Posted on 8/4/2004, 2:49:54 AM by Libloather
Berger flap was overplayed
Tuesday, August 3, 2004
Last modified Tuesday, August 3, 2004 1:03 PM PDT
So the Berger affair apparently was just another Washington flap, drummed up to make political points and blown out of proportion because the press had a slow day.
The Wall Street Journal reported on the matter last Friday, although hardly anybody else mentioned it. An e-mail from Portland pointed it out to the D-H.
As you'll recall, a couple of weeks ago Samuel "Sandy" Berger, the former national security adviser in the Clinton administration, was accused of having taken classified material home from the National Archives, which is against the law. He had obtained access to the material in order to answer questions from the 9/11 Commission.
On Friday the Journal reported that officials looking into this admittedly unauthorized removal of classified material had reported that "no original materials are missing and nothing Mr. Berger reviewed was withheld from the commission ..."
This conclusion, according to the Journal, apparently lays to rest any question of whether material was withheld from the commission or destroyed - which had been inferred as the dark motive for Berger to take the material with him.
The story was emphatic that "no originals were missing and that all the material that Mr. Berger had access to had been turned over to the commission."
So, if all the stuff that Berger reviewed is accounted for, and if nothing is missing, what's so important about him having taken some of it with him in the first place? It still sounds like a breach of the law on handling classified records. But it does not sound like some underhanded scheme to thwart the 9/11 commission, or to hide something, or to shift blame to the Bush people. It was, as Berger has said himself on TV, just a dumb thing to do.
The story was on the front page of our paper when it broke. It evidently didn't merit that kind of play. It was not important. And if it was interesting, it was interesting only as an example of how politics sometimes works to distort harmless events. (hh)
I may have been 10 years old - but I do believe I remember the same headlines during the Nixon administration...
"Democrat Herald"
Has the NYtimes finally decided to change it's name?
Tell "overblown" to Julius and Ethyl Rosenberg. Slow news day my arse. Sandy clearly broke several federal laws, put national security at risk and tried to change the information available to a commission trying to determine how to stop a repeat of an attack on the country in which nearly 3,000 people died and a trillion dollars of damage to property and the economy happened. Saying "overblown" is an insult to a lot of people's memory.
why do they say no original material. to me all this says is he stole duplicates.
So, if I claim 'dumb' on a bank heist, do I get arrested? I am getting dizzy with all of this spin!!!! Berger either broke the law, or he didn't. Which one is it?
Sandy Berger should be brought to justice for his crimes
Oh, ok. move along, nothing to see here.....not.
I guess if you are a 'Rat this is old hat but to the average American, the news that a key advisor to the DemocRat nominee committed multiple felonies by stealing classified documents is more than just filler for a slow news day.
I DON'T THINK SOOOO!!!!
That is quite a bit to gloss over as a slow news day. I, for one, want answers to the questions I pose.
Nothing was withheld except the ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS, before Berger added notes flattering to Clinton and replaced them back at the Archives.
If anything, it's been underplayed because of the Hacking case in Utah!
No slow news day, just a very convenient murder (not unlike many murders committed daily) in Salt Lake City to help divert attention away.
Anyone ever hear of "Clickit or Ticket"? Over-reacting? Points on driving record? Move on? NOPE!!!
My brother buys the Albany (OR) Democrat-Herald Sunday edition for the TV Guide section, and he says that the paper is aptly named, though "Red" Herald might be more appropriate.
This opinion piece is laughable, in almost every paragraph. Laws "might" have been broken, but nothing important happened, according to the writer. That line says a lot about the writer, and the newspaper that published it.
Licorice: "What you don't understand is that my savior, John Kerry,
explained to me that there are "two Americas".
Some Democrats in power (or past power) are above all laws, even murder, even treason,
even destruction of federal CODE-level documents.
By the way, no rodent would do such a thing.
Compared to the Democrats, we rodents are all patriots."
Edwards was correct: There are two Americas.
"WELCOME TO THE REAL AMERICA WHERE CRIMINALS GET TO BE
CELEBRITIES AND CELEBRITIES GET AWAY WITH MURDER."
"TO DIE FOR" Columbia Pictures
"Flap" is a code word used by the press to indicate to the rest of the press that a coverup is underway and they had better play along if they want to get along.
Amen!!
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