Questions while I battle to keep my schadenfreude in check... After letting this sink in, I'm guessing it's Tenet that leaked to the Post. Two officials contacting friendly press... that means a concerted effort, not just one guy doing a bad thing. Is this woman high enough up on the food chain that someone in the WH with access to CIA info would know her, or did they do a search and destroy on Wilson? If the latter, who did it, who delivered the info and who did it go to? Who ordered the combing of Wilson's files? If one is Rove, what the hell is he doing with access to the names of agents? If one is Rove, that means someone had to deliver the information to him, suggesting the White House operates in a way not consistent with national security procedures. If they try to pawn it off on underlings, that's not going to work as the info and contacts are too high-level. The more I think about it, the more I think it is going to stick and be very bad news for the administration. Moral of the story for future administrations: Don't screw with the CIA. (The irony is the law making the revelation of agent's names a crime was pushed through by George I.) Developing...
This is really interesting -- looks like they messed with the wrong people this time I guess. I know i'll be following this issue closely -- very interesting.
For the record, part of Novak's column from July 14... "Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction. Two senior administration officials told me Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger..."
I'm sure they are working on replies as we speak, . . .er type. They just haven't put enough insults in yet and for something this hard to defend, you better believe the insult to substance ratio is gonna be the worst it's ever been.
Questions while I battle to keep my schadenfreude in check... Rimrocker, I must bow in the face of your superior kindness of heart. More telling I thought was how visibly rattled Rice seemed. She seemed to have a hard time getting her words out. Her breathing was halting. I saw Rice act the same way when she had to deny the Niger forgery (or was it that she knew nothing about it,) on the Sunday talks shows the day before Bush Administration. decided to come clean. Condi is an ideologue, but she could learn a lesson or two from Cheney about lying with a straight face.
Again, IF this is accurate, the ramifications are astounding. If they will go to such lengths to 'pay back' people who contributed to the revelations of their screw-ups with the war, what does that say about the lengths to which they'd go to cover them up? To obfuscate? What does that say about the mindset going into the war? Honestly, if this is true, the only kind of parallel I can think of for this type of behaviour is the stuff Nixon contemplated on tape when Watergate was unraveling, although he never actually did anything to the people he blamed for his situaton. Has anyone else heard the tapes when Nixon raged about the people who he felt betrayed him, exposed him, etc.? He talked about doing stuff like this; exposing them, putting them in danger, even having them taken care of... God this is depressing, if true. To think that people in charge of our country are this...underhanded...this small-minded...and this stupid. Anyone see any of the interviews with Nixon years later when he went on about doing what he did to counter a conspiracy against him? That was eye-opening in a depressing way too.
such a great word! and so appropriate! From the cover sleeve of Al Franken's book, Lies and the Lying Liars who tell them... "...Condoleesa Rice should watch her mouth"
SNOW: Well, when the story came out — his wife's name is in the paper — was it known in the White House that she was a CIA employee? RICE: I'm not going to go into this, Tony, because the problem here is this has been referred to the Justice Department. I think that's the appropriate place... SNOW: Well, but it is revealing, or it's important to figure out what the White House reaction was at the time. For years and years and years, for instance, the administrations chased Phillip Agee all around the globe because he had revealed the name of a CIA officer. This is a grave offense, if you have CIA officers. Was there, at least within the White House, a gasp when somebody said, "Uh oh"? And if so, did the White House take any action, back then in June, when the story appeared? rimrocker: Well Tony, it doesn't look like the White House has done anything on this even though they've known about it for months. Stonewalling is becoming the regular MO for this administration. Back to you Brit.
There is nothing really surprising about the Wilson/Plame affair if you have been observing the Bush Administration and its supporters. They are notorious for being extremely thin-skinned & vindictive and for putting out political "hits" on its preceived enemies whether they are Democrats, within their own party or the press. Bush sets the tone with his staff and his long observed ability to hold grudges and demand payback for perceived slights gives his underlings the implicit approval to engage in some very rough business. The Bush gang has been given a free pass by the press for the last 3 years because outright criticism invited constant harrasement, threats of violence and having one's career destroyed. The number of reporters or columnists who have lost their jobs after writing something negative about this administration is not small and those who are still working know the "rules of engagement" and will only venture out to criticize this administration under pack cover. Witness the slow pickup rate of the Plame story among the media and imagine what would have happened if the same thing had occured under Clinton. Many political observers have made the same observation about the "Nixonian" qualities of this White House but the difference is that instead of the charisma challenged Nixon, we have a good ole ex-frat boy/Andover Cheer leader who can put up the veneer of affability and good naturedness to placate the public with proclamations of Christian faith & moral clarity.
