FEC: GOP Sen. David Vitter must pay legal expenses incurred in DC Madam proceedings

Washington D.C.--The Federal Election Commission's (FEC) board has released their ruling today that Louisiana Senator David Vitter cannot use campaign funds for his legal expenses surrounding his role in the proceedings of the late DC Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey.

However, he can use $31,000 of them to pay for legal costs he incurred in the Senate Ethics Committee probe into his misbehaviors when he was not a member of the Senate.

Yes, the logic is a little odd, but the decision is fair overall, a very balanced one in an era of almost no oversight of elected officials (mainly Republican ones):

The FEC has ruled in its draft opinion that Vitter cannot use campaign funds to pay $85,000 in fees for work related to quashing the subpoenas.

“Sen. Vitter’s need for legal representation to quash Ms. Palfrey’s subpoenas stemmed from his role as a potential witness in Ms. Palfrey’s trial and was not related to information known to or acquired by Sen. Vitter during the course of his candidacy or in the performance of his duties as a U.S. Senator,” stated the FEC.

The FEC’s draft opinion also denied Vitter’s request to use campaign funds for $75,000 in legal fees for monitoring Palfrey’s criminal proceedings.

“Subpoena Counsel would have monitored the Palfrey criminal proceeding irrespective of Sen. Vitter’s campaign or duties as a U.S. Senator,” the FEC wrote. “Thus, the use of campaign funds to pay for the legal fees and expenses incurred when Subpoena Counsel monitored the Palfrey criminal proceedings would be an impermissible personal use.” ("Vitter cannot use campaign funds to pay for legal fees," The Hill, 08.20.2008)

And there you have it. It had nothing to do with his campaigning, something Vitter and his counsel knew, but fought and lost against. It appears the price of everything has gone higher than any of us would have imagined.

J-7 wishes to congratulate Senator Vitter on being a prime example of gross irresponsibility outside of the White House, and a typical Republican officeholder. That's about to end.

Soon-to-be ex-wife Wendy and Vitter's daughters are likely to keep digging at one of the most pathetic examples of patriarchy America has to offer...if they still talk to him anymore. Mrs. Vitter is a former prosecutor, which is going to make her ire that much more painful to dumbo, and great for laughs and lashings of the ultraviolent.

It says it all that The Hill was the first to jump on this, since the GOP is that most partisan of political agents. Thanks Mr. Moldea, at least you got this one right. The public gets to comment tomorrow, so send your love--be formal and polite--to the FEC offering your solid support of a fair decision.

Vitter was in Palfrey's phone records, she was convicted of soliciting prostitution, and therefore, he also solicited prostitutes. That's against the law, and not about sinning, regardless of the ending of the statute of limitations. Senator Vitter is a lawbreaker and a black liar.

"Vitter cannot use campaign funds to pay for legal fees," The Hill, 08.20.2008:

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/vitter-cannot-use-campaign-funds-to-pay-for-legal-fees-2008-08-20.html

Rense.com and their "death" photo of DC Madam Jeane Palfrey

WWW--You have to wonder if the Tarpon Springs Police Department knows about this photograph, but then, it appears to be a forgery anyway. The photograph to the far-left was posted at rense.com on May 5th, just 4 days after the death of the DC Madam.

I'd like to know how Mr. Rense came into the possession of this image, and whether there are others. If that's so, and if they're real, he and others have broken the law and should be charged for doing so.

Yes, they should receive the benefit-of-the-doubt and due process. That's it.

Then, there's the possibility that the image to the far-left was leaked by someone within the Tarpon Springs PD who had access to the crime scene photos. Who would that be? Again, I don't believe the photograph is real, or I wouldn't be posting it here. There is an offhand chance that it's a photo from another crime scene of another decedent. Regardless, the photograph isn't what its publishers have claimed it is. It's something else.

Why think this? Based on what little you can make out, the individual in the photograph doesn't appear to be the right age. Also, the image is very grainy, cloudy, which should raise some flags. The fact that there's almost no contextual information in the photo also tends towards the argument that it's not real, but staged. It suggests one-of-two things: the photograph is fake and was altered, or it's gone through a few generations of copying, which also suggests a forgery.

We live in a digital age where there's little generational loss of picture quality. It's not 1985 anymore. For the sake of argument--and it's a safe assumption to make with the widespread dissemination of digital cameras over film ones--that the real photographs were taken with a digital SLR camera.

The surroundings of the alleged death photo don't resemble the interior of the actual storage shed either. The real one is painted a whiter color, and is roomier. The photograph looks staged, which would make it a pretty craven move for attention and money, just one more example in a very sad story.

But Palfrey created much of this circus, and she had numerous enablers in the press and the dubious world of parapolitical entrepreneurialism. Palfrey never tried to capitalize on the death of former-employee Brandy Britton after her suicide. That should tell you everything you need to know about those trying to do so from hers.

Blanche and Deborah receive some peace: "Judge rules D.C. Madam suicide photos public," Tampa Bay.com, 08.15.2008: http://blogs.tampabay.com/breakingnews/2008/08/judge-rules-dc.html

A Sliders Story...

South Bend, Indiana--This is so incredibly cute, I nearly built a ship in a bottle: my brother and my niece went up to Lake Michigan this last week (she's three). On the way back, they stopped at White Castle™ for some "sliders," since we've never had one here, and never will.

Alice Cooper played here in 1975 (yes, the "Welcome to My Nightmare" tour), and didn't return for 28-years. Yup, we're that kind of stick-in-the-mud town, we're boring. But it's a beautiful region, Michiana, and I'll probably die here. Things could be worse.

Anyway, they got a few hamburgers...and my niece started petting one of them, saying, "Oh, baby burger, it's OK, awwwwwwww." I'd say I'm now worried she might be becoming a Republican,™ but she's three. That's the best excuse there is.

CNN: "Bigfoot Hype"

CNN--I'd ask them what's wrong with them at CNN, but we already know what. And we already know what's wrong with the 100+ media outlets that spent a few thousand to send their correspondents down to Georgia to talk to the goobers claiming they have a bigfoot carcass, and to cover these claims. Couldn't that have been done with an iPhone,™ or simply through a telephone call or an email?

But today, in one of the most degrading cases of CYA--and I ain't talking about the Catholic Youth Association--I've ever witnessed in television journalism, when CNN was commenting this afternoon on the silliness of the "hype" surrounding the story.

Never mind their massive contribution to it--it's hype. Well duh, and it's also obvious that the mainstream media massaged us into this illegal, worthless, and incredibly dangerous war in the Middle East. That war is about to expand if we're not careful, which means it's almost assured. Just more reasons to hate Ted Turner for creating CNN in the first place. Asshole. I personally contend that the hairy, apelike corpse is in fact pulled-pork, and delicious. But that's just me.

