Plamegate - How Wrong Could The Media Get?

Sweetness & Light ^ | September 4, 2006 | N/A

[Sam Hill]

From the researchers at GOP.com:

FLASHBACK: Wilson Claimed He Was The Victim Of An Organized Smear Campaign:

Joe Wilson: "[T]he smear campaign ... was being undertaken by the Republican National Committee and this administration's right wing allies." (CNN's "Larry King Live," 11/1/05)

• Wilson: "Obviously, there's been this orchestrated campaign, this smear campaign. I happen to think that it's because the RNC, the Republican National Committee's been involved in this in a big way ..." (CNN's "Late Edition," 7/18/04)

• Wilson: "[T]here have been a number of articles written attacking me. ... I've since learned from a couple of different reporters that White House sources have been telling [them] the story is Wilson and his wife... It's a breach of national security. My understanding is it may, in fact, be a violation of American law." (NBC's "Today Show," 7/22/03)

• Wilson: "It's of keen interest to me to see whether or not we can get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs. And trust me, when I use that name, I measure my words." (Timothy Noah, "Did Rove Blow A Spook's Cover?" Slate, 9/16/03)

FLASHBACK: Democrats Have Hailed Wilson As A Hero Of The Left:

On The Eve Of His Lawsuit Announcement, Joe Wilson Attended Senate Democrats' Policy Luncheon. Fox News' Brit Hume: "Plame [was] seen ... with her husband Joe Wilson arriving for a policy luncheon with Senate Democrats today." (Fox News' "Special Report," 7/13/06)

• Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV): "It was you [Nutroots] who defended Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson against Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney and Karl Rove." (Sen. Harry Reid, Remarks At YearlyKos Convention, Las Vegas, NV, 6/10/06)

• Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY): "I am pleased to be here today with Ambassador Joe Wilson ... his wife, an undercover CIA employee, was exposed for what appeared to be political motivations. ... [Joe Wilson] has served his country, has - and his wife as well - have risked themselves in many ways for this country. And it was they who had politics played upon them, not the other way around." (Sen. Charles Schumer, Press Conference, 7/14/05)

• Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA): "Joe Wilson is here my pal! ... [Joe] you deserve the thanks of a nation and instead of that they went after your family and it is despicable and cowardly and I'm so proud of you." (Sen. Barbara Boxer, Remarks At The Yearly Kos Convention, Las Vegas, NV, 6/9/06)

Joe Wilson Attended Fundraisers For Democrat Parties, Candidates, And Causes. "Joseph Wilson ... will headline two DFL Party fundraisers in the Twin Cities ... and has made numerous appearances in recent years on behalf of Democratic candidates and causes ..." (Conrad Defiebre "Lightning Rod On Iraq War To Headline Two DFL Fundraisers," [Minneapolis, MN] Star Tribune, 12/7/05)

Some more samples of the opinings of our betters, adapted from a post byYaYa123 at Free Republic:

"This is one of the most reckless and nasty things I’ve seen in all my years of government," Schumer said. "Leaking the name of a CIA agent is tantamount to putting a gun to that agent’s head. It compromises her safety and the safety of her loved ones, not to mention those in her network and other operatives she may have dealt with. On top of that, the officials who have done it may have also seriously jeopardized the national security of this nation." -- SENATOR CHARLES SCHUMER

"Interest emerged again following the September 30, 2005, grand jury testimony by Judith Miller, released from jail the day before... As the CIA leak investigation heads toward its expected conclusion this month, it has become increasingly clear that two of the most powerful men in the Bush administration" -- Karl Rove and I. Lewis Scooter Libby-- were more involved in the unmasking of operative Valerie Plame than the White House originally indicated... -- JIM VANDEHEI and WALTER PINCUS

"Sparked by today's Washington Post story that suggests Vice President Cheney's office is involved in the Plame-CIA spy link investigation, government officials and advisers passed around rumors that the vice president might step aside and that President Bush would elevate Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice... The rumor spread so fast that some Republicans by late morning were already drawing up reasons why Rice couldn't get the job or run for president in 2008..." -- PAUL BEDARD

"How far up the White House food chain does the rot of treason go? 'Bush has always known how to keep Rove in his place,' wrote Time in 2002 about a 'symbiotic relationship' that dates to 1973. This isn't some rogue 'plumbers' operation [ like Watergate ]. Rove would never go it alone on a high-stakes action like Valerie Plame. It's a safe bet that other, higher-ranking figures in the Bush cabal--almost certainly Dick Cheney and possibly Bush himself--signed off before Rove called Novak. For the sake of national security, those involved should be removed from office at once." -- TED RALL

"'Definitely a political problem but I wonder, George Will, do you think it’s a manageable one for the White House especially if we don’t know whether Fitzgerald is going to write a report or have indictments but if he is able to show as a source close to this told me this week, that President Bush and Vice President Cheney were actually involved in some of these discussions.' "This would explain why Bush spent more than an hour answering questions from special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. It would also fundamentally change the dynamics of the scandal. President Bush could no longer claim he was merely a bystander who wants to 'get to the bottom of it.'" -- GEORGE STEPHANOPOLIS

"It is about the president of the United States. It is about a plot that was hatched at the top of the administration and in which everyone else, Mr. Rove included, are at most secondary players." -- FRANK RICH

And this woefully typical piece from the (self-styled) elite publication Vanity Fair:

All Roads Lead to Rove

By MICHAEL WOLFF

The revelation that Karl Rove was Time's "double super secret" source for the outing of C.I.A. operative Valerie Plame started the unfolding of a much bigger story: what the White House did to sell the Iraq war. And the greatest irony of Rovegate? That the press was part of the cover-up...

