I hope to make points with this post, bigger than the individuals involved. I get surprised looks from lefty friends, that I'm for freeing these two. I hope my friends can see my point. As for my support for Scooter Libby, it's as strong as a plank is, to someone caught by pirates. See Paris Hilton at WSWS
The left and liberals hate Bush in a manner as the right hates Hugo Chavez. Because you want to hurt your enemy, you rejoice when the enemy faces a dilemma. This hatred can be blinding.
Scooter Libby is indicted for false testimony, in an investigation I believe shouldn't have taken place. The Intelligence Identities Protection Act, enacted by former CIA boss Bush41, is anti-left law. On October 30, 2005 I wrote in this blog, regarding the Valerie Plame affair and that law:
Phillip Agee, a retired CIA agent, developed a conscience. It was after the reality of the CIA's half-century-plus run through our world has been quite another matter though: the formation and funding of secret armies and death squads from Laos and El Salvador to Afghanistan; the corruption of democratic political parties; the assassination, or attempted assassination, of leaders of other countries; the investment of billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars in torture research, and then the teaching of new methods of torture (as well as time-tested ones) to allied police and military forces globally; the running of torture centers and secret prisons abroad; and the overthrow of democratically-elected governments from Guatemala and Chile to Iran. Through all these years, CIA agents have acted with impunity. The intricate tale of CIA "covert" operations is quite a grim little history, drenched in blood and pain -- and a history that finally blew back on Americans.
In 1975 Phillip Agee wrote the book "Inside the Company:CIA Diary". It revealed what the CIA was doing, particularly in Latin America. The book named all the spooks Agee knew. Agee was in the company for 12 years. He started as an idealist, and later became angry about covert activities, against justice. Welch was not mentioned in the book. His former comrades were angry, and felt betrayed.
In 1982 the congress under former CIA George Bush41 and Ronald Reagan, passed the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. That law was written in response to the 1975 killing of Greek division head Richard Welch. It was the anti-Philip Agee law. He was blamed for outing Welch, even though he didn't.
Now the phony leftists are singing the praises of Intelligence Identities Protection Act. Some even want to strengthen it. The law was written against the left. Now all of a sudden, the CIA is your friend. Progressives have to stop the CIA and people like Valerie Plame; blowing the cover of her fellow agents when they are found engaging in kidnappings, torture, or attempts to overthrow democratically elected governments.
Don't rejoice about seeing Libby or Rove against the wall. Granted Rove in particular, will use any tactic against you; be careful of who you think your friends are.
Paris Hilton is not a hotel heiress. Her great grandfather cut off all relatives from inheriting the hotel chain.
We follow her life, and her associates, through trials and trubulations, as a reflection of decreasing expectations of our own lives.
The bury Hilton cries processes are complex and don’t work themselves out as the result of any pre-arranged plan, but it’s worth noting that Hilton’s time in the limelight has coincided with the deepening of popular discontent with the war in Iraq, corporate corruption, official moves toward a police state and the destruction of secure jobs on a mass scale.
To help retard the development of a rational opposition to the current political and social state of affairs, the media cultivates an artificial hostility toward much easier targets. A seething but politically confused population is fed victims, sacrificial lambs, so to speak, while the real criminals go about their business.
In the last few years, some 200,000 nonviolent prisoners have been released from LA County jails. Because of Hilton's celebrity, she is getting a stiffer sentence than usual. If she wasn't Paris, her sentence would have been 1/10% of what she'll serve.
Free Paris Hilton and get a life. RENEGADE EYE
19 comments:
I read an article this morning which left me suspicious, wondering whether Paris Hilton’s incarceration hoopla is actually part of a brilliant publicity stunt orchestrated by her father and others in the Hilton Hotels empire.
Published Thursday in USA TODAY under the headline, Jailhouses rock as overnight lodging, the article opens with the question, "Is going to jail cool?" -- an obvious reference to Paris Hilton's headline-grabbing in-and-out stints at the Los Angeles County Jail. The answer to the question came in the form of a pithy piece introducing readers to a trendy new adventure known as jailhouse lodging.
I didn't make it past the article's lead paragraph before THE question popped into my mind:
Could it be that the Hilton family is planning to buy the Los Angeles County detention center known as the Twin Towers, rename it The Paris Hilton and convert it into a trendy new jailhouse hotel?