Tropic Thunder (2008) review

Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder is everything its critics have said it is: it's offensive, it walks a fine line on race...oh yeah, and then there's the "tard scandal" hyped by people looking for something--anything--to protest. It's just incredibly an offensive movie, and that's what makes it great. We should demand to be scandalized, but humorless turds are humorless turds.

Like Yasuzo Masumura's "Giants and Toys" (1958), or Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove" (1964), Tropic Thunder is social satire at its best and criticizes all war movies.

That doesn't mean it isn't entertaining or too high brow. It isn't, and anyone who inhabits this era in the developed world is going to understand the many social and cultural observations in this film. Audiences will also find it very easy to understand exactly who and what are being criticized (the current incarnation of Hollywood and spoiled movie stars).

But Stiller and co-writers Justin Theroux (who's also the executive producer and a great English actor) and Ethan Cohen make a whole lot of gleefully brutal comments on our mass culture, our peculiar attitudes, and our unquenchable appetite for spectacle and ultraviolence....wrapped in a movie that's supposed to be "antiwar."

Hollywood and movie production companies tend to overstate their sincerity when tackling "issues" like war, poverty, and all the rest. They don't generally tend to care at all, it's a business move. Tropic Thunder makes this case well throughout.

This was pointed-out by Lenny Bruce in the late-1950s and by many other social critics over the years, and it's not a uniquely American viewpoint. Movies are made to make money--a lot of money--and that's about it. The rest is garnish, with a little sincerity here-and-there in some productions. Fine.

Without giving too much away, we're treated to a troubled Hollywood production stuck in Vietnam, making one of those "horrors of war" films we all love to watch to feel better about ourselves, while doing nothing to prevent the phenomena of meaningless conflict. Hollywood isn't the only one playing the insincerity game, after all. But the writers stick with hitting Hollywood over the head, and as a result, they even accuse themselves of hypocrisy. This is a very brave moral and career position to take, and it's likely to add to the film's popularity for the chances it takes.

Too often, Hollywood creates spectacles that claim some higher moral ground, yet simultaneously cater to the bloodlust of audiences in their stylizations of violence (if they get that far). This is something even "Wild Bunch" (1969) director Sam Peckinpah was guilty of at times, though it's debatable whether it was conscious or not in every case.

Tropic Thunder is where entertainment also becomes art, though this could be one of the funniest and most entertaining comedies I've seen since my first viewing of Animal House. You're in for quite a ride if you have a sense of humor about yourself and life.

The three main characters are the spoiled movie stars, played by Stiller, the inimitable Jack Black, and one of the greatest actors of this era, Robert Downey Jr. Stiller's washed-up Tugg Speedman is eerily similar to Sylvester Stallone or even a Vin Diesel, while Black's Jeff Portnoy might be a heroin-addicted Luke Perry mixed with an Eddie Murphy. But it's Downey's Russell Crowe-like Kirk Lazarus who virtually steals the show as an Australian actor who takes "method" acting too far: he gets plastic surgery to look African-American, and he never breaks character. In short, he's a little nuts, as some actors are, and gets on the nerves of a Black cast member who constantly calls him out.

This alone is incredibly edgy for a contemporary movie, offering many possibilities to fall over the side and lose the audience, but Stiller, Theroux and Cohen (and Downey) pull-it-off and achieve a kind of comic ecstasy only seen in Kubrick's Strangelove and few other films in cinema history. There are times when Downey's Lazarus is photographically and phonographically convincing as a Black soldier, and it must be seen and heard to be believed. But there's even more...

Almost entirely unannounced is Tom Cruise's brilliantly comedic performance as the Weinstein-like Les Grossman, a corporate movie executive whose vulgarity and crassness knows no bounds. It goes beyond spouting the word "fuck," and Cruise has once again made the right move in taking-on the role of such an unlikable (yet oddly likable!) character. The Grossman character understands that he's a fucknut and a tyrannical asshole, and all of the inherent comedy of this fact. In a way, he actually "gets" it all--that the movie business is complete bullshit, a game.

That's not to say that the Grossman character isn't evil, but he's really something to watch in Cruise's expert-hands. Tom Cruise almost owns Tropic Thunder and deserves some serious credit for his performance, possibly even that little gold guy. He's Dr. Strangelove and General Buck Turgetson combined, and he's given us a performance that would have done Peter Sellers proud.

The movie-within-a-movie approach is very sound here, especially at the beginning of the film. What we see are some of the realities of a movie production: all the waste, the backbiting, the egos, the compromises forced on directors by spoiled "stars," the tainted motives for making a "message picture," the addictions, the troubled actors, and the nightmare of shooting outside of a soundstage. The comparisons to other troubled war movie productions are going to be obvious to most, like Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" and Oliver Stone's "Platoon." There are others, as there was a whole spate of Vietnam war films over the 33 years, many-of-which could be referred to not only as "insincere," but simply bad. The majority of war movies are.

On the "retard" scandal: this is the most overblown part of the release of this film. For the curious, I am acquainted with people who have mentally-impaired children. I wasn't offended by this at all, and the repetition of variations of the word "retarded" simply became funny for its own sake and had little to do with mentally-retarded children or adults. Downey's Kirk Lazarus and Stiller's Tugg Speedman have an exchange over the career-merits of playing the "retarded" over the simply "impaired":

Lazarus: "Full-on retarded--no one ever comes back from that."

Lazarus character mentions a number of films--like "Rainman"--where the characters only appeared to be "retarded," but actually had some other form of impairment. In Rainman, it was autism, and the crazy Lazarus notes that nobody ever won an award from the Motion Picture Academy when they played a "full-on retard," or the "dumbest motherfucker in the world."

Tropic Thunder, then, suggests that what's really offensive is exploiting the impaired to advance one's career and to line one's wallet by making "message" movies about them. The reactions of critics couldn't be more wrong-headed, and should be met with contempt. There are few better antidotes to antidemocratic tendencies cloaked in niceties than unrelenting belittlement and humor. Bravo.

There was no comment being directed towards the mentally-retarded or impaired that was hateful--just the opposite, the attacks were aimed squarely at the hypocrisy of Hollywood in exploiting impaired people for ticket sales, and for actors to win awards. I can say with all honesty that I've never laughed so hard at a scene of dialog in my entire life. There's nothing wrong with referring to someone as "mentally-retarded," it's medically accurate, it's the intent and the tone that count. I leave it at that. Tropic Thunder is a must-see for all the right reasons, and it's what movies are supposed to be. Ben Stiller has topped himself, and so have his collaborators. Good show.

Official: Pinellas County Judge rules DC Madam "death photos" cannot be published

"Please, this is the last thing I can do for my daughter. Please don't let these pictures get out in public. Please." --Blanche Palfrey, mother of the deceased Deborah Jeane Palfrey, yesterday.

Pinellas County, Florida--Judge Linda Allen has found that the 288 photographs of the deceased Deborah Jeane Palfrey (dubbed the "DC Madam" by a voracious media) are part of the public record that can be viewed by the press and other interested parties.

