, politics is the best policy. Maybe it's because it's the reign of Karl Rove. An inside look at how the most powerful presidential adviser in a century does what does so well. On a cool Saturday a few days before Christmas last year, Karl Rove showed up in a festive mood at David Dreyer's house in suburban Washington, D. C., to trim the tree and have a cup of eggnog. Dreyer is a liberal Democrat, formerly the deputy communications director in the Clinton White House and also a senior adviser to Treasury secretary Robert Rubin. He now runs a small public-relations firm. His daughter and Karl's son were in the same seventh-grade class. After a few brief, friendly encounters at school functions, Dreyer invited Karl and his boy over for a tree-trimming party with the class, about fifteen kids and eight or nine parents in all. It was one of those enchanting days that you remember for a long time. Rove was the ringmaster of fun, brimming with good cheer, Mr. Silly, without a care in the world. All in attendance were warmed by his presence, and you never would have known that his job carried such awesome responsibility. Rove was far too busy decorating cookies and stringing popcorn to betray anything close to that.... MORE AT: http://www.ronsuskind.com/writing/esquire/esq_rove_0103.html "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 6:47:16 AM    comment

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