Happy Independence Day!
No, I am not talking about the 4th of July. My sentiment is directed to I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Jr. (”Libby” is allegedly a shortening of Liebowitz). We all know the story of Libby’s deeds, trial and sentencing so I won’t bother you with the details. The important thing is that Scooter is free! By a stroke of his Commander-in-Chief’s pen, Bush commuted all of Scooter’s jail time. Though this was not a pardon, so we need to get too carried away in our celebrations and toasts, it was the next best thing. Anyway, take my word for it, the day will come soon. No later than January 2009.
In order to get into the spirit of why Scooter’s independence day is worthy of a special celebration, allow me to give just two pieces of biography that will help you to get to know him better.
The Marc Reich/Rich Connection
In case you forgot who Marc Rich is, a brief reminder may be helpful. The son of Jewish immigrants, Marc Reich decided to change his name to the more American sounding, “Rich”. And the name was propitious, for rich he was destined to become. He made billions in commodities and saved millions by tax evasion. But like so many reichs to riches stories, his glorious ascent into wealth and fame eventually began to sputter. He became enmeshed in a legal fix over taxes and trading weapons with Iran. The latter trouble is a bundle of confusion so I won’t try to explain it all here. Suffice is to say that Rich’s troubles involved the elder Bush, the Clintons, Vince Foster, the CIA, and, of course, our great ally and only democracy in the Middle East, Israel. He was eventually tried and found guilty. Rather than facing life in a concentration camp, he fled to Switzerland, where he still resides today.
Shocked over the ill treatment over such a great entrepreneur, the Israeli lobby quickly went to work demanding the injustice be set right. Even Israel’s Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, demanded that then President Bill Clinton pardon Rich and end the anti-Semitic persecution. Then, miraculously, on the very last day of his Presidency, Bill finally came to enlightenment and granted Rich his pardon. Rich was a free bird.
But what does any of this have to do with Scooter? Scooter was Rich’s attorney throughout this time. Starting in 1985 all the way through early 2000, Scooter tirelessly provided legal counsel for Rich. And was well paid for his efforts. He collected over $2 million from Rich’s illegal gains. And his legal work was so impressive that it caught the eye of Dick Cheney. And so when the Bush-Cheney took over D.C. in 2001, Scooter was right there with them.
Porn Novelist
Though most of Scooter’s time is taken up by spinning intelligence to get the U.S. into wars for Israel, “outing” CIA operatives who will not go along with the program, lying to special investigators, and representing the Jewish mobsters, he does try to squeeze in a few diversions. Unlike most folk who spend their off hours watching sports or listening to music or gathering together with family, Scooter’s tastes are more literary. He unwinds by writing porn novels. His first effort (and only, so far, though he desires to write more) is called The Apprentice. I will not give the plot away here and ruin it for those who may wish to put it on their summer reading list, but I can, at least, give some of the highlights. These include nymphomania, sodomy, bestiality, pedophilia, incest, scatology and the favorite Republican pastime, torture. A few of the characters are Japanese merchants, fat women, a buck-toothed man, a young samurai, a dwarf, and a bear. You’ve got to admit it sounds intriguing.
For the uppity types who wish to pull out the moral righteousness card at this point, I will just caution you to back off. Remember Scooter’s boss’s better half, Lynne Cheney, is also an accomplished author in the porn genre. Her novel, Sisters, is sympathetic look at one of the important but neglected themes from the American frontier – lesbianism.
And speaking of lesbians, there is Cheney’s daughter, Mary. (Mary is not to be confused with the other Cheney child, Elizabeth, who was appointed to the august-sounding position of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State For Near Eastern Affairs. Though the position sounds complicated, her job there was really quite simple: try to pin any dirt possible on Iran.) Getting back to Dick’s dike, Mary, she and her partner, Heather [Allan?] Poe, have provided an example of monogamous, mutually faithful love that any Republican who embraces the Judeo-Christian tradition will appreciate.
So what, then, is the big deal about Scooter’s literary taste? As those living in saner times said, de gustibus non est disputandum. And since Christian Republicans don’t seem to think any of this is a matter worthy of public discussion, I think we ought to drop the matter and get back to Scooter’s independence day.
Conclusion
Scooter has lived a life few of us can even dream of. He has worked in the highest corridors of power and seen all the fraud, conniving, back-stabbing, and general corruption. And rather than being pulled down into it, he, in true elitist and Jewish fashion, exploited it to the maximal degree.
So congratulations to you, Scooter! You are a hero worthy of our times.
Here is something else to file in the Christian Republican morality bin. From the Board of Advisers page of TheVanguard.org:
“Jane Russell, Actress and Activist
Voluptuous sex symbol — the quintessential “bombshell” — and star of movies, TV and nightclubs, Jane Russell had a long and impressive Hollywood career which included such memorable films as Howard Hughes’ The Outlaw (1941) and (with Marilyn Monroe) Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953).”
Whoever said Christian politics and voluptuous sex symbols do not go together?