In other words, members of the public can look at the photographs, but they cannot make copies of them for publication by order of the court.

Some parties--the worst ones--are likely to file an appeal, but it's unlikely to go anywhere. That's good. Blanche Palfrey can have some much needed peace in this story, and the dead can rest in peace. And those with the big book deals in the works won't get their photographs for a depraved centerpiece. My heart bleeds to the acolytes of the money god.

This should also help finally quash the rumor-mongering of the likes of a Larry Flynt (there are no words) or an Alex Jones, that Palfrey was murdered and that it was made to look like a suicide. Perhaps we should mourn the fact that there won't be any t-shirts, posters, mugs, and of course, or books adorned with the images of death.

After all, we don't really care how someone turns-a-buck in this country, and all this death-merchandise could have been manufactured with cheap forced labor in China. That would have meant a real windfall for some, and as we all know, that's inhibiting the rights of the individual. Yes, life is just "unfair," I know.

This hypothesis of murder has no evidence whatsoever to support it at this time, and this writer predicts that there won't be any once the investigation by the Tarpon Springs Police Department is completed and made public. The article at 620 WDAE is rife with typos. Welcome to America, but we have a victory for dignity, and a blow to the runaway scandal entrepreneur.

"D.C. Madam Suicide Photos Are Public Record, but they can't be published," 620 WDAE.com, 08.15.2008: http://www.620wdae.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=124415&article=4105670

Just remember kiddies...

Just because you hated George W. Bush doesn't mean you're not an asshole. Mark these words: in four years, you're going to hate the next son of a bitch too, and you'll still be the same asshole, and you will have voted for them. Have a nice day!

"Bigfoot Global LLC."

Atlanta, Georgia--When I was around 7-years-old, I saw one of these examples of pure hokum: it was an allegedly "bigfoot" frozen in a block of ice. Predictably, you could barely see any features of what was inside the block, and the owners of the artifact were refusing to let any real scientists near it.

The vendors had merchandise and the viewing fee was stiff. It was the 1970s. You would think that after all the debunkings over the last 30 years it would scare-off the gullible, but we're an ignorant culture, so it's go-time. Add to that the hopelessness of this era, and you have some craning-necks. Besides, isn't it looking like the 1970s again anyway? OK, without Hans Holzer and Leonard Nimoy and "In Search Of," but the cruddy History Channel covers that gap.

All we're seeing today are some photographs of what is either the carcass of an monkey, or a very cheesy ape suit. The orangey-haired creature looks an awful lot like an orangutan.

There's a reason: it's utter bullshit, though it could be a distant relation of late President Gerald Ford.

These bozos from Georgia regularly suck money from the gullible, taking them out on "bigfoot expeditions," and somehow have concocted this newest scam...except someone whom I now love hacked into their site this last week and stole some of the unconvincing photographic scans and published them wide over the internet. So, the bozos from Georgia (not the nation) had to hold their worthless press conference today, and astonishingly, Obama accuser Larry Sinclair was nowhere in sight.

CNN and other television news outlets (and all of the rest) have given this story about as much time and credence as the Russian incursion into the breakaway nation of Georgia. That should tell you how much credibility they have.

As far as I can tell, absolutely no major media outlet has commented on how obviously craven and exploitative this bigfoot venture is, but if you look at all of the information, "Bigfoot Global LLC." should have raised some alarms that this is nothing but a scam for money. The media's often difficult position is that they're the same kind of creature--a genus know for its lowliness and guile, as well as an overdeveloped lust for money and privilege.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Reserve aren't taking it seriously, which should also tell you something. "The most trusted name in news?" I've never trusted or respected CNN, and neither should anyone else for that matter. Our press is a shambles, but that's nothing new. You don't need a 24/7 news network, not at all. They need to all get a real job, whatever that is these days. Besides, there is no Easter Bunny on all stations of the Cross. Get a clue.

Late DC Madam's mother Blanche Palfrey breaks down in court

"Up the close and down the stair,
In the house with Burke and Hare.
Burke’s the butcher, Hare’s the thief
Knox, the man who buys the beef."

--An Edinburgh children's song about Burke and Hare,
both 19th century grave robbers, murderers,
and all around exploiters of the dead.

Pinellas County, Florida--It's all about money, not about the truth, but the press are expending more effort on obtaining access to 288 death photos of Jeane Palfrey than they ever were at getting to the bottom of her story when she was alive. That's what they do.

Additionally, you have various "players" like former counsel Montgomery Blair Sibley, Preston Burton and Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe [Ed., 08.29.2008--In the spirit of fairness, it should be conveyed that counsel Sibley has written to myself via e-mail that the photos will not be published and that he's only looking to confirm the cause of death.], and bottom feeders like Alex Jones and Jeff Rense who are jockeying for a view of the goods. They don't care how they affect the 76-year-old mother of the deceased. What you have are a lot of agendas, and as Jean Renoir and Alexander Sesonske wrote in the screenplay for "Rules of the Game," "people have their reasons. They sure do.

There are no words for the craven attitudes of these people who had no genuine respect or concern for this late, troubled woman. They forgot their and her humanity a long time ago. Today, they caused the woman who gave birth to Palfrey to break down emotionally:

"This is the last thing I can do for my daughter," Palfrey said. "Please don't let these pictures get out in public."
News organizations have asked under Florida's public records law to inspect the photographs, a request opposed by Palfrey as a violation of her privacy. She filed a lawsuit against Tarpon Springs to prevent release of the photos.
Circuit Judge Linda R. Allen declared a break just before 11:30 a.m. so she could review the 288 photos in private.
The photos would not be released until after the investigation of the death. (" 'DC Madam's' Mom Breaks Down During Suicide Photo Hearing," The Suncoast News, 08.15.2008)

We might have a decision later today. My feelings are that they will be released to very hungry media and lawyers, and a gaggle of other opportunists who never cared to help Palfrey in any substantial sense. I lay no claim to a right to see these photographs, and would prefer not to ever see them.

It doesn't strike me that they'll offer anything new to the record or any understanding. What they will offer is the opportunity for those with book deals to have some nifty images for their tomes, and Blanche will just have to "accept" it "in the service of the truth." But the truth isn't what they're interested in, just the aforementioned money. Then, there are other issues at-play.

It was known by a number of individuals that Palfrey was threatening suicide during her proceedings, and nothing appears to have been done about it. This, then, could be one of the reasons Judge Gladys Kessler was removed from the case. If the judiciary knew of Palfrey's suicidal tendencies, they didn't act on it and never ordered a competency evaluation to see if she really was fit to stand trial. Various counsel at all points in the proceedings might have considered calling for one as well. Also, sources are saying that Blanche Palfrey is becoming "forgetful," which raises a number of legal issues regarding the Estate of Jeane Palfrey if it's true.

