Comments on: Dumb enough for you?

By: Charles

Charles — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 01:16:43 +0000

From CIA officer Larry Johnson:

“We joined the CIA to fight against foreign tyrants who used the threat of incarceration, torture, and murder to achieve their ends. They followed the rule of force, not the rule of law. We now find ourselves with an administration in the United States where some of its members have chosen to act like foreign tyrants. As loyal Americans and registered Republicans we implore President Bush to move quickly and decisively against those who, if not apprehended, will leave his Administration with the legacy of being the first to allow political operatives to out clandestine officers.”

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9512.htm

I wouldn’t be surprised if Novak’s second source was Bush himself. Everyone acts as if Rove is some sort of aberration. In reality, he was hand-chosen by George Bush and elevated by him to one of the most senior positions of government. In this case, the acorn is still attached to the tree.

By: Charles

Charles — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 21:08:58 +0000

If you’re really, really tired of listening to the Republican ::coughSteve:: sheep throw out false and misleading statements, you’ll enjoy Gene Lyons column in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, a preview of which I was fortunate enough to see.

Let’s just say Lyons accurately captures with photographic accuracy the meth-amped calm, Soviet-style truthfulness, and Janus-like consistency of the Republican right.

MDP, you’re still shopping the same point that I refuted days ago. As I pointed out, people who have to deal with the requirements of security clearances get very cautious in live interviews.

If you’re going to hammer Wilson for essentially irrelevant inconsistencies, how about being proportional in evaluating Rove’s consistency?

Unless you are being paid to distribute talking points, you should care about whether your side (and I don’t think I’m inferring too much by calling it that) has been truthful.

By: Nan Mar

Nan Mar — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 04:23:29 +0000

I believe the questions need to asked and answers found. Karl Rove, in my opinion, did this to retaliate against Ambassador Wilson, because of Wilson’s op-ed article. He didn’t stick to the administrations propaganda. The bigger picture is that Wilson was telling the people that there was NO connection Irag and Niger and NO WMD’s. He was assigned by both Rep. & /Dem. Pres. to Africa countries to represent our country for over 20 years. He should and did have the pulse on this situation. But it contradicted Bush’s state of the union speech. Remember those 16 words that were in the speech and then the administration said “oops should not have said that”. It was the first indication that Bush Cheney Rove et al were pushing toward war with Iraq without just cause.
Now we have the Blair memos too.

Rove committed a crime, so did Cheney’s Scooter Libby They outed a CIA agent, ruined a NOC company and one person was killed. By the way, Valerie Plame, still works for the CIA but certainly not in the same capacity as before.

By: Cyborgphoenix

Cyborgphoenix — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 01:18:56 +0000

I think Rove screwed up, the question breaks down to how badly he screwed up, and was his screwup illegal. Well, I’m going to wait until the investigation is done, and look at the additional information passed down before I make my judgements.

By: kathryn olsen

kathryn olsen — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 00:30:34 +0000

Rove should be prosecuted!

By: mary davis

mary davis — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 00:04:11 +0000

I the CIA diidn’t think there was a crime they wouldn’t have asked for an investigation in the first place. There would have been no outcry. If there was no crime why would the special prosecuter have put Miller in jail? One would have to believe this is not a lighthearted decision. It would seem to me that Bush was not in the loop or this administation is so cocky that they believed that no one would find out what was going on.
Perhaps many of you don’t remember Watergate. The denials, the gaul of men that believed they had the right to do anything they saw fit. This is so much the same thing. The same attitude seems to prevail here. They believe they are untouchable.
And what of Rove. It would seem that an honorable man would resign rather than expose his boss, his president to this scrutiny. It would seem that the right thing to do would be Quit before one was forced out,but then perhaps there is little honor here. Perhaps this is a case of meglomania as was hinted at with Nixon. Perhaps it will take the threat of impeachment.

By: Dr Amato

Dr Amato — Mon, 18 Jul 2005 23:11:34 +0000

It’s not that complicated. Rove gt sloppy in his campaign of deeption and dirty tactics. He shaid too much and did not calculate the losses. In the end he committed a crime, and his lies cannot cover it up! Off with his head. Bring back the death penalty for traitors.

By: Charlie Ferrin

Charlie Ferrin — Mon, 18 Jul 2005 18:58:14 +0000

You hit the nail right on the head. This is all about spin. If Karl Rove did nothing wrong, why did he deny doing anything for 2 years. Mr. Rove has a very high clearance and should not be talking about anyone in the CIA even if they are not a covert agent.

