SCANDAL IMPLOSION (Rove/Cooper/Wilson)

NY Post ^ | July 12, 2005 | John Podhoretz

[Howlin]

I WROTE a column on Oct. 10, 2003, about the strange case of Joseph Wilson and Valerie Plame.

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...I offered my speculation of what an administration official might have said to a journalist to explain just how Wilson — a Clinton administration official — got the assignment in the first place: "Administration official: 'We didn't send him there. Cheney's office asked CIA to get more information. CIA picked Wilson . . . Look, I hear his wife's in the CIA. He's got nothing to do. She wanted to throw him a bone.' "

Hate to say I told you so, but . . .

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There's no mistaking the purpose of this conversation between Cooper and Rove. It wasn't intended to discredit, defame or injure Wilson's wife. It was intended to throw cold water on the import, seriousness and supposedly high level of Wilson's findings.

While some may differ on the fairness of discrediting Joseph Wilson, it sure isn't any kind of crime.

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So if the offense wasn't against Plame, what of the offense against Wilson? There was no offense. As many of Joe Wilson's own hottest defenders would no doubt argue in relation to President Bush, exposing a liar is not only not a crime, it's a public service.

And Wilson lied. Repeatedly.

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What isn't controversial is this: Karl Rove didn't "out" Valerie Plame as a CIA agent to intimidate Joe Wilson. He was dismissing Joe Wilson as a low-level has-been hack to whom nobody should pay attention. He was right then, and if he said it today, he'd still be right.

And if Valerie wants to live a quiet spy life, she should stop having her picture taken by society photographers and stop getting stories written about her on the front page of the Times.

[cvq3842]

I agree with the analysis of the intent of the disclosure.

Also, how hard would it be to determine Plame's status? What name is listed as employer on her paychecks? What's the sign on the building she works in? Does she have a parking sticker on her car allowing her to use the company (pun intended) parking lot? What's her profession listed on her tax form? I presume she's applied for a credit card, mortgage, etc. in the last few years - who does she list as her employer? Really, this isn't that difficult.

[JustDoItAlways]

Can a super secret CIA agent donate to political parties using her real name while listing the company she works for as the super secret CIA front company???

[cvq3842]

Right - I actually read more of the thread after posting.

I say, find the truth wherever it leads. I think the anti-Bush crowd will end up with egg on their face, again. Time will tell.

[prairiebreeze]

worth a sign-up on NY Post, if you haven't already, to read the full article

[TheForceOfOne]

Another liberal MSM conspiracy story falling flat on its face. The bias of the media was so evident last night as I watched FOX with Brit Hume. They were showing a clip of a White House press briefing with the ones that call themselves the "White House Press Core" and this biased liberal retard was in full tilt liberal attack mode.

David Gregory sits there and asks questions that presume the answer and then goes ballistic when he doesn't get the liberal Holy Grail he believes he has found. David Gregory is a poster child for what is wrong with the inbred MSM.

We caught Rove red handed blah blah blah!

Sure you did Greg, sure you did you idiot.

[HRoarke]

Never thought I'd see it but Gregory wasn't even the biggest nitwit yesterday. Terry Moran from ABC took first prize. You could FEEL the sniveling through the television.

[mass55th]

"I still think all the leaks will lead back to Wilson himself."

I'm thinking along those lines as well. Wilson has been outed as the liar he is and he should be frog-marched in handcuffs out of the country.

[McGavin999]

We've been saying for a long time, long before this came out, that whoever "leak" this well known fact would not be guilty of any crime. It has nothing to do with the fact that Rove was ONE of the sources, it wouldn't matter who it was. The FACT is that everyone in Washington knew that his wife worked at the CIA.

Not very confidential if everyone knows it.

[listenhillary]

I think Terry Moran needs to sue his plastic surgeon. He has a permanent sneer now and the surgeon made him look like a limp wrist.

[TheForceOfOne]

It reminds me of the time they (The White House Press Core) were trying to get President Bush to admit he made a mistake. If they had been carrying torches and pitch forks I wouldn't have been surprised.

[rwa265]

"But Rove's committed a classic case of treason - deliberately outing a secret operative for base political motives.
Where did you read this claptrap?"

He was probably quoting our good friend from California:

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said Rove's argument now "would seem to be a distinction without a difference" and pressed anew his standing request for an inquiry into the controversy by the House Government Reform Committee, of which he is the senior Democrat.

"The recent disclosures about Mr. Rove's actions have such serious implications that we can no longer responsibly ignore them," Waxman wrote. "The intentional disclosure of a covert CIA agent's identity would be an act of treason.

You can read more bull malarky here (hold your nose, though, it smells):

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/nation/story/9BC1CAE74D80E8648625703C00138B28?OpenDocument&highlight=2%2C%22plame%22

[DCPatriot]

Mandy Grunwald should be placed into protective custody because she is ripe for a non-willing participant in Arkancide.

My liberal friends are hyperventilating over the brewing scandal and I tell them they are going to be sorely disappointed.

[jaydubya2]

You guys put a very informative thread together! Great reporting FReepers!!

[falpro]

It's as if they are on special assignment to create a ground swell of support on FR to force Rove to resign.

Little do they know that some very resourceful Freepers have been connecting the dots since 03'. Things like the timing and origination of the forged yellow-cake docs, Wilson's Mid-East connections, the role Plame and her boss played in sending Wilson on his trip, etc.

At least several sleeper FR accounts have been duly noted for their faux scandal bias. Rove is still our hero.

[falpro]

It's as if they are on special assignment to create a ground swell of support on FR to force Rove to resign.

Little do they know that some very resourceful Freepers have been connecting the dots since 03'. Things like the timing and origination of the forged yellow-cake docs, Wilson's Mid-East connections, the role Plame and her boss played in sending Wilson on his trip, etc.

At least several sleeper FR accounts have been duly noted for their faux scandal bias. Rove is still our hero.

[maica]

My liberal friends are hyperventilating

$$$$$

You can tell them that they belong to yet another minority group [and groups are what the dems are all about] - the logic-gene-challenged.

I am so bewildered by their wilful self-hypnosis, if it is not a genetic disorder, that causes them to be blind to reality.

[Redleg Duke]

It is so pathetically apparent that this whole feeding frenzy has been carefully orchestrated! The same talking points, the media outrage, things that could never happen during a RAT administration.

The left is so totally devoid of ideas. All they have are the politics of destruction. They have a serious leadership void within the party and without internal leadership, how do they expect to lead the nation?

[DCPatriot]

You can tell them that they belong to yet another minority group [and groups are what the dems are all about] - the logic-gene-challenged.

I can't say that to my friends.

They are mature hippy culture veterans that will not kill even spiders or snakes.

They are classic socialists that decry the uneven distribution of wealth. They hate Republicans who are too willing to sacrifice innocent young men and women in far away lands.

They came running last night at our weekly 8-ball tournament to gleefully announce to me that "it looks like the man behind the curtain...the one pulling Dubya's strings...is going down".

Knowing that I have access to the REAL story here on FreeRepublic, I asked them why would a NYT reporter sit in jail to protect a Bush man?

Their blank stares told me the answer...and then we passed the sponge candy brought back from Buffalo, NY. ;^)

[listenhillary]

That is funny.

moonbats, howling at the moon totally blind.