US News: Cheney Rumored to be Contemplating Resigning

[Zen-like Todd]

Has this actually been posted anywhere else? You guys are killing me here. It will be funny if nothing comes of any of this and everyone is just left with a blank look on their faces...like "WTF, what happened?"

LOL!

My, aren't we boring today.

[Crazyhorse1]

Crazy rumors flying around. Supposedly Fitzgerald has a "deep throat" like source in the administration and Cheney, Libby, Rove, Hadley, and Matalin are all going to be indicted. That would be nuts.

This deep throad might be a guy named Hanna (Sp?) on loan to Cheney's office from another department. Rumor has it Fitzgerald nailed him and he flipped, naming Cheney and the rest, maybe embroiling Bush as well. We'll see.

[lovellj]

Should a lot of this be true and Condi would be promoted, they have the ideal next Secretary of State in current under-secretary Nicholas Burns. He understands international politics incredibly well (works on the Iran-IAEA issue now, was ambassador to NATO), and is appealing to both sides (he was Ambassador to Greece during Clinton's years as well I believe). The man was made to take that position, and would make the Republicans look great for putting and accomplished and experienced man in Rice's place, should any of these rumours be true.

[Chopper Dave]

White House Watch: Cheney resignation rumors fly

Posted 10/18/05
By Paul Bedard

Sparked by today's Washington Post story that suggests Vice President Cheney's office is involved in the Plame-CIA spy link investigation, government officials and advisers passed around rumors that the vice president might step aside and that President Bush would elevate Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"It's certainly an interesting but I still think highly doubtful scenario," said a Bush insider. "And if that should happen," added the official, "there will undoubtedly be those who believe the whole thing was orchestrated – another brilliant Machiavellian move by the VP."

Said another Bush associate of the rumor, "Yes. This is not good." The rumor spread so fast that some Republicans by late morning were already drawing up reasons why Rice couldn't get the job or run for president in 2008.

"Isn't she pro-choice?" asked a key Senate Republican aide. Many White House insiders, however, said the Post story and reports that the investigation was coming to a close had officials instead more focused on who would be dragged into the affair and if top aides would be indicted and forced to resign.

"Folks on the inside and near inside are holding their breath and wondering what's next," said a Bush adviser. But, he added, they aren't focused on the future of the vice president. "Not that, at least not seriously," he said.

Remember that scene in Batman Returns where the Penguin gets mangled by the bats and falls into the moat?

[Crazyhorse1]

It's hard for me to believe Cheney is contemplating anything. I can possibly go with: The former college flunk out, Dick Chaney is plotting to retire (or scheming to retire).

[tex]

Some juicy stuff from blog.

http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/frel/27082/


I just got this e-mail from a Democratic House member's staffer with tons of good dirt on the Plame investigation. I'm reprinting it whole cloth to share all, and show that while these Hill staffers are well-informed, they sure could use some capitalization classes.

Among the things I hadn't seen before:

-Fred Flights, an assistant to John Bolton, is a named name who could be indicted.

-Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham have been suggested as replacements for Dick Cheney.

-Colin Powell told John McCain he showed the infamous memo with Plame's identity on it two just two people; Dick Cheney and George Bush.

-Fitzgerald is looking at the precedent set from the indictment of Tricky Dick's veep Spiro Agnew to pursue against Cheney.

That's red meat folks.

Text of the e-mail:

below, some extremely sensitive information about the impending conclusion of the valerie plame investigations. the sources include two senior members of senate and key staffers; counsel for individuals that have been called before the grand jury; and two journalists taking a lead position in investigating the case. the following represents a composite of the information from those sources.

plamegate coming to conclusion. the investigation has focused mostly closely on vice president cheney and his staff, as well as us ambassador to the un (and former undersecretary of state for arms control) john bolton and his staff. we are told that eight indictments have already prepared, with the possibility of another ten. these indictments include senior white house staff, most notably vice president cheney's chief of staff scooter libby, fred flights (special assistant to john bolton), and--very surprisingly--national security adviser steve hadley. apparently, libby and hadley have both been told by their lawyers to expect indictments. the indictment of senior bush political advisor karl rove seems highly probable.

