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 ...
Major League A-Holes
Cheney was 100% right.
I heard Kondracke say yesterday that Rove won't be fired unless he's indicted and convicted.
I don't think that is right. If he's indicted, he's gone.
Of course, unless he lied to the grand jury, I don't see any reason why he should be indicted. He's done nothing wrong. Talking to a reporter about politics is not illegal. He did not disclose that Plame was a covert agent. In fact, he did not even know she was a covert agent.
The NYT is looking (again) like a bunch of idiots. Today's WSJ article points to reasons why: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1441836/posts
It would be great if the NYT had some facts before they report.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
The media has spun this to the point where it is no longer believable. People have heard that Rove "outed" the agent from the media and the media has led people to that conclusion. But the media knows he did not. Now they can't unfry the egg.
I wish the Republicans would start asking point-blank questions to the Democrats about this.
What's the big deal?
President Bush may as well stick with Rove. If he lets Rove go the Leftists will just find someone else to attack.
I think Bush has the right strategy. Keep silent. Assuming that the grand jury does not indict, it will go away.
You mean "Clymers", right?
How does one LEAK something that was already public knowledge?? I still can't figure this "scandal" out.
"On the "no underlying crime" point, moreover, no less than the New York Times and Washington Post now agree. So do the 36 major news organizations that filed a legal brief in March aimed at keeping Mr. Cooper and the New York Times's Judith Miller out of jail." source: http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110006955
I think Cooper is testifying this morning. I am looking forward to Mr. Fitzgerald's final report.
The NYT and the rat MSM have no idea what the word *loyalty* means....
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
And why is the New York Times covering Judith Miller's large posterior? Her source was not Rove, and the bets are that the guilty party to out Plame is everyone from herself to Sen. Rockefeller. There are some interesting aspects here. First, Miller was perhaps the most rabid of the journalists who were pumping Saddam's weapons of mass destruction. Second, she has demonstrated a questionable respect for the Islamist leadership. Finally, she has run head-on into the Justice Department who know that she screwed up an investigation of the indicted Holy Land Foundation of Texas.
Hell, I say he makes Rove his first SCOTUS nominee!!! If the libs want to act like a bunch of a-holes, let's give them a reason!!!
Bingo.
I diagree. Silence means approval. Bush's silence implies Rove's guilt. It says that Bush is afraid the rumors are true.
Bush should come out and defend Rove.
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