At-minimum, if the judges and the Justice Department knew about it, you have an incredible example of gross negligence. There was no call for a competency evaluation. A number of sealed records generated during pretrial legal proceedings could clarify this. The issue of competency over-complicates an already complex case, and it wasn't merely Palfrey who dragged-out her legal ordeal. She had a lot of help along the way from counsel and the prosecution.

Now, some of them outside of the prosecution (primarily in the media) want to continue exploiting Palfrey, even in death. What do you call exploiting the troubled life of a dead woman who might have been mentally unbalanced?

It can't be good, so let's call it "paying the mortgage" or the "bills." Granted that it's usually to pay for future investigations, but then, there's that lifestyle to pay for, or the fact that the bathroom needs retiling.

This writer wishes author William Keisling all the best of luck in his association with Montgomery Blair Sibley [Ed., 08.29.2008--They might both need that luck.]. He's going to need it. Burke's the butcher, and Hare's thief, and the publishers (and the public) are the ones who will buy the beef.

Revised, with comments, 08.29.2008

" 'DC Madam's' Mom Breaks Down During Suicide Photo Hearing," The Suncoast News, 08.15.2008: http://suncoastpinellas.tbo.com/content/2008/aug/15/mother-dc-madam-wants-suicide-photos-kept-private/?news

Isaac Hayes (1942-2008)

Memphis, Tennessee--What can you say if you're 30-and-up? Besides the late James Brown, the living George Clinton, and the late Ike Turner, nobody innovated R&B and pop music as much as this guy. Sam & Dave's "Hold on, I'm Comin' " was written by Hayes, and it's probably one of the most powerful R&B singles ever written. You can almost see the riots of the 1960s listening to it. I'll also remember Isaac Hayes as the "Duke of N.Y." from John Carpenter's classic "Escape from New York." He was A-NUMBER-ONE. An Isaac Hayes only comes along every few generations.

Geraldo/Fox News prompts another DC Madam story (tonight)

Mr. Welch: ...And if I did, I beg your pardon. Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator.

Senator McCarthy: Let's, let's --

Mr. Welch: You've done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?

Senator McCarthy: I know this hurts you, Mr. Welch.

Mr. Welch: I'll say it hurts!

Senator McCarthy: Mr. Chairman, as point of personal privilege, I'd like to finish this.

Mr. Welch: Senator, I think it hurts you, too, sir. ...

--From the HUAC Army hearings, June 9th, 1954.

Fox News--They did this several months back before Palfrey's trial. Tonight, Alex Jones was going to try peddling his cock-and-bull theory that Jeane was murdered again, but it got shelved and Geraldo gave no reasons.

Geraldo verbally expressed the crux of what would have been the Jones appearance: Palfrey had voiced concerns that she might be murdered and that it would be made to look like a suicide. It's nothing new as a claim, and there appears to be no indication of anything new.

Peruse the internet's search engines, and there's nothing breaking, just the Blanche Palfrey lawsuit to keep her daughter's death photos suppressed. Who can blame her? The Tarpon Springs Police haven't released any new information on their investigation into the death today either, though they have previously announced that the end of the investigation into the death will be within "days." No new evidence.

Since when has no new evidence has never stopped Alex Jones from smelling the money? He's hardly alone, Fox and Geraldo smelled it tonight too. Why did they get cold feet? My own theory is that they killed it because there was no new information whatsoever...kind of like every story tonight on Geraldo's "Crime Time" segment. It was a lousy show, thank your gods you didn't have to sit through it...

We saw the Enquirer reporter who caught John Edwards with his mistress in a Beverley Hills hotel show us how he "ambushed" the former presidential candidate and senator--possibly with his mistresses' child! It was as underwhelming as "Al Capone's Vault," but that's Geraldo!

We saw to two smokin' hotties--a judge and a former D.A.--voice their opinions on John Edwards' tryst, a lot of speculation over whether he made "hush" payments, and a lot of other drivel in-between the dozen technical errors that plagued the entire show. We saw a lot of bullshit, and no Palfrey segment, and somehow we knew that they would never show it. We saw a lot of advertisements.

Why would someone want the death photos? I never want to see them. We're hearing claims that they should be examined by "experts," whatever that means. That's what a coroner is for. Oh, right, he's probably part of some kind of "conspiracy," sorry.

We know that at-minimum, Montgomery Blair Sibley and Bill Bastone have requested these photographs. There could be others, but the story that only the Smoking Gun requested the them sounds bogus, or a case of misquoting or misreporting. Whether it's a lag in a posting of the full docket or sloppy journalism, there are a number of individuals who want the Palfrey death photos for publication. Why? It's doubtful any of them care about the truth. Heartwarming, isn't it?

Alex Jones is also likely--likely?--to have requested the photographs. From the Pinellas County Circuit Court's website's docket of Blanche Palfrey vs. The Tarpon Springs Police Department:

Pages	Date	P/D	Docket Entry	Ver
	08/08/08	CLERK	REQUEST FOR COPIES EMAILED ON 8/8/08	N
	08/07/08	PLAINTIFF	AMENDED EMERGENCY MOTION FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF	F
	08/07/08	PLAINTIFF	AMENDED COMPLAINT	F
	08/05/08	CLERK	SUMMONS TO PROCESS SERVER JONES(1)	N
	08/05/08	PLAINTIFF	AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR INJ RELIEF	F
	08/05/08	PLAINTIFF	MOTION FOR INJUNCTIVE RELIEF	F
	08/05/08	PLAINTIFF	COMPLAINT	F
	08/05/08	PLAINTIFF	SUMMONS FEE PAID $10.00	N
	08/05/08	PLAINTIFF	CIRCUIT CIVIL FILING FEE PAID $300.00	N
	08/05/08	PLAINTIFF	CIVIL COVER SHEET	F

And so there you have a "Server Jones" on August 5th, which might have been Alex. Jones was probably going to have photos from the crime scene for Geraldo, or was expecting to obtain them or some other flimsy details from the investigation files to support his a priori assumptions that Deborah Jeane Palfrey was murdered. Things fell-through. Maybe he was taken to Syria to be tortured by CIA operatives.

Like Obama accuser Larry Sinclair (time to play 8 degress of Montgomery Blair Sibley), Jones and others have yet to produce even a shred of evidence to support their claim that Palfrey was murdered and that the crime scene was made to look like a suicide had taken place.

Evidence to support this contention has yet to surface. It's not likely that it ever will, but stirring-up speculation should help Jones sell some more merchandise on his websites. Snake oil, pure drivel.

Considering clown Alex and some of his misguided fans were thrown-out of Geraldo's show almost a year ago, with Jones and others being arrested, it's not hard to believe he wasn't on tonight. But does Geraldo ever shrink from a fight? Hardly, and I'll give him that. T-shirts, programs, and mugs will be available after the show. Forget your mind, there's a war for your wallet.

