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July 2007 Stats for The Big Picture.
[Note -- this is an updated version of this post. The original version is available here.]
Martha Stewart wasn't tried for breaking any insider trading laws. She was tried for allegedly lying under oath about the circumstances surrounding a stock trade which some felt should violate insider trading laws -- even though in fact Stewart's stock trade violated no such laws.
The same thing happened to Bill Clinton. He wasn't accused of having had sex with Lewinsky -- he was accused of saying under oath that he didn't have sex with her, even though he did.
It's as if the accused is told: "You didn't break any laws, but you lied about something you did that was legal, so we're going to try to use the legal system to attack you."
At first I thought the same thing was happening in Libby's case -- that Libby was indicted for allegedly lying under oath about actions that broke no laws. However, it's not quite as bad as that. Libby is indicted for allegedly violating Title 18, a regulation requiring persons with security clearances "not to disclose classified information to persons not authorized to receive such information".
Yet oddly, the official charges, or counts, don't appear to be for revealing a state secret. Here's the list, from page 1 of the indictment:
GRAND JURY ORIGINAL
Count 1: Obstruction of Justice (18 U.S.C. 1503)
Counts 2-3: False Statements (18 U.S.C. 1001(a)(2))
Counts 4-5: Perjury (18 U.S.C. 1623)
Obstruction of Justice -- False Statements -- and Perjury -- but no specific counts saying something along the lines of, "Revealing State Secrets." I'm not a lawyer; perhaps one of my readers can provide additional info here. I'm interested, because this looks a lot like the Martha Stewart/Bill Clinton strategy. No crime is charged other than lying about something that might be considered a crime, but which, oddly, appears not to have been specifically charged.
A charge of revealing state secrets would have been laughable. The reporters to whom he allegedly revealed that Plame worked for the CIA, did not publicize it until after reporter Robert Novak had independently obtained and published the identical info. From Frontpage:
Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation took nearly two years, sent a reporter to jail, cost millions of dollars, and preoccupied some of the White House's senior officials. The fruit it has now borne is the five-count indictment of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the Vice President's Chief of Staff--not for leaking the name of Valerie Plame to Robert Novak, which started this entire "scandal," but for contradictions between his testimony and the testimony of two or three reporters about what he told them, when he told them, and what words he used.
Libby is not indicted for leaking the name of Valerie Plame to Robert Novak. It was Novak who revealed to the public that Plame worked for the CIA:
Mr. Libby is not alleged to have been the source for Robert Novak's July 14, 2003 column, in which Valerie Plame's employment with the CIA was revealed.
Libby may have stated to other reporters that Plame worked for the CIA:
...according to the indictment, Mr. Libby did a little digging, found out who Joe Wilson's wife was, and apparently told Judith Miller of the New York Times, who never wrote it up, and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine, who put it into print after Mr. Novak's column had run. What's more, he allegedly did not talk to Tim Russert of NBC about it, although he claimed that he had. Mr. Libby then didn't tell a grand jury and the FBI the truth about what he told those reporters, the indictment claims.
As in the case of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, this appears to be an example of using trivialities to attack an administration for political purposes.
...Unless Mr. Fitzgerald can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Libby was lying, and doing so for some nefarious purpose, this indictment looks like a case of criminalizing politics.
The events happened two years ago. With the Martha Stewart/Bill Clinton strategy, you can go to jail for having a bad memory, even if you never broke any laws:
In a statement yesterday, Mr. Libby's counsel zeroed in on this point when he said:
We are quite distressed the Special Counsel has now sought to pursue alleged inconsistencies in Mr. Libby's recollection and those of others' and to charge such inconsistencies as false statements.
As in the case of Bill Clinton, as in the case of Martha Stewart, the Libby indictment is a travesty.
As I've posted previously:
We’ve got to stop wasting the time of our Presidents, and that of the nation, over trivialities.
This comes to me through a friend to whom it was emailed by a friend of hers. In his email to her, her friend stated, "...my brother who served front line in the 1st gulf war sent it [the photo] to me."
Click for a larger image.
Here's a caption that accompanied the photo:
Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has already started her 2008 presidential campaign by aligning herself with the military and pretending to be tough on terror. Fortunately, the ultra-liberal Hillary has yet to brainwash all of the voting public into believing that her symbolism is really substance. Many have never forgotten that when she was co-president for eight years she was quoted as saying: "I loathe the military."
The picture shows that this soldier has been thru Survival School and learned his lessons well. He's giving the sign of "coercion" with his left hand. These hand signs are taught in survival school to be used by POW's as a method of posing messages back to our intelligence services who may view the photo or video. This guy was obviously being coerced into shaking hands with Hillary Clinton. It's ironic how little she knew that he would so inform us about the photo--perhaps because she's never understood our military to begin with.
