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.

[Mo1]

And why do any of them still have jobs?

Because liberals don't take out their trash .. they promote them

[Liberty Valance]

[Stultis]

How Wrong Could The Media Get?

How much can they hate Bush, Cheney, Rove....?

There's no limit to either.

[Sacajaweau]

Hey, let's be fair. The media had sand kicked in its' eyes along with Fitzgerald. His news conference becomes pretty much of a sham with the Armitage revelation. Fitzgerald should be indicted for "LYING".

[Sam Hill]

"The media had sand kicked in its' eyes along with Fitzgerald."

Fitzgerald lied to the American people, but not to the media.

He and other lawyers told the media way back (before Miller even went to jail) that Fitzgerald knew who Novak's source was.

And it was mentioned in Fitzgerald's filings to the court, which the media seems to have had access to.

They knew, they lied.

And what about all the politicians who mislead us about Wilson? Who flat out lied to us?

Shouldn't they be impeached?

[Stultis]

You are correct. The scumbags knew all along about Armitage but the mystery is how they could have thought that Armitage would not eventually be exposed. For one thing, they knew that Novak knew. That's the part that makes no sense.

Kerry's election in '04 was probably supposed to facilitate the burying of the story. After all electing Kerry was also the PURPOSE of the story, so it could have been spiked once that was accomplished.

But then many kept it up after November '04. That is puzzling. Could Hissy Matthews and Liar O'Donnell have been out of the loop, or did they just start believing their own B.S.?

Of course in part it was the insatiable hatred and willful delusions of the left-wing blogosphere (and the desire of mediots to be lauded thereby) that kept things going.

[INSENSITIVE GUY]

What's he talking about!?The media were part of the conspiracy with Wilson and Plame to smear and trash the Bush administration.

[Always Right]

The media doesn't care if it's right or wrong, factually or morally.

The Plame story was a complete success. It was used to beat the President down for a year.

[Names Ash Housewares]

The whole thing is proof the MSM suffers from Bush Derangement Syndrome. And no chance of ever recovering either.

[Dad yer funny]

. . . OK folks , short'n SWEEEET

I'm looking for the person that will be our side's Will Rodgers

... I love and respect W , however , he just can't get this All Important message to a distracted citizenry

The Message , being: the (Antique) Media continues to not tell the Truth

.. .. by way of half-truths , omissions , selective reporting , outright lies [on & on...]

I know we need someone to make this All Important issue "come to life" for skeptical voters

this Someone must have the goodnature and spirit to use the media , telling folks of the treason done to them , time and again

. . . it must be done , I pray for this quite often

[Dad yer funny]

yup to post #44

who will stepUP for our side (???)

. . . or does The Beltway Disease selectively de-ball only pubbies

... I sure hope there is a PLAN , and not some obtuse , nebulous , halfass rebuttal , that they'll try to "get out" for a week ,... sheeeesh

[NCLaw441]

I am still waiting on my local paper, the Winston-Salem Urinal, to say ANYTHING about the Armitage/Plame story. Not a peep out of them. What are others' local papers saying, if anything??

[CommieCutter]

"The media had sand kicked in its' eyes along with Fitzgerald."

Fitzgerald lied to the American people, but not to the media.

He and other lawyers told the media way back (before Miller even went to jail) that Fitzgerald knew who Novak's source was.

And it was mentioned in Fitzgerald's filings to the court, which the media seems to have had access to.

They knew, they lied.

And what about all the politicians who mislead us about Wilson? Who flat out lied to us?

Shouldn't they be impeached?

---

Now this is what I'm talking about!! Impeach all politicians who played a role in propping up this lie. Fire fitz and file charges. File charges against Wilson and his Wife for conspiracy. File charges and fire reporters who knew of this information and suppressed it, including Isikoff and his sidekick.

[CommieCutter]

Well... I'm sure people who were riding the fence on whether or not the MSM is biased have had an eye-opening experience, but there are others who do not and will not care at all.

[golfisnr1]

Chucky is the one.

[Lancey Howard]

Kerry's election in '04 was probably supposed to facilitate the burying of the story. After all electing Kerry was also the PURPOSE of the story, so it could have been spiked once that was accomplished.

Yep.
Sometimes I forget my own posts.

[Stultis]

Sometimes I forget my own posts.

Don't drink and post! [beeeeeeeelch]

[CyberAnt]

Well .. you can believe whatever you want .. but Hillary and the Wilsons have a history. The Wilsons used to hold fund raisers for Hillary which shows their close relationship.

[Dad yer funny]

.. .. if there isn't anyone on our side with the spine [and nuggets] to address this correctly , for a well deserved full investigation ,...

I for one, will be so mad that I could chew a box of 16p nails before breakfast

... btw , today's NYT [Slimes] deadTree edition ,... NOT ONE PEEP , which tells me there is a "party line" story being crafted

oh Ronaldus Magnus , please , Lee Atwater , somebody , reach across and give some of our guys a good swift Cosmic Kick

... this is all tee'd up , if this chance to expose the MSM is left to rot in the field , and then the fertile new ground we could have would be unseeded , fallow

... if our guys blow this opportunity , to nail UpChuck Schumer and the others , then we really know they're not worth a cup of warm spit

[...couldn't pour stale beer out of an old boot, if the directions were printed on the heel ]

[Laverne]

The silence of the media on this story is pretty surprising....even though they would spin it as it doesn't really matter. Rove leaked anyway(see Chuck Schumer on yesterday's FNS). There is something else going on behind the scenes and the media are being silent on it for a reason. I presume the story will break open after the 9/11 remembrances, or maybe just before. I would expect Team libby to have issued some kind of statement...perhaps they did file something in the court, or will tomorrow. I believe that all charges against Libby will be dropped soon, and there will be some breath-taking news coming out about the real conspiracy (Joe Wilson/John Kerry/DNC/MSM collusion) to unseat a President and undermine the war on terror. Or perhaps the Rocky memo will raise its ugly head again...but something is going on, thus the silence. jmho of course.