Get your guess on

July 17, 2003 5:33 AM

Tenet tells all!"Sen. Dick Durbin, who was present for a 4 1/2-hour appearance by Tenet behind closed doors with Intelligence Committee members Wednesday, said Tenet named the official. But the Illinois Democrat said that person's identity could not be revealed because of the confidentiality of the proceedings." Alright, politically savvy mefites, who is it? Register your guesses now, and get the grand prize (umm, a sense of accomplishment?) when the info gets leaked!
posted by hank_14 (54 comments total)

He lives in my basement.
posted by stbalbach at 5:39 AM on July 17, 2003

According to This Globe & Mail article, the CIA didn't even get hold of the faked documents until after the state of the union address.
posted by Space Coyote at 5:42 AM on July 17, 2003

Dick
posted by Domain Master 666 at 6:00 AM on July 17, 2003

So Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Cheney, or Perle (that's my order of guessing, btw.) . . . ?

This - this should be interesting. Suddenly, I'm very, very worried about Tenet - the power of the people he's a threat to and their demonstrated willingness to wield it with relative impunity - I really am rather concerned he might find himself in exceedingly poor health soon. Wouldn't surprise me. I hope he buries them all and quickly, personally.
posted by Ryvar at 6:05 AM on July 17, 2003

Shouldn't the lead in be "Tenet tells some?"
posted by Pollomacho at 6:17 AM on July 17, 2003

Wolfowitz?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:27 AM on July 17, 2003

Yeah, or Tenet really tells just a very small snippet. But "tells all" was so much sexier.

Oh and that Wolfowitz article is just plain nasty. Does point solidly in his direction, though it looks like he was "directed" in large part by our pal Rummy.
posted by hank_14 at 6:54 AM on July 17, 2003

Condi.
posted by Holden at 7:04 AM on July 17, 2003

It was me. I know I should have said something sooner--but it the moment passed, and then I just felt awkward about it.
posted by vraxoin at 7:05 AM on July 17, 2003

My first instinct is Rice, but she's been awfully public throughout this whole affair. It would seem folly on the part of the whitehouse to have her deny all this on Sunday morning TV if she were the one responsible. Let's see. Who's been conspicuously silent throughout most of this? Cheney.
posted by jpoulos at 7:32 AM on July 17, 2003

jpoulos - Ray McGovern, as head of VIPS (and the CIA analyst who used to brief GW Bush's pappy when George W. Bush was VP), is gunning for Cheney. In the most recent VIPS open letter to GW Bush - around the 14th of July according to Nick Kristoff, VIPS called on Bush to ask for Cheney's resignation.
posted by troutfishing at 7:51 AM on July 17, 2003

But I would guess that the whole pack of 'em - Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Rice, Feith, Bolton, Perle, and so on - are guilty: except for GW Bush, who can claim innocence due to ignorance which, in turn, is probably due to calculated inattention.
posted by troutfishing at 7:56 AM on July 17, 2003

I think it's Dick 'Big Time' Cheney.

I've called for Cheney's resignation, too, though not in an open letter to the president, but just by sort of mumbling angrily to myself as I read the news.
posted by eyebeam at 7:59 AM on July 17, 2003

it's Cheney, definitely, but troutfishing is right too (the buck stops with Bush, so he gets added to the list)
posted by amberglow at 8:05 AM on July 17, 2003

Shouldn't the lead in be "Tenet tells some?"

How about "Tenet tells all, Durbin tells some"?
posted by whatever at 8:10 AM on July 17, 2003

Cheney, gotta be Cheney. Won't matter, though.
posted by kgasmart at 8:12 AM on July 17, 2003

I say Cheny . . . with strong suspicions towards Bolton and Wolfowitz.
I can just imagine the hearings now: "Tell me, what didn't the President know and when didn't he know it?"
posted by ahimsakid at 8:15 AM on July 17, 2003

My guess is Cheney. They probably figured out that his ticker wouldn't last thru another election season, so they decided to make him do all the dirty work to sell the war. Then when he gets caught, he gets "fired" while everyone acts suprised, and then the controversy goes away. New running mate for Georgie, and a new round of promises to be honest and forthright.
posted by spilon at 8:17 AM on July 17, 2003

Cheney

Who fucking cares who it was? What if it was Barney the Dinosaur? Does that make our government less fucked-up?

If our only focus is the blame game, then we will fail to solve the underlying problems here. Want to know whose fault it really is? Its two-fold:

1. Congress. They gave the Executive unconstitutional power, and it got abused. Shocked, I am.
2. Us. The fucking public. It's our fault.

