Conservatives: Slime and Defend


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Topic: Politics > Politics-USA
User: "GW Chimpzilla"
Date: 13 Jul 2005 04:37:33 PM
Object: Conservatives: Slime and Defend
It took a few days, but the GOP panzers have finally clanked into action, and
they're zeroing in on a familar target: former ambassador Joe Wilson. This
appears to be prong one of a two-prong offensive designed to paint Wilson and
his wife as the real traitors, and Karl Rove as the patriotic whistleblower who
fingered them to the press.
Today's lead editorial in the Wall Street Journal basically hits all the
lowlights. And since the bean counters at Dow Jones have wisely concluded that
nobody in their right mind would actually pay for Paul Gigot's electronic bird
droppings, you can go inspect them here. Don't forget your rubber gloves.
The ferocity of the GOP attack is probably in part a function of the delay in
mounting it. It appears Gen. Rove badly miscalculated when he decided to give
Newsweek's big scoop the silent treatment, in hopes the story would quickly die
if the White House refused to talk about it. He's given away two full days,
which violates the cardinal rule: any allegation not loudly rebutted in the
first news cycle is presumed to be true. In terms of how the story is framed,
Rove is now guilty until proven innocent, not the other way around. Thus the
media blitzkrieg.
But, as usual, Turdblossom is going for broke. Instead of trying to manage
reality, he wants to totally invert it - substituting a complete mirror image
of the truth and making it stick. That's a pretty ambitious objective, even for
Rove.
The early reports from the front (i.e. the TV babbling head shows) are mixed at
best. The Stepford host (the one with the Katie Couric name tag stapled to her
chest) apparently let Gingrich rant on without interruption this morning. But I
hear Tim Russert had his frowny face on yesterday, and was heard muttering
things like: If a Democratic White House had pulled this stunt . . .
If you're down in the bunker with Rove and the rest of the Werhmacht high
command, that's not what you want to hear. Some of the Axis satellite troops
are cutting and running - just like they did at Stalingrad.
One thing that's interesting about the current attack is that it's being
launched over the same ground the Rovians tried - and failed - to defend after
the scandal first broke two years ago. The White House's initial response was
very much the same as its current one: ignore the crime and smear the victims.
Defend by attacking:
"The White House encouraged Republicans to portray the former diplomat at the
center of the case, Joseph C. Wilson IV, as a partisan Democrat with an agenda
and the Democratic Party as scandalmongering. At the same time, the
administration and the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill worked to ensure
that no Republicans in Congress break ranks and call for an independent inquiry
outside the direct control of the Justice Department.
""It's slime and defend," said one Republican aide on Capitol Hill, describing
the White House's effort to raise questions about Mr. Wilson's motivations and
its simultaneous effort to shore up support in the Republican ranks."
That line quickly became untenable, however. It smelled too much like an obvious
cover up. The polls showed the swing voters weren't buying it - and neither
were some otherwise stout Bush supporters, like the Moonie Times editorial
page:
The outing of Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife as an undercover CIA agent (if
that is what she was) would be contemptuous - not to say felonious. As former
President Bush said in 1999 of those who expose intelligence agents, they are
"the most insidious of traitors." We fully agree.
And so the Rovians retreated - at least to the point of conceding that the
allegation was very serious and needed to be seriously investigated. And so we
got a bunch of statements that are giving them some real trouble now. Like:
"This is a serious charge, by the way. We're talking about a criminal action."
--George W. Bush
Remarks to Reporters
October 7, 2003
"I think if the allegation is true, to reveal the identity of an undercover CIA
operative - it's abhorrent, and it should be a crime, and it is a crime."
--RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie
MSNBC Interview
September 30, 2003
But, as noted here previously, this was back when John Ashcroft was still in
charge of the investigation. When the Rovians admitted that leaking the name of
an undercover CIA agent was a heinous crime - treasonous, even - they were
speaking strictly hypothetically. The last thing they expected was that anyone,
much less anyone armed with subpoena power, would actually try to investigate
it.
So now we're back to square one - slime and defend. But Rove's decision to keep
the White House out of the on-the-record action has deprived the Werhmacht of
its biggest weapon: the presidential bully pulpit. Lies told on Fox News reach
the Fox News audience, most of whom are already dedicated Koolaid drinkers
anyway. Lies told in the White House press room reach a world audience, and are
automatically treated as "real news." Which I suppose is another reason why the
surrogates are screaming so loudly - their megaphones are only set at half
volume.
Will slime and defend work today where it failed two years ago? I don't know.
The Rovians are asking an awful lot of the media, which hasn't fully completed
its Orwellian transformation into an official house organ of the corporate
state. Reality has been bent, but it hasn't been completely broken, at least
not yet.
More to the point, as my last post argued, Rove is facing an opponent who has
some effective weapons of his own, including, apparently, the uncremated
remains of Bob Novak. One sign of just how scared the Rovians are of Fitzgerald
is the fact that they haven't pointed any of their slime guns in his direction,
at least not yet.
Military metaphors not withstanding, Rove isn't really a war lord -- just a
schoolyard bully with a slightly bigger yard to push people around in. Now he's
finally come across the kid he can't intimidate. And so, in classic buly
fashion, he and his gang of lickspittles have decided to pick on the weaker
kids instead.

