Bring me the head of Karl Rove...and while you're at it, Robert Novak too!
"Treason doth not prosper. Why not? Well, if it prospers, then none dare call it treason." -Kevin Costner in the motion picture "JFK"
Few truer statements have ever been made.
I have watched the "mainstream media" over the last two weeks with a mixed reaction of shock and horror (not to be confused with "shock and awe"). I have seen reporters and TV talking heads rave endlessly about the right of a journalist to protect their anonymous sources. I have also seen them wail and gnash their teeth about how revealing this source would "have a chilling effect on potential future government whistleblowers". Most have actually compared this situation with Watergate..("What if Deep Throat had been betrayed by Woodward?").
Excuse me, did I hear them right? Did they actually compare someone who told the truth against an administration that attempted to shut down whole branches of government that were investigating them, considered murdering journalists who were too tough and used covert, black ops style espionage against their loyal opposition WITH SOMEONE IN A CORRUPT ADMINISTRATION who used the identity of a covert CIA Agent, charged with protecting America from WMD's, to punish a real "whistleblower" who told the truth about us being led into war by lies. In the process, the leaker put many lives at risk, including the agent herself, and damaged our efforts in the war against terrorism. We know that the administration has paid reporters millions to state it's case on issues before. I wonder how much they paid out for this bizarre little spin fest.
Now it turns out that the leaker was, in fact, Karl Rove. The President's closest advisor. What an incredible shock, huh? What is really at stake here is the future of American politics. If Rove and Novak (who is the only individual who went ahead and printed the info given to him) actually get away with this kind of crime against America, then all future bets are off. Anything can now be acceptable in our politics if even treason goes unpunished.
As for the Democrats, they are once again failing to be nearly tough enough. They are calling on Bush to fire Rove immediately. Wow, so a President who never has to run for office again loses his big political advisor, ooooh, chilling. No. They should instead be pressuring the special prosecutor to extend his investigation into the area of full-blown treason against the US government. A crime punishable by death.
The Republicans, on the other hand, have all received the White House's talking points for this issue. Probably written by Rove himself. They say, 1. "Rove did not know he was doing something illegal", 2. "Wilson lied by saying that the Vice-President's office requested him to take the trip, it was his wife instead that sent him" and 3. "Rove was actually protecting a reporter from getting a "wrong story". Once again, their bullshit is so deep that you can barely see over it, but let's try anyway:
1. The odds that Rove didn't know the name of Valerie Plame or that she was covert are almost impossible. A. He attends the same church in D.C. as Wilson and Plame. B. Any source by which he obtained the info would certainly have included her CIA status.
2. Joe Wilson never said that the Vice-President's office specifically asked him to go to Niger, they are dishonestly putting words in his mouth. Wilson actually said that the VP's office requested that the CIA send someone on this trip and that his wife recommended him. This is completely true. Also, his wife did not hold a Director's position with the agency that would have given her the authority to "send" her husband. She merely recommended him and someone else made the final decision.
3. All one needs do to debunk this whopper is take a brief glance at Karl Rove's personal history. Rove has never, ever done anything in his life to protect a reporter. In fact, quite the opposite. Rove is the new king of "dirty trick politics" since Lee Atwater thankfully died and Roger Ailes left for the greener pastures of the Fox News Channel. He specializes in destroying opposition. During his very first campaign, he printed and distributed leaflets to hookers, homeless people and drunks in local bars inviting the folks to attend a drinking and sex party at the opponent's campaign headquarters. This was a frat boy prank compared to more recent actions.
The "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" campaign against John Kerry had Rove's grubby little fingerprints all over it. As did reports, in the first days of the Bush White House, that outgoing Clinton staffers had defiled the West Wing with garbage, feces and so called "Porn Bombs", whatever that is. Both of these smear campaigns turned out to be totally false but that doesn't matter to Rove. It's all about winning for him. Every time in the last four years that you've seen a Bush detractor or former Bush official out spilling their guts and they get vilified by the right wing media, you are watching Rove's handiwork in action.
According to published reports, Rove was also the first individual in the White House to voice the point of view that 9/11 was less a national tragedy and more a political opportunity for Republicans. From the blaming of 9/11 on Clinton to the abhorrent 2002 election strategies to the locating of the 2004 Republican Convention in New York City, the least appropriate place on earth to hold a Republican anything, in order to capitalize on 9/11 imagery and emotion. So what on earth would make us think that Rove was a choirboy in the Plame outing affair? Nothing. The mere suggestion is downright laughable.
