Perino Dismisses Pre-War Downing Street Memo: ‘It’s Been Debunked By Me’

[ProfessorPlum]

Run time: 02:14 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1nhixhS7Rg   Posted on YouTube: December 04, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: December 05, 2008 By DU Member: ProfessorPlum Views on DU: 5755

 
Via ThinkProgess:

Earlier this week, Karl Rove said that President Bush would not have invaded Iraq if he knew there were no WMD. In today’s press briefing, Helen Thomas asked White House spokeswoman Dana Perino whether Rove is “in charge” of promoting Bush’s presidency. Perino responded, “No, I am. I have a team of people who’s helping talk about the president’s decisions that he’s made over the past eight years.”

Defending Bush’s pre-war intelligence failure, Perino claimed that “other leaders from all around the world” thought Saddam had WMD. When Thomas noted that British intelligence — referring to the the Downing Street Memo — disagreed with Bush, Perino simply said that the memo had been “debunked”:

Q: What about the chief of British intelligence saying you were going to fix the facts around the politics?

PERINO: I think that that’s been debunked.

Thomas quickly countered, “It’s never been been debunked.” Caught off guard, Perino admitted that she was the one who “debunked” it:

Q: It’s never been debunked.

PERINO: Well, it’s been debunked by me.

Q: Good for you.

PERINO: Good for me.

Recall, the Downing Street Memo — which was authored by former British foreign policy aide Matthew Rycroft before the Iraq war — reported: “Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.”


Good for Helen Thomas.

[AndyA]

1. Thank you, Helen. Once again, a fine job asking the questions no one else will ask.

As for Ms. Perino, she's a...well, I won't write it here but it's a four letter word.

[amyrose2712]

10. Ooo! Ooo! it's a C U .... .... ?

[foxer]

20. Can't Understand Normal Thought

[amyrose2712]

24. C. U. Next Tuesday.- Stewie Gilligan Griffin n/t

[jeff30997]

16. 4 letter word ?

A Butt ? No,I don't think so...Er..A SCUM? Mmh Not sure.

[ProfessorGAC]

37. How About T-W-I-T

That's four letters, and i think it's a good descriptor.

Well so does, L-I-A-R!
The Professor

[awoke_in_2003]

49. I think you bought...

the wrong vowel

[Hulk]

23. What a cocky dumb bitch....she fits right in with these idiots.

her little cutesy dumb blond look isn't going to get her very far when this nightmare is over.

[navarth]

2. K & R So the spokes Barbie debunked the Downing St. Memos?

Well THAT'S A RELIEF.

Did anybody other than Helen Thomas call out this disgraceful shit-for-brains (Perino) on this?

[TheEuclideanOne]

25. It is pretty funny that you have to put the name of the person after "shit-for-brains"

If you didn't, there would be no way to know which person in the administration you were referring to

[ProfessorGAC]

38. Good One!

Made me chuckle, and yet it's completely true.
The Professor

[Pluvious]

47. Didn't she also debunk the Cuban missile crisis too ? (n/t)

n/t

[jimshoes]

3. So, the facts are whatever Ditzy Dana

says they are. Uhmm, no Dana, I don't think so.

[ksimons]

4. she keeps a hammer under that coat - good for Helen!

((* BONK *))

another one gets the hammer!

[Thrill]

5. As usual, only Helen has balls to ask the real questions

[awoke_in_2003]

14. if we only had...

3 or 4 more like her, people with the brass to call bullshit, we would be so much better off

[TheEuclideanOne]

26. so true. It reminds me of the Katie Couric interviews of Sarah Palin.

Katie Couric became a sensation becuase she asked a stinkin follow up question. How disgusting is it that a reporter would become famous because they asked a follow up question. It is truly sad. Okay, so maybe Katie Couric was already famous, but she gained a lot of credibility in these interviews that she was lacking before as a result.

Imagine if we lived in a world where the reporters still asked follow up questions on a regular basis. Imagine if we lived in a world where the press conferences contained a room full of bulldogs that asked the right questions and did not let up until they got the answer that they were seeking. Sad to see what our media has become.

