Pat Tillman Investigation Question

I had heard KO talk about this issue briefly and then I've heard nothing since. He stated something to the effect that the White House has taken "Executive Privilege" on gagging any potential witnesses in the investigation of Pat Tillman's death. Has anyone else heard this and has anything developed from this in the last few days?

-P

(9 more posts to go)

next week.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=1328982

because it didn't fit their storyline that Tillman was a great American hero (and thus a republican :eyes:), and that lives over there aren't wasted in meaningless ways. Possibly some of his effects were burned because his diaries didn't support that storyline.

(Not fragged is based on this comment in Stan Goff's blog: "STAN: The big news is that Rumsfeld will invoke executive privilege to avoid testifying about when he learned about the fratricide. On the conspiracy, I respect Dr. Zimbardo immensely, and the Stanford Experiment remains extremely relevant; but I have reviewed thousands of pages of testimony on the incident, and know the family quite well. Infantry platoons don’t commit political assassinations, and Pat’s killing was not planned by anyone. This is my absolute and categorical opinion. I have written a series about Pat’s death for the now-defunct From the Wilderness Publications, called “The Tillman Files,” and my basic prosecutorial hypotheses remain unchanged. I have since learned many more details and had names corrected from previously redacted documents; but long-story-short, no conspiracy. More than that I can’t say now, because I have signed a confidentiality aggreement that limits my discussion of this case."

http://stangoff.com/?p=522

the funcknutz in the white house have declared all operations of the executive branch, and by extension all departments of the executive branch including for example the department of defense, outside of any oversight regulation by congress. Congress has responded by stating that they are looking into this matter and are concerned. Heck they might even be upset.

then ordered the cover-up, there`s no way around that fact. if they were not involved they why is bush invoking privilege?

be one that get's "Joe Sixpack" suddenly awakened to what Bush is doing. By claiming he can't talk about Tilman death and cover up...the Far Right will finally see what he's up to...that is easier to understand than "Outing CIA Agent or US Attorney's Firings.

-----------

July 15, 2007
A Field Position Game

by emptywheel

Mark Kleiman argues that the Democrats should see BushCo's refusal to turn over proof that they buried details about Pat Tillman's death as a godsend. This is the scandal, he argues, over which the Democrats should choose to confront Bush.

This is a Godsend for the Democrats in Congress. The committees shouldn't compromise at all; this is the case we want to go to war over, in the courts and the court of public opinion. The Tillman cover-up is a far smaller scandal than the U.S. Attorney firings, but it's much easier to understand.

Most of the country is only vaguely aware of the Tillman case, since the press has been not very interested in advertising how badly it was fooled, and how supinely it participated in the "Wag the Dog" fooling of the public. But if the facts got out there, everyone, including most of the Republican base, would be outraged. Publicity about the fight over documents and testimony is also publicity about Tillman's "friendly fire" death and the effort to cover it up, so it's a no-win situation for the White House.

Moreover, even the wingnuts are going to have a hard time claiming with a straight face that the President needs to protect the confidentiality of the process by which he decides to ... mislead the public.

To a degree, I agree with Kleiman, as do some of the commenters in this thread. Any time you can manage to put a political issue before the NFL's fans, the issue will have a lot more resonance than something that remains strictly political. And it's just a matter of weeks before Keith Olbermann sits before Sunday Night football fans (with Tiki Barber at his side--huzzah!!)--I suspect Olbermann is more than capable of explaining the stakes, if the NFL takes an interest in this issue. In other words, this is an issue that can grab the attention of Joe Sixpack in a way that politicization of our judicial system or the deliberate outing of a CIA spy cannot.

Furthermore, I've got a lot more faith that Henry Waxman can pursue a fight with the Administration more effectively than the House Judiciary (the verdict's still out on the Senate Judiciary).

And finally, I always pay attention when mr. emptywheel gets wrapped up in coverage. And he watched the coverage of Waxman's first Tillman hearing closely (he's a football fan, but doesn't really know of Tillman's career). The pageantry of the stock footage of Tillman--thanks largely to the Administration's hagiography of Tillman when he enlisted--makes for powerful TV, even accompanying something so boring as a Congressional hearing.

But as someone who recently fell into the trap of believing that Congress would use gifts it received effectively--you know, a whole trial transcript effectively showing that Vice President ordering the outing of a CIA spy--I'm not entirely convinced Tillman will be enough. This is another area where we're in a fight with the Administration over evidence (though note, BushCo did not, techncially, invoke privilege--they invoked confidentiality, which they may defend on the grounds that these documents pertain to troop movement). And no matter how much easier the narrative about Tillman's friendly fire death is to tell, it's still going to have to compete with Paris Hilton (or, in the football world, the latest DWI arrest).

What seems to be missing a coordinated approach that first says, "what is the overriding narrative"? (One possible answer: a disdain for national security and a habit of obstruction.) And then says, "How do we put the pieces together to make that argument so we can change it?" Tillman, in isolation of a larger goal or strategy, isn't going to do much for us. No matter how unpopular Bush gets, Congress still gives him the tools he wants to make things worse. Until that changes, all the war and football heroes in the world aren't going to help us.

more about this at....................

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/contributoremptywheel/index.html

families these felons have abused in this way. :mad: