The Libby Letters of Support (Part 1)

[H2O Man]

In their May 25 response to Judge Walton, Team Libby noted that, "Given the extraordinary media scrutiny here, if any case presents the real possibility that these letters, once released, would be published on the internet and their authors discussed, even mocked, by bloggers, it is this case."

I find that position disingenuous, at best. After reading the letters to the Court, I believe that it is the Libby supporters who mock the criminal justice system. Their letters reflect their sense that Libby's social status should make him immune to consequence for his misbehaviors. This is a man who has been convicted of four felonies.

Few letters illustrate the view of the Libby supports in a more blatant manner than this: "My name is Michael Rubenstein. I am a wealth manager specializing in multi-generational family wealth transfer .... My clients include some of the wealthiest families in the nation .... I am engaged to Jennifer (Jenny) Mayfield, who served as Scooter's special assistant from 2000-2004. .... Please don't hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance to you."

I do not think that Team Libby is concerned that the bloggers will "mock" such letter. Rather, I think that Libby's attorneys are concerned that the public will find them extremely offensive.

[BOSSHOG]

1. His crimes were against the country, not the party, ergo conservative sadness

that he would dare be held to justice just for lying. No big deal and no skin off the gop, so no crime.

[WiseButAngrySara]

2. You are correct IMO. Offensive in the extreme. And this same

group will no doubt be pleading fora pardon from Mr. no-pardon death row executioner, Bush! These people are so hypocritical at every level it makes my mind want to explde!

I'm going to paste a letter by a DUer who wrote in opposition to leniency. Do you have a link to similar letters to the Judge, or just those of support?

[WiseButAngrySara]

3. Here is a letter of opposition by DUer mod mom ....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x33198

mod mom Wed Jun-06-07 08:59 AM
Response to Reply #4

5. I posted a request here but it didn't get the responses I would have liked and fell quickly.

I wish the press would cover some of the letter in opposition instead of those who praise his actions, but what do you expect from MSM.

PS I threw in a little tidbit about the stolen election:

Dear JUdge Walton,

I am a former small business owner who closed my business of 17 years after witnessing
the assault on democracy at the hands of the GOP in disenfranchising thousands of low
income African American voters in Ohio in 2004. Since I am a mother, I felt it was my duty
to pay attention to what was occurring in our country and work for change, so I closed my
business. I closely followed the I Lewis Libby trial and am outraged at the members of the
Bush Administration who blatantly used political revenge on a dedicated covert agent Ms.
Valerie Plame Wilson (as her testimony under oath to congress proved). I realize the trial
was not about outing Ms Wilson, but perhaps if members of the Bush Administration, such
as Mr Libby, did not attempt to obstruct justice, real justice could be served. Regardless,
Mr Libby was convicted of lying and obstructing justice. I urge you to make an example of
him to send a message to others that this behavior will not be tolerated. Since Mr Libby
will likely be pardoned by President Bush, I urge you to not allow him to remain free while
on appeal, but instead to immediately send him to prison, where he belongs.
Thank you for your consideration.

I hope it helped sway the good judge.

[wilt the stilt]

21. Thank you Judge Walton

for not letting that bullshit affect your sentencing of Libby. I only wish you gave him the max. Here's hoping you put him away next week(Immediate Incarceration) into the DC jail awaiting moving to Federal prison.

[WiseButAngrySara]

26. I so hope this too. Dad told me that B* is thinking about a pardon

because his poll numbers couldn't get much worse. He would rather put some people to death in Texas, some of them with unfair trials, but when it is clear that his crony committed a grievous crime against the Nation he is supposed to protect, it is inconceivable that he would have the absence of conscience to do this. (but I know he doesn't possess the later anyway!)

[Cameron27]

4. Of course it's a sham protest.

They don't want those letters to see the light of day for exactly the reason you cite. They're offensive. I want to see precisely how offensive, and the names of every one of these opportunist panderers.

[WiseButAngrySara]

5. My dad couldn't believe that Carville signed a letter of

support. He was also very upset about the Woodward historical tidbit about Kerry and spy Carville during selection 2004...

[mod mom]

8. The DLC believe that Gore "lost" in 2000

"A key factor in that defeat was Gore's peculiar decision to discard the New Democrat formula that had worked so well in 1992 and 1996."

-snip

http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=128&subsecID=187&contentID=3361

This was written by Will Marshall. Who is Will Marshall?

Will Marshall is one of the founders of the New Democrat movement, which aims to steer the US Democratic Party toward a more right-wing orientation. Since its founding in 1989, he has been president of the Progressive Policy Institute, a think tank affiliated with the Democratic Leadership Council. He recently served on the board of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, a committee chaired by Joe Lieberman and John McCain designed to build bipartisan support for the invasion of Iraq. Marshall also signed, at the outset of the war, a letter issued by the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) expressing support for the invasion. Marshall signed a similar letter sent to President Bush put out by the Social Democrats USA on Feb. 25, 2003, just before the invasion. The SDUSA letter urged Bush to commit to "maintaining substantial U.S. military forces in Iraq for as long as may be required to ensure a stable, representative regime is in place and functioning." He writes frequently on political and public policy matters, especially the "Politics of Ideas" column in Blueprint, the DLC's magazine. Notably, he is one of the co-authors of Progressive Internationalism: A Democratic National Security Strategy.

