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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by zeugma on February 13, 2006, at 18:22:29
when unblocked (hopefully soon)- or anyone else who does not find my posts tedious-
Please consider again the strange case of I.Lewis Libby, the man alleged to have spared our enemies the task of blowing the cover of an American spy by obtaining Dick Cheney's permission to do it himself (truly strange behavior from an Administration that brought us the Patriot Act, if Libby's grand jury deposition is not perjury). The latest remarkable development, which suggests to me that someone high up in America's most secret echelons read "Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature" in the course of their Ivy League education:<<
Defense attorney John Cline and Fitzgerald also told the judge that they were working on an agreement that would allow Libby to help prosecutors translate about a hundred pages of his handwritten notes.Fitzgerald said Libby's notes "by and large cover predominantly topics other than the issue of Mr. Wilson's wife [ i.e. Valerie Plame, American spy]."
Libby's handwriting is difficult to read, the lawyers said, and has slowed down the reviews by the intelligence agencies.
Under the agreement, the lawyers said, Libby would translate his scrawlings but would not be held responsible if he were to make a mistake.
>>The historic importance of this is underlined by the fact that no less than FIVE American agencies (the CIA, the National Security Agency, the State Department, the National Security Agency, and the offices of the President and the Vice President) will be poring over Libby's script and no doubt offering to help Libby in the onerous task of deciphering his own notebooks.
Is Libby aware of his opportunity to do what we all wish we could do- be granted the ability to change an incriminating but indecipherable letter to a harmless but nonsensical one? (There are things I have written on this very board that I wish had been delivered in such a font that even Dr. Bob might despair at decoding, and grant me in effect an indefinite immunity from blocks- but of course, my posts would go for nothing after a while. I am all for clarity, and I encourage schoolchildren to listen to their teachers when they say handwriting is important. but then, there are situations where it can be an advantage to have to be the 'translator' of one's own writing, especially when engaged in a case of high affairs of state. Handwriting may soon become a lost art in America, along with the ability to build levees.)
(now for some fanciful speculation)
His notebooks may become a source of fascination for future generations, who will offer their own interpretations of what is inexplicable to our own- why a man would be ordered by his own government to spare America's enemies the trouble of blowing an operatives' cover in the midst of a "war on terrorism" (if in fact someone or other has not committed perjury, or just made an innocent mistake in blurting out an American spy's name- but see below if such 'mistakes' are even possible, because this involves the doctrine of incorrigibility, the the doctrine that even when mistakes are pointed out, they cannot be corrected. Please bear with me.)
alexandra, when your block is up,(or anyone else not bored to tears by matters scrutinzed by the most important organizations of the U.S. government), please comment on the implications this has Daniel Dennett's Multiple Drafts model of the mind, as well as notions about the lack of 'privileged access' to our own minds. It appears to me that the doctrine Libby's agreement draws most on is an old idea of Richard Rorty's, that although we lack privileged access to our own minds, and so cannot be sure that we have decoded accurately the contents of our own mental notebooks, we are nevertheless 'incorrigible'- even if we get it wrong, no one can ever correct us.
Many people I know actually believe this doctrine of Rorty's. I have never been able to convince them of the error of their ways, unfortunately.
