Posted on 09/30/2003 11:07:18 AM PDT by NYC Republican
Watching a scandal bloom in Washington is like watching a tornado touch down. There are almost always signs, precursors, scraps of info floating around in the atmosphere that don't seem too important at the time or get passed over that suddenly coalesce and come crashing down with a force, a fury, and a frenzy that's simply amazing to behold.
This is certainly the feeling you get with the Wilson/Plame affair currently gripping the nation's press corps and causing spasms for every Democrat within shouting distance of a microphone.
Personally, I don't think we know enough about what's going on yet to declare this a true scandal. And I'm too tired to play the Washington parlor games or recite all the specifics of the case which have already been thoroughly dissected, parsed, summarized, and spun.
But I do think this is a serious matter that requires urgent attention from the White House. If the charges are true then the guillotine needs to come out quickly - even if the head that eventually rolls out the front door of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is an indispensable asset to the administration like Karl Rove.
One thing is certain: the Bush administration is involved in the most serious and important work this country has faced in the last half-century and it absolutely cannot be compromised or distracted by a lengthy investigation over anything - let alone a scandal created by a damn press leak.
So my advice to the administration is this: get to the bottom of it quickly and get on with business. If the charges are true, take your medicine and put an end to the matter as a political issue. There's a political silver lining in taking swift action.
If the charges are false, take whatever steps are necessary to produce proof of innocence, accept vindication with humility and move on.
And if the truth lies somewhere in between - which is usually the case and I suspect it's probably the case here too - err on the side of caution. I'm not suggesting the administration toss someone overboard just to placate the bloodthirsty partisan sharks now circling the waters. But Bush & Co. simply cannot allow themselves to be trapped in a hopeless gray area, spending all of their time and energy trying to parse and defend someone's actions - even if those actions constituted just a serious case of bad judgment and not a violation of law. It will be death by a thousand cuts
If not maybe they can have their offices moved to Dutch Harbor Alaska.
The Bush administration IS taking it seriously!! That is why is it under investigation and the White House has ordered full cooperation! GEEEEZ, let's QUIT WITH THE CLICHES! I am TIRED of CLICHES after TEN YEARS OF NON-STOP CLICHES!!!
2: Novak himself stated on Crossfire that "Nobody in the Bush administration called me to leak this. There is no great crime here."
Novak also stated on Crossfire that "According to a confidential source at the CIA, Mrs. Wilson was an analyst, not a spy, not a covert operative and not in charge of undercover operators."
WHAT?? Not a covert operative?? But...but...David Corn said she was. He probably gets the prize for the first reporter to state - rather dramatically - in print that Plame "a US intelligence officer working covertly in a field of vital importance to national security."
A few paragraphs later, Corn calls her "an undercover CIA officer"
I've been scouring the news reports, and Corn's July 16th article in The Nation is the first to "out" Valerie Plame as a undervover CIA officer rather than the simple CIA analyst everyone else thought she was. Sounds like Corn should be investigated.
Most important, why are Senate Democrats still screaming for an independent investigation of the WHITE HOUSE, after NOVAK HIMSELF stated that the White House was NOT INVOLVED??
3: If Plame were in any danger, as the Dems are hystrionically screeching, trust me, she'd be dead by now. It's been two months. I've never heard of an agent living that long after being compromised.
It certainly seems she had another job besides being an analyst. HOWEVER, it is equally possible that she IS simply an analyst and the DoJ is simply responding to the media hype and demands for an investigation by conducting one. Certainly, Plame's job as an analyst was no secret, that is what Novak reported and what his sources confirmed.
Corn is a different story. HE said specifically that she was a covert agent. Here's the original article
So, if Novak didn't report it, and his sources never said she was an operative, who did "out" her, if she was really "outted" as reported by Corn?
Who was Corn's source? Wilson? Was it Wilson who actually "outted" her as a covert agent in his effort to "get Karl Rove frog-marched out of the White House in handcuffs"?
I'm not saying there shuldn't be an investigation. I never have. What I AM saying is that the lies have already overtaken the few facts of the case, and the democrats are using the media to manufacture another cardboard campaign platform from which they can plant the seeds of doubt about the president in the minds of the public, in order to gain the election. Almost none of what we're getting from the media is true, and the media is already making detailed analyses of misinformation. Reminds me of the words "Niger" and "yelloecake" which the president never uttered in those "16 Words", as well as a rerun of the Kelly case. In fact, it really still IS the Kelly case. Different government source, different wording on the "sexed up" accusation.
Ah, but the DEMOCRATS, who took two whole months to pay any attention to Novak's FIRST article appear not to care what Novak says now. See, they want the White House to be guilty, and they will not stop until they can make the White House appear guilty.
Obviously.
I now think this was an accidental happenstance not orchestrated from the beginning by Wilson et al. There may even have been an accidental breach of Plame's genuine undercover assignment.
Perhaps the investigation will show that there is a process problem. If a CIA analyst, whose workplace is not a secret, goes undercover, which I understand is fairly rare, then it becomes necessary to protect her identity. But perhaps not everyone gets the memo in order to filter information appropriately.
I understand Novak asked the CIA why he should not divulge this and they could or would not give him a good reason.
The administration reportedly did not actively call Novak to give him this juicy bit, but it came out, and it is easy to believe this administration flunky thought it good to make it appear Wilson got the Niger gig because of his wife. Some people still believe Cheney ordered it, for Chrissake.
Anyway, whether or not there was a true accidental breach, this fell into the DEMOCRATS lap and they don't have anything else that is sticking to Bush at the moment. There will probably be no way for them to make it drag on. But DEMOCRATS will roll the dice to see if the investigation accidentally turns up something else juicy.
What an interesting situation... The recall could overwhelm this whole story, in effect making it irrelevant... Or, this could blow out of proportion, tainting all Republicans in the near-term- effectively keeping Davis in power as he capitilizes/opportunizes the situation...
I sure hope it's the former...
It may be a long-shot theory, but I wouldn't put anything past these slime... After all, what new event occurred that brought this out now, as it's a 2 month-old story???
That is the only possiblity. Personally, I find it hard to believe, and think she's an analys who was hyped into covert agent by people with their own agenda. I do believe Wilson either has a personal feud going with Rove or he is being told what to say by someone else.
On Good Morning America, he retracted his accusations against Rove : "I don't have any knowledge that Karl Rove himself was either the leaker or the authorizer of the leak." His reversals remind me of Scott Ritter. Perhaps Wilson is simply unstable.
"I understand Novak asked the CIA why he should not divulge this and they could or would not give him a good reason."
What Novak said was "They asked me not to use her name, but never indicated it would endanger her or anybody else. According to a confidential source at the CIA, Mrs. Wilson was an analyst, not a spy, not a covert operative and not in charge of undercover operators."
This has gone from nothing or an accident to a cardboard castle of monumental proportions built by those who wish to regain power.
It may not have STARTED as a conspiracy, two months later it has become a conspiracy. A cause du jour for the DLC.
I hadn't read your yesterday post cross-referencing the recall into this.
Speculating: Clintonistas have had this in their back pocket for two months waiting for the right moment. They and cronies in CIA knew there was an undercover component that would be enough to spark an investigation.
Assuming then the timing was completely under DEMOCRAT control, why IS this the right time? If not the recall spinning out of control, and/or the SOTU 16 words false scandal deeply out of steam, then what?
I've read comments on other threads that the Al-Amoudi arrest and his campaign contribution of $50,000 to Hitlery in her run for the senate just might have something to do with it.
It wouldn't surprise me if this leak about the agent could be running cover for that arrest.
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