Unusual Candor

BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Australia 'has Iraq oil interest':

Australian Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has admitted that securing oil supplies is a key factor behind the presence of Australian troops in Iraq.

He said maintaining 'resource security' in the Middle East was a priority.

Of course the PM is trying to play down the DM's comments as "stretching it a bit." Stretching it? Stretching what? The truth? I don't think so. It's a well known fact that Paul Wolfowitz once blabbed that it was all about the oil from before the start of the invasion (also reported by the BBC). Oil is also fueling the insurgency. It pollutes every part of the equation concerning the Middle East.

Daily Kos: A Pardon on the Installment Plan; An Investigation Sabotaged

Daily Kos: A Pardon on the Installment Plan; An Investigation Sabotaged:

And so it goes. Yet another transparent corruption, yet another investigation sabotaged, yet another enabling felon praised as martyr to the cause. America may at this rate find both its laws and its honor dismantled from within. From the broadcasting tower to the Senate floor, and from the opinion pages to the Department of Justice, there seem to be too few left with an interest in defending either one.

But it should be noted, for the record, that the President of the United States has just used his power of clemency to sabotage an active criminal investigation into the office of his own Vice President. I have heard tell that such things used to be considered scandalous.

Screw Impeachment, it's time to INDICT BUSH, CHENEY, RUMSFELD, RICE, et al.

Presenting information to Congress and the general public through deceit, craft, trickery, dishonest means, and fraudulent representations can be a CRIME ( 18 USC 371 ) , and Fmr. US Attorney Elizabeth de la Vega lays out the case against Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, et al.It's time for the criminals in the White House to take a perp-walk.

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FDL Explains Why

Firedoglake - Firedoglake weblog » The Latest Bunch of Bush Bullshit:

The reality is, of course, that a pardon - a full no-qualifications pardon - is the last thing that Scooter Libby will get. Why? Because, as Marcy and Christy have pointed out, a full pardon strips away Scooter’s ability to hide behind the Fifth Amendment when asked to testify under oath about Bush’s and Cheney’s involvement in outing Valerie Plame.

Unless Bush and the gang invent some new variation of the full pardon that doesn’t keep Scoots from pleading the Fifth (which is highly unlikely), a full pardon is the LAST thing that they will do in Scooter’s case. The LAST thing.

I've said that Libby couldn't be left to cool his heels in jail because he might let slip some of the actually incriminating details. They couldn't allow that and probably told him they'd make sure he wouldn't have to go to jail. This article explains why he won't get a full pardon.