:-)
-z
Posted by zeugma on February 13, 2006, at 18:31:38
In reply to incorrigibility in action- for Alexandra K, posted by zeugma on February 13, 2006, at 18:22:29
since I am far from incorrigible, I mistakenly omitted "the National Security Council" and referenced the NSA twice- just making sure I dot my 'i's and cross my 't's- it's so old fashioned to make a mistake these days, soon it will be impossible for anyone to be wrong about anything-
-z
Posted by James K on February 14, 2006, at 0:33:05
In reply to correction, posted by zeugma on February 13, 2006, at 18:31:38
I think it is important to remember that lewis scooter libby wrote a book about virgins being introduced to sex by bears. Why is this important? because I intend to be a writer. I would hate to think that the fact that I might write a book about having sex with the meat in the fridge, like some famous writer (roth?) would disqualify me from high level political office. I'm not Jewish, and I didn't go to an Ivy League College. although the quad at u of h, had ivy. I'm not sure how all this works. I tried to join a frat, but my parents couldn't afford it, so they got me drunk and drove me back into the bad part of town and left me. The laughs on them. I haven't written the book yet, but I'm not the one who takes it. How does the IRA fit into this, because I drink Irish ale and beer. It seems very important. Are they still considered terrorist? Maybe we should look into them instead of Iran. I didn't know there was a difference between a nsa and an nsc. I'm ignorant. I wonder why. I did all 12 years. I read a hearst owned paper every morning. I wonder how Patty is these days. Making John Waters movies maybe. I feel that she has done the best she can with a best circumstance. I don't know how I could have made it. I've never shot anyone, much less pointed a gun at them. I have had several pointed at me. It is best to say an obscenity at that point. If you are ever in the back of a police car and you bang your head into the glass in an attempt to break it, Im just warning you. (not the best move) But we all figure these things out on our own. If you are ever cuffed to a bench, and your friend talks crap to the cops and the other arrestees, support him but don't go too far. Just my opinion, but he'll be asleep in his cell later that night, and you'll be awake in theirs. Never let a friend down. No matter what. If he does something for you, or against you, or at your behest, stand by him, or behind him, or somewhere in his general vicinity. At least stand. Stand. Like a man (and I mean that in a metaphorical sense where a man is better than a woman, I realize that is an outdated metaphor, but if I suggested you stand by your best friend like a woman, you would probably end up in a bar parking lot argument with her because her name is Angie and you keep saying Katie.) I was wrong that night about her name, but I've never been wrong to pull my head off the table and set aside my chimay, and find out what my own personal scooter was up to outside the pub. As long as we all sleep in our own beds, we had a good night.
James K
Posted by zeugma on February 15, 2006, at 21:40:05
In reply to Re: correction, posted by James K on February 14, 2006, at 0:33:05
hi James.
I have no ideas for novels. I write poetry and try to figure out what words mean, because everyone seems to mean something different. and i think too, too much about politics.
conoleeza rice says (re leaks, to Congress today) that she takes the leaking of classified info seriously, very seriously, very important to the national security.
and the same day our straight shooter VP says re the Libby case that valerie plame's identity and actions were classified, but he can declassify any information he wants.
so i conclude: lots of information is classified, but some is more classified than others. "Animal Farm" has come.
i always liked that book. short, sweet, and oh so true.
-z
Posted by zeugma on February 15, 2006, at 21:50:26
In reply to Re: correction » James K, posted by zeugma on February 15, 2006, at 21:40:05
oh and if you click on that link, you don't get Orwell, you get something that bears the name of the man cheney shot. i lack the expertise to have pulled something like that off. but so appropriate.
unless i am hallucinating. in which case i should go to sleep asap.
-z
Posted by James K on February 16, 2006, at 17:46:54
In reply to Re: correction, posted by zeugma on February 15, 2006, at 21:50:26
Okay, that was truly weird.
Why would amazon link to a non Orwell book when you put an Orwell title up?Are we sure there weren't 78 shooters using 78 high powered bb guns? After all as I believe you allude to later on the page, we have - Texas, Vice President, shooting, Kenedy, millionaires, Was anyone filming? I don't trust those diagrams i've been seeing in the paper.
I spent time with my gun nut friend last night, and he is furious, because this hurts his cause. Gun ownership, hunting, Texas, America all take a hit on this one. His (my friend) dad taught him hunting when he was a child. He knows the difference between a killdee (sp) and a quail by sight sound and flight. They used dogs to gather their kills, not billionaires. Dogs are shorter.
I wonder if this ranch is an animal farm, meaning a place where animals are cultivated so rich people can come shoot things more easily. Like a trout stocked lake.
If whittington was holding dead quail, or was it pheasant, (I don't remember) and had pellets go through him and dirty feathers and then laid down covered in holes in a dusty field, then the possibility of massive infection seems likely. If they had some bourbon, they could have poured it all over him to help disinfect.
If the vice president had been firing a shot gun next to his own ears, or had ear protection on, how was he supposed to hear harry say "Oh crap, I'm back Here!" ?
I wish my thinking was more organized.
James K
This is the end of the thread.
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