Posted on 07/13/2005 7:30:59 PM PDT by kristinn
MADISON, Wis. - Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean tried Wednesday night to turn the pressure up on President Bush to fire political adviser Karl Rove, saying a failure to do so would be putting politics ahead of national security.
Dean, speaking at a party fundraiser, said Bush in the coming days should live up to his promise to fire anybody involved in leaking the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
An internal Time magazine e-mail that was disclosed over the weekend suggested that Rove, a deputy White House chief of staff and one of Bush's closes advisers, mentioned to a Time reporter that the wife of administration critic Joseph Wilson was a CIA agent.
That was just before a July 2003 opinion piece by syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak identified Plame as an operative.
Bush said in 2003 that he would fire anyone in his administration involved in the leak, and the White House has been on the defensive since the latest news reports showing Rove may have been involved.
"Now we're going to find out, Mr. President, if you'll keep your word: who do you value more, Mr. President, do you value intelligence operatives defending the United States of America or do you value political operatives from Texas?" Dean told a crowd of 500 in a downtown Madison theater.
"Who do you value more, Mr. President, the security of the American people, or your political cronies? Will you keep your word?"
Dean also said young people were not signing up for the armed forces because they do not trust Bush, called former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein "a third-string tinpot dictator, no matter how awful he was," and mocked congressional leaders for intervening to keep a brain-damaged Florida woman alive.
Dean's speech highlighted the noisy fundraiser for the Democratic Party at the heart of this liberal-leaning city. Asked after the speech whether Rove should be fired, Dean smiled and declined to elaborate on his earlier remarks.
Christine Mangi, a spokeswoman for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, dismissed Dean's comments as a "blatant partisan attack."
Dean's speech came hours after President Bush passed up a chance to express confidence in Rove and the same day that a federal grand jury heard more testimony into whether anyone illegally leaked the name of Plame in July 2003.
Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper, who spoke with Rove before publishing an article that named Plame, appeared before the panel for more than two hours.
Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, issued a statement Wednesday saying that Rove was cooperating with the federal investigation, has done nothing wrong and is not a target of the probe.
Still, Democrats delighted in news that Rove, considered a brilliant GOP political strategist and their longtime nemesis, was in hot water.
"They have just put Karl Rove on the endangered species list," Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton said to laughter.
"Karl Rove, if he stays out of jail, doesn't represent us," said Joe Wineke, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.
Not that there's anything wrong with that ...
Thanks for finding this. I've been looking all over for a re-cap of what happened today. It's not hit the Madison on-line papers, yet.
"They have just put Karl Rove on the endangered species list," Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton said to laughter.
Her days, along with Governor Doyle's are numbered. Enjoy it while you can, Honey. You'll be looking for a job soon enough. :)
I used to just laugh at socialists. Now I truly see how dangerous they are to life as we know it in this country, especially when in power. Would a Republican Lieutenant Governor act this way? I highly doubt it.
I loathe them. Utterly and completely.
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA .....
Now that is funny!!!!!
OR the dims can give up on their phony witch hunt when it's clear it is false.
Dean also said young people were not signing up for the armed forces because they do not trust Bush, called former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein "a third-string tinpot dictator, no matter how awful he was," and mocked congressional leaders for intervening to keep a brain-damaged Florida woman alive.
That is exactly my thought ... why do these fools keep embarrassing themselves in public like this?
They sure know how to turn the average American off, don't they?
How-weird strikes again! He's been kinda quiet lately. Guess his meds wore off.
Tom Dashale put off the Homeland Security Dept. for 1 year because of politics over hiring Union workers.
Wastin' yer breath Howie. Crawl back under yer rock.
BOTH EXCELLENT POINTS!
I suspect that when the facts are in, and the prosecutor declines to prosecute, that swing voters will view that as the partisan feeding frenzy that it is, and the issue will die, except as a Dem fund raising tool to try to separate their base from their wallets.
When people make mountains out of molehills, they have the advantage that they are at least starting out with genuine molehills. The Democrats and Liberals don't even have molehills.
"Pull this and see what happens."
It's been a favorite tactic of the left for years. When they start screaming accusations, I take that as a (loud) confession of guilt.
I was just poking around the Web and found this. I do hope there is video as it sounds like Dean was in his element.
Which is what they do 24/7!!!
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