The Pinellas County Circuit Court's docket on Blanche Palfrey vs. The Tarpon Springs Police Department: http://pubtitlet.co.pinellas.fl.us/servlet/civil.docket.KEAD?CS__CASE=08011467CI&CS__RESULTS__KNT=10

On the John Edwards sinning scandal

A'murka--Is this underwhelming or what? He didn't break-the-law like Sen. David Vitter when he engaged in his serial-solicitation of WHORES, and he didn't violate any security clearances, but the GOP is just itching to get some hits in somewhere, anywhere.

Yet nobody really gives-a-shit with the price of gasoline (our temporary reprieve isn't going to last), a worthless war in the Middle East, the Republic of Georgia being (re)invaded by Russia, and everything else that's actually of importance.

The fact stands: it's nobody's business, but somebody found out and blabbed. He broke no laws, and if he violated anyone's trust that matters (comments to the press and others don't count), it was his wife's. That's where it ends. The rest is utter bullshit.

Would I have ever voted for Edwards as a presidential candidate? Nope. He had problems in his platform and he voted to authorize the Bush administration's use of force in Iraq. That's unforgivable, though his voting record on social spending isn't as bad as most in the Senate. Then, there's the other guy: Obama's just lucky he wasn't in the Senate at the time (2002), that's it. Otherwise, he would have voted likewise and allowed the Bush administration a free-hand. Well, OK, he already has in continually voting for war funding, but that's another story altogether.

John Edwards' tryst: a non-story, I could care less (OK, I lied).

If you can say anything at all with any certainty, it's that filmmaker Rille Hunter got too close to her subject, an "Edwards fetish" if-you-will. It's doubtful that her documentary is worth watching.

I'm not a Democrat, incidentally. Oh sure, I'm registered as one, and I've only voted GOP once in a local election in Muncie, Indiana, but Nader has my vote. The Democratic political machine there was well known for being totally corrupt and their candidate--a former sheriff--had been cold busted embezzling from public funds. The Republican wasn't attached to the establishment there in any respect.

Some asshole told me at the time: "He won't accomplish anything, he doesn't know anybody downtown." And? So they don't accomplish their usual agendas--this is bad because...of what? I will decline to vote for any candidate running for Indiana's 2nd District seat in the House, they all have to go.

The paternity test: it's likely that the child is his. Do I care? Ask the GOP's Dan Burton, he had a love child going back to the 1980s when he issued 1,000 subpoenas against former President Bill Clinton about ten-years-ago. Another Midwestern slimeball named Larry Flynt outed him, thanks-in-part to the maverick investigator, Dan Moldea (he thinks Sirhan Sirhan alone, murdered RFK, a laugh riot).

Somehow, some way (because of money, natch), the very corrupt, stupid, and ugly Burton's still in office. I doubt this is going to hurt John Edwards that much, and he and others need to be pointing-out all the other offenders who are still in (and out of, like Mark Foley) office. And that's exactly what you're reading right now...

"Run amok" attorney Montgomery Blair Sibley is at it again: Insists in filing that death photos of deceased DC Madam be released

"Jeane was very clear with me that if she was ever found dead of an apparent suicide, I was to make sure that all the evidence was publicly disseminated so that it could be independently evaluated." --Montgomery Blair Sibley, a former counsel for the late DC Madam.

Tarpon Springs, Florida--C.L.G.'s (who are they? Citizens for Legitimate Government) Lori Price is scribbling today that on July 22nd, the third and former attorney for the late Deborah Jeane Palfrey filed for release of all investigative documents pertinent to her suicide--that includes the death photos that Palfrey's mother Blanche has filed to keep suppressed.

...This request includes copies of every document related to the matter, regardless of the format in which the information is stored. I note that information stored on a computer is as much a public record as a written page in a book or stored in a filing cabinet."...Citing his obligation to discharge explicit instructions from his former client, Jeane Palfrey, the so-called DC Madam, to "fully investigate and reveal the circumstances of her death if deemed a suicide by authorities," her attorney, Montgomery Blair Sibley, has moved to intervene in a lawsuit filed by Jeane's mother, Blanche Palfrey. That lawsuit seeks to prevent the Tarpon Springs, Florida Police Department from releasing information requested by Sibley pertaining the investigation of Jeane's death on May 1 of this year. (Attorney: 'DC Madam' left instructions if 'ever found dead of apparent suicide', Citizens for Legitimate Government, 08.10.2008)

You think she had to do it in-response? It's even money, and that's all this is about, sadly. Write a book, why dontcha.' Ask the Marianne Strong Agency, they have one in-the-works, possibly Sibley's.

A source informed me over a month ago that Sibley would be meeting with Blanche Palfrey around the end of July--apparently this meeting didn't pan-out, and it's likely to have been predicated on book deals and materials in the possession of the Palfrey Estate. Once again, for the record: Jeane discharged advocate Sibley with extreme prejudice (not legalese) in late-January of this year. That was her mental "cast" at that particular moment.

The break between them actually came much earlier in December, and Palfrey had to remove Sibley from the case in court. He had to be removed as her counsel.

Jeane informed me on a few occasions afterwards that counsel Sibley had done a poor job representing her, and that she considered him "nuts" and "crazy." Palfrey herself told this writer that, "things were said [between us] that you cannot take back."Take from these quotes what you will, and it must be admitted that the deceased was acting erratically at the time.

It was over, but is anything ever over with Montgomery Blair Sibley?

Well, yes, once he's been disbarred throughout the continental United States, Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Marshall Islands, and the rest of America's possessions, though he could have a fighting-chance in Florida. J-7 invites counsel Sibley to provide the actual date of authorship of the instructions left by the late Palfrey in the event of her suicide. What's interesting is that sources have informed this writer that Palfrey had threatened to commit suicide early-on in the legal proceedings (from as early as March-April, 2007) if she was convicted.

Everything this writer experienced before and after Sibley's departure as a short-duration researcher on her defense team supports this contention, as does her February 28th email to us. I was tapped by Palfrey herself in December of 2007 for research purposes. But from my involvement in all of this from June of 2007-on, I had a fear that this was going to end badly.

I have questions regarding the role of her final counsel, Preston Burton, whose defense strategy was an utter failure. Considering the fact that the firm he works for--Orrick, Herrington, & Sutcliffe--does extensive legal work for the federal government internationally, one could make an argument that there was (and still is) a very substantial conflict-of-interest. Mr. Burton refuses to discuss anything pertaining to his representation of Palfrey to this writer.

The lady wasn't kidding when she told bestselling journalist Jason Leopold and the rest of us on February 28th of this year:

Jason… let’s put it like this, the bastards aren’t going to take me alive. Of course, anytime that you want to do an interview – I will make myself available. However, I doubt that I will be doing any interviews once I am in D.C., for the trial. –Best, Jeane

As an interesting side-note, Leopold missed the import of the message entirely, telling me that he'd been "busy." I'm sure he was, but you couldn't miss the implications of the missive...if you were paying attention. I have no idea if others in the defense team caught this, as they and Palfrey kept things extremely compartmentalized. Leopold's role is a mystery, though I was informed by others that he was being prevented from working on the case by his then-employers Talkout--their editor went as far to monitor his computer account.

