Fitzmas Tomorrow? Be Prepared!

Jeffrey Feldman has some good advice (sorry for copying almost the whole thing - it's important for this to be spread wide):

High profile members of President Bush's administration will soon be charged with serious crimes--crimes committed to keep Americans from learning that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq--crimes committed to help George W. Bush launch an unnecessary invasion of the Middle East--crimes committed to help raise the approval ratings of the administration--crimes committed to re-elect the President.

It's high noon in Washington, DC. And the President's hired guns are about to bust through the saloon doors with double-barrel propaganda a' blazin.

Here are some pointers to prepare for the news that is about to break...

Events will move fast and will be full of fireworks. These are serious crimes that have been commited: purjury, obstruction of justice, leaking national security secrets. The people who committed the crimes are the top aides to the President (Karl Rove), the top aides to the Vice President (Lewis Libby) and potentially others. So, given the power of these men, we can expect that the President has a strategy to deflect blame, to distance himself from those aides who have been named as criminals, and to undermine the authority of the Grand Jury issuing the indictments.

Be mindful when listening to tomorrow's news, and consider the following suggestions

1. The White House will be running a communications strategy, so beware of anything they say. In the past 24-hours, the President has given a series of speeches discussing every aspect of his presidency (e.g., business as usual). But they will go on the attack very soon.

2. Listen for magic words. Expect the White House to try to control debate by repeating keywords over and over again. So far, they have been quiet. But the specter of 9/11 is never far off. Beware of White House spokesmen who try to discuss 9/11, tomorrow.

3. Stay focused. The real issue tomorow is crimes committed by the White House to trick the American people into supporting a war. There is no other issue that comes close to this, tomorrow.

4. Do not talk about whether we should stay or pull out of Iraq. That is an important topic, but it will be a distraction tomorrow. The issue is crimes committed against the American people by top officials at the White House.

5. Read the White House website. This will help to understand what strategy they are launching.

6. Use only the President's name. This crisis is about the President of the United States, the people he hired, the decisions he made and the methods he used. Do not get distracted by too much talk about the names of aides.

7. Read a variety of news sources. Follow the story in a variety of media (e.g., print, TV, blogs) to get a full picture of what is going on. Don't become a CNN zombie.

8. Talk to co-workers and friends about what's happening. It is important that all Americans follow what is happening. Spread the news. Be the media.

9. Keep following the story. It is likely that the story will change several times before it is over.