[Wednesdays]

27. Oh, we'll see that world all right. Come January 20th.

"Imagine if we lived in a world where the reporters still asked follow up questions on a regular basis. Imagine if we lived in a world where the press conferences contained a room full of bulldogs that asked the right questions and did not let up until they got the answer that they were seeking."

The M$M will have a total epiphany, say, around January 20th next year. They'll ask the tough questions. They won't take no for an answer. They'll hound the entire White House staff, getting to the bottom of every tiny move they make, or might make.

And the fact that a Democrat will occupy the White House on that date will have nothing to do with it, now, will it?

[awoke_in_2003]

33. so sad...

yet so true

[rhett o rick]

28. Do you understand that "has the balls" is a sexist expression? It implies that one needs balls to

be tough. Helen doesn't have balls but asks tougher questions than those in the press corps that do. Please find a new expression.

[bagrman]

30. NO Having the balls is perfect.

If the American public had the balls to get out and act as if they had a set than these shits would have been hanging from lamp posts along time ago. Get a set.

[rhett o rick]

51. Equating "having balls" with bravery is very sexist and I am surprised to see it's use

in DU. You claim "If the American public had the balls" things would be better. Well approx half the American public have balls and yet are cowards. Helen has a lot of bravery, guts, intestinal fortitude, etc. No necessary to say she has balls.

[druidqueen]

36. Balls

I personally prefer the term "brass ovaries" for women!!! In fact, I have been calling Speaker Pelosi's office regularly over the last two years with the message that she should develope some brass ovaries & put impeachment ON the table!!!

[rhett o rick]

52. Helen Thomas is braver than all the men in the press corp put together.

I think saying she has "brass ovaries" is good. And I am not about to make a major issue about this, it's just that we have so much inherent sexism, I just think we need to work on cleaning it up. Equating having "balls" with bravery is childish.

And I still think we need to impeach.

[jetphixer]

54. History 4 u info about "BALLS"

Basically the term balls evolves from Sailing ships specifically a man of war or a ship of the line and refers to the projectile hurled via naval cannon toward the enemy ship. The statement: "Its cold enough to freeze the balls off of a brass monkey",is taken from sailing ships also because the coefficient of shrinkage is more for brass than steel the brass monkey was a rotary device used to hold cannon balls for rapid reloading of naval cannon. A modern Naval gun is called a Naval rifle, because of the rifling in the barrels. NOW YOU KNOW Why someone has balls. Bill USN Retired

[TankLV]

42. No. Get over it...

The overwhelmling majority are MEN, hence - "balls"...

could have used "ovaries" in regards to Helen, but most of the "male" reporters are "castrated"...

hence "balls" fits perfectly in this instance...

[Idealism]

6. If "other leaders from all around the world" thought Iraq had WMDs

Why were so many countries opposed to helping us there? Why did so many countries disagree and deny aid to the war effort? REALLY? Revisionist-In-Chief Bush?

[AlbertCat]

19. Other leaders from around the world...

... also did NOT believe the WMD lies. Little unknown non-influential countries like FRANCE and GERMANY.

Shut her up!

[drgonzosghost]

7. Dana Perino actually believes that her "cuteness" can get...

her out of tight spots in regards to questions. Goddamn, I am so sick of her shit...

[progressoid]

8. Good grief.

[midnight]

9. ProfessorPlum I too find myself being thankful for Helen Thomas's

question surrounding this topic about fixing the intelligence to go to war,AKA, "Downing Street Memos". But the follow up to Dana's response about this information being debunked is priceless. Many many thanks Ms. Thomas. You are my hero....

[ooglymoogly]

11. Thank you Helen for the millionth time and thanx prof. for

hauling it over to DU.

[harun]

12. Perino: "I am the only one still willing to lie for B*sh, cut me some slack"

[The Wizard]

13. All these Bush Administration nuts

should be given the choice of confinement or shock treatments. They really are fucking crazy.

[FiveGoodMen]

15. Notes on the English language (for righties)

1. Debunked isn't the same as denied

...just as...

2. Refuted isn't the same as disputed.

[Martin Eden]

21. Exactamundo!!!

Even if the title of my post isn't part of the "official" language, I think you get my drift.

I got yours, but I wonder if Perino gets it.

