Posted on 04/07/2006 5:20:39 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
by Mark Finkelstein
April 7, 2006
That didn't take long! Back in the MSM's Watergate heyday, it took a while for a steady drumbeat of revelations, stories and allegations to gather sufficient momentum. The pace has apparently quickened in the modern liberal-media world. On this morning's Today show, Matt Lauer, speaking of the allegation that President Bush authorized the disclosure of information by Scooter Libby, asked Chris Matthews: "scale of 1 to 10, [where] 10 is a deal-ender, where does this fall?"
Matthews didn't hesitate: "heading to 10."
Even Lauer seemed taken aback: "Really, that big?"
For good measure, Matthews later analogized VP Cheney to Henry II having not-so-subtly put out a hit on a dissenter in his administration.
In support of his seemingly inflated 'grading,' Mathews argued that prior to the Iraq war, "the main argument that sold the most Americans in the political center . . . most people supported the war with Iraq for one reason. The belief that Saddam Hussein was developing nuclear weapons."
He continued: "When we found there were no nuclear weaons, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson . . . said he had been sent by the Vice-President to check out this deal that Saddam Hussein was trying to buy nuclear materials in Africa. He . . . came back with a report that said there was no such deal."
Concluded Matthews: "Then according to this new tesimony of Scooter Libby, the President of the United States himself authorized the leak of information that would undercut Wilson's case."
Matthews wouldn't be mollified when Lauer suggested that there will be a game of semantics, with people arguing the president "couldn't have leaked classifed information because he has the power to declassify any information." Asked "how will that fly?", Matthews shot back:
"First of all, [former CIA Director] George Tenet knows nothing of this." And later: "What it shows is that the White House is involved in a major effort to undercut Wilson's claims that the emperor has no clothes, there was no nuclear case for war. That's why it goes possibly to a 10."
When Lauer wondered why the President didn't get out in front of this story and explain the situation to the American people, since Libby's allegations were likely to come out in the course of the trial, Matthews responded:
"They may be confident that Scooter Libby will never say 'the Vice-President never said to me 'leak the name of Valerie Plame,' which is the crime here." That's when Matthews then made his lurid historical reference: "It may well be one of those things out of Beckett where the king said 'will no one do this for me?'"
That was an allusion to Henry II having complained to four of his knights about Beckett, the stubborn advocate of the rule of law, "Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" The knights eventually obliged Henry, hacking Beckett to death with their swords.
Nice analogy, Chris!
Today Show/NewsBusters heading-to-10 ping.
no doubt chris's knob goes to 11
Mathews wouldn't know current news if he read it in the morning news papers.
Oh the Bias report. I can not stand it!
All these reports do not mention that Joe Wilson was discredited by the 9-11 commission. WHY WHY WHY!!!
Matthews has gone off the deep end
I mean, it seems so unnecessary to point out the lies in Matthews remarks. And yet...
The same Chris Matthews who was outraged when Republicans cited John F. Kennedy as an advocate of tax cuts.
He felt that since Kennedy was a Democrat, Republicans shouldn't be able to quote him to advance their agenda.
That's the quality of reasoned political analysis that one can expect from Matthews.
Matthews is edging toward an SNL parody:
"I know for a fact that Bush leaked the information -- he told my wife ... Morgan Fairchild."
Matthews is a Human Car Bomb...
The New York Sun reported today that I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has testified that he released information from a National Intelligence Estimate in 2003 to a reporter prior to its publication. Predictably, the media and the blogosphere has overreacted, proving once again that most people do not understand classified materials, unclassified materials, and the process used to classify documents...Austin Bay: "So what’s the story here? That someone who worked in the White House selectively passed properly declassified material to the press? That’s not a scandal; that’s Beltway business as usual...Power Line: "This is the same "scandal" the press tried to sell a few months ago. I wrote about it here...David Ensor at CNN:If the president decides to declassify information, he has that legal right. So, it's not about a law being broken here, and it's not about Valerie Plame-Wilson's name.
UPDATE: Once again, the President has the authority to declassify materials at his discretion, a point hammered home by the Washington Post as well: Comments (43)
'The media has one mode: "Get Bush."'
"Anyone who has ever worked in intelligence for the US government knows perfectly well that a President, any President, can declassify anything they wish for any reason. Any President can delegate declassification authority down to any level they wish, down to the most newly minted second lieutenant, if they wish, as well."
http://www.smalldeadanimals.com/
Why do we need bloggers to fill in the relevant legal details on news stories...The sudden press flap over Scooter Libby’s alleged “revelation” that President Bush declassified intelligence information related to Iraq is silly but all too predictable...Read the original to access the background links mentioned...(Via Instapundit)...Byron York concurs...More for the reading-comprehension-challenged in the peanut gallery - CNN's David Ensor; Comments (5) |
As usual when one of these stories comes out, my esteemed colleagues on the loony left email me gloating about how Bush is going DOWN this time, man! Usually a few obscenities thrown in for emotional impact.
Wish I had a dollar for every pumped-up soon-debunked half-baked pseudo-scandal they’ve gloated over.
Because here we go again: Bush Authorized Leaks About Iraq, Libby Testified. link: 81 comments
Be sure to read this:
For fun, I caught a few minutes of Hardball last night. Chrissy's top story was this silly "leak." He had "NBC WHite House Correspondent" (and fellow butt-boy) David Gregory on, and they were going back and forth on this, and I swear, I got so bored so fast I had to just turn it off. What the heck are they babbling about? Meanwhile, this "news" has nothing to do with Valerie Plame or the charges against Libby. This is all just a very very lame attempt at payback for the Kenneth Starr/Whitewater investigations. I couldn't help thinking while watching, who cares??? Does anyone care? About Plame? About any of this? The only people that care at all are the wingnut democrats in the media.
Gee Chris, in the early 90's, all I heard was "why didn't we take out Saddam?" I don't remember anybody caring if he had this or that, they just wanted the murderous butcher removed. But to liberals, the fact that Saddam signed surrender documents earned by our military's sacrifice means nothing in your self absorbed fantasy world. He is allowed to take pot shots at our planes without any repercussions. Good thing some people still believe in law and justice. Because the fantasy world of a liberal is in reality a world burning in anarchy, oppression, and chaos.
Matthews is a weasel and he and NBC are doing to themselves what others can not.
Let's let "approaching 10" be our reply whenever their status is ever referred to.
Doesn't Chrissie know they've hired Meredith Vierra to replace Katie? Methinks Chrissie is "auditioning" for the opening.
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