Oh well, most of the "McProgressive" sites like these and CLG are going to be gone soon, with little or no contributions. OpEd News is one-month-away from folding for said reasons. Now, if Moveon.org folds, we can actually get on with a genuine Populist movement. What a life. Yes, what a life indeed. Montgomery Blair Sibley's former client is dead, but he has assured this writer that none of Jeane's death photos will be published. As it stands, her estate wants nothing to do with him.

And yet, all I can think of is poor Blanche Palfrey and all that she's been through over her daughter's death. First came the government's agents. Then came the lawyers [Ed., 09.05.2008--I am told by a source that attorney Preston Burton began an argument at the funeral over who would control the estate of the deceased. If true, it's in exceptionally bad taste, if not profoundly questionable and unethical.] Then came media, and finally, came the Tarpon Springs Police to carry Jeane's lifeless body away. All this feasting on the lives of others just underscores how sick we are as a culture. Let the dead rest in peace, and note the photograph above. Reflect on the violated dignity of the deceased. Her mother deserves to be left alone, and this site is doing just that. Greed is a horrible thing, destroying everything in its wake.

Revised, 08.29.2008

Attorney: 'DC Madam' left instructions if 'ever found dead of apparent suicide', Citizens for Legitimate Government, 08.10.2008: http://www.legitgov.org/dc_madam_update_100808.html

D.C. Madam's mother sues to keep autopsy and suicide photos sealed

Tarpon Springs, Florida--The mother of the deceased DC Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, is suing to keep crime scene photographs sealed. Blanche Palfrey has requested that photographs of Palfrey's corpse at the scene of discovery as well as autopsy photos be permanently kept from publication.

But who would want to publish them? Not this writer, but someone Jeane Palfrey referred to frequently to this writer as a "bastard," one Bill Bastone, editor of The Smoking Gun website.

"The only media or public interest in said photographs flows from a morbid exploitation by some members of the public and the pursuit of sensationalism by some members of the media," the lawsuit states.
As of today the only entity that has requested the photographs is SmokingGun.com, said Capt. Jeff Young of the Tarpon Springs Police Department.
The department has not released any photographs or police reports on Deborah Palfrey's suicide because the investigation isn't finished, but it should be in a matter of days, authorities say.

When that day comes, the agency is expected to release whatever documentation it is obligated to under Florida public records laws, said Jim Yacavone, the attorney for Tarpon Springs. ("D.C. Madam's Mother Sues to Stop Release of Photos," TBO.com/Tampa Bay Online, 08.07.2008)

I cannot disagree with Mrs. Palfrey's and her counsel's reasoning, and she wouldn't be the only one upset by their release. The photographs won't add to any knowledge of the case for the record, and nothing will be learned from them. It's just a move by gawkers and exploiters to make money (like Alex Jones, and others...).

The DC Madam's relationship with The Smoking Gun and Bastone is a peculiar one. They were the very first media outlet to pick-up on the story. Palfrey informed this writer on several occasions that she felt Bastone had been illegally "tipped-off" by federal investigators and prosecutors on her case in order to taint her and her ability to receive a fair trial through articles containing selective leaks.

Bastone's first article appeared on October 9th (http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1009061hook1.html)
. Palfrey claimed that The Smoking Gun editor contacted her on her cell phone while she was in Germany on October 6th, just two days after her home was being searched by federal agents. How did Bastone have her private cell phone number at that time?

More importantly: how was he made aware of the investigation and pertinent details of it? Palfrey thought it was leaks by the prosecution until her untimely end. The articles contain the theme of an assumption of guilt on the part of Bastone.

From December 1st, 2006:

As we first reported, federal investigators are probing the operator of a Washington, D.C. escort service that sent college-educated prostitutes to the homes and hotel rooms of well-heeled clients. In a new court filing, federal prosecutors offer an amusing glimpse into how madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey ran her escort business, which she started in 1993 and ran until about three months ago. When Internal Revenue Service agents raided Palfrey's California home, they recovered newsletters that Palfrey distributed to her stable of whores at Pamela Martin & Associates. (' "Pro-fessional Tips, Feds: Alleged D.C. madam sent newsletters to her stable of whores," The Smoking Gun, 12.01.2006)

Indeed, Palfrey was guilty, but this was over a year before her belated trial. It was before she ever charged officially with racketeering, which came in March of 2007. There are no federal laws against prostitution.

The Smoking Gun's editor wrote in his first piece from October, 2006:

But Palfrey did speculate that she may have come to the attention of federal agents because her operation had somehow intersected with a more high profile case, like that of convicted ex-congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham. Investigators are reportedly examining charges that a defense contractor provided hookers to Cunningham as part of an influence-peddling scheme. Palfrey did not claim a nexis between her escort service and Cunningham, but invoked the disgraced pol's name while saying that she would wager that the basis for the federal probe of her business "had solely to do with some Duke Cunningham-type bigwig client that got caught up in something and started to say, 'Do you know this?' and 'Do you know that?' And that he might have been able to lead them to somebody." ("New D.C. Sex Scandal Looming?" The Smoking Gun, 10.09.2006)

Yet Palfrey claimed that it was Bastone who first dropped the name of now convicted former GOP congressman Randall "Duke" Cunningham, not the opposite. J-7 invites Mr. Bastone to produce the interview tape to clear up this issue, and others, though it's doubtful that he ever will.

Ironically, my own research for the defense focused on the "Cunningham angle," one that Palfrey summarily dropped towards the end of the run-up to trial in March of this year. Bastone's--and Tru TV's--site is the only outlet to have requested the death photos of Palfrey, a curious move by those with a potentially unscrupulous relationship with her prosecutors.

If it's true that Bastone had a "relationship" with the IRS, Postal Inspectors, the FBI, or the Justice Department (take your pick), then his credibility is seriously in question (nothing new). Palfrey sent this to myself and her then-attorney, the inimitable Montgomery Blair Sibley on December 23rd, 2007:

Blair… if you ever doubt that my case is politically motivated OR simply “can’t go there” with the mounting circumstantial evidence of selective prosecution, I would ask that you read the highlighted portion below in particular, from Bil earlier today. Never forgot that son-of-a bitch, Bill Bastone’s first question to me in Germany, just days after the warrant was executed on my property had to do with Cunningham and Bastone’s insistence that I professionally knew the “Dukester”; this, despite my continued statements to the contrary. -Jeane

Mr. Bastone was questioned for this piece on how he had obtained Palfrey's cell phone number and whether she'd dropped Cunningham's name first in the impromptu interview from Germany (there might have been multiple-contacts, one possibly during an in-transit flight) in early-October of 2006. Bastone refused to comment in any detail stating in an email, "Thanks for your note. However, we don't discuss our interviews or reporting process."