I found a discussion of this on Snopes. Snopes states that the photo is for real.
Perfectly ordinary for New York, but unusual for most other places. This one's combined from several smaller images:
I got this one by just sticking the camera out the window of a cab:
You hear a lot of concerns about overcrowding and overpopulation, but everybody in NY seems to be enjoying the population density. Maybe greater population density would be good in other places as well.
I'm travelling this week. Posting may be light for a few days.
One of the hottest films shown Sunday was Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West, which won the 2005 LFF prize for Best Feature Film.
Festival Co-Director Govindini Murty; Award Presenter, Actor Robert Davi; Producer Peter Mier; and Director Wayne Kopping. Merged from three smaller images. Click for a larger image.
The thing that affected me the most in the film was the footage of many occasions of gigantic Islamic rallies with what appeared to be thousands upon thousands of people chanting "Death to America."
You see Islamists on television saying that by doing to America what has been done in England -- having large numbers of Muslims immigrate and then refuse to assimilate -- with local mosques being used to continually preach hate for the non-Muslims -- it will be possible to change America: "The White House will change," says an interviewee on television. This would work if we permit it -- the perfect example is seen in England, where George Galloway was elected to government. Galloway supports the local Islamofascists. From a July post on this site:
Many have discussed the “disgraceful” and “poisonous” comments of British MP George Galloway, calling for England to accede to the intimidation of the terrorists and withdraw troops from Iraq. Few here have noted that Galloway was elected in a district that has ‘a huge Muslim population.’ Galloway won his seat in part by appealing to the Muslim vote.
Because England made the tragic error of permitting massive immigration of Muslims, many of whom refuse to assimilate and explicitly or tacitly support the terrorist killings of British civilians, Galloway’s district has enough people in it with such views, to have elected an MP who supports the terrorists by calling for England to accede to the terrorists’ demands.
What this means to the U.S.: in order to avoid the possibility of similar effects on politics here, it is advisable to curtail immigration to the U.S. from Muslim nations until the war on terror is over.
Again and again "Obsession" shows footage of Islamic leaders calling, on television, for Islamists to kill Americans. You see little tiny Islamic children saying that they want to kill people.
In America we can't even imagine that people could be so sick. But it's happening in mass movement numbers, and we ignore it only at great risk. On the other hand, if we're aware of it, and move to take suitable actions such as those recommended by Robert Spencer, we can avoid a great deal of loss of life. We should just all get aware of this a.s.a.p.
Producer Peter Mier:
My father saved many, many people during the Holocaust -- and this movie is a tribute to him.
Once again the Liberty Film Festival is showing a ton of great films.
One of the most exciting films shown so far this year is "Emancipation, Revelation, Revolution," which details how the Republican party was founded to end slavery, and how it has supported civil rights positions consistently since the end of civil war, whereas in many cases, the Democrat party has done the reverse.
From left to right: Director Nina May; Gloria Jackson (granddaughter of Booker T. Washington); Laconte Holmes; Producer Tricia Erickson; a gentleman interviewed in the film whose name I didn't catch; singer Adam Brown; and Mason Weaver). Combined from two smaller photos. Click for a larger image.
This film was explosive. If this is widely seen, it could bring a significant number of Black voters to the Republican party.
The film was introduced by Ted Hayes and Larry Elder.
I'll post more on the Festival later. Right now I have to dash back to it.
It's no exaggeration to say that last year's Liberty Film Festival changed my life. Until then, it had seemed to me almost as though I were the only Conservative in Los Angeles. The festival introduced me to many others and initiated a series of events that has made a tremendous difference in the people I know and the activities I'm engaged in.
Govindini Murty and her husband Jason Apuzzo are the Directors of the festival. Govindini told me that as of Day One of this year's festival, they'd already sold more tickets than they had for all of last year's.
Here's the lobby with people arriving for the evening (merged from 3 separate pictures -- can be clicked for a larger image):
From left to right, screenwriter and Festival Panelist Craig Titley, Steve, Govindini, and Tim Watkins, producer of last year's phenomenal In the Face of Evil:
Here's Govindini and Jason, addressing the audience:
David Horowitz:
Evan Coyne Maloney (at podium), with Blaine Greenberg and Stuart Browning:
As David Horowitz began to introduce Maloney's film, two audience members rushed onto the stage and ran towards him threateningly, shouting, "You have no right to speak!" They were quickly surrounded and escorted out of the hall. An audience member was heard to ask, "Who were they?" Quipped Horowitz, "They're called Communists."
When Maloney took the stage, he commented, "David was up here exercising his right to free speech, and they literally said, 'You have no right to speak.' .... That's not uncommon on college campuses."
The films screened included:
If you're in L.A., don't miss the rest of the festival.