By: J Thomas

J Thomas — Sun, 17 Jul 2005 11:15:11 +0000

On the other hand, that prosecutor could probably write a book and get an adequate retirement from it.

And if, say, John McCain and friends wind up running the GOP he might get forgiven entirely. He might be getting support already from an insurgent republican movement that hopes to take the party from BushCo.

These people got complete control of the US government, and if they manage it carefully they could hold it for generations, and they’re squandering it. If I was republican I’d be upset at them.

The line could go, “Bush was a good man who was misled by evil advisors. But now we’re returning to the True Republican way. In that context the guy who prosecuted Rove and Cheney wouldn’t be in any trouble at all.

By: CN Jones

CN Jones — Sun, 17 Jul 2005 06:38:51 +0000

If the prosecuter, a republican, turns on Rove…The prosecuter is through, FOREVER, in Washington, D.C. After Bush gets through with him , he’ll have no place to go.

By: CN Jones

CN Jones — Sun, 17 Jul 2005 06:38:50 +0000

If the prosecuter, a republican, turns on Rove…The prosecuter is through, FOREVER, in Washington, D.C. After Bush gets through with him , he’ll have no place to go.

By: leigh lafon

leigh lafon — Sun, 17 Jul 2005 04:43:55 +0000

No person who can legally discuss this matter knows the true nature of Plame’s status in any detail. We do know, as interested foreign governments or enemy agents discovered, that she had been a highly respected expert on WMD, and the CIA invested millions of dollars in her training and cover. From time to time, even for personal or family reasons, a foreign agent may return to this country to do high level classified work that does not include “complete” cover, in terms of visible employment. That agent may still some day return to work as an undercover operative.
Novak has stated that after two high level White House sources told him about Plame, he called the CIA to verify the story, and spoke to an unnamed source there who asked Novak not to run the story. The source did verify that Plame had worked undercover but the source was not sure of her current level of “identity” or whether she might someday return to a foreign station.
Many partisan “talking points” have made the outing of her name itself to be an issue, as if an enemy of this country would not immediately be able to trace “Ambassador Wilson’s wife” from Novak’s column to Ms. Plame’s cover as both diplomatic spouse and “consultant” at the overseas Brewster-Jennings& Assoc. This Dunn and Bradstreet listed company was an elaborate front for the CIA, a way to cover other agents and to provide a trustworthy shield for contacts in foreign posts who risk death when discovered as CIA informants or moles. Yeah, there is a reason to take this seriously, and find out how this huge asset was destroyed during a time of war, and while the CIA was already scrambling to obtain human intel, sophisticated overseas cover and highly trained WMD experts.

By: Kevin Donoghue

Kevin Donoghue — Sat, 16 Jul 2005 22:51:25 +0000

Not that it matters much to me but the CIA said she was undercover:

Intelligence officials confirmed to Newsday yesterday that Valerie Plame, wife of retired Ambassador Joseph Wilson, works at the agency on weapons of mass destruction issues in an undercover capacity – at least she was undercover until last week when she was named by columnist Robert Novak.

Then again, the CIA may just be pretending she was undercover.

By: J Thomas

J Thomas — Sat, 16 Jul 2005 15:30:04 +0000

mdp, you finally have a good point. Why would Wilson admit it once and then not say it again?

Maybe he slipped the first time, and somebody (Valerie, or somebody official) called him on it and told him to never do it again?

I suppose we could make conspiracy theories. Bush has decided to destroy the CIA, and the CIA probably doesn’t like that. The last time we came anywhere close to this sort of thing was with Kennedy. It’s hard to be sure what strategies elements in the CIA might be thinking out, but it’s plausible that Wilson would be connected to them. Maybe he’s letting the administration and the wingnuts get all settled on the “defense” that Plame wasn’t really a spy that mattered, so it will be obvious how stupidly they’re lying when they pile on the next set of lies.

By: David King

David King — Sat, 16 Jul 2005 10:42:53 +0000

Karl Rove is the devil himself. He is so self-righteous along with Bush and the Good-ol-boy Network! I guess its about time Americans start to wake up and open their eyes. No Uranium, No WMD, No Justified Reason for Bombing Iraq. Other than the OIL. Just plain evil from the ones who claim to be religous and christian. Wolves in Sheeps clothing, as it says in the good book. Its time for Americans to take back our country from these Idiots. Go Hillary Clinton. We should have had a woman in the first place. Then we might not have been in this situation, not to mention the deficit that keep growing and growing. Not to mention the Aid for Africa that Bush lied about. So what now?? Invade Korea??