Considering that the information might have been leaked illegally by a federal agent or official, that's understandable. At least his response was prompt.

"D.C. Madam's Mother Sues to Stop Release of Photos," TBO.com/Tampa Bay Online, 08.07.2008: http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/aug/07/dc-madams-mother-sues-stop-release-photos/

"New D.C. Sex Scandal Looming?" The Smoking Gun, 10.09.2006: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1009061hook1.html

' "Pro-fessional Tips, Feds: Alleged D.C. madam sent newsletters to her stable of whores," The Smoking Gun, 12.01.2006: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1201061palfrey1.html

Added-value Postscript, 08.09.2008: Here's an exchange with Bill Bastone, ostensible editor of The Smoking Gun. Isn't he charming? Yeah, I'm not either, but that's how it goes. Eat and enjoy!


On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 4:29 PM, Matt Janovic <myboigie@earthlink.net> wrote:

Dear Mr. Bastone:

On October 9th, you penned a piece on Ms. Palfrey where you alleged that she dropped the name of Randy Cunningham during your talk with her.

I would like to know the following: 1.) How did you obtain her private cell phone number, and 2.) do you still contend that she dropped the name of Mr. Cunningham first--she contended otherwise, that you said it first.

kind regards, Matt Janovic, private researcher

Then... (isn't our cause-and-effect universe thrilling?):

----- Original Message -----

From: The Smoking Gun

To: myboigie@earthlink.net

Sent: 8/8/2008 4:36:55 PM

Subject: Re: Jeane Palfrey

Matt:

Thanks for your note. However, we don't discuss our interviews or reporting process.
Bill BastoneEditor

TSG

But...

On Fri, Aug 8, 2008 at 6:01 PM, Matt Janovic <myboigie@earthlink.net> wrote:

Dear Mr. Bastone:

So the prosecution never briefed you on Ms. Palfrey's case in October of 2006? Are you a "friendly asset" of federal investigators?

kind regards, Matt Janovic

Yet...

Matt:

Seriously, what part of "we don't discuss our interviews or reporting process" did not register?No need for another response. [Ed.--Awwwwww, sure there is...]Bill BastoneTSG


Ed.--I won't bore you with the rest, and I certainly won't be writing Bastone again anytime soon, but suffice it to say that he was told for the several thousandth time that he was a jerk and an exploiter (in sharper words). Gotham City is not safer with this man on the beat. He sure doesn't like it when the mic is pointed in the other direction.

Detroit's mayor jailed for leaving country while under bond: Why isn't Karl Rove in jail?

Detroit/The Echelons of Power--Granted that mayor Kilpatrick is under serious investigation (something Congress is incapable of thanks to timidity and being criminally complicit), and granted that his situation is more specific--but why isn't Karl Rove serving even a moment in jail for ignoring a subpoena from Congress? Rove left the country when he was supposed to testify before Congress. What gives?

This time, I want you to choose (no wrong or right answers here)...

Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is in jail today and Karl Rove isn't because:

a.) He's Black.

b.) He's Black and doesn't have the same friends that Karl Rove does.

c.) He never voted for Alan Keyes.

d.) See "a."

e.) Karl Rove knows where the Ark of the Covenant is, Kilpatrick does not.

f.) His first name is Kwame, which is enough.

g.) He's actually guilty of skipping-out on his bond for a steak and hookers
party in Ontario.

h.) He was a draft resister during Grenada, even though there was no draft after 1973, but they threw him in jail for his tastes in women anyway.

i. ) He thought Ishtar was actually a good movie.

j.) There is no Karl Rove, only a Hal-9000 with an externalized holographic representation of itself.

k.) America forgot it was 2008 and believed it was 1960. They jailed him because there were fears that he was trying to desegregate a public restroom.

l.) He shoved his sister, and he's not as pimpin' as Rove.

m.) Why not? We don't need no stinking badges.

n.) The GOP is above the law. (See "m")

o.) Kilpatrick doesn't look like a muppet, and no jailer would be able to withstand jailing a Jim Henson creation.

p.) I, like, totally believe in dragons now, just not the Constitution of the United States.

The FBI Never Gets Their Man: Bruce E. Ivins

Lies
Federal Bungling Investigators/The United States Army (nuff' said, don't ask , don't tell)--Even a cursory look at the stories should tell you something: the FBI and other investigative bodies botched this investigation for nearly seven years.

It was only when the psychopath behind it began acting-out, disintegrating, that he was reported by his psychiatrist and therapeutic counselor.

In addition to this fact, we find that Mr. Ivins had a history of behavioral problems extending-back to his days as a graduate student. This has all been easily uncovered by media, and presumably Ivins's counselor Jean Duley and psychiatrist, Dr. David Irwin. Irwin probably conveyed Ivins's psychiatric history to Duley.

The real heroes? Not the FBI, but Ivins's aforementioned psychiatrist and counselor. He told them quite a bit, which is why Duley put out a restraining order on the man, reporting him to police as is procedurally laid-out for a psychiatrist or a mental health worker.

But ultimately, it had to be Dr. Irwin who made the original diagnosis and who alerted the authorities.

If a patient is clearly psychotic, has confessed to crimes or the strong desire (and the wherewithal to do it) and attempts to commit them, a psychiatrist or counselor is morally and legally bound to report it to the authorities to prevent a potential crime. But only a psychiatrist can make an official diagnosis of psychopathology, or that someone is dangerously psychotic.

Duley went to the police. On July 10, authorities at the Fort Detrick lab where he worked removed him from the premises and had him committed for a psychiatric evaluation. A judge in Frederick, Md., granted an order that required Ivins to cease contact with Duley and stay away from her home and place of work.

The FBI suspects that Ivins' behavior changed after the Justice Department announced a $5.8 million settlement a former scientist from the same Fort Detrick lab. Steven Hatfill, who then-Attorney General John Ashcroft named a person of interest in the case in August 2002, had claimed he was unfairly targeted and his reputation damaged by leaks to the press. ("Counselor: Anthrax Scientist Was 'Homicidal,' " ABC News.go.com, 08.03.2008)

Yet, Ivins blamed Duley and not his psychiatrist Dr. David Irwin, the man who can be safely presumed to have made the diagnosis and originally alerted the authorities of Ivins's threat to himself and others.

The formerly bungled investigation finally got going on the right foot for the first time since 2002. What likely is that they confronted Ivins and notified him of what the potential charges held (the death penalty), he saw no way out, and he committed suicide. Why? Because he was guilty. Innocent people don't act like Ivins.

The problem with the feds' story of breaking the case? Dr. Irwin probably broke the case, and Duley just added fuel to the fire. Doubt it? Here's some of the transcript of the taped interview with Duley where she was requesting the restraining order. The Smoking Gun's documents state "received July 24th," and it's signed and dated as such by the counselor:

(Describing early morning voice messages from Ivins) [Ed.--Curiously, no date given.]

