Booman Tribune

Little Orphan Libby

by BooMan
Wed Feb 21st, 2007 at 10:49:58 AM EST

Dana Milbank recounts the strange behavior of Scooter Libby's defense attorney during yesterday's closing arguments. In many ways, Ted Wells' performance was a metaphor for how the neoconservatives feel about George W. Bush and their whole excellent imperial adventure.

For a brief moment yesterday, Scooter Libby was not a former White House aide on trial for perjury. He was an orphan in need of a loving home.

"He's been under my protection for the last month; now I'm entrusting him to you," defense lawyer Ted Wells told the puzzled jurors.

His voice breaking, the $700-an-hour lawyer pleaded: "Give him back! Give him back to me!"

Wells sobbed loudly and went back to his chair, where he sat staring at the floor and emitting the occasional sniffle.

Exactly what Wells was trying to achieve with this outburst -- if he intended it at all -- was a mystery.

I've read similar outbursts recently from William Kristol and Frederick Kagan. This site has been, from the beginning, all about frog-marching members of this administration and the Republican Congress out of the halls of power. We've had some successes with Tom DeLay, Bob Ney, Randy 'Duke' Cunningham, Dusty Foggo, and Larry Franklin. Bill Frist retired, Dennis Hastert lost his leadership position, George Allen, Conrad Burns, and Rick Santorum were voted out of office. But we have not yet landed a truly big fish. I don't know how long it will take the jury to deliberate in the Scooter Libby case. But I am hopeful that they will not take too long. Scooter Libby is guilty...and guilty of a lot more than he has been charged with. And when he goes down it will be the first real indication that America has begun the process of calling this administration a criminal administration.

And then it is on to bigger fish....to fry.



Display:
I agree. All of it was rather odd and extremely over the top.

Can't hear ya, Peach!
by AP on Wed Feb 21st, 2007 at 11:52:12 AM EST
Holy cow, Boo.  I am now living with my 85-year-old mother, and very well-qualified to identify that scene as demetia.

The big fish know they are going down if we can just keep pushing for the truth.  

I thank you for all your excellent work toward that end.

by Alice on Wed Feb 21st, 2007 at 11:09:50 AM EST
Dementia dammit! - soon I will learn to proofread.
by Alice on Wed Feb 21st, 2007 at 11:11:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]
What I would like to see is Bush addressing the press and start crying for Libby.
by realtime on Wed Feb 21st, 2007 at 11:13:49 AM EST
Shrub wouldn't cry for his own mother if it meant he was getting in trouble.

Doing My Part For The Left
by refinish69 (refinish69 at gmail dot com) on Wed Feb 21st, 2007 at 11:16:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]
$700 an hour and that's the best Wells could come up with?

Pfft.

by CabinGirl on Wed Feb 21st, 2007 at 11:57:23 AM EST
Just amazing. Is he going for a mistrial due to incompetent counsel? Or acquittal because the jury feels sorry for Libby because his lawyer is nuts?

Anybody know of a video clip of this? It's one of those see-it-to-believe it moments. I might be the lasting monument to the Bush administration's final meltdown.

FDR's response to progressive demands: "I agree. Now go out and make me do it."

by DaveW on Wed Feb 21st, 2007 at 01:23:23 PM EST
You've got to read Emptywheel's frontpage DKos account of this today. It reads like a novel and explains why this crying episode was so predictable and ineffective in this case.

She gives the devastating Fitz closing and response to Well's performance. It is just a great piece!

by tosh on Wed Feb 21st, 2007 at 11:53:34 PM EST


Display:
Go to: [ Booman Tribune Homepage : Top of page : Top of comments ]
Menu
Login
. Make a new account
. Reset password





Find textbooks at Alibris!

NOTE: Overstock bests Amazon's prices and is "blue."

THE BOOKS WITH "BUZZ":
______________

Learn the real story behind the CIA's War on Terror:

The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals
by Jane Mayer

Read Barack Obama's vision for America:

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
by Barack Obama

DaveW recommends:

I Am a Strange Loop
by Douglas Hofstadter

Need some laughs?

I Am America (and So Can You!)
by Stephen Colbert

rae recommends:

Dark Ages America: The Final Phase of Empire
by Morris Berman.

On BooMan’s shelf:

Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
by Doris Kearns Goodwin

This looks interesting:

Adventure Divas
by Holly Morris

Here’s a good one from
Elizabeth Gilbert:

Eat Pray Love
by Elizabeth Gilbert

"Crash" * Best Motion Picture, Academy Awards * Only $11.79 at Overstock * 2006 SAG Winner, Best Ensemble

Check out
Powell's new section:
NEW FAVORITES

Selected new arrivals at 30% off

Recommended by Indianadem and ejmw:
The Conscience of a Liberal
by Paul Wellstone

From northcountry’s bookshelf:

The New Golden Age:
The Coming Revolution Against
Political Corruption and Economic Chaos
by Ravi Batra

A novel about contractors in Iraq from the woman that runs The Spy That Billed Me:

Outsourced: A Novel
from RJ Hillhouse.


SOTW-120x90
Download Sleeper Cell on iTunes (Better than "24") Download Weeds on iTunes (Hilarious 1/2-hour adult comedy starring Mary-Louise Parker) Download Late Nite with Conan O'Brien on iTunes
John Belushi - SNL
Download South Park on iTunes
Verve Vault

James Hunter - People Gonna Talk:
James Hunter - People Gonna Talk
icon


Great Deals
----- * ^ * -----

Find mystery novels by Nancy Pickard ("Kansas")



Challenging Empire: How People, Governments, and the UN Defy US Power by Phyllis Bennis (interviewed on DN!)


Featured by Keith Olbermann, New (Powell's Sale): Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower by William Blum (whose other books merit serious consideration)


"Explosive" State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration
by James Risen


The book the CIA doesn't want you to read: Jawbreaker: The Attack on Bin Laden and Al Qaeda: A Personal Account by the CIA's Key Field Commander
Larry Johnson's review


BT's all-time best seller:

PERMACULTURE:
A Designers' Manual

$79.95 * Sale: $59.95


Unequal Sisters: A Multicultural Reader in U.S. Women's History (Third Edition)


The Undercover Economist: Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, the Poor Are Poor And Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car!


The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
by Timothy Egan


Green Press Initiative
----- * ^ * -----


Journalistas: 100 Years of the Best Writing and Reporting by Women Journalists by Eleanor Mills * NYT review


Bury Me Standing: the Gypsies & Their Journey


1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus



Brokeback Mountain
by Annie Proulx
----- * ^ * -----
Check out Powell's
"At The Movies"


Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post-9/11 World by Noam Chomsky (Power & Terror: Post 9-11 Talks)


The Price of Privilege:

How Parental Pressure and
Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of
Disconnected and Unhappy Kids

by Madeline Levine


Save 35-70% on
name brand clothing,
footwear, and outdoor gear
at SierraTradingPost.com

:





We listened to PEN American Center's "State of Emergency" and found 1940s books by Curzio Malaparte only at Alibris. (Selection (MP3) excerpted from "The Skin.")

Alibris - Books You Thought You'd Never Find
Banned Books * Are you a fan of Film Noir, Art House, Documentaries or Hong Kong Action? * Searching for a long-lost children's book or a first printing of Miles Davis' Kind of Blue on vinyl? Find it at Alibris!

:
:
www.Patagonia.com


Listed on BlogShares

© 2009 Booman Tribune