http://jabbs.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Conservative Media (Surprise, Surprise) Trying To Discredit Plame
Conservatives can't make the "Who leaked Valerie Plame's identity?"
story go away.
So instead, they've tried to diminish its importance.
They've suggested Plame wasn't covert, but a recently leaked 2003 memo
put that falsehood to rest.
http://jabbs.blogspot.com/2005/07/classified-2003-state-department-memo.html
They've said that senior White House officials Karl Rove and Lewis
Libby merely repeated information from reporters, but as more leaks
come from testimony given to special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald,
that argument increasingly lacks credibility.
http://jabbs.blogspot.com/2005/07/testimony-from-rove-libby-and.html
And of course, they've tried to discredit Plame's husband, former
ambassador Joe Wilson, though what Wilson said in a 2003 New York
Times editorial, or whether he assisted 2004 Democratic presidential
candidate John Kerry, is irrelevant to Fitzgerald's prosecution of
White House leaks.
http://jabbs.blogspot.com/2005/07/you-cant-make-this-stuff-up_16.html
The latest salvo from the conservatives is a New York Post story that
made the rounds this morning, and which no doubt you'll be hearing a
lot about from talk radio today, and probably from at least one of
Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly, Joe Scarborough, Tucker Carlson and Chris
Matthews tonight.
The story, from Hardball favorite Deborah Orin but based on
information on Time magazine's web site, offers the following scandal:
Plame gave $372 to America Coming Together, an "anti-Bush group," for
two tickets to a concert starring Bruce Springsteen.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163777,00.html
"It's the first revelation that Plame participated in anti-Bush
political activity while working for the CIA," Orin writes.
Oh my goodness!!!
Stop the White House leak investigation!!!
Plame is a Democrat!!!
How scandalous!!!
But, as Orin notes late in the story, "CIA rules allow campaign
contributions."
So, maybe it's not so scandalous after all.
But certainly the Wilsons are trying to hide the fact that they
supported the "anti-Bush group," right?
Nope.
Wilson told Time that the anti-Bush concert was "great."
***
"CIA rules allow campaign contributions, but the fact that Plame gave
money to the anti-Bush effort is likely to raise eyebrows," Orin
writes.
Really?
Let's see.
Plame's career was ruined, and perhaps her life was put in jeopardy,
because her cover was blown.
Who blew her cover?
There's mounting speculation that it was Rove and-or Libby -- two men
who continue to work for the Bush Administration.
Would Orin -- speaking on behalf of the eyebrow-raising community --
actually expect Plame and Wilson to continue to support Bush?
And the last time I checked, the CIA was not a political body.
As has been made clear in recent days, the Bush Administration has
lots of critics in the intelligence community.
http://jabbs.blogspot.com/2005/07/former-intelligence-officers-criticize.html
Seemingly, many of these people voted Democrat in 2004 -- if for no
other reason than to protest the administration's handling of the
Plame leak.
***
Orin has one more scandalous detail in her story -- one that will no
doubt be repeated many times in the days to come among the
"conservative media."
She writes:
"America Coming Together is one of the anti-Bush activist groups
bankrolled by Bush-opposing billionaire George Soros."
Scandalous!
Plame can be tied to Enemy #1 among conservatives, financier George
Soros.
Remember, any time a conservative wants to discredit something from
the left, they will look for a tie to Soros.
Anti-Soros rhetoric increases ratings, and takes people's eye off the
ball.
And once again, the story line is that a special prosecutor is
investigating White House leaks of a covert CIA agent.
The same special prosecutor is likely investigating whether White
House officials perjured themselves in their testimony.
Hopefully, the conservative media won't be able to keep the scandalous
"Plame Buys Concert Tickets From Soros" story afloat for very long.
___________________________________________________________
Harry
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