Political Intelligence: The agenda behind the kerfuffle over Joe Wilson's wife

Opinion Journal ^ | 10/01/03 | editorial board

[Pokey78]

We've been knocking our heads trying to figure out how a minor and well-known story about an alleged CIA "outing" has suddenly blossomed into a Beltway scandal-ette. The light bulb went off reading Monday's White House press briefing.

Right out of the box, Helen Thomas asked if "the President tried to find out who outed the CIA agent? And has he fired anyone in the White House yet?" OK, the point of this exercise is to get President Bush to fire someone. But whom? That answer became clear when the press corps quickly uttered, and kept uttering for nearly an hour, the name "Karl Rove."

[Leroy S. Mort]

If they can take down Mr. Rove, the lead planner for Mr. Bush's re-election campaign, they will have knocked the props out of his Presidency.

BINGO. We have a winner.

[woodyinscc]

The person who's head should roll, is the one who authorized this idiot to go to Niger

[Palladin]

The Dems are such fools, falling all over themselves with regard to this faux scandal.

The only scandal is that taxpayers' money has been wasted paying this fat narcissistic pig Wilson for a job badly done for three decades.

[LiteKeeper]

SPOTREP

[isrul]

Some Scott Ritter type by the name of Larry Johnson was on the News Hour tonight saying he went through CIA training with Plame and said she's been undercover for three decades. Thing is though, he was in the CIA from 1985 to 1989. Do the math here and something smells.

Also Wilson was on Nightline saying that several journalists told himm that Rove told them after the Novak article appeared, that Plame was fair game. When Wilson was asked if he would reveal the names of these journalists; he said he would. So that will be interesting unless he backtracks on it whic I believe he will.

For some reason the above article churns up the words "double agent" in the back of my mind. I don't know who the agent or agents might be but I really think there is a there there.

[Rocky]

Even with wide support from the leftist media, the Democrats can't get traction from any of their idiotic attempts to drum up a scandal. They have become weak, pathetic negatives. Not a single positive thing to say about America.

[FRgal4u]

This thing really smells

I don;t know who is the worse offenders here

the thugs in the Bush WH (Rove is no saint) or the thugs in the democratic/media junta

GWB made a mistake to let this story spinning out of control - as usual, he is surrounded by advisors filtering the news to him, c'mmon, Mr. President, pickup a newspaper and read for once.

If GWB were able to jump ahead and immediately appoint an idependent investigation on this matter, the media will have a much harder time to spin the conspiracy theory. There is no excuse for the leak, especially it was done to silent/intimidate the critics. I swear, this president is like all those corporate CEOs in handcuffs now, the CEO only read the brief summaries, not knowing what's underneath him, and the people under him have special agendas and think they can get away with all sorts of crap because they are now in power. At the end, it was not the thugs in the 13th level get punish, it will be the president take the blame. And sadly as usual, this president has not been able to jump ahead of the news cycle and control the damage before it was totally out of his control.

If the leak is out of political intimidation, and if Rove is behind this, GWB needs to fire and jail that focker - and if this story is a bunch of non news as the WSJ editorial claims then the President better get the current spin under control.

This administration, like the others before, sure has some shady characters in it - better root them all out and clean house before it is too late. God save this country if Dean is our next president.

[WilliamofCarmichael]

Re: who authorized this idiot to go to Niger

Yes, that is the story. It is something the public had a right to know.

This is the context in which Mr. Novak was told that Mr. Wilson had been hired at the recommendation of his wife, a CIA employee. This is hardly blowing a state secret but is something the public had a right to know.

That's exactly how it started. I have heard nothing about this on ABC or Fox radio "news." It's been "operative," "official," "agent," "undercover agent," or (next?) CIA super spy outed by vengeful Bush White House getting even with the honorable, much-heralded hero ambassador because he told the "truth."

There was a lag between the Watergate break-in and the press frenzy over it. Same thing here. Why? IMO it's because these "issues" (16-words, etc.) are orchestrated, scheduled, and are judged by their efficacy to destroy a wartime administration. Once an "issue" has done its duty the leftist traitors move on the the next one. It's the "CIA super spy betrayed by vengeful Bush, our national scurity has been destroyed" turn.

Got to admit, it's fun listening to leftist pukes "worry" about our national security.

[WOSG]

As recently as Monday, the New York Times hung its lead story around a leak that the Pentagon had somehow not got its money's worth from the $1 million it had spent mining some of Ahmed Chalabi's intelligence tips. We'd love to see a declassified bang-for-the-buck analysis of the tens of millions the CIA has spent paying sources who claimed to have Saddam Hussein in their sights. If CIA Director George Tenet can't control his bureaucracy, then President Bush should find a director who can.

Appropriate Scandal Response: Fire George Tenet!

I like it, never did like that Clinton holdover.

[stylin19a]

Leak" investigations are notoriously fruitless...

Except, of course, when one catches Leaky Leahy red-handed...He basically "Leaked" the 80's. On TV, in the newspapers, over the phone.......

[WOSG]

It does smell ...

the Wilson freelancing ...

the brazen confusion of Wilson's claims 'refuting' something that is not what Bush claimed. and hence saying "Bush lied" when in fact Bush didnt ...

the willingness to bash Bush for partisan gain ...
nonsense from the get-go.

Wilson's wife's cover was blown it seems ... as a Dem mole.

[WOSG]

Once an "issue" has done its duty the leftist traitors move on the the next one. It's the "CIA super spy betrayed by vengeful Bush, our national scurity has been destroyed" turn.

You are right... this is a media ground war. they are lobbing artillery shells every day, whatever works to keep Bush on the defensive and confused helps the Leftist cause.

[Swiss]

I totally agree with the article.

If this was the 1950's Senator McCarthy would be raking the CIA and State Department over the coals over Wilson and his wife.

There is no way the more I read about Wilson that I would trust his wife with any sort of classified intell.

Tenent needs to go and the CIA given a good housecleaning.

[faithincowboys]

The voice of sanity, finally.


it didn't help when Charirman of the RNC, Ed Gillespie, a fellow I admire greatly, said on Hardball, when pressed by partisanista Matthews, that this "scandal" is potentially worse than Watergate. Good Heavens! I'll be amazed if that quote doesn't become part of DNC talking points.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

At least we can be thankful that Democrats buried the independent counsel statute during the Clinton years

... and yet, somehow: that, too, will (ultimately; inevitably) be blamed upon Dubya, as well.

You just wait and see if I'm right or not. :)

[The Raven]

ping

The real scandal is the Dems orchastrating this and other phoney stuff.

[Timesink]

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[Green Knight]

Tempest in a teapot ping.

[kittymyrib]

Ed Gillespie needs to be sacked. He can't think on his feet and falls into every dem/media trap. If he's the best the Repubs can do, Bush will lose next year's election.