Posted on 07/18/2005 8:32:44 AM PDT by mathprof
hirty-three years after Bob Woodward first met Mark Felt in an Arlington parking garage, echoes of the Watergate era seem to be everywhere.
But the comparisons for the press are not all that flattering.
Liberal critics of the media, who believe journalists abysmally failed to challenge the president's WMD claims during the Iraq war buildup, feel vindicated by news that two reporters were granting Karl Rove anonymity as he tried to undermine a prominent debunker of those claims, Joe Wilson, by mentioning his wife's CIA role. Some even fault Judith Miller for her act of conscience in going to jail, saying the New York Times reporter is merely protecting Rove (though no one knows whether her source was the White House political adviser or someone else).
For those who see the secretive Bush administration as a reincarnation of the Nixon regime, the disclosure that Rove served as a source for Time's Matt Cooper and columnist Robert Novak looks like the slow unraveling of a scandal that has now reached the top level of the White House. Scott McClellan is cast in the Ron Ziegler role, refusing to answer a barrage of reporters' questions about Rove after his previous answers were rendered inoperative.
Even the media's preferred narrative -- built around the sanctity of anonymous sources -- comes up short. Unlike Deep Throat, who was risking his FBI career by telling Woodward about the Nixon spying operation and cover-upRove and whoever else leaked Valerie Plame's CIA connection to Novak and other journalists were doing partisan dirty work, and some may have been committing a crime. Cooper and others have argued that they can't make a distinction between "good guy" and "bad guy" sources...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Now that's a good find!
So when this President Bush's Administration sent me to Africa to investigate claims that Saddam Hussein was seeking to buy materials for weapons of mass destruction, I was ready to serve.
But I wasn't ready to keep quiet when this President misled the nation in his State of the Union Address. Because of that, leakers in the Bush White House illegally revealed that my wife worked in the CIA - endangering her life and that of my family. They tried to intimidate me and others who were willing to speak up and tell the truth.
Some people have said I was courageous to speak truth to the power of the Bush White House. But let me tell you, what I have done doesn't hold a candle to the courage that John Kerry showed as a young man and throughout his political career.
http://web.archive.org/web/20040209131058/www.johnkerry.com/honesty/
Wilson sure as hell was willing to keep quiet. Moyers and others gave him plenty of opportunities to pipe up.
Instead, he kept quiet for six months--until he got a paycheck from Kerry and the promise of some high level state department appointment (Secretary Of State?)--for his "courage."
" the disclosure that Rove served as a source for Time's Matt Cooper '
Too bad Kurtz isn't as interested in discovering the other sources Cooper admitted that he had and apparently testified about, in front of the GJ.
Cooper preferred not to discuss those sources and their waivers with Russert.
Who are Cooper's other sources ?
Are they the ones who gave Cooper Plame's name ?
Since Cooper's staying mum, they are obviously Democrats.
Which is why Kurtz and Russert have no interest.
However, to the court, the Washington Post says:
"There is ample evidence on the public record to cast considerable doubt that a crime has been committed."
They haven't fogotten. They were in it up to their eyeballs, as you point out.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.