Certainly, it's not beyond anyone's imagination in today's "Top This!" environment that The Paris Hilton would serve as the flagship property of a new jail-house arm of the worldwide lodging chain.
The lockup's cafeteria could be converted into a chic night spot. The medical/psychiatric section could become a posh celebrity rehab center for folks like Britney Spears, Mel Gibson, Lindsay Lohan and other so-called "Hollywood stars" to get away from it all after having "one too many" in public. In reality, the possibilities for expansion are endless as cash-strapped city, county and state governments face growing prison populations that require new and improved facilities, the likes of which Hilton money could surely buy!
Keep your eyes on this one folks...and, remember, you read about it first at Bob McCarty Writes™
I haven't really given Paris Hilton much thought. Interesting take on Libby as well. it is interesting that liberals are so pro-cia all of the sudden.
Thoughtful post, Ren.
I remember thinking the same thing about the whole Plame thing.
Libby's the scapegoat for Uncle Sam's exposed lies.
Judith Miller and Libby should forever remind us of the role played by corporate media WarWhores like RCTV and the NY Times.
Ren,
Your position on Libby/Plame is intellectually consistent. I was calling liberals on their newfound support of the CIA and support of the chicanery employed by Fitzgerald for his non-crime. As Rush said, it is scary when politics is criminalized.
Could all this be put into the "Give Circus to the Masses" drawer?
Hello all - Mrs. Che Bob here. Mr. Che Bob showed me your article and I was intrigued to read your thoughts and ideas. As a confession, I must admit that I am a bit of a "star-watcher," a habit that I am forever trying to break. On that note, I just wanted to point out that the statement that Paris Hilton is not a hotel heiress and will not inherit part of her great-grandfather's estimated $1 BILLION fortune is not exactly accurate. While it is true that her great-grandfather did leave nothing to his descendants (including Paris' grandfather and father) in his will, Paris' grandfather later contested the will and won the estate inheritance in 1988. Thus, Paris is expected to receive a portion (approximately $20 MILLION) of the Hilton inheritance. In addition, until she receives the bulk of her inheritance, she also receives a $10,000-$20,000 stipend each month from her parents. I have included a small paragraph below with this info as well as a link for those who want to read further.
I say all of this not to diminish Ren's point that we should not be distracted from the critical issues happening around the world, only to point out that Paris Hilton is a very wealthy individual who should not be allowed to use her and her family's wealth to "get off" of a serious crime. While DUI's do happen everyday, they put innocent people at risk and repeat offenders who show little to no remorse just might need a "wake-up."
I admit that I'm a "newbie" to the whole blogosphere realm and I appreciate the work you all are trying to do.
Paris Hilton info:
"When Conrad Hilton [Paris' great-grandfather] died in 1979, he left nothing in his will to his children or other descendents. Barron Hilton [Paris' grandfather] contested this, and won in 1988. According to Forbes magazine in 2005, the net worth of Barron Hilton is estimated at just over US $1 billion, of which Paris is expected to inherit a little over US $20 million."
Graeme,
interesting that liberals are so pro-cia all of the sudden.
This is what pathological, all-consuming hatred of George W. Bush will lead people to do. CIA operatives like Wilson and Plame criticized Bush and bingo, they became the new darlings of the left.
If Paris Hilton really wants to get of jail, she should just denounce Bush and the war in Iraq - all those 'Free Mumia' banners will end up in garbage cans, replaced by 'Free Paris' banners...
You're absolutely right about becomming a darling of the left, Sonia.
It doesn't matter that Wilson help to fabricate Uncle Sam's first slaughter of Iraq and then proceeded to assist in the Rwandan genocide.
It's all good. It really doesn't matter what you do - just look at John Kerry - so long as you act like Republicans are different from Democrats.
Your insightful comments were sadly washed away though, Sonia, because you then proceeded to regurgitate Vanilla Sam's racist lies about Mumia frame-up.
Mumia: now there's an example of a serious journalist whose freedom of speech was usurped violently by Uncle Sam.
We all know the story: when Uncle Sam pulls some COINTELPRO frame-up with NO EVIDENCE AT ALL - on the word of a lying Pig and a crazy, Klansman judge.
So what happens? Sonia and her syncophant wingnuts carry Sam's water, of course.
She does it with a laugh, of course - because Vanilla racism is a HOOT to her!
WT hell happened to my comment? Oh well... Let's try again.
