The Dark and Treacherous Dick and His Bizarro World of Truth

Scott Horton's interesting and informative analysis of the CIA Tape Destruction Scandal links to two very important pieces about the cover up of the destruction of the tapes and its possible ramifications. Who may be at the end of this dastardly trail of obfuscation and vicious abrogation of the law is a matter of connecting dots and additional investigation. However, one fact that I was not aware of, or that maybe I overlooked, is that retired CIA agent John Kiriakou is linked to the Scooter Libby case:

According to a declassified document filed with the court after the Libby trial and obtained by Mother Jones, Kiriakou authored a June 10, 2003, email sent to several CIA officials. The message apparently was written in response to intense efforts at that time by the vice president's office to learn how Plame's husband, Ambassador Joseph Wilson, had been selected to go on a CIA-sponsored fact-finding mission to Niger. The email makes clear that senior CIA officials, including Kiriakou's boss and the Deputy Director of Central Intelligence, did not know who Valerie Wilson was at the time. Prodded by Cheney's office, they were seeking information on her role at the agency prior to a scheduled conversation with Libby the next day.

Is the real issue here that Kiriakou links, not only the Plame outing, but the destruction of these tapes to the Vice President's Office? Cheney's current Chief of Staff David Addington is one of those named as a member of a group of four White House staffers involved in discussions about the propriety of destroying the tapes.

It has emerged that at least four White House staff were approached for advice about the tapes, including David Addington, a senior aide to Dick Cheney, the vice-president, but none has admitted to recommending their destruction.

The web woven by the Vice President is indeed one of treachery, secrecy, and deceit, not seen on this scale since the reign of Nixon. Recall that Cheney served as Chief of Staff for then President Gerald Ford, the man who pardoned Nixon. Cheney has spent 32 of the last 35 years advocating a return to the days of the Imperial Presidency.

A Tad More Sunshine Please

The paranoid secrecy of the former Cheerleader and his thugs continues. Read this report from the Council on Foreign Relations:

• In six years, President Bush has issued at least 151 signing statements, challenging 1149 provisions of laws. In the 211 years of our Republic to 2000, fewer than 600 signing statements that took issue with the bills were issued. Among recent residents, Reagan issued 71 statements challenging provisions of laws before him; G.W.H. Bush issued 146; Clinton, 105.
• Since 2001, the “state secrets” privilege has been invoked a reported 39 times—an average in 6.5 years (6) that is more than double the previous 24 years (2.46).
• On average since 2000, non-competed contract funding makes up more than 25 percent of all awards: 26.2% ($559.9 billion) In 2006, 25.9 percent ($107.5 billion) of federal contract funding was given out without any competition; another
5.1 percent ($21.3 billion) was awarded without competition because of specific requirements. In 2000, 45 percent of contract dollars were awarded under full and open competition; by 2006, only 34 percent followed such open procedures.
• A 2007 Justice Department Offi ce of the Inspector General report on secret wiretap warrants indicated that the government made 143,074 National Security Letter requests in the period 2003-2005. The number for 2006 remains classified.
• With 2,176 secret surveillance orders approved in 2006, federal surveillance activity under the jurisdiction of the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court more than doubled in five years.

It should be incumbent upon all of us to ask the current crop of prospect if they will commit to a less secretive government. Some things should be non-negotiable.

(h/t Andrew Sullivan)