Really, the real culprits are structural, not just creept individuals who must be punished (not that I am against punishing them, per se). We (Congress and the people) allowed our independent institutions to become politicized. We sat back and wathed the transparency in the government get rolled back, just like civil liberties. We even cheered it. And if we are satisfied with the blood of a couple of politicians--when substantive change and re-evaluation is needed--then we perfectly deserve the new Rome we get.
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 8:30 AM on July 17, 2003

What Ignatius J. Reilly said. In spades.
posted by stonerose at 8:34 AM on July 17, 2003

Spilon read my mind. They want Bush/Rice in '04 anyway, so they don't mind if Cheney takes the fall.
posted by jpoulos at 8:42 AM on July 17, 2003

Stephen Hadley or Robert Joseph. Things will get even more interesting once the 9/11 report comes out next week.
posted by euphorb at 9:34 AM on July 17, 2003

So you impeach some guy over sex with an intern ; impeach some guy over spying into the office of an opposing party but when some guy comes around lies his ass off ; attacks another sovereign nation ; commits crimes against humanity and the american constitution, little is done. It seems pretty patriotic to be critical of ones president when they lie. I just hope to see within a year a Ken Star tailored for Bush.
posted by abez at 9:46 AM on July 17, 2003

"I think the thing that discouraged me about the vice president was uttering those famous words, 'no controlling legal authority.' I felt like that there needed to be a better sense of responsibility of what was going on in the White House. I believe that--I believe they've moved that sign, 'The buck stops here,' from the Oval Office desk to 'The buck stops here' on the Lincoln Bedroom, and that's not good for the country."

- George W. Bush October 3rd, 2000

(Via TPM.)
posted by homunculus at 9:54 AM on July 17, 2003

If they pick a scapegoat, they have to show that that scapegoat wilfully misled the president, that the president was deliberately kept ignorant of the facts.

The excuse that the president is a figurehead who does what he's told does not get him off the hook: quite the contrary, it means he's not fit to be president.
posted by George_Spiggott at 9:56 AM on July 17, 2003

I guess Bush left the fucking sign in the Lincoln Bedroom.

To me it seems obvious that it's Cheney, since he's the only one powerful enough to muscle the CIA. I think Condi takes the fall, though.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:15 AM on July 17, 2003

I think Condi takes the fall, though.

No way. Throughout this mess she's been cozied right up to the president. I think spilon is right, and Cheney is going to take the ultimate fall for this in an effort to spare Dubya.
posted by bshort at 10:21 AM on July 17, 2003

They want Bush/Rice in '04 anyway, so they don't mind if Cheney takes the fall.

This is the single scariest sentence I have ever read on Metafilter.
posted by rocketman at 10:22 AM on July 17, 2003

"This is the single scariest sentence I have ever read on Metafilter."

No, that would have been in this thread somewhere. For the Bush White House, it's just the same shit on a different day.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:32 AM on July 17, 2003

I think Cheney's smart enough to insulate himself from this, and I think a strategy of throwing your vice-president overboard and expecting to survive in the next election is a little too risky, even for the reckless drunks driving this ship of state.
posted by stonerose at 10:34 AM on July 17, 2003

What with the news of Cheney hulking around the CIA offices, I think it's clear that he's the guy. Whether or not he takes the fall is a different matter.

But I don't see how they can *not* jettison someone. This is starting to get legs. People are asking questions. The journalists smell blood, and they won't let it die.
posted by rocketman at 10:44 AM on July 17, 2003

I think it's Colin Powell. I think all that bit about how he was reluctant to go to the UN and tell his own pack of lies was just a smokescreen. He's the one who really pulls the strings.
posted by crunchland at 10:53 AM on July 17, 2003

It's Haig, people! Al Fuckin' Haig!
posted by scody at 10:59 AM on July 17, 2003

scody:
awesome!
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 11:00 AM on July 17, 2003

Hey Ignatius - excellent call. I assume you've read Tom Tomorrow's concise indictment of both the administration and its media "enablers?" Well worth it if not.
posted by kgasmart at 11:04 AM on July 17, 2003

It'll be some mid level White House staffer who was running intervention of Wolfowitz / Cheney / Condi. Poor guy will have to take the bullet for the 'greater glory' (now that this particular cat is out of the bag). If he puts in his papers, he'll hit the talk show circuit ala Oliver North. Who knows, he may even get elected from Alabama / South Calorina!
posted by justlooking at 11:04 AM on July 17, 2003

I like New York in June - How about you?
I like a Gershwin tune - How about you?

(Doing the happy liberal dance, Perigee strews flowers across the set of "Meet the Press." Pirouette. Handing out American flags on the street corners to all those commie-bastard righties that are taking the hard fall. Arabesque.)

Blue skies smilin' at me
Nothin' but blue skies do I see
Bluebirds singin' a song
Nothin' but bluebirds all day long..