Posted by billmon at July 13, 2005 02:33 PM
http://billmon.org/archives/001999.html
.

User: "Gorf"

Title: Re: Conservatives: Slime and Defend 13 Jul 2005 05:05:56 PM
"GW Chimpzilla" <gw@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:xQfBe.170947$xm3.158428@attbi_s21...



"The White House encouraged Republicans to portray the former diplomat at

the

center of the case, Joseph C. Wilson IV, as a partisan Democrat with an

agenda

and the Democratic Party as scandalmongering. At the same time, the
administration and the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill worked to

ensure

that no Republicans in Congress break ranks and call for an independent

inquiry

outside the direct control of the Justice Department.
""It's slime and defend," said one Republican aide on Capitol Hill,

describing

the White House's effort to raise questions about Mr. Wilson's motivations

and

its simultaneous effort to shore up support in the Republican ranks."

That line quickly became untenable, however. It smelled too much like an

obvious

cover up. The polls showed the swing voters weren't buying it - and

neither

were some otherwise stout Bush supporters, like the Moonie Times editorial
page:

BUT, BUT just read this newsgroup, a bunch of the brain-dead conservatives
have ALREADY CONVICTED Wilson - even though Rove is the TRAITOR

The outing of Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife as an undercover CIA agent

(if

that is what she was) would be contemptuous - not to say felonious. As

former

President Bush said in 1999 of those who expose intelligence agents, they

are

"the most insidious of traitors." We fully agree.

Even Former President Bush Calls anyone who would out an undercover CIA
operative a TRAITOR.


So now we're back to square one - slime and defend. But Rove's decision to

keep

the White House out of the on-the-record action has deprived the Werhmacht

of

its biggest weapon: the presidential bully pulpit. Lies told on Fox News

reach

the Fox News audience, most of whom are already dedicated Koolaid drinkers
anyway. Lies told in the White House press room reach a world audience,

and are

automatically treated as "real news." Which I suppose is another reason

why the

surrogates are screaming so loudly - their megaphones are only set at half
volume.

Will slime and defend work today where it failed two years ago?

It IS working on the ignorant right!
I don't know.

The Rovians are asking an awful lot of the media, which hasn't fully

completed

its Orwellian transformation into an official house organ of the corporate
state. Reality has been bent, but it hasn't been completely broken, at

least

not yet.

More to the point, as my last post argued, Rove is facing an opponent who

has

some effective weapons of his own, including, apparently, the uncremated
remains of Bob Novak. One sign of just how scared the Rovians are of

Fitzgerald

is the fact that they haven't pointed any of their slime guns in his

direction,

at least not yet.

Come on Bob who was it? Please let the world know now! Of course by the
dance Rove is doing we already know who it was.
.


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