most critically, a plea bargain process has evidently been opened with vice president cheney's lawyer. that does not mean that an indictment is coming. but i've some critical background around the issue.

in the past several days, former secretary of state colin powell had a meeting with senator john mccain (R-AZ), primarily about the mccain-sponsored amendment on inserting a rider prohibiting torture onto the us defense budget (a bill which powell has himself been lobbying heavily for, against objections of president bush).

during the meeting, powell recounted to the senator that he had traveled on air force one with bush and cheney, and brought to their attention a classified memorandum about the issue of whether there was indeed a transaction inolving niger and yellow cake uranium. the document included ambassador joe wilson's involvement and identified his wife, valerie plame, as a covert agent. the memorandum further stated that this information was secret. powell told mccain that he showed that memo only to two people--president and vice president. according to powell, cheney fixated on the wilson/plame connection, and plame's status.

powell testified about this exchange in great length to the grand jury investigating the plame case. according to sources close to the case, powell appeared convinced that the vice president played a focal role in disclosing plame's undercover status.

in his conversation with mccain, powell felt that--at a minimum--there would be a serious shakeup at national security council as a consequence. in particular, vice president cheney would no longer hold a pivotal role in us national security affairs. powell apparently did not discuss the potential of a cheney resignation.

lead prosecutor patrick fitzgerald has apparently been looking at the precedent of formerly indicted nixon vice president spiro agnew. this shows the likely path, because addressing executive immunity and privilege questions would necessarily begin start with a plea-bargain deal that would entail a resignation.

this is all likely to occur within the next week. 28 october (next friday) is the last day of the grand jury, and no requests have been made to extend their session. the investigator is expecting to wrap up by then.

there are enormous implication for what would be the biggest white house shakeup since the iran-contra scandal in the reagan era. president bush's approval rating at 39% has already led to a significant decrease in policy efficacy with key legislators in congress. i'll spin out the broader policy implications when i have some time to write at greater length, but i wanted to get this out immediately.

one interesting point though--it is worth noting that a parade of senior republican senators have evidently been privately pushing mccain to lobby to be cheney's replacement. senator lindsey graham (R-SC) has also been mentioned. meanwhile, the white house has already been developing countermeasures--notably including senior white house officials privately voicing president bush's disappointment in karl rove's involvement in the case, calling it "misconduct." an urgent search for a rove replacement is already underway.

[DeanCollins]

Some juicy stuff from blog.

http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/frel/27082/




there are enormous implication for what would be the biggest white house shakeup since the iran-contra scandal in the reagan era. president bush's approval rating at 39% has already led to a significant decrease in policy efficacy with key legislators in congress. i'll spin out the broader policy implications when i have some time to write at greater length, but i wanted to get this out immediately.

one interesting point though--it is worth noting that a parade of senior republican senators have evidently been privately pushing mccain to lobby to be cheney's replacement. senator lindsey graham (R-SC) has also been mentioned. meanwhile, the white house has already been developing countermeasures--notably including senior white house officials privately voicing president bush's disappointment in karl rove's involvement in the case, calling it "misconduct." an urgent search for a rove replacement is already underway.

AS with Regan there will be one or more sacraficial lambs (ala Ollie North) so that airports, buildings, and aircraft carriers can be named for Bush. The thought of Chenney and Rove going to prison together is provocative

[chomerics]

AS with Regan there will be one or more sacraficial lambs (ala Ollie North) so that airports, buildings, and aircraft carriers can be named for Bush. The thought of Chenney and Rove going to prison together is provocative

The only problem though is that Rove will love it. Where else can he get the homosexual desires he has satisfied without having to pay for it

There is a reason Jeff Guckert/Ganon, a gay male prostitute, was allowed into the press briefing room, and credentials wasn't it. . . unless the "credentials" refer nothing to his ability as a journalist

[Chief skin]

OH what a web we weave when we practice to deceive, 1 liar gone 1 to go

[Predicto]

I will never believe an anonymous email purporting to be from a congressional staffer. The Internet has 75 huge lies or misconceptions on it for every speck of objective truth.