Ain't it just the most Wonderful day?
posted by Perigee at 11:13 AM on July 17, 2003

Here's an interesting article about the CIA getting pre-emptive about their intelligence-- they recently told the Senate that, essentially, a Bush administration official was going to present exaggerated evidence against Syria.
posted by cell divide at 11:19 AM on July 17, 2003

If he puts in his papers, he'll hit the talk show circuit ala Oliver North.

Oliver North is a hero, right?
posted by four panels at 11:26 AM on July 17, 2003

Dear Americans,

I will be spending two months in your delightful county next spring.

Please make sure that it is still there by the time I arrive. Thank you.

Warm & fuzzy regards,
posted by i_cola at 11:47 AM on July 17, 2003

I was about to caution Perigee that it's too soon to start dancin', but then I saw this. It's beginning to look like a cascade of crises for Bush & Co.
posted by stonerose at 12:00 PM on July 17, 2003

Robert Joseph, NSC official.
MSNBC seems to have named him first.
posted by justlooking at 12:57 PM on July 17, 2003

Ambassador Robert G. Joseph is Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Proliferation Strategies, Counterproliferation, and Homeland Defense, U.S. National Security Council Staff. He is recognized as a leading member of the group of Republican defense strategists whose writings helped to shape the national security outlook of candidate George W. Bush.
posted by stonerose at 1:00 PM on July 17, 2003

Time notes, somewhat cryptically, that "NSC Special Assistant to the President Robert Joseph denied through a spokesman that he said it was O.K. to use the line {in the State of the Union about Iraq, uranium and Africa} and as long as it was sourced to British intelligence."
posted by stonerose at 1:04 PM on July 17, 2003

wow. talk about a let-down.
posted by crunchland at 1:49 PM on July 17, 2003

Cheney will take the fall. But I think it's highly possible there will be some Wellstone-ing pretty soon. If the Cabal can fool everyone into attacking Iraq, they can easily rid themselves of these menacing kids.

And now, I give you the theme song for Iraq-gate (and the whole bloody mess the Cabal has wrought upon us):

Bob Dylan's The Times They Are A-Changin'
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.
posted by jackspace at 2:16 PM on July 17, 2003

I'd like my grand prize now.
posted by euphorb at 2:33 PM on July 17, 2003

jackspace:
I'll see your Dylan quote and raise you one:

Masters of War

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 2:58 PM on July 17, 2003

Much more perspective, via TPM.
posted by stonerose at 4:12 PM on July 17, 2003

Well, two of Dylan's crappier songs, printed in full.
Dear God, please don't let there be a Blowin' In Tne Wind...
posted by y2karl at 6:07 PM on July 17, 2003

ship of fools on a cruel sea

cell_divide - bush is going to learn that you don't fuck with the c.i.a.
posted by centrs at 6:34 PM on July 17, 2003

Clothes Line Saga

After a while we took in the clothes,
Nobody said very much.
Just some old wild shirts and a couple pairs of pants
Which nobody really wanted to touch.
Mama come in and picked up a book
An' Papa asked her what it was.
Someone else asked, "What do you care?"
Papa said, "Well, just because."
Then they started to take back their clothes,
Hang 'em on the line.
It was January the thirtieth
And everybody was feelin' fine.

The next day everybody got up
Seein' if the clothes were dry.
The dogs were barking, a neighbor passed,
Mama, of course, she said, "Hi!"
"Have you heard the news?" he said, with a grin,
"The Vice-President's gone mad!"
"Where?" "Downtown." "When?" "Last night."
"Hmm, say, that's too bad!"
"Well, there's nothin' we can do about it," said the neighbor,
"It's just somethin' we're gonna have to forget."
"Yes, I guess so," said Ma,
Then she asked me if the clothes was still wet.

I reached up, touched my shirt,
And the neighbor said, "Are those clothes yours?"
I said, "Some of 'em, not all of 'em."
He said, "Ya always help out around here with the chores?"
I said, "Sometime, not all the time."
Then my neighbor, he blew his nose
Just as papa yelled outside,
"Mama wants you t' come back in the house and bring them clothes."
Well, I just do what I'm told,
So, I did it, of course.
I went back in the house and Mama met me
And then I shut all the doors.
posted by languagehat at 6:47 AM on July 18, 2003

kumbaya, my lord. kumbaya.
kumbaya, my lord. kumbaya.
kumbaya, my lord. kumbaya.
oh lord, kumbaya.
posted by crunchland at 7:04 AM on July 18, 2003

two of my favorite dylan songs actually...just to cancel out y2karl's post :)
posted by jacobsee at 7:39 AM on July 18, 2003