Excerpted because of Vanity Fair content. Read the rest at Sweetness & Light.

[Doctor Raoul]

Can't say we didn't try to help the little media buggers.

YO' MEDIA, FREE MEAL OFFER: Is Joe Wilson's Wife a "Covert Agent" Under That Law

And The Winners Are, Victoria Toensing and Bruce Sanford...

[Para-Ord.45]

Dead silence from the pervayors of the Big Lie.

BUSTED

[BusterBear]

You've done an excellent job putting all these quotes together, one right under the other. I hope this gets publicized some more, just the way you've done it.

[ChadGore]

Bush told the truth.

[PJ-Comix]

"Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?" ---Chris Matthews comparing George Bush to King Henry II wanting to get rid of his "turbulent priest" Samuel Beckett, updated to Joe Wilson. You can read about that whole embarrassing Hardball episode HERE.

[Doctor Raoul]

So Joe won't try and restore the "RestoreHonesty.com" website John Kerry gave him and then pulled?

[Sam Hill]

Thanks. As I noted, YaYa123 found a lot of these.

What would be great is that if others would add similar quotes so we could build up a nice compendium of the media's propaganda campaign.

[Gator113]

In my view.....none of this was done by a MISTAKEN media.

Instead, the media was involved in a criminal conspiracy to take out the President of the United States.

Their criminal enterprise has put our country in jeopardy, extended our battle in Iraq, the overall WOT, and cost the lives of many of our fighting Troops.

Getting a slap on the hand, firing a few people or being made to pay a bit of financial pain, will never be enough!!!

RICO comes to mind!!

[Always Independent]

I agree completely! The Defacats know they are lying when the speak because they believe that their party is filled with fools that will believe anything they say.

[BusterBear]

The scumbags knew all along about Armitage but the mystery is how they could have thought that Armitage would not eventually be exposed.

Maybe they calculated that by the time Armitage was exposed it would be too late and the damage would already have been done to Bush and Cheney. And, because of the intense political pressures, they were still able to ruin Lewis Libby's career; get the White House spooked; and almost get Karl Rove indicted. So they were able to get a certain amount of vindictive satisfaction out of it.

[Verginius Rufus]

I took a quick look at the latest Newsqueak in a bookstore to see how they were handling it...a full page about Armitage and his role, lots of space given to his contempt for Cheney and other non-veterans in the administration. Even though they admit he was the source of the leak, they still claim Rove & co. were out to get Joe Wilson. So Plamegate still shows Bush, Rove, et al., are evil.

I didn't read the piece very carefully so I don't know what they said about the media's handling of the "scandal" to date.

[Sam Hill]

"Instead, the media was involved in a criminal conspiracy to take out the President of the United States."

Oh, I agree wholeheartedly.

They saw this as Watergate II.

Of course they see everything as Watergate II.

[Bullish]

Lying political whores. All of them.

Wilson needs to be frog marched.

[freekitty]

When all they do is lie and makeup stories; what can one expect.

[CyberAnt]

Well .. what about Powell and Armitage allowing this whole fiasco to go on and on .. knowing full well that it was Armitage who spilled the beans.

Fitz knew this information too .. yet he continued to prosecute Libbey and harrassed Rove.

Fitzgerald NEEDS TO BE FIRED

THE CHARGES AGAINST LIBBEY NEED TO BE DROPPED

CHARGES NEED TO BE FILED AGAINST WILSON - and whoever put him up to this little scheme - my guess is Hillary.

[Sam Hill]

"So Joe won't try and restore the "RestoreHonesty.com" website John Kerry gave him and then pulled?"

Yes, which Kerry pulled after the 9/11 Commission declared that Joe Wilson was a liar.

[Mike Darancette]

It's a safe bet that other, higher-ranking figures in the Bush cabal--almost certainly Dick Cheney and possibly Bush himself--signed off before Rove called Novak. For the sake of national security, those involved should be removed from office at once." -- TED RALL

LOL - Merry Fitzmas Rall.

[Sam Hill]

"Well .. what about Powell and Armitage allowing this whole fiasco to go on and on .. knowing full well that it was Armitage who spilled the beans."

That's pretty disgusting.

The President is surrounded by so many "friends."

[meema]

BTTT!

[ChadGore]

LOL ! Have you loaded that domain?

It forwards to a phishing/scam site.

http://restorehonesty.com/ is a scam now.

http://restorehonesty.com/ was a scam in 2004 when Joe Wilson lied.