I got my money on source-bashing, followed by a quick diversion to a tangential subject like Jayson Blair.
Still not one response from the likes of T_J, texx, bama, etc? They have responded to other threads, like the beer one. I suppose this is less important.
"We need more human intelligence. That means we need more protection for the methods we use to gather intelligence and more protection for our sources, particularly our human sources, people that are risking their lives for their country. Even though I'm a tranquil guy now at this stage of my life, I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious, of traitors." George H.W. Bush April 16th, 1999 Dedication Speech George Bush Center for Intelligence
treeman should have an intelligent opinion about this. What's up, treeman? Shouldn't someone in the Whitehouse have already gotten canned for this?
The full monty... _______________ HUME: Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who was asked to inquire in Africa about what Saddam Hussein might have been doing there in terms of acquiring nuclear materials, ended up with his wife's name in the paper as a CIA person. There are now suggestions that the name and her identity and her CIA work had been revealed by the White House. What do you know about that? RICE: I know nothing of any such White House effort to reveal any of this, and it certainly would not be the way that the president would expect his White House to operate. My understanding is that, in matters like this, as a matter of routine, a question like this is referred to the Justice Department for appropriate action, and that's what's going to be done. SNOW: Well, when the story came out — his wife's name is in the paper — was it known in the White House that she was a CIA employee? RICE: I'm not going to go into this, Tony, because the problem here is this has been referred to the Justice Department. I think that's the appropriate place... SNOW: Well, but it is revealing, or it's important to figure out what the White House reaction was at the time. For years and years and years, for instance, the administrations chased Phillip Agee all around the globe because he had revealed the name of a CIA officer. This is a grave offense, if you have CIA officers. Was there, at least within the White House, a gasp when somebody said, "Uh oh"? And if so, did the White House take any action, back then in June, when the story appeared? RICE: Well, it was well known that the president of the United States does not expect the White House to get involved in such things. We will see... HUME: You mean the revelation of names? RICE: Anything of this kind. But let's just see what the Justice Department does. It's with the appropriate channels now, and we'll see what the Justice Department — how the Justice Department disposes of it. SNOW: But there was nobody at the White House at the time who was saying, "Oh, we've got a problem here"? RICE: Tony, I don't remember any such conversation. But I will say this: The Justice Department gets these things as a matter of routine. They will determine the facts. They will determine what happened, they will determine if anything happened. And they'll take appropriate action. SNOW: Do you think the White House should release phone logs, if necessary, to figure out who talked to whom? RICE: Tony, as a matter of course, when the Justice Department is looking into something, of course the White House cooperates.
Methinks Condi Rice is not paid enough to put up with all the WH BS that she has to handle on the Sunday morning shows. IMO, the sources of the leak need to charged with a crime and removed from their responsibilites. I am betting that GWB does not think likewise and is hoping that Ashcroft will cover their *sses.
While I find it hilarious and somewhat depressing that some of you gentlemen are sitting at your computers on a Sunday afternoon eagerly awaiting my (amongst others') replies to your thread, I would like to point out that nothing has been proven, and suggest that all of you put away your JUMP TO CONCLUSIONS MATS now. Carry on.
The worst part about all this is the damn republicans have me half-way believing a bunch of conspiracy theories. The best thing (if true) is I get to shout "Rule of Law!" at my GOP buddies.
Sh-t, If I'd known it was going to be this lame, I wouldn't have canceled the hookers and cocaine and sat by my computer for the last 10 hours. Disappointing to say the least. Anyway, I wonder why its taken so long to investigate this sucker, I mean, we poured lots of cash in investigating such critical matters like the white house travel office "scandal" and the important matter of the "W's" being removed from keyboards, and we got breathless media coverage of such from the liberal media types. Oh well, maybe the democrats will learn the value of scandalmonger politics someday; no doubt this administration has provided enough material.