We wait and see. When you are talking about secret grand jury proceedings, there is no truth till the thing wraps up.

[Larry]

I've got a scenario.

• Cheney resignes for "health reasons".
• Bush appoints Harriet Meiers as successor. This allows her to withdraw from the Supreme Court nomination, which should cause the Senate to confirm her in about 10 minutes, before she changes her mind.
• Bush resigns the Presidency on Jan 19th, making Meiers the first woman US President. (For a day.)

[tex]

Who is Tom Flocco? Have not seen this anywhere else; is it true?

http://www.tomflocco.com/fs/CiaPlameCaseIndictments.htm

Bush—Cheney CIA/Plame case indictments released this morning

Bush orders Fitzgerald fired and espionage indictments quashed

by Tom Flocco

Washington, DC—October 21, 2005—12:00 EST—TomFlocco.com exclusive—Today Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald handed over 22 indictments to Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, accusing President George W. Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney and others of espionage, obstruction of justice, perjury and a variety of other charges in the matter of the CIA/Valerie Plame leak-gate case.

According to intelligence sources who spoke with federal whistleblowers Thomas Heneghan and Stewart Webb, Bush then ordered Gonzalez to fire Fitzgerald and have the indictments quashed and sealed.

Gonzalez refused to release the indictments which have been handed down by the grand jury and ordered served by a judge, subjecting the Attorney General to additional charges of obstruction of justice, the sources said.

The indictments confirm our original “Bush-Cheney indicted” report on August 2, 2005.

Gonzalez was Bush’s former personal White House counsel before receiving a presidential appointment as U.S. Attorney General.

The move is reminiscent of the “Saturday night massacre” when President Nixon fired Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox in an attempt to save his presidency and obstruct justice.

Intelligence sources added that Bush tried to delay publicity about his attempt to fire Fitzgerald and quash the indictments this afternoon by ordering a diversion regarding a “Capitol Hill police attempt to disrupt a suspicious package in a car near the U.S. Capitol.”

The move to distract attention from the indictments occurred not long after the receipt of process by Gonzalez, according to intelligence sources with knowledge of the events.

While Gonzalez received the service of indictments, Bush was in California this morning and was scheduled to speak at the dedication of the new Air Force One pavilion at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California.

It can be assumed that Bush’s orders for Gonzalez to refuse receipt of process and fire the prosecutor in the CIA leak case were discussed over the telephone since Bush was to speak at the Reagan Library just a few hours after the indictments were served.

Bush should have finished his speech at approximately 2:30 pm Eastern time, and it is probable that presidential strategy sessions regarding how to prevent the indictments and their criminal contents from becoming public have already commenced.

It is open to conjecture whether Bush could be arrested in California before even returning to Washington, given the criminal nature of the indictments.

An attempt to quash indictments and to fire Fitzgerald may also cause a constitutional crisis if Bush and Gonzalez continue to obstruct justice and defy U.S. law and constitutional legal process.

Intelligence sources told TomFlocco.com that the military or U.S. marshals should arrest Bush, Gonzalez, Cheney and others immediately for their criminal acts in keeping explosive espionage, obstruction and perjury indictments hidden from the American people, all of which affects U.S. national security.

Developing………………
www.tomflocco.com

[Prosperity]

I've got a scenario.

• Cheney resignes for "health reasons".
• Bush appoints Harriet Meiers as successor. This allows her to withdraw from the Supreme Court nomination, which should cause the Senate to confirm her in about 10 minutes, before she changes her mind.
• Bush resigns the Presidency on Jan 19th, making Meiers the first woman US President. (For a day.)

• That will take all the wind out of Hillary's sails
• Which would lead to an easy victory by Rick Santorum
• End of the world

[tex]

http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artma...cle_7560.shtml

Death Watch at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

By DOUG THOMPSON
Oct 21, 2005, 08:12

For all practical purposes, governing the nation has stopped at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue as aides deal with an increasingly despondent President, mounting scandals and defecting dissidents from the Ship of State.