-snip
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Marshall

THAT'S RIGHT, THE GUY WHO SAID GORE LOST BECAUSE OF HIS DECISION TO ABANDON THE NEW DEMOCRAT MOVEMENT (IE THE DLC) WAS A SIGNER OF PNAC!

DO YOU THINK PERHAPS THIS IS WHY THE DEMS IGNORED ELECTION FRAUD AND ALLOWED THE APPOINTMENT OF bu$h?

[Me.]

10. So Winning The Popular Vote Is Losing According To The DLC?

So they agreed with the SCOTUS fiat? Interesting. Seems we finally have a 3rd party. Democrats who prefer publicans.

[WiseButAngrySara]

11. Oh, wow! Thank you so much for this elucidating information.

I have just begun to examine the division and distinctions between the DLC and more 'conventional' democrats, the later whom I believe Gore is. He did choose Lieberman as his running mate, though. What do you know about Al From? And as an aside, who are you supporting in the upcoming elections if you have decided? I will vote for Gore if he enters the race, and I am very strongly leaning for Edwards at this point in time. I'm very opposed to the war, and I'm also very opposed to US favoritism of Israel and the NeoCons.

[mod mom]

15. It is my understanding that Gore started out his bid for the 2000 Presidency

as a DLCer but broke away from them to become a populist. (which might explain Lieberman-?)

I am saving my $ and effort for Gore, but if he doesn't run, I will support (and GOTV) for any Democratic nominee as long as they are outside the DLC. I have researched their positions and stand adamently opposed to them.

[WiseButAngrySara]

27. Thank you again for the information! ....n/t

[Morgana LaFey]

28. Here's more, Sara

re DLC:

Who Funds The DLC??
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x173238

you asked about Al From. Here's one tidbit:
One paragraph by Al From right after our win in November...I saw red.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3186277#3186432

This one has a lot of links:
Centrist Democratic group in Florida...doesn't want party activists, won't cave in to party unity.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x183633

As I watched Harold Ford today on CNN and then Hardball...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3077951

So Gore "lost" because of decision to discard New Dems (ie DLC)?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x3163466

Al From is a cancer on the Democratic Party
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2986793&mesg_id=2986793

DLC: a little policy advisory group or a corporate infiltration?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2776161&mesg_id=2776161

The DLC Won't Talk About Corporate Power (Jonathan Tasini)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2741009

In PRAISE of the DLC
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2672139#2672141

DLC 2.0 : Meet the Hamiltonian Democrats
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2669548

Fed up with this....Can`t you just get along with the DLC?....stuff.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2641524

My problem with the DLC...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2623036#2623877

DLC suggests Democrats not filibuster Alito. (This is NOT the DNC.)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x232865

DLC's Wittman says wiretapper Bush was attempting to "protect America"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x111639

DLC think tanker supports Bush's warrantless domestic spying
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5685426

DLC blogger Bull Moose goes after Murtha, Pelosi, and the Dean brothers.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2327858&mesg_id=2327858

Bull Moose Marshall Wittmann sounding very Republican today.
(defending Bush's domestic spying)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2324716&mesg_id=2324716

Questions for the DLC (and everyone else who wishes to participate)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2320683

Can Democrats get the DLC to cease and desist: Control over DNC!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2308512

DLC supports Lieberman Iraq War statement on their website
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5565332&mesg_id=5565332

New DLC Outrage: Smear Pelosi and Murtha as "offering surrender" in Iraq (identifies Marshall Wittman as a former Republican strategist)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5501371

More on the DLC at Sirotablog
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1961243


didn't realize I had so many.

But let me leave you with this little bon mot:

The best way to control the opposition is to lead it ourselves. -- Lenin

[WiseButAngrySara]

29. I cannot thank you enough! This will keep me quite busy but

I'm sure many of my questions will be answered!

[mod mom]

31. WOW! You are a wealth of knowledge, Morgana!

[mod mom]

6. Here is the link to the letters at WaPo:

but I found the scrolling to be extremely s l o w!

http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/pdf/libbyletters-r-s.pdf

[H2O Man]

9. Here is a link:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/jud/libby/letters.pdf

[mod mom]

14. Thank you.

That was much faster. It seems all the letters from citizens, outside of Scooter's associates, want to see him do some jail time for his crimes.

[malaise]

30. Have you seen this?

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/06/06/the_scooter_files_washington_xray.php

<snip>
What's missing from every single one— every one: a single forthright statement about the magnitude of the offense for which he'd already been convicted.

