Rat sez to self...

That water looks awful cold...and yet jumps in anyway.

Not sure why I opened like that. The story I'm talking about is one brave Republican but I can't shake the image of rats pouring over the edge of the H.M.S. Georgie Boy...

Rep. Heather A. Wilson (R-NM) is the FIRST Republican in either the House of Reps. OR the Senate to call for a full congressional investigation into President Bush eavesdropping/wiretapping program (As reported HERE by the NY Times) Apparently she was not swayed by Attorney General Gonzalez's circular logic defense (CLD) or by Vice President Cheneys fear-mongering. To wit, "It's important for us, if we're going to proceed legislatively, to keep in mind there's a price to be paid for that, and it might well in fact do irreparable damage to our capacity to collect information," OOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo

You mean our ability to capture and prosecute the perpetrators of 9/11 may be compromised?

So bully for Representative Wilson. It's stories like this that give me hope...
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Back to the rats;)

We're now getting a clearer picture of the "Scooter Libby" defense and guess what? It looks exactly like the "Oliver North" defense! Great article HERE (from the National Journal) on the latest allegations in the ever-unfolding Valerie Plame Affair aka WilsonGate aka NigerGate.
According to recently released docs, Libby says Vice President Dick Cheney (and other superiors) personally 'authorized' the release of Valerie Plames name to the press!

"Beyond what was stated in the court paper, say people with firsthand knowledge of the matter, Libby also indicated what he will offer as a broad defense during his upcoming criminal trial: that Vice President Cheney and other senior Bush administration officials had earlier encouraged and authorized him to share classified information with journalists to build public support for going to war. Later, after the war began in 2003, Cheney authorized Libby to release additional classified information, including details of the NIE, to defend the administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case for war."

Whoa...that's big.

How do we know he's going to use the Oliver "I was only following orders and I'm just a little guy" North defense? Well, because he has "quiety retained" San Francisco attorney John Cline. Who is John Cline? He was one of Oliver Norths attorneys! His specialty? Accoring to the National Journal, it's, "the use of classified information in defending clients charged with wrongdoing in national security cases."

Hows that again? In english it means he asks the government prosecutors for tons of classified documents that they either a) won't or b) can't hand over. Sneaky:) But that's what he gets paid for...Listen to a former Iran-Contra prosecutor discuss Clines efficacy, ""It was a backdoor way of shutting us down," said one former Iran-Contra prosecutor, who spoke only on the condition that his name not be used, because his current position as a private attorney requires frequent dealings with attorneys who were on the other side of the North case at the time. "It was a cover-up by means of an administrative action, and it was an effective cover-up at that."

Stay tuned Zooheads and...

Stay Naked.