Posted on 07/13/2005 6:08:10 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
Loyalty has long been the most hallowed virtue in the Bush White House, but rarely has it been tested the way it has this week.
No one has been closer to the president longer, or bailed him out of more tight spots, than Karl Rove, his chief political adviser. Now the question is whether President Bush can protect Mr. Rove from a gathering political storm, no matter how furious it becomes.
Current and former White House officials who know both men say they have no doubt that as long as Mr. Rove faces no serious legal charges - and so far he has yet to be charged with anything, and may never be - Mr. Bush will defend him. They point to the words Mr. Bush used to silence conservative critics of Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales last week, warning them curtly, "I'm loyal to my friends."
Mr. Bush, who once said he would fire anyone on his staff who had knowingly leaked the name of a C.I.A. operative, Valerie Wilson, also known by her maiden name, Valerie Plame, ignored a question about Mr. Rove posed to him on Tuesday by a reporter on the edges of an Oval Office meeting with the prime minister of Singapore.
But hours later, Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, who on Monday declined to answer any questions about the matter, broke briefly out of no-comment mode to come to Mr. Rove's defense. He noted that reporters had asked whether the president still had "confidence in particular individuals, specifically Karl Rove." He answered his own question, saying, "Any individual who works here at the White House has the confidence of the president. They wouldn't be working here at the White House if they didn't."
Mr. Bush's loyalty has limits....
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
"Mr. Bush, who once said he would fire anyone on his staff who had knowingly leaked the name of a C.I.A. operative"
The President never said he'd "fire" anybody. He said the administration would take "appropriate action".
I "cherry picked" a few "articles" to demonstrate the media frustration in it's inability to sell lies. Rove being the topic is simply a victim of circumstance.
Maybe I missed something, but I've not seen anything that proves she was a "covert" agent at all. References I've seen indicate that she was an analyst/researcher for the CIA working on WMD, not an foriegn agent working under cover for the CIA.
The grand jury is going to decide whether to indict, though, not the media, or Bush. A public defense by Bush does nothing but keep the story alive.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
They'd sell out their own mother if that meant the downfall of the Bush Admin.
Damn....I cannot remember what show or what pundits.
Yesterday:
The dem argument was taken apart point by point by the GOP pundit. He totally deestroyed the case made by the dem.
Dem had no response--went into "Well that is not the ONLY issue." There are also issues of perjury and obstruction of justice.
If GOP does not get out front on this, frame the argument towards the truth, the dems will prevail.
I was amazed last night on BOR. Gingrich had to educate him. Why the hell discuss it unless you know the issues. Bill looked like a dumbass.
Last thought...Watergate and Watergate figures are mentioned more and more and more. Gives anyone who cares to look a game plan.
This case will be a classic "Rope a dope" with Karl Rove coming out on top. My bet is someone will get indicted and it won't be Rove.
You won't see the proof that she was a covert agent because the government does not make that public. But the fact that CIA Director Tenet asked for an investigation, and the fact that we have gotten this far in that investigation implies that she was at least at one time a covert agent. It would be very easy for Tenet to determine that, and he certainly would not have asked for the investigation if she had not been.
According to people I talk to, Rove is guilty. That's what the media is telling people. It must be true or Bush would be denying it.
In your world, Rove isn't under attack by the media. My newspaper tells me different. The local editorial board has already asked for Rove's resignation as has Senators Clinton and Kerry. That doesn't sound like a "rumor" to me.
Just another sewer backup for the NYT and the dopey libs.
Also, the keyword MSM leaves out is "classified" informatiom. One words makes a big damned difference.
Just a rumor huh?
CAPITOL HILL Former presidential candidate John Kerry says "Karl Rove ought to be fired." Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton -- a possible 2008 presidential contender -- nodded in agreement. The two appeared together on Capitol Hill.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid says the matter of leaking a C-I-A agent's identity "rises above politics and is about our national security."
No way should the President speak out and give the media attack any credibility -- let the media keep going out on a limb as that limb will soon be sawed off and the NY Times and others exposed once again.
Very similar to Freepers on here that read the headlines and get all bent out of shape before they find out the article and the headline doesn't match but they keep right on anyways with their original premise.
When Reno said she had nothing to say about an ongoing investigation, how often did this crap occur?
Why care about what the RATs and the media are saying? Kerry, Clinton, and Reid have the credibility of a gnat.
You obviously have not read the WSJ editorial or some others -- certainly know which side of the fence you fall on when you use Kerry, Clinton, and Reid as reasons why the President should speak out!
More some of you post, the most obvious the agenda becomes! :)
Oh yeah. I bet the media will spank itself publically over this. They always do when they are caught doing this. /sarcasm
Trust me. A year from now, half the American people will believe that Rove outed the agent. The media and the Democrats are publically openly smearing Rove's name and Bush is silent about it. That's not good.
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