Comment by MRB — July 5, 2007 @ 1:05 pm
I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but one thing I have noticed is the difference between FoxNews (online) and CNN. I daily check CNN for an update, and the occasional times I visit FoxNews I notice that it has several “news” items that are lewd or lascivious in nature. This says something about the channel most Christians trust.
Comment by ElizaF — July 5, 2007 @ 1:20 pm
Yes, to see the Vanguard item for yourself, go here, which will show all the advisors, then click on the entry for “Jane Russell.”
I think this shows what “incrementalism” is all about. Howard Hughes’ movie The Outlaw incrementally destroyed the Hayes Code by ignoring it. Christians at that time were no doubt appalled.
Recently, some Christians have incrementally moved toward Howard Hughes’ view. They like what Hughes’ did.
Finally, those same Christians have made another incremental step, to actually crow about it publicly.
It’s all in Dabney, all in Dabney.
Comment by TJH — July 5, 2007 @ 2:17 pm
“A few of the characters are Japanese merchants, fat women, a buck-toothed man, a young samurai, a dwarf, and a bear. You’ve got to admit it sounds intriguing.”
Let me guess – the young samurai falls for a fat woman who is the daughter of the buck-toothed man. The outcome of the relationship is a dwarf who pioneers midget sumo wrestling. After years of brutal combat and ridicule the dwarf finds true love and understanding with a local circus bear and the outcome of their relationship is this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N_ivaTe588 and this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXgdSOxaCGI Where do the Japanese merchants come into all of this? Well they are hired by the dwarf (who happens to be part of the secret service - he was initiated through the bucked-tooth man who is the father of the fat woman) to conduct bizarre croup psychological tests as seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wTyI9xqy7U
Comment by secret agent +J(o)>S~H** — July 5, 2007 @ 3:00 pm
It is easy to miss the subtleties of my colleagues last comment (as I did the first time I read it). The Production or Hays Code prevented Hollywood pervs from fouling movie theaters with sex and violence. The first movie to seriously test the Code and win was Hughes’ The Outlaw. The enforcers of the code at first rejected the film due to provocative images of part of the leading actress’s anatomy. Hughes protested and the enforcers backed down. If you have been following this closely enough, you realize that the actress was none other than Jane Russell — voluptuous sex symbol, the quintessential “bombshell”, and Board of Advisers member at TheVanguard.org.
What was scandalous in the 40’s, became mainstream in the 60’s and 70’s, and now, in the new millennium, is celebrated by Christian Republicans.
Incrementalism at work.
Comment by MRB — July 5, 2007 @ 3:15 pm
Getting back to Scooter, this pundit claims Scooter works for Mossad. If true, it is not big news. Many Jews in top government positions work for Israel in some capacity.
Comment by MRB — July 5, 2007 @ 4:49 pm
I don’t know, Mr Butler. Your presentation looks pretty convincing; but did you know that the son of my mentor and yours says the opposite? He says “this is perhaps as clear of a justification for using [the presidential pardon] as one could cognitively imagine.” Not just imagine: no, cognitively imagine, which I take it (based on the Clark debate lingo) is a special kind that brings certainty.
How are us hicks supposed to sort through these issues when the SCCCS president and former SCCCS scholar-in-residence have come to such polar opposite views?
Comment by Candyman — July 6, 2007 @ 8:37 am
Candyman-
Good question, but I think you have misread my post. Mr. Bahnsen and I are in almost complete agreement. We both feel strongly that Scooter should be pardoned by the C-in-C. Our only difference is over how clear the justification for pardon really is. Whereas Mr. Bahnsen speaks of mere cognitive imagination, I prefer not to qualify. The justification for pardon is so overwhelming that I cannot imagine cognitively or non-cognitively a clearer case.
Comment by MRB — July 6, 2007 @ 11:53 am
At first I assumed you were being sarcastic, but just want to make sure… Libby is evil and should not be pardoned, right?
Comment by Candyman — July 9, 2007 @ 10:54 am
Candyman-
Right. Scooter is evil and should not be pardoned.
Comment by MRB — July 9, 2007 @ 12:18 pm
Wow. I checked out the website of David Bahnsen and found myself a bit shocked. Although I am completely unfamiliar with him, I have some of his dad’s books in my library (finer apologetics cannot be found). David’s approach seems to be one of blatant statism and party worship. Isn’t this precisely what Rushdoony, Schaeffer and others warned us about not so long ago?
Comment by Dr. Mike Kear — July 11, 2007 @ 2:18 pm
Many of our readers may not know why Vanguard (of comments 1, 3, and 5) should be of interest to Christians. You may be fortunate enough not to dwell in circles where Vanguard is puffed. But here you can read about how one of the flagship conservative journals thinks Vanguard may become the conservative alternative to moveon.org.
Fortunately, I think it is wishful thinking on their part. The Republican inner circle knows the difference between mere sycophancy and true power.
For us, it is simply emblematic of how far we have incrementally declined.
Comment by TJH — July 21, 2007 @ 7:47 pm