Sid Blumenthal: Rove's War

[kskiska]

Bush's right-hand man is dispatching his troops to smear Joe Wilson -- and save himself. He may win in Washington, but the special prosecutor will have the last word.

July 14, 2005 | This is Karl Rove's war. From his command post next to the Oval Office in the West Wing of the White House, he is furiously directing the order of battle. The Republican National Committee lobs its talking points across Washington, its chairman forays the no-man's-land of CNN. Rove's lawyer, Fox News and the Wall Street Journal editorial board are sent over the top. Newt Gingrich and Tom DeLay man the ramparts, defending Rove's character.

For two years, since the appointment of an independent counsel to investigate the disclosure of the identity of an undercover CIA operative, President Bush and his press secretary, Scott McClellan, have repeatedly denied the involvement of anyone in the White House. "Have you talked to Karl and do you have confidence in him?" a reporter asked Bush on Sept. 30, 2003. "Listen, I know of nobody," he replied. "I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it, and we'll take the appropriate action."

(snip)


Rove is fighting his war as though it will be settled in a court of Washington pundits. Brandishing his formidable political weapons, he seeks to demonstrate his prowess once again. His corps of agents raises a din in which their voices drown out individual dissidents. His frantic massing of forces dominates the capital by winning the communications battle. Indeed, Rove may succeed momentarily in quelling the storm. But the stillness may be illusory. Before the prosecutor, Rove's arsenal is useless.

Can the special counsel be confounded by manipulation of the Washington chattering class? What's the obligation of a reporter to a source in this case? What game are Rove and his surrogates playing? What are the legal vulnerabilities of Rove and others in the White House?

more…
http://salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2005/07/14/plame/index.html

[eleny]

1. I never watch the Today Show - but I'm setting the alarm clock

I want to see Wilson live and smokin'.

Fuck you, Karl.

[DURHAM D]

8. He was on this am - is he going to be on tomorrow as well ?

If you missed this am's interview you can find it at crooksandliars.

[Erika]

2. Rove's character?

He has none. He's a little plump Pillsbury dough boy like Sean Hannity.

He's probably the least honorable chief of staff ever in the WH. His dirty tricks against Ann Richards, John McCain, etc., show him as a man without honor or class.

[Jack Rabbit]

3. Blumenthal is right

If Rove violated the law (I'm not saying he did), his smear tactics won't save him.

Pass the popcorn.

[GainesT1958]

4. I don't even think this will "wash over" in Washington...

Even some of the media whores smell in "Chip" Rove another Watergate figure's troubles emerging the likes of which have not been seen since Donald Segretti, Chuck Colson, Gordon Liddy, or Poppy's favorite smearmeister, the late Lee Atwater. Being a Dub appologist may give them happy pants, but being a Rove appologist? I get this feeling that, for many of them, such a job is perceived as low as being a shill for Tom Delay. Plus, as Harry Shearer points out in the Huffington Report, reporters don't take kindly to a lie they perceived as being fed directly to them.

B-)

[Cha]

5. The last paragraph Kills!

"The sound and fury of Rove's defenders will soon subside. The last word, the only word that matters, will belong to the prosecutor. So far, he has said very, very little. Unlike the unprofessional, inexperienced and weak Ken Starr, he does not leak illegally to the press. But he has commented publicly on his understanding of the case. "This case," he said, "is not about a whistle-blower. It's about a potential retaliation against a whistle-blower."

This has helped me so much to understand what's up with this.

Thanks Sidney Blumenthal and thanks ksiska!

[IndyOp]

6. What game are Rove and his surrogates playing?

:banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[Donailin]

7. from the article, a connection to Jeff gannon

>>The CIA subsequently issued a statement, as reported by New York Newsday and CNN, that the Republican senators' conclusion about Plame's role was wholly inaccurate. But the Washington Post's Susan Schmidt reported only the Republican senators' version, writing that Wilson was "specifically recommended for the mission by his wife, a CIA employee, contrary to what he has said publicly," in a memo she wrote. Schmidt quoted a CIA official in the senators' account saying that Plame had "offered up" Wilson's name. Plame's memo, in fact, was written at the express directive of her superiors two days before Wilson was to come to Langley for his meeting to describe his qualifications in a standard protocol to receive "country clearance." Unfortunately, Schmidt's article did not reflect this understanding of routine CIA procedure. The CIA officer who wrote the memo that originally recommended Wilson for the mission -- who was cited anonymously by the senators as the only source who said that Plame was responsible -- was deeply upset at the twisting of his testimony, which was not public, and told Plame he had said no such thing. CIA spokesman Bill Harlow told Wilson that the Republican Senate staff never contacted him for the agency's information on the matter.

Curiously, the only document cited as the basis for Plame's role was a State Department memo that was later debunked by the CIA. The Washington Post, on Dec. 26, 2003, reported: "CIA officials have challenged the accuracy of the ... document, the official said, because the agency officer identified as talking about Plame's alleged role in arranging Wilson's trip could not have attended the meeting. 'It has been circulated around,' one official said." Even more curious, one of the outlets where the document was circulated was Talon News Service and its star correspondent, Jeff Gannon (aka Guckert). (Talon was revealed to be a partisan front for a Texas-based operation called GOPUSA and Gannon was exposed as a male prostitute, without previous journalistic credentials yet with easy and unexplained access to the White House.) According to the Post, "the CIA believes that people in the administration continue to release classified information to damage the figures at the center of the controversy." <<