The worth of a good lawyer

I was disappointed yesterday to see that the special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald did not indict Karl Rove, the architect of the Bush Presidency. According to the news story in Los Angeles Times, Rove escaped indictment at the last moment by submitting an evidence (e-mail), which cast doubts about him lying in one of his earlier testimonies to the grand jury. Prosecutor Fitzgerald, being a fair and thorough person, wanted to verify that before charging him with perjury. Rove should credit his last minute escape to his lawyer Robert Luskin whom he hired recently. The fact that Luskin is a Democrat did not bother Rove, because he knew that getting a good lawyer makes all the difference in a case. The lowly government prosecutor usually is no match for a top-notch lawyer in the caliber of Johnny Cochran. Such sharp lawyers can blow away strong evidences like the testimony of an eyewitness or even a blood trail. The ‘not guilty’ verdicts in the trials of Michael Jackson and Robert Blake are examples of this. Yes, a good lawyer is worth his weight in gold (if you can afford, that is).

Plamegate indictment worry

I am one of the many in the ‘blogsphere’ eagerly waiting for the Plamegate indictments to come down today or tomorrow. The lies and distortions behind the justification of Iraq war will finally come to light. (The indictments will only be the first step. The court cases following will reveal the whole story). At the same time, I feel somewhat uneasy about the impact of all this to our country. The Bush administration will be in turmoil, with everyone trying to save himself or herself. (I remember how the Watergate hearings crippled the Nixon administration). We will have a weak President who is disrespected by all, including his own party. Effectively, USA will be without an effective leader for three years -- a dangerous situation indeed!

I am ashamed!

The recovery efforts after the horrible earthquake in Pakistan is front page news. I find the pictures accompanying them so heartbreaking that I lose courage to read the stories behind them. There was a picture of a cute nine year old girl, who lost a limb, looking at the camera with tears in her eyes. Both her parents had perished in the earthquake. Another picture showed a young lady who lost her leg, crying in pain as the hospital does not have strong pain medication. It is too upsetting for me to hear more about the human tragedy there. I am ashamed of my cowardice and helplessness.

(I notice that there is hardly any mention of this tragedy in the ‘blogsphere’. Plamegate, Harriet Miers and President Bush are fun topics to comment on while the Pakistan earthquake is not!)

Will he do this to Princess Di?

Tonight I saw the Andrew Webber play ‘Evita’ based on the life of Eva Peron of Argentina. I must be one of the last play lovers in the world to see it! Did not enjoy the play much as the actress who played Evita was ‘screeching’ the lovely songs by Tim Price and Andrew Webber. But more than singing what bothered me was the way Eva Peron was portrayed in the play. Here is a lady who did a lot to improve the plight of ‘descamisados’ (shirtless poor) in Argentina, and is revered as a saint there. But Webber saw her as a slut who slept her way to the top, and did everything for power and money. He obviously did not care about the feelings of the millions in Argentina when he wrote the play. I wonder how he would like if some Argentinean wrote a play about Princess Di, portraying her as an unstable woman who slept around with Pakistani’s and Arabs? Who knows? He may not mind it as long as the music is good!

Tiger is coming!

When I was growing up in India, one of the ploys used to quiet a crying baby was to say ‘Look, tiger is coming!’. Today’s security alert about terrorist attack to New York city subways, reminds me of that. Could it be a ploy to distract the press and the media from 'crying' about the meaningless war, rising gas prices, corruption in the Republican leadership etc. ? (The identification of ‘Iraqi al-Qaida connection’ behind this threat is a nice touch. Who says that we are not fighting terrorists in Iraq?). The Bush administration had pulled a similar stunt last year in New York city, immediately after the Democratic convention. There was a security alert for a few days – long enough to prevent the traditional bounce in polls after a convention. Wonder what will happen next week if Karl Rove gets indicted in the Plame investigation. Hope that it will not be something scarier than a tiger coming!

10/13/05 Update:

People are starting to notice these strange coincidences of terror alerts.

'She is looking at you, kid'

It looks like there is a new trend -- the selectors selecting themselves! It started with Dick Cheney scouting in 2000 for the V.P. candidate for Bush Jr. , and discovering that he is the best qualified. In the recent papal election, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger who was in charge of organizing the voting, got chosen as the next Pope. Now I hear that the latest Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers was in charge of selecting for President Bush the nominees for the Supreme Court. Come to think of it, it is not that difficult for the selector to get selected. Just make selection criteria be what you only can meet. I can see Ms. Miers reporting to President Bush. ‘Sir, what we need is a woman with some low-key legal background (so that no one can question her judicial philosophy), and who is loyal to you to carry on your political agenda’. The search is over.