For years now Republicans have been bellowing that any dissent to George Bush is the equivalent of aiding terrorism. Monday’s White House press briefing with Scott McClellan who was finally under serious pressure from reporters was a prime example that those who dictate the policy have done more to put America in harms way than anyone else.
Rather than being engulfed in debates about legal terminology for terrorist attacks, which Republicans are only doing because they hope it will kill the debate or at the least change the subject, neocons are now hoping that their brain (Rove) will avoid jail time for intentionally leaking the name of Valerie Plame a CIA counter-terrorism covert agent.
The White House refused to comment Monday about the ongoing investigation into the leak. (Here's the audio file of the briefing-- it's a must hear and a classic). The recent White House refusal contradicts earlier, and often forthright, comments about the leak, in which the White House seemed to have no problems then speaking about the ongoing investigation. Now things have changed. Karl Rove is the source of the leak and the White House is stonewalling on any further details.
The inconsistency in White House procedures seems to only apply with their own discretion. So here’s a recap of White House statements about the leak for our memory:
September 29, 2003-- White House Briefing
Q Scott, has anyone — has the President tried to find out who outed the CIA agent? And has he fired anyone in the White House yet?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, Helen, that’s assuming a lot of things. First of all, that is not the way this White House operates. The President expects everyone in his administration to adhere to the highest standards of conduct. No one would be authorized to do such a thing. Secondly, there — I’ve seen the anonymous media reports, and if I could find out who “anonymous” was, it would make my life a whole lot easier.
Q All right. Let me just follow up. You said this morning, “The President knows” that Karl Rove wasn’t involved. How does he know that?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I’ve made it very clear that it was a ridiculous suggestion in the first place. I saw some comments this morning from the person who made that suggestion, backing away from that. And I said it is simply not true. So, I mean, it’s public knowledge. I’ve said that it’s not true. And I have spoken with Karl Rove.
Q But, Scott, it gets to the question if you know, if the President knows that Karl Rove was not involved, then maybe you can tell us more about what the President specifically is doing to get to the bottom of this, or what has he ordered to be done within the White House to get to the bottom of this?
MR. McCLELLAN: The President wants anyone, anyone who has information relating to this to report that information to the appropriate agency, the Department of Justice. That’s what the President wants, and I’ve been very clear about that.
MR. McCLELLAN: He’s making it clear that this is a serious — through his spokesman, me — that this is a serious matter, and if someone did this, it should be looked into and it should be pursued to the fullest extent.
MR. McCLELLAN: — that suggests White House involvement. There are anonymous reports all the time in the media. The President has set high standards, the highest of standards for people in his administration. He’s made it very clear to people in his administration that he expects them to adhere to the highest standards of conduct. If anyone in this administration was involved in it, they would no longer be in this administration.
Now that Rove is the known leak, is the administration going to own up to its word? Is Rove no longer going to be in this administration like the president said would happen if a member of his administration were responsible?
By leaking Plame’s identity Rove destroyed a valuable intelligence advantage in the war on terror, which any half-wit reader of current events could easily label as treason. In a period where one’s patriotism is constantly measured by their ability to appear strong against terrorism, Rove proved that the Bush administration is an incongruity that has put the entire country in jeopardy. So much for terrorists going to court, Rove’s actions should keep the courts busy for quite some time.
Thanks to Cranky Liberal for the help.
7.12.2005
Rove Aiding Terrorists
Posted by Chris at 12:01 AM
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7 comments:
Wow...I would hate to be Scotty. He really was fed to the wolves there...the wolves being the Liberal Press, like your link says. Impressive. But I think he handled. I mean, everyone in the room knew what was going on, but that was basically like an interrogation. I wonder how it goes down at Gitmo. They probably also have the tag teamers, one guy asking one question, and the interrogee having to dodge that, then another one shoving more evidence in his face, and him still refusing to speak. Maybe next time the reporters should play some Christina Aguilera and then Scotty will say: I give up you guys, it was Rove, and now we are trying to buy time.
Big f*ck up this whole issue is. But it might actually be a blessing in disguise for the administration and the whole Republican party, an easy disposal of Rove. They should wise up and try to distance themselves from him. I don't understand why politicians ever think covering something up is going to work. But I guess I must be naive, because it probably works in 90% of the cases.
CVG, you crack me up.
I have no idea about the Gitmo stuff. That is one messed up place.
Sure Scotty held is own, but he made himself and the president look like a fool by doing so. I think the president should live up to his word and fire Rove and also prosecute him. That's what he said he would do, and we all know Bush is a steadfast man of his word. I'm waiting for him to live up to it.
I'm not sure about Scotty being fed to the liberal press though. For White House press briefings the reporters in attendance are hand selected by the administration. They would never allow the "liberal press" to attend a briefing. So those in attendance are actually reporters that Bush deems loyal. And they sounded pretty pissed to me.
Thanks for reading. Good to see ya back.
Yeah, that White House briefing WAS a classic. It appears that the White House of cards is falling down around the Bush administration.
I really think Bush is in a tough spot. Rove is a person, a personal freind, that helped hime achieve the highest position in the country. At the same time, it is obvious that he messed up.
Although, he never intended to out Plame, and actually never mentioned her name to the person who wrote the story, (he talked to Cooper and Novak actually outed her), he blindly entered into a two minute conversation that ended up with him saying a tad too much.
Now that being said, Bush has another definative decision to make. I appreciate the job Rove has done, but this distraction must end. Rove should have been more careful in his interviews, the wolves are ready to feast on any Republican that slips up. I just wonder if Rove's head does role, will any liberal or even Democrat even credit Bush with the move? Won't happen, they only deal in personal attacks and negative ideals.
Never intended to out Plame? That's total garbage. Rove was talking to a reporter and knew exactly what he was doing. He's a freakin genuis, he knows what he's doing at all times.
Whether he mentioned her name or not is irrelevant. He leaked her identity, which is a federal crime and treason. Suggesting that it was unintentional reminds me of the old saying that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Rove leaked the name of a counter-terrorism agent, which destroyed an entire network of CIA operations. After 9/11 how much more serious of a security breach is that?
Sorry Craig, but this isn't about anything being liberal or Democrat, it's about national security and Rove put his and the presidents own political gain ahead of national security. Republicans just can't be trusted with fighting terrorism because it's all political to them.
All this sort of reminds me of Clinton's mastermind, Dick Morris. Republicans then were all too worried about heads rolling and Clinton owning up when Morris screwed up in his "personal" life, which had nothing to do with national security. But Republicans then couldn't quit with personal attacks and negative assaults.
Again, this isn't a partisan matter, it's a national security matter. Republicans should be angry that Rove aided the terrorists and not worried about politics.
Well he has to resign if it turns out one way and if it turns out the other he should resign for the sake of the party anyway. Even if he did not actually say her name , and no one really knows that yet. I love seeing them squirm myself but they are wise , surely, to the fact that they have to get rid of him for the sake of their party. It's my understandings that as of this moment there is nothing prosecutable.
I've missed any later developments I came into the city this evening and have been drinking. ;)
Nothing wrong with drinking a few Alice.
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