Divinest Sense

Sid Blumenthal’s got an excellent, clear-eyed, and personal analysis of the scandal surrounding the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame’s identity as an act of revenge against Joe Wilson. (at Salon, watch an ad to see the whole article)

Rove’s still very much in his place of honor at the White House, seated right behind the prez, serene as a basking eel, and free to crank that republican spin machine harder than he’s ever cranked before. It’s thrilling to watch it in action. The talking points memo to the republicans…. the magical transformation (through endless repetition of the memes) of “unethical and low” to “gutsy and patriotic”…. the deliberate misquoting and outright fabrication… the relentless flogging of this hackery at the Wall Street Journal and Fox News….

If you step back, relax, and just let the waves of deliberate obfuscation wash over you, you can appreciate what an artist Mr. Rove is. Right before your head spins around and you start spewing bile, that is.

But, as Mr. Blumenthal matter-of-factly points out, it doesn’t really matter if Rove’s talking points squelch our outrage for now; “before the prosecutor, Rove’s arsenal is useless.” . . .

At one point, on CNN, Wolf Blitzer asked [RNC chair Ken]Mehlman if he had attended meetings at the White House on how to deal with Wilson. Suddenly, the voluble Mehlman constricted. “I don’t recall those meetings occurring,” he said. Has the prosecutor inquired about such meetings and their participants?
The sound and fury of Rove’s defenders will soon subside. The last word, the only word that matters, will belong to the prosecutor. So far, he has said very, very little. Unlike the unprofessional, inexperienced and weak Ken Starr, he does not leak illegally to the press. But he has commented publicly on his understanding of the case. “This case,” he said, “is not about a whistle-blower. It’s about a potential retaliation against a whistle-blower.”

My thoughts are with the people of London and the families of the victims of the horrible crime that took place there this morning. This attack serves as grim notice that nothing we’ve done so far has even come close to dampening the threat of terrorism; in fact, our ill-conceived invasion of Iraq has made the situation worse. What we’re doing IS NOT working, and this proves it.
Back over here in the states, the threat level on public transportation systems got bumped up a notch to “orange”. In DC, that means bomb-sniffing dogs and police with big guns patrolling the metro stations. Although there’s been no specific intelligence about a subway attack in the U.S., lots of folks have been wondering why the whole city freaks out when a cropduster enters the restricted air space, but anyone could walk onto any metro train at any time and leave a big-ass bomb under the seat. Eerily enough, an old man who was talking to me on the metro last night said “yep, with all the folks on these trains, it could be just like that 9-11. I tell you whut.” (OK, I added that last part)
So, what gives? A quote from today’s Congressional Quarterly e-mail update:

Many lawmakers have sharply criticized the administration’s focus on aviation security above all other means of transportation. Democrats, in particular, have pushed in vain for increased funding for transit and rail. They vowed to do so again next week.
The president’s fiscal 2006 Transportation Security Administration budget proposed $4.7 billion for aviation security and just $32 million for passenger rail, buses and other modes of surface transportation.
Bush also sought to eliminate dedicated funding streams for rail and bus security. The House rejected that proposal and restored $150 million in funding for rail security grants in its version of the Homeland Security funding bill (HR 2360), which passed in May.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would offer an amendment next week to double proposed funding for rail, bus and subway security.

Chuck Schumer has been pushing for more security on rail systems since 9/11. Perhaps now that we’ve seen two deadly attacks on public transportation in two major cities, he’ll have some success. This is not rocket science. Terrorists will try to blow up trains because it’s easy to blow up trains, and it causes a lot of civilian casualties. Poisoning the milk supply? Unleashing a virus? Cyberattacks? All very creative, but much less likely than some well-placed, low-tech explosives.

I’m just going to be lazy and point you to this Daily Kos entry by BriVT: Media Reaction to Yesterday’s HUGE News from Philadelphia. Great stuff - especially since I’m reading 1776 right now and noticing a lot of significant parallels between Iraq’s insurgency… and our own.

In a move termed a “last-ditch plea for relevance from a defeated insurgency” by a British Army spokesman, the Continental Congress yesterday gave final approval of a Declaration of Independence.
The document, signed by the Congressmen, provides a brief introduction followed by a litany of what the Congress terms “injuries and usurpations” by King George III.
“This really is the last gasp of a dying insurgency,” said British Army spokesman Larry DiRita. “With our fleets gathering outside New York to put the final touches on their rag-tag ‘Army,’ the rebels decided to make one final plea for attention.”