As for Robert "The Dark Prince" Novak (his own colleagues actually named him that, not me), the case is much more simple. When presented with the Plame information, whether by Rove or another nefarious character, Novak called the CIA and asked for advice. He was bluntly told not to print this information and he responded by printing it anyway. For Bob Novak, the Republican Party is just much more important than America's national security. This is treason and treason holds only one penalty.
The case of the New York Times' Judith Miller is nothing like what the "mainstream media" makes it out to be. This is not a heroic, selfless journalist sacrificing her freedom in order to protect some brave, fearless government source. She is, instead, protecting a traitor against the appropriate prosecution for their crime. Miller, incidentally, was also the NYT's reporter who printed the administration's case for war in Iraq almost word for word in the buildup. She is considered by many to be nothing more than "a White House Stenographer". So much for what loyalty gets you.
You would think that the Republican Party leadership would have learned by now. Learned that putting the good of their party ahead of the good of the country is a dangerous and dirty road on which to travel. Amazingly, they have not. It is as though they simply cannot help themselves. As if it is an addictive habit they just can't tear away from.
In the 70's, they gave us Nixon, Liddy, Haldeman etc. and showed us that they were willing to nearly tear down the federal government in order to hold on to power. The 80's brought us their willingness to subvert the constitution and lie to Congress in order to get their way. Many of them lied directly to the Congress in order to protect President Reagan and Vice-President Bush. For the 90's they decided to spend 80 million dollars of taxpayer money in order to investigate every crack of a Democratic President's life. When they caught him mincing words about his personal life, they went to the length of a process held only for the most extreme circumstances, Impeachment, which had only been broached twice before in America's entire history. Several Republicans involved have since admitted that the Impeachment motivation was political, not legal.
Now, in the new century, it is this. Lie us into war for political gain and destroy anyone who opposes us or gets in the way. Damn the consequences for the country. Heck, we are the country! Those others aren't real Americans anyway. This is the attitude of Rove, Novak and for that matter Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and so on. The time has come for them to pay the ultimate price for their cowardly and evil politics. If the Bush White House and the Bush Justice Department are unwilling to place country before politics and put these traitors where they belong for their crimes (which they undoubtedly will not do), then someone else must do it for them. Perhaps an act of God?
In other words and borrowing liberally from my favorite right wing hack, Ann Coulter (that's right, I said borrowing LIBERALLY from Ann Coulter): Karl Rove and Robert Novak must be killed in order to physically intimidate right wingers. To make them realize that, if they can't stop advancing their radical agenda even to the point of compromising America's national security, they can be killed also.
Few truer statements have ever been made.
I have watched the "mainstream media" over the last two weeks with a mixed reaction of shock and horror (not to be confused with "shock and awe"). I have seen reporters and TV talking heads rave endlessly about the right of a journalist to protect their anonymous sources. I have also seen them wail and gnash their teeth about how revealing this source would "have a chilling effect on potential future government whistleblowers". Most have actually compared this situation with Watergate..("What if Deep Throat had been betrayed by Woodward?").
Excuse me, did I hear them right? Did they actually compare someone who told the truth against an administration that attempted to shut down whole branches of government that were investigating them, considered murdering journalists who were too tough and used covert, black ops style espionage against their loyal opposition WITH SOMEONE IN A CORRUPT ADMINISTRATION who used the identity of a covert CIA Agent, charged with protecting America from WMD's, to punish a real "whistleblower" who told the truth about us being led into war by lies. In the process, the leaker put many lives at risk, including the agent herself, and damaged our efforts in the war against terrorism. We know that the administration has paid reporters millions to state it's case on issues before. I wonder how much they paid out for this bizarre little spin fest.
Now it turns out that the leaker was, in fact, Karl Rove. The President's closest advisor. What an incredible shock, huh? What is really at stake here is the future of American politics. If Rove and Novak (who is the only individual who went ahead and printed the info given to him) actually get away with this kind of crime against America, then all future bets are off. Anything can now be acceptable in our politics if even treason goes unpunished.
As for the Democrats, they are once again failing to be nearly tough enough. They are calling on Bush to fire Rove immediately. Wow, so a President who never has to run for office again loses his big political advisor, ooooh, chilling. No. They should instead be pressuring the special prosecutor to extend his investigation into the area of full-blown treason against the US government. A crime punishable by death.
The Republicans, on the other hand, have all received the White House's talking points for this issue. Probably written by Rove himself. They say, 1. "Rove did not know he was doing something illegal", 2. "Wilson lied by saying that the Vice-President's office requested him to take the trip, it was his wife instead that sent him" and 3. "Rove was actually protecting a reporter from getting a "wrong story". Once again, their bullshit is so deep that you can barely see over it, but let's try anyway:
1. The odds that Rove didn't know the name of Valerie Plame or that she was covert are almost impossible. A. He attends the same church in D.C. as Wilson and Plame. B. Any source by which he obtained the info would certainly have included her CIA status.