[Javaman]

17. since the WH airhead can't find Cuba on a map, she's the last one that should ever claim to

be able to debunk anything.

[edc]

18. Bay of Pigs

Isn't Ms. "Debunked by Me" the same sleuth who
didn't know what the Cuban Missie Crisis was? 

[ProfessorGAC]

39. Yep. That Was Her

Duh! Ideology trumps competence time and time again, doesn't it?
The Professor

[Iwillnevergiveup]

22. The parade of press secretaries

in this administration is utterly mind-boggling. I'd love to see Helen write a book about her experiences with ALL of them.

[rhett o rick]

29. Poor Dana, she is a tool and I believe she knows it. Does anyone have a email addy for her? nm

[Politicalboi]

31. Silly Helen

Don't she know that everything has been debunked. This whole thing was a stroke of bad luck for Bush. This is what happens when you start with a surplus and have bad intelligence.

[Mithreal]

32. Sad, Dana. Maybe she should do comedy? nt

[DallasNE]

34. What About The UN Inspectors?

I suppose Perino thinks she has debunked that too. The inspectors report to the UN before the start of the invasion not only said that Saddam has not reconsituted his nuclear program (the UN seals were still in place) but also said that Saddam had no chemical or biological weapons but the the yellowcake from Niger document was a forgery. The UN inspectors were right on every count, including that Saddam had no illegal Scud missiles. Why is it that the UN report never gets any play in discussions about the intelligence on WMD in Iraq in the lead up to the invasion, especially since they had it nailed. Congress authorized the use of force just so Saddam could not block the inspections. Every thing was working perfectly up to the point of the invasion when things went to hell.

[profitfighter1]

35. I hate Fascist

Perino is a Fascist

[rhett o rick]

53. I think she is more of a gullible enabler. Like Scotty before he figured it out. nm

[HughBeaumont]

40. See, there's no way I can watch that without punching my monitor in.

Get this through your doughy little brain, you walking, regurgitating Bratz doll: you saying you've "debunked" something does not change the FACTS that the Downing Street Memo DID prove that the President FIXED the intelligence to justify military action against a nation that never did a DAMNED THING to us. You and the rest of that administration have blood on your hands, you ARE all war criminals and you ALL belong in prison. GOT that? Good. Don't ever talk down to Helen Thomas or the American public like you're so fucking superior, stupid.

[DFW]

41. If Tony Blair never debunked it, just how is Dana Perino a greater authotity?

There was a line in the novel "Shibumi" about how the hero never ceased to be amazed at
Americans' penchant for twisting facts around to conform to pre-conceived notions. The
author, "Trevanian," got it so very, very right.

[Amonester]

43. Hope (in the near or not too distant future):

International Criminal Court Judge: "Dana Perino. You are accused of complicity to help covering up the war crimes of convicted felons George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, .... - (insert long list of Republican war criminals here) -. What can you say to your defense?"

Perino: "Well. It's been debunked by me."

ICC Judge: "Invalid answer."

Perino: "But I was just following orders!"

ICC Judge: "I pronounce you guilty on all counts."



Everyday, I pray (for True Justice in this world to come back)...

[go west young man]

44. Once again Helen exposes the scum for what they are.

While the rest of the spineless media whimper and asskiss.

[LASteve]

45. video removed by YouTube

Looks like I was among the last to watch it. Five minutes ago I saw this video, with the Helen Thomas Q&A on the Downing Street Memo, then checked out a couple of others and while tabbing backwards to get to the DU homepage came across the No Longer Available notice on the screen for this video. This is an all too common occurrence on YouTube.

[ihavenobias]

46. K & R

[Matariki]

48. "Good for you" "Good for me"

THAT'S Classic!

PERINO: I think that that’s been debunked.

Q: It’s never been debunked.

PERINO: Well, it’s been debunked by me.

Q: Good for you.

PERINO: Good for me.

[IndianaGreen]

50. Recall the House Democrats refused to hold impeachment hearings based on Downing St Memo

Remember Pelosi's "impeachment is off the table" edict? We can't criticize Bush & Co for breaking the law when we consistently give them a pass when it comes to prosecution and impeachment of law breakers, including the telecoms.