I confess... I made fun at Paris' expense. I said that it might be funny if some big burly jailhouse-jaded female put a smoke out on Paris's skin and Paris responded with her unemotional usual: "That's hot."
... but as for Libby... he did knowingly and willingly lie to investigators. That's called obstruction. You're not allowed to lie to cops, although they sure as hell can lie thru their teeth to you, so what did Libby expect? He's a bright guy. He should have seen this coming right at him and not sacrificed himself for this administration. Lord knows they all abandoned him like rats on a sinking ship lickety split.
Ren is exactly right about the hypocrisy of liberals' cheering Scooter Libby's conviction and imprisonment for outing a CIA agent. I had the good fortune to know Phil Agee's sons pretty well some years ago. His story does indeed bear repeating and should serve as a cautionary tale.
As for Paris Hilton, I must confess to having shared in the schadenfreude at her plight, and the indignation over her release. But I do think Ren makes an excellent point about that. Demands for stiffer prison sentences, in this case or any other, does feed in to a punitive ideology that liberals, progressives and leftists alike should oppose. If we must draw any lesson from the Paris Hilton case, let it be that our criminal justice and penal systems are hopelessly misbegotten and in need of fundamental change -- starting with the elimination (or at least drastic reduction) of imprisonment for non-violent offenders.
The gran HORTERA la Paris Hilton
salutations !!!
wait...what? I'm really not sure what to think about this. Paris Hilton and Scooter Libey are symbols of the bourgeois and Hilton in particular, Bourgeois decadence. I can't believe people are spending thought on this though while political prisoners like Mumia are locked up.
well, this made me smile, my friend..;)
Henry: Lighten up.
The law used against Libby, is a law written against the left. Do you think it is a crime to expose CIA agents. Scooter should have outted more.
I've posted before about Mumia.
Mumia and I have conjugal visits.
I just did an updated parody on Paris Hilton in jail..if anyone wants a fresh chuckle before she gets released...
http://rickrockhill.blogspot.com/2007/06/dr-sidney-wang-contacts-paris-hilton-in.html
Not really interested in Paris Hilton but your argument with regard to Scooter Libby is an interesting one. However, the fact is Libby was prosecuted and convicted for lying to investigators, not for leaking Plame's identity.
I submit that you are getting your priorities skewed here. Instead of excusing the perjury on the grounds Libby was lying about something you do not think should be an offence, surely we should be relieved that Libby's malicious activities did not escape punishment, thanks to his attempts to pervert the course of justice.
Priority check:
I'm a bolshevik leninist, and thus do not support the capitalist justice system in the least, but I do prioritize which of it's prisoners I support.
And, of the 2.5 million men, women and children who pass through America's Gulag archipelago, Scooter Libby and Paris Hilton are LEAST DESERVING of our support.
Libby was involved in blowing the cover of a CIA agent in wartime.
According to this country's federal justice system, that's high treason, and he should be in Terre Haute FCI waiting to be strapped to a gurney.
But, he's well connected, so he's not even going to go to a minimum security halfway house.
At the same time, Muslim Americans who express even the most muted sympathy for Islamism are facing life sentences for what are essentially thought crimes.
Case in point, Tarik Shah.
He was the bass player for the house band at my local jazz club.
But, he made the mistake of bragging about his imaginary martial arts skills to an FBI informant, and offering to train other Islamist sympathizers in basic fighting skills.
For this "crime" Shah is facing 30 YEARS IN A A MAXIMUM SECURITY PRISON.
The alternative was even worse - permanent detention as an "enemy combatant".
Who's more worthy of our support - Libby or Shah?
As for Paris Hilton - she's a spoiled wealthy heiress, who's "famous" for hainging out with other spoiled rich women, and having sleazy sex with spoiled trust fund brat boys.
Finally, her years of drunken driving caught up with her.
For the record, when the LA Sheriffs catch regular people driving with DWI suspended licenses, they get treatment far harsher than hers.
Hilton got a one woman cell, she was given special food, daily personal visits by her private doctor and attorney, as well as high ranking sheriff's department brass.
She was initially released from jail because Hilton was uncomfortable having to use open jailhouse toilets in full view of male deputies.
Of course, the 6,000 other women detained by the LA County Sheriffs Dept are expected to relieve themselves in those very same toilets, in full view of male officers.
Basically, she should have served the full 45 days - and if she were poor (and ESPECIALLY if she were Black or Mexican) she would have!
Save your sympathy for those who deserve it!!!
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