White House insiders say George W. Bush’s mood swings have increased to the point where meetings with the President must be cancelled, schedules shifted and plans changed to keep a bitter, distracted leader from the public eye.

“He’s like a zombie some days, walking around in a trance,” says one aide who, for obvious reasons, asks not to be identified. “Other times he launches into angry outbursts, cussing out anybody who gets near him.”

Aides say gallows humor has descended on the White House, where the West Wing is now referred to as “death row” and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, along with Vice Presidential Chief of Staff Scooter Libby, are known as “dead men walking,” a reference to the last walk death row inmates take to the execution chamber.

With indictments expected against Libby or Rove or both any day now from the Valerie Plame scandal, the White House mood has a “Final Days” aura (“Final Days” was the title of Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward’s book about the last days of the Nixon administration). Although no one expects President Bush to be impeached or resign, Internet blogs buzzed this week with talk of a possible resignation by Vice President Dick Cheney.

“That’s bull****,” says one longtime Republican consultant. “They’ll have to carry Dick Cheney out of here on a stretcher.” But Rove and Libby will be gone if they are indicted and some wonder if the President, whose ability to govern is already limited by despair and detraction, can function without Rove, often referred to as “Bush’s brain.”

“Rove’s role is diminished already,” says one White House aide. “He still meets with The President daily but all this has taken its toll. He looks terrible.”

So does White House Chief of Staff Andy Card, who has served longer in the job than anyone in modern times. Card works 16 and 17-hour days and, in the words of one Republican member of Congress, looks “completely burned out.”

But holding the White House together behind what has been one of the better Presidential propaganda machines is proving next to impossible as the American public and even members of Bush’s own party desert him over the war in Iraq, the nomination of White House counsel Harriett Miers to the Supreme Court, the Hurricane Katrina debacle, rising gas prices and the Valerie Plame scandal.

“The façade is gone and we are now seeing the Bush White House in all its incompetent glory,” says retired political science professor George Harleigh. “They’ve ignored reality for too long.”

With Congress distracted by growing scandals swirling around former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Washington has become a daily killing field for anyone involved in the GOP leadership.

This week, Former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s right-hand man unloaded on the Bush Administration during a speech to the New American Foundation, saying American foreign policy had been hijacked by “a Cheney-Rumsfeld cabal” that has destroyed this country’s credibility with its allies.

“I’m not sure the State Department even exists anymore,” Col. Larry Wilkerson, Powell’s chief of staff, told the audience of journalists and scholars. “It, like so many others things, have been destroyed by George W. Bush’s ‘cowboyism.’”

Wilkerson dismisses the Administration’s attempts to improve America’s image abroad.

“You can’t sell ****,” he said.

Wilkerson isn’t the only high-profile Republican operative bailing on Bush. Bruce Bartlett, who served as a Senior Policy Advisor in Bush’s father’s administration, is about to release a book: Imposter: How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Destroyed the Reagan Legacy. Bartlett lost his job at the National Center for Policy Analysis, a conservative Texas think tank, when word of his book project leaked out.

Republicans, the last to finally acknowledge the lies and duplicity of the Bush White House, no longer trust the Administration. When current Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testified before Congress this week and claimed “significant progress” in Iraq, Republican Senator Lincoln Chaffee of Rhode Island fired back: “Well, we all wish that were true, but we can't kid ourselves, either.”

But Wilkerson, a veteran with 31 years in the Marines and a former director of the Marine War College, sums up what, sadly, will be the legacy of George W. Bush:

“If there is a nuclear terrorist attack or a major pandemic you are going to see the ineptitude of this government in a way that'll take you back to the Declaration of Independence.”

© Copyright 2005 by Capitol Hill Blue

[Thiebear]

The only problem though is that Rove will love it. Where else can he get the homosexual desires he has satisfied without having to pay for it

There is a reason Jeff Guckert/Ganon, a gay male prostitute, was allowed into the press briefing room, and credentials wasn't it. . . unless the "credentials" refer nothing to his ability as a journalist

its been a good year since you were bashing homosexuals.. why start again?