Winston at the Times is putting together a graphic novel version of Orwell’s 1984.  The first two chapters are done already and they are utterly brilliant.  If you’ve never read this before (or if it’s been a few years), you are missing out on one of the most relevant works of modern fiction. 

So put down the bag of Cheetos and get yourself culture-ma-cated!

Well, I can't seem to get Haloscan to work and their forum has been down for at least 24 hours now.  They have not replied to my emails and I see no indication they will be back up in the near future.   I did, however, locate a new comment spam module that I think may be effective.  The benefits of this are that I can keep comments on-site as well as get rid of those image verifications / math problems that are not only annoying, but have been crashing the comment board in the first place.  I'll keep my fingers crossed on this but, for now at least, comments are back up.

Keith Martin obviously has wa-hay too much time on his hands.  It’s equally obvious that he is a pure, unadulterated, certifiable genius.  This article will absolutely blow your mind (assuming, that is, you’re a fellow Star Wars nerdling).  A small teaser for you, I give: 

If we accept all the Star Wars films as the same canon, then a lot that happens in the original films has to be reinterpreted in the light of the prequels. As we now know, the rebel Alliance was founded by Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Bail Organa. What can readily be deduced is that their first recruit, who soon became their top field agent, was R2-D2. 

Yeah, that’s right.  Give it a read, you will!

Chillin' at The Coffee House, Larry Johnson recognizes a scene from L.A. Confidential unfolding in the courtroom. The difference? “Danny DeVito played a scumbag, but Scooter Libby really is one.”

BooMan presents an argument that either Fleischer perjured himself, or Time Magazine’s John Dickerson has a serious combustion problem in his pants.

Comparing Dickerson’s account with testimony thus far, BTC News quips that “in any contest between a White House press secretary and an organically grown human, you simply have to side with your own species.”

Over at AmericaBlog, Joe wags a finger of shame at the Washington press corps for allowing themselves to be so easily manipulated.

After the dust settles and the lights go down on the Libby trial, Wendy at Creative Ink wonders how Washington journalism will emerge from the ordeal.

Noting that the trial’s outcome will have no bearing on Libby’s culpability in the run-up to war, TAP stresses the importance of ensuring that the architects are not allowed to cause further damage as they careen “from crisis to crisis, disaster to disaster.”

With a choice seat behind the defendant, Jeralyn at TalkLeft shares impressions of her first day in the courtroom.

Posting at the Daily Kos, emptywheel offers some speculation on the “Big Four” witnesses: Libby, Cheney, Rove, and Bartlett. Also on DKos, TravelerDiogenes poses the question, “[is] Libby now legally liable for outing Plame?”

Looking to the other side of the pond, FDL offers an interesting and detailed parsing of Blair’s role in the African uranium scandal.

Justin at Imago viva dei describes the Libby trial as one front in a “perfect storm” destined to excise Cheney from the OVP.

And finally, let’s all extend a hearty welcome to Clarice Feldman of JustOneMinute who will be blogging from the courthouse today. Clarice’s experience as an attorney should make for some insightful analysis.

Will the REAL John McCain please stand up just go away??

Comments are just getting under my skin. Nobody can seem to get past the verification whether I use text images, math problems, or whatever. But if I shut them off I get slammed with bot-spam. So I'm trying to switch over to an external commenting system and it is not as intuitive as I'd hoped. No worries, I will fix it today - anything to keep the dissertation away - but there may be a bit of a mess in the meantime.

UPDATE: What a mess!  I can't figure it out so I am going to disable the new comment system for now until Haloscan can get their forum repaired.  Hopefully this will all be fixed soon.

If you’re a regular THF reader or THF-head (pronounced thiff-hed), you’ve probably noticed that most of the time normally devoted to blogging around here has been, of late, spent on the Libby trial. It’s become my job to essentially read and review all blogs I can find on the subject, big and small, in order to keep up momentum on the “Libby: Leftly Leaning” series. Now that the feed is being covered by the Associated Press, the pressure is that much greater to keep it steady and pertinent.

All this is a rambling way of apologizing for missing one of the most horrific statements to ever dribble from the lips of a sitting Attorney General:

Responding to questions from Sen. Arlen Specter at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Jan. 18, Gonzales argued that the Constitution doesn’t explicitly bestow habeas corpus rights; it merely says when the so-called Great Writ can be suspended.

“There is no expressed grant of habeas in the Constitution; there’s a prohibition against taking it away,” Gonzales said.

Gonzales’s remark left Specter, the committee’s ranking Republican, stammering.

“Wait a minute,” Specter interjected. “The Constitution says you can’t take it away except in case of rebellion or invasion. Doesn’t that mean you have the right of habeas corpus unless there’s a rebellion or invasion?”

Gonzales continued, “The Constitution doesn’t say every individual in the United States or citizen is hereby granted or assured the right of habeas corpus. It doesn’t say that. It simply says the right shall not be suspended” except in cases of rebellion or invasion.

During the exchange, Specter suggests Gonzales “may be treading on [his] interdiction of violating common sense.” To me, the more important question is how this man has managed to finish law school, pass the bar, work in a high-profile practice, and ascend to the highest legal role in the country without having even a shred of common sense when it comes to constitutional law. To be perfectly blunt, I’m not exactly clear on how this sycophant goes to work every day without wearing his underwear on the outside of his pants.

Busy weekend for Jeralyn at TalkLeft. First, the Cliffs Notes version of the week in review with a brief interlude to comment on the strained credulity of insulating the OVP. Up at dawn (quipping that trial lawyers never sleep when they are in trial) Jeralyn offers an analysis of Fitzgerald’s newest motive for Libby Lies™. Finally, a brief discussion on the impact of Rove taking the stand alongside some analysis on the merits of memory.

Apparently between Beckham in LA, the $2 Sterling, and a vigilante samurai, the UK press has little to say on the Libby trial. Not so on the MBA blogging credentials, however - expect a video clip from the BBC interview with Robert Cox over the next few days?

BTC News highlights the sound of silence in the mainstream media over revelations that the OVP regarded NBC’s Russert as a patsy of sorts.

Firedoglake wraps up their stint with some musings over Fleischer’s upcoming role and analysis of Team Libby’s self-inflicted damage over “one, petty, groundless and unnecessary stunt.”

Bidding adieu to the courtroom, James Joyner reminisces on the process noting that journalism can often be tedious and, for now at least, he’ll stick with analysis.

Finally, as Joyner departs, we shout a big welcome to Rory O’Conner and Kevin Aylward who will be live in the courtroom this week.

One of the important things to realize about the 2004 presidential election is that there was no real evidence of vote tampering, electoral fraud, or malfeasance of any kind.  Except, of course, when there was: 

Jacqueline Maiden, elections coordinator of the Cuyahoga County Elections Board, and ballot manager Kathleen Dreamer each were convicted of a felony count of negligent misconduct of an elections employee. They also were convicted of one misdemeanor count each of failure of elections employees to perform their duty. 

Prosecutors accused Maiden and Dreamer of secretly reviewing preselected ballots before a public recount on Dec. 16, 2004. They worked behind closed doors for three days to pick ballots they knew would not cause discrepancies when checked by hand, prosecutors said … Maiden and Dreamer, who still work for the elections board, face a possible sentence of six to 18 months for the felony conviction. 

So the arrest, trial, and conviction weren’t enough?  Talk about job security.  I wonder what it would take to actually lose your job for the Ohio elections board.  Maybe if you forged a Diebold voting machine key using a picture from their own website?