You uttered the infamous name...
Posted on 07/13/2005 12:59:22 PM PDT by rface
Editor, the Tribune:
From a few reports, I have heard Karl Rove is the one who is mentioned in the Time magazine reporter’s notes. If he is the one who retaliated against the CIA agent by leaking her name to the press, he should be immediately fired, arrested and prosecuted.
Where is the outraged press? The press and the Republican Party repeatedly attacked and prosecuted former President Bill Clinton for lying about a consensual sex act that had no direct effect on any American, and yet the Bush administration lied to all of Americans about the reason for the Iraq war. This lie has cost Americans more than $150 billion of our tax dollars and over 1,500 American lives and counting.
We know Rove has been in charge of the dirty politics and smear campaigns against Bush’s opponents for many years, dating back to the Texas election in which he smeared Anne Richards. He smeared Sen. John McCain and his family in the South Carolina primary. He was in charge when his party attacked John Kerry, who is an American war hero! Where is the outrage?
Now we hear he has illegally leaked information to Robert Novak, a reporter for the right-wing agenda, about the wife of a former U.S. ambassador, Joseph Wilson. Wilson questioned the Bush case for the war against Iraq, and Rove retaliated by telling the press that Wilson’s wife was an undercover CIA agent, therefore jeopardizing her safety and future career. Where is the outraged press?
Michael Young
Columbia, Missouri
The senate committee found a reccomendation from his wife to send him.
Mr. Young sounds like a dedicated Kool-Aid drinker!
All these folks keep claiming Wilson 'lied' because he said Cheney sent him to Niger. Yet no one can point to where he said that.
Wait a minute, I think I remember now...Wasn't this the same "patriot" from Massachusetts that shot a teenage Vietcong in the back with a .50 caliber machine gun and then hopped off the boat to administer a "coup-de-gras" to the head with an M16 and received a Silver Star with Combat V for such heroism (I believe he wrote himself up for the commendation as well)?
I have not personally seen that quote.
this USA today article from about a year and a half ago quotes Wilson and his book extensively and refers to Rove and Cheney but stops short of claiming Cheney had anything to with the trip.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-04-29-cheney-cia-leak_x.htm
"You know, Kerry dodged the draft but got caught anyhow and was dragged off to Viet Nam where he bailed out on his crew as quickly as he could."
Somehow he managed reassignments for his crew to safer duties...He bailed on the rest of his command.
Which just doesn't square with the talking point that "Wilson lied when he said that Vice-President Cheney sent him to Niger..."
The NYT, Wash. Post, weekly `news magazines', alphabet networks, etc., Terry Moran `Dandroids' and superannuated hags like Helen Thomas are all desperately fishing for, trying to gin something up--anything--to hurt President Bush.
They pule and whimper into their pillows every night: `Why oh why can't it be like 1974 again?!'
Well in Dante's opinion, it would be the 9th Level of Hell, where all traitors are sent in Hell.
And then he follows it up with this gem:
"If he is the one who retaliated against the CIA agent by leaking her name to the press..."
That's an awfully big "If".
From what Fox news said, Wilson said that his wife did NOT have anything to do with his being sent to Niger. Which was a lie! Apparently some investigation (9/11?) had a memo written by the CIA spy herself recommending her husband for the Niger trip.
So, Joe Wilson is a big, fat, stinking Liberal liar!
Let's face it - the hacks in the press room are all morons. They need to be replaced by that nice Jeff Gannon and his friends.
Of course, everyone is running around claiming that Wilson lied by saying Cheney made the decision to send him. Problem is, no one can find a statement by Wilson where he says that.
Rall thinks Rove is worse than Bin Laden.
I can.
When asked on CNN's Late Edition who authorized his trip, Wilson said the following.
"Joe Wilson: “What They Did, What The Office Of The Vice President Did, And, In Fact, I Believe Now From Mr. Libby’s Statement, It Was Probably The Vice President Himself ...” (CNN’s “Late Edition,” 8/3/03)"
So there it is. Wilson saying that it was the vice president himself.
And, yes, Joe Wilson is a liar.
The quote you posted is straight out of the RNC talking points - word for word, with the same edits and the exact same citation. Of course, the 'question' you claim that answer is in response to isn't included. Why don't we just take a look at the ENTIRE exchange your 'quote' comes from - shall we?
BLITZER: I know you were sent to go on this mission long before the State of the Union Address. When Condoleezza Rice, the president's national security adviser, was on this program a few weeks ago, on July 13th, I asked her about your mission. Listen to this exchange I had with her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. CONDOLEEZZA RICE, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I didn't know Joe Wilson was going to Niger. And if you look in Director Tenet's statement, it says that counter-proliferation experts, on their own initiative, sent Joe Wilson. So, I don't know...
BLITZER: Who sent him?
RICE: Well, it was certainly not at a level that had anything to do with the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Is that true?
WILSON: Well, look, it's absolutely true that neither the vice president nor Dr. Rice nor even George Tenet knew that I was traveling to Niger.
What they did, what the office of the vice president did, and, in fact, I believe now from Mr. Libby's statement, it was probably the vice president himself...
BLITZER: Scooter Libby is the chief of staff for the vice president.
WILSON: Scooter Libby.
