First ABC News starts translating and reporting on the seized Iraqi docs, and then this? The Kos kids are going to lose it. It must be all that conservative media bias.
Was this written to be a commentary/opinion piece or a solid news article?
It appears to be the former.
Oh, that would be great. Now we will have the stinking courts deciding what documents can be and cannot be classified. Hell, the socialist democrats will release all sensitive military intel immediately to assist their gee-had pals in the middle east terrorists groups.
If the President authorizes the release of information then by definition it is NOT a leak. Such incredible stupidity with this non-story.
This is the money line of the article. The media knows that the "Bush told Libby to leak Plame's identity" attack won't pass the laugh test. So, they'll just move the goalposts and make the story about Bush's "hypocrisy."
In either case, these 'leaks' are immaterial to the charges faced by Scooter.
He wasn't charged with leaking information, he was charged with lying to the FBI during an offical investigation.
A poorly written piece of crap! Preying on the ignorance of the people and the hatred of Demoncrats for Bush...
Then in March 2003, around the start of the war in Iraq, George Bush expanded that power to include the vice president.
So, barring a court challenge, it appears that both Bush and Cheney have the power to say what is and is not classified.
So, if President Bush did not do anything illegal by giving Scooter Libby the green light, is the White House off the hook?
Not necessarily. Libby's claim could still cause political damage to a president who has spoken out strongly against leaks.
For example: Oct. 7, 2003: "I've constantly expressed my displeasure with leaks, particularly leaks of classified information."
Is it just me or what. The President has the right to decide what is classified or not. So if he deemed this info not worthy how can it be considered a leak?
bookmark
"...or is it within his powers to declassify information..."
If the President can't declassify something, who can?
To sum it up, the material was from the NIE which the President has the authority to disclose and did in full a week or so later?
If it's been declassified, it's no longer a leak of classified information.
Of course, the counter point to this is that a proper declassification requires more than just a say-so. Someone with classification authority (which the President arguably has by definition) has to physically sign off on that score...
BTW.. don't these guys just talk to each other quietly - is everything put down on a memo?
So this is how coward dean is blowing the DNC cash! Paying off reporters to gin up non-stories.
Yawn.
It is ONLY a LEAK if said LEAK is NOT authorized by an competent OFFICIAL.
What is so amusing is the contortions the MSM will endure and the HOOPS they will have to jump through to pin SOMETHING/ANYTHING on the POTUS.
NON-useful idiots all!!
Nixon was a president at war in the midst of a Cold War. I still don't know what was illegal about trying to keep sensitive information secret...
He only crossed the line when he tried to get the FBI, CIA, and the IRS to get info on political enemies - justified by "national security".
Nixon should have gotten in front of Watergate - which was a trivial matter, instead of trying to coverup and become increasingly paranoid. Bush should just get in front of this. If he did "authorize" a leak (I'm not sure is it's a lead when the POTUS authorizes it), he should say exactly why - that Valery Plame was not a NOC (non offical cover) agent, that the story about her company "Brewster Jennings & Associates" being front company for certain CIA investigations was bogus, and that the trip her husband took to Niger was for the sole purpose of trying to discredit a president at war.
Why the administration hasn't been upfront and calling out the Wilsons as frauds and traitors is really beyond me...
Bookmarking!
Talking about this on John Gibson's show now.
Uh, if the president has the power to authorize release of this information, how in the hell is it a "leak?"
Basically, the MSM is starting to see that that dog just won't hunt, and it's just getting embarrassing to keep yelling that the sky is falling.