2. Joe Wilson never said that the Vice-President's office specifically asked him to go to Niger, they are dishonestly putting words in his mouth. Wilson actually said that the VP's office requested that the CIA send someone on this trip and that his wife recommended him. This is completely true. Also, his wife did not hold a Director's position with the agency that would have given her the authority to "send" her husband. She merely recommended him and someone else made the final decision.
3. All one needs do to debunk this whopper is take a brief glance at Karl Rove's personal history. Rove has never, ever done anything in his life to protect a reporter. In fact, quite the opposite. Rove is the new king of "dirty trick politics" since Lee Atwater thankfully died and Roger Ailes left for the greener pastures of the Fox News Channel. He specializes in destroying opposition. During his very first campaign, he printed and distributed leaflets to hookers, homeless people and drunks in local bars inviting the folks to attend a drinking and sex party at the opponent's campaign headquarters. This was a frat boy prank compared to more recent actions.
The "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" campaign against John Kerry had Rove's grubby little fingerprints all over it. As did reports, in the first days of the Bush White House, that outgoing Clinton staffers had defiled the West Wing with garbage, feces and so called "Porn Bombs", whatever that is. Both of these smear campaigns turned out to be totally false but that doesn't matter to Rove. It's all about winning for him. Every time in the last four years that you've seen a Bush detractor or former Bush official out spilling their guts and they get vilified by the right wing media, you are watching Rove's handiwork in action.
According to published reports, Rove was also the first individual in the White House to voice the point of view that 9/11 was less a national tragedy and more a political opportunity for Republicans. From the blaming of 9/11 on Clinton to the abhorrent 2002 election strategies to the locating of the 2004 Republican Convention in New York City, the least appropriate place on earth to hold a Republican anything, in order to capitalize on 9/11 imagery and emotion. So what on earth would make us think that Rove was a choirboy in the Plame outing affair? Nothing. The mere suggestion is downright laughable.
As for Robert "The Dark Prince" Novak (his own colleagues actually named him that, not me), the case is much more simple. When presented with the Plame information, whether by Rove or another nefarious character, Novak called the CIA and asked for advice. He was bluntly told not to print this information and he responded by printing it anyway. For Bob Novak, the Republican Party is just much more important than America's national security. This is treason and treason holds only one penalty.
The case of the New York Times' Judith Miller is nothing like what the "mainstream media" makes it out to be. This is not a heroic, selfless journalist sacrificing her freedom in order to protect some brave, fearless government source. She is, instead, protecting a traitor against the appropriate prosecution for their crime. Miller, incidentally, was also the NYT's reporter who printed the administration's case for war in Iraq almost word for word in the buildup. She is considered by many to be nothing more than "a White House Stenographer". So much for what loyalty gets you.
You would think that the Republican Party leadership would have learned by now. Learned that putting the good of their party ahead of the good of the country is a dangerous and dirty road on which to travel. Amazingly, they have not. It is as though they simply cannot help themselves. As if it is an addictive habit they just can't tear away from.
In the 70's, they gave us Nixon, Liddy, Haldeman etc. and showed us that they were willing to nearly tear down the federal government in order to hold on to power. The 80's brought us their willingness to subvert the constitution and lie to Congress in order to get their way. Many of them lied directly to the Congress in order to protect President Reagan and Vice-President Bush. For the 90's they decided to spend 80 million dollars of taxpayer money in order to investigate every crack of a Democratic President's life. When they caught him mincing words about his personal life, they went to the length of a process held only for the most extreme circumstances, Impeachment, which had only been broached twice before in America's entire history. Several Republicans involved have since admitted that the Impeachment motivation was political, not legal.
Now, in the new century, it is this. Lie us into war for political gain and destroy anyone who opposes us or gets in the way. Damn the consequences for the country. Heck, we are the country! Those others aren't real Americans anyway. This is the attitude of Rove, Novak and for that matter Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and so on. The time has come for them to pay the ultimate price for their cowardly and evil politics. If the Bush White House and the Bush Justice Department are unwilling to place country before politics and put these traitors where they belong for their crimes (which they undoubtedly will not do), then someone else must do it for them. Perhaps an act of God?
In other words and borrowing liberally from my favorite right wing hack, Ann Coulter (that's right, I said borrowing LIBERALLY from Ann Coulter): Karl Rove and Robert Novak must be killed in order to physically intimidate right wingers. To make them realize that, if they can't stop advancing their radical agenda even to the point of compromising America's national security, they can be killed also.
posted by Paul_NJ | 8:53 AM
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