Posted on 09/08/2006 9:16:58 AM PDT by RatherBiased.com
Since the revelation that Richard Armitage, a former high-ranking official in the State Department, was the source of the much-ballyhooed Valerie Plame "leak," many in the media have refused to touch the story with a ten-foot pole. This was quite a turnaround since before the Armitage involvement was known, many journalists believed the CIA leak story was one worth pursuing on a daily basis. Some even believed it could bring down the Bush White House, or at least end the careers of Karl Rove and Dick Cheney.
One of the biggest media figures boycotting the Plame story has been MSNBC host Chris Matthews who has yet to mention the scandal at all since the Armitage report broke, a dramatic contrast to the 27 times he mentioned the "scandal" in the five months leading up to it.
Like P.J. Gladnick, I couldn't help but notice Matthews's strange flip. So I decided to ask him about it. His answer revealed an animus toward Vice President Dick Cheney and a fear of being asked to answer tough questions himself.
Last night, I went to a party held by MSNBC and National Journal celebrating a new venture the two media outlets are launching together. Quite a few NBCers were there, including Chris Matthews. I struck up a conversation with the host about the topic of Plame and why he hadn't talked about the story at all. Here's a rough transcript of our discussion which I wrote down shortly thereafter:
Q: So I've noticed you haven't done anything on the whole Valerie Plame story since the Armitage story broke. Why not invite Joe Wilson on the show to defend himself?After that remark, Matthews left the conversation. He stuck around for at least 15 more minutes afterward before leaving.
A: Because he'd say basically the same thing he always says. 'My wife had no involvement in getting me the mission.' He'd just repeat it over and over.
Q: Maybe, but isn't it at least worth showing your viewers that this guy has no credibility considering how much you talked about the story before? Shouldn't he be held accountable for wasting all our time? Why not invite one of his representatives or defenders on the show?
A: Well, the story's just gotten so complicated. I mean, it's just such a mess. Because what if it's true that Armitage was the source, but those other guys [presumably Rove and Scooter Libby], also were leakers, what then?
Q: Isn't that a question worth exploring on your show?
A: It could be but the problem is that Dick Cheney has so many apologists it's ridiculous. So many journalists like Bob Woodward will say or do anything just to get access to him. And then all the people in the administration too.
Q: I don't see why this is stopping you from mentioning the story at all. The viewers at least need some sort of closure don't they?
A: Hey listen I need to get out of here. I have to get back home.
Unbelievable...
Delusional, too.
F#$%ing weasel.
Chris Matthews is big mouthed media whore, with zero ethics, and even less responsibility for his actions. Hell, Dan Rather showed more remorse and apology for pushing a false story.
Chris Matthews, you are a coward.
Then we've got The Path to 911 ... the rats are pathetic!!!
I believe the author but Matthews will just deny the conversation even happened without audio to back it up.
"Buuut Cheney has too many APOLOGISTS..."
And then, turning away from the tough questions, Chrissy had a big piece of cheese to go with his whine.
This is very good. First they want the ABC series censored by the democrat Senate no less, and now they want to censor the true facts of Plamecase by ignoring it.
You can't buy better campaign material than these fools are shoveling.
Is Lardball still on the air?
"Too Complicated" = He can't spin it to meet his agenda any more. Yellow journalism at it's finest.
Great job Matt! Reporting on the "reporters". New Media BUMP!
Truth BUMP!
Watta putz.
I'll bet matthews doesn't want to touch this right now, its a hot button issue. My thought when I read about this at first was: so thats why Powell left, President Bush knew what happened and maybe asked him to leave....but another question, did Rice know to? Guess it will all come out in the wash someday.....
Draw your own conclusions from the fact that Armitage’s best friend Colin Powell called Dick Cheney’s supporters (including Scooter Libby, Doug Feith and Paul Wolfowitz) the “Gestapo Office” (quite insulting considering that there is a history of relatives lost in the Holocaust among them).
Factor in that Powell called Doug Feith “a card-carrying member of the Likud Party” and referred to the Likudnicks in the White House controlling policy during his “exit interview with Bush” (see Assassin’s Gate: America in Iraq) – thereby showing his support for anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists.
Don’t forget that Powell is also joined at the hip with Brent Scowcroft – no friend of Israel and an investor in the Saudi-funded Carlyle Group? Consider that Armitage felt it was fine for Libby to undergo undeserved torment during Fitzgerald’s inquisition and that Colin Powell also knew that Armitage was the leaker but kept quiet about his knowledge when interviewed by the Justice two days after Amitage admitted to Powell he was the leaker.
Remember that Powell’s other good friend, and former chief of staff, Larry Wilkerson, sees no problem with teaching his college courses at William and Mary and George Washington University using the Walt/Mearsheimer Israel Lobby Paper – and that many have criticized as being anti-Semitic? Wilkerson believes the paper contains “blinding flashes of the obvious.”
Keep in mind that the same Larry Wilkerson has a history of making anti-Israel (some bordering on anti-Semitic) statements and believes in the neo-conservative “cabal” and who can be quoted,
“I have some reservations about people who have never been in the face of battle, so to speak, who are making cavalier decisions about sending men and women out to die. A person who comes immediately to mind in that regard is Richard Perle, who, thank God, tendered his resignation and no longer will be even a semiofficial person in this administration. . . . I call them utopians. I don’t care whether utopians are Vladimir Lenin on a sealed train to Moscow or Paul Wolfowitz. Utopians, I don’t like. You’re never going to bring utopia, and you’re going to hurt a lot of people in the process of trying to do it.
-State Department chief of staff Larry Wilkerson, quoted by GQ, May 4 Well, there seems to be a cabal here alright—an anti-Semitic one.
Ed Lasky 8 30 06
Matthews is just a punk.
Sheffield should have coaxed him to a dark corner of the room... and pile-drived the spit right out of him.
Well, you know, Chrissy is right.
The story has no useful value to him or the democrats anymore. Why would they waste their time if they can no longer use the Plame case to attack Bush and Rove and Cheney.
And, it's not within the moral/ethical values of Chrissy or the democrats to even think about issuing an apology to Bush or Rove or Cheney. To them, Chrissy and the democrats, Bush, Rove and Cheney, are still evil and crooked.
Matthews coverup alert.
Chrissy is a sissy, Chrissy is a sissy, Chrissy is a sissy........
But, hey, why don't I tell you folks something you DON'T know already.
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