Read 'em yourself, and weep.

[Me.]

7. You Got That Right

And while I am not looking to hijack your thread could we please have an elaboration of Libby's position and importance (also as compared to KKK) like you did in another thread. He wasn't just the veep's right hand man as you know....

[H2O Man]

13. Libby

Scooter and Paul Wolfowitz are the two fellows who, while serving under Dick Cheney in the Bush1 administration, wrote a policy paper calling for a permanent US military presence on 6 continents to prevent any "potential competitors from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role. Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman called it a "classified blueprint intended to help 'set the nation's direction for the next century...'."

The document stated that, "While the US cannot become the world's 'policeman,' by assuming responsibility for righting every wrong, we will retain the preeminent responsibility for addressing selectively those wrongs which threaten not only our interests, but those of our allies or friends, or which could seriously unsettle international relations."

After protests from democrats, including Senator Joseph Biden calling the memo a blueprint for "a Pax Americana," it was dropped. But when Cheney, Wolfowitz, and Libby returned to power in the Bush2 administration, the same document was released as an official White House policy, known as "The National Security Strategy of the United States." It is the policy that led to the administration's military occupation of Iraq.

In the Bush2 administration, "Libby had three formal titles. He was chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney; he was also national security adviser to the vice president; and he was finally an assistant to President Bush. It was a trifecta of positions probably never before held by a single person." (Plan of Attack; Woodward; page 48)

[starroute]

17. Don't forget Zalmay Khalilzad

He had a hand in that 1992 Defense Planning Guidance too:
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1571

After spending two years as ambassador to Iraq, he's now United Nations representative. People have been so glad to have Bolton gone, they haven't been paying much attention to Khalilzad -- which could be a mistake.

[Me.]

24. Thank You

I believe you also said that Libby is as responsible for the war as Wolfowitz.

[H2O Man]

25. That is correct.

Mr. Libby is one of the people who has been advocating the re-drawing of the map of the Middle East for some time.

[myrna minx]

12. Those letters were some of the most haughty, elitist, self indulgent

dreck I've ever read. Hear that Carville?

[Annces]

16. Those letters were offensive

There were many professors and refined thinkers who wrote those letters, and yet they don't care about the illegal Iraq war.

[Patsy Stone]

18. They were only afraid

we'd finally see who was on the payroll and who receives the talking points.

Do you think it's a coincidence that they all cited the same "relevant" points about poor, rich, America-lovin', baby-kissing Scooter? What I'd really like to see is the sample letter the attorneys sent around.

Dear Judge Walton:

I, _____________________, believe Scooter is a (please circle as many as you'd like) 1) great American, 2) perfect father, 3) great dog walker, 4) excellent softball player, 5) rich guy, who was 1) falsely accused, 2) innocent even though found guilty, 3) a victim of political pressure.



p.s. Most of those sounded like cover letters for resumes, and half of them insisted they were there to praise Scooter, yet all of the paragraphs began with "I".

[troubleinwinter]

19. "some of the wealthiest families in the nation"

"Please don't hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance to you."

I nearly sounds like the offer of a bribe. 'Need a $3,000,000 loan? Call me!'

[H2O Man]

23. Yep.

That comes off wrong.

[La_Fourmi_Rouge]

20. I am struck by several observations...

One is the rather fomulaic construction of most of the letters of support.

First, state you credentials as a comfortable member of the elite class by stating all your insider connections and associations with the rich and powerful.

Second, make only passing reference to the Crimes for which Scooter has been found guilty in Federal Court. Pretend it had nothing to do with National Secutity or the Rule of Law or the most secret investigation of WMD proliferation ever mounted by any agency in the USA, ever.

Tell in glowing terms how Scootie loved chocolate chip cookies and babies and puppydogs and always slipped the shiv into a colleagues back with a quiet smile upon his noble visage, much like the Mona Lisa.

Turn the world on its head by framing his efforts to subvert the Constitution and Bill of Rights and bring the country into and illegal war as the scrifice of a true Patriot in service to his country.

Another glaring point is the sheer sense of entitlement they think is his birthright: the Law is for peons - not for "islands of integrity" like I Liar Libby!

If Scootie loves puppydogs so much, I invite him to kiss mine!

[H2O Man]

22. Right.

I went through all of them, and took a few notes. Certain sentences are found in more than one letter. It's as if some had a basic form that they passed about. I don't think that is always a bad thing -- for example, letters to editors or even to congressional representatives. But it seems a poor tactic to use in trying to influence a federal court judge who seems fairly bright. The "form letter" structure seems to subtract from that "personal touch" that these letters attempt to convey.

[bleever]

32. The elitism and arrogance extended as far as

expecting the right to deny the public the ability to even be aware of who wrote letters and what they said.

Not only is justice for the peons, but it should be conducted in private, apparently.