Have you noticed it? All of a sudden there's a lull in the action. The top issues at the moment incude:
What happened to all the noisy criticism of this administration's policies?
The answer: the Iraqi referendum took place and appears to have passed the constitution. All the claims that Muslims couldn't accept Democracy, and that the constitution would never be able to pass given the different political and religious groups in Iraq, were disproven. The claims that the war in Iraq was not going to accomplish anything useful were disproven.
Everyone can see that the successful introduction of democracy to the Mid-East is an event of historic, global importance.
Everyone can see that the Iraqi constitution requires freedom of religion, meaning that Islam in Iraq is reforming and leaving behind the parts of the Koran that tell Muslims to kill those of other religions, or to make them second-class citizens.
It's an achievement of historic importance that makes the world safer for the U.S. -- as well as for many other nations.
From Human Events:
Poor Al and Janeane. You really have to hurt for the Lefty bloviators over at Air America. They're not doing too well in the DC market.
This from today's Style section of the Washington Post:
Air America, the liberal talk network carried on WWRC-AM (1260), went from bad to nonexistent. After WWRC recorded a mere fraction of a rating point in the spring with syndicated shows from the likes of lefty talkers Al Franken, Janeane Garofalo and Stephanie Miller, Arbitron couldn't detect a measurable listenership for the station this time around.
The theory that the Left could buy airtime and attract listeners doesn't appear to be panning out.
Yet another top Al Qaeda operative has been halted from killing women and children:
BAGHDAD — A senior Al Qaeda (search) leader was killed during a series of Coalition raids in western Iraq on Oct. 15, the U.S. military says.
According to a press statement released by the Coalition Press Information Center in Baghdad, Sa'ad Ali Firas Muntar al Dulaymi (aka Abu Abdullah) was killed near the town of Ramadi during raids on suspected terror hideouts.
At least 11 other terrorists were killed in the operation, according to the military.
Military intelligence sources indicate that Sa'ad Ali Firas was highly regarded by many senior Al Qaeda members, including Abu Musab Zarqawi.
With report after report of Al Qaeda officers captured or killed, we are seeing continued U.S. success in reducing the effectiveness of this terrorist organization.
POWELL: 'U.S. IS NOT DOING BAD AT ALL'
What a refreshing change from cases in which former members of an administration attack it. This does credit to both Powell and to GWB.
Cindy Sheehan: Hillary Clinton Sounds Like Rush Limbaugh
"Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan is urging fellow Democrats not to support "pro-war Democrat" Hillary Clinton for president, saying she sounds too much like conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh in her support for U.S. efforts in Iraq.
In an open letter posted to Michael Moore's web site, Sheehan blasts Hillary for backing the Iraq invasion...
When the radical Left is nutty enough to attack Hillary, it's evidence of how divorced they are from reality.
EVEN BEFORE Iraq's constitution was ratified, dire predictions were being made that it would pave the way for the creation of an Islamic theocracy. But whatever problems the new constitution poses for the future of Iraq, the role of Islam in the state is not likely to be one of them.
...Article 2 establishes Islam as "the official religion of the state" and "a basic source of legislation"; no law can be passed that contradicts "the fixed principles of Islam." But the constitution deliberately leaves those fixed principles to be defined by the natural democratic process in accordance with the changing will of the Iraqi people, and it unequivocally states that no law can be passed that contradicts the basic rights and freedoms outlined by the constitution. Among the first of these is that all individuals have a right to freedom of creed, worship, practice, thought and conscience.
This could be offer an opportunity for Islam to reform itself. The Koran calls for Muslims to kill non-Muslims or make them accept second-class citizenship. The Iraqi constitution relegates that kind of behavior to the past for Muslims in Iraq.
Wars 'less frequent, less deadly':
Wars around the world are both less frequent and less deadly since the end of the Cold War, a new report claims.
The Human Security Report found a decline in every form of political violence except terrorism since 1992. "A lot of the data we have in this report is extraordinary," its director, former UN official Andrew Mack, said.
It found the number of armed conflicts had fallen by more than 40% in the past 13 years, while the number of very deadly wars had fallen by 80%.
While the rest of humanity learns to avoid war, Islamofascists increase the use of their preferred form of war-making, terrorism.
A tremendous success for Democracy appears near in Iraq:
...Ninevah, one of three crucial northern and central provinces that Sunni Arab opponents pushed hard to swing their way, appeared to have voted "yes" by a considerable margin.
...According to a vote count from 260 of Ninevah province's 300 polling stations, about 300,000 people voted for the constitution and 80,000 against, said Samira Mohammed, spokeswoman for the election commission in the provincial capital, Mosul, and Abdul-Ghani Boutani, a senior official in the Kurdistan Democratic Party.
