Thursday, July 14, 2005
GOP Defends Treason, Advocates Terror
On Air America's Morning Sedition, New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg accused Karl Rove of treason for his role in outing Valerie Plame, a covert CIA agent. Plame was outed in retaliation for her husband, Joseph Wilson writing an Op-Ed in the New York Times, "What I Didn't Find in Africa", exposing the Niger-Iraq uranium connection as a fraud.
Mark Maron and Mark Riley were interviewing Lautenberg regarding his call for Karl Rove to lose his security clearance as a result of the Plame leak.
But Lautenberg is hardly alone. On April 26, 1999, former President George H.W. Bush spoke at the dedication ceremony for the CIA's George Bush Center for Intelligence. He said, in part:
In the first few months after the leak of Plame's name, White House spokesman Scott McClellan in a September 29, 2003 press briefing:
It is now clear that Rove "was involved in it," and... what do you know? The Bush lied again. He's not firing Rove. Instead, the entire GOP is responding with page 1 from Rove's playbook--attack the enemy's strength. The strength is that Joe Wilson was right. Outing his wife was the act of traitors, as Bush Sr. put it. And Bush Jr. is defending traitors.
The GOP has a set of talking points trying to turn the story into an attack on Wilson's credibility, and defending Rove's exposure of Wilson's wife. The first talking point is:
All this is a desperate attempt to distract attention from Bush's broken promise to get rid of anyone involved in the leak--because without Rove, Bush would be lost.
Upping the ante even more, GOP Congressman Peter King (NY) said on MSNBC's Scarborough program "Joe Wilson has no right to complain. And I think people like Tim Russert and the others, who gave this guy such a free ride and all the media, they're the ones to be shot, not Karl Rove."
For the record, to date no Democrat has called for Karl Rove to be shot. However, treason is a capital crime. Tim Russert's "reporting"--even at its worst--is not.
Mark Maron and Mark Riley were interviewing Lautenberg regarding his call for Karl Rove to lose his security clearance as a result of the Plame leak.
- Maron said, "Karl Rove is guilty of treason, isn't he?"
Lautenberg replied, "Yes, I think so."
But Lautenberg is hardly alone. On April 26, 1999, former President George H.W. Bush spoke at the dedication ceremony for the CIA's George Bush Center for Intelligence. He said, in part:
- "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. (Applause)
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."
In the first few months after the leak of Plame's name, White House spokesman Scott McClellan in a September 29, 2003 press 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?
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.
[...]
McCLELLAN: 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.
It is now clear that Rove "was involved in it," and... what do you know? The Bush lied again. He's not firing Rove. Instead, the entire GOP is responding with page 1 from Rove's playbook--attack the enemy's strength. The strength is that Joe Wilson was right. Outing his wife was the act of traitors, as Bush Sr. put it. And Bush Jr. is defending traitors.
The GOP has a set of talking points trying to turn the story into an attack on Wilson's credibility, and defending Rove's exposure of Wilson's wife. The first talking point is:
- "Once Again, Democrats Are Engaging In Blatant Political Attacks...."
- "Karl Rove Discouraged A Reporter From Writing A False Story Based On A False Premise."
"The False Premise Was Joe Wilson's Allegation That The Vice President Sent Him To Niger."
- "In February 2002, I was informed by officials at the Central Intelligence Agency that Vice President Dick Cheney's office had questions about a particular intelligence report. While I never saw the report, I was told that it referred to a memorandum of agreement that documented the sale of uranium yellowcake -- a form of lightly processed ore -- by Niger to Iraq in the late 1990's. The agency officials asked if I would travel to Niger to check out the story so they could provide a response to the vice president's office."
All this is a desperate attempt to distract attention from Bush's broken promise to get rid of anyone involved in the leak--because without Rove, Bush would be lost.
Upping the ante even more, GOP Congressman Peter King (NY) said on MSNBC's Scarborough program "Joe Wilson has no right to complain. And I think people like Tim Russert and the others, who gave this guy such a free ride and all the media, they're the ones to be shot, not Karl Rove."
For the record, to date no Democrat has called for Karl Rove to be shot. However, treason is a capital crime. Tim Russert's "reporting"--even at its worst--is not.