Duley: The first voice message was sort of a ranting, blaming me for having this done to him. It was sort of just rambling.

Same with three minutes later, saying that obviously we no longer have a therapeutic relationship, and how could I do this to him.

(Describing a July 12 call)

Duley: That one was rather scary. He very calmly thanked me for ruining his life and opening, allowing the FBI now to be able to prosecute him for the murders and that it was all my fault, and it's going to be my fault that they could now get him. [Ed.--A virtual confession of his crimes.] ...

Duley: As far back as the year 2000, the respondent has actually attempted to murder several other people, either through poisoning—he is a revenge killer when he feels that he's been slighted or has had, especially towards women, he plots and actually tries to carry out revenge killing. He has been forensically diagnosed by several top psychiatrists as a sociopathic, homicidal killer. ("Excerpt of tape in which therapist Jean Duley seeks restraining order against Bruce Ivins," The Minneapolis Star, 08.02.2008)

Wouldn't one have filed right away, right after the first message on what appears to be the 9th of July? I would, but not if someone else had reported Ivins. There is an apparent contradiction in the timeline that masks Irwin's involvement: did Duley make earlier contacts with the authorities? Irwin must have. Perhaps Duley did make earlier contact with federal authorities, but she must have felt covered by Dr. Irwin in some way. What authorities did Dr. Irwin contact?

Did the FBI put Duley and Irwin under protection after the July 9-12 calls from Ivins? The record seems confused. Since there's no oversight of the FBI by Congress, we may never know their role in this breakthrough. The transcript of the restraining order reads as though Duley had already been briefed thoroughly on Ivins, but by whom? Probably Irwin.

Duley was scheduled for an August 1st appearance before the grand jury. She also knew by July 24th that Ivins would be charged with "5 capital murders," and that the "FBI [is] involved. She waited two weeks to file the restraining order on Ivins, thanks to the fact that he was being held for observation at Sheppard Pratt Health System in Baltimore. Yet why the need for a restraining order with other authorities, local ones?

On another count, gleaned from Duley's filing, Ivins's superiors at Fort Detrick and the bioweapons program he worked for had some inkling that he was completely nuts, and barred him from entry of the bioweapons research facility where he worked on July 10th. But there are other indications in the above record that they knew he was sick for several years. Irwin and Duley could probably answer these questions, hence the peculiarity of the records based on what little additional context is being provided against public statements by investigators and the aforementioned players.

When you bring in the "big guns" of psychiatry to examine a top level government scientist, someone's paying the bills, and it's unlikely that his employers would have been unaware. What's more likely is that they ordered the diagnoses themselves for legal protection, among other reasons.

Many questions remain, and are likely to remain so, in order that those who could have identified Ivins--but did not, probably due to incompetence and his peculiar talents--aren't held accountable. This is likely more of a story of bungling by federal investigators within and without of the United States Army, as well as outside pressure to contain information of a questionable weapons program and the real dangers it poses to the civilian population. Other questions will remain for future historians, one could imagine, and for decades.

One question is highly pertinent: of the many anthrax-laced envelopes that were sent, why were some to the opponents (primarily Democrats) of the Patriot Act, and by a top-level biowarfare scientist after a major terrorist attack on US soil? Was he told to? Senator Patrick Leahy was one of the recipients, though he emerged from the incident unscathed. That raises numerous alarming possibilities and questions to those of us paying attention, and they are of a constitutional nature. I'm not alone:

Daschle, whose office was a target of the attacks, tells Fox News Sunday that from the very beginning he's had "real concerns" about the quality of the investigation.

He notes the government recently agreed to pay almost 6 million dollars to a former Army scientist, Steven Hatfill, who accused authorities of unfairly targeting him in the probe.

Daschle says he doesn't know if the investigation involving the late government microbiologist Bruce Ivins "is just another false track and a real diversion" from where investigators need to be. ("Daschle criticizes FBI's handling of anthrax probe," AP, 08.03.2008)

If it says anything at all, it's that our own weapons programs can be turned against us by lunatics--and Ivins wasn't the usual kind. He wasn't a politician, but a nutty geek who made things that killed people. He was already sick wanting to work at Fort Detrick, having been there for 36 years.

Dr. David Irwin and Jean Duley are likely to be the real heroes here, not the U.S. Army's investigators, and certainly not the storied FBI. Ivins is just one part of the American disease, and so are they. Duley's husband is calling her a hero. Ivins behavior was probably tolerated due to his actual value to powerful interests. How far that value extends is the real question. "The relentless pressure of accusation and innuendo takes its toll in different ways on different people. ...In Dr. Ivins' case, it led to his untimely death." states the press release by his attorney.

Tell it to another Fort Detrick scientist, Steven Hatfill, he survived nearly six years of pressure and harassment at the hands of the FBI. They went as far as to run his foot over with one of their surveillance cars. No tears here for Ivins, that's for his misguided former co-workers and neighbors, the kind who never notice serial killers in their midsts.

"Excerpt of tape in which therapist Jean Duley seeks restraining order against Bruce Ivins," The Minneapolis Star, 08.02.2008: http://www.startribune.com/nation/26212859.html?location_refer=Nation:highlightModules:7

"Counselor: Anthrax Scientist Was 'Homicidal,' " ABC News.go.com, 08.03.2008: http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=5503274&page=1

"Anthrax Suspect Homicidal, Sociopathic-Counselor sought restraining order against biodefense researcher," The Smoking Gun, 08.01.2008: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0801081anthrax1.html

"Documents reveal turbulent days leading to a dark end," FrederickNewsPost.com, 08.02.2008: http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1452500

Postscript, 08.07.2008: Yes, I am implying that the FBI rarely ever closes a case successfully without tips from informants. They're flatfoots, and the real adults quit to be around someone intelligent like a janitor. The FBI would be a joke if it wasn't for the fact that they've continued to systematically harrass dissenters, and generally done everything outside of their mandate. They never got John Dillinger either, that's a myth.

An open letter to the North American religious right

USSA--Now that you've been instrumental in wrecking our once great nation and economy over a 35-year-long fit over Roe v. Wade and your fear of Blacks, women, homosexuals, and anyone who doesn't believe what you believe...how does it feel to be proven wrong on virtually every point daily?

How does it feel to serve Caesar well beyond Christ's proscription? How does it feel to be so scared, stupid, and boring?

Most importantly: how does it feel to have no sense of the literary or of metaphor? In some gospel accounts, Jesus was constantly telling the disciples, "You just don't get it." That's a hint in the allegory.

Your versions of the New Testament come primarily from a faulty 12th century Greek-transcription of the gospels. Your concept of the so-called "infallibility" of the Bible is a new one, coming from the early-20th century in America, concocted by wacko evangelical preachers.

The rest of the world of Christianity isn't like you at all, you're a strange death cult. We're a happy mining town.