They asked essentially that we follow up on this report -- that the agency follow up on the report. So it was a question that went to the CIA briefer from the Office of the Vice President. The CIA, at the operational level, made a determination that the best way to answer this serious question was to send somebody out there who knew something about both the uranium business and those Niger officials that were in office at the time these reported documents were executed."
So, rather than what you - and Mehlman - CLAIM that quotes says (that Cheney sent Wilson to Niger), what he REALLY said was that Cheney didn't even know he went, but that he asked the CIA to look into the yellowcake report, and the CIA made the decision AT AN OPERATIONAL LEVEL to send Wilson.
In other words, you have grossly misconstrued the statement.
So, we are still at the point where NO ONE can find a statement where Wilson claims Cheney sent him. You found one where he expressly says Cheney did not send him.
As an aside, that quote was months after Rove talked to Cooper. So, even if he said what you claimed - which he obviously did not - it is not 'misinformation' that Rove needed to give 'guidance' on.
The talking points are wrong. Sorry to burst your bubble. But that's okay. Keep repeating them blindly. That's what they are for.
You uttered the infamous name...
"Benedict Arnold was a hero to both sides of his war as well.
Nothing to be proud of.
John Kerry was a genuine traitor (who partnered with people who plotted to assassinate elected congressmen in America) and what Rove did does not match this in any way."
Sorry for the late reply; limited computer access.
I agree with everything you have said here.
The useful liberal idiots are just regurgitating the drivel they're being fed by the DNC and Moveon.org (George Soros). The FACT that they're not interested in the truth, as long as it harms Bush or Republicans, is just an example of the character (or lack thereof) of most leftist liberals. I mean, look who they have chosen as their 'poster boys/girl' (BJ Clinton, Hanoi John Kerry, Ted 'what lake' Kennedy, Screanin Dean, Hillary Rotten Clinton, etc.).
Moveon is distrubiting these lies even as we speak:
Dear MoveOn member,
On Sunday, Newsweek magazine revealed that Karl Rove, the President's key political advisor, was responsible for disclosing the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame.1 Rove's lawyer has confirmed that he was involved.2
Last year, President Bush promised that anyone at the White House involved in the leak would be fired.3 We believe that the President should stick to his word. That's why we're calling on him to fire Karl Rove.
Sign the petition to Bush right now at:
http://www.moveonpac.org/firerove/?id=5782-4989633-xFytOjxBg_fjffMucnHfog&t=1
Valerie Plame was an operative working on stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction—the most important beat at the CIA and one of the most important jobs in the country.4 Rove revealed her identity and destroyed her network of connections to settle a political score. He weakened America's national security. For that alone, he deserves to be fired.
But as it turns out, that's also the White House's official position. Press Secretary Scott McClellan told the press in September of 2003, when the story first broke, that anyone at the White House who was involved would be fired "at a minimum."5 And when asked on June 10th, 2004, if he would "stand by your pledge to fire anyone found" to have leaked the agent's name, President Bush responded, simply, "Yes."6
Of course, in the past the White House has strenuously denied that Rove had anything to do with it. In 2003, McClellan said that he'd asked Rove if he was involved, and Rove had said he wasn't.7 "The president knows that Karl Rove wasn't involved."8 "I've made it very clear, he was not involved, that there's no truth to the suggestion that he was."9 Asked again if Rove was involved, McClellan responded, "That's just totally ridiculous."10
So what did McClellan have to say about the clear discrepancies between what the President Bush and he had said in 2003 and what Newsweek reported on Sunday? Nothing. Here's an excerpt from the transcript:
Q: Do you want to retract your statement that Rove, Karl Rove, was not involved in the Valerie Plame expose?
A: I appreciate the question. This is an ongoing investigation at this point. The president directed the White House to cooperate fully with the investigation, and as part of cooperating fully with the investigation, that means we're not going to be commenting on it while it is ongoing.
Q: But Rove has apparently commented, through his lawyer, that he was definitely involved.
A: You're asking me to comment on an ongoing investigation.
Q: I'm saying, why did you stand there and say he was not involved?
A: Again, while there is an ongoing investigation, I'm not going to be commenting on it nor is ... .
Q: Any remorse?11
It's worth noting that both Bush and McClellan have commented on the case repeatedly since 2003.12
Republicans claim that the furor over this case is just politics as usual. But what Rove did has serious ramifications. Here's the story in a nutshell: In 2002, former Ambassador Joe Wilson was sent by the CIA to investigate rumors that Saddam Hussein had attempted to purchase uranium from Niger. Wilson found nothing, and wrote about it in a New York Times op-ed column on July 6, 2003 after President Bush used the claim as part of the case for war. Wilson was married to Valerie Plame, an undercover operative, who was revealed shortly thereafter by conservative columnist Robert Novak. Novak cited "senior administration officials" as his source that Plame was an operative.13
Why out Plame? While we don't know the full story, there are a couple of reasons to do so: to exact revenge on Wilson for refusing to toe the Administration line, and to send a message to would-be whistle-blowers that they should keep their mouths shut.
In any case, Plame's work was important, and by exposing her identity, the leaker destroyed ten years of covert relationship-building and could have jeopardized the lives of other covert agents in the field. At best, it was recklessly irresponsible; at worst, it was malicious; and either way, the leaker undermined our national security.
That's why we, like the President, believe it's time to fire anyone who was involved with the leaking of Plame's name. And now we know that means firing Karl Rove.
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